Genesis 2 on into 5
Desire: Used 3 times in the Scripture. Means desire, or longing. From a word that means to stretch after something, or to run for something. 2 verses seem to make sense to us and we get contextually a meaning that is not altogether accurate. 8669
Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. [This is a result of sin. This is NOT God’s original plan! As we have so often been told. She was his helper, now, he has to shoulder it alone.]
Sgs 7:10
I [am] my beloved's, and his desire [is] toward me.
Gen 4:7
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee [shall be] his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
You shall have the preiminence. Very clearly preiminence. This is not the right to abuse. This is not the right to LORD over somene, it’s just that you will have the upperhand, the blessing, the better position.
Galatians 3:19
Romans 5:8 from one man sin reigned. But Jesus is one who saves all.
By one man
Romans 5:13 law: Anything establshed, anything received by usage, a custom, usage, law. From a word that means to parcel out, especially food or grazing to animals.
1) anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, a law, a command
a) of any law whatsoever
1) a law or rule producing a state approved of God
a) by the observance of which is approved of God
2) a precept or injunction
3) the rule of action prescribed by reason
b) of the Mosaic law, and referring, acc. to the context. either to the volume of the law or to its contents
c) the Christian religion: the law demanding faith, the moral instruction given by Christ, esp. the precept concerning love
d) the name of the more important part (the Pentateuch), is put for the entire collection of the sacred books of the OT
He spoke it to Adam, not to Eve. She knew about it, but it was spoken to Adam.
I Corinithians 15:21-22.
Discussing resurrection of the dead. Some say there is none. Paul is pointing out that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Jesus didn’t resurrect and we are all still in our sin. All born of him must die. That was the punishment stated before he partook of the fruit. If you eat of it you shall surely die. All from Adam must die.
He goes on from here saying that all things are under Jesus’ authority, like Adam, but this includes all things spiritual and heavenly as well. And that there will come a point in time when Jesus will lay all that is under His authority down at God’s feet.
Jump down to :34, -49
1 Timothy 2:14 This is a discussion about order in church. It is a discussion not about who was responsible for the fall of human kind. It cannot be taken that way. He is merely pointing out that at the Fall, an order was established. If you have a problem with that, talk to God.
Ahab Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 9, a child (birth) is born, a son (adoption) is given
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
More on Women: homologeo
It is God’s intention that after we become Christians we grow. He tells us to “grow up into Christ.” Paul at one point rebukes some followers of Christ for not growing. He calls them babies and says they should be adults by now. We are also told that the gifts of the Spirit are given so that Christians can become equipped to serve. It is intended that we grow to the point where we can serve others, equipped for the work of the ministry.
A big part of our growth is concerned with us re-orienting ourselves to relate to things the way God does. Even our salvation is dependent on this sort of realigning. Before the fall we were not acquainted with good and evil. We were perfectly aligned and oriented with God. We shared His world-view. When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit they became aware of evil and we, their children, have become intimately acquainted with it.
In Romans 10:9 we are told that we if we will confess that Jesus is Lord we will be saved. The word confess is a great Greek word. It’s a great Greek word for gay people to know. The word is homologeo. Logeo is from the word Logos, which is the spoken word or message as communicated. Jesus is actually called the LOGOS of God. The message, the communication from God to man. Homo of course means same. So homologeo means to say the same thing. In other words to take on God’s perspective and relationship – if God calls something a spade, we call it a spade. If He calls something sin, we call it sin. If God pronounces something good, then we consider it good and call it good, too.
This doesn’t sound too hard to do at first. But our growth is dependant on this adjustment of ourselves, this reorienting ourselves to match God. We are told that God’s ways are not our ways and that His thoughts are not our thoughts. That His thoughts are higher than ours. He also judges by the heart, when we tend to judge by the outward appearance. Our culture also plays a huge part in how we relate to things. If our culture tells us that polygamy is wrong, we can’t quite wrap our minds around the fact that this may not actually be a dictate from Scripture. If we are raised singing 3 songs in church and praying before service, or not having musical instruments in our service, or whatever in church or in our life, we may not quite be able to understand that this may not exactly be what God requires of us. These realizations are our opportunity to grow. To the extent that we are willing to allow God to mold us into HIS image, we actually grow. To the extent we harden our neck and refuse to be shaped into His image is the extent that we are in rebellion. That never sets well with God.
Now this growth comes about in various ways. One way is simply to read God’s Word. His Spirit will cause the Word to come alive sometimes, parts will jump out at us and we may be confronted with the need to be conformed to Him in some area.
Sometimes God’s Spirit will convict us. For example, let’s say we grew up in the south and our whole family and the town we grew up in frequently told prejudiced jokes. Everybody does it, right? You’re just having some fun. And you recently heard a great one. So you share it and immediately feel self-conscious and kind of bad. You realize that telling that joke may not have been truly pleasing to God. This is conviction. Next time you might hold your tongue. As you grow, you might steer such a conversation back to something more pleasing to God. This is changing your actions and your beliefs to lineup with God’s.
Some of the more difficult growth challenges are loving our enemies. Turning the other cheek. Not cussing in traffic. Not cheating on our spouse. Etc.
The word of God promises that the Spirit of God will guide us into all truth. This growth is initiated by God. In I Corinthians 3:18 we are also told that if we will look at Jesus as though we were looking at ourselves, we will be changed into what we are looking at. In other words, we will be changed into the image of Jesus. Changed into His image. Restored step by step into the original “us” – we were created in His image initially if you will remember, in the Garden of Eden. God initiates this growth, too. It says we are changed into His image, Jesus’ image, as we look at Him by the Spirit from glory to glory. In other words. We look at Jesus as though we are looking at ourselves and the Spirit points something out to us: “Look at how patient you are.” (Because we are seeing Jesus as ourselves, and Jesus IS patient.) Then we are changed into a more patient us. This is a marvelous truth in the Scripture.
Notice that the Spirit points out what it is we are to be growing in. We are not expected as 2nd graders to walk into class and know that we are supposed to learn how to compare and contrast today. They just show up hungry to learn. Willing to learn. Willing to grow. We have to stay willing to learn and to grow.
In Christ, in the Spirit world, you are either growing or falling. There are not plateaus in Christ. If we refuse to move forward when the Spirit moves us, we are falling away from him. We must be careful to respond to the Spirit when He moves.
Okay, so if we are to be open to growth and obedient to change our world view to match God’s we have to begin to see ourselves the way God sees us as well as others. Homologeo.
This is one of the hardest things for us to do. We are rather comfortable with either thinking everything we do is groovy or that everything we do is terrible. We either usually have a hard time seeing that we are sinful, or that we are loved by God.
For most people in the LGBT community it’s typically the later when we get right down to it. Our culture has ingrained in us that we are unacceptable to God. Women have also been taught that we are somehow less than men in God’s eyes.
The gay issue is a huge and varied one. I’m not going to tackle that at the moment. But I want to address being women.
The church has perpetrated on women an atrocity by teaching that they are less than men. They have controlled governments and homes with this same concept. It has caused much heartache.
The Old Testament tells of Adam and Eve and a curse that was meted out to both of them. In fact everything fell, the earth is fallen, the animal kingdom, the universe at large.
The Scripture God tells us that Eve was deceived, she was tricked, but Adam sinned with his eyes open. That means he knew what he was doing and she didn’t. Where does the blame sound like God places it? Historically it is placed on Eve. But God indicates Adam is the one who gets the real blame.
Additionally, Jesus came to be the second Adam, the anti-thesis to Adam. Adam was the lost one. Jesus is the one that saves. Eve isn’t mentioned. Why? Because she was the instrument through which Jesus was able to come and save us. When the curses were being handed out in the Garden of Eden, promises were also handed out. The promise was made that Eve’s son would bruise Satan’s head and that Satan would bruise His heel, and that this Son would deliver them and restore the results of the Fall. Adam isn’t mentioned.
Jesus was born of a Virgin. No man was involved. It had to be this way. And we are told why… Because Jesus couldn’t have the fallen part of Adam inside of Him. So where does the fallen nature come from? From the man. He is certainly the more cursed of the two. Mary’s contribution to Jesus’ birth does not have sin inherit in the process. Jesus could choose to obey. The rest of mankind can’t choose to be right; we are fallen when we get here. We have the seed of man in us. We are descendents of Adam.
Additionally the man who is given more responsibility is accountable for more. We judge by the outward. We think authority is the thing to get. We want to climb the ladder. But in some respects, being the one in charge is not the best place to be! Men have the final word and authority as God designed it, because He holds them more accountable.
This position has been tremendously abused throughout history. Absolute power, corrupts absolutely. Those in authority, who line themselves up with God, can be greatly used of God to bless others, to help others, to teach them and provide for them. But authority running amuck, living independently of God, seeking their own selfish position become power-hungry dictators who run all over the ones they are supposed to be caring for.
The church has added to this frequently by not being aligned to God themselves. They have imposed this view on women and allowed men to run amuck unchecked. This has impacted our government and our culture.
I want to spend some time telling you that even though the Church has done this frequently, they are not reflecting God’s perspective of women. We want God’s perspective of women. We want God’s persepective of ourselves. We want to homologeo.
Jesus went out of His way to include and address women. It wasn’t done in His day, but He did it. Many women were instrumental in His ministry and in Paul’s.
A big part of our growth is concerned with us re-orienting ourselves to relate to things the way God does. Even our salvation is dependent on this sort of realigning. Before the fall we were not acquainted with good and evil. We were perfectly aligned and oriented with God. We shared His world-view. When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit they became aware of evil and we, their children, have become intimately acquainted with it.
In Romans 10:9 we are told that we if we will confess that Jesus is Lord we will be saved. The word confess is a great Greek word. It’s a great Greek word for gay people to know. The word is homologeo. Logeo is from the word Logos, which is the spoken word or message as communicated. Jesus is actually called the LOGOS of God. The message, the communication from God to man. Homo of course means same. So homologeo means to say the same thing. In other words to take on God’s perspective and relationship – if God calls something a spade, we call it a spade. If He calls something sin, we call it sin. If God pronounces something good, then we consider it good and call it good, too.
This doesn’t sound too hard to do at first. But our growth is dependant on this adjustment of ourselves, this reorienting ourselves to match God. We are told that God’s ways are not our ways and that His thoughts are not our thoughts. That His thoughts are higher than ours. He also judges by the heart, when we tend to judge by the outward appearance. Our culture also plays a huge part in how we relate to things. If our culture tells us that polygamy is wrong, we can’t quite wrap our minds around the fact that this may not actually be a dictate from Scripture. If we are raised singing 3 songs in church and praying before service, or not having musical instruments in our service, or whatever in church or in our life, we may not quite be able to understand that this may not exactly be what God requires of us. These realizations are our opportunity to grow. To the extent that we are willing to allow God to mold us into HIS image, we actually grow. To the extent we harden our neck and refuse to be shaped into His image is the extent that we are in rebellion. That never sets well with God.
Now this growth comes about in various ways. One way is simply to read God’s Word. His Spirit will cause the Word to come alive sometimes, parts will jump out at us and we may be confronted with the need to be conformed to Him in some area.
Sometimes God’s Spirit will convict us. For example, let’s say we grew up in the south and our whole family and the town we grew up in frequently told prejudiced jokes. Everybody does it, right? You’re just having some fun. And you recently heard a great one. So you share it and immediately feel self-conscious and kind of bad. You realize that telling that joke may not have been truly pleasing to God. This is conviction. Next time you might hold your tongue. As you grow, you might steer such a conversation back to something more pleasing to God. This is changing your actions and your beliefs to lineup with God’s.
Some of the more difficult growth challenges are loving our enemies. Turning the other cheek. Not cussing in traffic. Not cheating on our spouse. Etc.
The word of God promises that the Spirit of God will guide us into all truth. This growth is initiated by God. In I Corinthians 3:18 we are also told that if we will look at Jesus as though we were looking at ourselves, we will be changed into what we are looking at. In other words, we will be changed into the image of Jesus. Changed into His image. Restored step by step into the original “us” – we were created in His image initially if you will remember, in the Garden of Eden. God initiates this growth, too. It says we are changed into His image, Jesus’ image, as we look at Him by the Spirit from glory to glory. In other words. We look at Jesus as though we are looking at ourselves and the Spirit points something out to us: “Look at how patient you are.” (Because we are seeing Jesus as ourselves, and Jesus IS patient.) Then we are changed into a more patient us. This is a marvelous truth in the Scripture.
Notice that the Spirit points out what it is we are to be growing in. We are not expected as 2nd graders to walk into class and know that we are supposed to learn how to compare and contrast today. They just show up hungry to learn. Willing to learn. Willing to grow. We have to stay willing to learn and to grow.
In Christ, in the Spirit world, you are either growing or falling. There are not plateaus in Christ. If we refuse to move forward when the Spirit moves us, we are falling away from him. We must be careful to respond to the Spirit when He moves.
Okay, so if we are to be open to growth and obedient to change our world view to match God’s we have to begin to see ourselves the way God sees us as well as others. Homologeo.
This is one of the hardest things for us to do. We are rather comfortable with either thinking everything we do is groovy or that everything we do is terrible. We either usually have a hard time seeing that we are sinful, or that we are loved by God.
For most people in the LGBT community it’s typically the later when we get right down to it. Our culture has ingrained in us that we are unacceptable to God. Women have also been taught that we are somehow less than men in God’s eyes.
The gay issue is a huge and varied one. I’m not going to tackle that at the moment. But I want to address being women.
The church has perpetrated on women an atrocity by teaching that they are less than men. They have controlled governments and homes with this same concept. It has caused much heartache.
The Old Testament tells of Adam and Eve and a curse that was meted out to both of them. In fact everything fell, the earth is fallen, the animal kingdom, the universe at large.
The Scripture God tells us that Eve was deceived, she was tricked, but Adam sinned with his eyes open. That means he knew what he was doing and she didn’t. Where does the blame sound like God places it? Historically it is placed on Eve. But God indicates Adam is the one who gets the real blame.
Additionally, Jesus came to be the second Adam, the anti-thesis to Adam. Adam was the lost one. Jesus is the one that saves. Eve isn’t mentioned. Why? Because she was the instrument through which Jesus was able to come and save us. When the curses were being handed out in the Garden of Eden, promises were also handed out. The promise was made that Eve’s son would bruise Satan’s head and that Satan would bruise His heel, and that this Son would deliver them and restore the results of the Fall. Adam isn’t mentioned.
Jesus was born of a Virgin. No man was involved. It had to be this way. And we are told why… Because Jesus couldn’t have the fallen part of Adam inside of Him. So where does the fallen nature come from? From the man. He is certainly the more cursed of the two. Mary’s contribution to Jesus’ birth does not have sin inherit in the process. Jesus could choose to obey. The rest of mankind can’t choose to be right; we are fallen when we get here. We have the seed of man in us. We are descendents of Adam.
Additionally the man who is given more responsibility is accountable for more. We judge by the outward. We think authority is the thing to get. We want to climb the ladder. But in some respects, being the one in charge is not the best place to be! Men have the final word and authority as God designed it, because He holds them more accountable.
This position has been tremendously abused throughout history. Absolute power, corrupts absolutely. Those in authority, who line themselves up with God, can be greatly used of God to bless others, to help others, to teach them and provide for them. But authority running amuck, living independently of God, seeking their own selfish position become power-hungry dictators who run all over the ones they are supposed to be caring for.
The church has added to this frequently by not being aligned to God themselves. They have imposed this view on women and allowed men to run amuck unchecked. This has impacted our government and our culture.
I want to spend some time telling you that even though the Church has done this frequently, they are not reflecting God’s perspective of women. We want God’s perspective of women. We want God’s persepective of ourselves. We want to homologeo.
Jesus went out of His way to include and address women. It wasn’t done in His day, but He did it. Many women were instrumental in His ministry and in Paul’s.
Friday, December 7, 2007
God's Relationship With Women
God's relationship with women often comes under fire. Women have been oppressed forever and it seems to be justified because of the Bible. Or that's what we are told. We have heard the story of Adam and Eve, Lot's wife, and many others. The laws of the the Old Testament seem to play favorites with the advantage going to men. But if you read the scripture in its entirety you will find a different picture.
Though we may have heard about Deborah, the woman judge of Israel, most of us have only heard it once. How about the woman in the temple who blessed Jesus when He was born? We know Mary was special and Elizabeth. But for the most part woman are told to be seen and not heard by church leadership.
This is not an accurate picture of God's relationship to women. The new testament was about law and establishing order out of chaos. It addressed the weaker side of human nature. But the New Testament seems to point out that the Old Testament was taken wrong. That it was being applied wrong in many areas. Jesus said of many things, "You have heard that it hath been said,... But I say unto you..."
Below is an excerpt from a daily devotional I subscribe to distributed by Crosswalk.com. It is by Girlfriends in God for December 7th, 2007.
Today's Truth
"Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear." Isaiah 59:1
Friend to Friend
When the writers of the Old Testament penned the words to the long list of lineages, the so-and-so begat so-and-so's, they always listed the males. But when we turn the page from the Old Testament to the New Testament, we see God honoring women in a brand new way. Even in the lineage of Jesus recorded in Matthew chapter one, we see four women in addition to Mary in the list! For that time in history, that was quite radical!
Now, if you were going to be part of this liberating radical movement to recognize women in the Holy Scriptures, whom would you pick? Oh, I'd probably include Mrs. Noah. She had to be very patient, submissive wife to be able to put up with all those animals and Noah's wild ideas.
Or perhaps I'd pick Mrs. Moses. Zipporah must have been a very godly woman to allow her husband to travel about in the desert for all those years. Besides, any woman who has a husband in leadership knows the sacrifices she must have made.
Or perhaps I'd pick Sarah. After all, she did bear a child when she was ninety and was married to the Father of many nations.
But no. God did not choose one of these women to be listed in the lineage of our Lord and Saviour Jesu Christ. He chose Rahab -- a redeemed woman who had been a prostitute before she joined the children of God. He chose Tamar -- who had an incestuous relationship with her father-in-law. He chose Bathsheba -- who had an affair with King David and bore a son. And He chose Ruth -- a woman from a cursed nation.
Oh, friend, do you see it? I am so glad that God chose these women. Through their lives, God shows us that there is no place so far from God that He cannot save us, redeem us, and ultimately use us for His glory. His arm is not too short to save us from the deepest pit imaginable. That was true for those four women, and it is true for you and me.
Let's Pray
Dear Heavenly Redeemer, I am so thankful that you chose the weak things of the world to shame the wise. I am one of those "weak things" and I am constantly amazed that you chose me and use me for your glory. Praise You, Lord. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Now It's Your Turn
Over the next few days, go back, read the stories of three women listed in Jesus' genealogy, and see what you can learn about their lives.
Rahab: Joshua 2
Tamar: Genesis 38:1-30
Bathsheba: 2 Samual 11
After reading about them, answer these questions: What did God take them from? What did God take them to?
What does this tell you about the people that God can use?
How to Handle Sin After Salvation
Am I really saved if I sin? Many new believers ask this as they begin to learn about their faith. One must correctly understand their relationship with the Lord to answer this question.
Two things happen when someone gets saved First, Jesus' sacrifice on the cross pays that person's sin-debt in full. That means your past, present, and future wrongdoing is forgiven and removed. You had not ever sinned when He paid the debt, because you had not even been born. All your sin is covered by the blood of Jesus, all of it. Since sin was the barrier that separated mankind from God, the new believer is now welcome in His presence. Second, the Father sends us a wonderful gift which offers us a choice apart from our original, rebellious nature by sending us the Holy Spirit to indwell and guide Christians.
Before salvation we had a nature which could not line ourselves up with God. We couldn't seem to "be good" no matter how hard we tried. Our best intentions failed. The pressure was immense. But, with God's Holy Spirit inside of us we become a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). Yet, since the mind and body don't change automatically, self-serving habits that we have developed before salvation remain ingrained and tempting. Though we may sometimes give in, we aren't suddenly unsaved because we sinned. Once god's grace is bestowed, it can't be removed. Nor can the Spirit's power be revoked. Our relationship with God remains intact, though it does need repair and washing in the form of confession and repentance.
Being saved is not about keeping a perfect record of behavior. If we could do that, we wouldn't have needed Jesus to die, or God's grace. He knows that we are human and prone to making selfish choices contrary to His will. When we do, Jesus acts as our Advocate, because His sacrifice is what makes psosible our relationship with the Father.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
I'm So Excited!
If that title caused you to hear a song, you might be gay... No, just kidding.
Greetings! We are so glad you have come to check out our site. If you are GLBT and have been told that God doesn't love you, that He hates you, that you are an abomination, then you are in the right place because we want to tell you the truth - God's love is just as much for you as it is for every other person. No one is excluded from His far-reaching love.
The truth is that not one of us is acceptable to God in our own right, by our own merit. There is not one action we can take that will cause us to rise above ourselves and become worthy of the sacrifice of God's Son for our sins. We are told that even our righteousness, the little bit we have, all we can muster in our own strength, is filthy rags to Him, unacceptable. [Psalm 14:3, Psalm 53:3, Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah 9:17, Jeremiah 8:6, Romans 3:10-12]
Wow! That's a real downer! But, you see, there's more to it than that. God very purposefully chose to put us all in the same boat, to cause us all to be in the same condition - lost. We are all lost. Every man, every woman, every child. We are part of the human race and therefore partake of the human condition. The New Testament puts it like this: "He concluded us all under sin." [Galatians 3:22]
Don't think that because you are GLBT that you are somehow not like the others in terms of your standing before God. We all fall short. "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." [Romans 3:23]
So everything the Bible has to say about God's deliverance, His salvation, is just as much for us as it is for everyone else. No matter what anyone has told you or made you feel, God loves you. It's as much a fact for you as it is for anyone else. Embrace that thought. Talk to God about it. Be frank. Get real. Don't think God cares one bit about how well you put words together. Just talk to Him. Ask Him what He thinks. Forget what you've been told. Reach out to Him. He promises if we draw near to Him that He will draw near to us. We have a section on our site that addresses new and hurting Christians, those who have been raised in the church and then thrown away because they were GLBT. This section is called Getting Started. Additionally, for those who want to dig into the Word of God on any topic we have a section called Particulars . Come check us out. If we can be of assistance, please feel free to contact us.
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