DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 5.13.16

Jesus Is the Word
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1, 14)

 

Most of us would be familiar with the Greek term used by God to convey this unique title of the Lord Jesus: logos. Its basic meaning is “that which can be communicated.” Sometimes it is used to embrace a collection of ideas expressed in a speech, or a thought in the sense of an idea, or the logic behind a concept.

 

Jesus is all of that: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). Not only did the Lord Jesus declare what the Father said but what the Father was like. It is obvious that Jesus was the Spokesperson: “Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak” (John 12:50). “Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

 

Much of the active ministry of the Lord Jesus was doing what God would do. His healing, His preaching, His gracious ministry to the poor and needy were all a pictue of what God was like. But the miracles, the works of creation, were absolutely the “declaration” of God. Turning water into wine, feeding the 5,000, creating a new hand and new eyes—only the Creator could do that. In fact, Jesus said, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake” (John 14:11).

 

Jesus is the Word of God in every sense that can be spoken, understood, seen, and experienced (Colossians 2:9). HMM III

 

Things Worth Knowing “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)   Although the book of 1 John is well known for its use of the word “love,” various words, such as “know,” “perceive,” and “behold,” occur almost as often.   Several of these words refer to the work of Christ in salvation. “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins” (1 John 3:5). “We know that we have passed from death unto life” (1 John 3:14), and “hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). This knowledge brings great comfort and assurance: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).   This knowledge should bring us into a life of submission and service: “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1 John 2:5). Similarly, “he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us” (1 John 3:24; see also 1 John 4:13).   This gives us confidence in prayer: “And this is the confidence that we have in him, . . . if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, . . . we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:14-15).   The culmination of a life marked by salvation, assurance, empowering, and victory will be that we will be with Him and be like Him. “Behold [same word as ‘know’], what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). JDM

The Indwelling Holy Spirit
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:9)

 

Note that in this one verse the Holy Spirit is called both “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of Christ.” Thus, the two terms are synonymous, which means that Christ is God, and so is the Holy Spirit.

 

Note also that we “have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). In fact, our text assures each of us that we are actually living “in the Spirit,” because He has come to “dwell in you.” All of this has come about “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, . . . by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5). This glorious new birth, with sins forgiven and eternal life, is accomplished by the Holy Spirit in response to our faith in Christ as Savior and Lord.

 

But also note that “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” It is absolutely vital that we have the Holy Spirit, “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). The question is, just how do we know that we have the Holy Spirit?

 

The answer is, because His Word says so! “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,” said Jesus, “hath everlasting life” (John 5:24). Furthermore, we have the testimony of internal peace and assurance. “The Spirit [Himself] beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16).

 

Finally, the indwelling Spirit will increasingly be growing His eternal fruit in our lives—the ninefold fruit of “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23), and this will testify to others also that we do indeed have the Holy Spirit. HMM

 

Death by Sin
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

 

This very important verse conveys several vital truths. First of all, death came into the world only when sin came into the world. Suffering and death of conscious life, whether animal or human, were not a part of God’s “finished” and “very good” creation (Genesis 1:31–2:3). There was an abundance of food and all other provisions for both people and animals. There was certainly no “struggle for existence” or “survival of the fittest,” for every creature was created “fit” for its own environment.

 

When Adam sinned, however, it became necessary for God to bring the curse of decay and death not only upon Adam but also upon all his dominion (Genesis 3:17-20; see also Romans 8:20-22; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

 

Furthermore, there remains no warrant for the notion that “Adam” is simply a generic term representing the human race. He was “one man.” In fact, he was “the first man” (1 Corinthians 15:45), and Eve was “the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20). There was certainly no population of evolving hominids becoming “Adam.” In fact, Christ Himself made it clear that Adam and Eve were there “from the beginning of the creation” (Mark 10:6, quoting Genesis 1:27).

 

The entire argument here in Romans 5:12-21 becomes irrelevant if the Genesis record of the creation and Fall of Adam did not happen precisely as recorded in Genesis 1–3, and this would mean that there is no reality in the saving work of Christ, either.

 

Such a rejection of the Christian faith is hardly warranted by the fragmentary fossils that have been alleged to support the notion of human evolution. No one should stake his eternal soul on such a will-o’-the-wisp as that! HMM

 

Present with the Lord
“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8)

 

This verse has proved of great comfort to many a sorrowing believer who has just lost a loved one. Especially if they know that the parent or child or friend was also a believer in the saving work and person of Christ, then—although they sorrow—they “sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

 

For that loved one, though no longer in that old body which had perhaps been filled with pain, is now with the Lord. That is, he or she has been given a somewhat indescribable spiritual body in which to function in heaven until the coming resurrection day. Although that may not yet be the wonderful life that awaits them in their glorified, resurrection bodies in the ages to come, they will be “with Christ; which is far better” than this present life (Philippians 1:23).

 

There are a number of sincere believers who argue that dead Christians will simply “sleep” until He comes again to raise the dead. While a certain case can be developed for this “soul sleep” concept, it is hard to see how that could be “far better” than this present life. Paul said that he had a “desire to depart, and to be with Christ” and also that “to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:23, 21). But what “gain” could there be for him in simply “sleeping” instead of continuing to live in Christ?

 

The Scriptures do not reveal much about that “intermediate state,” as it has been called. But there is that intriguing verse about being “compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses” who perhaps are somehow watching us as we “run with patience the race that is set before us” here on Earth (Hebrews 12:1). That possibility can be a real incentive to do just that. HMM

 

God Is Love
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love.” (1 John 4:16)

 

It is said that the most quoted verse in all the Bible is the passage in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Surely that is a magnificent testimony to the love God has for us, and without it none of us would know God. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

 

But God “loved righteousness, and hated iniquity” (Hebrews 1:9). How is it that God “commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)? “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

 

Human love is usually reciprocal. That is, we love if and when we are loved in return. Yet those of us who are twice-born are commanded to love each other, and the godly husband is expected to love his wife like the Lord Jesus unilaterally loved the church. But that kind of love is not normal—it is God’s love in us. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7).

 

The English word “love” in its various forms appears over 700 times in the Bible. The vast majority of those references do not attempt to describe God’s love. They focus either on our responsibility to “love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5) or “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8).

 

Evidently, we experience God’s love when we are saved and are under obligation to show it as we “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). HMM III

 

The “Shall Nots” of John’s Gospel
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

 

There are many wonderful promises to the believer listed in the gospel of John. Many of these promises are things which “shall” happen, but let us consider seven of these which teach of things which “shall not” happen to the believer whose trust is in Christ.

 

Teaching of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christ said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (4:14).

 

Similarly, “Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (6:35).

 

Furthermore, He taught: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (8:12). Our deepest needs are met in Him.

 

Having once believed, we are placed into His family and He promises, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (10:28). In Him, we are utterly secure. Why? “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (5:24).

 

Consequently, we have no fear of death. “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (11:25-26).

 

As the familiar verse in our text tells us, if we only believe “that he gave his only begotten Son,” we shall “not perish, but have everlasting life.” JDM

 

Mercy and Truth
“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” (Psalm 85:10)

 

The words “mercy” (Hebrew checed, also often translated by “kindness” or “lovingkindness”) and “truth” (Hebrew emeth) occur more often in the psalms than in any other book. In fact, “mercy” occurs more in the psalms than in all the rest of the Old Testament put together. Though at first these two concepts seem opposed to each other (for how can God’s truth, which abhors sin, be compatible with His mercy, which forgives sin?), nevertheless they are “met together,” for “his salvation,” according to the previous verse, “is nigh them that fear him” (v. 9).

 

“Mercy and truth” (or “lovingkindness and truth”) are brought together at least 16 times in the Old Testament, including 10 times in the psalms. And when God’s eternal truth can be united with His loving mercy, both mediated through His Holy Word, there is great blessing indeed! “All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies” (25:10). “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (138:2). The first time the phrase is found in the Bible is in the prayer of Abraham’s servant, thanking God for “his mercy and his truth” (Genesis 24:27).

 

God’s mercy and truth, of course, are really met together only in Jesus Christ, through whom God can both “be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). He is “our peace” (Ephesians 2:14) and is “made unto us . . . righteousness” (1 Corinthians 1:30). He is “the truth” (John 14:6) and will show in the ages to come “the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). HMM

 

God Is Triune
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 28:19)

 

The foundational plank of Israel’s worship was Deuteronomy 6:4—“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” Even the great apostle James acknowledged, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2:19).

 

Some have suggested that the Old Testament does not teach the Trinity and that the New Testament is making a “god” out of Jesus to foster the new religion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Both sections present the triune God.

 

The Father is named in Malachi 2:10: “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?” Jesus Himself insisted that we pray to the Father. “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9).

 

The Son is clearly declared in both Testaments. “The LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (Psalm 2:7). Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), and the apostle Paul insisted that the Lord Jesus was “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

 

The Holy Spirit is hardly a stranger to both Testaments. King David knew that “the Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2). And as the Lord Jesus was preparing to go back to the Father, He promised that “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26).

 

This much is clear: There is one God, who is manifested to us in three Persons. HMM III

 

The Soul Exchange
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37)

 

The lives of many people revolve almost completely around the stock exchange, and they never stop to realize that it easily may become a soul exchange, where they exchange their very souls for the imagined blessings of the great god Mammon. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10).

 

Similarly, many are greatly exercised about their monthly profit-and-loss statements. But the Lord Jesus asks whether there is really a profit, even if one acquires the wealth of the whole world at the cost of his soul, and the answer to such a rhetorical question has to be: “No!” For “the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17).

 

Furthermore, the words “life” in verse 35 and “soul” in our text are actually the same word (psuche) in the Greek original. That is, to lose one’s soul is to lose one’s very life, for they are inseparable. A life centered around money is not only a soul lost but a life wasted as well. On the other hand, if we lose our lives in Christ, then we find true life, eternal life, beginning here and now, and continuing forever. This is a good exchange!

 

God may well bless a Christian with material wealth, but this should not be his motivation. “Charge them that are rich in this world,” Paul says, “that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate [i.e., share]; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19). HMM

 

 

Two Mothers
“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” (Luke 1:46-47)

 

Two Jewish ladies, each carrying children recently conceived, met to discuss their circumstances. Perhaps billions of mothers, before and since, have had similar encounters, but since this meeting between Mary and Elizabeth was so special and precious, perhaps we can all profit by its study.

 

The first thing we notice is that their conversation turned immediately to God, to praise of Him for His goodness and grace. No doubt each one experienced all the common difficulties and discomforts of these months but chose instead to dwell on their blessings and the greatness of God.

 

Mary especially, in the discourse introduced by our text, burst forth in a torrent of praise, singing of the virtues of her Savior and reveling in His grace (vv. 46-55). He had chosen her despite her unworthiness. Her present misunderstood circumstances were not in view at all, just her precious communion with her Lord and His gracious dealings with mankind. In all these things, she “rejoiced.”

 

Note that there is no hint of doubt in her song, neither is there a shrinking back from His holiness. In these verses are no fewer than 15 quotations from the Old Testament. Mary knew God’s Word well and sang it back to Him. Furthermore, she sings in humility, not calling herself “mother of God,” as some do today, but sings of “God my Saviour.”

 

These two mothers provide a model for each of us, especially those blessed with childbearing. May each encounter focus on Him, not just on temporal events. May our fellowship be centered in Him and in His Word, not just with friends or family. May prayer and praise burst forth from our lips, not just idle conversation. May we know all the joy and confidence of Mary and join in her song. JDM

 

Atonement
“Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.” (Genesis 6:14)

 

It may be surprising to learn that God’s instructions to Noah concerning the Ark’s design contain the first reference in the Bible to the great doctrine of atonement. The Hebrew word used here for pitch (kaphar) is the same word translated “atonement” in many other places in the Old Testament.

 

While the New Testament word “atonement” implies reconciliation, the Old Testament “atonement” was merely a covering (with many applications). As the pitch was to make the Ark watertight, keeping the judgment waters of the Flood from reaching those inside, so, on the sacrificial altar, “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11), keeping the fires of God’s wrath away from the sinner for whom the sacrifice was substituted and slain. The pitch was a covering for the Ark, and the blood was a covering for the soul, the first assuring physical deliverance, the second spiritual salvation.

 

However, not even the shed blood on the altar could really produce salvation. It could assure it through faith in God’s promises on the part of the sinner who offered it, but “the blood of bulls and of goats” could never “take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).

 

Both the covering pitch and animal blood were mere symbols of the substituting death of Jesus Christ, “whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Romans 3:25). Through faith in Christ, our sins are “covered” under the blood, forgiven by God, and replaced by His own perfect righteousness, by all of which we become finally and fully reconciled to God. HMM