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Working With Your Bible 3/8/2015
Ro 15:4 For whatever things were written before were
written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the
Scriptures might have hope.
Old Testament;
History from Creation to Birth of Jesus Christ
Gospels; The
Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Acts; The
story of the apostles (especially Paul) from the Ascension of Jesus Christ
Epistles;
Letters written by various apostles to teach the right things to believe, not
believe, etc.
Be sure you know “to whom” each
epistle and section is addressing. Sometimes it’s Israel.
Revelation; A
prophecy of the end times.
Easter – Why Christ?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the
life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.
When in doubt, 1st check the
immediate context, then the wider context. Read verses 1-19. This explains some
of the greater meaning. Rear John 13:1 for the wider context; Jesus knew He
would not be with the disciples much longer and he set about to give them some
final truths and instructions.
How did Jesus Know that He was the
promised redeemer? His birth, life (and death) fulfilled about 100 prophecies
from the Old Testament dating 400 – 1500 years before His birth. Not to
mention…
Mat 3:16 And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the
water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, and alighting on him;
17 and lo, a voice from heaven,
saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
God did not just pick some guy off
the street. He had a plan to redeem man almost immediately after man’s fall.
Gen 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his
heel."
Every biology student knows that the
woman carries the egg and the man provides the seed. Except with Jesus the
Christ. God created seed within the Virgin Mary. God talks more about His plan
in Ephesians:
Eph 1:11 In him (in Christ), according to the purpose of him (God) who
accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his (God’s) will,
The last word in this verse, “will”,
in the original Greek text is a form of the word thelema meaning (according to Bullinger’s Concordance, “will,
active volition, wish, desire”. The word translated as “purpose” is the Greek
word boulomai from which we derive
our word boulemia, defined as “to purpose, to will”. It's emphasis is more upon the mental aspect than the emotional appeal of a thought or plan. See, God planned for our
savior way back in Genesis and then worked out His plan for man’s redemption
over the few thousand years until the time was full for Jesus’ birth.
The wider context of Ephesians 1 is
also very uplifting.
Eph 1:5 He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will,
6 to the praise of his glorious
grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
7 In him we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches
of his grace
8 which he lavished upon us.
9 For he has made known to us in
all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which
he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fulness of time,
to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
11 In him, according to the
purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his
will,
12 we who first hoped in Christ
have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory.
13 In him you also, who have heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were
sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 which is the guarantee of our
inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
There is no works by man to earn
salvation, only God’s grace. All we need to do is to believe and confess Jesus
as Lord and we shall be saved.
Ro 10:9 because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For man believes with his heart
and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.
