for 10 FEB 07: PURELY VICTORIOUS
(BLOGGER'S NOTE: You may find this item humorous, serious, or a little of both - but we offer these thoughts on occasion, as we keep a seventh-day Sabbath.)
"If you want to pray with the angels, you'd better be 100-percent pure." So said a visitor to Columbus this past week - and no, he was NOT talking about the Angels who play baseball in Anaheim.
We're returning today to the Monday night lecture given at Columbus State University by Professor Shalom Paul, from Jerusalem's Hebrew University. He's a "Bible scholar," and he sometimes showed it by rattling off Scripture references from memory. He didn't even help the audience, by showing them on one of those modern overhead screens.
Have you ever dreamed of joining with the angels in prayer, as Shalom Paul mentioned? The ancient Essenes did - and they were so concerned about purity that they would bathe before their meals [6 Feb]. Nowadays, many moms and dads have trouble merely getting children to wash their hands.
But did you know not all angels are pure - that some actually sinned? Strange as it sounds, that's what the Bible says. No, they are NOT all right angels....
The New Testament apostle Peter says some angels sinned. A few pages over, Jude says they "did not keep their positions of authority." In King James Bible language, these angels had the "first estate." Sad to say, the lovers of Anna Nicole Smith soon will start fighting over a second or third one.
The angels who sinned apparently had high-ranking offices in heaven. Perhaps they were the equivalent of a Presidential cabinet, or even elected officials in our cities. So there - this sin scandal didn't start with the Mayor of San Francisco after all.
Many Christians believe the sin of the angels came from joining with an archangel named Lucifer long ago, in a revolt against God. The coup attempt did NOT succeed - perhaps because that play "Your Arm's Too Short to Box With God" hadn't come out yet.
Lucifer and the sinning angels were thrown out of God's heaven. Lucifer became Satan. The angels became his "demons." But contrary to what two local high schools suggest, there's NO Biblical evidence that they turned red or blue.
Those angels could have been pure, but they sinned. And what do you know - that makes them a lot like you and me. I can be pure, but too often I cave in to sin. I'm not even sure Ivory Soap still has a standard of "99 and 44-hundredths percent pure" anymore.
So since I'm not 100-percent pure, I need some cleaning up as well. And when it comes to sin, a physical tub bath simply won't do it. God might as well have written that country song by Sugarland - He's "looking for something more."
But the good news is that God provided us something more. In this case, it was Someone with more - a Son who lived a pure sinless life, then sacrificed that life. The apostle John wrote the Son's blood can purify us from all sins. For everything else, you might need "Spray and Wash."
So to rephrase what the professor said: if you want to pray with the angels, you'd better MAKE yourself 100-percent pure. That can start with a prayer, in fact - for God to purify you through His Son. Then God can help you walk a new course. And that course can lead to a dramatic finale, perhaps much like a British golf tournament....
COMING SUNDAY: Why some people stand outside a convenience store for hours at a time....
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