God's Word - Our Destiny

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

The December Gospel of Luke Challenge —Looking at Luke Look at Jesus

The December Gospel of Luke Challenge

—Looking at Luke Look at Jesus

How much do you know about Jesus?—His infancy?—His life and ministry?

Through the month of December, lets journey with Luke through the life of Jesus. We typically focus on His birth during this season. This time let’s also focus on why His birth is significant.

Connie Wohlford Photo

As a physician, Luke was all about meticulous detail. His Gospel corroborates with many aspects of the other Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and John. It also tells about additional events of Jesus life, including His infancy.

Luke substantiates the accuracy of his work with four explanations: 1- his concern with early origins—with priority given to eyewitness accounts (Luke 1:2); 2- his goal to be comprehensive—he says, “all things” (1:3); 3- his chronological telling, “an orderly account” (1:3); 4- his desire for accuracy—“the certainty” (1:4).

“In achieving his purpose, Luke traces in his two volumes (Luke and Acts) the Christian movement from its beginnings with Jesus of Nazareth to its development into a worldwide fellowship transcending the limits of Jewish nationality and embracing Jews and Gentiles impartially. Luke presents Jesus not as a mere Jewish Messiah, but as a world Savior.” *

So I issue to you and to me the Gospel of Luke Challenge.

There are twenty four chapters in The Gospel of Luke.

The challenge is this, each day between December 1 and December 24:

(1) Pray, thanking God for Jesus and His Word.

(2) Read a chapter each day. Chapter 1 will be read on Dec. 1 Chapter 2 will be read on Dec. 2 and so on.

(3) Write in a journal or tablet specific highlights that stand out to you in the day’s reading.

That’s it. Learn Jesus. Travel with me through Luke’s account of the life and ministry of our Lord—our Savior, Messiah, King.

By the time we get to Christmas Eve, we will wholeheartedly praise God with the angels and declare, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14)

We might even realize that this 10-15 minute block of time each day was some of the best use of our very valuable time during the Christmas season.

We might even want to repeat the process every year from now on, working our way through the other Gospels as well.

As I have time, I'll be posting some of my own journaling highlights as I travel through Luke’s account. I (and others) would enjoy seeing some of your highlights recorded in the comment section. And I’ll post maps and appropriate charts along the way when I can.

Let the challenge begin!

*Spirit Filled Life Bible; Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1991; Introduction to the Gospel of Luke, page 1503.

Sunday, November 5, 2017

The Lamb’s Blood -1 Peter 1:18-19

The Lamb’s Blood

-1 Peter 1:18-19

In my last post we rejoiced in our redemption as being reclaimed by our Creator and made new, much like a craftsman uses reclaimed wood to create something new and beautiful (1 Peter 1:17-19).

Now let’s go into a little more depth as to how God brought this incredible miracle about. Peter explained, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, (v. 19) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19 NKJV).

Peter implies that his readers knew that their redemption did not come from any material wealth, good conduct, or through any kind of tradition passed down from forefathers.

This apostle wants to make it clear that salvation comes through the precious blood of Jesus, stating that Jesus was the once for all sacrificial lamb. Jews of that era were knowledgeable of the significance of the shedding of the blood of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Even the Gentiles of the day were somewhat familiar with these Jewish practices.

About 1400 years prior to Peter’s writing God gave Moses instructions on the atonement of the sins of the people through the sacrificial shedding of the blood of an unblemished lamb. Step-by-step instructions are recorded in Leviticus 14.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11 NKJV). This shedding of the blood of lambs and other animals was a foreshadowing of the crucifixion death and shed blood of Jesus.

In several places, the Bible states that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. A sacrifice is defined as offering something of value for a cause or for a specified reason. Making an atonement is offering a compensation or penitence to make amends for an offense committed.

Therefore the system set up by God in the Old Testament stated that those who offered and were covered by the blood sacrifice were released—set free—from the consequences of their sin. But this was only temporary and needed to be repeated periodically.

Jesus was without sin—that is without spot or blemish. When His life’s blood was shed, He made atonement for all the sins of all Mankind once for all. His dying words proclaimed that fact: “It is finished” (John 19:30). Each person then has the option to accept or reject His sacrifice.

The writer of Hebrews goes into detail to explain Jesus’ atoning sacrifice: “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of the creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For it the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. ... Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:11-15 ESV).

As we enter into this season of thanksgiving, let us be mindful of the sacrificial blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus—the Lamb that was slain on behalf of sinners like you and me. I’m thankful for and rejoice in many things—especially family, freedom, home, and such. But the number one thing I’m thankful for and rejoice in is the blood of Jesus which was shed for me. Because of His atoning sacrifice my sins are washed away. My debt to God has been canceled out; I am in His own family for all eternity; and my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Besides that, my precious loved ones, who I’m so thankful for, also have the privilege of being in God’s family and we can all be together with Jesus in Heaven. All our tears will be wiped away. There ‘ell be no hurt, no sorrow, no evil of any kind. Like my friend used to sing, “There‘ll be no band-aides in Heaven—no emergency medical care ...”

So number one on my Thanksgiving list is Jesus and the fact that He gave Himself a sacrifice to pay my sin debt.

Are you covered by the blood of the Lamb? We each have the choice to accept and receive Him (Jesus) or reject and deny Him.

Your comments are welcome.

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Reclaimed by God <> 1 Peter 1:17-19

Reclaimed by God

—1 Peter 1:17-19

Reclaim means to retrieve or recover something previously lost, given away or purchased; to obtain the return of or to regain something.* Another meaning is, “to restore to a previous natural state.”**

These days we hear about the reclaiming of things such old wood. Craftsmen and do-it-yourselfers take old wood items or structures and use the reclaimed wood to make beautiful furniture and home decoration items. Old wood pallets are currently very popular for this purpose.

But have you considered the idea that followers of Jesus are people who have been reclaimed by God. Let’s search this out in Peter’s letter.

My recent blog posts have covered 1 Peter 1:1-16. I hope you’ll go back and read those if you’ve not already done so.

Now let’s move on and look at 1 Peter 1:17-19 (NKJV):

“And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Beginning in verse 13 Peter talks about our conduct. Our behavior needs to reflect Christ. Our goal is to be holy as God is holy (v.15). Jesus is our example, our motivation, and our inspiration.

Our Heavenly Father is asking a lot and expecting a lot from us. This is why it’s so important for us to stay tight with Jesus. Our daily time alone with Him is crucial. Our time in prayer, Bible reading, Bible study, meditating on Him (with praise and worship) and His Word are essential if we are serious followers of Christ.

Peter wants us to know that Father God is going to judge our conduct and we can be sure that He is impartial. Only God can be a righteous judge. No matter how hard we may try, people cannot perfectly judge one another—or even ourselves—without partiality. We all have opinions, motives, and influencers.

Think about it—do we really want another person to be our judge? God alone is fair and impartial in every aspect of evaluating a person. Only He is perfect and knows every detail about us—not just what is seen and heard on the outside—but also our thoughts, motives, and the intentions of our hearts.

Peter is right when he says, “conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.” God, the righteous judge, is One to be honored, respected, awed, worshiped, esteemed, and, yes, feared. This is a good kind of holy fear that recognizes who I am next to who God is.

I find Peter’s words interesting when he says, “throughout the time of your stay here.” It’s as though we’re here for a visit and will be moving on soon. Well, yes, that’s exactly what we’re doing here on this planet.

We’re just a passin’ through, as the old song says. We are truly sojourners, traveling through life. A sojourner is a person who resides in a place temporarily and will be moving on before too long.

I’m reminded of the 1980s Petra song, “Not of This World,” which says, “We are strangers. We are aliens. We are not of this world.” You might enjoy finding it on U-tube and hearing the lyrics. I believe you’ll identify with its message.

Peter then transitions in the next verses: “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Peter strongly reminds us from whence our redemption comes. Therefore we need to act like it. He is reinforcing his encouragement that we behave like born-again individuals. After all we were not redeemed by material riches nor by man-made traditions, passed down by our forefathers. Our redemption—our salvation—was purchased with the priceless and precious blood of Christ Jesus.

Peter goes on to point out that the sacrifice of Jesus was as a lamb without blemish or spot. His Jewish audience knew the meaning and significance of the lamb.

The Passover lamb was the first sacrifice commanded by God to the Jewish people. It was a part of the meal, along with unleavened bread, prior to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt (Isaiah 12:3-8). It represented death passing over God’s people and its remembrance was later established as a yearly festival commemorating deliverance, new life, and marking the beginning of a new year.

This feast of hope for a new life and hope-filled future represents the deliverance and new beginning we receive when we are born-again into God’s Kingdom. Jesus was the ultimate Passover Lamb. His shed blood was the once for all sacrifice required to redeem Mankind back to full relationship with God.

I’d like to share the explanation of redemption found in the Spirit Filled Life Bible commentary, “Bought Back By the Blood, THE BLOOD. ‘Redeemed’ means ‘bought back.’ The redeemer pays a worthy price to reclaim something previously owned. Mankind was once God’s, by creation, but became lost through sin. The blood of Christ is the price paid for our purchase, or redemption. God offers Christ’s blood to us as our substitutionary sacrifice and accepts it when we offer it back to Him. Our transaction with God is therefore not a gold-and-silver economy; it is a life-and-death economy. Christ gave His life’s blood to buy us out of sin and death. His blood was a worthy price and provides an imperishable bond between God and man.” (Eph. 2:13/John 6:53, 54)***

We who have trusted in and received Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord are therefore reclaimed. Our Heavenly Father—Creator God—has reclaimed us as His own and brought us back into His Eternal Kingdom.

Rejoice with me. AMEN.