The Faith Log

Monday, January 30, 2012

Living from a Higher Realm

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:1-2)

Paul has already settled the issue of whether believers in Jesus the Messiah have been buried and raised with Him. Earlier, he affirmed that we have been “buried with Him in baptism” and likewise “raised with Him” through the faithful work of God (Colossians 2:12). Now Paul is building on the significance of that. So we can take the “if” here as “since.”

Since, then, those who believe in Jesus have been raised from the dead with Him, we are now to seek those things which are “above.” This is a reference to heaven, of course, but it in the way many people are accustomed to thinking about it — that is, as some place way far away, at the edge of the universe, perhaps, and off in the vagueness of the future. In that sort of view, heaven is mostly a destination and does not have much to do with earth, except that God or one of His angels pops in every now and then to work some little miracle. But that is not at all what Paul has in mind.

No, Paul conceives of heaven as a realm that is very close to us, a realm of which we are already a part. In Ephesians, he speaks of it as “the heavenlies.” In the heavenlies, we have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). In the heavenlies, we have already been raised up with Jesus the Messiah and seated with Him at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 2:6). In the heavenlies, we are part of the manifold wisdom of God being made known to the principalities and powers — the same powers that were disarmed by Jesus at the cross (Ephesians 3:10). It is not a distant realm but a higher one, in both position and priority.

This is now what we are to seek, the things that are of that realm. The Greek word for “seek” here is the same one used in Matthew 6:33, where Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” There, Jesus was speaking of the kingdom; here, Peter is speaking of the King — Jesus. We are to seek those things which are above, where Jesus the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God. For Paul, this is enthronement. We can see this in his letter to the Jesus believers at Ephesus, where he speaks about the working of God’s mighty power,

which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:19-23)

To seek the kingdom and the things that are above is not an act of curiosity or idle speculation. We seek them in order to find them, that we may know and benefit from them.

Paul adds this: “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” This is to be our focus now. The lens through which we view everything. The perspective from which we think about and relate to everything. Because we are new creatures who are no longer under the authority of principalities and powers. We no longer have to look at things through the old lens of those broken powers. We can begin to see things as heaven sees them.

Seeking the things above is not about abandoning the earth but is for the sake of the earth. Jesus taught us to pray for the kingdom of God to come and the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are now to look at everything from the perspective of that higher realm so that it may become a reality on earth. Heaven is not our final destination, earth is. We have been raised with Jesus in the spiritual realm, but one day we will receive the resurrection of our physical bodies as well, just as Jesus’ own physical body was raised from the dead, and we shall dwell upon the earth. For heaven and earth will become one.

Heaven is not our final destination, it is our source. Right here, right now. We come from heaven, we live from heaven. We live on the earth but with the life of heaven at work in us. That is why we are to seek the things that of that realm, to set our thinking on how heaven operates. Because it corresponds with who we really are in Jesus and who He is in us. Should we not view things from the perspective of where we are now seated with Jesus? Then we will be able to manifest the reality of heaven on earth.

(See also, Heaven Now and Pursuing Heaven for the Sake of Earth, and my book, The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth: Keys to the Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Matthew.)

Focus Questions

What is your conception of the realm of heaven?
What is your conception of the relationship between heaven and earth?
In what ways might the reality of heaven be made manifest on earth, that is, the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven?

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, January 20, 2012

Live as Free

Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations — “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23)

By “if,” Paul does not question whether the believers at Colosse had died with Messiah — he has already taught them that they have been “buried with Christ in baptism” (Colossians 2:12). He is challenging them to live according to that truth. What happened to Jesus at the cross is counted by God as having happened to us, in our place and for our benefit. Once we were dead in the sinfulness of a fallen human nature. Now, having died with Jesus, we are dead to it. Our “side slips” (transgressions) have been forgiven, the regulation that condemned us has been wiped out and the principalities have been disarmed. “Basic principles of the world” is a reference back to those powers, the demonic influences that so often manipulate human systems governments, cultures and economies.

Since those who are in Jesus are dead to all these things, why should we live as if we were still subject to them? They now have no authority over us. Yet religious teachers were coming around the believers at Colosse and teaching them that they must follow ascetic practices and regulations. Such rules and regulations are not from God but are the “commandments and doctrines of men.” Paul could be referring to Isaiah 29:13, where God says,

Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.

These things might appear to be wisdom, according to how the world thinks and acts, but it is not the wisdom that comes from God. It is “self-imposed religion.” It presents itself as humility, neglect of the body as a way of overcoming the sinful nature, but it actually has the opposite effect — it ends up indulging the sinful nature through the insidiousness of pride.

The problem is, “Don’t eat, don’t drink, don’t touch” is a focus on things, on regulations, on religion, on ourselves, and not on Jesus the Messiah, who has already overcome the sinful nature and defeated the satanic powers. Our focus and our thinking, then, needs to match up with that new reality, then we will learn how to stand in that victory.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Keeping Focus

Imagine this: You have run the race and you have won. You are just about to receive the prize, when a judge comes over, taps you on the shoulder and says, “This does not belong to you — you have been disqualified.” That is the picture Paul paints for us here:

Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. (Colossians 2:18-19)

The believers at Colosse had come to faith in King Jesus the Messiah. They had been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through the faithfulness of God. They were in the “winner’s circle.” But then certain teachers came with elements of Judaism, folk religion and esoteric philosophies and told them that was not enough. That they needed to have special hidden knowledge, certain ascetic practices and unusual revelatory experiences if they were going to know the fullness of God. Otherwise they would not be qualified for the reward.

Paul’s answer to all that was, to paraphrase, “Don’t let them rob you of what it means to be the Church!” These teachers submit themselves to angels, through fasting and acts of self-denial, invoking them for protection from demonic powers. They present themselves as humble but then go about bragging how they have been initiated into the “deeper mysteries” and how they have seen visions. Their egos have been inflated by the kind of thinking that comes from fallen human nature. They are caught up in themselves.
But those are symptoms. The real problem is this: They are not connected to the Head. Imagine a body without a head, still trying to carry on and function — the proverbial “chicken with its head cut off.” That is Paul’s assessment of these false teachers.

They are not connected to the Head of the body. That is, they have no vital relationship with Jesus, who is the head of the Church (Colossians 1:18). They are focused on themselves, their philosophies, their practices, their experiences — but not on Jesus.

Paul’s teaching is that everything we need is found in Jesus the Messiah. Divine fullness does not come from angels or visions or secret knowledge or self-abasements. We already have all the fullness of God in Jesus the Messiah. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him” (Colossians 1:9-10). Anything that pulls our focus away from Him robs us of knowing His completeness, and our completeness in Him. He is the head, and it is only in Him that we grow together as His body, with all the life that comes from God.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Out of the Shadows

So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)

“So” — that is conclusion, the therefore that follows from the preceding verses (and some versions do translate it as “therefore”). It reaches back as far as verse 8, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

Dietary rules and the calendar of festivals were important in the Law of Moses. The dietary laws were one way of setting apart the people of Israel as the people of God. The festivals reminded them of past deliverance and how God had created them as His covenant people, but they also pointed forward to the final deliverance God had for them when He would set the world right through Messiah.

However, these things were all “shadows.” Their significance was not in themselves but in what they pointed to — that which cast those shadows. Once the substance comes, the shadow is no longer the focus. The substance, Paul says, is Jesus the Messiah, and He has now come, bringing God’s redemption into the world. He not only brought forgiveness for all our “side slips” (transgressions), He also wiped out the indictment that accused us — the Law! He took it and nailed it to the cross (v. 14). What is more, He disarmed all the principalities and powers — the demonic entities behind the human rulers and systems that crucified Him — and made a “public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (v. 15).

“Therefore,” Paul says, “Let no one judge you.” Do not let anyone condemn you or look down on you because of what you do or do not eat or drink, or whether or not you join in the traditional festivals or celebrations. To follow his analogy, do not let anyone drag you away from Jesus the Messiah back into the shadows that pointed to Him in the first place. That is exactly what the false teachers, with their blend of Jewish folk religion and ideas of the occult, were trying to do. It was a misuse, by the principalities and powers, of the Law of Moses and brought only condemnation and bondage.

But Jesus the Messiah has delivered us from all that, and our focus, like that of the Law and the prophets of the Old Testament, is to be set firmly on Him.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Psalm 146 ~ All My Life

A personal confession based on the Psalms.

All My Life ~ from Psalm 146

Praise Yah!*
Everything in me
Praises Yahweh.
All my life,
As long as I live,
Is all about Him.

I do not trust in presidents,
Or senators, or governors,
Or any other human being.
Their help is too small,
Not near enough
For what I need.
They may have good intentions,
But they are unreliable.
And when they die,
Their plans die with them.

But, O the happiness!
Of trusting in Yahweh,
Of setting my expectation
On Him.

The God who helped Jacob
Is the God who helps me.
The God who made heaven and earth
Is faithful and true forever.

He sets things right
For those who are oppressed.
He provides for those
Who are in need.

Yahweh frees the prisoner.
Yahweh makes blind eyes see.
Yahweh lifts up those beaten down ~
Stands them up straight.
Yahweh loves those who do right.
Yahweh protects the outsider.
He is a father to the fatherless
And a husband to the widow.
But those who do evil,
He brings to nothing.

Yahweh is King forever;
Jesus rules over all generations.

* The Hebrew word for “praise” is hallel; Yah is a shortened form for Yahweh. When we say Hallelujah, we are saying Praise Yah!

Personal Confessions from the Psalms
Prayers and Affirmations for a Life of Faith, Happiness and Awe in God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

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

Monday, January 9, 2012

Psalm 145 ~ My King and My God

A personal confession based on the Psalms.

My King and My God ~ from Psalm 145

I exalt Jesus,
My King and my God,
With the highest honor.
Every day I bless His name,
I will brag on Him
Now and forever.
He is great beyond all things,
More than I can tell,
And worthy of all praise.

This generation
Will announce His works
To the coming generations,
Proclaiming His mighty acts,
And I will celebrate His glory,
His splendor, His majesty.

We will tell of His awesome power
That sets things right,
And I will give testimony
To His greatness.

We will pour out songs of praise
Because His goodness knows no end.
We will shout and howl for joy
Because everything He does
Is faithful and true.

He is full of favor and compassion,
And exceedingly patient with us;
His love is constant.
His goodness is for everyone,
He surrounds everything
With kindness and mercy.

Everything He has made
Will give Him thanks,
And all who are His
Will kneel in adoration.

The glory of His kingdom
Will be our testimony,
The power of His dominion
The word we bring.
His dominion is forever,
He is King over all generations.

He sustains those
Who have no strength,
Lifts up those
Who are pressed down.
He has provision
For everyone and everything,
And opens His hand
To satisfy every need.

He is near to those
Who call on Him,
To all who trust Him.
He shows favor to those
Who honor Him,
And satisfies their desires.
He hears their prayers
And rescues them,
Heals them, prospers them.
He protects those
Who love Him.

My mouth will praise King Jesus,
With all God’s creatures,
Now and always.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Psalm 144 ~ From Battle to Blessing

A personal confession based on the Psalms.

From Battle to Blessing ~ from Psalm 144

Blessed is Yahweh, my Rock,
Who has taught me how
To run to the battle
And fight the fight.*

He is my faithful one
My fortress,
My strong tower,
My rescuer,
My shield,
The one in whom
I take refuge,
And the one who subdues
Those who come against me.

Who am I,
That He should think of me
And show me such favor?
He moves heaven and earth
To give me His aid.
He stretches out His hand
And rescues me
Out of deep waters.
He delivers me
From those who tell lies,
Who promise peace
But work evil.

I will sing a new song,
A victory song,
And give Him praise.
He rescues us, protects us,
Delivers us from the evil one.

That our sons be
Like mighty oaks,
Full and flourishing.

That our daughters be
Like sculpted pillars,
Strong and beautiful.

That our storehouses
Be filled to overflowing
With all kinds of provision.

That our wealth
And prosperity increase ~
Always having
All sufficiency
In all things,
And abundance
For every good work.**

That there be
Nothing missing,
Nothing broken,
Nothing lost or stolen.

This is what He has planned
For all His people.
We are happy and blessed indeed.

* “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:10-13).
** “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).

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Psalm 143 ~ When My Soul Feels Weak

A personal confession based on the Psalms.

When My Soul Feels Weak ~ from Psalm 143

When the enemy comes after me,
And my soul feels weak,
And my heart is distressed,
I remember days gone by
And all Yahweh has done for me.
I ponder all the ways He works
On my behalf.

I stretch out my hands to Him,
Thirsty for Him,
Like a land without rain.
I know He will answer me
And will not let me fade away.
He will not hide His face from me,
He has already revealed it to me
In the face of Jesus the Son.

I will hear word
Of His faithful love
In the morning,
Because I trust in Him.
He will show me
The way I should go,
Because I look to Him.
He will deliver me from my enemies,
Because He is my shelter
And I run to Him.

He will teach me to do
What is pleasing to Him,
Because He is my God.
He will guide me by His Spirit
And lead me on level ground,
Because He is good.

He will revive me,
Because I belong to Him
And bear His name.
He will bring me out of distress
Because He is faithful
To His own.
And in His faithful love,
He will cut off all who attack me,
For I am His servant.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Psalm 142 ~ When I Feel Abandoned

A personal confession based on the Psalms.

When I Feel Abandoned ~ from Psalm 142

When I am in distress
I cry out LOUD to Yahweh.
Show me Your favor and kindness!
I pour out my problem to Him,
I lay out my trouble before Him,
I cast my care upon Him,
Because He takes care of me.*

When I am overwhelmed,
He knows the path I should take.
He knows the traps that have been laid for me,
And He leads me around them.

When I feel abandoned,
With no one to help,
I cry out to Yahweh;
He is my stronghold,
My shelter, my safety.
He is all I have.
But He is all I need ~
And all I want.

When I am beaten down,
Yahweh hears my cry
And rescues me
From those who attack me,
Those too strong for me.
He brings me out ~
Praise His name!
His people gather around me
(I am never really alone)
For Yahweh is bountiful toward me.

* “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Psalm 141 ~ Help in a Time of Evil

A personal confession adapted from the Psalms.

Help in a Time of Evil ~ from Psalm 141

I cry out to Yahweh, Come quickly!
He hears me and answers.
I set my prayer before Him like incense,
I lift up my hands to give Him praise.

Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips!

Out of the overflow of my heart,
My mouth speaks;
So I will keep my heart with all diligence.*
I will not let it be turned toward any evil thing,
Or take part with those who do wrong.
Nor will I honor their ways.

If the righteous reprove me,
It is a kindness to me.
If they correct me,
It is an anointing for my head,
I will receive it and prosper by it,

But my prayer is against the deeds
Of those who do what is evil.
When they are cast aside,
My words will be heard,
Words of healing and hope,
Guided and guarded by Yahweh.

My eyes are on Yahweh, my God.
He will keep me safe
And guide me past
The traps of the enemy,
The snares of the wicked.
They will fall into their own nets,
While I walk safely by.

* “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

(See also The Door of My Lips)

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The Year for Divine Favor

King Jesus the Messiah has fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53. Now we are in the time described in Isaiah 54 and these things are true for all who follow Jesus. The days of the King have begun. Therefore:

Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.

(Isaiah 54: 2-3)

One day Jesus came preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth, His home town. They handed Him the scroll of Isaiah. He looked for a particular passage and read it aloud:

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.

(Luke 4:18-19, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2)

This was a declaration about the great Jubilee. An announcement about the Messiah. A proclamation about the coming kingdom of God. After reading these words, Jesus handed back the scroll and sat down to teach, saying

Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. (Luke 4:21)

The time of Jubilee, the time of Messiah, the time of the kingdom was no longer just coming — it was now at hand, breaking into the world in the person of Jesus. He was the Messiah, the one God anointed to be King. The “acceptable year,” the year of the favor of the LORD had now come into play.

In terms of eschatology (the doctrine of final things), we have been living in the year of God’s favor ever since. All authority has been given to Jesus in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), God has “seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet” (Ephesians 1:20-22). This means that Jesus is, even now, King over all.

Some people are hoping they can just stay afloat or keep their head above water in 2012. But the people of God should be learning how to walk on water. This the year of the favor of the LORD, and the year for it to be revealed in your life. Enlarge, stretch, lengthen, strengthen, the prophet says. So here is what I say (and you can say it, too):

I enlarge my expectation, I strengthen my anticipation, I stretch my thinking and I believe the favor God has for me this year. I receive it, laying hold of it by faith. The economy, the political climate, the social situation — these are all just circumstances. But Jesus is King over every situation, and the favor of God is greater than every circumstance. And He is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power [His power, the power that raised Jesus from the dead] that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20). In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Displacing Kings

The coming of Jesus the Messiah into the world does not just add another king into the mix. No, He is the King, whose kingdom displaces all other kingdoms.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)

King of the Jews? Herod was under the impression that the Jews already had a king — him! He had worked hard to win that appointment from Rome, and he had already killed two of his own sons to protect it. Now come these foreigners looking for a king who was not him. He was not happy about that.

The Jews had been looking for the king God promised David centuries earlier, the king who would rule over Israel and subdue all her enemies, the king who would reveal the rule and reign of God in all the earth. Not a king, the King. With each successor to the throne of David, the Jews hoped that this would be the one. But they were always soon disappointed.

Now they had Herod, an Idumean whose family had been converted to Judaism, and who was selected by the Roman senate to be “King of the Jews.” His rule, which began about 40 BC, lasted for about 36 years, until his death in 4 BC, not long after Jesus was born. Though he built many cities and reconstructed the Temple in Jerusalem, he was not well-liked among the Jews. The Sanhedrin condemned his brutal ways, the Sadducees did not care for the way he ruled, the Pharisees hated the way he lived, and the Zealots wanted to kill him. Not to mention the public that was heavily taxed to support all his building projects.

So Herod was very paranoid. But the wise men, being out-of-towners, asked where they might find the King of the Jews. Not Herod, of course, but the newborn King, the one promised long ago, whose coming would put Herod out of his place. Faux pas?

Herod obliged them. Not because he was a nice guy but because he wanted to find this King himself and put an end to him. So he asked the chief priests and scribes where Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said. Herod told the wise men and sent them on with instruction to return when they found the Child, so he could worship Him also. Liar!

As the wise men approached Bethlehem, they saw the star again, the one that had alerted them to the birth of the Messiah King, and they rejoiced. After honoring the newborn King, they were wise to Herod’s deceit, being warned in a dream not to return to him, and they went back by another way to their own land.

The coming of King Jesus the Messiah into the world displaced Herod as King of the Jews, but that is not all, for He comes as King over all the nations of the earth. He displaces every king. The prophet Zechariah spoke of what the coming of Messiah would mean, not just for Israel and the Jews, but for the whole world.

And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be — “The LORD is one, and His name one.” (Zechariah 14:9)

The announcement of the gospel is the good news that the King has come into the world, and with Him, the kingdom — the rule and reign of God over all the earth. That is how the apostle Paul understood it.

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name. (Romans 1:1-5)

The faith to which all nations are called to be obedient is the truth that Jesus the Messiah, born to the throne of David and declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead, is Lord. This term, “Lord,” is not just some religious expression, as it so often seems to be reduced to today. Jesus is not Lord merely over “spiritual” matters (as if spiritual could be separated out of every other aspect of life and the world), He is Lord over everything in heaven and earth — which is to say, He is King over all! Before He ascended to heaven, to His throne at the right hand of the Father, He announced to the disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

Jesus is King and the nations must reckon with that. Paul said, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus [Jesus is Lord] and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). That is the central confession of the apostolic Christian faith.

Paul was playing with dynamite, preaching a message that was both powerful and subversive. Throughout the Roman Empire in those days the only acceptable confession was “Caesar is Lord.” It was the time of the Imperial cult, when emperors were worshiped as gods and each new Caesar was thought to be the son of God, honored as savior and king of the world. But Paul’s declaration of the gospel repudiated this. Caesar is Lord? NO! Jesus is Lord and God and King over all the earth.

Jesus is far greater than every king, every president, every head of state — all put together! They will all eventually bow their knees before Him and agree that He is Lord and God and King over them all.

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

The King has come, and is coming again. His kingdom displaces every other kingdom and His rule shall never end.

Let Earth Receive Her King
Advent, Christmas and the Kingdom of God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

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

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Greater Fulfillment and God With Us

The Gospel According to Matthew makes it clear that the child Mary carried was conceived, not of any man, but by the Spirit of God. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). The angel of the Lord told Joseph, “Do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (v. 20). Matthew sees in this the fulfillment of a prophetic word spoken by Isaiah some 700 years earlier.

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the LORD through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:22-23, quoting Isaiah 7:14)

This word from Isaiah is something of a mystery. It was given in response to a particular historical moment within Isaiah’s own day. Many Bible scholars agree that it had a meaning pertaining to that time. But as with many of the signs and events of the Old Testament, it also seemed to have significance larger than its own time. Alfred Edersheim comments on how Jews tended to view the Old Testament writings.

Perhaps the most valuable element in Rabbinic commentation on Messianic times is that in which, as so frequently, it is explained, that all the miracles and deliverances of Israel’s past would be re-enacted, only in a much wider manner, in the days of the Messiah. Thus the whole past was symbolic, and typical of the future. It is in this sense that we would understand the two sayings of the Talmud: “All the prophets prophesied only the days of the Messiah” (Sanh. 99a), and “The world was created only for the Messiah” (Sanh. 98b). (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, cited here)

On the day Jesus was raised from the dead, He encountered two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus. They had not recognized Him and He had not revealed His identity to them, but He spoke to them about the meaning of Messiah. “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). This was not merely a matter of citing an explicit prophecy here and there about Messiah — no, the whole of the Old Testament continually pushes toward the coming of the messianic age, the coming of God’s rule and reign over Israel and the nations, the coming of God’s King.

Isaiah’s prophesy about the virgin, whatever else it may mean, does appear to speak beyond its own time and with a greater meaning. In the immediate context, Isaiah gives the word to King Ahaz, but he addresses it to the “house of David” (Isaiah 7:13), thus enlarging the word with messianic significance. This would be quite in line with the messianic theme that is woven throughout the rest of the book.

However, saying that this prophecy had a greater messianic meaning does not explain how it would actually work out in history. There does not appear to have been any expectation among the Jews that their Messiah would be conceived by the Holy Spirit — they probably would not have been able to imagine such a thing. Some things are better grasped in retrospect, not ahead of time.

And isn’t that how God works so very often. He is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). God comes and arranges things and answers prayers in ways that may be very different, and much better, than we might have expected or could have even imagined.

So here is how the Messiah came into the world, conceived not by any man but by God Himself, through the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. Now that it had happened in that way, Matthew could readily see how it fulfilled the ancient prophecy, unexpectedly and in a way much greater than could have been imagined. It also gave greater significance to the prophetic statement, “They shall call His name Immanuel.”

Immanuel means “God with us.” In Isaiah’s day, they could easily have understood that as God watching over, hearing and delivering His people with mighty acts of divine providence. God is certainly with us in that sense. But to see that what actually happened, that the Messiah was conceived by the Spirit of God, that He was actually divine as well as human … well, that raises the meaning of Immanuel to new and unexpected heights: God is really with us — in Person!

Now, the name actually given to this child was Jesus, not Immanuel. But He is called Immanuel, “God with us,” because it is actually what He is. John, in his telling of the gospel, brings this out in a different way. He speaks of Jesus as the Word and identifies Him as God, in John 1:1. Then, in verse 14, he declares “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The God of heaven making His abode with humanity on earth.

In Jesus the Messiah, God is truly with us. This I believe with all my heart. I have known the Lord Jesus for about 50 years now, ever since I was a little child. Over the years, I have come to recognize His presence more and more. It is a very real relationship and a very deep presence that I have experienced. More real and deeper than I can say.

On the other hand, there is a man in the Bible study I teach who has come to know the Lord late in life, in just the last couple of years. He is in his sixties and regrets that he did not come sooner. But he is very aware of the presence of God in his life and he rejoices in the great change the Lord Jesus has made in his heart. He knows very well that God is with him, dwelling with him.

My hope for you in this Christmas season is that you may experience God with you through Jesus the Messiah. That you may know the joyful expectation of that to which He has called you, that you may know the riches of the wonderful inheritance He has for you, and that you may know the mighty working of His great power on your behalf, the same power by which He raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him as King over all.

Friday, December 23, 2011

You Shall Call His Name Salvation

The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, for the child she carried was conceived of the Holy Spirit. “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

The connection between the name of Jesus and what it means is not apparent in our English translations. Even the explanatory comment in this verse does not explain much for us in English. “Jesus” is how the name comes over to us from the Greek name “Iesous” (phonetically, Yay-soos). In turn, “Iesous” was the Greek rendering for the Hebrew name “Yeshua,” and it is the Hebrew name that we want to focus on here, because even in Greek, the explanatory comment is not very helpful.

So the angel said, “You shall call His name Yeshua, for He will save His people from their sins,” but the connection is still not clear. We need to remember, however, that the angel did not speak to Joseph in English. Joseph probably did know Greek as a matter of his occupation. He was a “carpenter,” a builder, perhaps a stone mason, who was probably involved in the building projects at nearby Sepphoris, which was a prosperous city for commerce. But Greek was not his primary language. He was a Jew in Judea, so his first language was most likely Hebrew, or else its cousin language, Aramaic.

In Hebrew, the word for “save” is yasha. The noun related to this is yeshuah, which means “salvation.”As a name, yeshuah becomes Yeshua. So the name of Jesus means “Salvation.” The angel said to Joseph, “You shall call His name Salvation (Yeshua), for He will save (yasha) His people from their sins.”

Now the connection is clear. But what does it mean that Yeshua will save His people from their sins? Notice that this concerns His people, that is, Israel. And remember that one of the divisions Matthew presents in the genealogy of Jesus has to do with the Babylonian captivity. “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations” (Matthew 1:17; see The Christmas Story and the Story of Deliverance). The prophet Ezekiel speaks concerning this captivity:

Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name — when they said of them, “These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.” But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. (Ezekiel 36:17-21)

Israel was sent into exile, scattered among the nations, because they had defiled the land by their bloodshed and idolatry, and profaned the name of the LORD. But God promised that He would sanctify His name again among the nations. “‘And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘when I am hallowed in you before their eyes’” (Ezekiel 36:23). He would sanctify His name by delivering Israel, and here is how He would do it.

For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:24-28)

God promised He would cleanse Israel from all her filthiness and all her idolatry, by which she had defiled the land and profaned the name of the LORD. In other words, He would save her from her sins. What is more, He would give her a new heart and would put His own Spirit within her (think of Pentecost, in Acts 2), so that she would walk in His ways. And so she would be restored.

The Son born of Mary would be called Yeshua — Salvation! — because He would save His people from their sins. What was immediately in view here was Israel, Jesus’ own people. But as we see from the Ezekiel passage, by this salvation the LORD would cause His name to be sanctified among the nations. The salvation Jesus brought to Israel would become salvation for the whole world, and indeed, at the end of the book of Matthew, we find the disciples being sent out to declare Jesus to the nations (Matthew 28:18-20; see The Christmas Story is Not Just for Jews).

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Christmas is the Birth of the New Adam

Matthew begins his telling of the Gospel with this: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). We have already looked at the significance of Abraham and David in this lineage, but there is also another interesting feature in this verse, particularly in the way it begins: “The book of the genealogy.”

The Greek words rendered as “book of the genealogy” is biblos geneseos. It is very reminiscent of another genealogy, the one given in Genesis about Adam: “This is the book of the genealogy of Adam” (Genesis 5:1). In the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Genesis 5:1 has the same phrase Matthew used, biblos geneseos. Though there are a number of other genealogies in the Old Testament, we find this Greek phrase only here, in Genesis 5.

There is something important going on here, I think. Matthew is paralleling the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah with that of Adam. The apostles Paul, in a couple of his letters to Jesus believers, makes explicit comparison between Adam and Jesus. He states that Adam “is a type of Him who was to come,” and shows that what was lost to us through the rebellion of Adam was won back to us, in greater measure and with much more besides, through the obedience of Jesus (Romans 5:14-21).

The difference between Adam and Jesus is the difference between death and life. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul again compares Adam and Jesus: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (v. 22). “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (v. 45). Paul drills down further.

The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. (1 Corinthians 15:47-49)

The life in view is not just spiritual in nature but physical as well. First Corinthians 15 is about the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead and what that means in regard to our own bodies. The contrast between the man of earth and the Lord from heaven is not that the Lord comes to carry our bodiless spirits off to heaven, far, far away. No, the point is that Jesus has come to bring heaven to earth, that we may bear His image and live in His resurrection in the world, now and forever.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:50-53)

The kingdom of God is heaven come to earth. It is the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven. The gospel is about the kingdom of God, and Jesus came preaching it: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). Though it has not yet arrived in all its fullness (and will not until King Jesus returns), it has indeed already begun. However, our bodies are frail and subject to death (that is what is indicated by “flesh and blood”), and if we are to be a part of the eternal kingdom of heaven on earth, our bodies must be changed. Not put off, mind you, but changed — made incorruptible, immortal.

This is new creation. It was described prophetically in the Old Testament, and King Jesus declared it in the New, saying, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Indeed, this has already begun in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, which is the firstfruits of the new creation and the guarantee of our own coming bodily resurrection from the dead. What is more, those who receive King Jesus the Messiah are already part of this 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). Even now, the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us (Romans 8:11; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 1:19-20; Ephesians 3:20 — let the marvelous truth of these passages sink in). All creation itself is waiting for this, that it may be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:19-21)

Adam was the first man of the old creation — Jesus is the first Man of the new! His coming into the world not only fulfills the story of Israel that began in Abraham, it not only fulfills the promises God made to David, it goes back all the way to the beginning, to Adam. In Jesus, the New Adam, what was lost is now being restored and, indeed, all creation will be made new.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The Christmas Story is Not Just for Jews

Christmas is a Jewish story. Oh, I know — this time of year, we are used to greeting our Jewish friends with Happy Hanukkah! and our Gentile or Christian friends with Merry Christmas! However, Christmas is a Jewish story (see The Christmas Story and the Story of Israel and The Christmas Story and the Story of Deliverance).

Jesus was a Jew and He came to fulfill the story of Israel that God began with Abraham, continued on through to David and down through the generations that went into Babylonian captivity, all the way to the birth of Jesus. He is the Messiah, the Anointed King that God promised would come into the world to deliver His covenant people and through whom all God’s promises would be fulfilled.

But as much as the story of Christmas was for the sake of the Jewish people, it was also for the benefit of all the people of the earth. It is significant that Matthew begins the genealogy of Jesus with Abraham, who was not a Jew but a pagan, which is to say, a Gentile. But God chose to make a great nation through Abraham and promised that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

Matthew makes an unusual move in his genealogy and refers to four women. Not the ones that might have been expected (Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel), but four others: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. They highlight four irregularities in the line of David: They were all Gentiles. Tamar and Rahab were Canaanites, Ruth was a Moabite and Matthew refers to Bathsheba as the wife of “Uriah the Hittite” (she might actually have been an Israelite, but Matthew highlights the Gentile connection of her husband). Yet, in the grace of God, they were all whirled into the humanity of Jesus,

Matthew’s account of Jesus coming into the world also includes the wise men who journeyed from the East to see the newborn King of the Jews. We do not really know who they were or where they came from. The Revelation of the Magi, an ancient eastern document written in about the third or fourth century AD, identifies them as kings from the “Great East,” mystics who prayed in silence and glorified “the holy majesty of the Lord of life.” They were most likely not Jews but Gentiles, yet they are given a place of honor in the Holy Scriptures.

Matthew begins his telling of the Gospel with significant reference to non-Jews and the roles they played in the Christmas story. At the end of the book, we see that the Gospel is just as much for them and all the rest of the nations as it is for the Jews. Before He ascended to His throne at the right hand of the Father, King Jesus commissioned His followers to take the good news into all the world.

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)

Christmas is all about the coming of the Messiah King into the world and it is very much a Jewish story. It is not just for them but for all who believe and follow Jesus.

Monday, December 19, 2011

The Christmas Story and the Story of Deliverance

Matthew lays out the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah in three sets of fourteen generations. In this way, he highlights Abraham and David — yesterday we looked at their significance in Israel’s story and the story of Jesus — but it also draws attention to something else: Jewish captivity in Babylon.

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. (Matthew 1:17)

The kingdom of Israel divided in 922 BC, soon after the death of King David’s son, Solomon. Both kingdoms eventually proved to be unfaithful to God, breaking covenant with Him and following after false gods. The northern kingdom, Israel, fell to the Assyrians and began to be carried off into exile in about 740 BC. From 597 to about 586 BC, the Babylonians conquered the southern kingdom of Judah, capturing the city of Jerusalem, destroying the Temple and deporting the inhabitants. This captivity lasted for about 70 years, after which they began to be allowed to return to Judea, though many chose to remain in Babylon.

Though the Jews were returned to the land and even allowed to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, they were still held captive by a series of foreign powers that were hostile to them and their God. But God promised that there would be a deliverer, the Messiah, who would come and conquer all His enemies and lead His people into freedom and prosperity. The prophet Ezekiel, for example, writing during the first years of the Babylonian captivity, delivers this message from the Lord.

Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord GOD, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”

‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt. The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken it, and I will do it.”

‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men like a flock. Like a flock offered as holy sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem on its feast days, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”’ (Ezekiel 36:22-38)

This was the messianic age that the Jews looked forward to, an unprecedented time of peace and prosperity. God promised to cleanse them of their unfaithfulness, to put a new heart and a new spirit — God’s own Spirit — within them. And all the nations would give testimony to Yahweh, the God of Israel. The prophet Jeremiah, writing just before the captivity, brings a similar message in Jeremiah 31:23-40 (which I will not quote here but is well worth the read), saying that Yahweh would make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. This covenant would not be like the one they broke but would be one God Himself would write on their hearts (vv. 31-33). This covenant could never be broken because it would be God’s own Spirit fulfilling it in them.

The Babylonian captivity, so carefully highlighted for us by Matthew, reminds us of that dark time and the grimness of the captivity that still remained for the Jews. More than that, however, it puts us in mind of the promise God made of a Deliverer who would come for Israel.

Matthew’s genealogy brings to light the promises God made to Abraham and David, indeed to all the Jews, who were still in bondage at that time, of an Anointed King and Deliverer. These promises are fulfilled in the coming of King Jesus the Messiah into the world.

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All blog entries are copyright by Jeff Doles on the date they are posted, unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.

After January 1, 2015, unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the New International Version. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Before January 1, 2015, unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the New King James Bible. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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