Showing posts with label eternal life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eternal life. Show all posts
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Canning Peaches!
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
The gospel has 2 parts to it: 1) forgiveness of sins and 2) restoration of Life to dead men. Forgiveness of sins is provided by the death of Jesus on the cross, whereas His Life is given by His resurrection. When were we reconciled to God, according to Rom 5:10? – When we were His enemies? Why were we reconciled? – So that we could experience His life. Without understanding and experiencing complete forgiveness (not momentary forgiveness) provided by the cross, one can NEVER experience the reality of His Life.
To understand why Christ had to deal with the sin issue (forgiveness) once and for all, the process of canning is an excellent illustration. Imagine that you are going to preserve some peaches. The first thing that needs to be done is to sterilize the jars. Why the sterilization of the jars? – So that the peaches will be preserved from spoiling. So when the sterilization of the jars is done, do we stop with the process? No, the reason we sterilize the jars is so that we can fill them with something.
God’s sterilization process is the cross whereby we are forgiven. His filling process is Christ coming to live in us through His resurrection. Unfortunately, many of us have only heard one half of the gospel – which is the sterilization process or forgiveness of sins. Worse yet, many are not even convinced that the jars are clean once and for all by His sterilization process. They think that His sterilization has an expiration date, which is when they mess up.
But by focusing only on the sterilization process or forgiveness of sins, not only have we missed out on experiencing the Life, but we have missed the purpose of forgiveness in the first place. The reason that God had to deal with the sin issue once and for all was so that we could be filled with Christ “without spoiling.”
Actually, that’s not the end of the canning process. After sterilizing the jars and filling them with the peaches, the jars are sealed. Sealing keeps the good things inside and the bad things that would spoil the contents outside. Eph 1:13 says that, “after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise”.
Cleansing, filling, and sealing: a wonderful picture of salvation! Once we see that the goal of salvation is the raising of dead men to life; it is easy to see why Christ had to deal with the sin issue once and for all.
(Adapted from Bob George’s “Classic Christianity – Life’s Too Short to Miss the Real Thing”)
The gospel has 2 parts to it: 1) forgiveness of sins and 2) restoration of Life to dead men. Forgiveness of sins is provided by the death of Jesus on the cross, whereas His Life is given by His resurrection. When were we reconciled to God, according to Rom 5:10? – When we were His enemies? Why were we reconciled? – So that we could experience His life. Without understanding and experiencing complete forgiveness (not momentary forgiveness) provided by the cross, one can NEVER experience the reality of His Life.
To understand why Christ had to deal with the sin issue (forgiveness) once and for all, the process of canning is an excellent illustration. Imagine that you are going to preserve some peaches. The first thing that needs to be done is to sterilize the jars. Why the sterilization of the jars? – So that the peaches will be preserved from spoiling. So when the sterilization of the jars is done, do we stop with the process? No, the reason we sterilize the jars is so that we can fill them with something.
God’s sterilization process is the cross whereby we are forgiven. His filling process is Christ coming to live in us through His resurrection. Unfortunately, many of us have only heard one half of the gospel – which is the sterilization process or forgiveness of sins. Worse yet, many are not even convinced that the jars are clean once and for all by His sterilization process. They think that His sterilization has an expiration date, which is when they mess up.
But by focusing only on the sterilization process or forgiveness of sins, not only have we missed out on experiencing the Life, but we have missed the purpose of forgiveness in the first place. The reason that God had to deal with the sin issue once and for all was so that we could be filled with Christ “without spoiling.”
Actually, that’s not the end of the canning process. After sterilizing the jars and filling them with the peaches, the jars are sealed. Sealing keeps the good things inside and the bad things that would spoil the contents outside. Eph 1:13 says that, “after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise”.
Cleansing, filling, and sealing: a wonderful picture of salvation! Once we see that the goal of salvation is the raising of dead men to life; it is easy to see why Christ had to deal with the sin issue once and for all.
(Adapted from Bob George’s “Classic Christianity – Life’s Too Short to Miss the Real Thing”)
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
What Bread Are You Feeding On? -Part 2
Matt 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
My last article under this topic was an attempt to show that Jesus is the “Word of God” that proceeds out of the mouth of God, just like manna proceeded from the mouth of God in the Old Testament. He is the heavenly bread that came down from God. To establish this truth, I had to delve into the Hebrew and Greek. I understand that it may not be easy for casual reading.
To summarize, the apostle John says that Jesus is the “Word of God” who became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the embodiment or essence of the word of God. In other words, he is a perfect representation of God the father and what the Father speaks to us (Heb 1:1, 2).
In the temptation in the wilderness, one of things satan tempted Jesus to do, was to prove His Sonship by works. He said, “If you be the son of God, then turn these stones into bread”. To which Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Jesus refused to prove his Sonship by His works because He was very well established in the knowledge of His identity. (This is a very important lesson for us to know our identity in Christ)
The stones represents “the law given on tablets of stone”. Turning “stones into bread” signifies making the law our food. Jesus was now very hungry after 40 days of fasting and the tempter wanted Him to turn the stones into bread and thereby have Jesus eat of it. This would serve satan’s purpose of Jesus feeding on the law by establishing His Sonship or identity by His works, apart from the identity which the Father had proclaimed over Him. The Father had proclaimed that “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
This is very similar to the temptation with which satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden. He told her that she could become like God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which represents the Law. But man was already like God, since they were created in the likeness and image of God. God had warned them against eating from this tree. He wanted them to eat from the tree of life which signifies the life of Jesus. Eve, unlike Jesus, had an identity crisis and gave into the temptation. She wanted to establish her own identity apart from God.
Jesus refused to give into satan’s deception to prove His identity by His works and partaking of the bread from stones (law). Rather, He said that you will live by the word of God or the bread of life that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word of God is Jesus himself. He is the bread of life. This word is full of grace and truth (John 1:14,16,17)
We have the same choice today. Do we want to feed on the bread of life (Jesus) or do we want to feed on the bread of the law? Eating from the bread of life will result in life; eating from the bread of law will result in death.” Live by my life” says the Lord!!
My last article under this topic was an attempt to show that Jesus is the “Word of God” that proceeds out of the mouth of God, just like manna proceeded from the mouth of God in the Old Testament. He is the heavenly bread that came down from God. To establish this truth, I had to delve into the Hebrew and Greek. I understand that it may not be easy for casual reading.
To summarize, the apostle John says that Jesus is the “Word of God” who became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the embodiment or essence of the word of God. In other words, he is a perfect representation of God the father and what the Father speaks to us (Heb 1:1, 2).
In the temptation in the wilderness, one of things satan tempted Jesus to do, was to prove His Sonship by works. He said, “If you be the son of God, then turn these stones into bread”. To which Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Jesus refused to prove his Sonship by His works because He was very well established in the knowledge of His identity. (This is a very important lesson for us to know our identity in Christ)
The stones represents “the law given on tablets of stone”. Turning “stones into bread” signifies making the law our food. Jesus was now very hungry after 40 days of fasting and the tempter wanted Him to turn the stones into bread and thereby have Jesus eat of it. This would serve satan’s purpose of Jesus feeding on the law by establishing His Sonship or identity by His works, apart from the identity which the Father had proclaimed over Him. The Father had proclaimed that “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
This is very similar to the temptation with which satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden. He told her that she could become like God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which represents the Law. But man was already like God, since they were created in the likeness and image of God. God had warned them against eating from this tree. He wanted them to eat from the tree of life which signifies the life of Jesus. Eve, unlike Jesus, had an identity crisis and gave into the temptation. She wanted to establish her own identity apart from God.
Jesus refused to give into satan’s deception to prove His identity by His works and partaking of the bread from stones (law). Rather, He said that you will live by the word of God or the bread of life that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word of God is Jesus himself. He is the bread of life. This word is full of grace and truth (John 1:14,16,17)
We have the same choice today. Do we want to feed on the bread of life (Jesus) or do we want to feed on the bread of the law? Eating from the bread of life will result in life; eating from the bread of law will result in death.” Live by my life” says the Lord!!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Love not the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life
1 John 2:15-17
15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
The apostle John exhorts us, not to love the world and the things in the world namely the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. For these things are not of the Father, but of the world.
The "world" here refers to the world's system in general. The whole world runs by the system of knowing right & wrong, good & evil and doing the good or right thing as much as possible. The reward is determined by ones performance. The driving forces behind this system are called the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. The flesh denotes human strength and ability. The flesh always wants to live life based on ones strength, will-power and ability. The prospect of living a life based on ones resources and ability and acheiving the end result looks very appealing (lust of the eyes). Pride in one's ability is also a factor.
Verse 16 says that this system is not of the Father. In the garden of Eden, God told man, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil. God never wanted man to live by knowing good & evil or right & wrong (Law), but He wanted them to live by eating from the tree of Life (God's life). God made them in His image and likeness - just like Him. All they had to do was to live by His life and enjoy everything that He had created for them to enjoy freely. He did not give them 10 or 15 rules or principles on how to live a holy, moral, successful and prosperous life. The only command he gave them was to stay away from living by knowing good and evil or living by rules or principles. He warned them that eating that fruit would result in death.
But the tempter came and told Eve that eating this fruit would cause her to be like God. Remember, they were already like God, not by any of their works, but because they were created in His image and likeness. So Satan, put this idea in the mind of Eve, that she could be like God by her own doing and not by how God made her to be. She decided that she wanted to be like God, independent of God, by her own works by knowing good & evil. Gen 3:6 says that the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh) and it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes) and a tree desired to make one wise (pride of life). By eating that fruit, man implemented this system of works or performance for the whole humanity.
Beloved, are you still eating from that forbidden tree by living by knowing good & evil or rules & regulations or are you living by the tree of life (the life of Jesus in you)? Living by rules and commandments may appear very good, may boost your ego by your performance and will satisfy your flesh, but the end result is death. Are you satisfied with how God has made you to be like Him - holy and righteous in Christ Jesus or are you trying to become like God by your holy living and good works? Verse 17 says that the world and it's system will pass away, but he who does the will of the Father will abide forever. The will of the Father for you is to believe on the good news of the removal of your sins by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, whereby He has made you perfectly holy and righteous, just like Him, free from any of your works!
15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
The apostle John exhorts us, not to love the world and the things in the world namely the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. For these things are not of the Father, but of the world.
The "world" here refers to the world's system in general. The whole world runs by the system of knowing right & wrong, good & evil and doing the good or right thing as much as possible. The reward is determined by ones performance. The driving forces behind this system are called the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. The flesh denotes human strength and ability. The flesh always wants to live life based on ones strength, will-power and ability. The prospect of living a life based on ones resources and ability and acheiving the end result looks very appealing (lust of the eyes). Pride in one's ability is also a factor.
Verse 16 says that this system is not of the Father. In the garden of Eden, God told man, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil. God never wanted man to live by knowing good & evil or right & wrong (Law), but He wanted them to live by eating from the tree of Life (God's life). God made them in His image and likeness - just like Him. All they had to do was to live by His life and enjoy everything that He had created for them to enjoy freely. He did not give them 10 or 15 rules or principles on how to live a holy, moral, successful and prosperous life. The only command he gave them was to stay away from living by knowing good and evil or living by rules or principles. He warned them that eating that fruit would result in death.
But the tempter came and told Eve that eating this fruit would cause her to be like God. Remember, they were already like God, not by any of their works, but because they were created in His image and likeness. So Satan, put this idea in the mind of Eve, that she could be like God by her own doing and not by how God made her to be. She decided that she wanted to be like God, independent of God, by her own works by knowing good & evil. Gen 3:6 says that the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh) and it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes) and a tree desired to make one wise (pride of life). By eating that fruit, man implemented this system of works or performance for the whole humanity.
Beloved, are you still eating from that forbidden tree by living by knowing good & evil or rules & regulations or are you living by the tree of life (the life of Jesus in you)? Living by rules and commandments may appear very good, may boost your ego by your performance and will satisfy your flesh, but the end result is death. Are you satisfied with how God has made you to be like Him - holy and righteous in Christ Jesus or are you trying to become like God by your holy living and good works? Verse 17 says that the world and it's system will pass away, but he who does the will of the Father will abide forever. The will of the Father for you is to believe on the good news of the removal of your sins by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, whereby He has made you perfectly holy and righteous, just like Him, free from any of your works!
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