A brief thought for today:
In Luke 9:59 Jesus commands an individual to follow Him. After the man's excuses, Jesus rephrases His command to follow Him with "but, as for you, you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Jesus gave the man two commands to "Follow Me" and "proclaim the kingdom of God". Which is it, Jesus? When Jesus speaks of following Him, He is calling proclaimers. Not professionals, but proclaimers who have met and tasted the Good News, namely Jesus. He is the Good News, the Amazing News! Hey,let's make Him our DAILY NEWS.
Jesus said in Luke 10:16 to those he sent to proclaim the kingdom "The one who hears you hears Me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects Him who sent Me". We have work to do.
Showing posts with label good news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label good news. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Jesus, The Great Fisher of Men!
A few thoughts on Luke 5:1-11, a text in which Jesus Christ illustrates to us what is of great importance to Him. Rescuing men! Redeeming men! Jesus came to earth to die for man! And he has appointed all of His redeemed people to be "fishers of men".
Simon Peter, a fisherman by trade, and one who had his Master's Degree(MDiv)in fishing, put all of his knowledge, all of his skill, all of his experienced energy, into catching fish, but came up with empty nets. And he wasn't alone. The rest of the fishermen came up with nothing that night as well.
What happens next? Jesus comes along, steps into the fishing boat parked at the shore, and after teaching the people, orders the fishermen to head out into deep waters, and to let their nets down "for a catch", not a try, but "a catch". Simon gives his prideful response of "Hey, we busted our backs, toiling all night long and caught nothing", but then obeys the word of Christ and lets down the nets.
Jesus fills the nets up with so many fish that all of the fishermen available are necessary to work together to bring the catch into the boat!
All of the fishermen are "astonished" at the catch of fish! Peter then realizes in some measure Who it is that he is with, and falls on his knees in worship.
Then Jesus, whom Peter was worshiping, the Almighty Who filled the nets to the breaking point, says "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." He does not say merely trying, fishing for men, but "catching men".
A couple of things to notice here: our Savior ordered a LARGE catch, a ridiculous amount of fish such that both boats began to sink, requiring a lot of help from other fishermen! Most notably, it was not Peter's skill that brought in the fish, but Jesus Christ who brought the fish into the net, Who rules over the will of fish and men.
One word of God and the fish are drawn into the net...
So then, what about us, God's fishermen? One word of God and Manfish will be drawn into the net of salvation. Let us humble ourselves, for we do not have the knowledge, nor the power to be effective fishers of men. What must we do?
First, let us ask God for a catch. Secondly, we let down the nets.
And Jesus wants us to be confident that a great catch is on the way...
Coming soon... "What does it look like to let down the nets for a catch?"
Simon Peter, a fisherman by trade, and one who had his Master's Degree(MDiv)in fishing, put all of his knowledge, all of his skill, all of his experienced energy, into catching fish, but came up with empty nets. And he wasn't alone. The rest of the fishermen came up with nothing that night as well.
What happens next? Jesus comes along, steps into the fishing boat parked at the shore, and after teaching the people, orders the fishermen to head out into deep waters, and to let their nets down "for a catch", not a try, but "a catch". Simon gives his prideful response of "Hey, we busted our backs, toiling all night long and caught nothing", but then obeys the word of Christ and lets down the nets.
Jesus fills the nets up with so many fish that all of the fishermen available are necessary to work together to bring the catch into the boat!
All of the fishermen are "astonished" at the catch of fish! Peter then realizes in some measure Who it is that he is with, and falls on his knees in worship.
Then Jesus, whom Peter was worshiping, the Almighty Who filled the nets to the breaking point, says "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." He does not say merely trying, fishing for men, but "catching men".
A couple of things to notice here: our Savior ordered a LARGE catch, a ridiculous amount of fish such that both boats began to sink, requiring a lot of help from other fishermen! Most notably, it was not Peter's skill that brought in the fish, but Jesus Christ who brought the fish into the net, Who rules over the will of fish and men.
One word of God and the fish are drawn into the net...
So then, what about us, God's fishermen? One word of God and Manfish will be drawn into the net of salvation. Let us humble ourselves, for we do not have the knowledge, nor the power to be effective fishers of men. What must we do?
First, let us ask God for a catch. Secondly, we let down the nets.
And Jesus wants us to be confident that a great catch is on the way...
Coming soon... "What does it look like to let down the nets for a catch?"
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Are You Fishing Yet?
When I was in my pre teen years, I read all about fishing, all of the time!
Fishing Facts magazine was always in my hand. The magazine taught what, where, when, and how to catch freshwater fish. Cold weather fish, warm weather fish, deep water fish, shallow water fish, all were taught about in this magazine.
I bought special lures, spinners, spoons, plugs, worms, and whatever promised to land me the BIG GUY!
The best part was not reading about fishing however. I went fishing! I went fishing in lakes, in ponds, everywhere, but the BIG GUY knew how to avoid my line much better than I knew how to land him on it!
Even though the BIG GUY was better at the game than me, I still managed to catch a few decent sized fish over the years.
"Okay, so what's with the title?" "Are You Fishing Yet?"
Jesus spoke to two real and experienced fisherman, Simon , and his brother Andrew "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. At once they left their nets and followed him." (Mark 1:17). They went fishing with the Master Fisherman.
We believers are the fishers of men that Jesus Christ has appointed.
At least we already know the nature of the manfish. He is in his nature what we were in our nature. We know what manfish likes,what he hates, what he is prone to feed on, where he hides, what he avoids, how he fights, how resistant he is, and how difficult he can be to land. We were the manfish! But even though we know this manfish even as we know ourselves, yet we cannot land the manfish that we know so well!
For we do not know which manfish are looking to be landed! Yet, unlike fish in lakes and rivers, there actually are manfish desperately looking to be pulled in. We do not know which manfish are searching the waters of their world, hoping to find exactly what we have on the end of our line. And even if we knew which manfish were ready for the taking, we must have the proper lure.
How shall we catch them? With God's lure, the gospel lure. The gospel is how they are caught! God rules over the heart of all manfish, and He alone draws out the manfish that will strike at our line as we cast out God's appointed lure, the gospel of grace. This gospel lure must be the real thing. And we will catch them, not with a baited and hidden hook, manipulating and snagging them, but with Jesus Christ. He is the Gospel! Yes, these God appointed menfish have a God given hunger for, and are in search of Jesus Christ. When they see Him, they are attracted to Him, even more so, He is irresistable to them. They hear of Jesus sacrificial, death defying, atoning love, His mercy, His kindness, His full forgiveness, His sure promises, and His altogether immeasurable unearned favor, yes, all of this, pointed toward them, all of Jesus Christ Himself, moving forward to embrace them. And here is the amazing truth about it all. Christ does this through us, His fishermen! These menfish are drawn to Christ through us. For we are Jesus Christ's representatives, and through us they see the character of Christ, and hear and embrace the beautiful good news of Christ, the gospel! Yes, they come and are joyfully caught in plenty.
Jesus said "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." Can we not say with Jesus "The manfish ar plentiful, but the manfishers are few."?
Jesus told them "Come" and they left everything and followed Him, learning how to be manfishers! Are you fishing yet?
Fishing Facts magazine was always in my hand. The magazine taught what, where, when, and how to catch freshwater fish. Cold weather fish, warm weather fish, deep water fish, shallow water fish, all were taught about in this magazine.
I bought special lures, spinners, spoons, plugs, worms, and whatever promised to land me the BIG GUY!
The best part was not reading about fishing however. I went fishing! I went fishing in lakes, in ponds, everywhere, but the BIG GUY knew how to avoid my line much better than I knew how to land him on it!
Even though the BIG GUY was better at the game than me, I still managed to catch a few decent sized fish over the years.
"Okay, so what's with the title?" "Are You Fishing Yet?"
Jesus spoke to two real and experienced fisherman, Simon , and his brother Andrew "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. At once they left their nets and followed him." (Mark 1:17). They went fishing with the Master Fisherman.
We believers are the fishers of men that Jesus Christ has appointed.
At least we already know the nature of the manfish. He is in his nature what we were in our nature. We know what manfish likes,what he hates, what he is prone to feed on, where he hides, what he avoids, how he fights, how resistant he is, and how difficult he can be to land. We were the manfish! But even though we know this manfish even as we know ourselves, yet we cannot land the manfish that we know so well!
For we do not know which manfish are looking to be landed! Yet, unlike fish in lakes and rivers, there actually are manfish desperately looking to be pulled in. We do not know which manfish are searching the waters of their world, hoping to find exactly what we have on the end of our line. And even if we knew which manfish were ready for the taking, we must have the proper lure.
How shall we catch them? With God's lure, the gospel lure. The gospel is how they are caught! God rules over the heart of all manfish, and He alone draws out the manfish that will strike at our line as we cast out God's appointed lure, the gospel of grace. This gospel lure must be the real thing. And we will catch them, not with a baited and hidden hook, manipulating and snagging them, but with Jesus Christ. He is the Gospel! Yes, these God appointed menfish have a God given hunger for, and are in search of Jesus Christ. When they see Him, they are attracted to Him, even more so, He is irresistable to them. They hear of Jesus sacrificial, death defying, atoning love, His mercy, His kindness, His full forgiveness, His sure promises, and His altogether immeasurable unearned favor, yes, all of this, pointed toward them, all of Jesus Christ Himself, moving forward to embrace them. And here is the amazing truth about it all. Christ does this through us, His fishermen! These menfish are drawn to Christ through us. For we are Jesus Christ's representatives, and through us they see the character of Christ, and hear and embrace the beautiful good news of Christ, the gospel! Yes, they come and are joyfully caught in plenty.
Jesus said "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." Can we not say with Jesus "The manfish ar plentiful, but the manfishers are few."?
Jesus told them "Come" and they left everything and followed Him, learning how to be manfishers! Are you fishing yet?
Thursday, May 8, 2008
"Jesus Christ is Lord" Is Not Necessarily Good News!
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The good news! Jesus Christ is Lord! Jesus Christ is Lord!
IS THIS GOOD NEWS? Not necessarily. It is terrifying news to an unredeemed, unrighteous world that is still under that wrath of God! Contrary to author N.T. Wright's understanding of Paul in the Scriptures, WE MUST HOLD DEARLY THE DOCTRINE OF IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS.
In John Piper's book The Future of Justification, the author is arguing to defend the historical understanding of the doctrine of justification which is crucial to the nature of the gospel.
Tom Wright is a very sharp scholar who is arguing against the historical interpretation of the apostle Paul . Wright teaches that the message of the gospel is not "how to get saved" or how to be made righteous in the sight of God, but rather "the gospel is a proclamation that Jesus, the crucified and risen Messiah, is the one and only true Lord of the world."
Now this may sound like good news(Gospel), but John Piper rightly reminds us that this is not good news...necessarily. It is not good news because, without justification in that good news we are not saved. If we are not saved, then we are in serious trouble, for we remain under the wrath of the Holy God, Creator and Sustainer of the Universe! Piper points out that the announcement that "Jesus is Lord is not good news until we hear the terms of the amnesty." The really good news is that we are saved from the wrath of God through Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection. We are "justified", that is, that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, which in reality makes us righteous, through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Remember Paul, knocked to the ground blind? Apart from Christ having chosen to save Paul, Paul was in serious trouble under such an infinitely powerful Being that blinded him, and grounded him. When this happens Paul's first response is not "Hooray, Jesus is Lord of the Universe". He is trembling and fearful, and at God's mercy. The good news is that God chose to deliver Paul from His fierce wrath, through faith in Jesus Christ.
Have you been delivered from the fierce wrath of God? Only if you have repented to God concerning your sinful state, and placed your faith in Jesus Christ. Then Christ has you "covered". Enjoy your Savior.
IS THIS GOOD NEWS? Not necessarily. It is terrifying news to an unredeemed, unrighteous world that is still under that wrath of God! Contrary to author N.T. Wright's understanding of Paul in the Scriptures, WE MUST HOLD DEARLY THE DOCTRINE OF IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS.
In John Piper's book The Future of Justification, the author is arguing to defend the historical understanding of the doctrine of justification which is crucial to the nature of the gospel.
Tom Wright is a very sharp scholar who is arguing against the historical interpretation of the apostle Paul . Wright teaches that the message of the gospel is not "how to get saved" or how to be made righteous in the sight of God, but rather "the gospel is a proclamation that Jesus, the crucified and risen Messiah, is the one and only true Lord of the world."
Now this may sound like good news(Gospel), but John Piper rightly reminds us that this is not good news...necessarily. It is not good news because, without justification in that good news we are not saved. If we are not saved, then we are in serious trouble, for we remain under the wrath of the Holy God, Creator and Sustainer of the Universe! Piper points out that the announcement that "Jesus is Lord is not good news until we hear the terms of the amnesty." The really good news is that we are saved from the wrath of God through Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection. We are "justified", that is, that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, which in reality makes us righteous, through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Remember Paul, knocked to the ground blind? Apart from Christ having chosen to save Paul, Paul was in serious trouble under such an infinitely powerful Being that blinded him, and grounded him. When this happens Paul's first response is not "Hooray, Jesus is Lord of the Universe". He is trembling and fearful, and at God's mercy. The good news is that God chose to deliver Paul from His fierce wrath, through faith in Jesus Christ.
Have you been delivered from the fierce wrath of God? Only if you have repented to God concerning your sinful state, and placed your faith in Jesus Christ. Then Christ has you "covered". Enjoy your Savior.
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