Should I read all of the Old Testament?

In the Old Testament we find books such as Numbers and some genealogy’s. Must we read all of it? Are these books applicable to the lives of Christians today? Have you ever heard a sermon out of the book of Numbers?

Why do we read the Bible? Christians believe that the Bible is the living breathing Word of God. We can grow spiritually by reading the Bible! For example reading the story of Jesus and how he was crucified for our sins reminds us to be grateful for example. There is thus a practical reason for reading the Bible.

Is there a practical reason for reading every word in the book of Numbers? The book of numbers is about the genealogy of ancient Israel, much like a family tree. Perhaps in ancient times a person could say that he or she was related to a person in that family tree, but today chances are that if you were next of kin to some named in a family tree in the book of Numbers you wouldn’t know it!

Thus it is more important for a modern Christian to know what the Book of numbers is about, rather than to read every word or strange name in it! The book of numbers contains a story that spans about 38 years. It is about the journey of the Israelites in the desert, before entering the Promised Land. That story is a part of the history of Israel and therefor important!

Should we read every name in a Biblical family tree?

Chances are that you wouldn’t know someone from a family named in those family trees. But to the ancient Israelies was important to name the people the way they did. Thus we, today, not so personal!

Till next time!

Should I read the short books in the New Testament?

In our previous post we discussed the importance of the New Testament. Today we are going to discuss whether one should read the entire New Testament.

The first four books in the New Testament are the Gospels. These books are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Modern scholars know that Luke also wrote the fifth book in the New Testament as an extension to the Gospel. In other words the fifth book is an extension of the third one. The first five books can be seen as a unit which contains the story of Jesus and the early church.

The books: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John sometimes differ a bit. This is due to how the writers recalled the events of the life of Christ. But these four writers is most definitely describing or telling exactly one and the same story– the story of Jesus and His early church.

The next section in the Bible consists of letters which instructs the reader on the teachings of Jesus. Most of these letters was written by the Apostle Paul. We also see letters from John and Peter. Just like the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, the writer wants to tell how they believe in Christ. The accounts of these people have shaped modern day Christianity!

And lastly we find the Book of Revelation at the end of the New Testament. It stands on its own as God lets John see into the future and into Heaven. John sees the end of the word, also known as the apocalypse.

The New Testament is interesting to read. Between the life of Christ on Earth in the first four books, the explanation of the Christian faith and the book of Revelation you will most certainly find spiritual growth! I can recommend it all!

How do you feel about the New Testament?

Till next time.

Is the Old Testament relevant to Christians?

In a post a few weeks ago I discussed the different sources of theology. There I said that Scripture is a source of theology. But what is scripture for Christians? Is Scripture the entire Bible or is it just the passages that talk about Jesus? What should Christians do with the Old Testament? Is the Old Testament still relevant to Christians?

The Old Testament starts with God creating the heavens and the earth and it ends about 400 years before Christ. It contains the stories and teachings of God before Christ. These stories are mostly about Gods people- they are the Israelites.

The Israelites spoke Hebrew and they can also be called the Hebrew people. Since the Old Testament is about them the Old Testament also took the name: “Hebrew Bible”. The actual Hebrew word is: “Tanakh”.

For Christians the Old Testament gives an introduction to the story of Jesus. The main reason for this is because the Old Testament contains prophecies that a Messiah is coming. The word “Messiah” is a Hebrew word which, when translated in Greek is “Christos” or Christ. Christians believe that Jesus is the Christ- That’s why we call Him Jesus Christ; the Messiah!

Thus the Old Testament paves the road for Jesus (John 1:23). Jesus also successfully fulfills the prophecies and the law in the Old Testament (Romans 8:1-4)

Till next time!

Is God a watchmaker? (Part 1)

Consider the example of a simple wrist watch. A watchmaker made the watch and as he inserts the battery of a modern watch it starts to tick. Many people in the past said that God is like that. This is part of the “Deism” controversy.  I will attempt to explain it in more detail:

1.       God created the world with the laws of nature.

2.       God created humans in this world.

3.       The humans can explore the world to discover how God created the world.

I would like you to consider two scenarios:

·         If God created the world about 600 years ago, were would the remains of the dinosaurs come from? There wouldn’t have been enough time for them to become fossilized. Did God create them as scientists found them? In other words did God bury them there 600 years ago for clever scientists to find? What were Gods plan in this scenario?

·         Or did God really create the world six billion years ago which lead, through the process of evolution, to the development of the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs then died and in the long run became fossilized. In other words God created a period in history that had nothing to do with the human being! What were Gods plan in this scenario?

Please join the discussion!

Till next time!

How can we understand the Trinity; God, Son and Holy Spirit?

The Trinity consists of God the Father, Jesus his only Son and the Holy Spirit (sometimes Holy Ghost by name). The Trinity is sometimes called the Godhead. How can we understand the Godhead? Most churches say the following in a creed: “We believe in God the Father the creator of the heavens and the earth and in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son our Lord” sounds familiar?

The Christian faith believes in one God. The Trinity is an unit, as in “one”. But yet we can pray to each one separately. For example: “Jesus please forgive me my sins” or “We know that God the father created the heavens and the earth”. Yet we describe God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as “one God”.

Clearly this requires two viewpoints to understand. An individualistic viewpoint which is separate AND a collective viewpoint in which all is One. I can explain the viewpoints as follows:

• 1.       The first viewpoint is of God. This viewpoint is static: “One God”. Much the same as we find Him in the Old Testament.
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• 2.       The second viewpoint requires a bit more re-positioning  It can be viewed from three different perspectives: God, Son and Holy Spirit. Three different viewpoints that cannot be one. For example if you pray for the forgiveness of sins, you talk to Jesus- if you say thanks for the creation you say thanks to God (As found in the book of Genesis).

In essence there is a lot of re-positioning to do in your mind when you think about the Christian God. Is this difficult? No, it’s EASY. Consider a triangle. We can use a triangle as a metaphor. The triangle is ONE shape with THREE different corners. Link the triangle as one shape to God AND the three corners to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (This can be in any order).

Concerning the three corners you can have only one viewpoint, either with God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. But the corners are one, as in one triangle. I mean, if you tell something to Jesus, God is going to know about it right?

If you want to be with Jesus you can re-position yourself in His corner (by means of speaking) or if you want to be with the Holy Spirit you can re-position yourself to His corner. But you will always be with God, because He is One, the One called the Trinity!

Till next time!