For a long time I only wanted to see Jesus as King. One who rules and has dominion. One who cares about His people, but not necessarily as a personal friend. Jesus as a King to me was a man with power, but underneath of that I didn’t think He really cared about real justice or real mercy…distant to me.
Then I learned who Jesus was as a Judge. I learned that He really does despise evil and doesn’t tolerate us taking it lightly. He really hates wickedness and since I was full of it, I didn’t know if He really loved me. Jesus as a Judge was a man who didn’t budge on the law, He had limited mercy upon the unjust and was more of an inspector than a man who ever really cared about me getting better as a person.
Then came the time when I learned that Jesus was a Bridegroom. This is the reality that shifted my paradigm of who God was altogether. Not just how one day I will be married to Him, and not just how He really cares about what I think and say, but from the smallest decision of ‘what should I wear today’ to ‘what am I going to do with my life’? For a long time I was held in the bondages of thinking if I messed up or didn’t choose the right path that He wouldn’t be there with me. But that’s not what a bridegroom does, a bridegroom like Jesus nonetheless.
I’m just now realizing the impact that knowing Jesus as a bridegroom has made in my life. That was my story, and I didn’t even know that’s what I thought! But you can’t just look at Jesus as that bridegroom and forget about His true and righteous judgments. And we can’t just look at Him as a King who is distant and who doesn’t care about us. It is a fact that we have to choose to believe everyday. God, just as He is three in one with the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Son, He is three in one as the King, Judge and Bridegroom. Once you get a hold of this, don’t let it go. Jesus is perfect, but only in His identity as the King, Judge and Bridegroom, anything more or less of Him is a wrong view. God deserves out love and understanding this identity of Him helps us give it!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Redemption Story from the Old Testament
Our God, who was, and is, and who is to come. He was there from the beginning, and He will be there until the end. He always was. This God chose to create a human race for one thing and one thing only, His delight. The relationship between man and God was perfect. They would walk together in the cool of the day and man’s work was not in vain. Everything in Eden was perfect and God was very pleased. But for one moment in time, man became weak and gave into the temptation to sin. What was produced by that one action is something we all still deal with thousands of years later; a fallen and sinful world, disconnected from God.
What do you see when you look at the bible? A book of truth, life, or heartache? A road map or an awaiting challenge? What I see when I look at it could be totally different that anyone else, but I see a story. It is a true story of a lover providing a way for His beloved to come back to Him and the way back is through a man named Jesus.
Ever since the fall of man, God has had a plan to get us back. There really is a redemption story that takes place all the way through the Old Testament and it is important for everyone to know how that story goes. I pray that every believer would truly know the saving knowledge of Christ, not just from a salvation viewpoint, but as a historical viewpoint. Let’s open the pages and open our eyes to what the bigger picture is and to what’s really going on and how we’ve gotten thus far.
Genesis 3:15; “And I (God) will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Although it may not be that obvious, this verse is talking about the enemy and Jesus. Eve knew that God had promised to bring forth a savior from her offspring. She had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain of course killed Abel and therefore the hope of a savior was lost for a short time, until Eve gave birth to Seth.
A little while later, the earth become completely corrupt, having no good in it and just when God was about to destroy everything, one man of God was found, Noah. After the flood, it was just Noah and his family on the earth again. Through them came a man named Abraham whom was a friend of God. God brought forth a multitude of people through him and made him into a great nation. Abraham had a son named Isaac who was next in God’s divine lineage, then Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons, and in Genesis 49:10 it states that, “The scepter will not depart from Judah (one of Jacob’s sons).” We see here that God is continuing His commitment to bring forth a savior that will crush the enemy once and for all.
As time went on, God’s chosen people, the Jews, were getting persecuted more and more by the Pharaoh in Egypt. God spoke to a man named Moses in Exodus 3, and told him to lead His people out of captivity. The Jews were happy for a little while after getting free, but soon grew cold of heart and turned against their one true God who loved them even when they hated Him, to worship other idols and Gods. But God was faithful and would always turn His anger and hurt away from them and deliver them from whatever trouble they were in. Eventually the next generation of Jews ended up in the land that God had promised them through Moses.
Even though evil still covered the earth throughout the history of the Old Testament, God would always raise up lovers of Himself to fulfill His ultimate goals and to stand in the midst of persecution. There was always someone who was a deliverer for the Jews and when they chose to be on God’s side, He delivered them from wars, death, slavery, persecution, and from being handed over to their enemies. God raised up great leaders like King David, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah to set an example to the Jews and keep the Lord’s commands. God was faithful from the beginning and by looking at some Old Testament prophesies we can see the reoccurring promises of that coming savior first prophesied of in Genesis 3:15.
In Isaiah 7:14 it is written, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” That was fulfilled through Jesus. There are many more prophesies of Jesus through all the books of the Old Testament, but the point is that it was in God’s heart since the fall of man to bring forth another man to make things right again. God did whatever it took to deliver His people from the hand of the enemy. Even when He gave them freedom in the promise land, they still turned their backs towards Him. It is still the same way today, yet God will bring about His plans, not theirs. No matter who has to be risen up, God will do it. He is fiercely jealous for His people to return to Him and there won’t be peace on the earth again until they do.
Throughout the books of the Prophets, Jesus is predicted and prophesied about before they ever knew who He was. Throughout the books of history, God delivered His people and preserved the people from the tribe of Judah. Throughout the wisdom literature section, God gave hope to His people and more promises of their messiah. What kind of God do we have that would go to so much work just to bring about justice for us, people who didn’t do anything to deserve it in the first place? What kind of God sends His own son to die the death that we deserved? What kind of God brings His children, who hate Him the whole way, out of captivity and into the presence of the living God? Our God is an awesome God.
God fulfilled every prophecy in the Old Testament about a messiah two-thousand years ago through the man Jesus Christ. Jesus came from the lineage of the tribe of Judah, was born of a virgin, died a brutal death, and rose again to be seated at the right hand of our Father always making intercession for us. God made a way where there was no way for no reason but because He loved us. It was because of the things made known from the beginning that we now have a way to God. God made a way where there was no way and He will fulfill the rest of the promises He has for us before the return of His Son. We have permission to enter in today. We can come boldly before Him because of what Jesus did on the cross. No matter what we do we will never be able to repay God for what He has freely given us. I pray that every person would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, it is the least we can give back to the one who gave us everything.
What do you see when you look at the bible? A book of truth, life, or heartache? A road map or an awaiting challenge? What I see when I look at it could be totally different that anyone else, but I see a story. It is a true story of a lover providing a way for His beloved to come back to Him and the way back is through a man named Jesus.
Ever since the fall of man, God has had a plan to get us back. There really is a redemption story that takes place all the way through the Old Testament and it is important for everyone to know how that story goes. I pray that every believer would truly know the saving knowledge of Christ, not just from a salvation viewpoint, but as a historical viewpoint. Let’s open the pages and open our eyes to what the bigger picture is and to what’s really going on and how we’ve gotten thus far.
Genesis 3:15; “And I (God) will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Although it may not be that obvious, this verse is talking about the enemy and Jesus. Eve knew that God had promised to bring forth a savior from her offspring. She had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain of course killed Abel and therefore the hope of a savior was lost for a short time, until Eve gave birth to Seth.
A little while later, the earth become completely corrupt, having no good in it and just when God was about to destroy everything, one man of God was found, Noah. After the flood, it was just Noah and his family on the earth again. Through them came a man named Abraham whom was a friend of God. God brought forth a multitude of people through him and made him into a great nation. Abraham had a son named Isaac who was next in God’s divine lineage, then Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons, and in Genesis 49:10 it states that, “The scepter will not depart from Judah (one of Jacob’s sons).” We see here that God is continuing His commitment to bring forth a savior that will crush the enemy once and for all.
As time went on, God’s chosen people, the Jews, were getting persecuted more and more by the Pharaoh in Egypt. God spoke to a man named Moses in Exodus 3, and told him to lead His people out of captivity. The Jews were happy for a little while after getting free, but soon grew cold of heart and turned against their one true God who loved them even when they hated Him, to worship other idols and Gods. But God was faithful and would always turn His anger and hurt away from them and deliver them from whatever trouble they were in. Eventually the next generation of Jews ended up in the land that God had promised them through Moses.
Even though evil still covered the earth throughout the history of the Old Testament, God would always raise up lovers of Himself to fulfill His ultimate goals and to stand in the midst of persecution. There was always someone who was a deliverer for the Jews and when they chose to be on God’s side, He delivered them from wars, death, slavery, persecution, and from being handed over to their enemies. God raised up great leaders like King David, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah to set an example to the Jews and keep the Lord’s commands. God was faithful from the beginning and by looking at some Old Testament prophesies we can see the reoccurring promises of that coming savior first prophesied of in Genesis 3:15.
In Isaiah 7:14 it is written, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” That was fulfilled through Jesus. There are many more prophesies of Jesus through all the books of the Old Testament, but the point is that it was in God’s heart since the fall of man to bring forth another man to make things right again. God did whatever it took to deliver His people from the hand of the enemy. Even when He gave them freedom in the promise land, they still turned their backs towards Him. It is still the same way today, yet God will bring about His plans, not theirs. No matter who has to be risen up, God will do it. He is fiercely jealous for His people to return to Him and there won’t be peace on the earth again until they do.
Throughout the books of the Prophets, Jesus is predicted and prophesied about before they ever knew who He was. Throughout the books of history, God delivered His people and preserved the people from the tribe of Judah. Throughout the wisdom literature section, God gave hope to His people and more promises of their messiah. What kind of God do we have that would go to so much work just to bring about justice for us, people who didn’t do anything to deserve it in the first place? What kind of God sends His own son to die the death that we deserved? What kind of God brings His children, who hate Him the whole way, out of captivity and into the presence of the living God? Our God is an awesome God.
God fulfilled every prophecy in the Old Testament about a messiah two-thousand years ago through the man Jesus Christ. Jesus came from the lineage of the tribe of Judah, was born of a virgin, died a brutal death, and rose again to be seated at the right hand of our Father always making intercession for us. God made a way where there was no way for no reason but because He loved us. It was because of the things made known from the beginning that we now have a way to God. God made a way where there was no way and He will fulfill the rest of the promises He has for us before the return of His Son. We have permission to enter in today. We can come boldly before Him because of what Jesus did on the cross. No matter what we do we will never be able to repay God for what He has freely given us. I pray that every person would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, it is the least we can give back to the one who gave us everything.
Friday, October 1, 2010
With Fasting and Weeping and Mourning
As I was in class the other day (Old Testament Survey) we were in the book of Ezekiel when a certain passage touched my heart. It is Ezekiel 9:1-6, in case you don’t have your bible on hand here it is,
Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring the guards of the city here, each with a weapon in his hand.” And I saw 6 men coming…each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side….Now the Glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the temple. Then the Lord called to the man in linen who had the writing kit and said, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.
Ok so this is in Jerusalem, among God’s own chosen people whom He loves. (Take notice to the judgment starting in His sanctuary) What I want to ask you is, when was the last time you grieved and lamented over the state of our world? How about the state of our nation? How about the state of your unsaved loved ones? How about the church, the bride of Christ? I think we should all take a look at the world around us and realize the things that are going on. If the Lord decided to judge our nation by the standards he put forth in Ezekiel, would you survive the day? It’s a serious question we need to consider. Are you okay with the killing of thousands of innocent babies? Do you have it settled in heart that rape, murder, human trafficking, child abuse, etc. are ‘just the way it is’? Are we okay with going to the grocery store and seeing people who are on their way to hell and not doing our part in sharing the gospel with them? Are we okay with the death of the wicked? God isn’t.
Don’t worry, me too. But I don’t want to be and that’s why we all have to ask God for a burden for His people. I Don’t want to be okay with these things, I Don’t want to go on with life as usual. I am setting my mind and heart on a journey to produce the want in me to change. It’s called fasting, weeping, and mourning. Well, that and the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle (Mathew 5,6,&7) I’m deciding to stop with slandering, even if the person is wicked, and to pray for them instead. I will stop fighting my persecutors, and bless them instead. I will stop cursing the wicked, and pray for them to be encountered by the living God. I will stop hating my neighbor, and instead serve them. I’m not going to be settled with my church not experiencing the power of God. With God all things are possible, we can make a difference in people lives’ every day and even though it’s hard, we can do it. Let’s take the burden the church should have and start today.
I want to be blameless on the day of Christ, and I pray that you would want and pursue the same things. Bless You, Grace and Peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring the guards of the city here, each with a weapon in his hand.” And I saw 6 men coming…each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side….Now the Glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the temple. Then the Lord called to the man in linen who had the writing kit and said, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.
Ok so this is in Jerusalem, among God’s own chosen people whom He loves. (Take notice to the judgment starting in His sanctuary) What I want to ask you is, when was the last time you grieved and lamented over the state of our world? How about the state of our nation? How about the state of your unsaved loved ones? How about the church, the bride of Christ? I think we should all take a look at the world around us and realize the things that are going on. If the Lord decided to judge our nation by the standards he put forth in Ezekiel, would you survive the day? It’s a serious question we need to consider. Are you okay with the killing of thousands of innocent babies? Do you have it settled in heart that rape, murder, human trafficking, child abuse, etc. are ‘just the way it is’? Are we okay with going to the grocery store and seeing people who are on their way to hell and not doing our part in sharing the gospel with them? Are we okay with the death of the wicked? God isn’t.
Don’t worry, me too. But I don’t want to be and that’s why we all have to ask God for a burden for His people. I Don’t want to be okay with these things, I Don’t want to go on with life as usual. I am setting my mind and heart on a journey to produce the want in me to change. It’s called fasting, weeping, and mourning. Well, that and the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle (Mathew 5,6,&7) I’m deciding to stop with slandering, even if the person is wicked, and to pray for them instead. I will stop fighting my persecutors, and bless them instead. I will stop cursing the wicked, and pray for them to be encountered by the living God. I will stop hating my neighbor, and instead serve them. I’m not going to be settled with my church not experiencing the power of God. With God all things are possible, we can make a difference in people lives’ every day and even though it’s hard, we can do it. Let’s take the burden the church should have and start today.
I want to be blameless on the day of Christ, and I pray that you would want and pursue the same things. Bless You, Grace and Peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
What September held
Ah September, a month that I've always liked. What do you see when you close your eyes and think of this month? For me it's changing leaves, a cool breeze in the air, and a new hope, determination, or excitement about the new school year. It's hard to believe that I've been out of high school for 2 years already...I'm getting old!
But back to September. This September I finally scored a job as a barista here in KC, I witnessed for the first time to someone by myself and they got saved, I helped my roommate make food for catering a wedding for 10 hrs straight(record), I attended the prayer room
for 100 hours, got a letter from my grandma, I started playing guitar again, said happy birthday to my brother, fought off stupid fruit flies day after day, started that painting up there and got a great revelation on how much better my life is now than it was before I was living for God.
for 100 hours, got a letter from my grandma, I started playing guitar again, said happy birthday to my brother, fought off stupid fruit flies day after day, started that painting up there and got a great revelation on how much better my life is now than it was before I was living for God. Of course it wasn't all fine and dandy. I also took out the trash this month :p, went a few days on only a couple hours of sleep, had some late assignments, and spent a lot of time feeling frustrated and lonely. But overall this month has been a good month.
I would like to talk about you now. It's based off of the revelation (a deeply moving insight from God) that I received on my life. So many people that I know see God as a very angry person. They don't get what they want, they get mad at God. Something bad happens in their life, they give up on Him and accuse Him of not being there, or not caring enough to stop it. Or maybe they are surrounded by people who are getting touched by God, but they're not and think God doesn't love them because He's not touching them too. If you're one of those people think very hard about the main reason you're mad at God. Now think of every good thing that's in your life. Your cars, jobs, family, love, any simple pleasure in life. The bible says that all good things are from God. Not some, or just good things related to church, but ALL good things. Now ask yourself this, have you ever lied to someone, stolen, sworn? Even if you passed that test I can guarantee that you have been angry at least one time in your life. Jesus said that just being angry at someone is murder! Tough huh? Well according to the bible if we break the least of these commandments, which we all have, we have sinned. God could be justified in snuffing out your life right then and there. But if you're still reading, He didn't. Now we've all obviously done much worse things that just getting angry at someone, so the real question is, why are we still alive? Why didn't God kill us? He could do it at anytime and yet He hasn't, yet we fully deserve it. Nobody can tell me that God is not good. We all deserve death right Now! Do you see where this is going? If there were an earthquake in California today, people would accuse God of being mean and heartless, the real question we should ask God is why didn't you wipe out all of America?! It's because He's good, merciful, and has no delight in the death of the wicked.
So, how do you view God today? Cold and heartless? You're wrong. Mean and distant? Wrong! Loving and kind? Right :) So no matter what you think of Him, He still thinks of you with love. He loves you, no matter your age, past, or present and I say there's more of Him for You today! Don't live with Him as just your God another day, live with Him as your friend. "Those who can live without more of God, will. Those who can't, won't!" What do you want from Him? Go get it!
-B
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