Re: Verse reading–Hebrews 1 and 2 (day three)
“But in these days he has spoken to us by his Son.” A friend of mine puts it this way: Jesus Christ is the last word of God. That is not to say, of course, that God communicates nothing more. It is to say that there is no fuller expression of God than Jesus. We pay close attention to last words that people utter. We figure that if people have only a short time left to say anything, they won’t waste words, but say what really matters to them. God is certainly not on his deathbed–though many have attempted to write his obituary–but his final word on his identity is his Son. Do you want to know God? Get to know Christ. Go to the Bible. Find Jesus. You will see God
Pay Attention
Re: Verse reading–Hebrews 1:1-6,14; 2:1-4 (day two)
I love figuring things out. It drives my wife crazy, because I expect everyone to think like I do. It’s particularly challenging for her during movies when I lean over and offer my thoughts on the outcome. (I’m a work in progress.) The writer of Hebrews, however, thinks like me….at least in regards to our Faith journey. The context clues of our Creator lie all around us. We are all called to salvation and the Lord has provided such excellent witnesses for us; think of scripture, the wisdom of our godly elders, the Holy Spirit, and the marvel of creation. Take a minute to get your head up, look around and pay attention. The Lord has something to say to you today!
I don’t care!
Re: Verse reading–Hebrews 1:1-6,14; 2:1-4 (day one–New Study!)
Did you ever see the old movie “The Fugitive”? Harrison Ford shouts, “I didn’t kill my wife!” Tommy Lee Jones says, “I don’t care!” The writer of Hebrews imagines a similar conversation going on between men and God. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (v 2:3) The word for neglect is ameleo. Melo meant “to care, to be concerned.” A/meleo meant “not to care”. Most people don’t set out to deny God. They usually have no conscious intent to offend His law or challenge His authority. They just neglect the opportunities. They just ignore the voice/call of God. They keep their distance from God. Dangerous mistake! To whom much is given, much is required. The GREAT salvation offered in Jesus Christ puts all of us under heavy responsibility and great danger. How will we escape judgement if our answer to His amazing love is, “I don’t care!”
Set menu
RE Verse reading–1 Corinthians 15 (day seven) “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?” (v 12) Have you been to one of those wok restaurants? You decide the ingredients and they stir-fry it up for you? Christianity is NOT like that. Not even a little. What we believe, what we teach is not subject to individual change or personal preference. Jude calls it “the faith once delivered.” Paul expresses the same idea. “How is it,” he asks with disbelief, “that you have the brashness to call yourself a believer and yet deny the proclamation of the apostles and church?” It is a bitter pill for moderns to swallow. The message is fixed and for all time. We are not free to omit the parts We don’t like. “How FIRM a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent word.”
Knowing Who not how
RE Verse reading–1 Corinthians 15 (day six) “Behold, I tell you a mystery;. . . we will all be changed. . . in the twinkling of an eye. . .the last trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable.” (v 51-52) Mystery is the Bible’s word for something we know via the revelation of God. We know because He has promised, not because we can imagine it or figure out how it works. Resurrection is one example. Will we be young? Will we look like ourselves? Will our friends recognize us? (I believe the answer is “yes”. When Moses returns in the transfiguration story, he is immediately recognized–see Matthew 18) What we don’t want to do is limit our confidence in this promise simply because it is beyond our imagination or logic. We trust the promise because we trust the Promiser. “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.”
The facts of our faith
RE Verse reading–1 Corinthians 15 (day five) “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that he was raised on the third day.” (v 3-4) Good reminder. Christianity is not, first, an organized church, nor a theology, nor a moral system. It is first a set of facts. A report that God has acted in the world in a particular way with a particular meaning. 1)Christ died. For our sins. He was a substitute. “By His stripes we are healed”. 2)He was buried. His death was real. Not a swoon. 3)Christ was raised. Part of God’s character and activity is supernatural, super-scientific, miraculous. God is above the laws of nature because He created them. 4)All as scripture predicted. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet.” Christians believe/report these facts. Faith in them gives LIFE. Always has.
Cause
Re: Verse reading–1 Corinthians 15 (Day Five)
“I passed on to you as most important what I also received…” It was my parents and a 5th grade Sunday school teacher, a soccer coach and “Brother John,” not to mention pastors, friends and even books. I didn’t arrive at a living and active faith all by myself. My faith rests first on the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in me through the gospel and second on the countless followers of Jesus who “passed on” to me what they had “received.” It is a strong foundation on which to stand. Likewise, my ministry rests on the gospel and the churches that have trained and trusted me. I owe to them the “debt of love” that can never be repaid (Romans 13:8). It’s a humility required by the gospel to say, “I received” rather than “I built.” It’s a humility required of us as we remember that someone else sacrificed and served so that we could be here today. It’s a humility that drives us to ask, “Am I sacrificing and serving enough so that someone else can receive?” Thank you Seaside, South Oaks and FBC San Antonio for sacrificing and serving so that I could “receive.” I’m praying for you, Columbus Avenue, that God will “renew your strength” (Isaiah 40:31) as you faithfully carry the legacy of sacrifice and service you have received.
The Truth
Re: Verse reading–1 Corinthians 15:3-20, 35-44, 50-57 (day four)
Paul acknowledges that the words he has written, were given to him (by the Holy Spirit). In verse 3, he says “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received.” Verses 3 and 4 are sometimes called the Easter verse…”that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” These are great verses to memorize…you can deliver the good news in one concise passage! Paul says if this message weren’t true, we should be greatly pitied. But it is true! Christ did die, and was buried, and rose from the grave. How can our lives not be changed? Christ gave His life for us. Out of His great love for us, He gave His life that we could have forgiveness of our sin. He paid the price for my sin. My life is His. The world refuses to acknowledge His death and resurrection…to do so, would require a response from them. Tell them the truth!
Cause
Re Verse reading–1 Corinthians 15 (Day Three)
“Then he appeared to James…” The Lord’s brother James mocked Jesus with skepticism-fueled condescension. James and others in the family thought Jesus mentally unstable. Disbelief and disdain marked James’s perception of Jesus. But then James changed. One could say that James suffered from such deep guilt or grief over the death of Jesus that he bought into the myth of resurrection. Certainly some do say this. But to encounter the writing of James in the New Testament, and to read in Acts of his leadership of the church at Jerusalem is to observe a man living from a position of strength, not a position of sorrow. As was the case with the whole church, resurrection provides the best explanation of James’s robustness. The question really isn’t what caused the change; the question is instead: Do you believe the answer?
Handel and Hope
Re: Verse reading–1 Corinthians 15:3-20, 35-44, 50-57 (day two)
Severe truth. In order to understand the power of the resurrection, we must understand its context. Paul said it in the first century “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:14). In the twentieth century C.S. Lewis said it like this: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” (Mere Christianity)
I, therefore, choose to believe that Christ was raised from the dead, and I choose to believe that he was indeed the Son of God. Which means that Jesus’ choice to face the cross was so that we could become a fulfillment of a promise. That the corrupt could now put on incorruption, that the mortal could clothe ourselves with immortality in an eternity that brims with hope. As I read through these words of Paul it helps me marvel once again at what Christ took on so that we could have that hope.
On Sunday it will be a privilege to share portions of the great sacred oratorio Messiah. 1 Corinthians 15 was the subject of the most triumphant portion of the work. The miracle of the creation of Messiah was less the time it took to create the masterpiece, but the recognition by the composer that God was at work and bringing glory unto Himself. Thanks be to God.