Dealing with the Self
In Matthew 16 we have the revelation of the Christ, the Son of the living God (v. 16). In the same chapter, we also have the revelation of the self, seen in the expression of Peter’s opinion (vv. 21-23). After the Lord told His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and die, he was […]
The Glory of God (2): Released through Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection
The incarnated Christ, as the embodiment of the Triune God, concealed the divine glory within the shell of His humanity (John 12:24; Col. 2:9; Phil. 2:6-8; see Part 1 here). As a man in the flesh, Christ longed and prayed for the divine glory within Him to be released through His death and resurrection (Luke […]
The Purpose of the Life of God
Our God is a God of purpose, and His divine life which is indwelling us is therefore a purposeful life (Rom. 8:28; Eph. 1:11, 3:11). The purpose of the divine life is not merely to make our lives better or happier, as some have supposed; rather it is much deeper, higher, and richer (John 10:10). […]
Christ as the Bronze Serpent
In John 3:14 the Lord Jesus reveals that the bronze serpent, which was the way of salvation for the children of Israel in Numbers 21:4-9, is a type of Himself. Because the people of Israel spoke against God and Moses, God sent serpents which bit them, causing many to die. After their repentance, Moses made […]
Redemption from the Vain Manner of Life
First Peter 1:18-19 says, “You were redeemed from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers…with precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ.” These verses reveal that God’s chosen people were redeemed not only from sins but also from their vain manner of life handed […]
Avoiding the Influence of Judaism in the Church Today (1) – The Temple
As believers in Christ, we face many challenges in our walk with Him. One of these challenges is the tendency to drift away from the living person of Christ into the old things of religion. In particular we tend to be unconsciously influenced by elements of Judaism, which is based on things given by God […]
Growing up Into Him in All Things
God the Father desires that all of the believers, as His children, would not remain babes but would grow in Christ to match Him in life, nature, expression, and function (John 1:12-13; Eph. 4:14; 1 Pet. 2:2). The issue of this growth is that the believers corporately arrive at a “full-grown man, at the measure […]
The Faith that Justifies
In Romans 3, Paul discusses justification by faith, and in chapter 4 he presents Abraham as an example of one having such faith. Paul’s presentation concerning Abraham’s faith in Romans 4 is based on Genesis 15:6, which says, “He believed Jehovah, and He accounted it to him as righteousness.” Although the simple act of believing […]
Experiencing Christ as the Meal Offering (Part 1)
In previous posts we saw that Christ is the reality of the burnt offering (see Part 1 and Part 2). In this post we will progress to see Christ as the reality of the meal offering. Leviticus 2:1 says “When anyone presents an offering of a meal offering to Jehovah, his offering shall be of fine […]
A Tamarisk Tree and the Eternal God
“And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he called on the name of Jehovah, the Eternal God.” (Genesis 21:33) After the conception of Isaac, the promised seed of God, Abraham sojourned in Beer-sheba, living by a well he dug and redeemed back from Abimelech, the king of Gerar. The account in Chapter 21 indicates that Isaac grew […]