Selwyn continues to explore “the fact that God is not only powerful, but personal.

The different elements of personality are affirmed of God on almost every page of the Bible. Listen to this: ‘I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind,’; said the Lord to Eli, in 1 Samuel 2:35. This shows – if it needs showing – that God has a mind with which He thinks. …

While surveys reveal that the majority of human beings believe in some kind of God, many view Him as being so exalted and remote that they think He cannot posibly take a personal interest in such small and insignificant creatures as ourselves.”

If you think you are small and insignificant then look at the cross – Jesus, shed His blood for you – blood, so unique and so valuable – and He thought of you while His blood ran down the cross – while His breath became became impossibly difficult with pain – He saw your life worth saving – He gave your life incredible value – so, what are you going to do with it -to show your appreciation of what he offers you – eternal life? This is how ‘personal’ – God, is for you!

Selwyn now introduces another characteristic of God – that He is a personal God who longs to have a relationship with us.

He says: ‘As we have seen, the first thing we learn about God when we open the pages of the Bible is that He is powerful. This awesome might and power, we said, was demonstrated in the creation of the world.

The next thing we observe in Genesis, Chapter 1, is that He is personal.’ Selwyn notes that there are many places in Genesis where we see the words, ‘God said … ‘. We have a God who speaks to us and to whom we can respond.

He goes on to say, in his summary: ‘Because God is a Person, He is someone who wants and waits to be ‘known’.

Adam and Eve knew God and talked to Him but their relationship with Him was not based on love and trust. We have the opportunity to develop a loving relationship with God; and the type of relationship we establish with Jesus; this side of the grave, is the foundation for the relationship we will have with Him after we die. Do you agree?

There is sometimes the danger of bringing God down to our level and thinking of Him as if He was an intelligent and powerful human being – a bit like the superman comicbook hero. The verse selected from Scripture, set for Reading and Meditation, is a useful one to counter this danger; Isaiah 55:9, ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’

I also like the prayer for today: “Loving heavenly Father, how thankful I am that You made me like Yourself – to know and be known. May my strongest desire be to know You, and not merely to know myself. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

I think that with the constant focus on “it’s all about me”, and the time people now use to explore their own desires leaves less time to get to know other people. I feel that people in Western cultures now know (as close friends, not counting work acquaitances and the like) fewer people than they did; say, twenty years ago – what’s your view on this?

 

Selwyn looks “at another aspect of God’s great and mighty power. God is powerful not only in creation and preservation but He is powerful in judgment also. When He acts no one can resist Him (not even Satan).

… Now what does the contemplation of God’s great power do for us? First, it causes us to tremble.’ It’s only the blind and deaf who can’t see God’s creation – who don’t understand His power – who are the ones who don’t tremble.

Selwyn then makes an important point: “Another thing the contemplation of God’s great power does for us is to cause us to adore Him. Who can consider the might of this awesome God without wanting to worship Him? The rebellious heart will resist this, of course, but the heart cleansed by the blood of Christ will bow in homage ….

Well may we, as believers, trust such a God. No prayer is too hard for Him to answer, no need too great for Him to supply, no predicament too difficult for Him to solve. Grasp this great and gripping truth: this God is your God.”

This is why we can always trust that Jesus has heard our many prayers – He knows our needs – He understands our predicaments – He know that there are many issues which worry us – He listens intently to our calls for help and He answers our prayers in a why that is always perfect – we can always trust in His goodness and His great love for us. Do you?

Selwyn starts today’s study with: ‘We have considered God’s might and power in the act of creation; now we consider His might and power in the act of preservation. … Everywhere in the Scriptures God is presented not only as the Creator of the world but as its Sustainer and Preserver also.

God has not wound up the universe like a clock and then separated Himself from it: He is active in sustaining it, and were He to remove Himself from it, it would cease to exist.’ 

We know that God loves us – His special creation – in John 3:16-17, we have these well-known words: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

God’s love for us has cost Him dearly – and, true to His nature – He will continue to love us – always. I believe God has demonstrated just how much He loves the world – it is now our chance to show Him how much we love Him. What do you think?

Selwyn continues to discuss the all-powerful nature of God.

The main point which I think comes out of today’s study is that God, ‘an intelligent Being of indescribable majesty and power who is able to do whatever He chooses. And because what He chooses is always good, He can be trusted to have the best interests of His creation at heart.’

This area is one that must bring a sense of awe to your heart. This God of ours, who created the universe and all the laws that support the universe such as gravity and energy, and fixed such constants as the speed of light – is the same God who seeks a personal relationship with us. It’s hard to imagine a greater comparison – this planet is a speck in the universe – you, are but one in the midst of billions of people. Yet, this amazing God looks at you and says; ‘I am, your God, who loves you.’ Are you, as overwhelmed as I am?

Selwyn asks the question – What is the first thing we learn about God as we open up the Bible? That He is omnipotent (all-powerful).

He goes on to say: “We cannot have a right conception of God or contemplate Him correctly unless we think of Him as all-powerful. He who cannot do what he wills and pleases cannot be God. As God has a will to do good, so He has the necessary power to execute that will. …  A great and powerful God bought the (universe) into being by saying. ‘Let them be.’”

This aspect of God continues to become more significant the longer you meditate on God and His creation. The fact that He can command wind and waves (and by implication the energy which drives them) is really awesome, even more so when you consider the size of the universe, and you then realise that the largest sun or the largest black-hole are under His control – it is hard to fully comprehend – do you agree?

***

Last Day of the Christian Missionary Society (CMS) - New South Wales, Summer School – see Sat 6th post.

Rev William Taylor completed his Bible Study on ‘Understanding the Times’ and he uses Matthew 13:31-52 to illustrate the main points of his talk. This section of Matthew’s Gospel covers the The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast, The Parable of the Weeds Explained, The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl; and the Parable of the Net.

William talked about how God’s Kingdom advances alongside the enduring presence of evil. The weeds, sown by Satan are allowed to grow along side the wheat (sown by Jesus) until the harvest. The deliberate delay is an act of generosity on God’s part – there is no loss of control. At the time of the harvest there is a decisive division of the weeds and the wheat.

Note what Jesus says in Matthew 13:39b-43: “The harvest is at the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous (those who believe in Jesus AND what He did on the cross) will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl are to remind the ‘righteous’ that their rewards are in the future and are of immense value. It is a joyful and ‘inexplicable’ investment to follow Jesus and endure the presence of evil -yet, there is a degree of urgency to act now and secure this investment – it is not something to put off to another day – Jesus may send His angels tonight!

Those who understand this Good News are called to proclaim the wonderful news about Jesus to others – we are all called to be missionaries – do you agree?

It was a great week – can’t wait to live out in a fuller way – some of the stuff William talked about.

Selwyn, now starts to contemplate as far as it is possible, ‘the nature and character of the God we worship’.

He makes the following good points: “We know something about God as we look out through the lattice of nature, but because the world of nature has been affected by the Fall, we cannot expect to find a full revelation of Him there.

Scripture , however, is different. The Bible, I believe, has been supernaturally protected from the effects of sin, and in its pages we have a clear revelation of who God is and what He is like. This is why all human ideas about God, His will and His work, both traditional and contemporary, must be ruthlessly brought in line with what Scripture says.

Those who think that they can get a clear picture of God apart from Scripture are deceived.”

In general, I believe that there is no new revelation given to us after John’s Book of Revelation. Those who have added material to Scripture in the last few hundred years or have turned to other ‘Books’ written after the Bible was completed, are also being deceived. What do you think?

***

Day 6 of CMS Summer School – see note Sat 6th post. Another fantastic day – weather has been hot but bearable.

More great singing of Songs of Praise – the Auditorium was filled to capacity. I’ve not seen any mention of the Summer School in the secular media – doesn’t that say something! Rev William Taylor continues his Bible Study, ‘Understanding the Times’, and today he focuses on Matthew 13:1-33. He talks about the forceful advance of God’s Kingdom – the advance of His Kingdom is by God’s initative and goes hand-in-hand with His judgement. God chooses those who are in His family and only to these people does he give the secrets of heaven – those, who sit humbly at Jesus’ feet are given the understanding (of what the parables mean). Everyone has the opportunity to hear but because many have allowed their hearts to become hardened, they cannot ‘hear’ the meaning of Jesus’ words.

The advance of God’s Kingdom is through His Word and, as the Parable of the Sower tells us, God’s Word (seed) is scattered widely and grows with mixed results. Sometimes growth starts small and hidden – like a mustard seed but by God’s power – often a hidden force, can grow to something large. In verse 33, we learn that an amount of yeast can work through ‘a large amount of flour’ to produce significant change.

When going through this Bible study, I though it was interesting that on two occasions we are given an explanation of why Jesus only spoke in parables to the crowd, first in verses 13:10-17, and again in 13:34-35; ‘Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet (Psalm 78:2): “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”

In one way, I think the spiritual blindness that we see today still keeps people from understanding the parables which Jesus told – do you agree? It may partly explain why we get so many aberrant views of Jesus’ teaching.

I then went to a missionary session on ‘Latin America – what is going on’, it was also good – you often just don’t hear about the depth and scope of the extensive missionary activities that are going on, all around this world – it’s a real encouragement. God’s Kingdom is forcefully advancing!