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Dig a Little Deeper: The Eternal Word

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  As we read through first chapter of John, we see that John declares that Jesus is the Word, was with God at the beginning, and is God. This leads to many conversations concerning the trinity and the deity of Christ. The sermon preached on this topic spent some time discussing the trinity, and John's connection between Christ and divine attributes. In this post, however, we will briefly focus on Scripture's teachings about Christ's divine nature. Creator From John 1, we see that Jesus is the creator. We also see that in passages such as Colossians 1: For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Colossians 1:16 Same Nature as God Hebrews tells us that Christ has the same nature as the Father. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making pu...
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Dig a Little Deeper: Victory in Christ

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  There is a very real enemy. He is out to devour, seeking to bring death and destruction to our world.  The good news is that he is defeated. We have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who has triumphed over him. Jesus satisfied God's wrath on the cross, and rose again in victory over Satan, sin, and death. False Teachers Unfortunately, the enemy is at work to deceive the people to prevent them from seeing the gospel.  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4 Romans 16:17 warns us against false teachers. False teachers are one of the ways Satan seeks to deter people from hearing the gospel. These malicious men (and women) cause divisions and create obstacles.  They pervert the gospel in order to indulge in their own sensualities and line their own pockets. One of the most common ways we see this is through "pastors" who sell f...
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  Change is a constant in life, and often, it's something we may not readily embrace. Whether it's the unexpected political changes or the personal realizations of our own quirks, change challenges us to grow. In our journey of transformation, we discover the power of love, forgiveness, and how the Holy Spirit can work within us. Love for God's People  One significant transformation in our lives occurs when we start loving God's people more than we used to. As the Holy Spirit works within us, we find ourselves drawn to the presence of fellow believers. It's not that we shun the company of non-believers; instead, we're compelled by a deep desire to share the Gospel with them. In Christ, we learn to hate evil and love the people it harms. This love extends to caring for the needs of fellow believers. Our love for one another should be marked by genuine affection, just as Christ loved us. Love Your Enemies Our transformed love for fellow believers spills over into ...
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Dig a Little Deeper: Salvation for All

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  There is salvation. Although man is lost and dying in sin, God has not abandoned us to die in our sin. He provided a way to salvation. Jesus Christ came and paid the penalty for our sin by dying as a substitute. He fulfilled all the requirements necessary to enter the kingdom, and offers them to us if we will submit to him as Lord. Confess and Believe False religions all around the world require a works-based salvation. Christ, however, offers salvation by grace through faith.  He has accomplished all the work necessary, and all we need to do is confess and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus has fulfilled the law. He has upheld God's standard of righteousness, and he offers to credit his righteousness to him. Simply confess and believe.  Submit to him as Lord. He accomplished all the work. Now the choice is to submit to him or reject him. Available for All This salvation is available for everyone. It does not matter your ethnicity, your nationality, or your economi...
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Dig a Little Deeper: The War with Sin

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  Sin is a very real struggle in believers' lives. The more we grow in our faith, the more we become aware of the sin within us.  While we may try to fight our sin, ultimately we come to a point in which we realize that we are unable to live up to God's standards of righteousness. The only hope we have is Jesus Christ.  Through his cross we are forgiven and justified, and through his life we are given his standard of perfection. Through his ascension we are given the Holy Spirit who not only reveals sin, but empowers us to stand against it. Awareness Our struggle with sin begins with our awareness of it in our lives. Mankind is prone to remain ignorant of God's standards in order to excuse our disobedience. We believe that as long as we are unaware that what we are doing is sin, we are able to continue in it without consequence. But as any law enforcement, lawyer, or judge will tell you: ignorance is no excuse of the law. Therefore, it ultimately does us no good to play i...
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Dig a Little Deeper: Life in Christ

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  Because of Adam's failure, we all stand guilty of sin before God. Each one of us are sinners both by nature and by choice, rejecting God's command and living in rebellion to him. In Romans 5, Paul tells us that death entered the world through sin, and that death spread to all men because all have sinned. There are real consequences for our sin. Adam Brings Death The root of our problem is sin. Broken relationships are first seen when Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together and hid from God and each other. Today, we see a lot of hurt in our world because of broken homes and shattered families. The first murder is traced back to Genesis 4 when Cain murdered Abel. Today we see conflict that leads to death from murder to war. There are riots and crime that have entered into the world through sin. The list can go on. The true source of everything we go through ties back to sin in the garden. We even make this problem worse as we are sinners by choice. We don't just see a broke ...
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Dig a Little Deeper: Love on Display

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  We are only able to truly love because God pours his love into us.  As we look to the cross, we see true, sacrificial love. Jesus was God incarnate who left his throne to be executed on a cross for people who hated him. He truly gave of himself in order to demonstrate his love. who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:6-8 Loving as Christ Loved The challenge from Scripture is that we love in the same way. This does not necessarily mean that we endure a cross, but it means we put others before ourselves.  How do you display your love? Christ displayed his on the cross. You and I are called to show our love to the people around us through our actions rather than simply through words. By this we know love...
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