Tuesday, August 27, 2013

The Angel of the Lord

There is one angel in the Bible that is different than all the others.  This angel was not created.  He appears 40 times in the Old Testament.  He is referred to as "the" Angel of the Lord.  Not an angel of the Lord.  The word Angel is capitalized.  (I recommend the New King James Version of the Bible as it is the closest to the New Testament Greek which is "koine" Greek.  It gives the highest respect to the Trinity and whenever God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit is mentioned, it is always capitalized.)

To understand this perfectly, we have to build a strong foundation. The word "incarnate" means to clothe with flesh, to embody, to give bodily form.  The opposite of incarnate is "pre-incarnate" and this means to have no body.

John 1:1 states, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."   The Word is Jesus Christ.

Where shall we begin to study this?  Let's look at John 1:2 which states, "He was in the beginning with God."

Where is the beginning?  How about Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  Many people feel that the Holy Spirit does not show up until the New Testament but that is not correct.  Look at Genesis 1:2, " . . . and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."  The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit.  (Again, when you see the capital letters it always refers to divinity - either God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit.)

How do we know that the Trinity is seen in the Old Testament?  Let's look at Genesis 1:26:  "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . . "  Who is the Us and who is the Our?  Again, it is the Holy Trinity of God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.

Now back to the Gospel of John.  John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

If the Word, which is Jesus, became flesh, it implies that before He became flesh, He did not have flesh.  He was in a pre-incarnate state.  

As mentioned, there are 40 references to the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament but I am only going to pick one for this blog.  Let's look at Genesis 16:7.  Hagar is Sarah's maid and needs help.  "Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur."  

Another interesting observation is this.  After Jesus is born, the Angel of the Lord is never mentioned in the Bible again.  Why?  Since Jesus now had a body, the pre-incarnate Jesus would not be necessary anymore.

In Hebrews, we have this picture of the pre-incarnate Christ getting ready to become the incarnate Christ.  This is the presentation of the Redeemer when Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us.  Hebrews 10:5-7, "Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:  'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.  Then I said, "Behold, I have come - in the volume of the book it is written of Me - To do Your will, O God."

This is a conversation that took place just before Jesus left the presence of the Father in one moment into becoming microscopic size in the womb of the virgin Mary in Nazareth.  Jesus would experience nearly every event that a human being would experience, including being born of a woman.  

It is absolutely overwhelming that God could possibly love us this much that He would send His only Son to die for us that we might have the opportunity to live throughout eternity with Him.  

Thirty-three years later, Jesus will kneel in a garden, and His humanness will say, "If there is any other way that the Scheme of Redemption can be fulfilled, let this cup pass from Me."  As we know, there was no other way, and Jesus says the same thing in the garden just as He said when He left glory and entered into the womb of a virgin:  "Not My will but Your will be done."  

And Jesus went to Calvary.  Jesus, our Savior, hung on a cross and the price for our spiritual salvation and physical healing was paid.  Jesus paid the price for our sin with His blood.  He completely broke the power of the devil and enslavement to sin.  One day we will be taken from the presence of sin into His presence forever and ever.  Where there will be no more tears.  No more pain.  Only eternal love and joy.  

Jesus came as a babe in a manger.  The lamb of God.  But He's coming back again, only this time as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Are You As Smart As A 7th Grader Answers

Q. 1:  How many books in the Old Testament?  (39)

Q. 2:  How many books in the New Testament?  (27)

Q. 3:  How many books in the Bible?  (66)

Q. 4:  What does the gospel mean?  (The Good News)

Q. 5:  What one verse explains the gospel?  (John 3:16)

Q. 6:  What language was the Old Testament written?  (Hebrew)

Q. 7:  What language was the New Testament written?  (Greek)

Q. 8:  What language did Jesus speak predominantly?  (Aramaic)

Q. 9:  What was the Exodus?  (Moses led Hebrews out of slavery
           in Egypt and into the promised land.)

Q. 10: What was the name of the promised land?  (Canaan)

Q. 11: What year was the Old Testament put together?  (90 A.D.)

Q. 12: What year was the New Testament?  (367 A.D.)

Q. 13: What are the first four books of the N.T. called?  (Gospels)

Q. 14: What was the first Bible in 1622?  (King James Version)

Q. 15: What are the two sacraments of the Protestant Church?
            (Baptism and Communion)

     If you got 10 out of 15 right, consider yourself almost as smart as a 7th grader.  If you got more than that right, Jesus might say, "You are not far from the Kingdom."

     If you did well, let me know and leave a comment.  


Saturday, August 17, 2013

Are You As Smart As A 7th Grader?

Confirmation in some churches is composed of 7th and 8th graders who spend almost a year studying the Bible.  Here is a 15 question list that measures some of the important things they learn.  In the next blog I will provide the answers.  See how you do.

Q. 1:  How many books are there in the Old Testament?

Q. 2:  How many books are there in the New Testament?

Q. 3:  How many books are there in the Bible?

Q. 4:  What does the word Gospel really mean?

Q. 5:  What one verse in the Bible explains the word Gospel?

Q. 6:  What language was the Old Testament written in?

Q. 7:  What language was the New Testament written in?

Q. 8:  What language did Jesus predominantly speak?

Q. 9:  What was the Exodus?

Q. 10: What was the name of the "promised land?"

Q. 11:  What year was the Old Testament put together?

Q. 12:  What year was the New Testament put together?

Q. 13:  What are the first four books of the New Testament called? 

Q. 14:  What was the name of the first Bible published in 1622?

Q. 15:  What are the two sacraments of the Protestant Church?  

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Whatever Became Of Sin?

Why did Jesus come to earth?  Why was He born?  Matthew answers these questions in Matthew 1:21:  "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Sins?  Whatever became of sin?  Jesus came to save us from our sins.  That is the heart of the Gospel.  Sin is the great problem of the human race.  Jesus came to free us from our sins.  That's what His name is about.  The name of Jesus is derived from the word Joshua and can be translated, "He shall save."  The word save translated from Greek means to both save spiritually and to heal physically.  You might say that there is a transformation process that takes place.  

No human being is perfect.  We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.  God cannot tolerate sin.  That is why we need a Savior.  The cross only makes sense if humanity is hopelessly lost. It only makes sense if we can do something to save ourselves.  Only then does the cross make sense, otherwise Jesus suffered for no apparent reason.

We accept Jesus into our heart by proclaiming that He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God and believing that God raised Him from the dead.  However, we must do more that that.  Just saying that Jesus is the Christ is not enough because even the demons know that, and with trembling.  We also must repent of our sins.  

Jesus begins His ministry by saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand."  The Greek word for repent is metanoia, which means a complete change of mind and lifestyle.  It means much more than just remorse, which is a temporary emotion.  It means a complete change, which is a permanent condition.  Jesus wants us to be transformed from sinner to devoted Christian.  The Bible tells us, "Abandon your sin and submit to the Lord by faith in the blood of the Lamb."  Faith is a gift from God and it produces grace.

The story of John Newton is amazing.  He was a notorious sinner, although he was reared by a Christian mother who died when he was only seven.  By the age of eleven he was working at sea with his father.  He was totally abused at sea and became hardened to the point of hating everyone.  As he grew up he took over his own ships and became a slave trader.  Then one day John Newton gave up his sins and cried to the Lord in true repentance - transformation - not cheap grace.  He sat down and wrote these words:  "Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see."  This became one of the great hymns of the church - Amazing Grace.