Monthly Archives: February 2024

He has revealed Him… 3

Bible Study, ,

John 1:18 NLT‬
[18] “No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.”

In our focus on Jesus’ saving work on the cross, we sometimes miss one of the great reasons for His coming to earth. Jesus often testified to this purpose.

In His answer to Philip’s request…

‭John 14:8 NLT‬
[8] Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

… He makes it clear that He is the visible, personal, and perfect replica of the Father.

‭John 14:9-11 NLT‬
[9] “Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? [10] Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. [11] Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.”

The writer to the Hebrews echoes Jesus’ words,

‭Hebrews 1:3 NLT‬
[3]” The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command…”

Why was it so necessary for God to come in person to demonstrate to His people what He is really like?

Centuries of rebellion, disobedience, and punishment shaped God’s people’s thinking to view God as an angry disciplinarian. Hence, over the years, Jewish rabbis developed laws to protect God’s laws against His people inadvertantly breaking His laws. They laid heavy and unnecessary burdens on God’s people to “help” them obey God’s instructions.

When Jesus began His public ministry, He clashed with the religious leaders because they used these “laws” to control the people. They refused to believe that God is a merciful and loving Father. They despised Jesus for mixing with the outcasts of society, for eating with “sinners”, for healing on the Sabbath, and for generally being a loving, caring, merciful, and generous person.

They were incensed when He spoke of God as His Father because they refused to believe that God was so “nice”. They accused Him of blasphemy and eventually had Him killed for this charge. They fought to retain their hold over the people because of the position they held and the honour, respect and money they received from their “subjects”.

John recorded only seven of Jesus’ miracles, which he called signs, because he wanted his readers to examine the evidence these signs presented to confirm that Jesus is the Son of God. Each sign concluded with individuals or groups of people believing in Him. The purpose of John’s book was to provide evidence that Jesus is the Son of God so the his readers would believe in Him.

‭John 20:30-31 NLT‬
[30] “The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. [31] But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”

There is more than enough evidence in the gospel records to provide the answer to Jesus’ question,

‭Matthew 16:15 NLT‬
[15] Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

If we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, then there can only be one answer, and we must say, with Peter,

‭Matthew 16:16 NLT‬
[16] “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

That’s the key to receiving Him (John 1:12) and with our confession, we participate in God’s rescue plan in all its glorious facets.

‭Romans 10:9-10 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. [10] For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

Jesus forever clinched His revelation of the true nature of the Father by giving Himself as an atoning sacrifice for sin, forever confirming that the Father is, in eseence, love. That love underpins everything He says and does to draw us to Himself and to fulfill every promise He has ever made. That love reveals His mercy and benefits us freely (without a cause) because He is who He says He is.

‭1 John 4:9-10 NLT‬
[9] “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. [10] This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

The onus is on us to examine the evidence, to believe the evidence, and to confess and submit to Jesus because He is who He said He is.

HE WAS DESPISED AND REJECTED… 2

Bible Study,

John‬ ‭1:10‭-‬13‬ ‭NLT‬
[10] “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. [11] He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.”

The fact that “the world” and “his own people” rejected Jesus because they did not recognise Him, does not disprove that He is the Son of God, nor does it mean that Jesus was a fake. Public opinion is never the measure of authenticity or truth. Honest evaluation of the evidence is the only true test of Jesus’ claims.

Why have people rejected Jesus since He came to earth as a man?

‭John‬ ‭1:1‭-‬5‬ ‭NLT‬
[1] “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He existed in the beginning with God. [3] God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. [4] The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

‭John‬ ‭1:14‬ ‭NLT‬
[14]”So, the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

The answer is simple – they refused to examine the evidence. Then we must ask the question, ” Why do people refuse to examine the evidence?”

Again, the answer is simple, Jesus’ own diagnosis for people’s unbelief – sin blinds the eyes of those who hate and fear the truth.

‭John‬ ‭3:19‭-‬20‬ ‭NLT‬
[19] “And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. [20] All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”

The Apostle Paul lays the blame for the world’s blindness on the real culprit…

‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:3‭-‬4‬ ‭NLT‬
[3]” If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. [4] Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”

And what of the Jews?

‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3:14‬ ‭NLT‬
[14] But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth….

What is it that blinds people’s minds to the truth and hardens their hearts to the gospel of Jesus?

Sin – as we have already seen, sin
hardens the heart and blinds the eyes to the truth because fear, guilt and shame close the heart off to God’s mercy. People run from God rather than run to Him because they do not believe the truth about Him.

Prejudice is a powerful deterrent to truth. Prejudice demands to be right no matter how convincing the evidence of truth may be. Prejudice, driven by religious beliefs, is the most damaging of all.

Tradition is an equally powerful deterrent to truth. Human traditions, no matter their origin or how they are formed, hold people’s minds in bondage and keep them from an honest evaluation of the evidence. We only have to examine the traditions surrounding Christmas and Easter to see how imprisoned God’s people are to their lies.

However, the Bible is full of “but Gods”! Wherever there is a “but God”, God’s intervention makes all the difference. Look at this one.

[12] “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. [13] They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God… “

So, John states categorically, despite the attitude of both the world, i.e., mankind in general, and His own people, the Jews, in particular, that believing in Him changes everything.

John set out, in his gospel record, to provide evidence from Jesus’ life and lips that He is the Son of God, that His Word can be trusted, and that He gives life to those who believe in Him.

The truth of God’s promise becomes a powerful, life-changing reality to those who are humble enough to admit that their beliefs about Jesus were wrong, that the evidence in God’s word is convincing, and that Jesus is the Son of God.

Those who receive the truth in faith are born from above by the power of the Holy Spirit, into God’s forever family. Now that’s a powerful “but God” and well worth believing!

To be continued…

ATT HOME IN OUR HEARTS

Prayer, ,

In his incomparable prayer,

“I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith….”
Ephesians 3:16‭-‬17a NIV

Paul asks the Lord for the Holy Spirit’s power to work in our hearts so that Jesus, through His Spirit in us, will feel completely comfortable and at home in our hearts.

Like us who feel at home when we are surrounded by our familiar possessions, Jesus is at home in our hearts when He is surrounded by an environment familiar to Him.

The qualities the Holy Spirit produces in us, called “fruit”, (the natural outcome of a maturing plant that prepares for
reproduction), are the result of our union with Jesus.

“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.”
John 15:4 NLT

This fruit, these ninefold qualities growing in our lives, provides the environment in which Jesus feels comfortable and at home in us.

God is always concerned with cultivating relationships in three directions – with Him, with people, and with ourselves. So, what is this three-directional fruit the Holy Spirit produces in us as He leads, guides, and teaches us to remain in Jesus?

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
Galatians 5:22‭-‬23 NLT

We must learn to recognise the Spirit’s voice and leading, and obey Him. Then He enables us to adjust our attitudes and behaviour so that our relationship with God, others, and ourselves becomes more like Jesus. When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, the fruit the Spirit produces in us is the way God wants us to treat Him, others, and even ourselves rather than being controlled by selfishness.

PRAYER

Thank you, Father, for the Holy Spirit who lives in me to cultivate the fruit that creates a comfortable environment in my heart for Jesus to be at home.

Teach me to love what Jesus loves, mercy and compassion, and to hate what He hates, all the fruits of unbelief. Teach me to be a giver, not a taker, and to live in fellowship with and obedience to the Holy Spirit.

Let my life be a sweet-smelling fragrance of the presence of Jesus.

IN THE BEGINNING… – 1

Bible Study, ,

​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. 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 all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5

Since only God is eternal, everything else in the universe must have a beginning. Two books in the Bible start with the words, “In the beginning…” That’s comforting for us because at least we have a place to begin to unravel the mysteries of life that confront us every day.

The theory of evolution, which rejects the truth that God is the creator of everything, can only guess at where it all started. However, it doesn’t matter how far back they try to go, the evolutionists cannot answer the question, “Who or what began the process?”

So, best we trust what the Bible says and move on from there.

How did it all begin?

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God…”
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word…”

So, God created by speaking.

‭Psalms‬ ‭33:6‬ ‭NLT‬
[6] “The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.”

John, however, explains Genesis 1:1, that God’s spoken word, in Scripture, is a person. Everything that God does comes about through a person.

‭John‬ ‭1:1‭-‬2‬ ‭NLT‬
[1] In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He existed in the beginning with God.

That person is God, the one who made everything God created happen.

‭John‬ ‭1:3‬ ‭NLT‬
[3] “God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.”

‭Colossians‬ ‭1:15‭-‬17‬ ‭NLT‬
[15] “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, [16] for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. [17] He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.”

He came to earth as a human.

‭John‬ ‭1:14‬ ‭NLT‬
[14]”So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

This Word accurately represented God’s Word on earth. Everything He said and did was God’s Word in action. Jesus testified to this truth…

‭John‬ ‭12:49‭-‬50‬ ‭NLT‬
[49]”I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. [50] And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

… so that He always spoke, not in His capacity as the second Person of the Trinity but as the living Expression of everything the Father had spoken. Thus He could say,

‭John‬ ‭14:6‬ ‭NLT‬
[6] “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

because He came to embody the word…

‭John‬ ‭17:17‬ ‭NLT‬
[17] Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.

Jesus is the life because…

‭John‬ ‭6:63‬ ‭NLT‬
[63]”The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

When Jesus speaks, He speaks the very Word of God because He is the Word, not the “logos” of Greek philosophy but the “torah”, the teachings of divine wisdom.

‭Proverbs‬ ‭8:6‭-‬7‬ ‭NLT‬
[6] Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right, [7] for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception….
[12] “I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment…
[27] I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans….
[30] I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence….
[35] For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.

So, John has set the scene for his presentation of Jesus, in his gospel, as the Son of God.

To be continued…

GOD WILL FINISH WHAT HE STARTED

Christian Life, ,

God’s story begins in Genesis, with a promise, strangely, not to humans but to the devil himself.

“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15 NLT

Let’s fast forward, past the long history of God’s wayward nation, to a little teenage girl, Mary. She’s confronted by a high-ranking angel, Gabriel himself, with another promise directly connected to God’s first promise. Put that into your memory bank, Mary.

“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David…. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.
Luke 1:26‭-‬27‭, ‬30‭-‬32 NLT

She, little Mary, a virgin engaged to be married, is about to become pregnant with a son, not just any son and certainly not her fiancé’s child, but God’s Son. Impossible? Not if God’s in it.

Little Mary submits and puts that memory into her bank of precious memories.

Strange and unusual things happen at the birth of this Son. Shepherds come to the house in Bethlehem where He was born. Who sent them to this address? Angels! So they said.
She puts this visit in her memory bank too.

Then two elderly people meet them at the temple in Jerusalem, eight days later. Joseph and Mary, are on their way to make the required sacrifice for the birth of a boy when an old man meets them, prophesies nice things over the baby, says a word for her that sends chills down her spine. Into her memories goes that one too.

Two years later, magi from a far Eastern country pitch at their home in Bethlehem. Who sent them? A star! So they said. Another memory to store.

Soon after, a death threat. So they flee to Egypt… and boy toddlers are murdered because of Him. Such scary things to remember, not forgetting God’s oversight in this energency.

“The murderer is dead,” so they are told. “You can go back home.” So, they return to Nazareth in Galilee, as far from the seat of government as possible.

Little Mary is puzzled by the behaviour of her always-compliant, twelve-year-old Son. He goes awol, absent without leave, after a visit to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. She can’t get inside her Son’s mind. What was he thinking? Why did He just disappear? His answer puzzles her even more. “I’m about my Father,” He says. Another piece in the story to remember.

And so the years roll by. Jesus grows up, leaves home to begin His life’s work as the Son of God. Little Mary’s memory bank is filling fast… treasured memories of a perfect Son… puzzling memories of a Son who says and does things beyond her finite understanding.

Then the event predicted by the old man 33 years before! The sword pierces her soul. She gazes, aghast, appalled at the sight of her shredded, bloodied, precious Son impaled on a Roman torture stake. Was this what He was about? All His years to end like this?

Wait, little Mary. God’s story hasn’t ended yet. One more chapter to be written.

Three days later, Mary’s Son lives. The impossible has happened. The serpent’s head is crushed, Gabriel’s prophetic message fulfilled, God’s work complete, sin atoned, forgiven, removed from the record. Salvation accomplished. IT IS FINISHED.

Little Mary’s story can be ours if we allow God to finish what He started.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
Philippians 1:6 NLT

Faith in the fire loses its dross, emerges pure and precious, the highway to heaven’s glorious completion, written in blood, His blood and ours.

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world…. The The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”
1 Peter 1:6‭-‬7‭, ‬9 NLT

“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
Hebrews 6:12 NIV

Our beloved country is littered with unfulfilled promises and unfinished projects. We suffer under the reign of greedy and unreliable politicians who are in it for what they can get out of it, for themselves and their cronies.

Not God! His word is His bond. He created a planet destined to be the centre of His perfect family’s life. He created humans like Himself who will live forever on this perfect planet in harmony with Him and one another.

He provided a perfect solution for the mess humans have made by going it alone. He became like one of us so that we can be restored to fellowship with Him and become like Him.

And despite all our doubts and misgivings, God is well on the way to finishing what He started.

‭Revelation‬ ‭21:1‭-‬5‬ ‭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… what God says, He does.