Five-grade education

“What we think, we become,” followers of Buddha love to quote their guy as saying. “All you need is love,” is the big one from the Beatles.

“I think therefore I am,” Rene Descartes once philosophized. “Let the good times roll,” B.B. King famously belted out on his blues guitar.

 

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In I Cor. 14:19, the Apostle Paul assures, “Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.”

Jordan says Paul’s words made him wonder about places in the Word using five-word statements for fundamental understanding from God.

“Over the years I’ve found about three dozen of them that carry a lot of power; they’re just fascinating,” he explains.

“Numbers in the Bible have meaning and many of the numbers have more than one meaning. The best way to discover the meaning of a number in Scripture is to start in Genesis and just read.

“Take Genesis 1. Count the first five words: ‘In the beginning God created.’ That’s the foundation of everything. That’s the foundation of all of history, all of theology, all of life.

“ ‘In the beginning God created.’ There goes atheism right out the door.

“Notice God CREATED, so that means God is outside of creation. There goes pantheism and polytheism. What He created had a beginning. There goes materialism; the idea that matter is the ultimate reality.

“ ‘In the beginning God created.’ There goes deism; the idea that God doesn’t really get personally involved in creation.

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“Have you ever had anybody try to tell you that Albert Einstein believed in God? Someone asked Einstein one time (I read his testimony about this), ‘Do you believe in God?’ and he responded, ‘Well, if you mean a personal God who intervenes in history, then no. But if you mean an ultimate FORCE that is behind everything, then yes.’

“So as Hillary Clinton said the other day at the end of the debate, ‘The force be with you,’ well, that’s what Einstein would have said.

“But if you mean an intervening God who enters into human history, he would say, ‘No, I don’t believe that.’

“That’s called deism. It says there is a God but He doesn’t waste any time interfering in your life. He set things up, like you set up a clock. He wound the clock and punched it and goes off.

“ ‘In the beginning God created.’ What does that tell you about Creation? That tells you there’s a personal involvement, a personal plan, a personal activity. It’s a visible, supernatural presence. By the way, that’s the opposite of Kierkegaard’s existentialism.

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“What I’m saying is that all the philosophies men develop to try and create their own world, the first FIVE words in the Bible tell you that none of that is true.

“Where did it all come from? It came from God creating. People say, ‘How do you know there’s a God?’ Go look in the mirror. Who else would have created something that looks like you? I mean, look at you!

“If you doubt in ‘creation,’ just look around you; you can SEE it. That’s why Romans 1 tells you that everyone knows there’s a God. When He created you, He created you in such a way to know Him. So you have innately in your heart . . . there’s not anybody who says they don’t believe in God that hasn’t talked themselves into believing they don’t and so they read that verse, ‘In the beginning I created.’

“You need to understand something about mankind. Man’s attempt is to try and subvert God with himself. It doesn’t work and man’s attempt is to try to alibi away to get his own way.

“The first five words in your Bible set that straight. If you don’t get those first five words straight, the rest of the Bible’s not going to mean much too you.

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“Come to Romans 5:12 and notice another five words: ‘By one man sin entered.’ You know where the problem in Creation, the problem in your life comes from? That one man was a guy by the name of Adam.

“God gave Adam dominion over the earth and Satan coveted that dominion so he came along and deceived Adam into believing that Lie Satan propagated to him back there. Adam knowingly, willingly disobeyed the clear statement of God and sin entered the world.

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“I Cor. 15:3 says, ‘Christ died for our sins.’ Count the words. The Word that created everything was made flesh. He literally stepped outside of creation into creation and became one with us. He’s the one mediator between God and man. ‘Fully satisfying payment for us.’ That’s five words you want to remember.

“Count the words in, ‘And that he was buried.’ ‘And that he was sealed.’ He was buried and ‘rose again the third day.’ There’s five more words. ‘And that he was seen.’ There’s five more.

“All the message of the gospel there is in those five words. He died, He was buried. The death was real. It wasn’t a mystical, theological argument. It was a real death. Then He was raised from the dead.

“The theology is in the death and the resurrection. ‘And that he was seen’ is the historical validation. You understand your faith doesn’t rest in an enigma. It doesn’t rest in a theory. It doesn’t rest in some superstitious hoodilidoo.

“Come to Ephesians 2:5. Count the words in that parenthesis: ‘By grace ye are saved.’ See what I’m doing? Another five words that come along here and tell you everything you need to know.

“Colossians 2:10 says, ‘Ye are complete in him.’ How many words is that? Don’t forget that your completeness is in who God has made you in His Son.

“If you trust in Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit took you out of Adam and put you into Jesus Christ. Your identity isn’t in Adam anymore; it’s in Jesus Christ. His death became your death. The only answer to sin is death, so Christ died for you and you died with Him. His burial was your burial. He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. His resurrection is your resurrection.

“By the way, ‘I am crucified with Christ.’ How many words is that?

“Let’s do one more. Titus 2:13: ‘Looking for that blessed hope.’ You know what, we’ve got a good future ahead, folks. The Lord Jesus Christ could come at any moment and catch us away.

“And when Paul says, ‘So shall we ever be with the Lord,’ you’re going to be so one with Him that for Him to think it will be for you to do it. He’s got a job and fantastic things for you to be a part of as the Father exalts and glorifies His Son in all of creation.”

(new article tomorrow)