Category: Enlightenment

Jesus is atoning for us

in at least 4 ways:

  1. As our substitute – Romans 3; 5
    • Christ died to appease God and meet the demands of the law
  2. As our advocate
    • effected reconciliation and made us righteous before God
  3. As our mediator – Luke 22; I Corinthians 11
    • established a new covenant and made us partners
  4. As our savior – John 3:16
    • grants us eternal life through faith in Him

Unconditional Covenants

  • Abrahamic Covenant –
    • Genesis 12: 2-3
    • being challenged by the world today
  • The Land Covenant –
    • Genesis 12: 7; 13: 12-17; 15: 9-21; 35: 9-12
    • being challenged by Islam
  • The Davidic Covenant –
    • 2 Samuel 7: 11-16; 1 Chronicles 17: 11-14
    • being challenged by by the churches
  • The Everlasting Covenant (with Israel) –
    • Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Hosea 5: 15; Zechariah 13: 8-9
    • being claimed by the churches

The Cycle of Nations

“from bondage to spiritual faith;
from spiritual faith to great courage;
from courage to liberty;
from liberty to abundance;
from abundance to complacency;
from complacency to apathy;
from apathy to dependency;
from dependence back again into bondage.”
— Alexander Tyler, 1750

Life Cycle of Democracies

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse…from the public treasury… the average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”
Alexander Tyler

When Nations Die, by Jim Nelson Black

  • Social Decay
    • Crisis of Lawlessness
    • Loss of Economic Discipline
    • Rising Bureaucracy
  • Cultural Decay
    • Decline of Education
    • Weakening of Cultural Foundations
    • Loss of Respect for Traditional Values
  • Moral Decay
    • Rise of Immorality
    • Decay of Religious Belief
    • Devaluing of Human Life

The Only Exception

The Pagan Capital of the World —Nineva—was 40 days from “ground zero!” Jonah was the reluctant prophet. His message was, “40 days and you get yours!” The Greatest Miracle in the OT happened!

A Litmus Test

  • Has the church failed to tell you that you are a sinner?
  • Has the church failed to deal with you as a lost individual?
  • Has the church failed to offer you salvation in Jesus Christ alone?
  • Has your church failed to proclaim the horrible consequences of sin, the certainty of hell, and the fact that Jesus alone can save?

Four Basic Forces

  • Gravity: keeps our feet on the ground, the earth in its orbit, the galaxies in their places
  • Electromagnetic: radio waves, light, as well as the molecules of chemistry;
  • “Strong” Nuclear force: holds the atom together
  • “Weak Nuclear force”: radioactivity, the heat of the sun, etc.

The first two decrease in strength inversely with the square of the distance between two objects; The last two act only at very short ranges.

The nucleus of every atom is held together by what physicists call “weak”
and “strong” forces. The nucleus of the atom contains positively charged
and neutral particles—to use a simplistic model. Mutual electrostatic
repulsion between the positrons would drive the nucleus apart if it were
not for the “strong” nuclear force which binds the nucleus together.

Opposites attract and likes repel. Jesus is keeping the like charges in the nucleus of every atom from repelling each other. When He refrains a nuclear boom will result.