"...The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me."~Exodus 22:29b
This reminds me of the story of Hannah. {Short version: Hannah was barren. She prayed for the Lord to give her a son and promised that if He would, she would dedicate Him to the Lord. The Lord granted her request and gave her a son whom she named Samuel. Once he was weaned, she brought him to the priest, Eli, where the boy remained and eventually became a prophet of God.}
Wow. Now that I have a son, this has new meaning to me. According to this verse, I would give my son to God. Now, if I understand properly, he could be redeemed with a sacrifice, but he would still "belong to God."
Because God gave His firstborn son for the world, however, this is no longer required. My son has been redeemed by Jesus' sacrifice. But, likewise, he still "belong[s] to God." One day, he will choose whether or not to accept the free gift of salvation and to follow God, but until that day, I am to "train up [this] child in the way he should...[so that] when he is old, he will not depart from it."
What an awesome and difficult task!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
[God is the same]}
...yesterday, today, and forever.
I've heard it all my life, but I'm not sure I've ever truly believed it. After all, how could the God of the Old Testament who had whole groups of people slaughtered be the same as the God of the New Testamet whose Son decreed "turn the other cheek???" I think I truly believed that the Israelites were God's favorites, so He only let them into Heaven (with possible rare exceptions), then finally decided that He was being unfair and well, fine, He would send His son and let whoever wanted to, to come to Heaven.
I still don't yet understand why God slaughtered whole groups of people, however, through one small portion of a verse, I'm beginning to get it. God is so good to provide wisdom at just the right time.
In Exodus 19:6a, I read: "and you [the nation of Israel] shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
Finally, when I read this, it made sense: God's plan was for Israel to be "set apart" ["holy" from verse 6] to do the work of God. Abraham had been a righteous man and I believe God was like, "Yes, Abraham! You GET it! Because you get it, I will multiply you [your descendants] and use them to further my kingdom!" The problem came when the nation of Israel began to act like bratty children. They refused to obey God and got so wrapped up in legalism (such as having to make sacrifices) that they thought they were doing everything God wanted. Basically, they were trying to do as little as they could to get by and so they missed the big picture: being a shining example to the world like their forefather, Abraham--the reason God chose them!
So, each time Israel rebelled, God disciplined them in order to persuade them to change their course back to the originally intended direction. Finally, God heeded their grumblings and sent a Savior who took away their distractions (sacrifices, legalism, the law), not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus was the perfect, shining example showing God's people what God asks of us. Then, Jesus, the only son of God, died for us, for all people, to be the one living sacrifice that would atone for all our sins, freeing us from having to atone for each and every sin ourselves (through sacrifices). Once our sin, guilt, and shame were cleaned white as snow, we, God's people, were (more) free to do God's will, to tell others about God, to follow Jesus' example, and to be an example ourselves.
So really, God was the same, is the same, and will continue to be the same. It's simply that the Israelites rebelled and did not follow God's plan.
So this, of course, begs the question: "Am I following God's plan? Am I following Jesus' example so that in turn I might be an example to those who see me? What am I doing to help others know God and to choose Him?"
I've heard it all my life, but I'm not sure I've ever truly believed it. After all, how could the God of the Old Testament who had whole groups of people slaughtered be the same as the God of the New Testamet whose Son decreed "turn the other cheek???" I think I truly believed that the Israelites were God's favorites, so He only let them into Heaven (with possible rare exceptions), then finally decided that He was being unfair and well, fine, He would send His son and let whoever wanted to, to come to Heaven.
I still don't yet understand why God slaughtered whole groups of people, however, through one small portion of a verse, I'm beginning to get it. God is so good to provide wisdom at just the right time.
In Exodus 19:6a, I read: "and you [the nation of Israel] shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
Finally, when I read this, it made sense: God's plan was for Israel to be "set apart" ["holy" from verse 6] to do the work of God. Abraham had been a righteous man and I believe God was like, "Yes, Abraham! You GET it! Because you get it, I will multiply you [your descendants] and use them to further my kingdom!" The problem came when the nation of Israel began to act like bratty children. They refused to obey God and got so wrapped up in legalism (such as having to make sacrifices) that they thought they were doing everything God wanted. Basically, they were trying to do as little as they could to get by and so they missed the big picture: being a shining example to the world like their forefather, Abraham--the reason God chose them!
So, each time Israel rebelled, God disciplined them in order to persuade them to change their course back to the originally intended direction. Finally, God heeded their grumblings and sent a Savior who took away their distractions (sacrifices, legalism, the law), not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus was the perfect, shining example showing God's people what God asks of us. Then, Jesus, the only son of God, died for us, for all people, to be the one living sacrifice that would atone for all our sins, freeing us from having to atone for each and every sin ourselves (through sacrifices). Once our sin, guilt, and shame were cleaned white as snow, we, God's people, were (more) free to do God's will, to tell others about God, to follow Jesus' example, and to be an example ourselves.
So really, God was the same, is the same, and will continue to be the same. It's simply that the Israelites rebelled and did not follow God's plan.
So this, of course, begs the question: "Am I following God's plan? Am I following Jesus' example so that in turn I might be an example to those who see me? What am I doing to help others know God and to choose Him?"
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