God – Page 3 – What Does This Mean?

God Can Do Anything He Wants to Do

Encore Post:

[Twenty-Second in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

When we say that God is almighty, it seems simple enough. We can even explain it to a three-year-old: God can do anything he wants to do. Yet the more we think about it, that God is omnipotent, παντοκράτορ — all-powerful, the more we have trouble taking it all in. We get a sense of this when a child asks the snarky question, “Can God make a rock that he can’t lift?” or when an opponent of the faith asks the classic question, “What did God do before he made the world?” The questions normally get the answer they deserve: an equally silly response like: “he made hell, so he has a place to send people who ask such questions!”

Such questions point out that there is a limit to how much we can understand about our maker. They show what happens when we try to pit one quality (attribute) of God against another. So … For God, who is eternal, time does not exist. There is no before or after creation for him. He makes all the rules, so he doesn’t have to follow them. That’s what makes a miracle possible.

When it comes to what God cannot do, we are inclined to answer “Nothing.” After all, Jesus said, What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Lk 18:27). Yet the Book of Hebrews tells us, “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb 6:18), and St. Paul states that God “cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13), in short, God cannot act contrary to his nature. So, God does not want to do any of these things.

Why it is important that God is almighty is that he can—and does—keep his promises. To save those who rebelled against him, ruined and still ruins his perfect world. He did so by being born of a virgin, dying to pay for their sins, and rising again from the dead. On the day he chooses, he will call his children to rise from the dust to live with him forever. It means that he saves us and will bring an end to sin, death, and the devil. So we confess: “I believe in God, the Father almighty” and marvel at all he can do, wants to do, and will do for us.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Calling God our Father and Meaning it

Encore Post:

[Twenty-First in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

Calling God our father is second nature to Christians. After all, Jesus invites us to do so. We teach the Lord’s Prayer to our youngest children as their first prayer. So it may come as a surprise that it is unique among the world’s religions. Most religions hold their gods at a distance. The high god of native religions makes the world and goes away, leaving it to lesser spirits and humans. For Muslims, Allah is a strict, distant god. You must toe the line to please him. In Judaism, while God is seen as having a warm relationship with them, even to pronounce his name is considered disrespectful. For Hindus, Buddhists, and other Eastern religions, god is not a person at all. The universe is their god, and they see humans as gods in a real sense.

For Christians, however, God is very much a Father who loves us and is a part of our daily lives. The Father adopted us as his sons and heirs with Christ. He invites us to call him abba — daddy — and approach us the way a little child approaches her father.

When we confess God as Father, we claim he loves us, cares for us, wants to be with us now and forever. It is incarnational — a statement that God cares for us so much that in the person of his Son, he became a flesh-and-blood man, lived with us as one of us, suffered and died for us, and rose again for us. By doing so, he restored the relationship between himself and us. He is indeed our father and a model of what fatherhood is.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor
Emeritus Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Three Ways God Cares for Us

Encore Post:

[Twentieth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

When we baptize a new Christian, we ask him to promise several things and to confess several things. Following the Church’s ancient tradition, we ask the candidate whether they believe what the creed proclaims. But we do this with three questions: “Do you believe in God the Father…?” “Do you believe in Jesus Christ…?” and “Do you believe in the Holy Spirit…? We do this because each person of the Holy Trinity has His own role in our life and salvation.

This is a bit of a mystery, since all three persons are involved in these acts of love for us, yet Scripture speaks of each having a distinct role. Rather than try to puzzle out how this is so, we rejoice that each person loves us in his own way.

Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, calls each person’s work an article and speaks about them separately. He talks about the good news that God the Father created and provides for us, that God the Son redeems us through his own blood, and that the Holy Spirit makes us holy. This good news gives us joy, especially since we just considered his law in the Ten Commandments. We have been confronted by the fact of our sinfulness. Now we can have peace in the gospel of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

God the Jealous God

Encore Post:

[Eighteenth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

In our tour of the Ten Commandments, we learned God wants more than just a casual keeping of his law. He wants our hearts and souls to match our behavior. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Of course, we know we cannot keep the law perfectly in this life, and God knows it, too. Jesus died to pay the price for our disobedience and to earn us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. So, why should we try at all to be good?

The reason is that sin has its consequences in this world and the next. When Adam and Eve sinned, sin multiplied and became a part of the lives of every one of their children. It brought with it death, sickness, disaster, grief, and pain. It destroyed the close relationship between people and between people and God. Since we were made to share our lives with God and each other, it harmed the very purpose for which we exist. It sin that God sent his Son to save us from, not to be a fire insurance policy against hell.

God describes his relationship with his people as a marriage. Sin amounts to being unfaithful with other gods, dividing our love for him by giving ourselves to others. So it is that God warns us in the First Commandment that he is a jealous God and there are consequences when we are unfaithful to him. (Exodus 20:5-6) God, in the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, breaks the power of sin and death in our lives. With prayer and the help of other Christians, we can fight back against these sins and sometimes even be free of them.

After all, God’s warning comes with a promise. It is not only sins that travel from generation to generation but also blessings. With the help of the Holy Spirit, when we establish habits of doing good — attending worship faithfully, praying with our children, reading God’s word to them, and caring for others, these, too, will be a part of their inheritance.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

God’s Good Gift of Marriage

Encore Post:

[Fifteenth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

“It is not good,” God said, “that man be alone. I will make a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18) Formed from the rib of Adam, God presented Eve to man. “At last, bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!” replied Adam. … “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh,” Moses concludes his account of the first marriage. (Genesis 2:23-24)

God’s gift was very good. Marriage is the closest picture we have of the nature of God. In it, there are two persons, yet one flesh. It reflects the relationship between Christ and his bride, the church. It is the foundation on which God builds families, where children can be raised in love and security. It is sealed with God’s gift of sexual intimacy. God thinks so highly of marriage that he makes it a part of the Ten Commandments. That is why he limits sexual activity to marriage.

In our culture, which makes sexual freedom into a god, it can be more challenging than ever to keep this commandment. Everywhere are sexual images, pornography, and temptation to all manner of sexual encounters. Jesus makes it no easier when he tells us that even to look at someone who is not your spouse with a desire for her is to break this commandment. (Matthew 5:27-28)

Thank God, we have resources to help us resist these temptations. Marriage itself helps by providing a place for these feelings to be expressed. We also have each other. All of us have these temptations, and we can urge each other to be faithful. When we see a friend tempted, we can plead with him and remind him of the consequences of such sin. And when we fall into sin, we know Jesus died to forgive our sins and is with us always to help us resist it.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Being for Life and not Death

Encore Post:

[Fourteenth is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

On the surface, “you will not murder” seems easy enough to keep. In spite of what the TV and the Internet like to make us believe, very few people outside the military ever actually kill another person. Most police officers on the job never draw their weapons. It should be easy to check this one off, we are tempted to think.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us there is a lot more to this command than that. Murder begins in our hearts when we become angry with someone and wish harm to them. (Matthew 5:21-26) Hatred has a way of spilling over into action when we give it room to fester.

Martin Luther sees in this command every place God forbids us to harm our neighbors in any way. It also calls on us to help anyone who is hurting, in danger, weak, hungry, or ill. God, the Author of Life, wants us to be for life, too. When we do not come to the aid of others, we kill them, even if it is only in a small way. Jesus even promises to remember on the last day when we do not care for them. What we do or do not do to the least important of our neighbors, he will count as having been done to him. (Matthew 25:31-46)

In our modern culture, it is ever more challenging to defend life, protect the weak, and care for those who suffer. Mothers are taught it is their right to kill babies in the womb if they do not want to raise them. Doctors urge patients and their families to put to death those who suffer greatly. Sometimes, governments take these decisions out of the hands of families and kill patients they find too expensive to treat. Rightly so, Christians come to the defense of the weak and defenseless.

Because God in Christ died so that we might rise again, we seek not to harm others, but to help them as he helped us.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

To Live Well, Honor Your Parents

Encore Post:

[Thirteenth is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

The Fourth Commandment is different. This commandment is positive. It urges us to honor our father and mother rather than the “nots” of most of the commandments. It comes with a promise — that you will live a long life. It is the first commandment that even non-believers can keep, and their lives will be better in this world. It is the first of the Words to explain what it means to love your neighbor — to do to others what you want them to do to you.

So, why is honoring our father and mother the first commandment about loving our neighbors? Of all the vocations (callings) that God gives to us, parenting is the most basic. We are not all blessed with children, professions, businesses, or crafts, but every one of us has one father and one mother. For us, a parent is a mask God wears to care for us in this world. When the evil of this world deprives us of a loving father and mother, adoptive father and mother, a stepfather or mother, or a foster father and mother, life is profoundly more difficult and troubled. When a father and mother serve God by caring for their children, providing for their needs, disciplining them, and loving them, their children have the best chance of living happy, productive lives. When we love them, thank them, care for them in old age and illness, we encourage them to serve faithfully. Most of all, we set an example for those we care for.

Martin Luther also saw in fathers and mothers a model for all people God calls to care for us. Employers, rulers, pastors, teachers, first responders, husbands, and others are called to lay down their lives for those in their care. We benefit from their leadership and protection. When we honor them, we honor God, who called them. We, in our turn, then serve those in our care, as Christ loved us and gave his life so we can live. When we honor all our leaders, we live longer, simpler, and happier lives in balance.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Sabbath Rest

Encore Post:

[twelfth is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

The Sabbath rest is ancient. God himself rested on the seventh day, just after he created the world in six days. When God gave his law to his people, the command to rest on the seventh day made the top ten. God knew that working without rest would damage his creatures. So he built it — rested every night, and on the seventh day. It provided time for his people to worship and to meditate on his word.

Yet for Christians, the day they worship — and rest — is a matter of freedom. It belongs to the civil law, the law for the nation of Israel. It is not part of the moral law, the law for all people. We know this because Jesus called himself “the Lord of the Sabbath” and St. Paul describes that freedom in Romans and Colossians. Still, the church chose from the beginning to rest every Sunday, the first day of the week, to remember the Resurrection of Jesus.

While Christians should worship God every day, resting on Sunday offers the opportunity to hear God’s word preached, to receive his gifts of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, to meet with each other and pray for each other, and to study the Word of God. It is not so much that we have to go to church as that we get to go to church. At many times and in many places, that freedom does not exist.

So we honor Sundays and holy days. We used the opportunity to receive forgiveness of sins and bread for our daily lives. We rejoice to honor our Lord Jesus, who died for us, rested in the tomb three days, and rose again, so that we might rest with him forever.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Pray, Praise and Give Thanks

Encore Post:

[Eleventh is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

A name has a lot more packed into it than we often realize. It carries a person’s reputation, authority, and power. In ancient magical lore, if you know a person’s true name, you can have power over them. God’s name is the most important of all, not because it is magical, but because God has promised to hear us when we call to him.

The Second Commandment is all about using God’s name in prayer, acting as his tools in this world to bring the Gospel to the lost and to do his will as we serve him and our neighbors. We baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We teach all that he commands us to teach. When we make promises to tell the truth and make promises to each other in his presence, we commit ourselves to keep them.

The problem is our sinful nature wants to use God’s name to cover lies and to make people believe we intend to do what we have no intention of doing. We want God to give us what we desire, treating Him as if He were some kind of cosmic vending machine — insert prayer. Believe you will get it, and it will come to you. We are inclined to say “Oh my God” when we are surprised or shocked, rather than as a prayer for help. These uses are misuses of God’s name and are what the command forbids.

So, then, do we go the other way, as Judaism does, and not even use his name at all? No, God wants us to use His name. We call him in trouble. We are comforted when, in His name, our pastors forgive our sins. We draw strength when we remember that he came to us in our baptism and put his name on us so that in his name we are saved. We call his name the way we call a beloved father, mother, or grandparent, knowing we are loved and that they want to share our lives. We use his name to praise him and thank him for his love and mercy.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2018, rev. 2020 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com

God’s Name

Encore Post:

[Tenth is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]

Moses was minding his father-in-law’s sheep in the Sinai Desert one day. When he saw a bush on fire, he noticed it was not burning up. Curious, he went to see what was happening. The Son of God spoke to him from the bush in the form of the Angel of the Lord. God called him to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt. During his conversation with God, Moses asked for God’s name. That name is Yahweh, which means “I Am Who I Am.” The Old Testament uses this name for God.

After the Jewish people returned from exile in Babylon, they decided never to pronounce this name. Instead, they used the word Adonai, which means “My Lord.” When they wrote down the text of God’s Word to read in the synagogue, they put the vowels of Adonai together with the consonants of Yahweh. This technique reminded the reader not to speak God’s name. When the Old Testament was translated into Greek, the translator used the word Kurios — Lord — in its place. Most English translations follow that custom.

Christians need not avoid saying Yahweh, but by custom often do so. The word Lord has become a cherished name for our Heavenly Father… and his son, Jesus.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana