Tonight we got the chance to address a question that was emailed to me from the fom on this blog. I hope whoever sent it is reading this. The question was, "Is God Jesus' father?" It didn't take much discussion for the students to just say yes, but asked them to tell me how they knew. It's very important for you to know what you believe, but it's just as important to know why you believe it. There is a concept in the Bible that we refer to as the Trinity. We serve one God, but He exists in three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). That's how the Bible describes it. You won't find the word "trinity" in the Bible, but the concept is definitely there. When Jesus gave instructions on baptism in the great commission He told His disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19). The clearest reference to Jesus as the Son came at His baptism when the Father said, "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." (Mt 3:13-17). You see the trinity here again. The dove is the Holy Spirit. The Father speaks. The Son is baptized. This is one of those concepts that is a little hard for our human brains to grasp. It's one that we accept by faith knowing that God is bigger than we are.
What About Dinosaurs?
I don't remember the exact question, but someone asked about dinosaurs and where they fit on a timeline. Before I even get into this I have to say that I am no scholar on this topic, but I did a little research and it all makes sense. First we went straight to the creation account (Gen 1). The Bible says animals were made on the fifth day and man on the sixth. Therefore I believe dinosaurs and man roamed the earth at the same time. I did some research and it turns out there is a lot of evidence for this. First off the Bible talks about dinosaurs in a few places using the word "behemoth" or "leviathan". (Job 40 & 41, Psalm 104 and Isaiah 27). The word dinosaur isn't used, but that word wasn't invented until 1840 so that kind of makes sense. Computer isn't in the Bible either, but I don't see anyone arguing against their existence. Some believe dinosaurs were referred to as dragons in ancient times. There is also a lot of evidence for this. The other thing to think about is the fact that dinosaurs or dragons are used in a lot of designs on ancient pottery and artwork. They couldn't have gotten these images from fossils. They had to have seen them in real life. There are also some remote places in Africa and South America where tribes have described seeing what looks like dinosaurs in present day.
Here's something else to consider. Reptiles never stop growing until they die. Back before the flood people lived to be almost 1000 years old. It can probably be assumed that animals would have lived longer under the same conditions. This could account for the size of dinosaurs and why we don't see them today. Maybe present day lizards are what used to be dinosaurs. There are a lot of arguments that I'm probably not doing justice. You can check out this video:
http://www.drdino.com/dinosaurs-and-the-bible-seminar-part-3/ or this article:
http://toptenproofs.com/article_dinosaurs.php if you want some more info. The video is kind of long, but he's got some really good points in there.
The bottom line for me is this: The Bible gives a record of creation. The animals were created a day before the humans were. It's not a stretch for me to believe that dinosaurs and humans roamed the earth at the same time. I think I can believe that a lot easier than I can believe I came from a rock. To me that takes a crazy amount of faith. I'll choose to put my faith in a loving God who took care in creating me.
Vegetarians:
Finally someone asked about being a vegetarian. Is it a right or wrong issue? Is it a sin issue? There are many reasons that people choose to be vegetarian. I think it's completely up to them. If it is a moral decision for them then I applaud their committment. The Bible is clear that we are free to eat meat. God gave us dominion over the animals and there are several instances where eating meat is condoned. When it comes down to it, it's not a sin issue. You can choose to eat or not eat meat. Either way it isn't a sin.
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