April 8, 2018
Hymn 352 – Oh, won’t you come to Jesus while you’re young
Prayer
In Proverbs 30:11-14 we get a character list of a certain generation. (A generation is all the people born within a certain time.) It’s not a good list. In II Timothy 3:1-2, Paul gives us a similar list. They both describe people who are proud and love themselves instead of God.
V11 speaks about those who curse their Father and Mother. That’s opposite to what the ten commandments tell us to do. Proverbs 20:20 warns that judgement will come to those who don’t honour their parents. To show honour to our Dad and Mom, we can obey what they tell us to do, listen to what they say, and thank them for all that they do for us. The generation in Proverbs weren’t grateful to their parents, and many young people today don’t want to show honour to those in charge over them. There was once a boy who had planned a fishing day with one of his buddies. However, on the morning of the fishing trip, his mother wasn’t feeling well and asked him to help her with the dishes and cleaning the house. To show honour in that situation, the boy should have helped his mother, even if it meant postponing his trip. Ephesians says that God will bless us when we honour our parents.
V12. This generation thought that they were perfect, but they weren’t. Proverbs 20:9. We are all sinners, and none of us can make ourselves pure. We must be forgiven through the blood of Jesus. The Pharisees thought that they were good people, but Jesus said they only looked good on the outside. None of us are righteous. Luke 18:9-14. The Pharisee in this parable thought that he was righteous, but the publican realized that he needed mercy to be made clean. We can’t make ourselves pure, we need Jesus to be our Saviour.
V13 talks about pride. Satan was originally made as a beautiful angel, but he was so proud, that he wanted to be as great as God. God calls pride a sin, and Isaiah 14:12-15 tells us that He threw Satan out of Heaven. That’s a warning to us! Jesus was truly God, and yet He humbled himself to become a man and go to the cross. God has given us any talents and abilities that we may have; let’s be humble about them and thank Him for them!
V14. Finally, this generation hurt other people to get an advantage in life. There was a man that owned a Toronto bagel company who took advantage of people that were new to Canada and needed work. He would hire them to work in the bakery but wouldn’t pay them enough money. He was getting rich, but not treating others properly. God loves everybody and died for all; we shouldn’t take advantage of others just because they can’t defend themselves. We must show them love, just as God does. It reminds us of Zacchaeus. He stole from people but paid it all back and gave half his money to the poor after He met Jesus. May the Lord’s love be in our hearts so that we can be a blessing to others!
John 1:1-18
We can tell from the way the beginning of this chapter is written that it’s about Jesus; the Word. This is a full chapter. When you know the Lord as your Saviour you realize how wrong the many beliefs of the world are. John was written closer to the first century when Paganism was starting to creep in. John was clearly stating that the Word was God. It seems like you just get into the book and then you hit chapter thirteen. Then you have the upper room, and before you know it you’ve finished the book. But the Lord is so wonderfully manifested in this book.
Jesus , the Word, is Someone who exists eternally. We are of time and space, but God isn’t. That can be hard for us to understand. “Was” is time related. I wonder what it’s like in heaven where you’re always in the present. We can also see His distinct personality and His essential deity in this chapter. In Genesis 1:1 there is the triune God. But here there is one individual of the trinity who is credited with creative work, and that is Jesus.
Colossians 1:15-17
So much of what He made we can see, but there is also so much that we can’t see. He made all things and they continue to exist by Him. Everything depends on Him to be made and to continue. When you read of the six days of creation you don’t read about principalities and powers. In the beginning God made the heavens. Everything here is far beyond our understanding. Jesus is life. Evolution says we came from rocks. We know He is the source and the originator of life. But if we were made from rocks where did consciousness come from?
The Word was made flesh. He was perfect humanity. He was manifested to make God known on earth. The Lord is the living Word, and the Bible is the written Word. The Lord had power and position, and in verse three He became flesh just like His creation. Later He was killed by His own creation.
If anything exists God made it. He spoke and it was created out of nothing. That brings out the title of The Word. God is not a creature, so He was not created. He’s eternal.
Scripture is truth. God is light; the “life of light of man”. It is marvelous that we , who were in darkness, have light. Light was created on day one, but the sun wasn’t created until day four. There was light in the world before Jesus came. We had been given glimpses of it. But when Jesus came the light was made completely manifest. The Lord came as the true light.
Hymn 149 - Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Prayer