I am reading the book "Brain Rules" by John Medina, a completely scientific look at brain research and how people learn.  Last night I read a section of the book that completely caught me off guard, both by the phrase the author uses as well as the general concept he is intending to communication.  In speaking of brain structure, Medina uses the phrase, "...the Triune nature of the brain."  He then goes on to explain that the brain appears to be designed in three components - all working together yet all one.  I had never heard the word "Triune" used in any way other than in addressing the nature of God.  Yet here we have a most secular and scientific author using "Triune" to describe the brain - actually ONLY the human brain.   Three in one - just like the nature of God!

The three components are the brain stem, controlling basic autonomic systems (like breathing), the so-called mammalian brain, which monitors emotions (such as fear and fight responses), and the cortex or higher-level analysis component (allowing such thinking processes as language and symbolic processing). 

I just had to stop reading for a moment and consider how incredible that God created man in His (Their?) own image with such great detail that even the brain is modeled after the Designer.  And to think I learned this from a completely non-theological source.  It did leave a smile on my face.  Hope you have an awesome labor day!

Romans 1:  Paul's Letter to the Church in Rome

Paul wrote the book of Romans approximately 24 years (AD 57) after Jesus' death on the cross.  He wrote the book to introduce himself to the church in Rome; he initially planned to visit the church on his way to Spain.  Paul actually arrives in Rome in AD 61 (see Acts 27 and map below) after a long and stormy journey as a prisoner.  The church at Rome consisted of Jewish and Gentile believers and this mix caused them a bit of tension.  Much of what Paul writes is aimed at addressing this tension.  This letter, as is common with all writings inspired by the Holy Spirit, is rich in theology that is just as relevant for us to day as it was for the church in Rome. 



Paul's introduction immediately addresses the Jew-Gentile tension;  quickly tying Jesus to God, the old testament to Jesus, and salvation to ALL people through faith in Jesus Christ.  Read the following bulleted statements that Paul makes in verses 1-7.  (gospel = good news)
1) Paul is a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, sent to preach the gospel of God.
2) This gospel was promised by the old testament prophets as recorded in OT scriptures.
3) Jesus is God's son, who in human nature was a descendant of David.
4) As the Son of God, Jesus possessed the holiness of the Spirit, and was resurrected from death.
5) By Jesus' grace all the Gentiles have been called to obedience through faith.
6) And YOU are among those called to belong to Jesus Christ and thereby be loved by God.
7) Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul encourages the church at Rome, telling them that the strength of their faith is reported all over the world.  Paul indicates the he has diligently prayed for the church and that he looks with anticipation towards this visit.  In verse 11 Paul tells them, "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong.... " 


Early wood carving of apostle Paul.       Example of a first century church in Rome

Paul cuts to the chase in verse 14-16:  "I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.  That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.  I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:  first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written (Hab 2:4), 'The righteous will live by faith.'"

Paul is still writing his introduction and look at the deep truths he has already provided for this faithful but struggling church:  The gospel is for Jews and Gentiles.  The gospel is the way to salvation through Jesus Christ.  The gospel is God's (yeah, the old testament God's) plan from day one, as foretold by the prophets, and as fulfilled in Christ.

Beginning in verse 18, Paul has concluded his introduction and now he backs up so that he may address the statements made in the introduction in more detail.  Paul speaks first concerning God's wrath against the wickedness of those that attempt to suppress the truth.  The Truth of God has been made plain to all men, because God's invisible qualities - His power and His nature - has been made evident in all of God's creation.  Mankind is without excuse and cannot claim that they were never told of God's plan.  The plan of God is self-evident.  Paul continues, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images (idols)..." 

Doesn't this sound like people today?  Intelligent people who claim there is no God, busy people who have no time for God, and even wicked people who thumb their noses at anything to do with God.  Paul is telling us that everybody innately understands that a creator exists, they can choose to suppress this truth, but they do not have an excuse.  Some powerful stuff to remember as we are talking to our friends and neighbors about the gospel - they innately know that it is the Truth! 

(Pause for commercial break:  If you have never considered the many ways in which God has revealed his power through His creation get yourself in a small group that is covering the "Truth Project" - awesome curriculum.)

Beginning in verse 24, Paul explains God's strategy for dealing with those who choose not to believe.  "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with on another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather the Creator."  Paul continues, ".... God gave them over to shameful lusts.  Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.  Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." 

While Paul is clearly describing sexually immorality, the concept is just as relevant for any addiction (drugs, alcohol, food, pride, lust, greed, and etc).  I presume that Paul choose to discuss sexual impurity because it was a major concern at the time, especially in Rome.  If we choose to sin instead of being controlled by God's Spirit, God allows that sin to gain control of our being - to our detriment.  Furthermore, states Paul in verse 28, "since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  They become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity.  They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice.  They are gossips, slanders, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful;  they invent ways of doing evil;  they disobey their parents;  they are senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.   Even though they KNOW these practices are wrong, they not only continue to do them, but they approve of those who practice them.

My experience with people living today is exactly like Paul's description of people living in the first century.  In light of human nature, it doesn't seem that much has changed in 2000 years.  This sinful nature is ugly, yet God allows everyone to choose His nature or the sinful nature (because he created man with a free will).  Seems like an easy choice to me!

Discussion Questions:  Who was the 'Paul' in your life - the one who encouraged you when you were a new Christian?  How does God's Spirit help you circumvent sin?  What else can we do to stop sin from gaining a strangle hold on our lives?  In what ways were the problems (Jew-Gentile) in the church at Rome similar to our problems in churches today?  Can you list examples of how the Truth of God is made manifest innately in all humans?  Why is it important to understand this?

kNOw, DO, and BE:
1) Do Pray daily, Be in the Word daily, and Do Fellowship with other Believers faithfully.
2) Be in a small group as they form this fall.
3) Be salt and light to those you associate with every day.

 

Bonus Blog:  Genesis 2, the Garden of Eden.

In the rest of Chapter 2 the author takes a more detailed look at the sixth day of the creation process, a sign that day six is important.  Verses 4-6 set the stage, quickly reviewing the creation process from chapter one, and then we get to verse seven, “…the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”  The original words translated as 'breathed' and 'breath of life' evoke a sense of a spiritual nature imparted upon the man.  (It is noteworthy that God created only the male at this stage – known as the divine pause.  We will return to this thought a bit later.)

 

During this ‘divine pause’, God planted a garden in the east, called Eden.  God placed the man that He had created in this garden of Eden, a garden consisting of all kinds of trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.  In the middle of this garden were two special trees, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four rivers (the Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates).  We are provided with a few clues about the rivers:  The Pishon winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is good quality gold and onyx.  The Gihon winds through the land of Cush.  The Tigris runs along the east side of Asshur.  Fortunately, the Euphrates is still called the Euphrates and helps us identify the general location of Eden.

 

Wouldn’t it be interesting to find the garden of Eden?  Many have searched, many others have formed theories and opinions as to its location.   Let’s briefly consider a few theories: 

A commonly held theory holds that geologic change (the great flood or seismic action) completely erased (or modified) the original routes of these four rivers. By making this assumption, one can place the garden in a number of areas - perhaps modern day Israel. Since God uses the town of Jerusalem in both Jesus' death and in Revelation (the New Jerusalem) perhaps Eden was also located in Jerusalem. Without any evidence, of course, one could then consider rivers flowing to the south (Ethiopia-Cush), the east (Iran-Iraq), the north (Turkey-Asia), and west into the great sea.

 

A second theory considers the clues of the four rivers and attempts to match them to currently existing rivers. The Kura river has its source not far from the source of the north branch of the Euphrates. If one considers the Kura river to be the same as the Pishon river then the entire narrative makes literal sense. The Kura (Pishon), Aras (Gihon), Tigris, and Euphrates rivers all have their headwaters in the same 20 sq mile geographic area of modern Turkey. The Kura runs through Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, a region with lots of gold and minerals; The Aras runs through Iran (in an area were the people are called Cushites); and of course, the Tigris and Euphrates flow through Iraq.  If true, this would put the literal garden of Eden in eastern Turkey, near the modern day town of Erzurum.

 

A third theory uses computer enhanced photographs taken from orbiting satellites to identify old river beds, seismic fault lines, and other clues.  Researchers theorize that seismic activity actually reversed the flow direction of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.  They have identified two ancient river beds that flowed from the Persian gulf, heading east and west respectively.  This theory places the location of the garden of Eden at the bottom of the current Persian gulf.

 

Ok, enought with theories, lets get back to the narrative.  The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” 

 

After each step (day) of creation God said, “It is good”.  So what does God say after creating His masterpiece, man, whom He made in His own image?  In verse 18 we have our answer:  The Lord God said, “It is NOT good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him.”  Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air.  He brought them to the man to see what he would name them;  and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.  In this way the man named all the animals. 

But for Adam, no suitable helper was found.  So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;  and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man. 

 

Adam, whose name in Hebrew means ‘of dirt’, is introduced to his new bride and what does he say?  “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”  I think Adam was still in the mode of naming animals!  

Good thing Adam got some help from God and settled on the name 'Eve'.  And this is were the story really gets interesting - we will come back to Genesis at a later date!

In September we will begin the book of Romans.....