Does Jesus represent Truth?

The question is, ’Did Jesus know when creation happened?’  Scripture tells us, He did.  From the dates in the Old Testament, Jesus could easily determine when the universe was created: it happened only a few thousand years before He came to earth.

To many followers of Jesus, a young earth cannot be true, because they are convinced that evolution proves that the earth is old, very old.  To believe that the earth was created only a few thousand years ago would make them a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.  We will discuss the findings of ‘science’ in future blogs.  Before that we want to give attention to the following aspects:

#  God has a ‘construction project,’ His eternal Kingdom on earth.  

• If God used billions of years of evolution to create the heavens and the earth, why don’t humans stretch out their creation projects over many years?  Made in the image of God, we often mimic God’s ways.  For example when humans select people for a certain work, or construct large projects, we do it according to God’s ways: we plan, design and execute.
• Normally a person who wants to construct some big complex, also plans, designs, and executes it.  Does he finalise the plans, dig the foundations and then wait ten years to pour the concrete?  Does he then slowly begin to build the walls after about 20 years and put in the conduit for the electricity after about 15 years, et cetera?  Then finally, after 60-70 years he finishes the project and the people can move in and use it?
• Maybe there are people out there who do that, but God is not like that.  He designed, planned and began to execute His project as He explains in Genesis 1.
• Why would He take 13,7 billion years before He began to gather a Bride for His Son, Jesus the Bridegroom?  Jacob worked 7 years for Rachel, but normally when a man loves a woman, he wants to marry her and settle down.

#  The Creator message of the Bible is consistent throughout.

If the Bible begins with God the Creator, that is what we should find right through to the end.  Interestingly enough that is exactly what we find.  God is Creator from Genesis to Revelation.  God created the first heavens and earth by His power, and He will create the new heavens and earth by His power.  It is a consistent message.

#  The concept of truth in the Bible is consistent.

• Jesus asked His Father in John 17: 17, ‘Sanctify them [my disciples] by the truth; your word is truth.’  With that Jesus defined truth as the Word of God.  That means He implicated His Father in this whole issue of the truth, ‘…I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father, who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.’ ¹
• Jesus testified, ‘When He, the Spirit of truth [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will guide you into all truth.’ ²  As we know, the Holy Spirit inspired the different writers of both the Old and New Testaments. ³
• God does not lie or change is mind.  In Numbers 23:19 we read, ‘God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should change His mind….’  
  • 1 Samuel 15:29 says, ‘He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.’  
  • The New Testament reminds us in Hebrews 6:18, ‘…God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie…’  
  • It is also in Titus 1:2.
• God’s words are trustworthy.  When God promised David that one of his descendants (Jesus) would sit on his throne eternally, David said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, you are God!  Your words are trustworthy….’  ⁴

#  Truth is important.

God is building His Kingdom with citizens of the highest calibre, people of truth and honesty like His Son and the Holy Spirit.  In the last book of the Bible, Revelation.  God tells us, ‘…the cowardly, the unbelieving…the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur.’ ⁵  God requires truth and not lies in His people.  That is why He, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the embodiment of truth.

Conclusion

The Bible is our witness that Jesus spoke the truth.  He who is Truth will sit on the right side of the Father on His throne in the New Jerusalem, loved and adored by His billions of followers.  His followers are those who know He speaks the truth and He cannot lie.  Neither can Scripture.

References

1. John 12:49
2. John 16:13
3. 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Thessalonians 2:13
4. 2 Samuel 7:28
5. Revelation 21:8

Is mother earth growing old?

Is mother earth wearing out like a garment?  Nobody likes it, but apparently nature is running down. The world’s wildlife population decreased by 52% since 1971. Logically it was mainly caused by humans. ^1,2

What do we need to do to save our planet? The advice is to consume less, farm more efficiently, use water in a smarter way, reduce our footprint. Will it help? Not according to R A Svenson, in his book, Hurtling Towards Oblivion.³  Not according to the Bible, because the earth will run down until God intervenes to renew all things.

The Bible is an ancient book by our standards. Yet what Mail & Guardian or CNN says concerning the earth and its health, is old hat to God. At least 2,500 years ago the Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah and the writer of Psalm 102, to foretell that the earth has a limited life span.

In Genesis 3:14-19 God pronounced a general curse on creation. Basically it is that everything will run down. The logic is explained, ‘Behold I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered.’ ⁴ Why would God create new heavens and a new earth if the old one is still good? The curse tells us that the universe and the earth is running down, ‘In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment.’ ⁵ 

That does not mean that people can wilfully destroy nature. Revelation 11:18 warns, ‘The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great – and for destroying those who destroy the earth.’  God will call people to account who wilfully destroyed His creation, even if it is running down because of the curse.

Conclusion

Many people have been so convinced by the words of atheists, skeptics, liberal theologians and theistic Christians (whatever that means), they cannot imagine that the Bible is about real life. Yet the running down of nature and the earth makes one realise how precise Scripture is. It makes one realise that God’s clock is ticking and the time of Christ’s return is approaching.

References

1. Sipho Kings, Mail & Guardian, 30 September 2014
2. J D Sutter, Half of Nature is still Here! …Yay? October 1, 2014, CNN
3. R A Svenson, Hurtling Towards Oblivion, Navpress, 1999
4. Isaiah 65:17
5. Psalm 102:25-26