Monthly Archives: February 2024

IGNORANCE IS NO EXCUSE

Bible Study, ,

Leviticus 5:17 NLT‬
[17] “Suppose you sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands. Even if you are unaware of what you have done, you are guilty and will be punished for your sin.”

God based His instructions squarely on the truth that all mankind is born with His moral law written into their conscience.

‭Romans 2:14-15 NLT‬
[14] “Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. [15] They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.”

Together with conscience, God has given another equally powerful witness to His divine nature and power which He said, leaves people without excuse. Both Old and New Testaments declare the testimony of creation.

‭Psalms 19:1-4 NLT‬
[1]” The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. [2] Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. [3] They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. [4] Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.”

‭Romans 1:18-20 NLT‬
[18]”But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. [19] They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. [20] For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

There is severe judgment for those who ignore or deny God’s authority and live as though He doesn’t exist. However, He will reveal Himself to everyone who recognises His signature in nature and seeks after Him with an honest and humble heart.

‭Acts of the Apostles 17:22-28 NLT‬
[22] “So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, [23] for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. [24] “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, [25] and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. [26] From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. [27] “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. [28] For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’…
[30] “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. [31] For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

‭Jeremiah 29:12-13 NLT‬
[12] “In those days when you pray, I will listen. [13] If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”

God opened His promise to Israel to the whole world through Jesus.

‭Isaiah 55:3-7 NLT‬
[3] “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David. [4] See how I used him to display my power among the peoples. I made him a leader among the nations. [5] You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.” [6] Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. [7] Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.”

God’s provision for the forgiveness of sin is for the whole world but only for those who acknowledge their sin and turn to the Lord in repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus.

‭1 John 2:1-2 NLT‬
[1]”My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. [2] He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”

‭Hebrews 11:6 NLT‬
[6] And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

But…

God’s word is clear. We cannot hide behind the foolish excuse of ignorance. We have the witness of creation and conscience to guide us towards the truth. If we continue in stubborn disobedience, we have only ourselves to blame when we end up in eternal separation from God.

THE BEST WINE… 6

Bible Study, ,

John 2:1 NLT‬
[1] The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,
[3] The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”….
[7] Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, [8] he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.
[9] When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. [10] “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” [11] This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

Since Jesus always and only did what the Father told Him to do, this incident was a divine appointment for a divine purpose. “It was ‘a sign’ “, John wrote, “to reveal something significant.”

Aside from its negative connotations of addiction and intoxication, wine has something important to reveal to us about the “new wine” of the Spirit that Jesus came to give us.

What does wine, in moderation, do for us?

‭Psalms 104:14-15 NLT‬
[14] “You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use. You allow them to produce food from the earth— [15] wine to make them glad, olive oil to soothe their skin, and bread to give them strength.”

Wine can dull emotional pain and change the mood for a little while. I wonder why drinking alcohol is called “happy hour”!

‭Proverbs 31:6 NLT‬
[6] “Alcohol is for the dying, and wine for those in bitter distress.”

‭Luke 10:33-34 NLT‬
[33] “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. [34] Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. “

Wine can sterilise and heal bleeding wounds. How often people with wounded hearts turn to wine to soothe the pain and try to heal the wounds!

‭1 Timothy 5:23 NLT‬
[23]”Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often.”

The Apostle Paul even advised Timothy to drink a little wine in place of water for a stomach ailment. Did Timothy suffer from chronic diarrhoea from drinking contaminated water?

As much as wine can teach us a little about the new life in the Spirit that He came to bring us, Jesus was not advocating that we all become wine-bibbers! On the contrary, the Bible warns against drinking too much wine.

‭Proverbs 23:31-35 NLT‬
[31] Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. [32] For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper. [33] You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things. [34] You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast. [35] And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?”

Ephesians 5:18a NLT‬
[18]”Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life…”

On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples with supernatural manifestations, some in the watching crowd accused them of being drunk. Peter negated their accusation with these words,…

‭Acts of the Apostles 2:14-18 NLT‬
[14] “Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. [15] These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. [16] No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: [17] ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. [18] In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy.”

Isaiah 55:1 NLT‬
[1] “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free!”

The New Wine had been poured out at last. God’s many promises fulfilled, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon His people meant so many things to those who drank this new wine.

Jesus promised, as the high priest poured water on the dusty ground, that spiritually thirsty people could come to Him to drink. He would give them the new wine (sometimes “living water”) of the Holy Spirit who would satisfy their thirst forever.

‭John 7:37-39 NLT‬
[37] “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! [38] Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” [39] (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)”

‭The New Wine is still available to all who are thirsty for the truth. This “wine” has never stopped flowing and never will. More abundant than the wine Jesus provided at the wedding in Cana, the wine of the Holy Spirit is given freely to all, Jew and Gentile alike, who come to Jesus in faith and obedience to drink of His Spirit.

‭1 Corinthians 12:13 NIV‬
[13] For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. “

THE LADDER… 5

Bible Study, ,

John 1:51 NLT‬
[51] “Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”

Jesus said some startling things about Himself that puzzle us until we examine the Scriptures.

Let’s start at the beginning.

On his flight from his brother’s wrath, Jacob had a dream. He saw a ladder stretching between heaven and earth. Heavenly beings were ascending and descending the ladder and God Himself was at the top, speaking to Jacob.

‭Genesis 28:10-13 NLT‬
[10] “Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. [11] At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. [12] As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. [13] At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants.”

What God promised Jacob formed part of Israel’s long history that took them right to this point where Jesus described Himself as the link between heaven and earth. What Jacob saw as a ladder was a symbol of Jesus, the way to the Father, bringing heaven and earth into direct contact.

Jesus’ three-and-a-half years with His disciples would gradually explain and unfold this plan to them.

At His trial before the Sanhedrin, the high priest, Caiaphas, was incensed because Jesus claimed the title “Son of Man”, the title He used to describe Himself as the stairway between heaven and earth.

‭Mark 14:61-62 NLT‬
[61] “But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” [62] Jesus said, “I Am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

God’s great plan of salvation centred on this grand finale.

‭Revelation 21:1-7 NLT‬
[1] “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. [2] And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. [4] He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

[5] And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” [6] And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. [7] All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.”

This is the climax and conclusion of all God’s dealings with people from the beginning. His plan was to have a family of people, replicas of His Son, who would be with Him forever, ruling and reigning with Him on earth. Heaven and earth would merge to be the eternal home of God and His people.

Sin’s interruption of the plan was no deterrent to the Trinity. It gave opportunity for God to reveal His mercy to undeserving sinners and His grace to take them through a dangerous and hostile world to His home in heaven. There they would await the day when the Son will set up His kingdom on earth and take His rightful place as Lord of all.

The Son of Man is the ladder that joins heaven and earth to make them one and to fulfil God’s design to live with His people forever.

‭Revelation 21:2-3 NIV‬
[2] I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

BEHOLD THE LAMB… 4

Bible Study, ,

John 1:29 NLT‬
[29] “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

In our human justice systems, the individual who owes a debt to society for a crime committed must pay the debt. It is almost unheard of that the debtor’s debt is paid by an innocent person.

Therefore, it is difficult for us to understand how God’s justice works.

In the beginning, God created Adam to be His son, made in His image, to live in perfect harmony with the three persons in the Godhead.

‭Luke 3:38 NLT‬
[38] “Kenan was the son of Enosh. Enosh was the son of Seth. Seth was the son of Adam. Adam was the son of God.”

All Adam’s offspring, then, are God’s sons.

‭Acts of the Apostles 17:26 NLT‬
[26]”From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries….
[28] For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

As God’s offspring, then, every person is accountable to God.

Firstly, Adam’s choice to throw off God’s authority over himself and the entire human race that followed, was unilateral and illegal. He did not have the right to go it alone because he was God’s possession. So, Adam’s race owes God an unpayable debt for their rebellion.

‭Psalms 24:1 NLT‬
[1] “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.”

As Creator, God owns everything including all humans. He has the right to do whatever He likes with humanity. As a just God, He has the right to punish rebellion with His method of choice.

God had only one option, as a holy God who cannot tolerate sin, to banish guilty people from His presence forever in a place of eternal punishment where all that God is in His love and goodness is excluded.

‭Habakkuk 1:13 NLT‬
[13] “But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.”

Since God’s essence is love, to lose His human family forever was intolerable. Humans are an essential part of His master plan for the universe. To obliterate the entire race would destroy His eternal plan for a human family just like His Son to reign with Him over the universe.

In a way incomprehensible to us, God is in the eternal “now” so that He views the entire expanse of time as now. His rescue plan for mankind forms part of His master plan. We can never know both God’s justice and His mercy without His plan to rescue people from their self-inflicted punishment. He formulated His plan to rescue fallen man before He even created the earth and its inhabitants. He saw the end from the beginning before the beginning of time.

‭1 Peter 1:20 NLT‬
[20] “God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.”

‭Revelation 13:8 NLT‬
[8] “And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.”

There was, is, and never will be a person on earth who has never sinned, i.e., never disobeyed God, not even in one tiny detail of His requirements for being His son.

Who, then, would be eligible to take the place of sinners, to receive the full punishment for all the guilty of all time so that the guilty could be exonerated and declared innocent?

‭1 Timothy 3:16 NLT‬
[16] “Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.”

This “mystery” is not an unsolved problem but a truth hidden until God’s chosen time to reveal it to His people.

Although God planned redemption before creation, He only hinted at His plan through His prophets in the Old Covenant. The clearest picture of His plan came through Isaiah.

‭Isaiah 52:13-15 NLT‬
[13] “See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. [14] But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. [15] And he will startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about.”

‭Isaiah 53:2-6 NLT‬
[2] “My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. [3] He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. [4] Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! [5] But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. [6] All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”

Yet, despite the clarity and detail of this prophetic vision, God’s own people rejected Him. The willfully blind will never recognise the truth.

God’s plan was so outrageous and so risky that it is unthinkable to those who cannot fathom His justice. Since no human on earth could qualify to pay the the debt for the world’s sin, He would come to earth Himself, as an ordinary person born in the normal way through the womb of a woman, but without a human father. He would live a perfect life, subject and obedient to the Father in everything, and then die as a sinner in the place of sinners.

‭Hebrews 2:16-17 NLT‬
[16] “We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. [17] Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.”

Hebrews‬ ‭9:14‬ ‭NLT‬
[14] “Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.”

‭Romans 3:25-26 NLT‬
[25]”For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, [26] for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.”

The death of Jesus, the God-man, is a fact of history but how does it apply to and affect us, sinful humans?

The Old Covenant’s demands, i.e., that the people “do” and “live by” all the regulations about sacrifice and obedience to laws and rituals, were swept away and replaced by one simple response to what God has done through His rescue plan.

‭Romans 10:9 NLT‬
[9] “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

‭Romans 5:1-2 NLT‬
[1] “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. [2] Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”

It’s no longer “do” but “done”. It’s no longer “do” but “believe” because “it is finished!” Through Jesus, the Father is both just and the justifier of those who believe.

MOLLY AND ME – BONDED

Christian Life, ,

My little Molly is 7 plus years old, in dog years 49 plus. She’ll eventually catch up to me at 13 when wevwill both be 91 years old if we both live that long!

We have shared our lives together for so long that we are bonded in everything we do. We share our food, our treats, our recliner, and even our bed at night. We know each other so well that we can almost read one another’s thoughts. She speaks “dog” and I speak English, but we understand each other perfectly.

When I go out, she stays in her bed and refuses to do anything until I return. She goes into limbo without me.

If Molly outlives me, and that is quite possible since she can live to at least 16, I wonder what will happen to her. No one knows her like I do. No one will ever love her like I do. No one will understand and anticipate her needs like I do. If only she could go with me to my heavenly home!

What a wonderful picture of our union with Jesus! He made it possible, through His death and resurrection, for us to be bonded so closely to Him that He lives inside us by His Spirit.

What does Jesus want of us? Three things. Firstly, He wants us to remain in Him by remaining in His love. Such a close bond with Him allows His life to be revealed in us, producing the fruit of character and increase. The more we live out His life in us, the more like Him we grow.

‭John 15:4-5 NLT‬
[4] “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. [5] “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. …
[7] But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! …
[10] When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

Secondly, He wants us to be so like Him that He is completely at home in us. When our lives are full of Jesus, thinking and acting as He does, He settles down in a comfortable environment where He, by His Spirit, dwells in us and has constant fellowship with us.

‭1 John 1:3 NLT‬
[3] “We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

Thirdly,He wants us to be with Him forever.

‭John 14:3 NLT‬
[3] “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”

There can never be a bond closer than that.