The Bible Edge
Everyone needs an Edge, Believers can have the Bible Edge
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
The same criteria that the Lord used to measure His children’s faithfulness 1,000 years ago, or 1,500 years ago, or 2,000 years ago is the same criteria He uses today. How can this be said so authoritatively? Because of today’s verse. He is the same today as He was yesterday. He will be the same in all eternity to come as He is today. He never changes.
Times may change, societal norms may change, technology may change, but He never changes. The term “social contract” is one used by intellectuals to convey the commonly agreed upon behavior in social gatherings. For example, there is an unspoken social contract that is understood by all who go to a movie theater. There individuals are expected to be quiet, not move around too much, and never ever shout out “Who did it” before the end. When these are broken, the social contract is broken. Well, today’s social contract about cursing, wardrobe, gossip, and especially church doctrine and attendance may be one thing, a majority may accept the norms of our day and age about these, but the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word does not yield to social contracts. True, different cultures have different norms, there is no doubt, but God’s Word does not bend to those norms.
Some things in society are purely innocuous, meaning they are harmless and within the scope of freewill as taught in the Bible. For example, in some places they do not have iced tea. Not the kind southerner’s drink. True iced tea, if left in the refrigerator too long will become syrup, but some poor souls do not even know what iced tea is. Whether a person drinks proper iced tea or not is of no eternal or spiritual consequence. But, for example, whether to go to church or not is of eternal and spiritual consequence. The entirety of the New Testament is written from the standpoint that every believer in Jesus Christ would be active in a Bible believing church. After all, Jesus died for His church, giving Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25). On and on we could go, but this is not a devotion about church and the importance of it, it is about Jesus Christ being the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Think about this, since Jesus is the same always, if He were to overlook the sins of today because it is socially acceptable, He would have to apologize to every past generation that He held accountable to His clear teachings. To Jesus, since He is always the same, if it were ever wrong to lie, it is wrong to lie today. If it were ever wrong to lust, it is wrong to lust today. If it were ever wrong to usurp authority it is wrong today. There is no Biblical teaching for today and one for yesteryear.
The same Jesus that walked on the dirt of the earth doing good is the same Jesus that today is in the throne room of heaven doing good. Then He could be seen, now He is seen through actions; His and those of His believers. If any person desires an edge on how to live this life and be rewarded for good service in the next, let them learn that which Jesus requires as taught from His lips, and the lips and writings of the apostles that He personally taught. Then let them live there for a lifetime to the glory of God.
William T. Howe, Ph.D.