Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "resurrection"
Lord Houdini? – Part 1
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” [1 Kings 17:24]
Most of us have heard of Harry Houdini, the all time greatest magician of the world. He performed some amazing feats, feats which captured the attention of people having even the severest cases of attention deficit disorder. His name will never be forgotten.
It might pique your curiosity to know that Houdini began his magic career with card tricks. He dubbed himself the king of cards. After a time Houdini moved on to being an escape artist. He would get himself out of handcuffs, locked rooms, even jail, while onlookers watched dumbfounded.
When copycats began imitating his tricks, Houdini upped the ante. He created routines where he was locked in a large metal milk container filled with water, while being handcuffed with his hands behind his back. It made his show even more derring-do, the fact that his life was in the balance. No doubt about it. Houdini is still the master of magic today. We cannot help but marvel at his genius with magic.
In our text today we have a widowed mother doing some serious marveling herself. It would seem she had an only son who became deathly ill, ill to the point of actually dying. This woman lived in the region of Sidon along the Mediterranean coast bordering northern Israel. She was not an Israelite. She did not know King YHWH of Israel. She was a Phoenician heathen, though she obviously respected the Israelites and their God.
How do we know that? Well, she knew Elijah the Tishbite, that’s how. She even prepared a room for Elijah in her home, so that he would have a place to stay when he was in the vicinity. But how did a heathen woman outside Israel come to know Elijah anyway?
It’s like this. As retaliation to King Ahab and Jezebel for practicing Baal worship in northern Israel, the Lord sent His prophet Elijah to announce an indefinite drought on the land. Jezebel was herself a Sidonian king’s daughter, and the Sidonians worshiped the idol Baal. So after King Ahab married the evil wench Jezebel, she brought Baal worship into Israel with her and promoted it to the Israelites.
During the famine the Lord hid Elijah on the east bank at the brook Cherith for a while, employing ravens to bring him his food. The brook served as his source of water. When the brook dried up the Lord directed Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay with the widow for the remainder of the famine. That is how a heathen widow in Sidon came to know the godly prophet Elijah.
Oh, dear. We are out of time again. So we will spend some time alone with the Lord now and continue this story in our next study. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Most of us have heard of Harry Houdini, the all time greatest magician of the world. He performed some amazing feats, feats which captured the attention of people having even the severest cases of attention deficit disorder. His name will never be forgotten.
It might pique your curiosity to know that Houdini began his magic career with card tricks. He dubbed himself the king of cards. After a time Houdini moved on to being an escape artist. He would get himself out of handcuffs, locked rooms, even jail, while onlookers watched dumbfounded.
When copycats began imitating his tricks, Houdini upped the ante. He created routines where he was locked in a large metal milk container filled with water, while being handcuffed with his hands behind his back. It made his show even more derring-do, the fact that his life was in the balance. No doubt about it. Houdini is still the master of magic today. We cannot help but marvel at his genius with magic.
In our text today we have a widowed mother doing some serious marveling herself. It would seem she had an only son who became deathly ill, ill to the point of actually dying. This woman lived in the region of Sidon along the Mediterranean coast bordering northern Israel. She was not an Israelite. She did not know King YHWH of Israel. She was a Phoenician heathen, though she obviously respected the Israelites and their God.
How do we know that? Well, she knew Elijah the Tishbite, that’s how. She even prepared a room for Elijah in her home, so that he would have a place to stay when he was in the vicinity. But how did a heathen woman outside Israel come to know Elijah anyway?
It’s like this. As retaliation to King Ahab and Jezebel for practicing Baal worship in northern Israel, the Lord sent His prophet Elijah to announce an indefinite drought on the land. Jezebel was herself a Sidonian king’s daughter, and the Sidonians worshiped the idol Baal. So after King Ahab married the evil wench Jezebel, she brought Baal worship into Israel with her and promoted it to the Israelites.
During the famine the Lord hid Elijah on the east bank at the brook Cherith for a while, employing ravens to bring him his food. The brook served as his source of water. When the brook dried up the Lord directed Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidon and stay with the widow for the remainder of the famine. That is how a heathen widow in Sidon came to know the godly prophet Elijah.
Oh, dear. We are out of time again. So we will spend some time alone with the Lord now and continue this story in our next study. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Lord Houdini? – Part 2
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” [1 Kings 17:24]
We concluded our last study by noting how a heathen Phoenecian widow knew Elijah and His God. Now let’s continue with the point to the story.
While Elijah was staying with this widow, her son died. She cried to Elijah and Elijah cried to the Lord, to King YHWH of Israel. To make a long story short, the Lord answered Elijah’s prayer affirmatively and raised the deceased boy out of death. Elijah then returned the boy to his mother alive and well.
Dear friends, we recognize this as a miracle. Some folks refuse to accept miracles, so they deny this account ever happened. Others do accept miracles as real and praise the Lord for this one and for others. All this is well and good, but the Lord isn’t Harry Houdini.
The Lord doesn’t perform tricks of the trade. The Lord performs genuine prima facie miracles. He suspends the “laws of nature”, His normal method of working, in order to do something contrary to the norm. This is something we Christians can easily misunderstand or forget. And when we do so, we wind up seeking miracles to tickle our fancy. We search for Lord Houdini instead of Lord Jesus.
In the story of today’s Bible verse the Phoenician mother unwittingly blurted out this Biblical teaching about miracles. She cried to the Lord’s prophet and received her dead son back alive again, a miracle. Her response was to state that the miracle proved Elijah was a prophet of the one true God, and that Elijah’s words were the Word of God.
That, my dear friends, is the purpose in the Lord performing miracles. Miracles serve as a witness that the Lord is the one true God. They are not given to evoke oohs and aahs from us and leave us gasping at Lord Houdini and His magic tricks. They are given to evoke genuflection from us, so that we surrender our hearts to Him in worship and service.
Let’s get together with the Lord now and hold a serious conversation with Him. Let’s surrender our lives to Him and begin the journey of a new life in Christ. And may the name of the Lord be praised in the doing of this.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deteuronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We concluded our last study by noting how a heathen Phoenecian widow knew Elijah and His God. Now let’s continue with the point to the story.
While Elijah was staying with this widow, her son died. She cried to Elijah and Elijah cried to the Lord, to King YHWH of Israel. To make a long story short, the Lord answered Elijah’s prayer affirmatively and raised the deceased boy out of death. Elijah then returned the boy to his mother alive and well.
Dear friends, we recognize this as a miracle. Some folks refuse to accept miracles, so they deny this account ever happened. Others do accept miracles as real and praise the Lord for this one and for others. All this is well and good, but the Lord isn’t Harry Houdini.
The Lord doesn’t perform tricks of the trade. The Lord performs genuine prima facie miracles. He suspends the “laws of nature”, His normal method of working, in order to do something contrary to the norm. This is something we Christians can easily misunderstand or forget. And when we do so, we wind up seeking miracles to tickle our fancy. We search for Lord Houdini instead of Lord Jesus.
In the story of today’s Bible verse the Phoenician mother unwittingly blurted out this Biblical teaching about miracles. She cried to the Lord’s prophet and received her dead son back alive again, a miracle. Her response was to state that the miracle proved Elijah was a prophet of the one true God, and that Elijah’s words were the Word of God.
That, my dear friends, is the purpose in the Lord performing miracles. Miracles serve as a witness that the Lord is the one true God. They are not given to evoke oohs and aahs from us and leave us gasping at Lord Houdini and His magic tricks. They are given to evoke genuflection from us, so that we surrender our hearts to Him in worship and service.
Let’s get together with the Lord now and hold a serious conversation with Him. Let’s surrender our lives to Him and begin the journey of a new life in Christ. And may the name of the Lord be praised in the doing of this.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deteuronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Foolish Sages and Wimpy Brutes – Part 1
For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God [1 Corinthians 1:22-24].
I recall this phrase that has made the rounds for generations now. It goes something like this:
There are all kinds of people in the world.
In some sense this may well be true. According to the three verses quoted above, God only recognizes three kinds of people. Let’s itemize them for ready reference:
1. Jews
2. Gentiles (Greeks)
3. the called of God
Each of these three types of people is identified by a distinguishing characteristic. We will also itemize the three characteristics, listing each one accoriding to the order of the three types of people above:
1. ask for signs
2. search for wisdom
3. preach Christ crucified
There is one more detail given in the quoted text we mustn’t leave out. The called of God preach Christ crucified. The additional detail we mentioned is this: the preaching of Christ crucified receives three different responses, depending on which of the three types of people we belong to. Let’s itemize these three responses. We will do so according to the order of the three types of people given above:
1. a stumbling block
2. foolishness
3. the power and wisdom of God
That about does it. I believe we’ve exhausted the details of the three verses quoted at the start of this study. Now let’s get to work assaying the details.
The Jews were one type or classification of people in the world. A Jew (aka a Hebrew or Semite) is any person whose lineage traces back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I list all three Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for a reason. Abraham had many sons besides Isaac, but only Isaac carried on the Abrahamic Covenant. God made that determination.
Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. God classified Esau as a profane and godless man who despised the Abrahamic Covenant. Esau loved the world and the things of the world. He had neither time nor love for the things of God. By God’s sovereign choice only Jacob carried on the Abrahamic Covenant. God renamed Jacob to Israel.
Jacob/Israel had twelve sons. Each of these twelve sons grew into a tribe of Israel and became the Israelites. God sovereignly chose to continue the Abrahamic Covenant through the Israelites. God also sovereignly determined to bring the Messiah into the world through the lineage of the Israelites, specifically through the lineage of the tribe of Judah and the family of David.
The Lord gave the Israelites the Promised Land and the Law of Moses (aka Torah). The Law of Moses served as the legal code of the Israelites while they lived in the Promised Land. This distinguished the Israelites (aka Jews) from the Gentiles (i.e., everyone not a Jew).
The Israelites had a covenantal relationship with the Lord: all the other peoples of the world had no relationship with the Lord. This was God’s sovereign decision. The Israelites had the Lord as their King: all the other peoples of the world had an earthly king of their own making. The Israelites had the Law of Moses, God’s Word in the world back in the day: all the other peoples of the world had their own imaginations and inventions to govern them.
The last several paragraphs distinguished the Jews from the Gentiles (i.e., all the other peoples of the world aside from the Jews). So we’ve also defined the Gentiles and noted their peculiarities as God sees it. There is one final detail to hammer out with regard to the Gentiles. I will explain it in the next study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I recall this phrase that has made the rounds for generations now. It goes something like this:
There are all kinds of people in the world.
In some sense this may well be true. According to the three verses quoted above, God only recognizes three kinds of people. Let’s itemize them for ready reference:
1. Jews
2. Gentiles (Greeks)
3. the called of God
Each of these three types of people is identified by a distinguishing characteristic. We will also itemize the three characteristics, listing each one accoriding to the order of the three types of people above:
1. ask for signs
2. search for wisdom
3. preach Christ crucified
There is one more detail given in the quoted text we mustn’t leave out. The called of God preach Christ crucified. The additional detail we mentioned is this: the preaching of Christ crucified receives three different responses, depending on which of the three types of people we belong to. Let’s itemize these three responses. We will do so according to the order of the three types of people given above:
1. a stumbling block
2. foolishness
3. the power and wisdom of God
That about does it. I believe we’ve exhausted the details of the three verses quoted at the start of this study. Now let’s get to work assaying the details.
The Jews were one type or classification of people in the world. A Jew (aka a Hebrew or Semite) is any person whose lineage traces back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I list all three Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for a reason. Abraham had many sons besides Isaac, but only Isaac carried on the Abrahamic Covenant. God made that determination.
Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. God classified Esau as a profane and godless man who despised the Abrahamic Covenant. Esau loved the world and the things of the world. He had neither time nor love for the things of God. By God’s sovereign choice only Jacob carried on the Abrahamic Covenant. God renamed Jacob to Israel.
Jacob/Israel had twelve sons. Each of these twelve sons grew into a tribe of Israel and became the Israelites. God sovereignly chose to continue the Abrahamic Covenant through the Israelites. God also sovereignly determined to bring the Messiah into the world through the lineage of the Israelites, specifically through the lineage of the tribe of Judah and the family of David.
The Lord gave the Israelites the Promised Land and the Law of Moses (aka Torah). The Law of Moses served as the legal code of the Israelites while they lived in the Promised Land. This distinguished the Israelites (aka Jews) from the Gentiles (i.e., everyone not a Jew).
The Israelites had a covenantal relationship with the Lord: all the other peoples of the world had no relationship with the Lord. This was God’s sovereign decision. The Israelites had the Lord as their King: all the other peoples of the world had an earthly king of their own making. The Israelites had the Law of Moses, God’s Word in the world back in the day: all the other peoples of the world had their own imaginations and inventions to govern them.
The last several paragraphs distinguished the Jews from the Gentiles (i.e., all the other peoples of the world aside from the Jews). So we’ve also defined the Gentiles and noted their peculiarities as God sees it. There is one final detail to hammer out with regard to the Gentiles. I will explain it in the next study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Foolish Sages and Wimpy Brutes – Part 2
For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God [1 Corinthians 1:22-24].
We defined Jews and Gentiles and noted their peculiarities as God sees it. There is one final detail to hammer out with regard to the Gentiles. Permit me to explain it.
In the quoted text both the Greeks and the Gentiles are referenced. Whereas the Greeks are part of the other peoples of the world apart from the Jews, this makes the Greeks to be a people group of the Gentiles. So why did God single out the Greeks in these verses?
The answer isn’t difficult to cull from the text. Consider the distinguishing characteristic of the Gentiles which Paul referenced in 1 Corinthians: they “search for wisdom”. Anyone who has an inkling of the ancient world, or even of philosophy in general, knows the Greeks invented philosophy.
The word “philosophy” comes from two Greek words, “philos” (love) and “sophos” (wisdom). The word “philosophy” means “the love of wisdom”. In the ancient world the Greeks symbolized the love of wisdom, and they still do today. They were noted for loving wisdom because they incessantly “searched for wisdom”.
This was why Paul singled out the Greeks as representative of the Gentiles. He contrasted the non-Christian peoples with the Christians. The non-Christians are comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. What was the difference between non-Christian Jews and non-Christian Gentiles? This difference was the distinguishing detail Paul noted in the quoted verses.
The Jews demanded to see signs, to see miracles, whenever someone claimed to be sent by God. The Greeks attempted to know the truth about God through the medium of man’s own understanding (aka wisdom). Though the Greeks were the most outstanding example of this, all the world’s peoples imagined God to be the way they thought He should be. Ergo, the Greeks the quintessential Gentiles.
After distinguishing the two classes of non-Christians in the world, Paul then gave the definition of a Christian to distinguish them from the non-Christians. A Christian “preaches Christ crucified”. Isn’t that interesting? Yes, it is. But what does it mean?
Jesus expressed it best—considering the context of the quote from 1 Corinthians—when He said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” The Jews as a people still attempt to approach God through the Law of Moses. The Gentiles still attempt to approach God by following their own reasonings (aka wisdom or philosophy). Only the Christians approach God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus died on the cross (i.e., was crucified), in order to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind. Each person individually—whether Jew or Gentile it matters not—but each individual must come to Jesus by recognizing his sin. Sin separates man from God, so the sinner cannot approach God. To approach God sin must first be removed.
Jesus’ death on the cross gave man a way to have his sin removed. By going to Jesus and confessing my sins, I receive Jesus’ payment for the penalty of my sins. Once I do that I am justified by faith in Christ Jesus.
The word “justified” means the eternal Judge in heaven hammers the gavel on his Judge’s bench and roars His verdict, “Not guilty!” Thenceforth God no longer sees me the sinner. He now sees me “in Christ”. Christ is without sin, so I am too. By His crucifixion Christ made it possible for my sins to be removed. By His resurrection He made it possible for His life, the new resurrection life, to live in me.
This is what it means to be a Christian. In our next study we will descant on this issue more thoroughly.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We defined Jews and Gentiles and noted their peculiarities as God sees it. There is one final detail to hammer out with regard to the Gentiles. Permit me to explain it.
In the quoted text both the Greeks and the Gentiles are referenced. Whereas the Greeks are part of the other peoples of the world apart from the Jews, this makes the Greeks to be a people group of the Gentiles. So why did God single out the Greeks in these verses?
The answer isn’t difficult to cull from the text. Consider the distinguishing characteristic of the Gentiles which Paul referenced in 1 Corinthians: they “search for wisdom”. Anyone who has an inkling of the ancient world, or even of philosophy in general, knows the Greeks invented philosophy.
The word “philosophy” comes from two Greek words, “philos” (love) and “sophos” (wisdom). The word “philosophy” means “the love of wisdom”. In the ancient world the Greeks symbolized the love of wisdom, and they still do today. They were noted for loving wisdom because they incessantly “searched for wisdom”.
This was why Paul singled out the Greeks as representative of the Gentiles. He contrasted the non-Christian peoples with the Christians. The non-Christians are comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. What was the difference between non-Christian Jews and non-Christian Gentiles? This difference was the distinguishing detail Paul noted in the quoted verses.
The Jews demanded to see signs, to see miracles, whenever someone claimed to be sent by God. The Greeks attempted to know the truth about God through the medium of man’s own understanding (aka wisdom). Though the Greeks were the most outstanding example of this, all the world’s peoples imagined God to be the way they thought He should be. Ergo, the Greeks the quintessential Gentiles.
After distinguishing the two classes of non-Christians in the world, Paul then gave the definition of a Christian to distinguish them from the non-Christians. A Christian “preaches Christ crucified”. Isn’t that interesting? Yes, it is. But what does it mean?
Jesus expressed it best—considering the context of the quote from 1 Corinthians—when He said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” The Jews as a people still attempt to approach God through the Law of Moses. The Gentiles still attempt to approach God by following their own reasonings (aka wisdom or philosophy). Only the Christians approach God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus died on the cross (i.e., was crucified), in order to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind. Each person individually—whether Jew or Gentile it matters not—but each individual must come to Jesus by recognizing his sin. Sin separates man from God, so the sinner cannot approach God. To approach God sin must first be removed.
Jesus’ death on the cross gave man a way to have his sin removed. By going to Jesus and confessing my sins, I receive Jesus’ payment for the penalty of my sins. Once I do that I am justified by faith in Christ Jesus.
The word “justified” means the eternal Judge in heaven hammers the gavel on his Judge’s bench and roars His verdict, “Not guilty!” Thenceforth God no longer sees me the sinner. He now sees me “in Christ”. Christ is without sin, so I am too. By His crucifixion Christ made it possible for my sins to be removed. By His resurrection He made it possible for His life, the new resurrection life, to live in me.
This is what it means to be a Christian. In our next study we will descant on this issue more thoroughly.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Foolish Sages and Wimpy Brutes – Part 3
For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God [1 Corinthians 1:22-24].
Jesus’ death and resurrection provide us with the means to be a Christian. Too often a Christian is deemed to be anyone who says the name Jesus, or anyone who goes to church, or anyone whose parents go to church. As we just explained the Biblical definition of a Christian, the everyday identification of a Christian is faulty to the core.
Because of this some Christians sometimes distinguish themselves from religious folks by adopting the moniker “born again Christian”. I see two things wrong with this approach though. For one, the moniker is a tautology. Any real “Christian” is “born again”.
For another thing there is only one type of Christian. No one can truly be a Christian apart from being born again. Being born again is the way a Christian comes into existence. Accordingly those folks who skip the born again part and go straight to the head of the class by attending church and claiming to be Christians—the Bible defines them as non-Christians.
It matters not whether they have good intentions, or whether they are evil impostors who slither into the church to corrupt it, or anything in between. They are not really Christians because they are not born again.
They are born only once (cf., Revelation 20:11-15), and that in the way all men are born, viz., through the instrumentation of sinful parents. This makes them sinners also because God created each species to reproduce after itself. Sinners cannot give birth to saints. They can only give birth to other sinners.
In summation, Jews demand to see miracles as proof of God. Gentiles insist on reasoning out all the facts about God. Logic is king to them, not God. In contrast to those two, Christians preach Christ crucified.
The crucifixion of Christ displays both the wisdom of God and the power of God. The two phrases are crucial because one is God’s answer to the Jews, the other His answer to the Gentiles. The Jews elevate God’s visible works (i.e., miracles) to the throne of God. They identify God by His actions, while relegating His Person to the back burner.
God’s response to this is to show Himself visibly in the Person of Jesus Christ. The Jews pushed God’s works to the front. In response God pushed His Person to the front. Jesus is “the power of God”.
The Gentiles elevate man’s intelligence to the throne of God. They eat at the kogae tree and draw conclusions based on what seems right in their own eyes. Their conclusions are formed from their reasoning and their experiences.
God’s response to this is to explain deity and eternity through the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus went about preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching man the wisdom of God. The culmination of God’s wisdom came at the cross of Christ and the empty tomb. The Gentiles pushed man’s intelligence to the front. God countered by pushing His intelligence to the front. Jesus is “the wisdom of God”.
Let me be quite frank and pointed, dear friends. If you were born of Jewish parents, then you are a Jew. If you were born of non-Jewish parents, then you are a Gentile. But none of this is relevant to God because we aren’t responsible for who our parents are!
We are responsible, however, for how we respond to God. He holds out His hand and offers us a pardon, paid for by the blood of Jesus on the cross. If we receive it, then we are born again. If we reject it, then we are only born once. We indeed are responsible for that decision!
So step up to the cross and receive your pardon. Don’t just be born. Be born again. Give glory to God and confess your sins to Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Jesus’ death and resurrection provide us with the means to be a Christian. Too often a Christian is deemed to be anyone who says the name Jesus, or anyone who goes to church, or anyone whose parents go to church. As we just explained the Biblical definition of a Christian, the everyday identification of a Christian is faulty to the core.
Because of this some Christians sometimes distinguish themselves from religious folks by adopting the moniker “born again Christian”. I see two things wrong with this approach though. For one, the moniker is a tautology. Any real “Christian” is “born again”.
For another thing there is only one type of Christian. No one can truly be a Christian apart from being born again. Being born again is the way a Christian comes into existence. Accordingly those folks who skip the born again part and go straight to the head of the class by attending church and claiming to be Christians—the Bible defines them as non-Christians.
It matters not whether they have good intentions, or whether they are evil impostors who slither into the church to corrupt it, or anything in between. They are not really Christians because they are not born again.
They are born only once (cf., Revelation 20:11-15), and that in the way all men are born, viz., through the instrumentation of sinful parents. This makes them sinners also because God created each species to reproduce after itself. Sinners cannot give birth to saints. They can only give birth to other sinners.
In summation, Jews demand to see miracles as proof of God. Gentiles insist on reasoning out all the facts about God. Logic is king to them, not God. In contrast to those two, Christians preach Christ crucified.
The crucifixion of Christ displays both the wisdom of God and the power of God. The two phrases are crucial because one is God’s answer to the Jews, the other His answer to the Gentiles. The Jews elevate God’s visible works (i.e., miracles) to the throne of God. They identify God by His actions, while relegating His Person to the back burner.
God’s response to this is to show Himself visibly in the Person of Jesus Christ. The Jews pushed God’s works to the front. In response God pushed His Person to the front. Jesus is “the power of God”.
The Gentiles elevate man’s intelligence to the throne of God. They eat at the kogae tree and draw conclusions based on what seems right in their own eyes. Their conclusions are formed from their reasoning and their experiences.
God’s response to this is to explain deity and eternity through the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus went about preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching man the wisdom of God. The culmination of God’s wisdom came at the cross of Christ and the empty tomb. The Gentiles pushed man’s intelligence to the front. God countered by pushing His intelligence to the front. Jesus is “the wisdom of God”.
Let me be quite frank and pointed, dear friends. If you were born of Jewish parents, then you are a Jew. If you were born of non-Jewish parents, then you are a Gentile. But none of this is relevant to God because we aren’t responsible for who our parents are!
We are responsible, however, for how we respond to God. He holds out His hand and offers us a pardon, paid for by the blood of Jesus on the cross. If we receive it, then we are born again. If we reject it, then we are only born once. We indeed are responsible for that decision!
So step up to the cross and receive your pardon. Don’t just be born. Be born again. Give glory to God and confess your sins to Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Two for the Price of One – Part 1
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins [1 Corinthians 15:17].
The cross of Christ is the axis around which all history revolves. Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for the penalty of all mankind’s sins is central for humanity.
God created mankind to be His family. Like unruly kids man chose to go his own way and be his own god. God responded by providing man-the-prodigal-son a way back into His good graces. The way is through the cross of Christ. There is no other way (John 14:6).
We sing songs about the cross, Calvary, Golgotha, the crucifixion. We write songs about the cross, Calvary, Golgotha, the crucifixion. In sermons, Sunday School classes, and revival meetings we hear about the cross, Calvary, Golgotha, the crucifixion. On television, the radio, and the theater we learn about the cross, Calvary, Golgotha, the crucifixion.
How could it be otherwise? The cross is where the blood of Jesus was shed, where the wages of sin was paid, where a holy life was ended so that the lives of all sinners might cease. Death came via the cross, death to sin, death to sinners, death to a world engulfed in darkness.
Whoever will may live because of the cross of Christ. Whoever will…that is the key. Will I? Will you? Who will? Yet even as we sing and read and hear about the cross of Christ, we cannot but speak of life, of living, of being born again to newness of life.
Don’t you find it a little strange? I mean, how do we get from the place of death with its grotesque and lurid images of a mangled body, tortured beyond endurance, mutilated beyond recognition, barely resembling a human being any more—how do we get from there to life, and not just life but true life, perfect life, eternal life? On the one hand the subject revolves around death, on the other life becomes the subject. How can this be?
Scripture teaches that two groups of people comprise humanity. There are those who are born once and die twice, and then there are those who are born twice and die once. Sound confusing? It doesn’t have to.
Every human being is born once. How else can he exist as a human being? He must first be born in order to exist. Every human being is born a sinner because his parents are sinners and like begets like. When Father Adam sinned, he became a sinner. Consequently, since all human beings descend from Father Adam, all human beings are born as sinners.
The wages of sin is death. Since every human being is a sinner, he sins. Ergo, every human being has to die. Conclusion: every human being is born at least once and dies at least once. The difference between the two groups of human beings is between dying once and dying twice, between being born once and being born twice.
We will continue this theme in our next study. Be sure to thank the Lord for dying on your behalf. He does like to hear us thank Him.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The cross of Christ is the axis around which all history revolves. Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for the penalty of all mankind’s sins is central for humanity.
God created mankind to be His family. Like unruly kids man chose to go his own way and be his own god. God responded by providing man-the-prodigal-son a way back into His good graces. The way is through the cross of Christ. There is no other way (John 14:6).
We sing songs about the cross, Calvary, Golgotha, the crucifixion. We write songs about the cross, Calvary, Golgotha, the crucifixion. In sermons, Sunday School classes, and revival meetings we hear about the cross, Calvary, Golgotha, the crucifixion. On television, the radio, and the theater we learn about the cross, Calvary, Golgotha, the crucifixion.
How could it be otherwise? The cross is where the blood of Jesus was shed, where the wages of sin was paid, where a holy life was ended so that the lives of all sinners might cease. Death came via the cross, death to sin, death to sinners, death to a world engulfed in darkness.
Whoever will may live because of the cross of Christ. Whoever will…that is the key. Will I? Will you? Who will? Yet even as we sing and read and hear about the cross of Christ, we cannot but speak of life, of living, of being born again to newness of life.
Don’t you find it a little strange? I mean, how do we get from the place of death with its grotesque and lurid images of a mangled body, tortured beyond endurance, mutilated beyond recognition, barely resembling a human being any more—how do we get from there to life, and not just life but true life, perfect life, eternal life? On the one hand the subject revolves around death, on the other life becomes the subject. How can this be?
Scripture teaches that two groups of people comprise humanity. There are those who are born once and die twice, and then there are those who are born twice and die once. Sound confusing? It doesn’t have to.
Every human being is born once. How else can he exist as a human being? He must first be born in order to exist. Every human being is born a sinner because his parents are sinners and like begets like. When Father Adam sinned, he became a sinner. Consequently, since all human beings descend from Father Adam, all human beings are born as sinners.
The wages of sin is death. Since every human being is a sinner, he sins. Ergo, every human being has to die. Conclusion: every human being is born at least once and dies at least once. The difference between the two groups of human beings is between dying once and dying twice, between being born once and being born twice.
We will continue this theme in our next study. Be sure to thank the Lord for dying on your behalf. He does like to hear us thank Him.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Two for the Price of One – Part 2
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins [1 Corinthians 15:17].
Those human beings who approach the Lord Jesus, confess their sins to Him, and ask for His forgiveness—these folks are born twice. Based upon Jesus completed work on the cross, their sins are removed because Jesus paid the penalty for them and they accepted His payment. Thenceforth they are “in Christ”. As He is without sin, so too are they “in Christ”.
Those human beings who don’t approach the Lord Jesus to confess their sins and ask for His forgiveness, who choose to go another way of their own making or choosing—these folks are born once. They are not “in Christ” because they reject His payment on the cross for the penalty of their sins. Consequently the bill still demands payment, and the wages of sin is death. Ergo, they must die for their sins.
Each of us eventually goes the way of all flesh. We die once. We die and pass into eternity. If we went to the cross and accepted the payment for the penalty of our sins, the bill is paid and we don’t die again. Indeed, from the moment we accepted Jesus’ payment for our sins, we were born again, born the second time, born twice…never to die again. By going to the cross of Christ and accepting His payment for the penalty of our sins, we are born the second time and only die once.
Alas, but those who are only born once face a different fate in eternity. They stand before the great white throne tribunal of Jesus Christ and are judged according to their deeds. No, they are not judged based upon their estimation of their deeds. They are judged according to the Lord’s estimation of their deeds.
Dear people, it won’t be pretty at the great white throne tribunal. As the Bible clearly reveals, all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous, not even one. All have gone their own way. No one seeks God in spirit and truth. All our righteousnesses are but filthy rags.
This will be exposed in all its hideousness at the great white throne. Every man’s works will be shown to be contaminated through and through with sin. Not one of man’s works will appear righteous, all good intentions not withstanding. Consequently, Judge Jesus will hammer his gavel on the Judge’s bench and thunder, “Guilty and sentenced to the lake of fire for all eternity!” That is the second death. This group of humans is born only once, so they die twice.
We’ve descanted today on both death and life, mostly on death because we spent our time around the cross of Christ. However, the Lord provides a bargain deal: two for the price of one. He not only offers us death to sin on the cross, but He gives a second heaping helping of life to righteousness at the empty tomb.
That is the message of the verse we quoted to kick off this study. But we haven’t time to delve into the issue now. Our time is up. Let’s enjoy time with the Lord before bed, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Those human beings who approach the Lord Jesus, confess their sins to Him, and ask for His forgiveness—these folks are born twice. Based upon Jesus completed work on the cross, their sins are removed because Jesus paid the penalty for them and they accepted His payment. Thenceforth they are “in Christ”. As He is without sin, so too are they “in Christ”.
Those human beings who don’t approach the Lord Jesus to confess their sins and ask for His forgiveness, who choose to go another way of their own making or choosing—these folks are born once. They are not “in Christ” because they reject His payment on the cross for the penalty of their sins. Consequently the bill still demands payment, and the wages of sin is death. Ergo, they must die for their sins.
Each of us eventually goes the way of all flesh. We die once. We die and pass into eternity. If we went to the cross and accepted the payment for the penalty of our sins, the bill is paid and we don’t die again. Indeed, from the moment we accepted Jesus’ payment for our sins, we were born again, born the second time, born twice…never to die again. By going to the cross of Christ and accepting His payment for the penalty of our sins, we are born the second time and only die once.
Alas, but those who are only born once face a different fate in eternity. They stand before the great white throne tribunal of Jesus Christ and are judged according to their deeds. No, they are not judged based upon their estimation of their deeds. They are judged according to the Lord’s estimation of their deeds.
Dear people, it won’t be pretty at the great white throne tribunal. As the Bible clearly reveals, all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous, not even one. All have gone their own way. No one seeks God in spirit and truth. All our righteousnesses are but filthy rags.
This will be exposed in all its hideousness at the great white throne. Every man’s works will be shown to be contaminated through and through with sin. Not one of man’s works will appear righteous, all good intentions not withstanding. Consequently, Judge Jesus will hammer his gavel on the Judge’s bench and thunder, “Guilty and sentenced to the lake of fire for all eternity!” That is the second death. This group of humans is born only once, so they die twice.
We’ve descanted today on both death and life, mostly on death because we spent our time around the cross of Christ. However, the Lord provides a bargain deal: two for the price of one. He not only offers us death to sin on the cross, but He gives a second heaping helping of life to righteousness at the empty tomb.
That is the message of the verse we quoted to kick off this study. But we haven’t time to delve into the issue now. Our time is up. Let’s enjoy time with the Lord before bed, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Two for the Price of One – Part 3
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins [1 Corinthians 15:17].
The message of the verse we quoted to kick off this study teaches about life as well as death. “How so?” you wonder, as you read the words of the verse with befuddlement. Permit me to explain it.
If Christ did not rise out of death, then we are still in our sins because the penalty for sins wasn’t accepted. Accordingly, we must die twice because we are only born once. But…but…BUT Christ did die on the cross as payment for the penalty of our sins, and He did rise out of death to demonstrate God’s acceptance of His perfect payment for sins. And by faith we accepted His payment on our behalf.
Having done so we are born again, born twice, and we have His new resurrection life in exchange for our old life of sin. The subject of the entire fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is not the cross and death. It is the empty tomb and life, eternal life and the new resurrection body.
There could be no empty tomb apart from Christ’s death on the cross, so the cross and death cannot be omitted from the discussion in 1 Corinthians 15. By the same token the cross by itself cannot accomplish God’s goal of redemption for sinners apart from the empty tomb.
The two cannot be separated, not even for a jinute, and that’s quicker than a minute! The cross flows into the empty tomb. The empty tomb is filled with the cross. At the cross the penalty for sins was paid. Sinners died on the cross “in Christ”, and they were buried in the empty tomb “in Christ”—sinners, that is, who accept Jesus’ payment for their sins.
The sinner remains dead and buried in the tomb, but the new creation rises out of death and departs the tomb, leaving it empty to him. The old sinner remains in the tomb. The new creation in Christ Jesus does not. He lives with Christ evermore, and their residence is certainly not in a tomb! Hallelujah!
So the teaching of our quoted text is that Christ had to rise out of death, or His death for the penalty of our sins was not paid. God did not accept His payment on our behalf. In which case we are born only once and must die twice.
Praise God! Christ did rise out of death! His resurrection is indubitably true. We not only die “in Christ” on the cross of Christ, but we also rise out of death “in Christ” and leave the tomb. At the cross we are emptied of sin. At the empty tomb we are filled with new life, sinless life, life without sin.
Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. The cross must never be devalued, but let us never forget to fuse the empty tomb with it. Both together accomplish God’s plan of redemption for mankind.
Oh, that reminds me. Sorry I didn’t ask earlier, but have you been to the cross and exited the tomb?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Categories: Church Age
The message of the verse we quoted to kick off this study teaches about life as well as death. “How so?” you wonder, as you read the words of the verse with befuddlement. Permit me to explain it.
If Christ did not rise out of death, then we are still in our sins because the penalty for sins wasn’t accepted. Accordingly, we must die twice because we are only born once. But…but…BUT Christ did die on the cross as payment for the penalty of our sins, and He did rise out of death to demonstrate God’s acceptance of His perfect payment for sins. And by faith we accepted His payment on our behalf.
Having done so we are born again, born twice, and we have His new resurrection life in exchange for our old life of sin. The subject of the entire fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is not the cross and death. It is the empty tomb and life, eternal life and the new resurrection body.
There could be no empty tomb apart from Christ’s death on the cross, so the cross and death cannot be omitted from the discussion in 1 Corinthians 15. By the same token the cross by itself cannot accomplish God’s goal of redemption for sinners apart from the empty tomb.
The two cannot be separated, not even for a jinute, and that’s quicker than a minute! The cross flows into the empty tomb. The empty tomb is filled with the cross. At the cross the penalty for sins was paid. Sinners died on the cross “in Christ”, and they were buried in the empty tomb “in Christ”—sinners, that is, who accept Jesus’ payment for their sins.
The sinner remains dead and buried in the tomb, but the new creation rises out of death and departs the tomb, leaving it empty to him. The old sinner remains in the tomb. The new creation in Christ Jesus does not. He lives with Christ evermore, and their residence is certainly not in a tomb! Hallelujah!
So the teaching of our quoted text is that Christ had to rise out of death, or His death for the penalty of our sins was not paid. God did not accept His payment on our behalf. In which case we are born only once and must die twice.
Praise God! Christ did rise out of death! His resurrection is indubitably true. We not only die “in Christ” on the cross of Christ, but we also rise out of death “in Christ” and leave the tomb. At the cross we are emptied of sin. At the empty tomb we are filled with new life, sinless life, life without sin.
Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. The cross must never be devalued, but let us never forget to fuse the empty tomb with it. Both together accomplish God’s plan of redemption for mankind.
Oh, that reminds me. Sorry I didn’t ask earlier, but have you been to the cross and exited the tomb?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Categories: Church Age
Bible Trilogy III – Part 1
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! [Psalm 24:7]
Today we begin the third portion of our Bible Trilogy. The first portion came from Psalm 22 and had to do with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. The second portion came from Psalm 23 and had to do with the burial of the Lord Jesus. The third portion, as can be gathered by the Bible quotation above, comes from Psalm 24 and has to do with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
We noted in the first portion that three events marked the Gospel:
1. Jesus’ crucifixion
2. Jesus’ burial
3. Jesus’ resurrection
We direct you to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for Biblical affirmation of this truth. Those three events comprise the three portions of our Bible Trilogy. The three psalms (22, 23, and 24) prophetically present the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the cross Jesus cried aloud, just prior to surrendering His spirit to the Father’s care and dying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Then He was placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s new tomb with a humongous stone sealing the entrance. He remained there for three days.
On the first day of the week before sunrise, the humongous stone was rolled away. No, Jesus’ disciples didn’t do it. Neither did the Roman soldiers do it. And the Jewish authorities certainly didn’t do it. They paid the Roman soldiers to claim they did it, so the truth of Jesus’ resurrection wouldn’t get out into public circulation.
In fact the stone wasn’t even rolled away from the entrance of the tomb so Jesus could get out. It was rolled away so man could get in. Man needed to enter the tomb in order to discover that the body of the Lord Jesus was no longer there!
The person who rolled away the stone was an angel of the Lord (cf., Matthew 28:2). He descended from heaven, rolled the stone away from the entrance, and then sat on the stone! According to the account in Matthew 28, when the angel moved the stone an earthquake occurred. That and the angel’s brilliant appearance sent the Roman soldiers scampering like roaches when the lights come on!
God sent the angel to roll away the stone, you see, as a witness of the resurrection. So long as the stone blocked the entrance, no one would know the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb.
The import of this information is vital. We will explain how so in our next study. For now let’s spend time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Today we begin the third portion of our Bible Trilogy. The first portion came from Psalm 22 and had to do with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. The second portion came from Psalm 23 and had to do with the burial of the Lord Jesus. The third portion, as can be gathered by the Bible quotation above, comes from Psalm 24 and has to do with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
We noted in the first portion that three events marked the Gospel:
1. Jesus’ crucifixion
2. Jesus’ burial
3. Jesus’ resurrection
We direct you to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for Biblical affirmation of this truth. Those three events comprise the three portions of our Bible Trilogy. The three psalms (22, 23, and 24) prophetically present the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the cross Jesus cried aloud, just prior to surrendering His spirit to the Father’s care and dying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Then He was placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s new tomb with a humongous stone sealing the entrance. He remained there for three days.
On the first day of the week before sunrise, the humongous stone was rolled away. No, Jesus’ disciples didn’t do it. Neither did the Roman soldiers do it. And the Jewish authorities certainly didn’t do it. They paid the Roman soldiers to claim they did it, so the truth of Jesus’ resurrection wouldn’t get out into public circulation.
In fact the stone wasn’t even rolled away from the entrance of the tomb so Jesus could get out. It was rolled away so man could get in. Man needed to enter the tomb in order to discover that the body of the Lord Jesus was no longer there!
The person who rolled away the stone was an angel of the Lord (cf., Matthew 28:2). He descended from heaven, rolled the stone away from the entrance, and then sat on the stone! According to the account in Matthew 28, when the angel moved the stone an earthquake occurred. That and the angel’s brilliant appearance sent the Roman soldiers scampering like roaches when the lights come on!
God sent the angel to roll away the stone, you see, as a witness of the resurrection. So long as the stone blocked the entrance, no one would know the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb.
The import of this information is vital. We will explain how so in our next study. For now let’s spend time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
