tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post713429892796101077..comments2023-09-07T04:43:10.746-04:00Comments on Building His Body: My Lord and My GodAnne Lang Bundyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998809463390846323noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-83068961150904780492010-06-09T22:42:55.924-04:002010-06-09T22:42:55.924-04:00Dear Anonymous Guest ~
Thank you for returning. I...Dear Anonymous Guest ~<br /><br />Thank you for returning. I appreciate the opportunity for dialogue.<br /><br />God says we are not divine. We are not all-knowing, all-powerful, or all-present as God is. We created neither ourselves nor our world nor anything in it, but can only reshape a minuscule fraction of what was already created by God. We cannot control what happens in our next breath, throughout our day, and certainly not for the rest of our lives as God does. We not only hold no power to create life, we can't even explain how life originates apart from what God Himself reveals to us.<br /><br />By making us in His image, the Creator revealed to us only a portion of what He is. We are as much God as my image reflected in a mud puddle is me. Even evolutionists believe we are made of dirt—one of the few points on which they agree with the Bible's creation account. The men who recorded the Word of God in the Bible are not the only ones who acknowledge how low man is. One of most beloved hymns of all time resonates deeply with the human soul as it declares, "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me."<br /><br />The assertion that God didn't create junk implies acknowledgment of God as Creator. I heartily agree with you that God created only good. In bestowing upon us the ability to reason and communicate like Him rather than with the Pavlovian response of animals, God also gave us the freedom to choose between obedience and rebellion, between good and evil. Because we are not holy God, we consistently choose evil, make junk of ourselves, and need Him to restore us. By creating us, God establishes His unconditional authority over us and His right to define moral right and wrong. By creating us in His image, He demonstrates the love which assures us that His definitions of right and wrong are for our own good.<br /><br />If we glimpse God's absolute holiness—the absolute goodness of perfect love—and see ourselves and our poor imitation of love next to it, we cannot help but know with certainty that we are anything but God, and have gratitude that He not only loves us in our miserable, unworthy condition, but has also proven it by sacrificing His Son so that we might become closer to His image.<br /><br /><i>"To whom then will you liken Me?<br />Or to whom shall I be equal?"<br />Says the Holy One.<br />Isaiah 40:25</i>Anne Lang Bundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998809463390846323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-74217235602404263972010-06-09T11:16:51.839-04:002010-06-09T11:16:51.839-04:00I believe that we are all Divine. Because God crea...I believe that we are all Divine. Because God created us in His 'Image' and 'Likeness' (Genesis 1:26), we all proceed from God and share in His Divine Nature. We are first and foremost spiritual beings, living a human experience.<br />Unfortunately, many people (including some writers of the bible) think themselves to be just miserable, unworthy human creatures instead of the beautiful Divine masterpieces whom God has created. It reminds me of that poster I saw once of a little black boy, disheveled and dirty, stating proudly, "God don't make no junk!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-90553382629597350412010-06-08T21:19:19.290-04:002010-06-08T21:19:19.290-04:00Anonymous guest,
In John 14:12, our ability to do...Anonymous guest,<br /><br />In John 14:12, our ability to do such greater works is because we are not only empowered by the divine Holy Spirit (third Person of the Trinity), but also because we now have Jesus with the Father, fully human and fully divine, interceding on our behalf.<br /><br />As for John 10:36, you are correct in bringing out that the definite article is not present in the original Greek. But the indefinite article may not be assumed, and in some constructions it is actually incorrect to use any article at all. Anarthrous constructions (those where no article is present) in the Greek are most often intended to point out the quality of something, which in this case would emphasize Jesus simply as <i>Son</i>, not as <i>a</i> son. In that context, addition of the word 'the' does accurately aid the flow of the English. In John 1:1, there is likewise no article at all in the phrase "the Word was God." Jehovah's Witness Bibles incorrectly add an article, so that it reads, "the word was a god." Here, adding the article changes the meaning completely, and is entirely wrong.<br /><br />In John 10:34-25, I would think that Jesus is pointing out to the religious Jews the silliness of getting hung up on words in a manner which ignores the big picture. The Hebrew <i>Elohim</i> most often indicates the supreme authority God, but is in rare instances used to refer to lesser, human judges of the earth. So if they want to get hung up on the word for God, then He can justify it being used of humans. But to do so ignores what Jesus clarifies in verse 38: He is fully what the Father is, and the Father is revealed in what Jesus is—divine God.<br /><br />There are far too many Scriptures indicating Jesus is divine to believe otherwise.Anne Lang Bundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998809463390846323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-48379470094324134232010-06-08T20:52:04.657-04:002010-06-08T20:52:04.657-04:00Susan, this was post #770 for this blog. If I were...Susan, this was post #770 for this blog. If I were to write on nothing more than the divine nature of Jesus as revealed in Scripture, I believe I could write another 770.Anne Lang Bundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998809463390846323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-71952045799823374722010-06-08T12:38:22.893-04:002010-06-08T12:38:22.893-04:00And...
John Chapter 14:12 (KJV)
“I tell you the tr...And...<br />John Chapter 14:12 (KJV)<br />“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-79758784637436407462010-06-08T12:35:44.463-04:002010-06-08T12:35:44.463-04:00John Chapter 10: 30-36 (KJV)
“I and [my] Father ar...John Chapter 10: 30-36 (KJV)<br />“I and [my] Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.<br />Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, Ye are gods.’? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?<br /><br />Note: The King James Version of the Bible has “the” in italics before “Son of God” in verse 36. This is not for emphasis as some may think, but shows words interpolated by the translators. In this case, they were mistaken. The original Greek does NOT have an article before “Son of God,” which in Greek is equivalent to having an indefinite article. In the original Greek of this scripture, Jesus did NOT say he is the Son of God; he said I am a Son of God. He also quoted Psalm 82 that says “Ye are gods.”<br />Psalm 82:6 “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-53843051813131553242010-06-07T18:55:21.083-04:002010-06-07T18:55:21.083-04:00OH, wow ... thanks for the strong stand and the sc...OH, wow ... thanks for the strong stand and the scripture defining it.S. Etolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01847206680320012887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-47895036958488219192010-06-07T16:56:31.805-04:002010-06-07T16:56:31.805-04:00Brad ~
I understand your response to the difficu...Brad ~ <br /><br />I understand your response to the difficult passages of the Old Testament. It is a view so common that some churches simply skip the OT and preach more or less exclusively from the NT. <br /><br />If it helps to look at it this way, remember that God does not change. We live in the era of grace as He establishes His spiritual kingdom in our hearts. But we are warriors who need to battle as intensely as Joshua, and the judges, and David. The OT was the physical example of our spiritual reality. The first Passover and Red Sea crossing depict Calvary and our salvation. God commanded the Israelites to ruthlessly annihilate the pagan strongholds of seven nations <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deut%207:1-2&version=NKJV" rel="nofollow">(Deuteronomy 7:1-2)</a>. We are to be just as ruthless in driving out the spiritual strongholds represented in the meanings of those seven nations' names:<br />Hittites ("terror")—Fear<br />Girgashites ("clay dweller")—Fleshly lusts<br />Amorites ("boast")—Pride<br />Canaanites ("merchant")—Materialism<br />Perizzites ("without walls")—Anger released unrighteously<br />Hivites ("dwelling place")—Bitterness (offenses kept alive)<br />Jebusites ("tread down")—Judgmentalism, Gossip, Criticism<br /><br />Consider giving the Psalms a fresh reading, with an eye toward "my enemies" being these things you and I battle daily.<br /><br />Consider also that the era of grace now draws to a close. The NT Revelation aptly describes the vengeance soon to descend on the earth.Anne Lang Bundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998809463390846323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-86169757034508992072010-06-07T16:56:02.534-04:002010-06-07T16:56:02.534-04:00Gwen ~ I somehow missed out on Rachelle saying &qu...Gwen ~ I somehow missed out on Rachelle saying "God is not in the business of fooling people, and on the most critical points He is most clear." I'm grateful for you to pass along such a worthy statement, and to affirm it with your own faith. How happy I am to have you here. :D<br /><br />Shark Bait ~ Thank you for the power in your brevity.<br /><br />Sweet Jennifer ~ I hope "applause of Heaven" was the noise I heard. The response I initially wrote for the comment spoken of wouldn't post, giving me more time to think of a reply. The longer I thought on it, the more noise of protest I heard in my soul to allow even the link to remain on my blog. My words here still don't sound loud enough, nor could they be too loud in praise of Him Whom you and I love so dearly.<br /><br />Denise ~ I hear your applause, dear. Love you too.<br /><br />T ~ What a melodious cacophony of praise we'll all share there! Can hardly wait to see you.Anne Lang Bundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998809463390846323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-87106277146933482962010-06-07T06:32:47.983-04:002010-06-07T06:32:47.983-04:00Anne, I must confess that I do not always have the...Anne, I must confess that I do not always have the same experience as yours, "The bible has never let me down." ALthough I rely on scriptures as the inspired truth of God, I find myself sometimes cringing around certain verses, situations, and attitudes I read. I especially struggle with all the war and violence in the Old Testament, much of it under God's direction. And to think many of the Psalms are written with an attitude of vengeance and "crushing the enemy." It doesn't sit well with me. I just can't seem to read some of this any more without actually thinking about it. Oh well. Thank God for Jesus' message of peace in the New Testament!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-68939703773066648292010-06-07T02:06:03.615-04:002010-06-07T02:06:03.615-04:00Well done. Jesus is God. I cannot wait to worship ...Well done. Jesus is God. I cannot wait to worship at His precious feet.Tanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10518718614911804428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-6007161953070248382010-06-06T18:59:32.922-04:002010-06-06T18:59:32.922-04:00Big claps of appreciation to you sis, love you dea...Big claps of appreciation to you sis, love you dearly.Denisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09275456448997619944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-54870861808444361082010-06-06T10:15:22.527-04:002010-06-06T10:15:22.527-04:00Can you hear the applause of heaven, sweet Anne?Can you hear the applause of heaven, sweet Anne?Jennifer @ JenniferDukesLee.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15934656581948719407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-87263328902181675192010-06-06T08:37:32.205-04:002010-06-06T08:37:32.205-04:00Oh Anne, indeed, amen and amen. Jesus is fully God...Oh Anne, indeed, amen and amen. Jesus is fully God, exactly Who the Bible claims Him to be. As our agent said on her blog recently, God is not in the business of fooling people, and on the most critical points He is most clear. Jesus is God's Son--and therefore, completely, fully God. May His Name be praised forever!<br /><br />I'm reading "Mere Christianity" again by C.S. Lewis. What a fabulous read--the account of a man who came from atheism to Christianity. Page 52 begins, "I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say." The rest of that passage is famous for its clarity on who Jesus is.<br /><br />May God bless you richly on this day of praise.Gwen Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00062502118990955905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1920734279360907280.post-24203564039622118282010-06-06T08:08:18.943-04:002010-06-06T08:08:18.943-04:00Thank you, Anne.
Much of the intention of ministr...Thank you, Anne.<br /><br />Much of the intention of ministries, blogs, churches, etc., can be discerned by how they approach Jesus. Thank you for reminding us of the authority of scripture and sharing your love of scripture, and Jesus, with us.Russell Hollowayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04257247185461047076noreply@blogger.com