March 1996

Parenting in the 90s • ‘Christ, Our Passover, Was Sacrificed for Us’Does Easter Commemorate Jesus Christ’s Resurrection?

Parenting in the 90s • ‘Christ, Our Passover, Was Sacrificed for Us’Does Easter Commemorate Jesus Christ’s Resurrection?

Teaching Youth Proper Values

Teaching Youth Proper Values

2 The Good News

March 1996 Volume 1, Number 2

The Good News is published bimonthly by the UnitedChurch of God, an International Association, P.O. Box661780, Arcadia, CA 91066-1780. © 1995 UnitedChurch of God, an International Association. Printed inU.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any formwithout written permission is prohibited. Application tomail at second-class postage rates is pending at Arcadia,Calif., 91006, and at additional mailing offcies.

United Church of God president: David HulmeManaging editor: Scott Ashley

Copy editors: Dixon Cartwright, Peter MooreArt director: Shaun Venish

Editorial reviewers:

John Bald, Roger Foster, Bruce Gore, Paul Kieffer, Rod McQueen, John Meakin, Brian Orchard, Richard Thompson, Lyle Welty, Dean Wilson

United Church of God council of elders:

Gary Antion, Robert Dick (chairman), Jim Franks, Roy Holladay, Doug Horchak, David Hulme,

Victor Kubik, Dennis Luker, Burk McNair, Peter Nathan, Leon Walker, Donald Ward

Photography: Images provided by © 1994 PhotoDisc,Inc., except pages 5, 6, 7, 31 Gazelle Technologies;page 32, Shaun Venish.Scriptural references are from the New King JamesVersion (© 1988 Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers) unlessotherwise noted.Subscriptions: The Good News is sent automatically tomembers of the United Church of God and is free to allwho request it. Your subscription is provided by the gen-erous, voluntary contributions of members of the UnitedChurch of God, an International Association, and their co-workers. Donations are gratefully accepted and are tax-deductible. To request a subscription, write to The GoodNews, United Church of God, P.O. Box 661780, Arcadia,CA 91066-1780, or to the international addresses below.Personal contact: The United Church of God has morethan 250 congregations and 400 ministers in virtually allstates and many international areas. For locations andtimes of services nearest you, write or call the addresseslisted or dial our fax information service at (317) 839-5002. You can access our World Wide Web home pageat http://www.ucg.org/ on the Internet.Address changes: POSTMASTER—Send addresschanges to The Good News, Box 661780, Arcadia,CA 91066-1780.

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From the publisherThe Good News is dedicated to explaining the Word of God in a direct,

fresh and innovative way. This is a significant niche we seek to fillbecause we live in a world of biblical illiteracy. Despite all we hear aboutthe explosion of interest in spirituality, the desire for knowledge beyondthe purely physical does not seem to lead most people to biblical truth.

In this issue you will find a concentration of articles on the significanceof that most important of Christian concepts—the death of a Savior formankind. The true story of Jesus and His death as the symbolic Passoverlamb brings with it a series of significant conclusions. It means, for exam-ple, that His death and resurrection should be examined in the context ofEaster traditions. When did Jesus die, how long was He dead and whenwas He resurrected? These are all important questions for which there arebiblical answers that defy traditional explanations. And as Wilbur Bergpoints out in his article, substituting non-biblical ceremonies and memori-als for those God commands is not a way to please Him.

The Passover ceremony as practiced by the early New TestamentChurch was initiated by Jesus Christ Himself on the eve of His death.The singling out of bread and wine as symbols of His own sacrifice wasan act that has reverberated down the centuries and kept Jesus’ sacrificealive in His followers’ memories. Does the New Testament Passover cer-emony have a deeper meaning than traditionally assumed? Bill Brad-ford’s article provides some provocative insights.

Sin and repentance, are, of course, central to any discussion of theneed for Christ’s sacrifice. This month’s Bible study, by Ron Weinland,focuses on repentance, and Les McCullough and Roger Foster, in theirarticles, explain sin’s hold on us and how that death grip can be released.

The Passover in ancient Israel signified the beginning of a new roundof Holy Days. In a New Testament context, the annual Holy Days revealthe marvelous plan of God for all humanity. Jesus Christ’s coming illu-minated many things, including the spiritual implications of each HolyDay in the year. Jerry Aust explains why Christ is our Passover andLarry Neff helps us understand the Holy Days of the New Testament.

Actively living the life of a Christian has never been an easy choice.Some years ago, I asked George Gallup Jr. whether he considered theUnited States a religious nation. He replied that it depended on howdeeply you probed with your survey questions. A simple “Which religion are you?” produced a positive percentage in the high 90s. However, whenthe respondees were asked about regular church attendance, the percent-age dropped to the low 40s. The most telling statistic came when thosesurveyed were asked about evidence of their religious commitment indaily life. Now the percentage fell to less than 10 percent.

Could successful Christian parenting make a difference to these num-bers? David Treybig believes it could. His article is the subject of ourcover story “Teaching Youth Religious Values.” Along with regular fea-tures “Profiles in Faith” and “World News and Trends,” this month’sissue is completed with some encouragement from Cecil Maranville toalways be ready to make a new beginning, and from Elaine Jacobs, whoasks that simple hospitality be returned to everyday life.

Biblical literacy and a practical approach to Christianity go hand inhand and demonstrate the value of the gospel of Jesus Christ and theKingdom of God to humanity. That’s good news.

—David Hulme

March 1996 3

COVER FEATURE

Teaching Youth Religious Values

Secular society has largely abandoned instructing childrenin religious values, with devastating consequences forindividuals and families. What does the Bible say aboutpassing values from generation to generation? And whatare your responsibilities as a parent? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

FEATURE ARTICLES

Parenting in the 90sDealing with the challenges of parenting in today’s world . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Are the Biblical Holy Days for New Testament Christians?Why are the Holy Days of the early Church largely ignored today? . . . . . 10Did You Sin Today?A vital question with a sobering answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14‘Christ, Our Passover, Was Sacrificed for Us’What does Jesus Christ’s sacrifice mean for you? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Does Easter Commemorate Jesus Christ’s Resurrection?The surprising story behind this religious holiday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20What Is the Value of a Life?Just how valuable is the life of a human being? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Three Strikes and You’re Out—or Are You?When we strike out, is the game over for us? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26The Passover Bread and WineThe significance of the bread and wine commanded by Jesus Christ . . . . 32The Lesson of the Feast of Unleavened BreadThe road to true freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Who Delivers Us From Sin?Reasons to rejoice in the Passover season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39If I Knew Then What I Know NowGod provides a way for us to start over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Keep It Simple, Warm and CozyImportant lessons about the meaning of hospitality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

REGULAR FEATURES

World News and TrendsWhat lies ahead for the British monarchy and commonwealth?. . . . . . . . . . . 8Profiles in FaithSarah: a story of virtue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Understanding God’s WordWhat is repentance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Letters From Our Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Just for YouthThe world’s most wanted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Contents

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4 The Good News

he great experiment invalue-neutral educationis over. This movement,which advocated theidea that parents andeducators should refrain

from teaching young people moral val-ues and allow them to determine theirown values, has been a tragic failure.The results include an escalating rateof sexually transmitted diseases, higherrates of children born out of wedlock,and broken marriages.

Not teaching any values tells youngpeople that nothing is wrong. Every-thing is okay! In such a vacuum, nowonder so many young people makepoor choices that affect them for therest of their lives.

Parents who have agonized overwhether or not to teach their childrenreligious values should notice whatGod says. In Ephesians 6:4 the apostlePaul said, “And you, fathers, do notprovoke your children to wrath, butbring them up in the training andadmonition of the Lord.” Paul did notadvocate value-neutral education. He,by contrast, encouraged fathers toteach their children God’s values. Thisstatement was simply a continuation ofthe same principle God gave the Israel-ite families in the Old Testament.

Command to instruct childrenWhen God gave Israel His eternal

laws, He told them, “And these wordswhich I command you today shall bein your heart. You shall teach them dili-gently to your children, and shall talkof them when you sit in your house,when you walk by the way, when youlie down, and when you rise up”(Deuteronomy 6:6, 7).

Here, God not only told parents toteach their children His ways, but Hesaid to be diligent about it. He also saidto do it throughout the day when theywere sitting, walking, going to bed orgetting up in the morning. This is all-inclusive; not much time is left.

The people of the Bible clearlyunderstood God’s direction to teachchildren His ways. Abraham, called thefriend of God in James 2:23, was givenhigh praise by God for teaching hischildren and household God’s way.

Genesis 18:19 says, “For I haveknown him, in order that he may com-mand his children and his householdafter him, that they keep the way ofthe LORD, to do righteousness and jus-tice, that the LORD may bring to Abra-ham what He has spoken to him.”Abraham was conscientious in obey-ing God, and his descendants—Isaac,Jacob and Joseph—also diligently fol-lowed God’s ways.

King Solomon understood that whenwe reach maturity, we reflect the train-ing we have received as children(Proverbs 22:6). This also includes reli-gious training. History clearly showsthat Israel did neglect teaching andobeying God’s laws as given in Deuter-onomy 6, and they suffered the tragicresults. The verses previously cited inDeuteronomy and Ephesians clearlyshow that God expects parents to teachtheir children His religious values.

Teaching is based on loveThe biblical passages dealing with

parenting express God’s will that ourchildren be treated with love, dignityand respect. Love is the foundationalprinciple for all Christian relationships(Matthew 22:37-40; John 13:34, 35).

T H E C O V E R F E A T U R E

Teaching Youth Religious Values

“And these words which

I command you today

shall be in your heart;

you shall teach them

diligently to your

children, and shall talk

of them when you sit in

your house, when you

walk by the way, when

you lie down, and when

you rise up”.

Tb y D a v i d T r e y b i g

Jesus Christ said that obeying theTen Commandments expresses lovetoward God and love toward ourneighbor.

Just as God gives us laws becauseHe loves us, we must give our chil-dren rules if we love them (Hebrews12:7). Loving our children doesinclude discipline. Child psycholo-gist James Dobson has written awell-known book, Dare to Disci-pline, which advocates this biblicalprinciple.

Establishing fair rules and punish-

ments for breaking those rules hasbeen described as setting up bound-aries. The purpose of boundaries isfor our children to learn appropriatebehavior and to feel secure. Proverbs29:17 (New International Version)says, “Discipline your son, and hewill give you peace; he will bringdelight to your soul.”A value-neutral or lack-of-rulesapproach is a mistake for childrenand parents. Proverbs 29:15 says that“a child left to himself brings shameto his mother.”

Authority not to be abusedBecause humans have a tendency

to abuse authority, some have mis-takenly concluded that all authorityis bad. This is not true. God intendedthat authority be used for good(Romans 13:1-4). Jesus commandedhis disciples not to “lord it over” oth-ers in the Church (Matthew 20:25-28). In similar fashion, Colossians

3:21 says, “Fathers, do not provokeyour children, lest they become dis-couraged.”

Ephesians 6:4 also tells parentsnot to use forms of authority thatintimidate, bully or make childrenangry. Physical and emotional abuseof children is thus expressly forbid-den by God. To those who foolishlyreject God’s direction on this issue,Proverbs 11:29 declares, “He whotroubles his own house will inheritthe wind.”

Because physical and emotional

abuse tends to continue through suc-cessive generations, some adults whowere abused as children may find itdifficult to break the cycle. WithGod’s help and a strong desire, how-ever, this scourge can be conquered.

Much has been written to helpindividuals who sincerely want tochange, and the encouragement of older successful parents can go a long way toward helping adultsadopt positive parenting roles. Titus2:2-6 speaks of the older peopleteaching and modeling properbehavior for the younger.

Amazingly, this principle of mod-eling good behavior has even beenfound effective in teaching primatesbetter parenting skills. (See “PrimatesLearn Better Parenting,” this page.)

An inclusive, relational approachNotice Jesus Christ’s attitude

toward children. Several passages inthe New Testament record Jesus

March 1996 5

PRIMATES LEARNBETTER PARENTING

Animal research does not alwaystranslate into simple solutions to humanproblems, but maybe zoo keepers andsocial workers ought to talk. In recentyears, zoo keepers faced a problem ofape mothers mistreating their offspring.

Researchers found three effectiveways of reducing the problem: 1. pro-viding better living quarters, 2. placingnew mothers with other female pri-mates (the equivalent of grandmothers,aunts, and cousins) and 3. allowing theinexperienced mother to learn fromother good mothers. This programreduced the rate of abuse from 75% inthe 1970’s to only about 2% now.Amazingly, researchers found thatwhen abusive mothers were givenexamples of good mothering, theybecame better parents within only afew days.

Prior to the inception of this programfor apes, the standard procedure hadbeen to take infants away from theirmothers and raise them in a nursery.Unfortunately, most of the apes raisedin this manner almost always turnedout worse than their parents. Aboutthree out of four of these apes wouldreject their own offspring, sometimesbeating or even killing their infants.Needless to say, this practice was discon-tinued for apes.

A human program with interestingsimilarities was recently sponsored bythe University of Rochester. New moth-ers were regularly visited in their homesby nurses who tried to cultivate warmrelationships during a period of timeprior to birth and for the next twoyears. The nurses taught the mothershow to play and talk to their children.Close friends and relatives were alsoencouraged to help. Finally, the moth-ers were helped to find jobs and obtainpublic assistance.

The result was that only 4% of thelow-income teenage mothers abused orneglected their children as comparedwith 19% of those who were not visit-ed by the nurses (“The biologicalroots of good mothering” by ArtLevine, U.S. News & World Report,February 25, 1991. p. 61).

rebuking His disciples for trying tokeep little children away from Him(Matthew 19:13, 14; Mark 10:13, 14; Luke 18:15, 16). He had a positive atti-tude toward children and showed thempersonal attention by picking them upin his arms, praying for them and usingthem as teaching examples for adults.

Christ was not too important or toobusy to give them some of His time.We need to remember that God con-siders our children holy (1 Corinthians7:14). We, too, must treat childrenwith dignity.

In Deuteronomy 6:20-25, where Godinstructed the families of ancient Israelabout the importance of obeying God’slaws for their collective good, the fre-quent use of the pronouns we, us, andour, is significant. For instance, in verse25: “Then it will be righteousness forus, if we are careful to observe all thesecommandments before the LORD ourGod, as He has commanded us.” Godobviously intended for parents toinclude their children in matters of fam-ily obedience. God wants parents toexpect their children to obey Him.

In one of the most passionate pleas

to influence behavior, God, as ourHeavenly Father, straightforwardlyinstructed ancient Israel in His laws,and the consequences of obeying ordisobeying them. God concludes Hisplea, recorded in Deuteronomy 28-30,with these words: “I call heaven andearth as witnesses today against you,that I have set before you life anddeath, blessing and cursing; thereforechoose life, that both you and yourdescendants may live” (30:19).

Did you notice? God did not attemptto be value neutral. He told Israel to“choose life” for their own good. We,too, must be passionate about our desirefor our children to adopt God’s stan-dards as their own. We must work tohelp them do so and strive to influencethem to make that free moral choice.

Personal exampleOur own example is paramount in

properly influencing our children.Children are quick to notice discrepan-cies between what we adults ask themnot to do and what we do ourselves. Insome cases those differences are logi-cally defensible. For instance, childrenshould not drive cars if they do nothave the skills necessary for safelyoperating a vehicle. It is a differentstory, however, when children see

a double standard on moral issues. Paul pointed out this principle to

Jews who were trying to influence gen-tiles: “You, therefore, who teach anoth-er, do you not teach yourself? You whopreach that a man should not steal, doyou steal? You who say, ‘Do not com-mit adultery,’ do you commit adultery?You who abhor idols, do you rob tem-ples? You who make your boast in thelaw, do you dishonor God throughbreaking the law? For ‘The name ofGod is blasphemed among the Gentilesbecause of you,’ as it is written”(Romans 2:21-24).

Parents cannot expect a “do as I sayand not as I do” approach to bring suc-cess. Regardless of what parents say,most young people will adopt theirparents’ standards and lifestyles by thetime they reach 25 to 35 years of age.In this case, actions do speak louderthan words!

So when it comes to teaching valuesto our children, it is impossible to beneutral and God does not want us to beneutral. We adults have to concentratefirst of all on being good examplesourselves. Then we can have greaterexpectations of successfully influenc-ing our children to obey God for theirown good. GN

6 The Good News

Parenting in the 90sb y D a v i d T r e y b i g

T H E C H R I S T I A N F A M I L Y

Parenting in the 90s

The chances for

successful parenting

are aided by a deep

commitment to the

biblical principle that

children are truly a

blessing, well worth

the time and energy

that will be required.

Today there is great concernthat the youth of Westernsociety are caught in arelentless downward spiral—“going to hell in

a handbasket” as some describe it.

In a world of drugs, crime and emotional upheaval, the schools are often blamed. Yet school administratorspoint out they are getting a different kindof student than was common in the1950s. Back then, most youths grew upin families where both parents lived inthe same house and Mother stayed home to rear the kids.

Obviously, in the 1990s circum-stances have changed. What can today’sparents do to help their children growup to be solid, productive, emotionallystable adults?

King Solomon, who ruled Israelalmost 3,000 years ago, said God wasthe foundation of successful families. In Psalm 127:1 he wrote: “Unless theLORD builds the house, they labor invain who build it . . .”

Adopting God’s values for familiesand rearing children is the best startingpoint for a successful job of parenting in the 1990s and beyond. Let’s exploresome of the basic principles of parentingrevealed in the Bible.

Children are a blessing

In verse three of Psalm 127, Solomonsaid, “Behold, children are a heritagefrom the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Children are described as a heritage or inheritance from God,a reward or blessing.

Unfortunately, not everyone viewschildren in such a positive light. Abumper sticker reads, “I’m sufferingfrom a sexually transmitted disease—children.” It’s a quip that representschildren as expensive, time-consuminginconveniences. The godly perspectiveis that children are wonderful blessings.

Because the family is the most basicbuilding block of society, parentingchildren is one of the most important

things a couple can do. It shouldinspire both husband and wife to agreater level of personal maturity asthey endeavor to make their part of the world a peaceful place for theirprogeny.

The chances for successful parentingare aided by a deep commitment to thebiblical principle that children are truly

a blessing, well worth the time andenergy that will be required. Most people on their death beds do not wishthey had spent more time earningmoney. They most often regret notspending more time with their childrenand loved ones.

In a society of ever increasing singleparents and economic pressures, manychildren are placed in day-care facilitiesso their parents can go to work. Theproliferation of single parents and thelack of time spent with children arewidely known to be detrimental tosound, stable families.

Sound marriages are important

Child psychologist and newspapercolumnist John Rosemond often citeshow important it is for children to seetheir biological fathers and mothers hap-pily married. He said, “Parents must firstcenter the family around themselves, pay-

Continued on page 31

March 1996 7

8 The Good News

Why does it matter what happens to the British monarchy?

For most of this century, the newsmedia have told the stories of the per-sonalities and scandals of the Britishroyal family. This is why, understand-ably, so many people continue to befascinated with the royal House ofWindsor. The essential story to know,however, is that of the major interna-tional and historical role of the Britishmonarchy.

A short historyThe British monarchy is well over

1,000 years old. The queen can traceher ancestry back more than a millenni-um. But it is only in this century thatthe monarchy has taken on the role thatis familiar to people today.

After a century of turmoil, civil war and revolution, which reduced thepowers of the monarchy, Great Britainwas left without a royal head of statewhen Queen Anne died, in 1714. Someproposed that this was again the timefor a comparatively liberal, educatedand enlightened nation to rid itself ofthe expense of a monarchy and replaceit with a presidency.

But an earlier experience of a repub-lic had not been a pleasant one. AfterKing Charles I had been executed 65years previously, he was replaced by arepublican form of government underthe leadership of Oliver Cromwell.Although Cromwell was a great man in many respects, there were too manyabuses of power under his rule for peo-ple to forget. Even after Cromwell’sdeath, when Charles I’s son wasbrought back from exile in France tobe a constitutional monarch, and a sys-

tem of checks and balances was inplace that left the king some powers,Parliament remained as the real powerin the country.

Determined to find an heir to QueenAnne in 1714, the government traced adistant relative in the German electorateof Hanover. The king of Hanover, oneof the monarchs who elected theRoman emperor, was asked to move to London and become king of GreatBritain and its overseas possessions.

The present royal family is directlydescended from the German king,George. The family name was changedto Windsor during World War I.

Britain has enjoyed unrivaled stabili-ty for almost 300 years under thedescendants of that first Hanoverianking. A system of checks and balancesbetween monarchy and Parliament hasbrought the British political stabilityduring times of upheaval and changethroughout the centuries. No othergreat power enjoyed such stability.Neighboring France has experiencedvarious republics and monarchies. TheUnited States has suffered two internalconflicts, one of which (the Revolu-

tionary War) was itself over the issueof the monarchy.

Britain’s stable political system wasexported throughout the world to heroverseas possessions.

Later, totally independent nationswere to embrace it voluntarily. In 1867,when Canada became an independentdemocratic country, it wanted to retainBritain’s Queen Victoria as its ownmonarch. Taking inspiration fromPsalm 72:8, the Canadians decided to

call themselves a dominion, withVictoria as queen.

Within the next 50 years, threemore dominions were added: Australia,New Zealand and South Africa. Allwere completely independent butshared a common allegiance to theBritish monarch in what was tobecome known as the British Com-monwealth.

A multitude in unisonThese dominions, along with

Britain’s colonies, were to play a majorrole in the defense of the free world inthe 20th century, a role that today islargely forgotten.

What Lies Aheadfor the BritishMonarchy andCommonwealth?

Shown is the royal flag of the House of Windsor with flags of the major members of the commonwealth:

Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, South Africa and Canada.

Illu

stra

tio

n b

y Sh

aun

Ven

ish

March 1996 9

In both world wars, when Britaindeclared war on Germany, troops weremobilized throughout the empire(Britain’s colonies) and commonwealth(the independent dominions). A multi-tude of nations went to war in com-plete unison, holding the front line offreedom in defense of Western civiliza-tion. Only later did the United Statesget involved.

This was the strength of the BritishEmpire and British Commonwealth:It was a multitude of nations, heldtogether by the throne, independentnations sharing an allegiance to theroyal House of Windsor. They alsoshared a stable political system built on individual rights and the rule of law,with ideals of freedom and democracyheld in common.

Together, they twice gained the vic-tory against tyranny.

Britain was not aloneIn the First World War, every self-

governing territory in the empire enteredthe war voluntarily on the side of GreatBritain. Canadians fought in France atthe Battle of Vimy Ridge, Australiansand New Zealanders at Gallipoli, theSouth Africans against Germans on thecontinent of Africa itself.

When Britain declared war on Ger-many on September 3, 1939, therewere those who believed the dominionswould not rush to her aid. After all,Britain was far away. Canada reliedmore on ties with the United States forits trade.

But all the nations of the empire andcommonwealth again voted to help themother country in her time of need.These countries all went through bothworld wars from start to finish.

People often talk of the plight ofBritain standing alone in 1940 whendefeat seemed inevitable, but such wasnot the case. The dominions and colo-nies were all supporting Britain—onequarter of the world’s people, a multi-tude of nations that gave Britain thestrength to defy Hitler’s Third Reich.

The United States helped Britainwith its lend-lease program, but thisfinancial and material help had strictconditions. Britain had to give Americaher gold reserves and foreign invest-

ments, thereby transferring its leader-ship role to Washington. The dominionof Canada, on the other hand, gaveunconditional aid, proportionately moregenerous than the lend-lease program.

World War II was an imperial war.The British Empire and British Com-monwealth fought together as neverbefore. It was a free association ofpeoples and governments, and it endedin victory. The war demonstrated theimportance of the commonwealth tothe cause of freedom, the need toremain a multitude of nations dedicat-ed to working together to preservefreedom no matter the cost.

Great Britain and the dominionscould have drawn the moral that thecommonwealth provided a foundationfor their greatness and security, indi-vidually and collectively.

However, any lessons were quicklyforgotten.

Dramatic inward shiftThe whole system was to change

dramatically after World War II. TheBritish people were tired of fightingseemingly endless conflicts around theworld and voted for a political transfor-mation in 1945. Out went the victori-ous government of Winston Churchill.In came Clement Atlee’s Labour gov-ernment, with a more inward-lookingapproach.

The dismantling of the BritishEmpire began with independence forthe nations of the Indian subcontinent.Instead of spending money administer-ing these far-flung outposts of empire,the British people wanted money spenton themselves. Universal medical cov-erage, an extensive welfare system andthe public ownership of many indus-tries were priorities for the new social-ist administration.

Before the war, Britain was one of the first to recover from the GreatDepression and enjoyed a standard ofliving three or four times higher thanthat of any other nation in Europe. Buteconomic decline followed, and todayit is one of the poorest nations inWestern Europe.

Rapid decolonization took place in the 1950s and 1960s, with Britain

divesting itself of almost all of its over-seas possessions. In 1961 South Africawas the first dominion to break away,turning itself into a republic outside ofthe commonwealth.

European obsessionDuring the 1960s, Britain began

looking elsewhere for trade ties, join-ing the European Community in 1973.Successive British governmentsseemed to forget the loyalty and com-mitment of the British overseas domin-ions. Britain became obsessed withEurope.

As Britain pursues closer ties withher European neighbors, what willbecome of the dominions? Canada isnow a member of the North AmericanFree Trade Association (NAFTA).Australia and New Zealand lookincreasingly to Asia, and South Africalooks to its neighbors on the Africancontinent.

Meanwhile, independence has beengranted to almost all Britain’s coloniesin Africa, Asia, the Pacific and theCaribbean. All these nations chose toremain within the commonwealth, butmost decided to become republics,with their own presidents, rather thanretaining the queen as their head ofstate. Although most at some pointsubsequently rejected democracy and became dictatorships, at least for a time, some have attempted a return to democracy.

The British Commonwealth ofNations was renamed the Common-wealth of Nations. The queen is stillthe head of the commonwealth, butthere is no guarantee that the title willpass to her successor.

Indifferent to freedomThe commonwealth today is alto-

gether different from the British Com-monwealth that existed during the firsthalf of this century. The nations thatwere members of the British Common-wealth shared not only the commonbond of loyalty to the crown, but theideals of democracy, the rule of lawand a love of freedom. They were will-ing to fight together to preserve free-dom at any cost.

Continued on page 23

lthough I do not rememberthe exact event, I know that

the first time I heard aboutGod’s Holy Days was in

August of 1951. I wasseven years old, and my parents wereattending a religious service inPortland, Oregon.

Our family had observed Christmas,Easter and Halloween throughout myshort life. I remember observing thoseholidays and that I did not want to givethem up.

I also remember that as I began toexperience God’s true Holy Days, theywere much more meaningful andenjoyable—even to a young boy.Eventually, I came to understand whythis was so. I also came to understandthat the days our family had observedearlier are not commanded in the Bible,and that the Holy Days described inLeviticus 23 are commanded in bothOld and New Testaments.

The days labeled by many as “OldTestament Jewish days” are very mucha part of the legacy left to us by JesusChrist and the apostles. It has alwayspuzzled me that people observe “reli-gious” holidays not commanded orobserved by God’s servants in either theOld or the New Testament, while at thesame time ignoring those days that arecommanded in the Bible.

Common senseEven while I was still in high school,

I discovered that in the King JamesVersion the word translated “Easter” inActs 12:4 was an erroneous translationof the Greek word pascha, a word clear-ly meaning the Passover (described in

Leviticus 23:5). Later, I learned that itwas not until the second century, longafter the New Testament was written,that people began to replace the Passoverobservance with Easter.

It became more and more impor-tant to me to look to the Bible to see

what it said, and what Jesus and theapostles did. I was not so interested in what other people did later, peoplewho adopted the practices of thosewho observed celebrations involvingfalse, non-existent gods.

Common sense told me that to asso-ciate the name of Jesus with such daysdid not make them any more accept-able. Christ said, “These people drawnear to Me with their mouth, Andhonor Me with their lips, but their heartis far from Me. And in vain they wor-ship Me, teaching as doctrines the com-

mandments of men” (Matthew 15:8, 9). What days are not commanded by

our Savior? And which ones does Hecommand? What does His example ofobedience to the Father reveal (John15:10)? Does it please God when wetake to ourselves the right to decidehow to worship him, while bypassingHis example and the instructions ofthe Bible?

We have all been instructed to walkas He walked (1 John 2:6). And theChurch is built on the foundation of theapostles, along with the prophets andJesus Christ as the chief cornerstone.Let’s consider the New Testament evi-dence for the Holy Days. Let’s see thatthe evidence overwhelmingly points tothe need for Christians today to observethese days. The rich spiritual meaningof some of these days is discussed inother articles in this issue.

Christ observed the Holy DaysIt is certainly clear that the Messiah

did not observe Christmas, Halloween,Easter or any similar days. Instead, Heand His family observed the HolyDays given by God in the Bible. “Hisparents went to Jerusalem every yearat the Feast of the Passover. And whenHe was twelve years old, they went upto Jerusalem according to the customof the feast” (Luke 2:41, 42). Thisincluded the entire festival, whichinvolved the Days of UnleavenedBread (Luke 12:43; Leviticus 23:5-8).

About 18 years later, we find JesusChrist still observing this same festival.“Now the Passover of the Jews was athand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem”(John 2:13). It is called the Passover of

Are the Biblical Holy Days for New

Testament Christians?b y L a r r y N e f f

10 The Good News

I also came tounderstand that

the days our familyhad observed are

not commanded inthe Bible, and that

the Holy Daysdescribed in

Leviticus 23 arecommanded.

A

the Jews because the Jews observed it;whereas Gentiles did not. In reality,God gave all the Holy Days as Hisdays, saying “These are My feasts”(Leviticus 23:2).

A little after this, in John 5:1 we see Jesus’ involvement in another of the biblical feasts, although John didn’tspecify which. Then, in John 7, He isshown keeping the Feast of Tabernaclesand Last Great Day (described in Levi-ticus 23:33-36): “After these thingsJesus walked in Galilee; for He did notwant to walk in Judea, because theJews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’Feast of Tabernacles was at hand”(John 7:1, 2).

In spite of the threat of bodily harm,Jesus the Christ still attended this feast(verse 10), and also explained the truespiritual significance of the Last GreatDay (verses 37, 38).

Christ’s personal exampleFinally, as most have read, the end

of the gospel accounts record Jesusobserving the final Passover leading to His death. He kept all of the annual festivals, not only because He was adevout Jew, but because God com-manded it and because He was settingan example for us.

When we are instructed to walk inHis steps (1 John 2:6), that cannot referonly to the 40 days He was here onearth following the resurrection. Thereis little description of that time period.Those who say He abolished the law

through His sacrifice ignore the signifi-cance of His example.

Some believe Jesus Christ kept thelaw and the Holy Days to please theJews, and just because He was a Jewand was under the law. In reality, Christrebuked the Jews when they were inerror. He firmly stated, “My food is todo the will of Him who sent Me, and tofinish His work” (John 4:34).

He was not concerned about doingwhat the Jews wanted but was deeplyconcerned about pleasing the Fatherand doing His will. He observed thebiblical Holy Days to please the Father,and castigated the Jews for their hypo-crisy, self-righteousness and wrongapplication of the law.

Is love all you need?In Matthew 28:19, 20, Jesus made a

powerful statement that we should con-sider. In verse 20, He commanded Hisfollowers to “[teach] them to observeall things that I have commanded you;and lo, I am with you always, even tothe end of the age.” The Greek wordfor “observe” means “to watch” or “tokeep.” Did He command us to keepChristmas or Easter? If we follow inHis footsteps, we will “keep” what Hekept—and Jesus Christ kept the bibli-cal Holy Days.

To keep these days implies we will“watch” the calendar to anticipate andprepare for them, which is exactlywhat is done by those who observe theHoly Days. There is great joy while

we eagerly await each of the festivals. Some believe we don’t need to

observe any days, and only need tohave love. But how does one “observe”love? Holy Days are observed, but onedoes not observe love. The way to loveGod and our neighbor is explained in 1 John 5:2, 3: “By this we know thatwe love the children of God, when welove God and keep His commandments.For this is the love of God, that wekeep His commandments. And Hiscommandments are not burdensome.”

Paul’s practiceMany theologians today believe Paul

removed the obligation to observe thesedays. Yet, Paul made his personal prac-tice plain: “Imitate me, just as I alsoimitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).The New Testament shows that Paulkept the Holy Days.

Let’s see how these days wereobserved following Christ’s ascension.

First, consider the very day the HolySpirit was sent. “When the day of Pen-tecost had fully come, they were allwith one accord in one place” (Acts2:1). Christ had just been with them 40days following His resurrection; He hadobviously not told them they didn’tneed to observe Holy Days or it isdoubtful that the 120 would have beengathered together on this day.

If anything, this historical accountshows the biblical Holy Days werebeing emphasized through the giving ofthe Holy Spirit and the beginning of the

March 1996 11

Biblical Commanded in Observed by Jesus Christ, the apostles Observance Old Testament or the Church in the New Testament

Passover Leviticus 23:5 Matthew 26:2, 17-19; Mark 14:12, 14, 16; Luke 2:41, 42; 22:1, 8, 13, 15; John 2:13, 23; 6:4; 13:1; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29

Feast of Unleavened Bread

Leviticus 23:6-8 Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:12; Luke 2:43, 22:1, 7; Acts 12:2, 3; 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Feast of Pentecost Leviticus 23:6-8 Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8

Day of Atonement Leviticus 23:26-32 Acts 27:9

Feast of Tabernacles Leviticus 23:33-43 John 7:1, 2, 8, 10, 14; Acts 18:21

Last Great Day Leviticus 23:36 John 7:37, 38

Biblical Holy Days in the New Testament

The Feast of Trumpets, commanded in Leviticus 23:23-25,while not specifically named in the New Testament,

would have been kept by Jesus Christ, the apostles andthe New Testament Church along with these other feasts.

New Testament Church. God chose tobegin His Church on this special day,yet many claim He had already abol-ished it, but just didn’t tell anyone. Tothe Church, Pentecost was still a “holyconvocation,” a commanded assembly(Leviticus 23: 15, 16, 21).

Gentiles observed biblical feastsAbout 13 or 14 years later, Luke

wrote about James’ martyrdom andPeter’s arrest. Luke was a gentile, andwas writing to Theophilus, who is alsoconsidered to have been a gentile. Lukerelated the time of James’ murder andPeter’s imprisonment to the Days ofUnleavened Bread (Acts 12:2, 3). Bothmen clearly understood when the Daysof Unleavened Bread occurred and thetiming of these events.

Luke repeatedly mentioned the bib-lical Holy Days throughout the bookof Acts, knowing that his readerswould understand what he meant—understanding they would have only if they observed these days.

Next, note what Paul said in Acts18:21, “I must by all means keep thiscoming feast in Jerusalem; but I willreturn again to you, God willing.” Itwould appear this was the Feast ofTabernacles. (Some translations, suchas the NIV and NRSV, do not includethe clause about the feast.)

Other verses in Acts show the timeof events being referred to by the bibli-cal Holy Days, not Roman or Greekfestivals. Two of these references are tothe Days of Unleavened Bread in Acts20:6, and the Day of Atonement inchapter 27:9. This day, “the Fast,”according to virtually all biblical schol-ars, refers to the Day of Atonementdescribed in Leviticus 23:27-32.

Paul wanted to hurry to be at Jeru-salem on the Day of Pentecost, as weread in Acts 20:16. It would make nosense for him to hurry to get there if he did not observe the biblical HolyDays. But since Paul did observe theHoly Days, he had a real reason to bethere by the time the day arrived.

Not spiritually unleavenedMore than 20 years after the crucifix-

ion of the Lamb of God, about the yearA.D. 55, the apostle Paul gave someimportant instruction to the church atCorinth, a Gentile city. Most church

members there were Gentile, thoughsome were probably Jewish.

This church had serious problems. A man was involved in an immoral rela-tionship. The rest of the church knewabout and some may have even con-doned this sin. Paul instructed them toexpel this man from the church in orderto stop the contagious spread of sin.

Then notice what Paul told them:“Your glorying is not good. Do younot know that a little leaven leavensthe whole lump? Therefore purge outthe old leaven, that you may be a newlump, since you truly are unleavened.For indeed Christ, our Passover, wassacrificed for us. Therefore let uskeep the feast, not with old leaven,nor with the leaven of malice and

wickedness, but with the unleavenedbread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor-inthians 5:6-8).

Just as leaven spreads throughout alump of dough, so sin, if it is notstopped, will spread throughout theChurch. We put physical leavening outduring the seven days of UnleavenedBread to drive home the spiritual lessonthat we need to put sin out of our lives.

In a similar way, wine and unleav-ened bread at the Passover remind us of Christ’s sacrifice (1 Corinthians11:23-29). We are physical beings andwe learn spiritual lessons through phys-ical acts. The Corinthians had put outthe leaven, but they had failed to learnand apply the spiritual lesson.

Spiritual lessons missedWhen Paul commented, “since you

truly are unleavened,” he was not say-ing the Corinthians were unleavenedspiritually. This account clearly showsthey were anything but spirituallyunleavened. They were full of sin. Paul,by mentioning the sacrifice of Christ,our Passover, is not saying they werespiritually unleavened through the sac-rifice of Jesus. The blood of JesusChrist does not pay for unrepented-ofsin! And, up until this point, there wasno repentance on their part.

Paul is saying in effect that theyshould stop slapping Christ in the faceand spurning His sacrifice. They werecondoning sin while putting out leav-en, but making no move towardexpelling the spiritual leaven. TheseGentiles did put leavening out andwere going through the motions ofkeeping the physical aspect of thesedays, but they also needed to carry outthe spiritual meaning.

Paul said to these Gentile and JewishChristians, “Let us keep the feast.”Then he emphasized the importance of the spiritual aspect of putting sin out. Paul’s intent was not to spiritualizeaway the Days of Unleavened Bread,but to magnify them. He did not sug-gest removing the physical symbolismof the day.

Keeping the feast can only be under-stood in the light of what the Bibleinstructs. The instruction to put leaven-ing out as covered in Leviticus 23 is notabrogated. The New Testament buildson the foundation of the Old by empha-sizing the spiritual intent of these days.This passage is truly a strong assertionthat the annual festivals of God werebeing observed by and taught to GentileChristians. If Paul elsewhere abolishedthese days, he did not practice what hepreached, and he contradicted himself.

Not Jewish feastsGod’s Holy Days have tremendous

meaning—not just the Passover, but allthe days God made holy are relevant tous. God does not apportion to us theright to decide what is holy and unholy,or what is right and wrong. It is Hisprerogative. Our choice is whether wewill obey.

The annual festivals are also men-tioned elsewhere in the New Testament.

12 The Good News

God chose to beginHis Church on theFeast of Pentecost,yet many claim Hehad already abol-ished it, but just

didn’t tell anyone.To the Church,

Pentecost was stilla holy convocation.

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul reiterates andreconfirms the New Testament Pass-over, as well as reproves the sinfulchurch at Corinth for abusing the truepurpose of the occasion. Some sought to be satiated to the exclusion of otherswho were poorer. This attitude washardly compatible with the dire need to recognize the broken body and shedblood of Jesus Christ for their sins. Thisis another example of where the Cor-inthians misunderstood or ignored thespiritual lessons they should havelearned from observing these days.

Toward the end of this epistle, Paulstates, “But I will tarry in Ephesus untilPentecost” (1 Corinthians 16:8). If hewere only gauging time by Pentecost,there would have been no need to wait.He waited so he could observe Pente-cost at Ephesus with God’s peoplebefore continuing his travels.

“Love feasts” in early ChurchGod is love (1 John 4:8). The annual

festivals are His feasts (Leviticus 23:2),or “love feasts.” They are alluded to inJude 12 and 2 Peter 2:13. The earlychurch kept “love feasts.” Is there any-thing that would label them as some ofthe quasi-religious festivals of today?The only feasts of God described in theBible are the ones we have been read-ing about throughout much of the NewTestament. There is nothing in theBible to indicate they could have beenanything else.

Commentaries say these days contin-ued to be kept from the second to thefourth centuries. Then, as Adam Clarkesays in his commentary, they began tobe prohibited. But by that time, the“faith which was once for all delivered”(Jude 3) had already been diluted. Bythe fourth century, those in control ofthe popular churches undoubtedlyfound even these distortions of the original “love feasts” to be too Jewish.Easter had long since replaced the Pass-over and Sunday had crowded out theseventh-day Sabbath.

The annual festivals are the onlyfeasts God ever gave! They are anexpression of God’s love and a delightand joy to those who observe them.

Holy Days confirmed, not condemned

Though it is not within the scope ofthis article to elaborate extensively on

several New Testament passages erro-neously used to discredit the HolyDays, a brief mention would be inorder. Colossians 2:16, 17 is perhapsthe most oft-quoted: “So let no onejudge you in food or in drink, or regard-ing a festival or a new moon or sab-baths, which are a shadow of things tocome, but the substance is of Christ.”

Do you think Paul meant we don’thave to keep the festivals? Did heobserve them, while at the same timeexpress God’s desire that they be abol-ished? This would have been inconsis-tent and hypocritical.

Why would Paul be telling the gentile Colossians not to follow prac-tices of asceticism on these festivedays? Because they were following the

commandments and doctrines of men,not God (verses 18-23). By no stretchof the imagination could one find any-thing in the Bible labeling the annualHoly Days as doctrines of men. Theyare God’s feasts.

Quite obviously, the Colossians werebeing led away from the proper obser-vance of the Holy Days. If anything,these verses corroborate the practice ofGod’s true Church in the first century toobserve these days, following theexamples set by Christ and Paul. Paulhere cautioned the Church not to bedissuaded by the condemnation of oth-ers regarding these festivals, which area shadow of things to come.

Some people like to say they were

a shadow of Christ, and once Christcame, the shadow disappeared. That’snot what the scripture says. They are ashadow of things yet to come in God’splan. This was stated many years afterChrist was crucified.

Other observances condemnedAnother misunderstood text is

Galatians 4:10: “You observe daysand months and seasons and years.”Nothing in these scriptures identifiesthese as God’s Holy Days. The Gala-tian Christians were gentiles whowere going back to what they hadcome from (verse 9). They werereturning to pagan observances. Godnowhere made any months holy, andHe condemned the observance oftimes in Deuteronomy 18:10, so thesecould not refer to biblical festivals andHoly Days.

Verses 8 and 9 of Galatians 4 refer to the practices of the Galatians beforethey knew the true God. Then they areshown to be returning to the weak andbeggarly elements. To say that God’slaws are weak and beggarly elements isblasphemous. These “days and monthsand seasons [times] and years” were thepagan practices of men—possibly simi-lar to astrology today.

When understood, these “problem”scriptures actually succeed in pointingus toward the true days God establishedfor His people. They are days that arefilled with meaning and spiritual signif-icance—days that teach us and remindus of the various steps in God’s won-derful plan.

Biblical record clearThe record of what Christ and the

apostles did is clear. When a personlooks into the commands and examplesin the Bible to determine which reli-gious festivals to observe, there is onlyone choice to be found: the annual fes-tivals and Holy Days of God.

If we are to build on the foundationof the apostles and prophets and on thechief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, wewill be faithful to these days as theywere. And, as we do, we will learnmore and more about God’s plan everyyear. I have observed these days for 44years, and each year brings deeperunderstanding of their meaning andsignificance. It’s not a process I intendto halt. GN

March 1996 13

God does notapportion to us

the right to decidewhat is holy andunholy, or what

is right and wrong. It is Hisprerogative. Ourchoice is whether

we will obey.

14 The Good News

When was the last time yousinned? Do you know? Wereyou even aware of what was

taking place? Many people are not that concerned

about the subject of sin. It has becomeso much a part of life and the society inwhich we live that, sadly, many of us areunaware of sin when it occurs. We mayhave sinned this morning or sometimeyesterday. We may not sin tomorrow orthe next day, but we will sin.

Often, sin results from a thoughtlessresponse to a circumstance because sinhas become a habit. Sin can be thatcommon and that much a part of ourlives. It may be an expletive left unde-leted, a thought, an action or a reaction,deliberate or inadvertent. But we needto realize that sin is much more thanjust a single deed. Sin is a way of life.It’s as natural as breathing.

Ignorance of the ubiquitous nature of sin is a tragic sign of our times. Sinisn’t talked about much today. Mothersspeak approvingly of their sons’ ordaughters’ live-in partners. Youths talkabout ripping off someone’s automobileand taking it on a joyride as though cartheft could be part of a normal holidayexcursion. The use of cocaine and otherdrugs has become a recreational pastime.

Successful motion picture or televi-sion series routinely contain profanityand explicit sex. Rape and murderappear daily on the front page. Politicalleaders lie to their citizenry or instigateethnic cleansing, and it’s no one’s fault.Religious leaders condone “alternativelifestyles.” Single women bearing chil-dren outside of marriage isn’t unusualor considered immoral. Cheating ofbusiness, government, insurance com-panies, the welfare system or the gener-al public is accepted as routine.

Sin has its consequencesSome recognize what is happening,

but most do not realize these acts areactually crimes. They are punishable bydeath. Only the few in the religious

sphere make a point of addressing suchactivities as sin, and when they do, theyare criticized. Only the few warn peo-ple that to sin is to die. In the sight ofGod, the transgression of His law isthat serious. Unrepented of, sin exactsthe death penalty.

Is that an astonishing statement toyou? It shouldn’t be. It wasn’t to yourgrandparents and perhaps your parents.Not many generations ago, much ofsociety felt the same way. Sin is wrong.Sin brings unhappiness. Sin kills.

It is amazing to see the extent to

which we, as a society, we have come toaccept sin as normal activity. But sin isnot acceptable to God. God hates sin,and so should we—because, unrepentedof, sin kills.

To sin is to dieNone of us wishes to die, so perhaps

we should understand where our wrongactions can take us. It is frightening toconsider that the consequence of sinningis death, but be assured it is so. If youdoubt it, why not get hold of a Bible andturn to Ezekiel 18:4. The message isclear: The soul who sins shall die.

The same message is repeated in theNew Testament. Romans 6:23 notesthat “the wages of sin is death.” Wagesare what we earn for what we produce.They are the remuneration we receivefor our actions. To think we couldreceive such dramatic wages—thedeath penalty—and not even know wehave earned it is frightening.

But unthinking reaction or deliberateaction is a reflection of the heart andway of life. If that way of life is the wayof sin, the result is death. We all need tounderstand that.

Today we often hear the question,“If it doesn’t hurt anyone, what differ-ence does it make?” and, “Whose busi-ness is it anyway? If it’s something Iwant or it makes me feel good, what’swrong with it?”

What is sin?“Sin is lawlessness,” says 1 John 3:4,

or, as the King James Version words it:“Sin is the transgression of the law.” Butwhose law?

Parliamentary law is one of our oldestforms of law. But is it British or Ameri-can law or some other man-made stan-dard that really tells us the differencebetween right and wrong?

Most Western societies have doneaway with punishment that fits thecrime, excusing many sins by consider-ing them part of normal human activity.

Who, then, establishes the law or hasthe right to tell you how to live? There isOne who has the right to determine rightfrom wrong. God is the ultimate Judgeand Rewarder of humankind. The Onewho created all things has the right tosay how His creatures should live.

The complete quote from 1 John 3:4,above, reads, “Whoever commits sinalso commits lawlessness, and sin islawlessness.”

In the New Testament, in Matthew22:36-39, we read where a younglawyer asked Jesus Christ: “Teacher,which is the great commandment inthe law?” Jesus summed up God’s lawto the young man by saying: “‘Youshall love the LORD your God with allyour heart, with all your soul, and withall your mind.’ This is the first andgreat commandment. And the secondis like it: ‘You shall love your neighboras yourself.’”

Anything contrary to these great prin-ciples espoused by our Savior is the way

Did You Sin Today?b y L e s M c C u l l o u g h

Did You Sin Today?

None of us wishes todie, so perhaps weshould understandwhere our wrong

actions can take us.

March 1996 15

of sin. Any thought or action againstGod or our fellowman is a sin, whetherit is a conscious act or not. We mightexcuse an action by reasoning, “I need-ed what he had, and he had more thanhe needed. Therefore, it’s all right forme to take it.” The human, physicalmind is not subject to God and His ways(Romans 8:7). Human nature is the wayof sin. We are simply not able to obeyGod without help.

We are all guilty. Hear what the apos-tle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:3: “For wehave spent enough of our past lifetimein doing the will of the Gentiles—whenwe walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken-ness, revelries, drinking parties, andabominable idolatries.”

Maybe you have never been drunk,perhaps you have never lusted after any-thing, but you have committed othersins—hundreds of them. You and I havebroken the law of God repeatedlythrough allowing something else to takethe place of God. We have all, in someway, lied, cheated, or coveted someone’sproperty or husband or wife. We haveall earned the death penalty.

There is a way outThe good news is that help is avail-

able. God sent His only Son, JesusChrist, to die and pay the death penaltyfor each of us. Jesus sent the HolySpirit, first, to open our minds so wecan understand the way of God, sec-ond, to become an integral part of ourlives, third, to give us the strength togo a different and better way.

Mankind’s sins can be forgiven. Thatis the greatest news this sad, old, sin-filled world of ours can hear. The penal-ty is already paid by the death of ourSavior, Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:7 tellsus: “In Him we have redemptionthrough His blood, the forgiveness ofsins, according to the riches of Hisgrace.” You may not be aware of whenyou have sinned, but God, through JesusChrist, can forgive you.

It’s frightening to realize howaddicting sin can become. And it’swonderful to know that you can be for-given. There’s even better news. InRomans 6:23, we read earlier that “thewages of sin is death” Now finish theverse: “but the gift of God is eternallife in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

You not only can be forgiven for sin,

but you can receive the gift of eternallife. In the book of Hebrews, we learnthat Jesus Christ, “. . . after He hadoffered one sacrifice for sins forever, satdown at the right hand of God, from thattime waiting till His enemies are madeHis footstool. For by one offering Hehas perfected forever those who arebeing sanctified” (Hebrews 10:12-14).

To be sanctified is to be set apart fora special purpose. Once we haverepented, we are set apart from the restof society to become children of God.The death penalty was paid by Jesus,out of His and His Father’s greatmercy. Upon true repentance, everyperson can receive the promise of eter-nal life. God puts away their sins, neverto remember them again. He blots outthe record forever.

If you are found to have broken thelaw of the land and are sentenced by a

judge, you become a convicted felon.Regardless of the prison term you serve,when you are finally released, yourrecord follows you. The conviction is onyour record forever.

But this is not so with God. Whenyou repent, your sins are forgiven, andGod forgets them. There is no record tocheck, because there is no record.

The future is brightIf we sin in the future, God is more

than willing to forgive us, because weare His children. This truth should reas-sure us. Once we have repented, wewill never have to give account forthose past actions, deeds or thoughtsagain. Of course, any future sins willhave to be repented of, but we can beconfident that God will also forgivethem if we truly repent.

The apostle Paul tells us:“Do not bedeceived, God is not mocked; for what-ever a man sows, that he will also reap.

For he who sows to his flesh will of theflesh reap corruption, but he who sowsto the Spirit will of the Spirit reap ever-lasting life” (Galatians 6:7, 8).

The seed we sow is important. Forexample, if we sow adultery, lying,stealing, unfaithfulness, we will harvestdeath. On the other hand, if we sow lovefor our fellow human beings, honesty,faithfulness, we will reap the gift ofeternal life.

You and I can be forgiven regardlessof how we have lived. We might be asthe people in the days of the apostlePeter, when he preached his first record-ed sermon. After telling his listenersabout Christ and their responsibility for His death, he said: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in thename of Jesus Christ for the remissionof sins; and you shall receive the gift ofthe Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

We can liveThe gift Peter spoke of sparks our

life as spiritual children of God, Whobecomes our spiritual Father; and JesusChrist becomes our elder Brother.Together, they will make every effort to see that we join them in the future as a part of the family of God.

Every human being needs to repent.No one is excluded, and no one receivespreferential treatment. Whatever ourbackground, race, nationality or gender,we need to repent.

If we are new to the Christian faith,we will be forgiven, baptized andreceive the Holy Spirit, which in turnhelps us finally to be given the gift ofeternal life at the resurrection and thereturn of Jesus Christ to earth. That isthe priceless gift we all look forward to.

You may not remember the last timeyou sinned, but you know you did. Theact of sin in itself isn’t the most impor-tant thing. Sin, of course, isn’t to betaken lightly or passed over, but keepthis in mind: Repentance is more impor-tant than sin.

God holds the wonderful blessing offorgiveness for each of us, and it is a giftHe gives you and me and all of humani-ty at the time of our repentance of pastsins. Then there is no longer any penaltyfor our sins.

Then, at our resurrection, along withJesus Christ, we will live for eternity asthe children of God our Father. GN

Mankind’s sins canbe forgiven. That isthe greatest newsthis sad, old worldof ours can hear.

Jerusalem shone golden in theafternoon sun as 12 men andtheir Leader made their wayfrom the Mount of Olives to ahouse in the city.

Earlier in the day, Jesus of Nazarethhad instructed two of His disciples,Peter and John, to go into Jerusalemand prepare the Passover (Luke 22:7-13). Jesus said they would encounter aman carrying water, who would showthem his guest room where they couldkeep the Passover.

After finding the man, Peter andJohn prepared the food and drink forJesus and the 12 to observe whatwould be the first new covenant Pass-over service.

Jesus probably said little as theyentered the room and surveyed thepreparations. To Peter and John, nodoubt Jesus appeared introspective,but, beyond this, their Teacher seemedcomposed and calm. They all began torelax at the table and eat, following thelead of their Master.

It was then that Jesus began to speakto His disciples, explaining that He hadwaited for this special time so He couldeat this Passover with them. “With fer-vent desire I have desired to eat thisPassover with you before I suffer; for I will no longer eat of it until it is ful-filled in the kingdom of God,” He toldthem (Luke 22:15, 16).

It was a shocking statement. Jesusspoke of suffering? The apostlesfound it difficult to believe that theirSavior would have to suffer physicalpain, let alone die this early in Hislife. After all, this was the same Manwho had turned water into wine, fed5,000 hungry people on five loavesand two fish and had food left over,

and walked on the water of a tempes-tuous, stormy sea.

Symbols of sacrificeAt this point, the Savior began offer-

ing His disciples the new covenantsymbols of unleavened bread and wine.

The bread He gave His closest fol-lowers represented His body. Theapostle Peter later defined what this

meant, writing that we, as Christians,should follow in the steps of theirSavior, who “bore our sins in His ownbody on the tree, that we, having diedto sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes [we] were healed”(1 Peter 2:24).

Christ would pay the penalty forhumanity’s sins “by the sacrifice ofHimself” (Hebrews 9:26). The wine,offered next, represented His shedblood, which would wash away the

sins of mankind (Luke 22:17-20). Earlier in the evening, the disciples

had quietly watched as Jesus deliberate-ly knelt and washed their feet. Jesus toldthem to follow His example, explainingthat this simple ceremony was symbolicof the humble and unconditional attitudeof service to humanity they must hold(John 13:1-17).

Ceremonies involving bread andwine were not new to the religiousJews of that day, but the manner inwhich Jesus presented them, and theirmeaning, were. So the disciples lis-tened attentively to Jesus’ words andparticipated fully as He offered thesymbols.

The food and drink Christ offeredHis disciples had deep meaning forthem and us. During the evening, Heexplained that before long He wouldoffer Himself for the sins of mankind(John 13:31-33). His followers wouldsoon see the meaning of the Passoversymbols dramatically demonstrated tothem.

Jesus’ sacrifice prophesiedOld Testament prophecies of a com-

ing Savior’s sacrifice abound. The ear-liest can be found in Genesis. Speak-ing to Satan, the serpent, God said:“And I will put enmity between youand the woman, and between yourseed and her Seed; He shall bruiseyour head, and you shall bruise Hisheel” (Genesis 3:15).

This verse, referring to the serpentand the Seed, speaks symbolically ofSatan and Jesus Christ. Satan would“bruise the heel” of Jesus by influenc-ing His execution by crucifixion, withnails driven through His feet. ButChrist, on His return to earth, willbruise Satan’s head by imprisoning

‘Christ, Our Passover,Was Sacrificed for Us’

b y J e r o l d A u s t

The prophet Isaiahforetold Jesus

Christ’s ultimatesacrifice: ‘He waswounded for ourtransgressions, Hewas bruised for

our iniquities . . .and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’

16 The Good News

Satan for a millennium (Revelation20:1-3). The prophecy in Genesis 3 is the earliest reference to Jesus’ cruci-fixion and death.

The prophet Isaiah foretold Jesus’ultimate sacrifice: He was “woundedfor our transgressions, He was bruisedfor our iniquities; the chastisement forour peace was upon Him, and by Hisstripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

The Eternal God, Isaiah foretold,“has laid on Him [the Sonof God] the iniquity of usall” (verse 6). He was“oppressed and He wasafflicted, yet He opened notHis mouth; He was led as alamb to the slaughter”(verse 7). “He was cut offfrom the land of the living;for the transgressions of Mypeople He was stricken”(verse 8).

The agony of the crucifixion

King David, writingsome 1,000 years beforeChrist’s death, also prophe-sied of this sobering occa-sion. God inspired him todescribe the humiliation andunbearable pain Jesus Christwould suffer during His cru-cifixion. In Psalm 22, Davidwrote as if Christ were cry-ing out in the first person: “Iam [despised as] a worm, and no man;a reproach of men, and despised by thepeople. All those who see Me ridiculeMe” (Psalm 22:6, 7).

The prophecy continues in verses14-17: “I am poured out like water, andall My bones are out of joint; My heartis like wax; it has melted within Me . . .You have brought Me to the dust ofdeath . . . They pierced My hands andMy feet; I can count all My bones.They look and stare at Me.”

The writers of the Bible recordedmany prophecies about this mostmomentous and critical time, whenour holy Savior would pour out Hislife for you, me and all of humanity.That time came as predicted, in accor-dance with God’s design: “For whenwe were still without strength, in duetime Christ died for the ungodly”(Romans 5:6). Jesus Christ’s sacrifi-

cial offering of Himself had long beenplanned (Revelation 13:8).

The life and death of JesusTo better grasp the significance of

Christ’s sacrifice, we should review someof the events of Jesus’physical life.

When Jesus was born, Satan set outto destroy the Son of God. In Matthewwe read: “Then Herod, when he sawthat he was deceived by the wise men,was exceedingly angry; and he sent

forth and put to death all the male chil-dren who were in Bethlehem and in allits districts, from two years old andunder, according to the time which hehad determined from the wise men”(Matthew 2:16).

Later, immediately before the startof Jesus’ ministry, God’s Spirit led Himinto the wilderness to fast for 40 daysand nights. At this pivotal point, Satancame to Jesus. Matthew 4 describes thetemptations the devil used to test Jesus.

First Satan attempted to goad Jesusinto employing His divine power toturn stones into bread to satisfy hisexcruciating hunger (verse 3). Next hetried to appeal to the vanity and pridethat he mistakenly assumed Jesus had(verses 5, 6).

Then Satan addressed the basehuman desires of greed and power

by offering Jesus the kingdoms of theworld (verses 8, 9). Jesus didn’t dis-pute that the world truly is in the handsof Satan, for Satan is the god of thisworld (2 Corinthians 4:4, King JamesVersion).

In this crucial test, Jesus never for amoment entertained the thought of sin.Although physically starving, Jesuswas at His peak of spiritual strength,having fasted and communed with His

Father for 40 days andnights.

So it was throughout therest of His life and ministry.Jesus never once sinned orallowed Himself to entertainthoughts of breaking God’slaw. He never broke the let-ter or spirit of the laws ofGod.

Jesus knew what it waslike to endure and masterthe anxieties and passionscommon to all of mankind:“In the days of His flesh,when He had offered upprayers and supplications,with vehement cries andtears to Him who was ableto save Him from death,[He] was heard because ofHis godly fear . . . Helearned obedience by thethings which He suffered.And having been perfected,He became the author of

eternal salvation to all who obey Him”(Hebrews 5:7-9).

Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. He “committed no sin,nor was deceit found in His mouth”(1 Peter 2:22). Had He broken God’slaw, He would have suffered the deathpenalty, like the rest of mankind, withno hope of a resurrection. But, sinceHe remained sinless, and the very Sonof God in the flesh, His death paid thepenalty for our sins, making Him theSavior of mankind (Hebrews 10:12; 1 John 4:14).

Jesus Christ, our PassoverIn 1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul wrote that

“Christ, our Passover, was sacrificedfor us.” This statement holds profoundmeaning for Christians.

Paul wrote these words to the Cor-inthian church, whose members were

The Passover lamb was symbolic of the future sacrificeof Jesus Christ. Paul recognized that, just as the sacri-fice of the Passover lamb spared ancient Israel fromdeath when the death angel passed over Egypt prior

to the biblical Exodus, so does Christ’s sacrifice save usfrom the death penalty we’ve earned for our sins.

March 1996 17

18 The Good News

allowing one of their brethren to contin-ue in a sexual sin. This was no ordinarysin, even for the profligate Corinthiansociety of the time. A man was involvedin an immoral relationship with hisstepmother (1 Corinthians 5:1).

Paul reprimanded the whole con-gregation and charged the Corinthiansto expel the offender, lest the sinspread and contaminate them just asyeast puffs up bread dough (1 Cor-inthians 5:2-6).

Paul, in supporting his reasons forremoving the sinner used a phraseclosely associated with the Passover:“For indeed Christ, our Passover, wassacrificed for us” (verse 7).

What did Paul mean by that? Hemeant that Jesus’ sacrifice was notmade in vain. He meant that theCorinthians should not take lightlyChrist’s painful death.

Reflect Christ’s sacrificeUp to that point the Corinthians had

not comprehended the magnitude ofChrist’s sacrifice. They didn’t fullyunderstand that once their sins wererepented of and covered by Jesus’ shedblood, their lives had to reflect a newcommitment. They were no longer togive in to their former sinful habits.

Paul made this very clear to them:“Do you not know that the unrighteouswill not inherit the kingdom of God?Do not be deceived. Neither fornica-tors, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, norhomosexuals, nor sodomites, northieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And suchwere some of you. But you werewashed, but you were sanctified, butyou were justified in the name of theLord Jesus and by the Spirit of ourGod” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

Writing to the Romans on the samesubject, Paul asked: “What shall wesay then? Shall we continue in sin thatgrace may abound? Certainly not! Howshall we who died to sin live anylonger in it? Or do you not know thatas many of us as were baptized intoChrist Jesus were baptized into Hisdeath? Therefore we were buried withHim through baptism into death, thatjust as Christ was raised from the deadby the glory of the Father, even so wealso should walk in newness of life”(Romans 6:1-4).

Not to be taken lightlyPaul made it plain to the Corinthians

that they must not take Christ’s sacri-fice lightly. Accepting that sacrificemust result in a changed life, with anew outlook and approach that will nottolerate sin. “But now I have written toyou not to keep company with anyonenamed a brother, who is sexuallyimmoral, or covetous, or an idolater, ora reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner . . . Therefore ‘put away fromyourselves the evil person’” (1 Cor-inthians 5:11, 13).

Since the Corinthian membersapparently didn’t fully understand the

implications of Jesus Christ’s sacrificeand the enormous pain and sufferingHe endured, is it possible that we couldmake the same error? Do we fullygrasp what He went through to becomea sacrifice for us?

None of us were there to witness theRoman soldiers brutally whip, beat andridicule Jesus Christ. But we do havethe written Word of God that tells usthat it happened. The prophet Isaiah,King David in the Psalms and theGospel writers all bear witness to thecruel punishment inflicted on JesusChrist. From these biblical accounts,plus contemporary descriptions of suchpunishments, we can understand, asmuch as humans can understand, theextent of the suffering our Saviorendured for us.

When the authorities led Jesusbefore the high priest, Caiaphas, and infront of the scribes and elders, He was

falsely declared guilty of blasphemy.The religious authorities spat in Hisface, slapping and pounding Him withtheir fists while they ridiculed Him(Matthew 26:67, 68). When they turnedJesus over to the Romans for scourging(Matthew 27:26), He was understand-ably disoriented, His face cut, bruisedand battered.

The halfway deathThe scourging by the Romans of our

Savior was barbaric. They called thistype of punishment “the halfwaydeath” because it stopped just short ofkilling its victim. A trained man, calleda lictor, used a wooden grip to whichseveral strips of leather had beenattached. At the end of each strip, frag-ments of bone or iron had been sewnin. This was called a flagellum. Therewas no specific number of stripes to beadministered, and the lictor could whipthe prisoner on any part of his body.

Typically, guards tied a condemnedcriminal to a stone or wooden pillar,facing the pillar with one arm on eachside. To further humiliate the prisoner,he was stripped of all clothing, afford-ing him no protection from the cruelinstrument.

Then the brutal procedure began.The prisoner suffered blow after blow,leaving his flesh lacerated and hisbloody skin hanging like thin strips ofcloth. An officer supervised the opera-tion to see that the captive wasn’t inad-vertently beaten to death; the Romansknew from experience that a fragileman so beaten could die quickly.

When the scourging was over, theguards untied the prisoner, who wouldslump to the floor in shock. Theywould pour cold water on him to cleanoff some of the blood, torn flesh andfilth. The rough scrubbing of the vic-tim’s battered body would often shockhim back to gasping consciousness.

In Jesus’ case, some of the soldiersgathered thorns and plaited them into a ring, which they jammed onto Hishead. They wrapped a robe aroundHim, placed a reed scepter in His handand mockingly paid homage to Him,saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”(Matthew 27:29).

“Then they spat on Him, and tookthe reed and struck Him on the head.And when they had mocked Him, they

The Corinthianmembers had not

comprehended the magnitude of

Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. They didn’tfully understand that

their lives had to reflect a new commitment.

Continued on page 25

In 1 Corinthians 5:7 we learn that“Christ, our Passover, was sacri-ficed for us.”

What is the specific connectionbetween the Passover and the sacri-fice of Jesus Christ? For that matter,what is the Passover?

We find the Passover instituted in Exodus 12. The nation of Israelwas enslaved in Egypt, and eventswere building rapidly to the horrify-ing devastation that would finallyforce Pharaoh to free the Israelitesfrom slavery.

Through Moses and Aaron, Godcommanded Israel to set aside a lambfor each household in the nation.Before nightfall, the Israelites wereto kill the lambs and put some of thelambs’ blood on the sides and top ofthe door frame of each house. Eachlamb was to be eaten that evening bythe members of Israelitish household(verses 1-10).

Plague strikes EgyptA profoundly significant event

was to take place outside the homeswhile the Israelites were inside eatingthis Passover meal: “For I will passthrough the land of Egypt on thatnight, and will strike all the firstbornin the land of Egypt, both man andbeast; and against all the gods ofEgypt I will execute judgment: I amthe LORD. Now the blood shall be asign for you on the houses where youare. And when I see the blood, I willpass over you; and the plague shallnot be on you to destroy you when Istrike the land of Egypt” (verses 12,13, emphasis ours throughout).

This terrifying event occurred justas God said. “And it came to pass atmidnight that the LORD struck all thefirstborn in the land of Egypt, fromthe firstborn of Pharaoh who sat onhis throne to the firstborn of the cap-tive who was in the dungeon, and allthe firstborn of livestock. So Pharaohrose in the night, he, all his servants,and all the Egyptians; and there wasa great cry in Egypt, for there wasnot a house where there was not onedead” (verses 29, 30).

The dead likely numbered in thehundreds of thousands. Pharaoh, hav-ing ignored earlier serious warningsand plagues, learned the hard way thatthe God of the Israelites was not aGod to be trifled with. The Israeliteswere set free.

Important lessons for usThere are vital lessons for all of

humanity in these events. God calledthe sacrificial lamb “the LORD’S

Passover” and “the Passover sacrificeof the LORD” (verses 11, 27). It wasso named because God promised,“When I see the blood, I will passover you; and the plague shall not beon you to destroy you . . .” (verse 13).

Some 1,500 years later, the apostlePaul used this same term to describeJesus Christ. Why?

In the setting of the originalPassover, the sacrifice of the lambssignified that those partaking of thatsacrifice would be spared from death.If the Israelites ignored or disobeyedGod’s warning, they would suffer thedeath penalty along with the Egypt-ians. This sacrifice was required tospare them from death.

Paul and the other New Testamentwriters understood that the Passoverlambs slain at the time of the Exodusforeshadowed the later sacrifice ofJesus Christ. “Walk in love as Christalso has loved us and given Himselffor us, an offering and a sacrifice toGod for a sweet-smelling aroma,”wrote Paul (Ephesians 5:2).

The book of Hebrews tells us thatJesus Christ “has appeared to putaway sin by the sacrifice of Himself”and “offered one sacrifice for sinsforever” (Hebrews 9:26; 10:12).

Like the ancient Israelites andEgyptians, all humanity has had thedeath penalty hanging over it. Wehave earned it because of our sins(Romans 6:23). But, just as the sacri-fice of the Passover lambs at the timeof the Exodus spared the obedientIsraelites, Jesus Christ’s sacrifice hasremoved that death penalty from us(Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; Colos-sians 1:14).

John the Baptist, when Christcame to him to be baptized,exclaimed: “Behold! The Lamb ofGod who takes away the sin of theworld!” (John 1:29).

Thanks to Jesus Christ, “the Lambslain from the foundation of theworld” (Revelation 13:8), we havehad the death penalty pass over us.

Passover lamb symbolicThe Passover lamb also foreshad-

owed Christ in other ways. It was tobe “without blemish,” or with nodeformities (Exodus 12:5). This wassymbolic of the spiritual purity ofJesus Christ, “who committed no sin,nor was deceit found in His mouth”(1 Peter 2:22).

The apostle Peter pointed out thatwe have been redeemed, or boughtback, by God—not with materialwealth, “but with the precious bloodof Christ, as of a lamb without blem-ish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

Even the manner in which thePassover lamb was to be killed wassymbolic of Jesus’ death. TheIsraelites were told not to break anyof the lambs’ bones (Exodus 12:46).Although a common practice in cru-cifixions was to break the legs of thesuffering criminals to hasten death,Jesus Christ was already dead whenthe Roman soldiers came to breakHis legs, so His body was spared fur-ther desecration. “For these thingswere done that the Scripture shouldbe fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bonesshall be broken’” (John 19:36).

The prophet Isaiah, describing thecoming Messiah’s sacrificial death,wrote, “He was oppressed and Hewas afflicted, yet He opened not Hismouth; He was led as a lamb to theslaughter, and as a sheep before itsshearers is silent, so He opened notHis mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). This, too,was a prophecy fulfilled in JesusChrist’s death (Acts 8:32-35).

These and many other scriptureshelp us understand the wonderful truththat, as the Lamb of God, “Christ, ourPassover, was sacrificed for us..” GN

—Scott Ashley

WHY IS JESUS CHRIST CALLED ‘OUR PASSOVER’?

March 1996 19

As a boy attending a main-stream church with my fami-

ly, I was always surprised tosee people at services on

Easter Sunday who didnot come at any other

time of the year, not even at Christmas. Embarrassed and somewhat fearful,

a few of them told us they hoped thatGod would forgive their sins andabsences because they made the spe-cial effort to come to church on EasterSunday, which to them was the mostsacred time of the year.

Others felt that a special measure ofsanctification, purification and holinesswas imparted to them by their atten-dance at Easter services.

However, these people didn’t realizethat their faith was not based on factand reality. None of them knew oreven wondered about Easter’s origins.They would have been surprised toknow the truth of the matter.

Idolatrous beginningsMany people are amazed to find

that the Bible does not mention Easterat all. Neither Jesus nor the apostlesever directed that it should beobserved. The word Easter in Acts12:4 in the King James Version is anincorrect translation of the Greekword pascha, which refers to Pass-over, not Easter. This mistake hasbeen corrected in modern translationsof the New Testament.

Also not generally known is thatEaster did not originate with the resur-rection of Jesus Christ. Encyclopediasand dictionaries trace the term Eastervariously back to Eostre, the name ofthe Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring; toEostur, the Norse word for the springseason; or to Ishtar, the ancient spring

goddess of Near Eastern countries,also known as Astarte, or, in the Bible,Ashtoreth.

All are connected to the spring sea-son and springtime fertility festivalswhich represented rejuvenation,reproduction and the life-enrichingqualities of the sun. Customs andsymbols associated today with Easterobservance can be directly tracedback to Easter’s pre-Christian origins.

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica,15th edition, in its article on Easter,describes these customs and symbolsas “hav[ing] been handed down fromthe ancient ceremonial and symbolismof European and Middle Eastern paganspring festivals.” One symbol, theEaster rabbit, is called the modernreplacement for “the hare, the symbolof fertility in ancient Egypt.”

Another source reveals the origin oftwo other popular Easter customs:“Also popular among Europeans andAmericans on Easter is ham, becausethe pig was considered a symbol ofluck in pre-Christian European cul-ture” (The Encyclopedia of Religion,

1987, article, “Easter”).“In traditional folk religion the egg

is a powerful symbol of fertility, puri-ty, and rebirth. It is used in magicalrituals to promote fertility and restorevirility; to look into the future; tobring good weather; to encourage thegrowth of crops and protect both cat-tle and children against misfortune,especially the dreaded evil eye. Allover the world it represents life andcreation, fertility and resurrection . . .Later [customs concerning eggs] werelinked with Easter. The church did notoppose this, though many egg cus-toms were pre-Christian in origin,because the egg provided a fresh andpowerful symbol of the Resurrectionand the transformation of death intolife” (article, “Egg”).

Pre-Christian resurrection celebrations

Celebrating the resurrection of adeceased deity in a springtime festi-val also long predates Christianity.Chief among such celebrations werethose in honor of Tammuz, theBabylonian “god of pasture andflocks . . . and of vegetation. He washusband and brother of Ishtar(Asherah), goddess of fertility. Baby-lonian epics preserve the saga of theannual dying of Tammuz in theautumn when vegetation withered;his departure to the underworld; hisrecovery by the mourning Ishtar; andhis springtime return to the fertilizedupper world” (Harper’s Bible Dic-tionary, 1961, article, “Tammuz”).

The Babylonians taught that Tam-muz was mystically revived from deathin the spring by the anguish and cryingof Ishtar, who was the same as thepagan goddess Ashtoreth referred to inScripture (Judges 2:13; 10:6; 1 Kings

20 The Good News

Does Easter SundayCommemorate

Jesus’ Resurrection?b y W i l b u r B e r g

The festivals of Godoutlined in

Leviticus 23 andpracticed by the

early Church weresupplanted by non-biblical traditions

and practices.

A

11:5). This ancient custom of mourn-ing for the return of a dead god ismentioned in Ezekiel 8:14, where weread that women are “weeping forTammuz.” His supposed resurrectionmarked the end of winter and thebeginning of spring, with its new lifeand vegetation.

Ishtar, wife of Tammuz, was alsoworshiped as the “Queen of Heaven”(Harper’s, 1961, article, “Asherah”).The Bible shows that idolatry and sunworship connected with Ishtar andTammuz became so widespread andinfluential that they were practicedeven by people who had once knownthe true God but had fallen intowrong kinds of worship (Ezekiel8:12-18; Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-23).

Worshiped in other areas under thename Adonis, Tammuz was honoredwith an annual celebration by a cultthat “mourned his death and rejoicedat his resurrection. The cult worked itsway into the folkways of Christianpeasants, who wept over the lostAdonis and participated in lewd festiv-ities” (Harper’s, “Tammuz”).

Subtle changes introducedBut how did such strange customs

and practices become associated withbiblically recorded true events such asthe Passover and Jesus Christ’s resur-rection?

From the start, the Roman govern-ment regarded the early ChristianChurch as a branch of the Jewish reli-gion, because the earliest Christiansstaunchly observed the same lawsand religious celebrations as didJews. Later, as persecution increased,many groups of professing Christianschose to disassociate themselves fromwhat had become identified asJudaism.

During the reign of EmperorHadrian (A.D. 117-135), Jews wereharshly persecuted and practices ofJudaism forbidden. These oppressivemeasures apparently influenced manyearly Christians in Rome to abandonthe biblical Sabbath and festivals andturn to Sunday, historically observedby the Romans as a day of venerationof the Sun. Hence, the first day of theweek (Sunday) took the place of theseventh day (Friday sunset toSaturday sunset) Sabbath, and “some

of the old heathen feasts becamechurch festivals with change ofname and of worship” (Jesse LymanHurlbut, The Story of the ChristianChurch, 1954, pp. 43, 45, 77, 79).

In other words, the Sabbath andfestivals of God, outlined in Leviticus23 and practiced by both Judaismand the early Church (Acts 13:14, 42,44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4, 21; 20:6, 16;27:9), were supplanted by nonbibli-cal traditions and practices. The truthand purity of the early Church ofGod were corrupted.

Controversy over worshipAccompanying this transformation

was early confusion and disagree-ment as to when the crucifixionoccurred. “In Rome Easter was cele-brated on the Sunday following thefull moon after the spring equinox,and was a memorial of the resurrec-tion” (The Oxford Illustrated Historyof Christianity, 1990, p. 36).

Note that carefully. What wasinstituted by Jesus to annually com-memorate His death was subtlychanged to a celebration memorializ-ing His resurrection. But there is nocommand in the Bible, by Jesus orHis apostles, to solemnize His resur-rection.

Instead, Jesus highlighted whatwas to be accomplished by His deathby instituting new symbols for thenew covenant meaning of the Pass-over (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark14:22-24; Luke 22:17-20). He wasthe Lamb of God who would offerHimself as the true Paschal sacrificefor the sins of the world (John 1:29),and His death fulfilled what had beenforeshadowed by the slaying of thePassover lambs.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia,1967 edition, in the article “Easterand its cycle,” adds: “Originally bothobservances [Passover and Easter]were allowed, but gradually it wasfelt incongruous that Christiansshould celebrate Easter on a Jewishfeast, and unity in celebrating theprincipal Christian feast was calledfor.”

The Passover ceremony, observedby Jesus Christ and commanded byHim for His followers (1 Corinthians11:23-26; Luke 22:19; John 13:15),

March 1996 21

was supplanted by Easter, a day neitherHe nor the early New TestamentChurch approved.

Inconsistent and incorrect dating

The date of Easter, as part of the syn-cretizing of Easter with the death andresurrection of Christ, was heatedlydebated during the 2nd century afterChrist, especially by a group in AsiaMinor known as the Quartodecimans(from the Latin for 14). They insistedon observing Easter on the 14th ofNisan on the Hebrew calendar, whichwas a movable date; that is, it did notfall on the same calendar day each year.

“In the mid-second century, howev-er, some Gentile Christians began to celebrate it on the Sunday after 14Nisan, with the preceding Fridayobserved as the day of Christ’s cruci-fixion, regardless of the date on whichit fell. The resulting controversy overthe correct time for observing theEaster festival reached a head in A.D.197, when Victor of Rome excommu-nicated those Christians who insistedon celebrating Easter on 14 Nisan.The dispute continued until the earlyfourth century, when the Quarto-deci-mans . . . were required by EmperorConstantine to conform to the empire-wide practice of observing Easter onthe Sunday following 14 Nisan, ratherthan on the date itself.

“Currently celebrated on the firstSunday after the first full moon fol-lowing the vernal equinox [the Coun-cil of Nicaea fixed this date in A.D.325], Easter falls differently for[Eastern] Orthodox Christianitywhich, unlike Western Christianity,did not accept the Gregorian calendarreform in 1582” (Harper’s Bible Dic-tionary, 1985, article “Easter”).

We therefore see that the world’sobservance of Easter is a curious mix-ture of ancient mythological practicesand arbitrary dating which actuallyobscure and discredit the proof of JesusChrist’s messiahship and resurrection.The Passover was discarded andreplaced with Easter.

This gives some of the backgroundon how Friday came to be observed asthe time of Jesus’ crucifixion, and thefollowing Sunday as the date of Hisresurrection. However, another prob-

lem with all this is that these obser-vances are refuted by the details of thebiblical record.

Sign of the MessiahMatthew 12:38 shows some of the

scribes and Pharisees asking Jesus for asign to prove He was the Messiah. ButJesus told them that the only sign Hewould give was that of the prophetJonah: “For as Jonah was three daysand three nights in the belly of thegreat fish, so will the Son of Man bethree days and three nights in the heartof the earth” (verse 40).

Many people justify their belief in aFriday crucifixion and Sunday resur-rection by the notion that this segmentof time does not require a span of 72hours. They reason that a part of a daycan be reckoned as a whole day.

Hence, since Jesus died around 3 p.m.(Matthew 27:46), they feel the remain-der of Friday constituted the first day,Saturday the second and part of Sun-day the third.

What they fail to take into consider-ation is that only two nights areaccounted for in this explanation andthat Jesus had already risen before thedaylight portion of Sunday (John 20:1).

Something is obviously incorrectabout this commonly calculated con-clusion.

Jonah 1:17 states specifically that“Jonah was in the belly of the fishthree days and three nights.” There is

no reason to think that these days andnights were fractional. Nor is there anybasis for thinking that Jesus meant onlytwo nights and one day, plus parts oftwo days, when He described thelength of time He would be in thegrave. Such rationalization underminesthe integrity of Jesus’ words.

Was Christ’s sign fulfilled?If Jesus were in the grave only from

late Friday afternoon to sometime veryearly Sunday morning, then the onlysign He gave that He was the prophe-sied Messiah was not fulfilled. Theclaim of His messiahship rests on thefulfillment of His words; it’s that seri-ous a matter.

Let us carefully examine the detailsof those fateful days. Each of the Gos-pel writers gives an account of theevents, but each presents differentaspects that need to be correctly syn-chronized and harmonized to produce aclear sequence and understanding ofwhat happened (see acompanyingchart).

The Bible does not contradict itself(Psalm 119:160), and we will see thatnot one of the Gospel accounts contra-dicts what the other Gospels teach.

For instance, John 19:31 preserves a crucial point that provides insight intothe other narratives. The preparation day on which Jesus was crucified isdescribed as the day before the Sabbath.But John clarifies it by stating that thisapproaching Sabbath “was a high day.”This does not refer to the weeklySabbath (Friday evening to Saturdayevening) but to the first day of Unleav-ened Bread, which is one of God’s annu-al high, or feast, days (Exodus 12:16;Leviticus 23:6, 7), which could fall onany day of the week.

Some have argued that this highday fell that year on the seventh dayof the week, making it a doubleSabbath, with the preparation daybeing on Friday. But Luke’s accountshows that this was not the case.

Notice the sequence of events out-lined in chapter 23. Jesus’ moment ofdeath, as well as His hasty burialbecause of the oncoming Sabbath, isnarrated in verses 46-53. Verse 54then states, “That day was thePreparation, and the Sabbath drewnear.”

22 The Good News

If Jesus Christ werein the grave onlyfrom late Friday

afternoon to Sundaymorning, then theonly sign He gavethat He was the

prophesied Messiahwas not fulfilled.

None of the dominions was directlythreatened by Germany and its allies ineither of the two world wars, but all thedominions played a major role in help-ing the mother country in her struggle.They all entered both conflicts withindays of Britain declaring war on Ger-many and were fighting with Britainlong before the United States gotinvolved.

The prime ministers of the domin-ions met regularly with the Britishprime minister to ensure a close work-ing relationship with all the nations ofthe commonwealth.

Today the commonwealth is a radi-cally different organization. It is a mul-ticultural 52-member association,including more than one quarter of the world’s countries and peoples. Fordecades, however, the organization wasdivided over what to do about formermember South Africa and its system of racial separation, or apartheid. Theyear 1994 witnessed control of SouthAfrica pass from white to blackAfrican hands. One of the first deci-sions made by South Africa’s newpresident, Nelson Mandela, was torejoin the commonwealth.

Some other possible developments:The November 1995 CommonwealthHeads of Government Conference inAuckland, New Zealand, saw the com-monwealth expand to 52 members,with the addition of Mozambique andCameroon. The commonwealth alsocommitted itself to helping Nigeriareturn to democracy, showing that thecommonwealth can still act in unisonin defense of freedom

But the modern commonwealth isnot the former committed multitude ofnations, united in purpose, going forthtogether in defense of freedom.

End of the monarchy?No longer do the former dominions

look to Britain for leadership. Canada,Australia and New Zealand still retainQueen Elizabeth as their monarch, butAustralia is moving toward becominga republic, to emphasize its increasingties to Asia. Britain continues to

Two Sabbaths describedMany have assumed that it is the

weekly Sabbath mentioned here. Butthis is not the case. Instead, it was aSabbath that occurred on Thursday,since verse 56 shows that the women,after seeing Christ’s body having beenlaid in the tomb, “returned and pre-pared spices and fragrant oils” for thefinal preparation of the body.

In this sequence, such work couldhave been done only on Friday, since itwould have been considered a violationof the Sabbath if it was done on thatday, and that would not have beenallowed. This is further verified byMark’s account, which states, “Nowwhen the Sabbath was past, MaryMagdalene, Mary the mother of James,and Salome bought spices [which wouldnot have been purchased on a Sabbath]that they might come and anoint Him”(Mark 16:1, emphasis ours).

This conclusively proves that theSabbath mentioned here and in theother narratives was the first Holy Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,which, in A.D. 31, fell on a Thursday.The women had to wait until thisSabbath was over before they couldbuy and prepare the spices, on Friday,to be used for anointing Jesus’ body.Then, after these activities, “they rest-ed on the Sabbath according to thecommandment,” which would havebeen the regular weekly SaturdaySabbath (Luke 23:56).

Sign of the MessiahAfter this rest, the women then went

to Jesus’ tomb early on the first day ofthe week (Sunday), while it was stilldark (John 20:1), and found that Hehad already been resurrected (Matthew28:1-6; Mark 16:2-6; Luke 24:1-3;John 20:1). Therefore, if we allow theScriptures to interpret themselves, anaccurate harmonization of all fourGospel accounts attests to the validityof Jesus’ statements.

Further proof of the accuracy of thissequence and explanation is found inMatthew 28:1. Most translations render“Now after the Sabbath” as if the wordSabbath were singular. This is not cor-rect. Sabbath here is sabbaton in theGreek text, which is genitive plural.Some Bible versions, including AlfredMarshall’s Parallel New Testament in

Greek and English and Ferrar Fenton’stranslation, translate it properly as“after the Sabbaths,” which againdemonstrates that there was more thanone Sabbath that week.

The wording of Mark 16:1, 2 is alsoconfusing to some because it seems tosuggest that the spices were purchasedafter the weekly Sabbath rather thanbefore it, on Friday. However, this isexplained by Luke 23:56, which clearlyshows that the women bought thespices before, and not after, the weeklySabbath, “and they rested on the Sab-bath according to the commandment.”Mark did not mention this weeklySabbath rest in his account, but Luke,who wrote later, did.

Some also stumble over Mark 16:9,not taking into account that there is nopunctuation indicated in the originalGreek. Therefore, to be in harmonywith the material presented in the otherGospels, a better translation would be:“Now having risen, early the first dayof the week He appeared first to MaryMagdalene . . .” These verses are notsaying that Jesus rose early on Sundaymorning, but that He appeared on Sun-day morning to Mary Magdalene, hav-ing risen some time earlier.

Three days and three nights in the tomb

Be assured that the precise fulfill-ment of Jonah’s sign of three days andthree nights, which Jesus gave as veri-fication of His authenticity and messi-ahship, did happen. Jesus rose lateSaturday afternoon around sunset —not Sunday at sunrise—which wasprecisely three days and three nightsafter He was placed in the tomb justbefore sunset on Wednesday. He hadalready risen hours before the womencame to the tomb, while it was stilldark, Sunday morning.

We should be grateful that God haspreserved the genuine, incontrovert-ible proof of Jesus’ resurrection so wecan have the confidence and certaintythat Jesus is indeed the prophesiedMessiah and Savior of the world, whohas paid the full penalty of human sinby His sacrifice and death, and thatHe rose from the dead and lives inheaven as our Helper, High Priest andIntercessor. GN

BritainContinued from page 9

Continued on page 38

March 1996 23

24 The Good News

Do you own a piece of gold, arare coin or an original paint-ing? Have you given much

thought to what makes things valuable?What determines the value of some-thing to you?

Normally we judge the value ofproperty based on its functionality, rari-ty or how much a buyer would pay forit. Our needs and desires, or a combi-nation of these, can all play a part indetermining value.

If you had $100 in your pocket,what would you give for a drink ofwater right now? Probably nothing,because you’re likely not thirsty, andless-expensive water is probably readi-ly available in the kitchen or from awater fountain. But, if you werestranded in the desert and hadn’thad a drink of anything for twodays, your answer might beentirely different.

Some needs are more urgentand demanding than others. We allhave a need to be loved. Yet survival isan even more basic human need. If youare sitting in your car, suddenly totter-ing on the edge of a bridge over a deepriver after you’ve crashed through theprotective fence, you will not be worry-ing that your wife didn’t hug you thatmorning.

Have you ever heard of a contest inwhich an entrant can win a car if he isthe last one in a group standing withhis hand on the vehicle? Some peoplehave remained standing for daysbecause of a need or, in the case ofthis contest, a desire to win a prize.

People depreciateTimes change, tastes change, needs

change, and cars and people generallydepreciate with age. Yet some wine,whiskey, antiques and art appreciatewith age.

Values change. A huge Syrian armybesieged the ancient city of Samariauntil the inhabitants suffered greatfamine behind their city walls. The sit-

uation was so critical that people werepaying up to 80 silver shekels for thelittle flesh they could carve from thehead of a donkey. Yet when Godcaused a panic among the Syrians andthey fled leaving all their supplies and

food, the cost of food plummeted. Youcan read about this in 2 Kings 6:24through 7:1-16, where the principle ofsupply and demand is so graphicallyillustrated.

Gold is valuable because it is scarce.Water is plentiful, but it holds a certainvalue because we depend on it for sur-vival. But how valuable is the life of ahuman being? Is it of less value than asports car? How about a pair of fancyshoes? Or a jacket bearing the name ofa famous sports team? Yet these are allthings people have killed for!

Recently someone shot a young manin cold blood for the $7 he had in hispocket. Even worse, some have killedbecause of an angry word or simply afacial expression they didn’t like. Tothem the other people’s lives wereworth less than a loss of face.

What is the value of a human life?Jesus Christ tells us that God loves allof His creation even down to individualbirds, and that He takes care of it. “Arenot five sparrows sold for two coppercoins? And not one of them is forgottenbefore God. But the very hairs of yourhead are all numbered. Do not feartherefore; you are of more value thanmany sparrows” (Luke 12:6, 7).

The price of a slave

How do we place a value on human life?

Judas Iscariot asked the religiousleaders of his day who wanted to takethe life of Christ, what Jesus’ life wasworth to them: “What are you willingto give me if I deliver Him to you?” thebetrayer inquired. In response, “Theycounted out to him thirty pieces of sil-ver” (Matthew 26:15). The religiousleaders determined that Jesus’ life wasworth, to them, 30 pieces of silver.

How did they arrive at thatamount? Leviticus 27 statesthat a male whose life waspreviously dedicated for a

What Is the Value of a Life?

How valuable is the life of a human being?

Is it of less valuethan a sports car?How about a pair

of fancy shoes? Yet these are all

things people havekilled for!

What Is the Value of a Life?b y B r u c e G o r e

took the robe off Him, put His ownclothes on Him, and led Him away tobe crucified” (verses 30, 31).

What His sacrifice means for usThis is only a cursory portrayal of

the agony our Savior had to suffer inour stead so the penalty of death couldbe removed from you and me. WithoutJesus’ sacrifice, we would automatical-ly be consigned to everlasting death.The only life we could live would bethe physical existence we are strug-gling through now.

We would have no hope of reconcil-iation to God our Father. We wouldhave no prospects of His accepting ourlives through the life of Jesus Christ,now at the right hand of God. Wecould have no reason to hope to receivethe Holy Spirit, understand the truth ofGod, and serve Christ as His followerson earth.

We would not understand the mys-tery of the ages, the plan of God formankind to become the sons of God.And we would not enjoy the privilegeof fellowshipping with others of likemind, sharing the joy God blesses uswith in His Church.

No wonder Paul used the words hedid to bring the Corinthians back tospiritual reality. Either they did nothold to an understanding of the pro-fundity of Jesus’ sacrifice, or theyonce comprehended it but had growncareless of it. Whatever the situation,they needed to be reminded of thepain and agony their Savior wentthrough for them. They needed torepent of their short-sightedness andacknowledge the great extent of thatremarkable sacrifice.

Here is a question we might askourselves in this Passover season: Dowe truly appreciate Christ’s ultimatesacrifice?

Let’s hope that we do. The Passover season is upon us. We

should feel the conviction of our broth-er, the apostle Paul, whom Godinspired to remind us: “For indeedChrist, our Passover, was sacrificed forus.” That sacrifice was real, and itshould affect our lives every day. GN

PassoverContinued from page 19

type of religious service,such as in the taberna-cle, could be redeemedfor 50 shekels. But the

Jews did not dignifyChrist’s life with that valua-

tion. His life would not be worth that ofa free person. “If the ox gores a male orfemale servant, he shall give to theirmaster thirty shekels of silver, and theox shall be stoned” (Exodus 21:32).They valued Jesus’ life as that of aslave.

What was Christ’s real value? ToGod, His father, He was infinitely valu-able. As the Father repeatedly stated,“This is My beloved son” (Matthew3:17; 17:5). In the parable of the vine-yard, God, in type, talks of His “oneson, his beloved,” whom He sent,“saying, ‘They will respect my son.’”(Mark 12:6).

I can’t help but think of my son,Daniel, whom I love very much. I nat-urally expect others to feel about himthe same way I do. Isn’t that what Godis saying here about His Son?

Once, when Jesus Christ was dis-cussing His impending death with Hisdisciples, “a voice came from heaven,saying, ‘I have both glorified [Myname] and will glorify it again.’”(John 12:28). Jesus’ followers standingnearby thought they had heard thunderor possibly the voice of an angel.

Jesus clarified what had happened:“This voice did not come because ofMe, but for your sake” ( verse 30). Thevoice thundered so they would knowhow much God the Father loved andvalued His Son.

Humanity’s worth compared to GodChrist, the Son of God, was God in

the flesh. “To whom then will you likenGod? Or what likeness will you com-pare to Him?” (Isaiah 40:18). “Behold,the nations are as a drop in a bucket,and are counted as the small dust on thescales; look, He lifts up the isles as avery little thing . . . All nations beforeHim are as nothing, and they are count-ed by Him less than nothing and worth-less” (verses 15, 17). In comparison toGod, that is the inherent value of allhumanity: nothing!

So what is the value of the life of aman or woman? God knows our insig-nificant intrinsic value, but He still gave

His Son in the supreme sacrifice for us.He paid the price because He loved us,not because we are worth His Son.

“For God so loved the world that Hegave His only begotten Son, that who-ever believes in Him should not perishbut have everlasting life” (John 3:16).This familiar, oft-quoted verse hasunfortunately lost much of its impact.It tells us that God’s love is so greatthat He gave His Son to pay the deathpenalty in our place so that eternal lifecould be given to us!

Can we, as parents, identify with thevalue of that life? Once, our son, at theage of 4, became separated from us ashe was playing with some other chil-dren beside a raging, flooding river. Wefound him, safe and sound, about half amile away. I feared he was lost forgood in the muddy, swirling waters.

Our little girl was once ill and on theverge of death. We prayed, fasted andcried until there was nothing left to cry.In a few days she fully recovered. Atremendous burden was lifted in theseincidents.

A loss of that magnitude is almostgreater than we can bear. Yet we aretold, “In this the love of God was mani-fested toward us, that God has sent Hisonly begotten Son into the world, thatwe might live through Him. In this islove, not that we loved God, but that Heloved us and sent His Son to be the pro-pitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9, 10).

Reminder of God’s love for usPassover reminds us of God’s love

for us. God told His Son how much Hevalued him, how deeply He loved Him.Many of us know how hard it is to giveup someone we deeply love.

God’s sacrifice, that loss, the givingup of something so precious to Him,showed how much God loves us andhow He feels about sin. Even Godcould not overlook sin’s seriousnessand enormous consequences. “He whodid not spare His own Son, but deliv-ered Him up for us all, how shall Henot with Him also freely give us allthings?” (Romans 8:32).

Your life, in that God paid a dearprice for it, has value to Him. Let’s bereminded of the vastness of His love aswe consider the enormity of JesusChrist’s sacrifice for us. GN

March 1996 25Images by Shaun Venish

26 The Good News

Strike three! You’reout!” Hearing theumpire’s final call,

the batter bowed his head,turned and slowly walkedaway from the plate. Thedugout was smothered insilence, unbroken by thecoach’s usual encourage-ment that would take the stingout of another failed attempt at bat. Itwasn’t the first strikeout for the youngbatter, and there would be many moretimes he would come away withoutgetting to first base, let alone all theway around to home plate.

This time was different, though. Theteam members were counting on thelast batter of the game to pull them out of the throes of another defeat andkeep them in the race for the champi-onship. But the batter failed. The game,and the season, was over. The weightof failure was heavy.

In many ways, our battle with sin issimilar to that battle of the young batter.We don’t always do our best when it istime to step up to the plate, when itcounts so much. Sometimes we may be outclassed by a great pitch or strongdefense. Sometimes we defeat ourselvesby failing to prepare and get caught offguard by a fastball that sails right by us.

Failure hurts; the reality of what wehave done overwhelms. If too manytrips to the plate end in defeat, we aretempted to give up. David knew thefeeling. “For innumerable evils havesurrounded me; my iniquities haveovertaken me, so that I am not able tolook up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart failsme” (Psalm 40:12).

Unlike a game that ends after nineinnings, or a season that ends with the

victory going to an opponent,the battle against sin lasts a lifetime.Instead of 10 or 15 good years in thegame, we may spend 60, 70 or evenmore years in the fight against sin.

Why not just forfeit?With the competition so strong and

so highly skilled, why should a Christ-ian keep coming back to the plate? Whycontinue the struggle to defeat the pullsof the flesh?

Certainly, part of the answer lies inthe gift of salvation that will come—after a life of striving against sin, offighting the good fight and doing battleagainst the foe—as a result of ourrepentance of sin and Christ’s sacrifice.We are driven to continue so we canhear the words: “Well done, good andfaithful servant; you were faithful overa few things, I will make you ruler overmany things. Enter into the joy of yourlord” (Matthew 25:21).

But that is in the future, and a lot canhappen between now and then. Howcan we know now—day by day—thatcontinuing to fight is worth the effort?Is it true that we can win and attain thegoal we strive for? Has God made away possible for us to succeed in thisour greatest battle of all so that we neednever think about giving up? God’sWord assures us that our efforts are not

in vain (2 Peter 1:10, 11).God has a wonderful

plan for us—a plan thatincluded giving His onlySon for the sake of all

mankind so that we caninherit a life without end.

When we take a closer lookat this part of God’s plan,we find the encouragementto keep going on, to contin-

ue the fight and not give up.God knows the depths of despair

we fall into when we fail to live up toHis expectations. He knows the penal-ty of sin—pain, suffering and heart-break. Surely God wants better for us.

Who’s counting?“Out of the depths I have cried to

You, O LORD; LORD, hear my voice!Let Your ears be attentive to the voiceof my supplications. If You, LORD,should mark iniquities, O LORD, whocould stand?” (Psalm 130:1-3). Truly,if God kept track of all our failures, noone could ever hope to succeed. Allhope would be lost.

But notice what God tells us throughwise King Solomon: “For there is not ajust man on earth who does good anddoes not sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20).

By just, he means righteous—likeAbel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham andmany, many more. While we may feelat times like the worst of sinners, weare not alone in our struggle; othershave walked this path before us. Thesaying is true that “all have sinned andfall short of the glory of God”(Romans 3:23). This truth should helpa little in holding the right perspective.However, a rereading of Hebrews 11should encourage us.

God does not leave us without hope.He knows we will need help, and He

‘‘

b y C h r i s A n d e r s o n

Three Strikes and You’re Out—or Are You?

Three Strikes and You’re Out—or Are You?

Illustration by Shaun Venish

March 1996 27

provides it. As the scripture says, “Thispoor man cried out, and the LORD heardhim, and saved him out of all his trou-bles. The angel of the LORD encamps allaround those who fear Him, and deliv-ers them . . . Many are the afflictions ofthe righteous, but the LORD delivers himout of them all” (Psalm 34:6, 7, 19).

But how does God deliver us?We can find part of the answer in

Psalm 130:4: “But there is forgivenesswith You, that You may be feared.” ByGod’s great mercy, He is willing to for-give us when we stumble and fall. Heknows we will need His forgivenessagain and again, and He paid a dearprice for the forgiveness He offers.Yet this is exactly how God has madeit possible for us to continue this goodfight. For this we should thank Godevery day.

God provides a Redeemer, onewho paid the penalty of sin for us.“The LORD redeems the soul of Hisservants, and none of those who trustin Him shall be condemned” (Psalm34:22).

Strike oneUnlike humans, God has enormous

capacity to forgive. That does not give us license to sin or to treat with impunitythe redemption available to us throughGod’s Son. God knows our heart, andHe knows the power of sin. If we trust in Him—if we keep stepping back up tothe plate when it is our turn again at bat,committed to hitting the ball this timeand getting to first base, then second and eventually home—He will be therewhenever we need strength.

He has redeemed us once and for alland will forgive us over and over untilthe season of our life is complete. “If weconfess our sins, He is faithful and justto forgive us our sins and to cleanse usfrom all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

David knew that God knew he hadcommitted sin, and he knew he couldnot blame anyone else for what hadhappened. God knows what sin is,and so should we. We must come torecognize our part in the deadlyprocess of sin, the breaking of theeternal, spiritual law of God.

“For I acknowledge my transgres-sions, and my sin is always before me.Against You, You only, have I sinned,

and done this evil in Your sight—thatYou may be found just when Youspeak, and blameless when You judge. . . Behold, You desire truth in theinward parts . . .” (Psalm 51:3, 4, 6).

A willing heartWe must be willing to go before

God and accept personal responsibilityfor our sins. Only then, with a heartcommitted to doing better next time,can we count on the forgiveness Godmakes possible.

We must never give up. Each time

we’re at the plate staring the foe in theeye, we need to ask God for the meansto live in us and bring about the resultsHe wants and we want: to succeed andinherit eternal life. Further, the team isencouraged if we take the bat confi-dently in hand and attempt once againto do our best. But we have to knowjust how much we need God everytime at bat.

If we want the victory, God will helpus overcome. “When with rebukes Youcorrect man for iniquity, You make hisbeauty melt away like a moth; surelyevery man is vapor” (Psalm 39:11).

He shows us the error of our waysand then heals us. “I will heal theirbacksliding, I will love them freely, forMy anger has turned away from him”(Hosea 14:4).

But it takes the right attitude. “If Mypeople who are called by My name willhumble themselves, and pray and seekMy face, and turn from their wickedways, then I will hear from heaven,and will forgive their sin and heal theirland” (2 Chronicles 7:14). “I, even I,am He who blots out your transgres-

sions for My own sake; and I will notremember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25).

God’s forgiveness makes it possiblefor us to step up to the plate again afterthe times we stumble and miss themark. God’s forgiveness is real, thor-ough and complete. We must be willingto believe that it is ours if we go to Him:

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, andforget not all His benefits: who for-gives all your iniquities, who heals allyour diseases, who redeems your lifefrom destruction, who crowns you with

lovingkindness and tender mercies,who satisfies your mouth with goodthings, so that your youth isrenewed like the eagle’s . . . As faras the east is from the west, so farhas He removed our transgressionsfrom us. As a father pities his chil-dren, so the LORD pities them whofear Him. For He knows our frame;that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:2-5, 12-14).

Our loving Father and ourRedeemer, Jesus Christ, our faithfulbrother and friend, are committed toour success, in spite of our losses. But if we quit trying, if we give up,we will never win. We must never

give up. “I have fought the good fight,I have finished the race, I have keptthe faith. Finally, there is . . . the crownof righteousness, which the Lord, therighteous Judge, will give to me onthat Day, and not to me only, but alsoto all who have loved His appearing”(2 Timothy 4:7, 8).

Over the fence

The next time you strike out or getcaught off guard, remember: “But thereis forgiveness with You, that You maybe feared” (Psalm 130:4). Then getback in training, preparing for the finalvictory that God promises, remember-ing that God makes salvation possibleby His forgiveness.

What else can we do but givethanks? As David said in Psalm 40:16,17: “Let all those who seek You rejoiceand be glad in You; let such as loveYour salvation say continually, ‘TheLORD be magnified!’ But I am poor andneedy; yet theLORD thinks upon me.You are my help and my deliverer. Donot delay, O my God.” GN

Our battle with sin is something like the battle of the batter at

the plate. We need to stay in training for

the victory Godpromises us.

braham married well,to a beauty named Sarah.

She was pretty enough toturn the heads of a

pharaoh and a king,who nearly lost their

lives for entertaining the thought oftaking her into their harems.

What both rulers didn’t know wasthat they were dealing with God’sfaithful matriarch, Sarah, and withHis faithful patriarch, Abraham. Tobe sure, Abraham distorted the truth a little by presenting his wife as hissister. But she was his half-sister. Shewas also his wife. And at age 65, shecontinued to turn the heads of rulers.However, her inner beauty of faith in God far exceeded her outwardappearance.

In the process of time, God trans-formed Sarah into a courageous,loyal, and faithful support for her husband. Although God changed herdoubt to faith, Sarah must be givencredit for placing herself in God’shands for Him to reshape her per-spective.

Sarah also protected Isaac anddefended her hearth and home (forher, a comfortable tent) from a polygamous relationship. She forcedthe banishment of her handmaiden

Hagar who

had a son, Ishmael, by her husbandAbraham. She was faithful in her mar-riage through thick and thin. Hershortcomings were typical for any day,any epoch, but her virtues are uncon-tested as an example for women andmen forever.

A fitting partnerWhat follows is a remarkable story

of one of the most faithful saints in thehistory of humanity. Sarah was a fittingpartner to Abraham. In this story, Sarahshines as a faithful wife and mother.She might even be called the mother ofall faithful women. The apostle Petersuggests such a description for herwhen he writes: “As Sarah obeyedAbraham, calling him lord, whosedaughters you are if you do good andare not afraid . . .” (1 Peter 3:6).

As a wife, Sarah also transcendedthe occasional apprehensions of mar-ried life. Since husbands and wives can and do have different perspectivesbased on reason and intuition, a wifecan become apprehensive of her hus-band’s decisions.

That is where the importance ofgood communication comes into playin a healthy marriage. And althoughSarah and Abraham likely had goodcommunication in their marriage,through her faith she was helped inthis important emotional need to look

to God for answers and blessings.

Traumatic timePerhaps the most difficult time for

Abraham and Sarah was when Sarahdemanded that Abraham send Hagarand Ishmael into the wilderness. It wasa heartrending scene, a time of greatcrisis for Sarah, Abraham, and Hagar(not to mention young Ishmael).

For Sarah, it was the time of deci-sion, a declaration and substantiationof her son Isaac as sole heir to Abra-ham and Sarah’s future blessings. Godhad previously announced to Abrahamthat He would continue His covenantthrough Isaac, not Ishmael (Genesis17:19-21), so this was in keeping withGod’s purpose.

Sarah had personally observed 16-year-old Ishmael mock young Isaac.(Comparing Genesis 16:16, and 21:5and 8, Ishmael was 13 years old whenIsaac was conceived, 14 years old atIsaac’s birth, and approximately 16years old when Isaac was weaned.)“And Sarah saw the son of Hagar theEgyptian, whom she [Hagar] had borneto Abraham, scoffing [literally, “laugh-ing”]. Therefore she said to Abraham,‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son;for the son of this bondwoman shall notbe heir with my son, namely withIsaac.’And the matter was very dis-pleasing in Abraham’s sight because

SarahA Story of Virtue

28 The Good News

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March 1996 29

of his son [Ishmael]” (Genesis 21:9-11). Sarah’s jealousy for Isaac as their

only heir complemented God’s designand promise to Abraham and Sarah:“For in Isaac your seed shall be called”(Genesis 21:12; Hebrews 11:18).

Resolving family problemPut yourself in Sarah’s place and ask

what you would have done in similarcircumstances. Sarah was 90 years oldwhen God fulfilled His promise thatshe would bear a son. Hagar was but ahandmaid to Sarah and one she hadmistakenly given to Abraham in hopesof helping God along in His promise toher. Now this son of her handmaid wasmocking young Isaac, her very ownflesh, blood and bone.

To her, the only peace her fami-ly could enjoy would be from theremoval of her handmaid Hagarand her son Ishmael. As well,having Hagar and Ishmael aroundcontinually reminded Sarah ofthe mistake she had made by giv-ing Hagar to Abraham in hopesof fulfilling God’s promise ofproviding them a son. This was asituation Sarah found untenable.

Abraham too was grieved. Ishmaelwas also his son, flesh of his flesh. Ithurt him deeply to part with his son,now growing into a young man.Abraham had grown to love Ishmael,spent long hours with him and taughthim many basic skills he would needwhen he would be on his own.

Resolution in God’s handsThe best resolution to this traumatic

matter was in God’s hands. “But Godsaid to Abraham, ‘Do not let it be dis-pleasing in your sight because of the lador because of your bondwoman. What-ever Sarah has said to you, listen to hervoice; for in Isaac your seed shall becalled. Yet I will also make a nation ofthe son of the bondwoman, because heis your seed’” (Genesis 21:12, 13).

So it was that Abraham rose up earlyin the morning and provided Hagar andIshmael with bread and water and sentthem on their way into the Wildernessof Beersheba. Again, Abraham trustedin God. Little wonder he was labeledas the father of the faithful (Galatians3:7; Romans 4:16). Still, it must havebeen heartrending for Abraham towatch his son Ishmael disappear into

the wilderness, wondering whether he would ever see him again.

And what of Hagar? She probablyasked herself what she had done todeserve such treatment. There hadbeen hard feelings between her andSarah since she had conceived Ish-mael (Genesis 16:4-6), but she hadbeen obedient to Sarah and to Abra-ham. Now they were sending her into

the wilderness with only bread andwater. As she set off with her sonacross a hot and barren wilderness,she wondered what lay ahead for herand Ishmael.

God had not forgotten Abraham’sfirst son, so, thankfully, there was hopefor Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 16:10-12). At the time, however, she couldonly imagine that suffering and deathlay ahead of them.

Hagar did not understand that Godwould watch over her and Ishmael,and she was not privy to God’s designto bless Israel through Isaac, the seedof promise.

Beyond childbearing ageAbraham was 99 years old and

Sarah 90 when Isaac was conceived.Sarah apparently was well beyondmenopause, so God would necessarily

have had to perform a miracle for con-ception to occur.

God had promised, and He was easilyable to fulfill His promise. But thoughGod had given His word, both Sarahand Abraham had a lesson to learnabout faith and patience.

First, they tried to work things outtheir own way.Abraham and

Sarah attempted to improve on God’stimetable. Rather than waiting on Godto perform what He had promised,though they were beyond the age ofprocreation, they decided that perhapsGod meant for them to help Him per-form His miracle for them.

Let’s see now, Sarah may havethought, I have this faithful handmaidenand maybe, just maybe, God wants usto have a son through her. Hagar isyoung enough to bear a child, so I thinkI’ll suggest that Abraham have ourchild, the one God promised us,through Hagar.

This sounded reasonable, and it wasperhaps a common practice in sur-rounding cultures, but it wasn’t whatGod had in mind. What we have here isan attempt to work things out throughhuman reasoning and effort. Not all

Illustration by Michael Woodruff

waslost, however.God allowed natural, humanreasoning to rule for themoment. Ishmael was conceived andborn to Hagar and Abraham.

Difference between human effortand faith

In all of this, God provided us withan understanding of the differencebetween human effort and faith in God.Although we may know the will ofGod, we often try to improve on God’stiming by working out His promisesthrough our own efforts.

What God expects, however, is forus to know His will. Then with contin-ued patience and faith, we wait on Himto answer according toHis promise. Certainlythere are things we cando for ourselves. Butwhen it comes to faith,we are dealing withspiritual thoughtprocesses which con-nect, seamlessly, withpatience.

God is not opposedto our caring for our-selves; He is opposedto our caring more forourselves than for Himand His will (Luke14:26-27). All of thisand more Sarah learned, along with herhusband Abraham.

These principles weren’t all learnedin a day or a week. It took Abrahamand Sarah years to grasp them. But atall times, they received God’s truthwith a humility of mind and a readi-ness to act on what they heard. Theybecame convicted (which is more thanbeing merely convinced) of God’sinstruction. This all translated intobelief, faith.

Believing God’s promisePatience is one of the most crucial

lessons any Christian must learn. TheNew Testament writer Luke recordsJesus’ words: “By your steadfastness

and patient endurance youshall win the

true life

of your souls” (Luke 21:19, AmplifiedBible).

Saving our spiritual lives is what ismost important to God. This is not tosay that faith and patience do not playa role in protecting our physical lives.They do. The example of Daniel provesthis true! He patiently waited on Godto deliver Him from the lions (Daniel6:10-23). God heard his prayers,observed his faith and spared his physi-cal life. God saves our spiritual livesand often our physical lives, too.

Sarah too was patient and faithful.She waited on God and “judged Himfaithful who had promised” (Hebrews11:11). The entire miraculous eventwas reduced to patient waiting on Godto answer.

A laughing matter

We should not conclude our profileof Sarah without noting the fact thatwhen the Lord promised Sarah shewould bear a son in her advanced age,she privately laughed about such anapparent absurdity.

According to the account in thebook of Genesis, God said to Abra-ham: “‘I will certainly return to youaccording to the time of life, andbehold, Sarah your wife shall have ason.’ (Sarah was listening in the tentdoor which was behind him.) NowAbraham and Sarah were old, welladvanced in age; and Sarah hadpassed the age of childbearing.Therefore Sarah laughed within her-self, saying, ‘After I have grown old,shall I have pleasure, my lord [Abra-

ham] being old also?’ And the LORD

said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarahlaugh? . . . But Sarah denied it, saying,‘I did not laugh,’ for she was afraid.And He said, ‘No, but you didlaugh!’” (Genesis 18:10-13, 15).

Read in isolation, this dialoguebetween God and Sarah appears tohave little significance. But the narra-tive continues and is also mentioned inthe New Testament, where it takes ondeeper meaning.

Moses shows us how the nature of Sarah’s laughter changed: “And theLORD visited Sarah as He had said, andthe LORD did for Sarah as He had spo-ken. For Sarah conceived and boreAbraham a son in his old age . . . AndSarah said, ‘God has made me laugh

[‘made laughter forme’ or ‘granted methe ability to laughand rejoice’], andall who hear willlaugh [and rejoice]with me’” (Genesis21:1-2,6).

Originally,90-year-old Sarahlaughed at theapparent absurdityof delivering a son.Her reaction wasthe laughter ofdoubt, but after sheactually gave birthto Isaac, her skepti-

cal laughter changed to laughter ofpure joy.

Now she enjoyed the laughter offaith. What satisfaction she must havefelt, what satisfaction, what peace,what comfort.

Sarah’s remarkable example is in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, whichrecounts many inspiring stories of faith.Though her story is only brieflyexplored here, she ranks with the Bible’sfaithful. Rightly did Peter also com-mend all faithful women of all ageswhen he wrote: “As Sarah obeyed Abra-ham, calling him lord, whose daughtersyou are if you do good and are notafraid . . .” (1 Peter 3:6).

The implication is clear: Sarah is a shining example of the practice offaith. GN

In all of this, God provided us with an understanding of the differencebetween human effort and faith

in God. Although we may know the will of God, we often try to improve on God’s timing by working out His promises through our own efforts.

30 The Good News

March 1996 31

ing more attention to their marriage thanto their children” (“Why Saying No toYour Children and Putting ThemSecond Can Be Best for Them,” UrbanFamily, Spring 1993).

This is a vital key to having well-adjusted children. A nationwide surveyconducted in 1988 by the NationalCenter for Health Statistics showedthat young people who grow up intraditional families (both father andmother present in the home) are twoto three times less likely to havebehavioral or emotional problemsthan their peers reared by a singleparent, or by a stepfamily.

Broken marriages are tragediesfor adults and children alike. Nowonder God says that He hatesdivorce (Malachi 2:16)! God wantswhat is best for all mankind, chil-dren included. His desire is foradults to produce godly offspring(Malachi 2:15).

It is also interesting to note thatmany marriages end in divorce short-ly after the last child has matured andleft the home. Families in which thefather and mother successfully givetheir own relationship greater impor-tance than their children, not onlyproduce better children but also findtheir marriages unaffected by thedeparture of the last child.

Parental attentionThe importance of parental attention

during a child’s early years has beenthoroughly documented. “Dr. BurtonWhite of the Harvard UniversityPreschool Project concluded that ‘whathappens between 0-18 months of lifedoes more to influence future intellec-tual competence than any other time.’White’s data also concluded that thenuclear family is the most importanteducational system.

“Children who receive inadequatenurture in their early years becomenonattached. According to SelmaFraiberg of the University of Michi-gan, nonattachment, at its worst, can‘create bondless people who . . . con-tribute far beyond their number tosocial disease and disorder. They are

handicapped in work relationships,friendships, marriage, and child rear-ing’” (Current Thoughts & Trends,August 1994, p. 13).

Of late, much emphasis has beenplaced on spending quality time withchildren. Exactly what constitutes“quality time” is hard to discern.Originally, it likely meant giving chil-dren undivided attention or interactingwith them. These are important princi-

ples. The reality, however, is that alltime spent with children is important tothem. The cost of an activity or the dis-tance traveled is not a factor in deter-mining the value of time spent.Children value all time with their parents.

Two of the greatest advantages forchildren are biological parents wholive together in a loving relationship,and parents who spend time withthem. Children from these back-grounds are most likely to succeed andbe well adjusted. Children, as theygrow up, see how families shouldwork and are statistically predisposedtoward living out the same scenariowhen they become adults.

If you are happily married and meetthese principles for successful parent-ing, you and your children have agreater likelihood of success. Count

your blessings! Not everyone, howev-er, is in this situation. Fifty percent ofall marriages in the United States endin divorce and many single parentsfind themselves in economic circum-stances that require they work outsidethe home. Are these people doomed to parenting failure? Absolutely not.

The good news is that in spite of thestatistics, many single, working parentshave made a commitment to rear their

children by God’s standards and areproducing stable, well-adjusted children.

If you have made mistakes orbeen the victim of a failed mar-riage, you can bring your circum-stances to God and commit yourselfto God’s values. Then your childrencan start to reflect the blessings thatcome from His timeless parentingvalues.

Mothers who must work outsidethe home, but wish they didn’t haveto, can take some encouragementfrom research done by Roger Webbof the University of Arkansas. Webbfound that “while the best adjustedkids have mothers who choose tostay home and raise them, the sec-ond best adjusted children comefrom homes where the mothers workoutside the home but don’t want to. These children seemto sense that their mothers wouldrather be with them if circumstances

allowed” (Current Thoughts & Trends).

Make a commitment

Making a commitment to yourmate, and to spending time with yourchildren, are important foundationalsteps to successful parenting. Theseare not the only things important inparenting, but they are a good start.THE GOOD NEWS will continue to pub-lish articles about family matters andhow you can apply God’s principles inyour life.

Earlier in this article I mentioned abumper sticker. It seems only appropri-ate to close with another which embod-ies the basic principle of loving one’schildren. This favorite bumper sticker ofmine says, “Have You Hugged YourKids Today?” Why not do it? And whileyou are at it, hug your mate. It will doyou and your children a lot of good. GN

ParentingContinued from page 7