Observations from Bible Readings

Exodus 22:31, You shall be holy men to Me.

John 1:17, Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

John 1:39, Jesus said: Come and you will see.

Job 40:4, Job said to God: Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You?  I lay my hand on my mouth.

2 Corinthians 10:4, The weapons of our [spiritual] warfare are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

Bennett Spring Christian Church Camp 4th - 6th Grade July 2013

Christ's Obedience to The Will of God

Christ demonstrates His obedience to the Father in His sufferings:

Matthew 26:39 (NKJV)  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

• In verses 42 and 44 Jesus prays the same prayer again to the Father.
• The focus is the Father's will being done in His life.
• Prayer: “Not as I will, but as You will.”
• See Mark 14:36 and Luke 22:42.

Hebrews 5:7-8 (NKJV)  Christ, “who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,  (8)  though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

Jonathan Blakely - Hebrews 10:28 - The Coming of The Lord

The Lamb of God #2

John 1:29 (NKJV)  The next day John [the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

The Lamb of God offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.

• The Lamb of God has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, (Isaiah 53:4).
• The Lamb of God laid down His life for His friends, (John 15:13).
• The Lamb of God was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich, (2 Corinthians 8:9).
• The Lamb of God gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, (Galatians 1:4).
• The Lamb of God has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma, (Ephesians 5:2).
• The Lamb of God gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people zealous for good works, (Titus 2:14).
• The Lamb of God has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,  (Hebrews 9:26).
• The Lamb of God suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, (1 Peter 3:18).
• By this we know love, because the Lamb of God laid down His life for us.  And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, (1 John 3:16).
• The Lamb of God loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen, (Revelation 1:5-6).

So we say with the Sweet Psalmist David:

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit,” (Psalm 32:1-2, NKJV).

The Lamb of God #1

The next day John [the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  (John 1:29, NKJV).
The Lamb of God bore the sin of the people.

• The Lamb of God bore the guilt of the congregation, (Lev. 10:17).
• The Lamb of God takes the sin of the congregation away from them, (Lev. 16:22).
• The Lamb of God bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors, (Isa. 53:12).
• The Lamb of God was offered once to bear the sins of many, (Heb. 9:28).
• The Lamb of God bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes we are healed, (1 Pet. 2:24).
• We know that the Lamb of God was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin, (1 Jn. 3:5).

The Lamb of God is the Lord of lords and the King of kings!  And we say with confidence, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.”  (See Rev. 17:14; 5:12).

The Apostle John Saw the Living One

The Apostle John wrote, “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.  And He placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, [amen, NKJV] and I have the keys of death and of Hades,’” (Revelation 1:17-18 NASB).

Try to picture this in your mind.  John sees Christ and falls at His feet like a dead man, and then Jesus placed His right hand on him and said these words, “Do not be afraid…”  We see the compassion and love of Christ in His words to John and us.

Jesus helps us to see who He is right now in eternity.  He is the resurrected Man, Christ Jesus.  He is in the fullness of His glory with God the Father.  Christ says this about Himself, “I am the First and Last.”  Because Christ is everlasting all things begin and end with Him.  He is the Living One, the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the Resurrection (see Luke 24:5; John 11:25-27; 14:6).

Christ says that He was dead.  He experienced death.  He can help us to view death with the hope of everlasting life.  The Living One died.  Luke 23:46 says this of Christ, “He breathed His last,” (NASB).  Christ was laid in a tomb (Luke 23:53, 55).  The Word who was God and dwelt among us (John 1:1, 14) had no more life in Him.

But what Christ says next in Revelation 1:17-18 is what makes Him unique.  “And behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and I have the keys of death and Hades.”  No other man can say this.  In Christ we have the hope of being with Him in eternity.  In Christ all of the promises of God are Yes and Amen to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 1:19-20).  Christ has the keys of death and Hades because He is victorious over them.  He has authority over them.  In John 11:43 Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth,” (NASB).  Verse 44 tells us that he came forth.  In Matthew 27:52-53 this is what happened when Jesus died and arose, “The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;  (53)  and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many,” (NASB).  At the second coming of Christ everyone who is a follower of Christ will experience the resurrection and bear the image of the heavenly (see 1 Corinthians 15:35-49; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).  We thank God and Christ for the imperishable gift of eternal life.