Making sense of it all.

[B-A-C]

We live in a world where logic has become the reason for believing a certain thing.

Evolution - it's only logical, so it must be true.
There is no God - it's only logical.

The problem with this is that many things that aren't logical or don't "make sense" to us mortal humans happen all the time.

It isn't logical that a woman would stay with her abusive husband, but it happens.
It isn't logical that a mother would love her child that has stolen from her, lied to her and hurt her so many times, but it happens.
It isn't logical that people smoke cigarette and do drugs, that doesn't make it any less true.
It isn't logical that the God of the universe would send his son to die for a world filled with unbelieving sinners, that doesn't mean it isn't true.

Some say the Holy Trinity isn't logical, they don't understand it, so it can't be true.
Some say people getting sent to hell for eternity doesn't make sense. So in their way of thinking, it must not be true.

There are many many verses in Bible about the wisdom of the World vs God's wisdom and about his ways being higher than our ways.
The thing to remember here is, we don't have to win the argument of logic. Only have to win the argument of truth.

Is worldly thinking what defines your truth? Or does the Word of God?

 

[Christ4Ever]

As you say brother. For those who have the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and King, it is the Holy Spirit who can provide them with guidance to understand. It's when we decide that our own ability to reason which is of the world and incorporate it with scripture and say this is truth, is when we can find ourselves in trouble. Even many Christians fail to see this, when it should be otherwise. The very foundation of why they shouldn't is evidenced I pray by their belief in Christ which is by faith.

From posting on another thread, I've come to see with greater clarity the following verses.

1 Corinthians 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

Thanks for sharing.
C4E

 

[Francis Drake]

We live in a world where logic has become the reason for believing a certain thing.

Evolution - it's only logical, so it must be true.
There is no God - it's only logical.

The problem with this is that many things that aren't logical or don't "make sense" to us mortal humans happen all the time.

It isn't logical that a woman would stay with her abusive husband, but it happens.
It isn't logical that a mother would love her child that has stolen from her, lied to her and hurt her so many times, but it happens.
It isn't logical that people smoke cigarette and do drugs, that doesn't make it any less true.
It isn't logical that the God of the universe would send his son to die for a world filled with unbelieving sinners, that doesn't mean it isn't true.

Some say the Holy Trinity isn't logical, they don't understand it, so it can't be true.
Some say people getting sent to hell for eternity doesn't make sense. So in their way of thinking, it must not be true.

There are many many verses in Bible about the wisdom of the World vs God's wisdom and about his ways being higher than our ways.
The thing to remember here is, we don't have to win the argument of logic. Only have to win the argument of truth.

Is worldly thinking what defines your truth? Or does the Word of God?

Excellent post. In fact, in his drive for only believing that which is "logical" man has become his own source or logos.

John1v1. In the beginning was the word, (logos) and the word (logos) was God. From this we can see that "The Word/logos of God" is clearly not the bible as some seem to think, but God himself. If man has no spiritual connection to God as his Logos, then he is left with only his own logic or logos as a source. He becomes God to himself.

With these thoughts, lets look at Adam in the Garden.
God clearly told Adam not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, otherwise he would die.

Despite the warning, Adam made that fateful but wrong choice and the rest, as we say, is history!
This is the very spot where mankind, with his own independent logic, reason, intellect, etc. as a separate source of authority from God, starts its dominion over this planet. Adam stages a palace coup. Sadly Adam was totally blind to the true nature of his sponsor, Satan.

What was the problem with the Tree of Knowledge? Did Adam really have to die from eating it? Was God threatening to kill Adam as punishment for such disobedience? The truth is simply that eating of the Tree of Knowledge was actually spiritual suicide. God didn't want to lose a son, but had to give him a freewill choice! This is the first of countless examples of "consequential" or self imposed punishment or tribulation in the bible.

The "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" could be paraphrased today as "The Tree of Knowledge of Right or Wrong". Mankind was never meant to be the independent source of such knowledge, that is the reserve of God.

Satan presented Adam with the notion that he could make himself like God. ie. Adam could become the boss.
Adam would no therefore longer need to commune with the Lord over such matters, he could just get on with the job of keeping the show on the road, like many Christians have always done! Gen3v5. "For God does know that in the day that you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be as God knowing good and evil."
If Adam chooses to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Right and Wrong, in order to be like God, then he is making the decision that he, Adam, should be the independent source of decisions for the planet. God had just been ousted.

Lets not forget that there was also another tree in the midst of the Garden. This is "The Tree of Life". What is this?
Scripture Prov3v18. tells us that Wisdom is a Tree of Life, or putting it the other way around, The Tree of Life is Wisdom.

It first requires humility to believe that there even is a Tree of Life, let alone eat from it! Adam could have chosen that tree instead, had he not had such high thoughts.

In fact all through proverbs it becomes clear that wisdom represents the whisper of God in our hearts. The only source of true wisdom is God alone. It is implicit from Genesis that Adam should have made his first choice to go to the Tree of Life and eat its fruit. Instead he listened to Satan. On making the decision to be the, God free, independent source of decisions for right or wrong, Adam's spirit connection to God died on the spot.

To make this clear we need to check the Genesis account. Gen2v18. "................... for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Many bibles at this point will have in the margin or the footnotes a comment that the original Hebrew has a double death in mind here. It could be translated as "in dying you shall die" ie. When you first die, you shall also die again. This was an initial spiritual death, followed by a subsequent physical death, neither of which the creation had ever experienced to that time.

There is a whole other story of the redemption which follows this episode, when Jesus seeks Adam in the Garden of Eden, but it is clear that mankind has always been just following the first Adam in his independent God-free pride. Like father like son. Sadly most Christians are much the same, they might be "born again from above, but they live from below with the man centered logic of the world as their source.

Just in case anyone thinks I am being judgmental, let me make it clear that I struggle daily with the Tree of Knowledge!
Thank God for the Blood of the Lamb.

 

[revbrad]

The wisdom of the world:

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools Romans 1:22

My search for wisdom:

For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2