Temptation to believe lies

Today I was listening to a several of the current Sabbath School classes available at http://itsaboutgod.tv/hart_class.html

Now I can't say I was terribly impressed with any of the 3 I listened too. Unfortunately even Progressive Adventists seem to be firmly entranced with extra biblical mythology produced for the Adventist church by Ellen White. I still don't understand why they believe such things as Lucifer is Satan See Who is Lucifer (or Satan Misidentified) But the Pine Knoll Sabbath School even goes farther and the teacher Jon Paulien keeps saying that Lucifer and Christ were covering Cherubs. Surprisingly similar to the Lucifer and Christ being Spirit brothers of the Mormon Belief. Last week in his lesson he said there was good evidence for the two being covering cherubs. Of course he did not give that good evidence. But if you want to know it is not from the Bible it is from Ellen White. Probably a teaching from her Pre-Trinitarian days back when SDA's were substantially Semi-Arian.

Anyway once you get past all the mythology and assumptions about Satan the lessons get to the Temptation in the Wilderness of Jesus. One of the main points I felt it was important to point out because naturally none of the classes could manage to do that is as follows.

Luke 4:8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Temptation of Jesus

4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around ^[a]by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. ³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

⁵ And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of ^[b]the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and ^[c]its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore if You ^[d]worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” ⁸ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

What is so surprising to me is how none of the classes I listened to noticed that the devil claimed all the world was his and it had been given to him and he could give it to whom he choses. The catch being if only Jesus would worship him. Now Jesus could have said according to Scriptures that all the world is God's Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;" Pointing out the lie in the Devils claim...which amazingly enough lots of people seem to believe and they point to this temptation text. But instead Jesus deals with the logical fallacy in the devils claim. If as the devil claimed the world had been given him, Who was it that gave it to him? The one that could give something to someone that they did not have before clearly has more power then the one given something. So the devil's next claim to be worthy of worship would be another lie. The one with the greater power to give the devil the world would be the one worthy of worship more so then the devil even if his claim had been true. Thus with brevity the soul of wit, Jesus destroys the devils entire argument with You shall worship only the Lord your God.

 

Psalm on the Cross

Psalm on the Cross

 

By Ron Corson

A song was sang that day, a Psalm of praise was recited by a voice, tired and sore. Presented by a man spread out in pain, rejected by the ones he loved 1 . Crucified for no crime at all 2 , Jesus Christ died on a cross raised up outside the city named for peace. There are multitudes of songs written about that love, exhibited on the cross, but what about the song that Jesus sang.

It is thought by many that David first gave us the song that Jesus sang that day. David the poet, David the often tormented soul, But oh how the psalm fits our lives from ages past to ages yet to come. It is a song of triumph moving out from despair, from pain and sorrow to hope and gladness. It is the song of humanity accepting the healing touch of a God of love.

It begins with the words Jesus uttered on the cross, the lines which carried to the listeners the whole Psalm that we find in Psalm 22 today. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?" 3 Like the Psalmist of old Jesus was rejected, hated, despised for crimes not committed. To the average man on the street here was a sad specimen of humanity, a cursed thing, an object of derision 4 . But like the psalmist of old he was not forsaken, for the song continues. "In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed."5 We are not alone; the God of the Universe does not leave and turn his back on us. While it may seem to those on the outside that we are abandoned by God, rejected or even cursed by God, we know in whom we trust. Even as the psalmist sang so we hear Jesus Christ commit his spirit to God, trusting the God of the Universe, even when Jesus Christ was besieged by the pain of torture inflicted by those who he created.6 Today we sing of "Love that will not let me go", and so did the psalmist of old.7 "For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help."

We don't know what is good for us, like the psalmist we cry for help, 8  not even knowing what help we may need. But with the psalmist we can trust in the God who will not leave us. As the psalmist concludes, as Jesus Christ concluded, "They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn-- for he has done it."9 "It is finished"; God in the form of a man demonstrated the love, which makes him God. "Forgive them for they don't know what they are doing". Such great lengths to reconcile us back to God. A God not of punishment and retribution, but of love and forgiveness, a God who will never leave you or forsake you. The very God, who sings your own song, touched by the cruelty that finds us all. Always offering us the same gift of forgiveness and reconciliation, "That sweet sweet song of Salvation",10  a healed relationship with our Creator.
1 Matt. 21:42, Mrk 9:12 1 Pe. 2:4

/2 Mrk 15:14, Acts 8:33

3 Ps. 22:1, Mrk. 15:34

4 Deut. 21:23, Gal 3:13

5 Ps. 22:4-5

6 Acts 3:15

7 "Love that will not let me go" by Steve Camp and Rob Frazier

8 Psalms 22:24/9 Psalms 22:31

10 "Sweet song of salvation" by Larry Norman

 

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The following is an Guest Editorial from the Adventist Review Magazine April, 2000

It is placed here to show how the traditional view of the SDA church is not based upon Biblical sources but upon Ellen G. White's opinions. Through Ellen White many SDA's feel that Christ suffered the Second Death mentioned in The Revelation. To them Christ death was not caused by man but by God. The Father's separation from Christ.

 

G U E S T E D I T O R I A L

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"You Can Have My Room" ALFRED C. MCCLURE

6 (478) A D V E N T I S T R E V I E W , A P R I L 2 0 0 0

The Stewpot carried a wonderful story this past Christmas. (The Stewpot is a newsletter about stewardship, produced monthly by the Pacific Union Stewardship Department and distributed in many churches throughout North America.)

It was the story of a singular elementary school Christmas pageant that you may have heard or read about, but in case you haven’t, let me summarize:


Wally is the biggest boy in the class, so he gets to play the innkeeper at Bethlehem. When the children playing Joseph and Mary come to the door of the inn, Wally the Innkeeper answers gruffly: "What do you want?" The boy playing Joseph explains that they’re looking for lodging, that they’ve tried all the other places in town, that no one has room for them. Wally, playing his role perfectly, tells the two child actors there is no room at his inn either. "Be gone!" he concludes, with perhaps a bit of exaggerated bluster.

The actors fulfill the biblical narrative by trudging slowly away from the door while Wally watches from the inn’s door-way. He sees two weary travelers. He sees people who need a room. He knows that Baby Jesus will be born that night.

Getting caught up in the drama of the moment, Wally forgets to follow the script. Instead, Wally ad-libs a new and beautiful twist to the Christmas story of Scripture. He steps out of the artificial doorway and says, "Please don’t go, Joseph! Bring Mary back. You can have my room."

There’s a stewardship lesson in that story, but there’s a lesson about Calvary as well. What Jesus said at Calvary is "You can have My room." Not just for a night, but for forever. He was willing to let go of eternity so that you and I could have a room in His kingdom.
Ellen White tells us that Jesus was ready to give up eternity for us. "The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father’s acceptance of the sacrifice" (The Desire of Ages, p. 753).


The physical pain of crucifixion was great, but Jesus hardly felt it. Instead, He felt the agony of eternal separation from His Father—and still He went through with the sacrifice.

This was no Wally the Innkeeper giving up his make-believe room for a night. This was the Ruler of the universe willing to cease to exist forever so that we might have the opportunity to accept eternal life.
I can’t understand that. Neither can you. Angels comprehend only faintly the remarkable demonstration. Mrs. White tells us that this act of selflessness will be our study throughout eternity. We will spend a thousand years learning to grasp new facets of such love, and still we’ll have just begun. "God did not change His law, but He sacrificed Himself, in Christ, for man’s redemption," she writes (ibid., p. 762). There’s at least 100 years’ worth of study and contemplation in that one sentence.

Then White goes on: "The law requires righteousness—a righteous life, a perfect character; and this man has not to give. He cannot meet the claims of God’s holy law. But Christ, coming to the earth as man, lived a holy life, and developed a perfect character. These He offers as a free gift to all who will receive them. His life stands for the life of men" (ibid.). There’s another century of study!

She continues: "More than this, Christ imbues men with the attributes of God. He builds up the human character after the similitude of the divine character. . . . Thus the very righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer in Christ" (ibid.). Another century’s study—or more!


This is the month we remember Christ’s death on Calvary and His resurrection from the grave. In a special way this month we should meditate on Christ’s incredible love for us.
Mrs. White observed that it would be good to spend a thoughtful hour each day contemplating the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes (see Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 374). This is a good month to put that into practice. We can start those centuries of learning now.


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Alfred C. McClure is president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, with more than 900,000 members in every state and province throughout the United States, Canada, and Bermuda.

How Traditionalists explain why Christ died

The Adult Teacher’s Guide for the Sabbath School Lesson asked the following question:

Jesus died on the cross to save us. How can someone dying save anyone?How would you explain Jesus’ death and the purpose of His death to a tenyear-old? How would you explain it to someone who has never heard of Jesus Christ before? See 1 Peter 1:3–9. http://www.absg.adventist.org/2008/2Q/TE/PDFs/ETQ208_10.pdf

I was curious to see how this question would be answered on various internet sites. Here are some quotes from the various sites, the question we need to ask is do these answers make sense, do they answer the question above in a way that is satisfactory to a questioning child. As you read these think of what they are saying. Justice of Jesus paying the penalty is a common thread. Yet know where does God say justice is ever arrived at by punishing the innocent or substituting one person to be punished for the actions of another, or for that matter that punishment is needed in order to forgive. This first one is most interesting because it wants to teach Substitutionary punishment. Though I can’t imagine any child wanting to sign the purposed agreement or thinking it was fair or just.

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One of the consequences of our sins is that Jesus died for our sins so we could have an eternal life with God.

However, before a person can have eternal life with God, that person must trust in Jesus as Savior and repent from a sinful life.

Punishment Sharing Agreement. Use this activity to help the students understand that Jesus, having never sinned, took on himself all of our sins and all the punishment for our sins when He died on the cross.

Circulate the Punishment Sharing Agreement

Explain that a person who signs the agreement is agreeing to take the punishment for any wrong acts done during the week that person signs up for by anyone who signs this agreement.

For example, Billy agrees to take the punishment for Week 1. Billy does no wrong during Week 1. But Sue lies to her mother. Her punishment is no TV for a week. Since Billy agreed to take the punishment for Week 1, Billy cannot watch TV for that week, but Sue can.

After everyone has an opportunity to sign the agreement, explain that this is similar to Jesus dying on the cross for all of our sins.

He died on the cross in our place for our sin, then rose from the dead.

Why Did Jesus Die On The Cross For Me?

Purpose: Help the children understand why Jesus died on the cross.
Objective: Teach the children that God sent Jesus to earth as man to die on the cross for the sins of the world. His death provides a way to have forgiveness of sin and a personal relationship with God.
http://www.kidzplace.org/atf/cf/%7B899BDF78-4CC9-48F8-8AD7-2A88AC21D94E%7D/day3_lesson.pdf

He came as a substitute. The Old Testament said, Ezekiel quoting, "The soul that sinneth it shall die." Paul said, "The wages of sin is death Now sin by virtue of the justice of God is punished by death. If I then sin I will die. If I bear by own punishment and I die I die physically, spiritually and eternally and am sentenced into eternal hell without God. And God looked into this world and He saw men.

He saw men who were going to die because of sin. And He said because of His love, I will not ‑ I will not allow all men to die in their sin, I will send someone else to bear their punishment to die their death. And thus did Jesus come. He came to be my substitute and when He was nailed on the cross He died for me and He died for you.

He died my death, paid my penalty. See, that's the only alternative God had. Either He punishes you for sin and me for my sin and that's eternal punishment in hell or else He substitutes someone else in our place and they pay our penalty. And that's exactly what Jesus came to do, be our substitute. The exalted second person of the Trinity, the divine Son ot God, God in flesh, humbled Himself, came to earth to die my death to provide for me an escape from eternal hell. The sinless one became sin, the living one died, the perfect one became the punished one. And not because He deserved it but because I deserved it and He was my substitute.
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God is a perfect God and yet has chosen to allow sin. He is also a holy God who must show His wrath against all sin. At the same time God has accepted the payment that Christ made for the sins of every person when Christ died on the cross. This means that Christ took the wrath of God against sin for every person. As a result, God must show His wrath by bringing judgment on every person that does not repent and turn to Christ. That way God is not unfair. He accepts the payment for sin by Christ for all those who turn to Christ. To be fair He also judges all those who reject the payment of Christ and choose to pay for their own sin.

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Jesus Christ’s life could pay the penalty for all sin for all time because His divine life is worth more than the lives of all humanity before or since. Only by the sacrifice of a life of enormous worth could the enormous penalty for all sin be paid.

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Why the Son of God had to die

Why did Jesus have to die? He had to die because of the sins of humanity and the death they demand—to make possible a relationship between the Father and all men and women, who are invited to become children of God; to make possible the resurrection to eternal life; to defeat the awful penalty of eternal death.

Why did Jesus have to die? Jesus had to die because He chose to die for each of us in a decision of pure love made with His Father. If They are willing to pay such a price to gain a relationship with us, what are we willing to do to have a relationship with Them?
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Sin is the transgression of the law of God (1John 3:4) - which amounts to living contrary to God's way of life, a way of outflowing love and concern for others. God's law is so important that He has decreed the penalty of eternal death for its violation.

God's perfect justice demands that the penalty for sin be paid. It is vital that the seriousness of the matter be made that clear. And yet God is supremely merciful - so it was determined that God the Father would give up His only Son (who would Himself lay down His own life) in sacrifice to atone for the sins of all mankind - those who would rightly accept it. The Father, it should be understood, had actually created mankind through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9; John 1:1-3). Thus, as our Creator and God, His life was worth more than that of all humanity. When He died for us, the penalty for all human sin was more than paid.
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Jesus died to take the punishment for your sins.
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In other words, the punishment for our sin which is ours by right was transferred to Jesus Christ. He died our death, in our place, so that our sins might be forgiven and we night know fellowship with God. The chastisement which we deserved was laid upon him. And he had to do it, because our salvation could be achieved in no other way.