Teachings and Miracles

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message. But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.”
John 5:35-38 NLT

John the Baptist had one God-given mission in life, and he was prepared for it almost from the time of his birth. We read in John 1:6-9, “God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world“. When pressed by the religious leaders to explain who he was, he quoted the Scripture from Isaiah 40:3, “Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!” In  His conversation with the Jewish leaders, Jesus made mention of John and his witness that Jesus was the Messiah the Jews had been waiting for. But He then said that He had a greater witness than John to His authenticity. Jesus said His teachings and miracles were enough to prove who He was, and then He went further. He said that because of the works He accomplished, this proved that he had been sent by His Father in Heaven, God Himself. 

In His next part of the conversation with the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus then delivered a warning and a challenge. He told them that because they failed to believe that Jesus was who He said He was, the Son of God, they had rejected God Himself. It is true that the Pharisees had reached a position in their religion where they believed that just keeping the Law and its associated rules was enough to ensure their salvation, and they therefore neglected the intent behind the Law, a relationship with God. And Jesus exposed this before them by saying “you do not have His message in your hearts”. 

The teachings of Jesus have underpinned our faith ever since He walked the Palestinian paths, and when He delivered them, they clarified the intent of the Law, as well as exposing how negligent the Jewish religion had become. Through Jesus’ teachings we find a God who desires a relationship with His people, Jew or Gentile. Once He was asked asked which of the commandments was the greatest, and he replied, saying,  ” … ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). The meaning of the word “love” is clear, and our love of God, and His love for us, underpins our faith.

Jesus also said that His miracles were a witness that he had come from God. Through them His Father in Heaven testified about Him. And there is no doubt that these miracles became a stumbling block to the Jews. On one occasion the people were so excited by a miracle of healing that Jesus had performed, that they said,  ” … Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?” (Matthew 12:23b). But in the same event, the Pharisees stated that Jesus could only cast out the demon by the power of satan. And ever since, people have had to try and explain away the miracles Jesus performed, because otherwise they would have to admit that He was indeed the Son of God, with far-reaching consequences for their lives of sin. 

We pilgrims know our God and wonder with gratitude about the miracles Jesus performed, and the miracles performed ever since in His Name. But, in the words of the famous hymn, He “saved a wretch like me”. That must be the greatest miracle of all.

Dear God. With an inexpressible gratitude we bow before Your throne today. We were heading down the broad way that leads to destruction and death, but through Jesus we found a new way that leads to life. We worship You today. Amen.

Testimonies

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true. In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved.” John 5:31-34 NLT

Jesus was still in the middle of a long conversation with the Jewish leaders. We don’t know if they were interacting with Him, but, so far, Jesus has spoken about His mission, His miracles, His authority to give life to anyone He chooses, His power to raise the dead, His authority to judge, and His relationship with His father in Heaven. A lot of ground covered. But now Jesus must have been responding to a question or comment about His authority. If He can make all these claims, who is there to witness to their truth?

Jesus admitted that to testify about Himself, and who He was, would not be acceptable or valid. But He pointed out that John the Baptist spoke the truth about Him. We read in John 1:5-6, “God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony“. He continued, ” ….. “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’” From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us” (John 1:15b-18).‭‭ The Jews considered John to be a prophet, and many people were baptised by him in the Jordan. He was greatly respected by both the Jewish leaders and the people, so what John said was taken note of. Jesus, however, reminded His listeners that He didn’t need the benefit of human witnesses, but if He had one, that would help these leaders to be saved.

At Jesus’ trial before the Jewish High Council, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders tried hard to find someone who would substantiate a capital charge against Jesus. We read in Matthew 26:59-61, “Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death. But even though they found many who agreed to give false witness, they could not use anyone’s testimony. Finally, two men came forward who declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days’“”. A trumped up charge hardly sufficient to bring about a death sentence and based on what Jesus said, not on what He did. To an outsider, a statement like that is hardly a crime at all. But before we 21st Century people say that such a thing couldn’t happen today, we should take note that we have to be careful about certain things we say, things that could be defined as “hate speech”, and which are likely to cause other people offence. Street preachers particularly have to be careful about the content of their messages and avoid being drawn into discussions about issues such as homosexuality. As in Jesus’ day, what we say can be misconstrued and lead to prosecution.

There are two things here for us pilgrims. Is there anyone who can testify to our faith, and what is our testimony? An example much overworked is the question – “If I was arrested for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict me?” Would the prosecution be able to produce one or more witnesses who would testify that I was a believer? John testified great things about Jesus, but what would our witnesses testify about us? The second thing concerns our testimonies. What would people say about us? Would who or what we are be identifiable as appropriate for people who believe in Jesus? And do we have testimonies that will lead to people being saved? 

Jesus’ approach to the Jewish leaders was one where He didn’t pull any punches. He told them the truth about Himself, and His life was totally in line with His testimony. No hypocrisy. No lies. No sin. Jesus was the only perfect Man who has walked on this earth, so what else can we do than praise Him?

Dear Lord Jesus. It is difficult to get our minds around the fact that the Son of God left Heaven and came to this planet at just the right time with a plan for the salvation of mankind. We can only thank and worship You today. Amen.

The Second Sign

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea. Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days.”
John 4:54-5:1 NLT

A miracle happened when Jesus turned water into wine, and here John records that the healing of the government official’s son was the second that had taken place in Galilee. Both events were, as John wrote, miraculous occasions, inexplicable to anyone taking them at face value, but there will always be someone who attempts to explain them away by attributing to them some natural cause. Perhaps, such people say, the healing of the official’s son was a coincidence. The boy might have been very sick when his father decided to journey to find Jesus, but in the meantime he became well through the normal course of an illness, in which some people get better and others died. Perhaps the water turned into wine was some form of hoax perpetrated by the bridegroom or someone else at the wedding reception. We will always be able to find the sceptics and deniers, people who don’t want to believe what they see or hear, because to do so would result in them having to abandon their world view and take on board something that will change and even transform their lives. These people are very comfortable with their sinful lives, for now.

Jesus said, as recorded in John 4:48, “ … Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?” What was there about the Galileans that seemed to indicate that they didn’t believe Jesus’ message on its own? Was Jesus a bit exasperated that His words of eternal life were rejected until He reinforced them with a miracle or two? After all, He had a tremendous reception in Sychar, and the people there believed what He said, not what He did. John 4:42, “Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Saviour of the world.“”

The people in Jesus’ day had the benefit of the Son of God living with them. He walked amongst the Jewish people spreading His message of hope about the Kingdom of God. He preached in their synagogues, He taught in the fields and educated His disciples as they journeyed from one place to another. And yet, most people He met had a problem believing what He said. But before we condemn them, we need to walk in their shoes. If someone came to our societies today, even Jesus Himself, preaching the message that Jesus preached, what reception would they get? It would be even more difficult today, because the spirit of the age promotes any message, any ideology, that feels good. Anything that satisfies the sinful yearnings within human beings. So people today will reject any message that confronts their sin, even if their rejection of it comes with a warning that hell beckons, just over the horizons of their lives. There is a man who lives close by who I shared the Gospel with, and his response was that he would be taking part in the “big party downstairs”. Not for him a life with God in Heaven. Such a response staggered me, because its intensity in its rejection of the love of God was basically a self-imposed death sentence.

Do miracles happen today? There are many that have been documented, but still most people choose to reject the Gospel. They reject even the resurrection of the Man who was cruelly put to death on a Roman cross, perhaps the biggest miracle that this world has ever seen. But miracles or not, there is only one way to Heaven and that is through repentance and believing in Jesus. Our Heavenly Father loved the people He created so much that He was prepared to sacrifice His only Son to save them from the consequences of their sins. The people of Galilee had a choice, and that same choice is still hanging in the air, for now. It won’t be there for ever, because one day we will die and the option of believing in Jesus will die with us. We pilgrims have an opportunity to tell others about the wonderful future people can have, both in this life and beyond. And every time someone we tell about Jesus decides to believe in Him, they hold a party in Heaven. There is nothing more important in this life than the Good News brought to this world by the Son of God.

Dear Father God. All we can do is to worship You, with grateful hearts. Amen.

Believing Jesus

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.” Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home. While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus.”
John 4:49-53 NLT

Perhaps the government official, the civil servant, was worried that Jesus wouldn’t heal his son. So he begged Jesus a second time to go with him to his home to heal his “little boy”. We don’t know the lad’s age but the impression was that he was much loved and in a family that obviously was fairly wealthy, because there were servants. But this was another example of Jesus’ compassion. He saw the man’s distress and immediately responded with the instruction to “Go back home”, followed by the reassurance “Your son will live”. 

But we should note the civil servant’s response. In spite of his begging, we are told two things about the man – he believed in Jesus and he was obedient to Jesus’ command. We read, “And the man believed what Jesus said and started home”. No more begging Jesus to come to his home. No more emotional pressure. We don’t know how he heard that Jesus was back in Galilee but he journeyed to meet the Master. The urgency of his son’s illness spurred him on. He was probably thinking about where he could find Jesus. What would his reception be? Would Jesus go with him? What if he said “no”? Doubts would have pressed in on his thoughts. But regardless of all of this he kept going, ignoring anything that would have made him turn back. That’s faith in action.

The man was hurrying home, desperate to see if his son was better. What was he expecting? A small improvement? Total healing? Would he find his son back to normal, playing with the other children? What did he think when he saw some of his servants coming towards him? Were they bringing bad news? Or was it the answer to a father’s desperate encounter with Jesus, the answer he yearned for? And then, the joy when he found out that his son was well, with the fever not present anymore, and it all happened at the very moment Jesus had said, “Your son will live”. 

We pilgrim believers are a people of faith. But do we have faith like that government official? Faith that will persevere through difficulties and troubles? God will always reward the faith of His children. We don’t have to beg, but believe what Jesus said, as we read in Matthew 7:9-11, “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him”. The problem is that we “people of faith” fail to ask God for what we need. We often try every other avenue until desperation or lethargy kick in and spoil the opportunity. Or as a last resort we fall to our knees in prayer and ask God to help us. I keep a prayer diary and often find myself writing in the answers to prayers offered up days before. It’s faith building to know that God not only hears my prayers but answers them as well.

This cameo of the encounter between Jesus and the government official ends with more joy. We read, “And he and his entire household believed in Jesus”. What a tremendous outcome to find that the whole household, presumably servants and all, came to a belief in Jesus. All through a few gracious words from Jesus and the father’s faith.

Dear Father God. It must grieve You so much to see Your children struggling with issues that You have the answer to. Please forgive us. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

He Who Comes From Above

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“He who comes from [heaven] above is above all others; he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks [about things] of the earth [his viewpoint and experience are earthly]. He who comes from heaven is above all. What He has [actually] seen and heard, of that He testifies; and yet no one accepts His testimony [as true].”
John 3:31-32 AMP

‭‭There are some potentially difficult thoughts in these verses. John the Baptist was setting out the differences between the inhabitants of Heaven and the inhabitants of earth. And, sadly, he pointed out that no one accepted what the Man from Heaven had to say about what He had seen and heard. Of course, we see the difficulty straight away because we look at these verses from a human perspective. We imagine in our minds a human being from Heaven and an earthly human, but of course this is not the case. Heaven is populated by spiritual beings and earth by natural beings. And the Man that John the Baptist was talking about had left Heaven as a Spirit and had taken on the form of a human being.

The Apostle John started his Gospel with the statement that “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). And a few verses on we read, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Paul wrote an explanation in Romans 8:3, “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins“. 

We pilgrims all understand that within our human bodies is a spirit, and this spirit connects with our Father in Heaven through Jesus. But this isn’t the case for everyone. Those who don’t know God still have something within them that yearns for a spiritual connection with something or someone. So they try and satisfy that yearning by exploring other avenues. There are of course the other spiritual outlets emanating from the devil – he will always try and counterfeit the things of God. Then there are drugs like alcohol that seem to offer some sort of relief from the emptiness inside, but this is only a temporary solution. Some will try sex in all its deviancies, but find a downward path to oblivion. But John the Baptist knew the answer, and he pointed out that the Man with the solution to the spiritual yearnings, the Man who came down from Heaven, the Word of God Himself, but sadly He was not believed by the people of His day.

So what can we pilgrims learn from this? We too have seen and heard amazing things in the Spirit. We have glimpsed God Himself through Jesus. We have felt His loving arms around us. We have a testimony to tell others, a testimony about our amazing Heavenly Father. But we find that as we share our testimony with those around we are mostly greeted by scorn and derision, by ridicule and rejection. But, like Jesus, we never give up. In the background God works in the hearts of those around us, and we will find receptivity from those open to the truth.

Dear Father God. You have graciously given us a glimpse of Your heart, and have given us the privilege of sharing that with those around us. Please lead and guide us to those You have chosen for Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Child of God

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”
John 1:11-13 NLT

It has always been a puzzle to me, that the expression “born again” causes so much controversy. A dictionary definition of being “born again” is “A Christian who has experienced a distinct, dramatic conversion to faith in Jesus, especially a member of certain Protestant groups that stress this experience“. So the implication is that someone who has not been “born again” into a spiritual relationship with God can still be a Christian. Some view such people, the “born again” ones, as being “the unpleasant sanctimonious ones who keep flaunting their beliefs“. They are negatively viewed as being fundamentalists; Bible-believing followers of Christ who set themselves apart from your normal pew warmers.

I have a friend who considers himself to be a “Christian” purely because he is always helping other people, living what he considers to be a decent and “good” life, and having had a grandfather who was an elder in the Church of Scotland. A neighbour of mine considers herself a “Christian” because her name is on the membership role of a church somewhere, but she hasn’t attended that church for many years. Other people will tick the “Christian” box on a census or other similar form, because they were perhaps christened in a church as a baby. Or they go to a church sometimes on Christmas Eve. And that is where the confusion arises. The label “Christian” has become confused and corrupted, and refers to anyone who nominally or vaguely believes that there was someone called Jesus and they will somehow end up in Heaven when they die. So to them, the terms “born again Christian”, or “true Christian”, or “proper Christian” are offensive and to be treated with contempt. 

The reality is that a “Christian” is a follower of Christ. Someone “who believed him and accepted him” and who is reborn in “a birth that comes from God”. John’s Gospel, right here in the first chapter, is very clear about who a “Christian” really is. Being “born again” gives such believers the right to become “children of God”, John writes. The whole Bible hinges on the relationship between God and mankind, and clearly sets out what that entails. There are three verses in the New Testament that, in my opinion, are key to a “born again” experience. The first is in Romans 3:23. Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard”. There has to come that realisation that we are sinners, accepting that in God’s sight we fall far short of His requirement  for righteousness and holiness. The second Scripture that matters to me is from Ephesians 2:8-9, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it“. There is nothing that we can do to earn our salvation – we cannot become a child of God by doing good works, or living what we might consider a good life, or even having our names on the role of church members. The third verse that I refer to is Acts 2:38, “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit“. These are just a few words that Peter preached but the repercussions of them are life changing. There are many other verses that constitute the Gospel, the good news about Jesus and His gracious saving commitment for mankind. 

A human baby is born physically, through a process we are all familiar with. That baby is a child of its parents. To become a child of God, though, we have to be born spiritually. The process is different in that it happens spiritually, not physically, but happen it must. I became a “born again” Christian on a day when I finally realised that I was a sinner, and looked to Jesus as my Saviour. I found out who Jesus was and what He had done for me and everyone else on this planet. And there then started a long journey. There have been easy stretches, and hard times. But journey I must, always keeping in sight that increasing glow on the horizon, the Heavenly promised land. I invite you, my readers, to join me, wherever you are. You will never regret it. We can journey on together.

But what about those people who consider themselves to be “Christian” but have never come to that point in their lives when they have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour? Those people who have rejected the relationship with God that John wrote about? The people who have never become children of God? Their future is something that is up to God and His grace – something I can never judge or take for granted – but why take the risk of ending up in a lost eternity when there is a wonderful opportunity to become a child of God? Now. Today. This very minute.

Dear Father God. I pray today for all my readers, that they too will embrace Your saving grace and become the children of God that John wrote about. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Despising Authority

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings without so much as trembling.”
2 Peter 2:9-10 NLT

‭Authority is not a popular word these days. Whether we citizens of Western societies like it or not, there will be people in authority over us. If we are at school, there will be teachers and the head master or mistress. In work, there is the foreman or employer, manager or supervisor. In civil society there’s the police, or a judge or magistrate. If we are sick and end up in hospital, there are doctors and nurses. Then there are the bank managers, politicians, and lawyers. Even in our homes, there will be certain rules to be followed, set there by an implicit authority. We must also consider that there is such a thing as spiritual authority, and this introduces a different perspective, a Godly perspective, on what authority really means. 

In our secular societies, the concept of authority can upset people. Sinful people want to be free. Free to violate laws. Free to insult our teachers, our policemen and women, our medics and so on. And all because many people feel it is their “right” to push back against those who do not share their world view, or do not endorse what they consider to be their “rights”. Whereas people in authority were respected by past generations, even if their decisions or behaviour didn’t warrant it, today’s authority figures are often afraid to exercise that authority, for fear of social media fuelled abuse or worse. Many ideological groups have emerged and they will sometimes violently reject any authority figure who does not agree with them. We see that happening with issues over climate change, over sexuality and marriage, over transgender “rights”. And we see it particularly when opinions about Israel or the Jews are expressed. 

The highest authority that we know of is God Himself. There is no authority higher than Him. We read Genesis, and see how God created everything. That gives Him absolute authority over all His creation. He is free to exercise that authority at any time, but we are grateful that God is kind, compassionate and loving, righteous and fair. He exemplifies true and perfect authority. And we see throughout the Bible, how God delegated authority to certain individuals throughout Israel’s history. We see the laws given to Moses, God’s sovereign laws designed to be followed for the good of the people. Jeremiah had a prophetic message for the Jews in exile – the account is in Jeremiah 30 – and we read that God wanted to bring His people home to the land He had provided for them, and He said, “You will be my people, and I will be your God” (Jeremiah 30:22). His authority was purely motivated by the highest good for His people.

But some people get a bit upset when Holy-Spirit-inspired rules and laws, as recorded in the Bible, cut across what today’s “enlightened” society thinks. Some individuals take authoritative Bible verses out of context and bandy them around to embarrass God-fearing believers. I used to work with a man who always tormented me for my faith by claiming that believers have to hate their families to be a proper Christian, and he quoted, out of context, Luke 14:26 (NKJV), “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple”. But there are other teachings about authority that can be contentious to some. Take for example 5:23-24, “For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Saviour of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything“. But again this can be taken out of context, by omitting Ephesians 5:21, 25, 28, “submitting to one another in the fear of God. …  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, … So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself“. 

There is teaching in the New Testament about being obedient to secular authorities. Romans 13:1-2, “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.” ‭This really puts into context the role of a Christian in secular society. Paul goes on, “The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong” (Romans 13:4). There is only one “get out” to these Romans verses – God is the higher authority when there is a conflict, and this fact has cost many their lives, as they stand up in obedience to God and His ways. 

Peter wrote that God “is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority“. Believe it or not, God set out the way humans should apply their sexuality, and it is interesting that Peter particularly emphasised the importance of getting this right. Looking inwards at our own sexual desires in an unhealthy way will apparently lead to the despising of authority. Many in society today lack a moral compass because they have rejected God and all His wonderful Biblical precepts. Without it, they are unable to discern what is right and wrong and try and impose their own “twisted” ways on all they do, or get involved with.

God knows what is best for us Pilgrims. We are saved, are being saved and will be saved (Justification, Sanctification and Glorification) and look forward to that glorious day when God’s authority will shine out in a relationship of love. His authority is perfect. Jesus said, “For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light“. That’s how it will be in God’s presence as we journey towards Paradise.

Dear Father God. You are perfect in all Your ways, and we submit to Your authority this day and always. Amen.

Fading Flowers

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.”
1 Peter 1:24-25 NLT

The first chapter of 1 Peter concludes with an Old Testament scripture from Isaiah. The prophet wrote, “A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord. And so it is with people. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever”” (Isaiah 40:6-8). Isaiah 40 is one of the most encouraging chapters in the Bible and was delivered to a fearful and insecure people, under threat from the Babylonians. The chapter ends with one of my favourite verses, “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). 

I’m writing this in the month of August. The early Spring burst of growth in the woods near where I live has peaked and recent winds and rain have started the process of decay amongst the undergrowth. Flowers have finished blossoming and the petals mostly disappeared, leaving lonely stems and the start of seed growth. All too soon it will be autumn and the greenery will start to blacken and die away. Isaiah used this picture to describe how it is with people. The process might take a bit longer but a person’s “beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field”. Some might find this depressing. Certainly the cosmetic industry invests much to promote products designed to delay the inevitable as much as possible. But we do have a finite natural life, which is all the more reason to invest in the life that lasts forever. That process starts with the “Word of the Lord”. Peter wrote that this Word is the Good News about Jesus. The Word who became a man and who died for us, that we who believe in Him will receive eternal life.

Regardless of our age, young or old, God is with us. Isaiah 46:3-4, “Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all you who remain in Israel. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.” We pilgrims may feel that as we get older, our usefulness diminishes. We may be able to do less, our fitness and physical abilities declining. But God’s plan for us never stops, and he promised to care for us regardless. Our petals might have fallen off. We may have started to wither in appearance. A few lines may have increased to become crazy paving. But one day we will hear the call and soon after inherit a new body, that will never decay and that will last forever. Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

That is the Good News that Peter wrote about. Perhaps one day we will have the opportunity to talk with him and find out the thinking behind his words. After all he spent over three years with Jesus, walking around Galilee and beyond. But in the meantime, we have a mission to complete. Not for us the temptation to sit back and wait for the day we hope for. There are many around us who have not made a decision to obey the “Good News”. And if they haven’t heard it, or perhaps need a reminder, that’s why we’re here.

Father God. It truly is Good News, about Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins. We worship You today. Amen.

Being Born Again

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”
1 Peter 1:23 NLT

We of course remember the conversation that took place between Jesus and Nicodemus, where Jesus said to him, “ … I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:5-7). Earlier in John 1:12-13, John wrote, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God”. So Peter reminded the early believers in the five provinces of their new state as God’s children, following their rebirth. 

Those early believers were facing into a perilous existence, with persecution even to the point of death not being uncommon. So the references to the new life in the Spirit was timely and encouraging. It gave them hope for the future, that regardless of what was going to happen to them, their lives would continue. So the new birth that Peter was writing about would not soon be extinguished. It would last forever. Because God said so though His “living word”, who, of course, was Jesus. He was and is the living Word, and though Him we have an eternal hope. We will move on from this life, whenever it will end, into a life spent in eternity. That life will never be under threat of extinction. There will be nothing that will take it away. Paul wrote at the end of Romans 8, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). That love of God, that did not even deny us salvation through His Son, Jesus, is eternal, never ending in its scope and accessibility.

Being born again is a spiritual state available to all. We pilgrims can look back to the time when we believed that Jesus died for us on the cross, that He came back to life from the grave, and provided the only way to Heaven. Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners“. We responded to that love and we’ll never regret it.

Dear Father. You loved us so much that You made a plan to redeem and save us. We will offer up our praise and worship to You for all eternity. Amen.

Salvation Prophesied

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you.”
1 Peter 1:10 NLT

Peter reminded his readers that they were in a privileged place because their whole experience and knowledge of salvation was denied to the Old Testament prophets. They wrote down some prophesies that looked forward to the coming Messiah, but they lacked the knowledge of when this would happen, who the Messiah would be, and how it would happen. They of course had some incredible insights but lacked the detail made available to the believers in the early Church many years later, and after Christ’s death and resurrection. Those old prophets felt the stirring of the Holy Spirit within them and they wrote down what they believed they heard. Prophets such as Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel all looked forward to the day of the Lord without experiencing the clarity they so wanted. Jesus Himself told His disciples “I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it” (Matthew 13:17). 

The Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah are amazing, considering most were written hundreds of years before Jesus came. Snippets of what the old prophets saw through the promptings of the Holy Spirit even started to appear in Genesis. But let’s look at Isaiah’s writings. He wrote down what he heard God say about the Messiah, “He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth”” (Isaiah 49:6). The early believers in the five provinces were the fulfilment of that prophecy. Psalm 22 builds a prophetic picture of how the Messiah’s life was to end. But Jesus Himself repeated the prophecy of Isaiah 61, in Luke 4:18-21, ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come. ” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!””

Fast forward to the first century AD and all became clear. The violent death of the Son of Man ushered in the age of opportunity – mankind’s salvation by grace. Those old prophets died without ever experiencing the salvation they could see coming. We pilgrims are also in a privileged position because we too have experienced God’s love and grace. The old Apostle John wrote, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). How can we reject God’s grace? How can we say that this is not for us, and we’ll work out our own salvation instead? But most people in our Western societies do. They have chosen the broad way that leads to destruction. But we pilgrims have grasped God’s grace with both hands and will never let go. Ever. And one day we’ll cross the threshold into His presence, saved by grace.

Dear Father God. We worship You with grateful hearts today and every day. Amen.