Christians see ultimate justice in Jesus. God punished the sin of all who believe and poured out the penalty on Jesus on the cross. God is serious about justice.  He doesn’t just ignore offences, but punishes them. For each offence there is a debt to pay. This is retributive justice.

When it comes to punishing criminals, especially serious ones, this becomes tricky. The authorities have a difficult job. But at least one thing is clear: God cares for justice, and those who have authority now need to maintain justice.  In an ultimate sense, we can look forward to a day when justice is done on all sin, and grace is shown to each one who believes in Jesus.

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, 21 May 2010).

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We don’t want money because we like little pieces of metal and plastic, but because it represents something else to us. Firstly, money represents pleasure – it means we can buy better experiences in life.  But we need to heed the warning of Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 where Solomon points out that even having everything you want ultimately doesn’t make you happy. Secondly, money represents security – we can be secure in knowing our future will be looked after and our possessions will be safe.  But this is also not true, as Matthew 6:19-21 points out.  All it takes is an accident or a stock market crash and we realize we are not as we think even if we have all the money we need. Thirdly, money represents success and happiness – it is how we know we have succeeded in life.  But again we need to listen to the Bible in 1 Timothy 6.  Contentment comes from knowing Jesus and wanting money above all things simply leads to troubles.

We need money, and money is indeed a good thing from God. But you cannot be friends with God or get to heaven due to your money or possessions.  Salvation is a free gift.  So we need to see money as a gift from God we need to use well, not just to serve ourselves but to serve others.

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, 14 May 2010).

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What does the Bible say about alcohol? Well, perhaps a little surprisingly to many, the Bible has more positive than negative references to alcohol.  Wine is a sign of blessing from God, used in sacrifices to God, allowed in celebrations, and even created by Jesus.  What is warned against is drunkenness, which affects our bodies badly and is not appropriate for those who trust in Jesus.

As to how Christians view alcohol, God leaves a lot up to our wisdom. Some say that we should avoid it altogether as it has negative effects on society. Others say it is a good gift from God and gives us more relational opportunities with those who don’t know Jesus.  What is clear is that God should be what dominates our life and gives us enjoyment, rather than alcohol.

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, 5 May 2010).

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The Bible tells us that the world was created by God, and it is good (Genesis 1-2).  God placed man to have authority over the world, an authority expanded upon in Genesis 9. There is an order to creation: God is the boss of everything, and he has placed people as the managers of the rest of the creation.  So where does Jesus fit in? We see this in Colossians 1:15-20. Jesus was involved in creation, and everything was made for him.  So Jesus is the purpose of creation.

What does all this mean for Christians? It means it is right to be concerned for the whales and global warming, and our responsibility for it. We need to be good managers. But we also need to see that the creation was made for Jesus. We shouldn’t worship the creation, but the Creator (Romans 1:18-25). People and their response to Jesus needs to come before environmental concern – we need to make sure we have our priorities right.

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, 30 April 2010).

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The first step is to see if the Bible is actually historically accurate and reliable. And when we investigate, we see it lines up very well with other historical sources from Roman and Jewish historians. We can be confident that the text we have today is very similar to the text as it was written down, for we have so many different copies which are so similar to each other.  It is true that the people who wrote the Bible believed it was true, so they are biased, but being biased doesn’t mean it is not true, only that it needs to be investigated for yourself.

What does the Bible say about itself? It claims to be the way you can find God and know how to live (2 Timothy 3:14-17). It claims to be the word of both God and man (2 Peter 1:19-21). Jesus believed the Bible was so accurate and important he used even the tense of a verb (Matt 22:23-33) and the logic of a verse (Matt 22:41-46) to argue against people with.

If this Bible is so important, it needs to be investigated closely.  It needs to be read and listened to and thought about.  And as we do this, if it is the Word of God as it claims to be, we will be shown the way to live now and the way to eternal life through Jesus forever.

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, Friday 26 March 2010).

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Some think enemies of Jesus took his body.  But if this is true, it is hard to understand why they also unwrapped the body and did not produce it again when the apostles started preaching.  Some think the disciples took the body. But this is not consistent with the boldness of the apostles in their preaching. If they knew deep down that it was not true, they would not be willing to suffer as they did. Some think Jesus wasn’t really dead, but experienced Roman soldiers declared him to be dead and allowed him to be buried. A more subtle modern explanation is that Jesus didn’t really rise, but the disciples believed it so much he rose ‘in their hearts’ rather than in body. But this doesn’t explain the empty tomb and the boldness of the apostles either.

The best explanation, however improbable we might naturally think it is, is that Jesus actually was dead and rose again. This showed he had really paid for sins and we could be right with God. This affects everything – how to connect with God, how to live now as dead to sin but alive to Jesus (Romans 6:1-14), and it gives us future hope. Let’s make sure we consider this carefully, especially as Easter approaches.

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, 19 March 2010)

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The Bible tells us heaven is worth more than anything in this life (Matt 13:44-46).  It is so much better it is worth making sacrifices now in order to get there. So how might we get to heaven then? It has nothing to do with how good you are, surprisingly enough. It is all to do with how you respond to Jesus and his death (see Phil 3:18-20).  Those who trust in Jesus for being right with God are the ones who will live with God forever.  On the other hand, those who do not trust Jesus will find themselves eternally apart from God in hell.

Why might this matter for us?  Well, if you are unsure about Jesus, we see it actually matters if you trust in him or not. And if you do trust in Jesus, we will still be judged based on how we have served Jesus in this life.  On the bad days, it is always worth remembering that life will not always be like this. If you follow Jesus you have a bright future forever, and real certain hope of being with God.

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, Friday March 12 2010).

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