It seems today that there are more people talking about God. Whether it is the God of the Bible I adhere to or is not the point. I could take time to talk about all the different gods being represented in the world, but if I just take what the Bible says all of these will be addressed.
Two familiar passages of Scriptures will help us in this discussion.
Exodus 20:3, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
We know this as the first commandment in the Ten Commandments. We see it as a command from God not to have any other gods. We have heard it preached as not serving our possessions, power, or prestige. We are not to put our cars, houses, boats, etc. before God. I want to take a different look at this verse. I think it would be good to look at this verse as a statement more than a commandment. A commandment gives the idea that we are to act upon what we are being told. A statement is a matter of fact, and in this case, a truth. If we look at this verse as a statement a great significance if seen. The emphasis is on the words “no other gods.” The fact is there are no other gods. There is only one God. Though humans have been calling rocks, trees, rivers, mountains, statues, people, animals, and others as gods; they are not gods at all. There is no power over anything above what the God of heaven allows. As stated in the Scripture:
Psalms 115:5-8, They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
When we start studying the Ten Commandments we should first start with the truth that there are no other god’s before the God of the Bible. There is only one God; our choice is to listen to Him or reject him. We are not just looking for another god as an option. The God of the Bible is supreme above all.
The other passage of Scripture that helps in the conversation is:
Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.
This verse starts our Bible and with that statement we see a number of things. There was no need to prove there is a God or Who He is. The Bible starts with the fact God is. Throughout Scripture we see this truth that God is. He tells Moses to state His name as the “I AM.” Genesis 1:1 greatly teaches this truth. Also, we see in this verse the truth of God’s creation. We see that God creates in Genesis 1:1 three things that are the foundations of all that exists. God created time, “in the beginning”, space, “heaven” and matter, “earth.” Everything we see is in time and in space built by matter. God is greater than His creation; we know that God is not limited by any of these.
Today I want to address that God is greater than time. Since God is greater than time we must not make statements such as, “God in time past or eternity past decided to make His creation." This puts God in some type of time before Genesis 1:1. This makes God smaller than time.
How big is your God? My God is greater than time. He does not exist inside any form of time. We, as a creation of God, will always exist in some type of time forever. My God does not look down through time as a trait of God, neither does He just know all that will happen down through time as a trait of God. My God is greater than time, thus He exists at the end of forever in an ever existing present. God is greater than forever.
How big is your God?
From the time we start learning Bible stories as a small child in Sunday school, we begin to retain knowledge of the Bible. But my question is not how many Bible stories do you know but how much of the Bible do you know? The Scriptures tells us that we are to teach our children the Bible. This is to be done starting at the earliest moments of life.
Deuteronomy 6:4-8: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
What we are to teach is the truth of who God is and what God expects from us. Teaching Bible stories is just the backdrop picture. How many people in the world know the story of David and Goliath? The answer is most average person in the US. If you have ever watched the NCAA March Madness you know that number is huge. But how many of them understand it was God that took down Goliath not the small boy. It wasn’t a small boy beating a Giant; it was an Infinite God who brought down a small man. We took the truth of this Scripture and have introduced to churches how to teach the truths of Scripture not just Bible stories. We take the time to go through each book of the Bible teaching the main characters and main principles taught in each book. As we go through each book we teach how each principle ties in with others in other books. We teach key memory verses to tie together these truths.
The goal in teaching children is simple. Teach till the child is confident in their own salvation. Notice I did not say until they are saved but when they are assure and confident in their salvation. Then the second goal is to get the each child confident in the Word of God. This begins at the early ages. When you take a child that is confident in their salvation and confident in the Word of God and you put them in the ups and downs of Junior High; the bumps get smaller. Fewer and smaller bumps lead to a stronger teen and young adult. For more ideas on this, see our children’s ministry ideas on our web site, www.churchhelps.org.
The year 2011 marks the 400th anniversary year for the King James translation of the Bible which has given another occasion for some to criticize the KJV. The criticism comes in the form of attacking the scholarship of the translators by criticizing the lack of scholarship of the Greek manuscripts from which the King James was translated. But most of all, critics tend to make fun of those who take a position of King James only. For the record, I am, with conviction, a supporter in the Received Majority Text. I preach and teach from the King James. However, as I have blogged before, making statements from the pulpit needs to be totally truthful.
Many critics make fun of preachers who stand in the pulpit and shout that they preach only from the 1611 King James Version. I am afraid that at preacher's fellowships and other Bible Conferences I hear too many times preachers make statements such as, “Bless God, if you are not preaching from a 1611 you are preaching from a perversion.” Truth is very important. I do not know of anyone who preaches from the 1611 King James Version due to the fact that the English words of that day do not look much like our English words today. You will see from the example below that most people would have a difficult time reading it. So, when statements are made from the pulpit that we use only the 1611 it allows for much attack.
The facts are that we have the Word of God. Our Bible is our Final Authority in all aspects of life. God in His power preserved His Word to all generations. We do not need to make ignorant statements. Preachers, please teach the truth and speak the truth in all statements made.
How many times have we heard in a sermon that we need to be in church whenever the doors are open? As I have posted before, truth being preached is important down to every word. I hate that it has come to this, but when I hear a preacher begin a statement with "Bless God" what follows so many times is missing something of the truth. I know what the preacher meant when he said be in church every time the doors are open. But what is heard by others may be different. If you take the words literally there is a problem.
I have worked around churches for many, many years. Most churches open their doors around eight or nine o clock every morning. How many church members are there? In a number of the churches we have worked with there have been different activities for different groups and ages. The doors are open for the activity for little children, but we don't normally have many Senior citizens show up. The doors are also open for the Senior citizen luncheons, but not too many juniors show up. At this time some are saying, "You know that is not what the preacher meant." And my reply is of course, and I would think that most people would think the same. My point is this: why say it?
I have heard preachers make that statement, then use the verse to back their statement with the verse stating we should not forsake the assembly. I am not trying to be difficult; I am just wanting to point out the importance of making truthful statements. When you tell people not to forsake the assembling and only use this verse, you will run into a problem. We are told that we need to be in church Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night and if you are not there you are neglecting the assembling. But, if a church does not schedule a service on Sunday night or Wednesday night, are you NOT neglecting anymore? However, if you don't have Sunday night or Wednesday night services you are "going liberal." What have we taught our people? If you go to church for three services you are a good Christian. If you miss an activity you are not as spiritual as another who is there all the time. Many people then rationalize why they are not there every time the doors are open and many soon rationalize more and more services and activities away. How many reading this blog are aware that in many parts of the world good Bible believing and preaching churches meet only once on Sunday? That one service, however, lasts for several hours because people have walked a long way to get there. Also there are some who though they meet every Sunday have to wait several Sundays before the Pastor is there because the Pastor pastor's several churches.
So, what is the balance of truth? We need to teach our people why we serve, how we serve, and when we serve. Quoting only one verse just gets us in trouble because we fail to teach the whys.
