A Christian Vision

Biblical Cosmology is the biblical writers' conception of how the cosmos came to be, what its nature is, and how it is structured. They thought of it as an organized, structured entity, including its origin, order, meaning and destiny. The Hebrew Bible depicted a three-tiered world, with the heavens (shamayim) above, Earth ('erets) in the middle, and the underworld (she'ol) below. This worldview is clearly reflected in both OT and NT thinking:

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:4, ESV)

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11, ESV)

Biblical Cosmology presupposes the worldview of the biblical writers, their history and culture. Needless to say, this worldview predates science (pre-scientific) and is much more concerned with theological messaging: God is the Creator and He is the Sovereign King!

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IS JESUS THE “ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD” (John 3:16)? WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER “SONS OF GOD” (Psalm 83:6)?

Readers of Psalm 82 often raise a specific question about Jesus. If there are other divine sons of God, what do we make of the description of Jesus as the “only begotten” son of God (John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9)? How could Jesus be the only divine son when there were others?

“Only begotten” is an unfortunately confusing translation, especially to modern ears. Not only does the translation “only begotten” seem to contradict the obvious statements in the Old Testament about other sons of God, it implies that there was a time when the Son did not exist—that he had a beginning.

The Greek word translated by this phrase is monogenes. It doesn’t mean “only begotten” in some sort of “birthing” sense. The confusion extends from an old misunderstanding of the root of the Greek word. For years monogenes was thought to have derived from two Greek terms, monos (“only”) and gennao (“to beget, bear”). Greek scholars later discovered that the second part of the word monogenes does not come from the Greek verb gennao, but rather from the noun genos (“class, kind”). The term literally means “one of a kind” or “unique” without connotation of created origin. Consequently, since Jesus is indeed identified with Yahweh and is therefore, with Yahweh, unique among the elohim that serve God, the term monogenes does not contradict the Old Testament language.

The validity of this understanding is borne out by the New Testament itself. In Hebrews 11:17, Isaac is called Abraham’s monogenes. If you know your Old Testament you know that Isaac was not the “only begotten” son of Abraham. Abraham had earlier fathered Ishmael (cf. Gen 16:15; 21:3). The term must mean that Isaac was Abraham’s unique son, for he was the son of the covenant promises. Isaac’s genealogical line would be the one through which Messiah would come. Just as Yahweh is an elohim, and no other elohim are Yahweh, so Jesus is the unique Son, and no other sons of God are like him.

—Dr. Michael Heiser, “Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible”

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HOW MANY GODS ARE THERE? WELL, DEPENDE DAW SA SCHOOL YAN.

“The denial that other ‘elohim’ exist insults the sincerity of biblical writers and the glory of God. How is it coherent to say that verses extolling the superiority of Yahweh above all elohim (Ps. 97:9) are really telling us Yahweh is greater than beings that don’t exist? Where is God’s glory in passages calling other ‘elim’ to worship Yahweh (Ps. 29:1–2) when the writers don’t believe those beings are real? Were the writers inspired to lie or hoodwink us? To give us theological gibberish?

To my ear, it mocks God to say, “You’re greater than something that doesn’t exist.” So is my dog. Saying, “Among the beings that we all know don’t exist there is none like Yahweh” is tantamount to comparing Yahweh with Spiderman or Spongebob Squarepants. This reduces praise to a snicker. Why would the Holy Spirit inspire such nonsense?”

—Dr. Michael Heiser, “Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible”

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What Did God Create In Seven Days?

All the “host of heaven” and “host of the earth” were created by the Most High in the Creation Week. (Genesis 1:1, 2:1)

“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.” (Nehemiah 9:6, ESV)

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17, ESV)

“For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” (1 Corinthians 8:5-6, ESV)

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If you truly profess to be a Christian, follower ni Lord Jesus, you cannot simply afford to replace your Bible Study time with trivial entertainments na magbibigay nga sayo ng temporary happiness pero wala namang eternal value sa ‘yong spiritual life.

For example, para may guide ka: Mobile Games, Kdrama, Sports, Travel, etc. I mean, don't be mistaken here. Lahat sila ay nakaka-tanggal din naman ng stress at my emotional or psychological value, pero too much is dangerousity. Alam mo naman yun kapatid, wayward lang talaga minsan ano?

While memorization is good for the memory (malamang), nothing beats the prize of discovering the truths of God from digging deep into His treasure trove of timeless truths, the Bible.

DO NOT JUST READ YOUR BIBLE, STUDY IT THOROUGHLY 💕

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Siring pa ngani ni apostol Pablo:

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39, ESV)

May crush ka ba ha iya pero diri ka niya crush? Love mo ba hiya pero feel mo nga di ka niya love? Okay la iton, bangin iba iya standards or may kulang ha imo ha iya ideal type or di ka gudla niya trip. Oops, sensya la. If waray kapa ha tama nga edad ngan right na panahon para ha love, bangin mag start kala relationship nga di mo pa kaya i-handle then eventually both of you will end up with bitter experiences lugod. Mas maupay kun taposon mo la anay imo module, diba? Bangin waray kapa ngani manhugas, dzaii.

Balitaw, kun mayda man mas deserving imo love, hira imo parents iton, imo mama and papa, imo family, imo guardians, imo friends, accountability leaders, ngan syempre imo self. And most importantly, the one who deserve your heart is the one who give you that, and that is our loving Lord and heavenly Father.

Diri kaman sure kun i-crush back ka imo crush ha kaluyo han imo pag-ini-stalk ha iya ha Facebook. Diri kaman certain kun mag iiha iyo relationship kay feel mo naka-condition an iyo relationship han iyo individual efforts ngan performance. Adi man an sure ka: if love mo hi Lord ngan love ka niya, waray heartbreaks ngan waray break up nga mahinanabo.

Why? Kase he loves unconditionally and He is forever faithful. His love is relentless, unfading, ngan unbounded. Waray sadang nga suklanan kun susuklon mo an love ni Lord. If He loves you, He will love you with an everlasting love. (Jer. 31:3; John 3:16; Eph. 5:25)

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Happy Apologetics Day!

Apologetics is primarily understood and rightly defined as “the reasoned defense of the Christian faith.” This means that the need for apologetics arises when the gospel and truth claims of Christianity is either distorted by false believers or challenged by non-Christians.

Apologetics, however, theologically understood is not exclusively defensive in nature and practice, but can also be polemical and offensive. For this reason, one essential need must also arise—the necessity to know and cherish one's faith.

Many budding Christian apologists make the mistake of rushing to an internet debate with some atheists and argue with non-Christians only to end a dialogue with much heated exchange of words and unnecessary frustrations.

This should not be the case. Apologetics must also be viewed as an art and science of making friends out of enemies, i.e., opponent in beliefs and philosophy of life. Apologetics becomes easy and convenient if an apologist knows precisely what he is defending and what is his ultimate goal in a dialogue with either a false believer or a non-Christian.

“...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect...” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

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Happy 500 Likes!

“The members of God’s heavenly host are not peripheral or insignificant or unrelated to our story, the human story, in the Bible. They play a central role. But modern Bible readers too often read right past, without grasping them, the fascinating ways the supernatural world is present in dozens of the most familiar episodes in the Bible. It took me decades to see what I now see in the Bible—and I want to share with you the fruit of those years of study.”

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The logic of idolatry is simple. Idolatry is highly forbidden because the practice of it is blasphemous to the Creator of all things who alone deserves our praise, worship, and devotion. There is nothing in all creation that resembles the Most High, not even a hint. God is the ultimate reality and all other realities are only proximate to Him. Any attempt to capture the essence of the Father with anything in creation is a failure. No one can limit God. Nobody can localize God. Nothing can tame Him. He rules with authority. He governs meticulously. And He reigns in absolute sovereignty. Amen.

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