Love, light, life

Light, Life and love.

Many years ago the Beatles sang ‘ all you need is love’. Well is that true? No, it is not true. I know Christians who have imbibed such a deception!

The great apostle of love (John) began his gospel writings with the essential link between the life of God becoming the light of mankind. I might have thought that the light of God would have become the  light of man, but it is recorded as : “in Him was life, and the life was the light of man” (John 1:4)

You might remember that God said : “Let there be light and there was light”[Genesis 1] This happened before the sun or moon were created. Light from God has the priority as so much in creation is dependent upon light.

In John chapter 1, it is God Himself stepping into time and space  as the light. This is the distinctive of Christianity – the life and teachings and death of the Lord Jesus, the son of God are the major theme of the Bible. It is His life that brings light as well as love. The love of God is spoken of as the great motive that caused God to send His Son into the world (John 3.16)

Light is essentially from God – otherwise it is darkness

Life is only from God – outside of God it is death

Love is the reality of God in action- in contrast to the destructive work of the devil.

To take one of these without the other is an insult to the very character of God. The varying rays of God’s character may shine more brightly in varying circumstances, but the unity and fullness of God remains complete.

This is why the Lord Jesus was able to say: “I am the way , the truth and the life” [John 14]  To receive  Him, is to receive life. To know Him is to know truth . To trust Him is to rest in His love.

How sad it was that He had to say – ‘you will not come to me that you might have life!’

johnmckee@internode.on.net 

Promises

Jeremiah – his compass in difficult times

Through Jeremiah the prophet, God promised to restore Israel as a nation e.g. Jeremiah 33.26. It was not that they were worthy of restoration, rather it was because of God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David . Ezekiel points out that God’s judgements and restorations are ‘for His own name sake’ Ezekiel 20.44

Jeremiah had an unusual message for the people of Jerusalem – “give in to the king of Babylon”. When the siege of Jerusalem was almost complete, God sent through His prophet a message of hope and restoration. In the long range view, God does not give up.

There were good reasons why Nebuchadnezzar was given the victory – one being the persistence of the Israelites, the Jews to practice idolatry. God had said:

“I must discipline you, I cannot let you go unpunished” Jeremiah 33.11.

The promise of Jehovah to destroy and restore Judah and Jerusalem was fulfilled. The temple was rebuilt along with the walls of the city.

Just as God kept His promises of judgement and His promises of restoration, so today His promises are trustworthy.

About 2000 years ago, Jesus looked at the city of Jerusalem and promised that the city and its temple would be destroyed. And it was destroyed in AD70 by Titus the Roman. The Lord Jesus also at that time made promises of hope. He promised that He would return  in power and great glory. As the former promises have been fulfilled , so will this one.

Many would say ‘Where is the promise of his coming? all things continue....’

This very attitude is an evidence that He is coming soon!

The old chorus put it very well:

‘Who is on the Lord’s side?

I trust that all my readers are ready for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 1 has a very searching comment:

“The Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire inflicting vengeance on them that do not know God and on those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus...........................................

When He comes to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe....”

John McKee

God is Holy. God is love

“You shall have no other gods beside Me”

Who is this God who demands singular devotion and commitment? Who is this one who denies me the freedom of religion? To worship the god I choose?

This is the living God, who created all things. He alone is almighty and in His invisibleness is eternal. All the other gods are the product of human imagination such as worshipping the sun, or worse, they are the ingenious devices of the devil, in an attempt to deny God the almighty, the worship due to His Name. This could be from the feasting to idols to the praying to saints.

God has revealed Himself, not through many religions, but over quite a long period of history. He has spoken through prophets, been known in real life experiences and then finally in Jesus Christ. Moses, who in a very special way knew God and mediated a special communication of God, he foretold of a special prophet who likewise would speak with heavenly authority – not the budda, not Mohammed, not Krishna, not Bahaullah – it was Jesus Christ and Him alone.

Through Moses was seen the holiness of God Jehovah, but through Jesus Christ was evidenced the grace and truth of God. More than being seen, grace and truth by love divine was implemented as the means to a functional relationship with the same God who made the world, the same God whom Moses made know as holy. In a beautiful way Moses deferred honour to the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus deferred honour to Moses [eg John 5] .

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”

 Was the coming of Jesus into the world, the beginning of God’s love?  NO. God loved the people of the world from the beginning. The emphasis is that the world of people had now proved themselves unworthy of Himself, unworthy of His love. Now God’s glory was being expressed in a different hue. Not so much holiness being revealed in a holy law, but, on the foundation of that, God’s undeserved love shines forth in hitherto unrivalled brilliance.

Just as the law was more than philosophical words (it was a law defined by action), so the love of God was and is more than words. “God so loved the world that He gave” – God throughout history has given much, but this is the greatest gift. This is God giving Himself. That is why the word ‘begotten’  (left out in many translations) is so significant. Out from God Himself came the Son of God (not as a child with a beginning), as the perfect representative of the Father. Much could be said of the blessing of His years on earth, but God’s love is finally expressed in this action –“God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all” (the cross) Romans 8.

Many treated Moses law with indifference, and today many treat God’s love in Christ with indifference. But God is not mocked. He will have the last say. God will be the final judge.

“Of how much sorer punishment will he be thought worthy who has spurned the Son of God................................vengeance is mine , I will repay says the Lord” (Hebrews 10)

What should be our response to God revealed?

In the words of another when he saw Jesus alive from the dead:

“My Lord

   My God”

“blessed are those that have not seen, yet have believed.” (John 20)

We indeed should know God and love Him forever!

John McKee

God's wrath

The appearing of God

I suggest the greatest problem of our day is ‘ indifference’ toward God. So many act as if God does not exist. Other slighting say, ‘where is the promise of His coming?’. Most just live for themselves.

God is slow to anger, plentiful in mercy and in the age of grace, His judgements are not executed speedily. For those who read their Bible and watch world events, it would appear that He will arise very soon to execute justice and judgement, to bring in the  ‘wrath of the Lamb’.

In this twenty first century when human progress should have attained peace and prosperity for the whole world, the very opposite is occurring. God will let unbelief go to its destructive end, and then His judgements will appear. How gloomy to make such predictions. Rather how sure is His justice, how trustworthy are the prophecies of the Lord Jesus! [Matthew 24.30]

Then shall appear the Son of Man in His glory. Then God in Christ will be vindicated as the Holy One. Then will be implemented the rule of the ‘Righteous one’ and all rebellion will be crushed.[Jeremiah 23.5,6]

The Lord said ‘watch, be ready’.

John McKee

Together in the Lord

I come to the final article in this series. I would like to quote :

“Every believer is baptised into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit and thus being members of one another, are responsible for keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, loving one another fervently.”

This well written statement hardly needs comment. Let me point out that the ‘body of Christ’ has only one head, that being Christ Jesus Himself, once crucified, now risen and exalted to heaven. He has sent forth His Holy Spirit to enable the spread of the Gospel and to gather together in one, the believers from every tribe and language and nation. This togetherness goes well beyond denominational systems to a unity on the basis of the cross. Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, are brought to the God the Father, as living stones in a spiritual temple, to be to the praise of His glory.( Ephesians 2)

We do well to search our hearts daily:

‘Am I moving in harmony with the  Holy Spirit?’

‘Do I love all his people with a pure heart fervently?’

‘Is Jesus Christ the Lord who directs my all?’

comments and questions welcome. johnmckee@internode.on.net

The great tomorrow

How seldom do you hear people talk about the “hereafter.” How rare is a  sermon on the subject of “Eternity”.

The greatest teacher on the subject of ‘after death’ was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He made it very clear that we are more than body, having soul and spirit.

In this blog, I would like to refer to the Bible teaching about the resurrection. It is referred to in the Old Testament on many occasions, but for brevity I shall concentrate on the New Testament teaching.

It was Jesus, who in the sermon on the mount insisted that heaven was a real, remote place  beyond death. (Matthew 5:12, 6:19)  When confronted by the Sadducees about the resurrection, He made it clear that resurrection was for real, and then He spoke of the mode of existence of resurrected people (Matthew 22:23). The Lord taught that in the resurrection there will be rewards [ Luke 14.14].

In John 5:25-29, the Son of God draws back the curtain concerning the day of resurrection. He Himself will call people out of the graves. He Himself will be the final judge. The will be two resurrections – the first to life, the second to judgement. The involvement of people in these moments of accountability is qualified by verse 24:

“Truly, truly  I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life.” For those who thus receive Jesus as God’s sent Son, the resurrection is unto life. For those who chose evil, the resurrection is unto judgement and eternal damnation.

Again I listen to the voice of the Lord Jesus – “I am the resurrection and the life” [John 11.25]

These outstanding claims by Jesus are significant, but more so when we discover that He Himself has been resurrected from among the dead ones.

He being the first fruits from the dead, assures us of the validity of His claims and the implications for our resurrection.

Perhaps I should interrupt and say – this is not reincarnation. In the resurrection it is the same conscious person, able to recall with vivid memory the detail of the life lived.  [1Corinthians 4, Revelation 20]

Paul , by the Holy Spirit gives details of how the resurrection will be [1Corinthians 15]. The present body is natural,  the resurrected body will be real, but spiritual ( spirit dominated as was the risen Lord Jesus ). The laws of nature will be subject to the power of the spirit. Just as the seed dies in the ground, and a new plant springs up with new life (yet bearing the character of the original), so is the resurrection.

“Our heavenly bodies will be just like Christ’s”  [ 1Corinthians 15.48 ]

This is the note of victory for all believers:

“Death is swallowed up in victory”    [ 1Corithians 15.54 ]

“The Lord Himself shall descend  from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first . The we which are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” [1 Thessalonians 4:16 ]

What a thrilling hope- we do well to say “ Even so come Lord Jesus”

Peter the apostle, looked beyond this present day of suffering, to the future day when all believers will share in HIS glory, when it is displayed to all the world. [1 Peter 4.13]

What of those who do not believe in the Son of God?  - the Lord Jesus called it a resurrection to damnation. He said that only God could destroy body and soul in hell [Matthew 10.28]. Would a loving God do that?   If God is just and true to His word, then He must.

“Their judgement is based on this fact, the light of heaven came into the world, but they loved darkness more than light , for their actions were evil” [John 3:19].

“For God has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man He has appointed , and He has proved it to everyone who this is , by raising  Him from the dead.” [Acts17.31]

This is serious truth – let us ponder it often

Let me close on this joyful note

“Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection”

                          [Revelation 20.6]

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Until He comes again   -  John McKee

A cause for praise

Psalm 92  The goodness and faithfulness of God.

Life has many twists and turns, and the circumstances around us change with the wind. The one thing that maintains stability in life is God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

This Psalm emphasises the goodness of God. Many other superlatives honour God, but let this one be a blessing today. In the midst of many evil forces, God remains consistent, He remains trustworthy, He remains just, He is good.

His goodness is not some bland, abstract idea. His goodness is an active attitude that is seen in action.

An example of God’s goodness is His reaction to the human condition of offensiveness and rebellion. God has interrupted the course of time with the birth of Jesus. The angels sang praise that God was implementing His peace plan:

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will toward man.” (Luke 2.14)

It remains true today as it did then, that peace is available when Jesus Christ is received as the Lord from heaven, the Saviour of all who repent. (After more than sixty years of observing world events, I have concluded that all wars would cease, all poverty would vanish, all lack of education would be conquered if all the world received Jesus Christ as Lord. So much human distress is the result religions that reject the Lord Jesus Christ. All the humanitarian efforts to make the world a better place to live in are futile if Jesus Christ is rejected.)

God went further than sending His Son. He gave Him up to remedy the problem of sin. The Cross is the ultimate expression of God’s goodness, love, mercy and grace. God’s goodness is further evidenced in that He does not compel people to believe. To the people of the world His love has granted ‘free will’. Sadly many choose not to believe in Jesus the Son of God, with the unavoidable consequences of suffering , separation, sorrow and shame. But for those who choose to receive Christ, God’s goodness is abundant with forgiveness, joy, peace, hope and love.

The Psalm that has thrilled my soul today, was not written in the context of everything being rich and rosy – no, most of the praise to God comes from believers in times of difficulty. This is when the focus turns from self sufficiency , to trust in a God who is greater than ourselves and our circumstances. He is a God who can be trusted as good. I well remember the time when I lost almost everything. The challenge was – could I say ‘God is good’ when everything seemed bad. It was not feelings or circumstances that enabled me to answer ‘yes’. It was only faith that enabled me to say “God is good”

A little like Job, faith would say “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!” ( Job 13.15)

So let our days  be filled with praise:

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord

To sing praises to the most high”

johnmckee@internode.on.net