What Is The “Prayer Of Faith”?

Biblegems #250

Question: What is meant by “the prayer of faith” in James 5:15?

James 5:15 reads, “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.”

Does the “prayer of faith” mean that if you believe hard enough in what you want God will give it to you? Sadly, that turns God into Santa Clause and every prayer request into Christmas morning. Prayer offered in faith, on the other hand, is our response to what God has already revealed.  Faith is “substance” and “evidence” (Heb. 11:1), not blind hope.

For example, Jesus taught his disciples that they could toss a mountain into the ocean if they believed with certainty it would happen:

         Mark 11:23 Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.

Was Jesus worried his disciples would start tossing mountains around like volleyballs simply because they believed they could? No! Biblical faith is based in knowing God and, through that intimate relationship with God, knowing what He wants to do—not what you want God to do for you.

Remember how Jesus prayed at the tomb after Lazarus had already been dead for four days?

         John 11:41-43 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Jesus did not make a practice of throwing mountains around, nor did He make a practice of raising everybody who died. Lazarus was raised, according to God’s plan, for a very specific purpose. Jesus already knew what God was going to do in raising Lazarus form the dead; but he prayed aloud so that those standing around would see Jesus’ intimate connection to God the Father. This is the “prayer of faith”: knowing God’s will before you pray, so that you can ask in confidence (1Jn 3:21-22).

When the elders of the church pray over the sick in obedience to God’s Word, God will often bring healing to both the body and the soul (Ja. 5:13-15). But during such times the Lord may also clearly reveal His intention to heal to one or more present. The person receiving that word from the Lord is to pray aloud, confident in God to do what He has promised. Then “the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven” (Ja. 5:15).

What Existed Before God?

Biblegems #249

Question: If God created the universe, what existed before God, or was He just alone, surrounded by nothing?

Science and the Bible agree: the universe had a beginning. Popular scientific theory calls it “the Big Bang,” where eternally existing matter and energy expanded from a super-heated black hole to the universe we know today. According to this, there was no “before” the Big Bang because time did not yet exist.

The Bible actually agrees—up to a point—with this scenario:

         Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

“The beginning”—time, as we experience it—had a beginning. Likewise, ”the heavens and the earth”—the universe of matter and energy—also had a beginning, by God’s design and command. The Bible, however, declares that there was a “before” time and a cause behind all matter and energy. That “cause” is God Himself, who brought all things into being through His eternal Son, Jesus Christ, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.

         John 1:1-3, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning. (3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. …(14)The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us….

This passage tells us that Jesus pre-existed creation. He “was God,” and He “was with God in the beginning.” God created all that exists through Jesus, as it says in verse three. Then Jesus entered His own creation as a man (v. 14). Throughout Scripture God is described as one Spirit Being who is by nature a plurality of persons: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This plurality is reflected in the creation of Adam and Eve:

         Gen. 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…

        

Humanity—male and female—in the limited physical realm reflects the plurality of God in the spiritual realm: three persons in one Being.

Before creation God existed eternally, but He was never alone; and creation reflects His nature. Just as a work of art reflects the imagination and skill of the artist, even revealing much of the artist’s personality and values, so creation reflects who God is and what He values most:

         Rom. 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Throughout eternity past God enjoyed perfect love: the wonder and beauty of deep, intimate relationship—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The creation of a universe rich in relationships, community and, especially on the human level, interpersonal love that sometimes even reaches the pinnacle of putting the interests of others above our own, reflects what God has experienced perfectly for all eternity. We love because God is love, for we are created in His image.

         Cor. 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Does A Literal Adam & Eve Matter?

Biblegems # 248

Question: Does the existence of a literal Adam and Eve really matter?

Contemporary science and the Bible propose distinctly different definitions of what it means to be human.

Modern definitions of “human” vary, but all share this fundamental understanding:

         “Human” means the only surviving species that evolved hundreds of thousands of years ago from a common group (Genus) identified as “Homo,” which in turn evolved from the great apes millions of years ago. Homo-sapiens (humans) walk on two feet, possess manual dexterity, have more complex brains and more complex societies than other animals.

The Bible portrays humanity as a distinctly unique “kind” of being, created fully mature, one male and one female, on the sixth day of the universe’s existence, for the purpose of exercising dominion over the newly created earth (Gen. 1:28).

         Gen. 5:1-2  This is the written account of Adam’s family line. When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created.  (NIV ’11)

Either, one is correct and the other incorrect, or else both are incorrect. Both cannot be true; they are mutually exclusive. One view assumes man is an accidental byproduct of millions of years of evolution, which in turn is the accidental byproduct of billions of years of evolution emanating from the Big Bang. The other view assumes the existence of God, the Creator of all that exists, who brought a fully formed universe and mature human beings into existence for His specific purpose.

         Col. 1:16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

The ramifications of these two conflicting worldviews are profound. According to the current scientific worldview, matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed (First Law of Thermodynamics), and that all matter and energy steadily decays (Second Law of Thermodynamics). In other words, the universe is falling apart.

Unfortunately, these two “laws” are in conflict with each other. The Second Law describes a universe in a constant and steady state of chaos, decay and death, implying that there was once a “beginning” when everything was in perfect order, and that there will be an “end” when everything finally falls apart. But a “beginning” and an “end” contradict the First Law—that matter and energy have no beginning or end!

        

The Bible, however, makes sense of this apparent contradiction:

         Rom. 5:12b   …sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin and in this way death came to all people… (Second Law).

Death and decay are the result of man’s rebellion against God, who created of all matter and energy in the beginning (First Law).

But—

         Rom. 5:17  …if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Predestined For Hell?

Biblegems #247

Question: If God knows all things—past, present and future—before they happen, does this mean that He condemns people to hell before they are even born?

First, God is all knowing:

         Heb. 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Second, hell was created for Satan and his rebellious angels, not people, even though millions will end up there:

         Matt. 25:41  “Then he will say to those (people at the Judgment) on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Think of it this way—farmlands and cities were never intended to be a place for thousands of mutilated bodies, yet millions have ended up there as the result of war.

The word “cursed” Jesus used in the verse above is the Greek word kataraomai, meaning, “doomed”. The idea is that these people standing before God on Judgment Day are beyond the point of rescue. Like the last moment before impact in a car crash, when the time to turn the wheel or apply the break is passed, collision is inevitable—it is doomed to happen.

Third, although God knows everything in advance, He allows for human free will. The apostle Peter reminds followers of Jesus how choices in life-style are theirs to make:

         1Pet. 4:3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.

Some things, however, God does predetermine to take place to fulfill His purpose for creation. The apostles, for example, were specifically predestined by God for their role as apostles:

         Eph. 1:11  In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…

God does not predetermine in advance who is going to hell because He desires that no one end up there. The time we have on this planet, individually and for the human race, is our opportunity to swerve out of its path. If our loyalties lie with living for self-interest rather than for God we will perish. If our loyalties lie with Jesus, who rescues us for life in His Kingdom, we will enjoy eternal life:

         2Pet. 3:9  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The entire human race is on a collision course with hell. Like children born in Hiroshima or Nagasaki before the A-bomb hit, we are born into a world doomed to destruction due to the choices of others made long before we were born. Because God sees all things, He sent His Son Jesus into the world to rescue us from certain destruction:

         John 3:16-17  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.