The power of God’s instruction - Wednesday Evening Bible Study Notes - Luke Chapter 1....... 2-10-21

 

Wed Luke 1

Read the chapter for context….

      The scriptures are made alive by our revelations and testimonies…. By spiritual awareness… Let us pray tonight to be touched by God’s hand in an ever evolving, substantive fashion, as we are molded by his will through a deeper understanding of the scriptures…….

Luke, chapter 1 is the story depicting the power of God’s word, and of 2 women.. Mary and Elizabeth who became God’s chosen, an angel was sent to them . Luke 1 also exemplifies the power of understanding and fellowship… Understanding God and the fellowship of our brothers and sisters..

Luke begins as follows:

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. That he might be confident in the truth…

Who was Theophilus?

The fact is that we really don’t know who Theophilus was, which is why there are several different theories as to who he might be. No matter how much evidence there may or may not be for each theory, the simple fact is we do not know who Theophilus was because the Bible does not identify him.

Interestingly, the name “Theophilus” literally means “loved by God,” but carries the idea of “friend of God.” This has led some to believe that “Theophilus” is just a generic title that applies to all Christians. It could be so in the broad sense…However, from the context of Luke and Acts, it seems clear that Luke is writing to a specific individual, even though his message is also intended for all Christians in all centuries. While both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts have applications for all Christians, they were probably written to a specific individual whom Luke addresses as “most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 1:3).

As we do not know who Theophilus was, we may do little more than speculate as who he might have been..

However,since it seems likely that Theophilus was an actual person, we can look at what we do know about him from the Bible. It is important to note that Luke addresses him as “most excellent,” a title often used when referring to someone of honor or rank, such as a Roman official. Paul used the same term when addressing Felix (Acts 23:26; Acts 24:2) and Festus (Acts 26:25). Therefore, one of the most common theories is that Theophilus was possibly a Roman officer or high-ranking official in the Roman government or even church elder of influence.

Moving forward in Luke 1 we can note

The power of God’s instruction……..

18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. 59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. 61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. 64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.

The power of God’s word manifested in Zacharias through the mouth of an angel…. Even as an old man he became a believer that all things are possible with God…

If all things are possible with God then why are we faced with a world full of evil and suffering.? The garden of Eden was the only perfect place on earth. But God was betrayed by man in the garden henceforth we live in an imperfect world and only by the grace of God will we be delivered from it.

You know, Probably one of the greatest challenges faced by Christianity and Christians is the reality of evil and suffering. At times even great thinkers are baffled by the seeming contradiction between the existence of a loving God ,where all things are possible, and the fact of evil in our world.

Upon the death of his wife, C.S. Lewis wrote, “Meanwhile, where is God? This is one of the most disquieting symptoms … But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is in vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside.” C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed (Bantam Books, 1961), p. 4.

Fortunately, Lewis came to grips with his grief and in the end realized that God not only exists, but that He is indeed all loving despite our sufferings.

Still, for Christians and non-Christians evil and suffering are often at the forefront of our minds, particularly when we ourselves are suffering. How could a good God allow so much evil? Why doesn’t He do something about it? Couldn’t God have created a world without evil? Ahh but he did didn’t he. But we blew it to learn and be aware of the nature of Good and evil… God gave us what we asked for..

Still These are important questions………

What is Evil?

An explanation From an interesting philosophical prospective…..

One helpful approach to solving the problem of evil has to do with defining evil. Christian thinker Augustine defined evil not as a thing in and of itself, but as a parasite on good. Something that is lacking is not a thing in itself. For instance, if you have a hole in your jacket, the hole is not something, but rather is something that is lacking. Similarly, Augustine considered evil something that is missing. Indeed, it requires good to exist because it is a parasite. In this sense, Augustine defined evil as a privation – a lack of something – rather than a thing or substance. Just as the hole in the jacket I believe that Augustine has holes also in his argument. But possibly this would be better pursued at another time. We can concede that there is still apparent substance to his argument and is a fascinating theological presentation….

It would solve some important criticisms. If evil is not an actual thing, then God cannot be the author of evil. God is the author of good, but we make moral choices that result in evil. And this last statement is certainly a fact…

But Enough philosophy.. Lets get to the nitty gritty of it all…

Why is there so much suffering in life? Every day, we are inundated with news of wars, knife crime, bullying, traffic accidents, deadly diseases and the list goes on and on; an imperfect world indeed ! Our very natural response is to ask, ‘Why?’ ‘Why do these things happen?’ And if God exists, why would he let them happen?

The question of suffering is very REAL to us all. We have all encountered suffering one way or another. We might be facing illness, financial pressure, depression, relationship breakdown or be caring for an ageing spouse or loved one.

Whatever the particular struggle we face, the question of suffering is one of the hardest of all and one of the biggest barriers to faith in God. Some of us may even have written God off because of the things we have been through. If God existed, He surely would not have let THAT happen ,we may say !

There are no easy answers to this question. But here’s the thing. If you have ever found yourself asking ‘Why?’, to whom are you addressing the question? You see, if God doesn’t exist, is there really anyone to ask in an ultimate sense? Surely, this is just the way the world IS. Accidents happen, molecules make mistakes leading to diseases, and biology drives human behaviour.

The problem with this view is that it doesn’t really help us make sense of the grittiness of life. We get ANGRY at suffering. But where does that anger come from if this is just the way the world is? It comes from the feeling of living in an unjust world, a world without compassion, cruel and unforgiving…

The Christian faith makes sense of the rawness we feel in the face of suffering because it says there is something WRONG with the world. Things are not as they should be. We live in a world in which good and evil are at play on the world stage and in every human being. God is good but evil is also real and has influence in the world for now. So, at first glance it seems that suffering gives us good reason to rule out God. But actually, the opposite is true. It is only IF God exists that our outrage at suffering finds a home.

When we ask “why”, even in the midst of our confusion, anger, fear or disappointment; even In the process of losing faith we may find it ,ever so subtly; when we ask God our father WHY Because we are reaching out to God in the midst of our anguish…The reality of our heart has spoken, if even in the negative, through our own suffering when we reach to God when we ask “why” we connect with the Father who has the power to make the impossible possible, the power to sooth the spirit and the power to give us peace even in our most desperate moments…..Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me…

We can rejoice with the apostle Paul when he wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). We also can’t forget the decisions made that affected all of humanity that were made in the garden of Eden.. God’s perfect gift for us.. But we rejected this gift and by doing so paid the price as did Zacharia when he could not believe God’s joyful message to him and rejected the possibility.. If we turn our backs and reject God’s grace we do it at our own peril…There will be a price to pay.. Not the from judgement of man but as per the will of God..

We know Lord that everything has a price and understand that serving you, walking in the footsteps of Jesus has a price here on earth. But we also know that this price cannot compare with the rewards that you have promised us if our works, our hearts, and our walk are righteous in your eyes.. We ask Lord as always to gives us the strength and wisdom to embrace your word as it is revealed to us..

We pray for the suffering among us that you can show mercy and lesson it or heal our bodies as you heal our spirit. We pray for those who struggle to do the right thing, to feed their families, to reach out to a brother or sister in need is spite of their own suffering that you hear their plea and our prayers and help them also along the way.. We ask Lord for enlightenment through this bible study as you bless our ministry and all who is connected with it no matter how closely or remotely that connection may be..

We ask these things in Jesus’s name..

Amen