Behold! The Lamb of God!

The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29, ESV)

The joy that John the Baptist must have felt upon seeing Jesus pass by him! John’s entire life had been built on waiting for his Lord to come and be revealed to Israel. Had had lived 30 years the life of a Nazirite, never tasting wine, never cutting his hair, never eating certain types of food. For some time, John had been preaching a message of repentance - a message of judgment and fire - that had prepared the way for the coming of Jesus the Messiah. But was John’s joy in the fact that everything he had worked for (by God’s grace) was finally coming to the point of results?

Not at all. In fact, John makes it quite obvious that his joy is in Christ - and in His mission. Who is Christ? The Sacrificial Lamb of God! What does He come to do? To take away the sins of the world! How wonderful that this Lamb’s ministry is not some past event or a future event, but a present event. Even as Paul quotes the Prophet Isaiah [49:8, ESV], “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you…” NOW is the day of salvation! Christ’s ministry of reconciliation, that which we who believe have come into, is the present active work of the Lamb, slain before the foundations of the earth were laid.

How great is the love that the Father has lavished upon us! In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:7-10, ESV). What have we to do but be faithfully grateful? What have we to do but faithfully worship? What have we to do but acknowledge how He has faithfully kept us?

Nothing! Emptiness! If we are not living in response to our Lord’s sacrifice, ever-present as it is, then we live for nothing! Abba, let not our hearts seek after vain things. Only let them live faithfully in response to You, for Your glory and honor. Let Your Spirit enable us to bow our knee and confess “Jesus is Lord.” In the Power and Name of Your Son, Whose own blood was spilled for us, amein.

As a Potter He Molds

I am constantly amazed by the work of God in my own life.  His sovereign hand in my spiritual development is humbling: who am I that the King of Creation to concern Himself with me?  As it says in Job 7:17 (ESV), “What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him?”  As a Creator, God is involved with our development from the beginning.  As our Savior, when we come to salvation, He is involved in bringing us to “becoming like Christ.”

It Is Coming

Revival is coming.  As you know, my series “Revive Us, O LORD” dealt with the concept of revival and exploring various aspects of its nature and effects.  Over my experience of nearly two years (September 29th will be my second blog-iversary), I have written many times of the need for revival in our youth, in our churches, in our country, and in our world at large.  I’ve spoke of the need to revive doctrine and spirituality.  It doesn’t take any amount of Biblical knowledge to see that revival is, indeed, needed in every area of life.  For those of you who have been saying “Amen” to all of this, I have three words for you that God spoke to my spirit today: Revival is coming.  For the rest of you, there are three other words: deal with it.

A Free Calling

Pastors across the world preach of God’s calling on man’s life - a call to salvation, to holiness, to love, to live for Him, and to die to Him.  Students of the Scriptures read of the many ways that God has called men unto Himself: audibly, miraculously, simply - regardless, every call an amazing event.

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

The New King James Version of the Bible interprets the Greek of 2 Timothy 2:15 as "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  Other versions, such as the New American Standard Version and the English Standard Version apply the phrase, "correctly handling" as opposed to "rightly dividing," which is, in fact, the literal translation.  While they are both correct, it is my belief that the literal translation provides insight and further application.

Tomorrow Not For Worrying

Update: There is still a lot of work to be done with the blog - categorizing past posts, making sure all the bookmarks, titles, etc. are formatted properly and every link still holds true (okay, I may pass on checking the links, but that’s beside the point).  However, it’s time to get back to serious writing so here’s my plan.  Seeing that I have muliple series started (Church Fathers, Revival, Gog) and more planned (those are a surprise), I’ve decided that I’ll divide them up through the week.  Actually, the Church Fathers series is going to be started over entirely…as soon as I’ve had the chance to read all the letters of Ignatius of Antioch with some depth.  My new rule for that series is that the person must have a traditional association with one of the Apostles.  In the future, I may consider going further with that, but for now, it’ll have to do.  Also, I’d like to devote more time to my projects at Theopedia (which is an excellent Christian resource, by the way) - things like “The Development of OT Canon” and “Aramaic.”  Oh, yes, and one more new feature - every Sunday (so help me, God) will have a short devotional-type thought for the week.