Theology

The Supplication of the Christ

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As we continue in our Christology, we have now come to the section focusing on the supplication of the Christ.  This is the prayer section of Jesus’ ministry and reminds us of God’s faithfulness.

Who taught you how to pray? How did they teach you?

When Jesus was on earth, the disciples saw unbelievable things happen before their eyes. When you encounter Jesus feed 5,000 men, heal every type of disease, walk on water, or be transfigured before your eyes, you probably would develop a list of things you would want Jesus to show you. We would all love a course on how to do the miraculous.

Interestingly enough, with all the disciples witnessed, they asked for Jesus to teach them one thing:

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Adultery Brings Consequences

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David was labeled as a man after God’s heart. As a passionate worshiper, a brave warrior, and a decisive king, David was used of God to change the landscape of Israel. While many of his victories caused Israel great triumph, his downfalls also caused his family great pain. Along with his moments of faithful obedience sits a series of events that sent David down a slippery slope where he never truly considered the consequences.

Maybe you remember the story. When King David should have been in battle, he was relaxed in the comforts of his palace when he saw a beautiful woman bathing from his rooftop, sent someone to bring her to him, had sex with her, and then sent her home. Weeks later, she informed the king she was pregnant with his child. Her husband, Urriah, was fighting on the battlefield, and David attempted to cover up the incident by allowing him some time with his wife. Out of loyalty to his fellow soldiers, he denied himself that privilege, and David, unwilling to accept responsibility, had him killed on the battlefield.

The prophet Nathan, risking his life, confronted and rebuked King David. Read the consequences that Nathan tells David that await him in 2 Samuel 12:7-15:

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Confronting Injustice & Kony 2012

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“The recent church history in America includes a lot of good men doing nothing. Men who are wired, called, and empowered to be men of action, yet who choose to be soft, insensitive, and passive – men who fail to remember that ‘to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin’ (James 4:17). Passivity is a curse.” –The Resolution, page 137.

Louie Giglio tweeted it best days ago when he said: Props to @invisible children for creating a twitter tsunami and continuing to shine a light on the evil of #KONY2012.

It is true.  If you haven’t heard about Kony in the last couple of weeks, you must be in a coma.  They have raised awareness on this horrible situation on a massive scale.  I have been exposed to Invisible Children’s work since 2003.  While they have faced some scrutiny in the media in recent days, as far as I can know, they are legit and I support them 100% (and a whole lot of other more qualified people do too).  Media has criticized their handling of the situation.  I don’t know if there is a proper way to handle a man who is gathering thousands of children and training them to fight in an army in the Lord’s name.

You may not like how they are going about pursuing justice, but here’s what you have to say about it: at least they’re pursuing justice.

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The Tragedy of Demas

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Thursday night, I was honored to lead worship and preach for Lander’s BCM.  I felt pretty clear concerning the direction for the message, but I knew it was going to be a bit different. I wanted to focus on the biblical character Demas.  If you haven’t heard about him, you are not alone.  He’s not that famous.  We don’t know …

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The Revelation of the Christ

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As we continue our Christology, this week we are focusing on the teaching ministry of Jesus.  This is the Revelation of the Christ.  Through his preaching, he displayed the attribute of wisdom as he proclaimed words of life.

Nobody taught like Jesus.  No one will ever teach like Jesus.  He was able to communicate long messages to all types of people and his words survived in a mainly oral culture for us to read today.

Some things to remember about Jesus’ teaching ministry:

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How Many Sexual Partners Have You Had?

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If you’ve ever given blood, you have answered some of the most awkward questions you have probably ever been asked in your life. Many of those questions revolve around your sexual activity. Included in the lineup of questions is a question concerning different sexual partners you have been involved with in recent years. Even if you don’t have a checkered …

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The Selection of the Christ

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As we continue in our Christology series, we have now arrived at section 5 – the selection of the Christ.  This section deals with Christ calling his 12 disciples and thrusting them into ministry.

Jesus’ calling of the disciples displayed the attribute of grace.  When you look at this rag tag group of men he chose, there isn’t anything special about them.  In fact, if you were on a pastor search committee and drafted up a list of qualities you were looking for in a spiritual leader, you would probably list out things that none of these men possessed.  They weren’t obvious choices, and yet, they were Jesus’ choices, and for that, they would develop into who Christ had called them to be.  The old saying is true here: Jesus doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.

Here are some things to note during this time of ministry:

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The Temptation of the Christ

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Continuing on through our Christology, we arrive this week at the Temptation of the Christ.  This event reveals Christ’s holiness.  He was set apart, and while he was fully God, he was full man, and he never sinned.

In his 33 years of life, he never rolled his eyes behind his mother’s back.  He never kept more money than he should.  Never had one lustful thought concerning a woman.  Never used his words to demean another.

After his baptism by John, Scripture teaches that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the Devil himself.  It also seems a test like Job’s in that God is leading Christ to the wilderness to prove to Satan his undeniable holiness.  What’s interesting is that while Satan is a worthy adversary, his tricks have not really changed.  He’s not the most creative of sorts.  His temptation to Christ was the same as the temptation in the Garden of Eden: “Are you sure God’s Word says…”

He still uses it today, doesn’t he?

Here are some things to note:

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Make More Money

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Money is a tool. Money is not moral or immoral. It is amoral. It can be used for good or bad. Money in of itself is not evil. The love of money is the root of all types of evil (1 Timothy 6:10).

In fact, God is not against you making more money. It’s actually a good thing. Read Ephesians 4:28 and find out why:

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The Consecration of the Christ

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This week in Bible study, we focused on the consecration of the Christ.  This stage shows off Jesus’ immensity.  This period, spans age 2 to age 30.  This time period covers the largest section of Christ’s life with the least amount of information, but it mainly focuses upon Christ growing and John the Baptist pointing towards him.

Info to remember from this Christology section:

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