THINKING BIBLICALLY TODAY

THIS BLOG ADDRESS THE QUESTION – WHY DO I NEED A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW?

  • 1. No biblical worldview – you will believe in anything “When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.” ― G.K. Chesterton
  • 2. No biblical worlview – Leads to a multitude of standards and beliefs. Where God and His word are not the standard then people will do whatever is right in their own eyes. Judg. 21:25   In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
  • 3. No Biblical worldview – People spiral down and are given over to an unfit mind to do those things which are not proper. Romans 1:18-32

Why should you read this Blog? 

  1. I believe a biblical worldviw is necessary to ground us in Christ and keep our minds from being stripped away to evil.
  2. I believe it is necessary because with a biblical worldview it is possible to compare what the bible declares agaimst the great issues of our day.
  3. I believe it is necessary to have a biblical worldview as a foundation to successfully live Godly and faithfully in this life. 

Chapters Genesis 1 to 3 are the foundation chapters for the rest of the bible. 

In these chapter God has provided for us the 6 foundational elements of a biblical worldview. Seem below are the 6 foundational elements of a biblical worldview. These underpin the full biblical message concerning the glorious Gospel. 

  1. God is/God created – Gen 1:1
  2. Man made in His image and given a purpose – Gen 1:26-27, Gen 1:29-30,
  3. God speaks to us – Gen 1: 29-30
  4. God makes the rules – Gen 2:15-17
  5. Man wants to be his own God and pays the price – Gen 3:1-7
  6. Man hides God finds. Salvation and Reconciliation is of the Lord.  – Gen 3:8-21

Odds and Ends – Jesus never loses sight of you

Jesus never loses sight of you. (Read Mark 6:45-52, John 6:15-21)

Mark 6:45-52   Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

John 6:15-21  So Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

So why did John insert the story of the storm and Jesus walking on water in John 6.  On the surface the story could be complete without this event being mentioned, but is this true?  7 verses can have an everlasting impact. 

The Disciples are fresh off a heady and victorious moment. Imagine, being there and seeing it all. The 5000+ followers, the miracle of feeding them, the 12 baskets full of leftovers. Jesus is indeed who they thought he was.  He is going to be King, he is going to deliver them from Rome, Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah. It is going to be an amazing ride and they have a front row seat. 

But sometimes in life things just don’t go as we thought they would.  Jesus had gone off for some alone time and the disciples were going over to the other side of the lake to prepare for the next glorious event.  Maybe, just maybe this would be the event which would lead to his coronation. While they were excitedly getting into the boat, they could not have even imagined that just a few hours later their mass following would be dwindled to 12 (and one of them a devil). 

So why the boat, the storm, the walking on water and coming to the other side?  Why is this story in the text? I think it is because disciples needed to know that Jesus never loses sight of them and as long as he is in the boat he determines the path of life.  Jesus knew just a few hours away the disciples would be looking around dazed at the turn of events.  He knew they needed to understand things would be okay. There was a storm, it was dark, and the wind was extreme.  The storm was so strong even the experienced fishermen among them thought they were going to die.  They were out of strength; they could no longer row and it looked hopeless.  Death was certainly near.

Do you ever wonder how Jesus knew exactly were the Disciples were?  He was miles away, it was dark, it was stormy, the boat was most likely well-off course due to the rain and wind.  I understand the storms on this lake can be incredibly violent and the lake was large. But Jesus never lost sight of them.  He always knew exactly were they were.  He may have been away praying, but he saw them get into the boat, he saw them rowing across the lake, the saw them when the storm came upon them, he saw them when they were exhausted and wanted to give up.  He knew exactly where they were, He knew they were afraid and giving up.  But he knew exactly the right time to show up.  He made a bee line right to them.  He got into the boat and when he did the disciples knew everything was going to be okay. 

So, what is the lesson? Why did Jesus allow them to go through it?  Personally, I think they needed to know that Jesus always knows where they are at.  He is always in control of the situations of life.  They needed to learn they needed Jesus in their boat.  Because the next few hours are going to be full of dissention. The crowd is going away (you know the crowd which is going to help bring Jesus to his throne), then there will be trouble in the synagogue, then many of his disciples will leave.  They will be left with Jesus and the 12 (and one of them is a traitor).  Don’t you think they might see this as the end of the dream. Everything they hoped for crushed. 

This was exactly why they need the lesson because we often have a faulty understanding of God’s purposes in this life and we do not understand the circumstances in our life.  Things in this life mostly do not go as we plan them, or as we think they should. Therefore, we need a deep abiding faith, and we only need to know four things:

 1) Jesus never loses sight of us,

2) He always knows where we are and

3) He knows how to get to us and

4) we need Jesus in our boat.

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