Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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How did God create man?

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Question 10Question 10 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “How did God create man?”

The answer is, “God created man, male and female, in His own image and in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, to rule over the other creatures.”

What really jumps out at me when I read this answer is the second phrase, “in his own image.”

Thankfully, our Western culture is built around the foundational idea of the dignity of man. This thought informs our laws and our practice. We think that murder is wrong. We think that individuals have rights that should not be violated. We think that each person should be able to do or become whatever he wishes to be.

The Bible informs us that man’s dignity is a result from his being created in the image of God. The dignity that we have has been conferred on us by our creator.

I see in my country that there is no longer a consensus regarding the source of man’s dignity or even if there is anything special about man at all. This is not surprising when one starts from a naturalistic presupposition. If life is the result of a chance combination of a few proteins which developed through some chance mutations, then it is hard to see man in a different category from the rest of the universe.

But I have yet to meet anyone who held this position who actually lived consistently with it. While we may deny that man is special, we continue to live as though he is. As a society, we strive to eliminate poverty. We provide help to those who have been made homeless by floods, hurricanes and tornados. We create beauty through the arts. We live as though our lives have purpose.

This question in the catechism reminds me that all of our striving for meaning is a result of our being made in the image of God. Jesus affirmed this when he said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

What is creation?

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Question 9Question 9 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is creation?”

The answer is, “Creation is God’s making everything out of nothing by His powerful word in six days – and all very good.”

It is probable that most people that read this question in the catechism in 2016 zoom in on the words “in six days.” So let me say from the beginning that it is OK for believers to disagree on how the word day should be interpreted. Some hold to a literal 24 hour day and others think day represents a much longer period of time.

How I interpret the word day in Genesis 1 is not going to cause me to break fellowship with other believers who take an alternative view. The one thing on which Christians should agree is that God is the cause for the world in which we live. God created it and we are his creatures.

At then end of Genesis 1, it says that God was satisfied with what he created, he declared that it was all “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Even though we have marred creation through rebellion, it still carries the marks of intrinsic goodness and creativity. God is a very gifted artist.

Take any category of plants or animals and look at the variety within that category. God didn’t make one kind of dog or one kind of fish or kind of bird. In each of these animals, there is incredible diversity. At my bird feeder we get such a variety of birds; chickadees, sparrows, nuthatches, finches, woodpeckers, jays, doves, cardinals and blackbirds are regular visitors.

Why did God build such variety into his creation? I believe it is to delight man, his highest creation. The variety is a clue as to how much God loves us.

At present we see the goodness of creation though it carries the scars caused by man’s failure to obey. But Jesus has promised to one day return and set it all right again. One day the taint will be removed and we will see the universe how it was meant to be.

In that day, we will then say with God that it is “all very good.”

How does God carry out His decrees?

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Question 8Question 8 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “How does God carry out His decrees?”

The answer given is, “God carries out His decrees in creation and providence.”

God not only created us and the world around us, he is the one who sustains it with his providence. The next few questions in the catechism add definition to the terms creation and providence.

I am fascinated by the fact that God chooses to work out his will in the world through the prayers of his people. It is not as though God could not accomplish his purpose without our help. God’s providence does not depend upon us, but he allows us to participate in it.

God also chooses to work out his will in the world through the actions of his people. We are called to love God and to love our neighbors. The love of neighbor takes many forms and is the basis for many charitable works. Jesus tells us that an act as simple as giving a cup of water to someone who is thirsty (Matthew 10:42) will earn reward for that act, presumably because it is an act according to what God wants for the thirsty one.

We are also called to be good stewards of the universe that God has created. Christians should be at the forefront of efforts to reduce pollution and conserve resources. We should care about the plants and animals that God has placed on Earth.

God created the world we see around us (including us). God also cares about that world. God cared enough to send Jesus so that in the end, Jesus can fix all the the things we’ve broken.

May that day be soon.

 

What are the decrees of God?

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Question 7 - The Decrees of GodQuestion 7 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What are the decrees of God?”

The answer given is, “The decrees of God are his eternal plan, based on the purpose of His will, by which, for His own glory, He has foreordained everything that happens.”

Four things jump out at me when I read this question and answer.

First, there is nothing that happens in the world that takes God by surprise. When our first parents rebelled against God by eating the fruit, God had a plan already in place to send Jesus to fix the resulting mess.

Fast forward to 2016. We are nearing a presidential election in the United States. God knows who will win the election and how he will use the resulting government to build the church. I find that I can so easily lose sight of this truth and get caught up in the hysteria surrounding the political climate. Good theology reminds us that God remains in control.

Secondly, knowledge that God is totally in control should not resign us to a passive fatalism. A search using my Bible software counts 563 imperatives in the New Testament epistles. We are called to live in a certain way and our wills are to be engaged in living out those commands. We are not pre-programmed automatons.

Thirdly, what God decrees is for his own glory. From Question 1 of this catechism, we learn that man’s purpose is to glorify God. So when we are participating in the fulfillment of our purpose, we are also fulfilling the purpose of God.

Fourthly, I am encouraged that I cannot mess up God’s plan through weakness or rebellion. I take great comfort in that fact. Because if the plan of God was up to me, it would certainly result in a train wreck. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said to Peter, “I will build my church.” Jesus is the builder, I am merely a laborer.

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