Ephesians 2:18
for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
Message: The Trinity and Christian Unity
Time: Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians sometime in AD 60–61, around the same time he wrote Colossians and Philemon. Ephesians deals with topics at the core of being a Christian - faith and practice, no matter the situation.
What the Lord is Saying:
As I have studied previously, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work inseparably. Every act of God is from the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity has the same divine attributes, but each person acts in a manner fitting to His unique personal properties. Unbegottenness is the unique personal property of the Father, begottenness is the unique personal property of the Son, and procession is the unique personal property of the Holy Spirit.
They have worked inseparably in creation, making the universe out of nothing - in atoning for our sin - in redeeming the Israelites and man in general, and in sanctifying the saints.
Ephesians 2 is the life of a Christian, showing us being dead in our sins, made alive in Christ, and walking on to live our lives in good works. As this verse records it is through Him (Jesus Christ) that we are made alive (Eph 2:5) as we were dead in our transgressions. Whether people recognize it or no in their lives, it is clear they are dead in their sins. In Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph 2:12). One of Jesus' complaints to the Jewish leaders was they were excluding the Gentiles from access to God. At one point he got upset with them for turning the synagogue and worship area into a market. He spoke of the fig tree and how they were not bearing fruit. The tabernacle had a place that would give access to the Gentiles, but the leaders instead excluded them.
It is through Him we both have our access. What is the meaning of the word 'both?' Ephesians 1:1 says this writing is from Paul to the saints at Ephesus. He speaks and states that Gentiles were formerly excluded: you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God (Ephesians 2:14). God never intended his chosen people Israel to be his only people. In the temple there was an outer court and inner court. Jesus said in Mark 11:17 quoting from Isaiah 56:7 - My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. The temple had a section for the Gentiles to come into and pray to Yahweh but they were not welcome there. Between Jews and Gentiles there was also a division, an inner court and outer court.
I think it is important here to see that God had always had a mission to the Jew and Gentile, to redeem mankind. He chose Israel and they did not allow the Gentile to be included. Jesus came and opened the access for all. It is through Him we both (Jew and Gentile) have our access.
All too often I think I have thought that the Old Testament was about the chosen people, the Jews as God was about only the Jews. Then Jesus came for the Gentiles. Instead, God has always been about saving and grafting in all people - Jew and Gentile. The Jews were really meant to assist the Gentiles towards God. And now in Christ, after we are all made alive - we are all commissioned to take this message to everyone - to all nations. The message is God wants to redeem or save all.
Promise: It is through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. Our access to the unbegotten Father God is in one Spirit. It is a three-fold union. It is three-fold unity. We come to Father, in the spirit, through Jesus. Both Jew and Gentile come to the Father in one Spirit. There is unity in coming to God.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for showing me the Unity and confirming the truth of your forever gospel message of saving all people - Jew and Gentile - all nations. You love all and you want all to be with you forever in heaven, in paradise.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with January being about the doctrine of God.
Showing posts with label Access. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Access. Show all posts
Sunday, December 30, 2018
Monday, December 3, 2018
Mark 15:35-39 - The Centurion's Confession
Mark 15:35-39
35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” 36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. 38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Message: The Centurion's Confession
Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.
What the Lord is Saying:
Preface - Jesus is on the cross being crucified. He came to the cross already weak from the beatings, having the pain of the crown of thorns, the name calling, the belittling, the mocking. He had already endured much and then he had the cross and the pain of being nailed to this cross, though Mark doesn't mention these details. He talks about the people that mocked him while he was on the cross, the passerby's, the chief priests, and the robbers on either side of him. After he endured all darkness fell on the face of the earth from 12 to 3pm and then he voiced to God a fear of rejection plea in saying, "My God, why have you forsaken me?"
When some of the bystanders heard Jesus call out to the Father, "Why have you forsaken me?" they said, "Behold, He is calling for Elijah." The fact that Elijah did not die, but God took Him directly to heaven resulted often led to speculation among the Jews of the day. Elijah became a man that could provide supernatural assistance to their lives in times of need because he was thought to be a supernatural being. But, this was a misunderstanding of who Jesus was, focusing on the man instead of the God who did the work. And even in this moment of Jesus on the cross, it seemed that some bystanders thought they heard Jesus calling out to Elijah, but he wasn't, he was calling out to God. Again, in life, we often hear what we want to hear.
And the mystery of Elijah continues when someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” There are differing details regarding this account. But Mark simply follows that someone saw that Jesus needed a drink. Perhaps his remark at the time of feeling forsaken, feeling thirsty, meant that someone felt compassion for Him in that moment and provided Him one last drink before He would die. Because after this Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. Mark again is not specific on the words of the cry, but that Jesus uttered this loud cry which signified a culmination, an ending for he then breathed His last. He bore a pain and a torment during the 3 hours of the earth being darkened and now he dies And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Crucifixions happened but it becoming dark in the middle of the afternoon with Jesus on the cross was different and now this veil of the temple torn in two was something else different, almost supernatural signs of what Jesus had accomplished on the cross, dealing with sin and then removing the veil or curtain and giving everyone the same access to Jesus.
Then there is what appears to be the first favorable response of someone after witnessing this act from Jesus. When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Though others had misunderstood Jesus' words, thinking Elijah, the centurion guard heard something different and responded with the confession that Jesus was the son of God. It was that recognition that He was who He said He was. It was the job of the centurion to watch the crucifixion and confirm that it has been carried out correctly, and obviously in Jesus' crucifixion he witnessed things different. This was no ordinary crucifixion. He confesses him not as the Son of Man which was the name Jesus often referred to himself as, but instead states that He is the Son of God. He is God. He is divine.
Summary - Upon Jesus at the end of His life, He has endured the wrath of God and the divine judgment of sin and he cried out that it was finished. People misunderstood Him and some thought He was calling out to Elijah, but after crying out and breathing His last, one of the Centurion guards, tasked with watching and making the crucifixion makes a confession that Jesus is the Son of God. He is divine.
Promise: RC Sproul says, "The Centurion was the first to realize that something of cosmic significance was happening that afternoon outside Jerusalem." God revealed Christ to this man - wisdom to the unlikely.
Prayer: O Lord, My Lord, How majestic is your name in all of the earth. You conquered death and purchased my sin on the cross of Calvary. You went to the cross free from sin and gave all of yourself. You withstood the pain of the wrath of God and did it all. And immediately people were affected and saw you as you rightly are, the son of God, divine, holy. Help me to keep looking to You and trusting in your Salvation. You are my Savior. You have rescued me. I am free, free indeed.
35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” 36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. 38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Message: The Centurion's Confession
Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.
What the Lord is Saying:
Preface - Jesus is on the cross being crucified. He came to the cross already weak from the beatings, having the pain of the crown of thorns, the name calling, the belittling, the mocking. He had already endured much and then he had the cross and the pain of being nailed to this cross, though Mark doesn't mention these details. He talks about the people that mocked him while he was on the cross, the passerby's, the chief priests, and the robbers on either side of him. After he endured all darkness fell on the face of the earth from 12 to 3pm and then he voiced to God a fear of rejection plea in saying, "My God, why have you forsaken me?"
When some of the bystanders heard Jesus call out to the Father, "Why have you forsaken me?" they said, "Behold, He is calling for Elijah." The fact that Elijah did not die, but God took Him directly to heaven resulted often led to speculation among the Jews of the day. Elijah became a man that could provide supernatural assistance to their lives in times of need because he was thought to be a supernatural being. But, this was a misunderstanding of who Jesus was, focusing on the man instead of the God who did the work. And even in this moment of Jesus on the cross, it seemed that some bystanders thought they heard Jesus calling out to Elijah, but he wasn't, he was calling out to God. Again, in life, we often hear what we want to hear.
And the mystery of Elijah continues when someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” There are differing details regarding this account. But Mark simply follows that someone saw that Jesus needed a drink. Perhaps his remark at the time of feeling forsaken, feeling thirsty, meant that someone felt compassion for Him in that moment and provided Him one last drink before He would die. Because after this Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. Mark again is not specific on the words of the cry, but that Jesus uttered this loud cry which signified a culmination, an ending for he then breathed His last. He bore a pain and a torment during the 3 hours of the earth being darkened and now he dies And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Crucifixions happened but it becoming dark in the middle of the afternoon with Jesus on the cross was different and now this veil of the temple torn in two was something else different, almost supernatural signs of what Jesus had accomplished on the cross, dealing with sin and then removing the veil or curtain and giving everyone the same access to Jesus.
Then there is what appears to be the first favorable response of someone after witnessing this act from Jesus. When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Though others had misunderstood Jesus' words, thinking Elijah, the centurion guard heard something different and responded with the confession that Jesus was the son of God. It was that recognition that He was who He said He was. It was the job of the centurion to watch the crucifixion and confirm that it has been carried out correctly, and obviously in Jesus' crucifixion he witnessed things different. This was no ordinary crucifixion. He confesses him not as the Son of Man which was the name Jesus often referred to himself as, but instead states that He is the Son of God. He is God. He is divine.
Summary - Upon Jesus at the end of His life, He has endured the wrath of God and the divine judgment of sin and he cried out that it was finished. People misunderstood Him and some thought He was calling out to Elijah, but after crying out and breathing His last, one of the Centurion guards, tasked with watching and making the crucifixion makes a confession that Jesus is the Son of God. He is divine.
Promise: RC Sproul says, "The Centurion was the first to realize that something of cosmic significance was happening that afternoon outside Jerusalem." God revealed Christ to this man - wisdom to the unlikely.
Prayer: O Lord, My Lord, How majestic is your name in all of the earth. You conquered death and purchased my sin on the cross of Calvary. You went to the cross free from sin and gave all of yourself. You withstood the pain of the wrath of God and did it all. And immediately people were affected and saw you as you rightly are, the son of God, divine, holy. Help me to keep looking to You and trusting in your Salvation. You are my Savior. You have rescued me. I am free, free indeed.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Romans 5:2 - Access by Faith
Romans 5:2 - through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
Message: Jesus introduces us to grace and now I have hope
Time: The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans from the Greek city of Corinth in AD 57, just three years after the 16 year old Nero had ascended to the throne as Emperor of Rome. Persecution of Christians wouldn't begin until AD 64. The church was experiencing times of relative peace. From where he wrote, Corinth, was a hotbed of sexual immorality and idol worship.
What the Lord is Saying:
The Set Up
After Paul has clearly explained the righteousness we receive by faith, believing that Jesus died and rose from the dead, Paul now answers the question, "So what does being declared righteous in Christ mean to me now?" In verse 1, Paul let me know that there is peace with God. There is shalom with God. I was separated from God because of my sin, because being a sinner in the eyes of God made me unholy. But, now I have peace.
Contrasting Standing and State
The emphasis here is on my access by faith or my standing. Paul elsewhere will often speak of our current state. This is a contrast worth noting because I think, in my conversations with people, it is a source of confusion and often the two are viewed to be synonymous at one time in the life of a believer when in actuality they are different. My standing has been eternally settled. It is the new place in which I am. It is my condition based upon grace which justifies me before the throne of God. I am in Christ beyond the reach of the judgment. My state is the condition of my soul. It varies. Standing does not vary. State fluctuates and varies during my walk with God. My state varies as I either walk in the flesh or walk in the Spirit. In standing, the veil is torn and I have been given access to walk in the Holy of Holies and boldly approach the throne of God in prayer.
My admission ticket
Verse 2 begins with "through whom also we have obtained our introduction." Introduction is the Greek word prosagoge which means to bring near or bring toward. It is providing admission or access. I think it would be better translated as "through whom also we have obtained our admission." Admission ticket is something we all know. Or receiving a special access card, like I did when I worked at the airport, that gave me special access through a door that is normally off limits to the public traveling. This speaks clearly of what has occurred in being justified. I have been given access into the King's presence, into the king's presence, into peace with God.
My admission ticket came about by my faith. It was my faith into grace and that is what I stand on. Now I have hope in the hereafter and I have victory over sin today.
Exult, Hope in Glory of God
Exult is to boast over a position I now possess. The standing that I receive elicits a response in me and that is a sincere gladness for what has been gifted me. And because I am exulting in a finished work, the exulting should never go away or cease, but should always be present in my life. In essence, I am congratulating myself. But, again, I am pleased and honored, but it is not of my own doing. I haven't done anything unique. I'm just glad about what this means to me.
From PreceptAustin.org: Hope is defined as a desire for some future good with the expectation of obtaining it. Hope is confident expectancy or the confident anticipation of that which we do not yet see. Hope is the looking forward to something with a reason for confidence respecting fulfillment. J B Phillips paraphrased the believer's hope as "happy certainty"!
I am thrilled and overjoyed to have what I have in Christ. I have a confident expectancy and can be certain of my future sharing with Him one day in His glory. Glory is a manifestation of God's true nature, His presence, His likeness. Christ's work on the cross has altered my standing forever. What a thrill.
Promise: I have assurance of my salvation and my eternal destiny.
There is no person who is justified but is not at peace with God; nor is there a person who is at peace with God but is not justified. -- Tabletalk, April 2, 2014
Message: Jesus introduces us to grace and now I have hope
Time: The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans from the Greek city of Corinth in AD 57, just three years after the 16 year old Nero had ascended to the throne as Emperor of Rome. Persecution of Christians wouldn't begin until AD 64. The church was experiencing times of relative peace. From where he wrote, Corinth, was a hotbed of sexual immorality and idol worship.
What the Lord is Saying:
The Set Up
After Paul has clearly explained the righteousness we receive by faith, believing that Jesus died and rose from the dead, Paul now answers the question, "So what does being declared righteous in Christ mean to me now?" In verse 1, Paul let me know that there is peace with God. There is shalom with God. I was separated from God because of my sin, because being a sinner in the eyes of God made me unholy. But, now I have peace.
Contrasting Standing and State
The emphasis here is on my access by faith or my standing. Paul elsewhere will often speak of our current state. This is a contrast worth noting because I think, in my conversations with people, it is a source of confusion and often the two are viewed to be synonymous at one time in the life of a believer when in actuality they are different. My standing has been eternally settled. It is the new place in which I am. It is my condition based upon grace which justifies me before the throne of God. I am in Christ beyond the reach of the judgment. My state is the condition of my soul. It varies. Standing does not vary. State fluctuates and varies during my walk with God. My state varies as I either walk in the flesh or walk in the Spirit. In standing, the veil is torn and I have been given access to walk in the Holy of Holies and boldly approach the throne of God in prayer.
My admission ticket
Verse 2 begins with "through whom also we have obtained our introduction." Introduction is the Greek word prosagoge which means to bring near or bring toward. It is providing admission or access. I think it would be better translated as "through whom also we have obtained our admission." Admission ticket is something we all know. Or receiving a special access card, like I did when I worked at the airport, that gave me special access through a door that is normally off limits to the public traveling. This speaks clearly of what has occurred in being justified. I have been given access into the King's presence, into the king's presence, into peace with God.
My admission ticket came about by my faith. It was my faith into grace and that is what I stand on. Now I have hope in the hereafter and I have victory over sin today.
Exult, Hope in Glory of God
Exult is to boast over a position I now possess. The standing that I receive elicits a response in me and that is a sincere gladness for what has been gifted me. And because I am exulting in a finished work, the exulting should never go away or cease, but should always be present in my life. In essence, I am congratulating myself. But, again, I am pleased and honored, but it is not of my own doing. I haven't done anything unique. I'm just glad about what this means to me.
From PreceptAustin.org: Hope is defined as a desire for some future good with the expectation of obtaining it. Hope is confident expectancy or the confident anticipation of that which we do not yet see. Hope is the looking forward to something with a reason for confidence respecting fulfillment. J B Phillips paraphrased the believer's hope as "happy certainty"!
I am thrilled and overjoyed to have what I have in Christ. I have a confident expectancy and can be certain of my future sharing with Him one day in His glory. Glory is a manifestation of God's true nature, His presence, His likeness. Christ's work on the cross has altered my standing forever. What a thrill.
Promise: I have assurance of my salvation and my eternal destiny.
There is no person who is justified but is not at peace with God; nor is there a person who is at peace with God but is not justified. -- Tabletalk, April 2, 2014
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