Friday 26 February 2016

FAITH AND REASON

If everything were to be clarified by reason then there would be no God, for we would be God. Since we don’t understand everything and are finite, we believe in an infinite God. We owe our being, living, rising and resting to Him. However you may ask who this God is, for there are so many that are presented to us in today’s world.

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Coming to the aspect of faith, it is said that faith begins where reason ends. By faith we mean that there are things which are beyond us which cannot be explained rationally. We believe because we find something worthwhile in it, also maybe some amount of fulfillment too.

God is not an atom that can be dissected and studied under a microscope. God is a reality whom we humans believe in, one who blesses us and provides us with all good things. God has given us a choice, we can either choose Him in faith or reject Him by reason.

I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST

I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST SEATED  AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER


PROCLAMATION OF HIS VICTORY

After Jesus was resurrected and ascended to the Father, having passed through the heavens He entered into the heavenly temple of God, and there He received the official proclamation of His victory on the cross, "Sit down at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet" (Ps.110:1; cf. Heb.1:3). The throne of God as it is presently configured in the third heaven is an awesome thing and quite unlike what we imagine when we use the word "throne". Four cherubs attend it and provide locomotion for it when God appears with it on earth (cf. the                                                                    book of Ezekiel, especially chapters 1 and 10).

DIRECTION TO THE OPPOSITE OF WRONG

The Scripture has several words translated "right" and the usage of the term, "right hand" ranges from a direction, to the opposite of wrong, what is just or what conforms to an established standard, and to a place of honor or authority. In the case of division or appointment in the Bible, the right hand or right side came first, as when Israel (Jacob) divided the blessings to Joseph's sons before he died (Genesis 48:13-14).


GONE TO HEAVEN

The fact that Jesus Christ is at the "right hand of God" was a sign to the disciples that Jesus had indeed gone to heaven. In John 16:7-15, Jesus told the disciples that He had to go away and He would send the Holy Spirit. So the coming of the Holy Spirit in the upper room on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13) was proof positive that Jesus was indeed in heaven seated at the right hand of God. This is confirmed in Romans 8:34 where the Apostle Paul writes that Christ is sitting at God's right hand making intercession for us.

EQUAL HONOUR
a person of high rank who put someone on his right hand gave him equal honor with himself and recognized him as possessing equal dignity and authority. Jesus is literally seated with the Father, at the right hand of the Father, but He is sharing the throne (in the chariot with the Father) rather than sitting beside it (cf. Rev.5:6: "the Lamb standing in the center of the throne") - just as we who are faithful in this life are promised to do:
The one who wins the victory, I will grant him to sit with Me on My throne just as I also have won the victory and have taken My seat with My Father on His throne.
Revelation 3:21

REDEMPTION WORK SUCCESSFUL

The fact that Christ is "sitting" refers to the fact that His work of redemption is done and when the fullness of the gentiles is brought in (Romans 11:25), Christ's enemies will be made His footstool as the end of the age comes, all prophecy is completed, and time is no more.

MESSIAH

The term "God's right hand" in prophecy refers to the Messiah to whom is given the power and authority to subdue His enemies (Psalm 110:1Psalm 118:16). We find a quote in Matthew 22:44 from Psalm 110:1, which is a Messianic Psalm. "The Son of David" is claimed by the LORD Jesus Christ as He is the "greater son of David" or the Messiah. In this passage of Matthew 22, Jesus questions the Pharisees about who they think the "Christ" or the Messiah is. "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is He? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make Thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He his son?" (Matthew 22:41-45, KJV). The position of the Messiah is at God's right hand.




HE WILL COME AGAIN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

We shall be judged on our good and bad actions. The critical term in distinguishing good and bad actions is “freedom.” We shall be judged on how we have used our free will, whether in cooperating with God’s grace, or resisting His grace. There is nothing more fundamental in our understanding of God’s judgement than the fact that we have a truly free will. It is so free that we can actually say, “No,” to the will of the Almighty. However, we are free not only to choose the will of God, we are also free, that is, we have the power to say, “Yes,” to God’s grace, with no less generosity. On all these counts, we shall be judged when we are called by God into eternity.

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On the last day, Christ will come a second time into the world. As we said, this is the Parousia, which means “manifestation.” The first time that He came was in poverty and humility. The angels announced His first coming as a helpless child. His Second Coming, however, will be in resplendent majesty. It was this Second Coming that the angels foretold to the anxious disciples on Ascension Thursday.

Christ will preside as the King of the human race. He will exercise His divine power indeed, but as the God-made-man. Jesus will have completed the purpose of the Incarnation. God became man that as the God-man, He might redeem the human race. But He also became man in order to judge the human race, especially on its acceptance or rejection of Him as its Savior.



Finally, Christ will judge every human being. On what grounds? Because that is why God became man: to offer the gift of His grace, but also to judge the world on how people have responded to His grace.

Christ warns us to watch, because “you do not know the day when your Master is coming.” Behind this warning is the profound wisdom which the Savior had of how preoccupied we can be about the things of this world and how oblivious of the world to come. All other addictions to creatures are only systematic of our worst addiction, which is to the pleasures and joys, that life on earth can provide us. The lesson our Lord is teaching is that we should live in this world but always have our eyes on the world to come. The Old Testament proverb tells us, “in all your works remember your last end, and you will never sin” (Ecclesiasticus 7:40). All through our passage in time we should have our eyes on eternity. We are to be always ready because we do not know when Christ will call us from this life to the life that will never end.

Again Jesus warns us to stay awake because “You know not the day nor the hour.” The heart of Christ’s warning is in the imperative “stay awake.” The parable of the wise and foolish virgins is a commentary on His imperative caution.