Many people would be surprised to know that Christ was present at the creation of the universe; in fact, He was the creator. Check me out here to see that I am right. We know that He is part of the Godhead, the Son part of the threesome, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Let's further examine His role.
Genesis 1:26 God says: "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness....." Note that this is plural, "Let Us make..." The plural refers to the 3 parts of God. We know this by the following verses:
Hebrews 1: "God.....has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds." God made the world through His Son.
Colossians 1:16, speaking of Jesus, "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him."
John 8:57, "Then the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet 50 years old, and have You seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM'." Jesus existed before Abraham, a very early character in the Bible....and in fact, before the worlds were created.
And finally, John chapter 1 talks a lot about Jesus, calling Him the Word. Notice how the book of John begins: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
It is very plain from these verses that Jesus Christ, while a man on this earth for only a finite number of years, 33 or so, always existed. It is difficult for us to understand this, to understand a lot about a God that is so great and so complex...and so far above us. It is only for us to accept it and to look forward to seeing Him in person. Our Lord.....Our Savior.
Thanks for reading. Have a great week! Keep the faith!
Friday, December 26, 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Christmas
It is Christmas time....and a glorious time it is. Oh, I know, sometimes it is a hard season for various emotional reasons. Perhaps we have lost loved ones, or maybe feeling alone. But there are lots of reasons to feel excitement, as well.
In this blog we want to consider the religious, the Christian, significance of it all. Many would say that we need to put the "Christ" back into Christmas. First, let's consider a few negative facts. Already you are wondering how that could be. But let's try:
1. Christmas as such is not found in the Bible. That is, there is no teaching that we are to celebrate the birth of Jesus at all.
2. There is no likelihood or proof that December 25 is the right day that Jesus was born.
3. The beginnings of the celebration came by the Catholics, hundreds of years after Christ.
But there are positives:
Jesus was born, and His birth is a wonderful event. He was born in a manger, an inauspicious setting, but we know that with the involvement of the angel, the shepherds, the wise men, the star, inauspicious is not the word. The event was major, earthshaking, life changing.
The angel to Mary: "...behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
Such a significant baby, an amazing event that only God could accomplish. And we are the beneficiaries. Praise God....and Jesus, the Son, the Lord.
Have a great week! And Merry Christmas!
In this blog we want to consider the religious, the Christian, significance of it all. Many would say that we need to put the "Christ" back into Christmas. First, let's consider a few negative facts. Already you are wondering how that could be. But let's try:
1. Christmas as such is not found in the Bible. That is, there is no teaching that we are to celebrate the birth of Jesus at all.
2. There is no likelihood or proof that December 25 is the right day that Jesus was born.
3. The beginnings of the celebration came by the Catholics, hundreds of years after Christ.
But there are positives:
Jesus was born, and His birth is a wonderful event. He was born in a manger, an inauspicious setting, but we know that with the involvement of the angel, the shepherds, the wise men, the star, inauspicious is not the word. The event was major, earthshaking, life changing.
The angel to Mary: "...behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
Such a significant baby, an amazing event that only God could accomplish. And we are the beneficiaries. Praise God....and Jesus, the Son, the Lord.
Have a great week! And Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 13, 2014
The Proverbs
The book of Proverbs in the Old Testament brings us lots of wisdom, and for sure, we should spend much time being familiar with it. But probably most of us don't spend the time that we could or should. So we'll take a look at a bit of wisdom in this blog.
The first nine chapters of the book give some instruction into how to avoid some of life's problems and challenges, how to stay out of trouble. Note the first few verses of chapter one.
"The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion." Solomon was given great wisdom from God, so it only makes sense for us to listen carefully to his teaching.
After the first nine chapters we start a new flow of wisdom given in short quips. Here are a few examples of proverbs dealing with the subject of conflict:
18:6 "A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating."
20:3 "It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling."
22:10 "Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease."
26:17 "Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears."
Certainly none of us would argue that these are not good rules to live by. On the other hand, we likely could all use a heavier dose of this teaching. Here are a few thoughts on contention:
17:1 "Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife."
15:17 "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred."
22:24 "Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man thou shalt not go; lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul."
This is just a small sampling of the teaching of Proverbs. It would do us all good to read and dwell on the wisdom therein. We want to be wise people, people whom others seek out for guidance. This is the place to start.
Thanks for reading....and may God bless you this week and through the holiday season.
The first nine chapters of the book give some instruction into how to avoid some of life's problems and challenges, how to stay out of trouble. Note the first few verses of chapter one.
"The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion." Solomon was given great wisdom from God, so it only makes sense for us to listen carefully to his teaching.
After the first nine chapters we start a new flow of wisdom given in short quips. Here are a few examples of proverbs dealing with the subject of conflict:
18:6 "A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating."
20:3 "It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling."
22:10 "Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease."
26:17 "Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears."
Certainly none of us would argue that these are not good rules to live by. On the other hand, we likely could all use a heavier dose of this teaching. Here are a few thoughts on contention:
17:1 "Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife."
15:17 "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred."
22:24 "Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man thou shalt not go; lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul."
This is just a small sampling of the teaching of Proverbs. It would do us all good to read and dwell on the wisdom therein. We want to be wise people, people whom others seek out for guidance. This is the place to start.
Thanks for reading....and may God bless you this week and through the holiday season.
Friday, December 5, 2014
Slavery
I was reading the book of Philemon in the New Testament and found it quite interesting in the discussion of slavery. In this blog entry we will look a little closer at the Bible dealing with the subject of slavery.
We note that in all of the writings of the NT there is no specific demand for the absolving of the practice of slavery. It was quite common in that day. People owned slaves as property. The owner was free by law to treat that person however desired. The slave could be bought and sold, treated well or not, could even be killed if that was the owner's desire. The slave was simply the property of the owner.
There are several places in the NT where slavery is mentioned and dealt with. In the book of Philemon, Paul is writing to his friend Philemon to give him specific instructions about how to deal with Onesimus, a run away slave of Philemon's. This slave ran away from his master, Philemon, somehow found his way to Rome where Paul is imprisoned, learns the Gospel from Paul, and is now facing having to go back to his master. Onesimus has been a help to Paul and is quite close to Paul at the writing of this letter. Paul is explaining to Philemon that Onesimus should be received back warmly, still a slave, but now also a Christian. Paul is not saying that Philemon should release Onesimus, giving him his freedom. But he is saying that he needs to treat his slave as a brother in Christ.
We can see that in a world where slaves are often mistreated, this new direction is quite a contrast. And while it doesn't do away with slavery directly, it opens new doors to social change, to changing how people deal with one another. With this change, this new way of thinking, will come the eventual end of slavery in most societies.
In Galatians 3:27 and following, it reads, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
From all of the teaching of the Bible, from the words of Jesus to the teaching of the apostles, it is clear that there is no place for slavery in the world of the Christian. All are the same in the eyes of God....and all should be same in our eyes as well.
Thanks for reading. Feel the love! Spread the love!
We note that in all of the writings of the NT there is no specific demand for the absolving of the practice of slavery. It was quite common in that day. People owned slaves as property. The owner was free by law to treat that person however desired. The slave could be bought and sold, treated well or not, could even be killed if that was the owner's desire. The slave was simply the property of the owner.
There are several places in the NT where slavery is mentioned and dealt with. In the book of Philemon, Paul is writing to his friend Philemon to give him specific instructions about how to deal with Onesimus, a run away slave of Philemon's. This slave ran away from his master, Philemon, somehow found his way to Rome where Paul is imprisoned, learns the Gospel from Paul, and is now facing having to go back to his master. Onesimus has been a help to Paul and is quite close to Paul at the writing of this letter. Paul is explaining to Philemon that Onesimus should be received back warmly, still a slave, but now also a Christian. Paul is not saying that Philemon should release Onesimus, giving him his freedom. But he is saying that he needs to treat his slave as a brother in Christ.
We can see that in a world where slaves are often mistreated, this new direction is quite a contrast. And while it doesn't do away with slavery directly, it opens new doors to social change, to changing how people deal with one another. With this change, this new way of thinking, will come the eventual end of slavery in most societies.
In Galatians 3:27 and following, it reads, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
From all of the teaching of the Bible, from the words of Jesus to the teaching of the apostles, it is clear that there is no place for slavery in the world of the Christian. All are the same in the eyes of God....and all should be same in our eyes as well.
Thanks for reading. Feel the love! Spread the love!
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Love 2
I wrote last week on the subject of love. This is such an important matter that it seems appropriate to spend this session on some further thoughts. This is not a complicated subject, but one that we all can contemplate and seek for a higher level.
1 Peter 1:22,23 gives us some ideas to ponder: "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever..."
The first part, "..in sincere love of the brethren.." uses love with the Greek word "phileo." This is a brotherly love kind of thing, a love like you would feel for your siblings. This is a noble love...and one that we should feel toward our brothers and sisters in Christ, members of the family of Christ.
The second part of this passage is in 1 Peter, "..love one another fervently with a pure heart...." uses love with the Greek word "Agape." Agape love goes further in our relationship to one another. In agape love we want the best for the other person. We may not know the other person, at least not well; we may not like the other person. The other person may even be our enemy, remembering that Jesus taught us to love our enemies. This of course, is hard teaching. But we can agape even the worst.
And this brings us to the thought that we might have to love the unlovable. Romans 5:5-8 shows us that we aren't the first to face this situation. "..the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Christ died for us....sinners....ungodly. Thus, it isn't too much for us to love those who aren't lovable.
And Philippians 2:4,5 instructs: "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..." We can do this!
Thank you for reading. I hope your week is great!
1 Peter 1:22,23 gives us some ideas to ponder: "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever..."
The first part, "..in sincere love of the brethren.." uses love with the Greek word "phileo." This is a brotherly love kind of thing, a love like you would feel for your siblings. This is a noble love...and one that we should feel toward our brothers and sisters in Christ, members of the family of Christ.
The second part of this passage is in 1 Peter, "..love one another fervently with a pure heart...." uses love with the Greek word "Agape." Agape love goes further in our relationship to one another. In agape love we want the best for the other person. We may not know the other person, at least not well; we may not like the other person. The other person may even be our enemy, remembering that Jesus taught us to love our enemies. This of course, is hard teaching. But we can agape even the worst.
And this brings us to the thought that we might have to love the unlovable. Romans 5:5-8 shows us that we aren't the first to face this situation. "..the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Christ died for us....sinners....ungodly. Thus, it isn't too much for us to love those who aren't lovable.
And Philippians 2:4,5 instructs: "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..." We can do this!
Thank you for reading. I hope your week is great!
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Love
I love this passage from 1 Peter 4: "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.' " Love is a great subject because it is at the base of what the Christian is, at the very core. There are many other things that go into making up the Christian such as faith, practice, worship and more, but love is at our core....and must be at our core. The early part of 1 John talks about the importance of the Christian keeping "His commandments," and "test the spirits." But love must still be at the core and of prime importance.
And note this passage in 1 John 4: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
And no discussion of love would be complete without the reference to the love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13. It begins: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And it concludes with "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Love reigns above all. That is what we are, what we are to be. As mentioned in 1 John 4, "God is love." And He expects us to be love. It manifests itself in us when we love Him, but even more when we love each other. God knew that it would not always be easy for us to love each other. But He expects that, demands that.
So, beloved.....I love you. Let us strive to complete this teaching by loving each other. Thanks for reading. Have a great week! And feel the love........
And note this passage in 1 John 4: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
And no discussion of love would be complete without the reference to the love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13. It begins: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And it concludes with "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Love reigns above all. That is what we are, what we are to be. As mentioned in 1 John 4, "God is love." And He expects us to be love. It manifests itself in us when we love Him, but even more when we love each other. God knew that it would not always be easy for us to love each other. But He expects that, demands that.
So, beloved.....I love you. Let us strive to complete this teaching by loving each other. Thanks for reading. Have a great week! And feel the love........
Friday, November 14, 2014
Tolerance
I will have to work at not becoming political in this blog entry because of the nature of the title; and I have promised to keep this discussion strictly Biblical.....certainly not political.
Tolerance is a major practice in America today, perhaps more than ever before. You will notice that most other countries, for what it is worth, do not tolerate what we do in our society. And tolerance sounds like a good thing, like a great thing. I would suggest that the Bible does not teach that.
We see in the Old Testament that God was very specific in what He wanted from His people. The examples would be too numerous to even mention. But we can mention that even in His first people, Adam and Eve, He was very demanding in what He expected from them. And in the case of Cain and Abel, the first children, we see that Cain did not do what God expected of him. Even that early in history, God was intolerant of bad behavior.
Then there was Jesus. Jesus taught a less exact type of religion, wanting people to give their heart to the Lord, not just outward sacrifice. But even here, Jesus was specific about many things. For example, He was quite critical of the Jewish leaders in Matthew 23....and in many other places. He taught His followers to do certain things in their worship in the future days, like: remember Him by taking the communion (He taught them this in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22). In Matthew 28:19, He told His apostles to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you...." In John 14:6, He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." And in Matthew 7:21, He said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."
I get the idea from these teachings and many more that Jesus was serious about this. It wasn't "Do what you want to do", but rather "Do what I say!" He didn't stress tolerance in matters of morality. And we should not be so quick to accept every thing that comes our way, that comes into our society. There still is right and wrong.....and there is plenty wrong in our society today, in our movies, our tv, our language, our behavior. Let's stand up for right. Jesus certainly did.
Thanks for reading. Have a great week!
Tolerance is a major practice in America today, perhaps more than ever before. You will notice that most other countries, for what it is worth, do not tolerate what we do in our society. And tolerance sounds like a good thing, like a great thing. I would suggest that the Bible does not teach that.
We see in the Old Testament that God was very specific in what He wanted from His people. The examples would be too numerous to even mention. But we can mention that even in His first people, Adam and Eve, He was very demanding in what He expected from them. And in the case of Cain and Abel, the first children, we see that Cain did not do what God expected of him. Even that early in history, God was intolerant of bad behavior.
Then there was Jesus. Jesus taught a less exact type of religion, wanting people to give their heart to the Lord, not just outward sacrifice. But even here, Jesus was specific about many things. For example, He was quite critical of the Jewish leaders in Matthew 23....and in many other places. He taught His followers to do certain things in their worship in the future days, like: remember Him by taking the communion (He taught them this in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22). In Matthew 28:19, He told His apostles to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you...." In John 14:6, He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." And in Matthew 7:21, He said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."
I get the idea from these teachings and many more that Jesus was serious about this. It wasn't "Do what you want to do", but rather "Do what I say!" He didn't stress tolerance in matters of morality. And we should not be so quick to accept every thing that comes our way, that comes into our society. There still is right and wrong.....and there is plenty wrong in our society today, in our movies, our tv, our language, our behavior. Let's stand up for right. Jesus certainly did.
Thanks for reading. Have a great week!
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