2 Corinthians (Program #6) – The Ministry of the New Covenant (2)

Metaphors play an important role in Scripture. Webster says a metaphor is the use of one set of words to describe or illustrate a similar point.

John uses the technique when he speaks of Jesus approaching him in the gospel. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Surely he wasn’t saying that Jesus was a literal “lamb”. But the metaphor or picture gives us a much richer and clearer understanding.

The apostle Paul was also very fond of metaphors, particularly when conveying his deepest thoughts in teachings. We see it used intensively in 2 Corinthians. For example in 2 Corinthians chapter 2:14 he says “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ”  Here, the metaphor is the triumphant possession of captured and vanquished folks after a Roman battle. And Paul says that we, the believers had become such vanquished ones in the train of the victorious Christ.

Now, we come to another marvelous metaphor in the very next chapter, chapter 3 of 2 Corinthians begins this way:

1-3 “Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some do, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, inscribed in our hearts, known and read by all men, Since you are being manifested that you are a letter of Christ ministered by us, inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone but in tablets of hearts of flesh.”

Living letters of Christ. This is our topic today.

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Romans (Program #5) – The Vanity of Religion and the Totality of Hopelessness

Paul is saying here, “My gospel is for God’s economy, but to do that, you don’t need religion. It’s not a matter of outward practices, it’s not a matter of just not doing or doing certain things – it’s a matter of getting into God’s salvation.”

We are going to look today at God’s condemnation as is presented in Romans chapter 1. Why is it important for mankind to have a realization of God’s condemnation? more…

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John (Program #33) – The Dispensing of the Triune God for the Producing of His Abode (1)

The Lord went through death and resurrection in order to be the way and also to open the way for us in Him to go, not to heaven, but to go into God.

The first section concerns Christ coming to incarnation. The second section is about Jesus going through death and then coming in resurrection as the life giving Spirit. In the first section, Christ as the eternal Word came through incarnation to bring God into man in order to be life to us and our life supply. Then, we see that He came, so that He Himself as life may meet every human need for the building up of God’s dwelling place.

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John (Program #32) – Life’s Washing in Love to Maintain Fellowship (2)

We need to be those who actually experience Christ as life meeting our various needs.  The more we experience Him this way the more we are constituted with Him as the life that washes our brothers and sisters.

Here at a certain point, as the Lord was acutely aware that He was leaving the world and going to the Father, He engaged in a very particular, significant, and touching action.  He laid aside His garments.  That’s a sign.  He girded Himself with a towel, another sign.  And, He began to wash the disciples’ feet.  This is still yet another sign.  And in particular He said, “What I have done to you, you should do to one another.  If I, who am your Lord and master, has washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet”.

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John (Program #9) – An Introduction to Life and Building (5)

God’s economy is not to have a giant, litter with power to accomplish some movement. No.  God’s economy is to send His son to be the little lamb with His Spirit as the little dove.

The main subject of this message is Christ as the Lamb of God with the Spirit as the dove to produce stones for God’s building. If I would ask you, what are the main points or main things in this title?  Number one, Jesus as the Lamb of God. You have to pick up Lamb. The second point, the dove. And the third point, stone. And the fourth point, the house or the building of the house. What is the last item? The Son of Man. These are the five main points: the Lamb for redemption, the dove for anointing and uniting, the stone for material, and the house as the building, and the man as the very substance. The substantial element of God’s building is man…

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Luke (Program #9) – The Preparation of the Man-Savior with His Divinity (8)

Here is a story we all know quite well – the story of an angel paying a visit to a humble virgin in a lowly city in a despised region.  “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, Rejoice, you who have been graced!  The Lord be with you.” (Luke 1:26-28) “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of David His father, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31-33)  This is the declaration of the arch angel Gabriel in the first chapter of the gospel of Luke.  But it is just one of many pronouncements concerning the preparation of the Man-Savior Jesus as recorded in Luke’s gospel.  We will look at several of these marvelous declarations today.

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Luke (Program #8) – The Preparation of the Man-Savior with His Divinity (7)

Following the account of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in Luke chapter 3, there are two very interesting items. First of all, the genealogy of Jesus – beginning with Jesus and working its way back to God. The second is the temptation or the testing of Jesus – forty days in the wilderness with Satan directly tempting the Lord, yet Jesus in His perfect humanity, fully withstanding every temptation and thereby defeating God’s enemy. But it’s interesting that the Lord was led there to face that temptation by the Holy Spirit. We will look at both the genealogy of Jesus and His passing this test of tests in today’s life study of Luke.

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Luke (Program #5) – The Preparation of the Man-Savior (3 & 5)

In the opening chapter of the gospel of Luke there is the account of two miraculous conceptions.  First John the Baptist was born to Zachariah and Elizabeth who both being well advanced in age were beyond any hope of conceiving a child short of the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.  The other conception  of course is that of the Lord Jesus, who also was conceived in a miraculous way.  But the conception of Jesus involved much more than mere divine power because it brought forth the mingling of two natures; the divine and human to produce not just an unique man as John the Baptist surely  was but a God-Man, who became our Savior, the Man-Savior Jesus.  John’s father Zachariah saw much of what was involved in this greatest of all miracles.  We will look at it in His prophecy on our life study today.

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Mark (Program #55) – A Life Fully According To and For God’s New Testament Economy (14 & 15)

Have you received the Lord Jesus and is He now in You? We all can testify strongly, at least we hope so, that we have received the Lord and that He is in us. But has the Lord been transfigured in you?  We need the Lord to grow in us, until He is blossoms. That blossoming would be the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus in us in a practical way. Such a transfiguration is the kingdom of God.

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Mark (Program #42) – The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God’s Redemption (4)

As Jesus was hanging there on the cross for six agonizing hours bearing the reproach of man and the judgment of God, He did so as a genuine man. Yes, He was unique among all mankind in that He was without sin even of Himself, but His humanity was the same as ours in every other way.

Yet at the same time He was also God and despite the fact that for the final three hours of His suffering, God as the economical Spirit had to forsake Him, while He took upon Himself the sins and transgressions of every man.

Yet intrinsically and essentially He was and still is God.  This is Christ Jesus, the Lord our Savior. The immortal Who put on mortality.  And this mysterious and marvelous God Man died a death that accomplish what no other death could ever accomplished.

His death accomplish far more than just the forgiveness of sins as we will see today. And in addition to dealing with all the negative things, His death also release the divine life to create the New Man, the New Creation and ultimately to bring in the kingdom of God.

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