Ephesians (Program #20) – Saved by Grace to be the Masterpiece of God (2)

Genesis chapter 1 tells us that God created all things, the heavens, the earth, the universe, man and all the living creatures. And how even a simple gaze at  creation often fills us with awes as we consider His creation.  But not until the New Testament book of Ephesians are we told what is at the very top of all that He has done and even all that He is doing. Or use Paul’s language in Ephesians what is His masterpiece.  Listen to Ephesians chapter 2:10 “For we are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we would walk in them.”  We, are His masterpiece, we, meaning the Church.

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Numbers (Program #9) – Being Formed into an Army (10)

If you ask most people, they will tell you that God dwells in heavens.  Well, while this is surely the case, the Bible tells us again and again that He is the God of heaven and earth.  So while from eternity, He has dwelt in heavens.  The Bible reveals His goal even His desire is to dwell on earth with man.  Old Testament books like Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers give us a very sweet picture of His earthly dwelling place, which at that time was in the tabernacle.

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2 Corinthians (Program #20) – Shining the Glory of the New Covenant (1)

The Bible is very rich in the many titles that it describe to God. Of course He is the almighty, the God of glory, the all sufficient One and on and on. It opens in Genesis 1 with the Hebrew word, Elohim, meaning the creator of the heavens and the earth. But interestingly at the end of the Bible, in the final chapter, Revelation 22, God is called simply, the Spirit.  But along the way between these two great bookends of the Bible, we see the journey or the process, that God has passed through in time to accomplish His great eternal purpose.

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1 Corinthians (Program #54) – Dealing with the Matter of Resurrection (3 & 4)

The Bible of course tells us that God created the heavens and the earth and man and all the living things. This is His creation work. But there is another creation revealed in the Bible. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5:17 “So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.”

In Christ, God has a new creation. In fact all of His work in the New Testament is centered on and focused in this new creation. There is another verse that implies both of these creations in the most profound way. This time in 1 Corinthians chapter 15:45 “So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.”

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John (Program #39) – The Organism of the Triune God in the Divine Dispensation (3)

Those who refuse Christ and who stay in Adam by so doing will remain one with Satan, and as a result will participate in the judgment reserved for God’s enemy.

In this chapter (John 15), the Lord speaks plainly, directly, and profoundly concerning the divine organism. And, He says, “I am the true vine, you are the branches.” So, here we have a corporate entity. The vine with its branches composed of Christ as the embodiment and manifestation of the triune God. And, all those who have believed into Christ by receiving Him into them. The Lord calls this the true vine, the real vine. What we have in this marvelous picture is God the Father embodied in Christ who is the stock of the vine. And, all the believers who have been added to Christ, to become parts of Christ, just as the branches of the vine are parts of the vine to be an organism. So, now we have on this earth the living, divine organism of Christ and His believers, the vine and the branches.

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John (Program #21) – The Need of the Hungry – Life’s Feeding (1)

When Christ came to this earth, he didn’t come to be a giant in religion. He was born in a small manger. He came from a lowly family. He was a small carpenter. This meant that he was approachable and available to every man to be man’s life supply.

We come to a new section in the gospel of John today.  Chapter 6 brings us to the well-known story of the Lord feeding of the thousands with the five loaves and two small fish.  There are so many pictures portrait in this chapter.

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Mark (Program #56) – A Life Fully According To and For God’s New Testament Economy (16)

The gospel of Mark ends with the Lord’s ascension. So what is the Lord Jesus doing now that He has resurrected and ascended?

In order to find out what the Lord is doing after His ascension, we need the book of Acts. Acts 1:5 says, “For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”   And Act 1: 8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.“

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Mark (Program #54) – A Life Fully According To and For God’s New Testament Economy (13-15)

What is the central thought of the Lord’s message in Mark chapter 4?

The central thought is that the Lord is the sower, sowing Himself into us as a seed. He opened His preaching in chapter 4 with these words, “Behold, the sower went out to sow.” Later in chapter 4:26 He said, “So is the kingdom of God: as if a man cast seed on the earth,”

Here we have the Lord as the sower, sowing Himself as the seed into God’s chosen people.

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Mark (Program #32) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (6)

In the last few days of the Lord Jesus’ life on this earth, He was preparing His disciples for this great moment. His preparation to them was as Peter said in 2 Pet 1:19 “And we have the prophetic word made more firm, to which you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.“

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Proverbs (Program #9) – Using Proverbs for Building Up the New Man

When we come to the book of Proverbs in the Bible we need to see that the place that the book of Proverbs placed in God’s economy.  According to God’s economy, Proverbs should not be used to build up the Old Man.  The big Proverbs are like nuggets and the small ones are like gems and they are not for us to build up our Old Man to cultivate ourselves and our natural man.  Rather they are for us to build up our New Man.  It’s for this purpose that the Proverbs are useful.  While we are still living in this body on the earth we need the Proverbs to give us instructions on how to live rightly in so many aspects in order to build up our New Man.

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