You are currently browsing articles tagged Jesus Christ.
Presented by Mark Kieler, this is a good two-parter that should give those who profess themselves to be Christians much food for thought.
Is Christ your one true love? Is He the center of your life? Is He truly Lord or are you just paying lip service?
I just got reminded of this passage while listening to a radio podcast… have you ever thought of and understood our Lord and Savior’s love thus? Nary an earthly love story even comes close to this!
Let us stand still, and admire and wonder at the love of Jesus Christ to poor sinners; that Christ should rather die for us, than for the angels. They were creatures of a more noble extract, and in all probability might have brought greater revenues of glory to God: yet that Christ should pass by those golden vessels, and make us vessels of glory,-oh, what amazing and astonishing love is this! This is the envy of devils. and the admiration of angels and saints.
The angels were more honourable and excellent creatures than we. They were celestial spirits; we earthly bodies, dust and ashes: they were immediate attendants upon God, they were, as I may say, of his privy chamber; we servants of his in the lower house of this world, farther remote from his glorious presence: their office was to sing hallelujahs, songs of praise to God in the heavenly paradise; ours to dress the garden of Eden, which was but an earthly paradise: they sinned but once, and but in thought, as is commonly thought; but Adam sinned in thought by lusting, in deed by tasting, and in word by excusing. Why did not Christ suffer for their sins, as well as for ours? or if for any, why not for theirs rather than ours? ‘Even so, O Father, for so it pleased thee,’ Mat. xi. 26. We move this question, not as being curious to search thy secret counsels, O Lord, but that we may be the more swallowed up in the admiration of the ‘breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.’
A couple of years after I became a Christian and had joined the teen ministry of the Navigators here in Singapore, I was given a book by my Bible Study leader which, till today, has had a huge impact in my life. Although the knowledge gleaned from it has been lying dormant in my being and I regret that I can’t seem to find the book in my collection anymore, I can still very much remember the title.
The system the Navigators had in place was so that my Bible Study leader would make me his disciple, and when I had learned enough I’d go on to disciple others. Unfortunately, the world stepped in before my wings hardened and I fell from the nest, hard, because the roots of the tree that nest was on were never deep to begin with.
I have since been re-learning everything, and this is one particular sermon by Dr. John MacArthur I particularly took to heart and am sharing with you today.
Don’t you just hate it when a speck of dust gets into one of your eyes and causes immense discomfort? It’s especially so when you can feel that speck there but just can’t seem to get it out! You keep rubbing your eye till the eyeball becomes all red and, voila!, you now have one puffy eye that doesn’t see very well.
Karen had one of those episodes earlier today and we had to run out and get her a new bottle of Optrex eyewash as the last bottle at home had emptied. While she was washing her eye, this teaching of our Lord came to mind:
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
Luke 6:41-42
A speck is already uncomfortable and irritating as it is, talk about a log!
“Man,” said a thoughtless, ungodly English traveller, to a North American Indian convert, “Man, what is the reason that you make so much of Christ, and talk so much about Him? What has this Christ done for you that you should make so much ado about Him?”
The converted Indian did not answer him in words. He gathered together some dry leaves and moss and made a ring with them on the ground. He picked up a live worm and put it in the middle of the ring. He struck a light and set the moss and leaves on fire. The flame soon rose, and the heat scorched the worm. It writhed in agony, and after trying in vain to escape on every side, curled itself up in the middle, as if about to die in despair. At that moment the Indian reached forth his hand, took up the worm gently and placed it on his bosom. “Stranger,” he said to the Englishman, “do you see that worm? I was that perishing creature. I was dying in my sins, hopeless, helpless and on the brink of eternal fire. It was Jesus Christ who put forth the arm of His power. It was Jesus Christ who delivered me with the hand of His grace, and plucked me from everlasting burnings. It was Jesus Christ who placed me, a poor sinful worm, near the heart of His love. Stranger, that is the reason why I talk of Jesus Christ, and make much of Him. I am not ashamed of it, because I love Him.”
If we know anything of love to Christ, may we have the mind of this North American Indian! May we never think that we can love Christ too well, live to Him too thoroughly, confess Him too boldly, lay ourselves out for Him too heartily! Of all the things that will surprise us in the resurrection morning, this I believe will surprise us most, that we did not love Christ more before we died.
Ryle, J.C. Holiness. Evangelical P, 1979. 245.
HT: Tony Miano.
This was brought to my attention at Symphony of Scripture since I don’t have a television set, much less cable.
I wonder who they are referring to when they replaced “Jesus” with “Shepherd” and called that shepherd “Lord” and “Savior”, amongst other things.
Unfortunately, the world doesn’t give two hoots about glorifying the name of Jesus (oh! if only they knew of Philippians 2:9-11!), but neither are many churches nowadays to be honest. Throw in the Emergents and Universalists and what you get is a big bowl of confusion.
This article was written by John Piper March 19, 2008.
© Desiring God.
The love of Christ for us in his dying was as conscious as his suffering was intentional. “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). If he was intentional in laying down his life, it was for us. It was love. “When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). Every step on the Calvary road meant, “I love you.”
Therefore, to feel the love of Christ in the laying down of his life, it helps to see how utterly intentional it was. Consider these five ways of seeing Christ’s intentionality in dying for us.
It was expected that He should come in pomp. Instead of that, He grew up as a tender plant, silently and insensibly. He had no form nor comeliness, nothing extraordinary which one might have thought to meet in an incarnate Deity. The manner of His appearing in the world had nothing of outward glory.
His gospel is preached, not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but with plainness. He was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. His whole life was not only mean but miserable. Being made sin for us, He underwent the sentence sin had subjected us to. His condition was, upon many accounts, sorrowful. He was unsettled, had not where to lay His head, lived upon alms, was opposed and endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself… We never read that He laughed, but often that He wept.
…
Carnal hearts see no excellency in the Lord Jesus, nothing that should have induced them to desire an interest in Him… Men whom He came to save rejected Him, and His sufferings mean nothing to them. Christ, having undertaken to satisfy the justice of God for man’s sin, did it, not by divesting Himself of the glories due to an incarnate Deity, but by submitting to the disgrace due to worst of men and malefactors. Thus He glorified His Father… But alas, by how many is He still despised in His people, and rejected of men as to His doctrine and authority.
– Matthew Henry (October 18, 1662 – June 22, 1714)1
1 Extracted from: Rev (Dr) Tow, Timothy. The Gospel Prophets — An Applied Commentary On Isaiah and Micah. 120.
Amen! Amen! Hallelu et Adonai!
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:10-11
I am also reminded of Paul’s joy when he describes how he, despite all his accomplishments, count nothing more precious than following Christ Jesus — a joy even in suffering for His sake that we too should have!
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Philippians 3:7-8
Amen!
Soli deo Gloria!
HT: The Warfare Journal.
I found this little gem of a parody about the end times from a Christian perspective, and I had a big laugh so I thought I’d share it with you.
The Book of Revelation has always been my favorite book in the Bible so much so that my wife christens me “Isaiah, the Doomsday Prophet”.
I’ve read the Book close to a dozen times or more, searched out commentaries, read dozens of interpretations and have a few books on just the Book of Revelation itself.
Some might term it a morbid fascination, but I firmly believe that God, in His mercy and grace, has shown us the series of events that must surely and soon come to pass.
I don’t want to sound like some alarmist here, but just take a look at the world today and what’s happening. Compare the events to what is in Revelation, and it will be clear to see that we are indeed heading towards our Lord’s glorious return!
I will share a few of my thoughts on Revelation in the next few days, so this video serves as a humorous opening to the series.
Enjoy!
Shalom Aleichem.
Photo by Beyond the Pale.
Norski’s comment on my post on Christian marriage and how he converted to Roman Catholicism because of what he believed to be Peter’s primacy got me writing a post on this finally.
I’ve always intended to write something on the topic, seeing that I had rejected Roman Catholicism in my journey to Christianity, but it seems that even talking about it can get quite a few people all riled up. However, I feel it’s better to write about it than to keep quiet.
Before I continue, let me make it very clear that I have nothing against Roman Catholics — my wife’s family is Roman Catholic and I have many friends who are Roman Catholics and we get along really well. What I have a problem with is the Roman Catholic Church’s claim to have power over Christians worldwide because of the ‘legitimate’ power of the pope passed on from Peter.
Thoughts on faith and the Christian life of a Calvinist addicted to coffee and who loves to cook on his days off. This blog is rated “R” for REFORMED.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.
Join the Discussion