Posing A Few Questions

Sometimes it is fun to ask a question.  Questions spur us on to think deeper, sift through our knowledge, and if asked from the right heart, cause us to stand in awe of God.  Below I have put together a list of several questions I have pondered in my study of the Word over the last couple of months.  Some of these questions I think have answers, some don’t; at least not now.  I encourage you to take a few minutes and to ponder the questions below.  See if you can apply your biblical knowledge and come up with an answer or just ponder the majesty of God.  Have fun!

1. God is very serious about his people not making any images (idols) of anything on the earth or above the earth and even of Him (Deuteronomy 5:8).  Any image we might make of God would fall short of representing who He is.  An image of anything other than God would be no god at all; rather a piece of creation we are worshiping.  We know God Himself is invisible (think Romans 1:20, 1 Timothy 1:17) and that Christ is the perfect image of this invisible God (Colossians 1:15).  It seems part of God’s prohibition against images is meant to be a preparation for and amplification of the advent of Christ.  God wants us to see Christ as “the image” of God and nothing else.  If this is the case, would the greatest image we can make of our God, second to Christ, be a life lived out in faith in Christ which becomes more and more a reflection of His character through our obedience to Him (think 2 Corinthians 3:18)?

2. In Deuteronomy 7:1-26 as well as in other parts of Deuteronomy Moses sets before the people the plan God has for them to take over the nations in the Promised Land.  In a pattern after the people of Israel, modern day Christians are also Israel headed to a new Promised Land, the new heavens and the new earth.  How much of the plan in Deuteronomy for the acquisition of the Promised Land mirrors our acquisition of the new heavens and the new earth?  Or to think about it in slightly a different way, how much of the program in Deuteronomy will mirror the earthly millennial reign of Christ over the nations?

3. Thinking about Deuteronomy 7:22, does the overall population of Christians need to grow before we can adequately manage the new heavens and new earth?

4. Thinking about Deuteronomy 8:1-20, if God tested Adam and Eve through the tree in the Garden, was it to root out the faithlessness in all humanity?  The big idea being that He would punish some of humanity while perfecting others (think Romans 9).  Would the result be that throughout history humanity is disciplined to be the Son of God and thereby display the Glory of God in the chosen people of God?

5. Thinking about Galatians 6:12, if the modern day circumcision could be considered average Evangelical works of the flesh (going to church, mission trips, morality goals) would persecution include living in Grace with other believers that only have these works of the flesh; a tension between works and real life in the Spirit, persecution from within the church for following the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 18, 25)?

6. It is well recorded that God was silent in the period from the end of the Old Testament until the time of Christ.  During this time did God’s Word in the form of the Old Testament not speak as well or was it just a factor of the people’s hard heart, closed eyes, and closed ears?

7. Thinking about this sermon on Amos by Kevin Lund at Risen Life Church, If some forms of inequality in humanity are God ordained in this life for mutual dependence and the opportunity to pour love out on those around us in need, is there any inequality that persists in the new heavens and new earth?

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