Blog Archives - Created through Him

Created Through Him

Words of life

2/8/2013

18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. 19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, 20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life (Acts 5:18-20).

When God desires an action, He always provides the means for that action to be accomplished. We still have to respond in obedience but God will provide for us. No circumstance is too dire or situation too bleak that God cannot overcome. In the present time, God’s purpose in action is the spread of Gospel. The Gospel is the words of life. It is the words of life that free us from the prison of sin and despair.

Power of God

2/7/2013

6 And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:6-13).

This passage describes an event in which Peter and John had just healed a man and preached in the Temple. The religious leaders basically had them retained and brought before them. There are some very interesting points from this passage. Neither Peter nor John were well educated men at least in the way that religious leaders would have recognized. Peter and John were both fisherman and yet they were preaching boldly and thousands of people were responding to the message. This was clearly the power of God. The religious leaders relied on their own intellect and learning, but Peter and John relied on God’s. When we rely on the power of God all things are possible.

To bless

2/6/2013

25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities (Acts 3:25-26).

The purpose of Christ’s life, death and resurrection is to bless us. This is the profound love of God that God Himself would be willing to go to such extremes to save. But this is what was foretold from the beginning and made manifest in the work of Christ. The plan for redemption is a plan that involves God’s actions on behalf of the very people that were and are in rebellion against Him. God is merciful and God is gracious. If this were not so our sins would be held against us. Thank you God for your mercy and grace.

The Gift

2/5/2013

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language (Acts 2:2-6).

The day of Pentecost was a profound day in the early church. It is the day promised by Christ in which the gift of Holy Spirit was given. The gift of the Holy Spirit was promised by Christ to be a comforter to each believer. I think the day of Pentecost though also represents the restoration of something lost long ago at the Tower of Babel. If you recall from Genesis that language was confused and the people dispersed due to the sin of pride at Babel. So at Pentecost, the people being able to recognize and understand in their own language the message of God is a sign that God is restoring the relationship between God and Man. God is able through the work of the Holy Spirit in this world to have a people that are one through this same Spirit.

Witnesses

2/4/2013

7 And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight (Acts 1:7-9).

Luke the author of the book of Acts is describing Christ’s accession and the Great Commission. Notice that witnesses, through the power of the Holy Spirit, accomplish the spread of Gospel. So when we witness about Christ, we are doing so as we are required, but the true power is not our own power. It is ultimately the work of the Holy Sprit that proceeds from the Father and the Son that accomplishes the work of salvation. We are witnesses to the power of God and we testify to what we know, but it is God that changes the heart. To God be all the glory and praise!

Follow

2/3/2013

18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. 20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? 21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me (John 21: 18-22).

This exchange between Jesus, Peter and John occurred after Christ’s death and before His ascension. Jesus is describing how Peter would die for the cause of the Gospel. This would occur many years later in Rome at the hands of Nero. Jesus is also talking separately with John and clearly Peter is wondering what will become of John. Imagine being told you will die a horrible death, and then wondering why one of the other disciples (John) would perhaps be spared. But Christ quickly refocuses the discussion and reminds both disciples to simply follow Him. God’s ways are not our ways and we are obliged to follow God toward whatever path He chooses.

Life through His name

2/2/2013

29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (John 20:29-31).

One of the purposes of the word of God is to attest to the facts of redemptive history. Redemptive history is the total of the plan for salvation from the beginning of time. Verse 31 summarizes the condition for redemption. That condition is that through believing on the Son of God, life is granted. The life granted is eternal and it is eternal in the presence of God. So it is through the testimony of Word of God in human flesh (Christ), and through the testimony of the written word of God in scripture clarified through the work of Holy Spirit that we have life, and life abundant. This is the Gospel, planned from the beginning, spanning all the years of redemptive history. So then, the story of history from point of view of the Creator is the story of final redemption-planned, unchanging, and certain.

Purposes

2/1/2013

10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. 12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar (John 19: 10-12).

As I discussed yesterday, Pilate didn’t want to crucify Jesus. Pilate recognized that Christ was innocent and that the Chief Priests really wanted Christ dead because they feared loss of control or out of jealousy. Jesus says something interesting here; He knows Pilate is worried that he is making the wrong decision, and Christ tells Pilate that he is less to blame than the religious leaders. Also interesting is that Pilate’s power and authority to have Christ crucified is granted by divine prerogative. Pilate is accountable and guilty of the action but it was allowed to occur. That is God Himself granted the power. We now know why, it was the will of God to save us. The greatest news in history resulted from the worst event imaginable. The worst event was the suffering and death of the author of life. But out of the travesty came the hope of all eternity through the resurrection.

Created Through Him