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.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
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.
Comments Policy
Dear readers,
The intention of this blog is to be interactive in nature and to stimulate discussion and debate about the character of Jesus Christ.
Accordingly, I cordially invite you to participate in the discussions on this site, and your thoughts, insights and opinions. In addition, you are more than welcome to create a link back to your own blog.
However, I do ask two things. Firstly, I ask that all comments be relevant to the topic. Secondly, I ask that all commentators adopt a polite, courteous and respectful manner toward other readers. Religion is a sensitive and emotional topic and I ask that commentators are sensitive to the feelings of others.
Spam is not welcome on this blog, nor are messages which may unnecessarily cause offense to other readers. Such messages will be deleted.
Cheers
Andrew
The intention of this blog is to be interactive in nature and to stimulate discussion and debate about the character of Jesus Christ.
Accordingly, I cordially invite you to participate in the discussions on this site, and your thoughts, insights and opinions. In addition, you are more than welcome to create a link back to your own blog.
However, I do ask two things. Firstly, I ask that all comments be relevant to the topic. Secondly, I ask that all commentators adopt a polite, courteous and respectful manner toward other readers. Religion is a sensitive and emotional topic and I ask that commentators are sensitive to the feelings of others.
Spam is not welcome on this blog, nor are messages which may unnecessarily cause offense to other readers. Such messages will be deleted.
Cheers
Andrew
Introducing the site and the author
Dear readers,Welcome to the My God Blog!
I hope that you find the discussions on this site to be interesting and stimulating, and that you are inspired to discover more about the Jesus Christ and about the Christian faith.
Introducing this site
This blog is dedicated to the study of the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, whom I personally proclaim as my savior.The objective of this site is to examine:
• the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus; (as stated above)
• the character of Christ Jesus as well as that of God our heavenly father; and
• the consequences of the coming of Jesus for our relationship with god the father.
The primary reference for this blog will be the book of John, one of the four gospels (stories about the life of Jesus) in the bible.
I aim to post one new entry to this site every week. Each entry will contain the following:
• a bible reading from a passage of scripture;
• some comments or observations which I feel we can make based on the passage concerned; and
• a personal prayer which I have been inspired to write, based on the passage in question.
Please feel free to join the discussion and comment upon the issues discussed on this blog.
Introducing the author
Hi. My name is Andrew.I am a native born Australian currently living in South Korea.
In the late 90’s, I graduated from Deakin University with a Batchelor of Commerce degree. After graduation, I worked for several years as an accountant, during which time I attained the status of CPA (Certified Practising Accountant).
In 2005, I moved to the central area of South Korea, where I work in a small country town as an English teacher.
I enjoy hiking, writing on the web, studying Korean, listening to music and reading.
I converted to Christianity over nine years ago, shortly after graduating from college.
Why I created this blog
I created this blog for three main reasons:First and foremost, I created this blog in honor and worship of god, the father and creator of mankind, and of Jesus Christ, the son who gave his life as a ransom for our sins.
I love god, our creator, with all my heart. My desire is to live a life which in honorable to him. It is my desire to share with readers just how great I believe he is, how much I love him and, more importantly, the extent of his amazing love for us.
The second reason is to provide an opportunity for readers to have an open discussion about Jesus. I hope that through this site, readers will have an opportunity to broaden and deepen their understanding of the Christian faith, as well as the nature and character of Jesus Christ.
Thirdly, I hope that to inspire you to look more closely at your own beliefs about religion, god and the Christian faith, if you have not already done so.
Disclosure
I do not have any formal biblical qualifications or training.
The observations which I make on this site are simply what I have observed from reading the passages in question. Many passages in the bible are open to more than one interpretation, and there is no guarantee that my observations are correct or the only possible way to interpret a passage.
Readers are advised not to simply accept my interpretation of the passage in question. Instead, readers are advised to look closely at the passage and form their own conclusions about its meaning and potential applications.
Cheers
Andrew
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