I am still alive. Just been pretty busy. Here is something I was thinking about today:
"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)
This verse is full of theology. Yes, that bad word “theology”. It is all about God. It is not man-centered. In fact, it is bringing out the point that man is not to be admired, but that man, unlike God, is sinful and therefore he lies. It also brings out the fact that man is weak and lacking knowledge and wisdom and, therefore, changes his mind about things. It is a thoroughly God-centered verse. It shows that God is true and never lies. It shows that God is omniscient and, therefore has unlimited knowledge of the past present and future in all places. Therefore, He never makes a decision based on a limited amount of knowledge, only to learn that His decision was based on wrong assumptions. That has never happened. It never will. He doesn’t change his mind. He never says that He will do one thing only to decide against it later. He never tells us He will do one thing and decides to do another. He never promises not to do something only to turn around and do it anyway. That has never happened.
The argument I have heard is that theology is not practical or relevant. Therefore, we must find preaching that is practical and nitty gritty. This theology stuff is not relevant and it has nothing to do with how we live our lives. This verse, which is very theological, has immense practical implications and is a testimony to the fact that the argument outlined above is shortsighted. This argument is a perfect reflection that shows how pragmatic, impatient and lazy our culture has become (including most who fill the pews of our churches every Sunday). All one needs to do is ask the question:
“Why does the fact that God never changes His mind and never lies matter to us?”
I answer with another question: What if we really believed that God would never lie and that he never changed his mind?
You guys tell me the implications of such a wonderful truth…
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2 comments:
I tend to want to answer this in negated fashion by asking what happens if God does lie. God promised Adam & Eve that One would come and make things right. He promised Noah the He would never destroy the Earth in the same way. He promised Abraham the he would be the father of many nations, and He promised us that He would make a "new covenant" with His people and write His word on our hearts. What if we could not trust God to do these things? There is otherwise no hope save the promises of God!
jAsOn
The practical implications of the question that you ask reach as far and wide as our finite minds can reach. If we truly belive that, then it radically impacts the way that we embrace trials, suffering, persecution, decision making, finances and anything else we do or encounter in life. Jason's point in the negative is right on. If God never lies, all his promises are true. If all his promises are true then he is always working everything out for our good and His ultimate glory. If that truth doesn't become practial in our lives then I don't know what does.
My heart aches for those that make th argument that theology isn't practical. I fear that to most of those people, "practical" means a moral behavioristic "Christianity" in which the Christian life consists of checking off boxes of what should or shouldn't be done. Don't go to the movies, don't dance, don't drink, don't smoke, use this Bible version, etc. Any pagan could do each one of those things without any help from the Holy Spirit. The only true "practical" Christian life is the one that results from drinking deep from the cup of Theology.
For example, in Luke 9:23 we are told by Christ that "If any man will come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me". By definition this is a practical statment, but oh what this simple phrase says about the Lordship of Christ. Can we truly heed this exhortation as Christ intended without drawing from the deep well of all the theology wrapped up in the doctrine of the Lordship of Christ? This doesn't mean that we deny ourselves by going to the movie theatre....this is a call to DIE! We must pray for those who forfiet a joy-filled death of self for a checklist of Christless, self exhalting duties and call it "practical".
Thanks Vinnie for stirring the waters.
Greg
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