Showing posts with label Jesus Son of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus Son of God. Show all posts

Friday 14 August 2015

A Conversation

A Conversation

“Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” 
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 
Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” 
                                                                    John 4: 21-26.
Here as Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman Jesus breaks several social norms of the day, tells who he is, and what God the Father seeks.
First of all he a Jewish teacher speaks to a Samaritan woman. Jewish teachers hardly ever spoke to women additionally Jews considered Samaritans unclean and thus didn’t associate with them.
Secondly he predicts that the time will come “when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”
In other words something had to happen to prevent the worship at the temple. Something that occurred with the destruction of the Temple in 70 A. D.  shortly after the death of Jesus.
  Thirdly Jesus goes on to say,
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
Here is what the God the Father wants. God doesn’t care where we worship Him. A building is just a building. True believers worship God wherever they are.
We Christians believe each person is a part of the church. Believers in Christ make up the Church it is not a bricks and mortar structure.
The fourth thing Jesus admits to here, Jesus admits to being the Messiah.
The question to those who claim to be Christians is, do you worship God in spirit and in truth.
To those who are not Christians the question is, a question that Jesus asked Martha,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 
                                                                                                                             John 11:25,26.
Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God the Saviour of the world?
Please think about it.

Mary's Song

Mary’s Song

“And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.” 
                                                             Luke 1:46-55.
The Song of Mary or the Magnificat is Mary the mother of Christ singing the praises of God because she had been chosen to give birth to God’s anointed.
Mary did not know it at the time but a lot of things would transpire in her life and in the life of the child she was to bear.
At a young age probably when Jesus was around the age of two she and her husband Joseph had to flee with their infant son to Egypt to protect him.
She would watch her son grow to manhood. She would see him become a teacher of the word of God. She would see his fame grow and his enemies plot against him.
And she would see him beaten and placed on a Roman cross to die a horrible death.
Mary however would witness that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. She would witness that he rose from the grave conquering death, walk on this earth again briefly before ascending to heaven to sit at the right hand of God.
Mary if you will was probably the first Christian. She witnessed and believed all that Christians today believe.
She believed the words of her son when he said,
 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 
                                                                                                                                             John 14:6.
Mary would have believed the words of John who wrote,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men... 
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
                                                                                           John 1:1-4,14.
She would have believed because through her God Himself entered into His creation. She had no doubt about that.
She would have also believed the words of her Son who said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. 
                                                                                                           John 3:16-18.
The question is do you?
Please think about it.

Monday 10 August 2015

A Statement Under Oath

A statement under oath

“But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 
“Yes, it is as you say,”Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.” 
                                                                          Matthew 26:63-65.
Here is a truth about Jesus. He made the statement under oath before the high priest that He was the Christ, the Son of God. Further more he went on to say,
“In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Quite a statement. Jesus was an educated man he knew Jewish law. He knew what claiming to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God would bring on him if the high priest did not believe him.
The high priest did not believe him saying,
“He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.” 
At that moment the fate of Jesus was sealed. Under Jewish law of the day Jesus had to be put to death. All they had to do was convince the Roman governor to let them do it. Which for political expediency he did.
Christians believe Jesus is all he said he is. We believe He is the Son of God, we believe he is the suffering Messiah who will one day return to earth. We believe he is the Christ.
C. S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity makes valid point when he says,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” 
                                                                                      C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
I know there are many out there who do not believe Jesus is the Son of God the Christ, the Messiah.
What I would ask them is to study the New Testament particularly the first four books. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Keep in mind that for Jesus to make the claim he was the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God. It would get Him the death penalty.
Ask yourself would an intelligent, well educated man say the things he did if he were not the Son of God.
And here’s one more thing to consider. In Acts chapter five we are told the story of two of Jesus’ disciples preaching in his name. They are brought before a Jewish religious court who wanted to put them to death for making the claims that Jesus is the Son of God. A wise man among them however rose and said,
“Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  
But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” 
                          Acts 5:38,39.
Over two thousand years have come and gone since then. Christianity is now the largest religion in the world and still growing. Not only that it is growing without the use of force. It is a faith built on love for God, ones fellow man, and even ones enemies.
I contend that Jesus is the Son of God the Saviour of mankind.
I only ask that you think about it.
Post Script to Christians,
There many out there who claim to be Christians but do not believe Jesus is the Son of God. I firmly believe that you cannot be a Christian and not believe Jesus is the Son of God. The entire New Testament makes that clear.

Wednesday 1 July 2015

JESUS IS ALIVE!!!

Jesus is alive!

"Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.  
They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.  
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. 
He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast.  
One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 
“What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.  
The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;  but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.  
In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning  
but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.  
Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  
Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”  
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther.  
But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.  
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together  and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”  
Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.” 
Luke 24:13-24.
Above is the story of the men on the road to Emmaus who meet Jesus after his resurrection. It clearly states that people seen Jesus after he had died and rose from the dead. That he was in bodily form.
This is a claim that is unique to Christians. The Author and Finisher of our faith is the One and Only Son of God, Jesus.
We believe Jesus lived a perfect life, died for sins he didn’t commit was buried and rose from the grave victorious. That he ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father.  He did this for us. The apostle Paul writing,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 
Romans 5:8
The other day our Church played a movie called God is not dead. It fell into the category of drama. I would recommend if you get a chance to see it. The point of the movie was simple God is not dead despite what some vocal atheist say.
At the end of the movie it asked people to text three words to all their contacts. Those three words were “God is Alive!”
I would ask you the reader if you truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God to consider  texting or tweeting this line to all your contacts,
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be....” Acts 16:31a “Pass it on”
Ask your Christian friends to do it also.
It may be the most important thing you ever tweet or text.
Think about it.

Wednesday 15 April 2015

IS is not the First

IS is not the first.

  T.H. White wrote
“There was just such a man when I was young—an Austrian who invented a new way of life and convinced himself that he was the chap to make it work. He tried to impose his reformation by the sword, and plunged the civilized world into misery and chaos. But the thing which this fellow had overlooked, my friend, was that he had a predecessor in the reformation business, called Jesus Christ. Perhaps we may assume that Jesus knew as much as the Austrian did about saving people. But the odd thing is that Jesus did not turn the disciples into Strom troopers, burn down the Temple at Jerusalem, and fix the blame on Pontius Pilate. On the contrary, he made it clear that the business of the philosopher was to make ideas available, and not to impose them on people.” 
                                                             T.H. White, The Once and Future King.
As I look at terrorist groups around the world today I cringe in horror. Still they are not new. Tyrants throughout history have been trying to impose their will on people for centuries.
Hitler alone killed six million Jews and five million other people whom he looked down on or whom he disagreed with.
Hitler I am certain has had judgment past on him as will the leaders of IS and all terrorist groups around today.
Paradise is the one place these people will not be going.
What these people who lead terror organizations fail to see is history has taught that violence and intolerance only ends in destruction. Empires founded on violence have all fallen.
One man’s Kingdom however has not and his followers reach into every country, in every strata of society around the world. That Kingdom is God’s and Jesus is His one and only Son.
Jesus was sent to point the way to heaven. To die for the sins of each and every man, woman and child.
Jesus never raised a hand in anger even to the men that condemned him to die. In fact he called out from the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Napoleon wrote of Jesus,
"You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory? My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power.”
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”
“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel.  Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.”
                                                                                               Napoleon Bonaparte.
Today there are approximately two point two billion (2,200,000,000) Christians in the world. All won over by love.
IS and other terrorist groups have but a few million under their foot at this moment, and while like Hitler they may think they are building their version of the thousand year riche they are sadly mistaken.
If these people truly want to build heaven on earth they need to turn to Jesus and follow the path of love.
Jesus is recorded in the book of John giving the two options that are available to all men,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." 
                                                                                                                                  John 3:16-18.
Killing innocent men women and children dose not lead to paradise Jesus does.
Please think about it.