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Equality & Hierarchy (Biblical Marriage Basics #2) [King’s Cross]

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INTRODUCTION

The submission of a woman to her own husband in the Lord is considered more and more foreign in our modern world, but it is the clear teaching of Scripture and will be a mark of Christian civilization to the end of the world.

THE TEXT

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” (Eph. 5:22).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

While there is a general submission, a general deference and honor in the fear of God between all Christians, including husbands and wives, there is a particular submission required of wives to their own husbands. This submission of a wife is to her own husband only and not to men in general. Finally, this instruction is given with Christ over it all, limiting it and blessing it.

EQUALITY & HIERARCHY

One of the basic truths that biblically thinking Christians must get their heads and hearts around is the fact that God created the world with both equality and hierarchy at work. These are not contradictions. In fact, this dual reality in the world reflects an analogous dual reality in the Triune God. The Bible clearly teaches that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equally God and equal in glory and power and majesty; this is what theologians call the ontological Trinity. And at the same time, the persons of the Trinity have different roles: The Father begets, and the Son is begotten, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. This difference or hierarchy in God is reflected in what theologians call the economic Trinity, the workings of the persons of the Trinity in history: the Father speaks and sends, the Son is spoken and is sent, and the Spirit hovers, inspires, fills, and enlivens.

In an analogous way, human society reflects both equality and hierarchy. Male and female share the image of God equally, and there is natural hierarchy in different ways: Men are required to use their strength to sacrificially lead, provide, and protect both generally and specifically. And women are to use their strength and wisdom to cultivate life and beauty in return. When men stayed aboard the Titanic, giving women seats on the lifeboats, equality and hierarchy were at work. All bore the image of God equally, and men exercised their glory in laying their lives down, and women exercised their glory by allowing themselves to be protected. The same is true in our manners and customs of standing when a woman walks into a room, holding doors, opening doors, speaking with deference and honor, etc. Therefore, when the Bible commands wives to submit to their own husbands, this is not demeaning in the slightest. An equal is submitting to an equal with joy makes their respective glories shine.

HER OWN HUSBAND

We do not believe in arranged marriages, since the Biblical pattern from earliest times included asking the woman herself if she agreed to the marriage (Gen. 24:58). And so we teach that a woman is free to accept or reject a man’s offer, with no questions asked, since the stakes really are high. Do you want to submit to this man for the rest of your life? The feminists howl and shriek that any woman would agree to this, since they much prefer women submitting to corporate bosses, judges, and politicians. But the Bible teaches that if a woman freely chooses to submit to one man, she certainly may, and she is thereby free of the claims of all others. And this really should be an incredibly freeing thing. A woman may serve her family in many different ways inside the home or outside the home, but she fundamentally answers to one man, not many. In a world of many possible interests, hobbies, vocations, or preferences, a woman’s submission to her own husband means that she is set free to be oriented to that one man. His mission, his vocation, his interests and preferences are to be her big picture plan. This does not at all obliterate her individual interests, gifts, or preferences, but God requires her to submit those to his.

IN THE LORD JESUS

Wherever Scripture requires obedience and submission, it always qualifies the command with “in the Lord” (Eph. 6:1), “as to Christ” (Eph. 6:5), or “as to the Lord” (Col. 3:23), or similar language. This is because Jesus is the only absolute and ultimate Lord. He is Lord of all. And this means that every earthly, human authority (or lord) has a Lord. This is why we call Jesus the Lord of lords (and King of kings) or Master of masters. All true earthly authority is therefore delegated and limited by the Lord Jesus. Civil magistrates have true authority that is delegated to them by the Lord Jesus for a particular task. Pastors and elders must give an account for their care of those entrusted to them (Heb. 13:7, 17). Parents have true authority over their children, but neither is it absolute or exhaustive (Eph. 6:1). And husbands have authority from Jesus to lead and love their wives well (Eph. 5:22ff).

This means that a woman should see Jesus standing behind her husband (and all inferiors can think similarly of their superiors). The specific assignment given by Jesus to husbands is to provide for the spiritual and physical well-being of their wives (Eph. 5:25-29). Under that general command, a wife must gladly submit to that leadership which is directly obedient to Jesus. When a husband leads his wife to go to church, read the Bible, practice confession of sin and forgiveness, tithe, hospitality, etc., a woman must obey. He is merely following orders. You submit to Him in the Lord, because He is submitting to his Lord in that leadership. A wife must also submit to her husband in those areas of Christian freedom and wisdom. There is freedom in where you will live, what job you will take, where/when you will vacation, style of house or car, or favorite foods or colors. A Christian woman should feel free to give her respectful input and feedback and counsel, but she should also be fully prepared to submit gladly to his decisions there. And let us underline gladly, since it is in the Lord. If the Lord has given you this man, and he is not leading you away from Christ, then you must trust the Lord. And of course, if your husband begins attempting to lead you away from Christ or into sexual or financial ruin, biblical submission cheerfully and respectfully confronts, subverts, and refuses, just like the Egyptian midwives with Pharaoh, like Rahab and the spies, and Abigail with Nabal.

CONCLUSION

It is a glory when a Christian woman submits to her own husband in the Lord. It is a glory to the woman and a glory to her husband, but it is also a glory to Christ. As we see elsewhere, it pictures the submission of Christ, and is therefore altogether lovely (1 Pet. 2:21, 3:1-6).

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The Fear of the Lord (Biblical Marriage Basics #1) [King’s Cross]

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INTRODUCTION

As we begin a series on biblical marriage basics, we begin with two primary characteristics that are often missing from marriages: gratitude and the fear of the Lord. These are characteristics that may seem opposed to one another, but if we understand the gospel rightly, they actually go quite well together.

Consider this series review for those of you who are married, and preparation for those of you preparing for marriage. You will not make much progress in Christian marriage unless you are deeply grateful to God and you fear Him.

THE TEXT

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Eph. 5:20-21).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As Paul exhorts the Ephesians to love one another, He identifies the heart of that love as deep and constant gratitude to God for all things, in the name of Jesus (Eph. 5:20). We give thanks to God for all things in the name of Jesus because He is the Lord Christ, the Messiah King of all things. This is also why we submit to one another in the fear of God: we are all subjects of the King (Eph. 5:21).

SOVEREIGN GRACE & PEACE

This kind of gratitude only makes sense in a world that God rules exhaustively (Eph. 1:11). Those who do not want God to be sovereign over all things are ultimately saying that there are certain things you don’t have to give thanks to God for since He didn’t do them. And this is because the sinful heart of man is always looking for some angle to take credit for (Eph. 2:9). But if we are required to give thanks to God always and for everything, then God is ultimately responsible for all things.

Does this mean giving thanks for evil? We must not condone or praise evil at all, but if even evil is under God’s sovereign rule (and it is), then yes, we must give thanks for how God even bends and governs evil to conform to His plan. Scripture says that Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the people of Israel conspired against the Lord and His Christ “to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:27-28). Do we thank God for the Cross – the site of the most wicked act in the history of the world? Then we can and we must respond like Job to horrific hardship: the Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21). And if this is the case in general, then it most certainly is the case specifically when it comes to your family, your marriage, your spouse. Give thanks for all of it, always. Make lists of all the good things and meditate on those things (Phil. 4:8). Gratitude is the plow that breaks up the hard soil of hard hearts. Gratitude is what allows you to see the big picture clearly. This is how God’s peace rules and guards our hearts and minds (Phil. 4:7-9).

SUBMITTING IN THE FEAR OF GOD

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1). It was the fear of God that drove Abraham to obediently take his son up the mountain to sacrifice him (Gen. 22:12). When Jacob made covenant with Laban, he swore by God, whom he called the “Fear of Isaac,” his father (Gen. 31:53). The midwives feared God and did not obey the Pharaoh’s wicked decree to expose the Hebrew baby boys (Ex. 1:21). Joshua charged Israel to fear God and serve Him in sincerity and truth and put away their idols (Josh. 24:14).

You cannot have a biblically healthy marriage apart from the fear of the Lord. You cannot have wisdom without the fear of the Lord. You will not be able to be obedient, keep your covenant vows, stand up to evil, or put away your idols if you do not fear the Lord.

The fear of the Lord teaches you to honor others rightly (1 Pet. 2:17). Husbands and wives are first of all fellow image-bearers (Gen. 1:28) and secondly, they are co-heirs of the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7). In Christ, husband and wife are brother and sister, and there must be a deep reverence for one another in the fear of the Lord (Eph. 5:21). When God calls two Christians together, He is calling them to follow Him together. When God calls two Christians together, He is saying that they will be most equipped to serve Him together. In the first instance, your assignment is to submit to Christ, fear the Lord, and therefore, in Christ, there certainly is a mutual submission as you follow Christ together.

APPLICATIONS

There is a kind of egalitarianism that camps out on this verse about mutual submission wrongly, but there is also a kind of pigheaded patriarchalism that completely ignores it. We want to be Biblical Christians, and this means that we want to embrace this verse and obey it and all of the ones the follow it. We believe in mutual submission in the fear of God and in the headship of husbands and the submission of wives in the Lord. Deal with it.

This mutual deference and kindness flows directly out of the gospel of grace. Christ is Lord of all because He was crucified for our sins and rose from the dead. The resolution of Paul that He is persuaded that nothing can separate us from the love of God and that in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us – that all things must work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose – that is only possible if Christ is Lord of all things, if all things serve Him (Rom. 8). But if all things serve Him, then we must give thanks for all things, all the time, and tremble before His majesty.

And some of that majesty is particularly revealed in your spouse, in your marriage. So give thanks there; tremble before the Lord there.

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Justice, Liberty, & Love (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

Justice, freedom, and love are the buzz words of our culture, but it is not at all clear that many of our neighbors know what these words mean. The Bible teaches that all three of these gifts originate in the Triune God and are only received and enjoyed through the Cross of Jesus.

THE TEXT

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…” (Gal. 5:13-23).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

True liberty is the ability to love our neighbors, through serving them lawfully from the heart (Gal. 5:13-14). The opposite of liberty (slavery) destroys community, through biting and devouring, driven by lusts and envy (Gal. 5:15, cf. Js. 4:1-3). Those who walk in the Spirit are led by the Spirit and therefore free from the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). There is a battle in true Christians, where they sometimes find themselves doing what they do not want to do (Gal. 5:17). But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the condemnation of the law (Gal. 5:18, cf. Rom. 8:1). You can tell you are under the condemnation of the law because you are enslaved to the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). The marks of true freedom are the fruit of the Spirit, against which the law can bring no charge (Gal. 5:22-23).

NEGATIVE V. POSITIVE JUSTICE

The Bible teaches that justice is primarily negative and punitive (Rom. 13:3). It is only positive in declaring innocence, affirming or praising the righteous (Rom. 13:3), but otherwise it condemns and punishes, executing God’s wrath (Rom. 13:4). Lady Justice is pictured in all the old paintings and statues as blind or blindfolded holding a set of scales in one hand and a sword in the other. Her job is simply to weigh out certain actions and demand equity – retribution and/or restitution that restores balance to the world, according to the law of God (cf. Ex. 22:1-15).

Related to the notion of justice is the notion of “rights,” and rights always imply obligations. If you have a right to life, everyone around you is obligated not to harm you. If you have a right to private property, everyone around you has an obligation not to take or damage what belongs to you. If you are a wife, you have a right to be provided for, and your husband is obligated to provide for you as himself (Eph. 5:29). Justice is called for when one of these obligations has been breached, defied, or severely neglected — eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life (Dt. 19:21). However, when someone claims they have a right to a job, education, health care, or welfare, the implication is that someone else is obligated to give it to them. But who? God has assigned the family government the ministry of health, welfare, and education. God has assigned the church government the ministry of worship in the word and sacraments. God has assigned the civil government the ministry of justice, punishing evil doers.

LOVE IS LIBERTY TO SERVE

The problem with coerced “love” from the state is like that demon-possessed guy in the tombs from the gospels – his name is Legion. First, the state is presuming to know how my resources are best used for the good of others. Second, the state is presuming to know how my neighbors will be best cared for and served. Third, the coercion of the state destroys the personalism of individuals freely giving and serving and receiving, reducing “love” to a merely material transaction or wealth transfer. Fourth, the automated provision of the state creates weak, irresponsible, immature, and ungrateful dependents. Fifth, the coercive automation of the state is massively inefficient. In all of these ways (and more), love and liberty are destroyed by the threatened violence of the state. True liberty is the room to exercise true wisdom and generosity with time and resources to care for the needs of your neighbors, and in particular, those entrusted to your care (Eph. 5:28-29, 6:4, 1 Tim. 5:8).

SINS & CRIMES

Many moderns confuse jurisdictions by conflating sins and crimes. Crimes are those acts that harm the person or property of others or are designated by God to corrupt society and therefore fall under the jurisdiction of the civil magistrates for punishment. Sins are those thoughts and acts that break fellowship with God and others, many of which fall under the jurisdiction of families and churches. True love, liberty, and justice occur when each jurisdiction submits to God’s assigned sphere. In a Christian civil order, all crimes would also be sins, but in most civil orders, there are a mix of crimes that may or may not be sins. So if the magistrate orders that meeting for worship is a crime, it would not be a sin to disobey that order (Dan. 3:18, Acts 5:29). But the other point is that not all sins are or should be crimes. So for example, covetousness is a sin and it may reveal itself in bad thoughts or words, but it isn’t a crime until it turns into overt theft or vandalism. The point is that Lady Justice deals with black and white actions, punishing evil doers upon the testimony of two or three witnesses, but she is not entrusted with matters of the heart, house rules, or matters of worship. When “justice” tries to meddle in those things assigned to the family or church, you don’t get love, liberty, or justice.

CONCLUSIONS

The greatest act of liberty ever performed was also the greatest act of love and justice: Jesus laid His life down freely as a ransom for sinners. No one took His life from Him, He laid it down freely (Jn. 10:18). And He had that freedom because it was obedience to His Father.

But the sinful heart of man always wants to get this backwards and upside down. The sinful, prideful heart of man wants to collapse and confuse justice, liberty, and love in order to remake the world according to its own wisdom, which always involves manipulation and coercion and demands that you must acquiesce to the demands of government thugs.

But justice only punishes or exonerates. That’s all it does. And that is what it did in the Cross. God’s perfect justice punished Jesus in our place, and then because our debts were fully paid, God’s justice exonerates all who trust in Him. That is a supreme manifestation of God’s love and liberty, but you cannot mix them up without confusing the gospel.

Those who receive this gospel really are set free, and the Spirit begins to lead them to love their neighbors freely and generously in imitation of Jesus in obedience. But slavery to the flesh is manifest and obvious. So which one are you? What characterizes your life? Is it the fruit of the Spirit or the works of the flesh? If it is the works of the flesh, then any demand for justice is only to have the law of God fall upon you with all of its fierce condemnation. But if it is the fruit of the Spirit, you are truly free, and you are a manifestation of the righteousness of God in Christ.

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Man, Woman, and Sexuality (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

There might not be a more contested topic in the modern era than human sexuality, and this is because a constellation of cultural leaders going back to Darwin, Rousseau, Freud, and Marx have successfully discipled a number of generations in their claims that human freedom, happiness, and fulfillment come from individuals following their own feelings and desires, and sexual desires have come to be seen as the center of what it means to be human. While it is sometimes claimed that Jesus had nothing to say about these things, that is simply not true. And here, in this text, is one such place where Jesus gives us His authoritative word on human sexuality. It has been a massive failure of the Christian Church not to declare these words authoritatively and stand behind them with loving discipline.

THE TEXT

“…But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and the twain shall be one flesh: so that they are not more twain but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mk. 10:2-9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Pharisees come to test Jesus with a question about divorce, no doubt trying to catch Him in the intricacies of their traditions, the law, and public opinion (Mk. 10:2). Jesus turns the question back on them, asking them for the law given by Moses (Mk. 10:3), and they reply by quoting from Dt. 24 (Mk. 10:4, cf. Jer. 3:8). But Jesus replies that Moses made this concession for Israel because of the hardness of Israelite hearts (Mk. 10:5). Jesus says that this was never God’s intention, since God made them male and female at the beginning of creation (Mk. 10:6). And it is because they are made male and female, that a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife (Mk. 10:7). This is the only way two people become one flesh, and this is something that God does and therefore man must not try to defy this union (Mk. 10:8-9).

THE MODERN LIE

The modern world has embraced the lie that human freedom and happiness is found in what Carl Trueman has called “expressive individualism,” the idea that you and I are most free when we are the least inhibited in acting on our internal desires. Sigmund Freud pressed that lie into a particularly dark and sexualized direction, insisting that the very essence of being human and human happiness was found in sexual pleasure. This is why the modern world has rejected nearly every moral and legal constraint on sexuality because if an individual’s fundamental humanity is expressed in their sexual desires and gratification, to restrain or restrict that is to deny their humanity. This of course began with pornography and fornication, but has quickly led to the rejection of marriage, homosexuality, transgenderism, and gender fluid queer theory.

THE AUTHORITY OF GOD

What Jesus teaches here fundamentally is the authority of God and His Word over human sexuality. If Jesus was the original flower child, this was an important moment for Him to say something like “chill out, dudes, the kingdom of God isn’t about that” (in Aramaic). But that isn’t at all what Jesus said. He first appealed to the Mosaic law and then all the way back to the authority of God in creation itself (Mk. 10:5-6). Not only did God Himself make mankind male and female, God Himself made marriage between one man and one woman (Mk. 10:7-8). We must not miss the fact that God is the One who joins a husband and wife together (Mk. 10:9). This is why we may not break it apart, but also why we cannot force anything else together.

SEXUAL IDOLATRY

We touched on this last week, but every person must begin all reasoning about truth and morality from some ultimate authority, either God the Creator or else something or someone within the creation. When something or someone within creation is chosen as the ultimate authority (reason, science, experience, experts, etc.), the Bible calls this an idol. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator” (Rom. 1:22-25).

When Freud and others placed sexual gratification at the center of human identity and happiness, they were essentially claiming sex as a god, which is not really new, since ancient paganism always had gods and goddesses of sex and fertility. But there are two fundamental results of idolatry. When you worship some part of creation, you end up destroying it, and that worship ends up destroying you (Ps. 115:4-8). Instead of receiving sexuality as one of the great gifts of God, worshiping sex demands of sex what it cannot give and so it destroys sex and destroys human life and happiness. When we submit to God, when we worship the Creator, we are enabled to receive His created gifts for what they are and truly enjoy them under His blessing (Ps. 16:11). Being made male and female is so much more than sex. Reducing our humanity to sexual functions turns people into objects and destroys our humanity: friendship, family, worship, work, hobbies, study, creativity, laughter, beauty, and so much more.

CONCLUSION

The same God who makes male and female, and makes them one flesh, has come for our race of fallen, sexual sinners. And He has bound Himself to us by an unbreakable covenant, in the blood of His Son, in order to take away all our sin and shame and make us human again.

Sexual guilt and shame are some of the strongest feelings in the world. And Satan is the Accuser; he brings condemnation with truth, lies, smears, spin, and shame. But here’s how you know sex is no god but just a pitiful idol: sex cannot save you. You can use it like a drug. You can seek all the pleasure and satisfaction in the world and you will still end up feeling empty. God did make us hungry for happiness and joy, but all the pleasure in this world can never make you whole. As Augustine said, “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”

So do not look in a humanistic mirror trying to see just how bad it all is. Every attempt to compare yourself to yourself or others will result in distortion, either patting yourself on the back for not being as bad as thosepeople over there, or else you will land in a slew of despond, drowning in despair. The only good mirror in the world is the Cross of Jesus Christ. Look there. And when you look there, you see yourself there. You see yourself and all your sin flayed, beaten, naked, and then dead, and then the body is taken down, put in a tomb, and three days later, He is risen, and you are risen in Him. All the gunk is gone. All the filth is gone. All the shame is gone. And all that remains is a holy and pure and glorious humanity: male and female.

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Science, the Bible, & Defending the Faith (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

Christians do not merely believe that God created all things from nothing and an intelligent design of the universe, we believe that the only fully rational accounting of the universe, science, logic, reason, and human experience begins with the authority of Scripture, submits to the supremacy of Jesus Christ in all things, and surrenders in glad worship at His throne.

THE TEXT

“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Col. 1:15-17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Apostle Paul is in the process of reviewing the gospel that was preached to the Colossians and has begun to bear fruit in their lives (Col. 1:4-8), and the prayer the apostles now have for the Colossians is that it might bear much fruit in their lives in knowledge and wisdom and good works and strength and joy (Col. 1:9-11), since salvation is deliverance from darkness into the kingdom of the Son, redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:12-14).

This is where our text picks up underlining the power and potency of the gospel by underlining just who Jesus is: the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all of creation (Col. 1:15), the Creator of all things, the reason for all things (Col. 1:16), and that means that He is before and greater than all things and He is the One who upholds all things (Col. 1:17). Because that is Who He is, He is the Head of the New Creation, the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18), the fullness of God Himself, and therefore His cross is potent to reconcile all things, reconciling His enemies to Himself and presenting them holy and innocent in His sight (Col. 1:19-22).

ACKNOWLEDGING THE CREATOR

Paul’s argument is this: If we preach the death and resurrection of Christ and men and women who are dead in their sins come to life, full of peace, from the madness and violence and confusion of sin and darkness, then a New Creation has begun. And if Jesus is the Head of that New Creation, He is the Head, the Source, the Firstborn of the Old Creation. He is the Center.

Another way to put the argument is that everyone must have a standard for truth, a standard for evidence, a standard for making sense of everything. Paul is claiming that Christ and His authority is that universal standard for all men everywhere. Christ is the ultimate standard because He is the image of the invisible God, the Creator all things, and because without him nothing could exist (Col. 1:15-17). Of course the comeback is something like: But you can’t simply assert what you must prove. And our response is twofold: First, why not? You’re asserting a canon of reason, but you haven’t proven that you must prove every assertion in order for it to be valid. But the fact is that everyone must start with a presupposition that ultimately trusts God or man, the Creator or something in creation. You might start with reason, logic, science, experience, psychoanalysis, or consensus. But then you are beginning with a presupposition that one or more of those things are reliable guides to truth and coherence, but you haven’t (and cannot) prove their full reliability. In fact, all of those things are highly limited and have let people down in every era, and the last few years is no exception. Second, the proof of the authority of Christ is the forgiveness of sins and peace with God.

EVIDENCE BASED FAITH

It is sometimes claimed that reason and faith are opposites, or that science and religion are at odds. But the Bible everywhere teaches that God is reasonable, His creation is reasonable, and He expects human beings who bear His image to think and reason. What the Bible rejects is autonomous reason. We reject human reason that rejects the authority of God’s Word. Faith is simply reason in submission to God.

This means that all thinking people must reject Darwinism as complete nonsense and irrationality. It makes no sense at all to trust reason or science based on the assumption that the present world emerged by accidents and mutations. This is to claim that order and meaning emerged from chaos and meaninglessness, but every canon of reason and science rejects this.

Unlike irrational religions and superstitions, the Bible everywhere assumes that God has established certain natural patterns and habits to the created order. This order is what allows nature to be studied, for the nature of things to be observed, logged, experimented with, and learned from. Cause and effect, logic, reason, and the scientific method all require an orderly and intelligent universe. In fact, modern science emerged from a largely Christian and Protestant worldview that believed in a personal and rational Creator God.

CONCLUSION: WHAT ABOUT MIRACLES?

One of the obvious questions following the assertion that God has created the world with an order and nature that is fix and stable is: then what about all the miracles in the Bible? The simple answer is that the Bible itself presents miracles as, well, miraculous, unusual, deviations from the norm. In addition, it assumes that in order to believe in miracles, any rational human being would need evidence, testimony, and proof.

The central miracle of the Bible is the announcement that Jesus rose from the dead. And when John records the resurrection, he records the doubt of Thomas, who says he will not believe unless he sees the nail prints in the hands of Jesus and puts his hand into the side of Jesus, where the spear pierced Him. Then John says that the next time Jesus appeared, that was exactly what Jesus presented to Thomas (Jn. 20:27). And Thomas answered and said, “My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20:28).

And John’s gospel closes with these words, “And Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you might have life in His name” (Jn. 20:30-31).

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