Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts

Saturday, 7 January 2012

Shift the Kaleidoscope


"Behold, You are beautiful, my Beloved."
Song of Solomon 1:16

From every point, our Well-beloved is most beautiful. Our various experiences are meant to furnish fresh viewpoints from which we may consider the loveliness of Jesus!

How amiable are our trials—when they carry us aloft where we may gain clearer views of Jesus, than ordinary life could afford us! We have seen Him from the languishing of a sick bed, from the borders of the grave—we have turned our eyes to our soul's spouse, and He has never been otherwise than "all beauteous." Many of His saints have looked upon Him from the gloom of dungeons, and from the red flames of the stake—yet they have never uttered a bad word about Him—but have died extolling His surpassing charms! Oh, noble and pleasant employment—to be forever gazing at our sweet Lord Jesus!

Is it not unspeakably delightful—to view the Savior in all His offices, and to perceive Him matchless in each—to shift the kaleidoscope, as it were—and to find fresh combinations of His peerless graces? 

In the manger—and in eternity; 

on the cross—and on His throne; 

in the garden—and in His kingdom;

among thieves—or in the midst of cherubim

—He is everywhere—altogether lovely!
Examine carefully every little act of His life, and every trait of His character, and He is as lovely in the minute as in the majestic. Judge Him as you will—you cannot censure! Weigh Him as you please—and He will not be found lacking. Eternity shall not discover the shadow of a spot in our Beloved! But rather, as countless ages revolve, His hidden glories shall shine forth with yet more inconceivable splendor, and His unutterable loveliness shall more and more ravish all celestial minds!

(Charles Spurgeon)

Saturday, 19 November 2011

A Very Common Error Among Preachers, Teachers and Theologians


I see this theological error everywhere. Some of the giants of the faith have made it. Theology books have included this error when discussing the person of Christ. It appears in the ESV Study Bible on a chart on page 2495. I have made this mistake myself in the past. This is a very important distinction in the very words of Scripture.

Jesus is referred to (see 1 Corinthians 15:45) as the "LAST ADAM" (not the second) to show that he is not one of a possible series, but the ONLY alternative to the first Adam.
A few verses later (1 Corinthians 15:47) the word "second" does indeed occur in connection with Christ.

1st man was of the dust of the earth
2nd Man from Heaven


...and here "second Man" (not last) is very appropriate for two reasons:


1. Adam in his innocence was man as God created man, man as God intended him to be, true man. When sin entered the race, man ceased to be man as originally created (for sin always reduces rather than adds. Consequently, Jesus Christ in His sinless humanity was indeed the "second Man", the ONLY figure in history since the fall to stand as fully man in the world!


2. The whole point of His mission as the second Man "from Heaven" was that He might not be the LAST MAN, but rather, the beginning of a new series, the foundation of a new humanity, the "first born" among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)


However, His "success" as "the second Man" depends on His relation to us as "the Last Adam".
(It helps me to think of Noah as the "second Adam" because he was the one God gave the same charge to replenish the earth - note: the Bible never calls Noah the second Adam, it is just to help me remember that Noah fulfilled this role already.)


A full treatment of this is in chapter 14 of "The Glory of Christ" by Peter Lewis. (published by Moody)

Saturday, 5 November 2011

I Am Saved by Good Works


Do I REALLY believe I am saved by good works? 
Yes, a thousand times, yes!!
Just not MY good works.
It was by the good works of the Lord Jesus Christ
and HIS works ALONE!

Sunday, 17 May 2009

A Simple Song of Jesus


I wrote this song to the tune of "A Simple Song of Freedom"
recorded many years ago by Bobby Darin.

Come and sing a simple song of Jesus
Sing it like you never sung before
Let it fill the air, tell the people everywhere
We the people here believe the Lord.

Mr. and Mrs. Christian are you listening?
Don't live like you've never known the Lord
Let the people see that you walk in victory
The joy of your salvation He'll restore.

Mr. Unbeliever are you ready?
You'll be all alone on judgment day
When God calls your name, you'll know you are to blame
For every single sin you'll have to pay

Hey there, Mr. Sinner can you hear me?
Give your life to Him who is the Way
Then you'll surely see, that this Man of Galilee
Will never leave you or cast you away.

Brother and sister are you listening?
There's a plan that you cannot ignore
It is God's design that you let you light so shine
By living out what's written in God's Word.

Come and sing a simple song of Jesus
Sing it like you never sung before
Let it fill the air, tell the people everywhere
We the people here believe the Lord.