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He is a New Creation

As the road is wide that leads to destruction, much of mankind are caterpillars concerned with things below.  It’s when one realizes a need, turns, and obeys the gospel that he enters Christ through baptism and changes to be born a member of Christ’s body the church.  From there the butterfly … erm, Christian … walks (or flies–to keep the illustration consistent) as Jesus did upon that narrow road that leads to eternal life.

I.  Romans 5:18-21.  Sin marred the image of God that we were created in, but Christ was the perfect image of God who lived perfectly and then died so that in Him we could be restored to that perfection (Romans 6:1-14).  When we enter the chrysalis of Christ, we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17-19).

II.  Colossians 3:1-17.  God’s ways and thoughts are so much above our own (Isaiah 55:8-9), yet in Him we are united with him and change to live differently.  Our minds and hearts need to be set on things above, not on earthly things.  After all, butterflies have wings and do not have the concerns of caterpillars.

III.  Ephesians 2:4-10.  The flutter (collective noun for a group of butterflies) that make up the bride of Christ works (obedient living) for the Bridegroom, walks as the Bridegroom (1 John 2:3-6) does, watches for the Bridegroom (Luke 21:34-36), and waits for the Bridegroom (Hebrews 9:27-28).

Jesus has made us to be a new creation as we enter the chrysalis of His body, the church, and are reborn as something entirely different.  Why live as if we don’t have wings?

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Gave Him as Head Over All

As I’ve taught my four kids how to drive, I’ve wished for a brake on the floor of the passenger side of my vehicle.  It’s just so hard to give up control over many realms of our lives–but especially when it comes to spiritual things.  Allowing Jesus to be lord or head over us is difficult.

In answer to the popular bumper sticker, “God is my co-pilot,” Christians who understand this principle of Jesus as head have said, “If God is your co-pilot, switch seats.”  This doesn’t mean at all that God should control us as robots, but rather that we need to live our lives in submission to Him.

I.  Ephesians 1:15-23.  Our Head is exalted above every name.  All other churches, groups, clubs, organizations, and businesses are temporal.  Many do a lot of good in the world for a lot of people, but when one day the elements melt in the heat, all of them will be gone.  Only the church that Jesus promised to build (Matthew 16:18) and bought with His blood (Acts 20:28), His bride, His body is eternal.  God invests so much, including His great power, into those who make up His body.

II.  Matthew 8:8-10.  For the church, our Head is over all things.  All authority in heaven and on earth was given to Jesus through His death, burial, and resurrection.  Even sinners will be put under His feet in the Judgment to come (Hebrews 10:12-14).  He understands what it means to be our Head, but we struggle to submit to our Head.  Sin and selfishness or adding or taking away from our Head’s Word exalts ourselves as Head over us, no matter how we justify it to ourselves.

III.  2 Peter 1:3-4.  Our Head’s body is the fullness of Him who fills all in all.  In all other groups, there is a separation between the management and the workers.  Not so in the one eternal organization, the Lord’s church.  Using marriage to illustrate the relationship of the Head to His body (Ephesians 5:22-24), we understand that Jesus gives us every blessing so that we may be partakers of the divine nature.  In other words, He fills us and we are His fullness.

Now that is a Head that we can freely submit ourselves to!  His bride does submit to the Bridegroom.  The big question is–are we as individuals submitting to our Head to be part of His bride?

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Obtained with His Own Blood

When my dad would leave for his two weeks’ active duty in the Navy Reserves every year, he would tell me I needed to be “the man of the house” and take care of my mother.  He didn’t expect me to take care of things that were beyond an eight year-old like fixing the washing machine or drive to the store for milk, but it didn’t stop me having fantasies of wrestling a robber to the ground in the middle of the night to save mom.

In many ways, Jesus wants us to take care of His bride, the church, until He returns.

I.  Ephesians 5:25-27.  As Paul spoke with the Ephesian elders, he states that Jesus’ church was “obtained with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).  Like a medieval knight battling a dragon to rescue the princess, Jesus overcame sin and death on the cross to win those who would be His.  The church is His bride, His treasured possession, that He gave Himself for.  He died for His greatest love!

II.  Hebrews 13:7-17.  Jesus obtained His bride with His blood, but He has gone to prepare a place for her (John 14:1-3), and entrusted her to shepherds.  Speaking to those same elders, Paul states that they are to “care for the church” (Acts 20:28).  Like my dad trusted me to care for my mother while he was away, the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-16) entrusts His greatest love with shepherds under Him.

III.  Revelation 19:7-8.  Every bride needs to make herself ready for her wedding day!  The church is no exception.  When the bells ring, it is not time to roll out of bed.  Knowing that our Knight, our King of Kings, has shed His blood for us to rescue us from such a foe (Revelation 5:9-14), we must don our fine linen (righteous acts) and be eagerly waiting for Him when He returns for us (Hebrews 9:28).

Are you by obedience and repentance making yourself ready for when the groom comes for His bride?

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Fling Out the Sons of Faith

A prayer of thanks, beside your loving Word,
Beside your saving works of power, O God,
Is little enough, though from a thankful heart —
In all our need, your mercy stands apart.

What grace received, in Christ, and every gift,
What spiritual change, what holy Spirit to lift
Our souls from dark and weary bondage — Lord!
By every man and woman let Christ be heard!

Fling out the sons of faith, that all may hear
The blessed News of grace, and come to fear
Your Name. Let countless prayers of thanks abound!
Let angels sing with joy, the lost are found!

Fling out across the islands, waters, and lands,
And if themselves refuse to cross the sands
And seas to reach the unsaved — O Lord, then raise
A holy nation, a people who follow your ways!

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New Covenant in My Blood

Apparently in the religious world at large, some suggest that Jesus’ plans to establish His Kingdom were thwarted by wicked men who put Him on the cross, and so He had to establish His church instead.  Ridiculous on so many levels, this false idea is easily refuted through a look at the new covenant that Jesus said He was establishing through His blood.

I. Acts 2:22-24.  How would you ever surprise an omniscient and omnipresent God with a surprise party?  Yet, at the base of this false teaching is the idea that man somehow tricked God, that the One who breathed everything into existence was derailed by wicked men who were too clever for Him.  The cross was done through God’s purpose and foreknowledge as evidenced by how often Jesus spoke of His impending death.

II. Luke 24:25-27.  What a Bible study the two disciples must have had when the resurrected Christ revealed ALL the Old Testament scriptures that spoke about His suffering, death, and resurrection!  Among them must have been the fulfillment of the Passover (Exodus 12:5-11) and the eyewitness-like descriptions of Him on the cross in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 recorded centuries before He came in the flesh.

III. Jeremiah 31:31-34.  Perhaps the most convincing was the prophet’s description of the new covenant that God would make with His people, its hallmark forgiveness of sins and knowing God.  Jesus announces that that is what is being established at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19-22) with plenty of time to avoid the cross if that truly indeed was what God was trying to do.  Indeed, the new covenant, as with the old one, was established through blood (Hebrews 9:16-28).

Many passages use Kingdom and church interchangeably, but the establishment of the new covenant through the blood of the perfect Lamb truly shows that the church is His Kingdom on earth.  Have you entered the new covenant with God through Jesus’ blood being shed for you?

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The blessing of the family of faith

Father of us all —

Praise to you for your wisdom and for the salvation you have brought to us in Jesus the Lord.

We thank you for showing us the way and for the revelation that has come to us by your Holy Spirit.

What a blessing to be a part of the family of faith! Help us to exercise all restraint, patience, and tolerance toward our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Teach us how to forgive others, from the forgiveness we receive daily through the Cross of Christ.

Thank you for blessing our lives through the gifts that are exercised in the body of Christ. Bless us that we might be a blessing to others.

Make our time together this day to be edifying. May our love be strengthened for each other, genuine, sincere, and dedicated. Jog our memory around the Table, that we might humbly receive your presence and rejoice in your goodness.

By the power of Jesus’ life, Amen.

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Meetings that reach mind, emotions and will

Lord, make this a blessed day for edifying the saints. Put in our hearts to serve you and to seek out every opportunity for doing good. Make us see the good that can be done by being present with the family of faith.

Help us all to ask what we can do to serve and encourage one another. Put a needy brother or sister in our path.

Help us to use our time today in preparation for making our meeting informative, inspiring, and motivating. May our meetings in this way reach the mind, the emotions, and the will.

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When the church meets

Lord of life and loving Savior, on this day when the church meets together according to the commandment of Jesus Christ,

  • Let me be useful to the eternal kingdom;
  • Show me someone who is in need of spiritual guidance;
  • Help me to be a friend to a lonely person;
  • Put me in the path of someone who is seeking the way to you;
  • Give me wisdom to speak words of comfort and hope;
  • Make my joy and peace to shine as evidence of your salvation;
  • Let my purpose today be to edify others and to glorify you.
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War won by privates

General Eisenhower once rebuked one of his generals for referring to a soldier as “just a private.” He reminded him that the army could function better without its generals than it could without its foot soldiers. “If this war is won,” he said, “it will be won by privates.” In the same way, it is the common, servant-like believer who becomes the very backbone of the body of Christ. We are often overly impressed by our great evangelists and superstar Bible teachers and leaders who stand before large crowds, but if the glorious message of the person and work of Christ is to reach the world, it will be done by a church that functions as bondslaves of the Savior (cf. Luke 12:15; Luke 12:32; 2 Peter 2:19; 1 John 3:17). —J. Hampton Keathley

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The Saints Are People Just Like Me

The saints are people just like me:
A mix of passion and holy desire,
A fight between the world and heaven,
Decision to make your will prevail,
Commitment to follow the risen Lord.
Make my love for them sincere,
Devotion to your people strong,
Unfeigned and brotherly, deep and pure.
Among us, Lord, be honored and praised,
Your exalted name be glorified,
As we, together, walk in faith,
In fellowship of eternal tones.