Remembering Where We Came From

“Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12). The joy of our union with Christ and being fellow heirs with the Jews of the promise is best kept fresh and rich in our minds by remembering where we came from. We must remember everyday that we were once separated from Christ and excluded from the covenant promises. We were without God in this world.

God in his great mercy and love reached out across the chasm of sin and time and touched us with the renewing work of the Holy Spirit, placing in our new hearts a desire and faith in Christ. God circumcised our hearts. We became heirs of the promise by God’s grace and mercy and kindness. We came from lost, blind, dead cold spiritually sinners to living breathing, seeing and knowing the way children of God. Oh how great the Fathers love for us!

The Mystery Given to Paul

“This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph 3:6). Paul was appointed by God to be an apostle to the Gentiles, Acts 9:15, 1 Tim 2:7, Paul’s purpose was to bring the message that gentiles are now fellow heirs with the Jews in salvation and reconciliation to God. Why does Paul call it a mystery?

False teachers were trying to convince the Ephesians that the true knowledge of God was a “mystery” that was only revealed to those with special knowledge. They also degraded Paul as not being a possessor of secret knowledge, the mystery. In Paul’s absence the Ephesians were easily fooled by these false teachers. So when Paul wrote his letter he addressed this challenge to his apostolic authority and revelation from God.

Paul in answering his opponents also went back to the central message of his preaching, a message that gentiles now are reconciled to God through Christ. While the false teachers sought to imprison new believers with a religion of self effort to reach God, Paul strongly called out to the Ephesians that man cannot reach God by his own works and that the work of Christ is the central focus of their faith.

In our day of pluralism and self-help culture Paul’s message could not be more relevant in our time. Once again Scripture shows its timelessness by speaking directly to the heart of our culture’s sickness and disease. You cannot work your way to God and no amount of meditation, intellectual pursuit or moralistic behavior will reconcile you to God. The only hope for salvation and true happiness is faith in the work and person of Christ, the one giving us the promise in his gospel.

God’s Wisdom and Love

“In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him” (Eph 3:12). In verse 11 Paul makes it clear the person in whom we have faith is Christ Jesus. What is it we have access too? It is the mystery Paul talks about in verse 6, “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” We have access through Christ just like the Jews do, because Christ reconciled both gentiles and Jews (2:16). Again what do we have access to? We have access to the Father, “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph 2:18).

All through this passage, starting with 2:11 and going through 3:13, Paul is describing what Christ has done and why it is so that both Jews and Gentiles are brought to God and reconciled to him. Even more we are reconciled into one people group (2:14-15)! Paul boldly makes the statement, as biblical truth, that all who are in Christ, by receiving Him in faith, are reconciled to God, whom we have been estranged and at enmity with because of the Law (2:14-17), and we are all one body, one church. This is where Paul’s statement in 3:10 starts to take on real force, “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph 3:10). God’s wisdom is made known, to the heavenly beings, by taking the splintered and fractured people groups of the world, the ones who are also estranged from Him because of our sin, and reconciling them to Himself and making them one people through Christ work on the Cross.

The ironic truth in these statements by Paul is that although we can acknowledge them and begin to understand them with our limited human understanding, we cannot truly see how amazing and dumbfounding they are because we do not see God and know God as the heavenly beings see and know God. Just as a fish does not understand what it means to live outside of water, so we do not understand how amazing it is to be sinners, live in this broken flesh and fallen world and then become reconciled to God. We cannot see how amazing this is because we do not know what it is like to see the universe as heavenly beings see the universe. We do not have the experience of life outside of this temporal world to compare our reconciliation to God to, just like the fish does not have an experience of living outside of his aquatic habitat to compare life in the water to. Just as we look at the fish and say, “You poor thing, you have no understanding of the whole world that exist around you because you cannot live outside of your watery home;” so also the heavenly beings look at us and say, “You have no idea how incredible your reconciliation as one people to God is because you cannot live outside of your fallen world.” We will not genuinely grasp the reality of this truth until we are in heaven. We are living the mystery that angels long to gaze into (1 Pet 1:12) and we don’t even know it.

With the limited understanding we have, let us gaze all the more into the Scriptures to see how special God’s love and wisdom are.

A Morsel of Future Glory

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, … to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1:7, 10b). The purpose of Christ redeeming us was to fulfill God’s plan to unite all things in Christ. Our redemption and being transformed into new creatures is just one part of God’s plan for the world. The ultimate plan is to unite all things, “things in heaven and things upon the earth” in Christ. The phrase “things in heaven and things upon the earth” is Paul's way of saying the whole universe. The angels and beings in heaven, all mankind, all the animals, and all the plants, the whole of creation is to be united in Christ under His Lordship (Rom 8:18-23).

This uniting all things in Christ will not occur until His ultimate glorification at his second coming and the initiation of the new heaven and earth (Rev 21:1). However, we get a foretaste of this future fulfillment here in our union with Christ individually and in our fellowship with believers in our local church. The unity and fellowship we enjoy in our corporate worship and studying the word is just a foretaste of the glory we will enjoy when all things are united in him. So until we can feast at the table in the new heaven and earth, the one with all things united in him, enjoy and drink deep from the sampling you have for you at the weekly assembling of the saints.

The Big picture of Romans 8

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Rom 8:14). In the beginning of chapter 8 Paul connects back to the end of chapter 7 with “Therefore.” The point of the end of chapter 7 is that he serves the law of God with his mind. Now Paul explains that the way to have the mind obeying the law of God is to live under the direction and control of the Holy Spirit. By living in the Spirit we can keep our mind on the things of life and peace (vs 6). When a person is indwelt with the Spirit, and led by the Spirit, he or she is a child of God (vs 14). Because we are children of God we are “fellow heirs with Christ” (vs 17). Because we are fellow heirs with Christ, we will enjoy the future glory of redeemed bodies (vs 23). However, this is no all Paul has in view. Because we are children of God we cannot be separated from the Father, by anything in the universe (vs 39).

With this big picture of Romans 8 we can now see how Paul is building to the secure and everlasting promise; that we are children of God, if the Spirit dwells in us (vs 9), because we are children of God we will enjoy his glorious complete redemption of us in the future (30). Furthermore nothing can deny us this blessing from God (vs 39).

Seeing the promise we have by being united to Christ, let us resolve and completely carry out the discarding of anything hindering our union with Christ and impeding the complete leading and influencing of the Holy Spirit. We must search our hearts for the sin or prideful attitudes which keep us from being completely united to Christ and/or led by the Spirit. Once we find them we must get rid of them. May God send his Spirit to help us do this.

The Spirit of Life

“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2). Paul is describing the difference between the law of the Spirit and the law of sin and death, the freedom we have in Christ from the law of sin and death. The law alone leads to sin and death, because it condemns us to judgment. The law of the Spirit of life sets us free, but how?

The Spirit of life is the one that caused Jesus to be conceived in Mary’s womb (Matt 1:18; Luke 1:35). The Holy Spirit becomes the Spirit of life, because he hovers over the darkness of our souls, which are “dead in our trespasses,” (Eph 2:5a) and creates life where no life existed, just as he did in Genesis 1 at creation. Thus we are “made us alive together with Christ” (Eph 2:5b).

It was the Spirit of life that enabled Jesus to live a perfect life in obedience to every command of God the Father. This same Spirit of life is the one that indwells each of us as believers in Christ. Because we have the same Spirit as Jesus had when he walked on this earth, we can walk in obedience to God the Father. This is because of the renewing, transforming work the Holy Spirit does at regeneration, and faith and continues in our sanctification today.

While we will never be able to walk perfectly in obedience as Jesus did on this earth, we are able to walk in obedience sometimes. Before the Spirit of life recreated life in our hearts, souls and minds, we were completely incapable of walking in obedience at anytime. Now we have the capacity to walk in obedience some of the time by living under the influence and directing of the Holy Spirit in our daily living “who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom 8:4b).

Living according to the Spirit requires us to have a transformed nature. It is the same Spirit that gave us life, which also transforms us so that we may think not like someone who walks according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The result of this transformation is that out minds and our emotions become focused on the very things God would have us think on and feel. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit” (Rom 8:5).

Therefore, with this understanding of the change that must take place within us and the required work of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this work, let us seek and pray for the transforming work of the Spirit by praying earnestly and with deep feeling for God to so order it.

Answering by the Spirit

“"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you (John 15:18) . . . When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,” (John 16:13a). The Holy Spirit is a part of God’s provision for when the world persecutes us, because, one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to give us the answers to those who persecute us. Whether it is a martyr facing Islamic militants or a Bible Study leader confronted with a self-righteous student adhering to false teaching. We can and we must rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the answers to our persecutors. We must rely on the Holy Spirit for the right answers because only the Holy Spirit has the responses that God wants the sinner to hear. In our human wisdom and reasoning we will focus on the wrong “point” the rebel needs to hear. We think in our human reasoning the rebel needs to hear this or that; however, what God wants them to hear is probably a different word, the one that will convict them and lead them to see the truth. Only God knows what word they need to hear and what word He wants them to hear. We will only know what that word is by allowing the Holy Spirit to give us the response we are to give them.

Some of the Work of the Holy Spirit

"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). Unless the Holy Spirit bear witness to us of Jesus as our LORD, our redeemer and the Son of God we will never see Jesus as anything more than a good teacher. We are dependant upon the Holy Spirit to see Jesus as our savior and to confess him as our savior. Afterwards we are still dependent upon the Holy Spirit to witness to us the glorious beauty of Christ and the majesty of God the Father. Our veiled eyes are ever darkened to the glorious light shining from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior. Just as sanctification is a process of continuing growth in holiness, so the work of the Holy Spirit continues not just in our sanctification but in witnessing to us the glory of Jesus. Just as the Holy Spirit illumines our minds to the word of truth (1 Cor 1:10) and quickens our hearts to believe on the Lord Jesus (Eph 2:1-5), so also the Spirit illumines our minds to the wonder, the majesty, the beauty, the glories and the joys of our sweet precious Jesus.

Therefore let us all recognize that absences of these revelations in our lives about the nature of Christ are evidence of the Spirit’s inactivity in our hearts, minds and souls (Psa 84:11). Once we recognize the Spirit is inactive in our hearts we must throw ourselves at the mercy seat of heaven and beg for the Spirit’s return. The Spirit’s return will be predicated upon repentance from sin, either known or unknown, that has caused God the Father to withdraw the Holy Spirit from us.

Even this recognition that we are no longer in fellowship with the Father as we have been is a working of the Spirit so that we can be restored in our fellowship. Once we recognize that our awareness of the Spirit’s absence is a work of the Spirit itself, we can confidently and with assurance throw ourselves at the mercy seat of heaven, because the working of the Spirit to make us aware of His absence is the evidence God desires to have us come to him and be restored in fellowship with him. Knowing all this, when we recognize the Spirit is inactive in our lives, let us not hesitate one second to run to the Cross and ask that God lay our sins before us so we can confess them and repent of them. While we are running to the Cross, let us also do so with the confident assurance that God desires that we be reconciled to him and the Holy Spirit restored to us fully again.

Living Life

“For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing” (Luke 12:23). This seems like an odd statement. What kind of life do we have if we do not have food and clothing? Almost all of our working life is spent trying to provide food and clothing for our family. In the time which Jesus was on this earth food and clothing, daily needs, consumed almost everyone’s whole day. For Jesus to say something like this he must be crazy, out of touch with reality or know something we don’t. Once again we see the words of Scripture, God’s words, pointing us to a reality which is foreign to our way of thinking; life on this earth is not what life is all about. Jesus is describing a view of life with an eternal perspective, not the temporal one we normally operate with.

Many will read this verse and see Jesus describing a way of living on this earth, an attitude, in which material possessions are not the main focus of life, but the joy of living in harmony with one’s neighbors and with nature. However, even this view of Jesus intended meaning is linked to the temporal not the eternal perspective. It is a view still concerned with life on this earth. Because Jesus links this passage to the rich fool (12:13-21), he is clearly pointing us to view the way we live this life on earth with how it will affect life in eternity. While there is no single verse or passage that says this, we can glean Jesus’ intention by viewing all he is saying in the gospels and the NT. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Life is living out your called purpose to do the will of God for your life, so that you may enter into his kingdom after this life is over (Matt 25:14-30, John 4:34). The body is more than clothing because it is a reflection of the glory of God, by being made in his image and the temple of the Holy Spirit (John 2:19-21, 1 Cor 6:19).

Having grasped this truth about our lives and our bodies, let us live with a view of eternity in mind. Let our actions, our plans for each day and our lives as a whole be guided by the will of God for our service to him here and reflecting his glory into the world we live in.

Understanding Possessions

“And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on” (Luke 12:22). It is very easy to look at this passage that begins with verse 22 and believe the only point Jesus is making is, “trust God to provide for you.” However, that is a result of reading this passage (12:22-34) disconnected from the rest of chapter 12. Notice how verse 22 begins, “Therefore” is connecting this passage to the previous verses (13-21). This is the parable of the rich fool, who stores up great treasures on earth only to die and never enjoy those treasures and also to be held accountable for his self-centeredness and short-sightedness.

How was he short-sighted, didn’t he make plans for long term security? Even in the way we ask the question we can betray our own failure to understand what is short-sighted and what is long term thinking. By earthly temporal standards the rich fool was thinking long term, because he made plans for financial security for many years. However, Jesus sharply points out that long term temporal thinking is short-sightedness. It is short sighted because the focus is about acquiring and having for oneself with no regard for God and what he values. It is a focus on only what happens in this life not what will happen in eternity. Look at how Jesus responds to a question for him to get involved in a squabble between to brothers over an inheritance, “And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). Then he starts the parable. Now look at how Jesus summarizes the meaning of the parable, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). Temporal only thinking is short sighted because it does not give thought to what God desires and what will happen after this life is over.
Our clue that 22-34 is connected to them also comes from the way Luke records Jesus ending this passage, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:34). Once we see verses 22-34 are connected to and a continuation of verses 13-21, then we can begin to see that trusting God to provide for our needs is manifested in how we handle our possessions.

Let us read the passage on worry and anxiousness with new eyes, eyes enlightened and illuminated by the word of God through the Spirit. Eyes that see we should not worry about our needs while we are being generous to others and God; including fear that our acknowledgement of Christ publicly and doing the will of the Father will lead to losses in our possessions.

Souls That Obey

“So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil 2:10). In this passage Paul links Jesus lordship to his humble obedience to God even taking on human form and dying on the cross (vs. 6-9). Paul then explains some of the implications of Christ lordship in the next passage. Paul connects verses 12-18 to verses 9-11. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence,” (Phil 2:12). Just as Christ was obedient to the will of God the Father, so also should we be obedient to God’s will even if it is not what we would want to do. Paul says, “Do all things without grumbling or questioning,” (Phil 2:14) but why? Because Christ did not grumble or complain but he did the will of the Father.

In addition to Christ example we have the insightful statement, under the revelation of the Holy Spirit, in verse 13, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” We can see that, even in the activities or task we do not desire to do, by being obedient to God’s calling in our life he works in us to desire and to do his will. It is in the process of doing what we do not desire to do, (what he has called us to do that is, contrasted to Rom 7:19-20) that God can mold and shape our hearts and our understanding of him, so that we are more trusting and obedient to him in our hearts and minds. This is the ultimate form of bowing our knee to Jesus, to have our hearts, minds and wills molded and shaped into souls that obey without grumbling or complaining.

Possessing True Humility

“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Phil 2:3). To get a clearer understanding of what Paul is saying in this verse it is necessary to contrast this command to what Paul says in 1:17, “The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.” Paul is referring to the individuals preaching Christ, but seeking to advance themselves in the process while Paul is in prison. These individuals are proclaiming the gospel, but they are doing it out of wrong motives. Once again, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the biblical writer goes to the heart of the hearer. The attitude of our heart does matter (Matt 15:18-19). It is not just enough to moralistically perform the letter of the command Paul gives here in Philippians 2:3. If we act with humility on the outside but all the while have pride and conceit in our hearts over what we are doing, then we are no better than the individuals in 1:17 that were preaching the gospel.

To explain what I mean by acting with humility on the outside let’s say that while at church I am holding the door for all those coming in and saying, “Let me have the privilege of holding the door open for my brother and sister to enter into the house of the Lord.” Yet while I am watching them going in I am thinking and saying in my mind, “What a good example of piety and humility and service I am to these people. Now they can see me for the righteous good man that I am.” This pride in my heart denudes the humility I am displaying outwardly; it is being a lot more like a Pharisee than like a child of God.

This kind of conceit is so easy to have and so hard to fight against. It is such a difficult attitude because we can fool ourselves by the outward actions we are taking. Realizing this difficulty we begin to see why having Christ like humility, that Paul refers to in verses 6-8, is so critical to living out this command. For the deceitfulness of our human hearts makes living this way virtually impossible. To live like this requires the work of the Holy Spirit in our heart, mind and soul. Because only after the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit can we ever hope to live with humility on the outside generated from humility on the inside. May God do so in our hearts and minds today.

Jesus Will Posses What is His

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9-11).

This reality given to us by the apostle Paul is a reaffirmation by the Holy Spirit of a promise God made to Abraham in Gen 22, and Jesus claimed for himself in the gospel of Matthew. When Abraham and Isaac are on Mt. Moriah with Isaac bound and Abraham ready to sacrifice Isaac, the Lord stops him and then says, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,” (Gen 22:17). The last phrase is the one that connects to Philippians 2, “your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies.” It is a promise of ownership and victory in conquest. It is foreshadowed in Joshua’s leading the Israelites in taking the Promised Land.

However, it is Jesus who ultimately fulfills this promise by crushing the power of sin and death at his crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus ultimate fulfillment is in his Lordship over all, he says “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). He establishes his kingdom and he is the irresistible Lord that will posses what is rightfully his. The final fulfillment of this is seen in Rev 11:15 “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." Jesus Lordship is assured because God promised it himself to Abraham and the whole Bible points to the assurance that God keeps his promises and fulfills them completely. Let us submit to our Lord and follow him.

The Safety In Christ’s Reign

“So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,” (Phil 2:10). What comfort this reality gives the believer under persecution for faith and adherence to God’s Word. No matter what the outcome of our individual situations and lives on this earth under persecution, we will have the final victory through Jesus complete Lordship over all. We may experience the victorious King of all Kings taking victory over our adversaries and vindicating us in this life. Or we may suffer under our persecution to the point of death. If the latter, then we will experience victory in the next life as we watch the King of all Kings vindicate us before our tormentors and all the host of eternity.

If we feel the temptation to shrink back (Heb 10:39) from the exhortations of Scripture in the face of persecution, in any form, let us commit this truth to our minds and burn it upon our hearts, so that we will not shrink back for fear of man, but boldly stand firm for the glory of God and the good of our souls. Remembering that God has given Christ “the name above all names” (Phil 2:9), “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”

Concern for Others

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 2:5). What mind is it we are to have? Part of the answer comes from verse four, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” So the mind Paul is commanding us to have is one that looks not only to our own interest but also to the interest of others. (From the grammar of the original language we know this is a command and not a suggestion.) This is a daunting challenge for any moral person, to look after not only his own interest but also the interest of others! In fact it is impossible for even a moral person to live-up to this standard.

Even the most moral person will put his or her own interest first, then the interest of others in their daily life. Just think about your drive to work each day. How often do you place your own interest first at a stop light or a lane merging? Our self-centered nature has us hardwired to place our own interest ahead of others.

What hope is there then for living-up to such a command in Scripture? The hope of faith in Christ and the life changing work that the Holy Spirit brings when one believes in Christ. Notice the last half of verse five, “which is yours in Christ Jesus.” The mind of looking out for not only your own interest but the interest of others comes from Christ. Why? Because only a change in our hearts and minds, done by the Holy Spirit as part of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in a believer, can empower us to follow Christ example and give-up everything for the sake of others (the other part of what mind we are to have).

The proof of what I say is found not only in Scripture through the life of Christ and then the apostles, but it is also found in the biographies of God’s servants. Read the biographies of Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson and Lottie Moon. In them you will see the evidence of Philippians 2:5. You will also see how such obedience to this command came only through the transforming of their heart, mind and soul by the gospel of Jesus Christ. May God grant us the gift of His Holy Spirit capturing our entire beings as it did those heroes of the faith.

Living By Christ's Example

“Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2). The first thing we must understand from this statement Paul gives us is the completing of Paul’s joy by the Philippians is not a request or a plea. From the original language we know that Paul is commanding them to complete his joy. Paul is commanding the Philippians (and us) to have the same mind, love and corporate unity, same as what? The remainder of the passage tells us about Christ and His example. Paul is commanding us to have the same mindset and servant humility that Christ had.

What was that servant humility Christ had? “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). Christ servant humility was obedience to the Father’s plan despite the “unpleasantness” of the plan. However, if we stopped here with our understanding of Christ’s servant humility we quite miss the point.

Christ was obedient to death even though he was God and had all the rights, privileges and authority that go with His divinity. Yet Jesus willingly laid all those rights and privileges aside to take on human flesh and become fully human, (while still remaining fully God). All through the gospels we see a Jesus that never demanded nor asserted the rights and privileges he was due as the Son of God in Human flesh for His own needs but only for others. He humbly served humanity as the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the world (Matt 20:28; John 1:29).

So what Paul is commanding you and I is to humbly accept our role in the Kingdom of God following Christ’s example. Not demanding our rights and privileges as children of God (John 1:12), but humbly being obedient to God’s plan and call in our lives, even to the point of death if God so wills it. Or being obedient in the more difficult task, to live a faithful and godly life, being “doers of the word, and not hearers only,” (James 1:22). Nothing but living under and in the power of the Holy Spirit makes such a life possible.

The Ruler of the Universe

“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). Was Jesus at the Father’s side before he came to earth or after he came? Why can’t it mean both? The context of John’s passage is pointing to the eternity of Christ in the opening verses, then John moves to talking about Christ physical presence on the earth. The paragraph ending with vs. 18 is focusing on God the Son being revealed to us. It would seem to suggest that John is referring to Christ position before he came to earth. However, later in John’s gospel he recounts Jesus saying he was about to return to the Father (John 16). It is not beyond the realm of reasonableness to conclude John is also making a statement of where Jesus is now during his introduction.

So many places in the NT speak of Jesus being at the right hand of the Father, Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33-4, Acts 7:55-56; Rom 8:34; Col 3:1; Heb 1:13, 10:12; 1 Pet 3:22. Then we have Jesus himself describing this scene in Matthew (22:44), Mark (12:36) and Luke (20:42).

Because several of these are quotations or references to Psalm 110:1 we must see that while John may have only been referring to where Jesus was before he came to earth, it is clear both are true. Jesus was at the right hand of God before he came to earth and he is at the right of God even now. Recognizing the right hand is the hand of power and authority, these claims of Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father carry huge implications. Namely Jesus is the one in authority over the entire universe, second only to God the Father (John 14:28).

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!

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!

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.