THEOLOGY is where to start
It’s right at the very beginning,
It’s the study about the eternal God
Without beginning and ending.
Nothing’s impossible with God, we say,
But that is not really true,
Anything contrary to His Divine nature
God will not ever do.
God cannot lie or do something wrong
And He will never make a mistake,
God is the Creator of the Universe
And that tells me Big Bang is a fake.
God is all knowing and also all wise
He is everywhere at every time,
He is self-existent and omnipotent
He is the only one of His kind.
He is the eternal Word and Spirit too
As expressed in the Holy Trinity
Co-eternal, co-existent and co-essential
Are attributes of all three.
In the beginning was the Word
And the Holy Spirit too,
The inspired Word testifies to this
Hence, it is the biblical view.
Next in line is CHRISTOLOGY
And this is somewhat self-defining,
That this is the study of the Jesus Christ
Not one of us should need reminding.
The Anointed One, the promised Christ,
The Living Word of God,
The one born of a woman but not of a man
That later twelve disciples called.
The one on whom redemption rests
The price that was paid for man’s sin,
The one crucified on Golgotha’s hill
That now invites all to come to him.
The Son that’s equal to God the Father
But was by his own creation despised,
The one that reconciled man to God
And by his creation was crucified.
To wit, that God was in Christ,
Reconciling the world unto himself,
Through Christ we have the word of reconciliation
And this is more rewarding than wealth.
From God the Father and God the Son
To God the Holy Spirit:
PNEUMATOLOGY is that study
That highlights the blessed Holy Spirit.
From as early as verse
2 of Genesis 1
The Holy Spirit is introduced,
And the Spirit of God moved and God said:
For the Trinity in action: here is proof.
The Trinity in creation
In both the old and the new,
God speaking by the Word
With the Holy Spirit in view.
The Holy Spirit is not a mere force
As some would want us to believe
But is co-equal with the Father and the Son
And supplies the believer’s needs.
Christ mediates between God and man
And the Holy Spirit ensures this link
Such that both mediate on man’s behalf
As the Three indwells his tent.
Next in order is ANGELOLOGY:
The study of the angelic host,
Once among heaven’s host was Lucifer
But now he occupies a different post.
He dared to challenge the Most High
And declared war against God,
Well, the outcome was his utter defeat
Great was his consequential fall.
A third of the angelic host he took
That decided to join up with him,
From then he’s been active in the earth
Engaging the world in sin.
Michael is called the archangel
And Gabriel is the messenger of God,
These two we know of in the Word
Besides Lucifer before the fall.
And who better than Lucifer aka Satan
To introduce the study of DEMONOLGY
For he is leader of the demonic host
And the instigator of human tragedy.
You would recall in the Garden of Eden
It was Satan that tempted Eve,
Just three words, “Hath God said…?
And Eve was tragically deceived.
Ever since, Satan and his minions
Have been wreaking havoc on the earth,
Most notably inciting men and women
To disbelieve the Saviour’s birth.
It could be morning, noon or night,
Satan and his demons do not rest
Trying to get all of mankind not to confess
That Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
SOTERIOLOGY: the study of salvation
As stated in John chapter 3 verse 16:
For God so loved He gave!
It was Jesus who came to redeem.
To redeem man from the scourge of sin
Ever since the first man fell,
The earthy Adam had sold us out
And our destiny was a flaming hell.
The second man is the Lord from heaven
That came to be the Saviour,
Reversing the curse that Adam brought
So that man could gain God’s favour.
There is therefore no salvation
Other than in the Lord, Jesus Christ,
The propitiation of God the Father
And man’s once and for all sacrifice.
Romans 5:8
But God commended His love toward us,
In that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
And when the day of Pentecost came
They were of one accord in one place,
From these relative few disciples in waiting
The origin of the God’s Church we trace.
Herein is the study of the Church
ECCLESIOLOGY it is called,
It’s now become the Church triumphant
With its message spread abroad.
Established on the Rock, Christ Jesus
Purchased by his atoning blood,
Chosen from the very beginning
A Spirit filled Christian brotherhood.
A composite of born-again believers
Endued by the Holy Spirit
To tell the message of the glorious Gospel
Consistently by life and lip.
The central theme of the New Covenant
The Old having passed away,
An eternal and far better covenant
As the writer of the Hebrews did say.
A Church that looks for Christ’s coming
But also carries out its mission
To spread the Gospel throughout the world:
This is the Great Commission.
Then comes the end whenever that be
For not one of us can see,
But we do know it will certainly come
Whatever our ESCHATOLOGY.
Whether Futurist or Preterist,
Idealist or Historicist,
Whatever position on the eschatological list,
Here is the point we must not miss.
Jesus is coming again!
It is clear in the Holy Word,
It matters not to us when that time will be
But it’s a fact it will occur.
Some believe it could be this year,
Some contend that’s not likely
But whatever one’s belief, opinion or view
The Lord’s return is a certainty.
He will return for those that are his
This loving Shepherd of his sheep
Including those that have died in him
And those not yet fallen asleep.
Stewart Russell © August 6, 2021
