you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,”
says the LORD.
5 For your Maker is your husband—
the LORD Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
6 The LORD will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,”
says the LORD your Redeemer.
the LORD Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
6 The LORD will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,”
says the LORD your Redeemer.
There are so many passages promising redemption. The new testament makes it pretty clear that redemption is in Christ. The New Testament also draws the line as to the "qualifications" for grace. Yet Old Testament prophesy continually promises redemption as God makes Himself known as the Lord your Redeemer. I believe this is a very powerful and truthful prophesy that does not apply only to Jews, but to the Entire House of Israel and I believe that Christ will ultimately be the vehicle. While we as Christians have responsibility to live in Spirit and to follow rules, I believe that ultimately, these old testament prophesies will be fulfilled, providing grace and salvation even to those who do not follow new testament theology.
I remember my pastor saying "scholars and theologians pretty much all agree that salvation does in fact require works" This is an age old debate. While for a time I subscribed to this belief, ultimately I believe that regardless of all of this, the Lord your Redeemer will in fact be Our Lord our Redeemer.
So what do I do with all the evidence? I weigh it and balance it and come to a conclusion. My conclusion is this. The Lord God created heavens and earth and Lord God has a plan which will happen regardless of the number of interpretations we make. I do not beleive for a second that our wrong interpretations cause eternal damnation. I believe God has a plan and is executing the plan. From Alpha to Omega, everything truly is unfolding as it should.
I get what you mean and i agree with a lot of it which is sweet! But so if those interpretations lead us to worshipping our own image of God instead of who The Church says God is, then that's when God gets a bit pissed i think because he is a jealous God who won't give what's due Him to anyone or anything else. If our personality, general values or chosen style of life dictates who "God" is for us, then we're in big doo doo in a big way. I know because i like to be and to live a certain way which is more free (or my interpretation of the word free) than other people. But then that started to dictate my views about important things and so that affected the kind of God that fitted what i wanted.
ReplyDeleteA tonne of people do that and think it's okay but it's not. There is a way to live right with God and not be an arsehole about it.
Thas what i think anyways.
Brenda
What a strange coin this is.
ReplyDeleteThe flip side is, a tonne of people would let “The Church” say what God is and worship what they are told because it is “too much like work” to learn and decide for themselves what God is. They would rather trust their Church to tell them and that could be as risky since it is my belief "The Church" got much of the important stuff wrong. And it is why I so agree with your conclusion Don, it will all happen as it's supposed to regardless of our wrong interpretation and that too is, as you say, "by design".
So I ask myself, why would “The Church” be allowed by God to teach errors?
- because the bible is mostly irrelevant and the errors inconsequential. It’s a nice book to have on your coffee table and tote to Church Sunday morning so long as you have faith in Jesus
- It isn't wrong. Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Presbyterian, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Baptist, Evangelical, etc. are all from God because they teach Christ and to reject their teaching damns you to hell. Ignore the small stuff.
- because God allows them to be wrong because it suits his great purpose.
- if you have another idea, would love to hear it.
The only conclusion I can come up with for this is, if the understanding and interpretation were correct and if The Church were getting it right and we rejected it we would be rejecting God knowingly, denying the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and damning us to hell.
But what if what The Church was teaching were wrong and much of the damaged world who are too ill, damaged and weak of spirit rejected the wrong teaching then what have they rejected? Yes, they still have their sin, and they have the blood of Christ to wipe away their sin, but if they rejected the true Christ they would have no such sacrifice if what the bible says is true. What if the Christ they believed they were rejecting wasn’t the true Christ? Then they would have rejected nothing.
How beautiful is Grace that God would have covered this angle too?!!
There is still much the bible says has to happen. I have to ask, what is an Antichrist? Ever watched the Nostradamus Report on the History Channel? Is it just me or does it seem comical. What would an Antichrist who deceives the “whole word” have to look like to actually deceive “the whole world”? Would he not have to match the worlds understanding of Christ? Anything less would be a cartoon character.
There will come a time where life and death will be placed before us and God would have us choose life. But God has not put that task in the hands of those that would call themselves Priests and Ministers. The risks are too great. Ezekiel 20:33-35.
Alex
6 “My people have been lost sheep;
ReplyDeletetheir shepherds have led them astray
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill
and forgot their own resting place.
7 Whoever found them devoured them;
their enemies said,
‘We are not guilty,
for they sinned against the LORD,
their verdant pasture,
the LORD,
the hope of their ancestors.’
And the moral of the story is, those who are content in their churches would be wise to be a little less so and those who are poor of spirit and and us who are worried for them should be a little less so.
ReplyDeleteThe good sheppard will leave the 99 to go and find the 1 when it is time.
:o)
Alex