Heb :10:4: For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
God tried to bring man back to him by making man sacrifice things that were dear to him, his prized unblemished animals, this only served as an excuse for man to continue in his evil ways, knowing he had another animal to give, if no other way, he could buy one. At most a temporary fix, no minds were changed, no hearts convinced, no repentance.
The sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ was not about him, it was about changing the heart and soul of mankind. The Father never doubted that his Son would do as he asked, he knew he would.
Heb :9:13: For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15: And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, ----------------------- .
What can take away your sins ? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. A sacrifice so great that God would not let Abraham carry it through, a father giving his own son.
The only way sins can be done away with is the changing of a heart, repentance. The blood of animals just didn’t have that effect, on the human heart.
If the story of Jesus does not change a heart, I don't know what would.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Not so common
It is not uncommon to hear this greeting upon calling the congregation to order today.
“Welcome to our church this morning! Where we worship our lord and savior Jesus Christ, Although Jesus was God, he took on the form of man, so that he could die for our sins, so that we might be saved.” If you heard this, you might not think anything about it,
But , I’d like you to take a moment to think about what you just heard, and if that is the message given us in the bible.
First, we go to the Gospels. There are four gospels in our Bibles, and only two, Matthew and Luke, provide us any detail of the “Nativity scene” that is always portrayed in children’s Christmas programs. Listen to the actual verses and what they are telling us:
Mt: 1:20: But while he (Joseph) thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived (gennao) in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
The Holy Spirit, which is the same thing as “The Spirit of God” in the Old Testament, is the mind and energy behind the works and word of God. Simply speaking, the Spirit is God’s power. This power caused Mary to miraculously conceive in her womb, a baby. Conceive, or in Greek, gennao, means to be begotten – come into existence. Jesus was brought into existence by God through God’s Spirit. If Jesus was brought into existence at the moment of conception, he was clearly not existing prior to being ‘begotten.’ The Scriptures are very clear on this that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God and clearly presents the facts of exactly when he was begotten and how he was begotten and by whom he was begotten. There is no mystery in this. The gospel lays it all out for us, clearly, simply, concisely in both Matthew and Luke.
Luke gives us further detail on this matter:
Lk: 1:34: Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35: And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
For that reason, or because of Jesus’ supernatural birth [by] the divine intervention of the Almighty God; created Jesus in the womb of Mary, and because of this, his title would be “Son of God.”
Just as God created man (Adam, the first man) in Genesis 1-2, God created Jesus in the womb of a virgin Mary, and Jesus would later also be called the “last Adam.” (I Corinthians 15:45). Look at I Corinthians 15:20-23 and Romans 5:10-15 to explain further the importance of ‘the one man Jesus Christ’ who was a type of Adam (uniquely created by God). Adam brought sin and death into the world, but Jesus, through his obedience to God to the point of death, brought grace and eternal life.
When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we are not celebrating the falsehood that is so prevalent today: “that God came down to earth in the form of a baby!” This is not found anywhere in Scripture. Jesus humbled himself, yes! But, if you read the context of this ‘humbling’, found in Philippians 2 (which is where most people substantiate this claim), it is all about the fact that Jesus was obedient to God to the point of his dying on the cross, and because of this reason, God highly exalted Jesus and gave him every authority, power, dominion, and name possible to bestow upon him! Although Jesus was born to be the King of all nations, he didn’t behave pompously and arrogantly, demanding to be served. Instead, he behaved humbly and obeyed God in every possible way, costing him his life. Jesus was then rewarded with a resurrection from the dead and eternal life,
I am not saying Jesus was born a common man, because the description of his birth tells us plainly he was not.
And the message Jesus brought within the doctrine of God, tells us we cannot remain a common man and ever enter God’s kingdom. We must become the uncommon man at birth Just like Jesus did, we must be reborn/ born again. we too, will be rewarded with a resurrection from the dead, and the gift of eternal life. If we go humbly before God the creator, and repent, and stay faithful until our end upon this earth.
If you humble yourself before God, you might be surprised what God can do through you.
May God the Father of Jesus bless you.
“Welcome to our church this morning! Where we worship our lord and savior Jesus Christ, Although Jesus was God, he took on the form of man, so that he could die for our sins, so that we might be saved.” If you heard this, you might not think anything about it,
But , I’d like you to take a moment to think about what you just heard, and if that is the message given us in the bible.
First, we go to the Gospels. There are four gospels in our Bibles, and only two, Matthew and Luke, provide us any detail of the “Nativity scene” that is always portrayed in children’s Christmas programs. Listen to the actual verses and what they are telling us:
Mt: 1:20: But while he (Joseph) thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived (gennao) in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
The Holy Spirit, which is the same thing as “The Spirit of God” in the Old Testament, is the mind and energy behind the works and word of God. Simply speaking, the Spirit is God’s power. This power caused Mary to miraculously conceive in her womb, a baby. Conceive, or in Greek, gennao, means to be begotten – come into existence. Jesus was brought into existence by God through God’s Spirit. If Jesus was brought into existence at the moment of conception, he was clearly not existing prior to being ‘begotten.’ The Scriptures are very clear on this that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God and clearly presents the facts of exactly when he was begotten and how he was begotten and by whom he was begotten. There is no mystery in this. The gospel lays it all out for us, clearly, simply, concisely in both Matthew and Luke.
Luke gives us further detail on this matter:
Lk: 1:34: Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35: And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
For that reason, or because of Jesus’ supernatural birth [by] the divine intervention of the Almighty God; created Jesus in the womb of Mary, and because of this, his title would be “Son of God.”
Just as God created man (Adam, the first man) in Genesis 1-2, God created Jesus in the womb of a virgin Mary, and Jesus would later also be called the “last Adam.” (I Corinthians 15:45). Look at I Corinthians 15:20-23 and Romans 5:10-15 to explain further the importance of ‘the one man Jesus Christ’ who was a type of Adam (uniquely created by God). Adam brought sin and death into the world, but Jesus, through his obedience to God to the point of death, brought grace and eternal life.
When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we are not celebrating the falsehood that is so prevalent today: “that God came down to earth in the form of a baby!” This is not found anywhere in Scripture. Jesus humbled himself, yes! But, if you read the context of this ‘humbling’, found in Philippians 2 (which is where most people substantiate this claim), it is all about the fact that Jesus was obedient to God to the point of his dying on the cross, and because of this reason, God highly exalted Jesus and gave him every authority, power, dominion, and name possible to bestow upon him! Although Jesus was born to be the King of all nations, he didn’t behave pompously and arrogantly, demanding to be served. Instead, he behaved humbly and obeyed God in every possible way, costing him his life. Jesus was then rewarded with a resurrection from the dead and eternal life,
I am not saying Jesus was born a common man, because the description of his birth tells us plainly he was not.
And the message Jesus brought within the doctrine of God, tells us we cannot remain a common man and ever enter God’s kingdom. We must become the uncommon man at birth Just like Jesus did, we must be reborn/ born again. we too, will be rewarded with a resurrection from the dead, and the gift of eternal life. If we go humbly before God the creator, and repent, and stay faithful until our end upon this earth.
If you humble yourself before God, you might be surprised what God can do through you.
May God the Father of Jesus bless you.
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