Sunday, November 30, 2014
From Corruption To Perfection
Our God is both all knowing and all powerful. Often I have had people ask me, and at times I have asked myself, why does God allow bad in people? After all, a snap of the fingers by Him and all could be well. Yesterday we read Luke 13-14 at fellowship, and got into the parable of the kingdom of God being the leaven in the three measures of meal.
Luke 13:20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?
21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
The odd thing here is that Jesus was saying that the kingdom is like something normally associated with sin – leaven. So the question becomes why does He make this comparison. Certainly the kingdom being spread through the earth would be a good thing. This morning I received an email from one of the members with a link to a very well done lengthy bible study showing that both this parable and the one just before it about the mustard seed represented the bad things or evil that enters in to the church. The author makes a good case for that teaching as well. That brings me to a thought in general about parables.
Parables are just that – generalizations told in a story format. They create opportunity for thought, prayer, and discussion. Like many of the things God says, they can have more than one meaning, and these meanings can be true. I do believe God would warn us about the sin in the church. I do believe Jesus was in particular here warning church leadership not to teach the docrtines of men as God’s word, which today does happen frequently. But I also believe the good interpretation is also true. God will spread His kingdom. God will move as He wills, in spite of what leaders may do. The overall message I take away is that we are human and will sin. If we repent, we can be saved from that sin. Jesus (Yeshua) died for all of our sins. He loved us just that much. He will finish the work in us.
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
If we will call out to God every day and at all times, He will hear us and deliver us, every time.
Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy to be praised and glorified. Your kingdom is under attack. We need Your help as we fight the enemy and resist temptations. Please send your kingdom, and send us today abundant provision. Forgive us when we do give in to temptation. Help us to love You more than anything else. We want to do that, but we get off track at times. Heal us and deliver us. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.