Category Christ

Jan 1 2008

Jesus….how can I know for sure?


The Bible is a remarkable book. It is a combination of 66 different writings with many different authors from varied backgrounds. It is the top selling book in history and continues to top the charts today.
Although it is a wonderful body of literature and is both interesting and beautiful with dozens and dozens of colorful stories about the successes and failures of people, monumental historic events, and guidelines for practical living, the Bible is unique of all other books ever written. It is the revelation of God to people like me and you and can be understood in two ways.
First, the Bible can be read and understood like any other great literary work. One can read it and learn about the people and events and even memorize sizeable sections of it. There is no more interesting book. Secondly, the Bible can be understood spiritually. Unlike any other book ever written, the Bible is a spiritual book. Because its words are literally God’s words, they, like Him, are spiritual and alive. To fully receive the message of God’s revelation the words on the pages of the Bible must be spiritually understood. (1 Cor 2:14)
Many, many people make the mistake of trying to know the truth of the Bible without the aid of the Holy Spirit, who alone can reveal the core truth of God’s revelation to mere men. If you my dear friend approach the Word of God and try to fit all you find on its pages into the mold of human reason you will not understand the truth. The Apostle Paul put it this way. He said it is “foolishness” to those who try to approach the things of God using only natural means. The Bible is both natural and supernatural at the same time. The supernatural component will be completely missed if you insist on trying to ascertain spiritual truth and supernatural concepts using only human logic and reasoning.
In my view, the reason many people who claim to be Christians have difficulty with the bodily resurrection of Jesus, his Deity, His eternal existence, and many of His claims and promises is that because these things do not fit the natural human ability to learn and assimilate facts, many just disregard everything that doesn’t seem logical. Then they also scoff at those who do understand the truth of God’s revelation by the Spirit.

I am convinced that God wants you to know His truth. If you will come to the Bible with an open heart and a willingness to take God at His word, you can know the truth. We understand the Bible by “faith”. The writer of the Hebrews said in chapter 11 verse 3 these words, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible”.
We understand that God created by simply taking God at His word. The same is true for all other truth. Those who are believers (have faith in God) know the truth and those who are unbelievers (do not trust God) do not know the truth.
Each of us creatures should unreservedly trust the Creator and believe His book, the Bible. In the next few posts I will discuss Jesus Christ and who He is. My hope is that these simple studies will help you to know, or to more fully know, the Godman, Jesus Christ our Lord who is God.
His peace,
Royce

Dec 17 2007

Jesus? Whats all the fuss?


The idea of the Trinity is often confusing and difficult for many to understand. I don’t know that any finite being can begin to fully comprehend the awesome central essence of our great Creator God. I do believe however, that we are given quite enough revelation in the pages of the Bible so that we can understand the basic concept of the triune God we love and serve.

One man describes the Trinity this way. “There is one essence (God) and three manifestations of that essence, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”. That is a very concise and clear way to state it. There are not three Gods but one who has revealed Himself in three distinct personalities.

Another illustration might be the following. My father, David Ogle, was at the same time a father, a son, and a husband. He was very real in each of those roles and neither compromised the others. He was one man (essence) but was known (manifested) in three distinct personas.

I believe a basic understanding of the Trinity is necessary before one tackles the Deity of Jesus. It is disturbing to me that many people struggle with questions about Jesus the man. Was He or is He God? If He was or is God, how could he have died? If he was fully God how could he pray to Himself or be in a submissive role while on earth? These questions and more continue to be asked in the minds of many, and not just those who are outside the household of faith, believers have some of the same questions. Can I answer them all? Absolutely I cannot. I can remind us of what the Bible clearly teaches about Jesus and His role as the second person of the Trinity.

The deity of Jesus Christ is regarded by every orthodox theologian as one of the “essentials” of the historic Christian faith. It is “foundational” in its value as a doctrine. It is a “fundamental” doctrine held by those who embrace the basic tenets of the Christian faith who are correctly called “Fundamentalists”, of which I am happily one. Many people today refer to this same group of believers as “Evangelicals”, but the core beliefs are almost exactly the same. One difference is that some who refer to themselves as “Fundamentalists” refuse to fellowship with anyone who does not believe and practice everything to the letter that they believe. The “everything” includes some Bible doctrines that are not “essentials”, or “foundational” teachings. Common consensus is that there are some facts in the Bible that are so important that one who is exposed to them must believe them to be correctly called a Christian. The deity of Jesus is one of those teachings.

Another important thing to keep in mind in addition to the concept of the Trinity is the concept of “roles”. In the Bible, when women are instructed to be submissive to their own husbands, slaves to masters, children are to honor and obey parents, etc. There is no hint, stated or implied, of determining value or worth. The mistaken idea that Jesus was not co-equal with the Father because he was sent to do the will of the Father in no way is a statement about His value, worth, or place in the Godhead. Function never is a measurement of value or worth, for God or for His children.

It is my goal over the course of the next few weeks is to post some of my observations about what the Bible clearly states regarding the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Was, or is He, fully God, or something a bit less? Was he a creation of God the Father? Did He exist before he was born to Mary? Was he really raised from the dead in a body? Where is He today and what is He doing? Is He only our brother or is He our God?

Your input is invited.

Merry CHRISTmas and a prosperous new year.

His peace,
Royce

Dec 4 2007

God-with-us


It is a wonderful thing, but an odd thing, that the Creator God would love His creatures so that He would choose to come and live among them on planet earth. I can’t imagine an earthly king who would one day say to himself “I think it would be good to go out of  the palace, through the courts, and out the gate and go live with the commoners“. Such an idea flies in the face of reason. Why would royalty desire the humble means of those poor souls who are only a harvest away from starvation? How could the one whose servants stand at the ready to care for every detail of need want to come and make his abode with the lowly?

Ah, Christmas, the season when we remember the time when earth was interrupted by the birth of a baby boy. His first hours were lived in the most humble setting, a cattle stall with the smell of dung and odor of the animals near by. Yet this child was a King whose birth had been foretold by the prophets, long years ago. His mother was told He would save His people from their sins, and Matthew reminded the readers of his book that according to Isaiah his name would mean “God-with-us”.

The wonder of Christmas is that not only did a King come for a visit but He came on a mission. Men and women and boys and girls were groping along in the darkness of their sins with no hope of life after the earthly tent was finally folded. But He appeared…”To save His people from their sins”. His life would be short by today’s standards but it was one that perfectly met every holy demand of God the Father’s law. His ministry would be to the human trash of the day to heal brokenness, to give sight to the blind, to make cripples run, jump, and shout for joy. He would raise the dead, feed thousands with enough for only a few.

He would break all the rules of religion, he would squash racial divides, he would talk to the wind….and it would listen. He would round up some unlikely candidates to help Him with His mission. The twelve were truly a cross section of the lower rungs of society. He would laugh and love with them, eat with them, pray with them, minister with them, and then be abandoned by them and even denied and betrayed by them. But, oh how He loved them. But the wonder of this One is that He loved everyone intensely. And, He would die to prove it.

A child was born, a son given, a life lived, a live given. He defeated the forces of darkness by defeating death, by satisfying God’s demands about sin and its penalty, and offers to all who will accept the gift, eternal life. He is the only human who could have justly condemned, but He didn’t come for that. For you see, people were already condemned. No, He came to give life, and forgiveness, and peace.

There are still those who deny Him. Some even declare with their lips that He never even existed. But every one of them declares His life and death every time they write a date on a check, or a note to a friend. No other person in human history has been so opposed as this man. The ultimate oddity is that this man of all men who ever lived would have had opposition. He only gave, and gave, and then gave Himself as a complete payment for every man’s sins and today lives so we too can live.

God-with-us! Merry Christmas.

His peace,
Royce Ogle

Nov 15 2007

The throne of grace


“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

What a wonderful invitation! Invited to enter the throne room and to approach the One who sits upon the throne “boldly”. How can such a thing be? I, a mere man, sinful and weak, and wholly undeserving should “boldly” come to my God? Yes, for I am a child of this King. I am not a commoner, my position in the kingdom is greater by far than that of a subject, I am a son!

When I approach this throne, I can do so without fear or reservation for it is not a seat of judgment but one of grace! A one word description of this throne of God given in the above text is not holiness, although He is holy, it is not justice although He is just, it is not righteousness although He is righteous, no, here it is characterized as a throne of grace! It is a place where the unmeasured favor of the God of is lavished upon those who come to Him. Grace? What does it mean?

I fear that we have been short sighted in regard to grace. The usual answer given when someone is asked for a definition is “God’s unmerited favor”. It surely is that but most of the time we have in mind the forgiveness of our sins only. God’s grace toward us does encompass forgiveness, justification, sanctification, and even one day glorification. But most of the time when grace is mentioned in the Bible it means much more than a perfect salvation given to imperfect people.

In Luke’s gospel he wrote of the child Jesus and said, “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” (Luke 2:40)From this verse we can be sure that grace meant something far different than having to do with salvation. “…And the grace of God was upon Him.” Every day of His life on earth He walked in the favor of His Father in heaven. Every good thing He needed His Father provided. It is one thing to have the favor of a public official. You might possibly get some special treatment that other citizens do not enjoy. But this is the Creator God who loves us without measure and is extravagant in how He provides for us. We can’t imagine what bad things would have come our way except for His love in caring for us. We know for sure that every good and perfect gift comes from His loving hand of grace.

Do you have lack? Paul said, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8) Do you need help witnessing for Christ? Grace is the answer. “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4:33) It is to this God of grace we can come as dear children. Why do we come? “..To obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”. How wonderful are the benefits of being a child of God! (Psalm 103)

It is at our point of want that we need God’s lavish favor upon our coming and going. And we find it accompanied with mercy. By God’s grace he delights to give us what is good and best for us, to simply “help” us. But then by God’s mercy He stays what should be ours if we received what we deserved.

What would God do such a thing? Because He is love.

In His final statement to mankind about His love, Jesus Christ the Righteous took upon himself our sin, or brokenness, and because He could do nothing more for us and could offer nothing more to the Father, there He died in my place and yours. God’s fiery wrath for sin was poured out upon Christ to the last drop.

He looks on Christ and pardons sinners, declaring them “right” with Him. “To those who received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God”. Have you received Him? He is full of grace for you. He will not always wait.

Christian have you been living on less than God’s gracious provision? Shake it off! Run to the throne of grace, your Father waits to pour out His love into your life and circumstances.

His peace,

Royce Ogle