Keep Your Eyes On Christ - The Lamb Of God Who Takes Away The Sin Of The World.

Jesus Christ is the Word of God. He is the Beginning. He is also the End (John 1:1-3; Revelation 21:6).

He is ‘the Word... made flesh’. ‘We have seen His glory’(John 1:14). This is only the beginning. When He returns, we shall see His glory - ‘we shall see Him as He is’(1 John 3:2).

From Him, there is creation (John 1:1-3).

From Him, there is salvation (John 1:12-13).

In Him, we receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 1:29, 32-34).

He is the Word of God, the Lamb of God and the Son of God (John 1:1, 29, 34). When we look at Jesus Christ, we see God - ‘the ‘Word was God’(John 1:1), ‘No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known’(John 1:18).

Do you want to know what God is like? - Look at Jesus (John 14:9).

What do we see when we look at Him? - ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’(John 1:29).

Jesus Speaks About Temptation, Forgiveness, Faith And Service.

Luke 17:1-37
In verses 1-10, Jesus speaks about temptation, forgiveness, faith and service. (a) Temptation- ‘watch yourselves’, always remembering that we can only win victory through the strength of the Lord (3; 1 Corinthians 10:13). (b) Forgiveness- This is practical teaching. We not only receive forgiveness for ourselves. We are to forgive others (3-4; 1 John 1:9; Ephesians 4:32). (c) Faith- There will never come a time when we no longer need to pray, ‘Increase our faith’. What great things can be achieved for God, when our faith in Him is strong (5-6; 1 John 5:4-5, 14-15). (d) Service- We are always ‘unworthy servants’. We never outgrow our need of ‘God’s mercy’(10; Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 4:1). We need ‘the attitude of gratitude’(17-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:18). Jesus is coming again (24). Be ready for Him!
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

Through Christ, We Receive God’s Perfect Salvation.

Luke 15:1-32
People were coming to Christ (1). Still, the critics were murmuring among themselves (2). What did Jesus do ? - He kept on preaching the Gospel (3-32). The lost sheep (3-7) the lost coin (8-10), the lost son (11-32) - These are the parables of the Gospel. They teach us two lessons - By ourselves we are lost; In Christ, there is salvation. Read about the prodigal son, and think of the perfect Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, we see God’s perfect love. Through Him, we receive God’s perfect salvation - (a) ‘the best robe’- forgiveness (Revelation 7:13-14); (b) the ‘ring’- membership of God’s family (John 1:12); (c) the ‘shoes’- empowered to bring ‘the Gospel’ to others (Ephesians 6:15). ‘God... has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing’(Ephesians 1:3). Don’t be like the ‘elder son’(28-30)!
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

Jesus Does Not Come To Us Because We Are Good. He Comes To Us Because He Forgives Sins.

Luke 7:36-8:21
Jesus does not come to us because we are good. He comes to us because He forgives sins. The woman came to Jesus and received forgiveness. The Pharisee, though steeped in religion, remained unforgiven (47-50). Don't be like the Pharisee. Don’t look down your nose at the ordinary people who mean so much to the Lord. ‘Some women...’: Much of God’s work is being upheld by faithful women who, by their praying, giving and working, are ‘ministering to Him’(1-3). We read Jesus’ parables (4-18), and we learn. Let us read ‘the book of everyday life’, and learn what the Lord is saying to us concerning Himself. Let us learn from everyday life, always with this goal: Hearing the Word of God and doing it (21).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

Forgiveness and Victory

Genesis 26:1-35
‘History repeats itself’. Sin has a ‘like father, like son’ quality about it - Isaac is like Abraham (7; 12:13, 20:2, 12-13), Jacob is like Isaac (7; 25:31,27:19). Grace repeats itself. God is faithful. He gives forgiveness and victory over temptation (1 John 1:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13). He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13). Deceived by ‘the father of lies’(the devil), ‘man’ denies the truth (John 8:44). ‘Let God be true, and every man a liar’(Romans 3:4). In verses 19-22, there’s ‘the story of the three wells’- ‘Dispute’, ‘Opposition’, ‘Room’. Things went from bad to worse, then there was progress. There is room for both, when there is no more quarrelling. Isaac worshipped God, and was recognized as God’s man (25,28). We are to be recognized as God’s people, but remember - verse 34 - even the Lord’s people can make mistakes!
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

‘Without The Shedding Of Blood There Is No Forgiveness’ - ‘The Blood Of Jesus Christ Cleanses Us From All Sin.’

Genesis 4:1-5
The name of Abel appears among ‘the heroes of the faith’(Hebrews 11:14). The story of Abel is a story of grace, faith and obedience. Abel's sacrifice was a blood sacrifice while Cain’s was a fruit sacrifice (3-4). The blood sacrifice points forward - via the Old Testament sacrificial system - to the greatest sacrifice of all - ‘the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin’(1 John 1:7; Hebrews 9:12). The blood sacrifice points to salvation by grace - ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness’(Hebrews 9:22). Abel’s sacrifice was an act of faith: ‘By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain did’(Hebrews 11:4). The blood reminds us that true faith is always faith in Christ and never ‘faith’ in anything we can ever offer to God. Abel was obedient, bringing ‘the firstborn’to God. ‘In the course of time Cain brought some...’.

Genesis 4:6-16
In the story of Cain, we see the development of sin. Jealousy leads to anger, and anger leads to murder. In this story, we see ourselves in the ‘mirror’ of God’s Word. Here, God emphasizes our exceeding sinfulness - ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt’(Jeremiah 17:9). Our sinfulness leads us away from ‘the presence of the Lord’ to ‘the land of wandering (Nod)’(16). This is the work of Satan in our lives - Genesis 4 is an extension of Genesis 3. Even in the land of wandering, the hand of God is upon us. This is the meaning of ‘the mark of Cain’- ‘so that no one who found him would kill him’(15). Even in our wanderings, God is waiting in mercy for us to make our way back to Him by coming in faith to Jesus Christ our Saviour. Even when ‘sin’ is a good bit more than ‘crouching at the door’, it can be ‘mastered’ through Christ (6; Hebrews 7:25).

Genesis 4:17-26
The story of Cain and Abel is a continuing story. Abel died, yet ‘by faith still speaks, even though he is dead’(Hebrews 11:4). Cain ‘went out from the presence of the Lord’. He became ‘a restless wanderer’(14,16). What a contrast there is between these two brothers! For Abel, there was glory in the presence of the Lord - ‘By faith he was commended as a righteous man’(Hebrews 11:4), he was ‘justified by faith’(Romans 5:1). Cain was quite different. Far from God, he had no peace. He was haunted by his sins. What does God’s Word say to us about Cain? - ‘Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother... because his own actions were evil and his brothers were righteous’(1 John 3:12). Cain’s sinful influence continues. We must be on our guard. The chapter ends with hope: ‘At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord’(26).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

In Christ, We Are Forgiven.

We have been found by the Lord. We have also been forgiven by Him.
You cannot forgive yourself. You have to be forgiven by someone else.
When you sin against someone else - a husband, wife, brother, sister, friend, neighbour - you cannot simply say, "I forgive myself."
You need to be forgiven by the person you've sinned against. You cannot give forgiveness to yourself. You can only receive it as a gift.
It is the same with God's forgiveness. We have sinned against God. We need to be forgiven by God.
This is the Good News of Jesus Christ, our wonderful Saviour. Our sins have been forgiven by Jesus. In ourselves, we are guilty sinners. In Him, we are forgiven sinners.
This is the Good News in which we rejoice when we hear the great words of our Saviour: "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28).
These are the wonderful words through which we receive the new wine of the Spirit.