Word for Life in Love— Scripture Meditations By Stephen Brown
Isaiah 43:19 ESV
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
A new creation is underway. God's work of creating man in His image is ongoing as we are being transformed into the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ. We are a new thing, a new creation as children of light.
We will find we are part of His rest when His work is done. This is the ultimate Sabbath rest of the Lord.
Ezekiel 37:11-14 ESV
Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
The Lord says He will bring Israel back as a nation and back into their land. This is impossible you might say, and you would be right. For man it is, but with God all things are possible.
The Lord tells us why He is doing this. "Then you shall know that I am the Lord." A miraculous thing has and is taking place. As Jesus said long ago, if you don't believe my words, then look at the signs and miracles I have done before your eyes. Some believed, but many did not.
Today God has performed a miracle before the world. Some will see it for what is, but many will not. Seeing is not always believing, just as knowing is not always understanding. There has always been an unbelieving generation.
The Lord came to the earth, yet many do not believe. The Lord brought Israel back into their land, yet many do not believe. The Lord will return, yet many will not believe. The Lord tells us these things before they happen so we will know and believe.
"Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
Isaiah 41:14 ESV
Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
The Hebrew word for men implies a small number, in this case a remnant.
A redeemer in Israel is performed by a kinsman. Jesus was descended from the Jewish nation.
The redeemer of all men is a kinsman to man as well. He descended from heaven to share in our flesh, to become a brother to us all.
He is our Redeemer and the Holy One of the earth.
Genesis 14:13 ESV
Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram.
This is the first time the word Hebrew appears in Scripture, but is Abram the first Hebrew?
Hebrew means "one from beyond." (Olive Tree Enhanced Strong's)
Abram descended from Adam, who received the breath God directly from God. A man who receives the breath/Spirit of God qualifies to me as "one from beyond." Adam is the first ancestor of Abram connected by a preserved record of lineage. That might suggest that Adam could be the first Hebrew.
From Jesus, or the second Adam, a different kind of Hebrew is born, one that is born from above. This is the Spiritual Hebrew and the ultimate people of God. This is the body of Christ.
Genesis 1:5 ESV
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
From the darkness of the womb, we are born into the light of the world.
From the darkness of the world, we can be reborn into the light of God.
Let this be the first day of the rest of your life.
Luke 13:24 ESV
“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Have you ever thought much about this verse? It would appear that it is possible to know something of God, even seek to enter His presence and yet not be able. This could make one nervous, especially when one takes a casual approach to Christ. There is nothing casual about Christ.
How do we seek and find, rather than seek and fail? Whole heartedly!
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Psalms 147:10-11 ESV
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
With the Lord, it's not who you are that counts, but who you know. If you know Him, He is your hope. If you do not know Him, you are hopeless.
He takes pleasure in His own and on them rests His steadfast love.
Luke 4:18-19 ESV
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
We share with Christ in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. That is why we are called the body of Christ, for if we have the Spirit, then we have Christ. We have become the incarnation of the light of God, children of the Father of lights.
We can now proclaim the good news in word and deed, by living the life given to all who trust in Christ.
1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
We are to be holy because He is holy. We are holy because He is holy.
It is the presence of the Lord that makes the ground or place holy. We are holy if the Spirit abides in us because He is present.
We act holy the more we grow like Jesus. The more He is received in our lives, the more we reflect His light in our lives. We are holy in the meantime because He is perfectly holy.
To have Jesus is to be holy. We should then make every effort to be holy and wholly that way.
Found on Opera Coast
Psalms 139:13-16 ESV
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
A person born of woman takes shape in the darkness of a woman's body and his birth brings him into the light of day. A person born from above takes shape in the darkness of the world and his birth brings him into the light of God.
Another way to express "fearfully" might be to say reverently awesome. What He has done and is doing is so beyond our understanding that the fear of the unknown enters into our witness and consideration, even of a God who extends His mercy and love to creatures such as mankind.
The word wonderful tries to describe, not only the work of our present existence, but is inclusive of what we are going to be. His works are wonderful and He is not finished with us yet. We are good now, but we will be very good in the end.
We begin as an unformed substance which is transformed in the light of day, that is the light of the Lord. We become visible in His light.
Ephesians 2:6-7 ESV
and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
How is it possible that we are seated with Christ on His throne, a yet remain on earth? Remember we are in the body of Christ. We are in both places because He sits on His throne and abides in our hearts. We have become a new creation in the order of Jesus Christ. We are fully man and have the fullness of God dwelling within us.
The fullness of God was pleased to dwell in the man Jesus. Jesus is pleased to dwell in us. The Holy Spirit gives birth to the sons of God as He gave life to the man Jesus. He will bodily raise us as He raised Christ.
The chasm between God and man has been reduced to the space between our inner man and our flesh.
Found on Opera Coast
Found on Opera Coast
Isaiah 2:2-3 ESV
It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
The latter days that Isaiah refers to a time yet to come. Jerusalem just recently became part of Israel, but the nations have and are not gathering around Jerusalem to learn the ways of God. In fact, they surround the tiny country to threaten its very existence.
There is little regard for the mountain of God in the world today, but there will come a time in the latter days when the word of the Lord will be heard from Jerusalem. The nations will stream to Jerusalem and Zion will sit on the mountain of God for all peoples.
The law shall go forth into the world from this mountain and the people of the earth shall learn the ways of the Lord. Jesus will sit on the throne of David with the bride of Christ at His side. He will light that city that will provide the light of God to cover the earth. Israel will be as the gates into the city that provide access to God and the gates will never close.
Revelation 21:10-14
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Darkness will remain outside the city. The verb for "does" what is detestable and false is in the active and present tense. This would appear to be an ongoing state of affairs outside the city walls.
Revelation 21:22-27
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Israel will be redeemed in the latter days, majestic in the land and a joy forever. This is yet to be, but the Lord has spoken and it shall be done.
Isaiah 60:15-16
Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
with no one passing through,
I will make you majestic forever,
a joy from age to age.
You shall suck the milk of nations;
you shall nurse at the breast of kings;
and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
John 4:25-30 ESV
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.
This account has more than one message for the Church. It communicates on several levels, but it also foreshadows Christ as the Bridegroom and the the woman as the Bride of Christ.
Christ tells the woman about living water and she desires it. He tells her He is expected one to bring the truth of all things.
After this encounter, she leaves her old water jar behind to spread the news in town.
When we have our own encounter with Christ, we learn of the living water and want to share the good news with others.
The water jar is replaced by new wineskins to hold the living water, which is changed into the wine of the new covenant.
Jeremiah 33:23-26 ESV
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. Thus says the Lord: If I have not established n with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”
Who is the offspring to come in the passage above? It would be our Lord Jesus Christ.
What will He do when He comes back? He will "restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them."
Jesus has yet to return and rule over the " offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
The seed of Abraham is Jesus Christ. It is from Jesus, the promised one, that the children of light are born. Remember they are born from above, while the offspring of Jacob are born on the earth, through the will of man.
Jesus and all those born from above will descend from heaven and rule on earth where every knee will bow. From Jerusalem His mercy will flow into the world. The twelve gates of the new Jerusalem will be the twelve tribes of Israel. They will be the twelve leaves on the tree of life that will be for the healing of the nations.
Romans 8:29-30 ESV predestined
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
How many of us did God know before hand? Many believe that God did not foresee all the people that would be born into the world. When God says that He so loved the world that He gave His only Son, they think what He really means is that He so loved only a part of the world and doesn't care for the rest. A small number of mankind is enough to be saved for His purposes and the rest is just extra that has no hope or merit. They would say they are predestined for salvation and everyone else will die.
Jesus tells us something else.
Mark 16:15-16
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
It appears we have a choice according to the Lord.
Jesus says again:
John 3:14-15
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
He does not limit salvation to a few, but to whoever.
Again the Lord says:
John 3:16-18
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
So what is meant by "whoever?"
From Dictionary.com
pronoun;, possessive whosever; objectivewhomever.
1.
whatever person; anyone that:
Whoever did it should be proud. Ask whoever isthere. Tell it to whomever you like.
2.
no matter who :
I won't do it, whoever asks.
What has been predestined is the way for us to be conformed to the image of His only Son, who was chosen before the foundation of the world to bring forth the body of Christ. Who can elect to take this predestined path?
WHOEVER
It is the wish of God that no man die.
Ezekiel 33:11
Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Come one, come all. Whoever comes will not be turned away.
Psalms 103:11-12 ESV
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
A person walking east or west will never get closer to east or west. On the earth, a step in either direction does not change the distance between the two. One can endlessly travel east and always have the same amount of east before him or her. The same applies to the west.
This means that when the Lord removes our transgressions as far as the east is from the west, they are forever gone. They are so far removed that you can't get there from here, even if you wanted to. We can take comfort in the promise and reality of what He has done.
Psalms 62:5-7 ESV
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
To be still in the Lord is to wait on the Lord.
This passage says our hope is from him. This can serve to remind us that we have no hope for life apart from Him. He brings hope into a hopeless situation. He brings hope into a world that lies in darkness and is unable to comprehend the light.
It is the power of His love which reaches into our darkness and raises us into the light of His life. Our hope is not just from Him, but He IS our hope.
This is our hope and a hope that is sure. It is there for all who hope in the Lord.
Psalms 147:11
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
Revelation 1:1 ESV
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
Who is this angel of the Lord? Jesus was sent by the Lord God. Jesus ascended into heaven, but sent the Holy Spirit to man to bear witness to the truth. When John says he is in the Spirit, it is the Holy Spirit he speaks of.
This could possibly be the angels of the seven churches that deliver the messages to all the churches. Jesus even says to listen to what the Spirit says.
There one Spirit and there is one who is understood to be the angel of the Lord. It is Christ, for He is the Spirit and our Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Psalms 2:7-9 ESV
I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
Jesus is the begotten Son of God, meaning He was born from above. He existed in the Godhead before He was born as a Son of Man.
We who place our faith in the Son of God are born from above. We have become sons of God. We did not exist in the Godhead before we were born, but we have become one with the Godhead as we have become one with Christ.
We are the begotten of the begotten.
Exodus 12:29-32 ESV
At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”
When Pharaoh asked for a blessing, it was an admission of defeat. Pharaoh had perceived himself as a God and no one was greater than he, but he was proven wrong.
It is the greater that blesses the lesser. Pharaoh told Moses he did not know of his God when Moses first came to ask for the freedom of the Israelites. The Hebrew word translated as "bless" has the meaning of kneeling before another. He learned at last what it meant to acknowledge someone greater than himself.
We must all come to same place as Pharaoh. God is before us and all things. Hopefully it will not take ten plagues before we can see the light.
(1384] 1 בָּרַךְ bārak 3x [Q] to kneel down; [H] to make kneel [1288]) Mounce,
Romans 5:9-11 ESV
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Our salvation has two components which bring us into the life of God. The death of Christ opens the door to the light of God. We are no longer doomed to remain in the darkness of our earth. God has brought light into creation and the light shines for all the world to see. The light shines on each person. We only need to look up.
Free from the tyranny of death, we can enter the salvation of His life. Reconciliation opens the door to salvation. Salvation brings us to God. The foundation of our new life is in His light.
Rejoice, for the kingdom of heaven is near and has now arrived. It was established from the beginning.
Romans 6:3-4 ESV
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
It is every man's destiny to die once. The second death is optional.
We are either buried with Him by baptism into His death or just die and rest in a hole in ground until we face the second and final death. We face the second death alone before the throne of judgement.
When we die with Him, He will never leave us and we live in the life of God. There is no end of that life. It is a new and wondrous thing God has done.
Isaiah 2:3-4 ESV
and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
The word of the Lord is the Prince of Peace. The Hebrew word for Jerusalem means "teaching of peace." From Jerusalem the light of the Lord goes out into the world. This is the city chosen by God as His city, where His light and peace will reside.
This is why Jerusalem is a cup of trembling and a burden for the nations, for the prince of darkness opposes the light of the Lord. The world lies under the power of the prince of darkness and therefore the world surrounds this city and the people of the land, threatening their very existence with an ongoing campaign of abuse and warfare to eliminate the people of God.
God will prevail and HIS peace will descend on this city and into the world.
Zechariah 1:14-17 ESV
So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. Therefore, thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’”
The Church does not replace Israel as the people of God. We are part of the tree of life, grafted in as branches into revelation of God that began with Israel.
The original tree was severely cut back, but it remains rooted and alive. From this tree the branch of Jessie sprouted forth and the branches of the Church are attached to the tree by that branch.
We become the top branches of the mighty tree planted by God. Israel might be seen as the living creatures that makeup the throne of God. Their inheritance from God is a land covenant, with each tribe having their allotment. They are rooted in the land. We are born from above.
The Lord is the inheritance of the Church and a Spiritual covenant. We are the bride of Christ. We will be changed into flesh like His to match the life we already share.
