An ode of praise to God

This day, exactly 47 years ago, on the 4th of July 1970 a man and woman stood before a minister, in a church in a small town in South Africa.  They were about to be tied together as husband and wife.

Two fathers

• My father sat with tears in his eyes.  He could not believe that the in-laws refused to heed his warning that I was bad marriage material.
• My future wife’s father was glad that his youngest daughter at last got a husband (at the ‘ancient’ age of 24).  He just hoped for the best.
• My wife’s sister and mother told her that it is a disgrace not to get married, a disgrace to retain your maiden name.  She mustn’t be so finicky.  She should just get married.  If it doesn’t work out she can always get divorced!

Opposites attract.

It was strange that a man who had very little knowledge about God, married a young woman who became a follower of Jesus when she was ten years old.  I wondered:

• Why do I get married in a church?  My answer was, tradition!  Little did I know that the Lord would in due time instruct me that marriage was His idea, that is why I got married in a church.
• Why did she consent to marry me?  Heaven knows (which was true).  She said God told her to leave the matter in His hands and He will sort it out.
• So, there we were, listening intently to the minister on how we should approach marriage.  For a follower of Jesus to marry someone who knows nothing about the Lord is hard at times.  However, things changed decidedly when I (Gerard), allowed the Lord into my hardened heart.  That saved our marriage so that today, we can celebrate God’s goodness to us together.

The war

• I can’t remember what I promised the minister I would do.  When one rejected person unites with another rejected person, it is sure to produce friction.  So there were times of unrest, but also love, and four gifts from God, four children.
• In God’s plan for us, a time of deep healing began in our thirties.  We began to pray together and still do.  It made a huge difference in our lives and marriage.

The miracle

• Celebrating 47 years together, we can only give the honor to the Lord.  We are both followers of Jesus.  We are blessed by the Lord.  We are in love, happy and contented to be in each other’s company.  Jesus promised, when He frees a person he or she will be free indeed.  That is what we experienced.
• I (Gerard) am a testimony to the power of the Gospel.  I was a man who had very little knowledge (none, to be more precise) of God or the Bible, but I married a godly woman.  I became a follower of Jesus.  I have a future as one of God’s ‘favorite’ children.  I rejoice in my great, glorious magnificent God and His blessings –  four plus four children and eleven grandchildren.

 

Why this ode of praise to God.

• He changed our lives.  Both my wife and I came from families where we are the only ones who have the privilege to be married for 47 years, with children and grandchildren that we can cherish.
• It is an absolute privilege to enjoy fellowship with the most glorious Father, the powerful Savior, and be filled with His wonderful Counsellor, the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

Glory to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for what He did for us!

Guy Harrison’s misunderstanding of the Trinity

Guy Harrison’s objection of the nature of the Trinity is based on a misunderstanding.

He writes, ‘God is Jesus and Jesus is God. How can we say that God sent His Son and sacrificed Him for us when they are the same being? ¹ These words show that Guy’s theology about the Trinity is deficient.

The following 2 principles explain the true nature of the Trinity according to the Bible (as recognised by reputable theologians):

 

#Principle 1. God is one in essence, three in Person. That means God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three distinct Persons. Yet they all share in the God attributes. The Trinity can be compared to a family of a father, mother and son. One doesn’t find it often, but there are families where the father, mother and son function as one. They have the same purpose, the same interests and the same loyalty. Yet they are three distinct persons with distinct functions. That gives one an idea of what the Trinity is like.

• God the Father is in heaven. He is the head of the Trinity. He planned the Kingdom (the eternal King, people and country). That is why Jesus said that the Father is greater than He.
• Jesus is the Son, looking for a Bride. He made the Kingdom possible. He finished his assignment on earth and sits at the right hand of His Father in His resurrected body.
• The Holy Spirit fulfils the functions of the mother: birthing, caring, comforting, helping, guiding,  teaching, et cetera. After Jesus went back to His Father, the Holy Spirit was sent to earth. He indwells believers and prepares and trains them for the coming eternal Kingdom.

The following verse is an example of the Trinity as three distinct persons with different functions: ‘To God’s elect, strangers in the world, …who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood.’ ²

 

#Principle 2. Jesus is one in Person, 2 in nature. He is both God and Man (the Son of God and the Son of man). If people object to that, ask them how the DNA can be both material (the carbohydrate phosphate backbone) and immaterial (the information in the nucleotides)? Why is Jesus one in person, two in nature?  He had to be the innocent Lamb of God to die in the place of His Bride. Only God is innocent, thus God the Son became a human being (the Son of Man) to die for human beings only. The angels who rebelled are not included since they saw God and yet rebelled. We have not seen God physically, so we are given a chance of salvation, while they are not pardoned.

 

If people object that the doctrine of the Trinity and of the twofold nature of Jesus doesn’t make sense, ask them how logical it is that first life evolved from non-living elements? There is no evidence for it and yet they believe it. What we do know, however, is that it cannot be too difficult for God who created the miracle of life, to be Three that function as One, and to be fully man and fully God like Jesus.

 

References

1. Kindle Edition, Location 170 of 5739
2. 1 Peter 1:1-2