Are you lost and without direction for your life? Let's be F.A.I.R.
Posted : 30 Oct, 2016 08:22 AM
The Meaning Of Life: "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. " - Jesus Christ John 17:3 To know God personally.
Our Greatest Purpose In Life: The greatest duty, and the greatest honor of man is to love the Lord our God. So said Jesus. Our purpose in life is to love God. More important than merely glorifying God, we get to love Him. God gets glory from rocks and the unsaved, but no love; so this is a great privilege.
Mark 12:30a "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength ..." See also Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27 In the Greek this command includes the idea of "with all of your will" as well. Everything that we are, all day, every day.
And remember that we all need to understand that we have value. This value we have is set by God, in the same way one determines the value of a piece of art. It is not the inherent value of the component parts, nor it is based upon performance. The Mona Lisa sits on a wall doing nothing all day, and she doesn't even smile. The value is determined by what the buyer is willing to pay. For us, that value is the immeasurable value of God's payment for us. God bought us with priceless blood and life of Jesus Christ on the cross. When we have a good day, we do not add to our value; and when we have a bad day, our value is not diminished. When God calls us out on particular sin, He is not saying we are worthless. He is saying we need to be holy, as He is holy. We are not less valuable because of any particular sin. When God paid the price for us, He paid the same for Christians as well as non-believers, and sinner or saint, we all have that immeasurable worth. When the enemy is attacking you, and claiming you are worthless, always remember the blood and the life is your purchase price, and do not believe for a second you are worthless.
Do you feel cheated in life? Do you feel you are not being treated fairly? Raise your hand if you want to be treated fairly. Hold them up, nobody is looking. Are you "sure" you want fair? Sure you're sure? Really? Let's test that. Which of you thinks that if their next door neighbor kills someone, that you should pay for the crime, instead of your neighbor? No hands this time? Well, that's no surprise. Which of your thinks that if you commit a murder you should pay for it yourself? Okay, every last hand should be up at this point. I said murder, not justifiable homicide. The one who commits the murder is the one who should pay for it. Right? Right! That's what's fair. You commit the crime, you do the time. Someone else doesn't do it for you. So tell me again, which of you wants to be treated fairly? So, are you ready to be treated fairly? Right now? Okay, I see those hands! So you're ready to go to hell and pay for your own sin, RIGHT?! Because "the Wages of sin is death", not confession. Eternal separation from God and torment that never ends. That is what you have earned, your wages, what is fair. It wasn't fair for Jesus to pay for your sin on the cross. It wasn't fair that He should shed His blood and lay down His life when you are the one who did the wrong.
Wooohooo! "Give me fair! I demand fair! You're not treating me fairly!" This is the whine of the ingrate, who has the arrogance to claim they are not being treated fairly. When you woke up today, you were not in hell, getting what is fair. That alone should cause you to drop to your knees and thank God He doesn't treat us fairly. You don't want fair, because the real fair is spent in the real hell, with its real unthinkable horrors and torment, with total awareness of the sin that put you there, and the unending regret for having been so arrogant as to reject Christ.
Jesus didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't fair for Him to pay for our sin. Fair would be us paying for our own sin, and no person in their right mind wants fair. So stop complaining about being treated unfairly, and start thanking God for sparing you fair. Don't look at others and say what about him? "Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, �But Lord, what about this man?� Jesus said to him, �If I will that he (x,y,z), what is that to you? You follow Me.� John 21:21-22
F.A.I.R.
F. - First know the Father and the Son. John 17:3
A. - After you know God, love God with everything you are. Mark 12:30a
I. - I am not worthless. I have the priceless value of the blood and life of Christ given for me.
Are you lost and without direction for your life? Let's be F.A.I.R.
Posted : 28 Nov, 2016 01:01 AM
I'm sorry, but I can't really agree with your analogy of fairness and Jesus' ultimate sacrifice.
When people say they want to be treated fair, they mean they want to be treated the same for the same amount of effort/work. Most of the time when people complain about the fairness in their life or lack there of, they are referring to benefits that should be given to all employees, but have only been given to few because of favoritism, nepotism, or anything else that causes people to show favor to only a group of people. I think you twisted what it means to be fair to try to strengthen your point that it wasn't fair that Jesus died for our sins. However, you are forgetting that the core point of what we believe is that. He would have never died for the sins of the world if God didn't love us so. (John 3:16)
There wouldn't have been a human sacrifice at all if God didn't cherish his creation the way he does. So I think fair isn't the word in this situation, GRACE would be a better choice of words. It is through Grace and Love that we find our true worth in Christ. Knowing you are valuable in the eyes of God gives people their seed of self confidence. And when things are unfair, you know that you deserve better treatment from others. And vice versa.
Don't confuse unfair with injustice. Which is what I think your analogy was doing. It was an injustice to Jesus that his fellow man chose a criminal over him to be saved from the cross. No one is denying that fact. However, as it has been said God is sovereign over all, and knew what would happen. Jesus even knew when he came down, what would happen. But again it was conscious sacrifice, not an unfair event.
I could go on, but I hope I made a clear point. Happy to discuss it further, maybe their was a misinterpretation somewhere. God Bless
Are you lost and without direction for your life? Let's be F.A.I.R.
Posted : 28 Nov, 2016 11:05 AM
The problem with your argument is that you are comparing yourself to man, when we are to compare ourselves to God and His holy standards. We are to concern ourselves with our own assignments, and not compare ourselves to what God is doing with others.
Jesus immediately rebuked Peter at the sea when Peter tried to insinuate that what God was commanding him was subject to Peter's review of how God was dealing with another. Peter was in essence, complaining about being treated unfairly. Jesus would have none of it. God doesn't answer to us. We answer to Him.
"After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, �I am going fishing.� They said to him, �We are going with you also.� They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
Then Jesus said to them, �Children, have you any food?� They answered Him, �No.� And He said to them, �Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.� So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, �It is the Lord!� Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, �Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.�
Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, �Come and eat breakfast.� Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, �Who are You?��knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.
So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, �Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?� He said to Him, �Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.� He said to him, �Feed My lambs.� He said to him again a second time, �Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?� He said to Him, �Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.� He said to him, �Tend My sheep.� He said to him the third time, �Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?� Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, �Do you love Me?� And he said to Him, �Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.� Jesus said to him, �Feed My sheep. Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.� This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, �Follow Me.�
Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, �Lord, who is the one who betrays You?� PETER, seeing him, said to Jesus, �But Lord, What About This Man?� JESUS said to him, �If I will that he remain till I come, WHAT IS THAT TO YOU? You follow Me.�
Jesus told Peter to get his eyes off of others, and what God had for them, and get them on Him.
The false cultural narrative that everyone is entitled to fair and equal treatment is demonic and destructive. Job was not "treated fairly" based on comparison to other men. He lived uprightly yet he was singled out for special adversity. Joseph was singled out for destruction by his brothers. Yet these things were ordained by God to refine these men and to provide salvation to His people.
You said: "When people say they want to be treated fair, they mean they want to be treated the same for the same amount of effort/work. Most of the time when people complain about the fairness in their life or lack there of, they are referring to benefits that should be given to all employees, but have only been given to few because of favoritism, nepotism, or anything else that causes people to show favor to only a group of people."
How can you even begin to suggest that this line of thinking has any merit before man or God in light of Jesus' crystal clear teaching in Matthew 201-16?
"�For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, �You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.� So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, �Why have you been standing here idle all day?� They said to him, �Because no one hired us.� He said to them, �You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.�
�So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, �Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.� And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, �These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.� But he answered one of them and said, �Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?� So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.�"
Jesus absolutely crushed any notion that He would approve of your thinking. These people complained not just to the owner of the vineyard, but to God, for the owner was His servant, and they were rebuked for it. The owner of the vineyard paid them a different hourly rate for the same work. To put is another way, the early workers had to do many times as much work for the same wage. God gives to each as He sees fit. He gives to one, and takes away from another. This seems unjust to man, but that is because man is blind to truth. Any person who holds to this false doctrine is rejecting God's authority to distribute "unequally", and His holy word.
"Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." God's sovereign hand is at work daily to give to one and take from another. Who are we to question His unequal treatment of any individual or group? You cannot separate the fact that His benevolent treatment with regard to hell is intertwined in the daily unequal lives of men. It is core to our existence. Get your eyes off of man, and take from the hand of God with thanksgiving.
Are you lost and without direction for your life? Let's be F.A.I.R.
Posted : 28 Nov, 2016 11:20 AM
"It was an injustice to Jesus that his fellow man chose a criminal over him to be saved from the cross. No one is denying that fact."
I am absolutely rejecting that lie. It seemed to be an injustice, unfair, to the man, who was blind. But it was just, because he believed in the Son of God for the forgiveness of his sin. Jesus being God, every act He committed was, is, and will be just in every situation. That was the standard God set for redemption. The man refused to humble his self and mocked God and his unbelief doesn't make the acts of God unjust. The man held to a false standard, that his acceptance was based upon what happened to others. Jesus never lead a march on city hall. He led the march on sin the in the heart. Follow Jesus, not man.
Are you lost and without direction for your life? Let's be F.A.I.R.
Posted : 28 Nov, 2016 04:45 PM
You're still taking the idea of fairness and twisting it! How is it demonic to want to be treated fair? Really, I couldn't read all that you posted because you're words are mixed with chapters of bible verses (for the record you can list the verses and I can read my own bible to see which verses you are referencing). But burying your point around bible verses still doesn't help your argument.
I will state this one more time and I'll let it be done. When people ask for fairness (genuine fairness), they want to be treated the same way as others regardless of their race, gender, nationality, and so on. Now, if someone is complaining that life isn't fair because "I'm with out, and others have more", that's ludicrous. For you to claim fairness to be demonic makes absolutely no sense to me. And your reference to Job, again, what he went through wasn't a normal life, it was literally a gamble between the devil and God, if Job will remain faithful. So of course people would say it was unfair for Job to have to suffer the way he did. Or why some mothers die from their cancer and others don't. Those are just life problems that can't be fixed or changed. It has nothing to do with fairness.
And what happened to Jesus was an injustice, even Pontius Pilate, knew Jesus was without guilt and was still made to suffer for crimes he didn't commit. I truly do get your point, your basic argument is to encourage people to stop complaining that "Life" is unfair. But to say their is no such thing as fairness, and that people shouldn't be treated with fairness or it's a demonic thought, sounds backwards to me. This scripture sums up what I think it means to be fair. You can't say you love someone and then treat them in an unfair way, and then sit in a pew on Sunday and claim to be holy. (1 John 4:7-10)
I'll leave you with a bunch of scriptures that use the word "fair", and you tell me if it's a demonic thought!
Are you lost and without direction for your life? Let's be F.A.I.R.
Posted : 28 Nov, 2016 05:11 PM
Sorry I tried to cancel my last reply so I can go back and see what you wrote to make sure I commented correctly, but it submitted anyways so that's why I'm adding to my post now. So I apologize of any errors, I was trying to edit, just failed in doing so.
This quote from you is what I had problems with: �The false cultural narrative that everyone is entitled to fair and equal treatment is demonic and destructive.� I hope in my last post explains why I couldn�t agree with you.
And your example of Jesus� parable about the workers:
�Jesus absolutely crushed any notion that He would approve of your thinking. These people complained not just to the owner of the vineyard, but to God, for the owner was His servant, and they were rebuked for it. The owner of the vineyard paid them a different hourly rate for the same work. To put is another way, the early workers had to do many times as much work for the same wage. God gives to each as He sees fit. He gives to one, and takes away from another. This seems unjust to man, but that is because man is blind to truth. Any person who holds to this false doctrine is rejecting God's authority to distribute "unequally", and His holy word.�
Again, this is not what I am referring to. I understand the message in this parable, but its referring to how God treats us, not how man should treat other men. The workers in the vineyard were complaining about working longer hours than others but all still getting the same wage. If they took a step back, calmed their anger and really look at situation, the owner of the vineyard chose to bless all his workers the same for different amounts of work. And only greedy people will see it as I deserve more, but Jesus was teaching us to humble ourselves and not to worry about the blessings of others. It�s like in a simple way saying, �Why are you being nice to him, when they�re not nice to others.� But this was not a lesson in fairness; at least I don�t see it that way.
You kind of just debunked your own message, by writing this:
�I am absolutely rejecting that lie. It seemed to be an injustice, unfair, to the man, who was blind. But it was just, because he believed in the Son of God for the forgiveness of his sin. Jesus being God, every act He committed was, is, and will be just in every situation. That was the standard God set for redemption.�
Again, being born blind or having any kind of disease is not a injustice or unfair. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. But since it had nothing to do with being unfair that he died for our sins as your first post stated, then where is your argument using his sacrifice to explain there is no such thing as fairness or if we wanted fairness then we need to die for the sins of others or are own?
Also, please don�t twist my words: �"It was an injustice to Jesus that his fellow man chose a criminal over him to be saved from the cross. No one is denying that fact." I standby this quote, because I was referring to Jesus the man, and in the eyes of man, it is always considered wrong or injustice to condemn an innocent man. I didn�t say the sacrifice wasn�t a just situation.
Are you lost and without direction for your life? Let's be F.A.I.R.
Posted : 28 Nov, 2016 09:22 PM
If Christ had been forced to pay for sin, (see the context of my original post) it would have been unfair/unjust, as He had no guilt, nor responsibility to pay as a man. However, He elected to make the payment of His own free will. That was entirely just. There is no contradiction in those two things. Jesus said it wasn't the Romans or the Jews, or anyone else that sent Him to the cross. "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." John 10:18
You are ignoring hundreds if not thousands of statements in scripture about God treating people unequally. There is no injustice in that. It is entirely fair, and just, and without any injustice of a man to pay for his own wrongs. Our sin is a moral wrong, and what is just, what the law requires, and what we have fairly earned for our sin, is death. "The wages of sin is death." That is what is fair viz a viz our sin. Romans 6:23 What is fair is for us to pay for our own sin. What is so difficult to understand that it is fair for someone to pay for their own sin? Do you actually think that it is somehow unfair to require someone to pay for their own sin when Almighty God has said that is what they have earned (their wages) for their sin?
You attempted to paint fair and just as competing thoughts when they are synonyms. You don't get to pigeonhole fair, and confine its definition to that which is less that what is commonly accepted.
You said: "How is it demonic to want to be treated fair?"
When Peter tried to assert that Jesus was being unfair in His treatment of him, it was totally demonic, and Jesus rebuked him to his face. John 21. Peter, like you, tried to impose his own idea of fairness upon God. God put him in his place instantly. If you can't see that your idea of injustice is at odds with the actions of God, as clearly portrayed by Christ's exchange with Peter at the seaside after His resurrection, then I leave you to learn the lesson the hard way. God will instruct you personally. He has given you strict commands about justice, including, but not limited to, leaving off with desire for vengeance, which He says is His sole domain. He orders us, commands us, to focus on our own shortcomings, our own deficiencies first, and for the leadership of the church to take on particular sins within the body through church discipline. He submitted Himself to the authority of the government established by God, and did not involve Himself in their daily business. He told us rather, get our hearts right, that the witness we bring will shine so bright that evil will be repelled. Not by our marches, but by our holy and humble conduct before men. That's how Jesus handled government and injustice. He told the people to do right in their hearts and in their lives. And herein is one of the biggest sources of trouble man experiences in his life:
"When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed�Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But you fear God." Ecclesiastes 5:4-6
People wonder why they constantly have trouble in their lives and constantly want to find someone else to blame. However: "As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come." Proverbs 26:2 People under a curse constantly cry about unfair treatment. They should be on their knees, instead of making speeches about the unfairness of life. They aren't in hell, which is nothing but their just due, their wages, what they've earned, what is fair. Clay, meet the Potter. He will crush you and start over as many times as He deems necessary to keep your attention. Does that seem unloving? It's the same Jesus who is going to "rule with a rod of iron", and crush His opposition. You see it in Psalm 2 and Revelation 19. He is also the God who promises me, that He is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy, that His tender mercies are over all of His works. Thanks God He doesn't treat me fairly, and give me what I have earned for my sin. I feel sorry for those who feel entitled to fair. They have hard lessons coming.
