Month: June 2017

During our recent visit to see family in the Midwest, my sister introduced Karen and me to a cute little video game she has been playing called Pet Rescue. In it, you try to “rescue” various animals by removing blocks of different colors from underneath them. As the blocks vanish, the pets drop to the ground and “escape.” The levels get a lot more complicated than that, but you get the idea. We downloaded it to our Kindle Fire, and have enjoyed playing it in between other activities.

While playing a round of the game, I thought about the question of pets being rescued – or in other words, saved. We often make great efforts to save animals from physical dangers (such as from hot cars, house fires, diseases, and abuse), but the question is often asked whether animals are saved from the ultimate danger, death itself. In other words, will animals (especially the pets we love) have eternal life? Will all dogs (and cats!) go to heaven? And if so, what about my pet frogs or your pet tarantula?

Lots of people have weighed in on the question, either in the affirmative or in the negative. A quick on-line search yielded over 6.7 million hits, enough to make me question whether I have anything new to add to the discussion. But, after carefully reading all 6.7 million articles (yeah, right) I will toss in some comments on where I am in the debate, mainly because it’s been on my mind, and because over the years a number of people have asked my opinion about this. Besides, I think it’s worth talking about. Animals – especially our pets – are important to us, and for some people, their love for their pets makes it hard to imagine heaven without them.

So here goes . . .

First of all, we have to recognize that in eternity, the glorious Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be all we need.

First of all, we have to recognize that in eternity, the glorious Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be all we need. To be in his presence, surrounded by his glory and filled with his love and peace, we will not need anyone or anything else: Paul writes in Philippians 3:8-9, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him . . .” God is sufficient for all our wants and needs, and will be so forever. Our focus will be on him, worshiping and praising him and not missing anything from this life that seemed so important to us while we were here. That doesn’t mean there won’t be animals there; it just means we won’t need for them to be, and if they’re not we’ll be just fine without them.

That said, I do believe that there will be animals in eternity, in the new heavens and new earth proclaimed in Isaiah 65:17, Isaiah 66:22, and Revelation 21:1. While I cannot say this “cat”agorically or “dog”matically, I do have a scriptural basis for my understanding:

1. Genesis 1 states that God created all life, including the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and all the land animals. They were designed purposefully and made to reproduce after their own kinds. Scripture also tells us that God is a God of the living (Luke 20:38), which at least opens the possibility that these creatures of his making may one day live again. Otherwise, did God create them to be forever extinct?
2. There are numerous passages that speak of animals in God’s kingdom living at peace with each other and with mankind. Isaiah 11:6 says, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” Similarly, Isaiah 65:25 says, “‘The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,’ says the LORD.” While I understand such passages to be figures of speech that convey symbolically the spiritual truth that all will be at peace and reconciled in God, the use of animals as the proof of that coming time of peace may be more than just symbolic. One cannot prove that they are only symbolic. And then there’s the white horse which Christ will ride . . . (Rev. 19:11-14)
   
3. Why do animals even die at all? We understand that they die for the same reason we humans do: it is part of the curse which God placed on all creation on account of mankind’s sin in Genesis 3. Paul says in Romans 5 that death entered into the world through the sin of Adam. While he is speaking primarily of human death, he also speaks of all creation under the same curse: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (Romans 8:19-22). But when you get to Revelation 22 and its picture of the new heaven and earth, you read that the curse has been removed (verse 3). With the removal of the curse there are no longer any tears or death or pain. So if all creation is freed from the curse of sin and its effects, why not the animals too?
4. Animals are a testimony to God’s wisdom, intelligence, and power. Paul writes in Romans 1:20, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” If all creation show the divine nature and power of God and glorify him now, then why should the glory of God be less revealed in eternity? Animals, especially, are wondrous examples of God’s creative genius, created for Christ’s glory (Colossians 1) as much as were the stars and planets. In fact, when God dealt with an uppity man named Job who questioned God’s actions, God defended his own divine sovereignty by citing two of the mighty animals which he had created. In Job 40:15-19, the Lord said, “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you . . . He is the first of the works of God;” and in Job 41 he described a sea creature named Leviathan – another testimony to God’s power. I hope to see those two creatures – and more – in heaven and to marvel at the One who created them!
5. The Bible does not deny the presence of animals in heaven, which would end the discussion right there if it did. On the other hand, it does speak of non-human creatures there: cherubim, seraphim, angels, and the “four living creatures” (Revelation 4:6-9 and six other chapters). So, there is a place and a purpose there for other creatures besides us human beings.
6. Animals are not moral agents. They cannot sin and will not be assigned to eternal punishment as will the devil, his angels, and those humans not written in the Book of Life. Their use in Old Testament sacrifices was due to their sinless, innocent blood being shed for the sake of the guilty; all as a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the sinless Jesus Christ for the sake of guilty mankind. The only judgment on animals was in the Flood as a result of mankind’s unrestrained wickedness, and afterwards, when God pronounced capital punishment on men and animals who killed a human; and that was because man was created in God’s image (Genesis 9:5-6). My point here is that nothing in God’s righteousness or justice requires him to destroy all animal life forever.
7. Finally, our resurrection will be a physical, bodily raising. Though our bodies will be changed to be spiritual in some way, we will inhabit a new physical reality, and not float around like ghosts for eternity. There will be a place for animals in the new earth, where they and we can enjoy each other in the ways that God intended when he created us. Interestingly, Martin Luther was once asked by a child whether her dog would be allowed in Heaven. He gently patted the dog’s head and said, “Be comforted, little dog, you too in the Resurrection shall have a tail of gold.”

Again, the presence of animals in heaven is my opinion, and though I think I’m right, I will have no animosity (animalosity?) against those who believe otherwise. We’ll find out together one day, as we sit talking with our pets on our laps or at our feet, enjoying the wonders of heaven and the new earth together.

We’ll find out together one day, as we sit talking with our pets on our laps or at our feet, enjoying the wonders of heaven and the new earth together.

Of course, even if I’m right, there are plenty of unanswered questions that remain: will the animals be our exact same pets, or just other animals like them? Will animals all be plant-eaters, or will they need food at all? What about flies, mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas (or will they all be sent to hell to torment the devil)? What about T-rex? Oh well, we’ll just have to wait and see . . . maybe it will be like the famous line from Ghostbusters (1984) when the heroes spoke of the coming disaster of “biblical proportions”: “Old Testament, real wrath of God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes . . . The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together . . . mass hysteria!”

Dogs and cats living together? Come to think of it, my sister already has one of each living with her in her home, so maybe the time is almost here!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Job 38 – 41

In my last two posts I shared with you some of my favorite verses in Scripture, ones that have encouraged or challenged me, ones that I have turned to in my preaching and teaching, and ones that are expressions of our faith and testimonies to God’s glory. As I said before, there are many other favorite passages of Scripture besides those I listed, but I limited my comments to those verses that to me are most succinct and powerful.  Or that I just like to read.

Some of my selected quotes ended up spanning two or more verses. In some cases, more than one verse was needed to fully express the thought. In other cases it had to do with the way the verses are numbered, since one sentence may extend through two or more verses. Remember that the chapter and verse divisions in the Bible are not original to the texts. Other than the Psalms and a few other poetic passages where divisions seem clear, chapter and verse numbering came much later as a tool to make scriptural references easier to find. A little history lesson may help:

Chapters were not designated until the early 13th Century when Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, proposed the divisions we use today. The chapters were not broken down into verses for another 200 years, when after attempts by other scholars, a printer named Robert Estienne included them in his French translation of 1553 and in a Latin Vulgate edition of 1555. His system was adopted and is what we still use today.

Interestingly, if you read Martin Luther’s commentaries, he only refers to the chapters from which he quotes, and not the verses; that’s because Martin died in 1546, before the verse divisions were made. Modern editors of Luther “retrofit”the verse numbering into his writings for clarity, and usually set the verse numbers into brackets like this – John 3[16].

. . . it is what the Word of God says, and not how it’s numbered, that’s important.

I wanted to mention this not only to explain why a favorite “verse” may go longer than one verse, but also to remind ourselves that it is what the Word of God says, and not how it’s numbered, that’s important. Thus, it doesn’t really matter which verse is the longest or the shortest or is the middle verse or whatever. Such numberings are interesting, but they come from sometimes arbitrary decisions as to where such divisions should be made. In fact, a long-held tradition that explains some of the unusual numbering is that Estienne did his work while riding on horseback, and that whenever the horse jostled him his pen marked a new verse!

So, now that our history lesson is over . . . let me present some of my favorite verses from the New Testament.

John 1:1-3 ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.’ Actually, the entire first 14 verses of John are favorites, but this beginning of John’s Gospel is special in that it proclaims both (1) the undeniable deity of Christ – “the Word was God”- and (2) Christ’s active participation in the creation of the world. These verses parallel Genesis 1:1 and expand the Old Testament account to identify the “and God said . . .” verses of Genesis 1 with Christ who is the Word of God.

John 1:12 ‘But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,’ Okay, so I like this verse because it was my Confirmation verse given to me some 50 years ago. I love its open call to all to believe with the promise of adoption by God for those who do. It is one more affirmation of salvation by God’s grace through faith and not by works. And I enjoyed reciting it almost every Sunday as part of the Absolution in the Lutheran Book of Worship.

John 3:16 ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’ One of the first sermons I preached before going to seminary was on this verse. I had no idea what to say since it is so well known and clear; to speak about it would be like “gilding the lily.” So I looked up a commentary on John to see what it said about the verse, and the first thing the scholarly commentator said was how difficult it is to comment on something so clear and well-known! So I will leave it alone and just affirm that it is a favorite expression of God’s grace and his call for us to believe for salvation.

John 8:58 ‘Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”’ I just love this statement of Jesus when some of the Jews confronted him. After he told them that their ancestor Abraham had looked forward to seeing his arrival, the people mocked him as too young to have seen or been seen by Abraham. So Jesus spoke these words, not only to show that Abraham did indeed rejoice to know him, but also that Jesus himself was God – the great “I AM” revealed to Moses and the Israelites in the book of Exodus. That this is what Jesus meant is clear by the Jews’ immediate response to Jesus’ words: they picked up stones to stone him to death – the prescribed punishment for blasphemy (which it would be if Jesus were not God).

 

Ephesians 2:8-10 ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.’ This is one of those essential, defining passages of the Bible that lay out the relationship between salvation, grace, faith, and works. It is so important that we required memorization of it by our Confirmation students, and it forms the basis for a 3-year cycle of teaching for our church’s youth ministry. What I especially like about it is the connection between faith and works; works do not save us, but those who believe will do good works. As Luther said, “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works,” and “good works follow and proceed from the good person . . . ” Note especially that we are created in Christ Jesus and that even the good works we do were first prepared by God for us to do. Even our works are by God’s grace! It causes us to think and pray as to whether God has special works for us to do that we haven’t done yet – and time is ticking!

It causes us to think and pray as to whether God has special works for us to do that we haven’t done yet – and time is ticking!

Philippians 2:5-11 ‘Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ Okay, here’s where my one- or two-verse limit  goes out the window. But I can’t shorten this passage because it is so beautiful as a whole in describing Jesus’ humiliation of suffering and dying as one of us, and his exaltation as glorious Lord of all. As one who longs for Christ to receive the recognition and worship he is due, I love the triumphant closing verses: that every knee will one day bow before him. And every knee includes believers, non-believers, angels and demons. All will one day acknowledge him by submitting to him; to some he will be their Lord and Savior, to others their Lord and Judge. But all will bow.

Colossians 1:16-17 ‘For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.‘ This is another affirmation both of Christ’s deity and in his role as our Creator. He created all things and holds all things together. Note also the purpose for which we were created, or rather, for whom we were created: Christ made us for himself.

This blog could go on and on – but it’s getting long so I better wrap it up. There are more favorite New Testament verses which I could describe, but let me just list a few here without comment as I close: Matthew 16:15-17; Luke 4:16-21; Luke 23:24; John 19:30; John 14:6; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 and 51-55; Ephesians 1:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; and 2 Timothy 3:16-17, among others . . . Who knows? Maybe I’ll describe what I like about them another time. In the meantime,

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Revelation 21-22.

 

In my last article, I wrote that I once publicly sang the song, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from the great Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music. Since those heady days of grade school, people have generally said that when it comes to my singing, they would prefer to hear The Sounds of Silence to The Sound of Music. Like the time I was leading campfire singing at a YMCA camp: each time I circled around the fire, a little eight-year-old girl would tug my pants cuff and whisper, “Mister!” After several times of that, I finally stopped mid-song and leaned over her to whisper, “What?” She whispered back urgently, “Mister! You’re singing off key!” That’s okay. Don’t feel bad for me. I can take it.

Of course, I mentioned The Sound of Music and the song, “My Favorite Things” to introduce some of my favorite things: that is, favorite verses from Scripture. After a full-length article that barely scratched the surface, I considered breaking my list down into about 563 different posts to cover all my favorites. But, realizing that would take the next 11 years at my current speed, I decided to trim my selections to fit into just three posts: last week’s, this post, and next week’s. I’m sure any verses I don’t get to by next week will come up where appropriate in future articles.

So, to continue, here are some more of my favorite things:

Joshua 24:15 [Joshua said] “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  This verse seems at first to be at odds with our understanding of God’s election; it is he who chooses us, rather than us choosing him. As Jesus told the disciples, “You did not choose me; I chose you.” (John 15:16) But this call by Joshua to the people of Israel (who had already been chosen by God to be his people) was a call to obedience and service, not just to faith. It was one thing to believe in the true God, but Joshua was challenging them to continue to worship and obey God’s commandments now that his time of faithfully leading them was drawing to an end. They knew of the gods of the Egyptians; they were now surrounded by the pagan deities of Canaan. Would they serve the true God or fall away? Joshua had shown by example that he and his family would serve the Lord; it was up to them to continue to do so. For the first Christmas Karen and I spent at St. Peter’s, I gave her a framed picture of a house with this verse on it, and it has served these many years as a reminder to us of our commitment to serve God in our new calling.

1 Kings 19:11-12 ‘Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earth-quake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.’ (NKJV) When I was packing up the car on the way to college, my dad took me aside and told me to listen for God to lead me in the “still, small voice” (still my preferred wording over “gentle whisper”) rather than in the big showy events of life. For Elijah, God was not in the wind, the fire, or the earthquake, but in the quiet voice. I always appreciated his counsel, because I have heard plenty of people’s exciting testimonies that were “flashes in the pan.” Though I have experienced God’s miracles in many ways, I have found his quiet leading by his Word and his Spirit to be the most encouraging . . . and dependable.

2 King 6:16-17 ‘He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.’ The title for the movie, “Chariots of Fire,” came from verse 17 of this passage, and speaks to the unseen realities of the spiritual world around us, a world which impacts the physical world which we do see. Specifically, it speaks to the power of God to protect us against danger and adversity, and to defeat the most powerful human forces. In this passage, the servant of the prophet Elisha is terrified to see the approaching Syrian army, so Elisha prays for the Lord to allow the servant to see the hosts of heaven arrayed around the enemy and prepared to defeat them. This passage reminds me of God’s power and sovereignty, no matter how powerful and daunting the forces of evil may seem: a good reminder these days in a world of terror and disbelief.

Job 19:25-27 ‘For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.’ This is one of the first references to the bodily resurrection. Job, though beset by tragedy, pain, and loss, affirmed that one day he would see his Redeemer – who we know is Jesus Christ – standing upon the earth. Even though Job might die and suffer the destruction of his own body, Job affirmed that he would see his Savior with his own eyes, which is only possible if Job is resurrected. You can see why I love this passage and use it in many funeral services, because our hope is in the same Redeemer, whom we also will one day see with our own eyes.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’ Please see my January 25 blog, “A Trifecta of Trust,” for a full explanation of why these verses are so important to me. Grace, faith, and works are all proclaimed in a proper relationship.

Proverbs 9:10 ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.’ This is important to me because it points to God as the focus of all wisdom (and of knowledge in parallel passages in Proverbs 1:7 and Psalm 111:10), and because it counters the prevalent attitude that fear of God is a bad thing. Fear is recognizing that he is the all-powerful, all-knowing judge of the universe who will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7), who has the power to create and destroy, to save and condemn. Recognizing that is the starting point of knowing who we are: that he is God and we are not.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 ‘For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:’ Besides providing the lyrics for the 1965 hit song by The Byrds, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” the first eight verses of this chapter present the experiences of human life in this world: birth-death, gain-loss, love-hate, gathering stones-scattering stones (especially relevant for a rock collector like me!), war-peace, etc. I have often used this passage in funeral services as a comfort to grieving families, to remind them that what has happened to their loved one is not outside common human experience, and especially that God is not defeated or taken by surprise by their loss.

Daniel 3:17-18 ‘If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.’ This is an incredible declaration of faith in God given by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – three young Jewish men – who stood before the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. They had refused to worship the king’s golden statue, and now faced the king’s order for them to be cast into a fiery furnace as their punishment. Their reply to the king showed their faithfulness to the true God by refusing to worship any idol; it showed their trust that God had the power to save them from certain death; and it showed their acceptance of whatever happened: even if God did not save them, they still would be faithful to him. That is a faith based on who God is, and not on what I will get out of my relationship with him. How wonderful it is that because of his grace, I will receive the greatest of benefits: eternal life!

And finally, one last Old Testament verse:

Lamentations 3:22-23 ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ Jeremiah the prophet had witnessed the horrors of the Babylonian siege and destruction of Jerusalem. In the first 20 verses of Chapter 3 he poured out his laments at all he had seen; then, in verse 21 he proclaimed he still had hope in spite of it all – and in these two verses he explained the basis of his hope in the midst of tragedy: the steadfast love and mercy of God that are new/renewed every morning, regardless of circumstances. I am moved whenever I read this passage or when I hear the praise song, “The Steadfast Love of the Lord”; I am touched both by the faith and hope still alive in one who had every reason to despair, and by what Scripture says about God: that he is a God of endless love and mercy to us.

Next time, we’ll look at some favorite verses in the New Testament, where we find God’s love and mercy enacted through his Son, Jesus Christ.

In the meantime, I would love to hear from you: “What are your favorite Bible verses?” Let me know, and with your permission I may post a few verses with my next article!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Psalms 1, 8, 22, 46 and 100

 

 

 

 

Those who know me would be surprised to learn I once sang in The Sound of Music. So would I . . . because I didn’t . . . but I once did publicly sing the rousing finale song of that Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” before hundreds of people. Okay, it was in a grade school production for our families, and I was just another voice in a large chorus, but that still counts, doesn’t it?

Another song in that musical was “My Favorite Things,” sung by Maria to the von Trapp children to lift their spirits and help them face their fears. She sang of things like “whiskers on kittens” and “raindrops on roses” and other pleasantries. I like some of the things in that song, too, but rather than sing to you about the whiskers on my kitten (to which I am mildly allergic) or the raindrops on our roses (which have stuck me with their thorns and which need watering to avoid shriveling in the heat), I would like to share with you some of my favorite things – in the Bible.

There are certain verses which have become my favorites, some at first reading and others as they have impacted my life and understanding of God.

Specifically, there are certain verses which have become my favorites, some at first reading and others as they have impacted my life and understanding of God. There are narratives (such as Daniel in the lion’s den), entire chapters (such as the creation in Genesis 1) and even books (such as John’s Gospel and the book of Daniel), that I love and could talk about, but what I’m thinking about right now are the single verses or two that carry the impact of a passage. To list any seems narrow-minded and is somewhat like a parent picking a favorite child, since “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness . . .” (2 Timothy 3:16) What verse can I in good conscience leave out of a favorites list? But again, there are some that have proven to encourage, inspire, or rebuke more than others, and it is those which I would like to share with you.

The following list is not ranked by preference or necessarily in scriptural order. I have followed each citation with a short note on why I find that verse meaningful. So here goes!

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This verse is foundational to our understanding of all reality, the universe, and ourselves. The rest of the chapter goes on to lay out the order and purpose of the creation, but this summary first verse is the basis of all that follows and is the essential counter to atheistic evolution.

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This verse speaks of the special nature of mankind as a deliberate creation of God, and teaches us that every human is made in the image of God. While we learn from other scriptures (and from experience!) how much sin has tarnished that image, this verse is the basis for the dignity and value of every human life – male and female, all nations and races. We look forward to the day when that image is fully restored.

Genesis 22:13 “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.” While the entire incident of the Lord commanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, “his son, his only son, the son whom he loved,” is powerful, this one verse summarizes God’s deliverance not only of Isaac, but of all of us, for whom God himself sacrificed “his Son, his only Son, the Son whom he loved” on the Cross. God provided the substitutionary sacrifice to atone for our sins.

Numbers 11:23 ‘The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”’ (NIV) The Lord spoke this rebuke to Moses who doubted God’s ability to provide meat for the Israelites in the desert; as Moses pointed out, there were 600,000 men to feed (plus women and kids?), a huge order. But I love God’s answer, which I have seen played out in my own life and in the lives of others in the church. God is not bound by our limits: his arm is not too short. He can do as he promised, and as he points out to Moses here, because he gave his word, he will do as he promised. This carries over to spiritual and eternal matters, too: is God’s arm too short to raise the dead regardless of the condition of our bodies before the Resurrection? Or to forgive our sins no matter how bad they are? Or to be with us in the depths of loss and despair? “Is the Lord’s arm too short?” I think not.

Joshua 10:13-14 “The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.” I have always enjoyed the stories of God’s deliverance of his people, when he intervenes supernaturally to save the good and punish the evil. The Great Flood of Noah, the plagues of Egypt, the fall of Jericho, and other events are the way I would have written the Bible – God wins, his enemies lose – every time. What I like about this passage is that God delivers Joshua and the Israelites by making the sun stand still in the sky to allow enough daylight for the Israelites to defeat and pursue their enemies. And God did so in response to Joshua’s plea for him to do just that. This event deserves its own blog post, but for now I want to point out four things I like about these two verses: first, God acted decisively showing his power over all creation – specifically over even the earth and sun; second, he answered a prayer of faith that was for something otherwise impossible; third, God fought for his people – he did not abandon them but helped them defeat their mortal enemies; and fourth, the author points out that this was a unique occurrence. Unlike pagan mythologies which are filled with gods and cyclops and heroes and fantastical creatures, the Bible reports on this amazing event soberly, recognizing the unique nature of what happened – and why.

Unlike pagan mythologies which are filled with gods and cyclops and heroes and fantastical creatures, the Bible reports on this amazing event soberly, recognizing the unique nature of what happened – and why.

1 Samuel 16:7 ‘But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”’ God had directed Samuel to anoint Israel’s future king from among the sons of Jesse. When Samuel saw the eldest son, Eliab, he was sure that Eliab was God’s choice, but the Lord replied with this verse. Of course, we know that David was God’s choice to succeed Saul, but Samuel had to learn (as we all do) that appearances can be deceiving. We are impressed by the latest hunks or beauty queens and we accord them celebrity status because they look good. But beautiful people can be evil, and the unlovable can be generous and honorable. Remember that God looks on the inside, at the heart, which thanks to Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, is made righteous and clean.

1 Samuel 17:45 ‘Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”‘ The entire account of David defeating Goliath is one of my favorite biblical events, but this is the verse that stirs me most whenever I read or hear it. I like it because it defines what the contest was all about: it’s not the story of the little guy standing up to the big bully, or of someone “speaking truth to power,” though those ideas can be derived from the story. No, the main point is that David so loves the Lord that he is angered that this enemy unbeliever should defy and insult the true God, and therefore feels compelled to respond by risking his own life on what seems to be a suicide mission. To David, “a man after God’s own heart,” (1 Samuel 13:14), God’s honor was at stake, and no one else had risen up to defend it. So he did.

So then, is this the end of my list of favorite Bible verses? To quote Paul in Romans 6:2, “By no means!” Or to quote again from The Sound of Music, “these are a few of my favorite things.” There are more to come, so tune in again for some more of my favorite Bible verses. In the meantime,

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: 1 Samuel 17