Why the Crucifixion?

 Why the Crucifixion?

In the Gospel of Luke we read,

“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  

The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." 

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  

But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God.  

You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God" Luke 1:26-32.

This portion of scripture is fulfilled at the end of Luke’s gospel and approximately 33 years later Luke stating,

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?  

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  

‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' "  

Then they remembered his words. 

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.  

It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.” Luke 24:1-10.

The one thing that differentiates Christianity and other faiths is the fact we believe Jesus was crucified for our sins, died, then rose from the grave. That he walked the earth and was seen by many people and eventually rose into heaven.

The apostle Paul telling us,

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.

In the suffering of Jesus we see just how far in human terms that God would go to show you the way to heaven and eternal life.

The apostle John writing,

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."1John 1:9. 

If you were to die tonight where would you spend eternity.

Please think about it.

Glorify The Lord with me

Glorify The Lord with me
The Psalmist writes,

"I will extol the LORD at all times; 

his praise will always be on my lips. 

My soul will boast in the LORD; 

let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 

Glorify the LORD with me; 

let us exalt his name together." 

                                            Psalm 34:1-3.

What has always amazed me over the years is that even when true Christians are in the worst of circumstances they trust in God. Even praise Him. We see such a thing recorded in the book of Act when Paul and Silas were in jail. Acts records,
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25.
We also see in the book of Acts Peter and another apostle who had just been flogged praising God. The book of acts recording,
"The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. (of Jesus)"  Acts 5:41.
Such a thing is still happening today. There are many Christians around the world who are in prison or being persecuted for their faith yet they still trust and praise God.
It doesn’t stop with being persecuted for their faith. There are many followers of Christ who are going through health, even financial, and personal problems that continue to trust in God.
They don’t praise God for the bad things they are enduring. They praise God for being there for them and getting them through the bad times.
They praise God that their witness for Christ was worthy of his calling.
If you consider yourself a Christian. A true believer in Christ Jesus, do you praise God in all circumstances, good, or bad?
Please think about it.

Words from The First and The Last

Words from The First and The Last

The book of revelations records,
“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.
   I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.  
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.”Revelations 2:8-11 
As I noted in my previous blog through the book of Revelations Jesus speaks to seven churches.
Scholars have noted that these churches can be taken as symbolic of churches even church movements, that are around today and have existed throughout history. Additionally they can be personalized by individuals.
The Second church mentioned is Smyrna. That was located at a major port city just north of Ephesus. The Imperial Roman cult was presence in the city as was a large number of Jews.
Here Jesus identifies Himself as “the First and the Last, “who died and came to life again.”
He notes that the church has gone through affliction and poverty yet is rich. It notes that they are slandered by people claiming to be Jews but were not.
It also offers words of comfort for anyone undergoing persecution for their faith today saying,
“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” 
Today around the world there are churches and individuals who are as one person said “in dangerous neighbourhoods”. Areas of the world where being a follower of Jesus Christ can get you put in jail, attacked or even murdered.
It is said one Christian is murdered for their faith every seven minutes somewhere in the world. Many more are put in prison.
If you are a Christian living in the west that is not undergoing persecution take time to remember the persecuted church. Men and Women who are suffering for their faith. Take time to pray and if you are in the western democracies especially write to your member of parliament, or prime minister. Ask them to bring up the plight of persecuted Christians. It can’t hurt but it may just do a lot of good.
Perhaps even bring up to your pastor and Church congregation the need to keep praying and doing what you can to help believers in Christ that are being persecuted.
Please think about it.

On Suffering

On Suffering

Allen R. Hunt wrote,
“Suffering often draws us closer to God. Instead of being a sign of God's punishment or distance, suffering can purify us, lead us into the heart of God, and transform our souls.”
Honestly I don’t know why we suffer. The only explanation I have is that it is because of choices we or others make.
Those who are suffering because of war for example suffer because of the decisions some politician or rebel leader.
Those who are suffering from an illness is because of our environment, genetic disposition or simply the lack of societies will to pump sufficient funds into research to find a cure or man’s inability to find a cure for things.
Suffering however can do one of two things to us. It can draw us closer to God or push us away.
Some people actually believe suffering is a sign we have a loving God,
Peter John Kreeft ph.d said,
“think about that. How is it possible that over ninety percent of all human beings who have ever lived usually in far more painful circumstances than we, could believe in God? 
The objective evidence, just looking at the balance of pleasure and suffering in the world, would not seem to justify believing in an absolutely good God. Yet this has been almost universally believed.”
                            Peter John Kreeft ph.d 
I for one believe in a loving and caring God, even though I live with an incurable illness. An illness that can only be controlled with medication.
My wife who was the victim of child sexual abuse and now lives with other physical illnesses that restrict her movements still believes in a loving caring God.
Both of us get up in the morning and thank God we have another day to be with our family and friends.
We thank God for all the good things that have happened to us over the sixty years we’ve been on this earth.
I know we are not alone. Many of our friends have gone through rough times. Fights with cancer and other serious illnesses. And through all of this they have thanked God for their blessings.
All of us have hope. A hope in God and in the Salvation that can only come through His one and Only Son, Jesus Christ.
   We believe the Words of Jesus who said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 
                                    Matthew 11:28-30.
Do you? 
Think about it.

Of God, Faith and Works

Of God, Faith and Works
Peter J. Kreeft said,
“think about that. How is it possible that over ninety percent of all human beings who have ever lived usually in far more painful circumstances than we, could believe in God? The objective evidence, just looking at the balance of pleasure and suffering in the world, would not seem to justify believing in an absolutely good God. Yet this has been almost universally believed.”
                      Peter John Kreeft ph.d 
He also states,
“The evidence is that God is all-powerful. The point to remember is that creating a world where there’s free will and no possibility of sin is self contradiction and opens the door to people choosing evil over God, with suffering being the result. The overwhelming majority of pain in the world is cause by our choices to kill, to slander, to be selfish, to stray sexually, to break our promises, to be reckless.”
         Peter John Kreeft ph.d.
In short we bring pain on ourselves and quite often on innocent people because of our choices. War be it global or local conflicts is drastic evidence of this.
Politicians and radical extremists make war and innocent men, women and children pay the price. Over fifty six million in world war two alone. Millions more in so called “dirty wars” since.
Even as I write this there are thousands dying because of radicals who have no regard for life.
War aside we as individuals bring grief on ourselves by the choices we make. Be they anything from smoking cigarettes to engaging in dangerous behaviour.
Our politicians who have the power to effect change to end suffering for the most needy and vulnerable in the world choose not to effect change largely because of politics.
God gave us free will and depending on how we use that free will, will determine where we will spend eternity.
While salvation is a free gift offered to all people we must reach out and receive that free gift. We must also I believe do our best to help our fellow man be we Christian or not.
Jesus said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” 
                                                           John 3:16-18
He also said,
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 
“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 
                                                                                                             Matthew 25:34-46.
James writes,
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  
If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.... " 
                                              James 2:14-18
God, I believe will one day judge both believers and non-believers.
When we stand before Him we will not be able to deny His existence. At that moment the words of Hebrews will ring true for that person.
The writer of Hebrews writing,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
                                                                         Hebrews 11:6
Faith being defined as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 
                                                                                                         Hebrews 11:1
Do you believe in God?
Do you do what you can to help those in need?
Think about it.