Last Sunday, the pastor continued his series on the Apostles’ Creed. Here are some items.
A. The pastor has recently been to Alaska, and he talked about his experience seeing a moose. There are aspects of creation that intrigue and inspire us. But there is also a fearsome side to creation, which includes earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes. The pastor was likening this to Moses seeing God in Exodus 33. Moses wanted to see God, but God replied that no one can see God’s face and live. God then revealed himself to Moses in terms of his mercy and compassion. Similarly, people since Christ’s coming see the face of God in Jesus Christ (see John 1:18; 14:9; II Corinthians 4:6). From Jesus, we see that God is merciful, loving, and compassionate.
Actually, this item engenders sub-items:
—-The pastor seemed to be suggesting that God causes natural disasters. In past teachings and sermons, he has somewhat wavered on that. In a past sermon, he said that natural disasters are God’s judgment of the cosmos after the Fall; that does not necessarily mean that God directly causes each and every natural disaster that occurs, but rather that natural disasters are part of God’s general judgment of creation due to the Fall of Adam and Eve. In a past Bible study class, he said that God does not cause natural disasters but can use them for his glory, as God did in the story of Joseph. I asked him in that class about Genesis 41:25, 28, and 32, which appear to suggest that God indeed did cause the famine. Here in this post, I will not try to tackle the question of whether God causes each and every natural disaster. Such a concept has troubling theological implications. Still, can we learn something about God from natural disasters? God often in the Bible says that he will shake the earth (see here), and, in Psalm 29, a thunderstorm is a theophany of God. Through natural disasters, we can be reminded of God’s power and fearsome aspects, not to mention how small human beings are. I hope I (or my loved ones) do not experience a natural disaster, though.
—-Do people see the face of God in Jesus Christ? Looking at those passages above, they do not seem to suggest that. Rather, they say that we see God’s glory in Jesus. The principle that no one can see God’s face and live continues through the New Testament. In the eschaton, however, believers will see God’s face (I Corinthians 13:12; Revelation 22:4). Could the New Testament still be playing, in some manner, with the Old Testament idea that no one can see God’s face and live? John 1:18, after all, says that no one has seen God, but Jesus has made him known. We do not see God physically, in terms of the vastness of his spiritual presence, but, in Jesus, we see more of what God is like than we saw before.
—-The Gospel of John regards Jesus as the revelation of God. But what exactly does John think that Jesus is revealing about God? Many Christians will say that Jesus reveals that the Father is merciful and compassionate. But does John explicitly teach that? This question came to my mind after I read Bart Ehrman’s Jesus Before the Gospels. Ehrman argues that the synoptic Gospels treat Jesus’s miracles as acts of compassion, whereas John regards them as signs of who Jesus is: Jesus in John’s Gospel authenticates his status through doing miracles. That said, John, on some level, still depicts Jesus as sensitive and compassionate. John 3:16 says God sent Jesus because God so loved the world. Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus was dead (John 11:35). Jesus teaches the disciples service by washing their feet (John 13). Jesus’s act of healing a lame man on the Sabbath is like the work that God does (John 5:17).
B. The pastor told a story about when he and his brother were children and got to walk to school by themselves for the first time. Unknown to them, their mother had an entire network of people watching them and making sure they were safe: the crossing guard, the teachers, etc. The pastor likened that to how God is the creator, but God has used people to help us. Many people are involved in the production and distribution of food. People have developed cures or amelioration for diseases.
C. The pastor said that the Old Testament regards God as the Father in the sense that God is the creator, whereas the New Testament takes God’s Fatherhood further, to a more intimate level, treating God as the Father of believers. Actually, God is a father, or is like a father, in a variety of ways in the Old Testament. God is the father of Israel and the Davidic king, and his fatherhood in those cases entails more than being the maker but includes parenting and discipline (Deuteronomy 8:5; II Samuel 7:14). God is also like a father to those who fear him and towards orphans (Psalms 68:5; 103:13). Still, does the New Testament take the fatherhood of God to a higher, more intimate, and more glorified level? I think so, which is why the New Testament makes such a big deal about God being the father of believers. Believers relate to God as a father, not just as creator and suzerain.
I will stop here, though. I will leave the comments open. I will not publish abusive comments that accuse me of being nitpicky. I will leave the comments open in case anyone wants to add an insight.
A. The pastor has recently been to Alaska, and he talked about his experience seeing a moose. There are aspects of creation that intrigue and inspire us. But there is also a fearsome side to creation, which includes earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes. The pastor was likening this to Moses seeing God in Exodus 33. Moses wanted to see God, but God replied that no one can see God’s face and live. God then revealed himself to Moses in terms of his mercy and compassion. Similarly, people since Christ’s coming see the face of God in Jesus Christ (see John 1:18; 14:9; II Corinthians 4:6). From Jesus, we see that God is merciful, loving, and compassionate.
Actually, this item engenders sub-items:
—-The pastor seemed to be suggesting that God causes natural disasters. In past teachings and sermons, he has somewhat wavered on that. In a past sermon, he said that natural disasters are God’s judgment of the cosmos after the Fall; that does not necessarily mean that God directly causes each and every natural disaster that occurs, but rather that natural disasters are part of God’s general judgment of creation due to the Fall of Adam and Eve. In a past Bible study class, he said that God does not cause natural disasters but can use them for his glory, as God did in the story of Joseph. I asked him in that class about Genesis 41:25, 28, and 32, which appear to suggest that God indeed did cause the famine. Here in this post, I will not try to tackle the question of whether God causes each and every natural disaster. Such a concept has troubling theological implications. Still, can we learn something about God from natural disasters? God often in the Bible says that he will shake the earth (see here), and, in Psalm 29, a thunderstorm is a theophany of God. Through natural disasters, we can be reminded of God’s power and fearsome aspects, not to mention how small human beings are. I hope I (or my loved ones) do not experience a natural disaster, though.
—-Do people see the face of God in Jesus Christ? Looking at those passages above, they do not seem to suggest that. Rather, they say that we see God’s glory in Jesus. The principle that no one can see God’s face and live continues through the New Testament. In the eschaton, however, believers will see God’s face (I Corinthians 13:12; Revelation 22:4). Could the New Testament still be playing, in some manner, with the Old Testament idea that no one can see God’s face and live? John 1:18, after all, says that no one has seen God, but Jesus has made him known. We do not see God physically, in terms of the vastness of his spiritual presence, but, in Jesus, we see more of what God is like than we saw before.
—-The Gospel of John regards Jesus as the revelation of God. But what exactly does John think that Jesus is revealing about God? Many Christians will say that Jesus reveals that the Father is merciful and compassionate. But does John explicitly teach that? This question came to my mind after I read Bart Ehrman’s Jesus Before the Gospels. Ehrman argues that the synoptic Gospels treat Jesus’s miracles as acts of compassion, whereas John regards them as signs of who Jesus is: Jesus in John’s Gospel authenticates his status through doing miracles. That said, John, on some level, still depicts Jesus as sensitive and compassionate. John 3:16 says God sent Jesus because God so loved the world. Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus was dead (John 11:35). Jesus teaches the disciples service by washing their feet (John 13). Jesus’s act of healing a lame man on the Sabbath is like the work that God does (John 5:17).
B. The pastor told a story about when he and his brother were children and got to walk to school by themselves for the first time. Unknown to them, their mother had an entire network of people watching them and making sure they were safe: the crossing guard, the teachers, etc. The pastor likened that to how God is the creator, but God has used people to help us. Many people are involved in the production and distribution of food. People have developed cures or amelioration for diseases.
C. The pastor said that the Old Testament regards God as the Father in the sense that God is the creator, whereas the New Testament takes God’s Fatherhood further, to a more intimate level, treating God as the Father of believers. Actually, God is a father, or is like a father, in a variety of ways in the Old Testament. God is the father of Israel and the Davidic king, and his fatherhood in those cases entails more than being the maker but includes parenting and discipline (Deuteronomy 8:5; II Samuel 7:14). God is also like a father to those who fear him and towards orphans (Psalms 68:5; 103:13). Still, does the New Testament take the fatherhood of God to a higher, more intimate, and more glorified level? I think so, which is why the New Testament makes such a big deal about God being the father of believers. Believers relate to God as a father, not just as creator and suzerain.
I will stop here, though. I will leave the comments open. I will not publish abusive comments that accuse me of being nitpicky. I will leave the comments open in case anyone wants to add an insight.