Ephesians (Program #50) – Christ in Three Stages

There is a marvelous passage in Ephesians Chapter 5, related to the relationship of husbands and wives and wives submitting to the husbands and husbands loving their wives. This passage is ofter quoted at wedding services and we may think we know it but as we touch it today, we will see it open up in a way that unveils a view of Christ that most likely we had never encountered before.

Listen to these three verses and see if you can see the three stages of Christ revealed.  “Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.”

We fellowship over this very, very deep, profound portion that often get over looked.

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Joshua (Program #4) – Crossing the River Jordan

On two occasions in the history of the children of Israel God caused waters to be held back so that Israel can pass over.  The first time of course was their crossing of the Red Sea providing them an escape or an exodus out of the land of Egypt. All Bible scholars agreed that this miracle is actually a type of our own baptism affecting our own escape from the corrupt world, that is under God’s condemnation and judgment.

The second time such a miracle occurred was when the children of Israel were crossing the Jordan river, this time providing them an entrance into the good land, the land of Canaan. The interpretation on this point is not so clearly understood. Many believed that this crossing refers to the believers passage through physical death and their entrance into heaven. But as we will see today such an interpretation misses the real significance of the crossing of the river Jordan

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2 Corinthians (Program #39) – The Minister’s of the New Covenant (12)

The book of 2 Corinthians is the book of the New Testament that’s not that well known, not frequently quoted and not really that well understood. One passage however that is familiar to most believers is found in chapter 6 in verse 14, where Paul tells the Corinthians,  “Do not become dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?”

It’s good to consider this verse in any context but better is to consider it in the context to which it was delivered to us in the divine revelation.

Here 2 Corinthians chapter 6 is in the context of the New Testament Ministry, the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry where Paul under his commission by the Lord charges the believers in Corinth to be fully reconciled to God.

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Hosea (Program #7) – On Hosea (8)—Three Implications Concerning Christ

To every genuine believer the Bible becomes a sheer delight. One of the key elements that usher us into a deeper appreciation of the Bible is when we begin to discover clear, unmistakable passages in the Old Testament that reveal our dear Lord Jesus in rich detail. Some Old Testament passages are well known in this regard and unmistakable in how they reveal Christ. Like Psalm 8 and Isaiah 53 but there are so many other portions not so familiar and not quite so obvious, but once the key to seeing Christ has been provided to us, they are nonetheless full of rich and nourishing revelations of the One who is the central focus of every book and every chapter of the Bible. Such a passage is found on the first 4 verses of the Minor Prophets Hosea in Chapter 11.

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Mark (Program #25) – The Move of the Slave-Savior’s Gospel Service (14)

Most of us remembered from our childhood the story of the rich man who came to Jesus asking what he must to do in order to have eternal life. The Lord’s answer instructing the man to go and sell all that he possessed and to give the proceed to the poor was more than the young man could bear. So he turned away and in despair of his inability to do what seems to be required.

The Lord’s disciples also expressed their dismay over His words to this young ruler to which the Lord answered, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

This passage from Mark chapter 10 though famous as a Bible story is also one that has perplexed many students of the Bible for there is no place in the scripture where we were given of such a requirement in order to be saved. Our salvation is by faith and not according to our works, such as selling all and giving all to the poor. And how should we understand such a story?

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Psalms (Program #38) – Christ—The Reality of the Law as the Testimony and the Word of God

consider for a moment an interesting observation.  Suppose the ruler of a country were to pass a law legalizing corruption, what will that tell you of the character of that ruler?  It will likely tell you that this person, this one making such law was also corrupt himself.  You see, laws are actually a kind of portrait of the law-giver.  So when we come to the laws of God we shall realize that they are a portrait of the Person that gave them.  In another word, the laws given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai is a portrait of the Person of God, a portrait of Jesus Christ.  So when we come to a passage of Scripture such as the 119th Psalm with its 176 verses many speaking of the law, we should have the impression that what we are seeing is not God’s demands upon you and me but rather we are seeing Christ as God’s expression and also the one to whom we are coming that He may supply us with Himself in order that we as His members could live Him out fully meeting even surpassing God’s every demand.

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