Tag: Son of God

Blessed Assurance

“He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.”

John 11:23  Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”  Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,  and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”   She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

John 5:28    Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice  and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Isaiah 26:19    Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.

Psalms 17:15    As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Ezekiel 37:1    The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.  And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.  And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.”

Daniel 12:2    And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.  And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Hosea 13:14     I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death.

Blessed assurance that death will not be our final state.  Everlasting life awaits those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ.  We get so got up in things this side of eternity we lose sight of that which is beyond what we see here.  This life is but a vapor when compared to eternity.  Yet is seems so long at times.  When trials, issues, troubles come we have the assurance that the same person who will raise us from the dead is also able to wrap His loving arms around us and give comfort, refuge, hope, love, courage, and peace.  Rejoice and praise Him for He is able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.  We are redeemed and will be alive forever with Him.

The Betrayer

“ and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.”

John 6:70  Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”  He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

John 13:18    I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’

John 17:12    While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Matthew 10:1  And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.  The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;  Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

1 John 3:8    Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

Betraying Christ is nothing any of us want to do.  It would be the farthest thing from our mind.  It is not something we give much thought.  Yet I still wonder about us betraying service to Him.  Do we honor Him  with our life  Do we commit to this with all our heart, mind and soul?  Are our days filled with this thought of serving Him?  Do we follow and obey Him? Are we seeking to hear Him speak into our lives through His word each day?  Are our heart and mind  open to hear His leading?  Are we betraying Him by not giving Him our all everyday?  Obviously there is room for us to grow in our service to Him.  We need a heart deep desired commitment infused into our mind and soul.  Losing sight of the thing of this world and keeping focus on Him and the world to come.

No condemnation

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.”  He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.  For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Daniel 2:44   And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people

Psalms 2:12    Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

1 John 5:10    Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.  And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

John spoke “He must increase, but I must decrease.” These words are a very good principal for us to follow.  In our life we continue to battle “Me, Myself, and I”.  They always want to battle for control, direction, and purpose.  Pride of the heart and lust of the eyes are close companions and helps fuel this battle.  We choose each day rather to yield to self or yield to Christ and the Holy Spirits direction for our lives.  The more time we spend in His word the more we see the true landscape of this battle.  It is at the very core of our nature and does not take much time in His word to recognize just how great this battle is.  to fight this battle start each day with His word recognizing “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Seek and to Save

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”

John 1:43  The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”  Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”  Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”  And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

These comments are not mine but I found interesting and share them with you.  All are called but many reject the calling outright.  It is not a slight thing to refuse the summons of God through his messengers. God will hold those who refuse that summons responsible on Judgment Day.  There is a more subtle way to refuse the summons. One may pay lip service to the external call but never truly embrace Jesus internally as offered in that call.  This refusal subjects us to God’s just judgment. The bad news is we have no power in ourselves to change our rebellious hearts. The good news is God is pleased to change rebellious hearts by the invincible power of his Spirit. If we have responded to the external call in repentance and faith, it is only because God has first been at work in us to turn us to himself in Christ. Salvation is truly by grace alone. This truth is unsettling, but Jesus unsettles us for a reason. He wants us to find salvation and life in him alone, by grace alone. And only in Christ may we find an everlasting, unshakeable foundation.

Lamb of God

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

“even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

“who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

John 1:29  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Hebrews 1:3     He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Revelation 21:22    And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

The Lamb of God.  We hear this but to understand it we first must understand what “Lamb” meant to the Jewish people.  In the Old Testament an animal blood sacrifice was required at the altar of God for the redemption of sins (forgiveness). …  We also see the symbolism when the Israelites were freed from Egypt.  . For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you…. The lamb became the symbol of prime sacrifice. Jesus, by his death on the cross, became the sacrifice for all man’s sins.

This little light of mine

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

John 1:9  The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 6:32    Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

John 14:6     Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Isaiah 49:6    he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

John 12:46    I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

1 Thessalonians 5:4    But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.  For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

The true light is given to everyone – Jesus said “I am the way the truth and life.  No one comes to the father except through me.” “For God so loved the word that He gave His only Son, who so ever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life”.  This light is given by and through the love of God.   The world/culture and satan will say things to diminish this light.  Remember the song – “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine” – “Not gonna let satan blue it out, I’m gonna let it shine.”  Each day we have opportunity to live in this light, reflect this light, and point people to this light.

Who can Endure

“How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?”

Malachi 3:2  But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.

Zechariah 13:9    And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

Malachi 3:5  “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

Matthew 3:7  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.  Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Amos 5:18  Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light,  as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.  Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

We need to be very conscious of our commitment to God.  Note the words of prophets who declared the coming of the Lord.  When the Lord returns He comes with judgment.  Everyone will face Him for what they have done in their life and for the commitment, desire, and purpose they have lived it.  I wonder if we claim the love, mercy and grace of God but do not give thought to what it means to live in knowledge of this.  If we have basic understanding of His holiness and our sinfulness we see this love, mercy and grace from God with thankfulness and a desire to live our life worthy of humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him.  Any other response or demonstration from our life is lacking in service to God.  Keep God first and subject all in life to understanding what it means to fully live for Him.

Are you Looking?

I’m always interested in the statements from scripture that ask the question “Are you the one”, “Are you the coming Messiah”, or state the fact “I know the Messiah is coming”.  People were living their lives looking for and anticipating the Messiah coming.  They had a desire to have Him come and this had to have affected how they lived their lives. We, on the other hand, know He as come and that He is coming again.  I have to wonder if there is more expected of us because we know.  We have more access to His word and we neglect it. We have more knowledge of what His expectations for our lives and we do not obey.  Choose to live for Him and daily live to honor and glorify Him.

Matthew 11:2
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another

Hebrews 10:37
“Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay;
but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls

John 11:27
She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world