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He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Colossians 1:15

Long, long ago… there wasn’t even a galaxy far, far away. There was nothing as we know it now, not a planet, not a star, not a constellation. But there was God and He had His own separate dimension filled with Living Creatures, Cherubim, Seraphim, and a whole host of angels. There was a celestial city where the throne of God was placed, but nothing more than that has been revealed.

At the starting point of time, God invented visible light and probably the whole electromagnetic spectrum with radio waves, X-waves, and gamma radiation. Our universe then officially started. The Creator went on to make solids, liquids, and gases and formed them in a myriad of ways, making galaxies and nebuli. He must have had fun making whole new worlds, because He made so many. 

The Almighty is not matter or energy, but He played with them. Often when He approached His creation on earth He would dress Himself in light and people would refer to that as the Glory of the LORD. After designing and constructing the male human prototype and his female companion model, God put on physical form so He could walk and talk with mankind.

God was never created and Jesus was over all Creation long before He was born in Bethlehem. The title Firstborn refers to chronological order. By Christ “all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:16-17). In short, the Son of God is the Firstborn over All Creation.

False witnesses try to confuse Christians by saying that this title means that Jesus was the first creature God created. Nothing can be further from the truth, because the Lord Jesus is God. His deity is obvious when the whole section is read in context (Colossians 1:9-18) and the conclusion is “that in all things He may have the preeminence.”

November 24

The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Isaiah 40:5*

God is Spirit and therefore He’s invisible to His human creation. However, the presence of the Almighty was both seen and felt as the “appearance of fire” (Ezekiel 1:27). When Ezekiel was called to be a prophet, he had an encounter with living creatures that brought him to the throne of God. He saw a man on the throne with “the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD (Ezekiel 1:28). Here the pre-incarnate Christ is revealed.

The Prophet Ezekiel uses this title in his book more than any other book written in the Bible (nine times). His vision of the man on the throne of God in chapters 1 and 8 parallels the vision of the Apostle John in Revelation chapter 1 of the glorified Savior. In both cases, His thighs and feet looked like glowing metal and His face shone brightly. The one called the Glory of the LORD and the Son of God are one and the same.

The Glory of the LORD did not always have the appearance of a man but just having a visible presence qualifies Him as the second person of the Trinity. The Glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:16), filled both the Tabernacle and the Temple (Exodus 40:35; 1 Kings 8:11) and was seen by the shepherds the day Christ was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:9).

For most of His life, Jesus’ glory was hidden from view of everyone but the Father, but it did burst out at the Transfiguration: “and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). Peter described that scene by saying “We […] were eyewitnesses of His majesty (2 Peter 1:16). The Apostle Paul wasn’t with the others to see the glorified Christ on the mountain, but he saw Him with the eyes of faith; “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the LORD, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

*see all Isaiah 35:2; 60:1 and also 34 other verses

November 25

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer…
Psalm 18:2*

Cowboys, such a big part of my childhood in the 1950’s, have almost disappeared from the American entertainment culture. If I mention such cowboy icons as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and Hoppalong Cassidy to a young person today, I just get stares. Back then, television and movies were all family oriented and all the best programs were westerns.

One theme that I’ve seen repeated many times in “cowboy pictures” is the last minute rescue by the army. Story lines would vary slightly, but towards the end of the episode, the hero with a small band of companions would be surrounded and outnumbered 100 to 1 by a tribe of renegade Indians. When things were hopeless and the movie star had only two bullets in his gun, you’d hear a bugle call and hundreds of blue-shirted soldiers would ride over the hill on their horses to save the day. That led to the expression “Here comes the cavalry!” which was commonly used to apply to any unexpected solution to a difficult problem.

King David was a warrior and he could defend himself well from the top of a mighty rock or a strong fortress, but he also knew that sometimes the battle became so overwhelming that the only thing that could help was reinforcements. God was not only David’s strength and shield, He was his Deliverer.

Life gets rough and often nothing seems to go right. Smart people have insurance policies for those hard times. However, experienced people also know that sometimes even the best contingency plans don’t work and things can still continue to fall apart. It’s at those times you feel helpless and say “Lord, please help me out of this mess! –Just one more time!” The only thing that can turn hopelessness around is a Deliverer.

The Apostle Paul was referring to Christ while he was quoting from the Old Testament: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins“ (Romans 11:26-27). When troubles look their darkest, we can cry out to God and Jesus will come charging down from heaven to deliver us one more time.

*see also Psalm 40:17, 70:5, 144:2 plus five other verses

November 26

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope.
1 Timothy 1:1

Words, like automobiles, seem to wear out and lose their value over time. The modern definition of “hope” is very different from what it used to mean when the Bible was being written. Today, the term conveys wishful thinking, the desire for a certain thing to happen or wanting circumstances to change. One could say “I hope I win the lottery” or “Let’s hope that no one is hurt in the tornado.” People today hope for things that have no guarantee and usually the odds are greatly against getting what is hoped for.

Biblical hope is practically the opposite of contemporary hope, because it’s a sure thing. It is a feeling of trust based on the promises of God and is the object of long term faith. True hope is extreme confidence that everything God said will happen, will happen. This hope allows a Christian to remain strong in his faith, even though some promises are not fulfilled in his lifetime.

“Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Romans 8:23-25).

Jesus Christ is Our Hope and all His promises are good as gold. Salvation from the power of sin and immediate self-destruction begins now, but much of what we have to look forward to is future (i.e. home in heaven, glorified body, beholding the glory of God, etc.). Jesus said that there will be trials and persecutions and they certainly have come and they give credence that the rest of His promises will also be fulfilled. If Christ came to this world to die in our place, all the other promises are not that hard for Him to perform (Romans 8:32), so the Lord becomes  Our Hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). 

November 28

They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!”
Revelation 15:3

Since Jesus is the blessed and only Potentate, King of kings, and Lord of lords, He rules over many diverse people and nations. He’s the King of Israel, King of Righteousness, King of Peace, and King over all the Earth. But there is one distinction that really gets me excited. The Lord Jesus Christ is King of the Saints; He’s going to be my monarch!

When Christ was on earth, enemy soldiers gave Him a crown of thorns, mocked Him for being a king, and then spit on His face. Since then, He was caught up to glory and believers through the centuries have also suffered abuse as they waited for the return of the King of the Saints.

Ten terrible Roman persecutions fell on the faithful; some were crucified, some burned alive, and some fed to wild beasts. Still, they waited for their Lord’s return. The rise of Mohammed in the seventh century brought Jihad, beheadings, and slavery to Christians who longed for their coming King. Then the crusades, inquisition, and the rise of Communism brought more torture, imprisonment, and death for the saints. Still, they waited for their sovereign to come and bring peace.

The signs of the Lord’s soon return are becoming more evident every day. Terrorism clearly demonstrates “wars and rumors of war” that fill every corner of the planet. Talk of a new world order, as well as one global community and government, prepares the way for the Anti-Christ and his minions.

The good news is that this may be the last persecution. If the blood bought disciples of Christ can overcome one more reign of terror, then it’s over. Jesus is coming and those who served and suffered for the Lord will reign with Him. Hallelujah!

Even so come, O King of the Saints.

November 9

And again, Isaiah says: ” There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the
Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”
Romans 15:12

When pioneers came to Kansas before the Civil War, they found a treeless prairie with a rugged climate. Summer days often got 110 degrees in the shade, making the ground as hard as rock and with only 20 inches of rain each year, grass was the only thing that grew there.

Today, people have transformed portions of the state into lush gardens and orchards, but to do this, ground water had to be pumped up for vegetation and the soil enriched. Even so, the land has never forgotten its roots. It will return to being grasslands again, if the gardeners ever stop their hard work.

Buffalo grass keeps creeping into cultivated areas and pushes out the flowers and vegetables. The native prairie grass sends out runners in all directions and then puts in a 10 inch woody root that goes straight down. It’s not enough to pull out the grass from the garden, the root needs to come out also. If some of that root breaks off below the surface, prairie grass will come up again just a little later.

Isaiah 11:10 prophesies that the Messiah would come from the Root of Jesse and that the Gentiles would seek Him. According to scripture, the Messiah was David’s son, but Jesse was David’s father, making the LORD’s anointed from Jesse’s root.

Not much is said about Jesse, but it is known that he had eight sons and Samuel the prophet thought that each of them had king-like characteristics. Jesse must have been a good parent and role model because he taught his children the fear of the LORD.

It’s not directly mentioned in scripture, but there must have been something in Jesse’s life that reflected a desire to have the one true God known by even the pagans. Apart from the genealogies of Jesus, the only mention of him in the New Testament is in the title of Christ, Root of Jesse, who would reign over the Gentiles. Jesse raised up good sons for the glory of God and out of that hearty root even descended the LORD of Glory.

November 29

The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ — He is Lord of all—
Acts 10:36

“All” is such a little word, but it sure includes a lot of stuff. It has just three letters, one vowel, and one consonant, yet it contains everything out there (rocks, trees, butterflies, and bees; planets,  pumpkins, peanuts and people; sun, moon, stars, and galaxies; matter, energy, ideas, and the vacuum of space). Come to think about it, “all” is actually a very big word and Jesus Christ is Lord of All.

“Lord” is the chief, leader, president, king, emperor, potentate, jefe, head honcho, and person in charge. So if the Son of God is Lord of All, He’s over everywhere, everything, and everybody.

The context reveals that this was part of a message given by the Apostle Peter in the house of a centurion named Cornelius. At that time, Jewish people and Gentiles didn’t mingle and accepting the other’s dinner invitation was unheard of. So Peter had to explain what was happening. Since Jesus is Lord of All, He’s not the God of the Jews only, but of everyone in the whole world. That meant that the apostle felt compelled to leave his comfort zone and share the Savior cross-culturally.

Christ is not just the Redeemer of white, middle-class Americans, He came to seek and to save the lost no matter where they live. Arabs, Bedouins, China men, Dutchmen, and Eskimos all need to know the good news of sins forgiven and eternal life through faith in Jesus. That’s hard, because it is sooooo politically incorrect to share Christianity with those that are obviously non-Christian.

We live at a time when Radical Islam makes no apologies for trying to convert everyone to their religion through murder and intimidation. I, therefore, shouldn’t feel guilty or amiss for wanting to win the world with the love of Christ who is Lord of All. 

November 10

And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”
John 19:37

Being pierced with a sword or a spear is not a natural way to die. Certainly in ancient times it was common during a war, but 2,000 years ago was the era of the “Pax Romana” (Roman peace). The Roman empire had conquered all its enemies, so there was no more war. Even criminals who were put to death by crucifixion died over a period of several days or had their legs broken to speed up the process. It was very unusual that Jesus of Nazareth was pierced with a spear.

However, the prophet Zachariah foretold that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would look on their Messiah “whom they pierced” (Zachariah 12:10). King David prophesied similarly when he wrote of Christ: “They pierced My hands and My feet” (Psalm 22:16).

So why is this title important? Who cares if the Lord was pierced or not? This name of Christ matters, because God saw fit to give us the details of the Savior’s death over 1,000 years before the Savior died. It proved that God foreknew what was going to happen and that Jesus wasn’t victimized because He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Jewish leaders should have known scripture and seen the manner of death of the LORD’s Anointed. After the fact, they should have repented in sackcloth and ashes, but instead they bribed the guards to lie about the resurrection.

On the final Day of Judgment, all the Christ-rejecters that ever lived will stand before the Great White Throne. As their sentences are being read, they will see the hands and feet of the Pierced One and begin to tremble. 

November 30

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20

I really enjoy growing a garden and I’m not even sure why. Most years, my actual harvest is miserable and the other years I get nothing at all. I’ve had my garden trampled down by boys playing hide-and-go-seek at night and normal 110 degree Kansas summers are very hard on vegetables. When I do get a tomato plant to flower and produce fruit, I do everything I can to see that it reaches maturity. I go out every day and watch the tiny ball slowly getting bigger, then finally turn pink. I know that soon and very soon, I’ll be able to pick and eat that very first tomato. I don’t even like tomatoes that much, but it is more than the realization of my work, time, and anticipation that results in a harvest of satisfaction. It’s the joy of seeing fruitfulness.

Over the years, I’ve been able to strike terror in the hearts of my sons, so they know that the very first red tomato is Papa’s. They can have any and all of the rest, but that first fruit is mine.

When God brought the children of Israel into the Promised Land, He made it very clear to them that the Land was His. They could use and enjoy it, but they were to bring Him an offering of the firstfruits every year. God gave them the land, the rain, and the increase, so the first part of every harvest was God’s.

It was an act of faith to give God the firstfruits, because once given, there was no guarantee that the rest of the crop would be harvested. A hail storm or plague of locusts could destroy all the rest. However, obedience was the best guarantee of God’s blessing and to not give God His portion was stealing from the Almighty.

Jesus is the Firstfruits of those who would be resurrected from the dead. Christ is dedicated to God and serves as a harbinger (promise of good things to come) for believers who are awaiting the resurrection from the dead and eternal life.

November 11

Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
John 4:42

No one would have expected anything of any importance to have come from it. After all, it was nothing more than a casual conversation with an imperfect stranger at a nondescript rest stop in the middle of nowhere after a long, tiring journey – or so it seemed. But Jesus was God and He knew the deeper, importance of all things and was actually right there on purpose and for a purpose. The Lord chose to be at that place at that time to reach out to a troubled woman with the goal of setting her free from her sin. 

The Samaritan woman not only recognized Jesus as the Messiah, but proclaimed His coming to her whole neighborhood. Conventional wisdom would not have expected any Samaritan to be a seeker of the true God, much less an entire town. Probably hundreds of people came to listen to Jesus and acknowledge Him as the Christ. The half- hour lunch break turned into two full days of special meetings. In the end, that group of non-kosher Jewish wannabes gave Christ one of His most significant titles – Savior of the World. Their understanding of who the LORD‘s Anointed was, was more insightful than anyone else’s at this time. They realized that He was the One who would not only save the pure-blooded sons of Abraham, but everyone else in this sin-cursed world that needed saving. 

The experience must have had a lasting impression on the apostle John, because he invokes the title again in his first epistle: “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the World.” (1 John 4:14). 

It’s the core of the gospel: “For God so loved the world […] that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). 

July 31