POTD
Month: February 2021
Quote for the Day
Being creatures isn’t “rubbish,” as Satan wants us to believe. Being creatures who love, obey, and depend upon God without shame is glorious. Rebecca Manley Pippert
No other name…
Only Jesus has the power to save! His name is the only one in all the world that can save anyone. Acts 4:12 CEV https://bible.com/bible/392/act.4.12.CEV
Ephesians 4:8
Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:8 . 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 4:8
“This is why it says:
when he ascended on high
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men.”
Paul uses this verse from Psalm 68:18 to explain his argument that we have all been given a measure of grace as Christ has apportioned it. Paul we’ll see in a few vs go on to list the ministry gifts comma sometimes called the ascension gifts.
Paul is arguing that the grace given to a each of us comes from Christ. This is a gift given to us from Christ’s ascension.
Christ ascended to Heaven forty days after he rose from the dead. We are told in Acts 1:11 that “ this same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Christ ascended “on high,” that is all the way to heaven. It was a physical ascension, so Jesus literally rose up to heaven. it was not just a symbolic or virtual ascension. He will come back in the same way, physically and full of glory.
When the ascension took place, Paul says, He led a train of captives. It was a common practice in ancient times for a conquering general to return with a procession of prisoners of war, captured slaves, and the like.
When Jesus ascended, he led a captive procession of bound demons and the legions of hell. We should not get to caught up with the chronology of events here. It did not occur on the day of ascension. Rather the ascension is, so to speak, the event which seals and foreshadows the literal event.
The cross and the resurrection destroyed the power of Satan to hold humanity in bondage. The fact that sin continues to dominate many people is not a sign of the failure of the cross. The verdict has been pronounced, “Not guilty”, but many people voluntarily return to the guilt of sin and the captivity it engenders.
There will be, on the day of the Lord, a victory procession. Those evil spirits that have sought to undermine the kingdom of God will be the first to be thrown into the Lake of Fire. They will be followed by all who have lived in unrighteousness and refused to bow their knee to the Lord.
So Jesus leads this captive train, this victory procession, rejoicing in the fruit of His death on the cross .
Out of the ascension, also, Jesus has given many gifts and graces to people .
Every one of Christ’s followers has received grace upon grace. We might list some of these gifts:
- Salvation- we have been saved from eternal punishment
- Eternal life- we will live with Christ for ever in the new heavens and the new earth
- Abundant life – a life of purpose and calling in God’s Kingdom
- Holy Spirit – equipping us to be God’s children and blessing us with fellowship with God
- Victory over sin
- Joy
- Fellowship with other believers
- The church
- Gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit
- Victory over every form of violent persecution
- Grace to be Christ’s witnesses and make disciples of all nations
These are some of the gifts, poured out upon people in the ascension of Christ.
Key points in this verse:
- Christ ascended to heaven and will return
- The ascension is a forerunner of a victory parade
- Christ has conquered all the forces of hell
- He has given to us many gifts
POTD
Reflection on Matthew 5:13-16
Scripture
“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it loses its flavour? Can you make it salty again?”
Observation
Jesus tells us we are salt and must not lose our flavour. We are light for the world and must let our good deeds shine before people so that they will praise our heavenly Father.
Application
Saltiness is the flavour of God in my life. For all of the many sermon illustrations about salt and its many uses, this is about flavour.
If I am salt with the “flavour” of God, it means that I have to “bury” myself or “hide” myself in the world n order to give it the flavour of God. Salt does not do its work if left in the salt shaker.
Saltiness is a feature of the nature of salt. Godliness must be “baked in” or “hard wired” into my nature. This is the Holy Spirit who kills the old nature and replaces it with the new nature, the shape and flavour of Christ.
Each day I am sent into the world that is dying to add the flavour of Christ. It is the savour of life in a world of death. Some will recognise the life in me and be excited by it, while others will be disgusted by the scent of life.
Salt does its work by being salt. I cannot be salt if I am taking on the nature of the world. I cannot bring life if I am carrying death.
Salt can lose its flavour when it takes on the appearance and taste of the world, when it is more world than salt. We have to be in the world but remain different from it.
Can you make salt that has lots its saltiness salt again? No. But God can. “Return to your first love,” Jesus urges those who have lost their saltiness. “Come back to me, and I will give you rest. You are mine, so let my saltiness infuse through you.”
Prayer
Please help me, Lord Jesus, to remain true salt in this world that so desperately needs you. Amen
Healthy Polar Bears and Thriving Tigers: The Common Climate Tale
From cornwallalliance.org
by Vijay Jayaraj and E. Calvin Beisner
Last year, the world applauded Greta Thunberg’s emotional “How Dare You!” speech at the UN summit in New York. The teenager famously said, “Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction.”
The mainstream media’s narrative is similar. Ecosystems are dying. Animals are going extinct. Our evil desire to consume fossil fuels is to blame!
What do you think? Are species going extinct because of manmade global warming? Christians, who honor God as Creator, should care about these matters. But caring by itself isn’t enough. We also need truth, for there is a way that seems right, though its end brings death (Proverbs 14:12).
Take two key species as examples. Polar bears have been climate alarmists’ mascots for years. Tigers are an important species in South Asian jungles.
Tigers: No Longer Crouching
To the dismay of climate doomsayers, tiger populations are on the rise!
Tigers are a keystone species. The integrity of their ecosystems is crucial to their welfare. Thriving tiger populations are evidence of healthy ecosystems.
So, what do you suppose is up with tigers?
India’s tiger numbers have doubled since 2006. That’s despite the country’s ever-expanding cities, industries, and mines. India counted 2967 tigers in its latest census. That is more than double the number in 2006.
Celebrating International Tiger Day, Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar noted that “the country today has 70 percent of the world’s tiger population.”
Two-thirds of these tigers live in forest zones categorized as tiger reserves. The remaining third is a testament to the safe habitations outside highly protected zones.
Recent surveys affirm the healthy state of Indian forests on which tigers depend. Total forest and tree cover in India increased by 5,188 square km from 2017 to 2019. I witnessed the health of these ecosystems as a field ecologist in the buffer zones of a tiger reserve in the heart of India.
The primary concern of tiger conservationists in India is unlawful encroachment, not climate change. Climate change in the past decade has impacted tiger populations positively.
Tropical forest ecosystems in India are not dying. They remain healthy and are expanding. Tiger numbers benefit.
Read the rest of the article here
Quote for the Day
It was a process, but I eventually came to believe that Jesus was who he said: the Son of God sent to our planet because we were in desperate trouble. Jesus came and not only revealed the Father to us; he took on our sin by dying on the cross. One day I gave my life to God through Jesus Christ, fully and unreservedly. Rebecca Manley Pippert
Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19 CEV https://bible.com/bible/392/mat.28.19.CEV
Reflection on Matthew 5:1-12
Scripture
“God blesses you when people mock you, and persecute you, and lie about you, and say all kinds of evil things about you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward waits for you in heaven.”
Observation
This scripture is the beginning of what is called The Sermon on the Mount. This section consists of a series of blessings or beatitudes.
Each of the Beatitudes starts with the words “blessed are…” In some versions the word for blessed is translated as “happy.” The New Living Translation uses the phrase “God blesses.”
Jesus says that various groups of people who may appear to be abandoned by God, or even cursed, are in fact blessed by God above others. The poor in spirit own God’s Kingdom; those who mourn will be comforted by the Lord; the humble will inherit the earth; those denied justice will receive it; the merciful will receive mercy; the pure in heart will see God; peacemakers will be called “children of God”; the persecuted will attain God’s kingdom.
So Jesus overturns our understanding of who is blessed by God.
Application
In the West, we are now entering dangerous territory for christians. We didn’t think this would be possible a few decades ago, but now followers of Jesus are mocked, lied about and defamed widely. What people would not say about other groups, they will say freely against christians.
How we react to such events will be critical. Jesus tells us to rejoice and be very glad. After all, it is not us they are hating, it is Him. If they hate us for following Jesus, then we must be doing a fair job of representing Jesus to the world.
That is the key of course. We must always be obedient to the Father and gracious to people, so that they really do see Jesus in us and react to Him, not us.
Prayer
Father, when people mock me for your sake, may I find grace to love them in Your name. Amen.
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