“Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). To be born of God. What an amazing thought. Does this idea of being born of God not take us back to Genesis 1 and 2? Can we possibly consider being born of God without Genesis 1 and 2 coloring our understanding of John’s words? Absolutely not!
The only way we can understand this idea, as fully as human minds can understand it, is to draw upon Genesis 1 and 2. God formed man and breathed into him the breath of life (Gen 2:7). Adam, and subsequently Eve, was not born of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God, born with a sinless nature. Only God can create such a creature. Praise God he will create such creatures again, which is why we must be reborn of God and not of flesh and blood. So we may one day stand in the presence of the sovereign God our creator and live with Him as sinless creatures. Live as a part of the new creation, the redeemed creation, and the children of God, born of God. How glorious is our God!
Meditations on Scripture with an emphasis on practical daily living of the Christian life. The goal of every post is to give readers a clear view of God's glory that results in practical action.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Born of God
“Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). To be born of God. What an amazing thought. Does this idea of being born of God not take us back to Genesis 1 and 2? Can we possibly consider being born of God without Genesis 1 and 2 coloring our understanding of John’s words? Absolutely not!
The only way we can understand this idea, as fully as human minds can understand it, is to draw upon Genesis 1 and 2. God formed man and breathed into him the breath of life (Gen 2:7). Adam, and subsequently Eve, was not born of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God, born with a sinless nature. Only God can create such a creature. Praise God he will create such creatures again, which is why we must be reborn of God and not of flesh and blood. So we may one day stand in the presence of the sovereign God our creator and live with Him as sinless creatures. Live as a part of the new creation, the redeemed creation, and the children of God, born of God. How glorious is our God!
The only way we can understand this idea, as fully as human minds can understand it, is to draw upon Genesis 1 and 2. God formed man and breathed into him the breath of life (Gen 2:7). Adam, and subsequently Eve, was not born of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God, born with a sinless nature. Only God can create such a creature. Praise God he will create such creatures again, which is why we must be reborn of God and not of flesh and blood. So we may one day stand in the presence of the sovereign God our creator and live with Him as sinless creatures. Live as a part of the new creation, the redeemed creation, and the children of God, born of God. How glorious is our God!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
What Do You Say?
“And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God" (John 1:34). John the Baptist said these words. It is John’s confessional testimony of Jesus divinity and Messiahship. The question for all of us, and especially me, is will we testify to this same truth? Will we bear witness that Jesus is the Son of God, with all the messianic implications this title carries? Will we say “Jesus is the Son of God,” or will we try to weasel through this life straddling the fence? “Jesus was a son of a god,” will that be your lukewarm testimony? One motivated by a desire not to ostracize yourself from either the popular notions of the culture today or the fellowship of “church.” Make no mistake though my friends, such a lukewarm confession will be met with the lukewarm response, “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16).
Will the fears of men and the persecutions of this world motivate you to say, “I cannot tell if Jesus is the Son of God or where he came from.” Such a non committal answer may win the praise of men, but it will not win the favor of God the Father. “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,” (Matt 10:32).
My brothers and sisters, only one confession, one testimony, one declaration of what we believe and who we put our faith in will suffice for the God of all heaven and earth. The witness from our own mouths must be that Jesus of Nazareth, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16), and “My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). To stand with John the Baptist and unashamedly say, “this is the Son of God.” May nothing else ever be upon our lips. May nothing else ever be in my heart.
Will the fears of men and the persecutions of this world motivate you to say, “I cannot tell if Jesus is the Son of God or where he came from.” Such a non committal answer may win the praise of men, but it will not win the favor of God the Father. “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,” (Matt 10:32).
My brothers and sisters, only one confession, one testimony, one declaration of what we believe and who we put our faith in will suffice for the God of all heaven and earth. The witness from our own mouths must be that Jesus of Nazareth, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16), and “My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). To stand with John the Baptist and unashamedly say, “this is the Son of God.” May nothing else ever be upon our lips. May nothing else ever be in my heart.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Privilege
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,” (Heb 10:19-20). This truth that Paul explains to us must be a great comfort. It must also be a great joy and excitement, because we have the privilege of walking into the Holy of Holies, the very throne room of God because of Christ’s work on the Cross. When we enter our private prayer room we enter into the throne room of the eternal God. When we join in prayer with one or more of our brothers and/or sisters in Christ, we have an audience with the High King of Heaven. The one Paul calls “The King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Tim 1:17). All because Christ broke the power of sin on the Cross and tore the curtain that separates man from God. We now know an intimacy with the God, a freedom of entering His presence, which men and women of the OT could not even imagine!
Oh my brothers and sisters do not let us squander such a precious and dear gift by being to busy to pray. Whenever we feel the rush and hurry of life, let us not be controlled by it so that we do not avail ourselves of an audience with the King. All the more so when we feel the weight of the world on our shoulders from life’s challenges and burdens, let us exercise our prerogative of a hearing with the Sovereign of time and space. Always remembering it is because of Christ work on the Cross and in His name that we are so favored.
Oh my brothers and sisters do not let us squander such a precious and dear gift by being to busy to pray. Whenever we feel the rush and hurry of life, let us not be controlled by it so that we do not avail ourselves of an audience with the King. All the more so when we feel the weight of the world on our shoulders from life’s challenges and burdens, let us exercise our prerogative of a hearing with the Sovereign of time and space. Always remembering it is because of Christ work on the Cross and in His name that we are so favored.
Monday, April 09, 2007
The Light
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). What a joyous statement to meditate upon this day, the day after Resurrection Sunday. Jesus came into the darkness of a sin oppressed world, one in which the Spirit of God was seldom seen or experienced. The darkness of sin and Satan came against Jesus, especially on the Cross. Yet Jesus defeated sin completely on the Cross and then He defeated death completely at the resurrection. Darkness could not overcome the light of Jesus. Darkness still rages against the light. However, this time darkness is fighting as a defeated foe in its last gasp for some semblance of victory.
We cannot read this passage without connecting it to 1 John 1:5-10, where John talks about the light and walking in the light. When we read the two passages side by side we begin to get a picture of what it means to walk in the light. We are to walk in the light of the truth, truth of sin defeated and Jesus as Lord. It is more though than just walking in truth, it is walking in The Truth, The Light of the world (John 8:12). We are to walk in Jesus by Him living in us. The glorious wonder of our walking in the light is not just that Jesus is in us; it is also that darkness cannot overcome us! Specifically that we do not live like children of the devil and we love our brothers (1 John 3). We can walk in the light, because The Light dwells within us who believe in Jesus Christ the risen one.
We cannot read this passage without connecting it to 1 John 1:5-10, where John talks about the light and walking in the light. When we read the two passages side by side we begin to get a picture of what it means to walk in the light. We are to walk in the light of the truth, truth of sin defeated and Jesus as Lord. It is more though than just walking in truth, it is walking in The Truth, The Light of the world (John 8:12). We are to walk in Jesus by Him living in us. The glorious wonder of our walking in the light is not just that Jesus is in us; it is also that darkness cannot overcome us! Specifically that we do not live like children of the devil and we love our brothers (1 John 3). We can walk in the light, because The Light dwells within us who believe in Jesus Christ the risen one.
Friday, April 06, 2007
He Died For ALL Our Sins
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6). Somehow our going our own way is a source of iniquity. We sin against God when we go our own way, when we go astray. A sheep was to stay on the trail or in the meadow the shepherd led them on or into. A sheep would see something that looked appealing to its eyes and wander towards that thing. A greener spot, a less rocky path, whatever the item the sheep would go there against the shepherd’s desire.
We see a bigger house, a better spouse, a more comfortable position and decide that is where we will go. However those actions are against God the Father’s will. He has another plan for us, one explicitly in His word, or communicated to us through the Holy Spirit for our particular life calling, or even in the prompting of the Holy Spirit to call someone. However, we turn to our own way, and iniquity is born. When iniquity is born someone must bear it.
This is why Jesus suffered and died on the Cross this Good Friday, because God the Father “laid on Him the iniquities of us all.” Iniquities are created when we go our own way in the big and the small. When we measure the big sins in our eyes, adultery, idolatry, coveting, the punishment Jesus bore for us is humbling and grieves us. When we realize Jesus also had to die for the little sins in our eyes, not calling someone we were supposed to, walking on in a hurry when we were supposed to sit for a “chance” meeting with someone God had planned for us, our grief and shame is all the more magnified. Jesus had to die for my lusting after another woman, and He had to die because I was too busy to make a phone call. He had to die for all my sins.
We see a bigger house, a better spouse, a more comfortable position and decide that is where we will go. However those actions are against God the Father’s will. He has another plan for us, one explicitly in His word, or communicated to us through the Holy Spirit for our particular life calling, or even in the prompting of the Holy Spirit to call someone. However, we turn to our own way, and iniquity is born. When iniquity is born someone must bear it.
This is why Jesus suffered and died on the Cross this Good Friday, because God the Father “laid on Him the iniquities of us all.” Iniquities are created when we go our own way in the big and the small. When we measure the big sins in our eyes, adultery, idolatry, coveting, the punishment Jesus bore for us is humbling and grieves us. When we realize Jesus also had to die for the little sins in our eyes, not calling someone we were supposed to, walking on in a hurry when we were supposed to sit for a “chance” meeting with someone God had planned for us, our grief and shame is all the more magnified. Jesus had to die for my lusting after another woman, and He had to die because I was too busy to make a phone call. He had to die for all my sins.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
A Godly Appearance
“For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, no beauty that we should desire him” (Isa 53:2). The immortal, the invisible, the only God (I Tim 1:17), veiled in human flesh had none of the characteristics of royalty or divinity in his appearance. This was the invisible God taking on human form and he did not even take the time to give himself a gorgeous body! He gave Saul handsomeness and stature (1 Sam 9:1). He gave David handsomeness, beautiful eyes and ruddiness (1 Sam 16:12). He gave Stephen the face of an angel (Acts 6:15). However, the creator of man and physical human beauty would not even take on human beauty. How condemned we must be in our pursuit of physical beauty. How shameful our assessing value and worth of humans based on their physical appearance. The only God was not handsome or beautiful according to Isaiah’s prophecy. Are we going to challenge this biblical truth and deny his “homely” appearance as it is given to us in Scripture?
Upon meditation and contemplation, this should not surprise us. God knew and still knows our deference to the outward appearance. God knew that we focus on what is on the outside of the cup and not what is inside the cup. God knew we would be looking for and expecting a physical specimen of humanity to bear the Messiah, the Son of God. Because he knew, that we would always focus on the wrong thing, he chose to come in a “homely” body, one that had “no form or majesty that we should” notice Him. “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart" (1 Sam 16:7). It was our first and best clue as to what to expect.
Because Jesus came with no special appearance, His appearance itself is a sign, a flag, reminding us and drawing us back to what is important in God’s mind, the attitude of the heart (Luke 6:45). In Jesus’ physical life on this earth it was his heart, a heart given over completely to obedience, that made Jesus special, not his appearance. It is neither our Easter costume, nor our going to Church on Friday and Sunday that will be what God measures, those are all outward appearances. The only thing that God will measure us by this week is the attitude of our hearts. With this humbling and convicting truth upon our minds, let us resolve to spend more time this Holy week dressing-up our hearts instead of our bodies.
Upon meditation and contemplation, this should not surprise us. God knew and still knows our deference to the outward appearance. God knew that we focus on what is on the outside of the cup and not what is inside the cup. God knew we would be looking for and expecting a physical specimen of humanity to bear the Messiah, the Son of God. Because he knew, that we would always focus on the wrong thing, he chose to come in a “homely” body, one that had “no form or majesty that we should” notice Him. “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart" (1 Sam 16:7). It was our first and best clue as to what to expect.
Because Jesus came with no special appearance, His appearance itself is a sign, a flag, reminding us and drawing us back to what is important in God’s mind, the attitude of the heart (Luke 6:45). In Jesus’ physical life on this earth it was his heart, a heart given over completely to obedience, that made Jesus special, not his appearance. It is neither our Easter costume, nor our going to Church on Friday and Sunday that will be what God measures, those are all outward appearances. The only thing that God will measure us by this week is the attitude of our hearts. With this humbling and convicting truth upon our minds, let us resolve to spend more time this Holy week dressing-up our hearts instead of our bodies.