What's so special about us?

What is so special about our generation? What is so special about our era in time.

There are said to be seven dispensations throughout the Bible. Dispensation is defined as ‘a certain order system or arrangement’. Each dispensation represents a different stage in God’s dealing with us.

This is not a post on dispensationalism. Briefly, the seven dispensations are commonly regarded to be:

1. The dispensation of innocence: Pre-fall of man.
2. The dispensation of conscience: From the fall to the flood. This era shows what happens when mankind is left to their own conscience.
3. The dispensation of government: This is from Noah to Abraham and represents the era when mankind are instructed to inhabit all of the world, culminating in the Tower of Babel where God introduces different languages so that mankind is scattered and forms different nations.
4. The dispensation of Promise: This is the promise of God to the Israelites given to Abraham. This starts the process of God’s redemption for mankind. His first act of redemption was to pick out a people to Himself, those people chosen where the Israelites.
5. The dispensation of law: This is the era under the 10 commandments.
6. The dispensation of grace: This is the era under the blessing of grace through Jesus Christ. Which is what we are currently still in.
7. The millennial reign: This is to come upon Jesus’ return.

We are currently living in the era of grace. How blessed we are to live in such a time. This era began with the resurrection of Christ and will end when Jesus returns. Bare this fact in mind when you ask yourself the question:

Q: What is so special about our generation?

A: Nothing. There is nothing that separates us from the previous generations since Christ came. With this in mind, why do we consider ourselves to be so special? Why all of a sudden are there alternative interpretations for the Word of God? Why all of a sudden are we more tolerant of sin? Why all of a sudden are certain books in the Bible not relevant in today’s world? Why have certain Christian views all of a sudden become outdated? Why are hymms sneered at and 'rock music' king? Why is homosexuality tiptoed over? Why are women allowed to adopt roles of spiritual leadership? Why are the youth living in debauchery and committing adultery and they don't even think there is anything wrong with it? I am not just talking about the world, although the same rings true for them, but I am talking about the church itself, I am talking about those who claim to profess a love for Christ. I often hear that I am ‘outdated in my views’ on certain topics… according to who!? What a sinful bunch we are.

Since the 1^st Century church up until about two generations ago, or even one generation ago, the Bible was always interpreted amongst the Christian church in the same way on every relevant issue. Why then all of a sudden in the last 20 years has the way we interpret and treat God’s Word changed so rapidly? Why then have we all of a sudden disrespected God’s Word and introduced an air of liberalism into everything that we teach!?

Times change, as can be illustrated by a study of the different dispensations throughout the Bible. What applies today did not apply in the OT. But, the dispensation that we reside in is no different to the dispensation that our older generation, our Grandparents’ generation and the generation that the 1^st century church were in. So why have we now allowed such liberalism to decay our church and our believers?

We are so affected by what the world thinks. We need to study God’s Word and look at how worldly we have become. We need to set ourselves apart to the Lord and live like the God-fearing folk we claim to be.

Compromise, compromise, compromise. Tolerate, tolerate, tolerate. Why do we care so much about what the world thinks?

John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

This isn’t said for the sake of it. The Gospel of Christ is offensive to the world and its inhabitants, because people wish to do what they desire. They do not like any accountability or higher being telling them what to do.

1 Corinthians 1:18 “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Romans 1:28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;”

Humans do not like to be told that what they are doing is not acceptable. Proverbs 12:15 states “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise.” However the Bible tells us that ‘there are none who are good, no not one!’ (Psalm 14:3) Men are offended because they do not like to be told what to do. They do not like to be told that they are wrong. They do not like the accountability of a higher being.

The subjective belief of a man does not change the objective truth of God. God will judge us according to those things we have done on this earth, whether good or bad, and we are told that we have all fallen short (Romans 3:23) and need a Saviour, for we cannot save ourselves.

Read Revelation 11. This is the account of the two witnesses who will come in the end days and preach the truth of God. Read verses 7-11. We are told that when these two witnesses finish giving their testimonies, they will be killed (v7) and “And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.” (v10). (!!). These witnesses will not tolerate ungodliness; they will not compromise with the world. They will stand strong in the Lord and speak to truth of God. As a result those in the world will be ‘tormented’ by them! This is not because the witnesses are evil and afflicting people. It is because people cannot stand God. People cannot stand righteousness, because it exposes their sin nature and they can’t stand it. John 3:19 says that men ‘love the darkness’.

We cannot serve two masters; we cannot serve God and mammon; we cannot be separated to God and in the world.

We are not a special generation, we are the same as those who have come before; therefore let’s stop changing the intricacies of the church; let’s stop altering the doctrine of Christ to please men! We can never please men.

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt should lose its flavour how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men”.

Salt is a cleaning agent and a preservatent. The world is wounded in need of a Saviour. Next time you have a cut, try rubbing salt into the wound. It may hurt like crazy, but it is doing the cut good. Our message cuts to the heart of the sinner and hurts, but it is necessary and good that we are the salt to the earth. If we compromise with the world then we lose its flavour and are absolutely useless.

Let us remember that we are not a special generation and stop being so tolerant towards sin; stop being so liberal in our interpretations of God’s Word.  If you do not like what something says in God’s Word it is you who is at fault, not the Word of God. Therefore do not try and mould it to suit your lifestyle and your convictions.

Seek God and start living according to His Word, not according to ours!

- BACChristian.