Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Lord’s Prayer and Postmillennialism


In a recent chat online, I posted that I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Eschatology is the doctrine of “last things,” i.e., what happens at the end of things. Postmillennialism is basically the view that when Jesus returns, the Church will have been successful in the mission He gave to disciple all nations, teaching and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20). Someone asked me if this has led me to pray the Lord’s prayer less than Christians did a millennium or two ago. Here is how I answered:
I pray the Lord’s prayer more now that I ever have in my life, and I pray it more aggressively. Wherever I see something out of alignment with heaven, I pray, “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God be done here as in heaven!”

When I pray over someone who is sick, it is, “Kingdom of God, come into this body! Will of God, be done in this body as it is being done in heaven” (because there ain’t no sickness in heaven).

When I hear about the troubles in the world, say in Libya, I pray, “Kingdom of God, come into Libya! Will of God, be done in Libya as it is in heaven.”

My conviction is that the kingdom of God is forcefully advancing in the world, ever since the days of John the Baptist, and forceful men lay hold of it (see A Kingdom Forcefully Advancing). And my confidence is that the kingdom of God will increasingly saturate the earth and the will of God will increasingly be done on earth as it is in heaven. And I am convinced that when we pray the way Jesus taught us to pray, God hears and answers.

I am postmillennial because I believe God intends to answer the Lord’s Prayer. And because I believe that the Great Commission, to make disciples of all nations (not just in all nations) will be fulfilled, because all authority has been given to Jesus in heaven and on earth. That does not cause me to slack off but to move forward with greater passion and assurance.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Am I Seated in Heaven?


When I was at Bible college, there was an evangelistic tract we used quite extensively that was titled, “Am I Going to Heaven?” It was about what happens to us when we die. We thought of heaven as someday and out there.

Today, if I were to write a tract, I think I would call it, “Am I seated in Heaven?” Heaven is not just about when we die; we begin to participate in the life of heaven here and now. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:7). The Greek word for “again” can just as well mean “from above,” that is, from heaven.

Paul tells us that our citizenship is now in heaven (Philippians 3:20). In another place, he tells us that we have made alive together with Christ, raised together with Christ and seated together with Christ in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:5-6). This is not a future promise but a done deal and a present reality. We are meant to live from now on out of that reality.

The answer to both questions is the same and comes about the same way. In John 3, where Jesus speaks of being born “from above,” it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (v. 16).

In Ephesians 2, where Paul talks about being made alive, raised up and seated together with Christ, he says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (vv. 8-10).

In other words, it is by faith, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son. That is how we enter into the kingdom of God, which is here and now as well as there and then.

Friday, April 8, 2011

A Life Pleasing

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask … that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. (Colossians 1:9-10)

In speaking of walking worthy of the Lord and fully pleasing to Him, Paul certainly has Lord Jesus in mind, for we read in Colossians 1:19, “For it pleased the Father that in Him [Jesus] all the fullness of should dwell.” Jesus’ modus operandi was all about pleasing the Father:

  • “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19).
  • “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30).
  • “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” ” (John 8:29).
But perhaps Paul was thinking also of Enoch. The book of Genesis tells us about him:
Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:21-24)
Enoch walked with God all the days of his life. He did not die but was simply taken by God. This was very unusual and, unsurprisingly, a theology developed around it. The author of Hebrews sums it up this way:
By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5)
Enoch walked with God and had this testimony: He pleased God. Certainly, this was a walk worthy of the Lord — and with the Lord — but how did Enoch please God? It was by faith, as the author of Hebrews explains:
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Enoch believed God and because of that, God was pleased with him. In the Bible, faith is about believing what God has said. Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, rightness with God (Genesis 15:6). Hebrews 11 is full of Old Testament saints who pleased God by believing God.
It is by faith that Lord Jesus pleased the Father, believing everything He heard the Father say and do, then saying and doing it in agreement with the Father’s will. That is how Jesus operated in His divinity and His humanity, and that is how we live a life that is fully pleasing to God. By believing whatever He says and does, then speaking and living in agreement with it.

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

A Walk Worthy

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (Colossians 1:9-12)

Paul’s prayer is that believers may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, so that they may “walk worthy of the Lord.” By “walk,” Paul means how you live your life. Walking is a process, one step after another, “picking ’em up and putting ’em down.” There is a consistent pattern to a proper walk, or else we will stagger, limp along or stumble altogether. A walk worthy of the Lord is a life that is appropriate and fitting for our relationship and who we are in Jesus the Messiah. What does such a life look like? In this letter, Paul lists five characteristics.

  • Fully pleasing to the Lord.
  • Always bearing fruit in every good work.
  • Always being increased in the knowledge of God.
  • Always being strengthened with all might (Colossians 1:11)
  • Always giving thanks to the Father (Colossians 1:11).
Notice that there is a fullness and a constancy to these things. It is a strong and steady walk Paul is talking about, but it is important to understand that we do not do this in our own strength or even in our own understanding. Remember that this is a prayer, something Paul is asking of God, and his primary request is that believers “be filled” with the knowledge of God’s will “in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” “Be filled” is passive, not active. We cannot fill ourselves with the knowledge of God’s will, for who knows the mind of God except God? No, God is the one who must fill us; our part is simply to let Him, to look to Him and to yield to Him in everything. “In all wisdom and spiritual understanding,” Paul says. This is the wisdom of God and the understanding that is imparted to us by the Spirit of God into our spirits. As we yield to this fullness that comes from God, we will find all we need for the life God calls us to live.

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Seed is for Sowing

Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. (2 Corinthians 9:10-11)
The Bible has a lot to tell us about seeds and sowing, more than I can do justice to in this short blog, but here are a few that have somehow come to mind. (For more, see Sowing and Reaping.)
Faith is like a seed. Jesus said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).

The kingdom of God is like a seed. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches” (Matthew 13:31-32).

The kingdom of God is like one sowing seed. Again, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29).

In Galatians 6:7, Paul reminds us that what we sow is what we will reap. In 2 Corinthians 9:6, he reminds us that how we so is also how we will reap; if we sow sparingly (stingily, holding back) we will also reap sparingly, but if we sow bountifully (generously, freely, “with blessing”), we will also reap bountifully. In 2 Corinthians 9, particularly, Paul is actually talking about finances. He was preparing to receive an offering to help the believers at Jerusalem who were in distress, and he was encouraging the believers at Corinth to be generous with their “seed,” which is to say, their financial resources.

It is in this context, then, that Paul makes the statement that appears at the top of this post. It is a benediction*, a word of blessing, and it expresses what God wants to do for us and how He wants to work through us. He wants to give us all the bread we need, but He also wants to give us seed for sowing bountifully. Because sowing seed is as important for us as the bread we eat.

God not only supplies seed for us to sow, He also multiplies it and causes it to increase. It becomes a blessing to others and results in us being enriched, made wealthy, in everything and in every way so that we can be even more generous, to become even more of a blessing. That results in thanksgiving to God because of how we have let Him work through us. It is win-win-win: for those who are blessed by our sowing, for us doing the sowing and for God who receives the praise for what was sown.

You may only have one small seed to begin with. No matter. If you sow it in faith (because faith is like a seed), you will be proclaiming the kingdom of God (because the kingdom is like the seed and the one who sows seed). It will display the generosity of God and prophesy the prosperity of God.

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Develop a Prosperous Tongue

Once again, the first of the month finds me at Psalm 1. A fresh month, a fresh opportunity to think about the prosperity God desires for you and me. It looks likes this:

He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
(Psalm 1:3)
There are two things necessary for experiencing this prosperity in our lives, one positive, and the other negative. The positive is found in verse 2:
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Notice the word “But.” It is the hinge point that turns from the negative to the positive. The negative is found in the first verse and it is just as important as the positive.
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
Now, the first line, of course, is positive, “Blessed is the man.” Or better, “Oh, the happinesses of the man!” But the next three lines set up the negative, about what the man who is blessed does not do.
  • He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
  • He does not stand in the path of sinners.
  • He does not sit in the seat of the scornful.
The tendency here might be to think of those who are flamboyant in their ungodliness, or accentuated in their sinfulness or very loud and exceedingly abusive in their mockery. It is pretty much a given that we should not follow them and their ways. But it is the more subtle forms that we should really be watching out for. They can be much more dangerous to us, and the blessing and prosperity God has for us, because they can be so deceptive and yet seem so reasonable. They show up, for example, when we make decisions that leave no room for God, or God becomes merely an afterthought, even when we are trying to do something good. Then we are leaning on our own understanding and there is no dependable direction when we come to the crossroads (see Proverbs 3:5-6). They show up as pride and arrogance, the puffing up of ourselves and supposing that our own needs matter more than others. We have long been discipled in the subtle art of rationalization. Jesus nailed some these subtle forms in the Sermon of Heaven on Earth (my title, a. k. a., “Sermon on the Mount”), when He declares, “You have heard it said … but I say to you” (see Matthew 5:21-22, 21-32, 33-34, 38-39, 43-44).

Then there is the matter of what we do with our mouths. Not merely open mockery, which is easily detected and avoided, but the little ways we tear things down with our words, and especially how we belittle each other, and ourselves, by the things we give voice to. Our words are very powerful, and how we use them is very important.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
(Proverbs 18:21)

But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. (James 3:8-12)

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:35-37).
No man can tame the tongue, it is attached to the heart and merely reveals what is in the heart in abundance. In other words, to deal with the tongue, you have to deal with the heart. How important it is, then, to continually meditate on the instruction of the Lord and let if fill your heart to overflowing. Then His words will inform your words, and when you speak, you will be speaking in alignment with the prosperity of God. Your faith will be activated and you will see that divine prosperity begin to come forth in your life.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Filled with the Knowledge of His Will

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. (Colossians 1:9)

This is Paul’s prayer for the believers at Colosse. It is a pastoral prayer.* He asks of God that they may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will “in all wisdom and understanding.”

First, note the word “filled” (Greek, pleroo). The idea of fullness shows up a number of times in this letter. This suggests that one of the errors Paul may have been addressing is a teaching that one can have the fullness of divine blessing through the legalistic and pagan notions being introduced to the Colossian believers by false teachers.

Gnosticism (from the Greek word gnosis, “knowledge”) taught that the universe was created imperfectly by demiurges, intermediaries or emanations of God, and that an esoteric knowledge of this was necessary in order to escape the material world. One of their terms for God was Pleroma, the Greek word for “fullness.”

Paul’s message to the Colossians is that the fullness of God is not found through some special knowledge of divine emanations or the exaltation of angels, but in knowing the will of God. But what is the will of God? Paul talks about it at the end of chapter 1 (of course, there were no chapter or verse divisions in the original letter), when he speaks of “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27).

This is not an esoteric knowledge but a mystery, a secret that has now been revealed to all the saints (remember that “saints” does not refer to elite believers but to all believers). The will of God has everything to do with this: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In other words, it is in Jesus the Messiah, not in angels or hierarchies, that we have every expectation of the fullness of God’s glory being revealed in us.

Paul’s prayer for believers is that we may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. The Greek word for “knowledge” here is epignosis. It is a fullness of knowledge, not some vague mental notion of God’s will, but a personal, intimate experience of God’s will — a personal, intimate experience of Jesus living in us.

In all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” This wisdom and understanding comes to us by the Holy Spirit ministering to our own spirits. The role of the Spirit is always to point us to Jesus. Speaking of the Spirit, Jesus said, “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:15). Here is the fullness of God revealed to us in the Son by the Holy Spirit.

In the mystery of God, which is freely given to every believer, and in Jesus the Messiah, who is revealed in us by the Holy Spirit, we find “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Here is all the fullness, all the wisdom, all the knowledge we need. Not in angels or hierarchies, but in Jesus the Messiah. When we understand who Jesus is in us, individually and as the Church, we understand what the will of God is all about.

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Jesus Above All

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you. (Colossians 1:9)

Their faith in Jesus the Messiah, their love for all the saints, the hope laid up in heaven for them, their love in the Spirit — Paul is thankful to God for all these things. Prayers of thanksgiving, such as Paul offered in Colossians 1:3-4, are about where we have been and where we are now, and they are quite wonderful in themselves. However, Paul now takes a turn in his prayer for them, a prayer that will launch them into where they are going. It is a pastoral turn, so I call this a pastoral prayer*.

In Greek, the word for “pastor” is the word for “shepherd.” That is what a pastor is, a shepherd. The concern of the pastor/shepherd is to guide the sheep to good pasture and protect them from wolves. It will become apparent, as we continue in his letter to the believers at Colosse, that Paul sees wolves (false teachers) circling and that he is writing to protect the sheep and direct them to safe feeding ground.

Commentators on the book of Colossians have never been certain of the exact nature of these teachers and the philosophies they were bringing, but the teaching seems to be a mixture of three things:
  • Jewish legalism — with an emphasis on things like circumcision, dietary laws, sabbaths and new moon celebrations (Colossians 2:16).
  • Pagan elements — “according to the traditions of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). The “basic principles of the world,” particularly, seems to be a reference to pagan ideas of elemental spirits and hierarchies.
  • Christian veneer — These false teachers smuggled their legalist/pagan mixture into the church under the guise of Christian doctrine, but were actually exalting angelic hierarchies above Jesus.
For all that, we do not know exactly who and what these teachers and their doctrines were, although they may represent an early form of Gnosticism. Paul does not address them head on. He does not define the error for us; instead, he focuses on the truth. It is all about Jesus the Messiah, in whom and through whom God has accomplished everything that needs to be done in the world.

As we work through this letter to the believers at Colosse, we will see a number of “in Him” and “with Him” statements. It will help us see Paul’s point if we read them with emphasis on the word “Him” (that is, “in Him,” “with Him”) in contrast to the “basic principles of the world” and the erroneous emphasis on angels. This will also help us better understand, by a sort of mirroring technique, the error Paul addresses as he stresses its opposite, the all-encompassing truth God has revealed to us in Jesus.

*For more about the pastoral prayers found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Love for the Saints, Love in the Spirit

Who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. (Colossians 1:8)

In verse 4, Paul gave thanks to God for the believers in Colosse, for their faith, their hope and their “love for all the saints.” Not just for their own little group, but for all the saints. Love does not take offense, keep score or bear grudges. There is no place for unforgiveness in love.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
How does that happen? Where do we find that kind of love with which to love everyone that way? Paul leads us to an the answer. In verse 7-8, he speaks of Epaphras, one of their own, who “declared to us your love in the Spirit.” Paul presents us with two aspects of love. Where verse 4 speaks of the object of their, “all the saints,” verse 8 identifies the source of their love, “the Spirit.”

Love is the “fruit of the Spirit,” Paul tells us (Galatians 5:22). Now, fruit is not something that you clip on to the branches of a tree; it arises from the life of the tree. That is the way it is with love; it arises from the Spirit of God within us. “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15). We become the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us (1 Corinthians 3:16). As we yield ourselves to God and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us, God brings forth the fruit of the Spirit, which is the character of Jesus, in our lives. Now it is possible for us to love in a way and with a depth we never could before.

A word about saints: They are not elite or super spiritual, just everyday believers in Jesus the Messiah, from the greatest to the least of them — without any consideration of greatness or leastness. To be a saint means to be sanctified, to be holy, which is to say, set apart as God’s own. The believers at Colosse came to have love for all the saints.



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Fellow Servant, Faithful Discipler

As you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. (Colossians 1:7-8)

As the gospel, the good news about the grace of God through Jesus the Messiah, began to fill the world, it soon came to Colosse, where some believed. Ever since then, Paul says, it has been bringing forth fruit among them. The grace of God is not a one-off experience where you hear the good news, believe it and that’s that. That is just the beginning. There is a new life, and a new way of living. The grace of God continues to work, bearing its fruit in us. In Galatians, Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The grace of God is a tree of life within us, and the process of learning to walk in this grace and experience this fruit is called discipleship.

“You learned this from Epaphras,” Paul says. The Greek word for “learn” is manthano. From it comes the word mathetes, the Greek word for “disciple.” The believers at Colosse were discipled, taught how to live in the grace of God, by Epaphras. So who is this guy?
  • He is one of their own, a man of Colosse — one of you,” Paul says (Colossians 4:12) — who ministers throughout the region, in Laodicea and Hierapolis (4:13).
  • He is a well-loved “fellow servant” with Paul and Timothy, and indeed of all who serve Jesus the Messiah.
  • He is a faithful “minister.”
  • He is a man of fervent prayer and great zeal (4:12-13).
  • Not only a fellow servant, he is also a “fellow prisoner” with Paul. That’s what Paul calls him in his brief letter to Philemon (v. 23), one of the believers at Colosse. Paul wrote both of these letters, as well as the ones to believers at Ephesus and Philippi, while he was in prison for proclaiming King Jesus.
Notice that Paul calls Epaphras both a “fellow servant” (Greek, syndoulos, slaves together) and a faithful “minister” (Greek, diakonos, deacon). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words explains the difference between these two words this way:
Diakonos is, generally speaking, to be distinguished from doulos, “a bondservant, slave”; diakonos views a servant in relationship to his work; doulos views him in relationship to his master. See, e.g., Matt. 22:2-14; those who bring in the guests (vv. 3-4, 6, 8, 10) are douloi; those who carry out the king’s sentence (v. 13) are diakonoi.
Servant speaks of the One to whom Epaphras belonged. Minister speaks of the function he performed, the service he rendered to Jesus and His church. It was a work in which he was found to be trustworthy. He did not just introduce the Colossians to Jesus; he ministered the grace and hospitality of Jesus to them. With fervent prayer and great zeal, he discipled them in faith, hope and love and became founding pastor of the Church at Colosse.



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Lenten Thoughts

Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent remind us that we are the dust of the earth ~ and the breath of God. The season of Lent is a time to consider again what it means to live out our Baptism in the world.

Here is a quote I came across in my reading. I was impressed enough with it to put it up on my Facebook page, though I did not initially think of it in the context of Lent. But upon reflection, I see that it does have a Lenten meaning.
And to the question, “What is meant by the Fall?” I could answer with complete sincerity, “That whatever I am, I am not myself.” This is the prime paradox of our religion; something that we have never in any full sense known, is not only better than ourselves, but even more natural to us than ourselves. ~ G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Lent is a season to consider King Jesus the Messiah, who He is and who we are in Him, to become who we are. Not only in what we leave behind, but also in the yoke we are called to take upon ourselves — His yoke, which is easy and the burden light. To learn from Him who is gentle and lowly in heart, and so find the rest for which our souls are so desperate (Matthew 11:29).

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, six weeks before Easter Sunday. Like Advent, it is a time of repentance and preparation. The ashes on the first day of this season represent mourning over sin and the longing for holiness. In Lent, we remember the temptation of Christ in the wilderness and His journey to the Cross. We become aware of how Christ humbled Himself and how God calls us, also, to humility as we participate in His redemptive purposes. We consider, also, what our own place of service and sacrifice is in His divine plan.

Lent concludes with Holy Week. On Palm Sunday, we think of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, knowing that soon He would be rejected by the very ones who waved their branches and shouted Hosanna! The irony of this is subtly observed by the burning of this year's palms to become next year’s Lenten ashes.

Holy Thursday commemorates the institution of the Lord’s Supper. It is also called Maundy Thursday because of the new commandment Jesus gave His disciples to love one another (maundy comes from an Old Latin term for “mandate” or “command”). On Good Friday, we think of Jesus on the Cross and behold the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Holy Saturday recalls how the world hung between death and life, sin and righteousness, darkness and light. It is a vigil for the Light.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Be Fruitful and Fill the Earth

Which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. (Colossians 1:5-6)
We are breaking into the middle of one of Paul’s ponderous sentences (of which there are many in his letters). So far, he has thanked God for the faith and love evident in the believers at Colosse, and the hope laid up for them in heaven. They came upon this hope — this positive expectation, this joyful anticipation — when they heard the “word of truth,” the good news of the gospel that was brought to them, and experienced the grace of God.

There is an interesting comparison between what Paul notes was already happening with the gospel, and the divine mandate given to first man and woman Genesis 1, especially when we remember that the gospel results in new creation: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The one who is in Jesus the Messiah is not only a new creature himself, but he is part of the new creation, which God has already begun and will culminate in a new heaven and a new earth. In 1 Corinthians 15:45, Paul compares Jesus to Adam: “So it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” Closer to home in the context of this letter, Paul calls Jesus “the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15).

When God created the first man and woman in the divine image and likeness, He blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). Notice especially in this divine commission the idea of fruitfulness and of filling the earth. Do you hear the echoes of it in Colossians 1:6 with respect to the gospel, which even in Paul’s own day was filling the world and bringing forth fruit?

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and He did it by the Word: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3). The new creation comes the same way, by the Word of God, which Paul here calls the “word of the truth of the gospel.” Jesus, who by His resurrection from the dead became the firstborn of the new creation, gathered His disciples and gave them this commission:
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
This was already beginning to be fulfilled, as Paul attests. The gospel had come to Colosse, “as it has in all the world” and it was bearing fruit, “as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.”



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Heaven as Your Source

Because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. (Colossians 1:5)
In the Bible, hope is not wishful thinking or maybe so/maybe not. The biblical words for “hope” in the Old and New Testaments speak of expectation. Hope is a positive expectation, a joyful anticipation. Hope is about things that are not yet seen but which we fully expect to see. The author of Hebrews tells us that faith is the underlying reality of hope and the evidence of things not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1).
Paul gives thanks for the hope that belongs to the believers at Colosse, a hope “laid up for you in heaven.” We often think of heaven merely in terms of destination, especially as future destination. Many also often think of it as a place far, far away, somewhere out in space, at the edge of the universe or beyond.

For those who know Jesus the Messiah, though, heaven is a present reality. Paul tells us that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies (Ephesians 1:3), that He has made us alive together with Jesus the Messiah, raised us up together and made us sit together with Him in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:5-6). Notice the tense. These are not future events but accomplished acts and present realities. They are both now and forever. Heaven is not far away — how can it be when we who are of earth have already been seated there with King Jesus? Think dimensionally instead or merely geographically.

Think, also, of heaven, not merely as destination, but as source. Paul tells us that our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Although he traveled far and wide preaching the gospel, his citizenship was in Rome. That brought with it certain benefits and privileges, which Paul could invoke no matter where he was in the empire. Likewise, our citizenship in heaven brings with it certain benefits and privileges, which we may call upon at any time wherever we are in the world. Heaven is not just our destination and our location; it is our source.

We are people of heaven and earth. God’s plan is that, in the end, heaven and earth will come together as one (see Revelation 21, which portrays the New Jerusalem, the city of heaven, coming down to unite with the earth). It has already begun. Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matthew 11:12 NIV; see also A Kingdom Forcefully Advancing). Our job is to lay hold of it by faith and to pray, as Jesus taught us, “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 JVD). The apostle John tells us, “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

These are all present realities, in the process of coming to pass in the here and now. Though we do not see them all now, we can have every expectation that they will be revealed. As we joyfully anticipate the completion of what God has already begun, we can, by faith, draw on heaven as our source and supply. This is good news from the gospel.

For more about heaven on earth, see The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth: Keys to the Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Matthew.



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Divine Power Trio


In rock and roll, a power trio is bass, guitar and drums (no rhythm guitar, no keyboard). But I have something different in mind, a power trio that comes from God.
We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. (Colossians 1:3-5)
Having pointed out his and their identity in God and extended to them the blessing of the Father, Paul now offers a word of thanksgiving to God for the Christian believers at Colosse. Three things that stand out in them for which he is especially grateful.
  • Their faith in Jesus the Messiah.
  • Their love for all the saints.
  • The hope laid up for them in heaven.
Faith, hope, love. These are huge on Paul’s list — and God’s. They are the “abiding” things. Remember how Paul ends his discourse on love 1 Corinthians 13. “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (v. 13).

Notice, however, that Paul does not thank the Colossians themselves for these things, as if they somehow worked them up within themselves. No, he gives thanks to God, because they come from Him. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17), which is given by inspiration of the Spirit of God. Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Hope, which is a positive expectation, a joyful anticipation, comes by the work of the Spirit: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). Because this is the work of God, and not of ourselves, it is possible for faith, hope and love to be revealed in our own lives. Our part is simply to yield to the work of God in us.

Faith, hope and love are a divine power trio. All three come from God, and all three work together to release heaven on earth. Faith is the underlying reality of things that are not yet apparent but which we fully expect to see (Hebrews 11:1). However, faith without love is meaningless and vain, of no value or profit (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). This is because faith works through love, expressed and energized by love (Galatians 5:6). That is why, of the three, the greatest is love.

(For more about the prayers of thanksgiving found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.)



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Claim Your Inheritance, LORD


Psalm 2 begins with a question — or is it a cry?
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the LORD and against His Anointed [Messiah], saying,
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
(Psalm 2:1-2)
God’s response to these kings and rulers? Yahweh laughs. Then He goes on to say,
“Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”
I will declare the decree:
“The LORD has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.’”
(Psalm 2:6-8)
This is about the Messiah, Jesus. God is giving Him the nations for His inheritance, and the ends of the earth for His possession. After the Cross and the Resurrection, and before He ascended to His throne at the right hand of the Father, Jesus came to the disciples and said,
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20)
Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and out of that authority, He sends us to make disciples of all the nations, to baptize them in His name and teach them to obey His teaching. Luke records how Jesus gave His disciples the power to fulfill this Great Commission to the nations.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
God has given Jesus the nations for His inheritance and the end of the earth for His possession. The prayer of my heart as I read this psalm today and consider the turmoil in the world is a prayer of agreement:
Claim Your inheritance, Lord.

A Prosperous New Month


As many of my regular readers have probably picked up by now, I pray through the book of Psalms each month (150 psalms divided by 30 days in a month = five a day). At the beginning of each new month, I start again at Psalm 1. And here is what greets me:
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
(Psalm 1:1-3)
Blessed! It is my confession. To confess something means to speak in agreement with it,* and I speak in agreement with this psalm.
  • I am a blessed man.
  • I do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
  • I do not stand in the path of sinners.
  • I do not sit with the scornful.
  • I delight in the instruction of the LORD.
  • I mediate in it continually.
  • I am like a tree planted by rivers of water.
  • I bring forth fruit in its season.
  • My leaf shall not wither
  • And whatever I do prospers.
I say these kind of things out loud, sometimes very loud and with great enthusiasm, and I recommend it to you. It is a wonderful way to start off a prosperous month.

For more on this, I’ve written a number of times about Psalm 1 and also about confession. Click the labels at the bottom of this post.
*Someone recently asked if our ministry practices “positive confession.” I answered that we practice speaking in agreement with the Word of God.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Father’s Blessing

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1:2)

After introducing himself to the Colossians as an apostle of Jesus the Messiah, and introducing them to themselves as faithful brothers and sisters in the Messiah, Paul offers a benediction, as he does so often in his letters.

A benediction is a prayer of blessing. A common Jewish salutation in those days was “Greetings and peace.” The Greek word for “greetings” is chairein, but Paul has replaced that with a related word, one that is theologically much more potent: charis — grace! Grace is the favor of God, who opens up all the resources of heaven on our behalf.

The Greek word for “peace” is irene, but Paul, being Jewish, no doubt had the Hebrew word shalom in mind, which is, again, more theologically profound. Shalom speaks of wholeness and restoration, with nothing missing or broken. The shalom of God is the wholeness that comes from being in right relationship, in covenant relationship, with God.

The divine favor and wholeness of which Paul speaks comes from “God our Father.” Here again, Paul signifies the relationship he has with the believers at Colosse (see Building Relationship at Colosse). God is our Father. This speaks of family, of household, of inheritance. As believers in Jesus the Messiah, we each have a place in the family and a share in the abundance of the house. Paul teaches us elsewhere that we share equally in the inheritance with Jesus Himself (Romans 8:17).

Father’s blessing of favor and wholeness comes to us also from the Son, Jesus the Messiah. The confession we make as Christians is that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9), which is to say that He is both God and King over all. It is through Him, through faith in Him, that we have wholeness in our relationship with God the Father and enjoy His favor (Romans 5:1).

(For more about the benedictions found in the New Testament, see Praying With Fire: Change Your World with the Powerful Prayers of the Apostles.)



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Building Relationship at Colosse

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse. (Colossians 1:1-2)

Paul had never been to Colosse, but he spent an extended time in Ephesus, about 120 miles away, preaching and teaching about Jesus the Messiah, and the influence of his ministry reached Colosse. Luke records, “And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10).

It was probably at this time that a man named Epaphras, of the region of Colosse, Laodicea and Hierapolis, heard Paul and became a believer in Jesus the Messiah. Epaphras came home with the message of the gospel. Many there became believers and a church was started, meeting in a number of homes. Epaphras returned to Paul with news of their “love in the Spirit” (Colossians 1:8).

Now Paul sends them this letter. Notice, though, that it comes not just from Paul, but also from Timothy. This does not mean that Timothy actually composed any part of this letter, however, although he might well have served as Paul’s secretary in putting pen to papyrus. So why does Paul mention him? He is building on relationship. Notice that he refers to him as “our brother.” In the Greek text, Paul uses the definite article before the word for brother. Timothy was not just a brother but the brother, that is, the brother of us.

Timothy was himself converted by the ministry of Paul. Elsewhere, Paul calls him, “a true son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2). Timothy was native to the region and often travelled and served with Paul in his journeys throughout that land. He was known to the Colossians but would also have been known by some, perhaps many, of them as well. By referring to him as “our brother,” Paul immediately establishes a family bond between himself and the believers at Colosse.

In two brief sentences, the From and To slots of his letter, Paul connects with the Colossians in the vertical and horizontal dimensions. Vertically, Paul identifies himself as “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” He belongs to God. Apostleship was not something he took upon himself or, indeed, could have taken upon himself. It was something God did, “by the will of God.” In a similar way, Paul addresses the Colossians as “saints” — holy ones! To be holy means to be set apart for God. It is not something we do ourselves but something God does. He has set us apart for Himself. To be a saint, then, means to belong to God. Paul belonged to God, the believers at Colosse belonged to God, and that is a very strong point of fellowship. This relationship has everything to do with Jesus the Messiah. It is through Him that Paul is an apostle, and it is in Him that the believers in Colosse have put their faith.

Horizontally, Paul relates to the Colossian believers as brothers and sisters. He does this in two ways. The first is indirect: He calls Timothy “our brother.” If you and I have the same brother, then we must be sisters and brothers also. The second way he demonstrates this relationship is explicit: He calls the saints at Colossae “faithful brethren” (brothers and sisters). They all share in the same devotion of faith with him.

The powerful truth of relationship in these opening verses is that all who put their faith in Jesus the Messiah belong to God and to each other as brothers and sisters.



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Chosen Inheritance

The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
(Psalm 33:10-12)
Ancient of Days ~ by William Blake
When presidents, kings or heads of state rise up to declare their counsels, whether they be good or evil, do not get excited. They will not last for long. Kings come and go; movements rise and fall. They are only here for a season.

More importantly, they cannot stop the counsel of Yahweh. Rather, He brings the counsels and plans of the nations to nothing, and He does it so that He may establish His own counsel and the plans of His heart. The counsels of the nations bring chaos. The plans of the peoples cannot bring about the wonderful destiny God has for the world. Only the counsel of God can establish it.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD. In the Old Testament, Israel was that nation, the people He chose as His inheritance. God chose her to be a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6). Through her He would gather in all the nations (see Isaiah 2:2-4 and Isaiah 60-62). In the New Testament, this is fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah, Son of David, Israel’s King.

Jesus came into the world and announced, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel [good news]” (Mark 1:15). He taught us to pray, “Kingdom of God, come. Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 JVD). This is the purpose of God — heaven on earth! Now all who receive King Jesus, whether Jew on non-Jew, have a share in this plan and are described in this way:
You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10; see A New Kind of People)
Before Jesus ascended to His throne at the right hand of the Father, He gathered His disciples and gave them this charge:
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:18-20)
God’s heart is for all nations and all generations. His plans and purposes are as wide as the world and as deep as time. His counsel endures forever. His kingdom has come into the world and will come to completion when King Jesus returns. Blessed is the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the people He has gathered as His own inheritance.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Blessed Be Egypt, My People

In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of Hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.

In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. And the LORD will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of Hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:19-25 ESV)
This is an amazing promise Yahweh of Armies (“the LORD of Hosts”) spoke through the prophet Isaiah. The whole chapter is about Egypt. It is like a good news/bad news story. The first seventeen verses speak of the divine judgment that would come upon Egypt, but then it suddenly takes a wonderful turn, a gospel turn, and prophesies salvation for Egypt.
  • It speaks particularly of five cities, though not by name, except for one. The Hebrew for “City of Destruction” sounds very much like that for “City of the Sun,” and some ancient versions of this text render it as the latter. This would be a reference to the ancient Egyptian city of Heliopolis (“City of the Sun”), the site of which lies under the northern portion of modern Cairo. These five cities will speak the language of Canaan, possibly a reference to Hebrew, the language Israel spoke in Canaan, and they will swear allegiance to Yahweh of Hosts.
  • Worship of Yahweh will be central in the land of Egypt, and His honor will extend throughout, even to the borders. These will be a sign and a continuing witness to Yahweh in the land.
  • They will cry out to Yahweh and He will send a savior who will defend and deliver them.
  • Yahweh will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and they will acknowledge, give thanks devote themselves to Him.
  • Yahweh will “strike” Egypt with the purpose of healing. Think, for example, of a surgeon who slices into his patient and removes a cancer so that the patient may be healed. This “striking” will cause them to turn to Yahweh and call on Him, so that He can show them His mercy and heal them.
  • There will be peace between Egypt and the Assyria, her enemy. Though the Assyrians are now scattered throughout the Middle East, both they and the Egyptians will worship Yahweh together.
  • God will bless all three — Israel, Egypt and Assyria — in the land. Egypt was the ancient enemy who once held Israel in captivity. Assyria was Israel’s current enemy. The wonder of this prophecy is not that judgment would come upon Egypt, as upon Assyria and also Israel (foretold earlier in Isaiah), but that salvation would come to all three together in the worship of Yahweh, the God with whom Israel was in covenant.
Various Bible commentators have identified events in history they believe fulfill this prophecy, at least in part. Perhaps, but I believe there is a greater fulfillment coming, and it is for this I know pray. The coming of King Jesus the Messiah into the world was not just for Israel but also for the whole world. He is the One sent by God to be the savior, defender and deliverer of all. Even His name, which in Hebrew is Yeshua, means “salvation.” Before He ascended to His throne at the right hand of the Father, Jesus commissioned the Church to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

So, this has been my intercession for Egypt is recent days: That God will remember His ancient promise. That He will send the Savior, the Defender, the Deliverer — Jesus the Messiah — and make Himself known to them. That He will say, “Blessed be Egypt, My people.”

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Yahweh the Righteous One

Yahweh the Righteous One
Has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked
(Psalm 129:4 JVD)
Yahweh is the Righteous One. The Hebrew word for “righteous” is tsaddik. The Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament defines it as “communally faithful.” It has much to do with covenant, and the relationship God has established with and for His people. To say that someone is righteous means that he has been faithful in that relationship. God is faithful to His people and honors those who are faithful in their relationship with Him:
  • God knows (has regard for) the way of the righteous (Palm 1:6).
  • God blesses the righteous, and surrounds him with favor (Psalm 5:12).
  • God is righteous and He loves righteousness; the upright will see His face (Psalm 11:7).
  • God eyes are on the righteous and He hears their cries (Psalm 34:15).
  • God delivers the righteous out of all their afflictions (Psalm 34:19.
  • God upholds the righteous (Psalm 37:17).
  • God is the salvation and strength of the righteous (Psalm 37:39).
  • God is gracious and merciful (Psalm 116:5).
  • God is righteous in His judgments (Psalm 119:37).
  • God is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works (Psalm 145:17).
  • God loves the righteous (Psalm 146:8).
If the relationship should be broken, God is not the one who broke it, but He will always do what is right in regard to it.
Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’” So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, “The LORD is righteous.” (2 Chronicles 12:5-6)
The judgments of Yahweh are always in line with His covenant and faithful to His promises.
The LORD is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails.
(Zephaniah 3:5)
The ultimate expression of God’s covenant faithfulness — His righteousness — is found in Jesus the Messiah, who took the sins of the world upon Himself and nailed them to the cross in His own body. By His blood, He has cut a new covenant with the Father on our behalf. If we sin, He stands before the Father for us, on the basis of that covenant act, so that we may be counted as righteous before God — faithful in our relationship with Him — even as God is faithful and just toward us.
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin … If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:7, 9)

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. (1 John 2:1)

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Crammed Full of God

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2:9-10)
All the fullness of the nature of God dwells in Jesus the Messiah. In Him, all that God is, is manifested in bodily form. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14).

In Colossians 1:27, Paul talked about the mystery God has been making known among the nations, to all who believe in King Jesus the Messiah: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Now in Colossians 2:10, he tells us that we are “complete in Him.”

The Greek verb translated here as “complete” means to make full; to fill up to the top; to the brim, so that nothing is lacking; to cause to abound; to level up; and from Strong’s Greek Dictionary — and this is a meaning that really captures my imagination — to cram. In Jesus the Messiah, we are made “complete” — crammed full. Full of what? Of God Himself. All the fullness of God is in Him, and He is in us, so all the fullness of God dwells in us.

From Genesis 1:26-28, we learn that we were created in the image of God, to be like Him on the earth. He has given us dominion over all the works of His hands (Psalm 8:6). Through faith in King Jesus, we have received “exceedingly great and precious promises,” that through these we might “partake of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

Now, let me be clear here: We do not become God, but we are made to be like Him and to fellowship with Him in His divine nature. He has given us His Spirit to dwell in us (1 Corinthians 3:16). Indeed, Messiah Himself dwells in us by the Holy Spirit. This is the mystery God has been revealing to the nations ever since Jesus came. This is the “hope of glory,” the joyful anticipation of God’s glory and goodness manifesting in us and through us.

In other words, in King Jesus the Messiah we are crammed full of God.



The Focus of Our Faith
The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

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