Reflection on 1 John 2:18-29

Scripture

Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.

Observation

The last hour is here, and many antichrists have already appeared. They have left the church, but they never really belonged.

Those who remain faithful don’t just know the truth, they know the difference between the truth and lies. Anyone who denies Christ is a liar, and anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.

If we remain faithful to Christ, the Holy Spirit will teach us what is true. So we must remain in fellowship with Christ.

Application

In my early christian years, I like many at the time, was bombarded with end-times teachings about the scary demonic Antichrist and the Great Tribulation that was coming very soon. Various names were suggested for the identity of the Antichrist, but all failed to attain the title, and most are not even remembered these days.

Here, John tells us that already there were many antichrists who had come. In fact, John is the only one that uses this term. He uses it to describe not an apocalyptic demon- possessed world ruler, but many false teachers who deny that Christ is the Son of God.

This would seem to include atheists, Muslims, Hindus, New Agers, irreligious secularists and sceptics, and many more.

The spirit of antichrist is simply any spirit that opposes Christ.

Even in the first century, they believed that they were in the “last hour.” Peter says in Acts 2 that Pentecost is the day foretold by Joel- “In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.”

We don’t have to worry about a demonic Antichrist seizing power and persecuting christians. That has been going on for 2000 years and will continue to do so until Jesus returns- which could be tomorrow or another 2000 years.

Rather, we need to be faithful to Christ, serving Him in our daily life, and staying steadfast until the end.

Prayer

Thank you Father for your unfailing love. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who protects us from false teachings and false spirits. Please help me to be faithful to you in all things. Amen.

Ephesians 3:11

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 3:11. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 3:11

“This is according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God’s intent was to make known through the church His wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. This was His eternal plan.

People are changeable, and at times, fickle. For many people, a long-term plan means as far as next weekend.

But God is not like us. When God makes a plan it is not provisional or conditional on what happens. When God makes a plan it is perfect from the beginning, and is not subject to change or improvement.

God’s plan commenced in “eternity past,” that before time began. Before the creation of the world, God made plans for a physical universe that was distinct from the heavenly realms. In that plan, God would create a race of people who could choose to reject God’s love. He would give people an option to obey God, to worship God, and to surrender to him. Or not.

This choice had been made available to the angels , but some, led by Satan, rebelled against God. While angels who have stood in the glory of the presence of God and still rejected him, are beyond repentance, human beings who only see God dimly, like a distorted reflection, they could have the ability to be redeemed and rescued.

So while God did not create sin, he did allow for it. He foreknew that Adam and Eve would fall as would every single person since. But he made a plan long before this happened that would provide a way out.

In the book of Revelation, Christ is described as “ the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world” ( Revelation 13:8). Thus it was always God’s intention from before creation that Jesus would pay for our sins.

God’s eternal purpose stretches into the future also. What was proposed before the beginning of time is eternal and unchanging, and so will continue past the end of time. There is no expiry date on salvation. The offer will always be there because God’s purpose is eternal and does not change.

It might be possible for God to change His mind about how people are brought into His Kingdom. It is possible that God could say that only people born again before the year 2020 could be saved. But he will not do that because his plan and purpose are eternal and will last for eternity.

God’s purpose is eternal also in the sense that it will carry us through to eternity. He has said that we will live with him forever. There will be no time limit in heaven. We will not be transient visitors as we are on Earth. We will be there forever.

His eternal purpose, that is to save people from sin and equip them for eternity, was accomplished through Jesus. His death on the cross was the moment in time when the eternal plan was activated.

The mystery, the plan, the purpose was this: God gave himself to rescue a fallen race. The revelation to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms was that sin will not steal away God’s glory. His love and righteousness come together to defeat all sinfulness and wilfulness.

All of this is through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Christ literally means “ anointed one” and refers to the Messiah. Jesus was the one sent by God to rescue His people. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit for this task.

Jesus is the Greek form of the name Yeshua which means “ the Lord is our saviour” or “ the Lord saves.” It is God’s nature to save his beloved people .

Lord is the name for Yahweh, the one true God. Jesus is not just a man. He is divine. He is the Lord.

Key points in this verse:

  • God’s purpose was commenced before time began
  • Jesus is the Lamb who was slain at the beginning of time
  • God’s plan will not change and Salvation will not stop
  • Jesus is the Messiah and he is the Lord God

The Fruit Of The Spirit- Faithfulness

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

The Greek word pistis is more often translated in the New Testament as faith, but it equally carries the idea of faithfulness. In this list of characteristics that define the way that we behave towards other people, faithfulness seems a better fit.

One dictionary defines the word faithful as “Adhering firmly and devotedly, as to a person, cause, or idea; loyal.”

Faithfulness means firstly that we are faithful to God. We don’t give up on our relationship with God when He fails to deliver for us the goods we think we should get, or when life gets difficult. On the contrary, for the faithful person adversity just causes them to dig deeper and hold on more tightly.

Faithfulness means that we do not go hopping from congregation to congregation, moving onward when preachers teach challenging messages or when we have disagreements. The most mature christians are those who work out their disagreements and difficulties with others.

Faithfulness in marriage means that we hang in there “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.” No trophy wives or younger models, no playing the field or looking for a better offer.

Faithfulness can be seen as stickability, the determination to so value another person that nothing can separate us from them.

The faithfulness that God plants in us is the faithfulness that He has towards us, the idea that nothing will turn Him away from us.

Reflection on 1 John 2:12-17

Scripture

For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasures, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions.

Observation

John writes to three groups- children, young men and fathers, These are spiritual categories, not chronological ones. God’s children are people who know they are forgiven. The young men are those who know God’s word and have won battles against the evil one. Fathers are those who know Christ in a deep and mature way.

We must not love the world, because that leads us away from God. The wold offers only superficial attractions, and it is passing away.

Application

The world system is opposed to God. It relies on our physical nature to lure us away from the things of God.

This is not to denigrate the physical body. God made us as physical beings. When the physical part of life dominates what we think about and what we do, then we are in danger of turning away from God completely.

The world offers a craving for physical pleasure. We are not to pursue sexual immorality, possessions, unrestrained desire for food, and so on, because these things of themselves are not good for us. The world entices us but God says, “No.”

The craving for what we see can be strong. This covers things like new and better possessions, greed for wealth, that special holiday that will fix everything, a better house in a more prestigious postcode. None of these things will satisfy us, but they are so tempting. The ten commandments forbid coveting, but the world thrives on it.

Pride can be a downfall for many. It is fine to feel good about our achievements, but we can become over-impressed with ourselves. Pride leads us to believe that we are better than other people and ultimately that we are infallible.

The world leads us to worship ourselves and our fleshly appetites. We make idols that displace the one true God.

Prayer

Lord, I confess the many temptations that I feel every day. Please help me to take my eyes off the things of the physical world and worship you alone. Amen.

Wow! Now you can get arrested if you might commit a crime

This is Australia- well its socialist enclave of Victoria- in 2020. The pandemic is the excuse our petty dictators needed to just ignore the rule of law altogether.

From caldronpool:

Pre-Crime: Victorian Government Pushes for Powers to Preemptively Arrest Anyone, Even If They Haven’t Broken the Law

Mainstream media are finally reporting on the Victorian government’s new bill to hand authorities the power to arrest anyone, even if they have not committed an offence.

10 News Melbourne reports: “[The] new law would give police the power to preemptively detain anyone with COVID or their close contacts even if they haven’t broken the law. All that’s required is that the officer thinks they might breach restrictions in the future.”

The report notes that the Health Department could also empower non-police, such as Public Safety Officers or Work Safe Inspectors, to preemptively detain citizens.Advertisement

The new legislation places “no limit on detention time, no legislative oversight and no clear avenue for appeal.” Those detained could be placed in quarantine facilities to be monitored by authorities.

The law could see the arrest, not only of anyone the state deems a “conspiracy theorist” and therefore likely to neglect current restrictions, but also their family members and close contacts even if a crime has not been committed.

Reflection on 1 John 2:1-11

Scripture

Dear friends, I am writing a new commandment for you, rather it is an old one you heard from the beginning. This old commandment – to love one another- is the same message you heard before.

Observation

If we sin we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, who pleads our case with the Father. We can be sure we know Him if we obey His commandments. Someone who claims to love God but disobeys His commandments is a liar.

The commandment to love is not new. It is the same message we heard from the beginning. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and those who are in fellowship with Him do so too.

If a person claims to be in the light, but they hate their brother or sister, they are still living in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother or sister is walking in the light of the Lord.

Application

The commandment to love one another is at the heart of God’s plan for us. Jesus made it clear. “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you.”

John says in this passage that a person’s attitude to other christian brothers and sisters shows whether or not they are truly in the light. If we fail to show love to any brother or sister, we are not really following Jesus.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus taught us that love has to be costly and extend to people beyond our normal circles, to the people we consider to be outsiders- whether that s ethnic, class or sex.

The commandment to love others is unlimited. There is no boundary placed on this.

Because Christ has loved us and all the world, we too must love everyone.

Prayer

Lord, let your love explode in my heart. Help me to love everyone with your love, and to live that out in every encounter today. Amen.

Mario Murillo: The Democrats Are The Party of Atheism

DEMOCRATS: THE PARTY OF ATHEISM

 

Atheism can never just ‘coexist’ with Christianity. It is working to eradicate Christianity. The Democrat Party has embraced atheism, and has gone so far as to call it its biggest base.

Many are going to rail against this blog. But no one—no matter how outraged they become—will be able to controvert two facts: Atheism is proactively anti-Christian, and: Democrats have gone atheist.

We will take the second fact first. Here is what Democrats say about themselves:

“The Democratic National Committee (DNC) passed a resolution praising the values of “religiously unaffiliated” Americans as the “largest religious group within the Democratic Party.”

The resolution, which was unanimously passed at the DNC’s summer meeting on Aug. 24th this year in San Francisco, California, was championed by the Secular Coalition of America, an organization that lobbies on behalf of atheists, agnostics, and humanists on public policy. The group celebrated the DNC’s move as the first time a major party “embraced American nonbelievers.”

“Religiously unaffiliated Americans overwhelmingly share the Democratic Party’s values,” said the resolution, which adds that they should advocate for “rational public policy based on sound science and universal humanistic values.”

‘Sound science and humanistic values’ are their excuse to remove the civil rights of those who insist on believing in God.

You doubt me? Sarah Levin, director of governmental affairs for the Secular Coalition of America, praised it as a way “to ensure that policy is driven by science and evidence, not sectarian beliefs.”

That means that any part of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, considered by atheists to have come from “sectarian beliefs,” can be removed.

Result: No prayer. No worship. No church.

Again, do you doubt their intention about religious liberty? Right after ratifying their atheistic platform, Democrats took a shot at believers who use “religious liberty” to threaten the civil rights of LGBTQ Americans. What they really mean is the other way around. They will use this platform to not just threaten, but remove the civil rights of Christians.

Wake up! They want to overrule the Constitution to erase freedom of religion.  Christianity is their target.

Now let’s look at atheism itself. The Bible is not vague about atheism. Psalms 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.”

Why does the Word of God take such a harsh tone toward atheism? Simple, look at the fruit of atheism:

The taproot of Marxism is atheism. Marxism has killed 100 million people in the last century. Atheism provided the vacuum of conscience needed to ethnically cleanse Russia, China, North Korea and many other places where it operates as the engine of a culture. When the Bible says, “they have done abominable works,” it isn’t kidding.

Atheists suffer from elevated rates of depression and suicide, which they admit. Staks Rosch is a vocal atheist, humanist, and progressive. Writing in the Huffington Post he said, “Depression is a serious problem within the greater atheist community and far too often, that depression has led to suicide. This is something many of my fellow atheists often don’t like to admit, but it is true.”

Denial is not a new thing to the atheistic mindset. Atheistic Democrats claim to rely on science, but only when it suits them. Biology clearly and emphatically recognizes only two genders. Ludicrously, Gavin Newsom said that he based his decision to illegally close churches on science, but when confronted with biology, he noted that there are things more important than science.

The Democrat agenda blatantly believes many things are more important than science when it comes to climate, morality, equality and environmentalism. That is why the no-God-driven leftist policies of the West Coast are consuming entire states in wildfires, riots, addictions, and every misery known to man.

Democrats turn a blind eye to the scientific process when it comes to accountability. Their policies have imprisoned minorities in violence, despair and poverty. Do they rethink or reevaluate their catastrophic experiments as scientists would? Never!

It is time for every weak-willed Christian, sitting on the fence, to wake up to the agenda of atheism. Richard E. Simmons in his book Reflections on the Existence of God, compared Christianity and atheism by saying this: “They are not just two separate views of life; they are opposing, mutually exclusive, views, delivering opposite conclusions about the meaning of life and our existence as human beings.”

Atheism then, provides the necessary inhumanity required to justify dismembering a baby, in some cases cutting its vocal cords so that the team can’t hear it screaming. Atheism was the inevitable conclusion of a political party that needed a construct in order to live with blatant hypocrisy, complete fabrications of social conditions, and out and out hatred for American history and Judeo-Christian values.

And, indeed, if you vote for them, you are denying your faith.

Ephesians 3:10

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 3:10. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 3:10

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.

God’s intention in revealing this mystery now, after it was hidden through the ages, is to make known his wisdom to the spiritual powers.

While we often focus in on the human dimensions of God’s salvation plan, there is a more profound agenda, the spiritual or supernatural dimension.

It is the church that embodies the wisdom of God. Paul had a very high vision of the church. Even though he had to provide correction and discipline, he had very high ideals of what the church is.

When we are tempted to cynicism about the church, we need to recall that it is through the church that the wisdom of God is being revealed. Every time the church gathers for worship, encouragement, or edification, it is displaying God’s wisdom. When the church proclaims the gospel, it is displaying God’s victory over Satan. Whenever the church stands up for jjustice or for the poor, it is proclaiming God’s Kingdom. Whenever the church ministers healing or miracles it is revealing the power of God.

What we, the church, do together in the name of Christ is not insignificant or weak or boring. The world may portray it as boring, weak or irrelevant, but the powers of hell tremble..

The manifold wisdom of God is manifested through the church.

God’s wisdom operates at many levels simultaneously. People can usually act in wisdom according to their experience or expertise. It is folly to do otherwise, unless we are advised by the Holy Spirit .

Wise leaders seek out the wisdom of other people to augment their own wisdom .

God has no need for advisers and experts. He has infinite wisdom and is able to plan goals and strategies at every level right across time and space. He is not limited by a lack of knowledge because he has all knowledge about all things. He is not limited in strength because he is all powerful. He simultaneously sees the big picture and the individual hearts of billions of people. He sees the beginning and the end, and all points in between .

The wisdom of God is based in his love. He loves his creation, and so His wisdom is rooted in lifting up people, and seeing us achieve our potential as sons and daughters.

God’s love requires also an abhorrence of sin because of the way it destroys people. Therefore, all who refuse to receive his forgiveness will be condemned. There can be no tolerance of sin and evil in God’s wisdom .

God’s wisdom is to be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms .

The church is engaged in a spiritual war that started before recorded history. The rebellion of satan and his followers resulted in their expulsion from heaven and the institution of a separate kingdom, a false kingdom. Satan’s kingdom is less than God’s Kingdom in every way. It is less in numbers and it is less powerful. But it is real nonetheless .

The spiritual war revolves around the worthiness of people to participate in God’s realm. We are both physical and spiritual beings and we fall short in so many ways. While God loves people as the pinnacle of creation, higher even than the angels, satan wants only to destroy us.

The plan of salvation, the mystery, is now being revealed. God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. In this act he demonstrated his love. He showed that humility is not weakness and that love is powerful. He uses the cross to draw sinful men and women to Himself.

So God reconciles the world to Himself. This is the wisdom being shown through the church to the rulers and powers in the heavenly realms .

In the end, God will be vindicated by the existence of the church, a huge number that is impossible to count, drawn from every tribe and nation on the earth.

Key points in this verse:

  • God’s plan of salvation is not just about people, but a demonstration of God’s wisdom
  • The church is greater than we often give it credit for
  • The church shares God’s wisdom to the spiritual powers
  • God’s wisdom operates at many levels and from infinite knowledge
  • God’s wisdom is based on his love
  • We are involved in a spiritual war

Reflection on 1 John 1:1-10

Scripture

We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you might have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son.

Observation

John has seen and heard and touched the one who existed from the beginning. He is the Word of life. John has seen the one who is life itself.

He proclaims what he has seen and heard so that we can have fellowship with him and share in his joy.

The message is that God is light. We cannot claim to be in the light and continue to do the deeds of darkness. If we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to cleanse us from our sins.

Application

John is one of the first apostles, the Twelve who walked closely with Jesus and continued to carry authority, the authority of Christ, in the early church. His authority came from this close relationship. He saw and heard and touched Christ. He continues to have fellowship with the Father and the Son.

Spiritual authority does not stem from knowledge about God. You can have a dozen degrees in theology and still not know God. It is about fellowship or relationship with God.

We cannot touch or see the Word in the same way that John did. But we can have fellowship with God through the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Fellowship with God is something that we pursue over many years. It comes from humble obedience, in prayer, in listening to the Spirit, and through reading and obeying Scripture.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful privilege of fellowship with you. Come and dwell in me, fill me and direct my paths. Amen.