Psalm 104:30, “When you send forth your Spirit [or “breath’], they are created…” John 19:30, “He bowed His head and handed over the spirit [or “breath”].” As you may know, the same word is used both for “Spirit” and “Breath” in Hebrew as well as in Greek. This is a fruitful ambiguity. Biblical authors […]
Psalm 104:30; John 19:30 Read More »
1 John 4:14-15, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.” John is here saying the same thing in two complimentary ways. To confess Jesus
1 Chronicles 29:14. “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given to you.” This is part of David’s prayer after the collection for the building of the temple, and the implication
1 Chronicles 29:14 Read More »
John 14:6-7, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father if not through me. If you have known me, also have also known my Father. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” The way for the disciples to come to the Father—both truly now,
John 10:3-5, “The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out…the sheep follow Him for they know His voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” The sheep recognize the VOICE of
1 Timothy 1:5, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith.” I love the “North Star” statements of Scripture. The North Star is clear and unmoving and—no matter what else may be happening—if you follow that star, you will be heading North…Similarly,
John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome [comprehended] it.” An interpretive question we must ask when we come to this passage is what we understand “κατέλαβεν” (translated either “overcome” or “comprehend”) to mean. The word appears again in John’s gospel only in 12:35 where the meaning seems to
Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” The knowledge (intimate, personal knowledge—same word used for the way a husband and wife “know” one another in marital union) the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. By saying that knowledge of the Holy
Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Test me and know my anxious thoughts! See if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” If we have known God in Christ by the Spirit, we will not try to “hide” any aspect of our life
Proverbs 8:23, “Ages ago I was set up [or, “poured out”], at the first, before the beginning of the earth.” The word that the ESV translates as “set up” in verse 23 is used 26 times in the Old Testament and 23 of those times, it has to do with the outpouring of an offering.
Exodus 33:20, “…man shall not see me and live.” When Moses asks to see YHWH’s glory on Mount Sinai, the Lord responds by telling Moses that he cannot see His face, since to see the face of God means death for a sinful human. However, John tells us that—with the incarnation of the self-declaring Word
Colossians 1:20, “…and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” The same all things that were created in and through Christ as their source and ground, the same all things that exist for Christ as their telos (Col.1:16), and the
John 20:27-28, “[Jesus] said to Thomas…’see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” Sometimes we read this passage and think that Jesus presents His wounds to Thomas as proof that He really has been raised from
Through faith-union to God the Son, wrought by the indwelling Spirit of God, a once scattered and rebellious people have become the unified and sanctified Bride of Christ. Because of the incarnation of God in Christ, the Church truly is bone of God’s bones, and flesh of God’s flesh, united in one Spirit with her
The Gospel – VII – Consummation Read More »
This third picture in a seven picture series is taken mainly from Genesis 3:6, but also has elements of Jeremiah 2:13. Humanity was created to enjoy and so to declare the excellence of the Triune God. That is what every longing in our heart, mind, and body exists for—as mediums through which to know and
The Gospel – III – Rebellion Read More »
This one is based on the Creation account, especially the creation of humanity in Genesis 1:26-27. God, who eternally enjoys the fellowship of Himself within Himself through the reciprocal love of Father and Son in the Spirit, now creates a universe through which He will externally communicate the excellence of His own internal life. All
The Gospel – II – Creation Read More »
Here is picture #1 in a 7 picture series about the Gospel of the Glory of Christ. My hope is that these pictures can help to remind you of the “old, old story” and that they might be a resource to you as you communicate the person and work of Christ to others. This first
The Gospel – I – God Read More »
2 Corinthians 4:10, “…always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” Because of the Christian’s union to Christ in the Spirit, Paul can interpret all Christian suffering that is endured in faith as a fellowship with Jesus in His death….and yet,
2 Corinthians 4:10 Read More »
Matthew 2:16-17, “…He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” Jesus is our window into the Trinity. It is by and in Him alone that we know God as
John 7:17, “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God…” John 8:44, “Your will is to do your father’s desires.” Short Thoughts: The root desire (will) of our hearts determines whether or not we are able to receive Christ as truth…and apart from the Spirit, our
