Monthly Archives: October 2019

Divine Attributes and Human Virtues

Bible Verses

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. (14) And the Word became flesh…
Luke 9:22 Saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things, and
be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and
be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Words of Ministry

As the Man-Savior, the Lord Jesus possesses both the divine
nature with its divine attributes and the human nature with
its human virtues. The divine attributes are related to what
God is and has [e.g. love, light, holiness, righteousness,
etc.]. We cannot speak exhaustively concerning the attributes
of God. But we can say that the Lord Jesus possessed the
nature of God with all the divine attributes.

Here we are using “attributes” in relation to God and
“virtues” in relation to man. Because the Lord Jesus was
conceived of the Holy Spirit with the divine essence, He
possesses the divine nature with the divine attributes.
Because He was born of a human virgin with the human essence,
He possesses the human virtues. Therefore, while He was on
earth, He lived a life that was both human and divine. He was
a Man living a human life, but in that human life the divine
attributes were expressed.

According to John 1:1 and 14, in the beginning was the Word,
the Word was God, and this Word, which is God, became flesh.
God became flesh to live a life expressing Himself in
humanity. In John we see God expressing Himself in humanity;
in Luke we see a Man expressing God in His human living. As
this Man lived on earth, in His living God’s attributes were
expressed. In the Man-Savior man and God, God and man, are
mingled to form a composition full of the divine attributes
and the human virtues.

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WEEKEND THOUGHTS

THE FIERY HEAVEN will display, one day the glory of God at the retribution on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, executing vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; the final war of Armageddon and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.

Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all. The unceasing conflict which commenced in the garden of Eden, continues in our day in great measure, conflict between light and darkness, but it will be consummated at His coming in great power and glory. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon, was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. The Lord is a man of war, Warrior King. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory and will sit upon the throne of Glory and will reign upon this earth for thousands years. We who suffer today will associate with Him in His kingly rule. Jerusalem will be the capital city from where He will administrate His kingdom. The effect and the result will be what we read in Hab 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. This earth which is polluted by sin from the days of Noah, will be full of His glory and shined with glory. As we read in Zech. Chps.1 to 6, the display of the glory of God globally. At His incarnation, Glory appeared and His coming in power as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the glory will be manifested like sun in the sky, shed the brilliant rays during the mid day, so will it be in that day of His glorious reign, for He is the King of glory. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof. Finally the Lamb is all the glory!

Hymn writer says…

Who is He that from His throne ,rules the world of light alone? Tis the Lord, O wondrous story! Tis the Lord, the King of glory; 
at His feet, we humbly fall, 
crown Him, crown Him Lord of all!

Have a blessed weekend with Christo- Centeric Lord’s day.

 

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The Baptism of Jesus (2)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rom 8:3 …God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the
flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Part 2 of 2]
The Lord Jesus was a perfect Man, a Man with all the human
virtues, yet He was nevertheless in the likeness of the flesh
of sin. Of course, the Lord Jesus did not have the nature of
fallen mankind; however, He did possess the likeness, the
outward form or appearance, of fallen mankind. In Romans 8:3
Paul says that Christ came in the likeness of the flesh of sin.
He did not have the nature of sin, but He had the likeness,
the appearance, the form, of the flesh of sin. It was
necessary for this likeness of the flesh of sin to be judged,
terminated, and buried. This was another reason for the
baptism of the Man-Savior.
We have seen that fallen man certainly needs to be judged,
terminated, and buried. We have also seen that even the God-
created man must be set aside in order to live a life in which
the human virtues express the divine attributes. For this,
even a good, complete, and perfect God-created man must be set
aside. This is the reason that the Lord Jesus as the God-Man
said in the Gospel of John that He did not do anything by
Himself. In John 5:19 He said, “The Son can do nothing from
Himself except what He sees the Father doing.” In John 5:30 He
said again, “I can do nothing from Myself.” In John 8:28 the
Lord declared, “I do nothing from Myself.”
In order that He might express God in His human living, at the
beginning of His ministry the Lord put Himself aside through
baptism. He was a perfect and complete Man, but He would not
live by Himself. Instead, He lived by God the Father who was
in Him.
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The Baptism of Jesus (1)

Bible Verses Luke 3:21
Now when all the people were baptized and as Jesus
was baptized and was praying, heaven was opened.
Matthew 3:13  Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John
to be baptized by him. (14)  But John tried to prevent Him,
saying, It is I who have need of being baptized by You, and
You come to me?
Words of Ministry
[Part 1 of 2]
If we would have a proper understanding of the significance
of the baptism of the Man-Savior, we need to consider further
what is the highest standard of morality. The highest
standard of morality is actually the result of the God-
created man (Gen. 1) with the human virtues created by God
plus the tree of life (Gen. 2), a tree that signifies God as
life to us with all His divine attributes.
In the man created by God there were the human virtues. These
virtues are in God’s image and according to His likeness. In
particular, these virtues are according to God’s love, light,
holiness, and righteousness. According to chapter two of
Genesis, this God-created man with his human virtues was
placed in front of the tree of life. The tree of life
signifies God as life with His divine attributes. When the
tree of life is added to the God-created man, the result is a
living in the highest standard of morality.
The Lord Jesus was baptized in order that He might live a
human life expressing God’s attributes. Although the Lord
Jesus was a complete and perfect Man, He needed to be put
aside in order to live a life that expressed God. To be
baptized simply means to be put aside, to be terminated and
buried so that we may live not by ourselves but by God. If we
are set aside in this way, we shall be able to live a human
life with the divine attributes expressed in the human
virtues.
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Consecration -- an Altar and a Tent (1)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gen 12:7 And Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, To your seed
I will give this land. And there he built an altar to Jehovah
who had appeared to him.
Rom 12:1 I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the
compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Part 1 of 3]
After Abraham had arrived at Moreh and after God had
reappeared to him, he built an altar (12:7). This was the
first altar that Abraham built. In the Bible an altar means
that we have all for God and serve God. Building an altar
means that we offer everything we are and have to God. We need
to place all that we are and all that we have on the altar.
Before we do anything for God, God would say to us, “Child,
don’t do anything for Me. I want you. I want you to put all
that you are and all that you have on the altar for Me.” This
is real fellowship, real worship. The real worship of the
called ones is to put all that we are and have on the altar.
If you check with your experience, you will see that
immediately after you were called, God appeared to you again,
and you said, “Lord, from now on everything is Yours. All that
I am, all that I have, all that I can do and am going to do is
for You.” I can still recall what happened on the afternoon
that I was saved. As I went out of that church building and
walked along the street, I lifted up my eyes to heaven and
said, “God, from today on everything is for You.” That was a
real consecration. In a spiritual sense, it was the building
of an altar.
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OUR JOURNEY  TOGETHER IS SHORT

A beautiful message for all of us….
A young lady sat in a bus. At the next stop a loud and grumpy old lady came and sat by her. She squeezed into the seat and bumped her with her numerous bags.
The person sitting on the other side of the young lady got upset, asked her why she did not speak up and say something.
The young lady responded with a smile, deserves to be written in golden letters
“It is not necessary to be rude or argue over something so insignificant, the journey together is so short. I get off at the next stop.”
Jesus teaches us in Mathew 5:39
“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
We need to  realise that our time here is short and that to darken it with quarrels, futile arguments, un forgiveness, discontentment and a fault finding attitude would be a waste of time and energy.
Sometime our differences are over riches , the fame & pride it tags along.
The Bible says about a rich man who is planning his future business growth
Luke 12:19-20
“And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
If you are unable to enjoy and share your riches of what use is it? Life is unpredictably short!!
Did someone break your heart. betray, bully, cheat or humiliate you?
Luke 11:4
Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'”
We need forgiveness from God for our sins and also need to forgive those who offend us remember the journey is very short.
No one knows the duration of this journey. No one knows when their stop will come, but this is sure our journey together is very short.
Let us cherish friends and family. Let us be respectful, kind and forgiving to each other. Let us be filled with gratitude and gladness.
If I have ever hurt you, I ask for your forgiveness. If you have ever hurt me, you already have my forgiveness.
Remember , *Our Journey Together is very Short!*
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