Tag: bible

Posted in theology, Uncategorized

The beauty of doctrine

Posted on by elizabethprata

love doctrine

Doctrine is wonderful. I love doctrine. Doctrine just means “teaching.” But it’s so much more than that also. Doctrine saves, we are delivered by doctrine!

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, (Romans 6:17).

You see the words ‘that standard of teaching’. The KJV uses the word doctrine. You were delivered by doctrine. God’s teaching saved you. Its usefulness and importance continues after salvation, for it edifies you, strengthens you, grows you, protects you, and more. (2 Tim. 2:24–26; Titus 1:9-11, John 17:17, &etc.).

Here is Scott Swain at Ligonier Ministries to explain:

What is doctrine? In its basic sense, doctrine is any sort of teaching. The Bible, for example, talks about the teachings of men (Mark 7:7–8), the teachings of demons (1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 2:24), and the teachings of God (John 6:45; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 John 2:27). Here, we are concerned with divine teaching, the teaching of God. According to one definition, doctrine is teaching from God about God that directs us to the glory of God. This definition provides a helpful anatomy of sound doctrine, identifying doctrine’s source, object, and ultimate end. We will consider these elements of sound doctrine.

We are obedient to the Person of Jesus of course, but we are also delivered by doctrine and we are obedient to the teaching of Jesus.

True doctrine becomes your protection. Doctrine, understood, begins to build your convictions. Convictions become your protection. If you have few convictions, you are very vulnerable. The more sound doctrine you know, the more you move from being a spiritual child to a young man.” John MacArthur, The Master’s University sermon, Delivered by Doctrine.

Doctrine as a word and a spiritual discipline has become tarnished of late. This essay is to try and bring the beauty of doctrine to its rightful place in the Christian life and mind. Here are a few more resources for you, in addition to the links already shared in this essay.

 What is doctrine? – Got Questions

What is essential Christian doctrine? – Christian Research Institute

Essential Doctrines of the Christian Faith – Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

Posted in potpourri, Uncategorized

Prata Potpourri: Hate watching, Loving our neighbor, Four reasons why, Bible books in 1 word, more

Posted on by elizabethprata

He said He will come, He said to look up when we see these things come to pass, and He IS coming soon. When the rapture happens, the unbelieving world will be left confused, injured, unhinged, and devastated. Now is the time to urge those who do not believe to seek truth. Truth resides in Jesus and in Him alone. And aren’t we who know Him blessed with the most wonderful relationship of which we can possibly conceive? Even if we do not have opportunity to witness in a particular moment, let us reflect Him in our demeanor and smile. We are rejoicing always!

I always want to remind myself and others that we are temporarily living on this earth as it is. Our lives may seem long, but they are short, but a passing breath. So I always remind us that Jesus may return immediately, in the next few moments of time. Alternately, the breath may leave our nostrils at any moment, our days are numbered.

Therefore, we pray, Lord, Thy kingdom come…but until that moment, Your will be done.

Here are a few reading resources for you. Enjoy!

Musician Dallas Holm muses about God’s Will in the hard as well as the easy.

Shane Pruitt at Already Am wonders if the statement ‘believe in yourself’ does more harm than good.

Jen Oshman discusses parenting when there are so many disasters and fear in the world in her article Fear, My News Feed, and Psalm 46

Samuel James has some thoughts on hate watching the Emmys…

Julia at Steak & A Bible has some suggestions about reading the rest of Romans 6

Nick at Reformation 21 shares deep truths about loving your neighbor as yourself with a reminder that it is the second greatest commandment.

From Zachary Bartels, “I’ve previously shared with you the best advice I ever got about preaching: my homiletics professor told us, “Gentlemen, when you’ve finished your sermon and think it’s just about ready to preach, read it over and ask yourself this . . . Could this message still be true and make sense if Jesus had not died and risen again for our salvation? If the answer is yes, then throw it out and start over, because it’s not a Christian sermon. It’s self-help or life-coaching or tips for family dynamics, but it’s not a cross-centered message, which is what we are called to proclaim.” Read on for the context and the point in The Jets, the Sharks, and Jesus

Housewife Theologian Aimee Byrd explores Four Reasons Why Every Christian Should Study Psalm 110

Garrett Kell at All Things for Good lists Every Book of the Bible in One Word

World Magazine reviews the documentary Fallen
A dangerous duty: Fallen spotlights the risks police officers face—and the sacrifices they make

Enjoy the day! Let’s remember this simple, profound, timeless, wonderful truth:

painting john 316 verse
EPrata painting
Posted in discernment, Uncategorized

The worst example of fake news

Posted on by elizabethprata

There is a concern with #fakenews these days. It’s news that is written to be deliberately misleading, biased, or circulated knowingly with purposes to outrage or confuse. This isn’t new. The old Soviet Union Communists of the 1950s were great at propaganda, which is what fake news used to be called. They were masters at spreading disinformation.

The Yellow Journalism age of the US in the late 1800s was another era of patently fake news, sensationalized simply to sell more papers, protect reputations, or to build reputations. (“Puff Graham“)

Fake news has been with us a long time. I can point to a very early example. Certainly the worst:

While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. (Matthew 28:11-15).

Fake news has been with us since forever. It has certainly been useful to the lost, greedy, and craven. Isn’t it wonderful to know that there is one source to which you can go that will always be reporting the truth?

bible with glasses 2

Posted in encouragement, Uncategorized

The Bible is so amazing

Posted on by elizabethprata

In my Bible reading there are some verses that have ‘jumped out’ at me lately:

do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. (Romans 11:18).

He supports me. Isn’t that a lovely thought? I do not want to be arrogant and take HIS glory away.

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Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16).

As a writer, I admire the beauty among this economy of words. Only the Spirit could inspire such gorgeous writing that proclaims such truth!

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For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. (Psalm 11:7).

To behold such glorious righteousness is a thought that both encourages me and makes me tremble. What a day that will be!

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Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. (Proverbs 11:4).

I praise the Lord I do not have a lust for riches. I know people who do (did). Some spend their entire life accumulating, lusting for expensive things, hoarding wealth. Unless there was a miraculous deathbed conversion, they are languishing in a place where their riches do not profit them. Thank You Lord for Your righteousness that is indeed riches beyond measure.

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Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Matthew 24:35).

How amazing that we will personally hear Him speak these words someday!

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The Bible is so rich, so beautiful. The many verses and passages and stories convict, inspire, point to the glory of the Lord…it’s staggering that this Book contains so much and is so everlasting.

bible bunyan

Posted in christian living, Uncategorized

Being busy is not the problem

Posted on by elizabethprata

I understand how life can get busy as different obligations creep in. I know there are seasons of busy-ness and that’s OK. But here is something to think about.

People who say they are busy say sometimes that if they were less busy, they would have time to read the Bible. If they just weren’t so busy, they’d have time for serving. If they didn’t have such a crowded day, they’d have time for ministry. Being busy is sometimes the reason they do not meet with God or serve the kingdom.

I’ll look at the issue in two ways, first, here is John MacArthur talking about giving. He isn’t talking about being busy, but the concept is the same. If you had more money, you’d give more. If you had more time, you’re do more. Here is JMac:

Some people say, “Well, if I just had more I’d give more.” No, I’ve heard that. You always hear them say, “If I had $1 million I’d give it over here and I’d give…if I could just win the lottery. Oh man, if I could just win the lottery.” The question is not what would you do with $1 million. The question is what are you doing with this $4.00 you’ve got in your pocket. What are you doing with the $10.00?  What are you doing with the $20.00 or the $60.00? That’s the issue, because Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 says, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money. When good things increase, those who consume them increase.”

Another way to say that is, the only advantage to money is to watch it slip through your fingers. The more you get, the more that goes. So it isn’t a question of if you had more you’d give more. No, that’s not the issue. Jesus said it this way, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” Sermon, The Biblical View of Money

It isn’t a question of if you had more you’d give more. I can attest to that. Confession time: sometimes I’m not busy at all and that’s when I do the least for Jesus.

I work in education, which means I have extended time off during the summer break. This year our break is about 8 1/2 weeks. I work hard during the school year. Most school years I also work a second job in the After School Program, as I will be doing this year again. When I arrive home between 5:30-6:00pm, I begin my second shift of reading the Bible, writing, praying etc. Thursday nights are devoted to Bible Discussion Group, and of course, Sundays are for worship service with either Bible group or fellowship time afterward. Add the occasional social time with friends, school meetings, and must-do tasks (car oil change, doctor appointment,) and you have a pretty full schedule. I’m not crazy busy, but the school year has structured time that mostly fills my day from bedtime-to-bedtime.

All I can think about during the school year is how happy I will be during Summer when I have all this time to myself. “I’ll read the Bible more…write more…research different topics…read theological books…” And I do. At the beginning. I get up early, do my spiritual tasks, spend the rest of the day productively for the Kingdom.

As summertime slides on, though, so does my schedule. I get up later, watch more movies, snuggle with the cats longer, take more naps. I spend less time doing things for the kingdom and more time just being comfortable for myself. There have been a few days when I sit here, the Bible within reach, and never have opened it once during the day once.

If I had more time I’d do more? Not hardly. Sloth and laziness are built into us I think, and I soon fall victim to it. I have to work diligently during summer to ensure that I maintain my prayers, do my Bible readings, and complete my spiritual kingdom work when what I really want to do is watch Youtube videos of Kids Escaping Cribs or Funny Cats.

So I can attest that having more time does not mean that I’d do more. In fact, for me it’s the opposite. When school starts in ten days I’ll be grateful for the structure again. My work schedule really helps me keep track of my spiritual self.

Don’t delude yourself into thinking it is because you’re so crazy busy you have no time to read your Bible, pray, or serve. As John MacArthur said on the subject of giving, it’s not about not having millions of dollars, it is about what are you doing with $4 in your pocket. Whether you have 24 hours to yourself or 20 minutes to spare, what are you doing with the time? If the issue regarding money isn’t “Oh man, if I could just win the lottery”, it’s the same for time. It isn’t about “Oh man, if I could just have all day to myself.”

Here are a few resources on balancing work-busy with (summer)-lazy.

What does the Bible say about being too busy?

In our supersonic postmodern society, known for its busyness and its increasing ability to deliver instantaneously, we find ourselves hurried more than our ancestors ever could have imagined. We have come a long way from the horse-and-buggy days, and because of that, our twenty-four hours a day seem more and more restrictive. We never feel like we have enough time to accomplish everything we want or need to do, and the clock keeps ticking

Parents, don’t waste your lazy summer days

But is it really such a bad thing to have wide open spaces in our planners? Might this be the very thing we need in order to refocus our priorities and make the most of the short season of time we’re given with our children?

Tim Challies’ book and course with a practical guide to productivity
Do More Better

I wrote this short, fast-paced, practical guide to productivity to share what I have learned about getting things done in today’s digital world. It will help you learn to structure your life to do the most good to the glory of God.

Challies’ book is also a course with the same title at Ligonier Connect.

Posted in discernment, Uncategorized

Lucky Dipping

Posted on by elizabethprata

In RC Sproul’s class called Knowing Scripture, in lesson 4, “Literal Interpretation,” Sproul taught against a certain popular method of decision making he calls “lucky dipping.”

In this method, when the believer wants to hear from God or wants to make a decision, they ask God to lead and guide them, and then they open the book and let their finger or their eye fall on a particular passage. They read the passage and then rest on it as their “answer” to their problem. Sproul said that this is a spiritualistic method of interpretation that rips verses from the Bible’s context. He said,

“God did not inspire passages of Scripture many years ago to tell us answers totally unrelated to the literal meaning originally intended. God does use Scripture to speak to us, but the message is always consistent with the literal interpretation.” Sproul, Knowing God

He gave an example of a hypothetical believer who asked God to lead him. He opened his Bible and read Matthew 27:5, ‘And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.’

The audience laughed. Sproul went on. He said that the person didn’t like the ‘answer’ at all, muttering ‘That can’t be right’. He repeated, ‘Lord, lead me’, and opened the Bible and dipped again, landing on Luke 10:37. “You go and do likewise.”

Sproul’s exaggerated example reveals the ridiculousness of using the Bible like a Magic 8 Ball.

I think we can all agree that dipping is unwise and we should avoid it. Sometimes when pastors preach exclusively in the topical method, they can tend to ‘lucky dip’, too. Not that they use it as a method for finding personally tailored advice, but as a method for coming at the scriptures with a topical agenda in mind.

But if topical preaching is the main method of preaching and teaching, rather than expositional verse-by-verse, then a lazy tendency can creep in. Sometimes the leader can handle the scriptures carelessly, selecting different verses from different Testaments or different literary genres to support their point. With a careful pastor who normally exposits, occasional topical preaching can be fine or even necessary. Sometimes the congregation needs clarity on an issue, especially if there has been a national or local tragedy, or if there has been a particular problem in the membership that is causing confusion or division.

But if a teacher or pastor continually preaches topically, then lucky dipping could become a problem. If the pastor doesn’t take the care that’s necessary, the sermon could simply become a mere listing of of verses disconnected from the overall argument.

And back to the original statement about laymen doing the lucky dip. If a pastor or teacher teaches topically all the time, taking verses from here, there, and everywhere, or worse, from all different translations in order to support the topic, he or she is actually teaching his congregants to lucky dip. With less training than the teacher, the church member might say, ‘Well, he/she goes all over the place with the verses, it must be OK if I do too’. And then you wind up with people who might eventually use the scriptures as a Magic 8 Ball, divining God’s will or manipulating His word to make it say what it doesn’t say.

It’s admittedly easier to open the Bible and find the one verse that will seem to help for the moment, rather than setting down to carefully study a passage in context. That is why a lazy tendency can creep in. Resist that. And resist following teachers who do that all the time. The Bible is God’s own word to humankind, the only supernatural message we have ever received with purity and unimpeachable truth. Handle with care.

I argue that the primary reason we misinterpret the Bible is not because the Holy Spirit has failed to do His work, but because we have failed to do ours. Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by R. C. Sproul

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Sing to tune of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, “We don’t need no divination…”
EPrata photo
Posted in discernment, Uncategorized

Jonah and his leaf: a Lesson in Priorities

Posted on by elizabethprata

God relented from the disaster He’d promised upon the Ninevites.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. (Jonah 4:1).

Then God gave Jonah some shade.

Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. (Jonah 4:6)

As our pastor preached on Sunday, “This seems kind of backward!” What are your priorities? What are mine?

Sometimes we can detect our own heart condition by what makes us exceedingly glad and what makes us exceedingly angry.

leaf1
EPrata photo

Posted in encouragement, Uncategorized

What does ‘disciples’ mean?

Posted on by elizabethprata

In listening to Martyn Lloyd Jones today I was struck by how he brought out nuances to the word ‘disciple.’ All that the word disciple really means is learner. More on Lloyd-Jones below in a moment.

I’ve thought a lot about education over my lifetime. My foremost profession has been an educator in various capacities. I’ve attained a post-graduate degree, a Master’s in Education with a 4.0 average. However my family is one of high achievers, and a Master’s in my family is the low end of the educational totem pole. Many of my family have Doctorate degrees. They’re Professors or Deans in universities, or are doctors or are highly educated in other professions. They all worked very hard for their education and they are all very smart.

I am second and third generation immigrant, so the family emphasis on education was great and for that I’m grateful.

So often, I ponder my family’s well-earned achievements in the secular world (for none are saved that I know of, except perhaps one). Their brilliance, thirst for learning, and great intellectual capacity will become as nothing on The Day. Their wisdom which is of the world and which the world admires, will be as dung on Judgment Day. It’s an upside down notion that takes getting used to.

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:20-21).

And in an even more upside down twist, the uneducated, the simple, the ignorant, have the mind of Christ.

Finally, after three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers... (Luke 2:46-47).

This is because Jesus had no sin. His mind was pure, undefiled, and divine, and therefore the top mind in the universe.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13, KJV).

No doubt Paul had a great intellect, and had been trained in the only secondary school there existed for Jews at the time: the Sanhedrin. However most of the apostles were as the verse says, uneducated and ignorant men. They were simple men, fishermen and craftsmen, jailers and soldiers. The Holy Spirit dispenses the mind of Christ to His followers, and with it, the thirst to learn His word. The men went from being fishermen to being disciples. What are disciples? Learners. Here is Martyn Lloyd Jones on disciples and learning:

The Holy Spirit can make any man new, it doesn’t matter who he is. The Holy Spirit can regenerate an ignoramus quite as easily as He can a great philosopher. Perhaps even more so! He does the same thing in both cases. And when He does, He does the same thing to both of them. He creates a desire and an appetite in them for the truth.”

And they [the 3000 souls just converted at Pentecost] devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42).

The thing that is put first [in the verse] is the teaching, the doctrine. These people, suddenly converted from ignorance and darkness, from the vileness of their lives…what do they want? They want more teaching. They’ve suddenly got an appetite and a desire for teaching! Have you ever heard of such a thing? People who have never read, who’d never thought. People who had lived for gambling and for sex and for drunkenness … people who hadn’t seemed to have brains at all, suddenly they want teaching! They wanted it daily. They continued steadfastly. … This is the miracle of redemption, and it is proof of the fact that they have become a Christian.

Many people are “making decisions” but they don’t want to be taught. They don’t like teaching. They grumble at it. They say sermons are too long. They want something nice and simple, bright and breezy. When a man is born again, he wants teaching. He’s a disciple. ~Martyn Lloyd Jones, Acts 6:1-7, The Church and Her Message

Disciples are learners. Anyone and everyone can learn, when the Spirit puts the thirst for the word of God into you. The most formerly foolish and ignorant drunken gambler now seeks the highest wisdom that exists, and is given access to it by the Holy Spirit Himself.

Before I was saved, all my accumulated learned wisdom from University stood me no closer to understanding Jesus and gave me no advantage or wisdom that counts with God. I was equally as ignorant as the most ignorant person on earth. Yet when He gives us the new man inside is, comes with is a capacity for unfolding the wisdom of heaven, direct from the mind of Christ. We’re disciples, praise God.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! (Psalm 111:10).
bible with glasses

Posted in prophecy, Uncategorized

Revelation 101

Posted on by elizabethprata

So often I hear that people are scared to, or worried about, reading the Book of Revelation. It’s this monolith at the end of the Bible that people stay away from because it’s too hard, too mysterious, too difficult to understand. Yet the book itself says otherwise.

Believers cannot afford to ignore the immense truth this book contains. In fact, we’re commanded not to; Revelation 22:10 says, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” ~John MacArthur

It’s actually one of the easiest books to understand.

By the way, the book is called “Revelation” singular. It’s not “Revelations.”

Daniel is dense. Pound for pound, Zechariah has twice as much prophecy than Revelation. Some of the minor prophets are hard to understand because of the time frames and the history. Romans is heavily philosophical. If I was to pick a book that is hard to understand, I’d choose any of those over and above Revelation. Revelation is actually one of the easiest book in the Bible to understand.

How can I say this?

Two reasons.

1. It is the ONLY book in the Bible in which the reader is promised a blessing if he or she reads it. The. Only. Book. That’s something worth paying attention to. The promise is stated at the beginning and at the end of the book.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. (Revelation 1:3).

How can we keep what is written in it, if we do not read it?

“And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (Revelation 22:7).

Clipboard04Did Jesus promise a blessing, and in a cosmic ‘gotcha’, then make it intellectually or spiritually too difficult to understand? Or is it because it’s one book that proclaims Jesus in His full glory, promises a great ending for His people, and wants us to look ahead for the encouragement?

2. It has its own built-in study guide. Despite the chaos it reveals, it is actually a very orderly book. I’m not kidding.

The first three chapters are greetings and letters to churches, which we would do well to study. To each church, Jesus identifies himself in a different way, revealing a certain aspect of Himself that matches the warning or commendation He gives to the church. It also shows how intimately He is involved with His church as its Head and its Priest.

In Chapter 4 the scene shifts to heaven. In Chapter 5 we’re still in heaven, but now heaven is readying for the “things to come”, meaning, the global judgment.

Chapter 6-18 are those judgments. Again, it’s orderly. A series of three (perhaps four, if the Seven Thunders are judgments) each containing 7 judgments are unleashed, one after the other. The time frame is fairly chronological. It’s also rapid. The events take place mostly within three and a half years (7 total) so reading this main portion of Revelation can be compared to reading the Gospel of Mark. Mark reports quickly, covers a great time frame in short order, and uses muscular language and a rapid pace. It’s the same with this portion of Revelation.

The judgments, in addition to being judgments, are also working to UNcreate the world. Compare Genesis 1-2 with Revelation 6. Genesis shows the creation, Revelation is the UNcreation. As the LORD deals with sin, He is also preparing the world for its upcoming regeneration (“The New Earth.”). Mainly the story proceeds chronologically with an occasional glimpse back to heaven or a parenthetical comment.

Chapter 19-22 is the wrap-up- the new heavens and new earth, New Jerusalem, the Marriage Supper, the final strings to tie up, the last encouragement.

Voila!Clipboard05

As for the symbolism, scripture interprets scripture. The symbols are not a lot harder to interpret than other analogies and symbols in the Bible. Jesus being the vine (we know He is not ACTUALLY a vine). Or when the angels pour out the bowls of wrath, we are reminded of Jesus drinking the cup of wrath. The dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads is a similar kind of symbol to the ram with long horns of Daniel 8, which is interpreted for Daniel right in the same chapter.

 

I’m not saying everything about Revelation is easy. It still takes study. What I’m saying is that is is not harder than any other book of the Bible and in some ways it is easier. Please do not be intimidated by it.

On sale now at Grace To You through June 25 is a booklet for $1.50 called A Jet Tour Through Revelation. It is adapted from a sermon MacArthur gave a while ago. Even when the sale is done the booklet only costs $2.00. Of course, you can listen to the sermon for free at any time. The booklet-

-helps take the mystery out of a portion of Scripture many people consider too difficult to understand. Yet, the book of Revelation promises blessing to those who read its words and heed them. This Jet Tour booklet will help you make sense of the symbols, imagery, and significance of this amazing prewritten history. It will increase your appetite for heaven—or give you a needed dose of concern about your eternal future and point you to Christ, who alone can save you from the wrath He will one day bring.

One of my favorite books on Revelation is another of MacArthur’s -“Because the Time is Near”. This book is also on sale now for $8.25. I found it not only to be clear, non-academic and useful in laymen’s terms, so encouraging. Yes, the Book of Revelation is encouraging. Seeing all that wrath poured out is hard on the heart, but it is also encouraging knowing Jesus took that same wrath for His people. This in turn inspires a profound relief and love for His work on the cross. It’s one thing to know about the cup of wrath He endured, it is another to understand it. Revelation helps you understand sin and wrath, and by contrast, grace. In this way, reading Revelation helps you love Jesus even more.

Far from being a dense, mysterious, non-understandable book, I have always found it to be encouraging, amazing, and inspiring. It shows Jesus as He is now, in full glory, power, and beauty. It is one of my favorite books of the Bible, Genesis being the other!

Please don’t be intimidated by Revelation, just start reading it. You will be blessed. That is a promise from Jesus.

Posted in Uncategorized, visual exegesis

Even The Depths of God

Posted on by elizabethprata
Full of Eyes is a support-based ministry of exegetical art that creates still and moving images intended to point people to the beauty of God in the crucified and risen Son. All art and animations are done by Chris Powers. Powers’ goal is to help people see and savor the faith-strengthening, hope-instilling, love-kindling beauty of God in Christ. And he does this by creating free exegetical art in the form of pictures, animations, and discussion guides. His work is at https://www.patreon.com/fullofeyes, Youtube, and his website fullofeyes.com

Chris’ most recent work is below, with his artist’s statement below the picture.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10, “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him”–these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”

Often times verse 9 gets quoted as referring to the eternal state….however, I’m not sure why people do that. The context of Paul’s citation has no immediate bearing on the new heavens and earth etc. Instead, he’s quoting Isaiah 64:4 here (the text immediately following the passage I used for yesterday’s picture).

In Isaiah 64:4, that which “no eye has seen” etc. is not some future blessing for God’s people, rather Isaiah is talking about the absolute uniqueness of YHWH as attested by His acts of redemption on behalf of His people. This original context of the citation fits much more naturally into Paul’s line of argument in 1 Cor.1-2. In this section, Paul has been saying that the preaching of Christ crucified is a message that reveals God to and saves the souls of those who receive it as wisdom and power (1 Cor.1:21,23-24), while it confirms in condemnation those who reject it as folly (1 Cor.1:22).

This–Christ crucified as the saving revelation of the God who cannot be known by worldly wisdom–this is the “secret and hidden wisdom of God” imparted by Paul’s proclamation of the word of the cross (1 Cor.2:7), a wisdom that “God decreed before the ages for our glory. The spiritual understanding to perceiving the saving revelation of God in the crucified Christ is that which God “has prepared for those who love Him,” and this is why Paul supports his argument by citing a passage from Isaiah talking about YHWH’s utter uniqueness as revealed in His works of redemption.

In Isaiah’s day as in Paul’s (and ours) YHWH is made known as the only true God through His works of redemption. This is definitively true of the cross of Christ….a work of redemption so opposed to the fallen bent of humanity’s perceptions that the revelation of God imparted therein cannot be received apart from the merciful foreordination of God and present working of His Spirit.

So, verse 9 is talking about the never-before imagined glories of who God reveals Himself to be through the preaching of the crucified Christ. This–He Himself perfectly communicated in the love of the Son–is what God has prepared for those who love Him. And so, in that sense verse 9 can be seen as anticipation of eternity since ALL the joys of the eternal state can be summarized in that one statement: to know God in Christ.

With this in mind, the “these things” in verse 10 is God made savingly known through the wisdom of Christ crucified. This, then, is what the Spirit of God must reveal to us….If this is true, then the awesome thing to see is that Paul says the Spirit can do this–can reveal God to us in the Son–“For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” In other words, these “depths of God” are what the Spirit illumined eyes of faith perceive when they look to the crucifixion of the Son who will rise again. The unplumbable depths of God’s infinite heart–truly the beauty into which we will be pressing further up and further in for eternity–this is opened to us on Calvary…..May we, then, by the Spirit, in submission to the word, and in community with other believers, grow in knowing this all glorious Triune God who blessedly surpasses all of our knowledge, imagination, and hopes.