kingdomeducationministries

It is hard to comprehend how mixed up society is today.  A major point of controversy is being battled over one’s gender.  It has even gotten to the point that some “experts” claim that one’s sex is biological but one’s gender is a choice.  One’s gender is determined by one’s feelings.  In fact, some parents have even chosen not to identify the gender of a newborn baby because they want the child to be able to choose whatever gender he/she wants to be.  Again, the issue at the bottom of all this craziness is determined by what it means to be a human being.

We have been looking at various distinctives that a person possesses because that person has been created in the image of God.  In the previous two weeks we have seen that every person has been created to reflect and to relate.  This week’s post is all about the fact that God created man in His image to reproduce.

When we go back to the beginning of human history, we find that God created man distinctively different than any other living being.  God’s Word is very specific when it comes to how God created humans.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27 (NKJV)

God didn’t leave it up to choice when it comes to gender.  He specifically created man as either male or female.  How He created me determines my gender not how I feel.  There is a specific reason why God created man as male and female.  That reason is that God wanted man to reproduce.  After God created Adam, He stated that everything was very good.  However, He then stated that it is not good that man should be alone.  So God created woman from Adam’s side.

The first command that God gave to man after He created them is found in Genesis 1:28.

God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth.

It wasn’t that God simply wanted to have a lot of children being born and filling the earth.  He wanted man to replicate God’s image and fill the earth with image bearers of Him.  Even after the Fall and the Flood, God tells us what one of our created purposes is.

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.  Genesis 9:1 (NKJV)

God created man as males and females.  He did this so that they could reproduce and fill the earth with His image bearers.  Listen to how Dr. Tony Evans puts it.

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with children – why?  Because man was created in the image of God.  So the goal of having children is the replication of God’s image, not just the replication of your image…so the purpose of children was the replication of God and the advancement of God’s kingdom in history.

Another important passage of Scripture that makes it clear that man was created in God’s image so that man would reproduce is found in the book of Malachi.  God is telling His people why He isn’t paying attention to all of their religious sacrifices.  The reason He states is that their homes were a mess.  Infidelity and divorce were rampant.  Then God says something very interesting.

But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit?  And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Malachi 2:15 (NKJV)

God not only created man to reproduce but He also wants man to reproduce a certain kind of offspring.  God wants the earth filled with godly seed.  

One of the main reasons there is so much gender confusion is that the education children receive no longer explains to them that they are created in the image of God.  Instead they have been taught that they are merely products of time and chance.  Because of this, they are taught that they can choose to be whatever gender they feel like they are — and the choices are not limited to merely two.  In fact, I was recently reading that a person had the option to choose over 70 different gender preferences by which the person can identify oneself on Facebook.

We must get back to teaching our children that God created them as either being male or female.  He did this so that they can reflect, relate and reproduce.  We must also make sure that the schooling they receive will teach these same truths from the earliest of ages to adulthood.

In order to understand what it means to be human, we have to go back to the beginning of human history.  Even though the world tries to convince us that man is merely a mechanistic organism that is the result of billions of years of evolutionary change, the reality is that man was designed in the mind of God and created by the Word and will of God.  In Genesis 1 we find these words.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:26-27 (NKJV)

After God had spoken the rest of creation into being, He declared that the final act of creation would be the creation of man in the image of God.  This makes man the crown jewel of God’s creation.  He is uniquely designed and is the only being that has God’s image stamped on it.  Even though most Christians have heard and would agree that every person is an image bearer of God, many have not given a lot of thought to the significance of this reality.  What does it mean to be created in the image of God?

Biblical scholar D. J. A. Clines explains the meaning of Genesis 1:26-27 by stating,

Thus we may say that according to Genesis 1, man does not have the image of God, nor is he made in the image of God, but is himself the image of God.  “The Image of God in Man” ( Tyndale Bulletin 19, 1968, 53-103)

To understand what it means to be human begins with knowing that every person was created to be a “copy” or a “graphic image” of the Creator – a formal, visible, and understandable representation of who God is and what He is really like.  God’s final act of creation was done in a different pattern than His creation of all other living things.  If you read the creation account in Genesis 1, you will find that all the plants, birds in the air, creatures in the sea and animals on the land were created according to its kind (Genesis 1:11,21,24,25).  God did not follow this same pattern when He created mankind.  In his article, Imago Dei, Mark Ross explains,

When God makes man, He breaks the pattern that He has set by creating living things according to their kinds. The tenfold mention of this pattern causes us to expect it with each new living creature to appear, but something quite different happens when man is made; he is not made “according to [his] kind.” Neither is man created according to any other kind among the living creatures. Man does not, therefore, belong to their kinds, whatever similarities there may be between him and the other creatures. To put it in modern scientific language, he is not a particular species within a given genus of living creatures. Man is unlike any of the other living creatures (v. 26). Surprising as it is, man is made according to God’s “kind,” made in the image of God (imago Dei). Man, like God, is a personal being.

Some people would argue that when man sinned, he lost the image of God.  Even though God’s image in man was marred or disfigured by sin, it was not lost.  This is a very important truth if we are going to be able to understand who we are and what gives every man and woman intrinsic value and inherent worth.  Focus on the Family explains it this way in a Q&A reference on their website.

…it is precisely the Image of God that makes man human; man could not lose the Image without ceasing to be what he is. Furthermore, it is only because he retains it, even in a broken or distorted form, that man is redeemable and worth redeeming.

Over the next several weeks, I will present a series of short posts that will help us understand the significance of the words in Genesis 1 – in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  In the meantime here are some questions that will be helpful in understanding what it means to be human.

1. How well does your life reflect a “graphic image” of God?
2. How does being made according to “God’s kind” define who you are and why you are here?
3. How has sin marred God’s image in you?
4. How does the reality of Imago Dei address today’s cultural issues of abortion, euthanasia, gender confusion and marriage?

I have a book on my shelf that I take down a couple of times each year.  The book was written by a young man that I first came to know while serving at Lynchburg Christian Academy.  The book’s title is The Little Red Book of Wisdom.  This small book as several short chapters that provide Christians will some keys on how to obtain true wisdom.  Mark learned these nuggets of wisdom from his father and others who God used to influence his life.

Over the years I have gleaned many things from this book that have shaped my life as a husband, father and leader.  Recently, I opened this resource to read a couple of the chapters that dealt with “Wisdom for Your Personal Life”.  The one chapter that caught my attention was The Wisdom of Firsts.  Everyone wants to be first in whatever he/she attempts to accomplish.  But this writing is not about how to be #1 but what to keep #1 in your life.

As many of us who are involved in Christian education are entering into the summer months, I thought I would share with you three simple acts that will bring God’s blessing on your life.  We all want God to bless us and have His hand of favor on all we do.  However, sometimes we fall short of experiencing this in our everyday lives.  The Wisdom of Firsts can be summed up this way: The First Hour, The First Day, The First Dime!

The First Hour

One of the things every Christian must do in order to have God’s presence in his life is to give God the first hour of every day!  There is something that happens when I start every morning spending time with the Lord.  When I open God’s Word and let Him speak to me, it changes my perspective on what I am facing at that particular time.  It also prepares me for what God has in store for my life that day — many times it’s things that I don’t even know are going to take place.

Each year I try to find a plan by which I can read the Bible through in that year.  This year I am following a plan that I found on the website for John Piper’s ministry, Desiring God.  This plan has me reading portions of the Old and New Testament each day.  Even though I have read the Bible through many times, this year I am finding myself underlining more and more passages that the words seem to almost jump off the pages.

After reading God’s Word each morning, it is also important for me to talk to God.  An early morning prayer time has proven to be so special to me as it helps me stay focused on Him throughout the day.  It is during this time of prayer that God brings to my mind others who need God’s touch on their lives.  Whenever this happens, it makes me realize that my problems are quite small as I think of others who are facing much more serious challenges in their lives.

I travel a lot in my ministry and most trips I schedule start pretty early in the morning.  Because of this I must discipline myself to set the alarm a little earlier.  If I don’t do this, I end up rushing to the airport and, before you know it, I am deep into my day’s work without getting any wisdom from the Lord that He knew I needed to accomplish what He wanted me to do that day.  So, if you want God’s blessing in your life give God the first hour of every day!

The First Day

A lot of Christians that I know are very faithful in giving God the first hour in every day.  However, this second Wisdom of Firsts is one that many of us, especially those of us in full-time ministry, struggle with.  It is also important to give God the first day of every week.  I know that you might be thinking that you do that.  You may be one who never misses a Sunday going to church.  In fact, you may even use your gifts on Sunday in service at your church.  However, I am not talking about giving God the first morning of every week.

In our fast paced lives, we can get to the point when we think that we can’t afford to cease form all of our work for a whole day.  I have come to enjoy the music ministry of Andrew Peterson.  He has written a series of songs that he put into a couple of albums called Resurrection Letters.  One of his songs is simply called, God Rested.  In it Peterson reminds the listener that six days God worked and created the world and all that is in but on the seventh day — God Rested!  When you read the Scriptures, you don’t find that He rested for a morning or for an hour but for a day.

I cannot tell you how many times I have gone to church and immediately after the services, I have rushed out into to life to do stuff that just “had to be done”.  One of the things that I have come to realize is that it is very easy to forget everything God wanted to teach you in a church service when you end up racing to your “next important task.”  I think this is what Jesus had in mind when He was teaching His disciples about sowing seed into different types of soil.

One of the types of soil that good seed fell on was soil that contained thorns.  If you know this account, Jesus explained that the seed never produced a harvest because the thorns choked the seeds and they never matured.  When Jesus explained this, He said,

Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. Matthew 13:22 (NKJV)

I have experienced this happening in my life when I failed to give God the first day of every week!

The First Dime

Have you ever gone into a restaurant or business that was individually or family owned?  These types of business are many times quaint establishments that have various things on the walls or shelves that are reminders of how the business started and grew over the years.  One of the items I have seen on walls of private businesses many times is a small picture frame with a dollar bill encased inside.  It represented the “first” dollar that the original owner made in the business.

Well, God establishes His private businesses throughout the world in the lives of His children.  He calls us to do His will, equips us to do it and then sends us out to perform it for His glory.  This is called “work”.  Through our work we receive increase or pay.  Of course, we know that everything we have comes from God and that God owns it all — or so we say we believe this.  However, the third act we find in God’s Wisdom of First may be the one that is violated the most.  It is simply the act of giving God the first dime of every dollar.

The tithe is not ours to give to God but it belongs to God and we simply acknowledge that the first dime of all our increase is His by giving it back to its rightful owner.  I have talked with Christians and they have argued that it is the first dime of every “net” dollar or after taxes that one earns.  If that were the case, then it wouldn’t be a “first”.  There is not time to go into this in this blog but I encourage you to read Haggai 1:1-11 and see how God views it when we don’t keep this “first” in our lives.  We are to give God the first dime of every dollar!

Three simple acts with major consequences that we will experience if we faithfully perform them.  However, there are equal but opposite consequences in not doing them.  As you go through the summer months, I challenge you to begin the habit of the Wisdom of Firsts by giving God the first hour, day and dime.  Have a blessed summer!

One of my favorite historical accounts found in Scripture is that of David’s fight with Goliath.  When you read about this confrontation in 1 Samuel 17, there are several points that are worthy of one’s consideration.  David is at home taking care of the sheep while his three oldest brothers are with the Israelite army fighting the Philistines.  I imagine that David must have dreamed about what it might be like to be on the battlefield instead of watching some smelly old sheep.

One day, his father gives him food supplies and sends him to check on the battle.  David is to go and see how his brothers are doing and bring a report home to his father.  David must have been excited to be asked to get the opportunity to go where the fighting was taking place. Scripture records that David got up early and hurried to the battle front.  He dropped off the supplies and went looking for his brothers.  As he approached the army of Israel his heart must have started racing as we find the following account taking place.

And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. 1 Samuel 17:20-21 (NKJV)

These words paint a great picture of what David was about to experience.  He arrived in time to see the army going out to fight.  He could hear the shout of the soldiers in unison as they assembled in military formation.  David probably thought to himself that he had arrived just in time to see the mighty Israelite army fight against its enemy, the Philistines.

Here an interesting twist takes place that caught David by surprise.  David had found his brothers and was talking with them when a huge man, named Goliath, stood on the hillside opposite of where the Israelites had drawn up in military formation.  David heard this man mock the army of Israel and, even worse, blasphemed their God.  I wonder if the thought raced through his mind that God’s mighty army was going to rise up and take this evil person out.  However, something unexpectedly took place.  Instead of going to fight this giant, the Israelite army turned and ran away from him in fear.  David was shocked.  The entire army went and hid in their tents because of the threatening words of one man.

Again, I envision David becoming a flap flipper.  David appears to go to the soldiers, flip the flap of their tents and start asking them what they were doing cowering inside their tents.  This young teenager couldn’t believe that they were letting one man mock the God of Israel and not standing up to him.  This must have mystifying to David.

Then something else took place that may have caught David my surprise.  David’s oldest brother catches up with him and says the following.

Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle. 1 Samuel 17:28 (NKJV)

Instead of feeling guilty for not standing up for God and confronting Goliath, Eliab gets mad at David and accuses him of rocking the boat.  In essence, David’s brother, wanted him to quit stirring up trouble and simply go back and tend their father’s sheep.  After all, the Israelite army would get in battle formation and go through the military maneuvers on a regular basis.  Whenever Goliath would raise his ugly head, they would break rank, go to their tents and wait until Goliath was through.  Then they would gather again in formation and continue with their drills.  Everything was fine.  Goliath inflicted no actual harm and after his spewing of hatred toward God and His army, he would retreat and the army could go back to its normal routine.

It was at this point in the account when David said something that would bring everything to a head.  The first thing he asked his brother was what had he done.  This sounds like a typical teenager’s response to a sibling’s rebuke.  But then David asked a second question,

Is there not a CAUSE? 1 Samuel 17: 29 (NKJV)

The word “cause” often referred to a decree or commandment.  Many times its use conveyed the idea of divine communication.  We can determine that what David was asking was, Hasn’t God said something about a situation like this?  Doesn’t God expect His people do something when His name is being profaned in the way that Goliath was doing?  We know that David was willing to take up this cause and ended up being the person that God would use to defeat Goliath.

In light of all of this, I see a similar situation taking place in God’s army, His church, today.  If I were to go to the battle ground on any given Sunday, I would see a mighty fighting force gathering together and going through their military maneuvers.  They would shout out in unison songs telling of the greatness of God and they would hear from some of their military leaders words of encouragement and the need to remain faithful to the Lord’s commands.  There would be a sense of excitement as I experienced the worship that I would witness.

However, I would experience something like David experienced if I stayed around the week following the Sunday worship time.  Then I would witness a giant come forth and start defying the God that Christians had just gathered to worship on Sunday.  He would declare that this God wasn’t so great and even mock His existence.  It would be at this point that if I were to start asking church leaders and other Christians why this was being allowed to take place, I would be told not to rock the boat.  They might tell me that every Sunday they gathered together and would join in going through some dynamic military maneuvers.  Then on Monday through Friday, this giant would come out and start mouthing off about God etc.  However, by the end of the week, he would go back into his camp and God’s people would gather once again to sing, shout and hear the Word of God preached.  No harm – no foul!

My question is, Is there not a CAUSE?  Doesn’t God expect us to do something when His name if being profaned in the way this modern-day giant is doing?  You may be wondering who is this giant I am writing about?  Today’s giant that stands against God is secular education.  Every day a vast majority of our children and youth listen and learn from this giant how man is the center of everything and God simply isn’t important or doesn’t even exist.  God’s name is being profaned and yet, many of His people, don’t do a thing about it.

What was David’s cause or motivation that led him to be able to defeat Goliath on that memorable day?  David’s cause is recorded in verse 46.

This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.  1 Samuel 17:46 (NKJV)

As another school year comes to a close and many start planning for next year, I want to challenge Christians everywhere to recognize the cause for why we are in this battle.  Our cause must be that future generations will know that there is a God in our lives, our homes, our churches and our schools.  It is the only cause worth fighting for!

Last week I heard a sermon on the family that had a different twist to it.  The text for the message was taken from Matthew 12:25 which reads:

And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.

Those familiar with this passage know that Jesus said this to the religious leaders of His day who accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan.  This account is also recorded in Mark 3 and Luke 11.  So it is an important concept to understand.  At first, I was wondering how this passage could possibly relate to the family.  Then the pastor pointed out that Jesus not only said that a kingdom divided against itself will fall but He also applied this same principle to a city and a home.  Jesus was making the point that true success requires congruency or cohesiveness.  Without cohesiveness there will be division and division will lead to failure.

The pastor emphasized this important concept by defining division as having a divided vision.  This resonated with me as I have both played on many sports’ teams and coached several teams over the years.  Whenever there were players who had a different vision for what needed to be done that was different from that of the coach, the result was, most often, a loss.  Any division made success impossible.  The solution to removing division and uniting any group is that there must be a common denominator upon which all parties agree.

For the Christian, the only common denominator that will unite an individual, a family, a church or a school is God’s Word.  Paul wrote about the need to understand that the Bible stands above all human opinions and is the only foundation that unites people rather than divides them.

 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV)

Here we find that it is profitable to go to Scripture in order to unite people and avoid having a divided house that will eventually come to destruction.  God’s Word is profitable for:

• doctrine — what is right
• reproof — what is wrong
• correction — how to get right
• instruction in righteousness — how to stay right

It was at this point in the sermon that the pastor made a profound statement.  He said, differing opinions are actually differing worldviews!  That made me stop in my tracks.  The implication of this statement was that if there was not a consistent worldview in a person’s life, in the home, church or school, there would be division.  The result would be that one’s life, a family, a church, a school etc. would be brought to destruction because it could not stand.  I must admit that with this statement my mind started racing.  I thought about James 1:8 where the writer said that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.  

Unfortunately, most Christians suffer from double-mindedness!  We have divided our lives up into two compartments — the secular and the sacred.  Certain areas of life are controlled by a secular worldview.  The “religious” areas of life are guided by a biblical worldview.  The result is that there is no cohesiveness to our lives, our homes, churches, schools etc.  This is not something that only exists in individuals’ minds.  It is also prevalent in how we educate our children and youth.  We take them to church on Sundays so that they know what the Bible says about life.  Then, the majority of parents send their children to secular schools the rest of the week where the world tells them what life is all about.  The result is that our children are being educated in double-mindedness and, therefore, are doomed for failure and destruction.

I find this problem becoming more prevalent even in Christian education.  Too many times there is a different worldview at the basis for what is taught in Bible classes and what is taught in the other “academic” subjects.  To compound this problem, there isn’t adequate training taking place to help parents, teachers and church leaders develop a comprehensive biblical worldview.  Then, when you add the reality that an increasing number of schools tend to use secular textbooks, we can understand why the problem of double-mindedness is becoming so prevalent.

Many of us were broken hearted when we heard of the recent school shooting last week that left 10 people dead and several others wounded.  Within a few short hours of this tragedy a divided house could be clearly seen.  On one side, there were those who were demanding more gun control.  On the other side there was the warning that the other side wants to take away our constitutional right to protect ourselves.  One side said that guns were killing our children.  The other side was saying that guns don’t kill, people do.  Some agreement was heard when both sides said that part of the problem was due to lack of sufficient mental health services.  I even read a report where a former leader in the department of education hinted that students should boycott schools until gun control legislation is passed.  My mind was baffled when I read how the president of Planned Parenthood was decrying the senseless murder of children due to “gun violence”.  However, this same person heads up an organization that has been reported to have been responsible for over 300,000 abortions last year alone.  The degree to which double-mindedness has infected our culture is mind boggling to say the least.

The real problem that is behind the crumbling of society, in general, and our homes, in specific, is that there is no longer a comprehensive, consistent worldview that matches reality on which the majority of people agree.  Of course the only worldview that can provide this type of congruency is a biblical one.  Until we teach our children at home, church and school that the value of human life is found in the reality that God created each person in His own image, we will never see a decrease in the senseless loss of human life that is so common in the world today.  That is why I have spent the last couple of years developing resources that I pray will help Christian parents, church leaders and educators develop a biblical worldview.  If we don’t unite the home, church and school and provide our children with a biblical worldview education, we will continue to see future generations grow up with divided minds.  God’s Word says that when this occurs, they cannot stand; they will be brought to desolation!

It is my prayer that many families, churches and schools will become KEM Prime Members and develop a single-mindedness based on a biblical worldview.  Click here to learn more about this or email me at glen@kingdomeducation.org.  Join in this conversation by leaving a comment below.