Uncategorized

As Christians, we want to know Christ. We want to love, appreciate, trust, and follow Jesus for who He is, as revealed in the Scriptures. On Sunday morning, our plan is to discuss nine titles of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew. As we look forward to that study, let’s consider in this article what is oftentimes referred to as the “I Am” statements in the Gospel of John. Seven different times in John, Jesus uses the words “I am”…

There are some things in life that are really difficult to describe. How long is eternity? What is the definition of the word “the”? What does water taste like? Those are difficult questions to answer! In Ephesians 3:19, Paul prays for his readers “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.” Our God loves us so much that it is beyond our comprehension. The smartest, most intelligent person on the planet will never be able to understand the love…

In Matthew 12:31-32, Jesus says the following words: “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” For some, these words have caused a lot of worry. It is easy to start wondering,…

Lord willing, when we assemble on Sunday morning for worship, we will study Luke 9:28-36. This is the story that is oftentimes titled “The Transfiguration of Jesus.” Within this passage, God gives a command that He desires for every person to obey. Speaking of Jesus, God the Father says, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” God speaks to us today by His Son (Hebrews 1:2); therefore, we are to listen to Jesus. While we have the…

Last week, we allowed Scripture to speak in response to the following question: who is God? We have discussed how God describes Himself in Exodus 34:6-7. We explored God’s omniscience, omnipotence, omnibenevolence, and omnipresence. While far from being an exhaustive list, let’s consider seven more descriptions of God from the Bible. If we are going to truly believe God and place our faith in Him, we need to understand how He has revealed Himself to the best of our ability.…

On Sunday morning, if the Lord wills, we will continue our theme of “I Believe God” by considering God’s nature. We will ask the following question: who is God? If we are going to truly believe God, we need to understand, to the best of our ability, the nature, character, and identity of the One whom we are trusting and putting our faith in. While completely comprehending the nature of God is impossible for us as limited human beings, I…

There are many different religious groups today that teach a doctrine called “the perseverance of the saints”; this teaching is commonly labeled as “once saved, always saved.” As we begin to think about what the Bible says about this topic, I want to show you a quote, from a website entitled allaboutGod.com, that articulates what “once saved, always saved” is all about: The Bible teaches “once saved, always saved” — that we can be saved once and for all only…

One of the most quoted verses in all of the Bible is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” While Philippians 4:13 is one of the most well-known verses in Scripture, in my opinion, it is also one of the most taken out of context. Philippians 4:13 is oftentimes quoted by athletes before sporting events, preachers as a source of general encouragement, or speakers at school graduations. Very rarely does a quotation of Philippians 4:13…

War requires communication. Communication is essential to victory in battle. Failing to realize this was one of the reasons why Germany so easily defeated France in the Battle of France in World War II. The German tanks had wireless radios that provided a means of instant communication. In contrast, from 1923- 1939, only 0.15% of the French military spending was used on communication equipment. Because the French were not able to communicate with one another as quickly as the Germans…

In order to stand against the attacks of our spiritual enemy, we must trust in God’s strength and take up His armor (Ephesians 6:10-20). There is one final piece of armor that we have not discussed yet that we must use in our battle against the enemy: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). The other pieces of armor that we have considered over the last several weeks are usually only used defensively; this…

Have you ever sinned? I know that I have. In fact, Scripture teaches us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin separates humanity from God (Isaiah 59:2) because evil cannot dwell with God (Psalm 5:4). The price that we should have to pay for our sin is death (Romans 6:23). This is exactly what Satan wants for us. As our enemy, Satan’s number one goal is to destroy us (1 Peter 5:6).…

To first century Roman soldiers, a shield was a very significant defensive weapon. If you are like me, when I think of a shield, I think of a round circular piece of metal with a fancy looking symbol on it. However, the shields of first century Roman soldiers were not like that at all. According to an ancient Roman historian named Polybius, Roman shields were very large; they were in the shape of a rectangle, being four feet long and…

In our lives, we have different shoes for different occasions. Speaking in generalities, a football player wears cleats, a cowboy wears boots, a runner wears running shoes, a lawyer wears dress shoes, a basketball player wears high-top sneakers, and a surfer wears flip flops. The shoes that we wear depend on where we are and what we are doing. As Christians, as we wage war daily against Satan and his demons by putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians…

As we are all aware, Satan not only schemes against us (2 Corinthians 2:11) but also carries out those plans in an attempt to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). One way that Satan wages war against us is by trying to make us doubt our status before God. For example, Satan tried to create doubt in Eve’s heart concerning God’s word when he said to her, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’”…

As we go to war each day against Satan and his schemes, according to Ephesians 6:10-20, we must choose to take up the whole armor of God. When we take up the armor that God supplies for us, we will be able to stand against our enemy. We cannot stand against Satan based on our own strength; as we take up God’s armor, we must be strong in the power that He supplies. Our enemy, Satan, is a liar. As…

We are all familiar with the idea of war. I read about a group of historians who claim that, within the last 5,600 years, there have been 14,351 wars resulting in about 3.64 billion casualties. During that same period, there have only been 292 combined years of peace. There is a war going on right now that is not included in those statistics; it is a war that all Christians are a part of. As followers of Jesus, every single…

Over the past ten weeks, we have had the opportunity to consider the identity of Jesus Christ. Although we have certainly not covered the topic exhaustively, I believe that we have seen several helpful ideas that are both applicable to life and anchored to Scripture. We have thought about Jesus’ incarnation and role as Creator and Sustainer of all things. We have considered how Jesus makes the invisible Father known to us and speaks on His behalf. We have seen…

As Job went through an indescribable amount of suffering in Job 1-2, in Job 9, Job pictures himself in a courtroom with God. In Job’s attempt to demonstrate his innocence before God, he highlights this problem in Job 9:33: “There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.” In Job’s situation, there is no mediator between him and God. There is no one to intercede between the two parties. There is no one to lay…

One of the most familiar titles that is used to describe the Lord Jesus is “Son of God.” This phrase is used to refer to Jesus about thirty-seven times in the New Testament. Just to list a few of those, in Matthew 16:16, Peter confessed Jesus to be “the Son of the living God.” As Paul states, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who…

In the Old Testament, God made a very powerful promise to King David: “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom… I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13). This promise is echoed to the prophet Isaiah: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from…

If you had the opportunity to read last week’s article, we thought about what Jesus being the “Son of Man” means. Based on how the Old Testament uses the phrase the majority of the time, this title demonstrates our Lord’s humanity. Demonstrating great humility, Jesus came to earth and lived as a human being. While being true, this is only a part of what Jesus being the “Son of Man” means. For Jesus, the title “Son of Man” demonstrates not…