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Author
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Topic: Ubiversal Fatherhood of God and Universal Brotherhood of man
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John Hale
unregistered
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posted
double post... oops...
Well, why don't I throw in some trivia?
The Earth rotates at the equator 1,037 mph. At the poles nearly a 24th of that (nearly no rotation at all). Average latitude folks live at rotates between 733 and 800 mph. Times 24 = 19,200 mpd times 365.2425 (a year) = 7,012,656 mpy times the average age of 50 = 350,632,800 miles on this ride we call life on earth...
Not done yet...
The earth revolves around the sun at 66,660 mph times 24 = 1,599,840 mpd times 365.2425 = 584,329,561 mpy times 50 = 29,216,478,060 miles
Still not done...
The solar system travels around the center of the galaxy 568,181 mph times 24 = 13,636,363 mpd times 356.2425 = 4,980,579,543 mpy times 50 = 249,028,977,178 miles.
Still... not done yet...
The Galaxy moves in a specific direction through the universe along with a cluster of galaxies at approximately 1,340,000 mph times 24 = 32,160,000 mpd times 365.2425 = 11,746,498,800 mpy times 50 = 587,309,940,000 miles
This is not to even mention the motion of the atoms and sub atomic particles everywhere...
That's a lot of motion...
So much for standing still... we are in constant motion. Stillness is relative.
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John Hale
unregistered
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posted
Proverbs 24:17-18
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
18 Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him.
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oneinchrist
Advanced Member
Member # 6532
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posted
Hi Brother Paul,
After reading your post it reminded me (and I just cant pin-point the old testament reference off the top of my head) that God had a punishment for those who clapped their hands(rejoiced) at the calamity of another nation.
With love in Christ, Daniel
Posts: 1389 | From: Wind Lake, WI | Registered: May 2007
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Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
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posted
Great post Paul!
Here is a Max Lucado story...I hope you enjoy it. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
WHEN YOUR WORLD TURNS AGAINST YOU
“In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God.”
Matthew 26:64
"Get up, we must go. Here comes the man who has turned against me.”
The words could have been spoken to anyone. They could have been spoken to John, to Peter, to James. They could have been spoken to Thomas, to Andrew, to Nathanael. They could have been spoken to the Roman soldiers, to the Jewish leaders. They could have been spoken to Pilate, to Herod, to Caiaphas. They could have been spoken to every person who praised him last Sunday but abandoned him tonight.
Everyone turned against Jesus that night. Everyone.
Judas did. What was your motive Judas? Why did you do it? Were you trying to call his hand? Did you want the money? Were you seeking some attention? And why, dear Judas, why did it have to be a kiss? You could have pointed. You could have just called his name. But you put your lips to his cheek and kissed. A snake kills with his mouth.
The people did. The crowd turned on Jesus. We wonder who was in the crowd. Who were the bystanders? Matthew just says they were people. Regular folks like you and me with bills to pay and kids to raise and jobs to do. Individually they never would have turned on Jesus, but collectively they wanted to kill him. Even the instantaneous healing of an amputated ear didn’t sway them. They suffered from mob blindness. They blocked each other’s vision of Jesus.
The disciples did. “All of Jesus’ followers left him and ran away.” Matthew must have written those words slowly. He was in that group. All the disciples were. Jesus told them they would scamper. They vowed they wouldn’t. But they did. When the choice came between their skin and their friend they chose to run. Oh, they stood for a while. Peter even pulled his sword, went for the neck, and got a lobe. But their courage was as fleeting as their feet. When they saw Jesus was going down, they got out.
The religious leaders did. Not surprising. Disappointing, though. They are the spiritual leaders of the nation. Men entrusted with the dispensing of goodness. Role models for the children. The pastors and Bible teachers of the community. “The leading priests and the whole Jewish council tried to find something false against Jesus so they could kill him.” Paint that passage black with injustice. Paint the arrest green with jealousy. Paint that scene red with innocent blood.
And paint Peter in a corner. For that’s where he is. No place to go. Caught in his own mistake. Peter did exactly what he had said he wouldn’t do. He had promised fervently only hours before, “Everyone else may stumble in their faith because of you, but I will not!” I hope Peter was hungry, because he ate those words.
Everyone turned against Jesus.
Though the kiss was planted by Judas, the betrayal was committed by all. Every person took a step, but no one took a stand. As Jesus left the garden he walked alone. The world had turned against him. He was betrayed.
Betray. The word is an eighth of an inch above betroth in the dictionary, but a world from betroth in life. It’s a weapon found only in the hands of one you love. Your enemy has no such tool, for only a friend can betray. Betrayal is mutiny. It’s a violation of a trust, an inside job.
Would that it were a stranger. Would that it were a random attack. Would that you were a victim of circumstances. But you aren’t. You are a victim of a friend.
A sandpaper kiss is placed on your cheek. A promise is made with fingers crossed. You look to your friends and your friends don’t look back. You look to the system for justice—the system looks to you as a scapegoat.
You are betrayed. Bitten with a snake’s kiss.
It’s more than rejection. Rejection opens a wound, betrayal pours the salt.
It’s more than loneliness. Loneliness leaves you in the cold, betrayal closes the door.
It’s more than mockery. Mockery plunges the knife, betrayal twists it.
It’s more than an insult. An insult attacks your pride, betrayal breaks your heart.
As I search for betrayal’s synonyms, I keep seeing betrayal’s victims. That unsigned letter in yesterday’s mail, “My husband just told me he had an affair two years ago,” she wrote. “I feel so alone.” The phone call at home from the elderly woman whose drug-addicted son had taken her money. My friend in the Midwest who moved his family to take the promised job that never materialized. The single mother whose ex-husband brings his new girlfriend to her house when he comes to get the kids for the weekend. The seven-year-old girl infected with HIV. “I’m mad at my mother,” were her words.
Betrayal … when your world turns against you.
Betrayal … where there is opportunity for love, there is opportunity for hurt.
When betrayal comes, what do you do? Get out? Get angry? Get even? You have to deal with it some way. Let’s see how Jesus dealt with it.
Begin by noticing how Jesus saw Judas. Jesus answered, ‘Friend, do what you came to do.’
Of all the names I would have chosen for Judas it would not have been “friend.” What Judas did to Jesus was grossly unfair. There is no indication that Jesus ever mistreated Judas. There is no clue that Judas was ever left out or neglected. When, during the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples that his betrayer sat at the table, they didn’t turn to one another and whisper, “It’s Judas. Jesus told us he would do this.”
They didn’t whisper it because Jesus never said it. He had known it. He had known what Judas would do, but he treated the betrayer as if he were faithful.
It’s even more unfair when you consider the betrayal was Judas’s idea. The religious leaders didn’t seek him, Judas sought them. “What will you pay me for giving Jesus to you?” he asked. The betrayal would have been more palatable had Judas been propositioned by the leaders, but he wasn’t. He propositioned them.
And Judas’s method … again, why did it have to be a kiss?
And why did he have to call him “Teacher”? That’s a title of respect. The incongruity of his words, deeds, and actions—I wouldn’t have called Judas “friend.”
But that is exactly what Jesus called him. Why? Jesus could see something we can’t. Let me explain.
There was once a person in our world who brought Denalyn and me a lot of stress. She would call in the middle of the night. She was demanding and ruthless. She screamed at us in public. When she wanted something she wanted it immediately and she wanted it exclusively from us.
But we never asked her to leave us alone. We never told her to bug someone else. We never tried to get even.
After all, she was only a few months old.
It was easy for us to forgive our infant daughter’s behavior because we knew she didn’t know better.
Now, there is a world of difference between an innocent child and a deliberate Judas. But there is still a point to my story and it is this: The way to handle a person’s behavior is to understand the cause of it. One way to deal with a person’s peculiarities is to try to understand why they are peculiar.
Jesus knew Judas had been seduced by a powerful foe. He was aware of the wiles of Satan’s whispers (he had just heard them himself). He knew how hard it was for Judas to do what was right.
He didn’t justify what Judas did. He didn’t minimize the deed. Nor did he release Judas from his choice. But he did look eye to eye with his betrayer and try to understand.
As long as you hate your enemy, a jail door is closed and a prisoner is taken. But when you try to understand and release your foe from your hatred, then the prisoner is released and that prisoner is you.
Perhaps you don’t like that idea. Perhaps the thought of forgiveness is unrealistic. Perhaps the idea of trying to understand the Judases in our world is simply too gracious.
My response to you then is a question. What do you suggest? Will harboring the anger solve the problem? Will getting even remove the hurt? Does hatred do any good? Again, I’m not minimizing your hurt or justifying their actions. But I am saying that justice won’t come this side of eternity. And demanding that your enemy get his or her share of pain will, in the process, be most painful to you.
May I gently but firmly remind you of something you know but may have forgotten? Life is not fair.
That’s not pessimism, it’s fact. That’s not a complaint, it’s just the way things are. I don’t like it. Neither do you. We want life to be fair. Ever since the kid down the block got a bike and we didn’t, we’ve been saying the same thing, “That’s not fair.”
But at some point someone needs to say to us, “Who ever told you life was going to be fair?”
God didn’t. He didn’t say, “If you have many kinds of troubles,” he said, “When you have many kinds of troubles.” Troubles are part of the package. Betrayals are part of our troubles. Don’t be surprised when betrayals come. Don’t look for fairness here—look instead where Jesus looked.
Jesus looked to the future. Read his words: “In the future you will see the Son of Man coming.” While going through hell, Jesus kept his eyes on heaven. While surrounded by enemies he kept his mind on his father. While abandoned on earth, he kept his heart on home. “In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the Powerful One, and coming on clouds in the sky.”
I took a snow skiing lesson some time back. My instructor said I had potential but poor perspective. He said I looked at my skis too much. I told him I had to. They kept going where I didn’t want them to go. “Does it help?” he asked.
“I guess not,” I confessed, “I still fall a lot.”
He gestured toward the splendid mountains on the horizon. “Try looking out there as you ski. Keep your eyes on the mountains and you’ll keep your balance.” He was right. It worked.
The best way to keep your balance is to keep your focus on another horizon. That’s what Jesus did.
“My kingdom does not belong to this world,” Jesus told Pilate. “My kingdom is from another place.”
When we lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I learned what it was like to long for home. We loved Brazil. The people were wonderful and the culture warm—but still it wasn’t home.
My office was in downtown Rio, only a few blocks from the American embassy. Occasionally I would take my lunch to the embassy and eat. It was like going home for a few minutes. I would walk in the big door and greet the guards in English. I would go into the lobby and pick up an American newspaper. I’d check the box scores or the football standings. I’d chuckle at the cartoons. I even read the want ads. It felt good to think about home.
I would stroll down one of the large corridors and see the portraits of Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington. Occasionally a worker would have time to chat and I’d get caught up on things back in the States.
The embassy was a bit of the homeland in a foreign country. Life in a distant land is made easier if you can make an occasional visit to home.
Jesus took a long look into the homeland. Long enough to count his friends. “I could ask my Father and he would give me twelve armies of angels.” And seeing them up there gave him strength down here.
By the way, his friends are your friends. The Father’s loyalty to Jesus is the Father’s loyalty to you. When you feel betrayed, remember that. When you see the torches and feel the betrayer’s kiss, remember his words: “I will never leave you; I will never forget you.”
When all of earth turns against you all of heaven turns toward you. To keep your balance in a crooked world, look at the mountains. Think of home.
(Max Lucado, And The Angels Were Silent )
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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Brother Paul
Advanced Member
Member # 7959
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posted
In 1 John 2, and in verses 9-11 the word declares, “One that says that they are in the light, but hates their brother, abides in darkness even now, but the one who loves (agapeo) his brother abides in the light, and there is no occasion wherein that one stumbles.” This is because agape love is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets and is declared elsewhere to be the goal of all the teaching. 1 John 4:16 tells us that “whoever dwells in love dwells in God and God dwells in him”. Finally this God kind of love casts out fear, and covers a multitude of sins.
But chapter 2:15 warns us that we should not love the world nor the things of the world (mammon), “if any man loves the world the love of the Father is not in them” (see also 1 Corinthians 13), and this is because the love of the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (vanity, i.e., self lordship). These lead people into sin and immorality and tend to encourage sin, sickness, and death. Clearly they are weak areas of the fallen nature that can ensnare a person, and become strongholds through which the devil can make us fall. The three temptations of Christ were food (flesh), the worlds treasures and kingdoms (eyes), and His own Lordship (pride). These were the very areas that the serpent used to beguile Eve (Genesis 3:6). Of course Christ did not succumb to Satan’s offfer.
There are three main qualities of love: Eros or biological erotic attraction; Phileo or brotherly love and friendship; and agapeo, or the God kind of love, which for humans is more of a way we choose to treat others, rather than a feeling one has for another. It is this kind of love, and the mercy of God, that causes a person to repent.
The four commands of agapeo are these:
Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength, and the way we show that we love God is to obey His commands.
Love your neighbor as your self, i.e., as you would your own flesh and blood
To love one another as Christ loved us, i.e., self-sacrificially, is a command between the brethren, and this shows the world that we are indeed His disciples
Love your enemies, for even the evil people can love those who love them back or first. But who but by the Spirit of God can love those who vehemently oppose them?
So this agape love is hopefully an earmark which sets us apart from the world. Not only does it show we are disciples of Christ, but testifies that we are born of God (1 John 4:7), and that God dwells in us (1 John 4:12), because God’s very nature is this agapeo (1 John 4:8)!
We can see from 1 John 2 that there are two foci for love, and they are at enmity to one another. There are people who love as they would want to be loved, like God loves, and those who love the world, the things of the world, and love as the world loves, which is self oriented.
Now as for the concept of the universal Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man, this is a modern heresy taught by the extreme liberal camp of the Church today, and it is not Biblical. Let me explain. First of all, though in one sense God is Father of all, by nature of being Creator, the Word and the word make clear that all are not God’s children. There are clearly those who are the children of God, born of His Spirit (John 3:3-8), those that would or will be at some point in time (lost sheep), and finally there are those that are not or will not ever be His children because they hate God and His Christ, and are repulsed by His word.
Jesus says to certain of the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees (not all), that they are not of His Father, but of their father, the father of lies (the Serpent), “who has been a murderer since the beginning” (John 8:44). We hear of these “children of Belial” all throughout the Scriptures (Deuteronomy 12:13; Judges 19:22; 1 Samuel 1:18, 10:27; 2 Chronicles 13:7; and more). According to Jesus, these are not our brothers and sisters. Nonetheless, we are to pray for them, and preach the gospel to them. We should live the life of Christ before them, even though they may use and abuse us, and say all manner of bad things about us. Perhaps they will falsely accuse us, jail us, torture us, or even kill us.
But why should we continue to pray for and preach to these people? Because they are our neighbors, and we do not know if in fact they are not one of the lost sheep who one day will be found, and sometimes because of God’s unconditional love and grace flowing through us to them, and because of the good news we preach about the remission of sin (Luke 24:46-49), even in the face of their mockery and rejection, they may actually repent and accept the gift of God in Christ and be saved (Acts 2:38; Roman’s 6:23). After all, were we not all once part of this crowd? It is the Gospel which is “the power of God unto salvation” (Roman’s 1:16), and our salvation is from the justly deserved wrath of God the Father because of our sin. Don't they deserve the same chance to hear the good news? And as Paul says, how they hear if no one tells them? When the Lord judges the saved, He sees the blood of the Lamb and will pass over us. We are made the Righteousness of God in Christ. If your sister, brother, or mother, fell into a deep pit unawares would you not do what you can to help her out?
So do not be decieved, though there is no universal Fatherhood of God, nor universal brotherhood of man (which should be obvious just from the nightly news), we are called to love all of them as if they were our own flesh and blood. We need to grace them and forgive them (Ephesians 4:32). If they are thirsty give them a drink, hungry give them to eat, naked clothe them, and even visit those who are in prison if possible (Matthew 25). Remember Jesus words from the cross for the very one’s who drove the nails through His hands and feet? He said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do!” Amen? Amen!
In John 3:16 it is written that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. So you see, the entire motive of God is love toward those who presently know Him not, and if there was any other possible way aside from their hearing or seeing that He could have accomplished saving the maximum number of souls without violating their free-will or compromising His integrity, He would have done it, but alas there was not. So His love for us overshadowed or tempered His sense of justice. He built the redeemer into the plan of Creation (Genesis 2:15); a way by which He could both satisfy the demand of the Law and still accomplish His desired goal.
I hope this has blessed you, and believe me I know it is a hard saying to love or bless our enemies and to actually pray for them, but as much as possible we must strive even here to walk in Christ’s love to a lost, sick, and dying world. Jonathan Edwards once wrote a treatise entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. It is a most compelling sermon. Just think about it, if someone wasn’t Matthew 28:19-20 for you and I, despite our former rejection of Christ and self lordship, then that would be us. We would be standing among the enemies of Christ. We would oursleves be doomed to eternal death in Gehenna. I’m sure in your heart you wouldn’t even wish such a frightening, devastating, eternal reality even on an enemy if you could help prevent it. So at least love enough to share the Good News. If you do not know how, I recommend you start by reading Bill Bright’s, Four Spiritual Laws. This is an excellent place to get an encapsulated view of the teaching that leads people to Christ. Then tell your babies. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. And yes even tell those who are adversarial towards you, that Jesus loves them (John 3:16). The Peace of God be unto you!
His unworthy son,
Brother Paul
Posts: 235 | From: Cambridge, MA | Registered: Dec 2009
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