Have You Considered Divine Mathematics?

If we believe the Creation account, we would have to conclude that along with the physical things God created, He also created the laws and principles by which our world and the entire universe operate. This would include mathematics, in its simplest forms as well as its most complex. When Albert Einstein was working out his elaborate formulas, including E = mc², he was using calculations based on what the Lord originally configured eons ago.

 

But here’s a question: If you were to imagine which of the mathematical functions God favors the most, what would you guess it is? Perhaps I’m going out on a bit of a theological limb, but I think it would be multiplication.

 

Why do I say that? For starters, in the Bible’s first book, the Lord introduces the concept of multiplication. In the opening chapter, after imagining and forming the creatures that inhabit the seas and other waters, along with the birds, “And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth’” (Genesis 1:21-22).

 

Then, after creating living creatures that would move on the ground, including humankind,“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…” (Genesis 1:24-28). Sadly, this didn't proceed without problems, prompting the Lord to take a "do over."

 

Following the global flood, in which God spared only Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives, along with representatives of every living creature, the waters subsided and Noah and his family prepared to leave the ark. Among the Lord’s instructions during the “exit interview,” He told them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…. As for you, be fruitful and multiply; populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it”(Genesis 9:1,7).

 

God wasn’t talking about learning multiplication tables, like 3 times 3, or 5 times 9. He wanted them to exponentially repopulate the earth, in particular with humans created in His image.

 

This theme continues throughout the Scriptures. In Jeremiah 23:3, speaking about restoring the people of Israel who had been exiled into other lands, God told the prophet, “Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply.”

 

Underscoring the Lord’s faithfulness, never failing to keep His promises with His chosen people, Hebrews 6:14 recalled, “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.’”

 

Perhaps the most important passage of all on God’s emphasis on multiplication concerns Jesus Christ’s final instructions, which we know as His Great Commission. Just prior to His ascension to heaven, He directed His followers, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching to observe all the things I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20).

 

No, this passage does not include the specific word “multiply,” but clearly refers to spiritual multiplication, the making of disciples – followers, learners, reproducers – who will make other disciples, who in turn will make other disciples.

 

In today’s Church culture, particularly in America, the focus seems primarily directed toward addition – seeing people convert to Christian belief, encouraging them to turn from their former ways of living apart from God. However, to convert – to turn – doesn’t necessarily mean an individual will immediately start moving forward in a new direction. Much like newly born human babies, spiritual babes need to be nurtured, fed, loved, cared for, taught, and eventually, disciplined.

 

Once a “disciplemaker” has helped a new believer toward spiritual maturity, assisting him or her to become a true follower of Jesus, then both the disciplemaker and disciple can start investing in others. The two of them become four, and the process of spiritual multiplication is underway. Four can become eight, then 16, then 32, and so on.

 

Long term, what does this look like? We find a good description in Isaiah 60:22, which declares, “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.” Imagine, one person, completely sold out to Jesus Christ, whose life is devoted to helping others along in their journey with the Lord. Incredibly, over time, that one can become a thousand, and even more!

 

God’s desire and goal, not just in the United States but also around the world, is to greatly multiply genuine, devoted, strong and unwavering followers of Christ who will have an eternal impact on family members, friends, their communities, their cities, and their nations.

Many believe the solutions to our world’s problems are through politics, or ideology, or even education. There is value in each of those, but God is affirming that the ultimate answers are found only in Jesus Christ, helping more and more people to know Him, follow Him, and serve as His ambassadors by demonstrating His love, mercy and grace. And the way to bring that about is through a simple mathematical process: multiplication. 

One Shall Become a Thousand

When I started writing these posts in 2008, I had no aspirations or expectations. I just wanted an avenue for expressing random thoughts about a variety of topics. My desire was to offer my perspectives as both journalist and follower of Christ, applying biblical truths I believe are as practical and relevant today as they were when God inspired dozens of men to record them many centuries ago.

When I first thought about writing a blog, I wasn’t sure I could sustain it. So I wrote several posts before publishing the first one, reasoning it would be silly to run out of steam after just one or two. Obviously, I haven’t. It was my plan to write only one per week, but soon realized that wouldn’t accommodate all the stuff I was “just thinking” about.

Initially I limited each post to 300 words, since someone had told me that was the optimum length for online articles. Before long, however, I found that limit too restrictive, especially for including Bible passages related to the issue at hand. Soon my word count grew to 600 or more, with occasional gusts up to 900 or so.

My first efforts included topics like personal finances, communications, holidays, death, setting goals and making resolutions. Over the years since, I’ve revisited many of these, as well as others. The question I’ve always asked and sought to answer was, “What do the Scriptures have to say about this subject?”

Today marks my 1,000^th post, which I suppose is an anniversary of sorts. A lot has happened over the past 11 years – career changes, additions of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, learning about the aging process firsthand, hearing daily about a polarizing figure named Trump. But what hasn’t changed is my conviction that the Bible is true and that God has provided it as His perfect Owner’s manual for how He intends for us to live.

I know there’s an incredible range of opinions about the Scriptures. Some consider it outdated and irrelevant; there’s a segment of people who have labeled it “dangerous”; and others find it “figurative,” that we’re free to pick those things in it we like and ignore – or re-interpret – the rest. However, I concur with what the Bible says of itself: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

A friend was leading a Bible study and asked one of the participants what she thought that passage meant. She replied, “It means that God wrote a book!” I wholeheartedly agree. Jehovah God, who created the universe, saw fit to guide and inspire the writing and compilation of a book that stands unique from any other. As someone has said, “Many books can inform, but only the Bible can transform.”

I recall a top executive speaking to a crowd years ago, telling how he had spent countless hours listening to and reading books by self-help gurus who claimed to know the secrets to business success. Then he discovered the Bible, and after thorough examination, concluded it was superior to all the other resources combined. 

Sharing that view, I continue to offer these posts in the belief that the teachings and principles the Lord gives us in the Scriptures – starting with how we can receive forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and eternal life through Jesus Christ – provide the answers to all of life’s biggest questions. We’ve become what some call a “post-Christian nation,” which I think is much to the detriment of our society. But that doesn’t diminish the importance and impact of the timeless truths available to us as we read from Genesis to Revelation.

Toward the end of one of the Bible’s prophetic books it says, “one shall become a thousand” (Isaiah 60:22). I’m sure this had no reference to online commentaries – unless Isaiah was an even more insightful major prophet than we realize. But as of today, my idea for one short blog post has literally become a thousand. 

I haven’t a clue as to what I’ll find to write about, Lord willing, for the next 1,000 posts. But I know one thing: I’m eager to get started in writing post No. 1,001. Because as Psalm 45:1 states so well, “My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.”