Five on your side

Paul says in I Corinthians 14:19, “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.”

Starting with Genesis 1, there are at least three dozen places in the Word using five-word statements for fundamental understandings from God.

The first five words, "In the beginning God created," represent the foundation of everything; all of history, all of theology, all of life.

“Notice God CREATED, so that means God is outside of creation," reasons Jordan. "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.

“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.’

“ ‘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.

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

*****

“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.

“I Corinthians 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 hoodleydoo.

“Come to Ephesians 2:5 and count the words in the parenthesis: ‘By grace ye are saved.’ 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."

(new article tomorrow)