Showing posts with label plan of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plan of God. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Good News! A Transition in Leadership
Recently in Zimbabwe, the 37-year presidency of Robert Mugabe has come to an end. He has not left the country, and his most likely successor has not yet been sworn in, but the transition appears certain. The streets have been
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Don't Miss the Party
Q: I've heard that eternity is supposed to be wonderful and never-ending joy. So why would God only invite "the chosen" and not everybody? Isn't everybody invited?
A: So glad you asked! Yes, everybody -- without exception -- is invited. God created people to be invited into his love and life forever. Everybody is "chosen" through the chosen one, Jesus Christ (Heb 5:5). Jesus has already paid the painful price for our wandering and rebellion, and has already brought us, with him, into the Father's embrace. Now, sometimes we
A: So glad you asked! Yes, everybody -- without exception -- is invited. God created people to be invited into his love and life forever. Everybody is "chosen" through the chosen one, Jesus Christ (Heb 5:5). Jesus has already paid the painful price for our wandering and rebellion, and has already brought us, with him, into the Father's embrace. Now, sometimes we
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Understanding the Kingdom of God
This week, instead of writing my own post, I'm going to direct you to one written by my friend and boss, Joseph Tkach. He gives us some good words and a good analogy about the kingdom, based on modern technology: a rocket. See if you agree: http://update.gci.org/2014/02/understanding-the-kingdom/.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The Bull's-Eye
Target shooters like to be able to hit the center of the target, called the "bull's-eye" or bullseye. And if they get especially sharp, they can hit the center of the bullseye. So if you wanted to know what the exact center
of God's will is, what would it be? You might not be too surprised if I tell you it's Jesus Christ himself. How would we know? Here are a few scriptures:
Heb 1:1-4 "Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names." Now, if you had to guess, is this Son greater than the prophets of old? Greater than Moses? Greater than the angels and other spirits? Greater than the creation? Yes, all the above.
Col 1: 15-20 "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything...He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church...so he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself." So, is the Christ more important than anything or anyone else in the universe, under the Father? Yes. Has God already saved you through his Son? Yes!
John 1: 1, 14 "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God...the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." Jesus the Christ, who by this description is also God, came to live with us humans, as our only Savior. The Center of God's entire work with humanity is found in him, and him alone.
Do you want to please God, or do the work of God? In John 6:29 we read "Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'" So, let everything else in life be seen in the light of Jesus. Center your life in him. Let him be to you what he truly is for the whole creation, the bullseye, the Center of the center. And see how that changes everything else.
of God's will is, what would it be? You might not be too surprised if I tell you it's Jesus Christ himself. How would we know? Here are a few scriptures:
Heb 1:1-4 "Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names." Now, if you had to guess, is this Son greater than the prophets of old? Greater than Moses? Greater than the angels and other spirits? Greater than the creation? Yes, all the above.
Col 1: 15-20 "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything...He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church...so he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself." So, is the Christ more important than anything or anyone else in the universe, under the Father? Yes. Has God already saved you through his Son? Yes!
John 1: 1, 14 "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God...the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." Jesus the Christ, who by this description is also God, came to live with us humans, as our only Savior. The Center of God's entire work with humanity is found in him, and him alone.
Do you want to please God, or do the work of God? In John 6:29 we read "Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'" So, let everything else in life be seen in the light of Jesus. Center your life in him. Let him be to you what he truly is for the whole creation, the bullseye, the Center of the center. And see how that changes everything else.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
The Whole Story, Briefly
The last several weeks, during the Advent and Christmas seasons, I've tried to show from scripture who God is and how he has chosen to relate to us humans. To begin 2012, I'm writing the same things in summary, with a few supporting scriptures (you can click on the reference to read the scripture online, or look it up yourself):
1. It was God's purpose from the first, as part of creation itself, to adopt humanity into a relationship of closeness and love (Eph. 1:3-6). His plan is to be with us forever in a life of never-ending joy (Rev. 21:1-4). Why? Because God is love (1 John 4:8) and so he loves us now (John 17:23) as he has from the first.
2. God's plan for humanity included, from the beginning, a way to bring us imperfect humans into his embrace. (Gen. 3:15, Isa. 7:14, Isa. 9:6-7, Isa. 11, Isa. 53, etc). The nation of Israel set up a 'vocabulary of salvation' with sacrifices, a priesthood, and so forth, to prepare us for the Messiah.
3. The eternal Son of God was born into human flesh as Jesus (Matthew 1, Luke 1, Luke 2, John 1:1-18, John 4:21-26, etc). His purpose was to fulfill the Father's plan, (John 4:31-34, John 5:35-40) and he was successful (John 17:1-8, John 19:30). He brought everything to God in a relationship of peace (Col. 1:19-20) including you and me! The work of Jesus Christ, in his life and on the cross and in his resurrection, has already removed all sin. There is no longer anything standing between you and God!
4. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, has the task of inviting us into the loving embrace of the Father (John 16:8-15) and he continues to draw people to believe (Acts 16:13-15).
So where does that leave you, dear reader? To believe and accept what is already true about you, according to the word of God, and respond to him in that belief. Our lives now, yours and mine, are about giving glory to the God who has loved us this much (Eph 2:10) and living a life of love (Eph. 5:2) as our response to him. And if you haven't yet believed that, isn't the start of a new year a good time to begin?
1. It was God's purpose from the first, as part of creation itself, to adopt humanity into a relationship of closeness and love (Eph. 1:3-6). His plan is to be with us forever in a life of never-ending joy (Rev. 21:1-4). Why? Because God is love (1 John 4:8) and so he loves us now (John 17:23) as he has from the first.
2. God's plan for humanity included, from the beginning, a way to bring us imperfect humans into his embrace. (Gen. 3:15, Isa. 7:14, Isa. 9:6-7, Isa. 11, Isa. 53, etc). The nation of Israel set up a 'vocabulary of salvation' with sacrifices, a priesthood, and so forth, to prepare us for the Messiah.
3. The eternal Son of God was born into human flesh as Jesus (Matthew 1, Luke 1, Luke 2, John 1:1-18, John 4:21-26, etc). His purpose was to fulfill the Father's plan, (John 4:31-34, John 5:35-40) and he was successful (John 17:1-8, John 19:30). He brought everything to God in a relationship of peace (Col. 1:19-20) including you and me! The work of Jesus Christ, in his life and on the cross and in his resurrection, has already removed all sin. There is no longer anything standing between you and God!
4. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, has the task of inviting us into the loving embrace of the Father (John 16:8-15) and he continues to draw people to believe (Acts 16:13-15).
So where does that leave you, dear reader? To believe and accept what is already true about you, according to the word of God, and respond to him in that belief. Our lives now, yours and mine, are about giving glory to the God who has loved us this much (Eph 2:10) and living a life of love (Eph. 5:2) as our response to him. And if you haven't yet believed that, isn't the start of a new year a good time to begin?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Face to Face with God
It's always been God's idea to have face-to-face fellowship with humanity. It is only our own disbelief and stubbornness that keeps us from having that closeness. Adam and Eve, our first parents, walked and talked with God, until they decided (with some help from Satan) that he was holding out on them. They withdrew from God, and there's been nothing but trouble in the world since then.
So God, who has infinite patience with us rascals, (see 1 Timothy 1:16) kept on pursuing us even when we wouldn't listen. He rescued Israel from Egypt, to honor his promises to Abraham, and met them at Sinai to give them what we call the Old Covenant. But they couldn't handle the fireworks and noise level (Deut. 5:4-5) so they asked him to talk to Moses alone; so God spoke with Moses face to face, instead of directly to the people. (Ex. 33:11, Deut. 34:10). He pursued his messy people Israel with prophets and judges, using all kinds of different metaphors and ways to describe himself, but still they didn't listen. Finally, the Father sent his only Son.
And still, some people didn't believe, even though God was standing there in the flesh in front of them. Can we believe? The Gospel accounts were written so we'd believe (John 20:30-31) but we still have a decision to make. We need to turn and face Jesus, and give up on working our way to God by being good (that's what most religions and even many Christians teach), or even by trying to keep the Ten Commandments and the other Old Covenant laws. Or by avoiding smoking or drinking or movies or sinners. We have to turn and face Jesus, and believe that he has already saved us from everything we can't save ourselves from -- which is everything. When we turn and face Jesus, we can see clearly (see 2 Cor. 3) for the first time.
What do we see when we turn to Jesus? More on that next time.
So God, who has infinite patience with us rascals, (see 1 Timothy 1:16) kept on pursuing us even when we wouldn't listen. He rescued Israel from Egypt, to honor his promises to Abraham, and met them at Sinai to give them what we call the Old Covenant. But they couldn't handle the fireworks and noise level (Deut. 5:4-5) so they asked him to talk to Moses alone; so God spoke with Moses face to face, instead of directly to the people. (Ex. 33:11, Deut. 34:10). He pursued his messy people Israel with prophets and judges, using all kinds of different metaphors and ways to describe himself, but still they didn't listen. Finally, the Father sent his only Son.
And still, some people didn't believe, even though God was standing there in the flesh in front of them. Can we believe? The Gospel accounts were written so we'd believe (John 20:30-31) but we still have a decision to make. We need to turn and face Jesus, and give up on working our way to God by being good (that's what most religions and even many Christians teach), or even by trying to keep the Ten Commandments and the other Old Covenant laws. Or by avoiding smoking or drinking or movies or sinners. We have to turn and face Jesus, and believe that he has already saved us from everything we can't save ourselves from -- which is everything. When we turn and face Jesus, we can see clearly (see 2 Cor. 3) for the first time.
What do we see when we turn to Jesus? More on that next time.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Center of the universe
In the little town of Wallace, Idaho, there is a manhole cover with the label "The Center of the Universe." (When you make your pilgrimage to Wallace, be sure to have your picture taken by it!) Scientists say that the 'Big Bang' had no actual center, and all the galaxies are moving away from each other, which I don't understand but then I don't know a lot about physics.
One thing I have discovered from studying the Bible is that Jesus Christ, who was (and remains) the Son of God perfectly united with humanity, is the center of God's entire plan for humanity. His job of uniting us with the Father was planned from before the beginning of time, and his life, death, resurrection and ascension accomplished God's central purpose. So in that sense you could say Jesus, himself, is the center of the universe.
Consider John's opening comments in his gospel, John 1:1-3: "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him." John says his whole purpose in writing was to point people to Jesus so that they would believe and have life, in chapter 20:31 .
The book of Hebrews has more to say: "Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command." The remainder of the book of Hebrews goes on to show that Jesus was greater than the prophets (1:1) the angels (1:4 - 2:9) Moses (3:1-6) the high priests of Israel (4:14 - 5:10) Abraham (by the figure of speech of Melchizedek, 7:1-10) and the whole priesthood and sacrificial system (7:11 - 8:6). He brought the new covenant (8:6-13) and superseded the entire old covenant system (chapters 9 and 10), which means he is greater than that system. The 'rest' described in chapter 4 is resting, in Christ, from our own works-oriented mentality. The faith described in chapter 11 is faith in what God would do through his Son, because "none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us"(11:39-40). Chapter 12 continues the focus on Jesus: "We do this [live an enduring Christian life] by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith"(verse 3). We have not come to anything in the past, it says, but to "Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people" (verse 24) and "speaks from heaven" (verse 25, compare 1:3). And in 12:8-21, some of those themes are brought back as a conclusion to show that our lives and faith are all wrapped up in Jesus.
In Ephesians 1:4, Paul declares that "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes."
If that weren't enough, we could look at Colossians 1:15-20, which may have been an early hymn of the church:
"15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
16 for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
17 He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross."
There is so much in the Bible, both the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament, referring to the plan of God as carried out by the Son of God, that it seems inescapable. Without Jesus, there is no 'plan of God'. But in Jesus, we are loved and fully accepted by God. He is certainly and without hesitation, the center of my own universe. Is he the center of yours? If not, isn't this a good time to re-think that?
One thing I have discovered from studying the Bible is that Jesus Christ, who was (and remains) the Son of God perfectly united with humanity, is the center of God's entire plan for humanity. His job of uniting us with the Father was planned from before the beginning of time, and his life, death, resurrection and ascension accomplished God's central purpose. So in that sense you could say Jesus, himself, is the center of the universe.
Consider John's opening comments in his gospel, John 1:1-3: "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him." John says his whole purpose in writing was to point people to Jesus so that they would believe and have life, in chapter 20:31 .
The book of Hebrews has more to say: "Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command." The remainder of the book of Hebrews goes on to show that Jesus was greater than the prophets (1:1) the angels (1:4 - 2:9) Moses (3:1-6) the high priests of Israel (4:14 - 5:10) Abraham (by the figure of speech of Melchizedek, 7:1-10) and the whole priesthood and sacrificial system (7:11 - 8:6). He brought the new covenant (8:6-13) and superseded the entire old covenant system (chapters 9 and 10), which means he is greater than that system. The 'rest' described in chapter 4 is resting, in Christ, from our own works-oriented mentality. The faith described in chapter 11 is faith in what God would do through his Son, because "none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us"(11:39-40). Chapter 12 continues the focus on Jesus: "We do this [live an enduring Christian life] by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith"(verse 3). We have not come to anything in the past, it says, but to "Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people" (verse 24) and "speaks from heaven" (verse 25, compare 1:3). And in 12:8-21, some of those themes are brought back as a conclusion to show that our lives and faith are all wrapped up in Jesus.
In Ephesians 1:4, Paul declares that "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes."
If that weren't enough, we could look at Colossians 1:15-20, which may have been an early hymn of the church:
"15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
16 for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
17 He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross."
There is so much in the Bible, both the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament, referring to the plan of God as carried out by the Son of God, that it seems inescapable. Without Jesus, there is no 'plan of God'. But in Jesus, we are loved and fully accepted by God. He is certainly and without hesitation, the center of my own universe. Is he the center of yours? If not, isn't this a good time to re-think that?
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