The First 2 Chapters

I have heard it said that the Bible was only supposed to be the first 2 chapters. It is in Chapter 3 of Genesis that everything "goes to hell in a hand-basket." Chapters one and two set things up as they were intended and then the rest of scripture is the story of repairing the damage done in chapter three.

Today I began my summer study. When school is out, I take a sort of sabbatical from that job and get to spend more time in my Worship Pastor role. This summer, I am studying Psalms, specifically how God's constancy and faithfulness is born out psalm by psalm. The psalmist frequently asks for protection and in the end of the same psalm, iterates how God has been, is or will be our refuge and salvation. That is the main focus, but today I noticed something else about Psalms 1 and 2; They set up the whole story. It is the story of God and His work. Here it is all laid out quite simply:

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on His law he meditates day and night

If you read the rest of Psalm 1, you see that the righteous will prosper and the wicked will perish. If you try to place that in the here and now, it doesn't seem to be the case but, as the psalmists know, in the end, God will be true to His word. In Psalm 2, the psalmist lays out the next part of the story, one we experience all too frequently in the day to day lives of nations:

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth take their stand

and the rulers gather together against the Lord

and against His anointed one.

As we continue reading, we find one of my favorite lines in Psalms:

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

the Lord scoffs at them

God laughs because He knows the vanity and insanity of their efforts. "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." God's already got it done, and the efforts of the feeble rulers of earth are of only passing interest. Once again, in the first two chapters of a book, God has set forth how it is going to be, no matter the efforts of the wicked to stop it. Picture the angry rantings of a four year old saying to his parents "I'm not going!" No matter how many stampings of his feet, no matter how many tantrums he throws, he is going. In my house growing up, I learned quickly that at best, these outburst only became a frustration for me, at worst, they ended in punishment, and I went anyway. So it is with God. His way is the way, and in the end, we will all go before Him.

So again God gives us a choice: We can be like a tree planted by streams of living water, thriving and plentiful, or we can choose to plot against the provider and attempt to have our own way, for a time, but we will all end up in the same place, before the One enthroned in heaven. At that point, I'd rather hear what is described in Psalm 2 verse 7:

He said to me "You are my son, today I have become your Father."

Ummm...Really?

Every knee shall bow,

Every tongue confess

God is love,

Love has come

For us all

-Really?

I was driving home tonight and I heard this song on the radio. It's about how life is filled with sorrow and pain, and that there will come a day when that will end. But when the artist plays the hook, he paints a picture of Christ returning through the clouds "...and in that moment.." then comes the chorus written above. Now, before I start sounding like a cranky old man telling kids to "get off my porch," I understand what he is saying through the song, God's love is for us all. But I think that when you place songs in front of the masses, you need to get it right:

Phil 2:5-12 (NIV)-

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

⁶Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

⁷but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

⁸And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father

¹²Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose

The scripture referenced is not about love, it is about obedience, it is about judgement and working out your salvation in fear and trembling. You see, God already came as love. He did it in His Son, and in the Cross. Love came as sacrifice, and we now have the chance to choose. If we choose now, he will come for us, if we are still on the earth when he returns. So say that! Don't say that when He returns, He returns as love. Read Revelation 19:

¹¹I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. ¹²His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

Does that sound like love? My issue is that we focus too often only on the attributes of God that make us feel good. Can we avoid this judgement? Absolutely. How? Respond to the love He offers now, that is how God has already come, as I said earlier. God is Love and Love has come for us all. But when the clouds split, we had better have made the choice already, for then it will be too late. As for me:

My knee has bowed

My tongue confessed

Jesus Christ is Lord

To the Glory of the Father