Skip to main content

God Loves Math: Hebrews 3:4

God Loves Math:

In which I select a random Bible verse from a random Bible verse generator (this one) and ask God to show me a new way of understanding Him, honoring Him, and loving Him while using a mathematical mindset to approach the section of scripture. 

Today's Random Bible Verse

Hebrews 3:4

"For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything."

Oh, this verse is full of meaning when considered mathematically! (Although we see it much more when we look at it in its context.) 

Hebrews 3:1 tells us to fix our thoughts on Jesus, "whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest." Why should we do that? "Let's prove Jesus deserves it," is essentially the approach taken by the author. I can appreciate a good proof. 

1) If someone is faithful, then they deserve honor. We know this is true because the Bible talks about Moses being found worthy of honor because he was faithful "in all God's house."

2) If Jesus was "faithful to the one who appointed him," then Jesus deserves honor. This is the Law of Detachment. This is standard high school Geometry : )


3) Builder of a house's worthiness of honor > House's worthiness of honor. (This is like an axiom. We don't have to prove that a creator of something is more deserving of honor than the thing they created. We can assume.)

4) Jesus = Creator of Everything. Jesus built everything. We know this because John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." Jesus was there before we existed, creating this whole world and everything in it.

5) Creator of Everything > Creator of 1 House > House This is obvious since everything is greater than 1 thing. 

6) Jesus > Creator of 1 House > House by Substitution. 

7) Jesus deserves the MOST honor. This is justified by our verse for today, Hebrews 3:4. "For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything." This verse is one great big QED. 

QED

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

God and Classroom Management

Ezekiel 20:11-13 "I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws," (God gave clear and consistent expectations. I would bet he made sure they were available in multiple formats so people could both read and hear them.) "for the man who obeys them will live by them." (I have way more wisdom and knowledge, not to mentioned a fully developed frontal lobe. I know the results of those bad choices already, so seriously, listen to me for your own good...) "Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy." (Here I imagine God feels like I do when I spend hours planning a hands-on lesson that would make me curious and excited as a student. I bet he looked forward to the Sabbath because he imagined how excited he would be as a human to have this day to rest and appreciate what a great and loving God they have. He wants us to know he loves us and wants what's best for us, just like I want my

School vs. Real Life

I read a post on facebook today about things in the real world that students don't learn in school. It got me thinking about how we spiral everything in Geometry and Algebra 2. Here's how it works... We teach a brand new unit for about 2 weeks. During that time, we review something from a particular previous unit each day so that by the end of those two weeks, they have learned all the new material a little bit each day and reviewed all the "spiral" material a little bit each day. Then we give two tests, one over the new material and one over the "spiral" material. By doing this, they will experience all material once as new and a second time as spiral. This will allow them to take two tests over every unit. Their first test score affects their grade, but if they score higher on the second test, they get to keep just the higher score. If they score lower on the second test, we average the two test scores. Most students score higher on the second test becau

God Loves Math: 1 John 3:24

In this blog post, I will look up a random Bible verse and consider how reading it in context and with a mathematical perspective can teach me something about God.  Today I used this random Bible verse generator . The verse it gave me is 1 John 3:24. "The one who keeps God's commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that God lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." Before I go any farther, I'm going to ask God to open my eyes and mind and heart to everything he has for me to learn from this verse. In verse 23, it says that God's command is to "believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." So the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God and who loves his neighbor as himself will live in God and God will live in that person. And God's Spirit is the evidence of God living in us.  The first mathematical thought that comes to mind is the difference between 0.999 and 0.999...