So, last post I explored Christ in his role as advocate. I delved into who Christ was advocating against, which I had previously thought was God/justice, but am realizing there is more to it and more to advocate against. This week I wanted to study Christ as our judge. Since I've always thought of God as taking on that role more so than Christ I thought it would be interesting particularly in light of my discoveries as Christ as advocate.
First off, Christ as our advocate and Christ as our judge -these roles seem to be a little at odds. Wouldn't an advocate advocate against a judge? Like a lawyer? He's advocating for us, why would he then turn around and judge us? These are some of the things floating around my mind as I start researching this in the topical guide.
Gen 18:25 "...Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?"
Psalm 9:8 "... he shall judge the world in righteousness..."
Isaiah 5:16 "... Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgement.."
Isa 33:22 "... Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver...."
Jer 23:5 "... our King .... shall execute judgment and justice..."
Interesting- we see here that his role as judge comes with his role as King. Makes sense.
John 9:39 "... for judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see and that they which see might be made blind..."
So how does judgment enter into this? How does Christ's role as judge help to enlighten the blind and blind the seeing?? Is it because blind means innocence here? Christ is judging innocence and sin? Bringing knowledge through judgment?
Acts 10:42 "...ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead..."
I've always thought of God being the judge (justice) and Christ being the advocate (mercy) but I guess God delegated/ordained His judging authority to Christ.
Romans 2:16 "... God shall judge the secrets of man by Jesus Christ..."
Perhaps Christ is in a better position to judge since He's here. He has been here. He has felt and experienced all our sins personally. You can't really ask for a better judge than that. A better judge or a better advocate.
Rev 19:2 "....true and righteous are his judgments..."
1 Jn 2:1 "... we have an advocate with the Father..."
WITH the Father, not against, but with.
2 Nephi 2:10 "And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him according to the truth and holiness which is in him..."
So, because Christ is our advocate we are able to be in His presence and be judged of Him. Because of the intercession we come to Him and because we come to Him, we stand in His presence to then be judged. It is his role as advocate that qualifies Him to be our judge.
Verse 9 "..... inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all... and they that believe in Him shall be saved..."
He is the one on the front lines making intercession- going through what we go through. It's Him we have to accept. That is our criteria for being saved, so of course He is he perfect judge of that. Who knows better than He whether or not we accept Him or to what degree? Only He can judge our relationship with Him or the degree to which we have become like Him.
John 1:1 ...the Word was with God, the Word was God...
Christ is IN God, so the justice and mercy isn't God versus Christ. Since they are one, it's two different aspects of the same Being.
Every scripture under Christ, relationship with Father in the Topical Guide are about unity, not justice versus mercy. They are one.
To further understand this relationship I looked up Jesus Christ, mediator. Here are a few of the scriptures I found:
John 14:6 "No man cometh unto the Father but by me."
Again, here the thought that Christ isn't mediating between us and God He's mediating us to God.
1 Tim 1:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.
Interesting that here it does say that Christ is mediator between us and God and furthermore it lists Christ as a man as opposed to a god.
Heb 8:6 ".... he is the mediator of a better covenant..."
Gal 3:19 "[the law] was added because of transgression, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator...."
Here it describes Christ as the mediator between transgression and the law. This makes more sense than putting him against someone- someone upholding justice. Rather it's just law or justice itself, not a person, not God even though God represents justice- Christ and God are not at odds- they are one.
Verse 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
I'm not sure exactly what this is saying, but I think it backs up my idea that God and Christ are one. Christ is not a mediator for one side or another, but for all. For us, for God. Against sin and transgression and injustice. He is judge, he is advocate, he is with God and He is perfect in all of these roles.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Jesus Christ, advocate
So for December I've decided to research a different aspect of Christ for each week. A tradition I hope to continue. I'm starting off with Jesus Christ as advocate.
At the risk of sounding like a LAME-o church talk, the definition of advocate from dictionary.com is three-fold 1. a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc. 2. a person who pleads for or in behalf of another; intercessor. 3. a person who pleads the cause of another in a court of law.
Now think of Christ in those definitions.... Gooood. :)
2 Nephi 2:9 ".... he shall make intercession for all the children of men and they that believe him shall be saved..."
So, what does intercession mean exactly? Before looking it up, I'm guessing it is talking about intercession from the justice of God. Again, dictionary.com to the rescue. It says the definition of intercession is, "1. the act of interceding. 2. an interposing or pleading on behalf of another person or 3. a prayer to God on behalf of another person." So, then what does to intercede mean? "1. to act or interpose in behalf of someone in difficulty or trouble, as by pleading or petition: to intercede with the governor for a condemned man. 2. to attempt to reconcile differences between two people or groups; mediate." Those I would say are pretty great definitions of what Christ has done for us and I find them very useful. Adding the definition of intercession into the above scripture: He shall plead on behalf of all the children of men and they that believe him shall be saved.
This scripture led me to a main question I had throughout my study of Christ as the advocate: what or who is He advocating against?
Verse 10 of the same chapter reads, "And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God, wherefore they stand in the presence of him to be judged of him."
So, Christ's intercession is what makes it possible for us to stand before God. Intercession is what Christ has doen to make us holy enough. His sacrifice that enables our repentance and cleansing. His role as advocate cleanses us so we can stand in God's presence.
2 Nephi 8:22 "... [I] the Lord thy God pleadeth the cause of his people..."
Pleadeth to who? Advocate against whom? I keep thinking God, but that's not what it says.
"...behold I ahve taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of my fury, thou shalt no more drink it again."
Thine hand. He is advocating against ourselves and also God's fury (justice).
Verse 23 "I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee, who have said to thy soul Bow down, that we may go over...."
In this verse, it describes Christ as our advocate not against ourselves or God but against some unseen power saying to our souls "Bow down!" Christ advocates against this power.
2 Nephi 13:13 "The Lord standeth up to plead and standeth to judge the people."
Interesting that he both pleads and judges -- He represents both justice and mercy.
Jacob 3:1 "....he will plead your cause and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction...."
Here Christ advocates against those who seek our destruction. Who is that? Satan? Men? He's pleading our cause to devils? or He already has? Maybe he did during the atonement. Something to think about.
It's also interesting that He pleads our cause AND sends down justice. The more scriptures I read, the more I think my assumption that Christ is our advocate against the justice of God is not complete, since Christ seems to represent both mercy and justice himself. Advocate and judge.
Mosiah 14:12 "...he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.."
Christ advocates by being numbered with us and making intercession for us.
Mosiah 15: 8 "..God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men..."
It's interesting that God is the subject here. God gave the Son power to be our advocate even though Christ is advocating to God for us. Right? Again, I think my initial idea that Christ is our advocate against God's justice is not complete. I was thinking of advocate as that second definition of to intercede, "to attempt to reconcile differences between two people or groups; mediate." And I was assuming the two people or groups were us and God. I don't think this is the case anymore. I think Christ pleads our case, but I don't think it's to God. I think He pleaded our case when He suffered for us. Christ is our advocate against sin, Satan, temptation, and ourselves sometimes.
John 1:1 The word was with God and the Word was God.
Christ is IN God. They are one, so the justice and mercy isn't God versus Christ- since tehy are one- it's two different aspects of the same Being. Furthermore, every scripture listed under "Jesus Christ, relationship with the Father" in the Topical Guide are about unity, not justice or mercy- never anything that puts them at odds with each other. They always stand together.
1 Jn 2:1 "...we have an advocate with the Father."
With, not against. Christ is our advocate with the Father.
At the risk of sounding like a LAME-o church talk, the definition of advocate from dictionary.com is three-fold 1. a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc. 2. a person who pleads for or in behalf of another; intercessor. 3. a person who pleads the cause of another in a court of law.
Now think of Christ in those definitions.... Gooood. :)
2 Nephi 2:9 ".... he shall make intercession for all the children of men and they that believe him shall be saved..."
So, what does intercession mean exactly? Before looking it up, I'm guessing it is talking about intercession from the justice of God. Again, dictionary.com to the rescue. It says the definition of intercession is, "1. the act of interceding. 2. an interposing or pleading on behalf of another person or 3. a prayer to God on behalf of another person." So, then what does to intercede mean? "1. to act or interpose in behalf of someone in difficulty or trouble, as by pleading or petition: to intercede with the governor for a condemned man. 2. to attempt to reconcile differences between two people or groups; mediate." Those I would say are pretty great definitions of what Christ has done for us and I find them very useful. Adding the definition of intercession into the above scripture: He shall plead on behalf of all the children of men and they that believe him shall be saved.
This scripture led me to a main question I had throughout my study of Christ as the advocate: what or who is He advocating against?
Verse 10 of the same chapter reads, "And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God, wherefore they stand in the presence of him to be judged of him."
So, Christ's intercession is what makes it possible for us to stand before God. Intercession is what Christ has doen to make us holy enough. His sacrifice that enables our repentance and cleansing. His role as advocate cleanses us so we can stand in God's presence.
2 Nephi 8:22 "... [I] the Lord thy God pleadeth the cause of his people..."
Pleadeth to who? Advocate against whom? I keep thinking God, but that's not what it says.
"...behold I ahve taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of my fury, thou shalt no more drink it again."
Thine hand. He is advocating against ourselves and also God's fury (justice).
Verse 23 "I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee, who have said to thy soul Bow down, that we may go over...."
In this verse, it describes Christ as our advocate not against ourselves or God but against some unseen power saying to our souls "Bow down!" Christ advocates against this power.
2 Nephi 13:13 "The Lord standeth up to plead and standeth to judge the people."
Interesting that he both pleads and judges -- He represents both justice and mercy.
Jacob 3:1 "....he will plead your cause and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction...."
Here Christ advocates against those who seek our destruction. Who is that? Satan? Men? He's pleading our cause to devils? or He already has? Maybe he did during the atonement. Something to think about.
It's also interesting that He pleads our cause AND sends down justice. The more scriptures I read, the more I think my assumption that Christ is our advocate against the justice of God is not complete, since Christ seems to represent both mercy and justice himself. Advocate and judge.
Mosiah 14:12 "...he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.."
Christ advocates by being numbered with us and making intercession for us.
Mosiah 15: 8 "..God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men..."
It's interesting that God is the subject here. God gave the Son power to be our advocate even though Christ is advocating to God for us. Right? Again, I think my initial idea that Christ is our advocate against God's justice is not complete. I was thinking of advocate as that second definition of to intercede, "to attempt to reconcile differences between two people or groups; mediate." And I was assuming the two people or groups were us and God. I don't think this is the case anymore. I think Christ pleads our case, but I don't think it's to God. I think He pleaded our case when He suffered for us. Christ is our advocate against sin, Satan, temptation, and ourselves sometimes.
John 1:1 The word was with God and the Word was God.
Christ is IN God. They are one, so the justice and mercy isn't God versus Christ- since tehy are one- it's two different aspects of the same Being. Furthermore, every scripture listed under "Jesus Christ, relationship with the Father" in the Topical Guide are about unity, not justice or mercy- never anything that puts them at odds with each other. They always stand together.
1 Jn 2:1 "...we have an advocate with the Father."
With, not against. Christ is our advocate with the Father.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Soft vs hard parenting
Back story: so recently I've been thinking about potty training. A lot. I've picked up a few books from the library. One of which seems to promote a parent decides model, another favors a child decides model. I've been thinking a lot about parenting in general lately as well, so I decided to take my quandaries to the scriptures.
My study question of the week was what is the balance between ordering children to do something and giving them their freedom? How often/when do you force vs letting them decide? (I think this topic will be reviewed in future years as well since it's applicable to a whole lot more than potty training).
I started by looking up family, children, responsibilities toward in the topical guide.
Deut 6:7 "...teach your children diligently..."
Deut 32: 46 "....command your children to do all the words of this law"
I'm looking a lot at the verbs in the verses listed here under responsibilities toward children. I'm noticing a trend already: teach diligently, command. In many of these verses the verb used is teach. I figure the most important responsibility is love, but that was it's own section, so this is more about teaching and other responsibilities.
Proverbs 13: 24 "... He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."
Ok the beginning of the verse sounds a bit harsh, but the second part is what I'm looking at here. Kids need to be chastened betimes. It's what God does with us. It's how we grow and for our own good. He chastens us and backs off to let us grow and learn.
Proverbs 22: 6 (2 Nephi 4: 5) "... Train up a child inthe way he should go."
Prov 23: 13 "... withhold not correction from the child..."
Again, so far my search is turning up much more about the parent holding the responsibility to teach, train, command and correct than anything else.
Col 3: 21 "... provoke not your children to anger..."
1 Nephi 1:1 "... having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught..."
1 Nephi 8: 57 "...he did exhort them with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words.... yea my father did preach to them..."
I LOVE the phrase "exhort with all the feeling of a tender parent." It's exactly what I was looking for: parents should be strong and firm but also tender. We exhort because we love. Exhorting should be done with tenderness.
Eph 6: 4 "....and ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
I like the phrase nurture AND admonition. Again this balance between firm and tender- soft and hard, nurture and admonition. Also, don't make your children angry.
Enos 1:1 "...I Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man- for he taught me in his language and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
The phrase "he taught me in his language" really struck me while reading this. I was thinking about it and I think it maybe means he taught in his own way- using his own talents. Enos's father taught him in the way he knew how- with his unique perspective and personality. So, first off Enos's father taught in his way, but also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So, he uses his talents and opinions but also strikes that balance with the Lord's way. I like that. Using his language- no one right way to parent, we all have our own languages with our children, but should all raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Mosiah 1:4 ".....teach them to his children, that thereby they could teach..."
Ok, this may sound silly but this is just like the potty training book- have your child teach a doll until they have the process down. Teaching is a great learning tool no matter what the subject :)
Alma 39: 16 "... prepare the minds of their children to hear the word...."
Preparation is an important part of teaching children.
Joshua 24: 15 ...."choose ye this day whom ye will serve.... as for me and my house we will serve the Lord."
"As for me and my house we will ..." here the adult is deciding for his whole household. You get to choose when you're older but when kids live in your house- you can choose for your house- the adult decides.
1 Samuel 3: 13 "For I will judge his house forever for the iniquity..... because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not...."
This is interesting- we should restrain them when they are making vile choices.
Proverbs 29: 15 "The rod and reproof give wisdom bu a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."
This is pretty clear and it answers my question pretty well. Don't leave a kid alone to choose. Reprimand bad choices.
3 Jn 1:4 "I ahve no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth"
We should take joy in our kids. It should be our greatest joy to teach them and see them succeed.
Jacob 2:35 "... ye have lost the confidence of your children because of your bad examples before them...."
Live in a way to gain your kids confidence.
Psalms 113: 9 "be a joyful mother of children."
After all this studying about responsibilities toward children, I looked up family duties in the topical guide. Here are some things I found on family duties:
1 Peter 3:10 "For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that htey speak no guile."
I then listened to L Tom Perry's recent conference address called "Becoming Goodly Parents" and here are some notes I took:
- place your marriage as your highest priority
- make life enjoyable for your family that they will want to follow in your footsteps- have fun
- pray in earnest that God will help you love, guie and understand your children
- strive to understand your childn's special and specific needs
- organize your family based on clear, simple family rules and expectations and stick to them
- children should have household responsibilities and earn allowance
- our strenthened family cultures will be a protection for our children from their peer cultures
- teach the doctrine of Christ so they know why to share
- build a strong family culture. Build it. Fuel it.
Responsibilities of a parent: teach, train, exhort, love, provide for, nurture.
My study question of the week was what is the balance between ordering children to do something and giving them their freedom? How often/when do you force vs letting them decide? (I think this topic will be reviewed in future years as well since it's applicable to a whole lot more than potty training).
I started by looking up family, children, responsibilities toward in the topical guide.
Deut 6:7 "...teach your children diligently..."
Deut 32: 46 "....command your children to do all the words of this law"
I'm looking a lot at the verbs in the verses listed here under responsibilities toward children. I'm noticing a trend already: teach diligently, command. In many of these verses the verb used is teach. I figure the most important responsibility is love, but that was it's own section, so this is more about teaching and other responsibilities.
Proverbs 13: 24 "... He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."
Ok the beginning of the verse sounds a bit harsh, but the second part is what I'm looking at here. Kids need to be chastened betimes. It's what God does with us. It's how we grow and for our own good. He chastens us and backs off to let us grow and learn.
Proverbs 22: 6 (2 Nephi 4: 5) "... Train up a child inthe way he should go."
Prov 23: 13 "... withhold not correction from the child..."
Again, so far my search is turning up much more about the parent holding the responsibility to teach, train, command and correct than anything else.
Col 3: 21 "... provoke not your children to anger..."
1 Nephi 1:1 "... having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught..."
1 Nephi 8: 57 "...he did exhort them with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words.... yea my father did preach to them..."
I LOVE the phrase "exhort with all the feeling of a tender parent." It's exactly what I was looking for: parents should be strong and firm but also tender. We exhort because we love. Exhorting should be done with tenderness.
Eph 6: 4 "....and ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
I like the phrase nurture AND admonition. Again this balance between firm and tender- soft and hard, nurture and admonition. Also, don't make your children angry.
Enos 1:1 "...I Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man- for he taught me in his language and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
The phrase "he taught me in his language" really struck me while reading this. I was thinking about it and I think it maybe means he taught in his own way- using his own talents. Enos's father taught him in the way he knew how- with his unique perspective and personality. So, first off Enos's father taught in his way, but also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So, he uses his talents and opinions but also strikes that balance with the Lord's way. I like that. Using his language- no one right way to parent, we all have our own languages with our children, but should all raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Mosiah 1:4 ".....teach them to his children, that thereby they could teach..."
Ok, this may sound silly but this is just like the potty training book- have your child teach a doll until they have the process down. Teaching is a great learning tool no matter what the subject :)
Alma 39: 16 "... prepare the minds of their children to hear the word...."
Preparation is an important part of teaching children.
Joshua 24: 15 ...."choose ye this day whom ye will serve.... as for me and my house we will serve the Lord."
"As for me and my house we will ..." here the adult is deciding for his whole household. You get to choose when you're older but when kids live in your house- you can choose for your house- the adult decides.
1 Samuel 3: 13 "For I will judge his house forever for the iniquity..... because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not...."
This is interesting- we should restrain them when they are making vile choices.
Proverbs 29: 15 "The rod and reproof give wisdom bu a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."
This is pretty clear and it answers my question pretty well. Don't leave a kid alone to choose. Reprimand bad choices.
3 Jn 1:4 "I ahve no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth"
We should take joy in our kids. It should be our greatest joy to teach them and see them succeed.
Jacob 2:35 "... ye have lost the confidence of your children because of your bad examples before them...."
Live in a way to gain your kids confidence.
Psalms 113: 9 "be a joyful mother of children."
After all this studying about responsibilities toward children, I looked up family duties in the topical guide. Here are some things I found on family duties:
1 Peter 3:10 "For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that htey speak no guile."
I then listened to L Tom Perry's recent conference address called "Becoming Goodly Parents" and here are some notes I took:
- place your marriage as your highest priority
- make life enjoyable for your family that they will want to follow in your footsteps- have fun
- pray in earnest that God will help you love, guie and understand your children
- strive to understand your childn's special and specific needs
- organize your family based on clear, simple family rules and expectations and stick to them
- children should have household responsibilities and earn allowance
- our strenthened family cultures will be a protection for our children from their peer cultures
- teach the doctrine of Christ so they know why to share
- build a strong family culture. Build it. Fuel it.
Responsibilities of a parent: teach, train, exhort, love, provide for, nurture.
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