Tag Archives: He appeared

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE END OF THE BEGINNING

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THE END OF THE BEGINNING

9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. Mark 16:9-20

Although verses 9-16 are not in the original text, they are an accurate summary of the endings of the other gospels.

Why did the person who added the epilogue to Marks’ Gospel take pains to record the disciples’ persistent unbelief about the resurrection of Jesus? How could eleven bewildered and frightened men have stolen and hidden Jesus’ body and then spread the story that He was alive? The last thing in the world they wanted was to draw attention to themselves by setting up a hoax that would destroy any credibility they might have about the story of Jesus’ life and teachings.

The ending to this gospel is consistent with Mark’s unembellished record of Peter’s report of Jesus’ life. Miracles and all, it is a credible story, told by an eyewitness who was part of the story. It encapsulates the conclusion to this astonishing part of God’s redemptive plan, unveiling God’s personal entry into time and space to effect in the physical what had already been accomplished before the beginning of creation.

The ending of the book also puts the future in perspective. Jesus came to earth to begin something that has no ending. Every new life has the potential to add something to and continue the story into the next generation until Jesus comes. His instruction to the first group, minus Judas, was to tell the world what the Jews already knew – our God reigns! It’s much more than accepting Jesus as our personal Saviour so that we can have our sins forgiven and go to heaven when we die!!!

It’s about leaving our own agenda behind and identifying with God’s agenda because He has a BIG plan for the whole of creation. He’s taken care of all the obstacles that get in the way of reconnecting with Him. He came to show us how to carry out and carry on His BIG plan.

Like the pieces of a giant puzzle, everyone has a part in the big picture and it all fits together to make sense of history and to fulfil God’s destiny for each person and for everyone together. Jesus is the glue that holds it all together and makes it all come alive! His death was not an interruption in God’s plan. It is the heart and centre of His rescue plan to get human beings back on track with His purpose for the whole of creation.

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR A LIFE-CHANGING SERIES ENTITILED “ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM”

Whose Son Are You?

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WHOSE SON ARE YOU?

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps in sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. (1 John 3: 4-8a)

Once again John has to address a subtle part of the false teaching circulating in the Roman Empire and undermining the pure gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Gnosticism was beginning to emerge at that time. One of the basic beliefs of Gnosticism was that there is a distinction between matter and spirit. Matter is evil in and of itself while the spirit is good. The material part of the human being, the body is, therefore, sinful and cannot be redeemed. .

Greek philosophers parted company at this point. Stoics taught that the way to deal with the sinful body is to punish it as much as possible. Epicureans taught that it was okay to indulge the body in all the sinful pleasures possible because it could not be redeemed anyway. These two opposing ideas, of course, threw doubt on the nature of the Son of God. If matter is sinful and the spirit is good, then Jesus could not possibly have been a true human being. His body was an illusion, not a real body.

John put the brakes on both of these false ideas. If the body is sinful and cannot be redeemed, then Jesus’ death on the cross was not a real death. Jesus could not have redeemed us from sin, firstly because nothing can redeem the body and secondly because His death was only an illusion. If the spirit is essentially good, there was no need for Jesus to die because the spirit does not need saving.

But, John pointed out by implication, human beings are not split up into separate compartments, matter and spirit. People sin, not bodies, and sin affects people, not some parts of them. The real issue is; not which part of us is good and which part of us is evil but what do we do with God’s commandments? Do we obey them or do we not obey them?

But Jesus Christ was a real person. He came to earth as a human baby born of a human mother. He came in the flesh to deal with sin by dying a real death in the place of the sinner. He came to do away with sin so that those who believe in Him can be free to do what is right. This involves both body and spirit as whole people.

How do we know who are the children of God are and who the children of the devil are? Look at their lives. Those who do the right thing – those who obey God’s Word – are the ones who have been born of God. What does that mean? They have been made alive by the Holy Spirit, they have God’s nature (2 Pet. 1:4) and they resemble God because they do what He tells them to do. “Children of the devil” does not mean, as some erroneously teach, that they have literally been born of the devil. Satan cannot create. Only God can and has created human beings. Every baby born is a unique creation of God (Psa. 139: 13) and is, in that sense, His son or daughter.

“Children of” refers to the one whom they resemble in their lifestyle and actions. Jesus accused the Pharisees of resembling the devil in spite of their claim to be the children of Abraham because they were planning to kill Him. Abraham was no murderer, but the devil certainly is (John 8:44).

John takes up this thought here. Sinful lives are the great dividing line. Those who keep on sinning reveal their true nature. They are still under the devil’s influence. Those who claim to be the children of God but keep on sinning negate their claim by the way they live. “Sin” here is much more than doing really bad things – in our estimation – like lying, stealing or committing murder or adultery. It includes attitudes, moods, motives, refusing to forgive, harbouring bitterness and hatred and all the other hidden sins of the heart.

Sin, from God’s perspective, is everything that does not measure up to His perfection and His holiness. For those who are “in Christ,” sin has been dealt with and removed, and we have received God’s gift of Christ’s perfect righteousness by faith. Our part is to live up to who we are – to confirm our righteous standing before God by obeying His Word. As impossible as this is for us to do on our own, the Holy Spirit in us gives us the power to follow through on our decisions and choices to be God’s obedient children.

This is the acid test, not what we say but what we do.

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

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

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