"In the Presence of God"     Genesis 1,2

Are you married? How did you prepare for your wedding? More importantly, how did you prepare for marriage? Do you ever wish that you were better prepared for marriage in the beginning?

In the wedding ceremony the minister traditionally says something along these lines: "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD and these witnesses...." Have you ever thought much about that? Does God really concern Himself with our marriages? Of course He does! In fact, humans and human relationships were on God's mind as far back as the creation.

Human beings alone among God's creation are created "in His image". This statement by God implies that God created us in His spiritual likeness, mirroring His distinctive character traits. With a desire to emulate our Creator planted in our hearts, we will only find our greatest enjoyment in a personal relationship with Him that transforms us into His likeness.

In an interesting application of this principle, Jesus was tested concerning His allegiance to God or Caesar. In Matthew 22:21 Jesus answered, "Therefore, give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." In other words, if Caesar's image was stamped on something, he had a right to dictate how it was used. We have similar laws concerning how United States currency is handled. If God's image is stamped on us from creation, He has the right to use us however He chooses, and to dictate to us His guidelines for living.

Scripture states that humans were created by God "male and female", distinct genders that although different in many ways, relate to one another and indeed complement each other. When we try to change this arrangement of distinction and relation, we violate His guidelines and the very created order. Chaos and destruction are the inevitable result. It cannot work successfully unless we follow the Creator's guideline.

When God created man He realized that man was not as fulfilled alone as he could be with a companion. This is the first thing that God recognized in His creation as being "not good". It was not good for man to be alone. I personally agree wholeheartedly with that! God created a suitable helper for the man that was like him and yet distinct from him. I love to imagine the moment when God brought the woman to present her to the man. While the man was in a deep sleep God removed a rib from him, and fashioned this incredible creature. when the man had awakened, God brought her and presented man with this gift to be treasured.

God gave special attention to the creation of the man and the woman, placed them together, and blessed their relationship. He intends that relationship to be sacred. May we realize that we live together in our marriages "In the Presence of God", and that He has a perfect plan for making them work successfully.

Selfish?     1 Corinthians 8,10

When believers insist on their own rights with no thought of how their actions will bring glory to God, the body of Christ suffers. Love for fellow believers and the pursuit of God's glory trump every right we have as Christ-followers. Therefore, we must evaluate all our perceived "rights" in terms of how they impact our fellow believers, and how they bring glory to God and advance His Kingdom purposes.

The issue in view at the church at Corinth was eating meat that had been offered to idols. For those with a history of idol worship before coming to follow Christ, they had vivid memories of pagan sacrifices and the demonic spirits often associated with such sacrifices. Naturally, they wanted to distance themselves as much as possible from all former pagan practices. For them to eat meat purchased in the marketplace that had been sacrificed to idols was a gross stain on their faith in Christ. Other believers viewed this issue from a logical standpoint and knew that dead idols can have no effect on meat. The meat was just meat and was perfectly acceptable to eat.

The problem was not as much with the meat as it was with attitudes. Those who knew they could eat the meat without sin were puffed up with their knowledge, and prideful, viewing the other believers as immature and weak. They lorded their superior knowledge over the others. The believers who could not in good conscience eat the meat saw the others as sinful and loose in their standards. Who is right? Who needs to give ground?

While we have few arguments over meat these days, there are plenty of other issues that believers get hung up on. You can probably name a few right now. How would you evaluate your choices as they relate to their impact on the spiritual growth of others? Many believers do not consider their actions or how they affect others. They insist on having their way with no consideration for others at all. The video below is a comical yet accurate portrayal of their actions.

Do you live your life in a way that benefits others and brings glory to God? Or do you stubbornly insist on having things your own way and pleasing yourself? Your answer indicates who is more important - Christ or yourself. If Christ is more important, we will only act in a way that brings others to Him and pleases Him. Our own desires and rights do not matter in light of our allegiance to Him. After all, think of all the rights Jesus gave up to be the sacrifice for our sin?

Christians at different levels of spiritual maturity will always see things from varying perspectives. We cannot focus our energy on arguing over who is right. For the sake of unity and Kingdom advancement we must instead focus on giving way in love and submission. Let the following Scriptures speak for themselves. May they be our guide in Christian liberty and responsibility.

"Now when you sin like this against the brothers and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother to fall."  1 Corinthians 8:12-13 (HCSB)

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory. Give no offense to the Jews or the Greeks or the church of God, just as I also try to please all people in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."  1 Corinthians 10:31-33 (HCSB)

"For although I am free from all people, I have made myself a slave to all, in order to win more people. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win those under the law. To those who are outside the law, like one outside the law—not being outside God’s law, but under the law of Christ—to win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by all means save some. Now I do all this because of the gospel, that I may become a partner in its benefits."  1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (HCSB)

Wrestling with Injustice   Ecclesiastes 3,4,8

As I write this I am keeping up with news reports from Haiti, where a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the tiny island on Tuesday afternoon. President Barak Obama said, "For a country and a people who are no strangers to hardship and suffering, this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible." (http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/haiti.earthquake/index.html) In Ecclesiastes 8:6-8, Solomon proclaims, "For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though man’s troubles are heavy on him. Yet no one knows what will happen, because who can tell him what will happen? No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; there is no furlough in battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape." (HCSB)

The Bible says in numerous places that God loves justice (see Psalm 11:7; 33:5; 99:4). Simply put, justice is when everyone receives exactly what they deserve, good or bad. But a cursory look around our world reveals that justice does not prevail. Further, this seems to be the norm, and it appears for the most part that no one is doing anything about it. Perhaps more unsettling, injustice is seen all through the pages of Scripture. In Genesis 12 Abram lied to Pharaoh concerning his wife Sarai, so Pharaoh took her into his harem. God struck Pharaoh for taking Abram's wife, and he returned her to her husband. But there is no record of God punishing Abram for lying. In Genesis 2 God clearly states that the punishment for sin is death. In Genesis 3 Adam sinned and he didn't die immediately. However, in Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira are struck dead by God for their sin. According to human reasoning God is anything but just.

"I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness." Ecclesiastes 3:16 (HCSB)

"Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them." Ecclesiastes 4:1 (HCSB)

Is it hopeless to battle against injustice? Is God unjust? Is He truly perfect, or does He show favoritism to some and harshness to others? While we cannot begin to adequately explain God or His actions, we can go to the Scriptures for help with these questions.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. He presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus." Romans 3:23-26 (HCSB)

Read the words of R. Kent Hughes in his commentary on Romans: "In Christ's death the demands of God for justice against a sinful race are fully met, leaving Him free to be merciful to those who formerly merited only judgment."

"Simply put, in the past God did not pour out his full wrath on men for their sins. He was patient and merciful. Some might question His righteousness in doing this. However, in Jesus' death He demonstrated His wrath against sin. It is here - in Christ being the mercy seat - that we see the miraculous love and creativity of God. God found a way to forgive us and yet maintain His moral integrity. He forgave us without condoning our sin. How? By directing toward Himself, in the person of His Son, the full weight of the wrath we deserved. Thus God's holy character is not compromised" (page 85).

There is hope in standing against injustice. God has demonstrated His justice in the cross. He will ultimately judge the world in perfect justice and righteousness. "I said to myself, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work." Ecclesiastes 3:17 (HCSB). Until that time yet in the future, Solomon gives us some guidelines for how we are to strive for justice in our world. Ecclesiastes 8:2-9 teaches us to:

• Live right consistently (2)
• Be patient when looking for ways to help others (3)
• Follow appropriate protocol so our desire to help will not make matters worse (4-6)
• Honor those in authority (7-9)

In Ecclesiastes 8:10-13 Solomon declares that we need not despair. There is hope for change, in our world, and in the future judgment before God. Our efforts to promote justice are not in vain. The God who personifies justice will use us as His instruments to bring about hope and justice to the oppressed. We cannot remedy all injustice, but we can each do something.

Give to SBC Baptist Global Response to assist with Haiti Relief efforts

Follow this link to a YouTube Video Playlist of 19 videos related to the themes of this month's Bible Studies for Life study in Ecclesiastes.