Category Archives: Acknowledge God
Receive & Practice
Philip.4:9 “Practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and model your way of living on it, and the God of peace (of untroubled, undisturbed well-being) will be with you.” (AMPC)
John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (NRSV, emphasis added). The Lamb of God that takes away, that cleanses the sins of the world. Cleansing is part of the package delivered to us by Jesus. Read the rest of this entry
Paid
Gen. 22:8 “Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.” (NRSV, emphasis added)
Isaac was a type of Jesus and in today’s scripture reference, Abraham was speaking prophetically when he said, God will provide a lamb for Himself. And that was exactly what happened; even in the time of Abraham, God provided a lamb for Himself. In humanity’s case, it is not the blood of bulls and goats that can make a difference to our sin. It is the spotless Blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, that makes a difference. Totally beautiful! Hesed begins to make a lot more sense; ‘when the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything.’ “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” When the person from whom I expect to receive nothing gives me everything!
Let us shift our emphasis to what the Lamb has come to do. John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (NRSV emphasis added). The word “Sin” in this scripture is singular, not plural. It is sin – past, present, and future lumped together, nailed to the cross. Unbelievable! It means that the sin ‘from Adam till rapture’ is nailed to the cross, lumped up in one sacrifice. If this does not get you excited, I do not know what else will. ‘What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the Blood of Jesus.’ In the Old Testament, the concept of ‘atonement’ is the concept of ‘Covering’. In the Old Testament, an atoning sacrifice refers to a sacrifice to cover the sin. But when Jesus came, He became the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, not the Lamb of God that covers the sin of the world. Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
In the New Testament, atonement has the underlining foundation of propitiation. Jesus became the propitiation of our sin. Propitiation is a complex word, complex not in understanding but complex in meaning. Propitiation, on one hand, means to appease the wrath of someone that has been offended. And on the other hand, to restore in fellowship with the person that has been offended. Read the rest of this entry
By Revelation
John 1:31-32 “I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.” (NRSV, emphasis added)
We kick off today with our final thought from yesterday and that is, God chose the one that had known Jesus from the womb and grew up with Him not to depend on his natural knowledge of Jesus. Why? So that God can reveal Jesus to him in a supernatural way. Read the rest of this entry
On Call
John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (NRSV).
Please read John 1:29-34 (NRSV). John the Baptist says, “He that sent me told me what to look out for” [paraphrased] and this is the first thing that jumps out at us. Meaning that John the Baptist was not just some eccentric man who went about baptizing people with water. Read the rest of this entry
In Person
John 1:14 “The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son.” (GNT).
If you have a good relationship with The Truth, you are righteous. If you have a right standing with God, you are righteous. Knowing the truth is not necessarily about being right and proving that others are wrong. You can know the truth and be wrong, but you still know the truth. Read the rest of this entry
Hesed
John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (NRSV, emphasis added)
Jesus is full of grace and full of truth. Jesus is not half or fifty percent (50%) grace and half or fifty percent (50%) truth. Jesus is full of grace and full of truth. Jesus is hundred percent (100%) grace and hundred percent (100%) truth. Read the rest of this entry
True Focus
John 1:26-27 “John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” (NRSV, emphasis added)
John in reference to Jesus said, “I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” What did he mean? At that time, what is called the “Rabbinic Movement” was very strong. The Rabbis are the teachers and each Rabbi will have students. Read the rest of this entry
