The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
January 18, 2009
In
This Issue:
The
Training and Admonition of the Lord
by
Steve Klein
The
Significance of the First Day of the Week
by
Bobby Graham
Bringing Up Children in...
"The Training and Admonition of the Lord"
In Ephesians 6:4, Fathers are commanded to bring up their children "in the training and admonition of the Lord". "Training" a child in this way demands more than just occasional church attendance or learning a few facts about the Bible. It involves immersing a child in the Lord's ways from the cradle to the time the child leaves the nest.
The Jews of old may have had a better grasp of what is involved in training a child religiously than many of us do today. For one thing, the Lord gave them a detailed description of what was to be involved in the training of a child. God's commandments were to become a part of every day family life! He told the Israelites, "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" (Deuteronomy 6:7).
An historical look at the way the Jews trained their children in the time of Christ reveals that Jewish parents took the responsibility given them in Deuteronomy 6:7 very seriously. Beginning with the rite of circumcision for male children and continuing on through the formative years, every Jewish child was raised to be an adherent to the Jewish faith.
The early childhood experiences of Jesus in the temple illustrate how that Jewish children were included in plans to attend the worship assemblies and religious feasts, such as the Passover (Luke 2:21-50). Traditionally, each year at the Passover, it was the youngest person at the table who was to stand and ask, "What is the meaning of this feast? And, "How is it different from others?" "To which the father was to reply by relating in language suited to the child's capacity, the whole national history of Israel, from the calling of Abraham down to the deliverance from Egypt and the giving of the Law." The more detailed the story was, the better it was considered to be. (Alfred Edersheim, Sketches in Jewish Social Life, p. 110).
One ancient historian said that the Jews "were from their swaddling clothes, even before being taught either the sacred laws or the unwritten customs, trained by their parents, teachers and instructors to recognize God as Father and as the Maker of the world" and that "having been taught the knowledge from earliest youth, they bore in their souls the image of the commandments" (Philo, Legat. Ad Cajum, sec.16 & 32).
The first century Jewish historian Josephus says that the Jews learned all the laws of Moses, "beginning from their earliest infancy." This training was so thorough that, if anyone would ask a Jew about the laws, "he will more readily tell them all than he will tell his own name, and this in consequence of our having learned them immediately as soon as ever we became sensible of anything, and of our having them, as it were engraven on our souls." (Josephus in Against Apion, ii. 18 & 19).
The Jews believed that they were God's specially chosen people. They believed God's law was perfect and that their relationship to His law made them unique. And although they were eventually scattered far across the earth, and found themselves in many different cultural and social settings, they kept their determination to raise their children as Jews. No self-respecting Jew would allow their child to be raised as a Gentile!
Friends, we as Christians can learn something here. We are God's chosen people today! (1 Peter 2:9). We have a unique relationship with him through His word! (1 Peter 1:23). Should we allow our children to be trained by our secular society? Should our children's values, morality and priorities be learned from solely from TV and the public schools? Or, should we ourselves take the responsibility to train them in the Lord's ways, immersing them in the culture of Christianity, and teaching them at every turn in life the meaning of Christ-likeness? The choice is plain. May God grant every parent reading these words the determination to bring up their children in "the training and admonition of the Lord."
-- Steve Klein
The first day of the week has a special place in the economy of the new covenant. It took the place of the special day observed under the first covenant - not in the sense of being like it in all respects, but in its being a day of special observance. Among the factors contributing to the importance of the first day of the week are the following.
The Resurrection of Jesus
Mark 16:9 shows that Jesus arose from the grave on the first day of the week. Luke 24:1, 13, 21, and 46 all together demand our belief that Jesus arose on the first day, not on the Sabbath or on some other day, as some insist. Verse 1 sets the stage by identifying the day as the first day of the week; verse 13 shows that, on that first day, two disciples walked to the village of Emmaus. In their conversation with Jesus, who was then not disclosed to them, they referred to the first day as the third day since Jesus' crucifixion (v. 21).
In the remarks of Jesus himself in verse 46, we learn that his resurrection was an event of the third day. By Jesus' statement of verse 46 and the disciples' iden-tification of this first day of the week as the third day, we have to conclude then that Jesus arose on the first day of the week, not on the seventh day. The first day derives its significance from that momentous event of the resurrection of Jesus, in keeping with Old Testament prophecy.
The Acknowledging of Jesus
Psalm 2:7 refers to the resur-rection of Jesus and to his being thereby begotten that very day, though the rulers had taken counsel against the Father and against his anointed one, the Christ. Acts 13:32,33 confirms that the second Psalm, particularly the word "begotten," refers to the resurrection of Jesus. In that glorious event, God was acknowledging to all men for all time to come that Jesus was his Son with authority (Rom. 1:4). The first day is made even more important by God's ac-knowledgement concerning Jesus in the event of this day.
The Appearances of Jesus
Jesus' appearances to Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9) and to another Mary (Matt. 28:9,10), who worshiped him; to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-15); to the ten apostles (Luke 24:33-36; John 20:19); and to all of the apostles after eight days (John 20:26) in substantiation of his res-urrection make the day all the more significant.
The Events of Pentecost
According to Leviticus 23:15,16, the day of Pentecost came on the first day of the week - that is, seven Sabbaths and one day after the Sabbath connected with Passover.
On the first Pentecost after the resurrection, the Holy Spirit was given in fulfillment of Joel's prophecy (2:28-32; Acts 2:1-4). Christ's rule as high priest and king was announced as begin-ning (Zech. 6:13; Acts 2:29-36). The new covenant went into effect (Isa. 2:3; Luke 24:47, 49; Acts 2:38). The church (mountain of the Lord's house, Isa. 2:2,3) was established in the last days (Acts 2:17,41,47).
Action of Local Churches
From these four considerations, it should be clear why the first day of the week had a place of special significance in the life of the New Testament church. The church having been established on this day, we are not surprised to learn that local congregations of the Lord's people met on this same day to remember Christ in eating the Lord's supper and to contribute of their financial means to support the Lord's work (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2). Paul met with the Christians in Troas, thereby giving apostolic sanction to what there transpired.
Does it have that place in your life? People faithful to Christ will meet on the first day of the week as first-century Christians did for the purposes assigned by the apostles of Christ. They will not seek to evade God's will in this matter or to substitute their own way for his way. In doing what the New Testament authorizes, there is fellowship with God, but in altering the plan there is no assurance of such.
-- Bobby Graham