IT’S A MATTER OF BIRTH

Scripture reading: 1 Corinthians15:45-49

 

As I read this passage over and over, it remained a mystery to me. Finally, a pattern began to emerge that helps answer the question, “Where have we come from, and where are we going?”  It clarified for me who we are as humans and who we are in Christ. It’s a matter of birth and inheritance in both cases.

Our origin is from Adam, the first human being. We inherited from him our physical bodies, by

 

             means of which we live our earthly lives. We were born into this world and, therefore,

share life here with every other human being.

Our end is in Christ, the second Adam. We were given spiritual life when we were born again.

            We inherited from Him our spiritual being as we are born of the Spirit.

Sin was born in Eden through the first Adam. We inherited our sin nature from him.

Our sin was borne by Christ. We inherited His Spirit that we may bear His likeness and,

therefore, enter into His kingdom.

 

In John 3:1-9, Nicodemus was puzzled by this notion or being born again. He was told by Jesus (vs 3), “…no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Nicodemus asks (vs 4), “How can a man be born when he is old? Surely, he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

 

Perhaps our passage in 1 Corinthians sheds some light on Nicodemus’ dilemma. Because we are born into this physical world, we have borne the image of the earthly; likewise, because we have been born again (ie born of the Spirit), we shall bear Christ’s likeness and, therefore, enter into His Kingdom.

 

Adam became a living being from dust (Gen 2:7). Through him, we were given a natural body and earthly life. But being related to the first Adam is not nearly enough for us who want to be connected to God – we need relationship with the last Adam (Christ) who became a life-giving spirit (Jn 5:26) to His redeemed people!

Thank you, Jesus, for giving us an inheritance with you in your kingdom when we were born again by Your Spirit. Amen.

Your Life as a House

Romans 8:15-27

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208%3A15-27&version=NIV;NLT

 

Have you ever watched the HGTV hit show, “Fixer Upper” with Chip and Joanna Gaines? The show takes place in Waco, Texas where Chip and Joanna run a remodeling and design business. In each episode, they take an old, “fixer upper” house, invest time and money and make it into a beautiful home.

 

About twelve years ago I tried my hand at flipping a few houses. The last one we did was built in 1925. Unfortunately, it had suffered over the years from a severe lack of maintenance, abuse of the owners and finally a devastating fire.

 

As we got into it, we discovered even more problems which included termite and structural damage. I’m sure that when she was first built she was a beauty. But by the time we bought her, she was a mess. She had endured a painful existence.

 

Our daughter and son-in-law were going to buy the house so they invested their own sweat equity along with ours and a crew of skilled contractors. Here are some before, during and after pictures to give you an idea of the process.

 

Before

 

 

During

After

 

If the house could have talked, she might have said how painful it was to be neglected and abused all those years. The possibility that she might be able to return to her original glory was unthinkable with the previous owners. But as we began the remodeling she must have felt a spark of hope.

 

 

In some ways, we’re like that house. We’ve suffered from a lack of maintenance, from abuse and maybe even a devastating life event. But there is hope. There is hope to rebuild our life; to return to our original glory. And that hope comes solely from Jesus Christ.

 

¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. ¹⁸ Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.  NLT

 

Through his Spirit, God gives us the inheritance to experience his Glory, as a foretaste now, but fully later. Your life as a house does have hope.

 

 

 

What Would You Do with $500 Million?

Ephesians 1:3-14

 

 

Have you ever thought about; dreamed about; or fantasized about; what you would do if you won the lottery? What would you do with $500 million? When I first started working at the office I’m at now, there was an employee who had recently inherited $10 million. He retired and went into full time mission work.

 

Ephesus was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. It was a commercial, political and religious center for all of Asia Minor. For these reasons, it was a strategic city, and quite possibly that may account for why Paul spent almost three years there during his third missionary trip.

 

He may have reasoned that by reaching the people of Ephesus, he could reach the world. Being such a strategic city, Paul must have believed it was important for the Ephesian believers to understand what was included in their spiritual blessings, or inheritance, in Christ.

 

With that as a backdrop, most of today’s passage was devoted to the spiritual blessings in Christ available to all believers. Paul started by writing that believers have been blessed with “every spiritual blessing in Christ”. He specifically mentions the following blessings of our inheritance:

 

• We are holy and blameless in his sight v.4
• We are adopted as a son or daughter through Jesus v.5
• Grace is freely given to us v.6; and lavished on us v.8
• We have redemption through his blood v.7
• We are forgiven of our sins v.7
• We are a part of God’s plan who works out everything v.11
• We have been marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit v.13
• This guarantees our inheritance v.14

 

These verses give us our identity in Christ. They define who we are! Not our career; not our family; not our church; not our wealth; not our good deeds; not our sins; but our faith in Jesus Christ! We are sons and daughters of the King, and He has given us a seal with the Holy Spirit.

 

“The Holy Spirit was given to us as a promise that we will receive everything God has for us. God’s Spirit will be with us until God finishes His work of making us complete. God does this to show His shining-greatness.”                   New Life Version

 

The question is, what will you do with your inheritance? The pastor emeritus of my church recently shared a story about his granddaughter. For her fifth birthday she received some monetary gifts. Instead of buying new toys for herself, she decided to give those gifts to help others in need in Africa and Nicaragua.

 

What would you do with $500 million? What would you do with a $10 million inheritance? What would you do with the birthday gifts of a five year old? What will you do with the inheritance that God has already given you?

 

 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians%201%3A3-14&version=NIV;NLV
https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Eph.1.3-Eph.1.14

 

 

Living Confidently

　
Can you identify these movie quotes?
"Go ahead. Make my day."
"I’ll be back."
"Frankly Scarlet, I don’t give a damn."In our verse today Paul tells the Ephesians, "When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance". But what is included in our inheritance as believers and followers in Christ?

Later in that same chapter Paul gives a partial answer, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know… his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead".

When I read this verse it almost seems unreal - too good to be true. This verse seems to be saying that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to us. My study Bible says, "the divine power by which Jesus Christ was raised is the same power at work in and through believers". Wow!

Dirty Harry, the Terminator and Captain Butler were all calm, cool and collected under fire. They exuded confidence even when circumstances seemed to be out of control. They were powerful men not necessarily physically, but they were capable, commanding and compelling.

In reality, these characteristics of fictional people are characteristics of the Living God. God is in control. God is all-powerful and He has given us access to that power through His Holy Spirit. Let us go out and live confidently in Him.


http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians%201%3A13-23&version=NIV;MSG
http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Eph.1.13-Eph.1.23

Joshua 14:1-5

I am learning through these chapters in Joshua that God is looking for people who follow His directions, His instructions, to the letter.  At first glance into chapters 13 and 14 it appears we are just rehashing the list of the tribal names, only learning who got what.  It is much more than that, it is God, lifting up the importance of following his directions to the last dotted i and crossed t.

Every instruction the Israelites have been given by God has a purpose.  It might be that only God knew that purpose, but for Joshua, that was good enough.  The people of Israel had been following His commands, but occasionally would revert to their own will.  It always resulted in tragedy of some sort or another.  They would then come to the realization that God knows what He is doing.

Don't we do the same?  Don't we pick and choose what commands to obey?  Don't we start out with good intentions only to fall back into old habits?

The People of Israel followed through exactly as God had commanded Moses. They apportioned the land. (Joshua 14:5)

God chose their inheritance for them, they didn't have opportunity to bicker and fight over it. There are many stories of families fighting over their parents or grandparent's belongings.  They lay claim to heirlooms before anyone else has a chance.  Families are torn apart, relationships destroyed over the claim to possessions.  Most families have memories of something like this in their lives.

If we learn only one thing during this study, it is that God knows best.  God will guide us to a perfect life.  God will forgive our failures and He will always be there until the day we can claim the inheritance He has set aside just for us.  We simply have to trust and obey.

Read Joshua 14:1-5 here

Listen to Joshua 14:1-5 here