"And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:1, 2)
The meteor which swept across the Urals in Russia today did not appear on radar and caught everyone by surprise. The Russian President was speaking at an economic summit in Siberia at the time and said, "not only the economy is vulnerable, but the whole planet." More sobering words could not be spoken. Jesus said, "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity,..; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the power of the heavens will be shaken." Do not mock at this age old declaration of our Lord, the all-too-often response, "Oh, I've heard that before!"
While more and more space objects are coming ever closer, and while some have before today's event hit the earth, here is the vast majority of the human race, going about daily business, not giving much thought to its own mortality, not giving consideration to the Biblical call to, "Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." The attitude toward this in the universities and most seminaries is just religious mumbo jumbo, irrelevant religion, partisan, Lennon's "Imagine," which apparently is the imagination of most on the planet. In short, all that Bible stuff is just religious nonsense.
Our text is from one of my readings today. My interpretation of the text is that Jesus Christ is central, Jesus Christ is foundational, Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone, and only in Jesus Christ and through the Blood of Jesus Christ in His Cross is the redemption, the salvation of the human race. This age will come to a close, and so will you and I. What you and I can see is finite, temporal. What we cannot see is infinite, eternal. Think of all that which we say we believe and believe in, The Living Triune God, promises yet unseen, the life to come, Heaven. We cannot see them in the natural, but by, "the faith of Jesus," we see them all.
The Russian President is right; "not only the economy is vulnerable, but the whole planet." But there is something which is only vulnerable to you and me if we do not live our lives by Him. Over cosmic events, over the pseudointellectualism of mankind stands Jesus Christ, Who is the very, "Word of God." As Colossians 1 tells us, "Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Jesus all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.... Jesus is before all things, and in Jesus all things hold together..., so that in everything He might have the supremacy." So you know what to do if you ever feel as though you or the world is coming apart.
Father, in Jesus' Name, You reign; You are exalted far above all. I rest in You. Amen.
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The meteor which swept across the Urals in Russia today did not appear on radar and caught everyone by surprise. The Russian President was speaking at an economic summit in Siberia at the time and said, "not only the economy is vulnerable, but the whole planet." More sobering words could not be spoken. Jesus said, "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity,..; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the power of the heavens will be shaken." Do not mock at this age old declaration of our Lord, the all-too-often response, "Oh, I've heard that before!"
While more and more space objects are coming ever closer, and while some have before today's event hit the earth, here is the vast majority of the human race, going about daily business, not giving much thought to its own mortality, not giving consideration to the Biblical call to, "Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." The attitude toward this in the universities and most seminaries is just religious mumbo jumbo, irrelevant religion, partisan, Lennon's "Imagine," which apparently is the imagination of most on the planet. In short, all that Bible stuff is just religious nonsense.
Our text is from one of my readings today. My interpretation of the text is that Jesus Christ is central, Jesus Christ is foundational, Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone, and only in Jesus Christ and through the Blood of Jesus Christ in His Cross is the redemption, the salvation of the human race. This age will come to a close, and so will you and I. What you and I can see is finite, temporal. What we cannot see is infinite, eternal. Think of all that which we say we believe and believe in, The Living Triune God, promises yet unseen, the life to come, Heaven. We cannot see them in the natural, but by, "the faith of Jesus," we see them all.
The Russian President is right; "not only the economy is vulnerable, but the whole planet." But there is something which is only vulnerable to you and me if we do not live our lives by Him. Over cosmic events, over the pseudointellectualism of mankind stands Jesus Christ, Who is the very, "Word of God." As Colossians 1 tells us, "Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Jesus all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.... Jesus is before all things, and in Jesus all things hold together..., so that in everything He might have the supremacy." So you know what to do if you ever feel as though you or the world is coming apart.
Father, in Jesus' Name, You reign; You are exalted far above all. I rest in You. Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
