Life Is Short!

Life Is Short
 

When we're young, we never seem to notice, except when old relatives die. In the parenting years, we're surprised by a few in our age group passing, but only some come to realize it. Finally, we come to grandparenting age, and a token few may say that time sped up when we finished schooling, but really, this is an illusion. Time moves at its appointed pace, but we notice it more as we age. God gives us an appointed number of days. One may be murdered in the womb by abortion, or live more than 100 years, but it's still very short compared to eternity. The Bible has things said of our highly valuable lifespan, and I would like to share what I've found.

David shared his observations in a number of his psalms; take this one; "LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am." (Psa. 39:4) David asks to realize how much time he has, but note he says "to know how frail I am". This evokes two thoughts for me; time is of the essence, and humbleness. Humbleness, because God can take me any way or time. Time of the essence, because Jesus recommended to store up treasure in heaven.

"Nevertheless they did flatter Him with their mouth, and they lied unto Him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they stedfast in His covenant. But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned He His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath. For He remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. How oft did they provoke Him in the wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert!" (Psa. 78:36 - 40) We are a sinful lot, every one of us, me included. I'm as far from sinless as the next. Like the Israelites, God has forsaken spilling His wrath upon us, but in knowing this, it behooves us to forsake iniquities and sinning, and replace it with working for treasure in heaven and serving God. This passage also notes we have a short time and gone. We are indeed like a short wind in the eyes of a timeless God!

David noted in his psalms also that generally, we all see death - "Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast Thou made all men in vain? What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah." (Psa. 89:47 - 48) Only Enoch and Elijah cheated death, but the rest of mankind has paid the price and died, and will continue to do so, until Jesus comes again.

"For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night...For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away...So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." (Psa. 90:4, 9 - 10, 12) Again it is noted how swift our lifespan is in God's eye, and it makes me see how awesome is He compared to puny me; very humbling. Does it do that for you? We should live 70 - 80 years, believers applying wisdom to our lifestyle. As we read God's word, it reminds us to live each day as precious, for so it is. Each day is an opportunity to love God and one another, to store up heavenly treasure Jesus promised would never be lost. What a marvel is each of us! Started from dust is each of us, and the fall of Adam and Eve demands we return our tabernacle, this robe of flesh, to whence it came. Our lifespan is fixed in time. "For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more." (Psa. 103:14 - 16). We are indeed like grass and flowers. Have not men looked upon themselves as being in the spring, summer, fall, and winter of their lives? The last verse rules out reincarnation, yet we look to the promised regeneration! "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." (2 Cor. 5:1 - 4)

"LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away." (Psa. 144:3 - 4) Here, David talks to God and asks Him a question that brings two things to my mind. How humbling it is to be a man and look on all that makes Him great, and what a blessing to each of us, sinful wretches all, yet He counts our hairs and bottles our tears! In His infinite greatness, He even sent His Son to be a sacrifice, that we might dwell with Him in eternity!

Job, predecessor of David, also made points of our swift arrival and departure. "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good." (Job 7:6 - 7). He notes our days go swiftly, as a brief wind, our lives are. People see us for a moment, then no more. The grave is our new home, and our house goes to another whose life is just as short.

"Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not...For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." (Job 14:1 - 2, 7 - 12) How true Job's words, that we issue forth from the womb into trial and tribulation! We find reason to cry as an infant, a child, a teenager, an adult, and even in our old age. Job notes we are different from the trees and flowers; cut them down, and they will rise again from the stump and root. But for us, it is not so.

James notes the folly of the rich man, chasing wealth as temporary as himself - "But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways." (James 1:10 - 11). The rich man is as his riches, there for the moment. "Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me." (Eccl. 2:18). Whatever we work for ends up belonging to someone else. For example, my grandmother's house, now belongs to someone else outside the family. It didn't even stay in the family!

"For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." (Eccl. 3:19 - 20). Just like the animals all over the earth, we are born, breathe for a time, and if some disease doesn't take us, still death does. The life of animals is short, too.

Nobody has the power to stay in their body. "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it...But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God." (Eccl. 8:8, 13) The good and the wicked die when God calls. Failure to fear God doesn't gain the wicked any more lifespan. "For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them." (Eccl. 9:12). The unsaved tarry to repent, and are taken in death; too late!

The harvest is short from generation to generation; Lord, make more workers for the harvest, that none be lost. Because our life is so short!

Mary, The Mother Of God

Mary, The Mother Of God
 

She was a key figure in the New Testament, given names like the ark of the New Covenant. She was predestined to be the mother of our Savior since the book of Genesis, and called blessed among women. Now, she's one of the most controversial women in all Christianity. Why? Why, after centuries, is she the butt of outrageous unfounded claims, even blasphemies! Let's investigate the facts the Bible gives, and dispel what untruths that have materialized over the years, shall we?

Prophecied in the Old Testament - "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Gen. 3:15) - God first referenced her to the serpent just prior to driving Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isa. 7:14) - Isaiah, too, predicted our Immanuel born of a virgin.

The New Testament - Her biography begins. Already some may be confused because two separate genealogies are found in the gospels, one starting with Matt. 1:2 and another with Luke 3:23. The secret of the genealogies is that the one in Matthew's gospel is that of Joseph, because Matt. 1:11 names Jechonias, whose line carried a curse that no descendant would prosper on the throne. "Thus saith the LORD, 'Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah." (Jer. 22:30). The genealogy of Mary is the one starting at Luke 3:23; this lineage was clean of curses or any thing that might disqualify her from bringing Jesus into the world.

Gospel Juggling Surrounding Christ's Birth - As each apostle wrote on it at different chronologies of events, so we must toggle back and forth to illustrate a valid chronology of events between the gospels of Matthew and Luke, since Mark and John did not write anything of the birth. Luke 1:26 has the angel Gabriel in the 6th Jewish month telling Mary she would conceive. This creates controversy for everyone who believes Jesus was born on Dec. 25th, because according to the Jewish civil months, Jesus would be born October - November, and according to the sacred months, March - April, throwing December totally out of the picture.

"And Mary said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.' And the angel departed from her." (Luke 1:38). This is the key verse in the New Testament Mary was predestined to utter. God already knew she would not refuse since Gen. 3:15.   From Luke 1:28 - 38 is contained the entire conversation between the angel Gabriel and Mary. An unnamed angel appeared to Joseph to speak to him in dreams. "But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." (Matt. 1:20 - 21). "And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, 'Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him'...But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 'Saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.'" (Matt. 2:13, 19 - 20).

Let it not be said Mary was just a vessel for Christ to come into the world; for Luke wrote - "And the angel came in unto her, and said, 'Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women'...And the angel said unto her, 'Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.   And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS.   He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end'...And the angel answered and said unto her, 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God'...And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, 'Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb'...For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His name.'" (Luke 1:28, 30 - 33, 35, 42, 48 - 49).  In all this she was highly favored, and blessed among women. Now by this we do not mean only the women in her generation, but women of all time, because no woman has ever been recorded to have a virgin birth, let alone the fact the baby born was the Son of God!  Mary was the only woman on earth to conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the only woman to proclaim herself to be called blessed throughout all generations, as she deserves to be.
"And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and His mother knew not of it. But they, supposing Him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found Him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. And when they saw Him, they were amazed: and His mother said unto Him, 'Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? Behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing.' And He said unto them, 'How is it that ye sought Me? Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?' And they understood not the saying which He spake unto them. And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but His mother kept all these sayings in her heart." (Luke 2:42 - 51). This is the first instance, with His own words, where Jesus distanced Himself from Mary and Joseph in that His words asserted His Father in heaven He recognized, as opposed to Joseph.
"And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and His disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, 'They have no wine.' Jesus saith unto her, 'Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.' His mother saith unto the servants, 'Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.'" (John 2:1 - 5). We all know this was Jesus' first miracle, but for this study we want to look at the interaction between Jesus and Mary. We know she knows Jesus is the Son of God, so she speaks to Him seeking a miracle to supplant the insufficiency of the groom, who failed to acquire enough wine. What does He tell her? "Woman, what have I to do with thee?". If He had used the word "mother", it would have closer tied her to Him than the word He chose, "woman".  Yet, He did indeed perform the miracle!

There is a similar story in the first three gospels; Matt. 12:46 - 50, Mark 3:31 - 35, and Luke 8:19 - 21. Throughout the gospels Jesus never went to visit His mother Mary, He was about His Father's business, and His half-brothers and mother came to see Him.  There are many people who refuse to believe it, even though they read it plainly written, but Mary had children by Joseph after Jesus was born, so she was not "ever virgin".  Matthew writes in his gospel of Jesus visiting His home town, and reveals Joseph had at least 6 children after Jesus was born!  "And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed thence.  And when He was come into His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, 'Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?  Is not this the carpenter's son?  Is not His mother called Mary?  And His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?  And His sisters, are they not all with us?  Whence then hath this man all these things?" (Matt. 13:53 - 56)

It would not be until His crucifixion when Mary His mother is there.  Other Marys are there, too.  "Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children." (Matt. 27:56) "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, 'Woman, behold thy son!'  Then saith He to the disciple, 'Behold thy mother!' And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." (John 19:25 - 27).  It is in His final moment on the cross taht Jesus uses the spirit of adoption to confer Mary's motherhood onto the apostle John, and John's sonship to Mary, the mother of God.

After the gospels, Mary is mentioned one more time with Jesus' brethren. "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren." (Acts 1:14).  No more is written of her in the New Testament, although some say she is made queen of heaven in Rev. 12:1 - 5.  If they had gone one more verse, they'd realize their misinterpretation. The woman is not Mary, but Israel, as Mary never fled into a wilderness.  Also, the 12 stars are the 12 tribes of Israel. If Mary was the woman, the 12 stars would not have a logical connection to her. A woman is referred to again in Rev. 12:13 - 17, and again, the woman represents Israel.  "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days...And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Rev. 12:1 - 6, 13 - 17).

All references and possible references spent, every other belief concerning her is not biblically substantiable.  She is said to be able to give salvation, dispelled by Acts 4:10 - 12; "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:10 - 12).  She is claimed to be a mediatrix by some, which is contradicted by 1 Tim. 2:5; "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" (1 Tim. 2:5).  So believe none of the false claims about the human mother of Jesus, but only the facts provided by the word of God; the Bible!  Only what is in the Bible is the truth.