All posts by Luella Campbell

JOHN’S GOSPEL…GRACE AMD TRUTH – 3a

Bible Study, ,

John‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬, ‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

John’s next statement is profound, wonderful, and mysterious! Instead of presenting a birth narrative of the Son of God, he made an announcement that links heaven and earth from outside of time into time. God became man, left heaven’s glory for a human existence, and locked Himself, for a season, into all the limitations of humanity and earth. 

John also stated Jesus’ purpose. 

Phase one of God’s dealings with His people was to set up His standard for both a relationship and for fellowship with Him…the Law. His covenant with Israel, given at Sinai and mediated through Moses, had a twofold intention…to set the boundaries around God’s holiness and to show His people the reality of their sinfulness. 

God’s holiness and Israel’s sinfulness were the great barrier between God and Israel and could only be overcome by sacrifice. Hence, sacrifice was the focal point of Israel’s worship. 

God’s moral law, written in the conscience of every newborn baby, was fleshed out in the ceremonial law. What do I mean?

Jesus said that the law of God is summed up in two commandments…love the Lord your God and love your neighbour as yourself. 

“One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭35‬-‭40‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul instructed his Roman readers…

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭13‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬ 

The ceremonial law was intended to regulate people’s behaviour towards God and their fellow Israelites. In this way, they would learn to love God and one another. However, the people of Israel discovered that it was impossible for them to obey these two commandments perfectly. They were persistently rebellious against God’s commandments, expressing their rebellion in their defiance of the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” 

Every infringement of God’s law had an animal sacrifice to deal with the guilt of disobedience to the ceremonial law. However, no sacrifice could cover the transgression of God’s moral law which was a matter of the heart. 

“The Holy Spirit was showing by this (the tabernacle and its sacrificial system), that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭9‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, John indicated that Moses and the law of God were only the first part of God’s revelation of Himself and His way of salvation for Israel first and then for the whole human race. There had to be another and better way for man to approach God. 

Jesus came to earth as fully human and He was, therefore, obligated to obey the same law that God gave to Israel. Unlike His  people, He obeyed the law perfectly and then died as the punishment for disobeying the law. In this way He not only fulfilled the law but also did away with the law as the way of satisfying God’s holy standards. 

To be continued…

JOHN’S GOSPEL…LIFE AND LIGHT – 2

Bible Study, ,

2“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John wove several themes into his gospel about Jesus, the Son of God, themes which help us better to understand the person of Jesus. In the first glimpse we have of the Son of God, John tells us that He is both life and light. 

Life and light are inseparable. Where there is light, that is always life. We can see this in the natural world. Animals, plants, and people need light to flourish and do so in the most unusual of places.  Where there is light, things grow. 

First, let’s examine the meaning of “light” in the Bible. Hebrew people didn’t think and speak in abstract concepts. For example, they would not ask, “What is light?” or “What does light look like?” They would ask, “What does light do?”

Light does many things but, in the context of God’s Word, light exposes and light reveals. 

What does light expose? Light exposes what we cannot see in the dark. In a dark room, we would trip over obstacles but, when we turn on the light, we can see where those obstacles are and avoid being hurt. 

The same is true in the spirit realm. Without the light of truth to show us what and where the obstacles are, we constantly trip over and hurt ourselves by the wrong things we think and do. Even worse, Jesus said…

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Outside of Jesus, people live in “darkness”, doing what they please, following their own wicked natures, and causing chaos and destruction around them and to themselves. Solomon said that even a child left to himself, without the light of truth, discipline, and teaching, will disgrace his mother. 

“A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭29‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬ 

Before Jesus came, God’s light was in the world through His Word, but no one had ever obeyed or ever will perfectly obey God’s Word. The entire human race has gone its own way, living in the darkness of unbelief and disobedience. 

Light also reveals…

No other human except Jesus has ever lived the life God intended for His human family. Jesus was the first and only perfect Son. He not only obeyed God’s Word. He IS God’s Word in person. He came to reveal the truth of God’s Word in the world by living in perfect obedience and submission to the Father…as our example…and as His gift to us when we believe in Him and by teaching and example..

God’s own people tried to extinguish the light by putting Jesus to death. They failed because He walked out of His tomb alive! 

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s light has been given to us in His Word and in His works…

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭105‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place—”…

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭8‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

…but most clearly in Jesus. 

Jesus invited His people to follow Him so that they could also have real life by living in the light of obedience to God’s Word. 

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

‭‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Faith in Jesus rescues us from the darkness of Satan’s realm, where we lived by our own rules, and transfers us into the realm where Jesus rules in justice, righteousness and peace. 

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ NIV

Our response to Jesus is to follow Him by living as He did , in obedience to God’s Word and…He enables us to do this by the power of His Spirit in us. 

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬-‭13‬, ‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, Jesus is the “light” of truth by which we “see” clearly and follow towards our destiny…God’s forever family in  God’s eternal realm.

To be continued…

JOHN’S GOSPEL…IN THE BEGINNING -1

Bible Study, ,

John 1:1-2 NIV

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

John’s gospel, often called “the spiritual gospel”, is one of the richest sources on earth of both information and insight into the person of Jesus, the God-man. It is understood that John wrote his story years after the other three “synoptic” gospels which focus primarily on who He was and what He did on earth as a man. To Matthew…He was the king of the Jews, to Mark…the Servant of Yahweh, and to Luke…the Son of Man, but to John…Jesus is the Son of God. 

Even a superficial reading of John’s writing will show us that his record of Jesus’ life is different from the others. John must have taken time to ponder, and had experience of Jesus through the Holy Spirit that gave him much clearer insight than the earlier writers.

Jesus had promised…

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”

‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John’s theme was Jesus, the Son of God. Perhaps, during his exile on Patmos, he had gained the deeper insights of Jesus’ words and works through meditation, revelation, and prayer, which he used in his gospel to give us greater understanding of the divine nature of Jesus than we gain from the other gospels. 

So, John reaches back into the book of Genesis to explain the deity of the human Jesus. Jesus was much more than an unusual man who said and did amazing things. He was God! He was there with God before and when creation happened. Much more than that…He was the Father’s agent to make creation happen. 

“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How did John know this? How could he have written these words  as fact with such confidence? Revelation! 

The book of Genesis tells us that the Holy Spirit was at work, brooding, like a hen incubating eggs, over the planet earth, bringing order out of chaos as God spoke. John adds that Jesus, the divine Son, was part of that creation event. He was and is the very Word in person that God uttered to bring the universe into being. 

All of this is a mystery to our finite minds. Since God’s Word is truth, we must receive this revelation by faith as the authoritative explanation of the holy Trinity’s combined involvement in creation.  

“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To the unbeliever, none of this makes sense so, he chooses to believe a theory more nonsensical than the Biblical record, that the entire universe, with all its beauty, intricacy, and complexity, came into being by chance!

The rest of John’s story can only make sense to us if it rests firmly on the foundation that Jesus’ interlude on earth was just that… It was a period in time in which Jesus set aside the privileges of His divine nature, was veiled and clothed in a human body, and lived among His people on earth to reveal the true nature of Father. 

Jesus was the bridge between heaven and earth. He said to Nicodemus…

“Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬

As John’s story unfolds, his aim becomes clear. This man, Jesus, who had no beginning in time, no birth record, came into the earthly scene for one purpose. He came to redeem a broken humanity and to restore the Father’s alienated children to fellowship Him and to His predetermined purpose to be His forever family. 

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John’s gospel was aimed at presenting all the evidence humans need to put our trust in Jesus and to live under His authority. Why? …Because He is who He said He is, He did what He came to do, and He rescues all who trust in Him, forgives their sin and allows them to enter the realm of His kingdom. 

John admitted that his record was incomplete but what he had written was sufficient to convince his readers that Jesus is God’s Son and that faith in Him gives them eternal life. 

“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

‭‭John‬ ‭20‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, God momentarily left heaven, came to earth as one of us, and revealed the majesty of the Father    and the power of the Spirit in His coming. 

To be continued…

MOLLY AND ME…PRAYER PARTNERS

Christian Life, ,

Molly and I have been prayer partners for years. She sleeps on my lap while I pray! 

However, recently, the nature of our partnership has changed. Let me explain. 

A few months ago, Molly developed a chronic weakness in her hind legs. Being a dachshund, her long body is prone to a disc problem in her spine. In her younger days, she had two episodes of severe pain which resolved with rest and anti inflammatory medication, but the potential for weakness remained. 

Towards the end of February this year, her hind legs became so weak that they could not support her weight. I treated her with LifeWave phototherapy patches which greatly helped her for a while… but the problem persisted and her condition gradually deteriorated. 

So, Molly changed from being my ”sleeping” prayer partner to being the subject of my prayers. After trying everything I could do to help her, I knew that only God could do what I could not. 

For I few weeks, I focused my prayers for her on healing, trusting that, somehow, the Lord would intervene because Jesus promised that He would do anything we ask in His name.

Then, a little while ago, my daughter and I were having a coffee date. During our conversation, she told me about a customer whose husband is a vet. My daughter had discussed Molly’s condition with this lady who suggested that I take Molly to her husband for examination. 

I knew that this was my answer so I made an appointment for the following day. The outcome has been amazing! The vet isolated the lesion in her spine and prescribed the treatment that he has used to help many other dachsies, with no comebacks. The medication is the product of veterinary research and is made of natural ingredients, not drugs. 

After nearly a month of treatment, the improvement in her walking is remarkable. Not only does she walk and navigate steps with confidence but her appetite has improved and her interest in her outside world is returning.  She has even caught geckos again, which requires speed and skill, and chased a hadida, her favourite game. 

How great is our God! I have learned, through my partnership with Molly, how intimately my Father is involved in the tiniest details of our ordinary lives, how much He loves and cares for His creatures, and how He has even stopped the rain for a few minutes so that Molly can go outside for toilet purposes!

Surely, my love and care for Molly is only a faint reflection of our Father’s love and care for all of His creation. My compassion for my little dog is minuscule compared with His compassion for all He has made…not only us humans but everything that He has created for His glory. We, in turn, can care for His creatures because they are precious to Him.

SOME RAMDOM THOUGHTS…PRAISE – 11

Bible Study, ,

One last thought in this series is to understand the significance of praise. As the pinnacle of God’s creation, the greatest thing we can do on earth is to praise God perpetually and continually. 

From an ancient Hebrew perspective, praise is far more than mouthing our appreciation of God’s greatness and worth. Praise is the compass by which we set the direction of our lives. Let me explain. 

The Hebrew word “halal”, from which we get the word “hallelujah”, has an interesting meaning. 

“In Hebrew, halal (הָלַל) means to praise, boast, or shine brightly. It conveys a sense of exuberant or even “foolish” celebration and is a root word for “Hallelujah”. The meaning can also extend to shining or flashing forth light, which is seen in its use for heavenly bodies.” (Source – Google, article “meaning of halal in Hebrew”)

According to Jeff Benner, expert on paleo Hebrew…(source Google),

“The verb הלל (halal) means to “shine”as seen in Isaiah 13:10 – “and the moon shall not cause its light to shine”.

In ancient times, before the invention of navigation instruments, sailors would navigate by the light of the stars. They would follow the light which guided them to their destination. 

So, “halal” often refers to the “shining of a star”.

How did this come to be translated as “praise”? By association… Just as starlight guided the sailors, so the light of God’s glory which we contemplate and verbalise in our praise, guides His people towards their destiny. 

What is our destiny?

Our destiny, according to Paul, is to be transformed into the image of Jesus so that He and all who follow Him are alike in nature and character, and are members of His family. 

“For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How does this happen? Again, according to Scripture, we become like what we love. Israel loved idols. As early in their history as their journey to the Promised Land, they were already in love with the idols of the nations they were to exterminate. 

“When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.”

‭‭Hosea‬ ‭9‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

(Baal Peor was the place where the Israelites worshiped the Midianite god, influenced by the prophet Balaam, in defiance of God’s commandment to have no other gods before Him). 

We become like whatever we give our attention to, be it good or bad. So, Paul shows us how we can become “like Him”. 

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How do we contemplate His glory? By gazing at the “Morning Star”, the last bright star to be seen in the east before dawn. 

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Jesus is called the “bright morning star” in Revelation 22:16 to signify his role as the light that ushers in a new day of salvation and eternal life.” (Source: Google). 

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, to praise, “halal”, Yah, as in “hallelujah”, is a call to focus our attention, to gaze on or contemplate His glory, (everything that constitutes Jesus’ shining), through our contemplation and our words of adoration and worship. In this way, we set the course of our lives towards our destiny of becoming like Him. 

…and John assures us…

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬