God’s Witnesses.
Claims are one thing, of
course, and proof is another. As no one has ever seen God (John 1:18), many
people believe that there is no evidence for His existence. Such people do not
believe in any God, let alone in the unique God who is revealed in the Bible.
However, the God of the Bible has provided evidence to support His claims and
He has witnesses who testify to both His existence and His purpose.
This is what God says to His
witnesses the Jews: “Do not fear, nor be afraid; have I not told you from that
time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed
there is no other Rock; I know not one. Those who make an image, all of them
are useless, and their precious things shall not profit; they are their own
witnesses; they neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed” (Isaiah 44:8,9).
This argument is repeated in more detail in (Isaiah 43:9-13).
God’s witnesses are the Jews,
and God is saying, through His prophet, that their history makes them witnesses
to His claims about Himself. For God has both made and kept promises to them
and has foretold what is to happen to them in great detail. Moreover, He stated
that no other god has such witnesses and, as regards to idols, that such things
are not real gods at all and cannot assist them in any way, as they neither see
or know anything.
The Jewish people are very
powerful witnesses indeed, because they have not volunteered to fulfil this
role and may not even realise that they are carrying it out. Their witness is
not directly under their control or their wishes. They are, therefore impartial
witnesses.
There are many prophecies
about the Jews, but we shall concentrate on three only, two of which are given
in Deuteronomy chapter 28, where God set out His promises to the nation of
Israel; where He says that If they obeyed His commandments then He would care [1]
for them and protect [2] them in the land to which He brought them when He took
them out of Egypt; but on the other hand if they disobeyed His commandments, then
calamities would befall them, they would be taken into captivity out of their
land [3] and eventually would be scattered throughout the world [4].
In regards to [3] above, the
Jews of Old Testament times were captive for 70 years in Babylon, but did
return to the land in BC 536, but not permanently; the words of [4] above came
true after AD 70 when the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world,
culminating in the holocaust in the twentieth century; the following prophetic
words are chilling in their accuracy: “And among those nations you shall find
no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the
Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. Your
life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no
assurance of life. In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’
And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear
which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see
(Deuteronomy 28:65-67). The third prophecy we want to consider is, that despite
this scattering the Jews would keep their national identity – they would always
be identifiable as Jews. This was against all the odds and certainly unlike
most of the other nations that were important when Isaiah and Jeremiah were
prophesying. Where we may ask are the Assyrians, the Babylonians or the
Philistines? But the Jews have survived as a separate and distinct people, and
continue to bear witness to God’s existence and His purpose.
As the prophet Jeremiah said: “Thus
says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon
and the stars for a light by night, who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar
(The Lord of hosts is His name): If those ordinances depart from before Me,
says the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation
before Me forever” (Jeremiah 31:35,36). God is saying that to destroy the
Jewish nation, will be as difficult (or as impossible) as interfering with the
systems of nature, which are also under His control. Consequently, the very
existence of the Jews and now the Jewish nation itself, is powerful evidence
that God is indeed the One and only true God. Israel became a sovereign nation
once more in 1948 after almost 1900 years of being without a homeland. Prior to
1948 there were few Jews in Israel. Now there are millions of Jews back in
their land, just as God promised.
The nation of Israel is constantly
part of the news. Despite what the Jews may think or believe, the whole of
Jewish history is a witness that the God of the Bible exists; that He is in
control of human affairs; and that He is the only true God.
So every time we hear about
Israel, it is further evidence for believing in God and that His purpose is quickly
nearing its conclusion, as He makes clear in His Word the Bible.
It is a well-known saying and of great antiquity that “old age doesn’t come alone”, for King Solomon says as much and paints a word portrait of people in old age in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, in which he describes how eyes grow dim, ears become hard of hearing and other faculties are lost. Perhaps it is only when these wonderful faculties begin to fail that we learn to fully appreciate them.
The psalmist declares in (Psalm 94:9) that: “He who planted
the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? Teaching
that God, who made them so wonderfully, hears all and sees all that we do.
Moving closer to the days in which we live, when we consider
the intricacies and marvellous working of the eye with the fuller information
now available to us, how could the eye possibly have evolved?
In fact Darwin admitted: “The
thoughts of the eye turn me cold”. For it had to be perfect first time.
Isaac Newton asked: “Was the eye contrived without
skill in optics, and the ear without knowledge of sound?” Both eye and ear required
a superlative Creator therefore we should not take them for granted, but should
thank God for them.
The psalmist also advises us in (Psalm 119:18) to ask God
for eyes to be opened: “that I may see wondrous things from Your law”, so that
instruction may be gained through reading His Word on how to serve Him acceptably.
The words of Psalm 119 were written by the psalmist under inspiration (as was
all scripture), and so God is speaking directly to us through His servant, for
us to ask Him for our eyes to be opened so that instruction may be gained from the
Bible on how to serve Him acceptably.
At the commencement of Psalm 119, the psalmist declares a
blessing for people who are inclined towards God and His ways: “Blessed are the
undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who
keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!” (Psalm 119:1,2).
It is important that we give such attention to God’s Word, so that at Jesus' return, he will find men and women who are eager not only to read but to put into practice the things they have learned, so that they through grace, may receive his approval and reward for faithful service: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21).
A Beacon of Hope.
Before the invention of
such electronic devices, other, much slower but still effective methods were
used to give warnings and instructions, such as the beat of jungle drums which
could carry sound long distances and relay messages to save lives.
One such effective method
of communication in England was the fire beacon. These were erected on high
hills to enable messages to be sent through a relay system, warning people of
an impending event. This method was used effectively in 1588 to warn of the
Spanish Armada, a large fleet of ships, which Spain had assembled to invade
England.
Sometimes messages of
celebration are sounded out with trumpets at ceremonial events or to
commemorate the beginning of a new year. In Bible times trumpets were used to
good effect to sound out warnings in battle as well as to signal celebrations
such as the coronation of a king.
One particular incident
recorded in Scripture used to puzzle Bible students, wondering how it might be
fulfilled. It concerns the return of Jesus to the earth recorded in the book of
Revelation, which speak of Jesus’ return and indicates that this will be an
event which will be seen worldwide as it happens. Now, because of modern
communications, we can understand how this can occur: “Behold, he is coming
with clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. And all the
tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7).
It may come as a surprise
to someone who is new to Bible teaching, but the great news is, that the Lord
Jesus Christ is to return to the earth to take over the government of the world
and make the world a beautiful place in which to live. Angels told Jesus’
disciples that he would return, on the occasion when he was about to ascend to
heaven, where he now lives: “Now when he (Jesus) had spoken these things, while
they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And
while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men
stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you
stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into
heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts
1:9–11).
The apostle Paul is one of
many New Testament writers who pick up the same theme of Jesus’ return: “For
the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and
glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11–13).
The Bible,
is like a beacon, it spreads a message of hope, encouragement and Salvation around
the world, which people can read of in their mother tongue. The promise of
Jesus’ return to the earth is great news. He will return with all the authority
and power of God to establish God’s Kingdom of righteousness and peace on the
earth, in which all those who have availed themselves of God’s offer of
Salvation and followed its precepts, will by grace, have a part.
Last month, in February 2023, a devastating earthquake
occurred in Turkey-Syria, leaving many buildings damaged, many thousands of
people killed and even many more thousands made homeless. One picture of the
devastation showed one block of flats completely demolished, but astonishingly,
the adjoining block wasn’t even cracked. It was said that one had been built on
a solid foundation, but the other had not complied with Building Regulations.
The words of the Lord Jesus came to mind, which tells the parable about
building on solid foundations: “Whoever comes to Me,
and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like
a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And
when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could
not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing
is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against
which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that
house was great” (Luke 6:47–49).
In this parable Jesus is telling us, that anyone who
listens to his words and carries them out is building on a very sure foundation,
as
the apostle Paul also instructs us: “For no other
foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1
Corinthians 3:11).
So we are instructed to build upon a sure foundation, and that
foundation is belief in God and in the saving work of God, in Christ: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him,
for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6); ”Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). To repent means to
“to turn one’s life around”.
By reading God’s Word, we will come to realise what is
required for salvation and to recognise that we need to have a change of lifestyle,
to give our lives to pleasing God instead of pleasing ourselves. Baptism should
then follow, which calls for total immersion in water as understanding adults.
Then having built upon God’s sure foundation, we can confidently face
all the varying trials of life: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My
God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2); knowing that one day we will meet our
Saviour who will grant us the blessing of eternal life if we have followed his
instructions: “For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
So the question that each one faces and must answer for themselves
is, How sure are my foundations? and, Am I building on the right foundations?
Red sky in the morningJesus referred to this type of weather forecasting when asked by the Pharisees and Sadducees to provide a sign from heaven that would verify his claim to be the Son of God, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times . . . no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 16:2-4).
Jesus had previously given them a sign to watch out for, the sign of the prophet Jonah, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).
One would have thought that all the miracles of healing Jesus had performed during his three-year ministry would have been proof enough, that he was indeed the Son of God and spoke on God’s behalf. But they wanted a more dramatic sign to prove his divine power and origin, and that sign would be provided, whether they heeded it or not.
The indisputable proof that Jesus is the Son of God came with his resurrection from the dead. This is what Jesus was alluding to by referring to Jonah. As Jonah was inside the great fish for three days and three nights so Jesus would be in the grave for three days and three nights and then be raised to life again. When Jonah eventually went to Nineveh to speak God’s Word to the people, the inhabitants repented of their evil ways and were saved from God’s impending judgement upon them.
But Jesus also gave signs to watch out for, to people living from that time onwards, so they would know when to expect his return to the earth, “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:25-28).
The signs Jesus gives in Luke 21 sums up exactly the world in which we now live in - and so Jesus’ return must be imminent. The signs speak of a world in turmoil, of Instability and fear impacting on people’s lives globally, which we know to be true whether we think of world economies, all the problems associated with global warming, of wars and unrest, or the increasing pollution of our environment − there seems to be no human solution to any of them. Only God’s intervention can solve these problems and end man’s mismanagement of the world in which we live.
Jesus’ return to the earth to establish God’s rule in the world will bring about an end to all of these ills and the establishment of peace and equity we all long for. But what will our response be to the signs Jesus gives us in God’s Word?
Will our reaction be like that of the Pharisees and Sadducees who stubbornly refused to be convinced as to who Jesus was and that he spoke on God’s behalf, or like that of the Ninevites who listened to God’s message presented to them through Jonah, and repented in accordance with it?
Jesus’ lesson for us is clear as is Jonah’s. Seek God’s way of repentance now before God’s judgements are brought upon the earth.
Michael JP Morgan.
Evidence for Faith.
Years ago, much medical
practice was based on traditional beliefs with little basis in scientific
research. Nowadays professionals are supposed to use current best evidence
informed by relevant research.
The situation is quite
different when we consider the evidence for religious beliefs, called doctrines
or teachings.
We could follow traditions
or personal convictions; but if we believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of
God, and therefore free from error, we should look nowhere else for doctrine.
As the apostle Paul wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
The “quality” of the
evidence from the Bible is not in doubt, says the apostle, all its words are
true. Moreover, we do not have to search for obscure journals or reports in
foreign languages to find the evidence – it is all in the one book and which
most people can now read in their own mother tongue.
Nonetheless it is
important to study the evidence carefully. It is not wise to base a teaching on
a single passage. It is important to check that any use of a passage is
consistent with other passages about the same topic. This is to check that our
understanding is correct.
It is also important to
examine the context of a passage. None of us likes to be quoted out of context.
At Jesus’ trial, false witnesses claimed that Jesus had said he would destroy
and re-build the Jewish temple, as recorded in Mark 14:58. But the text in John
2:19-21 makes it clear, that Jesus had been talking about the “temple of his
body”, and thus about his resurrection.
God assures us in His Word
the Bible, that He inspired men to speak and write His word for our learning (2
Tim.3:16) and, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any
private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy
men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20,21).
So, it is important not to
change God’s words to fit our own thinking or teaching. Jesus was extremely
critical of the Pharisees who had replaced God’s law with their own rules, as
he points out in Matthew 15:3, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of
God because of your tradition?”
Some sceptics argue that you can prove anything you like from the Bible. But if it’s important to have a doctor check the research evidence for the sake of our present wellbeing; even more so is it important to check the Scriptural evidence for our beliefs, for the sake of our eternal wellbeing.
Jesus is to Reign as King.
Before Jesus was born, many people
knew of it and were expecting it, because God had foretold of it in His Word
the Bible, many hundreds of years before his birth; also where he was to be
born and that he was to be a King. This is how the wise men who came
from the east (considered to be modern day Iran), were able to be present at
his birth.
Matthew’s gospel informs us, “Now
after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the
king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, Where
is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the
East and have come to worship Him. When Herod the king heard this, he
was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the
chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where
the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it is written by the prophet: But you, Bethlehem, in the
land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you
shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel” (Matthew 2:1-6).
Before Jesus was born, his
mother Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that she would have a son who would
be a King, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest;
and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he
will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his
kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32-33).
When Jesus first met Nathanael,
who was to become his disciple, Nathanael said to Jesus, “Rabbi, You are the
Son of God! You are the King of Israel” (John 1:49).
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem
on Palm Sunday the people shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the LORD! The King of Israel” (John 12:13).
When Jesus was brought before
Pilate (a Roman Governor), he asked him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus
answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was
born, and for this cause I have come into the world” (John 18:37). Pilate wrote
a sign that was put on the cross, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE
JEWS” (John 19:19).
When Jesus was raised from the
dead he spoke to his disciples about the things concerning the Kingdom of God,
and their last question to him was, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom
to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). A kingdom, by definition, must have a King.
Jesus said of himself that he
would rule over all the nations when he comes again, “When the Son of
Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on
the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before
Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his
sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the
goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand,
Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:31-34).
The foregoing shows that God is
able to foretell the future. He made it known in advance when people could
expect His Son’s first appearance. He also foretells of Jesus’ second
appearance (which is yet future), so that people can prepare themselves for the
return of His Son to the earth, that through grace they may have a part in His
worldwide Kingdom, ruled over by the Lord Jesus Christ as its King.
In His Word, God has given
many predictions concerning when to expect Christ’s second appearance to the
earth, which leads Christadelphians to believe that it is imminent.
Is there a God of Evil?
The Bible clearly teaches that we need to think about our own thoughts and actions, and that God allows us to choose to do right or to do wrong. However, if God’s way is different to our way, and we go in the wrong direction, who is to blame? If God prompts us by the Bible, His Word of Truth, to do the right thing, and we choose the wrong thing, what prompted us to rebel and go our own way, in other words to commit sin? So, we need to conIn the Bible the words Devil
and Satan are used. Is this a human being, or is it a fallen angel? Faced with
questions like these, we need to examine the Bible carefully, for God sometimes
uses figurative language to make the lessons more powerful and impressive.
Could it be that there is a rival to God out there, who is trying to influence people
by his wiles and wickedness?
The Bible tells us clearly
that Adam was responsible for bringing sin into the world: “Through one man sin
entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men,
because all sinned … by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Romans
5:12,19).
In Genesis chapter 3, where
the record of the events spoken about in those verses happened, there is no
reference to the Devil or Satan, only to Adam and Eve who were tempted to
disobey God by a serpent, which was then punished for its craftiness.
Also, in the Old Testament’s
first five books, Genesis to Deuteronomy, there is no mention in them either of
a personal supernatural devil, but rather the choice set before the children of
Israel came via Moses.
In the fifth book of the Bible,
the book of Deuteronomy, the challenge Moses set before the nation of Israel
was: “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if
you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and
the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn
aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you
have not known” (Deut. 11:26-28).
There was a blessing for
following God, the only true God, and retribution should they choose to follow
other gods, which are not gods at all but idols. That challenge was made again,
to those Israelites who went into the Promised Land: “I have set before you
today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the
Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes,
and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will
bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so
that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve
them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish” (Deut. 30:15-18).
Notice that in both Deuteronomy
11 and 30, [1] that it is God that offers the people the choice to do good or
evil, and not such as a lesser god, or a personal Satan, or his servants; [2]
that it was up to the people to choose to do good or evil; [3] that if they
chose to do evil, it was as a consequence of their “hearts turning away and
being drawn away to worship and serve other gods”.
Ever since Adam transgressed, people
have been inclined to do what is wrong, and have to make an effort to do what
God wants, to which both the prophets and the Lord Jesus agree: “The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah
17:9). “From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things
come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:21-23). But there is a remedy and
much help is at hand.
In the longest psalm in the Book
of Psalms, we read these words: “Depart from me, you evildoers, for I will keep
the commandments of my God!” (Psalm 119:115). The Psalmist was aware of the
danger, that such people would seek to draw him away from God and His ways, and
try to influence him to follow their unrighteous ways. But he knew of a way to
counteract their influence: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my
path … The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the
simple” (Psalm 119:105,130).
The inspired psalmist knew
what the Lord Jesus was later to practise, that daily attention to God’s Word
can keep us safe and help us to overcome whatever temptation confronts us, for in
answer to every temptation, Jesus quoted the commandments of God with the words,
“It is written” (Matthew 4:4,6,7,10), and he never yielded to sin.
All the foregoing passages
point to the fact that the devil is not a supernatural evil spirit, or an evil
god of immense power; but rather it is the evil prompting that comes either from
within ourselves, or from within other people, who seek to influence us to do
things that God disapproves of.
The apostle John wrote of this
influence when he warned that: “All that is in the world – the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but
is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who
does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:16-17).
So, there is no all-powerful God
of evil, but there is an all-powerful God of good, who wants us to resist what
is wrong and to follow what is right, for our eternal wellbeing.
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Jesus’ Resurrection.
If the resurrection did not
happen, Christianity is an irrelevant religion. The people who followed
Christianity in the First Century AD recognised this fact and discussed it on a
number of occasions (the most detailed account is in 1 Corinthians chapter 15).
The Gospels record how, three
days after Jesus had been publicly executed, some of his followers went to his
grave, only to find it empty. There they saw angels who told them that he had
risen from the dead. They took some convincing, but were eventually convinced.
Many of them saw him alive after
his resurrection – five hundred at once on one occasion. He also appeared to
different people on various occasions and times, to eat with them and discuss,
how the Old Testament showed that he was to be put to death so that he might
destroy the power of sin and death. He gave instruction to his disciples to go
out and preach the good news of his resurrection and to explain its
implications for people.
When you think about it, so
many people were involved in the death and burial of Jesus that any mistake
about him actually dying was impossible. Roman soldiers had been present at his
death and confirmed that he had died. Jesus’ enemies alleged that the disciples
had taken the body (but they never suggested that he had not died).
Moreover, they could not
produce his corpse and, in any case, with Roman soldiers guarding the cave in
which he was buried, how could anyone have removed the huge stone that was
sealing it, without being challenged?
The good news is that the Lord
Jesus Christ is alive forevermore, in perfect health and is living with his
Father in heaven. Why should that be important to you and me? There are three reasons
for this :-
[1] By associating ourselves with Jesus’ death and resurrection through belief and baptism, we can have our sins forgiven and become part of God’s family. [2] By committing ourselves to following Jesus’ example in our life, we become a brother or sister of Jesus and are assured that when we die, we will be raised from death at the return of the Lord Jesus to the earth. [3] In the meantime we can live in the confidence, that through faithful service and God’s grace, of being invested with righteousness and eternal life by the Lord Jesus at his return.
Belief In God.
Consider the following passage from Romans 1:19-22: “What
may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For
since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they
did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their
thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they
became fools”.
The argument of the apostle Paul, which he wrote through
inspiration by God, is that the invisible things of God can be seen. But, how
can invisible things be seen? Paul’s explanation is: “By the things that are
made”. The evidence for the existence of His eternal power and Godhead – which we
cannot see – is to be clearly seen, or evidenced, by what we can see in the
natural world around us.
Bear in mind that these words were penned about 2,000 years
ago, long before the James Webb space telescope, the Hubble telescope or Electron
microscope, came into existence. Paul is saying that what we see with our naked
eyes of the natural world provides us with ample evidence that an almighty and
eternal power exists which created and brought order to everything around us.
We don’t need to depend on the thoughts of mankind: the latest scientific
discovery or theory, or the continuing arguments of men. Evidence for the
existence of God is all around us, if we are prepared to look and think about
it.
Notice too, that Paul says, to deny the existence of God,
since He has given adequate evidence to convince us, leaves us in the apostle’s
words, “without excuse”. It is inexcusable to deny the existence of God,
regardless of what current philosophy or society might think. But do we first
need to believe the Bible to accept this proof? Not so!
The Bible is pointing out that the evidence for God’s
eternal power and Godhead is all around us in the natural world. If you can
accept that, then the Bible will have other things you may want to know about. Such
as, Does God have a purpose? The trees, the flowers, the beauty of the natural
world, the stars; none of these things can answer that question.
This information exists in the Bible which is the Word of
God, such as in the form of fulfilled prophecy (events spoken of in advance of
their occurrence), provide us with the evidence and the assurance that God has
a purpose with the earth and its inhabitants and will bring it to its appointed
end. For example, seen in the crucifixion of Christ as prophesied in the Old
Testament; the prophecies of Divine intervention in world affairs affecting
nations; the amazing internal harmony of the sixty-six books written over a
period of about 1,500 years. Anyone wanting further information regarding those
topics please get in touch.
The evidence is there in God’s Word, that there is an “Eternal
power and Godhead”. The natural world gives its testimony, the Bible
demonstrates itself to be of divine origin, adding to the information we have
and leading us, to an understanding of God’s plan with the earth.
Here’s just one statement of divine intent, Isaiah 45:18: “For
thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth
and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed
it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other”.
What a sure foundation in a world of ever-changing opinions.
Let’s not “profess ourselves to be wise, and become fools”, but rather accept
the evidence from nature and the Bible, and in so doing we will gain a real
hope in life, as Psalm 19:1-4,7,8, teaches us: “The heavens declare the glory
of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and
night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their
voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their
words to the end of the world ... The law of the LORD is perfect, converting
the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the
statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the
LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes”.
The Jews in God’s purpose.
God’s ultimate purpose is to fill the earth
with His Glory (Num. 14:21). He chose the Jews, the descendants of Abraham, to
play a special part in ensuring this will happen.
Abraham was told that through him all
families in the earth would be blessed. Abraham’s descendent, the Lord Jesus Christ
– a Jew – brought that about by taking away sin by his death and resurrection.
The Jewish nation had a vital part to play
in bringing about God’s plan. They were to be witnesses to God’s existence and,
as a nation, were to live in such a way that would demonstrate God’s goodness
and grace to all nations. To help this happen Moses was given a code of laws by
God. By keeping those laws, Jews would reflect God’s glory and righteousness
for themselves and others. Sadly, Old Testament history demonstrates that they did
not properly carry out their part of the plan. They became such poor examples
that eventually God removed them for 70 years from Israel to Babylon (BC586-BC516).
God said that He would exile the
people for disobedience, but only for a while and that He would also regather
and restore them to their land. The New Testament gives the same message (Luke
21:24 and Romans 11:25- 27).
The nation was regathered to the land at
the end of the Babylonian period and again in 1948. This latest regathering was
after an exile that lasted for almost 2000 years, an exile that was accompanied
by consistent and appalling anti-Semitism and abominable attempts to annihilate
them.
The continued existence of Jewish
people after such circumstances, bears powerful witness to the existence of God,
and to the fact that He always keeps His promises.
The Bible also says that the
re-establishment of the State of Israel is a precursor to the return of the Lord
Jesus Christ to earth, for Jesus is to return to Jerusalem. He will then take
over the rulership of the earth, by setting up God’s Kingdom, and will
progressively remove sin and death and make the earth a paradise once again.
This, in turn, will bring about the fulfilment of God’s glory to fill the
earth, just as He has promised.
Jewish people have always believed
that God would send them a Messiah. This Jewish Messiah can be the Saviour of
us all. Jesus was, and is, that Messiah.
Today the Jewish nation is restored
with Jerusalem as its capital city, but the role of the Jewish people in God’s
purpose is not yet finished.
Watch the people of Israel and the Jews worldwide. They witness still to the existence of God and the certain coming of our Salvation, at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth.
All that glitters is
not gold.
This age-old saying is just as true today as when it was first expressed. There is a metal called iron pyrites which glistens in the sunlight, but it is not the real thing. It is known as “fool’s gold” and is not of the same value as real gold.
The saying has come to
apply to anything that looks as appealing but is not really as valuable or as
worthwhile as it might appear at first glance. People are so skilled at making
things look attractive nowadays that we can be easily fooled by something that
looks good although the materials used may be cheap and inferior. Such products
look lovely for a short time, but they don’t last. And many other things are
just copies, counterfeits or imitations.
This is just as true in
the spiritual world as in the material world. Many avenues of thinking and ways
of living seem attractive to us, but the enjoyment of them is limited and temporary.
Anticipation is often better than realisation and the pleasure derived can be
short-lived.
What we would all like is
a quality of life which will last. Our pleasures in this life are so short-lived.
Youth is soon over and physical strength wanes.
From the book of Genesis, we
learn that not everything that appeals to our sensual nature is good for us.
Eve took of the forbidden fruit and she and Adam suffered the consequences of disobeying
God’s commandment. It was by that act of disobedience that sin, suffering and
death came into the world, “Therefore, just as
through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death
spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
God’s Word is the real measure
of what is valuable and what is not. For only God’s sound advice will bring us
the happiness we desire, peace of mind now and life for ever in
God’s coming Kingdom. Many of the writers of the Bible were inspired to express
this truth. Job compared wisdom to gold:
Job 28:12, 17
“Where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding? . .
Neither gold nor crystal can equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold”
King David valued God’s judgments
as more desirable than gold: “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired
are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold (Psalm 19:9,10).
The writer of the Proverbs
took wisdom as his theme too, when he said: “Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than
the profits of silver and her gain than fine gold” (Proverbs 3:13,14).
You can discover this gold
for yourself by reading your Bible and considering it prayerfully.
1. The Bible is the only true
message from God and was entirely given by Him. 2 Tim. 3:16,17; Heb. 1:1,2.
2. There is only one God, the
Father, who made the world and has a great purpose for it. John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Isa. 45:18; Rev. 11:15.
3. The Holy Spirit is God’s own
power, by which He works out His own holy will.
Job 33:4; Acts 10:38.
4. Jesus is the Son of God. He is
also Son of man through being born of Mary.
Luke 1:35; Gal. 4:4.
5. Jesus overcame all temptation
and died to save his followers from sin and death.
2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 2:16-18; Rom. 6:23.
6. Jesus was raised from the dead
by God. Later he ascended to heaven but will return. Rom. 6:9; Acts 1:9-11.
7. When he returns he will raise
and judge the responsible dead and give immortality to the faithful. Dan. 12:2; Acts 10:42,43.
8. He will be King over the
restored Kingdom of God in Israel and over the whole world. Ezekiel 37:21,22; Psalm 72:8,11.
9. His immortalised followers
will help him to bring everlasting righteousness and peace worldwide. Isa. 32:1; Rev.5:10. Dan. 7:18.
10. The devil is not a
supernatural being but is another name for sin, destroyed only in Christ. John 6:70,71; Heb.2:14; 1 John 3:8.
11. Salvation involves covering
from sin through Christ, and freedom from sin and death at his coming. 1 John 2:12; Rom. 2:6-8; Phil. 3:21.
12. When man dies he ceases to
exist. His only hope of living again is
by resurrection at Christ’s return. Psalm
146:3,4; 2 Cor. 5:10.
13. Belief in God’s Promises
about the Kingdom of God and the work of Jesus Christ is essential for
Salvation. Acts 8:12; Eph.2:12,13.
14. Repentance and baptism into
Christ by complete immersion in water and daily following of Christ are all essential
for Salvation. Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:4; Gal. 3:26-29.
Christadelphians in Wales (google.com)
By Design or by Chance?
Venus is far too
hot, with a surface temperature of 400 degrees C and it is surrounded by a
thick cloud of 90% CO2 gas and has an atmospheric pressure 90 times greater
than that on Earth. Life on Mars would be equally impossible for it is far too
cold. The daytime temperature rarely reaches 21 degrees C and at night it
plunges to minus 80 degrees C. Mars has also very little atmosphere, and its
atmospheric pressure is less than 1% that of Earth’s and lacks water for it
never rains on Mars.
Planet Earth just
happens to be just right for human life with an atmosphere consisting
mainly of 78% nitrogen and 20% oxygen; an excellent mixture for breathing and,
because it has an atmosphere, the sun’s rays fill it to give us daylight.
Earth’s atmosphere also protects us from falling rocks, which rain down from
outer space, which can often be seen brightly burning at nighttime, which we refer
to as shooting stars.
Earth’s
atmospheric pressure of 14.7 psi is also just right for us; as is its average
temperature (pre–Climate Change), and because the axis of our planet is tilted
about 23 degrees from vertical, it is changed around every 12 months to give us
seasons. Without these conditions some plants and animals would not exist.
Why is it that we
just happen to exist on a planet where everything is so suitable for
life? Some scientists say that all these favourable conditions came about by
sheer chance, including life itself. But true science deals with facts not
speculations. Our existence on this planet just cannot be because of a long
string of coincidences. Behind it all there must be Intelligence, and the concept
of our existence being due to intelligent design is much more likely than a
succession of chance accidents.
Nature itself
screams out “design” wherever one looks, and even more so when one looks through
a microscope. Design suggests Creation, and Creation means God. With God in the
equation, the problems dissolve, and we are led to His Word, the Bible. We are
on this planet because God wishes us to know about Him and His purpose. Without
God this wonderful planet has no meaning whatsoever.
Thanks to the
Bible we learn that Planet Earth is yet to enjoy a glorious future, which God
invites each one of us to avail ourselves of and to be a part of. This is why
God has made His Word freely available to us throughout the world, and for most
of us to read in our own language. What other free offer compares with it? But
will we accept it is the question it poses?
A New Heavens and a New Earth.
The apostle Peter is one example of many, to whom God
revealed His purpose and way of Salvation, which Peter speaks about in (2 Peter
3:5-9).
“V5 This they (unbelievers) wilfully forget: that by
the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out
of water and in the water, V6 by which the world that then existed
perished, being flooded with water. V7 But the heavens and the
earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire
until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. V8 But, beloved, do not
forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day. V9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as
some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any
should perish but that all should come to repentance”.
To paraphrase v5, Peter is saying, that “the heavens and
earth” that existed at Creation came into existence through God’s Word – in
other words God gave the command and the angels carried out the work – and that
those “heavens and earth” continued to exist from that time forward through the
power of God’s Word.
To paraphrase vv6,7 – V6 but then those “heavens and
earth” – that “world” (that order of things), “perished, being flooded with
water” – they were destroyed by the flood of Noah’s day at God’s command,
because as Genesis chapter 6 records it was extremely violent and wholly
godless.
V7 “The heavens and the earth which now exist are
kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men” – the order of things that exists now, Peter says,
God is also going to destroy, for the same reasons that He destroyed “the
heavens and earth” of Noah’s day.
To paraphrase verses 8 and 9, Peter tells us, that God is
deliberately biding His time before intervening to bring to an end the (order
of things) that now exists - to give people a chance to think about what is
happening, to repent of their faults and failures, and avail themselves of His
offer of Salvation that is contained in the Bible.
But notice the warning that is implicit in this offer, we
must repent and turn to God if we want to be Saved, which is to avail ourselves
of God’s Way of Salvation centred in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle Peter also tells us in this passage, that
what happened long ago is a template for what will happen again. He was not the
only one to make such a point. Jesus made that point too; but in making it he
adds further significant points in Matthew chapter 24, where he compares the
lives of those living in Noah’s day with the lives of those living at his
return to the earth.
“As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the
Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the
ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so
also will the coming of the Son of Man be”. (Matthew 24:37-39).
Jesus makes 5 points in this passage. Point [1] History
is due to repeat itself - “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of
the Son of Man be”. [Point 2] Jesus is to return to the earth – “the coming of
the Son of Man” is a reference to Jesus’ return to the earth. [3] Jesus’ return
will be sudden and unexpected – just as the people “did not know until
the flood came and took them all away”. [4] God has issued a warning to people
through His Word the Bible – just as Noah did to the people of his day. [5] God
has provided a way of escape for people in the provision of His Son the Lord
Jesus Christ – just as God provided an ark for the people of Noah’s day.
To summarise, Jesus predicts that everything will carry
on as usual in the lives of those living at the time of his return to the
earth; regardless of God’s Word of warning concerning Jesus’ return and the
judgements which are to come upon the earth; although He has offered a means of
being saved out of them, few people will avail themselves of it; just as it was
in Noah’s day, when only Noah and seven members of his family survived the
destruction, just eight persons in all survived to start the next civilisation.
So from God’s perspective it is not that people “do
not know” of these things, but rather it is because they “don’t want to
know”; nothing must disturb their routine existence of eating and drinking and
their marriage celebrations, completely oblivious of God as their Creator and
what He requires of them.
Most people will not want to know what He requires of
them. How will you respond to that challenge?
The incentive for positively doing so is to have a part
in God’s “new heavens and a new earth” – (which is to replace the “heavens and
earth” which now exists (2 Peter 3:7) – and the establishment of a new order of
things, namely God’s worldwide Kingdom on earth with Jesus as it’s King, ruling
from Jerusalem. Isaiah chapter 65 alludes to God’s “new heavens and a new
earth”.
“For behold, I create new
heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to
mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create
Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy. I will rejoice in
Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard
in her, Nor the voice of crying. No more shall an infant from there live but
a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child
shall die one hundred years old . . . . The wolf and the lamb shall feed
together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the
serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, ”Says
the LORD”. (Isaiah 65:17-25).
Footnote – All quotations are taken from the New King James Bible unless stated otherwise.
Are People Essentially Good?
Most were of the opinion, that people acted in this loutish way because
of a lack of parental correction and guidance when they were young; and if unable
to break free from such behaviour, it continued with them into adulthood to pass
it on to their children - but they couldn’t agree on a satisfactory answer to
the problem.
But what has God to say on the matter, He who created us and
understands our nature better than we do ourselves?
“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test
the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit
of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9,10).
What did the Lord Jesus say of his fellow human beings?
“From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things
come from within and defile a man”
(Mark 7.21-23).
God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ certainly see us as flawed
creatures – not as essentially good. But that is not the end of the story.
The amazing message of the Bible is that God wants to rescue us from
our present condition. That was His intention when He sent His Son into the
world. This is the meaning of the most famous verse in the Bible:
“For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life” (John3:16).
Not one of us is naturally good, but we can be made righteous and
immortal, if we believe in the saving life and sacrificial death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. God has given us the ability to distinguish between good and bad,
which means that we can make choices in life.
He wants us to model our thinking and behaviour shown by His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ – the only perfect man who has ever lived - so that Christ can bestow upon us righteousness and immortality and
make us perfect also, through grace, and suitable to have an abiding place in God’s
Kingdom on the earth, as the three passages which follow illustrate.
John
17:2 “You have given Him authority over all flesh,
that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him”.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
Ephesians
2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God”.
Footnote –
All quotations are taken from the New King James Bible unless stated otherwise.
Lasting Beauty.
The beauty that will last forever is beauty of a different sort. It is
the work of the Great Creator and evidence of His sort of beauty is to be found
everywhere around us. He doesn’t need creams or powders to make things beautiful.
Just look at the flowers that God has made for us to enjoy, each one with a natural
beauty flowing out from them. The plastic imitations cannot be compared to the
real thing.
God, in His goodness, has given each of us a recipe for everlasting
beauty. He promises that if we follow the recipe He has laid down in His Book –
the Bible – we will have an inner natural beauty that will last forever!
God sent His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as proof of His promise, that
for living a life of beauty one would live forever.
No one can deny that beauty shone out from within Jesus in everything
he said and did. He had compassion on those in distress, he healed the sick, he
fed the hungry and those that heard him speak said, “No
man ever spoke like this Man” (John 7:46). “The
law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the
bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:17,18).
The real
beauty – the beauty that lasts forever – is the quality of character that Jesus
demonstrated. It’s not the beauty of appearance, for we know nothing about how
Jesus looked, but rather the beauty of his character, which was that of His
Father, so much so that Jesus could say “He who has
seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Every day Jesus taught the message of salvation and the receiving of eternal
life promised by God, to all those who follow the example of His Son, to the
best of their ability.
Jesus’ words are carefully and faithfully recorded in the Bible for us
to read, so the offer He made is still open for anyone to avail themselves of
it.
We have the privilege of being able to read for ourselves and to take
up the challenge to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ – to be
accounted righteous and to be bestowed with immortality – and given an everlasting
beauty “that fades not away” in the Kingdom of God upon the earth.
That lasting beauty is accessible to all as a gift from the Creator of
all things – through Jesus Christ His Son – as (2 Timothy
1:10) tells us – this “has now been revealed
by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”.
Footnote – All quotations are taken from the New King James Bible
unless stated otherwise.
Thinking things through
But the Bible is quite clear about this matter. It says in Luke 1:35,
the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, the power of the
Highest overshadowed her; v31 she “conceived”; v32 the “Son of the
Highest”; v35 “the Son of God”; v32 “the Lord God will give Him the throne of
his father David, v33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever . . His
kingdom will have no end”.
Both the Old and New Testament scriptures make it clear, that God
would be the Father of a Son promised to a descendant of David, king of Israel.
God speaking to David says in 2 Samuel 7:14, “I will be his father and he shall
be my son . . v16 “Your kingdom shall be established forever before you”.
And in Isaiah 7:14, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son,
and shall call his name Immanuel”, [meaning God with us]. John 1:14 says, “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”.
Therefore we see that Jesus revealed and represented God, his
Father, to the world - but he never claimed to be God, as the Trinitarian
creeds declare.
As Philippians 2:5-11 tell us, and v6 says of Jesus, “being in the
form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, v7 but made Himself
of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness
of men”.
But how could Jesus, who according to the creeds was already God –
how could he rob God of anything? As this was not possible we must look for an
alternative explanation. The teaching and explanation of this verse is in the
word robbery. The word robbery can be translated as, ‘did not count equality a
thing to be grasped at’. Teaching us 5 things, [1] that Jesus could have
grasped at equality with God. [2] he did not do so - so he did not have
equality with God. [3] so Jesus was not God. [4] that Jesus and God are two
different persons. [5] that Jesus’ status was lower than God’s.
So we see then, that there are passages in God’s Word, the Bible,
that plainly tell us that God, the Father, is separate from and greater than
Jesus His Son. Jesus himself testifies to this in John 14:28 where he says, “My
Father is greater than I”.
The apostle Peter had a perfect opportunity to declare who Jesus
was, when Jesus asked him this question directly, in Matthew 16:15, “Who do you
say that I am?”. Peter replied v16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God”. Jesus’ reply to this confession of faith by Peter confirms the truth of
Peter’s declaration in v17, “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven”.
The titles Son of God and Christ, that Peter uses in Matthew16:16, points to the expected Son of David; as King sitting on David’s throne in Jerusalem; over God’s everlasting Kingdom on Earth; at Jesus’ return to the earth. So, the expected Messiah was to be a human person, a descendant of David, supernaturally born by God’s Holy Spirit power, making God his Father.
Like us, as the Bible narrative illustrates, Jesus came into this
world a helpless infant; grew in knowledge and wisdom; experienced all our
common weaknesses of humanity; he suffered hunger, thirst, and weariness.
He had the deep emotions of any human person, he expressed anger,
compassion and had a will of his own which he subdued, and prayed that he might
escape the kind of death he was to face. We should have little difficulty therefore
in understanding, as Peter did, that Jesus fulfilled the role of Messiah, and Son
of God – but certainly was not God.
Which hope Peter referred to in the speech he made on the Day of
Pentecost in Acts 2:22-36. Peter even quotes the words of David and the hope
that he had, because of what God would accomplish through His Son, and because
of what God had promised to David himself.
Acts 2:26, David speaking concerning Jesus said, “my heart
rejoiced .. my tongue was glad … my flesh will rest in hope” (of being raised
from the dead and being bestowed with immortality); v28, “You have made known
to me the ways of life: You will make me full of joy in Your presence” – as God
had promised David in 2 Samuel 7:16.
If Jesus was not a human being, just as we are, then we have no
assurance that human beings can be raised to life again from the dead, to be granted
eternal life for faithful service to God.
But because it has happened to one man – the Lord Jesus Christ - it
can happen again, through faith and belief in God’ Word and by His grace - to
you and me also (I Corinthians 15:21-23); together with the hope of being given
a place in the everlasting worldwide Kingdom of God, the Father, on Earth, with
Jesus His Son as its King.
Footnote – All quotations used are taken from the New King James
Bible unless stated otherwise.
Making the Time
we have to wait for time to pass before we can get things done, or see the results of our efforts.
But Jesus, who was human through Mary his mother, was able to circumvent time with some of his miracles, because he was given the power to do so by God, his Father. For example, he turned water immediately into wine and cured long-standing illnesses straight away. And when he said he would rise from the dead the third day, he was talking of days as we know them.
The Psalmist wrote about the wonders of God’s creation in these words: “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). But after marvelling at God's handiwork, he goes on to talk about God's Word, which brought everything into existence: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward“ (Psalm 19:7-11).
The psalmist is telling us, that God’s purpose as revealed in His Word the Bible, is as vital to every generation, as is the preservation of the natural world. We hear a lot today about the perils of climate change and the need to conserve plants and animals that are threatened by climatic changes. But how much do we hear about the importance of preserving and absorbing the message from God, contained in the Bible? Very little is the answer.
But if people were to do that, they would learn the lessons of the Book of Genesis, which include: (1) how and why the earth we inhabit was formed and is kept in being; (2) why we, the descendants of Adam and Eve die, and like them, return to the dust from which they were made.
The Word of God has been preserved to our day! It is still the same and it is true! The Bible’s promises about the earth are encapsulated in just one verse from the Book of Numbers: “But truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD“ (Num. 14:21).
But why you may ask did God give the earth to mankind, considering the mess he has made of it by mismanagement? Did God give it for man to exploit for his own gain, to pollute, to burn up and to bring it near to destruction?
Of course not! God gave the earth as a habitation for mankind, so that we could use this God given opportunity, to learn about Him and His purpose with mankind and with the earth. For the earth was not created just for itself. God made it to be a place where His people will dwell for ever (Read Isaiah 45:18).
The kingdom of God is to be established on earth under the rulership of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus returns he will put everything right, and will remove all those aspects of human life today which are displeasing to God, and will reward those that have served Him faithfully, whether living or dead, with a place in His Kingdom on the earth: “The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18).
Why some may ask, did God not fill the earth with His glory right at the beginning? He could have made it a place where angels lived. Instead He chose to create mankind, with all the flaws and failures we now see in human society.
In the creation of man and woman, God was not looking for automatons, beings that would give Him perfect obedience because they can do nothing other than obey His rules. He was seeking to bring about a race of people who would reflect His own character, because they wanted to do so, not because they were programmed to do so.
The Genesis record tells us that God commanded the angels as follows: “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (1:26). Their likeness to the angels was not necessarily physical, but spiritual. God created a race of people who were challenged to take control, or “have dominion”, of the world He had created. He wanted them to overcome the challenges they would face, and in doing so develop characteristics that would reflect their Maker’s personality, and show that they shared His values and aspirations. By doing so they would both glorify God, and be transformed themselves in the process.
So creatures made out of dust could, and still can, be given everlasting life and live forever with God in a perfect world. Adam and Eve seemed to have thrown the opportunity away, and were excluded from the close relationship they once enjoyed in Eden. But God’s rescue mission, involved sending Jesus to redeem the situation and make it possible for us to be forgiven and to be transformed to become like him. By faith in that second Adam, called Jesus the Son of God, we can become part of a “new creation”.
The Bible calls upon us to repent, meaning to change the direction of our lives, and be baptised into the saving name of Jesus. Then we are to live “in Christ”, and to bear “the image of the heavenly” (Read 1 Corinthians 15:22,49). So we can see, that God’s statement: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness”, was more than a command to the angels. It was a statement of His intent, to fill the earth with people who have a relationship and a communion with Him.
God has given us the time and the opportunity, to find out about Him and to learn just what it is that He wants us to do, so that we can be ready for the Lord Jesus when he returns. The challenge for each one of us, is to make the time to learn about God’s purpose, by reading His Word and preparing ourselves for the great things that lie ahead, when all things are made new, to the glory of God.
Footnote – All quotations used are taken from the New King James Bible unless stated otherwise
Can we save the planet?
Some have speculated that by 2050 many parts of the planet may not
be able to sustain life. Fresh water supply is the critical element. Water has
no substitutes. There is no industrial process, to make water or desalination
of sea water fast enough, to satisfy its demands. Water is going to be scarce.
People in Africa and Asia already know all about this. So, what’s
to be done? Is there a solution?
Humanly speaking the outlook is bleak, but when God created the
world, he said in Genesis chapter One, that everything was “very good”. He
designed our planet to be capable of sustaining life in perfect balance, and
has promised a restoration to this state again when His Kingdom is established
on the earth.
“For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who
is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not
create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there
is no other” (Is.45:18). “Blessed are
the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Mat.5:5).
These promises were written over 2000 years ago and they predict a
future which gives us hope for a complete reversal of today’s scientific
predictions. God intends the earth to be an everlasting habitation for mankind
and has a plan for its restoration and recovery, both physically and morally.
“For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of
the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.” (Hab.2:14).
“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come,
and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest
give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that
fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the
earth.” (Rev.11:18 King James Version).
God is going to create a “new heavens and a
new earth” - “For behold, I create new heavens and a
new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind”
(Isa.65:17). “Nevertheless we, according to His
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things,
be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (2 Peter
3:13,14).
So, God’s plan for the earth should fill us with hope – instead of
doom and gloom. He wants us to have a part in His Kingdom and He tells us how
we can do so and how we are to prepare ourselves for it, in His Word, The
Bible.
Footnote – All quotations used are taken from the New King James
Bible unless stated otherwise.Making the Time.
.Small
Print and Genealogy.
I have also noticed recently how lots of people like to know more about their family history,
The Lord Jesus once made reference to the “small print” of
the Old Testament, which referred to himself and the work he had come to do, as
the Son of God. This is what he said: “Do not think that I came to destroy the
Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I
say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no
means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17,18).
The “jots”
and “tittles” to which Jesus referred were the smallest markings in the Hebrew
language, which helped people know how to pronounce the words, and are the
Bible’s version of “small print”. So Jesus was claiming that even the “smallest
parts” of the Old Testament law was to find its full meaning, or fulfilment in
him, and this applied to the details given concerning him in the prophets also.
An example
of “small print and genealogy”, both concerning Jesus, is found in Matthew’s
gospel record chapter 1 and verse 1: “The book of the
genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham”.
Jesus’ family tree is full of interest.
Firstly, it shows us his evident humanity, as it traces his line back through
David and Abraham (Mat.1:1) and tells us that his mother was Mary (Mat.
1:18-21). But although it mainly traces the male line in Matthew chapter 1, the
list does include mention of three important females, Rachab (Rahab) v5, Ruth
v5 and Mary v18, each with very interesting stories to tell.
It is noticeable in (Mat.1:1} that
the names are not in chronological order. David is listed first (he lived about
1000 BC); Abraham is listed second (he lived about 2000 BC). So the details
given in the very first verse in the New Testament, is not there to give us chronological
information. It is meant to draw our attention to these two people, and the
details left on record in connection to them in the Bible, concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ.
David was a really important king
in Israel’s history and because he believed in God, God made a promise to him in
(2 Samuel 7:12-14): “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your
fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I
will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will
establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall
be My son” – the only “seed” or descendant of David that this can possibly
apply to is the Lord Jesus Christ. But what about his kingdom which will last
for eternity? We shall come to that shortly?
In the book of Genesis, God made
promises to Abraham because of his faith, which also included a “seed”, in a
singular and in a plural sense: “I will make you a great nation; I will bless
you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those
who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families
of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen.12:2,3); “Lift your eyes now and look from
the place where you are — northward, southward, eastward, and
westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants
forever. Arise, walk in the land through its length
and its width, for I give it to you.”” (Gen.13:14,15,17); “In blessing I
will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of
the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed
shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed” (Gen.22:17,18 KJV).
In summary the above passages are
saying concerning Abraham: [1] He would have numerous descendants. [2] All
families of the earth would be blessed because of him. [3] The land of Canaan
that he walked through would be his and his descendants for ever. [4] For this
to happen then Abraham and his descendants to whom it applied would have to be
raised from the dead. [5] They would then live for ever. [6] Abraham understood
this and believed this. [7] And that it would be made possible through the “singular
seed” who would be victorious over his enemies. [8] In whom “all nations of the
earth will be blessed”. [9] When the Kingdom of God is established on the earth
with Jesus Christ as its King.
The apostle Paul interprets these
passages for us in his epistle to the Galatians and chapter 3, and adds to our
information: “Just as Abraham believed God, and it
was accounted to him for righteousness. Therefore know that only those
who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God
would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand,
saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed. So then those who are
of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (v6-9). “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does
not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is
Christ” (v16). “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For
as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male
nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are
Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise”
(v26-29).
In
summary the above passages are saying [1] Abraham was accounted righteous
because he believed and had faith in what God had promised him. [2] Only those
descendants of Abraham, showing the same belief and faith as he showed, will
receive the blessing promised to him. [3] The “gospel” was preached to Abraham,
which was based on the Gentiles (peoples other than descendants of Abraham)
being justified by faith, by showing the same belief and faith as he had shown
in the “singular seed who is Christ”. [4] By being baptised into Christ they “put
on Christ” [5] “If you are in Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed” How? [6] God
considers you an adopted Jew through putting on Christ and a descendant of Abraham.
[7] “And heirs according to the promise” of all nations being blessed in him.
By
looking at some examples of “small print and genealogy”, fragments of Scripture
with its relevant genealogy, we have uncovered so much. In fact God’s whole purpose
in Creation and placing man at the heart of it, which is to fill this world
with a people who will manifest His character and attributes, having first been
bestowed with righteousness and immortality after the example of His Son, so
that “Christ will be all and in all”, to the glory of the Father (Colossians
3:11).
Footnote – All quotations are taken from the New King James Bible unless stated otherwise.Clothing.
Clothing then forms an important part of our life and is also what covers
our nakedness.
Those who have put on Christ
through baptism have been clothed with “the garments of salvation”; our
nakedness – made bare by our sins, has been covered: “I
will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has
clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of
righteousness”. (Isaiah 61:10).
Our “garments of salvation”
(our uniform) has been provided to us at no cost to ourselves, and we have the
great privilege of being able to wear the uniform of an ambassador for Christ:
“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though
God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be
reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians
5:20-21).
Our garments are to be those
of humility and respect in our service to God: “Likewise you younger people,
submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive
to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But
gives grace to the humble”. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand
of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for
He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:5-7).
The life of an ambassador and
disciple of Christ is reflected in our “garments of righteousness”, so it is
imperative we always maintain a high level of care and respect for them, that
we always reflect the one whom we serve in the best possible light.
But our spiritual apparel can become scruffy and slack as our faith goes through easy and difficult times. So we need to check our appearance regularly in the mirror of God’s Word, to make sure that our “robes of righteousness” are well cared for and maintained in accordance with their specifications.
We also need to wash ourselves
regularly with God’s Word i.e.to read it, to meditate upon it, to pray for strength
and to be upbuilt, to walk that narrow path which is not always an easy path to
walk, that through God’s grace we may be granted a place in His Kingdom.
Then our “spiritual garments”
of righteousness and faith will be without flaws and God’s glory will shine in
us to its full potential: “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments,
and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his
name before My Father and before His angels” (Revelation 3:5).
https://sites.google.com/view/christadelphiansinwales/home
Footnote – All quotations used are taken from the New King James Bible unless stated otherwise.
The Potter
Today we take so much for granted. Take for example a cup or mug for drinking tea or coffee from. We take it out of the cupboard without giving a thought as to how it was made.
But God in His Word the Bible, uses the theme of earthen vessels made by
These days few potters prepare their own clay, but in times past they had to dig the clay and then prepare it.
Isaiah writes of the potter treading the clay (41:25), which consisted of mixing it with water until it was of a consistency that could be shaped on a wheel. It had to be completely smooth and flexible, neither too dry nor too wet, and free of stones and gravel.
Jeremiah writes:
"I went down to the potter's house, and there he was making something at the wheel" (18:3).
Jesus referred to of one of his disciples as a "vessel", when speaking to his faithful disciple Ananias about the persecutor Saul, he said: “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).
Later, Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, when writing to Timothy, uses the same figure of speech:
"If anyone cleanses himself . . . . he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21).
And when Paul wrote to the church at Corinth he used the same word:
"we have this treasure in earthen vessels" (Cor. 4:7).
The righteous man Job, was also aware of his origin, when he said to God: " Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust again?" (10:9).
As Isaiah was also:
" O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand" (64:8).
And so God is teaching us in His Word, that He is the Potter and we are the clay, that the clay is of the earth, earthy. That we begin as unformed characters, unable to receive and contain the precious things that the Potter wants to place in His vessels, the work of His hands.
But what is it that makes clay pliable in the potter's hands? It is water, as God through Jeremiah tells us:
“Those who depart from Me Shall be written in the earth, Because they have forsaken the LORD, The fountain of living waters.” (17:13).
Without water the clay is unusable. As the potter turns the wheel with his feet and shapes the clay with his hands, he constantly dips his fingers in water, without the water the clay cannot be shaped.
So in His Word God teaches us, that His fingers are upon us, and we are upon His wheel. He is trying to shape us to make us vessels suitable for His purpose. He has provided the precious water, His Word, and made it freely available to us, so that our characters can be shaped by it.
In the words of Isaiah:
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters. And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat" (Isa. 55:1).
For our character to be moulded into ones suitable for God’s use, we must want to read and study His Word prayerfully, and to allow it to shape us without resistance on our part, when it finds bits of grit that must be removed from our characters.
There is nothing that our Father, the Divine Potter, desires more for us, than that we should each be a vessel unto honour, fit for His use.
But are we allowing Him to carry out His purpose by availing ourselves of His provision? He has done His part, are we doing ours?
Footnote – All quotations used in this blog are taken from the New King James Bible unless stated otherwise.
Choices
A small sparrow perched on the feeder and I was amazed to see the seeds
The bird was making a choice – a very important choice - because it knew which seeds were suitable for its diet and that of its chicks waiting to be fed.
Throughout our lives we too have to make many choices.
In the Bible we have many examples of people who had to make important choices. In order to make a choice we need to be “informed” as to the consequences of our choice.
The consequence of Adam and Eve’s choice has affected mankind ever since, and it is only through God’s mercy and provision of His Son to redeem us from sin and death, that we can have hope of everlasting life.
Job has some interesting words about how we make decisions in our lives, for this is what he says:
Jesus tells us to
And Jesus also tells us,
“The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:7
Footnote – All quotations used in this blog are taken from the New King James Bible.
Gardening.
There is a profound sense of wonder in seeing the total transformation from a tiny, dull looking seed, to a fully formed vegetable, fruit or flower.
However enormous that transformation is, though, we fully expect to dig up a bunch of carrots if we have sown carrot seeds. A carrot seed won’t ever produce a potato. If we plant sunflower seeds, they will never produce lupins. Isn’t this really obvious, we might ask?
But the point is that in our own lives we are all like gardeners. The Bible teaches us that the way that we invest our time and energy is like sowing seeds.
The implication of these words is that we might well be deceived. We may well not have thought about what we are “sowing” in our lives and even less about what those “seeds” will actually produce.
But when we stop and think about it, we realise that it’s true.
If we smoke, we will damage our lungs. If we eat too much junk food, we will get fat. If we exercise, we will get fit. If we spend hours practising a musical instrument, we will be able to play it.
What is true physically is even more important spiritually.
If we spend our lives in simply pleasing ourselves, then we will “reap corruption” – there will be nothing good to show for it in the end.
But if we fill our minds with good, wholesome, spiritual things from God’s word, we will be investing in our spiritual lives and future.
Let’s be sure that we are sowing God’s word into our minds and lives, that it might, by His grace, transform us into something eternally beautiful.
Garddio.
Rydym i gyd wedi edrych am weithgareddau i'n cadw'n brysur yn ystod Covid 19. Mae llawer ohonom wedi troi at arddio, mewn darn llysiau, gwely blodau, neu berlysiau mewn blwch ffenestr.
Mae ymdeimlad o ryfeddod wrth weld y newid o hadau bach, diflas, i lysiau, neu ffrwythau, neu flodyn, sydd wedi ffurfio yn llawn.
Fodd bynnag, yn wych y newid yw, rydym yn disgwyl i gloddio moron os ydym yn hau hadau moron. Ni fydd hadau moron byth yn cynhyrchu tatws. Os byddwn yn plannu hadau blodyn yr haul, ni fyddant byth yn cynhyrchu cennin Pedr. Ond onid yw hyn yn amlwg, efallai y byddwn yn gofyn?
Y pwynt yw, yn ein bywydau ni ein hunain rydym i gyd fel garddwyr. Mae'r Beibl yn ein dysgu ni fod y ffordd yr ydym yn treulio ein hamser yn debyg i hau hadau.
Mae Galatiaid 6:7 yn dweud: “Peidiwch รข chymryd eich camarwain; ni chaiff Duw mo'i watwar, oherwydd beth bynnag y mae rhywun yn ei hau, hynny hefyd y bydd yn ei fedi”.
Goblygiad y geiriau hyn yw y gallem gael ein twyllo. Efallai nad ydym wedi meddwl am yr hyn yr ydym yn ei "hau" yn ein bywydau, a hyd yn oed yn llai am yr hyn mae'r "hadau" yn cynhyrchu. Ond pan fyddwn yn sefyll ac yn meddwl amdano, rydym yn sylweddoli ei fod yn wir.
Os byddwn yn ysmygu, byddwn yn niweidio ein hysgyfaint. Os byddwn yn bwyta gormod o fwyd afiach, byddwn yn cael braster. Os byddwn yn wneud ymarfer corff, bydd ein hiechyd yn gwella. Os byddwn yn treulio oriau yn ymarfer offeryn cerdd, byddwn yn gallu ei chwarae.
Mae'r hyn sy'n wir o safbwynt corfforol, yn hyd yn oed yn bwysicach o safbwynt ysbrydol. Mae Galatiaid 6:8 yn dweud: “. . . . y sawl sy'n hau i'w gnawd ei hun yn medi o'i gnawd lygredigaeth, a'r sawl sy'n hau i'r Ysbryd yn medi o'r Ysbryd fywyd tragwyddol”.
Os byddwn yn treulio ein bywydau dim ond meddwl am ein hunain, yna byddwn yn "medi llygredd" - ni fydd unrhyw beth da i'w ddangos ar ei gyfer yn y diwedd. Ond os byddwn yn llenwi ein meddyliau gyda phethau da, iachus, ysbrydol o air Duw, byddwn yn buddsoddi yn ein bywydau ysbrydol a'n dyfodol.
Gadewch i ni fod yn siลตr ein bod yn hau gair Duw yn ein meddyliau a'n bywydau, gan y gallai, trwy ras Duw, ein trawsnewid i rywbeth tragwyddol a prydferth.
Troednodyn – Daw’r dyfyniadau a ddefnyddiwyd yn y blog hwn o Y Beibl Cymraeg Newydd Diwygiedig (BCND) 2004.
What About Me?
Every day we learn of bad things that are done to people, whether on an international or national scale, or through personal knowledge or personal experience.
Through our own personal experiences, we learn of people disrespecting other people, or saying something hurtful about someone, or losing control and physically hurting someone.
But before we pass judgement on those people we don’t much like or approve of, ask yourself these questions. “What about me?” Have I ever lost control? Done something I later came to regret? Said a hurtful or spiteful word? Of course I have! But what can I do about it, if anything?
The apostle Paul sums things up perfectly when he says:
The prophet Jeremiah said just the same thing:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?”.
Jeremiah 17:9
And God in His Word The Bible tells us that He will not put up with wickedness on the earth forever:
So God did not abandon His plans for the earth, when perfection did not take place at first in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned. For He says one day this earth will be filled with His glory; it will not then be the evil, polluting world that now exists.
But what can we do about our personal failure to serve God because of our human nature, and to have a hope of a part in God’s future Kingdom?
When the apostle Paul despaired about his human nature he said this:
It was his contact with the Lord Jesus that made the difference. For Paul came to realise that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and that meant that he could be saved (1 Timothy 1:15); and that Salvation is a process that requires understanding, belief, baptism and to follow a life of obedience to God’s precepts, after Christ’s example of obedience to them to the best of one’s ability.
Jesus lived the only perfect life that has ever been lived on this earth, at the end of which he gave himself as a sacrifice for sin. Everyone who identifies with that sacrifice – by the way they respond to God’s invitation of Salvation – are reckoned as “right” in God’s sight.
God wants all of us – every one of us –
to find and accept the salvation He offers.
So that we will no longer be hurtful,
but healed and wholesome in His sight, and so give praise and glory to God in our life both now and in the future,
as He reveals in His Word the Bible.
The offer of salvation is personal and can only be answered for oneself.
So “What about me”?
Am I prepared to read God’s Word
and to avail myself of God’s offer?
What Kind of World?
The world we live in is one of huge contrasts and inequalities. There is much that is beautiful, fair and lovely. On the other hand, many things are ugly, unfair and hateful, but we learn to live with these contrasting circumstances every day.
We may have been moved by the sight of captivating scenery, a beautiful garden or a starlit sky. On the contrary, we might feel disgust and anger at the sight of a litter-filled street, a landscape blighted by industrial waste, or the prospect of increasing damage to our environment by global warming.
We all know the kind of world we would like to live in − one where we could always see beauty; where we never had to look at the ugly, the obscene, the polluted; where we all enjoyed a fair share of the good things with no inequality; where everyone could live securely with no fear of our fellow human beings; where our bodies were not subject to fatal diseases and frailty, followed finally and inevitably by death.
Would it surprise you to know, that all these good things have already been promised by Almighty God, and will one day be a reality on the earth? In God’s Word, the Bible, we have wonderful word pictures of what this world will be like when it is governed by His chosen ruler, the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus reigns as king of the world, the earth will become once more a place of beauty, unspoiled by man’s mismanagement.
“The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall
“Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; And it shall be to the LORD for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off”. Isaiah 55:13.
“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea”. Habakkuk 2:14.
“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love”. 1 Corinthians 13:13.
Footnote - All quotations used in this blog are taken from the New King James Bible. Be strong and of good courage.
As we grow up there is the typical fear of not succeeding at school, and of having ‘to stand up and be counted” when we
Husbands, have particular worries concerning making a success of their work and looking after their children.
The older we are, the more we fear increasing ill-health, the
But God, who knows our weaknesses, gives us reassurance, if we align our lives with His, and seek to do His will, instead of being on our own, He says “that He will never leave us or forsake us”.
Jesus was once asked by his disciples to forecast the events that would lead up to his return to the earth from heaven.
“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the
How well those words describe the days in which we now live, giving assurance to Bible Students that Jesus’ return cannot be far away.
But notice also, how these two things are brought together in the passage above.
[1] When people in general are distressed by the things that are coming, when they say among themselves “Whatever next?” –
[2] the believer need have no fear for the future.
Because, the believer who has prepared his or her life for what is coming next – the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth – knows that Christ is coming to redeem and rescue
So when Jesus tells his faithful servants to, “Be not afraid”, he gives them a positive message as well, to be firm and resolute in his service, because whether they are alive or dead at his return, they are all assured of a reward for faithful service, as the words of 1 Thessalonians tell us, and they were to be comforted and edified by these words.
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ
another with these words. .
No new thing under the sun
Today there is a rush to make the most of wind power for generating electricity. But this is nothing new. The technique has been tried and tested long ago, albeit on a smaller scale. Windmills and watermills were once 
vitally important for grinding corn to make flour, before they were replaced by steam-driven and then petrol-driven engines.
Now, with energy sources running out and carbon emissions causing such concern, going back to wind power
But there is a danger that by looking forwards all the time and having turned our back on the past, we can easily forget what has happened back then and keep repeating
Take the case of windmills and wind power. When they were used extensively in the past, that was a time when mankind worked in harmony with nature, using natural sources of energy like wind and water and there was then no question of pollution or environmental damage. It was also a time when the pace of life was slower and when people lived closer together, and more communally than they do nowadays. The past therefore has some important lessons to teach us, if we are willing to learn.
In this passage he is saying that we need to take note of events that have happened in the past and to learn from them.
And In this next passage, to his readers at Philippi in Macedonia, in (Phil. 3:13,14), Paul admits there were things he had done in the past that he wanted to forget, but that he had learned from his past mistakes, and that he now intended to live in a way to make up for those past mistakes, by following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, by saying,
“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13,14 King James Version).
He wanted to learn from his own mistakes and the mistakes and experiences of others who had run the same race before him, as recorded in God’s Word the Bible, especially that of the example of God’s Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that through grace he might attain unto the prize held out before him, and to everyone else that runs in this race for life, that of being bestowed with righteousness and immortality and a place in God’s Kingdom upon the earth at Jesus’ return.
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