I’m new to the Christian community on Twitter. And I’m still learning the ropes on how it works; courtesies and protocols, things like that. Yesterday, there were a number of tweets on the Rapture. I couldn’t find the original tweet to which people were responding, but one person apparently could not agree that the Rapture would take place before the Great Tribulation (nor can I with certainty) and another Christian replied to the effect that he’ll pray for him because Satan had apparently blinded him to the truth. Did this upset person mean the Biblical truth, or the truth according to John Nelson Darby as he saw it? I doubt this person ever heard of Darby or C I Scofield, either. He had likely read some popular novels or watched some contemporary movies on crashing planes with missing pilots. Perhaps he goes to a dispensational church? He may be correct that the Rapture will occur before the tribulation, and I hope he is, but he is just as likely to be mistaken. If Jesus, Himself, didn’t know the time of His coming (Matthew 24:36), how can we? But one’s belief of when the Rapture occurs is not a matter of doctrine but rather dogma. And it should not break our fellowship. You are not deceived if you reach a different conclusion than I. I may be way off the mark, but I know my redeemer lives.
A young earth?
I believe that life on Earth is yery young, and the diversity of life that we have today was created in less than one calendar week. It’s possible that the planet is much older, but I doubt that. I may be wrong, but my faith does not depend on a young Earth. Scientists who believe that the universe is as old as 14 billion years can nevertheless trust in Jesus and enjoy saving faith as well as I can.
Eternal security
Personally, I believe in eternal security. I have my favorite verses that suggest that a person once saved is always saved. I also know there are verses that suggest that the contrary is true. I’ve chosen to believe in eternal security, because I believe the verses that support it are more convincing than others that are not. Perhaps I’ll work on a post someday on the subject. And whether I am eternally secure or not, what would I do differently in my life? I have to trust in Jesus for salvation, because I can’t work my way to Heaven.
On spiritual gifts
I believe that every Christian is potentially able to exercises the supernatural gifts of the Spirit depending on the circumstances and what God is doing at that moment. I would not go near a rattlesnake as some snakehandlers deliberately do to test their faith. But I would risk getting bitten to save a child. And if God is at work on that occasion and has plans for me in the future, I will survive. So, I believe that some people are healed today, and that some genuine prophecy occurs today, and so on. I’m discouraged, however, by how many “prophets” in this country make “mistakes,” and then try to come up with excuses. Even if they don’t try to weasle out or cover up what they’ve said that has been proved false, they need to check themselves. Proclaiming “Thus saith the Lord when the Lord hath not spoken” in Biblical times was a serious offense.
Prophecy is a gift as Paul notes in his first epistle to Corinth, and is much more than just foretelling things. It also deals with rightly applying the Word of God to given situations in the Church and our society. Mercy is a gift from the Spirit as well as prophecy(Romans 12:6-8.) Between the two, I am probably more attracted to mercy. Sometimes, these gift appear to conflict. Say you catch someone in your church stealing money. But they seem truly repentant when confronted. Do you “throw the book at them” and have them arrested or show mercy and reconcile them to the Body? Obviously, some crimes need to be reported to the police, else you wind up in the same predicament as the Catholic Church has. But am I wrong for advocating for mercy? What if I were on a criminal jury with you, and you voted for conviction while I voted for acquittal? Both of us would be applying heartfelt values and beliefs in good faith. Would that break our fellowship?
Reimagining heaven
One of the more popular topics these past few years, at least as far as Sunday School curriculum is concerned, is Heaven. Now, I’m familiar with most of the references to Heaven in Scripture, but people are writing best selling books covering hundreds of pages on what they believe Heaven is like. They take the take the word “streets” out of Revelation 21 and assume that if there are streets in the New Jerusalem, then people will have cars and trucks to drive, so there will necessarily be service stations (which sell snacks, incidentally. That would be great news to me.) And I might get my Camaro back. Then, there might be pets in Heaven. There is a dog and pony for everyone here. I was talking with a brother once who claimed that someone had visited Heaven in the spirit more than seventy times, and this person talked about fields, brooks, etc. He told me there were YouTube videos available. I mentioned to my friend that in I Corinthians 2: 10 Paul writes: “‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.’ So, how does this guy know?” I think I hurt his feelings, and if I did, I’m truly sorry. But, again, I could be wrong. Maybe there will be baseball and fly fishing, Tex-Mex dining, etc. Or, maybe it is just wishful thinking.
God wants you well?
I pray for people to be healed, though I know that God does not physically heal everyone (and not every Christian, even.) If so, Christians would be in perfect health–no heart disease, no cancer, no depression, no arthritis and no COVID-19. Blaming the sick person as some people in “healing ministries” do for a lack of faith if a supplicant is not healed does not make sense to me. If we can be healed on someone else’s faith (Matthew 8:5-13), one could easily blame the “faith healer” for a lack of faith. If some of us are not healed, there may be a reason, as the Apostle Paul discovered. Again, I may be wrong.
God wants you wealthy
Does God want us to all be millionaires? If you follow the “prosperity gospel” you might easily conclude this is so. You might also conclude that if you are not a millionaire (e.g., you did not inherit a fortune from your family, or win the lotto, or the fact that you were paralysed defending our country in Afghanistan kept you from making a fortune as a motivational speaker, or you had to sacrifice your career when your special needs children required your attention), you lack saving faith or God’s love. Do you need Italian shoes or Salvatore Ferragamo tote bags to be welcomed into the Kingdom? I disagree. I think this is a terrible indictment of–even an insult to–the hundreds of millions of Christians who live in countries much less properous the the U.S.A. We could have been born there ourselves!
Paul writing in his second epistle to Timothy (2:4) notes “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” This is a warning we must all keep in mind.
If on my deathbed I realize I’ve been wrong all this time on when the Rapture will occur, how long it took God to create this wonderful (but threatened) biosphere, that eternal security is an illusion, that the gifts of the Spirit ceased long ago, then I would be reduced to my lowest denominator. I would still know that my redeemer lives. If I know nothing at all it would be that!
I know my redeemer lives
We know the story of Job. Here is the shorthand: Confident of the outcome, God allows Satan to progressively destroy Job’s life, his family, his property, finally his body as he sits at the gate, covered with sores. His friends tell him he must have messed up big-time, that God has turned His back on Job, and that Job should curse God and die. But, reduced to a thread of life with Job dangling precariously at the end of it, Job replies “I know that my redeemer lives (Job 19:25.)” Job is uncertain how this can happen to him. Why has tragedy struck? Why has his prayers for healing not being answered? Where is God in Job’s hour of need?
The author of the book of Job uses the term goel, from “to redeem”(גֹּ֣אֲלִי). “This goel was the name given to the next of kin whose duty it was to redeem, ransom, or avenge one who had fallen into debt or bondage, or had been slain in a family feud” (Elliot’s Commentary.) It is tempting to think that Job was referring to Jesus, but he likely was not. However, we know from the New Testament (Matthew 20:28) that Jesus came “to give his life as a ransom for many.” I Peter 1:17ff calls Jesus our redeemer: “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
So, God made us free men and women, but in sinning in the Garden of Eden, we lost our freedom and as slaves to sin, gave the devil certain claim over us. But like medeival kings who fought in the Crusades and were captured by the enemy (or some other country along the way), the captured king’s freedom could be restored if his subjects raised and paid a ransom, hence the term “king’s ransom.” We were prisoners, ourselves in some sense and Jesus had to die on the cross to ransom us. Instead of jewels and silver and gold, our ransom was paid with Jesus’ precious blood.
In a sense, Job is saying to his friends “I don’t know why these things have happened to me. I don’t know why God does not intervene. Nothing in my life has prepared me for this. But I do know one thing with absolute certainty and conviction, and that is that I know my redeemer lives, and he will defend me to the very end.”
So, in spite of what I’ve learned in life, or did not learn, or any incorrect conclusions I may have drawn, I know this: That, like Job, I have a Redeemer in Jesus Christ who has already ransomed me and who will defend me in any court in Heaven. That’s the sum of my faith: I know that my redeemer lives. Amen
Featured photo credit: Bricolage (Shutterstock.)
