Romans is such an excellent description of the Atonement and role of the Savior. I love the phrase in Romans 1 that they 'worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator'. Thats one to use in a talk.
Romans 5 has especially stuck out with its writings on hope. I'll take it verse by verse.
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
(Remember 'justified' means forgiven as already written and with forgiveness comes 'peace with God')
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
(After forgiveness is access into His Kingdom and that idea/ possibility gives us hope which as described last time is action and endurance)
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
(This is such an important connnection between experience and hope. When we endure tribulation and learn it is for our good and happiness, that builds our hope."
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
(A great proof of the love of God embodied in the Atonement - how many would die for a righteous man (singular) and Christ died for sinners)
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
(Here is another theme I have already covered - the BLOOD saves us from the wrath of justice)
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
(The difference between immortality and Eternal life.)
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
(Adam was a type for Christ although with the opposite result. See above how one man brought sin and therefore death into the world (Adam). But Adam did it willingly with full understanding of the consequences because Eve ate first and explained it to him. Taking of the fruit voluntarily sacrificed his allegiance to God for the good of Man. It can be said that Adam took Man's sins on himself by eating of the fruit. He certainly paid a price by being cast out from Father's presence that we so dearly loved and enjoyed. And he did it without knowledge of the saving Atonement which was announced after his fall. His sacrifice was completed by one person and so was the Savior's. Paul does a great job pointing out the similarities.)
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
(Such an important idea!)
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
Hope
Of the virtues, hope is certainly least spoken of. Simply stated, faith is believe in things not seen - specifically Christ and His coming. When we believe (faith) hope is a natural outcome. We hope for what we believe in (Eternal life) and then that hope pushes us to action to make real what we hope. In the case of the gospel hope in action is charity. Faith creates hope which inspires charity for others.
The same is true in my business life. If I cease to believe in our success (where it begins) then I will not hope for the successful result and without hope I will have no action.
Before looking at the scriptures, look at this interesting write up from Wikipedia:
"In Human, All Too Human, existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had this to say about hope:
Hope. Pandora brought the jar with the evils and opened it. It was the gods' gift to man, on the outside a beautiful, enticing gift, called the "lucky jar." Then all the evils, those lively, winged beings, flew out of it. Since that time, they roam around and do harm to men by day and night. One single evil had not yet slipped out of the jar. As Zeus had wished, Pandora slammed the top down and it remained inside. So now man has the lucky jar in his house forever and thinks the world of the treasure. It is at his service; he reaches for it when he fancies it. For he does not know that that jar which Pandora brought was the jar of evils, and he takes the remaining evil for the greatest worldly good--it is hope, for Zeus did not want man to throw his life away, no matter how much the other evils might torment him, but rather to go on letting himself be tormented anew. To that end, he gives man hope. In truth, it is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment.
Martin Seligman in his book Learned Optimism (1990) strongly criticizes the role of churches in the promotion of the idea that the individual has little chance or hope of affecting his or her life. He acknowledges that the social and cultural conditions, such as serfdom and the caste system weighed heavily against the freedom of individuals to change the social circumstances of their lives. Almost as if to avoid the criticism, in his book What You Can Change and What You Can't, he is careful to outline the extent that people can hold out hope for personal action to change some of the things that affect their lives.
There is some evidence to suggest that in adverse situations, hope may be worse than hopelessness for overall well-being. For example, people sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole adjust better to their situation than prisoners that retain the possibility of parole. Similarly, patients who underwent a permanent colostomy showed higher life satisfaction 6 months after the operation than those who underwent a potentially reversible colostomy.[2]"
Very interesting to consider that Hope may not be a good thing. Hope can prolong suffering and torment in pursuit of a never to be acheived goal. But consider the extension of such thinking and how contrary to the Plan of Salvation.
Satan's selfish plan was to remove free agency. We normally think of that as just meaning we don't make our own choices, and therefore no mistakes, automatically qualifying all to return to the Father. Like Cain's offering of grains and fruits, on the outside it is difficult to understand why these two examples are so wrong. Considering Satan's plan and the VERY similar arguments I found researching hope in Wikipedia, if free agency is removed there can be no growth, no progression. Satan, superior to all except Christ in the pre-exsistence, would have remained in this high position on top of the glory he fiendishly hope for himself in delivering the human race. None of his brothers or sisters in the human family would every progress beyond him like a parent that doesn't want a child to be more successful than themselves.
Consider the examples in Wikipedia. Both are examples of removing free agency. With free agency and the chance to change their inherited situation removed, hope was gone. Apparently they are happier, but that is not accurate. What they really do is come to accept their situation. Is that happiness? Isn't that exactly what Satan wanted to define as happiness? Isn't that a TREMENDOUS temptation that Satan puts on us? It feels good to give up, give in, or say that we no longer need to push ourselves. But when those feelings come, we should remind ourselves that we are playing into Satan's plan to accept our situation.
Christ's plan was not to accept our situation. Christ's plan was not give up or blame the world for our station in life. Fundamentally Christ and Satan disagreed on one central point. IS HAPPINESS DEFINED BY TRYING PROGRESSION OR RELAXING ACCEPTANCE? Is happiness moving to an island in the Carribean and blissfully passing the time with no work happiness or is throwing ourselves full board into self-improvement, service, and experiments of our resolve how we become happy?
The same is true in my business life. If I cease to believe in our success (where it begins) then I will not hope for the successful result and without hope I will have no action.
Before looking at the scriptures, look at this interesting write up from Wikipedia:
"In Human, All Too Human, existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had this to say about hope:
Hope. Pandora brought the jar with the evils and opened it. It was the gods' gift to man, on the outside a beautiful, enticing gift, called the "lucky jar." Then all the evils, those lively, winged beings, flew out of it. Since that time, they roam around and do harm to men by day and night. One single evil had not yet slipped out of the jar. As Zeus had wished, Pandora slammed the top down and it remained inside. So now man has the lucky jar in his house forever and thinks the world of the treasure. It is at his service; he reaches for it when he fancies it. For he does not know that that jar which Pandora brought was the jar of evils, and he takes the remaining evil for the greatest worldly good--it is hope, for Zeus did not want man to throw his life away, no matter how much the other evils might torment him, but rather to go on letting himself be tormented anew. To that end, he gives man hope. In truth, it is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment.
Martin Seligman in his book Learned Optimism (1990) strongly criticizes the role of churches in the promotion of the idea that the individual has little chance or hope of affecting his or her life. He acknowledges that the social and cultural conditions, such as serfdom and the caste system weighed heavily against the freedom of individuals to change the social circumstances of their lives. Almost as if to avoid the criticism, in his book What You Can Change and What You Can't, he is careful to outline the extent that people can hold out hope for personal action to change some of the things that affect their lives.
There is some evidence to suggest that in adverse situations, hope may be worse than hopelessness for overall well-being. For example, people sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole adjust better to their situation than prisoners that retain the possibility of parole. Similarly, patients who underwent a permanent colostomy showed higher life satisfaction 6 months after the operation than those who underwent a potentially reversible colostomy.[2]"
Very interesting to consider that Hope may not be a good thing. Hope can prolong suffering and torment in pursuit of a never to be acheived goal. But consider the extension of such thinking and how contrary to the Plan of Salvation.
Satan's selfish plan was to remove free agency. We normally think of that as just meaning we don't make our own choices, and therefore no mistakes, automatically qualifying all to return to the Father. Like Cain's offering of grains and fruits, on the outside it is difficult to understand why these two examples are so wrong. Considering Satan's plan and the VERY similar arguments I found researching hope in Wikipedia, if free agency is removed there can be no growth, no progression. Satan, superior to all except Christ in the pre-exsistence, would have remained in this high position on top of the glory he fiendishly hope for himself in delivering the human race. None of his brothers or sisters in the human family would every progress beyond him like a parent that doesn't want a child to be more successful than themselves.
Consider the examples in Wikipedia. Both are examples of removing free agency. With free agency and the chance to change their inherited situation removed, hope was gone. Apparently they are happier, but that is not accurate. What they really do is come to accept their situation. Is that happiness? Isn't that exactly what Satan wanted to define as happiness? Isn't that a TREMENDOUS temptation that Satan puts on us? It feels good to give up, give in, or say that we no longer need to push ourselves. But when those feelings come, we should remind ourselves that we are playing into Satan's plan to accept our situation.
Christ's plan was not to accept our situation. Christ's plan was not give up or blame the world for our station in life. Fundamentally Christ and Satan disagreed on one central point. IS HAPPINESS DEFINED BY TRYING PROGRESSION OR RELAXING ACCEPTANCE? Is happiness moving to an island in the Carribean and blissfully passing the time with no work happiness or is throwing ourselves full board into self-improvement, service, and experiments of our resolve how we become happy?
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