Early in His model prayer, the Lord teaches us to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” (Matthew 6:10, Luke 11:2) Much can and ought to be said about this, for the Holy Spirit seems to have much to say about it in His Scriptures. David was promised a Descendant Who will sit on his throne forever. Daniel prophesied about this everlasting kingdom. Wise men from the east came seeking the “King of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2). John the Baptist preached, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). When questioned by Pilate, “Jesus answered, ‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. …’” (John 18:37). Near the end of the Bible, we are foretold of a time when “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).
The Holy Spirit inspired much more to be written by Matthew, John, & others concerning the kingdom of God. So we can begin to understand why we are given an early reminder in the Lord’s prayer to pray, “Thy kingdom come,” and why we are instructed from Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.”
Indeed, the gospel much includes the doctrines associated with Christ’s kingdom – the Scriptures even specifically state that Christ Himself and His disciples went “preaching the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23, 9:35, 24:14; Mark 1:14). This leads us to the following consideration: If the good news is more about Christ and His kingdom and not so much about us and our formula for obtaining eternal life, then the entire foundation for our theology and the building which stands upon it may need seriously revamped. Let us be encouraged toward a deeper study of this “[good news] of the kingdom” so as “to show [ourselves] approved unto God, [workmen] that needeth not to be ashamed” of a false emphasis, but “rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15).
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Saturday, September 23, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Taking God's Name
The third of the Ten Commandments states, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7) Most Christians should recognize that using the Lord’s name as a profane expletive has no significant benefit; therefore, such use easily falls under the category of vanity. But there is another sense, a more important one, which begs understanding.
When a woman marries in a Biblical culture, her last name changes. We say that she has given up her father’s name and has “taken her husband’s name.” But if she continues to live like a single person or if she begins getting involved in adulterous relationships, she has taken her husband’s name in vain. She is not being faithful to her identity as her husband’s wife.
We who have been baptized “in the Name” of the triune God have “taken Christ’s name.” We are the Bride of Christ, and we are called Christians. But if we are not keeping ourselves “only unto Him,” then we have taken His name in vain.
Another approach to this important principle could be stated as follows: If you were born into the Smith family, then you are a Smith, like it or not; it’s too late to change your mind. You will not change the fact even if you isolate yourself entirely from any association with other Smiths. You can only bring shame or glory to the name … because you are stuck with it.
Similarly, if you were once born into Christ’s family, then you are a Christian, like it or not; it’s too late to change your mind. You will not change the fact even if you isolate yourself entirely from any association with other Christians. You can only bring shame or glory to the Name … because you are stuck with It. But always remember: if you are failing to live as a faithful member of the Body and Bride of Christ, then “the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” This is just another reason to pray, “Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.” (Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2)
When a woman marries in a Biblical culture, her last name changes. We say that she has given up her father’s name and has “taken her husband’s name.” But if she continues to live like a single person or if she begins getting involved in adulterous relationships, she has taken her husband’s name in vain. She is not being faithful to her identity as her husband’s wife.
We who have been baptized “in the Name” of the triune God have “taken Christ’s name.” We are the Bride of Christ, and we are called Christians. But if we are not keeping ourselves “only unto Him,” then we have taken His name in vain.
Another approach to this important principle could be stated as follows: If you were born into the Smith family, then you are a Smith, like it or not; it’s too late to change your mind. You will not change the fact even if you isolate yourself entirely from any association with other Smiths. You can only bring shame or glory to the name … because you are stuck with it.
Similarly, if you were once born into Christ’s family, then you are a Christian, like it or not; it’s too late to change your mind. You will not change the fact even if you isolate yourself entirely from any association with other Christians. You can only bring shame or glory to the Name … because you are stuck with It. But always remember: if you are failing to live as a faithful member of the Body and Bride of Christ, then “the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” This is just another reason to pray, “Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.” (Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2)
Saturday, September 16, 2006
God First in Prayer
Of the many observations to be made about what is commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2), the following is another reminder of the necessity of humility in our approach to God. Aside from the initial use of the possessive adjective in the address to “our Father,” notice that the first three lines of the prayer say nothing directly about us. It’s about God, His Name, His kingdom, and His will. We must acknowledge Who He is before we offer any thanks or make any petitions.
“Hallowed be Thy Name” and not the names of any of the gods of this world or any other world for that matter. No other god is worthy of our veneration; no other god can “give us our daily Bread” of eternal life; no other god can “forgive us our trespasses;” no other god can “deliver us from evil.” So we must not make these requests until we acknowledge the greatness of the One Who is worthy of our worship and requests. Why do we make petitions of Him? Why do we even acknowledge Him? Who does He think He is?
He is the God “which art in Heaven.” It is His Name Which is to be hallowed. It is His kingdom to which all other kingdoms must submit. It is His will that is to be done in His heaven and in His earth, since He is the Maker of them both. It is all His, and it is by Him and for Him, as we are reminded not only at the beginning but also at the end of the prayer. It’s His kingdom, it’s by His power, and it’s for His glory.
Only in this recognition of our omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God can we really exercise the faith to know that He hears us and that “whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” (I John 5:15) “The LORD He is God; there is none else beside Him.” (Deuteronomy 4:35)
“Hallowed be Thy Name” and not the names of any of the gods of this world or any other world for that matter. No other god is worthy of our veneration; no other god can “give us our daily Bread” of eternal life; no other god can “forgive us our trespasses;” no other god can “deliver us from evil.” So we must not make these requests until we acknowledge the greatness of the One Who is worthy of our worship and requests. Why do we make petitions of Him? Why do we even acknowledge Him? Who does He think He is?
He is the God “which art in Heaven.” It is His Name Which is to be hallowed. It is His kingdom to which all other kingdoms must submit. It is His will that is to be done in His heaven and in His earth, since He is the Maker of them both. It is all His, and it is by Him and for Him, as we are reminded not only at the beginning but also at the end of the prayer. It’s His kingdom, it’s by His power, and it’s for His glory.
Only in this recognition of our omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God can we really exercise the faith to know that He hears us and that “whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” (I John 5:15) “The LORD He is God; there is none else beside Him.” (Deuteronomy 4:35)
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Plagiarism All Over the Place
“There is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, Holy Bible, KJV) Two nights ago, my family enjoyed watching The Legend of Zorro (starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones), the sequel to The Mask of Zorro. One of the screen-writing elements which have been in so many movies, if not in almost every movie, occurred in this one as well. If you’ve watched very many movies at all without disengaging your brain, you’ve likely noticed this particular element – when the good guy gets caught by the bad guys, they never terminate him immediately, even when they have the opportunity. This is an extreme irony.
Often these same bad guys, earlier in the story, were killing innocent people “at the drop of a hat” (i.e., without even a second thought). Although not always the case, these innocent people are often people to whom we the viewers haven’t become too closely attached emotionally because their death would be too unpleasant for us (making the story less appealing). On occasion, however, the victim will be someone of whom we had become fond (though almost never the main hero); this is likely done to make us hate the bad guy even more, thus, rejoicing all the more (as my son did quite audibly with Zorro) when the good guy takes out the bad guy.
But back to my point about extreme irony…. The rancher whose deed the bad guy really wants for some reason, the rancher who poses so little of an offensive threat to the bad guy, is killed without the slightest hint of remorse; but when the bad guy later catches the good guy off guard, the good guy who poses the greatest offensive threat to the bad guy, this same bad guy suddenly has second thoughts about immediately terminating his opponent. (Oh, he plans to terminate him all right, but he wants to do it slowly to make it more painful for the good guy, or some other convenient reason like that.)
So what’s all this have to do with plagiarism? Well, first let’s ask “WHY?!” Why in the world do the screen-writers throw in some sort of “all-of-a-sudden-I’m-gonna-think-twice-about-my-actions” perspective from the bad guy smack dab in the middle of the story’s climax? How realistic is that? No wonder the good guy always wins! All you have to do is throw in some (additional) inconsistency in the bad guy’s character, and your story can always turn out well in the end. Well, I’ll tell you why: this is the unspoken divine element of the story.
Even years ago, I used to think that one of the basic differences between good Christian stories and good non-Christian stories was simply that one acknowledged the presence and work of God and the other didn’t. (I’ll expound on this further in a moment but first…) Basically, the reason David was able to kill Goliath is the same reason that John Wayne was always able to outdraw his opponent – because God made it so. Only, David acknowledged this truth loudly, and John Wayne did not.
As I've thought about it, I’m convinced even more that this is so. In the most real, most true Story of all, it is impossible for evil to ultimately triumph over good… because God is good. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17, Holy Bible, KJV) Goodness (and evil, for that matter, but that’s another discussion) is NOT an absolute independent of any and all sources. Walking an old lady across the street is not a good deed just because it is; there’s a reason it’s good. That reason is God, Who is ontologically Good. (That is, Goodness is His very nature; It’s Who He is.) God is Goodness. Therefore, He cannot but triumph over evil. (I’m beginning to think that evil cannot even exist apart from Him. I think He probably created evil – Isaiah 45:7 – as another means of manifesting His goodness, to make us rejoice all the more when the Good Guy takes out the bad guy.)
The better the screen-writer becomes at story-telling, the closer he comes to “plagiarizing” God’s Story. How far into a 2.5-hour movie do you have to watch before some problem surfaces? Unless the movie is quite slow-moving, it’s not very long before the viewer becomes very suspicious, if not fully aware, of the problem. (Then the rest of the movie is spent developing that problem further and/or bringing it to a resolution.) And how long did it take for Evil to show its ugly face in God’s Story? ... In chapter 3, out of 1,193 chapters!
Why do we connect with and feel sorry for the poor rancher who was so heartlessly terrorized? Because we can relate to him; indeed, because we are (or were) related to him. So now we hate Evil all the more, even though we invited him. We welcomed him, and he robbed us blind. And now we rejoice when the Good Guy crushes the bad guy’s head, and the Good Guy’s redemption of us is all the more glorious!
This is why Good must triumph over Evil. This is why the bad guy can never fully carry out his hatred against the good guy. This is why the screen-writers can’t help but turn the tables on the bad guy for no apparent reason – the reason is not apparent because they hate admitting that God tells the greatest Story and the best they can do is copy It. – They have to do it; it would not be realistic, otherwise. God is real. And He’s really good!
Often these same bad guys, earlier in the story, were killing innocent people “at the drop of a hat” (i.e., without even a second thought). Although not always the case, these innocent people are often people to whom we the viewers haven’t become too closely attached emotionally because their death would be too unpleasant for us (making the story less appealing). On occasion, however, the victim will be someone of whom we had become fond (though almost never the main hero); this is likely done to make us hate the bad guy even more, thus, rejoicing all the more (as my son did quite audibly with Zorro) when the good guy takes out the bad guy.
But back to my point about extreme irony…. The rancher whose deed the bad guy really wants for some reason, the rancher who poses so little of an offensive threat to the bad guy, is killed without the slightest hint of remorse; but when the bad guy later catches the good guy off guard, the good guy who poses the greatest offensive threat to the bad guy, this same bad guy suddenly has second thoughts about immediately terminating his opponent. (Oh, he plans to terminate him all right, but he wants to do it slowly to make it more painful for the good guy, or some other convenient reason like that.)
So what’s all this have to do with plagiarism? Well, first let’s ask “WHY?!” Why in the world do the screen-writers throw in some sort of “all-of-a-sudden-I’m-gonna-think-twice-about-my-actions” perspective from the bad guy smack dab in the middle of the story’s climax? How realistic is that? No wonder the good guy always wins! All you have to do is throw in some (additional) inconsistency in the bad guy’s character, and your story can always turn out well in the end. Well, I’ll tell you why: this is the unspoken divine element of the story.
Even years ago, I used to think that one of the basic differences between good Christian stories and good non-Christian stories was simply that one acknowledged the presence and work of God and the other didn’t. (I’ll expound on this further in a moment but first…) Basically, the reason David was able to kill Goliath is the same reason that John Wayne was always able to outdraw his opponent – because God made it so. Only, David acknowledged this truth loudly, and John Wayne did not.
As I've thought about it, I’m convinced even more that this is so. In the most real, most true Story of all, it is impossible for evil to ultimately triumph over good… because God is good. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17, Holy Bible, KJV) Goodness (and evil, for that matter, but that’s another discussion) is NOT an absolute independent of any and all sources. Walking an old lady across the street is not a good deed just because it is; there’s a reason it’s good. That reason is God, Who is ontologically Good. (That is, Goodness is His very nature; It’s Who He is.) God is Goodness. Therefore, He cannot but triumph over evil. (I’m beginning to think that evil cannot even exist apart from Him. I think He probably created evil – Isaiah 45:7 – as another means of manifesting His goodness, to make us rejoice all the more when the Good Guy takes out the bad guy.)
The better the screen-writer becomes at story-telling, the closer he comes to “plagiarizing” God’s Story. How far into a 2.5-hour movie do you have to watch before some problem surfaces? Unless the movie is quite slow-moving, it’s not very long before the viewer becomes very suspicious, if not fully aware, of the problem. (Then the rest of the movie is spent developing that problem further and/or bringing it to a resolution.) And how long did it take for Evil to show its ugly face in God’s Story? ... In chapter 3, out of 1,193 chapters!
Why do we connect with and feel sorry for the poor rancher who was so heartlessly terrorized? Because we can relate to him; indeed, because we are (or were) related to him. So now we hate Evil all the more, even though we invited him. We welcomed him, and he robbed us blind. And now we rejoice when the Good Guy crushes the bad guy’s head, and the Good Guy’s redemption of us is all the more glorious!
This is why Good must triumph over Evil. This is why the bad guy can never fully carry out his hatred against the good guy. This is why the screen-writers can’t help but turn the tables on the bad guy for no apparent reason – the reason is not apparent because they hate admitting that God tells the greatest Story and the best they can do is copy It. – They have to do it; it would not be realistic, otherwise. God is real. And He’s really good!
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