Original Broadcast: October 2011
They forbid people to marry
and order them to abstain from certain foods,
which God created to be received with thanksgiving
by those who believe and know the truth.
(1 Timothy 4:3)
Martin Luther once used this verse to proclaim against the Anabaptists his love of beer. He used this verse to show that everything that goes into making a pint of Wittenburg ale was created by God. God granted the wisdom to create the recipe that combined all the ingredients. Therefore beer is a creation of God that should be received with thanksgiving.
Is Paul saying that? Maybe. Maybe not. He looks to the thoughts behind the teachings. What brings people to believe that these things should be abandoned? The primary idea is that the material world and everything that is in it is evil. Nothing good can come from the material. Therefore there was no need for marriage to curb the desires of the fleshly passions. There is no need to eat most things for the nourishment of the body.
But what does God say about His physical creation? "God saw all that He had made, and it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). God has given us the entire physical creation. He commands us to receive it with the thanksgiving due to the reception of a gift. We pray this every time we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Not just that God gives it to us. But that we receive it with thanksgiving. Thank God for all the gifts He has given to you. Amen.
