Pedro Melendez “Your money — or your life!” That is an expression I had heard since I was a boy. As most everybody knows, this is a line spoken by a holdup who wants you to hand over your money, or else he takes your life. And if you don’t, the thief kills you — and he gets your money just the same!
In an increasingly wicked world which we live in (Matthew 24:12; 2 Timothy 3:1-7), people daily confront situations which are also increasingly matters of life and death:
One of the reasons why most Jews do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was — or is — the long-prophesied Messiah is their contention that Jesus was not descended from King Solomon. True, the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 1:1-16 traces him back to King Solomon (see especially Verses 6 and 7). However, this genealogy is that of Joseph — Mary’s husband, who was not the biological father of Jesus at all.
As Verses 18-20 continue with the story, Mary had become pregnant with the child Jesus by the Holy Spirit before she and Joseph had sexual relations. Luke 1:35 testifies that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and through that power she bore Jesus who is called here “the Holy One” and “the Son of God.” Thus Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus has been considered His “legal” genealogy, Joseph having become His “stepfather” of some sort.
“If God is a good and loving God, why is there a devil?” is a question many have asked. Some add: “Why does God allow the devil to have such a powerful sway over mankind as to cause a lot of trouble and misery in this world? Did God create Satan? If so, how could God have created the devil?!”
Just where did the devil come from?
The Bible — especially in the Psalms — overflows with great awe at the wondrous works of a marvelous God. Israel’s King David wrote: “I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works” (Psalm 9:10).
Psalms 72:18; 86:10; 105:2; 119:27; and 145:5 declare that God does wondrous things and wondrous works. Psalms 77:14; 89:5; 107:24; and 136:4 extol God’s great wonders in creation and in human history. David looked at the heavens and was awe-struck that a God who created the vast expanse of the heavens could care at all for man, who is but made of dust (Psalm 8:34; 103:19). How much more should men today — with all the powerful instruments we have devised to probe ever farther into the intricate details of our universe — stand in awe of God’s wondrous and marvelous works?
“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.” (Matthew 12:31, NKJV.)
One of the difficult sayings of Jesus Christ is that quoted above, concerning the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, sin that will not be forgiven. Mark 3:29 puts Jesus’ saying a bit differently: “…but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation…”
Many Bible students have called this the “unpardonable sin.” In light of such Scripture passages as Psalm 103:8 [“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.”] and Psalm 106:1 [“Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”], some Bible readers wonder how an ever-gracious and ever-merciful God could run out of mercy and forgiveness.
Father Abraham had many sons,
Many sons had Father Abraham;
I am one of them, so are you;
So let’s all praise the Lord…
Sunday school kids enjoy singing the lively action song about “Father Abraham.” When we come to think of it, just about everybody wants, or claims, to be a child of Abraham! Jews certainly claim to be the biological children of Abraham. Many Arabs and Muslims certainly claim likewise, to have descended from Abraham. And Christians — whatever their race may be — also believe they are spiritual children of Abraham, as do Muslim converts from non-Arab nations.
Yet, wonder of wonders, why do all the people who claim to be children of Abraham disagree with each other, even — in parts — fighting each other, like mortal enemies? And very much it looks like the extremists in all the different camps of “Abraham’s children,” as never before, are now bringing this world closer on the brink of another world war!
Who has not heard the story about a man who saw a vision in the sky with the letters “P.C.” boldly emblazoned? This man, the story goes, forthwith concluded what the initials meant: “Preach Christ!”
Some have taunted the many people who, without any real call from God nor any adequate preparation in both heart and mind, rush to “preach Christ.” They say that these people should read the initials, instead, as “Plant [or Plow] Corn!”
On the occasion of the visit to the Philippines late last year by the Roman Catholic pontiff Pope Francis, a special song was composed by a Filipina celebrity. It was titled “We Are All God’s Children.” The song obviously aimed to promote compassion, love and solidarity among all people, especially in the face of tragic situations such as that brought about by typhoon Haiyan (locally named “Yolanda”) which had struck the central Philippine islands in 2013, snuffing out upwards of 10,000 human lives and destroying property worth incalculable millions of pesos.
Over two weeks ago, as I write, my wife Paz and I had one of the pleasant surprises in our lives. It was something we never thought could happen up close, but it did — and it left us with a deeper appreciation of God’s wisdom in creating all things. In this article I’d like to share the joy and delight we experienced in confronting that wisdom. May the lessons learned from the experience prove inspiring and edifying to you who read this.
As Psalm 104:24 exults: “O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions…” And Psalm 111:2 suggests: “The works of the LORD are great, studied by those who have pleasure in them.”
“But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
Most of us are very familiar with the force of gravity or gravitation in our everyday life. Gravity is what keeps us stable as we walk, run, or make any other bodily motions. Gravity orients us as to where “up” is and where “down” is. Without gravity acting upon us, we would be like the astronauts in their spaceship that orbits around the earth’s stratosphere, where there is “zero gravity.” You’ve probably seen videos or movies of astronauts floating or walking so lightly and clumsily inside their spaceship.
If we’re sensible, as I assume most people are, we would respect the law of gravity as a real force. Thus we don’t horse around while we are standing on a window ledge on the 20th floor of a building — unless we are thinking of suicide, as some have thought and done.