Category: Uncategorized

To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:6*

Falling in love is a beautiful experience. It’s an exhilarating departure from the commonplace and logical into the excitement of emotional highs and the thrill of reaching out to touch someone. Besides, it’s a lot of fun. The marvel of being in love is only surpassed by the wonder of being loved by another.

Apart from being the lover of our souls and the ultimate standard by which all love is measured, Christ is the object of our love – the recipient of our devotion and desire. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We are our Beloved’s and our Beloved is ours. (Song of Solomon 6:3).

Although Christ may not need our love, He wants it and desires it as earnestly as any husband would from his wife. He is jealous and disappointed when other things crowd Him out.

Some people think that they honor Christ by putting Him first in their lives. But that isn’t what He wants at all. It would be like me coming home and telling my wife, “Carol, you’re number one for me, but Alice is number two, Susan is number three and Mary is number four.” She wouldn’t be happy until all the competition for affection was gone.

When Christ is truly our “Beloved,” He will not just be first in our lives; He will be only.

*See also Matthew 12:18; Song of Solomon 1:16, 2:10, 8:14 plus 25 other times in the book.

June 24

For there is one God and one Mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 2:15

With all the titles that affirm the deity of Christ, it almost seems that the Holy Spirit felt it necessary to bring us down to earth and remind us that Jesus was also a man. He had dual citizenship. Existing before the creation of the world, He was clearly divine, but having been born on planet Earth, He was also human.

Although He was born at a time when there wasn’t the myriad of bureaucratic regulations of today, every aspect of Christ’s humanity was documented. Jesus had a birth certificate.

Mary and Joseph made the 80 mile trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register for the national census. When they got there, Mary was in labor, and the job of having a baby took precedent over everything else. By morning, mother and Child were resting, so Joseph was able to take care of official business. He would have registered Jesus as his firstborn on that very first Christmas day.

Jesus was also given a death certificate. When Christ died on the cross, Pontius Pilate asked the centurion to confirm that Jesus was, in fact, dead. That fact being established, the governor wrote an edict to authorize His burial.

The life of Christ was historically documented. The Romano-Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, confirmed the existence of Jesus of Nazareth in his history book written in 93 A.D.

Christ Jesus is the perfect Mediator between a Holy God and the sinful human race. He is the only begotten Son of God, so the fullness of God was evident in His physical body. The Lord was like us in every way, yet without sin, so He became a natural bridge between God and people; He could only do that because He was 100% God and 100% Man.

December 3

And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a
living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:45

Before we can understand the Last Adam, we must have a clear understanding of the first Adam. Adam was the prototype of God’s greatest creation. Unlike the animal kingdom, the first human was a spiritual being capable of language, reason, emotions, and discovery.

The engineering put into the human was amazing. The components of the physical structure consisted of several inter-dependent systems that caused the creature to move, turn raw materials into energy, increase in size and abilities, as well as make more of the species. Each body system was composed of microscopic, self-replicating parts called cells that could repair themselves when damaged.

If the hardware was fantastic, the software was even more so. Designed to be in the spiritual image of God, Adam #1 could love, show empathy, have original thoughts, and solve complex problems. More amazing yet was that he was capable of devotion, holiness, and fellowship with God. Placed in the perfect environment, Adam and all his future generations were designed to never die. However, there was one flaw.

As long as there was no temptation, everything worked perfectly. But as soon as there was an opportunity to sin, everything fell apart. Take all temptations from people today and the human condition improves greatly.

Since a perfect world no longer exists, the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, came in to fix the problem. Being both God and Man, the Savior became the mediator between Adam’s race and the Holy God.

In dying on the cross for the sins of men and women, the Lord became a substitute replacing mankind’s broken relationship with God with the perfect fellowship that He had with the Father. Through faith in the Crucified One, believers are accepted in the Beloved and the age old problem of sin is finally fixed. The flaws of the first Adam are done away with and the world is offered a free, eternal upgrade through the Last Adam.

September 2

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Colossians 2:9-10

During the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas proposed a system of angelic hierarchy in his book Summa Theologica. He developed and elaborated on an idea first suggested by late fifth century Theologian, Pseudo-Dionysius. Aquinas’ aggrupation of celestial beings included three levels, or “spheres,” each with a triad of angels.

Highest Sphere: Heavenly Counselors
1.     Seraphim (listed from highest to lowest)
2.     Cherubim
3.     Thrones

Middle Sphere: Heavenly Governors
1. Dominions
2. Virtues
3. Powers

Lowest Sphere: Messengers and Soldiers
1.     Principalities
2.     Archangels
3.     Angels

Aquinas based his hierarchy roughly on Colossians 1:16 and Ephesians 1:21. He mentioned the Cherubim guarding the tree of life, as well as Isaiah’s, Ezekiel’s, and Apostle John’s descriptions of the throne of God. Although the Roman Catholic church today still holds these levels of angelic authority as church doctrine, there is little in actual scripture to support this belief.

Although interesting, angelology is not elaborated on much in the Bible. However, one thing is very clear: Jesus Christ is God. In His body was the fullness of the Godhead. He is the Head of all Principality and Power, and anything else anyone wants to add to the list.

September 4

But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,  And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.
Jeremiah 10:10

On September 9, 2015, Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom became the longest-reigning female head of state in the world, displacing Queen Victoria, who reigned 63 years, 216 days. Sobhuza II of Swaziland holds the record for male monarch at 82 years, 254 days. A little better-known is King Louis XIV of France, who sat on the throne for 72 years, 110 days. In 1830, King Louis XIX of France became the shortest-reigning sovereign with just 20 minutes on the job.

Over five millennia of human history have seen world leaders and their governments come and go, none ever reaching a century of being figurehead of their domain. Christ will outshine them all when he rules 1,000 years on earth, after the Anti-Christ is destroyed. Then, He’ll reign in heaven as the Everlasting King.

Some might argue that this title is referring to God the Father and not the Son. To clear that up, one would only have to go to 2 Peter 1:11, which says, “for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Simple logic then concludes that, if the Son of God has an everlasting kingdom, He must be the Everlasting King.

Living forever without having to go through destructive campaign cycles, political attack ads, regime change, revolutions, coups d’état, wars and rumors of wars, it must be heaven. True paradise will not have injustice, corruption, or oppression. This certainly was impossible when men and women ruled the world, but is very obtainable under Christ.

Hail King Jesus! – the Everlasting King!

September 9

And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:28

“Doubting Thomas” earned his nickname honestly. He asked the Lord serious questions when he didn’t know the answers (John 14:5), and He followed Christ sincerely, believing that he was the Jewish Messiah. But when he saw his Master crucified and was overcome with grief, he lost it: He lost his faith. Nothing made sense to him anymore. All his assumptions and expectations were dashed to pieces, and he wanted to be alone.

The resurrected Lord only appeared to believers. He appeared to the women at the tomb, the ten apostles in the upper room, and two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He didn’t show himself to Pontius Pilate, the Roman soldiers that crucified Him, or the Sanhedrin. They had rejected the Lord of Glory, and they would not be forced to believe.

Jesus, however, made one exception. He appeared to Thomas. A week after Christ first appeared to the apostles, Thomas was in the upper room and he really wanted to believe but couldn’t. As soon as he saw the risen Savior, he fell on his knees and cried out, “My Lord and my God!”

Over the years, I’ve had many young people tell me they have “given up” their faith. Actually, just like true salvation can’t be lost, true faith can’t be given up. In any case, these doubters now want to shed their Christian beliefs. Many have been active in church youth groups or counselors at Bible camp, but they have somehow become disillusioned by some aspect of Christianity.

My heart really grieves for these spiritual drop-outs, and I pray for them continually. The bottom line is that Christ never became their Lord and God. My prayer for them is that they can be honest with themselves and sincerely desire to make their faith real. At that point, Christ will make Himself known to them in such an unmistakable way that they drop to their knees and confess Jesus as their Lord and their God.

September 6

“The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
Hebrews 13:6

I get really frustrated when I lose things. It can be my car keys, my wallet, or something I just had in my hand five minutes ago. I throw things around trying to find it, and I can’t do anything else until it is found.

Lately, my son Jeremy has had the audacity to interrupt me while I was melting down to ask, “Have you prayed about it?”

Actually, I found the question to be quite offensive. After all, I’m the preacher! I’m the spiritual one! I don’t want to bother the Lord of the Universe with anything so trivial as lost keys. If the truth were known, I do eventually pray for my lost keys, but that’s long after I’ve also lost my temper, my peace of mind, and my sanctification.

The worst part of my son’s advice is that he is right. I tried it and it worked! I’ve found my stuff sometimes in a matter of minutes and other times before I could finish the prayer. The time lapse is so ridiculously short that it is obvious that God is trying to teach me a lesson. I can almost hear Him say to me, “Of course, you’d rather spend hours of fruitless frustration and bad attitudes than ask Me for help!” I’ve been humbled not only before my son, but also before my God.

Christ wants to be our Helper, but He also wants us to ask Him for help. When we tell Him that we can do something by ourselves and don’t need His help, He just sighs and backs off. Joseph Scriven nailed it in his hymn What a Friend we have in Jesus when he said, “Oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!”

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). In other words, if Jesus wanted to die on the cross to be our Savior, what makes us think that He doesn’t want to be our Helper?

September 8

For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Exodus 34:14

Jealous?! Jealous God?! It doesn’t seem to fit and when we apply this to the character of Christ, it really doesn’t fit. What’s going on here? 

The problem is where it always is – with people. We usually see God with anthropomorphic eyes (i.e. God’s just like me). But God is holy and His character contrasts with sinful men and women. God’s jealousy is not the mistrustful, vindictive, green-eyed monster of human jealousy; it’s righteous and directly linked to His love.

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us ….” (1 John 3:1). Behold, it’s incomparable, unlimited, unmerited, unending, and unexplainable. Now remember, when love is rejected or betrayed it hurts the person who chose to love the traitor. How terribly God must grieve when His creation mocks and curses its Maker. The rejection is worse when the people called by God’s own name abandon Him for other lovers. 

We live in a time when society has come to believe that it’s possible to have intimate relationships with no strings attached. That, of course, is a lie. If a husband can accept infidelity in his wife (or vice versa) and not be devastated, there is no real depth of love in that relationship. 

Six times in the Hebrew Bible, the name El-Kanna appears which is translated into English as “Jealous God“. The LORD loves and is patient, but when there is no repentance, that jealousy turns to wrath. “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a Jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24).

Christ is the bridegroom who gave His life for His beloved. His heart must have broken when Judas betrayed Him with a kiss and it continues to break as hypocrites defame His name with sinful living and hateful people use His name for curses. 

Human race, pleased be warned! The one who loved you so intensely that He died on a cross to deliver you from wrath, He is a Jealous God. 

September 5 

But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name. So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
Acts 4:17-18

The arch-villain in J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” book series is an evil sorcerer called Lord Voldemort. So terrible and intimidating is this antagonist that most characters refer to him as “He-who-shall-not-be-named.”

After Christ’s crucifixion, the Jewish Sanhedrin made the Savior’s name illegal. Peter and John were beaten and imprisoned for using it, and Stephen was executed for preaching in that forbidden name. Throughout church history, believers have had their property seized and have been tortured, hanged, and burnt at the stake for mentioning “He-who-shall-not-be-named.”

Palmelkh, Saudi Arabia, April 7, 2014: A young Filipino girl employed as a maid had her mouth and left eye sewn shut with fishing line for the crime of saying that Christ Jesus was her Savior.

Mediterranean Coast, Libya, February 16, 2015: ISIS videotaped the public beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in order to shock the world with its graphic propaganda. The remarkable thing in all this was that the terrorists didn’t edit out the audio. Many died calmly praying in Arabic that they would be faithful to Christ until death.

North Korea, July 14, 2016: North Korea continues to be ranked the most oppressive place on earth for Christians on the World Watch List. Worship of the Kim family is mandated by the government and those who don’t comply are arrested, imprisoned, tortured, or killed. Many believers have found that the only safe place to pray together in the work camps is at the latrine.

Tanta, Egypt, April 9, 2017: At least 27 worshippers were killed and 78 wounded when a bomb went off during the Palm Sunday service in a Coptic Christian church.  A suicide bomber murdered another 22 people the same day outside a church in Alexandria.

Soon and very soon, the Anti-Christ will set up his world kingdom and then for a very short time, the name that is above every name will become He-who-shall-not-be-named.

Oh Lord, how long!!? How Long!!? Even so, come Lord Jesus!

 

September 11

When Christ who is our life appears,
then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:4

I really feel sorry for all those who have bought into the lie of evolution. Instead of seeing the intelligent design that is woven into every cell of every living thing, they are taught that life began by accident, proceeds by accident, and ends by accident. That is not exactly a message of purpose or hope.

The gospel message is different. People were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and were put on earth for a reason, to give glory and honor to God (Revelation 4:11). People can know Christ who is our life, and knowing Him leads to glory (Colossians 3:4).

It’s interesting that in the verse above, “who is” is in italics. This means that those words don’t appear in the original Greek, so the title actually reads “Christ our life.” Jesus Christ is the source of life, and people don’t really live until the Savior comes into their lives.

Jesus said, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Paul said, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

When people believe that human life was not created on purpose, then the only conclusion is that life has no purpose. However, for the believer, Christ Our Life gives both direction and a reason to live in this crazy world.

September 12