Luke 3:21-38

"For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!" 

Romans 5:17 (NIV)

Luke places his genealogy behind the baptism of Jesus. Many wonder at this placement, but you have to rule out carelessness and lack of order, for Luke is very careful and orderly in his writing. It is easy to identify the different sections of the first four chapters of Luke for he opens each section with a historical description, identifying either time or place, and sometimes both, and then closes each section with physical movement (i.e: 1:23, 1:39, 1:56, 2:20, 2:39, 2:51, 3:20, 4:1). 

The baptism of Jesus, the declaration of His divine Sonship by the Father, the anointing of Jesus by the Holy Spirit and the genealogy are in the same section of text and are therefore related to each other by subject. Luke's identification of Adam as the son of God makes his intent clear - Luke is contrasting Adam with Jesus. He has given us the Father's testimony that Jesus is the Son of God. He then reminds us that Joseph and every other human is a son of Adam, who also was the son of God, but a son of God who chose his own will over God's will and brought death into the world. 

Luke's next section records that this "second" son of God chose God's will over the desires of his flesh. Clearly a contrast! Some would say, "Who cares? So what?" To which I reply, "Whom to you want to imitate today? Adam or Jesus?" I don't know about you, but I want to imitate Christ Jesus. I want to reign in life; not surrender to death. I want to please God, not cause Him pain! I want to live my life in the power of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

Give me Jesus, not Adam! 

"Give Me Jesus", Fernando Ortega, via YouTube

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Daniel 7

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence." 

Daniel 7:13 (NIV)

LIKE a son of man.

Daniel 7 is an awesome chapter of the Bible, and there are many great lessons and mysteries in this chapter, but I want us to think about one phrase today: “like a son of man”. John used the same phrase to describe what he saw as the Lord Jesus gave him the Revelation (see Rev 1:13 and 14:14). Son of Man is a title that our Lord took on Himself. All four gospels use it. Stephen told his murderers in Acts 7 that he saw heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Luke explains to us that he used the term to refer to Jesus. Son of Man seems simple enough to understand, really almost self-explanatory, but when the word like is added, the meaning changes.

We could understand Daniel and John adding the word like, because their visions were of the glorified Person of the Lord of lords and King of kings, and yet Stephen (Acts 7) saw the glorified Lord and he used His title without adding like.

May I suggest that while our Lord was here on earth everyone saw His humanity, and only saw glimpses of His Deity. Now that our Lord is seated at the right hand of God in all His glory, everyone sees His Deity and only see glimpses of His humanity. Hebrews 2:17 teaches us that Jesus was made fully human and yet Hebrews 1:1-3 teaches us that He is fully God. He is like us in every way, but He is not the son of “a” man. He is the Son of God. He is the Son of Man, but not the son of “a” man, for the Eternal God is His Father.

I am the son of “a” man, and all you see when you look at me is fallen humanity. But I have this light within me, a treasure in a jar of clay as Paul describes it in 2 Cor 4, and slowly, very slowly (the slowness is my fault) little glimpses of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ can be seen in me. As we spend time trying to get our heads around this topic, contemplating the greatness of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, which makes us then aware of the sinfulness and sorry state that we are in in this flesh, may we be encouraged by 1 Corinthians 15:51-53: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”

Psalm 2

"Kiss his son..." 

Psalm 2:12a (NIV) 

YHWH's son is the Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the grave and is at the right hand of God. 

How can we kiss the Lord Jesus? 

In David's day and culture, men would kiss each other as a gesture of peace. David and Jonathan kissed each other and give oaths of friendship to each other (1 Samuel 20:41) and David's general, Joab, pretended to kiss a rival named Amasa and stuck a dagger in him instead (2 Samual 20:9). 

God spoke in a still small voice to Elijah and told him that seven thousand had not bowed their knees to Baal nor their mouths kissed him. From this we can deduce that there is a spiritual sense to kissing. A kiss communicates and demonstrates allegiance, friendship and loyalty. 

But how can we kiss the Lord Jesus? 

Luke 22 records that Judas kissed the Lord, to identify Him to those who wanted to arrest Him; it was a kiss of betrayal. Luke 7 records that Simon did not kiss the Lord, although he had invited Him into his home. Instead, a woman barged into the dinner, went to Jesus' feet and wouldn't stop kissing them. These kisses were kisses of love that came from a heart that overflowed with love because she was forgiven. 

But how can we kiss the Lord Jesus? 

Friend - find a way today! Seek Him out; sit at His feet. Listen to His voice through the Word; speak to Him in prayer. Bless His Name; weep over your sin and His grace. Show your love for Him today. 

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"Leave a Light On" Matt Maher, via YouTube

Psalm 2

"I will proclaim the LORD’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father."

Psalm 2:7 (NIV)

The LORD is YHWH, the One True God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Eternal Spirit. He is big on His Son! He loves His Son, and He thinks highly of Him, for He is well-pleased with Him. If we miss this truth and try to approach God without making peace with His Son, we have made an unrecoverable mistake. 

Can you imagine standing before the One True God, having lived your life seeking Him, trying to please Him and believing that He will receive you with joy, only to discover that His Son, whom you have ignored, is the One who controls access to this God? Millions of people have made this mistake! Some people in our day and age teach that all religions point to the same God, and yet only Christians worship a God who has a Son! 

This royal psalm ends with: “Blessed are those who take refuge in him”. Oh friend, are you “in Christ”? Verse 2 calls Him anointed. Verse 6 calls Him king. Verse 7 calls Him God’s Son, and verse 12 tells everyone of us to kiss the Son. Christ is the English word for the Greek word Christos. Christos is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. Messiah is a Hebrew word that means anointed one. Anointed One/Christ/Messiah/Son are all terms that refer to one person:Jesus of Nazareth. 

Psalm 2 tells us there is only one way to God, and Jesus preached the same message in John 14:6: “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

BE WISE today; kiss the Son and live!

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Psalm 119:161-168

 

"Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble." 

Proverbs 28:14 (NIV)

Will we LISTEN to the wise? Or will we pretend that always doesn't mean always?

ALWAYS is life-long. 

ALWAYS is every situation. 

ALWAYS is without exception. 

This wise saying clearly teaches that God's personal attention is given to the individuals (Num. 6:24-26) who make trembling before God their way of life. 

Psalm 119:161-168 teaches us what trembling before God looks like: 

When we rejoice in the promises contained in God's Word, we are trembling. 

When we HATE falsehood in our life, but LOVE the Law, we are trembling. 

When we regularly (7x a day) praise God for those Laws, we are trembling. 

When we experience great peace while we read His Laws, we are trembling. 

When we follow His commands and trust Him to deliver us, we are trembling. 

When we obey the spirit of the Law, and get past the letter, we are trembling. 

When we remember that our lives are lived on a stage before God, we are trembling. 

Heavenly Father, be gracious to me today. 

Strive with me; break my heart. 

Cause me to tremble before YOU, every moment of this day, and in every situation I find myself. 

Bless me I pray. 

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1 Samuel 15

"These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit and who tremble at my word." 

Isaiah 66:2b (NIV)

When we see God as He truly is, we then and only then, are able to see ourselves as we truly are, for we will see our sin. 

Isaiah saw God high and lifted up and He describes the LORD as a God whose throne is heaven and whose footstool is earth. He describes a God who is the Maker of everything and everyone. Isaiah then tells us that God looks with favour on those who tremble at His Word. God turns His face towards those who obey Him; who do what He tells us to do. 

Do we tremble at His Word? He has graciously given us His Word, do we obey it? Saul rationalized his disobedience; to us it is so obvious that he is wrong. Many of us read 1 Samuel 15 and think to ourselves, "Boy oh boy. This Saul is pretty stupid" and yet we are outsiders looking in. The truth is that we all rationalize disobedience to God. Our reasoning seems sound to us; it seems wise and entirely rational, and yet to an outsider and to God, it is the height of stupidity and foolishness. 

Many of us have been Christians for years and years. Our rationalization is so deep in our lives that it was become denial. Just read the rest of Isaiah 66 to see what the outcome of denial is for God's people. Oh friend, do not make the mistake of thinking that repentance is only for non-Christians. A life of repentance is the characteristic of a person who trembles at God's Words. May we be those who tremble at the Word of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and rush to obey His every command! 

"Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 

Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. 

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" 

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Luke 15

"I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repent than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." 

Luke 15:17 (NIV)

"Heaven is a wonderful place, filled with glory and grace, 

I want to see my Saviour's face, heaven is a wonderful place!"

This little chorus never fails to lift my spirits. Heaven is truly a wonderful place and I look forward to being there!

One of the many verses that speak to the wonderfulness of heaven is this verse out of the great parable of Jesus. Heaven rejoices when a sinner repents. Are you a sinner my friend? Do you see the sin in your life today, yesterday or the day before? That's GOOD NEWS! For the Spirit is striving with your spirit and He is speaking God's Word into your life or you wouldn't even be aware of it.

Oh friend, repent. You have seen the sin, are you sorry for it? Then confess it. Agree with God that it is sin and He will forgive you and cleanse you. Ask Him for His heart in this matter. Ask Him for the holy hatred that He has for this sin. Ask Him to lift you up out of the muck and the mud of our own nature and the demon horde. Then live as a child of the King. Live as a child of the Most High God! 

That is REPENTANCE and that behaviour causes great rejoicing in heaven. It must be God who rejoices, for Heaven is His. It must be the angels rejoicing, for what delights God delights them. It must be the saint who have gone before us rejoicing, for they can see clearly now what we can only see darkly. That all of heaven rejoices when a sinner repents.

Oh fellow sinner, may we search our hearts today and repent! 

"Search My Heart", Hillsong United, via YouTube

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