Scripture reading:
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
10"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life
Observations:
(1) We should not make assumptions about god.
In this passage, we see Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council, make assumptions about Jesus. He comes to Jesus and says “We know you….who has come from god …”(v2).
Essentially, he was saying two things. Firstly, that they knew who Jesus was, and secondly, that they knew about the kingdom of god.
Little did he know, his false assumptions were about to be exposed. The response of Jesus took him by surprise. He was clearly on the back foot for the remainder of the conversation.
We must be very careful about the assumptions we make about god. Sometimes, I think that we try to contain god into a little box in our understanding. Our pre-conceived notions can block our hearts from being open to a fuller understanding of the nature of the lord.
Rather than making assumptions about god, we must allow him to speak to us, both through his word and through his spirit. Our hearts must be open to hearing him. We must be open to a greater understanding his true glory and honor.
(2) We cannot hope to understand god unless we have been born again.
How do we come to understand about god?
Formal study, whilst helpful, is not the answer. It would by quite possible to complete a Masters Degree in Theology and yet still not comprehend the unlimited justice, power, integrity, mercy and love of our magnificent creator.
Studying the bible is a wonderful way to gain a greater appreciation of the glorious character of our lord. But it is possible to undertake extensive bible study and still not comprehend the wonderful gift of our lord on the cross.
After all, Nicodemus, a member of the ruling Jewish council, was no doubt well versed in scripture. But his poor understanding of the role of Jesus as savior was exposed wide open in this encounter.
The greatness of the kingdom of the lord cannot be learned through academic comprehension.
The true power, glory, justice, mercy and love of the lord can only be learned through experience – the experience of being born again through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus on the cross.
What does it mean to be born again? How does one become born again?
Essentially, it means to experience complete forgiveness of sins through Jesus.
The bible says that the death of Christ on the cross is sufficient to cover the entire costs of all of our sins. Anyone who turns to god receives full forgiveness for their sins because of Jesus and his death on the cross.
Those who are forgiven through Christ receive a spiritual re-birth. Jesus died and was raised again three days later. In a similar manner, those who are forgiven through Jesus receive a spiritual re-birth. Physically, we remain in our regular state, but spiritually speaking, our old self dies and we are raised into a new spiritual life.
This is not a physical transformation, it’s a spiritual one. Spiritually speaking, we are born again, except that this time, we are born into the spirit of god, truly as one of his children. Spiritually speaking, we are born and raised into a new family and a new household, the kingdom of god.
The only way to truly know god is to experience him. This means experiencing the process of being forgiven for your sins and being spiritually raised into a new life through Jesus.
The greatness of god cannot be understood or comprehended without this experience.
(3) Status is worthless before god.
Within the world of the Jews, Nicodemus looked pretty good. As a member of the ruling Jewish council, he held a very respectable position.
He was the man. He had status, honor and apparently, a sound comprehension of the Old Testament. As a teacher of Israel, many looked up to him.
But did Nicodemus believe the word of god?
Apparently not, according to Jesus. Jesus said “I have spoken to you of earthly things, and you do not believe. How then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” (v12)
Moreover, in verse 3, Jesus implies that Nicodemus has not been ‘born again,’ and does not properly understand the kingdom of god.
It is possible that I am taking this passage out of context. It is also possible, given Jesus’ reference to ‘you people,’ (v10) that Jesus was not referring to Nicodemus personally, but either to the Jewish council or to the broader Jewish population within Jerusalem. However, Jesus does appear to accuse Nicodemus of not believing the word of god.
The point I am driving at is this – your worldly status does not matter when you stand before god. The only thing that matters when you stand before god is whether or not you believe in
Christ as your savior.
This applies for any man, woman or child. When it comes to standing before god, your earthly status does not count, whether you are a street beggar, prisioner, company owner, president, pastor or even the pope. The only thing that counts is whether your sins have been forgiven.
And, as we’ll see in the next passage, the only way that can happen is through belief in Jesus or savior.
(4) Jesus came from heaven.
“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven.” (v15)
This says a ton about Jesus and why does not compare to any other man.
Each of us originated from the womb of another human. No matter how loving our parents may have been, they were imperfect human beings. We all originated from earthly beings and by nature, belong to the earth.
Jesus is different. He came from heaven - from god’s eternal heavenly kingdom.
His roots are different from ours. He came down to earth, but, unlike us, he was not really part of the world.
He is, and has always been, part of god’s great kingdom in heaven.
Prayer:
Lord, forgive us for the times when our hearts are not open to hearing about you and your word.
Forgive us for times when we assume in our ignorance to know things about you, even if those assumptions are not supported by your word.
Lord, we cannot comprehend the great height and depth of your incomparable justice, mercy and love unless we experience your great mercy through the forgiveness of our sins on the cross.
Lord, each of us is accountable to you and you only. Status before men does not matter if we are not right before you. So, let our hearts be set on honoring you, and let us all seek forgiveness from you for our sins through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus on the cross.
Lord Jesus, you are not one of us. We are from the earth, you are from heaven. We came from within a dirty, sinful, broken world. You are from a wonderful and perfect heaven.
In your great name,
Amen
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
What's in a Man? (John 2:23-25)
Scripture reading:
23Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
Observations:
(1) I have to admit that I do not understand this passage.
It seems clear that Jesus displayed the power of the lord by performing at least some miracles.
It is also clear that the crowd believed in his name because of what they had witnessed.
The point I do not understand is that about Jesus not entrusting himself to them.
What does this mean? Why was Jesus so particular about not trusting these specific people? I don’t know.
The context and location may provide some ideas. The location was Jerusalem – the same town of the crucifixion. This was also the same town where, before his death, Jesus arrived to a mass welcoming - only to have many demand his crucifixion shortly after.
Knowing what would later come, Jesus was doubtless wary of this crowd in particular. Jesus probably saw their belief as being shallow and fickle, especially given how quickly many turned against him at his crucifixion. This is the most likely explanation for Jesus’ distrust.
Furthermore, consider the context. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to find that traders had turned the temple into a marketplace – not a great impression. If things like this were allowed to occur, it would be fair to say that the faith in Jerusalem was not strong.
Likewise, it was in Jerusalem that Judas was to betray Jesus into the hands of the Jewish leaders. This could also be a factor in Jesus’ response.
What is clear is that there was something different about the people of Jerusalem, some particular reason why Jesus had no trust in them.
But, as stated above, I do not understand the meaning of this passage.
Prayer:
Lord, when we put our trust in you, let our faith always be strong. Do not let our hearts change easily, but let us hold steadfast in good times and bad like a tree with strong roots. Let us stand strong, in solid ground, and never deviate from faith in Jesus.
In your great name I pray,
Amen.
23Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
Observations:
(1) I have to admit that I do not understand this passage.
It seems clear that Jesus displayed the power of the lord by performing at least some miracles.
It is also clear that the crowd believed in his name because of what they had witnessed.
The point I do not understand is that about Jesus not entrusting himself to them.
What does this mean? Why was Jesus so particular about not trusting these specific people? I don’t know.
The context and location may provide some ideas. The location was Jerusalem – the same town of the crucifixion. This was also the same town where, before his death, Jesus arrived to a mass welcoming - only to have many demand his crucifixion shortly after.
Knowing what would later come, Jesus was doubtless wary of this crowd in particular. Jesus probably saw their belief as being shallow and fickle, especially given how quickly many turned against him at his crucifixion. This is the most likely explanation for Jesus’ distrust.
Furthermore, consider the context. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to find that traders had turned the temple into a marketplace – not a great impression. If things like this were allowed to occur, it would be fair to say that the faith in Jerusalem was not strong.
Likewise, it was in Jerusalem that Judas was to betray Jesus into the hands of the Jewish leaders. This could also be a factor in Jesus’ response.
What is clear is that there was something different about the people of Jerusalem, some particular reason why Jesus had no trust in them.
But, as stated above, I do not understand the meaning of this passage.
Prayer:
Lord, when we put our trust in you, let our faith always be strong. Do not let our hearts change easily, but let us hold steadfast in good times and bad like a tree with strong roots. Let us stand strong, in solid ground, and never deviate from faith in Jesus.
In your great name I pray,
Amen.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Raising the Temple in Three Days (John 2:18-22)
Scripture reading:
18Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." 20The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
Observations:
(1) Jesus claims, he delivers.
In the preceding verses, Jesus made a fairly significant claim. He said “How dare you turn my father’s house into a market.”
By referring to god as ‘my father,’ he was essentially claiming to be the son of god – a rather audacious claim. Accordingly, the response of the Jews, to demand a sign to prove his authority, is hardly surprising. Jesus was making a big claim.
They wanted to see proof of authority to make such a claim.
In response to this, Jesus made a big promise.
I feel that this promise was given for the benefit of the disciples, not for the purpose of immediately appeasing the Jews. It certainly was not what the Jews were expecting, or demanding. It is almost certain that many of the Jews would have been immediately satisfied by this response, particularly given that the promise was not fulfilled until several years later.
But the response was not made in the presence of Jews only. It was also made in the presence of the disciples, who were later to put their full trust and belief in him after the promise was fulfilled. It was them who saw the fulfillment of the promise.
Regardless of whoever the promise was primarily made for, the promise was fulfilled in completion. It may not have been fulfilled in the way expected by many, but it was fulfilled in completion. The body of Jesus, the temple of god, (see below) was raised three days after his death – exactly as promised.
Jesus promises, he delivers - a true sign of the pure integrity of our great lord.
(2) The church is not just a building.
What images enter your mind at the mention of the word ‘church?’
When I was a young kid, the word ‘church’ represented a place that I did not find particularly exciting. Sitting through long services with many old people was not much fun for a kid.
The common world view of the church relates to a building. The world see the church as a place that people (usually old) go to on a Sunday, as well as being where you go for baptisms, confirmations, marriages or funerals. They see it a place that you go to.
In the same way, the Jews at the time of Jesus saw the temple as a physical place.
Yes, it was a place of worship, but a physical place nonetheless.
Coming from this perspective, it was little wonder that the Jews could not understand the promise of Jesus. After all, a temple, in the literal sense, is a physical place. It’s where they went to worship god.
But Jesus was talking figuratively, not literally. Figuratively speaking, the body of Jesus Christ is the temple of god. Jesus, as part of the holy trinity, was god in the flesh – in the form of a man.
Therefore, the body of Christ was indeed the body of god.
Secondly, and most importantly, it was Christ’s body that was sacrificed on the cross and raised again. It was the body of Christ which took the entire punishment for the sin of man. Without this action, our relationship with Christ could not have been healed. Without this action, we not be reconciled to god, we would have no reason to worship god and physical temples would not serve a worthwhile purpose.
The body of Christ represents, in figurative terms, the true temple of god, the centerpiece of the kingdom of heaven.
Yes we go to physical buildings in order to worship. But the act of worship is not about buildings – it’s about Christ, and his death and resurrection. That’s what we celebrate. A temple is where we worship. Jesus is why we worship.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, I thank you that you didn’t stay dead on that cross, that the promise was fulfilled and you raised the holy temple of your own body.
Lord, we know we can have full confidence in your word. We know that you are a god of integrity, that when you promise that something will happen, it does.
Lord, we go to physical buildings to worship you. But let us not forget that the building is simply a venue, and what matters is why we worship, lord. And the reason why we worship is because of your great sacrifice on the cross – the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
That is why we are there, lord. It’s because of who you are. It’s because of your wonderful name.
It’s because of the amazing justice and love that you showed for us on the cross.
And in that, lord, we can only look at you in awe of your greatness.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our lord.
Amen.
18Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." 20The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
Observations:
(1) Jesus claims, he delivers.
In the preceding verses, Jesus made a fairly significant claim. He said “How dare you turn my father’s house into a market.”
By referring to god as ‘my father,’ he was essentially claiming to be the son of god – a rather audacious claim. Accordingly, the response of the Jews, to demand a sign to prove his authority, is hardly surprising. Jesus was making a big claim.
They wanted to see proof of authority to make such a claim.
In response to this, Jesus made a big promise.
I feel that this promise was given for the benefit of the disciples, not for the purpose of immediately appeasing the Jews. It certainly was not what the Jews were expecting, or demanding. It is almost certain that many of the Jews would have been immediately satisfied by this response, particularly given that the promise was not fulfilled until several years later.
But the response was not made in the presence of Jews only. It was also made in the presence of the disciples, who were later to put their full trust and belief in him after the promise was fulfilled. It was them who saw the fulfillment of the promise.
Regardless of whoever the promise was primarily made for, the promise was fulfilled in completion. It may not have been fulfilled in the way expected by many, but it was fulfilled in completion. The body of Jesus, the temple of god, (see below) was raised three days after his death – exactly as promised.
Jesus promises, he delivers - a true sign of the pure integrity of our great lord.
(2) The church is not just a building.
What images enter your mind at the mention of the word ‘church?’
When I was a young kid, the word ‘church’ represented a place that I did not find particularly exciting. Sitting through long services with many old people was not much fun for a kid.
The common world view of the church relates to a building. The world see the church as a place that people (usually old) go to on a Sunday, as well as being where you go for baptisms, confirmations, marriages or funerals. They see it a place that you go to.
In the same way, the Jews at the time of Jesus saw the temple as a physical place.
Yes, it was a place of worship, but a physical place nonetheless.
Coming from this perspective, it was little wonder that the Jews could not understand the promise of Jesus. After all, a temple, in the literal sense, is a physical place. It’s where they went to worship god.
But Jesus was talking figuratively, not literally. Figuratively speaking, the body of Jesus Christ is the temple of god. Jesus, as part of the holy trinity, was god in the flesh – in the form of a man.
Therefore, the body of Christ was indeed the body of god.
Secondly, and most importantly, it was Christ’s body that was sacrificed on the cross and raised again. It was the body of Christ which took the entire punishment for the sin of man. Without this action, our relationship with Christ could not have been healed. Without this action, we not be reconciled to god, we would have no reason to worship god and physical temples would not serve a worthwhile purpose.
The body of Christ represents, in figurative terms, the true temple of god, the centerpiece of the kingdom of heaven.
Yes we go to physical buildings in order to worship. But the act of worship is not about buildings – it’s about Christ, and his death and resurrection. That’s what we celebrate. A temple is where we worship. Jesus is why we worship.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, I thank you that you didn’t stay dead on that cross, that the promise was fulfilled and you raised the holy temple of your own body.
Lord, we know we can have full confidence in your word. We know that you are a god of integrity, that when you promise that something will happen, it does.
Lord, we go to physical buildings to worship you. But let us not forget that the building is simply a venue, and what matters is why we worship, lord. And the reason why we worship is because of your great sacrifice on the cross – the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
That is why we are there, lord. It’s because of who you are. It’s because of your wonderful name.
It’s because of the amazing justice and love that you showed for us on the cross.
And in that, lord, we can only look at you in awe of your greatness.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our lord.
Amen.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Profiting from the kingdom of god? (John 2:12-17)
Scripture reading:
12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
17His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
Background:
For those who are unaware, a little background into the concept of a ‘Passover’ may help in understanding this passage.
The ‘Passover’ feast originated during the time of Moses. Shortly before leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, god had inflicted a range of plagues on the Egyptians. During the final such plague, god struck down and killed the firstborn of every Egyptian household.
Israelite households were spared these calamities. On the night in question the Israelites were instructed to sacrifice a lamb. The doors on their households were to be marked with the blood.
In addition, they were to roast and eat the lamb for supper.
The blood on the doorway distinguished Israelite households from the Egyptians.
Egyptian households bore the full force of the plague, but Israelite-marked households were spared any impact. The plague literally ‘passed over’ Israelite households in a completely discriminate fashion.
The Passover was a demonstration that god had set the Israelites apart. They were chosen to be his people – part of the kingdom of god – separate from the Egyptians.
Subsequently, according to the lord’s decree, a Passover feast was to be celebrated by the Israelites as a lasting ordinance. At such feasts, the Israelites were required to bring an animal, which was to be sacrificed (killed) in honor of the lord’s act of mercy at the original Passover.
Observations:
I think there are three key observations that we can make:
(1) God must not be used for profit.
When the time for the festival came, the Israelites needed animals for sacrifice in order to correctly fulfill the requirements of the celebration (refer ‘background’ above). Accordingly, those who did not have a suitable animal had no choice but to purchase one.
This created a market for traders who, with little care about the meaning of the festival, were able to exploit the needs of god’s chosen people for their own profit.
This practice was an insult to god, as are all forms of viewing Christianity as a means to profit.
I am not saying here that Christians should never gain financially from service to the god’s kingdom. Pastors, church leaders or others who work in a church related role are entitled to have their material needs met.
The key factor here is motivation. In the case of those who work in church related roles, their primary motivation (usually) is furthering the kingdom of the lord. There is no problem with them receiving some form of financial reward. God looks into their hearts. If their hearts are set on honoring the kingdom of heaven, then he will be pleased.
Nor is it a problem for business to profit from religion in cases where such a profit is merely incidental to their regular business operations. For example, there is nothing wrong with a book publisher who profits from the sale of Christian books in addition to other books.
What is a problem, however, is the practice of viewing god simply as a means of profit, as in the case of the traders above. They did not care about the Passover festival, or about what its meaning. They cared only about the prospect of financial gain.
The disgust of Jesus demonstrates how god feels about such practices.
Men led by Satan ask how they can profit from the lord. Men led by the lord ask how they can serve, honor and glorify their magnificent creator.
(2) Jesus is not just a gentleman often imagined.
When you picture Jesus, how do you imagine him? What images spring to your mind?
Before I came to Christ, the image I used to have was that of a kind, serving gentleman - a good man, who would never hurt a fly. I pictured Jesus as being gentle and caring – always peaceful, never aggressive. A truly nice guy.
That picture is partially misleading.
True, Jesus had a pure servant heart. He was caring and he was a gentleman. But he was not always simply a ‘nice guy.’ He did not beat around the bush, nor was he afraid to rock the boat.
Jesus did not politely ask the men to kindly fold up their tables. He flew into a rage, and left no doubt whatsoever that their actions were completely unacceptable.
An interesting parallel may be drawn with the actions of god the father. The original Passover came about because the Egyptians persecuted the Israelites. God the father responded with a brutal act of destruction.
At this particular Passover festival, the sellers were exploiting god’s people. Jesus the son did not responded with an act of brutality. Not destruction, this time – but brutality none the less.
This demonstrates an important point about god’s character – he does not tolerate acts against himself or his people.
To be sure, god is full of mercy. He provided his son as a sacrifice for our sins.
But, for those who mock, exploit or persecute god or his people, his patience will run out.
And you don’t want to be on his wrong side when that happens.
(3) Jesus has extreme passion for the house of god.
The last part of the passage reads “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Why did Jesus fly into a rage? What was it about this action in particular which set Jesus off?
The response of Jesus demonstrates his pure passion for the house of god. Jesus is part of the holy trinity. As such, the kingdom of god is like his family home or household. It’s his home. It’s where he belongs – a sacred place. There is nothing he cares about more.
It is worth noting here that the house of god is not a physical building on earth. Maybe, there is a physical house in heaven, I don’t know. But the ‘house’ of god here refers to the kingdom of god, which in a spiritual sense, consists of the holy trinity and all of god’s chosen people.
When the traders used the festival for profit, figuratively speaking, they ransacked its entire meaning. It was like vandals coming in and destroying a holy place.The magnitude of Jesus response shows just how much the house of god means to him.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, let us never view any part of you or your kingdom as a source of profit.
The day we see your kingdom as a means for profit, is the day we insult you. Your kingdom is so much more. Your kingdom is about life – it is the source of life.
Let us serve and honor you and only you. Let our hearts be set only upon your kingdom. Rather than devising profit schemes, let us meditate upon your great mercy - the mercy in which you have shown fully to us through the death of your son on the cross.
Lord, you show us a great example of your passion for your kingdom. Let us worship your great kingdom with reverence. Let us love the great kingdom you have created.
And let us worship and adore you who made that great kingdom.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our lord.
Amen.
12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
17His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
Background:
For those who are unaware, a little background into the concept of a ‘Passover’ may help in understanding this passage.
The ‘Passover’ feast originated during the time of Moses. Shortly before leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, god had inflicted a range of plagues on the Egyptians. During the final such plague, god struck down and killed the firstborn of every Egyptian household.
Israelite households were spared these calamities. On the night in question the Israelites were instructed to sacrifice a lamb. The doors on their households were to be marked with the blood.
In addition, they were to roast and eat the lamb for supper.
The blood on the doorway distinguished Israelite households from the Egyptians.
Egyptian households bore the full force of the plague, but Israelite-marked households were spared any impact. The plague literally ‘passed over’ Israelite households in a completely discriminate fashion.
The Passover was a demonstration that god had set the Israelites apart. They were chosen to be his people – part of the kingdom of god – separate from the Egyptians.
Subsequently, according to the lord’s decree, a Passover feast was to be celebrated by the Israelites as a lasting ordinance. At such feasts, the Israelites were required to bring an animal, which was to be sacrificed (killed) in honor of the lord’s act of mercy at the original Passover.
Observations:
I think there are three key observations that we can make:
(1) God must not be used for profit.
When the time for the festival came, the Israelites needed animals for sacrifice in order to correctly fulfill the requirements of the celebration (refer ‘background’ above). Accordingly, those who did not have a suitable animal had no choice but to purchase one.
This created a market for traders who, with little care about the meaning of the festival, were able to exploit the needs of god’s chosen people for their own profit.
This practice was an insult to god, as are all forms of viewing Christianity as a means to profit.
I am not saying here that Christians should never gain financially from service to the god’s kingdom. Pastors, church leaders or others who work in a church related role are entitled to have their material needs met.
The key factor here is motivation. In the case of those who work in church related roles, their primary motivation (usually) is furthering the kingdom of the lord. There is no problem with them receiving some form of financial reward. God looks into their hearts. If their hearts are set on honoring the kingdom of heaven, then he will be pleased.
Nor is it a problem for business to profit from religion in cases where such a profit is merely incidental to their regular business operations. For example, there is nothing wrong with a book publisher who profits from the sale of Christian books in addition to other books.
What is a problem, however, is the practice of viewing god simply as a means of profit, as in the case of the traders above. They did not care about the Passover festival, or about what its meaning. They cared only about the prospect of financial gain.
The disgust of Jesus demonstrates how god feels about such practices.
Men led by Satan ask how they can profit from the lord. Men led by the lord ask how they can serve, honor and glorify their magnificent creator.
(2) Jesus is not just a gentleman often imagined.
When you picture Jesus, how do you imagine him? What images spring to your mind?
Before I came to Christ, the image I used to have was that of a kind, serving gentleman - a good man, who would never hurt a fly. I pictured Jesus as being gentle and caring – always peaceful, never aggressive. A truly nice guy.
That picture is partially misleading.
True, Jesus had a pure servant heart. He was caring and he was a gentleman. But he was not always simply a ‘nice guy.’ He did not beat around the bush, nor was he afraid to rock the boat.
Jesus did not politely ask the men to kindly fold up their tables. He flew into a rage, and left no doubt whatsoever that their actions were completely unacceptable.
An interesting parallel may be drawn with the actions of god the father. The original Passover came about because the Egyptians persecuted the Israelites. God the father responded with a brutal act of destruction.
At this particular Passover festival, the sellers were exploiting god’s people. Jesus the son did not responded with an act of brutality. Not destruction, this time – but brutality none the less.
This demonstrates an important point about god’s character – he does not tolerate acts against himself or his people.
To be sure, god is full of mercy. He provided his son as a sacrifice for our sins.
But, for those who mock, exploit or persecute god or his people, his patience will run out.
And you don’t want to be on his wrong side when that happens.
(3) Jesus has extreme passion for the house of god.
The last part of the passage reads “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Why did Jesus fly into a rage? What was it about this action in particular which set Jesus off?
The response of Jesus demonstrates his pure passion for the house of god. Jesus is part of the holy trinity. As such, the kingdom of god is like his family home or household. It’s his home. It’s where he belongs – a sacred place. There is nothing he cares about more.
It is worth noting here that the house of god is not a physical building on earth. Maybe, there is a physical house in heaven, I don’t know. But the ‘house’ of god here refers to the kingdom of god, which in a spiritual sense, consists of the holy trinity and all of god’s chosen people.
When the traders used the festival for profit, figuratively speaking, they ransacked its entire meaning. It was like vandals coming in and destroying a holy place.The magnitude of Jesus response shows just how much the house of god means to him.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, let us never view any part of you or your kingdom as a source of profit.
The day we see your kingdom as a means for profit, is the day we insult you. Your kingdom is so much more. Your kingdom is about life – it is the source of life.
Let us serve and honor you and only you. Let our hearts be set only upon your kingdom. Rather than devising profit schemes, let us meditate upon your great mercy - the mercy in which you have shown fully to us through the death of your son on the cross.
Lord, you show us a great example of your passion for your kingdom. Let us worship your great kingdom with reverence. Let us love the great kingdom you have created.
And let us worship and adore you who made that great kingdom.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our lord.
Amen.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The first miracle (John 2:1-11)
Scripture reading:
(1) On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, (2) and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. (3) When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him “They have no more wine.”
(4) Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
(5) His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
(6) Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
(7) Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim.
(8) Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, (9) and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
Then he called the bridegroom aside (10) and said “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink, but you have saved the best till now.”
(11) This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
Observations:
(1) Jesus lived the way he promised.
Back in John 1:50-51, we saw Jesus put his reputation on the line by promising Nathanael that he would see great miracles.
In this passage, Jesus commences action upon his promise. The act – turning water into wine – was the first of many miracles Jesus performed. In doing so, he started delivering on what he had promised to Nathanael.
This is just one of many examples throughout the bible which attests to both the character of Jesus the son and that of god the father – he doesn’t make bold promises lightly – what he says he will do – he does.
(2) God is not a ‘kill joy.’
A common perception of god in the world is that he is a kill joy. Some have the idea that being a Christian means locking yourself away in a cupboard and never enjoying the fruits of life – something like what we see in the movie “Flowers in the Attic.”
This is a misconception. To be sure, Christians are called to abstain from certain activities, such as sexual promiscuity or alcohol abuse. But at the same time, god created many wonderful things for us to celebrate and enjoy.
The gift of marriage is one such wonderful occasion. Far from abstaining from the celebration, we see that Jesus joined in. Not only did he personally join in, but when tragedy almost struck and the wine ran out, Jesus saved the day and allowed the celebration to continue.
God has given us many wonderful things in life to celebrate and enjoy. We should not hold back in enjoying the lord’s great gifts, but should take an attitude of enormous gratitude to our maker.
(3) Sensible enjoyment of alcohol is Ok.
This is not the main point of the passage and I do not wish to labor upon this point.
Some Christians abstain from alcohol by choice, others believe that drinking alcohol is a sin.
However, we can clearly see here that god is not opposed to enjoyment of alcohol per see. We see here Jesus turning water into wine. Later we see Jesus giving wine to his disciples during their final feast together.
It seems clear to me that sensible enjoyment of wine is OK. Abuse of alcohol, or getting drunk, is not behavior which honors the gospel. But sensible enjoyment is not a problem.
(4) Jesus does not refer to Mary as his mother. (v4)
The manner in which Jesus addresses Mary in this case demonstrates not only an important aspect of the relationship between Jesus and Mary, but also of the character of Jesus himself.
Jesus addresses Mary as “Dear woman,” – not as his mother.
Why didn’t Jesus address Mary as his mother? I believe the reason for this is that from a spiritual viewpoint, Jesus had no mother, nor did he need one.
John chapter 1 describes how Jesus, from a spiritual viewpoint, has always existed. The existence of Jesus in physical form commenced after he was born to the virgin Mary. However, the spiritual existence of Jesus had no commencement.
Physically, he was born to Mary. Spiritually, he has always existed.
For this reason, from a spiritual viewpoint, he had no mother. Nor did he need one.
It should be noted, however, that whist the manner which Jesus adopts toward Mary does not indicate an intimate relationship, nor does it indicate rudeness or disrespect. According to one of my former pastors in Australia, the expression “Dear woman,” was not, in this context, a patronizing expression.
Jesus did not address Mary as his mother, but nor does he address her in an insulting manner.
(6) God does not act according to our time schedule.
Not only does Jesus not address Mary as mother, but he also made it clear that he would reveal his glory when the time was right, and not when Mary asked.
In this case, Jesus performed the miracle nevertheless. But he also made it clear that neither the problems faced by the wedding party, or Mary’s wishes, would dictate when the time was right for him to reveal his glory.
Often times, we think feel that god should do what we want and act according to our plans and schedules. Perhaps this is a product of the consumer oriented societies of the western world - where we are encouraged to think of ourselves, as individual consumers, as being the centre of the world.
But god will not simply conform to our desires. He is the creator of the world, we are his creation.
We are accountable to him, not the other way around. He will carry out everything according to his perfect plan in his own time. Sometimes, this will conform neatly into what works conveniently for us. Other times, it will not.
But he does things according to his plan and schedule, not ours.
Prayer:
Lord, I thank you that you fulfill your promises.
When I look at your word, it reveals a maker who does not make empty promises, but rather a maker who can be totally and completely trusted.
Lord, I thank you that you gave us many wonderful things to celebrate and enjoy. The gift of marriage, where you join two people in lifetime partnership, is simply a marvelous gift.
Lord, so many times, we think you should do things our way and conform to our plans and schedules. Remind us in those times, Lord, that we are under your authority, not the other way around. Humble our hearts to accept your plans.
In these things I pray. In your great name.
Amen
(1) On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, (2) and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. (3) When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him “They have no more wine.”
(4) Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
(5) His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
(6) Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
(7) Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim.
(8) Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, (9) and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
Then he called the bridegroom aside (10) and said “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink, but you have saved the best till now.”
(11) This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
Observations:
(1) Jesus lived the way he promised.
Back in John 1:50-51, we saw Jesus put his reputation on the line by promising Nathanael that he would see great miracles.
In this passage, Jesus commences action upon his promise. The act – turning water into wine – was the first of many miracles Jesus performed. In doing so, he started delivering on what he had promised to Nathanael.
This is just one of many examples throughout the bible which attests to both the character of Jesus the son and that of god the father – he doesn’t make bold promises lightly – what he says he will do – he does.
(2) God is not a ‘kill joy.’
A common perception of god in the world is that he is a kill joy. Some have the idea that being a Christian means locking yourself away in a cupboard and never enjoying the fruits of life – something like what we see in the movie “Flowers in the Attic.”
This is a misconception. To be sure, Christians are called to abstain from certain activities, such as sexual promiscuity or alcohol abuse. But at the same time, god created many wonderful things for us to celebrate and enjoy.
The gift of marriage is one such wonderful occasion. Far from abstaining from the celebration, we see that Jesus joined in. Not only did he personally join in, but when tragedy almost struck and the wine ran out, Jesus saved the day and allowed the celebration to continue.
God has given us many wonderful things in life to celebrate and enjoy. We should not hold back in enjoying the lord’s great gifts, but should take an attitude of enormous gratitude to our maker.
(3) Sensible enjoyment of alcohol is Ok.
This is not the main point of the passage and I do not wish to labor upon this point.
Some Christians abstain from alcohol by choice, others believe that drinking alcohol is a sin.
However, we can clearly see here that god is not opposed to enjoyment of alcohol per see. We see here Jesus turning water into wine. Later we see Jesus giving wine to his disciples during their final feast together.
It seems clear to me that sensible enjoyment of wine is OK. Abuse of alcohol, or getting drunk, is not behavior which honors the gospel. But sensible enjoyment is not a problem.
(4) Jesus does not refer to Mary as his mother. (v4)
The manner in which Jesus addresses Mary in this case demonstrates not only an important aspect of the relationship between Jesus and Mary, but also of the character of Jesus himself.
Jesus addresses Mary as “Dear woman,” – not as his mother.
Why didn’t Jesus address Mary as his mother? I believe the reason for this is that from a spiritual viewpoint, Jesus had no mother, nor did he need one.
John chapter 1 describes how Jesus, from a spiritual viewpoint, has always existed. The existence of Jesus in physical form commenced after he was born to the virgin Mary. However, the spiritual existence of Jesus had no commencement.
Physically, he was born to Mary. Spiritually, he has always existed.
For this reason, from a spiritual viewpoint, he had no mother. Nor did he need one.
It should be noted, however, that whist the manner which Jesus adopts toward Mary does not indicate an intimate relationship, nor does it indicate rudeness or disrespect. According to one of my former pastors in Australia, the expression “Dear woman,” was not, in this context, a patronizing expression.
Jesus did not address Mary as his mother, but nor does he address her in an insulting manner.
(6) God does not act according to our time schedule.
Not only does Jesus not address Mary as mother, but he also made it clear that he would reveal his glory when the time was right, and not when Mary asked.
In this case, Jesus performed the miracle nevertheless. But he also made it clear that neither the problems faced by the wedding party, or Mary’s wishes, would dictate when the time was right for him to reveal his glory.
Often times, we think feel that god should do what we want and act according to our plans and schedules. Perhaps this is a product of the consumer oriented societies of the western world - where we are encouraged to think of ourselves, as individual consumers, as being the centre of the world.
But god will not simply conform to our desires. He is the creator of the world, we are his creation.
We are accountable to him, not the other way around. He will carry out everything according to his perfect plan in his own time. Sometimes, this will conform neatly into what works conveniently for us. Other times, it will not.
But he does things according to his plan and schedule, not ours.
Prayer:
Lord, I thank you that you fulfill your promises.
When I look at your word, it reveals a maker who does not make empty promises, but rather a maker who can be totally and completely trusted.
Lord, I thank you that you gave us many wonderful things to celebrate and enjoy. The gift of marriage, where you join two people in lifetime partnership, is simply a marvelous gift.
Lord, so many times, we think you should do things our way and conform to our plans and schedules. Remind us in those times, Lord, that we are under your authority, not the other way around. Humble our hearts to accept your plans.
In these things I pray. In your great name.
Amen
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Jesus knows who you are (John 1:43-50)
Scripture reading:
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit."
48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel."
50 Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that." 51 He then added, "Very truly I tell you, you will see 'heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Observations:
(1) God is not always who we expect.
I personally became a Christian and put my faith in Christ nine years ago.
However, I have often found that I have held ideas about god which I later found to be completely unsubstantiated by what the bible says.
Our natural tendency is to view god as how we think he should be – not how the bible says that he is. It can be difficult to cast aside pre-conceived notions about how we think the lord should be like and how we think he should act.
But god will not be confined to who we think that he should be. He acts the way he is.
We can see a good example here. Both Phillip and Nathanael had a were well-versed in the Old Testament – a fact that we can see from Philip’s reference to the law of Moses. Both were familiar with the concept of the messiah. Both had their own ideas about what the messiah should be like.
Nathanael’s idea was completely misplaced.We are not told what Nathanael expected. Perhaps, he expected the messiah to come in some form of grandeur and splendor. Maybe, he would descend from the clouds. At the very least, the messiah would come from a more dignified region or town.
Clearly, he did not expect the messiah to come from a modest region.
In Nathanael’s case, his pre-conceived notion of the messiah was blown apart by a physical encounter with Jesus. But I think we can learn an important lesson. Too often, we approach god with pre-conceived notions. This could lead to disappointment when god does not do what we think that he ought to.
God will not simply do what we think he should do. He rules over us, not the other way around.
(2) God knows your name.
Have you ever felt small and insignificant? Ever felt that that huge guy in heaven is too big to care about us or any of our daily lives?
Good news – god does not view us that way. God cares enough to know everything there is to know about us.
In the previous passage (John 1:42), when Peter was bought before Jesus, Jesus looked straight at him and said “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephras (which, when translated, is Peter).”
Jesus knew Peter by name. Not only that, he knew about Peter’s family background. Peter was not some unimportant part of the masses of unknown. He meant enough to Jesus that Jesus already knew him by name.
Moreover, consider verse 47, when Jesus saw Nathanael approaching. Jesus already knew everything about his character, and confidently stated that there was nothing false about him.
That much, Jesus could not have known from simply being told by others. In order to be able to make that much of a statement about someone, you have to know their character inside out.
God is not distant. He does not consider us as unimportant. He knows each of us by name, family background and character. He knows everything that there is to know about us
(3) Jesus put his reputation on the line.
If someone came up and told you that you were going to see “heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man,” what would you think? Would you think those claims might be a little extravagant?
By promising this, Jesus was putting himself on the line. If he had delivered something less, his credibility would have been shot to pieces and he would have been exposed as a fake. He could not, after making such elaborate promises, afford to come up short.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord I thank you that you are not distant. You do not sit up in heaven and take no interest in our lives. You are not some distant creator who doesn’t really know us.
You know us by name. You know what is happening in each of our lives.
Lord, so many times, we see you as we think you should be, not as your great word says that you are. Lord, help open our hearts and minds to learning more about your character. Let us dwell upon your great character every day.
Lord, you made great promises about what you would do through your son, Jesus Christ. Thank you lord, that throughout his life, your son fulfilled what was promised and your glory was on full display for us to see.
In these things, I pray and thank you for.
Amen.
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit."
48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel."
50 Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that." 51 He then added, "Very truly I tell you, you will see 'heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Observations:
(1) God is not always who we expect.
I personally became a Christian and put my faith in Christ nine years ago.
However, I have often found that I have held ideas about god which I later found to be completely unsubstantiated by what the bible says.
Our natural tendency is to view god as how we think he should be – not how the bible says that he is. It can be difficult to cast aside pre-conceived notions about how we think the lord should be like and how we think he should act.
But god will not be confined to who we think that he should be. He acts the way he is.
We can see a good example here. Both Phillip and Nathanael had a were well-versed in the Old Testament – a fact that we can see from Philip’s reference to the law of Moses. Both were familiar with the concept of the messiah. Both had their own ideas about what the messiah should be like.
Nathanael’s idea was completely misplaced.We are not told what Nathanael expected. Perhaps, he expected the messiah to come in some form of grandeur and splendor. Maybe, he would descend from the clouds. At the very least, the messiah would come from a more dignified region or town.
Clearly, he did not expect the messiah to come from a modest region.
In Nathanael’s case, his pre-conceived notion of the messiah was blown apart by a physical encounter with Jesus. But I think we can learn an important lesson. Too often, we approach god with pre-conceived notions. This could lead to disappointment when god does not do what we think that he ought to.
God will not simply do what we think he should do. He rules over us, not the other way around.
(2) God knows your name.
Have you ever felt small and insignificant? Ever felt that that huge guy in heaven is too big to care about us or any of our daily lives?
Good news – god does not view us that way. God cares enough to know everything there is to know about us.
In the previous passage (John 1:42), when Peter was bought before Jesus, Jesus looked straight at him and said “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephras (which, when translated, is Peter).”
Jesus knew Peter by name. Not only that, he knew about Peter’s family background. Peter was not some unimportant part of the masses of unknown. He meant enough to Jesus that Jesus already knew him by name.
Moreover, consider verse 47, when Jesus saw Nathanael approaching. Jesus already knew everything about his character, and confidently stated that there was nothing false about him.
That much, Jesus could not have known from simply being told by others. In order to be able to make that much of a statement about someone, you have to know their character inside out.
God is not distant. He does not consider us as unimportant. He knows each of us by name, family background and character. He knows everything that there is to know about us
(3) Jesus put his reputation on the line.
If someone came up and told you that you were going to see “heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man,” what would you think? Would you think those claims might be a little extravagant?
By promising this, Jesus was putting himself on the line. If he had delivered something less, his credibility would have been shot to pieces and he would have been exposed as a fake. He could not, after making such elaborate promises, afford to come up short.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord I thank you that you are not distant. You do not sit up in heaven and take no interest in our lives. You are not some distant creator who doesn’t really know us.
You know us by name. You know what is happening in each of our lives.
Lord, so many times, we see you as we think you should be, not as your great word says that you are. Lord, help open our hearts and minds to learning more about your character. Let us dwell upon your great character every day.
Lord, you made great promises about what you would do through your son, Jesus Christ. Thank you lord, that throughout his life, your son fulfilled what was promised and your glory was on full display for us to see.
In these things, I pray and thank you for.
Amen.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Boldness and Humility (John 1:19-28)
Scripture reading:
(19)Now this was John’s testimony given when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. (20)He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.”
They asked him, “Then, who are you. Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Phrophet?
He answered, “No.”
(22)Finally, they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
(23)John replied in the words of Isaiah, the prophet. “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, “Make straight the way for the lord.”
(24)Now some Pharisees who had been sent (25)questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ?”
(26)“I baptize with water,” John replied. “But among you stands one you do not know. (27)He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.
(28)This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Observations:
I have written in earlier posts how I feel that we can learn a lot from the attitude of John the Baptist.
Here, John states his identity and place before god in a clear and unambiguous fashion.
John shows true humility in his responses to the questions. He does not try to pretend he is something he is not. Nor does he overstate his significance. John states clearly that he is not the Christ and acknowledges that compared with Christ he is nothing.
But whilst his responses show a truly humble attitude before god, there is no sign of false humility. Nor was he in any way apologetic. John clearly knew and unambiguously stated his role and identity before god.
God gave John a mission and he boldly fulfilled that mission. He did so with no regard to either what others may think or any personal cost to himself. God gave him a role, John fulfilled that role. God gave him an identity and a place, John assumed his identity and place assigned by god – no questions asked, end of story.
John never shied away from being who god made him to be or doing the work god had assigned him. Nor should any Christian. Whatever god has called us to do in life, we should do boldly and without hesitation. Whoever god has called us to be, we must assume our place and live out god’s plan to the full.
Like John, we too must understand our place before Jesus. Compared to Christ, we are nothing.
As we have discussed previously, Jesus is the author and source of all life. He came from heaven to earth, lived a sinless life and laid down his life so that our sins could be forgiven.
We, sinful man, pale in comparison. We must never forget that.
At the same time, god has a specific plan the lives of every believer. All believers in Christ have a specific place in his kingdom. We must summon courage and fully carry out god’s plan in full.
How do we know what god’s plan for our life is?
God may or may not choose to tell us his plan in advance. One good idea is to pray for God’s continued guidance, that he may guide us through life and in making decisions according to his will.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, you are everything. We are nothing.
Lord Jesus, you, who were before all things, the creator and source of all life, came down from heaven to earth. You lived a perfect, sinless life and sacrificed yourself on the cross so that we could have life.
Your greatness, your power and your love are beyond comparison. We, sinful men and women, do not even deserve the right to be able to speak your name. We are not worthy to be part of your family.
But thanks to your great sacrifice on the cross, we, all believers, can be take up a place in your family. And lord, let us assume our place in your family with boldness and courage as well as graciousness and thankfulness.
Guide us lord, in our decisions. Guide us into the fulfillment of your plan for our lives. Give us courage and strength to stand out from the world and assume firmly the role you have allocated to each of us.
In these things I pray,
In your great name,
Amen.
(19)Now this was John’s testimony given when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. (20)He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.”
They asked him, “Then, who are you. Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Phrophet?
He answered, “No.”
(22)Finally, they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
(23)John replied in the words of Isaiah, the prophet. “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, “Make straight the way for the lord.”
(24)Now some Pharisees who had been sent (25)questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ?”
(26)“I baptize with water,” John replied. “But among you stands one you do not know. (27)He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.
(28)This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Observations:
I have written in earlier posts how I feel that we can learn a lot from the attitude of John the Baptist.
Here, John states his identity and place before god in a clear and unambiguous fashion.
John shows true humility in his responses to the questions. He does not try to pretend he is something he is not. Nor does he overstate his significance. John states clearly that he is not the Christ and acknowledges that compared with Christ he is nothing.
But whilst his responses show a truly humble attitude before god, there is no sign of false humility. Nor was he in any way apologetic. John clearly knew and unambiguously stated his role and identity before god.
God gave John a mission and he boldly fulfilled that mission. He did so with no regard to either what others may think or any personal cost to himself. God gave him a role, John fulfilled that role. God gave him an identity and a place, John assumed his identity and place assigned by god – no questions asked, end of story.
John never shied away from being who god made him to be or doing the work god had assigned him. Nor should any Christian. Whatever god has called us to do in life, we should do boldly and without hesitation. Whoever god has called us to be, we must assume our place and live out god’s plan to the full.
Like John, we too must understand our place before Jesus. Compared to Christ, we are nothing.
As we have discussed previously, Jesus is the author and source of all life. He came from heaven to earth, lived a sinless life and laid down his life so that our sins could be forgiven.
We, sinful man, pale in comparison. We must never forget that.
At the same time, god has a specific plan the lives of every believer. All believers in Christ have a specific place in his kingdom. We must summon courage and fully carry out god’s plan in full.
How do we know what god’s plan for our life is?
God may or may not choose to tell us his plan in advance. One good idea is to pray for God’s continued guidance, that he may guide us through life and in making decisions according to his will.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, you are everything. We are nothing.
Lord Jesus, you, who were before all things, the creator and source of all life, came down from heaven to earth. You lived a perfect, sinless life and sacrificed yourself on the cross so that we could have life.
Your greatness, your power and your love are beyond comparison. We, sinful men and women, do not even deserve the right to be able to speak your name. We are not worthy to be part of your family.
But thanks to your great sacrifice on the cross, we, all believers, can be take up a place in your family. And lord, let us assume our place in your family with boldness and courage as well as graciousness and thankfulness.
Guide us lord, in our decisions. Guide us into the fulfillment of your plan for our lives. Give us courage and strength to stand out from the world and assume firmly the role you have allocated to each of us.
In these things I pray,
In your great name,
Amen.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Our part as witnesses to the kingdom of god (John 1:35-42)
Scripture reading:
(35) The next day, John was there again with two of his disciples. (36) When he saw Jesus standing by, he said “Look, the lamb of god!”
(37) When the two disciples heard him say this, they turned around and followed Jesus. (38) Turning around, Jesus saw them and asked, “What do you want?”
They said “Rabbi” (which means ‘teacher’) “Where are you staying?”
(39) “Come,” he replied, “and you will see. So they went and saw where he was staying and spent the day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
(40) Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. (41) The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him. “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). (42) And he bought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephras” (which, when translated, is Peter).
Observations:
I’d like to make some observations here about witnessing to the gospel.
(1) Witnesses to the gospel play an integral part of building the kingdom of god.
There are two paths via which people come to know god. Firstly, the bible records some people who came to god through either direct contact with Jesus or divine revelation. Whilst Jesus walked the earth, many came to know him through direct contact. And the bible records some examples (e.g. Paul) of people who received to gospel through divine revelation.
Yes, god can work divine miracles. However, in the majority of cases, people receive the gospel via other believers. This is what we see here – John witnessing to two of his own disciples (more on that in a later post) and Andrew, in turn, witnessing to Peter - witnesses witnessing about the gospel to others, who, in turn, become witnesses and witness about the gospel to yet others still.
God is not in any way reliant upon this method, but it seems to be the most common way for the kingdom of god to expand most of the time.
I believe that all who know Christ as their savior are given an active role in the growth of the kingdom of god. God, as we see in the book of Genesis (the first book in the bible), is an active god. He believes in activity, not passivity, and I believe that he has an active role for every believer.
True, I believe that god chooses to give special spiritual gifts to special people for specific purposes. But no matter what, every single follower of Jesus can (and should) be a witness for Jesus. There are no special qualifications.
Every believer, I feel, should seek to be active in two ways – knowing Christ themselves (usually through reading the bible) and making him known by being a witness to others.
(2) Being an effective witness to the gospel does not require education or talent. (v41)
Do you know your bible inside out? Are you particularly talented at speaking or presenting new ideas in a persuasive manner?
If the answer to one or both of these questions is yes, then I have good news. If the answer is no, I have the same good news:
You can be an effective witness to the gospel.
In verse 41, Andrew has only just heard the news about Jesus. Now it does appear that Andrew previously had a reasonable background knowledge of the old testament - after all, he was one of John’s disciples. But, this was Andrew’s first encounter with Jesus.
How did Andrew approach the task of making Jesus known to others?
Did he go away and study for six months to refine his knowledge of the OT and write a carefully scripted answer to every possible question about Jesus? No.
Did he follow Jesus for a while to undertake a detailed study of him? No.
Did he ‘brush up’ on his techniques at people persuasion? No.
He went straight into action. Immediately after meeting Jesus himself, he found his brother and shared his good news. Instinctively and instantaneously, Andrew found himself being an effective witness for the gospel. He did not need special skills or training - he simply went into action.
I’m certainly not saying that we should not undertake diligent study of the bible. Nor am I saying that careful preparation for sharing the gospel is a bad thing. Objections to the gospel must be expected, and in dealing with these, it does help, I think, to be battle ready.
What I am saying, is that we should not put off the task of sharing the gospel with others.
Start today.
(3) First, you must encounter Jesus
So, then. What does it take to be an effective witness to the gospel?
When we look at the story of Andrew, we can see, I think, three key aspects of Andrew witnessing to Peter.
First, Andrew had a personal encounter with Jesus. Before Andrew could tell Peter about Jesus, he had to know Jesus himself.
So must we. Before we go out and tell others about Jesus, we must first come to the point where we ourselves know Christ as our savior.
We can only share with others what we know ourselves.
Now, we will not, like Andrew, have a physical encounter with Jesus. Our encounter with Jesus will be spiritual. The point which we need to come to is where we can confidently affirm Jesus as our savior, where we have absolute faith that all of our sins have been covered by the death of Jesus on the cross.
If you have come to that position already, you are ready to be a witness to the gospel.
If not, I do not believe that you are ready to be a witness to the gospel at this point.
(4) Second, you must follow Jesus:
There was one thing Andrew, as well as the other disciple of Jesus, did betwee the point of encountering Jesus and the point of Andrew becoming a witness to Peter:
Andrew followed Jesus.
Andrew, and the other disciple, literally turned and followed Jesus. They turned around, giving up whatever else they were doing in their lives, and followed their messiah.
We, too, must follow Jesus in our own lives. For us, following Jesus will not be a physical act, as with Andrew, but a spiritual act. It’s turning around our lives and following a life worthy of the gospel. It’s turning from any areas of sin in our lives and instead following the ways of righteousness.
If we truly know Jesus, we will follow him. We won’t do it perfectly, and some of us will still fall back into sinful ways, but we will be drawn naturally to following the ways of Jesus – if we truly know him.
It’s all well and good to go out and share the gospel with others. But our sharing of the gospel will be much more effective if we, ourselves are living the gospel. We cannot share what we don’t follow. The people whom we share the gospel with must be able to see the grace of god in how we live, as well as what we say.
(5) We must bring people to jesus
In verse 42, the bible says that Andrew brought Peter to Jesus.
That’s exactly what sharing the gospel is about – bringing people to Jesus. In the same way that Andrew bought Peter to Jesus, we, too, must try to bring those with whom we share the gospel to Jesus.
In the case of Andrew, his act of bringing Peter to Jesus is a physical and literal act. In our case, bringing people to Jesus is a figurative act, not a literal one. We might choose to take them along to church or to a home bible study group. We might introduce them to online bible study groups.
Whatever we do, I think that we need to bring people to a place where they can meet other believers, learn about Jesus and experience some form of worship.
There, they will be able to experience Jesus for themselves. Whether or not they accept Jesus into their lives will depend on them and god. But we must bring them to a place where they can experience the saving grace of Christ.
Prayer:
Lord, I pray for two things.
First, for us to know you. Lord, we cannot witness effectively to others until we actually know you ourselves. So lord, ever so much more, please shower upon us more and more understanding of your perfect justice, power, mercy and love, so that we may know you more fully every day.
Second, I pray that you equip us with the courage and wisdom to follow you and to share the news of your great mercy and love to others. Lord, how often I fail in this simple task!
Lord, let others look upon us and not only hear about you from our mouths, but see your work and your grace in our lives. Let our words and our lives be a witness to your glory.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.
(35) The next day, John was there again with two of his disciples. (36) When he saw Jesus standing by, he said “Look, the lamb of god!”
(37) When the two disciples heard him say this, they turned around and followed Jesus. (38) Turning around, Jesus saw them and asked, “What do you want?”
They said “Rabbi” (which means ‘teacher’) “Where are you staying?”
(39) “Come,” he replied, “and you will see. So they went and saw where he was staying and spent the day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
(40) Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. (41) The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him. “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). (42) And he bought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephras” (which, when translated, is Peter).
Observations:
I’d like to make some observations here about witnessing to the gospel.
(1) Witnesses to the gospel play an integral part of building the kingdom of god.
There are two paths via which people come to know god. Firstly, the bible records some people who came to god through either direct contact with Jesus or divine revelation. Whilst Jesus walked the earth, many came to know him through direct contact. And the bible records some examples (e.g. Paul) of people who received to gospel through divine revelation.
Yes, god can work divine miracles. However, in the majority of cases, people receive the gospel via other believers. This is what we see here – John witnessing to two of his own disciples (more on that in a later post) and Andrew, in turn, witnessing to Peter - witnesses witnessing about the gospel to others, who, in turn, become witnesses and witness about the gospel to yet others still.
God is not in any way reliant upon this method, but it seems to be the most common way for the kingdom of god to expand most of the time.
I believe that all who know Christ as their savior are given an active role in the growth of the kingdom of god. God, as we see in the book of Genesis (the first book in the bible), is an active god. He believes in activity, not passivity, and I believe that he has an active role for every believer.
True, I believe that god chooses to give special spiritual gifts to special people for specific purposes. But no matter what, every single follower of Jesus can (and should) be a witness for Jesus. There are no special qualifications.
Every believer, I feel, should seek to be active in two ways – knowing Christ themselves (usually through reading the bible) and making him known by being a witness to others.
(2) Being an effective witness to the gospel does not require education or talent. (v41)
Do you know your bible inside out? Are you particularly talented at speaking or presenting new ideas in a persuasive manner?
If the answer to one or both of these questions is yes, then I have good news. If the answer is no, I have the same good news:
You can be an effective witness to the gospel.
In verse 41, Andrew has only just heard the news about Jesus. Now it does appear that Andrew previously had a reasonable background knowledge of the old testament - after all, he was one of John’s disciples. But, this was Andrew’s first encounter with Jesus.
How did Andrew approach the task of making Jesus known to others?
Did he go away and study for six months to refine his knowledge of the OT and write a carefully scripted answer to every possible question about Jesus? No.
Did he follow Jesus for a while to undertake a detailed study of him? No.
Did he ‘brush up’ on his techniques at people persuasion? No.
He went straight into action. Immediately after meeting Jesus himself, he found his brother and shared his good news. Instinctively and instantaneously, Andrew found himself being an effective witness for the gospel. He did not need special skills or training - he simply went into action.
I’m certainly not saying that we should not undertake diligent study of the bible. Nor am I saying that careful preparation for sharing the gospel is a bad thing. Objections to the gospel must be expected, and in dealing with these, it does help, I think, to be battle ready.
What I am saying, is that we should not put off the task of sharing the gospel with others.
Start today.
(3) First, you must encounter Jesus
So, then. What does it take to be an effective witness to the gospel?
When we look at the story of Andrew, we can see, I think, three key aspects of Andrew witnessing to Peter.
First, Andrew had a personal encounter with Jesus. Before Andrew could tell Peter about Jesus, he had to know Jesus himself.
So must we. Before we go out and tell others about Jesus, we must first come to the point where we ourselves know Christ as our savior.
We can only share with others what we know ourselves.
Now, we will not, like Andrew, have a physical encounter with Jesus. Our encounter with Jesus will be spiritual. The point which we need to come to is where we can confidently affirm Jesus as our savior, where we have absolute faith that all of our sins have been covered by the death of Jesus on the cross.
If you have come to that position already, you are ready to be a witness to the gospel.
If not, I do not believe that you are ready to be a witness to the gospel at this point.
(4) Second, you must follow Jesus:
There was one thing Andrew, as well as the other disciple of Jesus, did betwee the point of encountering Jesus and the point of Andrew becoming a witness to Peter:
Andrew followed Jesus.
Andrew, and the other disciple, literally turned and followed Jesus. They turned around, giving up whatever else they were doing in their lives, and followed their messiah.
We, too, must follow Jesus in our own lives. For us, following Jesus will not be a physical act, as with Andrew, but a spiritual act. It’s turning around our lives and following a life worthy of the gospel. It’s turning from any areas of sin in our lives and instead following the ways of righteousness.
If we truly know Jesus, we will follow him. We won’t do it perfectly, and some of us will still fall back into sinful ways, but we will be drawn naturally to following the ways of Jesus – if we truly know him.
It’s all well and good to go out and share the gospel with others. But our sharing of the gospel will be much more effective if we, ourselves are living the gospel. We cannot share what we don’t follow. The people whom we share the gospel with must be able to see the grace of god in how we live, as well as what we say.
(5) We must bring people to jesus
In verse 42, the bible says that Andrew brought Peter to Jesus.
That’s exactly what sharing the gospel is about – bringing people to Jesus. In the same way that Andrew bought Peter to Jesus, we, too, must try to bring those with whom we share the gospel to Jesus.
In the case of Andrew, his act of bringing Peter to Jesus is a physical and literal act. In our case, bringing people to Jesus is a figurative act, not a literal one. We might choose to take them along to church or to a home bible study group. We might introduce them to online bible study groups.
Whatever we do, I think that we need to bring people to a place where they can meet other believers, learn about Jesus and experience some form of worship.
There, they will be able to experience Jesus for themselves. Whether or not they accept Jesus into their lives will depend on them and god. But we must bring them to a place where they can experience the saving grace of Christ.
Prayer:
Lord, I pray for two things.
First, for us to know you. Lord, we cannot witness effectively to others until we actually know you ourselves. So lord, ever so much more, please shower upon us more and more understanding of your perfect justice, power, mercy and love, so that we may know you more fully every day.
Second, I pray that you equip us with the courage and wisdom to follow you and to share the news of your great mercy and love to others. Lord, how often I fail in this simple task!
Lord, let others look upon us and not only hear about you from our mouths, but see your work and your grace in our lives. Let our words and our lives be a witness to your glory.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.
Monday, October 27, 2008
John's Testimony About Jessus (John 1:15-19)
Scripture reading:
(15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said ‘he who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” (16) From the fullness of grace, we have received one blessing after another. (17) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (18) No one has ever seen god, but God the One and Only, who is at the father’s side, has made him known.
Observations:
(1) Although I am focusing on the character of Jesus Christ, our savior, I think we can learn a lot about the attitude we should take before god through looking at John the Baptist.
More will be written about this in future posts. But for now, let’s consider John’s testimony about Jesus in verse 15:
“He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.”
John knew and understood his place before Jesus. So should we.
In earthly terms, John was slightly older than Jesus. Attitudes of people toward their ‘seniors’ and ‘juniors’ varies from country to country and from culture to culture. But in most cases, those who are slightly older tend to look down a little on those who are slightly younger. Accordingly, John might feel ever so slightly justified in perhaps looking down at Jesus a little.
But, John the Baptist knew who Jesus really was. In John Chapter 1:1-5, John the gospel writer describes how:
• The existence of Jesus, like that of god, had no beginning;
• Jesus is the source of all life; and
• all things were made through Jesus.
John the Baptist recognized and acknowledged that Jesus was before him. Yes, John’s birth on earth predated that of Jesus, but Jesus existed from the beginning of time. Therefore, Jesus was ‘before’ John. Jesus was not just before John in terms of physical existence. Jesus was before John, and is before all of us, in all aspects of life. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life – we haven’t. Jesus, by his death and resurrection, saved people from their sins – we can’t. Jesus came from the father, from god – we didn’t. Jesus, being fully god, is the creator and source of all life – we aren’t.
In short, Jesus is before us in every way.
Knowing all of this, we can learn from the attitude of John about humility toward Jesus. John the Baptist showed the appropriate respect before Jesus. He humbled himself and demonstrated appropriate respect and reverence toward Jesus.
That is something which I do not always do. Too often, I focus on my own needs, not upon my savior. Too often, I am too busy running around chasing my dreams and materialistic things instead of using my time and money in ways which honor god.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that it is necessarily a bad thing to work for your dreams or to attain material things. But what I need to do is focus my priorities. I must learn to first seek to give Jesus the appropriate level of respect, be it in spiritual ways such as prayer and my thought life, or in practical ways such as how I use my time and money, or making the effort to care for and love those in need.
(2) “For the law was given through Moses, Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ”
For those who may not be aware, the ‘law’ being referred to here is ‘mosaic law.’ Essentially, this refers to a set of laws for holy living which god gave to Moses after he (god) had lead the Israelites in an escape from an oppressive regime in Egypt.
The law is detailed throughout the second, third, forth and fifth book in the bible: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It contains something like six hundred commandments. These include the famous ten commandments – which outlined the main points of the law.
Both Israel as a nation and each and every Israelite individually were required by god to follow the law, which defined god’s way of living. Living by the law was living god’s way. Breaking the law was a sin against god.
The requirements of the law were extremely burdensome. With the exception of Jesus, no one was able to follow them in full. Accordingly every single Isralite (except Jesus) sinned against god as some stage in their lives, as has every single person that has ever walked this earth.
Whilst the law proved impossible to follow, I feel that it still reveals a large part of the character of god. As far as relevant to this discussion, the law shows us:
• how high god’s standards are;
• the degree of pureness, cleanliness and holiness of god;
• just what it would take to please god (basically, absolute perfection); and
• how far short we fall of god’s standards
God’s requirement was for nothing less than full compliance with his law. God is perfect and he simply cannot tolerate any sin or breaking of any of his holy laws. But we are not perfect and fall well short of his requirements. God simply cannot overlook this and it creates a problem between us and god.
Thankfully, through Christ, we are shown another side of god – his perfect grace, mercy and love. Although we fall well short of god’s requirements, god does not simply abandon us. Instead, through his great mercy, he offered to everyone his own solution to our sin. He sent his one and only son to pay the price for our sin.
So, through the law, we see god’s perfect standards. Through Christ, we see god’s perfect mercy and love.
(3) “No one has ever seen god, but god, the one and only, who is at the father’s side, has made him known.”
Ever heard anyone claim to have seen god? Maybe you have. Next question, what exactly were they taking?
Physically seeing god does not appear to be a common experience. Personally, I’ve never just been driving down to the road and just happened to see god on the side of the road. Nor have a said to my nephews or nieces “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ‘g’ – god!”
Seeing god was not a common experience for Old Testament characters either. Moses, for instance saw only an angel through flames of fire from within a burning bush.
Come to think of it, the Old Testament does not describe anyone seeing god – no one at all. God the father spoke directly to certain people, but no-one actually saw him.
So, I am highly dubious of any claims to have seen god the father.
But, although we cannot and have not seen god, Jesus, his son, has made him known. Jesus has shown us the full character of god. As we have discussed at length in prior studies, Jesus showed the full power of god through his miracles, the faultlessness and cleanliness of god through the perfect way in which he lived and his amazing justice, love and mercy through the his death and resurrection.
Jesus fully reflected the character of god in every way. If you want to know about the character of god the father, look at Jesus, his son. Through him, the full character of the father is displayed.
Not only that, but Jesus, through his death and resurrection, made relationship with the father possible. Before the act on the cross, the problem of our sin was blocking us from relationship with the father. But, this barrier has been torn and all who truly believe in Jesus can share full relationship with the father.
We will not see god the father until we die. But we can know his full character by looking at the son. And through the death and resurrection of Christ, we are free for full relationship with the father.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, let us humble our hearts before you. You existed when time commenced. You created everything and are before everything. Let us humble ourselves and look upon you with mass reverence.
Lord, you showed us just how perfect you are through your law. We can never come anywhere near your standards, lord. We’re just not good enough. We’re just sinful man. But thanks also for showing us grace through Christ. Without grace, we would be lost. Without grace, we could have no relationship with you.
Lord, we will never see you until we die. But thank you oh so much for revealing yourself to us through your son, Jesus Christ. Through him, we have the privilege of knowing you. Through him, we can have full relationship with you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
In the name of Jesus Christ our lord,
Amen.
(15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said ‘he who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” (16) From the fullness of grace, we have received one blessing after another. (17) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (18) No one has ever seen god, but God the One and Only, who is at the father’s side, has made him known.
Observations:
(1) Although I am focusing on the character of Jesus Christ, our savior, I think we can learn a lot about the attitude we should take before god through looking at John the Baptist.
More will be written about this in future posts. But for now, let’s consider John’s testimony about Jesus in verse 15:
“He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.”
John knew and understood his place before Jesus. So should we.
In earthly terms, John was slightly older than Jesus. Attitudes of people toward their ‘seniors’ and ‘juniors’ varies from country to country and from culture to culture. But in most cases, those who are slightly older tend to look down a little on those who are slightly younger. Accordingly, John might feel ever so slightly justified in perhaps looking down at Jesus a little.
But, John the Baptist knew who Jesus really was. In John Chapter 1:1-5, John the gospel writer describes how:
• The existence of Jesus, like that of god, had no beginning;
• Jesus is the source of all life; and
• all things were made through Jesus.
John the Baptist recognized and acknowledged that Jesus was before him. Yes, John’s birth on earth predated that of Jesus, but Jesus existed from the beginning of time. Therefore, Jesus was ‘before’ John. Jesus was not just before John in terms of physical existence. Jesus was before John, and is before all of us, in all aspects of life. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life – we haven’t. Jesus, by his death and resurrection, saved people from their sins – we can’t. Jesus came from the father, from god – we didn’t. Jesus, being fully god, is the creator and source of all life – we aren’t.
In short, Jesus is before us in every way.
Knowing all of this, we can learn from the attitude of John about humility toward Jesus. John the Baptist showed the appropriate respect before Jesus. He humbled himself and demonstrated appropriate respect and reverence toward Jesus.
That is something which I do not always do. Too often, I focus on my own needs, not upon my savior. Too often, I am too busy running around chasing my dreams and materialistic things instead of using my time and money in ways which honor god.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that it is necessarily a bad thing to work for your dreams or to attain material things. But what I need to do is focus my priorities. I must learn to first seek to give Jesus the appropriate level of respect, be it in spiritual ways such as prayer and my thought life, or in practical ways such as how I use my time and money, or making the effort to care for and love those in need.
(2) “For the law was given through Moses, Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ”
For those who may not be aware, the ‘law’ being referred to here is ‘mosaic law.’ Essentially, this refers to a set of laws for holy living which god gave to Moses after he (god) had lead the Israelites in an escape from an oppressive regime in Egypt.
The law is detailed throughout the second, third, forth and fifth book in the bible: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It contains something like six hundred commandments. These include the famous ten commandments – which outlined the main points of the law.
Both Israel as a nation and each and every Israelite individually were required by god to follow the law, which defined god’s way of living. Living by the law was living god’s way. Breaking the law was a sin against god.
The requirements of the law were extremely burdensome. With the exception of Jesus, no one was able to follow them in full. Accordingly every single Isralite (except Jesus) sinned against god as some stage in their lives, as has every single person that has ever walked this earth.
Whilst the law proved impossible to follow, I feel that it still reveals a large part of the character of god. As far as relevant to this discussion, the law shows us:
• how high god’s standards are;
• the degree of pureness, cleanliness and holiness of god;
• just what it would take to please god (basically, absolute perfection); and
• how far short we fall of god’s standards
God’s requirement was for nothing less than full compliance with his law. God is perfect and he simply cannot tolerate any sin or breaking of any of his holy laws. But we are not perfect and fall well short of his requirements. God simply cannot overlook this and it creates a problem between us and god.
Thankfully, through Christ, we are shown another side of god – his perfect grace, mercy and love. Although we fall well short of god’s requirements, god does not simply abandon us. Instead, through his great mercy, he offered to everyone his own solution to our sin. He sent his one and only son to pay the price for our sin.
So, through the law, we see god’s perfect standards. Through Christ, we see god’s perfect mercy and love.
(3) “No one has ever seen god, but god, the one and only, who is at the father’s side, has made him known.”
Ever heard anyone claim to have seen god? Maybe you have. Next question, what exactly were they taking?
Physically seeing god does not appear to be a common experience. Personally, I’ve never just been driving down to the road and just happened to see god on the side of the road. Nor have a said to my nephews or nieces “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ‘g’ – god!”
Seeing god was not a common experience for Old Testament characters either. Moses, for instance saw only an angel through flames of fire from within a burning bush.
Come to think of it, the Old Testament does not describe anyone seeing god – no one at all. God the father spoke directly to certain people, but no-one actually saw him.
So, I am highly dubious of any claims to have seen god the father.
But, although we cannot and have not seen god, Jesus, his son, has made him known. Jesus has shown us the full character of god. As we have discussed at length in prior studies, Jesus showed the full power of god through his miracles, the faultlessness and cleanliness of god through the perfect way in which he lived and his amazing justice, love and mercy through the his death and resurrection.
Jesus fully reflected the character of god in every way. If you want to know about the character of god the father, look at Jesus, his son. Through him, the full character of the father is displayed.
Not only that, but Jesus, through his death and resurrection, made relationship with the father possible. Before the act on the cross, the problem of our sin was blocking us from relationship with the father. But, this barrier has been torn and all who truly believe in Jesus can share full relationship with the father.
We will not see god the father until we die. But we can know his full character by looking at the son. And through the death and resurrection of Christ, we are free for full relationship with the father.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, let us humble our hearts before you. You existed when time commenced. You created everything and are before everything. Let us humble ourselves and look upon you with mass reverence.
Lord, you showed us just how perfect you are through your law. We can never come anywhere near your standards, lord. We’re just not good enough. We’re just sinful man. But thanks also for showing us grace through Christ. Without grace, we would be lost. Without grace, we could have no relationship with you.
Lord, we will never see you until we die. But thank you oh so much for revealing yourself to us through your son, Jesus Christ. Through him, we have the privilege of knowing you. Through him, we can have full relationship with you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
In the name of Jesus Christ our lord,
Amen.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Word became flesh (John 1:14)
Scripture reading:
(14) The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, who came from the father, full of grace and truth.
Observations:
I would like to break this passage down into five parts and deal with each part separately.
Part A - “The word became flesh.”
One of the most misused phrases in the bible.
Robert Kiyosak, in his series “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series, quotes this passage in support of his view about self-talk – that your self-talk helps to determine your destiny.
This is an absolutely ludicrous interpretation of the passage. The passage has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with self-talk. To quote this passage in support of self-talk is to take the passage way, way, way out of it’s proper context.
Leaving aside such ridiculous quotations, what does it mean that the word became flesh? I must acknowledge that I do not fully understand this passage, so I cannot explain it fully.
Nevertheless, I’ll make some suggestions based upon what I think.
The passage is literally referring to Jesus coming in the flesh and body of a man, and living among us. The ‘word’ here (also referred to in John 1:1) probably refers to both the Old
Testament and to Jesus.
The Old Testament prophesized a savior. When Jesus was born, the prophesy came true.
Accordingly, the prophesy became flesh both literally and figuratively – literally, as in Jesus was born in the physical body of a man, and figuratively as in it came to pass.
‘The word’ here also refers specifically to Jesus. It was, after all, Jesus, who literally came in the flesh.
Jesus claims that the scriptures point to him. I believe, therefore, that the expression ‘the word became flesh’ refers to what was foretold in the scriptures becoming literally true in terms of
Jesus, the savior, being literally born in the flesh.
Part 2 – And made his dwelling among us
It can be tempting to view god as being detached from human life.
Under this view, he sits on his high horse in heaven all day long. He does not know or care what it’s like to have to confront the challenges of life on earth.
But the scripture does not support this view.
The scripture says that Jesus – the son of god (and himself fully god) – came down from the father, took on the physical body of a man and actually lived among us. He confronted (and overcame) all of the temptations and challenges of living a real human life in a real human body amongst real people. He was fully god, but he also experienced first hand the trials of living as a man on earth.
Therefore, we cannot say that he is indifferent toward our lives on earth. He isn’t. Jesus came in a very deliberate manner from the father lived a full life with us on earth as one of us.
Nor can we say that he does not understand human struggles or pain. He does, through first hand experience.
Part 3 - “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only”
In this statement, I think that John is referring to the whole and complete event of Jesus’s birth, death and resurrection.
Jesus did not hold back. He displayed the full extent of the glory of god – his great power, understanding, perfection and love. He did this both through the perfect life he lived and the great sacrifice of his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. God’s sheer power of was on full display through the miracles which Jesus performed. His all-surpassing knowledge, wisdom and understanding of god was fully demonstrated through his groundbreaking teaching of scripture. The absolute perfection of god almighty was displayed through the pure and faultless way in which Jesus lived – fulfilling god’s law completely with absolutely no sin in any way. Finally, the perfect love of god, which surpasses all knowledge and understanding, was demonstrated through the death of Jesus on the cross, as payment for the forgiveness of our sins.
If we want to know about the absolute glory of god the father, we need only look at the life, death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ. There, god’s full glory – his power, understanding, perfection, justice and love, were on full display.
Part 4: “Who came from the father”
I have spent the last two years of my life living and working in a foreign country. I am from Australia and I am now living in rural South Korea.
The Koreans have been very kind to me and have welcomed me into their country. But I will never be one of them. I am different to them in many ways. Koreans observe very strict social rules. Whilst I try to respect Korean customs, but am prepared to break them if there is a good enough reason to do so. Koreans operate under a clearly defined social hierarchy – and will never question someone above them. I do not care as much about social hierarchy. Koreans are good at sitting cross legged whilst eating dinner. I simply can’t do it.
I see the world differently to Koreans. My beliefs, thoughts, mannerisms and actions are different to theirs. I love them and their way of life, but I am not one of them. I am different and I always will be.
The same is true with all foreigners who I meet in Korea, whether from England, New Zealand,
Scotland Australia, America, Canada, or other parts of the world. We are all different to Koreans.
Why am I different? I am different because of where I came from. I came from a different place.
Throughout the gospel, it is clear that Jesus is completely unlike anyone else in any way. He told oceans to be calm and they obeyed – no human could do that. He displayed unlimited understanding and wisdom, far beyond that of any other human. He lived a perfect, completely sinless life – no other person has ever done that. He laid down his life for the lord – few people have done that.
Why was Jesus so different? He was different because of where he came from. He lived a sinless life because he came from the father, who is sinless. He had complete control over science and nature because he came from the father, the creator of the earth. He had unlimited knowledge and wisdom because he came from the father, who has unlimited knowledge and wisdom. He spoke the truth boldly because he came from the father, who is full of nothing but truth. He had mercy on tax collectors and sinners because he came from the father, who is full of mercy and grace.
Finally, he demonstrated perfect love on the cross, because he came from the father, whose justice and love are perfect and unlimited.
Part D: “Full of grace and truth”
These words, used to describe the fundamental nature of Jesus and how he lived on earth, speak volumes about the character of god the father.
Jesus came from the father. His character and nature perfectly reflect that of god our heavenly father. Jesus came full of truth and grace and those traits came directly from the father. This means that the character of god the father is absolutely full of truth and also of grace.
Throughout his life on earth, Jesus spoke the truth boldly. Now this is easy when the truth is easy to accept. But when the truth is difficult to accept, then it’s all too easy to water it down.
The gospel contains some fairly difficult truths as it is. It is difficult for people to accept that they have failed god and are in need of salvation. It is also difficult to accept that a loving god would ever punish people for their sins.
But add to this what Jesus had to say – that he was the savior – that he was the son of god – and that all who believed in him would have their sins forgiven, and the truth gets harder still to tell.
But Jesus never once backed away from the full truth. Not once did he water down or sugar coat the truth.
Not only this, but Jesus lived the truth as well. During his lifetime, he fulfilled everything which had previously been prophesized about the savior. Moreover, he lived a perfect life and perfectly fulfilled the requirements of god’s law.
Jesus not only spoke and lived the truth in full, he also spoke and lived a life full of grace and mercy.
There is no better illustration of this than on the cross. Jesus had been crucified, severely beaten and nailed to the cross without doing anything wrong. At that point, Jesus would feel entitled to be at least a little angry. But his response: “Forgive them father, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Those words speak for themselves about the extent of Jesus’s grace and love.
Prayer:
Thank you, lord Jesus.
You were up there in heaven, in marvel and glorious majesty. We were down here. Little people, sinful man. Completely underserving of your grace.
Yet you, though you were everything, came from heaven to earth and took on the form of literal human flesh. You know what it is like, lord, to be one of us. You have literally lived on this earth amongst us as one of us.
Yet, though you lived in human flesh, you did not hold back in showing the wonderful glory of god the father. You demonstrated the full extent of his power through the many miracles you performed. You also demonstrated his purity and truthfulness by the perfect way in which you lived on earth. Finally, lord Jesus, you demonstrated everything about the lord – power, truthfulness, justice and mercy – through your death on the cross and resurrection.
You were able to demonstrate all of this because you came from the father, full of grace, love, glory and truth. And then, at the resurrection, you went back to the father, after all had been accomplished.
Jesus, I am lost for words when I think about you. Your greatness is just beyond comprehension. I can only fall down on my knees and say “Thank you, lord. Thank you.” When we turned away from you, you never disowned us. You paid an amazing price to allow sinful men and women to be included amongst your glorious family.
I can only thank you and praise you.
Amen.
(14) The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, who came from the father, full of grace and truth.
Observations:
I would like to break this passage down into five parts and deal with each part separately.
Part A - “The word became flesh.”
One of the most misused phrases in the bible.
Robert Kiyosak, in his series “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series, quotes this passage in support of his view about self-talk – that your self-talk helps to determine your destiny.
This is an absolutely ludicrous interpretation of the passage. The passage has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with self-talk. To quote this passage in support of self-talk is to take the passage way, way, way out of it’s proper context.
Leaving aside such ridiculous quotations, what does it mean that the word became flesh? I must acknowledge that I do not fully understand this passage, so I cannot explain it fully.
Nevertheless, I’ll make some suggestions based upon what I think.
The passage is literally referring to Jesus coming in the flesh and body of a man, and living among us. The ‘word’ here (also referred to in John 1:1) probably refers to both the Old
Testament and to Jesus.
The Old Testament prophesized a savior. When Jesus was born, the prophesy came true.
Accordingly, the prophesy became flesh both literally and figuratively – literally, as in Jesus was born in the physical body of a man, and figuratively as in it came to pass.
‘The word’ here also refers specifically to Jesus. It was, after all, Jesus, who literally came in the flesh.
Jesus claims that the scriptures point to him. I believe, therefore, that the expression ‘the word became flesh’ refers to what was foretold in the scriptures becoming literally true in terms of
Jesus, the savior, being literally born in the flesh.
Part 2 – And made his dwelling among us
It can be tempting to view god as being detached from human life.
Under this view, he sits on his high horse in heaven all day long. He does not know or care what it’s like to have to confront the challenges of life on earth.
But the scripture does not support this view.
The scripture says that Jesus – the son of god (and himself fully god) – came down from the father, took on the physical body of a man and actually lived among us. He confronted (and overcame) all of the temptations and challenges of living a real human life in a real human body amongst real people. He was fully god, but he also experienced first hand the trials of living as a man on earth.
Therefore, we cannot say that he is indifferent toward our lives on earth. He isn’t. Jesus came in a very deliberate manner from the father lived a full life with us on earth as one of us.
Nor can we say that he does not understand human struggles or pain. He does, through first hand experience.
Part 3 - “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only”
In this statement, I think that John is referring to the whole and complete event of Jesus’s birth, death and resurrection.
Jesus did not hold back. He displayed the full extent of the glory of god – his great power, understanding, perfection and love. He did this both through the perfect life he lived and the great sacrifice of his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. God’s sheer power of was on full display through the miracles which Jesus performed. His all-surpassing knowledge, wisdom and understanding of god was fully demonstrated through his groundbreaking teaching of scripture. The absolute perfection of god almighty was displayed through the pure and faultless way in which Jesus lived – fulfilling god’s law completely with absolutely no sin in any way. Finally, the perfect love of god, which surpasses all knowledge and understanding, was demonstrated through the death of Jesus on the cross, as payment for the forgiveness of our sins.
If we want to know about the absolute glory of god the father, we need only look at the life, death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ. There, god’s full glory – his power, understanding, perfection, justice and love, were on full display.
Part 4: “Who came from the father”
I have spent the last two years of my life living and working in a foreign country. I am from Australia and I am now living in rural South Korea.
The Koreans have been very kind to me and have welcomed me into their country. But I will never be one of them. I am different to them in many ways. Koreans observe very strict social rules. Whilst I try to respect Korean customs, but am prepared to break them if there is a good enough reason to do so. Koreans operate under a clearly defined social hierarchy – and will never question someone above them. I do not care as much about social hierarchy. Koreans are good at sitting cross legged whilst eating dinner. I simply can’t do it.
I see the world differently to Koreans. My beliefs, thoughts, mannerisms and actions are different to theirs. I love them and their way of life, but I am not one of them. I am different and I always will be.
The same is true with all foreigners who I meet in Korea, whether from England, New Zealand,
Scotland Australia, America, Canada, or other parts of the world. We are all different to Koreans.
Why am I different? I am different because of where I came from. I came from a different place.
Throughout the gospel, it is clear that Jesus is completely unlike anyone else in any way. He told oceans to be calm and they obeyed – no human could do that. He displayed unlimited understanding and wisdom, far beyond that of any other human. He lived a perfect, completely sinless life – no other person has ever done that. He laid down his life for the lord – few people have done that.
Why was Jesus so different? He was different because of where he came from. He lived a sinless life because he came from the father, who is sinless. He had complete control over science and nature because he came from the father, the creator of the earth. He had unlimited knowledge and wisdom because he came from the father, who has unlimited knowledge and wisdom. He spoke the truth boldly because he came from the father, who is full of nothing but truth. He had mercy on tax collectors and sinners because he came from the father, who is full of mercy and grace.
Finally, he demonstrated perfect love on the cross, because he came from the father, whose justice and love are perfect and unlimited.
Part D: “Full of grace and truth”
These words, used to describe the fundamental nature of Jesus and how he lived on earth, speak volumes about the character of god the father.
Jesus came from the father. His character and nature perfectly reflect that of god our heavenly father. Jesus came full of truth and grace and those traits came directly from the father. This means that the character of god the father is absolutely full of truth and also of grace.
Throughout his life on earth, Jesus spoke the truth boldly. Now this is easy when the truth is easy to accept. But when the truth is difficult to accept, then it’s all too easy to water it down.
The gospel contains some fairly difficult truths as it is. It is difficult for people to accept that they have failed god and are in need of salvation. It is also difficult to accept that a loving god would ever punish people for their sins.
But add to this what Jesus had to say – that he was the savior – that he was the son of god – and that all who believed in him would have their sins forgiven, and the truth gets harder still to tell.
But Jesus never once backed away from the full truth. Not once did he water down or sugar coat the truth.
Not only this, but Jesus lived the truth as well. During his lifetime, he fulfilled everything which had previously been prophesized about the savior. Moreover, he lived a perfect life and perfectly fulfilled the requirements of god’s law.
Jesus not only spoke and lived the truth in full, he also spoke and lived a life full of grace and mercy.
There is no better illustration of this than on the cross. Jesus had been crucified, severely beaten and nailed to the cross without doing anything wrong. At that point, Jesus would feel entitled to be at least a little angry. But his response: “Forgive them father, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Those words speak for themselves about the extent of Jesus’s grace and love.
Prayer:
Thank you, lord Jesus.
You were up there in heaven, in marvel and glorious majesty. We were down here. Little people, sinful man. Completely underserving of your grace.
Yet you, though you were everything, came from heaven to earth and took on the form of literal human flesh. You know what it is like, lord, to be one of us. You have literally lived on this earth amongst us as one of us.
Yet, though you lived in human flesh, you did not hold back in showing the wonderful glory of god the father. You demonstrated the full extent of his power through the many miracles you performed. You also demonstrated his purity and truthfulness by the perfect way in which you lived on earth. Finally, lord Jesus, you demonstrated everything about the lord – power, truthfulness, justice and mercy – through your death on the cross and resurrection.
You were able to demonstrate all of this because you came from the father, full of grace, love, glory and truth. And then, at the resurrection, you went back to the father, after all had been accomplished.
Jesus, I am lost for words when I think about you. Your greatness is just beyond comprehension. I can only fall down on my knees and say “Thank you, lord. Thank you.” When we turned away from you, you never disowned us. You paid an amazing price to allow sinful men and women to be included amongst your glorious family.
I can only thank you and praise you.
Amen.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Becoming a child of god (John 1;12-13)
Scripture reading:
(12) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of god - (13) children not born of natural descent, not of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of god.
Observations:
The previous post was not particularly uplifting.
We saw that Jesus came to the world and that the world, as a whole, rejected him.
This passage brings some more uplifting news. Whilst the majority of people rejected Jesus, some believed in him. To these people, the gospel says, Jesus gave the right to become children of god.
Normally, when I believe in someone, seeing them succeed fills me with encouragement and enthusiasm. Seeing them fail brings fills me with disappointment, particularly if the failure is for ethical reasons.
People who succeed and live an honorable life provide others with inspiration, encouragement, belief, a role model and many other positive things. But what heroes and mentors can give to others who believe in them pales in comparison to what Jesus gives to his followers – the gift of becoming a child of god.
When looking at this passage, I think there are three important questions to consider:
(1) Who gets to be a child of god?(2) What does it mean to be a child of god?(3) By whose design do we become god’s children?
Who gets to be a child of god?Simply put – those who believe in Jesus.
This is a highly controversial point. Some believe that a truly loving god would think of everyone as his children. They feel that everyone should be able to go and be with god in heaven when they die.
But the gospel does not support this viewpoint. The gospel specifies only one way for us to enter god’s family – to believe in Jesus.By human logic, this may not seem fair. But god, our creator, decides who enters his family. We don’t make that decision – god does.
What does it mean to be a child of god?
It is interesting to note the words used here – a child of god. When I look at my relationship to my earthly parents, I make three key observations:
• Being a child is who you are, not something you earn.
I did nothing to earn the privilege of being the son of my parents. I just simply came out.
If I had simply ‘came out’ of somebody else’s womb, I would not be a child my parents. Nothing I did – no amount of good works which I performed for them – would have changed one fact - I would not have been their son.
But, fortunately for me, I came out as my parents’ son. I did not earn the right to be the son of my parents, I just came out that way. It’s simply who I am.
Being a child of god is something that you are at your very core being. You don’t earn it, if you believe in Jesus, you simply are that way. It’s just who you are.
• Second, being a son is permanent.
Many times, I have not done the right thing by my parents. But no matter what I do – no matter how many arguments I have with them or how many times I dishonor them – one thing will not change - they will always be my parents and I will always be my son.
Similarly, there are times in our lives where we all wander from god’s ways. When this happens, he may provide some fatherly discipline. But no matter what we do, as long as we believe in
Jesus, we will always be his children.
Our heavenly father will never expel us from his family. God has a permanent place reserved for us in his family and nothing will ever change that.
• Finally, being a son is intimate.
When you are a member or employee of a club or organization, you get actively involved in the activities of that club or organization. But at the end of the day, you go home.
You may work together to achieve some common goals, but you do not relate intimately with them in the same way that you relate to your own family.
God shares an intimate relationship with his children. He is not cold, dispassionate or detached from our lives.
No. He cares for his children like a father cares for his son.
Being a child of god is a phenomenal gift which believers in Christ have been granted through Christ and his sacrifice on the cross.
By whose design were we made a child of god?In short – god’s. (v13)
Believers in Christ have been chosen by god to be born of god. This was god’s deliberate design.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, the whole world, including all of the people in it, and yes – including us, has rejected you – our creator. You have every right to be angry. You would have every right if you were to turn your back on us in disgust.
Yet, in spite of all this, because of your pure love and your great mercy, you still invite believers into your great family. You and only you have made us this way.
We cannot earn a place in your family and we have no right to be there. But, in your great mercy, you have made us your sons and daughters.
We can only stand in awe. We can only fall down on our knees and say “Thank you, Thank you.” I am astounded when I think that you, great and holy creator, love me, a lowly, sinful human being, enough to grant me a place in your great family.
In your great name I pray.
Amen.
(12) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of god - (13) children not born of natural descent, not of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of god.
Observations:
The previous post was not particularly uplifting.
We saw that Jesus came to the world and that the world, as a whole, rejected him.
This passage brings some more uplifting news. Whilst the majority of people rejected Jesus, some believed in him. To these people, the gospel says, Jesus gave the right to become children of god.
Normally, when I believe in someone, seeing them succeed fills me with encouragement and enthusiasm. Seeing them fail brings fills me with disappointment, particularly if the failure is for ethical reasons.
People who succeed and live an honorable life provide others with inspiration, encouragement, belief, a role model and many other positive things. But what heroes and mentors can give to others who believe in them pales in comparison to what Jesus gives to his followers – the gift of becoming a child of god.
When looking at this passage, I think there are three important questions to consider:
(1) Who gets to be a child of god?(2) What does it mean to be a child of god?(3) By whose design do we become god’s children?
Who gets to be a child of god?Simply put – those who believe in Jesus.
This is a highly controversial point. Some believe that a truly loving god would think of everyone as his children. They feel that everyone should be able to go and be with god in heaven when they die.
But the gospel does not support this viewpoint. The gospel specifies only one way for us to enter god’s family – to believe in Jesus.By human logic, this may not seem fair. But god, our creator, decides who enters his family. We don’t make that decision – god does.
What does it mean to be a child of god?
It is interesting to note the words used here – a child of god. When I look at my relationship to my earthly parents, I make three key observations:
• Being a child is who you are, not something you earn.
I did nothing to earn the privilege of being the son of my parents. I just simply came out.
If I had simply ‘came out’ of somebody else’s womb, I would not be a child my parents. Nothing I did – no amount of good works which I performed for them – would have changed one fact - I would not have been their son.
But, fortunately for me, I came out as my parents’ son. I did not earn the right to be the son of my parents, I just came out that way. It’s simply who I am.
Being a child of god is something that you are at your very core being. You don’t earn it, if you believe in Jesus, you simply are that way. It’s just who you are.
• Second, being a son is permanent.
Many times, I have not done the right thing by my parents. But no matter what I do – no matter how many arguments I have with them or how many times I dishonor them – one thing will not change - they will always be my parents and I will always be my son.
Similarly, there are times in our lives where we all wander from god’s ways. When this happens, he may provide some fatherly discipline. But no matter what we do, as long as we believe in
Jesus, we will always be his children.
Our heavenly father will never expel us from his family. God has a permanent place reserved for us in his family and nothing will ever change that.
• Finally, being a son is intimate.
When you are a member or employee of a club or organization, you get actively involved in the activities of that club or organization. But at the end of the day, you go home.
You may work together to achieve some common goals, but you do not relate intimately with them in the same way that you relate to your own family.
God shares an intimate relationship with his children. He is not cold, dispassionate or detached from our lives.
No. He cares for his children like a father cares for his son.
Being a child of god is a phenomenal gift which believers in Christ have been granted through Christ and his sacrifice on the cross.
By whose design were we made a child of god?In short – god’s. (v13)
Believers in Christ have been chosen by god to be born of god. This was god’s deliberate design.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, the whole world, including all of the people in it, and yes – including us, has rejected you – our creator. You have every right to be angry. You would have every right if you were to turn your back on us in disgust.
Yet, in spite of all this, because of your pure love and your great mercy, you still invite believers into your great family. You and only you have made us this way.
We cannot earn a place in your family and we have no right to be there. But, in your great mercy, you have made us your sons and daughters.
We can only stand in awe. We can only fall down on our knees and say “Thank you, Thank you.” I am astounded when I think that you, great and holy creator, love me, a lowly, sinful human being, enough to grant me a place in your great family.
In your great name I pray.
Amen.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
The Rejected Son (John 1:10-11
Scripture reading:
(10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. (11) He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Observations:
Earlier in John, we saw some pretty amazing things about Jesus.
Amongst other things, we have seen that Jesus:
• existed at the beginning of time;
• is inseparable from god the father;
• was the creator of everything that existed; and
• is the source of all life, having life within himself.
Does that sound exciting?
If a man put that on his resume, wouldn’t he be sought after?
He would - if you believed him. And many did. The gospels do say that Jesus had many followers.
But even though many people believed him, the great majority did not. Many people despised Jesus, believing he was a fake or a religious nutcase. Some even saw him as a blasphemer against god.
So Jesus, after having made the whole world, and all of the people in it, himself came into the world, his own creation. The world’s response to our maker – “Reject him. Mock him. Laugh at him. He’s just a raving lunatic – or worse, a blasphemer. Kill him. Crucify him!
Nothing had changed. In Old Testament times, before Jesus, god had been rejected over and over again by the people he made. Some people made a decent attempt to follow god (although all sinned against him at some point), but the great majority rejected him and his ways. They set up idols to worship instead of god.
Now, when we see god come enter the world in human form, we see the same pattern arising.
Many did believe and follow him. But the great majority rejected and despised him, not recognizing that he was indeed their maker. Over and over again, we see man rejecting god.
I wonder how god feels about all this. I wonder how you would feel if you made an entire world and all the people in it, and then the people who you owned and who you made, rejected you.
You make them, you own them, they are yours, and yet they reject you. Could you let that go unpunished?
Personally, I would be extremely and uncontrollably angry. I would unleash complete destruction.
I have heard people say that “a truly loving god would never send people to hell.” This, from a human perspective, is an understandable way of thinking.
However, this viewpoint ignores the fact that we have rejected god. We have turned our back on god. God cannot let this go unpunished.
Fortunately, we will see from the next passage, god is merciful and has a solution toward dealing with our rejection.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father.
Lord, you created the whole earth and all of life, yet we rejected you. You are the source of all life – you gave us everything that we have and everything that we are – yet we hid from you, spat on your face and turned away.
Lord, we can only look on our rebellion with shame. Who do we think we are to have a right to turn our back on you? You are our maker, who are we to reject you?
Lord, for our shameful rebellion, we can only beg for your mercy. We see in the next passage that despite our rebellion, you, in your mercy still provide a way for us to be in relationship with you.
Lord, all we can ask for is your mercy.
In the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord
Amen
(10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. (11) He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Observations:
Earlier in John, we saw some pretty amazing things about Jesus.
Amongst other things, we have seen that Jesus:
• existed at the beginning of time;
• is inseparable from god the father;
• was the creator of everything that existed; and
• is the source of all life, having life within himself.
Does that sound exciting?
If a man put that on his resume, wouldn’t he be sought after?
He would - if you believed him. And many did. The gospels do say that Jesus had many followers.
But even though many people believed him, the great majority did not. Many people despised Jesus, believing he was a fake or a religious nutcase. Some even saw him as a blasphemer against god.
So Jesus, after having made the whole world, and all of the people in it, himself came into the world, his own creation. The world’s response to our maker – “Reject him. Mock him. Laugh at him. He’s just a raving lunatic – or worse, a blasphemer. Kill him. Crucify him!
Nothing had changed. In Old Testament times, before Jesus, god had been rejected over and over again by the people he made. Some people made a decent attempt to follow god (although all sinned against him at some point), but the great majority rejected him and his ways. They set up idols to worship instead of god.
Now, when we see god come enter the world in human form, we see the same pattern arising.
Many did believe and follow him. But the great majority rejected and despised him, not recognizing that he was indeed their maker. Over and over again, we see man rejecting god.
I wonder how god feels about all this. I wonder how you would feel if you made an entire world and all the people in it, and then the people who you owned and who you made, rejected you.
You make them, you own them, they are yours, and yet they reject you. Could you let that go unpunished?
Personally, I would be extremely and uncontrollably angry. I would unleash complete destruction.
I have heard people say that “a truly loving god would never send people to hell.” This, from a human perspective, is an understandable way of thinking.
However, this viewpoint ignores the fact that we have rejected god. We have turned our back on god. God cannot let this go unpunished.
Fortunately, we will see from the next passage, god is merciful and has a solution toward dealing with our rejection.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father.
Lord, you created the whole earth and all of life, yet we rejected you. You are the source of all life – you gave us everything that we have and everything that we are – yet we hid from you, spat on your face and turned away.
Lord, we can only look on our rebellion with shame. Who do we think we are to have a right to turn our back on you? You are our maker, who are we to reject you?
Lord, for our shameful rebellion, we can only beg for your mercy. We see in the next passage that despite our rebellion, you, in your mercy still provide a way for us to be in relationship with you.
Lord, all we can ask for is your mercy.
In the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord
Amen
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Making the way for the lord (John 1:6-9)
Scripture reading:
(6) There came a man who was sent from god: his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all men might believe. (8) He himself was not the light: he came only as a witness to the light. (9) The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
Observations:
I make two key observations here.
(1) It is interesting to note the description we are given about John the Baptist. We are not told here where he grew up, his occupation or any other of the things we might expect to learn about a man.
We are simply told (a) who he was sent from; (god) (b) his name; (c) the purpose and mission of his life (a witness to Jesus); and (d) that he himself was not the savior of the world.
In writing this, the gospel writer considered how John related to Jesus to be of far greater importance than any of the worldly facts about John’s life.
I’m sure John did other things in his life. I’m sure he didn’t simply baptize people from dawn until dusk every day. But it is clear that the god’s entire reason ever creating John was for John to be a witness to Jesus.
This has led me to thinking - what will others say about me after I die? I hope I have plenty of worthy achievements for others to talk about. I hope others can honestly say that I was a man of integrity, loyalty, courage, compassion and love.
However, above all, I hope others get up and say “there was a true witness to Jesus.”
(2) The second key observation that I make about this passage is the deliberate manner in which god prepared for the arrival of Jesus.
In the Old Testament times, prophets and angels foretold the coming of Christ. Now, we see god send a man sent from god whose entire purpose was to prepare the way for Jesus to come into the world and to prepare the world to accept Jesus.
God was not casual or haphazard in preparing for the coming of Christ. On the contrary, he was meticulous and very deliberate the specific way in which it had to happen.
The purposeful manner of god in this passage underlines two further observations we can make.
Firstly, god himself is very deliberate. He is not, impulsive, haphazard or rash in what he does.
There are many other examples in the scripture of god being very deliberate about his plans and actions for the world.
Secondly, we can observe the great importance which god himself placed upon the coming of
Christ into the world. Poor planning is a sign of lack of importance attached to an event. This event, the coming of Christ, was thoroughly and perfectly planned. Everything had to be right before the world was ready for Jesus, our savior, to enter into the world.
From god’s point of view, the coming of Christ into the world was of critical importance.
We too, should view Christ’s coming in the same way.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, whatever else I do with my life, let me be a true witness of Christ.
Grant me the courage, wisdom and the desire to life my life as a witness to Christ – both in terms of spreading your word and in terms of how I live out the life you have granted me.
Father, we can see the great emphasis you placed on the coming of your son – your own coming
– into the world. Let us sit up and take notice. Let my heart dwell always on the fact that you came from heaven to earth to pay the sacrifice for sins and to win eternal life for your chosen people.
The coming of Christ fundamentally altered the state of our relationship with you. Before, we were under your wrath. But Christ (or you) earned forgiveness for all believers. Now, we can live as your children and are free to live in an intimate relationship with you.
In the name of Christ Jesus
Amen.
(6) There came a man who was sent from god: his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all men might believe. (8) He himself was not the light: he came only as a witness to the light. (9) The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
Observations:
I make two key observations here.
(1) It is interesting to note the description we are given about John the Baptist. We are not told here where he grew up, his occupation or any other of the things we might expect to learn about a man.
We are simply told (a) who he was sent from; (god) (b) his name; (c) the purpose and mission of his life (a witness to Jesus); and (d) that he himself was not the savior of the world.
In writing this, the gospel writer considered how John related to Jesus to be of far greater importance than any of the worldly facts about John’s life.
I’m sure John did other things in his life. I’m sure he didn’t simply baptize people from dawn until dusk every day. But it is clear that the god’s entire reason ever creating John was for John to be a witness to Jesus.
This has led me to thinking - what will others say about me after I die? I hope I have plenty of worthy achievements for others to talk about. I hope others can honestly say that I was a man of integrity, loyalty, courage, compassion and love.
However, above all, I hope others get up and say “there was a true witness to Jesus.”
(2) The second key observation that I make about this passage is the deliberate manner in which god prepared for the arrival of Jesus.
In the Old Testament times, prophets and angels foretold the coming of Christ. Now, we see god send a man sent from god whose entire purpose was to prepare the way for Jesus to come into the world and to prepare the world to accept Jesus.
God was not casual or haphazard in preparing for the coming of Christ. On the contrary, he was meticulous and very deliberate the specific way in which it had to happen.
The purposeful manner of god in this passage underlines two further observations we can make.
Firstly, god himself is very deliberate. He is not, impulsive, haphazard or rash in what he does.
There are many other examples in the scripture of god being very deliberate about his plans and actions for the world.
Secondly, we can observe the great importance which god himself placed upon the coming of
Christ into the world. Poor planning is a sign of lack of importance attached to an event. This event, the coming of Christ, was thoroughly and perfectly planned. Everything had to be right before the world was ready for Jesus, our savior, to enter into the world.
From god’s point of view, the coming of Christ into the world was of critical importance.
We too, should view Christ’s coming in the same way.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, whatever else I do with my life, let me be a true witness of Christ.
Grant me the courage, wisdom and the desire to life my life as a witness to Christ – both in terms of spreading your word and in terms of how I live out the life you have granted me.
Father, we can see the great emphasis you placed on the coming of your son – your own coming
– into the world. Let us sit up and take notice. Let my heart dwell always on the fact that you came from heaven to earth to pay the sacrifice for sins and to win eternal life for your chosen people.
The coming of Christ fundamentally altered the state of our relationship with you. Before, we were under your wrath. But Christ (or you) earned forgiveness for all believers. Now, we can live as your children and are free to live in an intimate relationship with you.
In the name of Christ Jesus
Amen.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Jesus: The Author of Life (John 1:3-5)
Scripture reading:
(3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (4) In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
Observations:
(1) Jesus is the creator of everything (v3).
Every single thing that you and I know on this earth - every planet, every mountain, every city and even every ant - was created by Jesus.
Jesus (being fully god – refer previous post) is the author of all life. He is solely responsible for our existence and the existence of anything around us. Absolutely nothing in our universe exists which is not part of the perfect design of Jesus.
The earth was not made because of some scientific accident. Our universe exists because of god's deliberate plan.
(2) Jesus is the source of all life (v4).
As the author of all life, god is also the source of all life, in both the physical and spirital sense.
Jesus is the only being that has life within himself. We can only have life ourselves by god giving it to us. We cannot have life, of any form, without god. Everything that we have, everything we are, literally every breath we take is given to us by god.
Without Jesus, we have nothing and are nothing.
(3) The world does not understand Jesus. (v5)
Whilst Jesus is our maker and the maker of everything, the world, including us, has not understood god. No one can fully comprehend how great god is. Our small human minds cannot begin to comprehend the pure, unlimited greatness, power, justice and love of the creator. He is so great he is well beyond anything we could imagine.
God is the creator of the world, the architect of all of our life the one and only source of life itself.
If I ever understood even a tenth of the greatness of god, I would probably fall down on my knees and be struck with a pure sense of awe at even the thought of his name.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father
Lord, you are the creator of everything, the source of all life.
Everything on heaven and earth conforms to your perfect plan. We don’t always understand it, but we know you are in perfect control of everything.
Without you, we are nothing.
We have not understood you. Open our hearts to understanding the pure depth of your greatness, your power, your justice and your love.
In this I pray, in your great name.
Amen.
(3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (4) In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
Observations:
(1) Jesus is the creator of everything (v3).
Every single thing that you and I know on this earth - every planet, every mountain, every city and even every ant - was created by Jesus.
Jesus (being fully god – refer previous post) is the author of all life. He is solely responsible for our existence and the existence of anything around us. Absolutely nothing in our universe exists which is not part of the perfect design of Jesus.
The earth was not made because of some scientific accident. Our universe exists because of god's deliberate plan.
(2) Jesus is the source of all life (v4).
As the author of all life, god is also the source of all life, in both the physical and spirital sense.
Jesus is the only being that has life within himself. We can only have life ourselves by god giving it to us. We cannot have life, of any form, without god. Everything that we have, everything we are, literally every breath we take is given to us by god.
Without Jesus, we have nothing and are nothing.
(3) The world does not understand Jesus. (v5)
Whilst Jesus is our maker and the maker of everything, the world, including us, has not understood god. No one can fully comprehend how great god is. Our small human minds cannot begin to comprehend the pure, unlimited greatness, power, justice and love of the creator. He is so great he is well beyond anything we could imagine.
God is the creator of the world, the architect of all of our life the one and only source of life itself.
If I ever understood even a tenth of the greatness of god, I would probably fall down on my knees and be struck with a pure sense of awe at even the thought of his name.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father
Lord, you are the creator of everything, the source of all life.
Everything on heaven and earth conforms to your perfect plan. We don’t always understand it, but we know you are in perfect control of everything.
Without you, we are nothing.
We have not understood you. Open our hearts to understanding the pure depth of your greatness, your power, your justice and your love.
In this I pray, in your great name.
Amen.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Jesus: The Eternal Existence
Scripture reading:
(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was god. (2) He was with god in the beginning.
Observations:
Who and what is this passage about?
It’s about the nature and character of our savior, Jesus Christ.
This passage talks about ‘the word.’ Later in John chapter 1, ‘the word’ becomes flesh, and it becomes clear that the ‘word’ John refers to is Jesus.
I don’t know why John does not refer to Jesus by name here, but I don’t feel that point is terribly important. What is important is what the passage says about the character of Jesus Christ, our savior.
The passage makes two clear statements:
(1) Jesus has always existed. He literally had no beginning. (v1)
Hang on! Wasn't Jesus only born about two thousand years ago? How then can John say he existed in the beginning? Isn't this ridiculous?
The scripture does describe how Jesus was born in the flesh to the virgin Mary, about 2,000 years ago, and so the above line of thought may sound logical. Our own existence commenced the day we are born in the flesh. Therefore, it is natural for us to assume that commencement of existence always happens on the day of birth and that the existence of Jesus started the day he came out of Mary.
But that assumption is wrong. The existence of Jesus commenced before he entered the world in human form. Two thousand years ago, Jesus took on the physical form of a man. But his existence did not commence at that point. From a spiritual viewpoint, he had no beginning. He existed at the beginning of time.
It is difficult for us as humans to comprehend this. Everything we know in the world, including our own lives, had a beginning. We are naturally uncomfortable with the notion of any form of existence without a beginning.
However, the passage states clearly that Jesus already existed at the beginning of time. He had no beginning and will have no end. He is literally eternal. He will always exist.
(2) Jesus has an intimate relationship with god, and indeed, is god.
As I was writing this, I started to write about some observations we could make from this passage about the character of god the father.
When I think about the creator of the world, I usually think about one big creator and father in heaven called god. The image I picture is that of an all powerful, great big loving old man.
But this passage does not talk primarily about god the father. It talks about Jesus.
It is interesting to note, however, just how close the description of Jesus in this passage is to the description of god the father in Genesis 1:1, the first book in the bible. The first part of Genesis describes how god the father existed at the beginning. The first part of this passage describes how Jesus existed at the beginning.
The descriptions are remarkably similar. That’s because Jesus and god exist not separately, but together. They are part of the one unit. They are inseparable from one another.
The passage describes the 'word' (Jesus) as being with god and as being god. Being with god implies an extremely strong relationship or bond. This bond is unbreakable – because Jesus actually is god. The two are one.
This brings us to an important point in understanding in both the character of god and the character of Jesus. I naturally tend to think of god the father as a singular being. I also tend to think of Jesus as a singular being, related to but separate from god.
But this notion does not match the description of either in the bible.
They may have separate functions, but they exist together (along with the holy spirit) as part of one unit.
I don’t fully understand exactly how this relationship works. But the scripture tells us that it does work, so that’s good enough for me.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,
Lord, there are so many things that we will never know about your character.
We just cannot imagine how great you are. Your infinite existence is beyond our imagination. Our small minds can only try to imagine. You were there from the beginning of time. You will never cease to exist. You are just that great and that almighty.
Help me lord, to meditate daily. Let my heart understand more and more just how great you are. Let me never lose sight of your great power, your perfect justice and your great mercy and perfect love.
In the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit.
Amen.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Summary of the Christian faith
Dear readers,
In the coming posts, I will undertake an in-depth study of the book of John, one of the four gospels in the bible.
Through the book of John, I think we can learn a great deal about the nature and character of Jesus Christ, whom, according to the bible, paid the price for our sins through his death on the cross.
However, before that, I think it's important to step back and look at the overall message of the bible, the fundamental tenants of the Christian faith. Accordingly, in this post, I will attempt to summarize what I believe are the core principles of the Christian faith.
Core beliefs of the Christian faithI believe that the Christian faith can be summarized in seven key principles. These are:
• God is eternal (Genesis 1:1)
• God created the whole world (Genesis 1&2)
• God made man and put him in charge of the whole world (Genesis 1&2)
• Man rebelled against god (Genesis 3)
• God became angry with man (Genesis 3)
• Though angry, god loved man and sent his son to pay the price for the sin of man (John 3:16)
• Those who believe in Jesus are forgiven and pardoned of their sins (John 3:16) and are assured of a place in heaven after death
Now, lets look at each of these key points in turn:
(1) God is eternal.
The very first words of the bible read, "In the beginning, God.." (Genesis 1:1)
The bible asserts that, before the beginning of time, before the world as we know it came into existence, god, the creator of mankind, already existed. God's existence predates the universe, he existed before the beginning of time as we know it.
In fact, he did not have a beginning. He has always existed and always will exist. He is eternal - he had no beginning and will have no end.
This is a difficult concept for us to believe or comprehend. Everything we know is finite - it has a beginning and an end. We are conditioned to think in terms of the finite and are not comfortable with the concept of infinity, or eternality. It is just not a concept we can grasp easily.
However, the bible indeed states that god is eternal. He literally had no beginning and will have no end. He will always exist.
(2) God created the universe.
The bible clearly identifies god as the creator of the universe.
In point (1) above, I mentioned the first passage of the bible, Genesis 1:1. The full text of that passage reads "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
The above passage clearly and unambiguously identifies god as the creator. The remainder of chapter Genesis Chapter 1 then goes on to describe the process by which god created the world.
Christians believe that god is the author of all life as we know it.
Everything, absolutely everything, including the heavens, the earth, all living plants, animals, and all other features of the universe were made by the craftsmanship of god – our wonderful and magnificent creator.
(3) God made man in his own image.
Chapter 1 and 2 of the book of Genesis describe how, after he had created the universe and made all the plants and the animals, god made man.
However, there are several key features about the creation of man which distinguish us from either plants or animals.
Firstly, man was created in the image of God. The glory of god himself was meant to be reflected in mankind. We were made to radiate the pure greatness and wonderfulness of our father.
Secondly, man was put in charge of the entire earth, which we were intended to rule.
I liken this to an owner/manager relationship. God, who created and owned the earth, appointed man to manage and rule the earth on his behalf.
His role was creator and owner of the earth, our role was manager, accountable only to him.
Thirdly, man was told to be fruitful and increase in number. (Genesis 1:28) God made man to be productive, constructive and successful. Man was not only made to manage, he was made to achieve results. Moreover, mankind was given a mandate for unlimited expansion of its species.
Man was not like plants or animals. Man was given special status by god.
(4) Man rebelled against god.
But there was a problem - mankind did not follow the plan and rebelled against god.
The first act of rebellion came in the Garden of Eden, a story told in Chapter 3 of Genesis. God placed Adam and Eve (the first people) in the garden, and told them they could eat from any tree, except one particular tree - that of knowledge of good and evil.
However, after being deceived by the devil, they proceeded to eat from the forbidden tree. This was an act of defiance, a form of rebellion against god. Man was, in effect, turning away from god and going his own way.
The original sin was committed by only two people. However, at the time, they represented the entire population of mankind, and their actions represented actions performed on behalf of the human race.
Moreover, their actions set a precedent, and the bible says that all people have turned away from god at some point in their lives. No matter how good we may try to be, each and every one of us, at some point, has turned away from god.
(5) God became angry with man.
God had created mankind and made him ruler over the earth. Yet man, god’s own creation, had deliberately gone against his plan like a disobedient child.
The lord burned with anger. He himself is perfect, and he cannot, with his character, tolerate any form of sin or rebellion against him.
He could not simply overlook this and pretend that everything was OK.
As a consequence, the relationship between god and mankind was broken, and our relationship with him suffered a deep split. We had fallen from the grace in his eyes. He could no longer share a relationship of integrity with us. From a spiritual viewpoint, we were cut off from him.
A wide range of adverse consequences resulted, including death, disease, starvation, war and many other forms of suffering.
But, most importantly, man was denied eternal life, meaning that our final destiny changed from heaven to hell.
Before sin came into the world, our destiny was eternal life with god. We were meant for a perfect relationship with our creator that literally had no ending. But as a consequence of our sin, our days became numbered. Moreover, rather than being destined for eternal life in heaven after death, our destiny changed and each of us became destined, literally, for eternal punishment in hell.
(6) God sent his son to pay the price for the sin of man. (John 3:16)
God was outraged beyond comprehension at the rebellion of man.
However, he is so merciful that his ever-abundant, perfect love for mankind remained.
Man was broken. We could do nothing to heal our relationship with god. Only god could do that - and through his great mercy, he provided a way for our relationship with him to be restored.
His solution was to offer mankind a peace deal, under which God provided Jesus, his one and only son, as a sacrifice for our sin.
For those who accept the deal, Jesus, effectively becomes our substitute. Instead of us having to bear the cost of our sin, (which would have involved eternal punishment from god in hell) the entire cost of our sin was poured out upon Jesus, who suffered a painstakingly horrific death on the cross.
Jesus has effectively taken the punishment for our sins in our place. As a result, those who accept god’s peace deal are spared his anger and are destined for an eternal, perfect relationship with our creator in heaven after death.
(7) Those who believe in Jesus are forgiven and pardoned of their sins.
Who benefits from god’s great sacrifice? Does everyone qualify? What do we have to do to receive god’s forgiveness?
The bible says that all we have to do is accept god’s peace deal. Those who accept god’s peace deal are assured of forgiveness from their sins and an eternal place in heaven upon their death.
How, then, do we accept god’s peace deal?
Simply by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. It means having absolute faith that the through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus on the cross, your sins have been fully forgiven.
Those who have such faith have accepted god’s peace deal and have had their sins fully forgiven by the lord, and will be free to enjoy everlasting eternal life in a perfect relationship with our creator in heaven.
What about those who do not believe?
This is where the Christian message becomes highly controversial. Unfortunately, the bible says that those who do not have faith in Christ have not accepted god’s peace deal. Nor, have they had their sins forgiven.
Accordingly, upon death, non-believers will be subject to the full wrath of god. Being permanently cut off from god, they will suffer eternal punishment in hell. Although this is unpleasant to talk about, it is what the bible says.
But for those who accept god’s peace deal and put their faith in the death and resurrection of
Christ Jesus, the bible says that our sins have been entirely forgiven by our wonderful and merciful god. Upon leaving this earth, we will share eternal relationship with our glorious father in heaven.
Let me stress, this is not because of anything special that believers in Christ have done. Rather it’s because of the wonderful and merciful character of our eternal creator, that he would make a great sacrifice to pay for the cost of our sins.
In the coming posts, I will undertake an in-depth study of the book of John, one of the four gospels in the bible.
Through the book of John, I think we can learn a great deal about the nature and character of Jesus Christ, whom, according to the bible, paid the price for our sins through his death on the cross.
However, before that, I think it's important to step back and look at the overall message of the bible, the fundamental tenants of the Christian faith. Accordingly, in this post, I will attempt to summarize what I believe are the core principles of the Christian faith.
Core beliefs of the Christian faithI believe that the Christian faith can be summarized in seven key principles. These are:
• God is eternal (Genesis 1:1)
• God created the whole world (Genesis 1&2)
• God made man and put him in charge of the whole world (Genesis 1&2)
• Man rebelled against god (Genesis 3)
• God became angry with man (Genesis 3)
• Though angry, god loved man and sent his son to pay the price for the sin of man (John 3:16)
• Those who believe in Jesus are forgiven and pardoned of their sins (John 3:16) and are assured of a place in heaven after death
Now, lets look at each of these key points in turn:
(1) God is eternal.
The very first words of the bible read, "In the beginning, God.." (Genesis 1:1)
The bible asserts that, before the beginning of time, before the world as we know it came into existence, god, the creator of mankind, already existed. God's existence predates the universe, he existed before the beginning of time as we know it.
In fact, he did not have a beginning. He has always existed and always will exist. He is eternal - he had no beginning and will have no end.
This is a difficult concept for us to believe or comprehend. Everything we know is finite - it has a beginning and an end. We are conditioned to think in terms of the finite and are not comfortable with the concept of infinity, or eternality. It is just not a concept we can grasp easily.
However, the bible indeed states that god is eternal. He literally had no beginning and will have no end. He will always exist.
(2) God created the universe.
The bible clearly identifies god as the creator of the universe.
In point (1) above, I mentioned the first passage of the bible, Genesis 1:1. The full text of that passage reads "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
The above passage clearly and unambiguously identifies god as the creator. The remainder of chapter Genesis Chapter 1 then goes on to describe the process by which god created the world.
Christians believe that god is the author of all life as we know it.
Everything, absolutely everything, including the heavens, the earth, all living plants, animals, and all other features of the universe were made by the craftsmanship of god – our wonderful and magnificent creator.
(3) God made man in his own image.
Chapter 1 and 2 of the book of Genesis describe how, after he had created the universe and made all the plants and the animals, god made man.
However, there are several key features about the creation of man which distinguish us from either plants or animals.
Firstly, man was created in the image of God. The glory of god himself was meant to be reflected in mankind. We were made to radiate the pure greatness and wonderfulness of our father.
Secondly, man was put in charge of the entire earth, which we were intended to rule.
I liken this to an owner/manager relationship. God, who created and owned the earth, appointed man to manage and rule the earth on his behalf.
His role was creator and owner of the earth, our role was manager, accountable only to him.
Thirdly, man was told to be fruitful and increase in number. (Genesis 1:28) God made man to be productive, constructive and successful. Man was not only made to manage, he was made to achieve results. Moreover, mankind was given a mandate for unlimited expansion of its species.
Man was not like plants or animals. Man was given special status by god.
(4) Man rebelled against god.
But there was a problem - mankind did not follow the plan and rebelled against god.
The first act of rebellion came in the Garden of Eden, a story told in Chapter 3 of Genesis. God placed Adam and Eve (the first people) in the garden, and told them they could eat from any tree, except one particular tree - that of knowledge of good and evil.
However, after being deceived by the devil, they proceeded to eat from the forbidden tree. This was an act of defiance, a form of rebellion against god. Man was, in effect, turning away from god and going his own way.
The original sin was committed by only two people. However, at the time, they represented the entire population of mankind, and their actions represented actions performed on behalf of the human race.
Moreover, their actions set a precedent, and the bible says that all people have turned away from god at some point in their lives. No matter how good we may try to be, each and every one of us, at some point, has turned away from god.
(5) God became angry with man.
God had created mankind and made him ruler over the earth. Yet man, god’s own creation, had deliberately gone against his plan like a disobedient child.
The lord burned with anger. He himself is perfect, and he cannot, with his character, tolerate any form of sin or rebellion against him.
He could not simply overlook this and pretend that everything was OK.
As a consequence, the relationship between god and mankind was broken, and our relationship with him suffered a deep split. We had fallen from the grace in his eyes. He could no longer share a relationship of integrity with us. From a spiritual viewpoint, we were cut off from him.
A wide range of adverse consequences resulted, including death, disease, starvation, war and many other forms of suffering.
But, most importantly, man was denied eternal life, meaning that our final destiny changed from heaven to hell.
Before sin came into the world, our destiny was eternal life with god. We were meant for a perfect relationship with our creator that literally had no ending. But as a consequence of our sin, our days became numbered. Moreover, rather than being destined for eternal life in heaven after death, our destiny changed and each of us became destined, literally, for eternal punishment in hell.
(6) God sent his son to pay the price for the sin of man. (John 3:16)
God was outraged beyond comprehension at the rebellion of man.
However, he is so merciful that his ever-abundant, perfect love for mankind remained.
Man was broken. We could do nothing to heal our relationship with god. Only god could do that - and through his great mercy, he provided a way for our relationship with him to be restored.
His solution was to offer mankind a peace deal, under which God provided Jesus, his one and only son, as a sacrifice for our sin.
For those who accept the deal, Jesus, effectively becomes our substitute. Instead of us having to bear the cost of our sin, (which would have involved eternal punishment from god in hell) the entire cost of our sin was poured out upon Jesus, who suffered a painstakingly horrific death on the cross.
Jesus has effectively taken the punishment for our sins in our place. As a result, those who accept god’s peace deal are spared his anger and are destined for an eternal, perfect relationship with our creator in heaven after death.
(7) Those who believe in Jesus are forgiven and pardoned of their sins.
Who benefits from god’s great sacrifice? Does everyone qualify? What do we have to do to receive god’s forgiveness?
The bible says that all we have to do is accept god’s peace deal. Those who accept god’s peace deal are assured of forgiveness from their sins and an eternal place in heaven upon their death.
How, then, do we accept god’s peace deal?
Simply by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. It means having absolute faith that the through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus on the cross, your sins have been fully forgiven.
Those who have such faith have accepted god’s peace deal and have had their sins fully forgiven by the lord, and will be free to enjoy everlasting eternal life in a perfect relationship with our creator in heaven.
What about those who do not believe?
This is where the Christian message becomes highly controversial. Unfortunately, the bible says that those who do not have faith in Christ have not accepted god’s peace deal. Nor, have they had their sins forgiven.
Accordingly, upon death, non-believers will be subject to the full wrath of god. Being permanently cut off from god, they will suffer eternal punishment in hell. Although this is unpleasant to talk about, it is what the bible says.
But for those who accept god’s peace deal and put their faith in the death and resurrection of
Christ Jesus, the bible says that our sins have been entirely forgiven by our wonderful and merciful god. Upon leaving this earth, we will share eternal relationship with our glorious father in heaven.
Let me stress, this is not because of anything special that believers in Christ have done. Rather it’s because of the wonderful and merciful character of our eternal creator, that he would make a great sacrifice to pay for the cost of our sins.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
