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God the father declares that Jesus is the Son of God
All true Christians know that there is one God who exists in three persons. In the passage below the Apostle Paul confirms that God the father has publicly declared that Jesus is His Son.
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, (Romans 1:1-4 NASB).
This passage is a typical Pauline sentence, which means that it seems to ramble on endlessly, and is therefore very hard to follow. So let me paraphrase Paul’s statements about Jesus, so that we can unpack this verse. Words in bold have been taken directly from the verse above.
Paul is saying that Christ Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is a descendant of David according to the flesh which means that he took on the body of a man and became David’s physical descendant. God Himself declared him to be the Son of God by raising him from the dead which fully displayed God’s power and should have been enough to silence all the doubters.
My Muslim friends of course say that Jesus can’t be God because there is only one God, and one God cannot exist in three persons. I say that one God can exist in three persons. The reason I believe it is because God says so. You can find many proofs of the Deity and Sonship of Christ in the Old Testament prophecies and in all the miracles He did in public. The Muslims are foolish to think that the nature of God is so simple that human beings can completely understand it. It is not surprising that the true nature of God is beyond human comprehension.
And on to Romans
Now that I’m done blogging through the book of John I’m going to go on and start the book of Romans. I am going to have to slow down how much I blog because my job is getting busier as I approach the summer. I expect to be able to post about every other day on this blog. At that rate, it could take me a whole year or more to got through the book of Romans.
No Fear of God...
Should I fear the Lord God? This is definitely a question I've wrestled with in the past. But the only way for me to give an honest answer is to allow the Bible to interpret itself. I'm not implying my relationship with him should be one of fear. My relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, is one of love not fear.
How To Help Young Men Control Their Sex-Drive
It is very easy for young men in our culture to become addicted to their sexual lusts. They are constantly bombarded with images and messages from the media that tempt them to want things that are bad for them. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help the young men in your family get their sex-drive under control.
- Teach them right and wrong.
Psalm 22 predicts Jesus’ crucifixion
In Psalm 22 King David, the author, is crying out for help to God. David underwent many trials and challenges in his lifetime and He learned to depend on God to get him through them. However, if you read carefully through Psalm 22 you will discover that many of the events described in this Psalm never actually happened to David. Rather, this Psalm is a prophecy about David’s descendant, Jesus. If you read through this Psalm you will discover some amazing prophecies about the crucifixion of Jesus. Here are a few of them:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Psalm 22:1a NIV)
This opening line are the exact words that Jesus uses when He is suffering on the cross a thousand years later (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). He is crying out because of the separation that existed between Him and His father as He was being punished for the sins of all mankind.
All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.” (Psalm 22:7-8)
Verses seven and eight describe the humiliation that he was subjected to while He was publicly suffering. Many who were standing by mocked him, challenging him to save himself saying “He saved others, let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God” (Luke 23:35).
Verse 15 describes Him as being thirsty. Indeed, when Jesus was on the cross, He cried out in a loud voice: “I thirst” (John 19:28). Verse 16 predicts what the Roman soldiers would do to Jesus’ hands and feet:
Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce[e] my hands and my feet. (Psalm 22:16)
This perfectly describes Jesus’ crucifixion, when the soldiers drove nails through His hands and His feet (John 20:25). Verse 17, the next verse, predicts Jesus naked as He is stretched on the cross:
All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me. (Psalm 22:17)
Verse 18 predicts what the soldiers would do with Jesus’ clothes:
They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment. (Psalm 22:18)
We can see the fulfillment of verse 18 in the gospel of John:
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”[a]So this is what the soldiers did. (John 19:23-24)
Every One Who Is On The Side Of Truth Listens To Jesus
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:36-37 NIV)
There is hope for you, even if you are a spiritual failure
Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
17 “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.
He replied, “I am not.”
18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. (John 18:15-18)
In this passage we see one of Peter’s greatest failures. He claimed to be a follower of Jesus, and yet he immediately lied to the servant girl about his relationship with Jesus in order to save his own life. True Christians are not supposed to behave like this. We are supposed to never deny our relationship with Jesus. We must remain faithful even to the death.
And yet… true Christians do behave like this all the time. Peter, after all, was one of the twelve apostles. He later recovered from this failure and went on to die for Christ some years later. The lesson to learn from his sin here, then, is that just because you fail once does not mean that you have to fail perpetually. Human beings are naturally weak. Even true Christians have failures. But our God is a loving God who will forgive us after we fall, and give us the strength to be victorious next time around.
Do not let yourself be swallowed up by guilt if you have failed in the past. This is no guarentee that you will fail in the future. God loves you, and if you repent of your sins He will give you His power to allow you to be spiritually successful. After all, it is not strong people who are victorious, but weak people who trust in God.
Jesus’ prayer was for our benefit
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. (John 17:13 NIV)”
This prayer that Jesus prays in John chapter 17 was done not only to communicate with the Father, but for the benefit of His disciples who were looking on. Jesus, of course, would have unlimited opportunity to commune with the Father after His ascension. Nevertheless, He made a point of praying in front of His disciples so that they could learn about and be comforted by the relationship between the Father and the Son.
Those of us who are believers should “have the full measure of my joy” within us as a result of reading these words.
Jesus sought Glory on Behalf Of The Father
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. (John 16:1)
There are many so-called believers who seek glory from God for selfish purposes. But Jesus, looking ahead to the triumph of the cross, only seeks glory so that the Father will be glorified through Him.
Christians ought not to seek their own glory, but God’s. If Jesus can humble himself, than we should humble ourselves too, for we deserve glory much less than He.
Jesus Is Holy And True
To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. (Revelation 3:7)
There is much beauty in the Words of Jesus as He addresses His beloved children who worship Him on Earth.
