The Old School Mountain Top Experience

John 18:1-6

In Exodus 3:13-14, God told Moses to tell Pharaoh that I AM sent him. And on the top of Mount Sinai, when God was speaking to Moses, the people at the foot of the mountain thought it was thunder.

In the garden, when Judas and a detachment of Roman soldiers (anywhere from 300 to 600 soldiers) approached Jesus and His disciples, Jesus asked them who they were looking for.

They said they were looking for Jesus the Nazarene. The NASB bible says that Jesus replied "I am he." The original language does not have he there. He said I AM. When He said that, they all went back and fell to the ground.

I am thinking it was that same thunderous voice filled with unspeakable power that slammed 600 soldiers to the deck. I think for that moment, He wanted to remind Judas and the Romans exactly who it was they were dealing with.

I don't know how long it took them to regroup and shake it off. But after this event, Christ Jesus allowed them to continue what they had come to do, because it was His Father's perfect will. And our Savior obeyed and fulfilled His role as The Lamb of God for our sakes.

He didn't have to go through any of it. But to make us whole again and save His bride, He finished it. He was our Scapegoat (Leviticus 16:20-22).

God is indeed AWESOME!

Jeepers Creepers

Colossians 1:11-20

The church at Colosse, around the 1st or 2nd century, had some false teachers creeping in (not unlike churches in our modern world). They were teaching that Christ Jesus is not the way to slavation. Rather, knowledge of secret things, among other things was the way to redemtion. A teaching referred to as Gnosticism.

There was also the old classic legalism. That is disheartening to find in any church.

Epaphras went to Rome and met with the Apostle Paul. He let Paul know his concerns about what was happening in Colosse, and asked for some advise on how to approach a solution to the false teachings.

Paul wrote a letter to the church at Colosse in response to the concerns of Epaphras.

It's the section on the preeminence of Christ that I would like to focus on here.

The bible is filled with warnings about false teachings. 1 John 4:1, 2 Peter 2:1, Matthew 7:15, just to name a few. In his letter to Timothy, Paul goes as far as to say they are doctrines of demons(1 Timothy 4:1).

In our current "woke" culture, there are blasphemous teachings creeping into some of the more liberal congregations. The bible warns against that too (Isaiah 5:20 and Romans 1:25).

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul reminds them who, exactly, the head of the church is (Colossians 1:15-18). There are two little words in verse 16 that we can't miss. Colossians 1:16 - For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him.

It's not about us. It is all about Christ Jesus. This is all His. Everything known and unknown in our universe is His. Created by Him and for Him. And it all holds together in Him. That's why when He died on the cross, creation began to unravel (Matthew 27:41-52).

There is no salvation with Jesus plus fill in the blank. There is salvation only in Christ alone. He alone qualifies us to be able to stand before our God with no fault in us, clean and free of the stain of our sins. (Colossians 1:11-22 and Jude 24).

God is AWSOME!

One Man's Trash...

Hebrews 9:1-4

Most people have at least one particular item that is special to them. Something that anyone else would see as junk, but for you, it has real meaning.

I know I have a few of those things. Things that nobody would assign any real value to, but for me are priceless treasures.

A lot of things found in antiquity are like that. Things that are of any interest only to scholars of history or archeology. One such thing would be the Ark of the Covenant. It has been the subject of superstions and fantasy for many thousands of years. It's contents are some old tablets, an old stick and some old bread.

For those of us who believe, these items have profound significance. They point directly to our Messiah

The The Ark itself was for the Spirit of God to dwell, and according to Hebrews chapter 9, it was to house the tablets of the covenant (or law), Aaron's rod that budded and the manna from Heaven. Our Savior is all of these things. He is the fulfillment of the whole law. He is our High Priest, haveing sacrificed Himself for our sins. He is the Bread of Life. And it is only in Him that we find hope.

God is AWESOME!

The Hope We Have

There are so many situations that, for those experiencing them, seem absolutely hopeless.

But for those of us who believe, there is hope. No matter how bad it gets, our hope is in Christ Jesus. We can say, as Job said, "I know my Redeemer lives." (Job 19:25-27)

One of the many encounters the bible tells us about is found in the book of The Gospel According to Mark. Mark (Mark 5:1-20) tells us about an unusual exchange between Jesus and a demon possessed man. They had just crossed a lake, and when they came ashore, the demon possessed man, who had been quite a problem for the people who lived there, came running up and fell at the feet of Jesus.

In my mind's eye, I imagine how this happened. The man, moving among the tombs, terrorizing anyone who happened by, was suddenly gripped in fear. A panic rose in the evil that inhabitted the poor man. A fear for their very existence. They sensed an unspeakable power approaching. The same power that brought an entire universe into being simply by willing it, the same power that overwhelmed them and hurled them to Earth so long ago. The One whose Name sent shivers of terror through all of their kind. All they could think to do was to fall down at His feet and beg Him for mercy.

Jesus ordered them out, and they had no choice but to obey. This is the very same Jesus in Whom we hope.

No matter how bad it gets, no matter what is happening to us or our loved ones, though it may be hard to see from the midst of it, Jesus holds out hope. He will NEVER leave us or forsake us. Let not your heart be troubled. Our Redeemer lives!

God is AWESOME!

Thanksgiving

As the American holiday of Thanksgiving approaches, I have been thinking of all the things I'm thankful for. There are all the usual things...family, friends, life and health. But what I have been mainly thinking is that I'm very thankful for the ability to reason. For imagination and intelect.

God gave us our minds for a reason. The main one, I think, is so that we can grow to understand Him better. To learn about who He is and what He has done.

Science and faith are not mutually exclusive. One compliments the other. Because of science, we are beginning to understand the vastness of space and how orderly the universe actually is.

God has made His existence obvious through His creation, if we just take the time to look and pay attention. When you really look, you can only come to the conclusion that there is a design.(Romans 1:18-20)

Just a quick thank you to our wise Father who created everything in Christ Jesus. In Him and for Him.

The Mystery

1 Peter 1:3-12

Angels. They are very powerful creatures. There is story after story of angels relating messages and intervening for us or standing guard.

In 2 Samuel 24:15-16 and I Chronicles 21:15, it was only going to take one angel to destroy Jerusalem. And in II Kings 19:35, just one angel took out 185,000 trained, battle hardened military men.

Even the Apostle John was moved to worship an angel (Revelation 19:10), but the angel warned him not to do that, because he is a fellow creature.

As powerful as they are, and with the access to heaven they have, they still don't have the kind of relationship that believers have with the Lamb of God, the Lion of Judah, the King of kings. We have what all the prophets pointed toward. We have something that even angels long to look into. We have been touched by the power of God's Holy Spirit and brought to life...real life in Christ Jesus!

God is AWESOME!

There Can Be Only One

 

Galatians 1:6-9

"The bible is a collection of reliable historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. And they report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin." - Dr. Voddie Baucham

I have heard individuals who claim to be followers of Christ claim that much of what is in the bible is myth. That there are many roads to heaven. This is false teaching. If you ever hear someone teaching this, get as far away from them as you can. Things won't end well for them.

Jesus said that He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). The gospel taught by Jesus and the Apostles is the only gospel that should be preached. The gospel (good news) is that our salvation lies in Christ alone through faith alone. We don't have to earn it. There aren't enough works in the world to do that. We don't have to buy it. There isn't enough money. It is a free gift (Romans 6:23).

When I was a young teenager, I went to a church that taught that men shouldn't have facial hair and that their hair should be a certain length in order to be a good Christian. But the bible teaches that there is freedom in Christ Jesus(John 8:34-36). Legalism has no place in the life of a believer. Obeying the teaching of the bible is not legalism. Making up rules that the bible doesn't teach, that the Apostles never even addressed, is legalism. Not allowing marriage, not allowing lipstick, hair being a certain length, not wearing certain kinds of clothing, etc...This is legalism.

There is only one gospel, only one way to salvation. Christ Jesus. In Him there is true freedom and real life.

God is AWESOME!