[Biblemat] A) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Wednesday
morning to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.
Here are a couple of questions and answers that recently came
my way:

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question:  -- When Jesus said, "it is finished" as He was hang-
                      ing upon the cross, what did He mean by that?

Answer: -- The cross is the central point in the history of man-
                  kind.  Everything before it pointed to the cross,
and everything since that points back to it.  This is because,
as the apostle Paul wrote, "To the intent that now unto the
principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be
made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God,
according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ
Jesus our Lord" (Eph. 3:10,11).  Jesus Christ was "Written
from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath 
been slain" (Rev. 13:8).

     Jesus could have been speaking of His earthly life when
He said, "It is finished," for He was nearly at the point of death.  He could 
have been speaking of the kingdom of Israel,
for it ceased when the law that gave it life was "nailed to the
cross" (Col. 2:14).  But Jesus had said, "The Son of man came to seek and to 
save that which was lost" (Lk. 19:10), and: "I glorified Thee on the earth, 
having accomplished the
work which Thou hast given Me to do" (Jno. 17:4).  Jesus'
whole purpose in coming to earth was to die on the cross for
the sins of the world: "That He, by the grace of God, should
taste of death for every man" (Heb. 2:9).  I am convinced that
when Jesus said, "It is finished," He referred to that "eternal
purpose of God" by which all men might be saved from their
sins and have hope of heaven.   ------ Clem Thurman in Gospel Minutes, Vol. 
55, No. 44, Nov. 3, 2006.

Question: -- Should a child be made to go to the services of
                    the church?

Answer: -- Recently, a mother asked me, "Should I make my
                 son attend church services?"  I answered, "Yes,
definitely."  Then I explained to her:  "What do you say when
your son decides that he does not want to go to school?"
"What did you do when he was little and did not want to take
a bath?"  "How did you react when he was sick and did not
want to take his medicine?"

     Every right-thinking parent recognizes the importance of
these matters and gives the child no opportunity to decide
for himself.  Instead, parents explain to the child the import-
ance of going to school, taking a bath, and taking medicine
when sick.

     So, mom and dad, take time to explain the importance of
attending church services; then simply say to your son or
daughter; "In our family we all attend church services and
that includes you."

     "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is
older he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6).
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