Old Testament

A New Creation: Relaxation

May 13, 2021 by David Noland Leave a Comment

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Genesis 2:1-3

Rest. We all need it. We all need to take time to take a break from our labor. To recharge our physical and mental “battery”, if you will. Our bodies are only designed to handle so much stress before it wears out. Lack of sufficient sleep and periodic rest has been medically linked to increased stress levels, high blood pressure, heart disease, and an assortment of other physical maladies. And inability to manage stress and make time to relax and refresh your spirit has led to increases in alcoholism, depression, and even suicide. There is no discounting the value of a good night’s sleep and a weekly day of rest from the day to day toil.

Even God Himself made time to rest after all of His work was completed. On the seventh day of Creation, He rested. This does not imply that God was tired as that would limit Him and invalidate the Biblical principle of His omnipotence. However, it does imply that He took a pause and set aside a day for Himself. He blessed this day and made it “holy”. It’s a day set aside to honor all of the work that He had done. And it is His example that we must follow for our own good as a weekly day of rest gives us a time to reflect upon our eventual eternal rest.

Keep the Sabbath Holy

There has been much contention in recent years over what day of the week is God’s ordained day of rest. There are many in various Christian communities that insist on that day of the week being Saturday. Most Christian denominations honor the Sabbath rest on Sundays for two reasons: 1. Jesus resurrection on Sunday morning changed everything. (Mark 16:2) 2. As Paul began taking the gospel to the Gentiles, he would meet them where they were – on their own day of rest which was Sunday. (Acts 20:7)

I have personally even come under attack for my own worship on Sundays by those who hold to a “Hebrew roots” or “seventh day” background. The argument typically goes that Sunday was a day to honor the pagan god of the sun. However, historically speaking every day of the week is named after a pagan god – Monday (the moon), Tuesday (Tiw’s day), Wednesday (Woden’s day), Thursday (Thor’s day), Friday (Freya’s day), Saturday (the planet and Roman god Saturn). So by that reasoning, every day of the week would be an opportunity to worship a pagan god. In some cultures, the week begins on Saturday, making Friday the seventh day of the week. In other cultures, Monday is the first day of the week, making Sunday the seventh day. Then the question becomes which calendar ought we use.

The legalistic application of days of the week distracts from the entire point of the Sabbath day of rest and worship. For me, my work week begins on Monday. I work five days in commercial industry and then one day of work around home (typically Saturday). That leaves my seventh day as Sunday. But not everyone in the world has this luxury, especially those who work in certain industries that have non-traditional scheduling of work hours (i.e., retail, customer support, etc.).

Splitting hairs over which day of the week to worship led Paul to write to the Colossians as he wrote “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Colossians 2:16, 17) In this instance, arguing over what day of the week one should worship was put to rest.

Sabbath for Man, not Man for the Sabbath

Jesus Himself came under heavy criticism for his disciples gathering grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28) and in another instance, healing a man on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-6). After the first instance, Jesus addressed the point and set a precedent that some have taken to mean that Jesus abolished the Sabbath day of rest altogether, but in fact it is quite the opposite.

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:27, 28

Not only was Jesus endorsing the need for a Sabbath day of rest, but He also states that He Himself is “Lord of the Sabbath.” As the agent through which God created all things, He is the one who most intimately understands the entire point of the Sabbath day of rest – to give man a chance to reflect, relax, and recline in the presence of Almighty God and give Him glory for everything He has done. The Sabbath was a gift to man – a gift of prescription and a gift of perception. Prescription because it is designed as a day to rest from your labor, just as God rested and paused from His labors in creation. Perception because it gives man a chance to come into the presence of the Savior and Lord of Creation with boldness and conviction and humility, honoring Him for all that He has done, is doing, and will do in our lives and in eternity.

A Shadow of Things to Come

Remember Paul’s exhortation to the Colossians? “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” Ultimately the sabbath rest is a precursor to our eternal rest where as believers we will be ushered into the direct presence of the Father, where we will sit in eternal worship at the feet of Jesus.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”
John 14:1-4

As I reflect on these things as it relates to our obligatory attitudes of service and worship and contrast that with a humble attitude of submission to the heart of the Lord, I am reminded of the illustration of Mary and Martha.

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:38-42

Martha was so consumed by her works of service to the Lord that her attention was focused not only on what she was doing, but what her sister was not doing. Because her sister wasn’t serving the Lord in the same way that she was, Martha became distraught and began pointing fingers and demanding that Mary help her. But Jesus, in his own loving way pointed out the error of her ways. First, He addressed her mental state of anxiety that was caused by her excessive concentration on her works. Secondly, He pointed out that the only thing He desired was her presence and fellowship. Fellowship borne out of love, not out of obligation.

The Heart of the Sabbath

The heart of the Sabbath is very simple. First, it is an opportunity for us to recline in the presence of our Father and honor Him for all that He has done, all that He is doing, and all that He is going to do in our lives. Secondly, it is an opportunity for us to reflect upon His work, His witness, and His welcoming of us into His presence. And finally, it is an opportunity for us to look forward to the day that we will eternally rest at the feet of Jesus in worship and gratitude, knowing that He is the one who has done all the work to make it possible for us to enter His presence for eternity.

Please, come and see all that He has in store for you. Come and see everything that the future holds because of all the great things that He has done to redeem you. Rest in the knowledge that He will never forsake you or desert you.

A New Creation: Sanctification

May 12, 2021 by David Noland Leave a Comment

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1:26, 27, 31

“Sanctification” is perhaps one of the most misunderstood words in all of Christendom. It is often described using other terms of religious significance, such as holiness, righteousness, consecration, or purification. The Greek word hagiasmos (ἁγιασμός) is only used in Biblical and ecclesiastical writing to signify either “consecration and purification” or the “effect of consecration of the heart and life.” However, this barely scratches the surface of what the term means at its deepest core. So let’s break it down into two elements: consecration and purification.

Consecrated, Lord to Thee

Growing up in a small church in rural Louisiana, we often sang an old hymn by Frances Ridley Havergal (1874) that begins with the two lines:

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee
Havergal, Frances Ridley. “Take My Life And Let It Be” (Public Domain: 1874)

Published in over 1100 hymnals, it is perhaps one of the most widely published hymns ever written after the American Civil War. In August 1850, Frances enrolled in Mrs. Teed’s school and the experience influenced the rest of her life. In the following year, at the age of 15, she writes “I committed my soul to the Saviour, and earth and heaven seemed brighter from that moment.” For several years she traveled with her father, William Henry Havergal who was an Anglican pastor, composer, and hymnist in his own right. He also published numerous volumes of sermons and lectures. Four of his five children went on to be published writers, with the fifth child editing and publishing her father’s writings posthumously. Frances would go on to write 255 hymns in no fewer than 16 different languages around the world, including but not limited to English, German, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish, Tagalog, Dakota, and more.

Some of her most well known hymns included “I Gave My Life For Thee” and “Like a River Glorious”. But no hymn of hers would come close to the prolific publication as “Take My Life And Let It Be”. It is a hymn that is reflective of her life dedicated to serving her Creator. The term “consecrated” as used in her hymn simply means “to be set aside for a special purpose”, and Frances life and writings were a direct reflection and a lasting legacy of consecration to the purpose of her Lord and Savior until her death at the age of 43 in Caswell Bay, Swansea, Wales in 1879, just five years after the publication of this hymn.

Purified as Silver

The prophet Malachi paints a brilliant picture of a refiner’s fire purifying silver and gold as a example of the process by which God recreates His people: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.” (Malachi 3:3, 4)

Silver and gold are two of the most widely used precious metals in the making of jewelry. However, in Biblical times (both Old and New Testament) silver and gold were very difficult to come by as only kings and the very rich would have access to it. Both must go through a rigorous extraction and refining process in order to be transformed into a metal of value to be shaped into money, jewelry, and other adornments. They have to be melted down under intense heat so that the impurities would rise to the top of the slag and then be skimmed off. This process is repeated over and over again until all of the impurities are extracted from the raw metal. Then and only then can it be of certifiable quality to be used by an artisan to reshape and recreate what is essentially nothing more than a rock into an object of beauty. However, what is happening in the refining process in its purest sense is that the metal is being recreated into its original, purest form – before it was corrupted by the impurities of the earth.

Created in the Image of God

In the beginning, mankind – both man and woman – were created in the image of God. It has been said that when God created the fish of the sea, He spoke to the waters. When He created the trees, He spoke to the land. However, when He created humanity, He looked to Himself. In our original state as He created us, we were not only perfect, but we were the epitome of His perfect Creation. We were the pinnacle of all of His work. He in effect “saved the best for last.” And every day up to this point, after His long day’s work, He would look upon what He created and bless it and declare that “it was good.” But it was not until man was created that God declared all of creation to be “very good.”

The phrase “very good” only appears 5 times in all of Scripture, all of them in the Old Testament. The last two times that phrase is used is in an obscure passage in writings of the prophet Jeremiah:

One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”
Jeremiah 24:2, 3

This passage describes what God will do with the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Judah to preserve her in order to keep His promise to His servant Isaac. As Israel goes into exile under the Chaldeans, God describes Judah as “good figs” whom He will preserve and the exile would serve as a time of refining for them. He promises to restore them to their land after a time. On the flip side, the bad figs represented the disobedient king Zedekiah. Zedekiah would remain in Judah along with his officials and a remnant that would remain in Jerusalem and Egypt. But because of their disobedience, they would ultimately be destroyed and wiped out of the land of Judah in time for the exiles to eventually return.

The image of God that He imparted upon mankind in His creation can best be understood in terms of three relationships. First, the relationship between man and God Himself – a father/child relationship. Secondly, the relationship between humanity has with itself. Finally, the relationship that man has with the earth. And when man sinned in the Garden of Eden, all three of these relationships were broken. The father/child relationship between man and God was reduced to hiding in the bushes. The man and woman were reduced to blame shifting – each blaming the other for their own sin, with Adam ultimately blaming God Himself. And the earth was corrupted, once freely bearing fruit for humanity without the need for work, toil is introduced and man must now provide for his own sustenance.

The Image of God is this: mankind was created to have relationship with God Himself and in community with one another and to have dominion over the earth. This is what we were created to be. We were not created to have enmity with one another. We were not created to bring glory to ourselves. We were not created to consume the earth. We were created to relate and to rule.

Conformed to the Image of His Son

The process of sanctification, the refining fire if you will, is the process of restoring humanity to its original state. It is the process of restoring the relationship between man and God as father and child. It is the process of restoring community with one another. It is the process of living in dominion over the earth, not over one another. We were created to subdue and to fill the earth and bring glory to the Father because we were created in His image. When Adam sin and his sin was imparted until us and every successive generation since, that relationship was broken. But there is hope.

“For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29) Just as Adam was the first of all humanity, Jesus was the first of a new kind of humanity. His sacrifice on Calvary made our redemption possible. Just as God sacrificed animals in the Garden of Eden to make a covering for the sin and shame of Adam and Eve, He sacrificed His own Son to make a covering for our own sin and shame. This act was an act of redemption meant to start the process of recreating you into the image of His Son.

Paul gives this exhortation to the believers in Thessalonica: “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”

Redeemed for His Glory

Sanctification is a process. It is the process by which God refines His children and reshapes and recreates us into the beautiful creation He always intended us to be from the beginning. It is the process by which He sets us aside for His special purpose, in order that we might be restored in our relationship to Him and our relationship with one another and our relationship over all of creation. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us as we seek to be imitators of Christ in spirit and in truth that we can ever find a way to see Heaven on earth.

A New Creation: Multiplication

May 11, 2021 by David Noland Leave a Comment

And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply…”
Genesis 1:22, 28

Gizmo, from “Gremlins” (c 1984, Warner Brothers Entertainment)

The early to mid-1980s saw a rise is kitchy, comic “horror” films that as a middle schooler I often found more comedic and than horrific. Such films of this error included the likes of “Return of the Walking Dead”, “Army of Darkness”, and other such ridiculousness that were filmed in more horrible taste than actual horror. However, there was one film in his genre that appealed to my age group that still resonates in my memory to this day.

In 1984, the film “Gremlins” introduced the world to a loveable, furry little creature named Gizmo. He was an unknown species called a Mogwai that came with special rules for his keeper. First, don’t expose him to light, as this would kill him. Secondly, don’t let him come in contact with water, as this will cause him to spontaneously multiply. Finally, perhaps the most important rule of all, was under no circumstances were you to feed the mogwai after midnight, for this would turn him into an ugly, mischievous, and destructive gremlin.

While the film was created as a cautionary tale for middle schoolers to learn how to properly take care of pets and follow rules, the often over-the-top humor and mischievousness of the gremlins took center stage and the moral lesson was generally lost in the action and bizarre, gang-like violence displayed by the villainous Stripe and his posse.

What I’ve always found interesting in the film is how the mogwai would reproduce by simply throwing water on it or the gremlins would massively reproduce by jumping into a swimming pool. What strikes me as odd is that at the time this seemed to also be emblematic of how the church and evangelists of the day would emphasis church growth through multiplication of numbers. Simply get them baptized and on the rolls, and then let them figure out how to swim on their own. The reality is, this is just not how Biblical growth and multiplication happen.

Multiplication Requires Relationship

Discipleship must be built on the foundation of relationship, but not just a casual relationship. For growth to maturity, it requires deep relational investment. Just like a parent must invest time and energy in teaching their child how to grow and eat and behave and live, so must mature believers invest in the lives of new believers to grow them in how to digest the Word of God, apply the Word of God to their lives, and begin to walk on their own in the Light of the Word. Once this relationship has been built up, then it is possible for the mature believer to begin to pour into the lives of others.

Just as for the animal kingdom and for mankind to reproduce as a product of the intimate relationship between the sexes, multiplication within the kingdom requires an intentional investment in the spiritual relationship of believers and the living out of the spiritual life within the world of non-believers. Now, please don’t misunderstand me – I’m not suggesting that believers should be engaging in casual sexual relationships in an effort to gain converts into the kingdom. What I am suggesting that we need to be willing to build relationships with people that get beyond the surface of who we all are.

Jesus was often accused of participating in the sin of those who would come to Him, simply by His association with them. Yes, Jesus ate with sinners, but He didn’t sin with them. Yes, He broke bread with prostitutes and traitors and liars and thieves, but He didn’t participate in their sin. He came to redeem them from their sin and the only way that could happen is that He had to build a relationship with them in order to create a safe environment to expose their sin and provide a covering for their shame.

And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:30-32

In the same way, we ought to seek out relationships with those who don’t know Jesus and live the example of His life in such a way that we draw people to Him. Unfortunately, we have all too often either tried to short-cut the process through mass evangelism events or through political activism that seeks to shame people into the Kingdom. Mass evangelism events have their place in the Kingdom, but we cannot rely on such events to be the catalyst for Kingdom growth. Political activism has its place, but we cannot expect to use shame to bring into the Kingdom those that are already hiding their shame behind the fig leaves of pride and self-sufficiency. Sustainable organic Kingdom multiplication just doesn’t work that way.

Agricultural Growth

Anyone who has ever grown up on a farm knows that it takes time to plant seed, allowing time for that seed to grow through watering and careful treatment and protection, before you can harvest the fruits of your labor. Ground must first be broken up and prepared properly before you even begin the process of planting seeds so that they can take root. Seed that doesn’t take root will not grow to support the fruit once it is in season.

Additionally, if you are the one who plants the seed, you may not be the one to participate in the harvest of the fruit of that seed. Many times in various agricultural societies, division of labor would necessitate sowers and reapers. Sowers would work in season to sow the seed that would be reap by a different group of harvesters. I recall times when my grandfather would plant a field of corn, he would hire one guy who had a planter and would plow the fields and plant the corn seed in the duly appointed rows. However, when harvest time came, he hired a different local harvester who would come and work the same rows with his combine harvester that would separate the corn from the stalks. The division of labor in this case was due to who had the available tools for the job.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:5-9

Wherever you are in your current experience of faith, you have a job to do in the field. In some cases, it is just to sit back, observe, and learn. In other cases, it is to provide water and support for those doing the work. In other cases, you are the one breaking up the ground. In others, you are the one sowing the seed. In others, you get to participate in the harvest. It all comes down to discerning the individual circumstance, and proper discernment requires an investment in the relationship to the field.

Your Field

Your field that you are called to work is wherever you are at any given moment. It is incumbent upon every believer to be observant of the relationship with which you have influence and use that influence to present the gospel as it is appropriate. Browbeating and Bible-bashing are not effective means of presenting the gospel in a light that draws men to the cross. An old southern proverb says it best “You can attract more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.” Relationships intentionally built to produce a safe environment for you to minister the gospel of the Kingdom are what is most effective. The key is intentionality.

Kingdom relationship are not built casually. They must be built intentionally. You must make intentional investment in your relationships with non-believers to demonstrate that your life is different and what motivates your life to live in accordance with the gospel. If the only thing that people know about you as it relates to your faith is what you stand against in society, it’s going to be very hard to break the ground to plant any seed that will take root. If the only thing that people know about your faith is your sense of judgement against their sin and the shame that accompanies that sin, it’s going to be very hard for people to be willing to lay down their fig leaves and expose their lives to you and make it possible for the blood of Christ to cover their shame. If you want to see multiplication in the Kingdom, you must be intentional about how you go about developing relationships that produce a safe environment for the seed to grow and the plant to bear fruit that will multiply in its own right.

A New Creation: Preparation

May 10, 2021 by David Noland Leave a Comment

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:11, 12

It will probably come as no surprise to anyone that knows me that I’m a bit of a sports nut. You can probably blame that on my grandfather and my parents. Growing up in rural South Louisiana, summers were filled with farm work and baseball. Fall weekends were harvest and LSU football. It has been said that the two state religions of Louisiana are Catholicism and LSU sports, with the New Orleans Saints a close third. You’d be hard pressed to prove me wrong.

Every spring and summer until the middle of high school, I would gather with the same basic group of friends on our local little league baseball team and three times a week we would gather in a field behind one of the coaches homes to practice. Typically practice would last for 2 hours a day, but it wouldn’t start until everyone had a chance to get their homework done and then would be done in time for dinner, bath, and bedtime. In the summer we would play our league games three nights a week and in some seasons, when there were odd numbers of teams, there would be the occasional doubleheader for one of the teams.

All of those games, you could tell who came prepared, even as young as we were. The teams that prepared well and learned the game and played the fundamentals were typically the teams that would win the league that year. The teams that played around and didn’t execute and didn’t prepare typically would find themselves at the bottom of the standings by the end of the season.

In college, I still participated in intramural sports. Softball, flag football, basketball. Even tennis. I really started to get into tennis during my junior year of college. I love the aerobic aspect of the game, the adrenaline rush of running back and forth after a yellow ball with an aluminum Wilson racket. One of the greatest tennis stars I can recall in recent years made an amazing quote that has stood by me for a number of years and it’s true of all athletes or competitors of any kind:

In the sports arena, I would say there is nothing like training and preparation. You have to train your mind as much as your body.
Venus Williams

I would dare say that this truth extends beyond the realm of sports, but into the realm of business as well. However, perhaps the most important application of this truth is in matters of spiritual growth. There is nothing like proper training and preparation for you put into practice the truths of Scripture so that you can properly understand the value of the Word of God as it applies to your life and how to live out the gospel in your daily walk.

The Battle for Soul

One of the many overarching themes of the Scriptures is the theme of transformation. Transformation in the life of the believer begins when we start changing the way we think about our reality and our lives in the grand scheme of the Kingdom of God. And to complicate matters, there is a war of the will that continuously rages in the hearts and minds of believers – a war that will never abate until we reach the golden shores along the crystal sea of Heaven.

The world we live in seeks conformation to the ways of the flesh. The world is constantly trying to get us to think in a manner that is the antithesis of what the Word of God teaches. The world teaches that it is okay to occasionally tell a lie in order to protect someone’s feelings. Now the world teaches us that the standards of behavior prescribed by God’s Word are antiquated and they attempt to support these truth with so-called “science” when in reality the truth is far from scientific. In fact, denial of the truth of God’s Word is what God the world in the shape it is in to begin with.

“He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say…'” (Genesis 3:1) It is the first inkling that there was something wrong in the realm of the spirit. A creature spreads the seed of doubt in preparation for the rebellion against the King of Creation. But it is the seed of the accurate knowledge of the Word of God that combats the seed of doubt. The woman’s response was not only to repeat God’s Word, but her first error was to add to it: “neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” (Genesis 3:3) It is one thing to know the Word of God, but it another thing entirely to add our own “wisdom” to it. But the serpent’s lie gave the woman confidence in her flesh: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:6)

This is the same appeal to the flesh that we wrestle with every day – appeals to fleshly appetites, personal pleasure, and self-importance. It is the same battle that is waged today, but to win the battle, we must be prepared for the attacks to come. Throughout the epistles of Paul, we find him appealing to the battle of the mind, the struggle for obedience to the Word of God against the wisdom of the world. It is here that the transformation begins by filling the emptiness of the heart through transformation of the mind.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12

Renewal of the Mind

The world seeks to conform us to its will. To seek after our own appetites. To seek after our own desires. To seek after our own wisdom. But it is the wisdom of God that makes the transformational difference in our world. “Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Our world is constantly inundated with new philosophies that promise deliverance, but fail miserably because it is grounded in appeals to the self and to the flesh. Critical race theory is grounded in the search for vengeance, masquerading as an appeal for justice and equality. Modern interpretations of “separation of church and state” seek to guarantee freedom from the influence of religion in the public square, instead of the original intent to prevent government from imposing a state-mandated religion. The list goes on and on, but none of these new philosophies are have any roots in the God of Creation.

Paul constantly reminds his readers to “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2). ” To the Roman believers, he writes “For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5) It is the “things of the Spirit” that make a difference in the world. It is only the things of the Spirit that can bring transformation in the hearts of every believer.

Things of the Spirit

But what are these “things of the Spirit” that we are to set our minds upon? Well, Paul explains to the church at Philippi: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8) There is only one source of truth that meets these specific standards and that is the truth of the Holy Word of God.

However, it can be quite a daunting challenge for a new believer to start to understand the Scriptures. Transformation takes time, but it more importantly it takes humility and submission to the Holy Spirit. It means laying aside our preconceived notions of what is true and taking Him at His Word. As a believer, you have access to the Holy Spirit living in you to guide you in understanding the truth of His word. “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you. ” (John 16:13, 14)

As a point of practical application, I would recommend beginning your exploration of the Word of God in the beginning. Starting in Genesis 1 and slowly, with an open heart, seek His truth about who you are and the world around you. I would also recommend studying the Gospel of John alongside Genesis. Both begin at the beginning and together you can see the intricate weaving of the truth of who Jesus is and His role in Creation and His role in recreating you into His image.

Fruitfulness of the Spirit

As you pour yourself into the study of Scripture and seek to absorb all that you can about who God is, who Jesus is, and how the Holy Spirit transforms the landscape of your life, you will begin to see changes in your heart and behavior that will draw others to want to know more about this transformation. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22-24)

The fruit of the spirit are those characteristics that your heart will begin to take on that will demonstrate a change in your motivations and your behaviors. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:25, 26) It is this fruitfulness that will multiply within your own heart and fill the emptiness that was once characterized by submission to your flesh instead of submission to the Word of God.

Remember, from the beginning, God has always been about the work of illuminating darkness, organizing chaos, and filling the emptiness. In order to fill the emptiness, He must create an environment that is conducive to supporting that which He intends to create. In the process of recreating you into the image of His Son, He will illuminate the darkness that has kept you blind to the truth of who you were created to be, set you a foundation upon which to build your new life, and begin preparing you for what He has in store by transforming your heart and mind through the power of the Holy Spirit living in you. Only then will you have the vision to see the future and all of the joy that it will contain as you walk with Him from day to day.

A New Creation: Foundation

May 7, 2021 by David Noland Leave a Comment

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:9, 10

On August 9, 1173, the foundation was laid. Five days later, construction of the bell tower at the began in the Camp del Miracoli mere feet away from the Pisa Cathedral Five years later, trouble began to be visibly apparent as the soft soil began to give way on a shallow foundation. It took 482 years of stops and starts in construction due to continuous foundation repair, multiple wars, and financing difficulties for the bell tower to be completed with the installation of the final bell in 1655.

It was here that legend holds that Galileo conducted his experiments on free fall gravitational acceleration. During World War II, Allied forces suspected the Germans of using the bell tower as a lookout observation post and were prepared to destroy it, but the beauty of the architecture of the cathedral, the baptistry, and the tower saved it from being attacked.

Over the next 800 years after the initial foundation was laid, the Leaning Tower of Pisa would continue to list until in 1990, the tilt had reached 5.5 degrees. Between 1993 and 2001, remediation construction work was done to correct the lean to a less dangerous 3.97 degrees, in order to prevent collapse. In 2018 it was reported that the tilt was reduced further by 4 centimeters to 3.9 degrees. The remediation efforts are said to keep the tower stable for the next 200 years, before there will be a need to remediate again.

Fickle Foundations Falter

Fickle foundations foster faltering followers. Jesus knew the value of laying proper foundations before beginning to build a house. His earthly father, Joseph, was a carpenter, so it is reasonable to assume that he [Joseph] was aware of basic construction principles and would likely teach these principles to Jesus. I have a good friend, Matt, who owns a home construction business in Austin, TX and he once described the process of building a home in the dry arid land of central Texas.

He described how before you even lay the foundation of the house, you have to drive concrete pillars deep into the bedrock of the Texas soil. While central Texas soil is typically rather hard, it’s constantly shifting and loose making it critical to set a deep firm foundation when building a home. Otherwise, you will eventually have to spend thousands of dollars on inconvenient foundation repairs that are typically not covered by homeowners insurance due to natural settling of soil.

Jesus drew on this comparison near the end of the Sermon on the Mount:

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
Matthew 7:24-27

Foundation of Faith

The foundation that Jesus refers to are the principles of faith that He laid out through the Sermon on the Mount. Beginning with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:2, He describes in intricate detail and wonderful illustrations what the life of a disciple looks like. Poor in spirit. Mourning over sin. Hungry and thirsting for righteousness. Merciful. Salt. Light. Not given to anger or lust. Faithful. Not vengeful. Loving your enemies. Charitable. Prayerful. Fasting. Peaceful. Measuring your priorities in light of the Kingdom. Nonjudgemental. Humble. Ultimately fruitful.

The first command that God gave Adam and Eve was “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) But what does it mean to be “fruitful”? What does “fruitfulness” look like?

Fruitfulness is a sign of the capacity to reproduce. You cannot “multiply” unless you are “fruitful”. Fruit in the botanical world is born through the joining seed of the pistil to the stamen of a flower. This process of reproduction produces a fruit that contains within it the seed that produces more plants of the same kind. Different fruit trees can be cross bred to create new kinds of fruit. However, in many cases this can produce inferior fruit that cannot reproduce properly.

Fruitful trees also require care to prevent damage. Sometimes it requires pruning of dead leaves and limbs in order to grow healthier limbs and leaves and produce sweet peaches and plums. Pruning can indeed be quite painful in the spiritual life because it is a cutting away of that which is dead and diseased and negatively impacts the ability to produce good fruit.

A Fruitful Foundation

A life that is characterized by a properly laid foundation is a life that is fruitful for the Kingdom. The fruit of the kingdom is a fruit of obedience to the Words of Jesus, which produces the fruit of the spirit as described by Paul in Galatian 5. Paul begins by talking about putting aside the “works of the flesh”, the pruning of the unfruitful life. “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21) Almost all of these will find a negative parallel in Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount.

But Paul doesn’t stop there. He goes on the offensive and explains what it means to be fruitful: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22-24)

Fruitfulness begins with crucifying the flesh, the carnal passions and desires that lead to sin and separation from God. It is a conversion process of transitioning from self to sacrifice. Fruitful foundations foster faithful followers. In order to be fruitful for the kingdom, you must begin with an appropriate foundation. The beginning of building a life in Christ is beginning with the foundation of the Word of God. It is imperative that believers make the regular study of Scripture a priority. It is not optional. It is critical and will make all the difference in the world as you walk with Him.

It is also important, especially with new believers, that study is guided and that a mature believer is available to answer questions and encourage the new believer in the study of God’s Word. There are many passages that will likely not make sense to a mind that is not yet fully transformed and renewed. That is why God gifted believers as “apostles [missionaries], prophets [preachers], evangelists, shepherds [pastors], and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:11-14, commentary notes mine)

If you are new to the faith, find a teacher of Scripture who stands firmly on the foundation of the inerrancy of the Word of God. If you are a teacher of Scripture, stand firm on the foundation of the inerrancy of the Word of God and seek out those who need to be taught the principles that produce fruitful lives. No other foundation has been able to stand the test of time. No other foundation ever will.

A New Creation: Separation

May 6, 2021 by David Noland Leave a Comment

And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness….And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.
Genesis 1:4, 6, 7

Growing up in a rural community can be quite an adventure. I can remember many an afternoon, weekend, or summer day rummaging through the woods surrounding our home, or running through the pastures at my grandfather beef cattle farm. Often we would spend the summers “bushhogging” one or both of the large fields behind my parents’ home and letting the cut grass sit for a week and dry in the hot Louisiana late summer sun. The following weekend, my brothers and I would join my grandfather, dad, and uncle and occasionally other hired hands and partners of my grandfather to rake the hay in a giant spiral and follow behind with a baler. My younger brothers and I would scramble to stack the bales on a old trailer while my dad or uncle would drive the truck alongside.

One of the joys of the end of summer was the annual trip to the auction near Forest Festival time. Grandpa would gather all the same folks together again and we would round up selected cattle that were ready for market. Typically he would separate out six to eight heads, including all bull calves, unless it was a year where he needed to keep a bull calf as his stud bull would reach age. I was always fascinated with the precision and careful eye that my grandpa would take in selecting the cattle that were ready for market in an effort to maximize the return on his investment in raising them for market. Only the best cattle would be chosen, those that were destined to bring honor to his farm (and his wallet).

There were times as well that I recall grandpa separating diseased cattle from the healthy, in order to protect the health of the herd. He would call in a vet to have the sick bovine examined and treated and would leave the cow in isolation until the sickness had abated before returning her to the herd. But one of the most amazing miracles of being raised on my grandpa’s cattle farm was to witness the birth of new calves. The birth of new calves would often occur in isolation, so as to protect the young from the potential of being trampled by rival mother cows. Grandpa would watch over the mother but would only assist when necessary in order to allow the calf to be born as naturally as possible. In rare cases, grandpa would “arm up” and assist with the birth in order to save both the mother and the newborn from a potentially disastrous birth experience.

Typically, grandpa would keep the mother and her newborn calf in isolation for a couple of weeks in order to give time for the two to bond and the calf to strengthen and get used to walking on its wobbly legs. In cases where the calf wouldn’t feed from the mother or the unfortunate incident of the mother dying during birth, I would mix up a special milk formula bottle for the calf and go out and feed her from the bottle and nurture the calf until she was ready for the pasture. It was a beautiful time of bonding with the calf and building up trust between the calf and I, until ultimately it was time to turn the calf loose on her own.

A New Birth

Jesus compared the beginnings of a transformed life as His follower to that of being “born again.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) The Greek phrase for “born again” is gennaō anōthen, which can literally be translated “to be born from above”. A new life in Christ is indeed a bit of a birthing process that requires careful transition from an old life shrouded in the darkness of sin to a new life following the “light of men.” (John 1:4) And with this new life, it is important that the transition and growth begin immediately in order to allow the new convert to stand on their own two feet as quickly as possible. This is the process that we know as discipleship.

The study Real-Life Discipleship¹ describes discipleship as progressive and typically occurring in stages, much like the same stages that we as humans go through – infant, child, young adult, and parent. As a new believer, it is true that we are very much like spiritual infants, very dependent upon mature believers in order to learn and absorb the reality of this new life we have been given. Without a spiritual “parent” to walk alongside and feed us and encourage us and hold our hand in those early days, we will not only struggle with understanding but we can often find ourselves starving and crying out in frustration, hungry for some sense of understanding, until eventually we either “die out” or fade away from the faith altogether. “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation – if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2, 3)

Separated for Growth

Feeding a separated calf at Mississippi State University Veterinary Extension

From a practical standpoint, just as my grandpa would isolate a newborn calf and her mother from the rest of the herd, new believers should be corralled into a fellowship and one or two mature believers should invest time and energy is helping to grow this new believer. This should always be at the initiative of the mature believers, not the new believer. The new Christian doesn’t know what they don’t know. In fact, they likely do not even understand that they need to be nurtured in their new faith so that they can grow up and be stronger to walk on their own, before they are thrown in with the rest of the herd.

Small group Bible Studies are great for introducing new believers to other members of the flock, but are not always conducive for answering the basic questions that new believers are going to have as it relates to understanding Scripture, understanding doctrine, understanding Biblical truth as it applies to their lives. This is best done in isolation, with one or two mature believers walking with the new believer together in an effort to give them the strength and encouragement to walk on their own, to answer the questions they may have about what they are studying in the Word, to encourage them when they inevitably encounter the fear of sharing their new faith with their peers who may not readily accept them.

Yes, they will cry. Yes, they will scream in frustration. Yes, they will sometimes call in the middle of the night hungry for attention and guidance and understanding. And we must be patient guides and spiritual “parents” to help them grow in order that they can learn how to turn over, crawl, pull themselves up, walk, and eventually run on their own, sharing the gospel truth with those around them.

Separated for Service

The apostle Paul once referred to himself as “set apart for the gospel of God.” (Romans 1:1) In his final letter to his protege Timothy, he writes “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21) Throughout Paul’s letters, he encourages believers to be different from the world around them, to be transformed and grow into the likeness of Christ. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

In Peter’s first epistle, he exhorts the readers “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9) The careful choice of words that Paul uses here harken to the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:6 – “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” However, he also alludes to Jesus’ words in John 15:19 – “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Even the Psalmist of the Old Testament understood what it meant to be separated for service when he wrote “But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.” (Psalm 4:3) God has called us to be set apart, different, transformed and reshaped for His glory.

Separated for His Glory

Just like any farmer keeps his livestock separated, so does Christ keep His own flock separated. Just like any farmer will brand his cattle in order to more easily identify which livestock are his compared to others, so does Jesus write His word on our hearts to identify us as His own. As believers, as we have grown into maturity, we will bear the fruit of service to Him for His glory, and His glory alone.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:31-40

Transformation Through Separation

As a believer, we are called to be separated from the world, even though we are in the world and must be active within it. We are called to be transformed into a new creation, progressing to the image of the Son into Christlikeness. The gospel is both transformational and conformational, but it requires separation from the ways of the world for that to take place. While we are not meant to be “conformed to the ways of this world” (Romans 12:2), we are called to be conformed to the image of Christ. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29, 30)

This means repenting of our old ways and learning how to live in accordance with the word of God. Sometimes, separation can be painful and requires time to adjust, but it will always require patience and determination on the part of the disciple and the discipler. God knew you before the world was even created and He called you. He justified you. This is transformative and a cause for conformity to the image of Christ. For in the end, the glory we receive through our justification is His and His alone, that only He can impart unto us.

Putnam, Jim; Avery T. Willis, Brandon Guindon, Bill Krause. Real Life Discipleship. (Colorado Springs: NavPress. 2010)