New Entry! (Jun Yi: Woohoo!)

I was reading Psalm 117 today. Read it when you have the time. Actually, you can read it now. It wouldn't take longer than 10 seconds. It's the shortest chapter in the Bible! (2 verses only) Oh, interesting fact: It's not only the shortest chapter in the Bible, it's also the middle chapter, meaning it's the chapter that's right smack in the middle of the Bible.

Anyway, I was using the PC Study Bible cuz I really didn't know what I could get from this super short chapter =.= Barnes' commentary on verse 2 reads:

Truth is a representation of things as they are; and truth, therefore, must be ever the same. What was true in the first ages of the world in regard to the relation of the sum of the squares on the two sides of a right-angled triangle to the square of the hypothenuse is true now, and will always be true; and so, what God has affirmed at any one time will always remain the same in all ages and in all lands. What was truth to Abraham is truth to us; what was truth to Paul is truth to us; what was truth to the martyrs is truth to us; what is truth to us will be truth to all generations of the world in all lands, and will be truth forever.

.from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft. Emphasis mine.

Wah very long paragraph. What Barnes said was in line with what Paul Copan's definition of truth:

Something is true -- or corresponds to reality -- even if people don't believe it. I often use the example of the earth being round even when people thought it was flat. Some people have said to me, "Wasn't the earth flat for them at that time?" I say, "No the earth was still round."

.from Lee Strobel's The Case for the Real Jesus, p.236

Truth is not something subjective, subject to people's convictions and opinions. There is only one truth for any one thing in the world. I always had trouble reading the Old Testament and the New Testament. The typical question that most people ask is: "Why does the God of the Old Testament seem so different from the God of the New Testament?"

The God who ordered the destruction of whole cities seems so different from the gentle nature of God reflected in Jesus.

The typical counter-argument for this typical question is that God works in different ways in different times. So since it was the culture to destroy cities like that during the OT times, it was alright? If somewhere in the future, it becomes the culture to practice cross-dressing to evangelize to homosexuals and transexuals, then it would be alright to do so?

Or have I mistaken the Lord Jesus for another person? I should think that I have neglected the nature of His justice and taken upon His gentle nature instead. I so often fail to realize the seriousness of the circumstances I would be in had Jesus not died for me. In the Old Testament, God only ordered the Israelites to destroy the cities to carry out His judgment and His justice upon the sins of those cities. It wasn't merely to drive those foreign nations out so He could nicely place the Israelites in their land.

God's justice never changed. If Jesus didn't die for us on the cross, so taking all our sins upon Himself, we would be just like those cities.

God has forgiven us. That's the only reason we're still around.

I've taken Jesus' sacrifice for granted all these years! I always knew that I didn't appreciate Him enough, but I never thought that it was that serious. It is almost to the point of blissful ignorance! Gawk! How can!? For all the questions I've asked to obtain a certainty of truth, I've missed the very important truth that's right in front of me, the one the Bible has been proclaiming berabad-abad lamanya!

1. God's intolerance of sin in the Old Testament: Destruction of sinful nations, denying Moses entrance into the Promised Land, the plague on Israel for David's census etc
2. Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
   
3. Luke 3:7-8 - Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
4. Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
5. John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
6. Luke 3:5-6 - Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
7. John 1:29 - Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
8. Matthew 13:49-50 - So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
9. Eph 2:8 - For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
   
   

Dad spoke on Salvation 2 weeks ago, and he said that salvation doesn't just mean being saved from going to hell, it also means coming into God's presence. Therefore when we evangelize, we shouldn't just keep hitting on the part about hell and heaven, we should also emphasize the part about receiving the Lord Jesus.

Now that the intensity of salvation is recognized, it's much easier to be motivated to work out my salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Because I now realize where I could've been had Jesus not come down to earth when He did. Thankfully, it wouldn't be an impossible thing to work out this salvation, because Paul adds in verse 13 that "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His purpose."

End of long post. Dissecting the shortest chapter of the Bible turned out to be one of the longest trips I've ever taken.

And now... to sweep the floor. Buhbye!