The Week in Review

Are you a Coat Maker (part 5)?

South Suburban Church of God

May 17, 2009

John 19:23 reads, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.”

Christ was crucified for you and I. He stood in my place, and your place. He paid for our sins. First they took Christ and exposed him. His took on the shame of nakedness for our sakes. Adam and Eve were naked and God covered them. They were always naked in the garden, but when sin entered, it brought shame. It was there sin that made them ashamed of their nakedness. God covered their shame, their sin. Christ did more than simply cover our shame he took it away. Christ’s sacrifice became the coat, the covering of all mankind’s nakedness before God. He was shamed so that we no longer have to stand before God ashamed, but now we can stand clothed in white raiment’s (Rev. 3:18). His garment was seamless, no beginning or end could be found. That reminds me that Christ has no beginning and there is no end to him, he is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. The sinful thoughts of men took Christ coat and Christ’s redemption gave us new garments. Our filthy rages, which is our self-righteousness is replaced with clothes of righteousness, which is the righteousness of God that he gives to us because of his son’s sacrifice.



This is the only reason why we can be coat makers. Christ was shamed for our sins so that we can stand before God clothed in his righteousness, for we have no righteousness in ourselves and if we say we are without sin Scripture says we are liars and the truth is not in us. We were all sinners and we all fell short of the glory of God. In doing so, we all stood in need of being saved by grace alone unless any of us should boast. Either we believe this truth from the word of God or we reject it but we cannot add to it nor can we take away from it. We either stand redeemed or we stand condemned, the choice is ours. John 3:3 states, In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” If we are to be godly coat makers, we must be born again. And this comes only through the Son of God, Christ Jesus.I ask, are you a coat maker? Are you providing for the needs of the family? Are you providing for the needs of the lost that are not covered by the garment of righteousness that only comes through Christ? Are you nurturing others or are you showing favoritism in your love? Are you giving out of your abilities to all so they can become what God has purposes, or are you a destiny-determining coat maker? Or what if you aren’t making coats for anyone? Has God quickened your heart today that there someone you know right now that he wants you to walk with, to witness to, to encourage or teach? Are your fabrics lying unused?



Are your gifts and talents lying dormant and you don’t pick up the challenge because it seems like a Goliath of a task? Do you have the beautiful beads to adorn some coats but you leave them for someone else to do? Or do you want to provide for every one that comes you way so they have the tools necessary to win the battles in life? Do you want to be like Hannah and nature someone so they can become the great man or woman of God he has ordained for them to be? Do you want to stop interfering and start interceding for someone? Do you want to provide for the needs of someone that is waiting especially for you to provide for them? Your gifts are not for you, but for them. Do you want to stop holding onto the coats that others are desperately in need of because without them they are chilled, naked and uncovered. Are you a coat maker? I often end with a poem. God gave me a poem, come back next week for the final installment, the poem.

The Week in Review

Challenges of Christian Theology (Part 2)

Written by Minister Jewel D. Williams

In the book, Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult – How to Interest People Who Aren’t Interested, the author Nick Pollard states, “Suddenly it struck me: different people are different. Of course, it seems obvious now. But somehow I had missed it before. I had been searching for the one universal gospel presentation, that there is none. God doesn’t give us a ‘gospel presentation’ because there is no one presentation that is appropriate for all people at all times. There is one gospel, but the way we communicate it will differ according to the types of individuals we are seeking to help.” (102).

While Pollard is speaking about presenting the Gospel message in different ways so that individuals can understand it and accept it; it is a useful message in regards to theology. Theology has to present the truth of God in a way that individuals will not feel intimidated and shy away from learning the principles of the word. It is important to also note, when individuals have an understanding of truth, they are equipped to stand against the false doctrines that are presented to them as biblical truth. “It is true that taking advantage of accurate Bible teaching is an important part of the believer’s spiritual growth. Furthermore, the provision of Bible teaching is an undisputed ministry of God the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:11-16). At the same time, however, it is the responsibility of the listener to compare what is being taught with the Bible. To be sure this should be done in a spirit of humility but is should be done…We need to have a broad understanding and feel for the entire canon of scripture, its whole woof and warp” (Luginbill, 1, 2).



Another challenge that must be addressed by theology is cultural influences. This is not a new challenge for theology but one that takes on different characteristics based on the current culture. Probe Ministries addresses this challenge. On the website, http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/apologet.html, the author Rick Wade states, “Throughout the history of the church, Christians have been called upon to explain why we believe what we believe. The apostle Paul spoke of his ministry as ‘the defense and confirmation of the gospel.’ Peter said we need to be ‘ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you’” (1). This challenge also hinges upon the individual believer being equipped in the principles of the word. If one does not have a good grasp of Christian theology, one can begin to believe every whim of doctrine. So theology becomes a defense against the false beliefs of cultural influences. Theology can help individuals make sound decisions based on orderly information that explains different components of the faith. “Good, logical thinking is especially important for an apologist. On the one hand, it can help prevent us from putting together shoddy arguments for what we believe. On the other hand, it helps us evaluate the beliefs of those who challenge Christianity. Too often we stumble at criticisms which sound good, but which really stand on logically shaky legs” (Wade, 2). (COME BACK FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT)