The Heavenly Man.

Friday 21-5-2010, John 6: 22-70, 1 Corinthians 15: 35-58 NKJV

And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. 1 Cor.15:49

This post is a list of verses from John 6 and 1 Corinthians that talk about Jesus being a man and yet he appears to say that he came from heaven.

Note the words said by Jesus in the synagogue in Capernaum (John 6:59)

(A) Critical Questions:

John 6: 41 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

John 6: 52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

Jesus of Nazareth. Everyone around him knew his parents. Some of them probably grew up in the same neighbourhood with him. He was a Jew from their community. He was one of them.

But that day, Jesus startled those Jews. He told them that he wasn't exactly one of them.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

(B) Jesus, the bread of life, is a man from heaven:

John 6: 32Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

John 6: 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 6: 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.

John 6: 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

Cross references:

1 Corinthians 15: 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15: 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

1 Corinthians 15: 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1 Corinthians 15: 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.

1 Corinthians 15: 48 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.

1 Corinthians 15: 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.


(C) Jesus will raise up all who believe in him on the last day:

John 6: 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6: 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

(D) A saying too hard for some to accept.

John 6: 60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
John 6: 61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?

John 6: 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
John 6: 66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

John 6: 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

The Lord Jesus was patient with his disciples.

The Lord Jesus – a patient and gentle teacher.

A sermon delivered in Ipoh Garden Baptist Church on Sunday 1-6-2008

Mark 14: 27-31
cf Matt 26: 31-35, Luke 22: 31-34, John 13:36-38

Outline:
I The Lord was Patient with Their Intentions
- to be great
II The Lord was Patient with Their Ignorance
- about what was ahead
III The Lord was Patient with Their Insufficiency
- they would forsake Him.
Introduction
A quality that all teachers need, and can never have too much, is patience. Teachers are often made to feel that their efforts are futile – when their students don't appear to achieve the learning objectives after weeks of lessons, drills and practice. I've occasionally told my students that there are two topics in my subjects they should beware of: the first is, ""Playing guitar to cows" while the second is, "Teaching cows to climb trees." (These are popular Chinese proverbs used to depict the difficulty faced by teachers in trying to teach inattentive and unintelligent students.)
Indeed a teacher must be patient. In one of his pastoral letters to the young pastor Timothy, the apostle wrote, "And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil . . ." (2 Timothy 2:24-26)
Similarly, we see in this morning's lesson that our Lord Jesus was patient with the failures of his disciples. He taught them things which were too hard for them to grasp, and he waited patiently for them to come to their senses.
This account of our Lord's conversation with his disciples is also reported, with some variations, in all the other gospels. The following table gives a comparative overview of this event in all four gospel accounts:

The Lord Jesus predicts Peter's denial.

Mark 14: 27-31	Matthew 26:31-35	Luke 22:31-34	John 13:36-38
After the Lord's supper, they went to Mt. Olives	(same)	NIL	NIL
Jesus told them, "You all will stumble (be offended) because of me this night."	(same)	NIL	NIL
Quoted Zechariah 13:7, "I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered"	(same)	NIL	NIL
"But after I've been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee". Peter replied the Lord, "Even if all stumble (are offended), yet I will not be."	(same)	The disciples debated about who would among them be the greatest. After supper, Jesus said, "Simon, Simon, satan has desired to have you (has asked for you), that he may sift you as wheat [TEV to separate good from bad / wheat from chaff]. But I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail, that when you're returned (KJV converted / TEV turned back), strengthen your brethren.	After supper, Jesus gave them the new commandment. Peter asked Jesus, "Where are you going?" The Lord replied, "Where I go you can't follow now, but afterwards"
Jesus told Peter, "Truly, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me thrice"	Jesus told Peter that before the cock crowed, Peter would deny him three times	-	-
Peter said (more vehemently),"If I die, I will not deny you!" All the others said likewise	Peter said, "Though I die with you, yet I will not deny you" All the others said likewise	Peter said, "Lord, I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death"	Peter asked, "Why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake"
-	-	Jesus replied, "I tell you Peter, the cock shall not crow this day befoe you shall three times deny that you know me"	Jesus: "Will you lay down your life for my sake? Truly, truly, I say to you. The cock shall not crow till you have denied me thrice"
Jesus' conversation with all his disciples.		Jesus' conversation with Peter alone

(1) Jesus was patient with their intentions – "who is the greatest"
The intentions or motives of the disciples were concealed beneath their claims and confidence of dying together with the Lord Jesus – most likely their true intentions were to attain glory and greatness. This is evident from the passage immediately preceding the account in Luke, in verses 24-30, which tells of a strife among the disciples as to who would be greatest (including Peter!).
Jesus had just finished his last supper with them – after giving them the bread and cup of wine, telling them that his body was broken for them, he told them that one of them would betray him to his enemies.
Instead of paying attention to his warnings – v.24-30 tells us that "they began to argue among themselves, who was the greatest. The Lord had to remind them that to be great, they had to be like a servant who serves others. And he promised them that they would eat and drink at his table and sit on thrones to rule over the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jesus was about to give his body and blood as the only unblemished sacrifice for the sins of the whole world – yet the disciples were preoccupied with their intention to be greatest among themselves! Indeed, Jesus had to be patient with their intentions.
(2) Jesus was patient with their ignorance – that he was in great sorrow.
The disciples were oblivious to the fact that their Master, their Teacher whom they had followed for three years was about to face one of the most sorrowful and dreadful moments in his life – a humiliating trial, torturous whipping and a slow death by crucifixion.
They didn't know, at the time of this conversation, that their Lord would soon be praying with great intensity and sadness in the Garden of Gethsemane, that, if possible, God would take this tribulation from him.
They also didn't know that Jesus was to be so sorrowful that his sweat was to become like blood dripping to the ground, and that an angel from heaven had to come and strengthen him.
So when the Lord Jesus quoted to them the prophecy of Zechariah 13:7, when he told them that all of them would stumble, that they would, literally "run away and leave me", he knew that they had no idea, not a clue of how grave the circumstance would turn out to be.
Such was the patience of our Lord Jesus. He was patient with their ignorance.
(3) Jesus was patient with their insufficiency – that they would all stumble and desert him.
Particularly with Peter, who stumbled very badly indeed. He followed Jesus from a distance. He denied three times, the final time with an oath, that he was ever acquainted with Jesus.
Mark 14:71, "I swear that I am telling the truth! May God punish me if I am not! I do not know the man you are talking about!"
But Luke 22:31,32 tells us that Jesus prayed for him that his strength would not fail, that he would return from this stumbling to strengthen others.
Conclusion
There are many valuable lessons to be learned from the Lord Jesus' private teaching and conversations with his disciples.
The accounts in Mark 15, Matthew 26 and John 13 may appear to portray our Lord as being somewhat stern and blunt with his disciples. For example, when Peter asserted that he would lay down his life for his Master's sake, Jesus told him, "Truly, truly I say to you . . . will you lay down your life for my sake? The cock shall not crow till you have denied me three times."
It is when we look more carefully into the account in Luke 22 that we can see our Lord as a gentle, patient teacher – patiently waiting for Peter to come to his senses.
"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat [TEV to separate good from bad / wheat from chaff]. But I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail, that when you're returned, strengthen your brethren"
Brothers and Sisters, let us imitate our Lord Jesus in our lives, to be gentle, able to teach patiently and "in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil . . ." 2 Timothy 2: 24-26.

That we may know God, our Father.

Saturday, 8-5-2010, Ephesians 1:15-23

Morning devotion at Tiara Beach Resort, Port Dickson, while attending the annual retreat of Temerloh Gospel Chapel.

Pauls' prayer for the Ephesian brethren tells of the greatness of God our Father and his great works.

Firstly, we can see in this passage that God is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus (v.3, 17). Our God in heaven is the Father of glory. (v.17) And it is only He who can grant us the spirit of wisdom and revelation for our knowledge of him. (v.17b).

Secondly, note that Paul prayed for the Ephesian Christians to know the hope of God's calling and to know the "riches of the glory" of God's inheritance in us.

Thirdly, it is the exceeding greatness of God's power - His might - which God worked in Christ when God raised Christ and seated Christ at His right hand (v.19,20).

Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of God, in a position "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" (v.21). All these are granted to Christ by the Only True God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ who, like the Ephesian brethren, put your faith in the Lord Jesus and who show love for all the saints, let us pray for one another like the apostle Paul had prayed, that we may know God our Father: the God and Father of our Lord Jesus.

We know that God has put all things under the feet of Christ, and has given him to be head over all things to the church. (v.22)

Philippians 4:20
Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen

Jesus honoured God, his Father.

Tuesday, 11-5-2010, John 8

The Father sent Jesus, and the Father was with him (v. 16, 29). Subsequently, in verse 42 - Jesus said more succinctly, that God sent him. Thus, it is clear that when Jesus referred to his Father, he was referring to the Only true God, YHWH Almighty: his God and our God (see John 17:3, 20:17).

Jesus told only what he heard from the Father, who sent him (v.26, 38, 40). He always did what pleased the Father (v.29). Note especially verse 40, Jesus told the truth that he heard from God. Here, again, we can see without doubt that God is the Father.

Furthermore, Jesus honoured his Father and did not seek his own glory. (John 8:49,50). He did not honour himself, but instead received honour from his Father. (John 8:54).

Dear Christians, I urge all to ponder over how much, or perhaps how little, attention we have paid towards honouring God, our Heavenly Father, in our lives. In our Churches today, we have been continually surrounded by and immersed in teaching, proclaiming, affirming and singing that invariably honours Jesus "as God", to such extent that we have neglected, even ignored almost altogether, giving our honour to our only true God, YHWH, our Father in heaven.

All the calls that we hear Sunday after Sunday, from gospel meetings to revival meetings, in Youth fellowship and Adult fellowship, telling us to Praise Jesus, to Bless Jesus' Name, and to proclaim Jesus as Lord (in the sense that he "is God") has subtly and successfully lulled us into worshipping our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the son of God, who is the Son of Man, whom the apostles call "a man" (Acts 2:22) and "the man" (1 Timothy 2:5), as if he is the real God!

In doing so, we have turned away from worshipping YHWH, as our only true God.

Brothers and Sisters, I urge you to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ to live our lives in honour of God our Father. Like Jesus, let us endeavour to please our Father in all that we do. Let us not seek our own glory but instead, like our Lord Jesus, seek to honour YHWH, our God and our Father in Heaven.

"Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name"!

P.S.:
For a survey of how the early Apostles honoured the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, please view my earlier post: Thanksgiving, Prayer and Praise in the Epistles.

See an updated summary of this post: The Master Yeshua honoured God.

Wash, make yourselves clean.

Sunday, 25April2010, Isaiah 1:16-20

Over two consecutive mornings last week, I had, before leaving for work, come across the same passage from the first chapter of the book of Isaiah during my devotion. The verses which caught my attention on both occasions were v. 16-17:

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.

In all my thirty-five years of Christian faith, I had often been told that only God washes us clean from sin and evil. For example, 1 John 1:9 tells us that God is faithful and just, and He will forgive us of our sin and will purify us from our wrongdoings when we confess our sins to Him.

Again, in Titus 3:5, we are told that God saved us through His Spirit by the washing of regeneration, i.e. by baptism. Likewise, in the passage that I read this morning, in Isaiah 1:18, YHWH says that He will make us as clean as snow, and as white as wool.

In such manner, for more than three decades of my Christian faith, I have been reminded by preachers and teachers through bible studies and discussions, that we cannot remove our own sins: that there is nothing we can do about our unrighteousness before YHWH God, that only God can wash us clean.

This week's encounter with Isaiah chapter 1, however has opened my eyes to a verse which commands us to remove our own sins. "Wash yourselves clean . . ." verse 16 tells us. Indeed, here in this passage it is recorded by Isaiah that YHWH has a command for the people of Jerusalem, with whose sacrifices YHWH had become tired (v.19) and whose prayers YHWH would not listen, even when they lifted their hands to Him (v.15).

And this command is, "Wash, make yourselves clean"!

This surprised me somewhat. It tells me that I had mistakenly held the belief that we Christians cannot do anything at all about our sins. It alerts me to the error of feeling helpless about my wrongdoings. Instead, I am awakened to God's command to His people in Jerusalem: that we, among ourselves, a nation belonging to YHWH , must do something about our sins - sins which may even be "red as scarlet and as crimson". I am awakened that God's command to me today is that we wash ourselves and make ourselves clean.

How shall we obey this command of YHWH , our God? The answer is found immediately in the next statement in verse 16, through verse 17:

". . . Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil and learn to do right." (TEV)

That is how we wash ourselves. That's how we make ourselves clean - by ceasing to do evil and learning to do right. Verse 17 goes on to elaborate more on what we must do among the people of YHWH :

"See that justice is done. Help the oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend the widows."

Note that YHWH 's command to his people in Jerusalem at that time was to help the oppressed, defend the fatherless and the widows who were in their midst. This was the sin of Israel. This was the matter. In the sight of YHWH, they should cease to do evil to their own people, and learn to do good, again to their own people.

Surely, that was the nature of the evil that YHWH 's people in Isaiah chapter 1 had to wash themselves of. Their hands were covered with the blood, verse 15 says. And it was the blood of their own people.

Dear Christians, let us look at ourselves, in our churches today. Let us ask YHWH Almighty, our God and Father to help us search our hearts. Like the people of YHWH in Jerusalem, let us remove all oppression of our own people from among our midst.

The sin of Israel then, may be our sin today too. Have we neglected to do good? Have we forgotten about the rights of the fatherless in our midst? And have we failed to defend widows and orphans among us? Perhaps, like the people of Israel, these are the "scarlet" and "crimson" sins in our Churches today. Our God, YHWH, our Father in heaven wants to make us clean as snow, and white as wool. (v.18)

By the blood of the sacrifice of His son, whom He raised from the dead, God our Father can cleanse us from all our righteousness (1 John 1:9). There remains, but one thing for all of us to do in our Churches today - to wash ourselves and make ourselves clean of any ongoing oppression and injustice among us.

"If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces. But if you defy me, you are doomed to die." (Isaiah 1:19)

The Eyes of YHWH

Sunday, 4April2010, Zechariah 4: 1-14 ESV

Early morning devotion at Mines Wellness Hotel, after attending IKUPM 36th Anniversary Dinner at Mines Shopping Fair the previous evening.

"for YHWH -- His eyes go to and fro in all the earth, to show Himself strong [for] a people whose heart [is] perfect towards Him" 2 Chronicles 16:9 YLT (when Hanani the seer rebuked King Asa for depending on the King of Syria instead of depending on YHWH, his God.)

Zechariah speaks of a vision in which he saw a lamp-stand with seven lamps (4:2). In v. 10, the angel who spoke to Zechariah in that vision explained that they represent the eyes of YHWH which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.

A vision with some similarity is also given to the apostle John in the New Testament. In Revelations 4:5, John saw a vision of God on his throne and seven lamps of fire were burning in front of the throne - "which are the seven spirits of God".

Subsequently, in Revelations 5:6, John saw the Lamb of God with seven horns and seven eyes - "which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth".

Furthermore, the angel had said to Zechariah earlier in 4:6 those famous words, "This [is] a word of YHWH unto Zerubbabel, saying: Not by a force, nor by power, But -- by My Spirit, said YHWH of Hosts."

It appears that the eyes of YHWH, shown to Zechariah as a lamp-stand with seven lamps, are indeed His spirit, seen by John as seven lamps of fire and also as seven eyes on the Lamb of God. It is noteworthy that both the eyes of YhWH in Zechariah's vision as well as the "seven spirits of God" in John's vision are seven-fold in nature, and both are moving throughout the earth.

Today's passage from Zechariah chapter 4 reminds me of the verse in 2 Chronicles 16:9, quoted above, which explains the purpose of God's eyes i.e. to show Himself strong on behalf of people whose hearts are perfect towards him.

Sadly, in 2 Chronicles 16, we read that King Asa's heart was not perfect towards YHWH, i.e. he did not trust his God completely. In verse 9, Hanani the seer went on to tell King Asa, " thou hast been foolish concerning this, because -- henceforth there are with thee wars".

Thus it is clear that the spirit of YHWH moves all over the earth, akin to His eyes, seeking out everyone who turns to Him and trusts in Him as God with a perfect heart. To such people, YHWH shows Himself strong on their behalf.

Dearly beloved brothers and sisters, let us avoid the folly of King Asa. Instead, let us put our trust completely in the name of our God, YHWH, with perfect hearts.