A little over seven years ago, one phrase in the first chapter of the book of Hebrews grabbed my attention. “He upholds the universe by the word of his power.”
All in Jesus
A little over seven years ago, one phrase in the first chapter of the book of Hebrews grabbed my attention. “He upholds the universe by the word of his power.”
There is a spirit behind every religious message. John tells us it’s either from God or from the Antichrist. What should we believe? That's such an important question, isn’t it? What we believe forms what we worship, and what we worship forms who we become. And John tells us not to believe every spirit.
In Matthew 18:21-35, Jesus tells a parable about an unforgiving servant. Through it, he's helping us see two kinds of radical, radical forgiveness and radical unforgiveness, and what will happen if we ignore the former for the latter.
As J.B. Lightfoot says, “The gospel is a rescue, and emancipation from a state of bondage.”
Adam, as the first man, represented all humanity to follow. The result of his life is, therefore, universal and inescapable. In Adam, all die. But in Christ, all live.
In Jesus, the shadows of the Old Testament have faded away. Jesus is the founder of the new covenant. The terms he brings are different, they are more gracious and more merciful.
There are two types of people – those who listen and those who don’t. Which one are you?
Those moments of awareness in the midst of our sin – those moments where we are surprised by our actions or thoughts – are moments of grace from the throne. Here’s what we can do.
There is an ordinariness to the resurrected Jesus. But there is also a glory. He is a man like us yet unlike us. It is the likeness that draws us in, but the unlikeness causes us to bow down in worship.