Category: Father God

The Children of God #2

Friday, June 8, 2012

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28 KJV).

Today’s Scripture briefly describes “the children of God.”

According to the Bible, everyone is not God’s child. Only those who have “faith in Christ Jesus” are God’s children. Unless a person has “believed on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31)—relying on His sacrifice at Calvary’s cross as the fully satisfying payment for his or her sins—he or she is not a child of God.

Those of us who have trusted Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we “have been baptized into Christ.” This is not water baptism, for the Bible reads that we “have been baptized into Christ,” not “baptized into water.” When we trusted Christ alone as Saviour, the Holy Spirit baptized us into the Church the Body of Christ. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body…” (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Holy Ghost, not a preacher or priest, administers the only valid baptism for this Dispensation of Grace (Ephesians 4:5).

When the Holy Spirit baptized us into the Body of Christ, He identified us with Christ’s death: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ [not water!] were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death…” (Romans 6:3,4a). Just as Christ died, we died to sin. Now, sin does not have dominion over us. When Christ was raised, we were raised to “walk in newness of life” (verse 4b).

Literally, we have “put on Christ” (today’s Scripture). We have been made “the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God the Father sees us in Christ: He sees Christ’s righteousness, not our unrighteousness. Saints, God will always accept us in Christ (Ephesians 1:6). We will always be “the Body of Christ,” “the children of God.”

The Children of God #1

Thursday, June 7, 2012

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28 KJV).

Is everyone “God’s child,” as often claimed? Who are “the children of God?” Today’s Scripture explains that… and more.

Who are “the children of God?” “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (today’s Scripture). Obviously, everyone is not God’s child. The only “children of God” are those who have trusted Christ Jesus alone as their personal Saviour.

Once, we were lost hell-bound sinners, children of the devil (John 8:44). We “were dead in our trespasses and sins,” following the evil world system (under Satan’s influence), doing our own thing and offending God’s righteousness (Ephesians 2:1-3).

There came a point in our lives when we (finally) threw up our hands in exhaustion. We (finally) realized that we were no-good wretches: all our “good” works displeased God. There, we (finally) acknowledged that we could never “measure up” to His righteous standards. There, we (finally) quit working for salvation, and trusted in the bloodshed, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as sufficient payment for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). We received God’s salvation as a free gift, something we did not deserve (Ephesians 2:4-9)!

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Saints, we have total access to and peace with God through Christ Jesus our Lord. We are no longer separated from God because of sin. God’s righteous wrath against our sin and sins was poured out on His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, at Calvary’s cross. “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of [God’s] grace” (Ephesians 1:7; cf. Colossians 1:14; Colossians 2:13).

Now, God, not Satan, is our Father (Romans 1:7 et al.). Now and forever, we are “the children of God!”

Vengeance Belongeth Unto the Lord #3

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19 KJV).

In the biblical words of a bygone preacher, “Payday, someday!”

Today’s Scripture and its context (verses 17-21) explain that whenever God’s righteousness is offended (sinned against), His justice enforces appropriate punishment (His wrath). Thus, we need not retaliate when people mistreat us. Those sins will either be dealt with at Christ’s cross (if these people trust Christ or have trusted Christ), or if they do not trust Christ, they will suffer for those deeds forever in the lake of fire.

According to 2 Thessalonians 1:4-9, the believers in Thessalonica endured persecutions and tribulations (sound familiar?). Notice the comfort the Apostle Paul gave them: “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;” (verses 6-9).

To “recompense” means, “to pay back in kind.” When Jesus Christ returns to earth at His Second Coming, He will pay back His (and thus, our) enemies. A literal fire will precede Him, and it will consume them. This is the wrath mentioned in today’s Scripture (cf. Matthew 3:7-12; Luke 3:16,17; Psalm 2:4,5).

But, notice that fire will then give way to “everlasting destruction” (this is when these people die, and go to hell and, ultimately, the lake of fire). The lake of fire is where God’s wrath against sin is eternally poured out on those who chose to reject Christ and remain dead in their sins (“them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”).

For sinners, “Payday someday.” Either at Christ’s cross… or the lake of fire….

A Higher Education: It Is Up to You

Saturday, May 19, 2012

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12 KJV).

Six years ago today, I graduated high school. Consequently, we dedicate this devotional to high school students who are nearing graduation.

Are you about to graduate high school? What would God have you do afterward? Go to college? Trade school? Something else? What career should you pursue? If you do plan on education after high school, where should you attend school? These are tough questions, and while God’s Word does not answer them, you can make decisions that conform to sound Bible doctrine—that is God’s will.

In today’s Scripture, Paul encourages downcast Timothy. Timothy was considerably younger than the Apostle Paul. Older people who are teaching false doctrine are intimidating young Timothy: “Tim, you are too young to teach God’s Word. Let us handle it.” Young Timothy conceded, became silent, and allowed the (“older and wiser”) false teachers to continue teaching their damnable heresies (cf. 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 2 Timothy 1:5-8). Paul replied, “Timothy, Speak up! Let no man despise thy youth!”

Christian youth can be just as effectual in their station in life as Christian adults. The lost world is watching us Christians, and we need to be sure that our actions are in accordance with the sound Bible doctrine we claim to believe (lest we be guilty of confusing the already-puzzled unbelievers). Whether “young or old,” our speech, our lifestyle, our acts of love, our determination, our belief in sound Bible doctrine, and our separation from that which God hates, is the way we communicate to the lost world God’s Word and its preeminence in our lives and hearts (today’s Scripture).

Above all, dear graduates, whatever you do post-graduation, “do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17). After all, it really is not your life—it is Christ’s life in you (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:4), so He alone deserves the glory!

*Based on a Bible study by the same name, which can be read here. Also, see the study “The Spirit-Filled Student.”

Give Us A Free Meal!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

“Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because did eat of the loaves, and were filled” (John 6:26 KJV).

Israel, like all (sinful) sons of Adam, wanted only that which was temporary. Instead of seeking eternal life through their Messiah Jesus, they sought Him only to gain a free meal!

In the context of today’s Scripture, Jesus has just fed at least 5,000 individuals with two small fishes and five barley loaves (verse 7). Verse 15 says Jesus understood the people wanted to make Him king because He fed them!

In Acts 2:22, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter explained: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves know:” Jesus Christ performed miracles in order to demonstrate that He had God the Father’s approval. However, Israel did not care about that; their hunger distracted them!

Mankind is naturally selfish: he wants to be his own god and do his own thing. Israel, although they were God’s earthly people, was no different. The Jews wanted nothing to do with God unless He could do something for them. (How many prayers still go, “Hey God, yes, it has been a long time, but I want you to give me…”?)

God offered Israel His only begotten Son, the God-Man who could save them from their sins, but they just wanted someone to rescue them from hunger pains and the Roman government! Jesus rebuked them, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth [physical food], but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God sealed” (John 6:27).

For the rest of the chapter (John 6), Jesus taught them that He did not come to save their physical bodies from hunger, but to give Himself to save their spiritual bodies from hell!

Jesus came not to give us free meals, but free access to Father God.

333’s 333rd: The Triune Godhead

Saturday, April 28, 2012

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 KJV).

We dedicate our 333rd devotional to the triune Godhead.

In Bible numerics, the number three (3) is the number of God, mainly because God is three Persons. The Bible says, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). Sadly, modern English “bibles” omit this verse (the Johannine Comma), which is undoubtedly authentic and inspired of God (cf. Matthew 28:19; John 10:30; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:18).

By noting the wording of today’s Scripture, we learn that Jesus Christ, “the Word” (cf. Revelation 19:13), is God. According to John 1:14, “the Word became flesh:” unquestionably, that refers to Jesus Christ (God’s incarnation, His indwelling a human body). In the beginning Jesus Christ “was with God” (indicating He is a Person separate from God the Father), and Jesus Christ “was God” (indicating He is one with [equal to] God the Father).

The best way to comprehend the Godhead is to consider that we are all equally human by nature, but we are also individuals. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all individuals, but they are all equally God by nature and in essence (all three are omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, righteous, just, holy, et cetera), thus making all three “one” (1 John 5:7).

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit live for each other. They fellowship with one another, and they want us to fellowship with them! God became a man in order to restore our fellowship with Him. We cannot see all three Persons of the Godhead. However, God the Son stepped out of eternity and entered time, and “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9; cf. John 14:9). Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, so He can take God by the hand and man by the hand and link them (1 Timothy 2:5)!

The invisible triune Godhead has been made visible via the God-Man, Jesus Christ!

The Suffering God

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

“The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting” (Isaiah 50:5,6 KJV).

Can you guess the Man described in today’s Scripture?

  • “The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear:” Jesus Christ prayed to His Father, “I have given unto them [the twelve apostles] the words which thou gavest me” (John 17:8a; cf. John 14:31; John 15:15).
  • “I was not rebellious:” God the Father said of Jesus Christ, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17; cf. John 8:29). Jesus Christ prayed to His heavenly Father, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42b). Hebrews 5:8: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (cf. Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 10:5-9).
  • “Neither [I] turned away back:” Jesus Christ prayed to His heavenly Father, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4).
  • “I gave my back to the smiters:” “They buffeted [struck] him: and others smote him with the palms of their hands” (Matthew 26:67). “And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him” (Luke 22:63).
  • “I gave my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair:” Although not recorded in the Four Gospel Records, His beard was literally ripped off during His trial.
  • “I hid not my face from shame and spitting:” “Then did they spit in his face” (Matthew 26:67a). “And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head” (Matthew 27:30). “And some began to spit on him” (Mark 14:65a). “They did spit upon him” (Mark 15:19).

Today’s Scripture, written 700 years before it happened, was describing, in vivid detail, the life and suffering of Jesus Christ. What wondrous love our God had for us, to face all that and more, to purchase the everlasting salvation we now enjoy! Rejoice in Christ Jesus!

I Will Also Ask of You One Question

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

“And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?” (Mark 11:27,28 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, Israel’s religious leaders are up to their usual tricks. By asking Him, “By what authority doest thou these things and who gave thee this authority to do these things?,” they are trying to trip up our Lord Jesus, to make Him stumble in His speech, and to intimidate Him into silence. Will it work, or not?

Verses 29-33 continue, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things” (cf. Matthew 21:23-27; Luke 20:1-8).

These chief priests, scribes, and elders were being dishonest, and Jesus knew their hearts. Why did Jesus ask them that question? God the Father sent both Jesus (John 6:39) and John the Baptist (John 1:6), so if these religious leaders could not admit to Jesus that God the Father had sent John, then Jesus would be wasting His breath to tell them God the Father sent Him (Jesus). This is why Jesus did not answer them.

In these verses, we read of Jesus Christ’s authority and wisdom. Because they refused God’s truth, the Lord Jesus decided to outwit them by asking one simple question (“He taketh the wise in their own craftiness;” Job 5:13; 1 Corinthians 3:19). Wow!

What Does God Want Me to Do? #8

Thursday, April 5, 2012

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 KJV).

God wants to build Himself a house, a place in which He can not only live, but an habitation where He feels right at home! Will you let Him work in you to accomplish that goal?

In Ephesians chapter 2 (which I encourage you to read on your own), the Apostle Paul describes our sinful lifestyles and wicked nature before our salvation in Christ Jesus (verses 1-3). Verses 4-10 discuss how God saved us from sin and His wrath in order to make us His “workmanship” (creation). Verses 11 and 12 explain that when God dealt with Israel in “time past,” we Gentiles were “without Christ.” Verses 13-18 explain “but now,” in our Dispensation of Grace, God has removed the division between Jew and Gentile. God is now forming a spiritual body of believers, Jews and Gentiles. Why?

Verses 19-22 explain: “Now therefore ye [believing Gentiles] are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

God is forming the Church the Body of Christ so He can have a house (“an habitation”). Amazing, huh?! The Holy Spirit not only lives in us Christians (1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 2 Timothy 1:14), He wants to also live through us—to manifest His life living in us, so the lost world can see our new lifestyles and glorify Him!! God wants to fill our minds with sound doctrine, which we gain from proper (dispensational) Bible study, so the Holy Spirit can then take that doctrine and work in us (1 Thessalonians 2:13), “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (today’s Scripture).

The world cannot see Christ’s physical body; instead, they see Him living in us Christians!

What Does God Want Me to Do? #7

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 KJV).

Every person has an innate knowledge of the Creator God (Romans 1:17-23; Romans 2:14,15): those who deny His existence have a heart problem (a sinful heart; Jeremiah 17:9; Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1)! For those of us who are willing to submit to God’s authority, what exactly does God want us to do? God does exist; why do we?

People naturally seek purpose and meaning in life, but, sorrowfully, they usually never find them because they always look in the wrong places. Scientific analysis, although very interesting, is not the method whereby we learn our origin and our purpose. In order to learn God’s will, we need to look in the right place (the Bible!).

The Apostle Paul wrote, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” (Ephesians 5:15-18).

As people who have trusted in Christ Jesus alone as our personal Saviour, God’s Holy Spirit wants to fill us—not to give us a “charismatic high,” but rather to transform us from the inside out. God does not want us Christians living carelessly: “walk circumspectly [carefully, cautiously], not as fools, but as wise….” God wants to fill us Christians with His Spirit so He can be glorified in our church families (Ephesians 5:19-21), our marriages and families (Ephesians 5:22–6:4), and our workplace (Ephesians 6:5-9).

God’s will is to “strengthen [us] with might by his Spirit in the inner man [soul]; that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:16,17). The indwelling Holy Spirit wants to strengthen us with sound doctrine so Christ can live His life in and through us (cf. Galatians 2:20)! This is “Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith,” and this is God “working in [us] both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (today’s Scripture).