God and Creation (Question)

I received these questions, and i thought sharing them with you:

Question:

1) If God work is perfect& he is all knowin why did he wait to realize adam would be lonely before he popped eve?....etc....is creation a continuous process?

2)there was no point in creating lucifer anyway...because he would rebell anyway....there would be no need for hell since he is a loving God..there would be no tempter to adam/eve...we would not need to work our*** with (fear & trembling) coz we would be in heaven anyway...

My Answer:

These are interesting questions. It seems that we can't go on in Christian life without stopping once in a while and think about what we really believing and if they still make sense to us to the point where we reach in life. Staring with the first question.

The account of Genesis chapter 1 and 2 shows us for a matter of fact that creation is progressive. God did not made everything at once. He brought His creation one step at a time. He never revealed why do things in several steps instead of in one step. However this doesn't in anyway negate the reality of His purpose in doing things. Delay is creation is not a mark of imperfection. There is no contradiction between those two concept. Something else too, the first two chapter of Genesis doesn't inform the reader that God did everything perfect. It informs us regularly instead that after each steps of creation, God's creation was GOOD. The last step of creation was VERY GOOD.

As for the second point, it seems that God's intention in creating that archangel was so that he could bring light - as his name suggest. Lucifer can be translated as 'The Bringer of Light'. Which is quite a pretty name. God also intended for men to represent Him on earth and to subdue all creature. But none of them - neither Lucifer who became Satan, nor holy men (Adam and Eve) who became depraved men stuck with God's plan for them. The reality of rebellion is not enough to deter God to bring the creation He loved into existence. Just like the reality of having teenagers who will rebel against us, doesn't prevent loving parents to want to experience the joy of bringing a new life on this world, despite that fearful future possibility. God did not simply brought His creation into existence, but he also prepared in advance a remedy to fix things when things will go wrong. 

The point being: Love always takes risk. The risk of being Hurt. God is love, hence He is the biggest risk taker that i know.

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God in Me: Mary Mary (My take on that)

Thank You A. for sharing that youtube critics of the Mary-Mary song: "The God in Me". I wasn't able to finish all the 8 youtubes. I just heard two of them and i immediately thought it will be good to hear the song for myself. And i did that. I heard more than 2 times, and i just loved it!

Now this need some explanation!

The Mary-Mary detractor is not ill-motivated. I guess his concern is legitimate. And few years ago i would have agree with him. And even better, i would have attacked the R'nB style in which it is done. Actually when he started his first 9min commentary he said he will prove that it is not a christian song. Well, since i don't believe in Christian song existence any longer, i wasn't impress already. But i guess he meant a religious song that borrows on Christian worldview. However the song is indeed a song with a strong religious message. Either it is from God or not that is the issue of the discussion but it is a religious song. Am i saying by this then that the song is based on proper theology? Not necessary. Actually, i found many of the "Christian songs" lacking too of strong renewal message. They speak about praising God but don't tell us really why!? Some of them really lacks profondeur but we put up with them and sing them anyway.

It is clear that he (the detractor) is not dissecting it with the clip imagery in mind. After i watched the clip; that's when i understood what the Mary ladies meant. They are using what is known as the "Holiness Message". Message that predate Pentecostalism. It's the message that says that if you are holy or if you live a life of devotional holiness people will see it. Even your clothes and everything you have or do will attract people attention on you or will show Christ. I know well this message for i used to preach it too. I didn't stop because i disagree with it though but because i got interested in other topics.

The difference with the new usage of this Holiness message is that people no longer attribute it to poverty only. In the past, someone could have well said, although i do no drive and i live an absolutely modest life in a very humble house, people wanders why? and they want to be in my life because of the presence of God. It is the Holiness message that conveyed the idea that if you pray alot, God can make you attractive to people as they wonder the reason of you being special even in your want or deprivation.

But that time is long gone! Since that time, people have stopped making the distinction between possessing wealth vs holiness. So now the same argumentation remained but only the example changed. Now we hear how people succeed in the same level as the unbelievers and sometime less well than them but the success of the believer(s) seem to speak more. And this is exactly what is seen in the clip. They are not talking to poor people about how good it is to have material things as the author of the youtube led me to believe at first.

No! But rather they are showing a room filled with glamorous people and the thing is, they are not even the best dressed people in that 'premier' setting, but when they pass people get their attention caught and shows it. And the singers say the reason for this is because they have a secret. Their secret they inform us is when they go home they kneel down and PRAY.  And they say, you don't know how much i sacrificed, how much i changed and so on and they end with the repetitive chorus, it's God in Me. This is typically Pentecostalism. Not traditional Pentecostalism though but "liberal"/ modern Pentecostalism.

So if the critic really wanna stop that song message, he should speak with the modern preachers. The ladies have just put in that song what almost every christian there believes. And they did that by using their own personal life 'story'. If they were students, they'll probably use that setting with appropriate example. Here they use examples of a Super Star-like life. And it seems that they are sending that message to folks of the same social status as themselves if the clip serves as a guide.

So saying there are not preaching the entire Gospel of Christ, is just too much to ask for a song of 3 min 14 sec. And i'm sure he sings also many songs that cannot raise up to the standard he puts on this Mary-Mary song. There is just so many things that he said in these 2 youtubes that i don't have time to write about. He did presuppose alot and that's where he went off-track to my observation. If he wants to take them apart, i'm sure there are more legitimate way of doing that, but this one that he raised so far i heard, is not the way. 

P.S: in case you wander, i am not a Mary Mary fan. In all their songs that i've heard, i only liked two. And i've got two of their albums. Their music style is not really my style. I just wanted to clarify that.

Did Jesus Really Freed Us of All Burdens?

Jesus call us to find rest in him by unloading our yokes and burdens. However, he doesn't say that we are going to be burden free or yoke-free. Jesus does an exchange of burdens with us.  He takes our unbearable burden, and he gives us his light burden and his easy yoke. 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 - NIV

A burden or a yoke is something that weighs on our shoulder. It becomes our responsibilities. Before our redemption, we carried our guilt for the sins we did. Christ took away that heavy burden that crushed us, and made us feel worthless. He took upon himself the responsibility of our sins on the cross and dealt with that heavy burden. That's one example of the burden he took away from us.

However Jesus never meant us to live a life without responsibilities or burdens. He just didn't want us to carry heavy burdens or should i say destructive responsibilities. Going on in life feeling guilty or swimming in self-pity never helped anyone. It handicapped our lives, our progresses and restrained us in affirming our personality in a positive light. In brief, these two in particular were a major hurdles to live life in full and meaningfully. Thank God. Jesus was willing to make a trade with us. We traded burdens. We gave him our wearisome burdens, he gave us his light burden.

What we need to remember as we start to take upon ourselves Jesus' burden and yoke, is to avoid to add other burdens or yokes that Jesus did not give us. In other words, to take other responsibilities or instructions that Jesus didn't give us. To the Church of Thyatira, Jesus told them that even if he seemed to have made new demands on them, it was not really a new demand or instruction. He re-comforted them with the thought that the burden he gave them before was still of actuality, he didn't add any new burden. All he asked them was to hold-fast to that old burden he gave them until the end. No addition of new burden for Christians. We should only keep the one we originally obtained from the Lord i.e His instructions/teachings.

Now I (Jesus) say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose ANY OTHER BURDEN on you, EXCEPT to hold on to what you have until I come.’ Revelation 2:24-25 - NIV

Let's also remember that the Lord's teaching or commandments (instructions) are not painful or cumbersome. One of the disciples who lived under Christ Law* says it well: "In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome" 1John5:3 - NIV.

Let me take this opportunity to also make a point on a related topic. For a long time, some Christians have seen in Jesus's call an excuse to live a life devoid of any responsibilities. But we know from a contextual reading of the text on Matthew and many others that they misread and misunderstood Jesus intention. What Jesus did for us was a favor. It is a facilitation. This is what we call grace. Divine Grace is God's favor. The Greek word that is interpreted as 'grace' in the gospel of John 1:17 is 'Charis' which also means a favor. Grace shares the same root as the word 'gift', which means literally 'charisma' in Greek (1 Corinth12). But gifts are not given so people can sit on their hands and do nothing. Gifts are resources that are freely given because we couldn't get them by ourselves. Their are tools for works and not toys for amusements. 

My good friend, Ngabe, has attracted my attention on a specific scripture from one of the Pauline epistles that illustrates what i just said with a lot more charms:

But by the grace of God I  am what I am, and his grace to me (St. Paul) was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them —yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. - 1 Corinthians 15:10 -NIV

Grace is not an excuse for being idle and fruitless. Grace is our strongest reason for an abundant life of service. Grace makes it possible to actually have a fruitful life. Josh Groban in his popular song - You raised me up - expresses it beautifully. He sung that He (God) raised me up so that i can walk on stormy seas, He raised us up so that we can stand on mountain. 

God has given us a beautiful gift - Divine Grace - let us not abuse it or misuse it due to false  teachings. false commandments, false instructions that did not proceed from Him. To accept  anti-biblical teachings are another form of burden people unconsciously take upon themselves that did not proceed from the Lord Jesus. And those who do them will soon or later find themselves disillusioned and confused about life, Christian life and more on the Judgement day (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Let's remember this scripture:

"But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you NONE OTHER BURDEN. BUT THAT WHICH YE HAVE ALREADY fast till I come." Rev 2:24-25 - KJV.

P.S: * There is such thing as a Christ Law - see 1Corinthians 9:21, Galatians 6:2 - among others.
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