Christ and the Bible - Part III

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous two sessions, Part I and Part II (please click on the links to read in depth on the said parts) of the Christ and the Bible series, we understood how the Scriptures bear witness to Jesus Christ. Jesus did not rely on his own testimonies about himself to prove who He is, rather He showed what the Scriptures talked about him. Neither did he rely on the testimony of any mere human being, not even of John the Baptist, who is a fore-bearer of Jesus. Jesus always taught that Old Testament Scripture was God's Word bearing witness to him. We also learnt that the Bible is God's picture of Jesus. It bears witness to him. We also see that the Old Testament sacrifices foreshadow the perfect sacrifice for sin that was made once and for all upon the cross, by Jesus for the redemption off our sins.

Christ Bears Witness to the Scriptures

In declaring that the Scriptures bear witness to him, Jesus is himself bearing witness to them in turn. When he spoke of the testimony of John the Baptist, he referred to it as a human testimony (John 5:33-35) and added that the testimony which attested him was "not... from man". The testimony he had was greater. It was his Father's testimony through his works (v. 36) and his word (v.38). Here then is Jesus' plain statement that the Old Testament Scriptures are his Father's "word", and that this biblical testimony was not human but divine.

This too was Jesus' consistent teaching. In fact, the major reason why we should desire to submit to the authority of the Bible is that Jesus Christ authenticated it as possessing the authority of God.  (Apart from also submitting to the Holy Traditions of the Orthodox Church. Both play an equal role in the life and teachings of an Orthodox believer). If we are to understand this point, then we need to distinguish between the Old and the New Testaments. The Bible, of course, comprises them both; but Jesus was born, and lived, and died in the middle, between them. As a consequence, the way in which he authenticated one portion is different from the way in which he authenticated the other.

He looked back to the the old Testament, he looked on to the New Testament, but he authenticated them both.

1. Jesus endorsed the Old Testament. He not only described the Scriptures as his Father's "word" and "witness," as we have seen earlier; he also said that "scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount he declared, "Think not that I have come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18).

Jesus' personal attitude toward the Old Testament Scriptures was one of reverent submission, for he believed that in submitting to the written Word, he was submitting to his Father's Word. Since he believed in its divine origin, he interpreted his own messianic mission in the light of its prophetic testimony and added that certain things must come to pass because the Scripture must be fulfilled. Further, Jesus obeyed the moral injunctions of the Old Testament, so that in the temptations in the Judean wilderness he commanded the devil to leave him alone of what stood written in the Scripture. However subtle Satan's insinuations might be, Jesus was prepared neither to listen nor to negotiate. He was determined to obey God, not the devil, and what stood written in Scripture settled the issue for him.

Jesus also made the Scripture his ground of appeal in all his arguments with the religious leaders of his day. He was often engaged in controversy, and on every occasion it was to the Scriptures that he appealed. He criticized the Pharisees for adding their traditions to the Scriptures; he criticized the Sadducees for subtracting the supernatural (the resurrection) from the Scriptures. Thus Jesus exalted the Scriptures as his Father's Word which was to be both believed and obeyed. He permitted no deviation from it, either by addition or by subtraction.

Jesus declared, of course, that with him the time of fulfillment had come (see Mark 1:14-15) and that therefore the era of anticipation was over. This meant, as his followers soon recognized, that Gentiles were to be admitted to God's kingdom on equal terms with the Jews, and that the Jewish ceremonial system had been rendered obsolete, including its dietary laws (Mark 7:19) and above all its blood sacrifices. But there is no example in the Gospels of Jesus' disagreeing with the doctrinal or ethical teaching of the Old Testament. On the contrary, he endorsed it. What he contradicted was the scribal misinterpretations and distortions of the Old Testament. This was his point in the Sermon on the Mount, in which six times he said in effect, "you have heard this, but I tell you something different." What they had heard were the so-called traditions of the elders. It was these which he was criticizing; it was not the teaching of Moses in the law. For what stood written in the Scripture he received as his Father's Word.

If this is so, and the evidence is overwhelming, we have to add that the disciple is not above his teacher. It is inconceivable that a Christian who looks to Jesus as his Teacher and Lord should have a lower view of the Old Testament than he did. What is the sense in calling Jesus "Teacher" and "Lord," and then disagreeing with him? We have no liberty to disagree with him. His view of Scripture must become ours. Since he believed Scriptures, so must we.He emphatically endorsed its authority.

Dear brethren, with this we have now seen why we must still place importance to the Old Testament Scriptures. In the next session, we will see how Jesus made provision for the writing of the New Testament.

May the Lord Almighty bless you all and keep you in all your ways.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

P.S. The above writing has been taken from the book "The Bible" by John R. W. Stott

Christ and the Bible - Part II

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

Glory & Praise to the Triune God in the Highest. In the previous session, Part 1, we learned that the Old Testament Scriptures bear witness to Jesus Christ. Also from the beginning to the end of His ministry Jesus declared that the whole prophetic testimony of the Old Testament, with all its rich diversity, converged upon him.

But Jesus' Jewish contemporaries missed this testimony. They were very diligent students of the Old Testament. They spent hours and hours in the most meticulous examination of the minutiae of the Old Testament Scripture. They used to count the number of words, even the number of letters, in every book of the Bible. They knew they had been entrusted with the oracles of God (Rom. 3:2). They somehow thought that an accumulation of detailed biblical knowledge would bring them into the right relationship with God. What an anomalous thing that was, to think that the Scriptures themselves could give eternal life! The Scriptures point to Christ as the Lifegiver and urge their readers to go to HIM for life. But instead of going to Christ to find life, they imagined that they could find life in the Scripture itself. It is somewhat like getting a prescription from the doctor and then swallowing the prescription instead of getting and taking the medicine.

Some of us make the same mistake. We have an almost superstitious attitude to Bible reading, as if it had some magical efficacy. But there is no magic in the Bible or in the mechanical reading of the Bible. The written Word points us to the Living Word and says to us, "Go to Jesus." If we do not go to Jesus to whom it points, we miss the whole purpose of Bible reading.

As Christians, we are not meant to 'worshipers of the Bible.' We should not worship the Bible; but worship the Christ of the Bible. We should not love the Bible for the book it is. But we love it only because we love Him of whom it speaks.

This is the main key to the understanding of Scriptures. The Bible is God's picture of Jesus. It bears witness to him. So whenever we are reading the Bible, we must look for Christ. For example, the Old Testament Law is our "schoolmaster" to bring us to Christ (Gal. 3:24). Because it condemns us for our disobedience, it makes Christ indispensable to us. It drives us to Him through whom alone we may find forgiveness.

Next, the Old Testament sacrifices foreshadow that perfect sacrifice for sin made once and for all upon the cross, the sacrifice of Christ for our redemption. Another example is the teaching of the Old Testament prophets who foretell then coming of the Messiah.

When we move into the New Testament, Jesus Christ comes yet more clearly into focus. The Gospels are full of Him. They speak of His birth and His public ministry, of His words and works, of His death and resurrection, and of His ascension and gift of the Holy Spirit. The books of Acts tells us what Jesus continued to do and teach through the apostles whom He has chosen and commissioned. The letters of the apostles set forth the glory of Jesus in his divine-human person and his saving work. When we come to the last book of the Bible, the Revelation, it too is full of Christ. For there we see him patrolling the churches on earth, sharing God's throne in Heaven, riding forth on a white horse conquering and coming in power and glory.

The old writers used to say that, just as in England every footpath and every country lane, linking on to others, will ultimately lead you to London, so every verse and every paragraph in the Bible, linking on to others, will ultimately lead you to Christ. The Scriptures bear witness to Him. That is the first truth which is very plainly taught in our text.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, we now come to a close on how the Bible bears witness to Jesus. In the next session, let us try to understand on how does Jesus bears witness to the Scriptures.

Your Brother in Jesus

Jobin

Christ & the Bible - Part 1

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous series "The Bible", we considered the origin of the Scripture, where it came from- the great subject of revelation. Now we shall be thinking not of is origin but of its purpose; we will be asking not where it came from, but for what has it been given?

Our text is John 5: 39-40. Jesus, speaking to his Jewish contemporaries, says, "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."

From these words of Jesus we learn two profound and complementary truths about Christ and the Bible...

The Scriptures Bear Witness to Christ

Jesus Himself says very plainly, "It is they that bear witness to me" (v. 39). The major function of the Scripture is to bear witness to Christ.

Now the context in which this text is embedded is concerned with testimony to Christ. What testimony can validate the claims of Jesus of Nazareth? He Himself tells us. To begin with, He does not rely on His own testimony to Himself, as is clear from verse 31: "If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true." Jesus is not suggesting that He is telling lies about Himself. Indeed he later rebuts a criticism of the Pharisees by insisting that His testimony to Himself is true (John 8:14). His point here is that self testimony is inadequate; there would be something suspicious about it is the only testimony he had came from him alone. no, "there is another who bears witness to me," He says (v. 32).

So the testimony He relies upon is not his own testimony. Nor is it human testimony, even the testimony of that outstanding witness John the Baptist. "You sent  to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony which i receive is from man" (v. 33-34). So then, says Jesus, it isn't from me and it isn't from human beings. of course, John was "a burning and shining lamp" (v.35), and people had been willing "to rejoice for a while in His light." But the testimony that Jesus claimed was greater. It was greater than His own testimony to Himself, and greater than th testimony of any human being, even of John. It was the testimony of His Father. "The Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me" (v. 37). Moreover, the Father's testimony to the Son took two forms. First, it was given through the mighty works, the miracles, which the Father enabled Him to do (v. 36). But secondly, and more directly still, it was given through the Scriptures, which are the Father's testimony to the Son. Verses 36-39 makes this plain:

The testimony which i have is greater than that of john; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me. His voice you have never heard, His form you have never seen; and you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He has sent. You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me.

It was the consistent teaching of Jesus that old Testament Scripture was God's Word bearing witness to him. He said, for example, "Abraham rejoiced... to see my day" (John 8:56). Or in John 5:46 he says, "Moses... wrote of me." Again, 'the scriptures... bear witness to me" (v. 39). At the beginning of His ministry, when He went to worship in the synagogue at Nazareth, He read from Isaiah 61 about the Messiah's mission and message of liberation, and He added: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). In other words, "If you want to know whom the prophet was writing about, he was writing about me." Jesus continued to say this kind of thing throughout His ministry. Even after the resurrection He has not changed His mind, for "he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27). thus from beginning to the end of his ministry, Jesus declared that the whole prophetic testimony of the Old Testament, in all its rich diversity, converged upon him: "The Scriptures... bear witness to me."

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, we now understood that the Old Testament speaks about Jesus and his ministry from many years. In the next session, we will try and understand more about Jesus and what the Bible says about him.

May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your ways.

Your Brother in Christ

Jobin

The Bible - Part V

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

I have been really busy for the past one month and hence was not able to complete the full series. We have been learning about the Bible and why God chose to speak though us through the various books of the Bible. In the last session, Part IV, we understood the qualifications on how God spoke through us. Firstly, we understood that God's Word was closely related to His activity, meaning He spoke to His people by deeds as well as by His Words. Secondly, His Word has come to us through human speech. In the Old Testament, He spoke through His prophets and in the New Testament, He spoke through the apostles. We understood the double authorship of the Bible namely, that it is the Word of God and the word of men, or more strictly the Word of God through the words of men, is the Bible's own account of itself. 

Now let us understand the Purpose of Revelation...

In the previous sessions, we understood on how God spoke to us; now let us consider, WHY did He speak? The answer is not just to teach us, but to save us; not just to instruct us, but specifically to instruct us 'for salvation' (2 Tim. 3:15). The Bible has this severely practical purpose.

Returning to Isaiah 55, we see this emphasis in verses 10 and 11.

As the rain and the snow

    come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

    without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

    It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

The rain and snow come down to us from heaven and do not return. They accomplish a purpose on earth. They water it. They cause it to bring forth and sprout. They make it fruitful. Just so, God's Word, issuing from His mouth and disclosing His mind, does not return to Him empty. It accomplishes a purpose. Moreover, God's purpose in speaking His Word to human beings are similar. In both cases it is fruitfulness.His rain makes the earth fruitful; His Word makes human lives fruitful. It saves them, changing them into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Salvation is certainly the context. In verses 6 and 7 the prophet has spoken of God's mercy and pardon, and in verse 12 he will go on to speak of the joy and peace of God's redeemed people. 

In fact, here lies the chief difference between God's revelation in creation (natural because given in nature, and general because given to all mankind) and His revelation in the Bible (supernatural because given by inspiration, and special because given to and through particular people). Through the created universe, God reveals His glory, power, and faithfulness, but not the way of salvation. If we want to learn His gracious plan to save sinners, it is to the Bible that we must turn. For it is there that He speaks to us of Christ.

Conclusion

From our text in Isaiah 55 we have learned three truths. First, divine revelation is not only reasonable but indispensable. Without it we could never know God. Second, divine revelation is through words. God spoke through human words and in doing so explained His deeds. Third divine revelation is for salvation. It points us to Christ as Savior.

My conclusion is very simple. It is a call to humility. Nothing is more hostile to spiritual growth than arrogance, and nothing is more conducive to spiritual growth than humility. We need to humble ourselves before the infinite God, acknowledging the limitations of our human mind (that we could never find Him ourselves), and acknowledging our own sinfulness (that we could never reach Him by ourselves).

Jesus called this the humility of a little child. God hides Himself from the wise and clever, He said, but reveals Himself to "babes" (Mt. 11:25). He was not denigrating our minds, for God has given them to us. Rather He was indicating how we are to use them. The true function of the mind is not to stand in judgement on God's Word but to sit in humility under it, eager to hear it, grasp it, apply it and obey it in the practicalities of daily living.

The humility of children is seen not only in the way they learn but also in the way they receive. Children are dependents. None of their possessions has been earned. All they have has been given to them freely. Like children, then, we are to "receive the kingdom of God" (Mk. 10:15). Sinners do not deserve and cannot earn eternal life, which is the life of God's kingdom; we have to humble ourselves to receive it as the free gift of God.

The above extract has been taken from the book "The Bible - Book for Today" by John R. W. Stott.

Dear brethren in Christ Jesus, I hope you have enjoyed reading these series as much as I have enjoyed sharing them to you. In the next session, I will be taking up with the topic "Chrsit & the Bible". Hoping to read your comments.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin

The Bible - Part IV

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

Glory to God most High, for ever and ever. I understand that this blog is coming a bit too late after the earlier post, but due to some circumstances I was unable to write and post this earlier. 

In the previous parts,  Part 1 and Part 2 (you may click on the link to go the said chapter to read in full) we learned that unless God takes the initiative to disclose what is in His mind, we shall never be able to find out. Unless God makes Himself known to us, we can never know Him. We also understood that God reveals Himself in two manners - first through Natural Revelation, where the Divine Artist has revealed Himself in the beauty, balance, intricacy and order of His creation and secondly through speech. Speech is the main model used in the Bible to illustrate God's self revelation. We understood that Scripture is God's Word, issuing from God's mouth.

In Part 3, we started to understand some of the qualifications to clarify our thoughts on how God spoke His Word and understood that His Word was closely related to His activity, that is He spoke to His people not  only through His words, but also through His deeds.

Now let us understand the second qualification. God's Word has come to us through human words. 

When we read the Bible, we can see that whenever God spoke, He usually did not shout audibly out of a clear blue sky. He spoke through prophets in the Old Testament and through the apostles in the New Testament. Moreover, these human agents of the revelation of God were real people. Did these speakers or writers ever have personal agenda? Did they lose their personality while writing the words of God? Were they reduced to being automatons or dictating machines or tape recorders?

Divine inspiration was not a mechanical process which reduced the human authors of the Bible to machines, whether dictating machines or tape recorders. Divine inspiration was a personal process, in which the human authors of the Bible were usually in full possession of their faculties. We only have to read the Bible in order to see that this is so. The writers of narrative (and there is a great deal of historical narrative in the Bible, Old and New Testament alike) used historical records. Some are quoted in the Old Testament. Luke tells us at the beginning of his Gospel of his own painstaking historical researches. Also, all the biblical authors developed their own distinctive literary styles and theological emphasis. Hence the rich diversity of Scripture. Nevertheless, through their varied approaches God Himself was speaking.

This truth of the double authorship of the Bible, namely, that it is the Word of God and the word of men, or more strictly the Word of God through the words of men, is the Bible's own account of itself. The Old Testament law, for example, is sometimes called "the law of Moses" and sometimes "the law of God" or "the law of the LORD". In Hebrews 1:1 we read that GOD spoke to the fathers through the prophets. In 2 Peter 1:21, however, we read that men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Thus God spoke and men spoke. They spoke from Him and He spoke through them. Both these affirmations are true.

Further, we must hold the two affirmations together. As in the incarnate Word (Jesus Christ), so in the written Word (the Bible), the divine and human elements combine and do not contradict one another. This analogy, which was developed quite early in the history of the church, is often criticized today. And obviously it is not exact, since Jesus was a person whereas the Bible is a book. Nevertheless, the analogy remains helpful, provided that we remember its limitations. For example, we must never affirm the deity of Jesus in such a way as to deny His humanity, nor affirm His humanity in such a way as to deny His deity. 

So with the Bible. On the one hand, the Bible is the Word of God. God spoke, deciding himself what He intended to say, yet not in such a way as to distort the personality of the human authors. On the other hand, the Bible is the word of men. Men spoke, using their faculties freely, yet not in such a way as to distort the truth of the divine message.

The double authorship of the Bible will affect the way in which we read it. Because it is the word of men, we shall study it like every other book - using our minds, investigating its words and syntax, its historical origins and its literary composition. But because it is also the Word of God, we shall study it like no other book - on our knees, humbly, crying to God for illumination and for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, without whom we can never understand His Word.

May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your ways.

Your brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

The Bible - Part III

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous session, Part 1 and Part 2, we learnt that unless God takes the initiative to disclose what is in His mind, we shall never be able to find out. Unless God makes Himself known to us, we can never know Him. We also understood that God reveals Himself in two manners - first through Natural Revelation, where the Divine Artist has revealed Himself in the beauty, balance, intricacy and order of His creation and secondly through speech. Speech is the main model used in the Bible to illustrate God's self revelation. We understood that Scripture is God's Word, issuing from God's mouth.

Having affirmed that God speaks through the Scriptures, now let us learn a few of the qualifications to clarify our understanding of how God spoke His Word...

First, God's Word (now recorded in Scripture) was closely related to His activity. Put differently, He spoke to His people by deeds as well as words. He made Himself known to Israel in their history, and so directed its development as to bring to Isrealites now His salvation, now His judgement. Thus, He rescued the people from their slavery in Egypt; He brought them safely across the desert and settled them in the promised land; He preserved their national identity through the period of judges; He gave them kings to rule over them, despite the fact that their demand for a human king was in part a repudiation of His own kingship; His judgement fell upon them for their persistent disobedience when they were deported into Babylonian exile; and then He restored them to their own land and enabled them to rebuild their nationhood and their temple. Above all, for us sinners and for our salvation, He sent His eternal Son, Jesus Christ, to be born, to live and work, to suffer and die, to rise and to pour out the Holy Spirit. Through these deeds, first in the Old Testament story but supremely in Jesus Christ, God was actively and personally revealing Himself.

For some theologians, it has been fashionable to distinguish between personal revelation (through God's deeds) and propositional revelation (through His words). There is no need for us to choose between these two media of revelation, as God used them both. Moreover, they are closely related to one another. For God's words interpreted His deeds. He raised up prophets to explain what He was doing to Israel, and He raised up apostles to explain what He was doing through Christ. It is true that the process of divine self-revelation culminated in the person of Jesus. He was God's Word made flesh. He showed forth the glory of God. To have seen Him was to have seen the Father (Jn. 1:14, 18; 14:9). Nevertheless, this historical and personal revelation would not have benefited us unless, along with it, God had unfolded for us the significance of the person and work of His Son.

We must, then, avoid the trap of setting personal and propositional revelation over against each other as alternatives. It is more accurate to say that God has revealed himself in Christ and in the biblical witness to Christ. Neither is complete without the other.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, we have now understood God has revealed Himself in all the activities that He has done in the Bible and Bible is a testimony for His activities. Both are together. In the next session, we will understand how God's Word has come to us through human words.

May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your ways. Have a blessed day ahead.

Source: The Bible Book for Today - John Stott

Your Brother n Christ Jesus

Jobin George

You may please get in touch with me with your thoughts and views on jobin.george2012@gmail.com

The Bible - Part II

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

I understand it has been a bit long after the previous post, but some work has been making me unable to spend more time blogging. In the previous part, Part 1, we learnt that unless God takes the initiative to disclose what is in His mind, we shall never be able to find out. Unless God makes Himself known to us, we can never know Him.

Now let us learn and understand how He reveals Himself to us.

My thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.

For so as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and snow come down from heaven,

and return not thither but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

-Isaiah 55:8-11

The Way of Revelation

Even though it is reasonable for God to reveal Himself, how has He done so? He has revealed Himself, in principle, in the same way that we reveal or disclose ourselves to one another, that is, by both works and words, by things we do and say.

Just as creative arts has always been the chief means of human expression, God is said to have "formed" or "fashioned" the earth, and mankind to dwell upon it (Gen 2:7; Ps. 8:3; Jer. 32:17). Moreover, He Himself is seen in His works. "The heavens are telling the glory of God," and "the whole earth is full of His glory" (Ps. 19:1; Is. 6:3). Or, as Paul writes near the beginning of Romans, "What can be known about God is plain to them (the Gentile world), because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature, namely, His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made" (Rom. 1:19-20).

In other words, just as human artists reveal themselves in their painting, sculpture, or music, so the Divine Artist has revealed Himself in the beauty, balance, intricacy and order of His creation. From it we learn, therefore, something of His wisdom, power and faithfulness. This is usually referred to as natural revelation because it has bee given in and through nature.

Though this is not what prophet Isaiah text refers to in Isaiah 55:8-11, he refers to the second and more direct way in which we make ourselves known to one another and God has made Himself known to us, namely, through words. Speech is the fullest and most flexible means of communication between two human beings. Speech is the best means of communication and speech is the main model used in the Bible to illustrate Go's self-revelation. Notice in thee text, verses 10-11: "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and ... water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be." Notice the second reference to heaven and earth? It is because the heavens are higher than the earth that the rain comes down from heaven to water the earth.Notice also that the writer goes straight from the thoughts in the mind of God to the words in the mouth of God: "So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall... accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it." The parallel is plain. As the heavens are higher than the earth, but the rain comes down from heaven to water the earth, so God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, but they come down to us because His word goes forth from His mouth and thus conveys His thoughts to us. As the prophet had said earlier, "The mouth of the LORD has spoken" (Is. 40:5). He was referring to one of his own oracles, but described it as a message coming out of the mouth of God. Or, as Paul wrote to Timothy, "All scripture is God-breathed (the literal translation of theopneustos)" (2 Tim. 3:16). That is, Scripture is God's Word, issuing from God's mouth.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous session, we understood that God's thoughts are so higher than ours that we cannot comprehend them without His help and allowance. Now we understood two ways in which God reveals His thoughts - one though the natural works of His hands which shows the grandeur and magnificence of hiss thoughts and secondly, through the Holy Scriptures, which is the Bible. In the next session, we will understand some of the qualifications of hos God spoke His Word.

May the Lord Almighty bless you and guide you to walk along His paths, and please do keep this sinful brother in your prayers.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

P.S. You may contact me with your suggestions, recommendations and views on jobin.george2012@gmail.com

Source: The Bible - Book for Today - John Stott

The Bible - Part 1

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

We all know the Bible. If the Bible needs any introduction, then this might be how it can be said - 

The only book that continues to the world best-seller, throughout the ages. Total number of Bibles printed has crossed 6,001,500,000 and it has been translated and is being translated to 2000+ languages. But what intrigues me and saddens me most is that even though the Bible as a book is a best seller, it is most probably the most neglected book.

Many people buy it, but it is then placed in some corner of the house, never to be read and understood. Even in some churches we find that the knowledge of the Bible is abysmal. We are neither saying our prayers, nor reading the Bible except when we are in some terrifying emergency. We neither enter our churches on a weekly basis, except for a baptism, marriage or a funeral or for some feasts. Few parents read the Bible to their children, let alone teach them out of it. Few church members make a practice of daily Bible meditation.

Where have we lost the importance of the Bible? Why is the Bible lost its importance? In the earlier ages, people were ready to die for spreading the Bible. Where has the zeal to know about God lost? Is it because we do not know whether the Bible is an authentic book? Is it because we do not know how to authenticate the Bible? In this current series, I would like to put some light on the theological aspect on how the Bible corroborates with the thoughts of God, Jesus & Holy Spirit. I will share the historical validity of the Bible in another series.

Hope you would love to know more about the Bible and I hope and pray that this neglected book changes your life with the person names Jesus Christ, whom it testifies to.

GOD & THE BIBLE

My thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.

For so as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and snow come down from heaven,

and return not thither but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

-Isaiah 55:8-11

We might question sometimes, why should the God who created the whole universe reveal Himself? How can He do so? I would like to answer this by stating an example. Most people in every age have felt baffled by the mysteries of the human life and human experience. So most people have admitted that they need wisdom from outside themselves if they are ever to fathom the meaning of their own being. Hence, the evident necessity of divine revelation makes the notion eminently reasonable.

Without revelation, without divine instruction and direction, we human beings feel ourselves to be like a boat drifting rudderless on the high seas, like a leaf that is being tossed helplessly by the wind, like a blind person groping in the darkness. How can we find our way? More importantly, how can we find God's way without His direction? Just as Isaiah 55:8-9 says, there is a great gulf between God's mind and human minds. There is a great chasm between the our ways and thoughts and between the ways and thoughts of God. The thoughts of God are as high as the heavens than the earth: that means infinity.

How can we discover God's thoughts or read His mind? We can't even read each other's minds. We try to. We look into each other's faces to see if they are smiling or frowning, we peer into each other's eyes. But in the end it is a risky business. Then how much more impossible is it for us to know and penetrate the thoughts of the Almighty God? His mind is infinite. His thoughts are tower above our thoughts just as the heavens tower over the earth. There is no ladder by which our little minds could climb to His infinite mind. There is no bridge that we can throw across this chasm of infinity. There is no way to reach or fathom God.

It is then only reasonable to say that unless God takes the initiative to disclose what is on His mind we shall never be able to find out. Unless God makes himself known to us, we can never know Him, and all the world's altars - like the one Paul saw in Athens - will bear the tragic expression "To an unknown god" (Acts 17:23).

This is the place to begin our study. It is the place of humility before the infinite God. It is also the place of wisdom, as we perceive the reasonableness of the idea of revelation.

Dear brethren in Christ Jesus, hope you would start knowing the infinite God through the Bible. May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your views.

Your brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

P.S. You may contact me with your queries on jobin.george2012@gmail.com

Sources:

The Bible, Book for Today - John R W Stott

Bible Statistics: http://www.statisticbrain.com/bibles-printed/

Demands of Jesus - REPENT - Part 3

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous session, Part 2 we understood that sin is an assault on God and dishonors Him and puts us in debt to Him to make our relationship right with Him. We also understood that repenting is experiencing a change of mind so that we can see God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience. This change of mind also embraces Jesus in the same way, because He came from the Father and He and the Father are one.

But do we all need to repent? If so why? Let us learn about it.

THE UNIVERSAL NEED FOR REPENTANCE

No one is excluded from Jesus' demand to repent. He made this clear when a group of people came to him with news of two calamities. Innocent people had been killed by Pilate's massacre and by the fall of the tower of Siloam (Luke 13:1-4). Jesus took the occasion to warn even the bearers of the news: "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5). In other words, don't think calamities mean that some people are sinners in need of repentance and others aren't. All need repentance. Just as all need to be born again (John 3:7), so all must repent because all are sinners.

When Jesus said, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32), he did not mean that some persons are good enough not to need repentance. he meant some think they are (Luke 18:9), and others have already repented and have been set right with God. For example, the rich young ruler desired "to justify himself" (Luke 10:29), while "the tax collector... beat his breast, saying 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner! [and he] went down to his house justified [by God]" (Luke 18:13-14).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

We now understood why there is a universal need for repentance, because not one of us is righteous enough to stand in the face of Jesus, save one - Jesus. We may think that we are not sinners in our deeds, which are  seen by everyone, but we sin in our thoughts - the only place that is seen by God. Jesus came down from Heaven to set us right with God, and to be set right with Him, we need to repent of our sins and come anew. We must be washed in His blood and become as white as newly fallen snow. Let us try to repent of our sinful thoughts and deeds and come and enjoy the presence of our Savior King.

May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your ways.

Your brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

Source: What Jesus Demands from the World - John Piper

Demands of Jesus - REPENT - Part 2

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous session, we understood what is repentance. We also understood that repentance is not the new deeds, but the inward change that bears the fruit of new deeds. And Jesus was demanding such a change in us. Now let us understand WHY?

SIN: AN ASSAULT ON GOD

Why? His answer is that we are sinners. "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). What was Jesus' view of sin? In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus describes the son's sin like this: "He squandered his property in reckless living... (and) devoured (it) with prostitutes" (Luke 15:13, 30). But when the prodigal repents he says, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Luke 15:21). Therefore, throwing away your life away on reckless living and prostitutes is not just humanly hurtful; it is an offence against heaven- that is, against God. That is the essential nature of sin. It is an assault on God.

We see this again in the way Jesus taught His disciples to pray. He said that they should pray, "Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us" (Luke 11:4). In other words, sins that God forgives are compared to the ones people commit against us, and those are called debts. Therefore, Jesus' view of sin is that it dishonors God and puts us in debt to restore the divine honor we had defamed by our God-belittling behavior or attitudes. Later we will see how that debt gets paid by Jesus himself (Mark 10:45). But for us to enjoy that gift he says we must repent.

Repenting means experiencing a change of mind so that we can see God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience. This change of mind also embraces Jesus in the same way. We know this because Jesus said, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God" (John 8:42). Seeing God with a new mind includes seeing Jesus with a new mind.

Dear brethren in Jesus, hope you all enjoyed a fruitful reading and understanding on sin and how it is an assault on God and why we should repent of the same. Hoping that this would change your view of the sins we commit and come back to God and honor Him with all our heart, soul, mind and body.

May the loving God always have compassion on you and may He bless you all the days of your life.

Your Brother in Jesus

Jobin George

Demands of Jesus - REPENT - Part 1

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus
It has been a long time since I last posted here. In the last few sessions, we finished learning about Jesus' demands on not to be anxious and to always pray. Now let us move to one of Jesus' first demands- to repent.

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." - Matt. 4:17

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. - Luke 5:32

Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. - Luke 13:3,5

The first demand of Jesus' ministry was, "Repent". He spoke this command indiscriminately to all who would listen. It was a call for radical inward change toward God and man.

WHAT IS REPENTANCE?

Two things show us that repentance is an internal change of mind and heart rather than mere sorrow for sin or mere improvement of behavior. First, the meaning of the Greek word  behind the English "repent" (metanoia) points in this direction. It has two parts: meta and noia. The second part (noia) reffers to the mind and its thoughts and perceptions and dispositions and purposes. The first part (meta) is a prefix that regularly means movement or change. In view of the way ths prefix regularly functions, we may infer that the basic meaning of repent is to exercise a change of the mind's perceptions and dispositions and purposes.

The other factor that points to this meaning of repent is the way Luke 3:8 describes the relationship between repentance and new behavior. It says, "Bear fruits in keeping with repentance." Then it gives examples of the fruits: "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise" (Luke 3:11). This means that repenting is what happens inside of us. Then this change leads to the fruits of new behavior. Repentance is not the new deeds, but the inward change that bears the fruit of new deeds. Jesus is demanding that we experience this inward change.

In the next session, we will see why Jesus demands that we experience this change in ourselves. May the Lord Almighty bless you all and keep you in all your ways.

Please do uphold me in your prayers.

Your Brother in Jesus Christ

Jobin George

P.S. The above extract has been taken from the book "What Jesus demands from the World" by John Piper.

Demands of Jesus - Always Pray and Do Not Lose Heart - 5

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

Greetings and peace to you all in the name of the Almighty name of Jesus Christ. In the last session, Part 4 we learned HOW to pray. We learned that we should pray with Faith and that we should not pray for the praise of others. Now let us concentrate on FOR WHOM are we to pray exactly? And WHAT should we pray?

FOR WHOM?

For whom does Jesus demand that we are pray? Of course it is for ourselves, is it because we are deserving? Prayer has nothing to do with deserving, it's all about mercy. We pray for ourselves because we are weak. We are so prone to sin and utterly dependent on preserving grace to sustain our flawed obedience. "Pray then like this," Jesus said, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matt. 6:9,13). That is a prayer for ourselves first, since we know our own frailty and vulnerability better than anyone. Then it is a prayer for the other followers of Jesus and the world.

Praying for self does not allow us to exclude others from our prayers. When Jesus tells us to pray, "Hallowed be Your Name" (Matt. 6:9), He means that we should pray this for anyone who does not yet hallow God's name. And if our selfish hearts should think of some adversary that we do not like, Jesus is unsparing - these too must be blessed in our prayers. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt. 5:44); "bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you" (Luke 6:28). None must be excluded from our love, and none may be excluded from our prayers.

WHAT?

Finally, what does Jesus demand that we pray? What are we to ask the Father to do? Jesus' summary answer is called the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13).

Our Father in Heaven,

1. hallowed be Your Name.
2. Your kingdom come ,
3. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
4. Give us this day our daily bread,
5. and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
6. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

We pray for ourselves and for other followers of Jesus and for the world (1) that we should reverence and cherish the name of God above things. This is the first function of prayer - to pray that people would pursue the glory of God.

(2) We pray that God's saving, purifying, Jesus-exalting rule would hold sway in our lives and would finally come in universal manifestation and extent.

(3) We pray that we would do the will of God the way the angels do it n heaven - namely, without hesitation and full of zeal and thoroughness.

(4) We pray for the practical provisions of body and mind that make an earthly life of obedience possible.

(5) We pray for forgiveness for our daily failures to honor God as we ought. That is, we ask God to apply to us each day the perfect redemption that Jesus obtained once for all when He died on the cross.

(6) We pray that God would protect us from the evil one and from the temptations that would bring us to ruin and weaken our witness for Him.

The Lord's Prayer shows us the astonishing nature of prayer. It puts in the position of greatest importance the prayer for God's Name to be glorified, God's kingdom to advance and triumph, and God's will to be accomplished on the earth the way it's happening in heaven. This means that God intends to use human prayers to accomplish His most ultimate and universal purposes. For example, Jesus tells us to pray for workers that will be required to spread the gospel to all the nations. "Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Matt. 9:38). Yet nothing is more certain than that the kingdom of God will triumph. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it... this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matt. 16:18; 24:14). There is no uncertainty about the triumph of God. Nevertheless, in God's providence it depends on human prayer.

This implies that prayer is not only a duty of man but a gift of God. Jesus will awaken in His people the spirit of prayer that asks for everything it will take to accomplish God's purposes in the world. The prayers of Jesus' followers and the purposes of God will not fail.

Source: What Jesus Demands from the World - John Piper

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin 

Demands of Jesus - Always Pray and Do Not Lose Heart - 4

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous session, we were learning on "HOW" we should pray. If we look back to Part 3, we learned on how to pray with Simplicity, Perseverance and to pray through Jesus' death and in His Name. Today, let us understand on How we should pray with Faith.

HOW? With FAITH

"Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith" (Matt. 21:22; Mark 11:24) we can say that Jesus wants us to pray with faith. Some have taken verses and like this and turned them into the power of positive thinking. They believe that if we can be confident that something will happen, it will indeed happen. But that would be faith in our faith. When Jesus teaches us how to "move mountains" by faith, He says explicitly, "Have faith in God" (Mark 11:22). There  seem to be times when God makes clear to us that His will is to do a particular thing. In that case we may be perfectly confident that very thing will be done. In that sense Jesus says to us, "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24). It is God who does it, and our belief rests on Him and His revealed will. Otherwise, we would be God, and He would run the universe according to our will, not His.

Jesus makes it clear that there is a kind of filter that our prayers must pass through in order to be sure that they are according to God's will. "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7). Here Jesus' promise is more clearly qualified than in Mark 11:24. Are we trusting in Him as our all-supplying vine? And are His words shaping our minds and hearts so that we discern how to pray according to His wisdom?

Praying in faith does not always mean being sure that the very thing we ask will happen. But it does always mean that because of Jesus we trust God to hear us and help us in the way that seems best to Him. It may mean that He gives us just what we ask, or that He gives us something better. Will a father give a son a stone if he asks for bread? No. But neither will he give him bread if it is moldy. He may give him cake. Sometimes God's answers will overwhelm us with their excess. Other times they taste more like medicine than food and will test our faith that this medicine is really what we need.

HOW? Not for the Praise of Others

In view all that we learnt, it should be clear that the reward of prayer comes from God, not man. But Jesus shows us that the human heart is capable of turning the most beautifully Godward act in a manward direction and ruining it. He warns us:

When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Mark 6:5-6)

Jesus hates hypocrisy - like appearing to love God when what you really love is the praise of man. His most disparaging language was reserved for "hypocrites". He called them children of hell, "blind guides", "full of greed and self-indulgence", "whitewashed tombs" (Matt.23:15, 24, 25, 27). The demand is unmistakable: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy" (Luke 12:1). The implication for prayer (ad fasting and alms-giving, Matt. 6:1-4, 16-18) is: Treasure God, and all that He will be for you, in prayer; but do not treasure the praise of man. And most of all do not turn a God-treasuring act of prayer into a man-treasuring act of hypocrisy.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, we have now completed on the how we are to pray. Hope you all enjoyed reading and understanding Jesus' words on how to pray. In the next session, I would take up for whom to pray. May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your ways. 

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin

Demands of Jesus - Always Pray and Do Not Lose Heart - 3

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

We have been learning about the demand of Jesus to pray. In the previous session, Part 1 & Part 2, we received an answer to our why we should pray, Jesus says: because God is very much inclined to hear and answer our prayers - which is not surprising, since prayer is designed to magnify God's glory while sustaining our joy in Him. Now let us understand on How we are to pray...

HOW? Simplicity

The readiness of God to answer and His perfect knowledge of what we need before we ask means that we should be simple in our wording and reject anything like a repetitive mantra that would imply God is aroused by our monotonous incantations. "When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him" (Matt.6:7-8).

HOW? With Perseverance

This does not mean that there is no room for perseverance in prayer. In fact, Jesus is explicit in telling us to be persistent in prayer over a long period of time, if necessary, as we seek some crucial breakthrough in the cause of righteousness for His glory (Luke 11:5-8; 18:1-8). The point is not to finally break God's resistance but to discover, by patient prayer, God's wisdom as to the way and time the prayer should be answered. He is not disinclined to help His children and glorify His name. He simply knows better than we do when and how the answer should come. Therefore, our persistence in prayer shows both our confidence that God is our only hope and that He will act in the best way and the best time in response to our persistent pleas.

HOW? Through His Death and In His Name

The confidence that we have in prayer is owing to Jesus. He did not just teach us to pray - He died for us and rose again to remove insuperable obstacles to prayer. Without the death of Jesus, our sins would not be forgiven (Matt. 26:28) and the wrath of God would still be against us (John 3:36). In that condition we could expect no answers to prayer from God. Therefore, Jesus is the ground of all our prayers. This is why He taught us to pray in His Name. "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13; 16:23-24). Ending our prayers "in Jesus' name, Amen' is not a mere tradition; it is an affirmation of faith in Jesus as the only hope of access to God.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I know stop here. We have understood 3 aspects on How we are to pray to our Father in Heaven. May the grace of our Father, the love of our Savior Jesus, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be a guidance unto us to keep on praying on our knees and in our hearts. Please do keep our spiritual fathers, especially our father, H. G. Zachariah Mar Theophilus, who is undergoing treatment for cancer in US  and please do keep me a sinful servant in your prayers.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin

Source: What Jesus Demands from the World - John Piper