Tag Archives: worship

Appointed To Be The Son

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APPOINTED TO BE THE SON

He also said, ‘In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish but you remain; they will wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.’

To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Heb. 1: 10-14)

God spoke, yes! He spoke through the prophets and through His Son, but there is also no doubt that He spoke to the Son. Why was it so important that He speak to His Son? What did He say? The writer used seven quotes from the Psalms to authenticate His Son and to set Him apart as superior to the angelic beings.

1. He is superior to angels in His status as a son. He shares the nature and essence of the Father. He is an exact replica of the Father, revealing the Father to the human race in human form. He is also the Father’s heir – the right of a son to receive everything that belongs to the father. As God’s Son, it is His role to ‘continue the house’ through His own life and through those who would believe in Him (verse 5a).

2. He is connected to the Father by the intimate father/son relationship. As a son, Jesus is submitted and obedient to the Father. As His Father, God is the one who has strength and authority and supports and upholds His Son and delegates His authority to the Son (verse 5b).

3. As God’s Son, He is the object of the angels’ obeisance. They bow to Him as superior to them in both essence and function. At His birth they announced His arrival on earth, and called all mankind to worship Him. (Verse 6)

4. Angels have an inferior role and position in God’s unseen realm. They are spirit beings who serve God around the throne and across the universe (verse 7).

5. By contrast, the Son rules on the throne of God’s kingdom with justice and righteousness which are the hallmarks of His reign. God’s nature, among many other attributes, is joy, The Son manifested that joy in His human nature by being the most joyful person who ever lived. He was ‘anointed with the oil of joy,’ the Jewish way of expressing the exuberance of His joyful nature (verse 8, 9)

6. The Son is eternal. Unlike the universe which He created and which is running down like a clock and will soon be spent and discarded, He is ‘olam – to the horizon’ which never ends. The universe is temporal – it will come to an end, but not the Son (verse 10-12).

7. Jesus is at the Father’s right hand – symbolic of the seat of power and authority. To no angel did the Father ever give the mandate to rule, as He did to the Son. Angels have no greater role than to serve (verses 13, 14).

As the Son of Man, Jesus came to serve, but He came to serve as the Son. In His service He enhanced and furthered the work of the Father. As a twelve-year-old He declared that He was to be about the Father and, at the end of His earthly life, He affirmed that He had completed what He had come to do (John. 17: 4).

In spite of the evidence of Scripture, there are those who deny and reject the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. It is this fact upon which the whole of Christianity rests. If Jesus is not the Son of God, everything He said and did falls flat. The entire superstructure of our faith stands or falls on this. Is He indeed, the Son of God?

There can be no greater authority than God the Father Himself. It is He who spoke the words of affirmation and authority, both in the testimony of Scripture and from His own mouth at the moment of Jesus’ baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration. What did He say?

As soon as Jesus was baptised, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’ (Matt. 3:16, 17)

After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. . . While he (Peter) was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!’ (Matt. 17: 1, 2, 5)

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Superior To Angels

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SUPERIOR TO ANGELS

For to which angels did God ever say: ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’? Or again, ‘I will be His Father, and He will be my Son’? And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship Him.’ In speaking of angels He says, ‘He makes His angels spirits and His servants flames of fire.’ But about the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a sceptre of justice will be the sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. (Heb. 1: 5-9)

What is this writer saying? All these quotations from the Psalms, which his Hebrew readers would know very well because they would recite and sing the Psalms regularly as part of their worship, we pointing to one person – Jesus, the Messiah. Why was he so bent on proving the Son’s superiority to angels?

Although there is no evidence that the Jews ever worshipped angels, during the intertestamental period, i.e. the 400 years between the last book of the Old Testament and Matthew, it seems that they did invoke angels,

Who were the angels and what part did they play in God’s scheme of things?

Although the angels are mentioned throughout Scripture, ‘every reference is incidental to some other topic. They are not treated in themselves. God’s revelation never aims at informing us regarding the nature of angels. When they are mentioned, it is always in order to inform us further about God, what He does and how He does it. Since details about angels are not significant for that purpose, they tend to be omitted.’ (https://bible.org/article-god%E2%80%99s-ministering-spirits)

What we do learn, however, is that angels are created beings, they are spirit beings, and they are mere creatures. There are holy angels who do God’s bidding and there are fallen angels who are allied to the devil, the chief of the fallen angels and who will perish with him when Jesus comes as Judge.

Why did this writer then, take pains to explain to his readers that Jesus is superior to angels?

The purpose of the author, in stringing seven quotes from the Old Testament together was to overwhelm his readers with the evidence that Jesus is superior to the angels by virtue of His relationship to the Father. He is the Son of God as opposed to angels who are only servants, ministering spirits who do His bidding.

Jesus is God’s chosen Son, in the Davidic line, with authority to rule in righteousness over the kingdom of God. He is also the object of angelic worship which makes Him superior to angels. His reign is eternal over this world and the entire universe.

His readers must take heed, therefore, that they recognise Jesus for who He is. From the prophetic utterances of God through the prophets and the confirmation of prophecy through the revelation of Jesus in history, there can be no doubt that He is the Son of God and therefore has a supreme position in God’s scheme of things.

What are the implications for us?

1. Since Jesus occupies the place of supremacy over all creation, He must, of necessity occupy a supreme place in our lives as well. He takes precedence over every person and every circumstance that touches our lives.

2. Jesus has all authority and holds all power in the universe. We must submit, therefore, to His authority in all things and trust Him to order our circumstances to fulfil His will in our lives, both good and bad.

3. He alone is to be worshipped, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit as the triune God. He has been given the name above all names and the place of highest authority by the Father. We are to honour and live for Him and through Him alone.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Spiritual Warfare In The Old Testament

Apologetics, , ,

SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Galatian Church syndrome reworked

One of the areas where the “Galatian Church syndrome” seems to have re-emerged, i.e. that the cross needs our help to be effective, is in the modern world-wide prayer movement in which altars, strongholds and powers over localities and countries are being “identified” and intercessors raised up to deal with these powerful spirits who hold people and nations captive.

There is no denying that such powers exist and that people are held captive to their deception but I question the way that the problem is dealt with by this movement. Is it Biblical?

What is “spiritual warfare”?

Let’s first examine what is meant by “spiritual warfare” in the understanding of today’s church and the way in which it is currently being handled.

In some parts of the church it is assumed that it is the responsibility of believers, and in particular a special group of believers called “intercessors” firstly to identify the “altars”, the idols, the specific powers and strongholds over towns, cities, regions and countries and the spirits operating in those areas that keep people in bondage. It is then their task to pray these demonic powers down, to break their power over towns, regions etc., so that the gospel will be effective. This requires a great deal of effort, denouncing and declaring until they are satisfied that the spiritual warfare has been effective.

It requires time and effort by specialised people who not only have to identify the particular spirits they have to deal with and spend time interceding, but they also have to go around training “ordinary” believers in the art of “spiritual warfare”.

Another area of “spiritual warfare” relates to curses in general and to “generational” curses in particular.

There is a belief among some believers that many of the trials and hardships that we experience are attacks of the devil. People are vulnerable for various reasons, some of which are identified as “curses”. If your father, for example, was involved in witchcraft, ungodly practices or, heaven forbid, Free Masonry, then you are vulnerable and anything that goes wrong in your life means that you are under a curse. You are a victim and you need someone who has a deliverance ministry to rescue you.

You may have sinned and now God is punishing you by allowing you to suffer adversity. You need “powerful prayers” to break the curse and get the devil off your back.  “Spiritual warfare” is, therefore, the task of the intercessor or the person with a deliverance ministry to deal with demons or strongholds over people or groups of people by “powerful” prayers invoking the name of Jesus, or carrying out rituals like prayer walks, praying on site, or discerning and pulling down strongholds, principalities and powers or breaking curses over individuals or families.

Examples from the Old Testament

Now let’s examine this model against the backdrop of the Scriptures; first the Old Testament which seems to be the pattern from where some of these practices come, and then the New Testament.

Abraham

As a brand new believer in Elohim, Abraham moved to the land of Canaan at God’s command, a land riddled with idolatry and wickedness. How did he cope with the situation?

As he moved from place to place in the land, he established a network of altars and worshipped the Lord God who had appeared to him in Ur. The writer of Genesis made sure that every reader was aware that the Canaanites were in the land (Genesis 12:6-9; 13:7). What was the implication? In spite of the fact that the Canaanites were evil and in charge, Abraham worshipped God publicly wherever he went.

After he had parted from Lot, God appeared to him with this promise:

“Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever… Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you. So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great tree of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.” Genesis 13:14-18 (NIV).

How did Abram respond? He believed God’s promise and worshipped Him.

The children of Israel

How did the Israelites respond when they received the report of the ten spies regarding the strength of the Canaanites in the Promised Land? Instead of listening to Joshua and Caleb, believing God’s promise and obeying His instructions, they were afraid of the Canaanites, complained about their leaders and wanted to return to Egypt. Instead of worshipping God, they rebelled because they thought it was up to them to win the battle.

“That night all the people of community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and whole assembly said to them, ‘If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ And they said to each other, ‘We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.’” Numbers 14:1-4 (NIV).

They did not believe God’s promise, they grumbled and rebelled and eventually died in the desert. Their offspring were the ones who conquered the land through the power of God.

Elijah

Elijah was God’s prophet in Israel at a time when Ahab and Jezebel reigned in the northern kingdom. Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. She brought with her the worship of Baal with its evil practices. God judged the nation with a severe famine. Elijah emerged from hiding from the murderous intention of King Ahab to challenge the prophets of Baal to a contest to determine who was God in Israel.

The story is well-known but what interests me is how Elijah handled his part in the contest. It was not his responsibility to deal with the power of Baal. He repaired the broken altar of the Lord, and created an impossible situation by dousing the sacrifice, the altar and the surrounding ground with water. Then he worshipped the Lord and prayed that God would reveal His power. The fire fell from heaven and consumed everything including the water. There was no contest because the power claimed by the prophets of Baal was a lie.

Conclusion

Even in the Old Testament the way in which spiritual warfare was conducted was to unmask the devil’s deception by believing God, obeying His word and worshipping Him.

This pattern is repeated over and over again in the Old Testament. Whenever Israel as a nation received God’s promise and worshipped Him, acting in obedience to His instruction, they were victorious. Three examples come to mind;

  1. The conquest of Jericho:

“Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘See I have delivered Jericho into your hands along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men…Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams horns in front to the ark…On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse…’” Joshua 6: 1-5. (NIV).

They obeyed and Jericho fell.

  1. Victory of Judah and King Jehoshaphat over Moab and Ammon:

Jehoshaphat was faced with a coalition of fighting men from Moab and Ammon. He prayed to God in the presence of the people at the temple in Jerusalem. One of the Levites, Jahaziel, prophesied:

“You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid. Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.” 2 Chronicles 20:17.

Jehoshaphat and all the people bowed in worship before the Lord. The next day, as the people went out to meet the enemy, Jehoshaphat encouraged them:

“’Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in God and you will be upheld; have faith in His prophets and you will be successful.’ After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendour of His holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

                        ‘Give thanks to the Lord,

                        For His love endures forever.’”

2 Chronicles 20:20b-21.

We know the end of the story very well. God defeated the enemy and all they did was to gather the spoils. The outcome was amazing.

“The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of   the countries when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for the Lord had given him rest on every side.” 2 Chronicles 20:29-30 (NIV).

  1. Hezekiah and the Assyrian threat

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was on the march. His predecessor, Shalmaneser, had already overrun Samaria and carried the Israelites into captivity. Now it was Judah’s turn. Hezekiah paid the tribute Sennacherib demanded but Sennacherib was bent on capturing Jerusalem. He sent officials to intimidate the king and the people of Jerusalem. He sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah via his messengers which Hezekiah took into the temple and spread out before the Lord. He worshipped the Lord and laid his case before Him.

God spoke through the prophet Isaiah in response, promising His miraculous deliverance without an arrow being shot. That night the angel of death passed over the Assyrian army camp and wiped out the entire army of 186,000 soldiers. Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Assyria where he was murdered by his two sons.

The common denominator in these victories was twofold; obedience to God and worship, the essence of spiritual warfare! They did what God told them to do and there was no contest.

To be continued…

Nailed!

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NAILED! 

“He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ ‘I have no husband,’ she replied. Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’

‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.'” John 4:16-20 (NIV).

O-oh! This conversation is getting a bit uncomfortable. How did Jesus know that?

If this woman was to admit her thirst and come clean, she had to open up the cupboard and get all the skeletons out. Jesus didn’t pussyfoot around. He could read her like a book. Why did He expose her, just like that?

First of all, they were alone at the well. There was no-one around to eavesdrop on her private life. Jesus would never have exposed her in front of His disciples. It was not His intention to shame or embarrass her but to open up the lines of communication between them so that He could speak to her heart.

Secondly, as long as she kept secrets, there would be a wall between them. He knew and she knew but, until she knew that He knew, she would not hear Him or receive what He was offering her. He told her that He knew exactly what was going on, not to accuse but to show her that her lifestyle was a symptom of her real thirst. She thought she needed a man to love her but what she really need was to reconnect with the God who loved her unconditionally for who she was.

She did what every person does when faced with having to own up to what they are doing — she became religious. ‘This is scary. You must be a prophet. We Samaritans go to this church, but you Jews insist that your church is the right one. So which one is the right one?’ A convenient “red herring” to take the heat off her!

But, whether she liked it or not, her interest was aroused. This was not just a casual conversation — small talk at the well while she was getting water; this man was getting very personal and she had to change direction before He embarrassed her even more. Let’s talk religion. That’s safe ground, so she thought.

 

But her question got Jesus even more fired up. This exchange was going somewhere and He was nudging it on. “‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is of the Jews.”’  John 4: 21, 22 (NIV).

‘It’s not about where you worship, but who you worship. It’s not about this church or that denomination. It’s about worshipping the Father.’ That must have startled her. Her religion was a hotchpotch of religions, man-made and futile because it was not the truth. Her problem began with a false idea about God. She had no foundation upon which to build her life and so she was doing what Adam did — making her own rules which didn’t work and left her heart empty and thirsty.

Jesus gently took her back to basics. ‘Who are you worshipping? There is only one God and He is your Father, the source of your life. All other gods are products of someone’s imagination, and worthless substitutes for the true God.’

She had to learn that God was neither an intrusion nor an add-on to her life but the source and foundation of everything that would provide peace and wholeness. Her life was in tatters because she had no Father to give her identity and stability, no one to worship and honour, to follow and obey and to be the authority in her life. Like a captain-less ship she was trying to navigate life without knowing who she was, where she was going and who was in charge. And it wasn’t working for her.

Only the Creator knows how His creation should function. Without Him, nothing works. You have to get reconnected. Have you?

It Was All Lies!

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IT WAS ALL LIES!

“For the second test he led Him up and spread out all the kingdoms of the earth on display at once. Then the Devil said, ‘They’re yours in all their splendour to serve your pleasure. I’m in charge of them all and can turn them over to whomever I wish. Worship me and they’re yours, the whole works.’

“Jesus refused, again backing His refusal with Deuteronomy:

”’Worship the Lord your God and only the Lord your God. Serve Him with absolute single heartedness.'” Luke 4:5-8 (The Message).

Really! Did the devil really expect Jesus to swallow this one?

Luke reversed Matthew’s order, putting this temptation ahead of the devil’s attempt to lure Jesus into a suicide jump. It seems that, as a third attempt to get Jesus to fall in line with his suggestion, the devil finally played open cards with Him. Was he that desperate to lure Jesus off course that he thought he could actually induce Him into falling down and worshipping him?

What was the prize if He did that? All the kingdoms of the world? But wait a minute — before we think that it was worth a little homage in secret, let’s examine the devil’s claim.

Did he really own all the kingdoms of the world?

Firstly the devil only spoke lie-language. Jesus categorically stated that he was a liar and that the only language he could speak was lies. “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44b (NIV).

Lie number one: he does not own all the kingdoms of the world. If he doesn’t, who does?

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” Psalm 24:1 (NIV). The earth is the possession of the one who created it. It is His right to assign it to whomever He wills.

Lie number two: the devil does not have the right to give away what does not belong to him. “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He has given to mankind.” Psalm 115:16 (NIV).

For what purpose? Not to abuse and destroy as we are doing now, but to manage for Him. “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in His own image…” Genesis 1:26, 27a (NIV).

Where does the devil fit into the scheme of things? His power lies, not in possession but in deception. Had Jesus capitulated to him, would He have become the proud owner of all the kingdoms of the world? Of course not. The devil would have become His slave-driver.

How was He to gain possession of everything the devil has stolen through deceit? “I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, ‘You are my son; today I have become your Father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” Psalm 2:7-8 (NIV).

Jesus had already gained the prize through obedience. By His submission to the Father’s will, He would confirm what was already true from before the beginning of time. He was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world,” Revelation 13:8 (NIV).

He would worship the Lord — pledge His allegiance to the Father alone.

Sorry, devil, you lost that round too!