Something Greater

Safe! I sometimes have a hard day at work. No big surprise in that, right? We all have hard days at work, at home, at church. When I have a hard day at work, and I can't let go of the stress when I return home, despite the encouragement and care of my wife, I often will crawl into bed and have only one word of prayer that I can offer up to God: "Safe!" The warmth of the bed, the protection of my blanket, the quietness of the darkness, the security of my home create an image in my mind of safety. With one word, safe, I thank God for His oversight of my life, His guidance and direction and providence , despite the difficulty I've experienced in getting through the day. But my bed and blanket are only an image. Little force is required to violate the security and quiet of my home. My blanket provides small protection from the storms and raging violence of this world . It fails to protect me from even the smallest irritations and upsets. We are surprised...

It's Not Okay to Lie How would you respond to someone who casually says, "It's okay to lie because all I have to do is ask God for forgiveness and He will forgive me?" Paul expected a similar question from his Roman readers: "If our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?...If through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?" Romans 3:5,8 (ESV) Paul's answer: God is Judge of the world! A judge rewards right and administers punishment for wrong . Were God to forgive sin simply because one asked for forgiveness, God would cease to be a righteous Judge. God does not forgive because people ask Him for forgiveness... He cannot unconditionally forgive sin and still remain the righteous Judge of the world. The entire world is held accountable to God for violating His Law (Romans 3...

Resurrection of the Dead Acts 4:1-12 "And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Acts 4:1-2 (ESV) The resurrection of Jesus threatened the religious leaders in Jerusalem. ANNOYED: diaponeomai (to toil through, be worried); from ponos (toil or anguish); from penes (starving or indigent); from peno (to toil for daily subsistence) The Greek word that we translate as "annoyed" means to feel threatened, as if by starvation . In what way did the resurrection of the dead threaten the religious leaders? The religious leaders arrested Peter and John and attempted to charge them with being heretics . They demanded to know by what authority Peter and John healed the crippled man: "When they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power or by what name did you do th...

Resurrection Power "[Christ Jesus] was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 1:4 (ESV) The Holy Spirit's power declared Jesus to be the Son of God, resurrecting Him from the dead. DECLARED: horizo (to mark out or bound, "horizon"); from horion (a boundary-line, a frontier); from horos (a bound or limit) The power of the Holy Spirit dramatically changed the limits of life. Jesus was no longer bound to ordinary limits of life and death... death no longer could control Him. The boundaries of Jesus now extended even to God. The Holy Spirit removes boundaries and limits. "If Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit ...

The Pain Of Death "God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, "I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence." Acts 2:24-28 PANGS: "Odin", a pang or throe, especially of childbirth; akin to "odyne" (grief) and "duno" (to go down" The "pain" of death for Jesus was not loosened until God raised Him up. Thus, the pain that Jesus suffered, the deepest pain, was not from the crown of thorns, the beating and flogging...not even the crucifixion. All of these pains would be loosened when His heart and mind shut down, dropping His body ...

PROVEN ALIVE "He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God." Acts 1:3 (ESV) SUFFERING: "Pascho", a sensation or impression of pain; same as "patho" or pentho" (seen in empathy, pathetic, sympathy) PROOFS: A token, or criterion, of certainty KINGDOM: "Basileia", royalty, rule, or realm; from "basis", a pace (as in walking) WHAT DO YOU THINK? In what ways does the action of walking support the idea of a kingdom or royalty? What proofs do we see immediately after the tomb was found empty? "While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." Luke 24:4-6 (ESV) "But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stoopin...