Tag: Living for our Living Hope

Mark 1:14-15 – Our Life’s (?)Tiny, Timely Lessons about our alleged “Successes” and God’s Long Established Record of Living by His Promises and Fulfillment.

Mark 1:14-15Amplified Bible

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

14 Now after John [the Baptist] was arrested and [a]taken into custody, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of [the kingdom of] God, 15 and saying, “The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life] and believe [with a deep, abiding trust] in the good news [regarding salvation].“

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

John’s message of repentance was over; he was in Herod’s prison and soon his life would come to an end and then; time had come for Jesus’ message to begin.

Jesus’ message is not identical to John’s.

John preached about a time to come; Jesus preached that the time had come.

John preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; Jesus preached that the kingdom itself was at hand, so believe the gospel.

John did not preach the gospel; he preached that the gospel bearer was coming.

Jesus was the greatest preacher who ever lived.

Do you know the main topic of his sermons?

Jesus’ most important theme: announce the good news of the kingdom of God.

This captured the core of his teaching.

He immediately grabbed the people’s attention – Turn to Him and Him Alone!

By his Baptism, his completed temptation experiences, He boldly announced God had broken into human history and through Jesus himself God’s rightful reign over creation, and human history, and every human being had arrived.

Mark 1:14-15Common English Bible

Jesus’ message

14 After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee announcing God’s good news, 15 saying, “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!”

All of Jesus’ sermons, talks, healings revolved around this good news of God’s kingdom coming – “change your hearts and lives, fully trust this good news.”

Mark 1:14-15Authorized (King James) Version

14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Repentance and faith

Jesus preached the gospel, the good news that God had fulfilled his promises to Israel by sending the Messiah, or the Anointed One, to save the people.

As a whole, however, the nation of Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah, because he did not fit the commonly accepted profile of what the Messiah should do.

The Messiah was expected to militarily lead the Jews to victory over the Roman occupation forces and restore the nation to a place of dominance in the world.

Jesus showed no signs of becoming such a military minded genius Messiah.

From his prison cell, even John the Baptist finally began to wonder whether Jesus was really the one sent by God or was another to come (Matthew 11:3).

The Messiah God sent was different from the one the people expected, because God’s purpose in the world was different from what the people expected.

The people expected God to vanquish their enemies by mighty armies of heavily armed followers – utterly crushing all oppressors and make their nation great.

But God’s sole purpose for His Messiah was to make a new covenant with the people, to write his laws in their hearts – to visualize final fulfillment of the law.

In the very midst of their rejection of God’s Messiah, a rejection in which every human shares, God chose to bring all sin to a head, destroy it once and for all.

In that one singular and utterly radical act of turning the pinnacle of all human rebellion and opposition to himself into the means of human salvation, God not only fulfilled all his promises to Israel for their redemption (Acts 13:32-33), but also his word of promise for all the world (Genesis 22:18).

In other words, we are saved by God’s act of salvation on our behalf, not by our repentance and faith.

Were it not for the righteousness and the faith of the Son of God, we would not have repentance and faith.

Our repentance and our faith have meaning only because they are taken up into Jesus’ righteousness and faith on our behalf and given meaning in him, for they neither have even minimal meaning or any identifiable substance on their own.

Not a transaction

It is a popular notion that repentance and faith are two different things.

The idea is that all any person has to do is repent of all his sins, then ask Jesus to come into his life, and then, on the basis of this repentance and commitment to Jesus, God will forgive the person’s sins and grant him eternal salvation.

That is not the gospel.

The gospel is not a transaction.

It is not a deal.

It is not a tit for tat, nor any I’ll-do-this-if-you-do-that arrangement.

When we believe the gospel we are not causing God to save us.

We are not satisfying some prerequisite.

What we are doing when we believe the gospel is trusting God’s word that he has already saved us through what he has already done for us in Jesus Christ.

Our faith enables us to finally and fully and completely and utterly realize, enjoy and 100% embrace the gift we already have; it doesn’t cause God to give it to us.

The gospel is good news.

It is the good news that God loved everybody so much that he did something so completely unexpected to save them from the destruction and alienation of sin.

What God did — send his Son — he did purely and simply because he wanted to, not because we expected something of that nature to happen, did something, or said something, or thought something in our hearts to actually bring it about.

We are saved because God already, in Christ, did everything necessary to make our salvation the reality that it is.

Jesus said, “God so loved the world,” not “God so loved several carefully picked ones.”

For us to repent and believe the gospel is to turn from our empty lives, ignorant of God’s love and grace, and turn to belief in God’s word about who he is for us and what he has done for us in Christ. It is a matter of believing a thing that is already true. And it is a matter of believing it because God tells us that it is true.

From the very beginning (Genesis 1:1) the message of God is always been there!

From the very early days of God’s Prophet Isaiah – we learn of God’s desire for a restoration of our relationship with Him – God’s expressed desire to reconnect:

Isaiah 1:18-20Authorized (King James) Version

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient,
ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 but if ye refuse and rebel,
ye shall be devoured with the sword:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

That is not a transaction.

It is not a matter of the gospel not applying to us unless or until we do the right thing.

Salvation is not remuneration for repentance.

It is not remuneration for faith.

It is not remuneration for anything.

It is a FREE gift, a FREE gift given to the world is ours, whether we like it or not.

It is a matter of our coming to the senses lost to our sin in the Garden of Eden.

It is a matter of activating our God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit awareness.

Role of faith

To believe that God has given you a gift is not a pathway to receive the gift.

It’s a gift, and it is given by grace, not by saying the magic words. But believing is the path to taking up, using and enjoying the gift. If you do not believe you have a gift, you’ll never take it up and use it, and you’ll never enjoy its benefits.

So it is with the gospel.

The gospel is true for us because God made it true for us.

It does not suddenly become true when we repent and believe.

It does, however, suddenly become plain to us what God has given us when we repent and believe.

And in belief, or faith, or trust, we can walk in the light of our Savior Christ, where we once walked in mindless empty darkness because of our unbelief.

Our unbelief did not mean the gospel was not so for us; it only meant we could not sense it. We were imprisoned in the dark about it, did not know beyond our sin born prison bars, God redeemed us in Christ long before we were ever born.

Redemption

The gospel was fulfilled when the Son of God became one of us for our sakes.

He was the undeniable fulfillment of all the prophecies promised unto Israel (Acts13:32-33), and the very means by which Israel became a blessing to all other nations (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:8).

He transformed the meaning of human life, human history and human time.

All times, from the creation to the end of the world, are redeemed in him.

All of human history — past, present and future — including your personal history, are redeemed in him. Human life itself, including your human life, is redeemed in him, made new, saved (see Colossians 1:19-20; Ephesians 1:9-10).

This is not something we are waiting for — it is fulfilled already, though we do not yet experience its fullness.

We still wait for the redemption of our bodies, as Paul said, when “this mortal shall put on immortality.”

We still wait for the revealing of the new, clean and righteous us, which is hidden with Christ in God and will be revealed with him in glory when he is revealed (Colossians 3:3-4).

But please permit the Holy Spirit to remind you of this: we already walk by faith in the light of the knowledge of the Son of God, tasting and drawing upon today the 100% fulfillment of the reality that awaits us with Christ in the age to come.

Christ has wrought a new creation (see 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15), which we do not, and indeed cannot, yet see in full, but we are definitely part of it. In Christian believers, the age to come has already begun to manifest itself.

Approach

It is this light, the light of the gospel, that we seek to share with all those who still walk in the darkness of unbelief.

When we share the gospel, we are not saying,

“You are hanging by a thread over the fires of hell; say these words and God will change his mind about you.”

Instead we are saying, as Scottish Theologian Rev. Thomas F. Torrance put it,

“Jesus Christ died for you precisely because you are sinful and utterly unworthy of him, and has thereby already made you his own before and apart from your ever believing in him…. He has believed for you, fulfilled your human response to God, even made your personal decision for you, so that he acknowledges you before God as one who has already responded to God in him, who has already believed in God through him…in all of which he has been fully and completely accepted by the Father, so that in Jesus Christ you are already accepted by him. Therefore, renounce yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus as your Lord and Saviour” (The Mediation of Christ, page 94).

When we understand the gospel of the unconditional grace of God, we no longer rely upon our faith or our commitment, but upon what Christ has done for us.

Indeed, as Mark’s narrative immediately, succinctly informs and teaches us:

Jesus said in Mark 1:1-14-15, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, change your hearts, and change your life and believe the gospel.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus himself spoke these words immediately before he fully and completely and utterly gave his life for us and died upon Calvary:

John 19:28-30Amplified Bible

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said in fulfillment of the Scripture, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of [a]sour wine was placed there; so they put a sponge soaked in the sour wine on [a branch of] hyssop and held it to His mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and [voluntarily] [b]gave up His spirit.

We just need re-ignite our awareness: reason this Gospel truth out with God!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God of all truth and wisdom, sometimes I not sure if I’m actually hearing your voice, or if it’s just my own thoughts or even another spirit. Sharpen my spiritual hearing, Lord, so I can recognize your words when you are speaking to me. Help me know it’s really you, with no doubt or second-guessing. When I’m asking for your guidance in important decisions, grant me your peace that surpasses understanding with your answer alone. Help me remember your words to me will never go against your living written Word in the Bible. Give me a clear mind, push out all of my confusion. Amen.

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Who among us does not long to hear these words pointing them, directing them, to their Living Hope: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World?” John 1:25-34

John 1:25-34Amplified Bible

25 They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize [only] [a]in water, but among you there stands One whom you do not recognize and of whom you know nothing. 27 It is He [the preeminent One] who comes after me, the [b]strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie [even as His slave].” 28 These things occurred in Bethany across the Jordan [at the Jordan River crossing], where John was baptizing.

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God [c]who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I and has priority over me, for He existed before me.’ 31 [d]I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah]; but I came baptizing [e]in water so that He would be [publicly] revealed to Israel.” 32 John gave [further] evidence [testifying officially for the record, with validity and relevance], saying, “I have seen the [f]Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah], but He who sent me to baptize [g]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this One is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I myself have [actually] seen [that happen], and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

John, the Baptizer was born miraculously to aged parents (Luke 1:11-18), had the mission of preparing the way for Christ, the Messiah.

As a Charismatic preacher, he drew great crowds. He denounced people’s sins, called for immediate repentance, and baptized many who turned back to God.

The high point in John’s life came when he was baptizing at the Jordan River and Jesus approached him. John called out, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” He also had exclaimed, “This is the Son of God.”

A low point came, however, when John was in prison and began to wonder if Jesus really was the Messiah (Matthew 11:1-5).

From deep within his prison cell John the Baptist sent friends to find out, and Jesus assured him by saying that the sick were being healed, the dead were being raised, and the good news of God’s kingdom was being preached.

The first time we read the word “lamb” in the Hebrew Testament, the speaker is Isaac, is asking his father Abraham, “Where is the lamb for the [sacrifice]?” (Genesis 22:7).

In the New Testament at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, we see this word again as John announces, “Look, the Lamb of God …”

John pointed us to Jesus, the Son of God, instead of himself, as the Lamb who came to meet our very deepest need by becoming the sacrifice for all our sin.

What truly matters to us is that John identified Jesus not once but twice before others as the Lamb of God and that we understand the meaning. Only through Jesus do we receive salvation. Jesus, God’s son, died a sacrificial lamb for all.

Why Did John Say, ‘Behold the Lamb of God’?

For any devout Jew in the time of Jesus, a lamb would have evoked powerful religious meaning.

Far more than a typical food source in that day, a lamb was considered the most appropriate sin-substitute when it came to making ritual sacrifices, which were a huge part of the role of the Jewish Temple and community tradition back then.

Jesus himself was raised Jewish and came from a long line of Israelites dating back to Abraham, the first major patriarch in the Bible.

Abraham’s son was Isaac, and his grandson was Jacob, from whom the 12 tribes of Israel came. Jesus was descended from the tribe of Judah, a son of Jacob.

They all would have been very familiar with the need to regularly make animal sacrifices to the Lord as a way to atone for their sins, particularly the sacrifice of an unblemished lamb as a way of cleansing, purifying, and honoring the Lord (Exodus 12:3-13; Leviticus 14:10-25).

But when John the Baptist encounters the man Jesus walking towards him in the wilderness, as Jesus is walking toward him, John announces, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, ESV).

Why would John refer to Jesus as a lamb, which was a typical religious sacrifice?

Why a lamb of God?

And what does he mean, who “takes away” sin?

Why did John say, “Behold the Lamb of God”?

https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/jhn/1/29/t_conc_998029

What Does This Text Mean?

In the original Greek used by the Apostle John, who wrote the Book of John, he uses the Greek word ide for behold, meaning “look,” “see here,” or “consider.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2396/esv/mgnt/0-1/

He uses amnos for lamb, meaning exactly that — a young sheep.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g286/esv/mgnt/0-1/

And he uses theos for God, referring to “the one true God.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2316/esv/mgnt/0-1/

He also uses the word airō for takes away, which means “carries away” or “gets rid of.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g142/esv/mgnt/0-1/

He uses hamartia for sin, meaning “wrongdoing.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g266/esv/mgnt/0-1/

And he uses kosmos for the word world, referring to the entire world — that is, the universe, not just the local place in which he is situated.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2889/esv/mgnt/0-1/

Essentially, what John the Baptizer is communicating to everyone nearby:

Essentially, what John the Baptizer is communicating to generations to come:

“Look, it’s God’s lamb who gets rid of the wrongdoings of the entire universe.”

Who among us, right in this exact moment, do not long to hear these words?

Who among us, right in this exact moment, does not need to hear these words ringing and resounding through, into every last empty cell of their their souls?

We’re in constant state of need to hear someone exclaiming “Hope is Possible!”

Hope, indeed our Living Hope is Here – And he is Jesus Christ – The Son of God!

This would have been a powerful and revelatory statement to make about Jesus.

Why Were Sacrifices Important to Jewish Culture Then?

Sacrifices had been prioritized in the Bible since the very first days. Genesis 4:4 talks about how Abel gave the Lord the very best firstborn of his flock of sheep (that is, a lamb), which greatly pleased God.

We also know Jesus’ descendant Abraham was severely tested by God and asked to sacrifice his only son. heir, Isaac, with whom God had promised to establish His covenant and bring forth a multitude of offspring.

Isaac’s apparently innocent question to his father, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7) is a poignant moment between them, for only Abraham knew he was supposed to be sacrificing Isaac upon the mountain.

Father Abraham insisted to Isaac that God would provide, and God did indeed, providing a ram at the last moment for him to sacrifice instead of his own son.

Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy further prescribe animal sacrifices, usually a lamb but also other animals, as a way for the Jewish people to make up for their wrongdoings, providing forgiveness and the removal of sin.

But these were temporary sacrifices.

They had to be done repeatedly — yearly or whenever a person was in need of cleansing from unrighteousness — to ensure good standing with the Lord.

What Was the Context of This Verse, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God’?

In this first chapter of John, we are introduced to John the Baptist, whom the Bible here calls “a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him” (John 1:6-7).

But Scripture is extraordinarily careful to note that John himself admitted he was not the light but rather the precursor to that light, the one who introduced, the one who announced, who pointed us to the light or bore witness in advance.

Like the person, the Master of Ceremonies, asked to introduce the main speaker onstage, John was the introducer; and Jesus was the “keynote,” the main event.

Later in this first chapter of John’s narrative, we are told priests and Levites from Jerusalem asked John who he was, for he’d been baptizing people in the wilderness and urging them to turn from sin.

They asked if he was a prophet or even if he was the great prophet of old Elijah.

No, John said, adding, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said” (John 1:23).

He further added that he was baptizing with water as a way of forging the path to Jesus, so he could bear witness and point Jesus out when the time came.

And indeed, John emphatically added, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34).

Does John Actually Say Jesus Is the Lamb of God?

John reiterates twice that Jesus is the Lamb of God, first here, when he’s with the priests and Levites and sees Jesus walking toward him, and then the next day, when he’s standing with two disciples and sees Jesus, he points this out again: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:36).

Those two disciples included Andrew, who immediately followed Jesus and then went to fetch his brother, Simon Peter.

The two were Jesus’ first disciples and among the 12 apostles.

Make no mistake, John is saying: Jesus is the Lamb of God.

The Apostle Paul describes him later as “Christ, our Passover lamb, (who) has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

What Does ‘Lamb of God’ Mean?

There are two key inferences here. One is that Jesus, as the “lamb” of God, is God’s perfect sacrifice.

Sacrificial lambs were required by Levitical Code to be unblemished, typically the best of the best, pure, and perfect.

They also were innocent — blood, and lives, were exchanged as debt payment.

In His willing sacrifice on the cross, Jesus paid our sin debt penalty “once for all” (Colossians 2:14).

It’s a substitute for sin, the way the people could enter the presence of God, to atone for wrongdoing, and what God was willing to accept to make things right.

John was perhaps referring to Scripture foretold in Isaiah 53:7, where the prophet described the savior of the world as one oppressed and inflicted, a “lamb that is led to the slaughter.”

The other meaning is the lamb being described in the Book of Revelation, the triumphant “Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Revelation 5:6).

Did John Know What He Meant Here?

We aren’t told whether John knew what he was alluding to by calling Jesus the “Lamb of God,” especially as later he seemed doubtful and sent word asking if Jesus really was the one who was to come (Matthew 11:3).

That doesn’t really matter, though, for sometimes people speak words of the Lord without understanding what they fully mean, such as in prophecy.

What matters is that John the Baptizer clearly identified Jesus not once but twice before others as the Lamb of God and that we understand the meaning.

John the Baptizer’s intent and meaning are very clear! Only through Jesus do we receive salvation. Jesus, God’s son, died a sacrificial lamb for all (John 3:16), but only those who genuinely repent, believe and follow Him receive that salvation.

We must understand that Jesus is the only way — indeed, as the Apostle John later notes Jesus as stating, “The way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).

So, behold, all reading this piece — Jesus is Lord, Word become flesh, the Living God, our living Hope whose innocence, purity and perfect, divine nature paid the price of our sins forevermore so we who believe may live forever with Him.

He did this for you, for me, and for us all.

He is the Lamb of God, and we are His.

John the Baptizer repeatedly proclaimed him ….

Can any of us here claim that we repeatedly proclaim the exact same sentiment?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Most Holy and Gracious God,

You have enriched and enlightened us by the revelation of your eternal Christ. 

Comfort us in our mortality

and strengthen us to walk the path of your desire,

so that by word and deed we may manifest the gracious news

of your faithfulness and love.

Most Holy God, Giver of every Good and Perfect Gift,

Divine Father of the man Jesus who asked the disciples,

“What are you looking for,”

and who offered the invitation to “Come and See,”

open our hearts to what you reveal and give us the courage to follow. 

By Your Spirit aid us in our journey,

so that like John the Baptizer, our words and deeds point to the Lamb of God. 

For those who are suffering, let us likewise point to Christ through comfort. 

For those who are hungry, let us point to Christ through the giving of bread. 

For those in the grip of despair, let us point to Christ through our example of hope.

Almighty God,

whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world:

Grant that your people, illumined by your Word,

may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory,

that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth.

We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

One God in Three – now and forever, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Who of us does not long to hear these exact words from our God right now: “You are My Child, in whom I love; with whom I am well Pleased?” Mark 1:9-11

Mark 1:9-11 New Living Translation

The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus

9 One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. 10 As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him[a] like a dove. 11 And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

We might think that the world-changing and history-making beginning of Jesus’ ministry would begin with a major announcement.

We might even reasonably expect that this history making event would come out as a big deal—like when a nation’s president or prime minister is elected.

But the heavenly declaration that opens Jesus’ ministry is rather low key.

It is also rather private, personal and extraordinarily intimate—Jesus had not announced himself yet gathered any disciples or followers to witness this event.

It was a deeply personal event exclusively meant for exchange between a father and his son – a father and son moment – with meanings deeper than we know.

What’s more, the heavenly power does not swoop in like a great eagle with exposed talons, swooping in while it is shrieking at the very top of its lungs.

You do not get the idea it was meant to be observed by human eyes and ears.

Instead it is described as gently arriving like a dove.

The Spirit of God, who had hovered over the waters of creation (Genesis 1:2), similarly graces the person of Jesus, giving us an unmistakable sign that a new creation is getting under way and this new effort will also be good, very good.

Mark’s gospel has an emphasis on showing the reading audience who Jesus is.

He is the Servant of All and He is about to immediately begin His ministry and His mission of making a difference, if not THE difference in the affairs of man.

The first eight verses of Mark focused on the immediate anticipation of Jesus’ arrival.

Remember that the gospel opens calling for people to literally drop every last priority they have, immediately begin to prepare the way for the king’s arrival.

The blessings of the Heavenly King … Humbly Clothed in His Divine Majesty …

Let all the Earth Rejoice … Let all the Earth Rejoice …

Everything, if not everybody in your life is immediately about to be changed.

Every circumstance is about to become immediately subjected to redemption.

Your life is about to be strengthened – thy self-esteem about to be maxed out.

Get hyper-excited because thy salvation is about to become genuine reality.

Immediately answer for yourselves this question: HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD?

Get your hearts and souls ready by confessing your sins because the mightier, indeed very the mightiest One is coming who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

One question that we have when we come to the baptism of Jesus is why was he even needed to baptized?

The answer is in verse 9: we see the humble king of all created things quietly arriving, slowly processing into humanity, for his royal coronation ceremony.

Open your versions of God’s word to Mark 1:9-11 to see this coronation scene.

Here in the Gospel of Mark we are given the heavenly insight that Jesus is the unique and truly loved Son with whom His Father God is beyond well pleased.

Today’s highlighted verses tell us about God’s great love for His Son Jesus and how, as He came up, out from the water He has expressed His love for His Son.

We see God’s wonderful expression of deep affection and deep pride in Jesus.

It must have been a beautiful, inspiring moment and blessing to each of them.

The great thing about this event is this: Jesus has immediately provided each of us with the blessed assurance of both God’s great favor and abundant delight.

Christ’s death on the Cross not only paid the price for our sins, it also opened up the way to the loving-kindness and great goodness of God. Just as the Father was proud of His Son, God can now cherish and embrace us in the same way.

Are not these the words we all need to hear from the ones we love the most?

Look at what was being said by Father God: “I completely claim you as my child! I completely, utterly love you! I am fully, utterly completely max pleased with you!”

The Father shared these incredible affirmations with his Son.

And by extension, our Father God shares these incredible affirmations with us.

In the subsequent verses, the man Jesus will face the temptations of Satan in the wilderness armed with the understanding his Heavenly Father lovingly and proudly claims him as his child – those words infusing Jesus with God’s might.

You know, when we were baptized,

I cannot help but believe my God immediately quietly expressing the very same fatherly sentiments about you and me – with the exact same degree of His love!

In this moment, what does that thought immediately do for your self-esteem?

No matter what you or I think of or about ourselves, here is a wonderful hint:

OPEN WIDEST THOSE EYES OF YOURS, GIVE GOD YOUR “GOD” SMILE NOW …

God has entered the affairs of all mankind, come into the world with the loving intention of bringing about a new creation that includes you. What in your life needs to be re-created by the transformation and blessings of Savior Jesus Christ?

Jesus himself declares in Chapter One verse 15: “The time has come. . . . The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and (hardcore) believe the good news!”

No matter who you are or what you’ve done; no matter how you’re feeling or what you’re going through right in this exact moment, please know this: You are a beloved child of God, lifted up by His grace, and cherished by Him forever.

Just a Quiet, Timely Reminder of Exactly Whose Beloved Child You Are?

He was the Son of God.

He was the Son of Man.

He came down from heaven.
He was born in a stable.

Kings came to his cradle.
His first home was a cave.

He was born to be a king.
He was a child of Mary.

He was the greatest among rulers.
He was the least among servants.

He was loved and honored.
He was despised and rejected.

He was gentle and loving.
He made many enemies.

He counseled perfection.
He was a friend of sinners.

He was a joyful companion.
He was a man of sorrows.

He said, “Rejoice.”
He said, “Repent.”

“Love God with all your heart.”
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“Don’t be anxious.”
“Count the cost.”

“Deny yourself.”
“Ask and receive.”

In him was life.
He died on a cross.

He was a historic person.
He lives today.

He was Jesus of Nazareth.
He is Christ the Lord.

He was with God in the beginning of all created things because He is God!

And there is exactly NOTHING the darkness of sin and death can do about it!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

ABBA, My Loving and adoring Father, I know I do not merit your love and grace. Yet, dear Heavenly Father of mine, I am completely and utterly overwhelmed with them and beyond thankful for the abundance of them. As your beloved child, please know that I love and adore you… even in those times when I make wrong choices and also when I succumb to temptation’s power. Father, do not ever let the evil one strip my love for you from me or let him cloud my eyes to your love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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The Ministry and Mission of Jesus Begins: Two Kinds of Wildernesses. Numbers 14:26-35 and Mark 1:11-15

Numbers 14:26-35Amplified Bible

26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who murmur [in discontent] against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they are making against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just what you have spoken in My hearing I will most certainly do to you; 29 your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, even all who were numbered of you, your entire number from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me. 30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, not one of you shall enter the land in which I swore [an oath] to settle you. 31 But your children whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will know the land which you have despised and rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your sons shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness (spiritual infidelity), until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], forty days, for each day, you shall bear and suffer a year for your sins and guilt, for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement because of your sin]. 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. I will most certainly do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed [by war, disease, and plagues], and here they shall die.’”

Mark 1:11-15Amplified Bible

11 and a [a]voice came out of heaven saying: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!”

12 Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

14 Now after John [the Baptist] was arrested and [b]taken into custody, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of [the kingdom of] God, 15 and saying, “The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life] and believe [with a deep, abiding trust] in the good news [regarding salvation].”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The wilderness is a place that captures the imagination and stirs the soul.

Native Americans, for example, will journey into the wilderness on a vision quest; thrill seekers will flock to the mountains and remote places in search of adventure; those who are overworked will retreat there for peace and solitude; and Christians will even go camping in the wilderness for the purpose of fasting and praying, confidence building exercises, for adventures, looking unto God.

The wilderness just innately seems to continuously beckon unto people.

Jack London authored a book entitled The Call of the Wild, and Country Music songwriter John Denver once asked, “Does the call of the wild ever sing through the midst of your dreams?”

In the Hebrew {old} Testament, King David declared,

“Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. Indeed, I would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness” (Psalms 55:6-7).

There’s an intrinsic romanticism concerning the wilderness.

In the physical sense, it represents peace and finding oneself.

In the spiritual, however, it can represent confusion and becoming lost to oneself, and realizing a deafening silence from God.

Whenever the Lord allows His children to enter a spiritual wilderness, there’s nothing very romantic about it! The wilderness is a place one hopes to flee!

I once read a story about a distinguished painter who was conducting a class for aspiring artists.

He was speaking to them on the subject of artistic composition.

He emphasized that it was wrong, for example, to portray a wooded area, a forest or a wilderness, without painting into it a path out of the trees.

When a true artist draws or paints any kind of picture, such as a landscape, he always gives the picture an “out.”

Otherwise the tangle of trees and the ceaseless, endless, trackless spaces will depress and dismay the onlooker.(1)

(1) Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations, in Logos CD-ROM, version 2.1E (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996).

The same thing can happen in your spiritual life whenever you feel as though you’re in a wilderness.

If life ever appears as a tangled mass of branches under a dark leafy canopy or a vast expanse of dark forest with no obvious way out, then you can become down and discouraged, and even seriously distant in your relationship with the Lord.

Somewhere along your spiritual journey you might enter a season in life where you will feel as though you are deep in a vast wilderness with no way out.

In this message, I am going to compare and contrast two possible reasons why you might enter a wilderness period, and prayerfully show you and me how to make it through to the other side; as we try to compare and contrast following Jesus and both the “sin-driven wilderness” and “Spirit-driven wilderness.”

A Sin-Driven Wilderness (Numbers 14:26-35)

Sometimes when we have a wilderness experience in our life, it’s the result of sin.

This is called a “sin-driven wilderness” – one where you are driven into the wilderness because of “your own” sin. This is what happened to the Israelites.

The Bible says in Numbers 14:26-35:

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.”

“Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in’.”

“‘But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection’.”

“‘I the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die’” (Numbers 14:26-35).

The Lord said, “The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness” (Numbers 14:29).

The sin mentioned in these verses which resulted in the Israelites being driven into the wilderness was “complaining against God.”

Complaining was just one manifestation of hearts an souls and spirits that were full of sin and lacking in even a minimum measure of faith in God’s deliverance.

Since (I believe anyway) we have studied this passage before, this is a bit of a review; however, a review is necessary to get to the heart of the message.

In Numbers thirteen, we read where the Lord sent twelve spies from the tribes of Israel on a reconnaissance mission into Canaan to check out its bounty.

When they had returned, they reported how it was a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord had promised to them; however, they also brought back a seriously negative report of how the land was occupied with giants whom they could not overcome. This is when they began to become fearful and complain.

In Numbers fourteen, we read where they refused to go forth and possess the Promised Land as God had commanded, and they attempted to select leaders and return to Egypt. The only ones who were faithful were Joshua and Caleb, who both repeatedly tried to encourage the people that the land could be taken.

The Israelites refused to possess Canaan and the people were sentenced to wander in the wilderness forty years, until all who were twenty-years-old and above had perished.

The Lord told Israel, “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you” (Deuteronomy 8:2a).

This particular sin-driven wilderness served as a test for the people of Israel.

Whenever you enter a sin-driven wilderness, you need to realize that it’s your sin that has driven you there – your sin – and not the Lord.

It is not a God-driven wilderness, but a sin-driven wilderness.

Whenever we enter a wilderness period because of our own sins, what happens is you and I are allowed to suffer from the wrong choices of our sin, and too be tested by the consequences of sin – just how long do we allow ourselves to hurt?

The Bible says that sin leads to death (Romans 6:23).

It was sin that resulted in the first man and woman being evicted from the Garden of Eden.

In a sense, the sin-driven wilderness is a form of punishment, because God allows it to happen when He could actually intervene; but ultimately it is a person’s own fault for winding up there through their own disobedience to God.

Whenever you find yourself in a sin-driven wilderness it’s because the Lord is allowing you to be purged of sin and purified. The Lord allowed Israel to enter the wilderness in order for the generation that sinned to perish and die out, so that Israel would be purged and cleansed of her negative and rebellious attitude.

The Lord will allow you to enter the wilderness in order to be chastened and cleansed of sin, so that you will emerge on the other side as a different person, and hopefully a better and more faithful follower.

Hebrews says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (12:11).

A wilderness experience will either make or break you.

You will either grow closer to the Lord or become distant from Him.

You might feel like Evan Baxter on “Evan Almighty,” when he said,

“[Lord], I know whatever You do, You do because You love me, right? Do me a favor: Love me less.”

When you should inevitably ever enter the wilderness experience because of sin, be sure to permit the experience to refine you into pure gold tried in the fire.

Job 1:20-21Amplified Bible

20 Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head [in mourning for the children], and he fell to the ground and worshiped [God]. 21 He said,

“Naked (without possessions) I came [into this world] from my mother’s womb,
And naked I will return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

A Spirit-Driven Wilderness (Mark 1:12-13)

Sometimes when you have a wilderness experience it’s the result of sin; however, there can be other times when you enter the wilderness even though you’ve been faithful to the Lord.

This is likely a “Spirit-driven wilderness” – one into which the Holy Spirit leads you.

Even Jesus underwent a Spirit-driven wilderness.

The Bible says in Mark 1:12-13:

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him (Mark 1:12-13).

We read how “the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12).

Over in the book of Matthew, we read, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (4:1; cf. Lk 4:1-2).

It was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness.

The apostle John had a similar experience on the island of Patmos,

for he said of the Lord,

“So He carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness” (Revelation 17:3).

These are not isolated examples in the Bible.

In Nehemiah, we read concerning Israel’s exodus from Egypt,

“You did not forsake them in the wilderness . . . [but] gave Your good Spirit to instruct them” (9:19-20); and in

Isaiah we read, “[God] led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, that they might not stumble. As a beast goes down into the valley, and the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest” (63:13-14).

It was the Holy Spirit that drove Israel from Egypt into the desert, and then onward toward the Promised Land.

The Israelites actually endured both a Spirit-driven and sin-driven wilderness during the exodus:

Spirit-driven Wilderness – First, the Holy Spirit drove the people into the desert (a wilderness-like place) as they made their exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land.

This was supposed to be a short-lived experience, for it was only an eleven-day journey to Canaan.

Sin-driven Wilderness – Later, however, when the Israelites sinned by refusing God’s command to go forth to possess Canaan, they were sentenced to wander in the actual barren and remote wilderness for forty long and very hard years.

It’s one thing to enter a wilderness as the result, or consequence, of sin.

This can sometimes seem more understandable when it happens.

You can arrive at a time and season in your life, examine your life and say,

“Oh, it all makes sense now! I can remember the time when God asked me to do this or that, and I was disobedient and did my own thing. Now I know I’m being humbled mightily and I accept I need to be chastened for my sin by my Savior!”

The concept of a sin-driven wilderness seems easier to grasp than the Spirit-driven wilderness.

Some of the most confusing and defeating times in life can be the ones in which you have been fully, completely faithful to do what God asked of you, and then you either trip and do a “face plant” or land flat onto your back in a wilderness.

When you enter a wilderness period, and you know deep in your heart that you’ve remained faithful to God, then it’s likely that you have entered into a Spirit-driven wilderness.

The Israelites had remained faithful to the Lord while they were in Egypt, and they had all their basic needs met.

Daily provision meant that God’s favor rested on them.

Once in the desert, however, their stability was shaken and they questioned and cried why they had ever left Egypt and the provision they once had (Nm 11:4-6).

All at once they suddenly wondered where “all of” God’s inevitable favor had gone. When the Spirit drove them out into the desert it didn’t make any sense!

The Israelites probably wondered what they had done wrong.

They very likely felt that God had been unkind to them by forcing them into the desert to leave all the provision of Egypt.

A collective thought process similar to one like this: “If only I/We had kept their focus on the primary reason why I/We, was/were being led out!”

When the Holy Spirit pushed them into the desert it was because the Lord had a much better place in store for them down the road!

When you find yourself in a wilderness period even though you’ve been faithful to the Lord, it’s easy to feel like you’ve done something wrong and it’s easy to complain; but if you know deep in your heart you’ve been obedient to the Lord, then you must be in the wilderness because the Holy Spirit has put you there.

If the Holy Spirit has led you there, into a time and a season for “hitting the reset button on my life” then you can rest assured that it’s for a good reason.

Why was Jesus led into the wilderness?

The answer is “to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

This temptation was a test for the “Son of Man” in order to try Jesus’ spiritual stamina to remain faithful to the Lord in the midst of the temptation to sin.

This test also proved to Satan that he couldn’t touch Jesus.

The wilderness served to demonstrate to us Jesus’ faithfulness, and it resulted in an encounter with the Father’s presence as “the angels ministered to Him” (Mark 1:13; Matthew 4:11).

When you an I enter a Spirit-driven wilderness, the every same thing will likely happen to us.

You will grow spiritually and grow closer to the Lord.

What seems like an unfair thing, to enter the wilderness when you’ve remained faithful, can actually have an indescribably abundant and beneficial end result.

What seems like a bad thing might just be a display of God’s love, for the Lord says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Revelation 3:19).

Biblical Commentator John MacArthur says,

God’s plan and purpose [is] to use Satan’s temptations as a means of testing and strengthening our faith in Him and of our growing stronger in righteousness. God allows testing in our lives in order that our spiritual “muscles” may be exercised and strengthened. Whether the testing is by God’s initiative or is sent by Satan, God will always use it to produce good in us when we meet the test in His power.

 John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Matthew 1-7 (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1985), pp. 87-88.

You might even be driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit in order to receive some much-needed rest.

Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness, Israel, when I went to give him rest’” (Jeremiah 31:2).

Jesus advised His disciples, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31).

Sometimes your faithfulness to the Lord can result in some harsh persecution and stress in your life as you take a stand for Jesus Christ.

For example, in today’s context, consider any pastor who has taken a stand against sin in his congregation, and has become physically and emotionally drained. He has taken great abuse for the Lord and has remained faithful.

Then one day, out of the blue, he finds himself blind-sided as he is asked to resign from his church.

He then loses his ministry, his purpose and his livelihood, and then enters a wilderness.

He/she could then become incredibly frustrated, angry against their fellow Christians, as it doesn’t appear to make any sense; but actually it does!

The Lord could be “forcing” them to take a much-needed break, as He refreshes them and works to slowly restore their passion and love for Him and His people.

If anything similar to this has happened in your own life, then take heart!

God sees your faithfulness, and you’re in the wilderness for the very reason that the Lord God is doing some cleansing and hardcore refining, a new work in your life!

God is growing you, God is handling you, God is maturing you and God is preparing, refining you, for something else and for a closer walk with Him!

Keep your focus on the Lord while you’re in the wilderness and do not lose hope!

Oswald Chambers said, “If God gives you a time spiritually, as He gave His Son . . . of temptation in the wilderness, with no word from Himself at all, endure it; and the power to endure is there because you see God.”

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, in Logos CD-ROM, version 2.1E (Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers, 1989).

Time of Reflection

Do you feel as though you’re in a wilderness right now?

If so, then ask yourself, “Am I in the wilderness because I’ve been disobedient to the Lord, and have sinned against Him?”

If you can genuinely and with your whole heart and soul answer “yes” to this question, then you need to confess your sin and ask God for His forgiveness.

The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

If you should examine your life and you can’t identity any known sin, then ask yourself, “Am I in the wilderness even though I’ve been faithful to the Lord?”

If you can answer “yes” to this question then try not to become discouraged.

Psalm 37:27-29Amplified Bible

27 
Depart from evil and do good;
And you will dwell [securely in the land] forever.
28 
For the Lord delights in justice
And does not abandon His saints (faithful ones);
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked will [in time] be cut off.
29 
The righteous will inherit the land
And live in it forever.

The Lord has not forsaken you.

The Lord God is upholding you while He is resetting you, while He refines you.

In fact, you’re likely in the wilderness because Father, Son and Holy Spirit led you there in order for you to achieve that more intimate encounter with God.

How will you an I respond to the wilderness?

Will you and I gripe and complain, or will you and I gracefully endure until the Lord molds and refines us, into the man or woman of God that He has planned?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

My God in Heaven, everything has crumbled around me. Everything has collapsed deep beneath me. Everything has burned above me. My God in whom I strive to trust more, Yet You remain! I call out to You to save me. Lord, You have never failed those who hope in Your name. In Jesus, You have demonstrated Your great love for me. Regardless of this illusion of hopelessness, grant me the grace and strength to be hopeful for I know of the coming days of glory. In the hope of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

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The Ministry and Mission of Jesus Christ Begins. About our Faithful Discipleship, about being able to Identify with Jesus. Mark 1:9-13

Mark 1:9-13 Amplified Bible

The Baptism of Jesus

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 [a]Immediately coming up out of the water, he (John) saw the heavens torn open, and the [b]Spirit like a dove descending on Him (Jesus); 11  and a [c]voice came out of heaven saying: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!”

12 Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The first chapter of Mark has it all. God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Angels and even Satan are all compacted here in the very same place at seemingly the same time, during the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and Jesus’ temptation by Satan.

The presence of John the Baptist arriving on the scene was the sign, the signal, and the moment that told the man Jesus to leave Nazareth, begin his ministry.

So, the Narrator Mark, speaking to his audience of readers, begins to present to them a step by step recitation of first introducing Jesus, then relating to readers a strong recommendation how they are to respond to God and this Good News.

First – Recognize that these Word’s of God are the Truth of God – spoken by God and are therefore trustworthy and true. God is active and attentive to their need.

Second – Recognize that God Himself, through His Son Jesus Christ, through His messengers -God’s Prophets Isaiah and Malachi through John the Baptizer has a prophetic message of promise and fulfillment for them – God needs them!

Third – God through His Son Jesus Christ, through His Messenger Mark, is now in need of their fullest possible attention – begin to shape the Kingdom of God.

The called of God, those children of God, in the first century moment respond – “We hear God – we believe on His Son Jesus Christ, what must we do now?”

A great expression of affirmation of faith followed by and even greater question.

Mark’s response is to follow in the example set by John the Baptist and Jesus:

Mark 1:9Amplified Bible

The Baptism of Jesus

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

First: Come willingly from wherever you are and recognize the authority of God.

Second: Make a decision to service unto the Kingdom of God and your neighbor.

Third: Recognize the absolute sovereignty of Jesus Christ over your entire life.

Fourth: Fully, Maximally, Utterly, Surrender the entirety of your life unto God.

Fifth: Present your whole body as a living sacrifice unto Christ and get baptized.

God needed His Son, the man, Rabbi Jesus to be “seen of man by man,” baptized as the necessary first step or visual sign of the beginning of his earthly ministry.

As one commentator said: It was a moment of decision; it was a moment of identification; it was a moment of God’s approval; was a moment of equipping.

Mark 1:10-11Amplified Bible

10 [a]Immediately coming up out of the water, he (John) saw the heavens torn open, and the [b]Spirit like a dove descending on Him (Jesus); 11 and a [c]voice came out of heaven saying: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!”

When he Jesus, came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

A voice, and a message for the people came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son, whom I am delighted in, in whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

This is one of the only places in the Bible where all three persons of the Trinity are in the same place at the same time communicating to those who are there!

Immediately Connecting, Immediately Relating, Immediately Identifying with:

The most significant moment of all – the first Moment of “God’s First Contact!”

This makes it one of the more important events in Jesus’ life and the people’s.

By visualizing the moment – the people are visualizing connecting their lives with God in the same way – to hear the exact same words Jesus heard from God.

“You are my beloved children, whom I am delighted in, in whom I love and with whom, by this act, your choice of obedience – to this baptism – I am well pleased!”

The people visualize, gain their most important “first impressions” of the man: why they should sacrificially, willingly, joyfully, utterly graft their lives into his.

The man, just like every other man present in the moment – the man, Jesus is immersed into the every day events of humanity, subjected to all the very worst.

Sixth: Repent and Prepare the entirety of yourself for maximum service by God.

Mark 1:12-13Amplified Bible

12 Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. “…and he was in the wilderness forty days, being mercilessly tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and all during that absolute worst misery: “the angels attended him.”

Here we see that Jesus was tempted and triumphed, something humanity could not do because mere man couldn’t overcome the worst of the worst absent God.

The people visualize that despite the worst of the worst – Jesus endured it and did not surrender one ounce of his faith in God – did not yield to Satan 1/8 inch.

The people can visualize for themselves that the worst of the worst is a definite possibility when they are seen as being for Jesus Christ and not for the Emperor.

But we can visualize ourselves enduring that worst of the worst because we can visualize Jesus doing it.

When the worst of the worst arrives, we can identify with it and instead of our submitting to the inevitability of being overcome by it – we identify with Jesus.

We visualize Jesus being continually administered to by the Angels.

We visualize ourselves – during our own worst of the worst – being continually administered to by the Angels also.

We identify with the moment of continuous comfort because it’s God’s promise.

It is God’s faithful promise of His continuous presence and continuous comfort.

Because: “The Word of God for His Beloved Children” is the absolute TRUTH!

We identify with God.

We identify with Jesus.

We identify Jesus with God

We identify Jesus’ victory over the very worst Satan can throw at us.

We identify with Jesus’ victory over the very worst Satan can throw at us.

Through that identification we can endure all things through Christ who is our strength through every single “worst of the worst” circumstance Satan inflicts.

Our faith remains sure and our faith remains strong, steadfast and immovable.

We are united in Christ, so that his victory might be our victory; so that when we are tempted, we can look to him and the living example Jesus first set for us.

Why was it important for Mark to provide these details?

Mark wanted to stress to his readers that Jesus is the only road to salvation.

The Maker of Heaven and earth declared His only begotten Son, Jesus to be his anointed one, His chosen one. He is real; He is credible; He is alive in us today!

Through these four rather short verses from the Gospel of Mark’s narrative ….

First: we can immediately identify with the absolute truth of that reality!

Second: we can immediately identify with the absolute truth of His credibility!

Third: we can immediately testify to the absolute truth of His being 100% alive!

Fourthly: we can immediately identify with the love of God and Jesus’ efforts towards preparing us for our ministry, mission: finish the Great Commission!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord God, Father to my Savior Jesus Christ, my Way-maker, my promise keeper. I know you have a destiny for me to achieve in this life. I want to follow the plan that you have laid out. Help me to understand and follow your call. Show me your will for my life and what I need to do right now to get started. Enable me to know who I am in Christ alone, and the special gifts and abilities you have given me. Give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation as I seek to know you more intimately. Amen.

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The Only Place to Begin when we do not know where to Begin. Mark 1:4-8

Mark 1:4-8Amplified Bible

4 [a]John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins [that is, requiring a change of one’s old way of thinking, turning away from sin and seeking God and His righteousness]. 5 And all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem were continually going out to him; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a [wide] leather [b]band around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was preaching, saying, “After me comes He who is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I, and I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the straps of His sandals [even as His slave]. 8 As for me, I baptized you [who came to me] with water [only]; but He will baptize you [who truly repent] [c]with the Holy Spirit.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Where did the Gospel actually begin?

Where did God’s Good News originate?

Narrators Matthew and Luke began their accounts of Jesus’ life with the stories surrounding his Genealogy an his birth.

Narrator John began his narrative before the creation of the world where the Son of God was not only present, but he also did the creating.

Mark, with his focus on Good News, chose to begin in a different place.

If folks are going to be open to the Good News of God, then someone is going to have to be a servant and prepare the way for Jesus to come and for his word to be heard. In many respects, the Good News always begins in this way.

The real question is whether we are willing to be used as servants like John the Baptist — who is introduced in verse four — and immediately, if not sooner, to begin to prepare the way for Savior Jesus’ Good News to be heard by our friends.

The next question for the reader of Mark’s narrative then becomes …. where do you immediately begin, when you do not know where to immediately begin?

A very valid question to ask when an immediate response to change is required.

At work, your supervisor suddenly hands you an outline for major project with major financial implications for your company which has never been attempted before – and the supervisors instructions are: I need this ASAP, as in 7 days!

With that kind of pressure and responsibility on your shoulders, ever sat and stared at a blank piece of paper or computer screen, wondering where to begin?

Any sort of task or project always has a beginning, and sometimes starting can prove a challenge especially when there is no previous effort to be inspired by. 

You can further complicate this situation by being the first person to do it.

That is what Mark faced.

His written story of Jesus will be the first ever!

Perhaps his narrative will serve as a model, inspiration for any future writers.

Mark 1:1-3Amplified Bible

The Preaching of John the Baptist

1 The beginning of the [facts regarding the] good news of [a]Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written and forever remains in the [writings of the] prophet Isaiah 40:1-4 and Malachi 3:1-3:

“Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way—
3 
A voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
[b]Make His paths straight!’”

So far, Mark has hit us with a big (seemingly logical) opening sentence,

“The Beginning of the [facts regarding the] Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Then used an Old Testament quote from the writings of God’s Prophet, Isaiah. 

The Old Testament quote, while making sense to Bible scholars, may or may not be the one to immediately grab your or your supervisors undivided attention.

I noodled over Mark’s choice of those first verses because I believe there is no superfluous material anywhere in the Biblical Canon.

All the words are there because God’s intention is that every word speak to his children – every word of every verse, however obscure it (they )may be – is the source of an important life lesson for someone, somewhere and at some point.

2 Timothy 3:16-17Amplified Bible

16 All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; 17 so that the [a]man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

In the process I reached a “Holy Spirit inspired” conclusion.

The divinely inspired conclusion: Mark wants to make sure we understand that Jesus coming to planet earth is huge AND has always been a part of God’s plan.

Later Narrators, such as Matthew and Luke, will accomplish this drawing on Jesus’ birth and lineage. Mark made the same point with much fewer words.

Now Mark, in his typical “get to the point” style starts with Jesus’ ministry—and Jesus’ ministry begins with his baptism by a fella named John the Baptist.

As I read and continually re-read verses 4-8, and know John the Baptist’s story, I’m again getting that one feeling that it is easy for me to rush past these verses.

Let’s not

– because God put it there for His own very specific reasons. (Isaiah 55:10-13)

John the Baptist’s current modus operandi is that of an Old Testament prophet.

He wants to make sure the people of his day understand what is happening.

We would also be well advised to give our immediate, if not sooner, attention to first engage God in prayer, then come to the divinely inspired understanding;

Amid a world where things are wrong: 

  1. God is definitely coming (immediately, if not sooner) to put things right.
  2. People, even (or especially) religious people, need to therefore get themselves fully turned around to the ONLY “right way around”. They need to repent.

John the Baptist notes differences between himself and Jesus.

First, that he is not worthy to untie the strap of Jesus’ sandal.

Second, that his baptism is with water while Jesus’ will be with the Holy Spirit.

He is immediately saying, “Don’t look at me (a mere man), look at Jesus!”

Look at Jesus Christ – “THE SON OF GOD!”

I began this reflection with,

“Wondering where to begin when you do not know where to begin?”

I noted Mark immediately began with the FACTS and TRUTH of Jesus’ ministry. 

Yet, you might say that he started his Gospel about Jesus, with us in mind. 

With you and with me!

Truth is: and a whole lot of other people the future writers of Hebrews noted:

Hebrews 12:1-2Amplified Bible

Jesus, the Example

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of [a]witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us, 2 [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, [b]disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].

YES! And with very single generation of believers who have gone before us and every single generation of believers who will come after us – (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Narrator Mark wants to make sure that we more than merely understand the immediacy of his message of connecting and relating to what is happening in our world, and God’s plan for it all—but that this message penetrates and changes us. 

We will in the coming days of Jesus’ ministry see some people as onlookers.

Mark suggests they will be immediately impressed by Jesus, but they will also immediately recoil at his new teachings, stay an arm-lengths distance away. 

The question for us:

Will we be mere onlookers, standing aside, pondering curious points of the text, googling different versions, and even allowing ourselves to be distracted by curious characters, such as John the Baptist – as critically important as he is?

(It is so easy to do when we engage the whole length and breadth of Scripture.)

Or will we let God’s Word penetrate our hearts?

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”

The Choice is always are to make ….

The immediate question is – when we aren’t sure if it is the right place to begin;

Search first for the TRUTH of God – is it YOURS or is it a divinely inspired one?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Creator God in this your exact time and in this your exact season
dangling, suspended between all of our hopes and your fulfillment,
let we never come any moment, to forget what you have done.
May we be immediately overwhelmed by your great mercy,
which flows in tsunami after tsunami from your Truth alone.
May we be decisively honest about the darkness of sin within us,
and immediately perceptive of the light of Salvation around us.
May we begin, to prepare to make straight the path for the Lord,
that together we may immediately see God’s glory revealed.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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How Hard is it to Communicate the Good News Effectively? Acts 17:16-34

Acts 17:16-34Amplified Bible

Paul at Athens

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was greatly angered when he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place day after day with any who happened to be there. 18 And some of the [a] Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to engage in conversation with him. And some said, “What could this idle babbler [with his eclectic, scrap-heap learning] have in mind to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities”—because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 They took him and brought him to the [b]Areopagus (Hill of Ares, the Greek god of war), saying, “May we know what this [strange] new teaching is which you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some startling and strange things to our ears; so we want to know what they mean.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners visiting there used to spend their [leisure] time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

Sermon on Mars Hill

22 So Paul, standing in the center of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I observe [with every turn I make throughout the city] that you are very religious and devout in all respects. 23 Now as I was going along and carefully looking at your objects of worship, I came to an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN [c]UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you already worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who created the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He [d]served by human hands, as though He needed anything, because it is He who gives to all [people] life and breath and all things. 26 And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands and territories. 27 This was so that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grasp for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 28 For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of [e]your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 So then, being God’s children, we should not think that the Divine Nature (deity) is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination or skill of man. 30  Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God’s purpose for their lives], 31 because He has set a day when He will judge the inhabited world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed and destined for that task, and He has provided credible proof to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

32 Now when they heard [the term] resurrection from the dead, [f]some mocked and sneered; but others said, “We will hear from you again about this matter.” 33 So Paul left them. 34 But some men joined him and believed; among them were Dionysius, [a judge] of the Council of Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little boy turned to his father and said, “Daddy, there’s something weird about the preacher’s message this morning that I don’t understand.”

The father said, “Oh? What is it?”

The little boy replied, “Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said God is so big that He could hold the world in His hand. Is that true?”

The father replied, “Yes, that’s true, son.”

“But daddy, he also said that God comes to live inside of us when we believe in Jesus as our Savior.

Is that true, too?”

Again, the father assured the little boy that what the pastor had said was true.

With a puzzled look on his round face the little boy then asked, “If that is true, if God is way, way bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?”

I love that little story; it’s cute, and it makes me smile. However to effectively communicate the good news it does take more than a smiling silent witness.

Don’t get me wrong there are times that it is appropriate.

But a silent witness, smiling or otherwise, in and of its self will never bring in the harvest called for by God – it will never get a conversion or commitment.

Sometimes it seems difficult to communicate the love of Christ to others. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer weight of Biblical data and too become tongue-tied when trying to correctly share how one can know Savior Christ. 

So what does it take to clearly and effectively communicate the good news of the gospel?

To find the answer to this question let’s turn to the manual.

The answer book!

God’s Word for God’s Children!

Come with me again to the Book of Acts of the Apostles, the 17th chapter.

This is the story of the Apostle Paul in Athens.

The Apostle Paul was arguably one of the most effective first century communicators of the good news of the gospel.

Paul was an effective communicator of the good news of the gospel because;

1. He had a powerful passion for the message itself – it drove him forward.

Acts 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

Please try to understand ‘passion’ – I am not talking about an emotion.

The greatest problem of emotions is that change, wax and wane too easily.

I am talking about the definition that Webster gives that says:

– An intense, driving or overmastering conviction.

Do you see what fuels passion according to this definition? —— Passion is fueled by a deep and unwavering conviction to “I must get something done.”

His passion was fueled by the conviction that every man, women, boy or girl faces heaven or hell – and Jesus Christ was the only path to one’s salvation.

That there is no in between.

No one will receive a sentence of 2 to 20 years.

It is a forever and ever and ever and ever sentence of eternal never ending separation from God – in torment and burning in hell. (Luke 16:19-31)

Why was he distressed?

Because of his deep conviction and understanding these people were doomed to an eternity in hell unless the strong power of idolatry was broken in their lives.

A. Notice what Paul saw – He literally saw the idolatry everywhere he looked.

1. As Paul moved about Athens he was not impressed by the great glitz and the grandeur of the Greeks, he wasn’t taken or overwhelmed by the Acropolis or the Parthenon – buildings considered even today to be true wonders of the world.

2. As Jesus’ own soul zealously saw the Israelites (Matthew 23:37) (Luke 13:34), Paul’s passion for Christ, Paul’s zealousness saw the lost ness of the Athenians!

3. What do we see as we walk or drive through our neighborhoods, walk through the shopping Malls, move about our own workplaces and visit the “sights of our cities?“

B. If we are going to be effective communicators we must look and pray to God our Father whose first passion sent His Son to us – for that same #1 Passion!

2ndly Paul was an effective communicator of the good news of the gospel because:

2. He engages people on common ground.

Acts 17:22-23

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.

23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

A. He uses the familiar to explain the unfamiliar or unknown.

1. Talks about them being very “religious” – trying not to offend ‘lesser god’s.’

2. Talks about one specific idol they have – all the god’s of the Greek Pantheon

3. Tells them he knows his God is their “Unknown God!” – known to Everyone!

B. Jesus used the same approach (common ground or interest) with the woman at the well in John chapter 4.

John 4:7-11 Amplified

The Samaritan Woman

7 Then a woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink”— 8 For His disciples had gone off into the city to buy food— 9 The Samaritan woman asked Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me, a [a] Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew [about] God’s gift [of eternal life], and who it is who says, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him [instead], and He would have given you living water (eternal life).” 11 She said to Him, “Sir, [b]You have nothing to draw with [no bucket and rope] and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?

One of those barriers to effectively communicating the Good News of the Gospel is the belief that there is no common ground between them and the “stranger.”

No Common Ground – therefore No Conversation – therefore no “Known God.”

A quick shrug of the shoulders – no common ground – no conversation ensues and that “Unknown God” remains that “Unknown God,” lost to our “wisdom.”

Lost to our “wisdom” because in ‘our wisdom’ we feel we have nothing to say or somehow believe that our words have no value to the Kingdom (Exodus 4:1-5).

Lost to our “wisdom” because in “our wisdom” we are tired of words because too many of the “right words on deaf ears” already been spoken and ignored.

Lost to our “wisdom” because in “our wisdom” we find it too easy to be mad and get too easily offended – let emotions govern how we see our neighbors.

Lost to our “wisdom” because in “our wisdom” we raise the authority and the power of our words above and beyond the power behind the Word of our God. (Proverbs 1:1-7, 20-33, Proverbs 3:5-8, Proverbs 8:11-20, Proverbs 16:1-9, Proverbs 29:18, Isaiah 1:18-20, Isaiah 2:1-4, Isaiah 55:10-13, Hebrews 4:12)

Lost to our “wisdom” because in “our wisdom” we have somehow become too easily contented with being a “Divided” Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:10-17).

Lost to our “wisdom” because in “our wisdom” we think our words are wasted, useless, because God is going to do what God is going to do anyway. (Jonah 4:2)

So many excuses – too many wrong headed reasons, rationales to keep silent.

Too many opportunities to believe we have nothing to contribute nor want to contribute because we are too mad at everything and prefer to wash our hands of any responsibility or accountability to help our neighbors. (Matthew 27:24)

So many excuses – so many reasons and rationales – offered up to the God we allegedly believe and confess “we know” to let ‘the kingdom be the kingdom.’

For which Jesus gives an answer ….

John 13:34-35 (Amplified)

34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you [a]love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”

John 14:11-14 (Amplified)

11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe [Me] because of the [very] works themselves [which you have witnessed]. 12 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name [[a]as My representative], this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified  and celebrated in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it.

John 15:9-11 (Amplified)

9 I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you]. 10 If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11 I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.

John 15:12-16 (Amplified)

Disciples’ Relation to Each Other

12 “This is My commandment, that you [a]love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you  My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father. 16 You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you.

C. I am thoroughly, passionately convinced that the Holy Spirit gives us these same scriptural invitations, GOD openings and opportunities every single day.

We just aren’t deliberately, intentionally, passionately looking for them and recognizing them with the same deliberation, intent, passion as Paul did.

Reminds me to the story … of a guy who “prayed” this prayer every morning:

“Lord, if you really and truly and passionately want me to Your witness to someone, somewhere today, please give me a sign to show me who it is.”

One day he found himself on a bus when a big, burly man sat next to him.

The bus was nearly empty but this hulking guy sat next to our praying friend.

The timid Christian anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus.

But before he could get either very nervous about the man next to him, or as far away from him as he could as quick as he could exit the bus, the big guy burst into tears and began to weep uncontrollably, then cried out with a loud voice,

“Life is nothing to me anymore, just no purpose anywhere, I need to be saved. I am a lost sinner and I need the Lord. Won’t somebody tell me how to be saved?”

He turned to the Christian and pleaded, “Can you show me how to be saved?”

The believer immediately bowed his head, praying, “Lord, is this Your sign?”

Most of the time it just doesn’t happen like that.

But if we have a passion that is driven by a deep conviction we will be watching, looking for opportunities to “give an answer” in the message of the good news.

You see the point is this –

We don’t need another sign from God because we have a LIVING HOPE in Christ:

1 Peter 3:14-16 (Amplified)

14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness [though it is not certain that you will], you are still blessed [happy, to be admired and favored by God]. Do not be afraid of their intimidating threats, nor be troubled  or disturbed [by their opposition]. 15 But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect. 16 And see to it that your conscience is entirely clear, so that every time you are slandered or falsely accused, those who attack or disparage your good behavior in Christ will be shamed [by their own words].

You see the point is –

We do not need another “sign” to know IF God and Christ wants us to witness:

He has already commanded us to go, be his witness. Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:25-31 then 32-35 then 36-49, feed one another John 21:15-19.

Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, Ye shall be my witnesses … yea, unto the uttermost part of the earth:  Acts 1:1-8 KJV.

Apostle Paul was an effective communicator of the good news because he had a deep, powerful passion, because he engaged the people on common ground and

3rdly because:

3. He kept it Simple!

Paul presented 3 simple points:

1- God is the Creator and owner of the universe …. Acts 17:24

2 – God wants everyone to know him … Acts 17:26-27

3 – Men must repent for judgment day is coming. Acts 17:30-31

You can’t get much simpler than that.

The point is that the enemy wants you and I to think and believe with our whole hearts the effective communication of the good news is complex and difficult.

The Adversary wants you and I to think and believe that you, I, need to be an expert in Greek and Hebrew, Biblical Scholarship to communicate the gospel.

The Truth is simple; the gospel is simple

· Every man is a sinner

· God loves every man, wants a relationship with all sinners

· He died to pay the penalty for every man sin …

· By repentance and faith we can be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

The point is every born again believer can communicate the gospel.

Apostle Paul was an effective communicator of the good news because he had a deep, and powerful passion for all things Jesus Christ, he engaged the people on common ground (issues), and because he kept it simple and finally because …

4. He was realistic in his expectations

A. We must realize not everyone is going to respond nicely when we present Christ, but we must yet continue to respond to him or her in faith and love.

Acts 17:32 (Amplified)

32 Now when they heard [the term] resurrection from the dead, [a]some mocked and sneered; but others said, “We will hear from you again about this matter.”

But we must also realize that the gospel the good news will not return void.

Acts 17:33-34 (Amplified)

33 So Paul left them. 34 But some men joined him and believed; among them were Dionysius, [a judge] of the Council of Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

And as discouraging and disheartening as this fact can definitely be ….

Believe that God gives us His Answer and His Assurance on this matter too:

Isaiah 55:10-13 (Amplified)

10 
“For as the rain and snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth,
Making it bear and sprout,
And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 
So will My word be which goes out of My mouth;
It will not return to Me void (useless, without result),
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
12 
“For you will go out [from exile] with joy
And be led forth [by the Lord Himself] with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 
“Instead of the thorn bush the cypress tree will grow,
And instead of the nettle the myrtle tree will grow;
And it will be a memorial to the Lord,
For an everlasting sign [of His mercy] which will not be cut off.”

How eager are we for such an “Athenian Experience” as Apostle Paul was?

Are our hearts and souls as “greatly distressed and disturbed” as Paul’s?

What do we really think and believe to be the value of our “wisdom” to God?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God, from the beginning, you were the word. You sent your only son to save us all and he even allowed himself to be tortured and crucified to obey you. Bless me with the gift of passion and understanding and of unshaken faith in you. Let me know the meaning of your words of ministry and mission in the Bible, how to live accordingly. Open the door of my heart, and fill me with your light and understanding. Amen.

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Being Troubled for the Right Reason: Right Answer for the Right Question. The Right Place at God’s Right Time! Acts 17:16-20

Acts 17:16-20Amplified Bible

Paul at Athens

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was greatly angered when he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place day after day with any who happened to be there. 18 And some of the [a] Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to engage in conversation with him. And some said, “What could this idle babbler [with his eclectic, scrap-heap learning] have in mind to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities”—because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 They took him and brought him to the [b]Areopagus (Hill of Ares, the Greek god of war), saying, “May we know what this [strange] new teaching is which you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some startling and strange things to our ears; so we want to know what they mean.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

In our Scripture text today we hear about the Apostle Paul in the city of Athens.

This Greek city was an intellectual centre of its day.

Here the philosophers, intellectuals, and students would gather to discuss the latest intellectual fads.

Athens was also a pagan city.

As many as 30,000 statues had been erected as idols to various gods in the city.

Archaeologists and Historians suggest that there were more idols in the city of Athens than in all the rest of Greece combined.

There can be no doubt that the Greeks were religious people.

They had a different god for almost every aspect of life.

They believed their gods were able to bring fortune or evil.

They had even spent the resources and built, dedicated an altar ‘To an Unknown God’ just in case they may have missed giving honor to one of the myriad gods.

It would have been easy for Paul to shy away from even opening his mouth in this pagan city.

We would understand that.

But Dr. Luke records,

“So (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him.  Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him” (Acts 17:17,18).

In amongst all those pagan statues, the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, debated with the great teachers of Athens and the Jewish leaders in their synagogues.

This was tough going.

It was even dangerous.

Paul knew that if he was going to speak with, debate, preach, teach anyone, he had to step out of his comfort zone, and put himself at risk to speak the truth.

Let’s face it – it’s easy to hang around with Christians.

We worship the same God, the Father and God the Son and Holy Spirit.

We share the same values, and we speak the same language (that is, we all know what we mean when we talk of Salvation, Redemption and Holy Communion.

It is natural for us to gravitate towards the people who are more like ourselves.

Paul had a lot to do with his fellow Jewish Leaders and Christian friends and the congregations that were scattered around in most of the large towns and cities.

When he was in Athens, we notice that (as was his tradition) Paul first of all had deep discussions with both Jewish leadership & Gentiles who worshipped God.

 It’s worth noting how Paul intentionally stepped out of his comfort zone to share the Good News with those who were caught up in pagan ways.

Notice what I said about Apostle Paul’s actions – they were intentional – they were deliberately, innately made, a decision to make the most of the moment.

To hesitate, to stall, to put it off, would mean a lost opportunity.

Think what would have happened if Paul (who made all that effort just to get to Athens) hesitated, said to himself, “I’ll wait for a while and see what happens”.

Maybe you, like me, have let what we know to be a decisive moment go by and afterwards regretted not saying or doing something when we had the chance.

Paul followed a general pattern as he traveled.

Upon entering a city, he would go first to the local Jewish synagogue.

At some point, he would explain from the Scriptures about Jesus, the Messiah.

Some Jews and Godfearing Gentiles would listen carefully, ask their questions, Paul would answer and they come to faith, but others would leave and oppose Paul and angrily stir up crowds against him as he taught in the marketplace.

Apparently they did not want to risk “offending” any of the myriad known and unknown gods and idols and the myriad of “high priests and temple leaders.”

No one was going to be allowed to upset or disrupt their accepted “status-quo.”

To quiet the mobs and stay safe, (perhaps even to stir up debates there) Paul often had to leave, and the pattern would repeat when he went to another town.

In Acts 17, however, we see a change in the pattern, though. Paul went to Athens while Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea a little longer.

In Athens, Paul went to the synagogue and then to the marketplace, and some Greek philosophers brought him to the Areopagus, where ideas were debated.

When addressing the intellectuals of his day in the city of Athens, Apostle Paul discovered that his audience of hearers and listeners had been influenced by two fundamental ideas: Stoicism and Epicureanism.

The Philosophy of Stoicism holds that the events of the world are determined by a merciless, cold, and impersonal fate, while the Philosophy Epicureanism teaches that what is good is determined by what will bring the most pleasure.

Neither one of these philosophies hold up for the children of Almighty God.

One of the most distinctive features of Christianity is the way in which we are able to articulate our view of the world.

In contrast to much of the diverse culture around us, we know that every single second of our lifetime rests in God’s hands (Psalm 31:15)—that we’re neither trapped in the grip of blind forces nor tossed about on an ocean of chance.

Whether people have been drawn in by Marxism, Hinduism, nihilism, or any one of countless other philosophies and religions, they are all faced with myriad questions and hosts of complex nuances, insecurities, regarding their beliefs.

Have they been caught in a struggle for a classless society or in an endless cycle of birth and death?

Perhaps they’re convinced that overall, life has really little to no meaning at all.

No matter someone’s simple, complex or “unanswerable, or imponderable” their questions or hardcore beliefs are, God provides every answer they need.

Instead of their feeling as if they are living life caged by a senseless, uncaring fate or endless uncertainty, as believers we now believe with unfailing hope.

“Since you cannot do good to all, you are to give special attention to all of those who, by the sheer accidents of time, or of place, or circumstances, are brought into and unto a closer connection with you and God.” – Saint Augustine of Hippo.

We need to be especially deliberate and intentional when it comes to talking and debating about our Savior Jesus to unbelievers or those who have fallen away.

Like Jesus at the Samaritan well and Paul in Athens we need to be deliberate about connecting with those who are not part of the Kingdom of God.

Of course, there are risks – being ridiculed, being called a religious freak, having your physical body attacked or imprisoned or feelings hurt, but as is often the case when someone needs rescuing, there are risks and dangers.

If we are not so deliberate, if we are not intentional, then we can easily lose a golden “GOD” opportunity to speak God’s truth when it was needed the most.

We, like the Apostle Paul, those first, first century and early Biblical writers of the subsequent centuries, are now stewards of all the answers God has given us through His word—answers we must share with all the “Athens” of the world.

He has given us a great confidence, and the greatest answer: His name is Jesus.

The question, therefore, is not whether we have a message that can answer the deepest longings, most imponderable answers to impossible questions of every human, the various objections of every other philosophy and religion: we do.

The question is whether we will get all on fire for God and share that message.

Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. Rev. John Wesley

When Paul was in Athens, he saw what others did not see, he did not enjoy the impressive touristy sites or stand in awe of the city’s intellectual reputation.

Quickened by the Holy Spirit, Paul saw a city lost in idol-worship, and “his spirit was provoked, “stirred up mightily” within him,” for every time an idol is worshiped, his, our, Savior Jesus, is robbed of the glory that He alone deserves.

“So,” without any regard for his own personal reputation, Paul reasoned with and proclaimed the gospel of resurrection hope to the inhabitants of that city. (Acts 17:18)

So, the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, jumps into the life of the city of Athens,

And with both feet securely cemented upon the Rock, Foundation of his Savior Jesus Christ and with a full throated oratory second to no one, talks about God.

He says:

• God made the world! Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not need even one temple to live in – let alone hundreds if not thousands of them.
• God gives maximum life in abundance and breath to all living creatures.
• God created all the people of the world and gave them countries to live in.
• God is above all things and doesn’t have any particular needs that can be satisfied by the words of human wisdom, works of human hands and feet.
• God is not, never will be far away from any of us, wants people to seek him.

Can you and I see what Paul has done for the rest of us on Mars Hill here?

He hasn’t hit them over the head with a whole lot of ‘Jesus talk’.

He has said very little that the learned teachers of Athens would disagree with.

He has built a relationship with them.

They are becoming curious and they are growing more curious by the moment and by the thoughts which are being freely expressed in that very public forum.

They are listening.

God is working ….

The Holy Spirit is weaving the words and simple truths of Jesus into their souls.

They are agreeing.

Paul knows that you can’t come in cold and expect people to listen to the important message he has to tell them. He first built a rapport with them.

The often overlooked if not completely, deliberately ignored truth: There are lots of people in our lives which we have never taken the time to get to know.

While out walking, we can stop to talk to the new neighbour who is washing his car, or we can stroll on by.

We can linger around after church and talk to people we hardly know, or the stranger who is visiting for the first time, or we can ignore them.

At the local restaurant where we sit down to lunch after church to discuss the days worship and the days Scripture and the impact of the Pastor’s Sermon,

There will be a host or a hostess – there will be a server – someone to take our order – who might just “randomly” find themselves “within easy earshot …!”

“Are you busy today?” What is the Chef’s Special for Today?”

“What do you personally recommend we try today?” “How is it with your day?”

When they casually ask, “is that all, will there be anything else for today?”

Try responding … “Yes! there is one more thing – “How is it with your Soul?”

And “SNAP!”

In that exact instant – without saying God, the Father, the Son, Holy Spirit …

God, the Father and God the Son, God the Holy Spirit “introduced themselves!

Who knows what opportunities might arise in your conversation to share your faith, or how you can help when a crisis arises and they come seeking your help.

Wherever you live, wherever I live, in one way or another we will inevitably find ourselves in a modern-day Athens – whether geographically or by the internet.

What are the myriad of idols that those around you are worshiping?

Is your spirit provoked by that?

You have an answer that satisfies human longing in a way no idol can.

You have an opportunity to bring glory to God.

With whom can you reason today?

Can I share with you of the God who brings meaning and hope to life?

Can I tell you about the answers I have found in coming to know Jesus Christ?”

Paul took this opportunity to draw people’s attention to the “unknown God” that was mentioned on an altar nearby.

Paul was “greatly distressed” at seeing so many idols in Athens, and he wanted to tell risk it all, tell everyone about the true God whom they all needed to know.

When was the last time your heart was distressed and troubled in this way?

We live in a world of idols today too.

The idols of social networks, technology, individualism, materialism, greed, money, political and military power, and so much more are all around us.

There are “tons and tons” of people, inhabiting “tons and tons more” places who are and who have “tons and more tons” of those imponderable questions which no one else can even begin to provide reasonably ponderable answers to.

There is only just one with all of the answers to every imaginable, imponderable question we may have the courage, the intentionality, be able to imagine to ask:

John 14:5-6 (Amplified)

5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “[a]I am the [only]  Way [to God] and the  [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

We can follow Paul’s pattern of engagement, or we can scroll on through life …

Some may appear to “fall asleep” during the Pastor’s efforts at teaching them.

Others may just come across as “being polite” or “completely disinterested.”

There is always one inescapable truth which the Apostle Paul always knew …

No matter how “unknown” that “unknown god (unknowable GOD) is to the people who do not yet know Him or do not desire to ever get close enough …

God never slumber or sleeps …. Psalm 121

There is no place anyone can ever hide from God …. Psalm 139

God is ALWAYS coming to His Garden, ALWAYS looking for you and there is nothing or no one who can ever hide anything from Him … Genesis 3:8-13

For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth so that He may support those whose heart is completely His. 2 Chronicles 16:9a

God is going to do whatever it is God is going to do … Isaiah 55:10-13

And even if we somehow thought we were clever enough or wise enough …

There is not one thing anyone of us can do about any of what God does for us.

May God give us the courage and the wisdom through the Holy Spirit to seize the moment to speak clearly and appropriately and deliberately, intentionally, about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is life and gives life and salvation.

Let God guide us as we make better use of those small windows of opportunity.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord God my Father, Creator and Author of my life, Giver of all Wisdom, I need You. Lord, I feel held back by my timidity and fear of what others think of me. In times when I should speak up, I remain silent. And because of this, I feel like I let You down. Help me to show sure confidence in You and to be bold in saying what needs to be said. I ask I be granted the courage to not let others talk over me. Please ease my fears that others will dislike me because of my words. Give me the wisdom to speak truthfully and sensitively. You are my #1 source of boldness and strength. Amen.

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Through the Obedience of One, Many are Made Righteous. Romans 5:18-19

Romans 5:18-19Amplified Bible

18 So then as through one trespass [Adam’s sin] there resulted condemnation for all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to [a]all men. 19 For just as through one man’s disobedience [his failure to hear, his carelessness] the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of the one Man the many will be made righteous and acceptable to God and brought into right standing with Him.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

In Romans chapter 5 Paul reveals some good news and some bad news.

The bad news is that everyone is a sinner.

And according to Paul we all have Adam to thank for that.

Adam and his Wife Eve committed the first recorded sin in the bible which was – eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Something God told them not to do.

They could eat of any other tree in the garden, including the Tree of Life, but not the Tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Why? Because God knew it would bring about a death.

Adam and Eve had a choice, to choose life or to choose death.

God wanted them to choose life so he told them not to eat of this other tree.

But for whatever reasons or rationale, they both ate of the fruit from the tree God told them not to.

And they died.

They didn’t die physically right away, though death was now definitely going to be part of humanities life cycle.

But they died in the sense that they died to their Creator God that day.

You see their eating of that “forbidden fruit” was an act of disobedience, it was an act of opposition, an act of pride, an act of rebellion, an act of the will to do exactly what they wanted instead of what God had commanded them to do.

The result was that they were cast out of God’s dwelling place the Garden of Eden. Their sin resulted an awareness of evil, in being separated from God.

The Word of God for His Children also tells us that ever since Adam and Eve ate of the fruit in the garden humanity has been infected with sin.

Ever since then sin has become a part of life and a way of life for some.

Sin that began with Adam and Eve is seen in their two wonderful boys Cain and Abel when Cain kills his brother.

Sin becomes rampant in the world so God has Noah build an Ark before he floods the world.

And then there is the Tower of Babel where the builders are motivated to build a grand tower to make their names great, greater and greatest above God, which is another way of saying feeding their voracious appetite for feasting on pride.

Whether we like it or not, the bible teaches that we have a sinful nature.

That means ever since birth we gravitate to sinning, we lean towards sinning, we are inclined to sin.

That doesn’t mean we are not capable of doing some good, but our tendency is to over zealously live and love ourselves first – far more than God first loved us.

 Now if that’s not enough bad news there is more.

The wages of sin according to the bible is death according to Romans 6.23.

Physical death which we are all aware of.

A spiritual death which is a break in communion with God.

And for those who do not deal with the sin in their lives according to scripture there is an eternal death in a state of Christ-less eternity the church refers to as hell. So as you can probably deduce, humanity was, is in a deep heap of trouble.

Are you ready for some good news?

Hear the text again.

“For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man many will be made righteous…But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Paul tells us that what Jesus did through his unconditional obedience to God is far greater than anything Adam did through his unconditional disobedience.

When Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he not only caused sin to enter the universe, but he made us sinners. Through Adam, we inherited a sin nature which causes us to sin all the live long day and night.

Because of this, trying to live a good life or by the Ten Commandments with no God or Savior or a constant reminder of our sin in our life, inevitably will fail.

We were born with a nature contrary to God’s law.

This contrary nature pushes against those standards.

Therefore, we cannot break free from sin’s grasp on our own.

We can never be good enough because our nature sets us up to fail.

Because we were born into sin, we experience everything Adam offers us:

Death (vs. 15, 17),

judgement (vs. 16),

condemnation (vs. 18),

being sinners (vs. 19),

the increase of sin and death (v. 20),

and sin reigning and polluting everything (v. 21).

But Paul’s key point at the end of Romans 5 is that the gift of Jesus has no comparison with the result of one man’s sin because it overshadows and outshines it in every way imaginable!

In point of fact, the Apostle Paul is courageous enough to dare point out that judgement and condemnation followed Adam’s one sin but the gift Jesus offers followed many sins.

If we sin because of our sin nature, try to imagine exactly how many sins we are talking about.

Every person’s disobedience from the time of Adam, until now.

That’s a lot of trespasses.

This is where Jesus’ gifts shine, because He offers them amid all of this brokenness.

Remember, Jesus offers us these gifts:

Grace (vs. 15),

Justification (vs. 16),

Righteousness (vs. 17),

Justification and life (vs. 18),

Righteousness (vs. 19),

Increasing grace (v. 20),

Eternal life (v. 21).

All of this followed many, many sins.

That’s indescribably, undeniably, unconditionally, absolutely incredible!

If under sin judgement, we are aware of our condemnation, the opposite must also be true.

Through Jesus we should know we are forgiven, righteous and holy, the good news continues, in Christ, we have received this reconciliation (Romans 5:11).

And that means what Christ has done in his obedience to God is greater than anything you have done through your disobedience.

Take a deep breath, take several prayerful and worshipful moments to stop and thank Creator God – He offers the permanent solution to sin and death in Jesus.

God’s grace is so abundant we should celebrate it every single chance we get!

Paul wrote, “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.”

Hear this,

The bad news is that we are hopeless “all the live long day” sinners at heart.

The good news is that God still loves us NEVERTHELESS.

The bad news is that we were powerless to do anything about our sin, the good news is that NEVERTHELESS God acted on our behalf.

Bad news is that we are “all the live long day” ungodly sinners, NEVERTHELESS God justifies us through the life, death of Savior Jesus the Christ upon the cross!

The New and Better Adam

As by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19

Adam, the first man, was made in the image of God.

The Lord gave Adam a role unique in all creation, yet he failed to fulfill it and was sent out of Eden.

God then made a new start with the Israelites; they were called to be His people.

They displayed His character as and when they obeyed His law.

Like Adam, though, the Israelites failed in their role and were sent into exile.

Gloriously, when we come to the New Testament, we discover where Adam and Israel failed, Jesus succeeded. Jesus is what the people of God were meant to be:

the new and better Adam, the true Israel. He is descended from Adam, and He identifies with Adam’s race. He identifies with us completely, yet unlike Adam, Jesus was tempted and did not sin (Hebrews 4:15).

What we have in our Lord and Savior Jesus is the only human being who ever absolutely 100% obeyed God, the only one with whom God is always pleased.

He kept every letter of the law.

Therefore, Jesus is the one person, the only persona to have lived who doesn’t and never did deserve to be violently, lethally banished from God’s presence.

But He was banished.

On the cross, He with maximum obedience, willingly, unconditionally, faced the punishment all sinners deserve—sinners who are bound up in Adam’s sin.

All of humanity finds its heritage in Adam, both by nature and by descent.

We are born in sin and united with Adam in our rebellion against God.

There is no exception.

The only answer to humanity’s predicament?

Is for men and women to be introduced to the only person who kept the law perfectly and who did not deserve to be banished from God, but who then was obedient to the point of death on the cross so sinners may, by grace through faith, receive all that He deserves instead of bearing all that Adam deserved.

Romans 10:1-4 Amplified

The Word of Faith Brings Salvation

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a certain enthusiasm for God, but not in accordance with [correct and vital] knowledge [about Him and His purposes]. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness [which is based on faith], and seeking to establish their own [righteousness based on works], they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law [it leads to Him and its purpose is fulfilled in Him], for [granting] righteousness to everyone who believes [in Him as Savior].

Romans 1o:5-8 Amplified

5 For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law [with all its intricate demands] shall live by it. 6 But the righteousness based on faith [which produces a right relationship with Him] says the following: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into Heaven?’ that is, to bring Christ down; 7 or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ that is, to bring Christ up from the dead [as if we had to be saved by our own efforts, doing the impossible].” 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word [the message, the basis] of faith which we preach—

 Romans 10:9-13 Amplified

9 because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges  and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in  and confirming [his] salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] will not be disappointed [in his expectations].” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile; for the same Lord is Lord over all [of us], and [He is] abounding in riches (blessings) for all who call on Him [in faith and prayer]. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord [in prayer] will be saved.”

This truth of Salvation through Christ ALONE is the exact heart of everything.

Acts 4:8-12 Amplified

8 Then Peter, filled with [the power of] the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people [members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Court], 9 if we are being put on trial today [to interrogate us] for a good deed done to [benefit] a disabled man, as to how this man has been restored to health, 10 let it be known and clearly understood by all of you, and by all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you [demanded be] crucified [by the Romans and], whom God raised from the dead—in this name [that is, by the authority and power of Jesus] this man stands here before you in good health. 11 This Jesus is the stone which was despised and rejected by you, the builders, but which became the [a]chief Cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among people by which we must be saved [for God has provided the world no alternative for salvation].”

For believers, all that was formerly true of us found its root in one act of Adam, while all that is true of us now is the result of the absolute obedience of Christ.

In the name of God the Father, and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

O’ My Creator and Creating God,

Source of Perfect Love which will never let me go ….

This is love.
Not that you spoke words of comfort,
walked with the unclean and unloved,
shared wisdom, bread and wine,
brought healing into lives
and challenged the status quo.

This is love.
That you spoke the word of God,
walked a painful road to the Cross,
shared living water, bread of life,
brought Salvation to the world
and, in this love, died for the sake of all.

This is love.
It is a lifeless, yet soon obedient seed in Your hand
obediently being sown into the very hardest ground,
which will very soon obediently open and germinate,
which will very soon obediently blossom and flower,
and will very soon obediently spreads its sweet perfume.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen!

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Being Strong in the Faith-Wrestling with Almighty God. 2 Timothy 2:1-7

2 Timothy 2:1-7Amplified Bible

Be Strong

2 So you, my son, be strong [constantly strengthened] and empowered in the grace that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus. 2 The things [the doctrine, the precepts, the admonitions, the sum of my ministry] which you have heard me teach [a]in the presence of many witnesses, entrust [as a treasure] to reliable and faithful men who will also be capable and qualified to teach others. 3 Take with me your share of hardship [passing through the difficulties which you are called to endure], like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service gets entangled in the [ordinary business] affairs of civilian life; [he avoids them] so that he may please the one who enlisted him to serve. 5 And if anyone competes as an athlete [in competitive games], he is not crowned [with the wreath of victory] unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer [who labors to produce crops] ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. 7 Think over the things I am saying [grasp their application], for the Lord will grant you insight  and understanding in everything.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The hardcore truth and reality is we wrestle everyday with ourselves and others with complex, divisive, highly charged emotional issues in the Christian faith.

Somewhere on television or social media or the internet, we are all presented with matters of the faith which challenge our adherence to the precepts of God.

We wrestle with ourselves over whether or not what we are presented with is in the “will of God” according to what we read, how we interpret the Word of God.

“What does the Word of God for the Children of God say about (fill in the blank)

There is no denomination which does not wrestle and struggle with something which is near and dear and much beloved and much cherished and protected.

Denominations raise and denominations fall.

Churches raise and thrive or Churches wither away and cease being churches, all on how/what a particular group of “faith-filled” faithful Christians believe.

Matters of doctrine ….

Matters of dogma ….

Matters of understanding and administering the Sacraments ….

Matters of Theology ….

Matters of Scriptural Interpretation: Orthodox, Traditional, Centrist, Liberal, Progressive, Reformed ….

Matters of Ordination ….

Matters of Acculturation …..

Matters of Immigration ….

Matters of Caring for the Widow and the Orphan ….

And the list goes on ….

If it Matters to God then it should Matter to Man All the Time … Yes? … No?

All People Matter All of the Time > just some of the Time? > not at Anytime?

God Matters All of the Time > just some of the Time > not at Anytime at all?

The “sum total” of each of our life experiences leads us to our understanding of “believing or not believing or flat denial” of God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

It comes down to our obedience to God and adherence faith being “black and white” either all of one set standard of beliefs or the other – no compromise.

We wrestle with ourselves and our brothers and sisters in our Savior Jesus and the end result is basically and unfortunately what the Apostle Paul described:

1 Corinthians 1:10-13 (Amplified)

10 But I urge you, believers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in full agreement in what you say, and that there be no divisions or factions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your way of thinking and in your judgment [about matters of the faith]. 11 For I have been informed about you, my brothers and sisters, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are quarrels and factions among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I am [a disciple] of Paul,” or “I am [a disciple] of Apollos,” or “I am [a disciple] of Cephas (Peter),” or “I am [a disciple] of Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided [into different parts]? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? [Certainly not!]

We wrestle with ourselves, with our brothers and sisters in Christ to the point where our own pre-occupation and over zealousness for the coming wrestling match overshadows our pre-occupation and zealousness for the Lord our God.

Try and describe that indescribable and unnecessary infliction of suffering on those who are observing us – upon those who are on the very cusp of belief?

Try and describe that indescribable and unnecessary infliction of suffering on the accepted, perceived character, reputation of “the Christian” by the athiest.

By our zealousness for fighting each other and creating division – who is not coming to koinonia, relationship and connection with God, Jesus, the Spirit?

As the Apostle Paul tries to “hammer home” in 1 Corinthians 1:17 (Amplified)

17 For Christ did not send me [as an apostle] to baptize, but [commissioned and empowered me] to preach the good news [of salvation]—not with clever and eloquent speech [as an orator], so that the cross of Christ would not be [a]made ineffective [deprived of its saving power].

“SO THAT THE CROSS OF CHRIST WOULD NOT BE MADE INEFFECTIVE – DEPRIVED OF ITS SAVING POWER! by our harsh divisive squabbling …

Philippians 4:5-7 Amplified

5 Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].

Pre-occupation, Zealousness for the fight which leads to insufferable division.

Pre-occupation, Zealousness for the fight which leads us to the Peace of Christ.

Wrestling with God ….

Wrestling with the Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ….

Having koinonia, connection, a relationship with God changes everything.

Many images and terms are used to describe the change that happens when we enter an intimate, vibrant and indescribably meaningful relationship with God.

“Salvation,” “adoption,” “redemption,” being “born again” and many other terms describe what miracles happen when the fullest measure of God’s grace enters our lives and transforms us, literally re-makes us his beloved children.

Not only are we called new creatures who now relate to God differently, but we begin koinonia, connecting, relating to other people and nature differently too.

What does wrestling with God mean?

Is wrestling with God “allowed,” or is that off-limits?

Should we wrestle with God?

Depending on your understanding of who God is, you might initially think that the answer to this question is “No.”

God is a lofty, powerful being you shouldn’t trifle with.

So, the idea of wrestling with him seems flippant, arrogant, and even disrespectful. It seems too much like playing with or disobeying God.

However, one of the ways God describes himself is

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6).

Another passage reminds us that

“The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.”” (Isaiah 57:15).

Isaiah 1:18-20

“Let Us Reason”

18 
“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord.
“[a]Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be like wool.
19 
“If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the best of the land;
20 
But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 2:1-4

God’s Universal Reign

2 The word [from God] which Isaiah son of Amoz saw [in a vision] concerning [the nation of] Judah and [its capital city] Jerusalem.

2 
Now it will come to pass that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be [firmly] established as the [a]highest of the mountains,
And will be exalted above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
3 
And many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house (temple) of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go out from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 
And He will judge between the nations,
And will mediate [disputes] for many peoples;
And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up the sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.

God will judge between the nations ….

God will mediate disputes for many peoples ….

Then they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks …..

Nation will not lift up the sword against nation,

And never again will they learn war.

Those Word of God for His Children are nearly three thousand years old.

Now, here we are in the Year of Our Lord and Savior – 2022 ….

Now, substitute the word ‘nation(s) with the word ‘denomination(s) …

And what, how, might that vision of the Kingdom of God manifest itself as?

God dwells with those who are humble and repentant, and if we are his children, that means us. In many other places, we are reminded that God is willing to meet us in our weakness, that he knows us through and through.

All this is in the Hebrew [Old] Testament!

The God of the Hebrew [Old] Testament is the same as the God and Father of Jesus in the New Testament. (Hebrews 13:8)

To help us understand God better, and what wrestling with God is all about,

we can take a long and well prayed and considered look at a few examples of people wrestling with God throughout the Bible, such as Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Jacob, Hannah, Paul, the unnamed Canaanite woman, the unnamed Samaritan woman, and Jesus with his Father in the garden of Gethsemane.

This wrestling took several forms.

Sometimes wrestling with God is about going back repeatedly in prayer over something that is confusing us that he has said or that is happening in our lives.

Sometimes, the wrestling looks a bit like negotiating with God, and at other times it looks like reminding God of his promises while asking him to act.

At other times wrestling with God is about struggling to come to terms with obedience, God’s will for our lives and seeking strength to go with God’s plan.

Abraham (Genesis 18:16-33)

When God was about to destroy the city of Sodom because its people were high-handed sexual sinners, Abraham “bargained” – pleaded with the Lord and entered what can best be described as negotiations for the lives of the others.

Abraham approached the Lord and said, “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?… Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

God agreed to spare the city if fifty righteous people were found in it. Abraham then went on to lower that number, each time asking God not to be angry with him. The Lord wasn’t angry with him. “What if there are only forty-five?… what if there are only thirty?… what if there are only twenty?… let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”

The Lord relented, saying that he would spare the city if only ten righteous people were found in it.

We know, as it turned out, Sodom didn’t have even ten righteous people in it, and so it was destroyed.

The key thing to note is that Abraham was bold with God, even going as far as to remind God of his righteous character, that surely he would do the right thing!

Jacob (Genesis 32:22-32)

Jacob, who was Abraham’s grandson, also wrestled with God.

This one was a little different because Jacob wrestled with God all night and God dislocated Jacob’s hip, which gave him a limp for the rest of his life.

This is one of those strange stories from the Bible that are a tad baffling.

Jacob wrestled with what he thought was a man but turned out to be God, and he received a blessing because he “would not let go until he had his blessing.”

This blessing was a confirmation of the steadfast promises and blessings God had given his grandfather before him. Why would God wrestle with any human being? Why would it even be anything like a wrestling contest lasting all night?

Jacob was a “deceitful” man who all his life had struggled with relating to family and to people – though God’s sure promises for his life were clear, he innately lied, conned, and manipulated situations and people to get his way.

His name Jacob means “deceiver,” and when he wrestled with God that night, he was facing his biggest challenge, and the situation was out of his hands –

he had just fled from his uncle who had for years repeatedly deceived him and was about to face his estranged brother Esau, who could very well take his life.

He was at his wit’s end, and powerless to control the situation.

He wrestled with God and was blessed, his name changed from “deceiver” to “Israel” which means “he struggles with God,” and from this encounter, he was changed – not only because of his limp but in how he related with people.

The Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28) A woman who wasn’t part of Israel dared it all, came to Jesus asking him to help her demon-possessed daughter.

Jesus didn’t answer.

She could have felt great shame, hidden her face, gone away at once, but she dared to be persistent, even when Jesus’ disciples urged him to send her away.

When Jesus does answer her, he tells her that he was sent for the “lost sheep of Israel,” of whom she isn’t part.

Does she give up?

On the contrary, she dares to persist.

He then tells her “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

In saying this, Jesus isn’t calling her a dog, he’s pointing out that his ministry was primarily aimed at Israel.

But the woman dares to be persistent. She doesn’t take “no” for an answer.

She tells Jesus in no uncertain terms that even dogs get the crumbs that fall from their master’s table, meaning that even though she knows Jesus was sent to minister to the people of Israel, she too can still benefit from his ministry.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”

That woman didn’t take Jesus’ responses at face value.

She courageously, for the benefit of her daughter, fought hard with and against herself, yet she persisted despite the many obstacles, and this is like what Jesus said to his disciples when he told them to be persistent in prayer (Luke 18:1-8).

Paul (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)

Lastly, we look to God’s Apostle to the Gentiles, Apostle Paul, who was given a “thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to persistently torment” him.

We don’t know for sure what the real nature of this thorn was, but we do know he was given this thorn to keep him from becoming overly conceited about the amazing spiritual experiences he had received throughout his many journey’s.

He asked God three times to remove that thorn, but the Lord told him “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

This is one of those situations, just as when Jesus wrestled with the Father if there was any other way to accomplish his task without having to go to the cross (Luke 22:39-46), where the wrestling naturally just happens through our circumstances, but we gain wisdom to accept God’s will and His way as best.

Sometimes, people in the Bible wrestle with God and God grants that for which they are praying.

Other times, we can wrestle with God and be transformed by the experience so that we gain wisdom to accept the answer that God has already given.

The Word of God appears to encourage wrestling with God because God is not far off from us, and we are called to be active participants in our lives of faith.

From Genesis to Revelation, people throughout the Bible wrestled with God over childlessness, their fears, anxieties, with many other life an death issues.

We wrestle with God in an effort to gain clarity about his purposes for our lives, to make requests known to him, and sometimes even as part of the process of confessing, acknowledging, and obediently accepting what God plans for us.

Psalm 127 (Amplified)

Prosperity Comes from the Lord.

A Song of [a]Ascents. Of Solomon.

127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
2 
It is vain for you to rise early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of anxious labors—
For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep.

3 
Behold, children are a heritage and gift from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb a reward.
4 
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 
How blessed [happy and fortunate] is the man whose quiver is filled with them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies [in gatherings] at the [city] gate.

When and where two or three – they dare to gather, to speak (in the name of the Lord their God) with each man their enemies [in gatherings] at the [city] gate ….

Invited to wrestle God, knowing we can wrestle with God, being able to wrestle with God is part of what it truly means for us to be the children, friends of God.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

My Strong Father, You are the only author and sustainer of my soul. Lord, I thank You for the measure of strength that You give. You embolden me with courage and cause me to stand upright. I am so grateful for Your presence in my life. In all of life, may I turn to You for an increase in these qualities. Keep me from looking within myself or to sources other than You. I thank You in the name of the Son. Amen.

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