I wonder sometimes what it must of been like for the Apostles to write the New Testament. What it must of been like and how it all happened. We read the Scriptures and know that it is "God-breathed" and the very words of God, yet we also know that humans wrote it down. Therefore, in a sense, there is this double authorship of the Scriptures. John Stott explains it amazingly in his book "The Contemporary Christian:"
"The same Scripture which says 'the mouth of the Lord has spoken' also says that God spoke 'by the mouth of the holy prophets'. Out of whose mouth did Scripture come, then? God's or man's? The only biblical answer is 'both'. Indeed, God spoke through human authors in such a way that his words were simultaneously their words, and their words were simultaneously his. This is the double authorship of the Bible. Scripture is equally the Word of God and the words of human beings. Better, it is the Word of God through the words of human beings."
He goes on to say this: "Thus on the one hand God spoke, determining what he wanted to say, yet without smothering the personality of the human authors. On the other hand, human beings spoke, using their faculties freely, yet without distorting the truth which God was speaking through them."
Therefore, because of this double authorship, we should approach Scripture in two ways. First, we must come before it in acknowledgment that it is the Word of God. We should read it like no other book. Second, we should read it like we read every other book, "using our minds, thinking, pondering and reflecting, and paying close attention to its literary, historical, cultural, and linguistic characteristics."
I love what Stott says here. I love the fact that he reminds us that Scripture is the Word of God, but it was given to us through the words of humans. I think some critics will try to say that Stott gives too much credit to humans; however, on the contrary, I believe this truth he presents shed even more light on the power of our God and His incredible nature that He would use fallen creatures to communicate His truth. We serve an amazing God! Wouldn't you agree!
In all, present in this truth stated by Stott is the need for balance. One cannot neglect the fact that human words were employed here, but also cannot take it to the extreme where the fact that it is God's Word is neglected. On the other hand, one cannot take it so far to the side of being God's Word that one rejects the participation of humans in the process. Just like with many other areas of our faith, there must be a balance, and we, as fallen creatures, have to rely on the Holy Spirit's guidance to live in this balance.
Pressing on,
Tim
PS. Please share your thoughts!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
A Long Way From Home
Never before in my life have I experienced such a display of hope and hopelessness. One minute you are witnessing the false worship of thousands, and the next moment you hear what must be a sound clip of the praises that will be heard in Heaven at the feet of Jesus. My trip to India has made an immense impact of my personal life, my relationship with the Lord, and my understanding of my role in this world. I have been back in America for about a little over a week, and I am continuing to process through my thoughts in an attempt to make sense of it all. Even as I sit here trying to write this blog, I am at a lost for words and am having a hard time determining where to start.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:4 states that "the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." I witnessed this blinding first hand while in India. You have people who believe that this monkey god will bring them some sort of strength or blessing as they bring their box of sweets to lay at its feet. You have people who believe that they can wash their sins away using one of the most polluted rivers in the world (Ganges River). And you have people who believe that they have relatives who have been reincarnated as a cow. It all seems extremely absurd to me, but this is the extent that the evil one has blinded them. But what joy it was to walk among the people, blessing them in the name of Jesus, and asking the Spirit to draw the people. It was an extremely dark place and spiritual oppression was everywhere, but it was so evident that there is light and that there is hope because our God reigns!
One of the great lessons the Lord taught me on this trip was through one of the Hindu worship services we went to. Every Sunday night there is this service where 7-9 Brahman Hindu men perform this ritual praising and calling upon the Ghanga. We went and proclaimed the name of Jesus, sang songs, and prayed for the people. It was an intense experience of roller coaster emotions as I found myself angry one moment, sad the next, then joyful, and then back to angry. Angry at the way the evil one has fooled and tricked these people, sad at the false worship and the lostness of the people, and joyful for my salvation and the God that sought me out. But as the bells for this ceremony rang, I tried to sing louder and louder but couldn't drown out the bells. It was seriously the most spiritually oppressive time of my life. And then my heart began to break at the sight of all the false worship and how it must have been making God feel. And then it hit me. God smacked me with a huge lesson, and it was as if I sensed God saying, "yes, my heart does break at the sight of these people's false worship; however, they aren't the only ones who worship falsely. The things they worship might be idols and such, but what about the things in your life that you worship: entertainment, success, materialism, consumerism, etc. They break my heart equally as bad." Wow! After weeping and being broken by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, I realized that God had blessed me with a means to connect emotionally to what my sin does to Him. Just as my heart broke at the sight of the false worship, God's heart breaks on an even greater scale. I don't want to break the heart of God, and I don't want to take the focus off of Him that is due to Him.
Like I said, we were able to witness the hope of India while we were there and heard amazing testimonies of some believers there and all that they have gone through. I will never really know what persecution is like and what losing a family for my faith is like. But one thing it did, was make me cherish my salvation and fall even more in love with the Lord. Sitting and listening to Indian believers worship the Father in heaven was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I will always remember their faces, the sounds, smells, and more. Thank you to everyone who supported financially and offered up prayers while we were gone. The Lord protected us and allowed us to experience some amazing things.
This really does not even come close to doing justice to the things I saw and did, there will be more in the days to come. Please ask me questions if you have them, and I look forward to sharing more with you.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:4 states that "the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." I witnessed this blinding first hand while in India. You have people who believe that this monkey god will bring them some sort of strength or blessing as they bring their box of sweets to lay at its feet. You have people who believe that they can wash their sins away using one of the most polluted rivers in the world (Ganges River). And you have people who believe that they have relatives who have been reincarnated as a cow. It all seems extremely absurd to me, but this is the extent that the evil one has blinded them. But what joy it was to walk among the people, blessing them in the name of Jesus, and asking the Spirit to draw the people. It was an extremely dark place and spiritual oppression was everywhere, but it was so evident that there is light and that there is hope because our God reigns!
One of the great lessons the Lord taught me on this trip was through one of the Hindu worship services we went to. Every Sunday night there is this service where 7-9 Brahman Hindu men perform this ritual praising and calling upon the Ghanga. We went and proclaimed the name of Jesus, sang songs, and prayed for the people. It was an intense experience of roller coaster emotions as I found myself angry one moment, sad the next, then joyful, and then back to angry. Angry at the way the evil one has fooled and tricked these people, sad at the false worship and the lostness of the people, and joyful for my salvation and the God that sought me out. But as the bells for this ceremony rang, I tried to sing louder and louder but couldn't drown out the bells. It was seriously the most spiritually oppressive time of my life. And then my heart began to break at the sight of all the false worship and how it must have been making God feel. And then it hit me. God smacked me with a huge lesson, and it was as if I sensed God saying, "yes, my heart does break at the sight of these people's false worship; however, they aren't the only ones who worship falsely. The things they worship might be idols and such, but what about the things in your life that you worship: entertainment, success, materialism, consumerism, etc. They break my heart equally as bad." Wow! After weeping and being broken by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, I realized that God had blessed me with a means to connect emotionally to what my sin does to Him. Just as my heart broke at the sight of the false worship, God's heart breaks on an even greater scale. I don't want to break the heart of God, and I don't want to take the focus off of Him that is due to Him.
Like I said, we were able to witness the hope of India while we were there and heard amazing testimonies of some believers there and all that they have gone through. I will never really know what persecution is like and what losing a family for my faith is like. But one thing it did, was make me cherish my salvation and fall even more in love with the Lord. Sitting and listening to Indian believers worship the Father in heaven was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I will always remember their faces, the sounds, smells, and more. Thank you to everyone who supported financially and offered up prayers while we were gone. The Lord protected us and allowed us to experience some amazing things.
This really does not even come close to doing justice to the things I saw and did, there will be more in the days to come. Please ask me questions if you have them, and I look forward to sharing more with you.
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