Bible – Kristi P. Powell

What God hasn’t Promised

During seasons of disappointment and struggle, we can take great comfort in the promises of God. He promises salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He promised to do and finish the work of sanctification. He promised to never leave us through the deposit of the Holy Spirit.

However there are some things that aren’t promised in the Bible, specifically marriage and children. If you’re struggling with one of these, or know someone who is, you know the ache and brokenness of these unfulfilled desires.

In the Bible we are told that Jesus, Paul, and others were unmarried. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7 that marriage divides your affections between your spouse and God, but a single man or woman is only concerned about pleasing God.

There are multiple references to barren women (Sarai, Rebekah, Hannah, Elizabeth), and Prov. 30:16 even describes Sheol (hell) as a barren womb. However every Christian can reproduce spiritual children in making disciples. Paul refers to Timothy as a true child in the faith (1 Tim. 1:2).

Good Desires

Both marriage and children are blessings and good desires. Having a good desire is not a sin, but trying to fulfill that desire outside of God’s good boundaries, we fall into idolatry and sin.

C.S. Lewis said in Screwtape Letters “Never forget that when we are dealing with pleasure in it’s healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the enemy’s ground”. This fictional demon communicates to his underling an important truth: Satan can’t create pleasure and joy in and of himself, he can only twist God-given desires and pleasures.

Porn and adultery twists the pleasure and intimacy of sex created for marriage. Gluttony morphs enjoying God-given food with God-created tastebuds into worshipping our stomach. Making a spouse and/or children an idol twists these good gifts into destructors of our souls.

**What God has Promised**

Whenever anger begins to seep into our thoughts and prayers about an unfulfilled desire, we must immediately reevaluate our hearts. Anger and discontentment are a symptoms that our joy comes not from Christ, but from the things we expect him to give us.

If we desire a spouse or child more than God, we are idolators. Our hope must be fully and firmly planted in Christ Jesus. On our darkest, hardest days, we can fling all my weight on this promise of God:

“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9

This is must be our ultimate anchor. This promise is sure and beautiful. Because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, I am saved from my sin and will spend eternity in a resurrected, sinless body with God.

We are also promised everything we need to holy and walk in faithfulness. What a gift!

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
2 Peter 1:3-4

Some may not marry. Some may remain childless. But there is coming a day when we will pass into the glory of God in the blink of an eye, and this light momentary suffering will fall away in the beautiful weight of glory that awaits those who follow Jesus (2 Cor. 4:16-18).

Photo by Tom Swinnen from Pexels

The 3 Questions – How to study the Bible

In college I had a semester long course dedicated to teaching how to study and interpret the Bible. It even had a fancy name: Hermeneutics. We were assigned difficult passages in the Old and New Testament to write papers on, explaining the text. I spent hours poring over commentaries in the eerily quiet library. I didn’t realize how privileged I was to benefit from hundreds of years of Christian teaching and tradition in those musty volumes.

Several years later, I found myself in a very different context. I lived in a country that didn’t even sell Bibles in bookstores. I couldn’t bring any of my books with me. Suddenly my Bible sat alone on the shelf. I’d relied so long on the plethora of spiritual resources that when they were taken away, I was faced with this all important question: how do I study the Bible? How do I dig in and mine the truths from the Word, understand it, treasure it, and apply it on a daily basis?

Dear friends taught me the Three Questions method of Bible study that can be done in a group or in personal study. It can be used by people who became believers this morning or those who’ve walked with Jesus for fifty years. It is simple, easy to remember, and effective.

Gold and Honey

First, take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to you. Apart from the Spirit, we are dead to the Word of God (1 Cor. 2:12). Submit yourself to God and in humility ask for understanding.

Next, the text must be read. The law, testimony, and decrees of the Lord are to be more desired than fine gold, and it is sweeter than honey (Ps. 19:10). We may be in different seasons, able to devote more or less time to study, but no matter what’s going on, don’t forsake the Book. Read it. Treasure it. Meditate on it! Devotional books and apps are helpful, but Scripture must be the center of our study. Read it in your heart language, the language you think in. If the Bible hasn’t been translated into your heart language, read it in a language you understand, then write down a paraphrase of the verses you’re studying in your heart language.

It is helpful for me to write the scripture that I’m studying or meditating on. Writing helps me process the information better and it sticks with me longer. Do whatever helps you understand the Word. Read it, sing it, write it, listen to it. Abide!

3 Questions

Then we ask ourselves three questions about the text:

What does this teach us about God?
What does this teach us about Man?
How does this change me? (application)

We must always start with God. We learn about his character, attributes works, and commandments. Next, we look at Mankind, people, ourselves. The text gives us godly examples to follow, foolish examples to avoid, and truths about our innermost workings. Lastly, we apply what we learn. The Word of God should change us. We shouldn’t read, close the Bible and walk away the same as before.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. James 1:22-25

This is a great source of accountability as well. You can share your answers to question 3 with your community group and ask them to help you grow and apply these changes in your life. It is also a great encouragement to go back and see the evidence that he has changed you by the power of his Word and Spirit!

Example

Here’s an example from one of my quiet times this week. I find it helpful to write it all down, not only to help me process, but so that I can go back and remember what God taught me.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:33-36

What does this teach me about God?

He has innumerable riches, wisdom, and knowledge.
His judgements are without error and his ways are unquestioningly good.
No one can fully know and understand God’s mind.
He needs no advisors or counselors.
God doesn’t owe anybody anything.
Everything is from him, through him, and for him.
He deserves glory forever.

What does this teach me about Man?

Man’s wisdom, knowledge, and riches are finite and limited.
We shouldn’t second guess God’s plan for us. His ways are good and unsearchable.
We are not God’s counselor or advisor through prayer or otherwise.
God doesn’t owe Mankind anything but hellfire because of sin.
We must give glory to God because he is everything.

How does this change me?

I have a thankful heart.
I can rest in his wisdom and sovereignty.
I repent of my pride, that I think God owes me.
Glorify God!

I pray this is helpful for you as you walk with God! This is not the only or best way to study the Bible, but it is a method that may spur you on in your study and application of God’ s Word. My prayer for each of you reading is that God will bless you with rich, sweet times with him as you abide in him and feast on the beautiful word of God.

Did Jesus Really Need to Die?

The smoky bustle of a cafe swirled around my friend and I as we talked. I sipped mint tea from a small glass as she stirred several packets of sugar into tiny coffee cup, a direct, the equivalent of a latte. We were talking about religion, a normal conversation in this Muslim country. Today we were discussing Jesus. When I mentioned his death, she stopped me. “No, Jesus is alive.” She beamed, reassuring me. I blinked in surprise as she went on. “He never died. Someone who looked like him died and God took him to heaven.”

While living among Muslims, I heard two things consistently: the Bible is corrupt (read this to address this claim) and Jesus didn’t die. I was always willing to talk about this, because truly, on these two things hinges the Christian faith.

Jesus’ death is more than a small historical detail that might’ve been smudged by time. It is only because of Jesus’ death that we have forgiveness of sins and salvation. The mercy of God is displayed in Jesus Christ. Without his death, Christianity loses its very essence.

Blood and Forgiveness

From the very beginning we see the act of substitution in God’s plan. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God (Gen. 3), they immediately realized their nakedness and were ashamed. They sewed fig leaves together to hide their naked shame. God punished them for their actions, casting them outside of the garden of Eden. However before they left, he made them clothes from animal skins. With the shedding of blood, he covered their shame.

Abraham was instructed by God to sacrifice his only son (Gen. 22). In obedience Abraham took his son to a mountain, trusting God was even able to bring his son back from the dead (Heb. 11:19). As Abraham raised the knife to sacrifice, an angel from God stopped him. God provided a ram to die in this son’s place. Again, an animal’s blood was shed in the place of a man.

Moses came and was given the law by God (Ex. 34:27-28, Deut. 31:9). Detailed instructions were given about the sacrificial system. The only way people could attain forgiveness from God, atonement of sin was to shed the blood of an animal, a sacrifice (Lev. 17:11, Heb. 9:22). Only blood could wash away the ugliness and stain of sin.

Prophets came and went, and one, Isaiah, promised that God would send a final, perfect sacrifice (Is. 53). Then God fell silent. 400 years passed. Where was this perfect lamb?

The Final Sacrifice

Then came Jesus. When the prophet John saw him, he declared,

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!…And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” John 1:29, 34

Jesus. Oh perfect, spotless Lamb! He chose to lay his life down in obedience to the Father (John 10:14-15, Luke 22:42). He did no wrong, yet he died a criminal’s death. He was crucified on a cross, a painful, slow, humiliating end. He was spat on, mocked, and beaten, yet he never opened his mouth. He who was perfectly righteous took on all our sin and shame, bearing every ounce of wrath from a holy God, the righteous judge. He was the final and complete sacrifice.

Jesus breathed his last. He was taken down from the cross and buried in a tomb. His body lay dead, empty. The Son of God, slain by men for men and the glory of the Father.

On the third day the ground shook. The pangs of death were loosed! He rose from the grave, alive forever, amen!

“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Cor. 15:55

Hallelujah!

Believe in the Lamb

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26

This! This is why Jesus needed to die! If Jesus was just a good man, or just a prophet, we would be lost. Every one of us fall short of God’s standard of holiness and righteousness. No amount of good works will outweigh the bad works. As we see with Adam and Eve, just one sin is enough to cast us out of the presence of God.

We need a sacrifice. We need a perfect, flawless lamb to die in our place to get forgiveness of sin. Jesus provided that. He says,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

There is one way. Jesus. The Bible says that you need only believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and you will be forgiven (Rom. 10:9). The righteousness of Jesus will be transferred to you, not in the future, not in the last day, but now. Today.

If believe in Jesus, rejoice! Don’t lose the wonder of the cross. May familiarity never cloud our thankfulness and awe of what he did on our behalf!

If you are not a follower of Jesus, I invite you to him. Don’t linger at a distance. Salvation awaits. Don’t wait another moment, as we aren’t promised anything beyond the breath in your lungs at this very moment. Come. Marvel. Repent and believe!

I took this photo on my trip to Israel a few years ago. It is the garden tomb where some believe Jesus was buried. Check out this leaflet to learn more!

Tomb-deathwhereisyourvictory

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