Eternal Security

Colossians 3:1-4

Christ Jesus came to bring back to life that which died in the Garden (Genesis 2:15-17 and Genesis 3:1-19). Not only bring back to life, but to eternal life (John John 1:1-5;14 and John 3:16-17).

Before the Earth was formed, before the universe erupted into being from the holy lips of God, our wise Father gave us to the Son (John 17:1-3;24). Jesus has such an intimate relationship with the Father that only He truly knows His Father. He has revealed His Father to those whom He has chosen (Matthew 11:27).

Once we have been redeemed, our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life, we are sealed (Ephesians 1:11-13) for all eternity. Our life eternal is secure (Colossians 3:1-4). God does not change His mind, especially in matters as weighty as this (James 1:16-18). Our great God is faithful, regardless of our actions (Deuteronomy 32:1-4).

To say that there is anything you can do to lose this salvation is to assign a power to yourself even greater than God Most High (John 10:27-30). A salvation brought about, not only to keep His promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3) and not only because He loves us, but for reasons that have nothing to do with us (Ezekiel 36:22-36), for the sake of His holy Name. To say that you can lose this is, in my opinion, blasphemous.

God is AWESOME

A Powerful Work

Colossians 2:12-14

I have a group of friends who come over once a week, we have been studying Paul's letter to the Colossians. We are currently going through chapter 2.

As I was reading the verses for our study this week, it struck me how casually I can sometimes read God's Word. In Colossians 2:12-14, Paul is talking about how we have been raised from the dead with Christ in "the powerful working of God".

Again, I was struck with that phrase, how casually I read it. It was as if the Holy Spirit told me to go back and read that with reverence and awe. As I read it again, a little movie played in my head. I had to stop. I closed my eyes and watched it play again.

Words are too clumsy to describe what I watched in my little head. I would ask you to read these verses of scripture before finishing what I have written here: Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 28:10-15; Job 9:32-33; Job 19:25-26; Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; 1 Peter 1:10-12

Christ Jesus, our Redeemer and Lord, took upon Himself all of our sins and erased all of our transgressions. He bore the wrath of God and gave us His righteousness. He died. On that third day in the rich man's tomb, God once again took up, with trembling hands, the lump of clay that was the mangled body of His only Son. He leaned in and with a Holy and powerful act, as Abraham, Job, David and all the prophets looked on in awe, He breathed life... and our Sovereign opened His eyes.

God is AWESOME!

The Full Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-18

The Christian life is often a tumultuous one. We have battles on so many levels. There is the battle against our own flesh, the battle with our own mind and the battle with the devil.

The battle with the devil, I think, is the hardest. He is relentless. Anything he can do to lead you astray, he will throw it at you (Ephesisans 6:11). Not a soft throw either. A big league fast ball.

It is the hardest battle because the devil is smarter than us. He knows all of our weak spots, and he will use them against you.

But, thanks and praise to the Lord Jesus the Christ! He sent us a helper. Someone to help us in donning the armor that He provides as one of the benefits of being in Christ.

The belt of Truth (Isaiah 11:5), The breastplate of righteousness (Isaiah 59:17), the Gospel of peace (Romans 1:16), the helmet of salvation (Isaiah 59:17), the sword of the Spirit (Hebrews 4:12).

Let's look at the One who forged this armor. He is the image of the invisble God (Colossians 1:15-18). He is the One who calmed the storm and the One who cast out demons after they begged Him for mercy (Mark 4:35 - 5:13). He is the One who is an all consuming fire (1 Kings 18:20-40) The One who brought to life a vast army of dead and dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-10).

With God as our Father, Christ Jesus as our savior and King and living Word of God, and the Holy Spirit as our coach, and the armor He equips us with, we really have no reason to fear and every reason to fight.

God is AWESOME!

Easier Said Than Done

Job 1:20-22

There are sometimes things that happen in the lives of believers that are so bad that it can shake the faith of even the most devout followers of Christ Jesus (Job 1:18-19 and Luke 22:54-62). These are the times when it is important to remember the sovereignty of God.

Our wise Father has a purpose for everything He does, even in the suffering of His children (Malachi 3:2-3 and Romans 5:3-5). He will sometimes need to fine tune some of us through His purposeful trials (James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1:3-7) that will purify or refine our faith and increase our peace and joy in Christ.

Let us remember that even Christ Jesus Himself understood that suffering is not something anyone wants (Luke 22:42-44) but He endured it all for His Name's (Ezekiel 36:22) sake and for our sake (Romans 3:21-24).

In our trials and suffering, we need to look to the example of our Great King and savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:2).

God is AWESOME!

A Prayer For The Lost

Ezekiel 37:1-14

I am not a very well read person. I am a slow reader and have always had a reading comprehension problem. I get frustrated with it, so I don't read much. I decided if I read more, it will help. So I bought a book about Puritan prayers. The title is Into His Presence by Tim Chester.

There are prayers under different headings. One of the headings is Prayers For The Lost. In one of these prayers, Joseph Alleine refers to the lost as "a valley of dry bones". That got the wheels in my little head turning.

It is astonishing...the absolute genius of God. Everything in His Word from Genesis to John the Baptist points directly to Christ Jesus.

The prophet Ezekiel had an odd experience. The Spirit of the Lord took him and set him in a valley filled with dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14). As I was reading about Ezekiel's experience, I was struck with one part, In verses 9 and 10, God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the four winds, so he did, and breath entered the bodies on the ground (Genesis 2:4-7 and John 20:19-22). They were dead. They had been dead for a really long time. They could not have decided they were alive , that they wanted to suddenly start to breathe. God made them alive (Ephesians 2:1-5 and Colossians 2:13), again pointing directly to Christ.

As believers in and followers of Christ Jesus, we have had the amazing experience of being made alive in Christ. It is now our responsibility to take the Gospel to the valley of dry bones (Romans 1:16-17).

God is AWESOME!

All In

Philippians 1:15-18

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is at the center of the Christian life (Romans 1:16-17). Out from that flows so much more that leads to fulfillment in our minds and spirits, like ripples in a pond (Galatians 5:22-23, Jeremiah 17:7-8).

The Christian life is far from easy. Unfortunately, a lot of other things come with being a Christian, chief among them are mockery, persecution and a whole host of attacks from the enemy (Matthew 10:16-22, Ephesians 6:10-12).

There are those who use the gospel as a means to become wealthy and to lead people astray (Matthew 7:15). They attempt to make a mockery of God and His holy Word. But it will backfire on them. No one is capable of outsmarting God (Galatians 6:6-8, Psalm 73, Isaiah 55:10-11).

So let them mock. Nevertheless, Christ is preached.

God is AWESOME!

The New Song

Psalm 33:1-3

Music can affect us in many different ways. It often has a soothing effect (1 Samuel 16:23). As followers of Jesus Christ, we have our moments when we think about all the benefits we have in Christ, we cannot help but worship and sing praises to our Savior (Psalm 5:11).

King Solomon, in his great experiment that he documented in the book of Ecclesiastes, concluded that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). But in Christ Jesus, there is newness (Revelation 21:5). One of the things He made new is the song He put in our hearts and minds (Psalm 33:3; Psalm 40:3; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9).

The new song puts joy in our hearts and on our lips, so much so that we must express it openly (Psalm 35:27; Psalm 47:1).

Sometimes this newness gives us a joy so profound that we have no way to express it other than being silent and worshipping our great God. The Apostle Peter said it best in his first letter (1 Peter 1:8) "...joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory."

God is AWESOME!