Good morning. Talking about Jesus: He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. He is the head – the body should not be doing anything without consulting the head; but too many times it does. Eventually disaster will result. Several times the book of Revelation talks about Jesus being the beginning. Here it says that He is the firstborn from the dead. You don't have a firstborn unless you have a second born or more. In Luke it talks about Mary giving birth to her firstborn son. And why does Jesus have this position – for it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself; having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. Jesus had all the fullness of God dwelling in Him. He wasn't just a good man. He was very God of very God, as they say. (Paul will mention this again in chapter 2). There is a divide between God and man. God used Jesus's death on the cross to reconcile us to Him, not the reverse. He is not the one that turned away. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. When I was young, it did not seem like people were hostile toward God. They may not have been open to Him, but they were not hostile towards God. Now though it seems like they are hostile everywhere and all the time. And they are definitely engaged in evil deeds, even in the open not just in secret. He didn't save us just to give us our fire insurance. It was so that we would be holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Father thank You that You will present the reader to Yourself holy and blameless and beyond reproach.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds

  Good morning. And men repented, right? And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and the water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. Previously, the 6th angel blew his trumpet and told them to release the four angels at the river Euphrates so that the army of 200 million could cross over. Back to the bowl: and I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great Day of God, the Almighty. Father continue to bring blessings upon the reader and his/her family every day  of their lives.
Read more

So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed

  Good morning. We left John at the entrance of the tomb, stooping and looking in. “Shy” Peter then arrives following John, and enters the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there. So the other disciple, John, who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. It does not say whether or not Peter believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. I’m not exactly sure what it means by their own homes. They were originally from Galilee and would not have had homes in Jerusalem. Perhaps it means the homes where they were staying while in Jerusalem. Apparently, they were not staying in the upper room, or it would have said so. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped (just like John) and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been l...
Read more

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and he granted permission. So he came and took away His body

  Good morning. After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and he granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 100 pounds weight. Remember that myrrh was one of the gifts that the magi brought when Jesus was a baby. Also notice that he had 100 pounds of spices. Normally one does not have that much just lying around the house. Since most likely he was older, he may have been storing it up for when he himself was going to die. Or perhaps while Jesus was hanging on the cross, he went to the merchants and purchased it, because there was no time to do so after Jesus died prior to the beginning of the Sabbath. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. My Bible says that these were thin ...
Read more