#John1 - The Most Powerful Word Ever...

Click here to read John 1:

1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

The beginning of John is a very poetic, artsy description of Jesus coming to this earth. Where Matthew and Luke begin with the facts about the birth of Jesus, and Mark skips it altogether, the gospel of John begins with a more abstract introduction to the person of Jesus. John says that he is the Word. John says that the Word was with God, the Word was God, and that everything was made through the Word. God did create the universe through his words (speaking). God used words many times to get the attention of His people. But this Word was easily the most powerful word ever. The following emphasis sums up a lot of things about Jesus being the Word:

In John, [logos] denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds.

2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?

John the Baptist refers to Jesus twice here as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. I think of two different references to the old testament here. One was in Egypt, when the Spirit of God came down to kill the firstborn male of every household in Egypt. The Spirit passed by any house that had the blood of lamb smeared across the doorway, showing a sacrifice to God. (Exodus Secondly, in Leviticus 16:9-10, the Jewish law provided a goat to be used as a sacrifice for sins. Ultimately, the sins of the whole community were "placed" on the goat and when it wandered away, it removed the sin from the community. Jesus really embodied both of those concepts.

3. What does this mean for my life?

I am struck here by John the Baptist and his consistency in pointing people to Jesus. He was a big deal, a rising star, but at every opportunity he humbly shared his own ministry and then told people that Jesus was the real deal. I need to adopt John the Baptist's mode of operation. To be full of witness and truth to who Jesus really is, and really not caring of who or how many follow me.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

I wonder what Jesus meant at the very end when he said to Nathaniel, "You will see 'heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." Was this part of his ministry on earth, or was he talking about a future time in heaven?

Those are my thoughts for this chapter. I'd love to hear yours. God's blessings to you and KEEP DIGGING IN!

In Christ,
Dan

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#Luke3 - Repentance: A Dying Art

Click here to read Luke 3:

1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

Almost all of the non-genealogy text in this chapter is about John the Baptist. Specifically, it describes his ministry, which centered on a message of repentance. His baptism was a symbol of being washed of a previous pattern of behaviors, and committing to honor God with every area of life. In essence, repentance is the art of dying to our sinful ways, and living instead in God's ways. Repentance is not a popular message - just take a quick poll of preachers and you'll find that out. It's not fun telling people they need to change their ways. It's nobody's desire to have their "flaws and shortcomings" pointed out by anyone. Nobody WANTS to hear a message of repentance, but the reality is everyone NEEDS to hear it at some point. One of my observations of the current spiritual climate in our culture is that the message of "REPENTANCE" is being replaced with the message of "TOLERANCE" and "ACCEPTANCE." I believe these things are not mutually exclusive and are both critical to helping people become a part of the body of Christ. However, without hearing "repent", what comes across is something like, "You're okay. I'm okay. We're all okay. As long as we don't start talking about what God expects of us and how we're falling short, we'll all be just fine." God wants us to come as we are, but as long as we're following him, he wants to change us and conform us to become more and more like him.

2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?

Repentance implies both a change of heart/mind and a change in behavior. If there is no behavior change, there likely is no real heart change. And if there is no heart change, it's likely that any behavior change will last. Throughout Scripture, repentance is arguably THE key step in avoiding God's judgment and wrath, and entering into his blessing and life. Just listen to some of the prophets speaking to Israel in the following passages:

"The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," - Isaiah 59:20
"This is what the LORD says: 'If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me" - Jeremiah 15:19
"Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall" - Ezekiel 18:30
"For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!" - Ezekiel 18:32

A powerful story about repentance is that of Hezekiah, king of Judah. He had major pride issues, but he repented and received the favor of the Lord. His story is found in 2 Chronicles 32.

3. What does this mean for my life?

One of the points in my spiritual life that I grew the most in one experience was when a good friend of mine had the courage to call me to repent of some pride issues. He had nothing to gain personally, and he did it in love. So instead of getting defensive or justifying my behavior, I received his words and repented. From that point I hope that I have been open to receiving correction and quick to repent of sinful behavior. It's also really interesting to me that John's words to the people are not blanket sweeps of general sins. That would have been easier. But he calls each group of people to integrity within their own lives. He told the tax collectors not to collect more than what was required (which they had a reputation of doing). He told the soldiers not to extort money and accuse people falsely. To the crowds he talked about caring for the poor. To the husbands he might have said, "Stay faithful to your wives and don't lust after other women." To the pastors he might have said, "Don't let the dreams of wealth or numbers for your congregations turn you away from sharing the unaltered truth from my word." It's not hard to understand. We can probably all describe the most common pitfalls of our own jobs and family situations, and we all know our own pitfalls as well. John's message (and God's message) is repent of those sinful patterns and follow me and my ways.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

When Jesus was baptized, what did that whole seen look like with heaven being opened and the Spirit descending like a dove on him? Did all the others notice it too? Why wouldn't they all know right away that was the Messiah?

Those are my thoughts for this chapter. I'd love to hear yours. God's blessings to you and KEEP DIGGING IN!

In Christ,
Dan

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#Matthew3 - Them's fightin' words!

Matthew 3:

1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

When I read this text I was struck by how strong John's words were to the religious leaders. He does not sugar coat them, nor does he try to "win their favor" per say. Yet he does not just mindlessly, carelessly insult them either. He is trying to shock them out of their rigid religiosity and into real repentance. In today's society John would have been labeled as a judgmental, hellfire and brimstone, Christian extremist, and mocked by modern media. But Jesus later says that there is no one born of women greater than John the Baptist.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?

In verse 17, we hear the voice of God claiming Jesus as his Son and declaring God's pleasure in him. This is not the last time we hear something like that. Later in Matthew 17, in the story of the Transfiguration, God once again repeats these words in an audible voice with the added command, "Listen to him!" I kind of wish that would have happened when Jesus was on public trial in front of all the religious and governmental authorities. Or when he was hanging on the cross in front of the crowds. I feel like maybe more people would have believed. But I'm not God, and praise the Lord for that. :)

3. What does this mean for my life?

Repentance! Ouch! Repent! Ouch again! That word is a strong word. It implies that something about us is headed in the wrong direction and needs to be corrected. One does not repent without first humbling themselves to admit to themselves and agree with God that they were wrong. The word "repent" literally means to do a mental about face and change your mind, agreeing with God and setting your actions in a new direction. Despite all the good things God has done in my life, there are still some patterns of behavior and attitudes that I need to repent of. Confession admits the wrong, forgiveness absolves the wrong, but repentance shows the genuineness of the desire to live in the newness of God's calling.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

Why did Jesus have to get baptized? If John's baptism was mainly with water for the repentance of sins, and Jesus had no sin, why was he baptized? It seems that he was the first to receive the Holy Spirit through baptism in this way.  Also, John and Jesus were like second cousins (their mothers, Elizabeth and Mary, respectively, were cousins). Did they hang out while growing up? Did John know Jesus well? Did he know all along that he was the Messiah? Did John know that he was specifically talking about Jesus, or was he just speaking of the Messiah and then sensed from the Holy Spirit that it was Jesus when he showed up? I don't think I'll ever get a clear answer, but I'm a curious fellow.

In Christ,
Dan

#Romans6 - Wanted: Dead AND Alive

Romans 6: 

1. What stuck out to you from this chapter?

There are two very strong images Paul uses in this chapter to describe a Christian's life. The first is life and death. Baptism is a symbol of how we have died to sin. The sinful nature in us is not our source of life anymore. Instead, just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too have been raised to a new life that the Holy Spirit empowers us to live. I think that immersion baptism really illustrates this perfectly, in that when the person goes under the water they are "drowning" the old, sinful self. When they come back up they are rising up to live a holy life, having had their sins washed away.

The second image is one of slavery. We are all in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. Naturally we let our master be our own desires. Whatever we want and whatever pleases us - that is our master. That master is sin. However when we are made new, washed clean, and born again into the new life, we offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?

Well the language of death and life is used in other key passages as well. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Colossians 3:5 commands us to "Put to death...whatever belongs to your earthly nature..." and then lists a whole bunch of destructive and sinful behaviors. This is obviously a pretty serious warning to not even let those desires and behaviors get even the smallest foothold in our lives.

3. So what does this mean for my life?

First, there is a verse in this chapter that every Christian should memorize. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." It's a powerful verse, similar to John 3:16, that shares the whole gospel in one verse. I need to have this in my "hip pocket" to help me be ready.

Secondly, there's the very personal and practical commands to offer the parts of our body for righteousness. I need to make sure my hands are engaged in Godly work, my words are building others up, and my whole body is not engaging in immoral behaviors.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

Because Paul talks about Baptism in this passage, I would like to know, "What would Paul say about Baptism today? Would he take a side in the "believers baptism" vs. "infant baptism" debate? Would he favor young or old to be baptized? Would he tolerate our practices and teachings about it? It would be cool and crazy to have him here today explaining all he meant.

In Christ,
Dan