Blog Archives - Created through Him

Created Through Him

Worshipping God

11/30/2012

24 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Matthew 24:1-2).

Jesus was not trying to be morbid in this passage but rather to point out that He knew the future and wanted His disciples to recognize that they should keep their eyes on God and not any man-made structure. The Roman Armies destroyed the physical Temple about 40 years later. The Temple was clearly important to the people of Israel in the worship of God. But they had become entrenched in traditions and in many cases were no longer truly worshiping God.

Follow Christ

11/29/2012

3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not (Matthew 23:3).

Christ is criticizing the religious leaders of day because they didn’t live according to their faith. They were more interested in following rules that had no meaning or truth in them. They failed to recognize Christ because Christ was not one of them. Their error was fundamentally that they loved themselves more than those around them and they were ultimately blinded by pride. Christ saw through their error and pride and was warning the people not to follow in the ways of their leaders.

A Word

11/28/2012

46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions (Matthew 22:46).

Christ as the sovereign Son of God had a way of silencing critics. Christ, as God, was able to see into the heart of those asking Him questions. In the passage immediately preceding this verse, the Pharisees and Sadducees were questioning Christ. Christ knew their intentions and He knew they were evil. The responses that Christ gave to the questioning were perfect and the Pharisees and Sadducees were left speechless. They had no idea who they were dealing with. Christ is the Word of God made flesh.

True faith

11/27/2012

15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased, 16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? (Matthew 21:15-16).

This scripture depicts the scene immediately after Christ’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The chief priest and scribes who were the religious leaders of Israel were against Christ. They let religion get in the way of true faith. They were knowledgeable but utterly spiritually blind. The children praised Christ while the religious leaders did not praise Him and in fact wanted to destroy Him. Remember our faith is in a person, the person of Christ, who is fullness of God and Man. Our faith is not in a religion or a set of rules but rather is in Christ-crucified on our behalf, begotten not made, one in being with the Father.

Service

11/26/2012

25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many (Matthew 20:25-28).

The heart of discipleship is service. The service is to God on the behalf of others. Whenever we serve others we are honoring God. God is pleased when we act as servants. Inherent in being a servant is the idea of being humble and showing humility. Humility is the opposite of pride. It is simply not possible to be arrogant and full of pride while exercising humility and being of a humble heart. God always uses people in their weakness to bring about the desired results that could not be accomplished by their strength alone. Serve God.

Following

11/25/2012

20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me (Matthew 19:20-12).

Following Jesus is not something that is done lightly or without cost. The cost is that Christ demands our all. Not just part of us, but all of us, is what Christ desires. Anything that prevents us from fully serving Christ with everything we have in the end is effectively an idol. Idols can be money, possessions, relationships, knowledge, time, pride, and the list is endless. The focus of our end of the relationship with Christ should be on our willingness to follow wherever He leads.

As a litte child

11/24/2012

3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3-4).

Following God means trusting and relying on God as Father. In order to accomplish this, we must not be proud or think that we have all the answers. God desires us to approach Him as a child would, with eagerness and a simple heart. When we are eager and have a simple heart for God, we will be able to be moved and changed by God. It is this change that must occur, and it can only occur if we approach God as a little child.

The Son of Man

11/23/2012

22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry (Matthew 17:22-23).

The idea that Christ would be killed was not an idea the Disciples wanted to accept. They did not initially understand that Christ had to die according to the scriptures and that this was so in order to have final victory over death and sin. The sovereignty, justice and holiness of God however mandated that the Son of Man (Christ) as both the fullness of God and Man had to pay the penalty of sin in our place. We simply could not and cannot withstand or satisfy the judgment of God on our own accord. So this is the mercy of God, that the Christ would restore us through His work in life, suffering, death and resurrection.

Discipleship

11/22/2012

23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. 24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:23-24).

God’s will and way does not always make sense to His people. Christ, in this passage, is reminding the Disciples that they are to follow Him and not the ways of the world. Ultimately the ways of the world lead away from God. Christ further clarifies that discipleship comes at a cost and that true discipleship results only through the sacrifice of self. The pattern that Christ displayed for true discipleship likely makes us uncomfortable. It is a pattern in which we are not the center, but that which Christ is focus. If we focus on Christ, true discipleship will by necessity, follow.

The doctrines of God

11/21/2012

8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men (Matthew 15:8-9).

God is not just a God of rules and regulations. In fact, in many cases, our rules and regulations and not God’s are what are enforced. We should be most careful when we place burdens on others that what we are doing is both in scripture and part of the intent of scripture. It is in the intent of scripture that the true purpose is manifested. Therefore, when we interpret scripture and apply it to our daily lives it is necessary to ask the question, “What ought I to do in the sight of God in light of His purposes”.

Created Through Him