2 Easter Sunday

Isaiah 43:8-13,     The Lord’s witnesses
1 Peter 2:2-10,     Living stones
John 14:1-7     The Way, the Truth, the Life

Assemble all the nations; people who are spiritually blind and deaf. Who among them can prove their claims for their idols? Let them produce witnesses who can prove that their gods are true. God’s people are God’s witnesses, God’s chosen servants, so that we might believe and come to know and understand that the Lord alone is God. 

There has never been any other god before, nor will there be any other god after the Lord. The Lord alone is God and there is no other Savior. The Lord declared, saved and proclaimed, when God’s people had no other god, and they are his witnesses. God will be the only true God from now on, forever. There is no one who can deliver from God’s power; no one can hinder God’s purpose.

New Christians are like newborn babies; they should desire and seek “pure spiritual milk” (the pure Gospel, as taught by Jesus and his original Apostles, and recorded in the Bible) so they can grow to spiritual maturity and salvation, having tasted the Lord’s kindness. Jesus is the fulfillment of scripture of the Messiah as the chosen and precious cornerstone in Zion (City of God; the Church; Isaiah 28:16). We are to come to him (Jesus, the cornerstone) and be built, like “living stones,” into the spiritual house of God. We are to be a nation of priests, offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.

To believers, Jesus is a jewel; a precious stone. But to unbelievers, who reject him, he is a “stumbling stone” who will trip them up and make them fall (Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 8:14-15).  Unbelievers will stumble and fall because they have not obeyed God’s Word and will suffer the consequences of disobedience. But God’s people “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9).

God’s people are to declare the wonderful works of God in bringing us out of the darkness of sin into the marvelous light of his righteousness. God has gathered a nation of God’s people from those who formerly did not belong to any one specific group. Once we were under God’s condemnation, but now, through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, we have received mercy.

Faith in Jesus does not conflict with faith in God, but enlarges our faith and knowledge of God. Freedom from fear and anxiety are only possible through faith in God the Father through Jesus Christ. Jesus promised his disciples that he was leaving them (by dying physically on the Cross) to prepare a place for them in eternity. Jesus promised to return for his disciples to take them to be with him in his eternal kingdom.

Jesus told the disciples that they knew where Jesus was going and the way. Thomas did not understand where Jesus was going so he thought he couldn’t possibly know how to get there. So Jesus told him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). He went on to explain that those who have come to personally know, “see,” and fellowship with Jesus have known, “seen,” and fellowshipped with God.

God alone is God. God knew the consequences of creating mankind with free will and made provision for it from the beginning of Creation. The universe was created by the Word of God, which declares that the penalty for sin (disobedience of God’s Word) is eternal death (Romans 6:23). All have sinned and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10).

God’s purpose has always been to create an eternal kingdom of his people who will trust and obey God. God’s purpose for this life is to provide an opportunity for us to seek and come to know, trust and obey God (Acts 17:26-27). This life is a selection process for eternity.

Jesus has been God’s only plan for our salvation from the beginning of Creation (John 1:1-5, 14; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). It’s God’s way or the highway to Hell and eternal destruction; it’s the narrow way to God and eternal life through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ, or the broad way that leads to eternal condemnation and destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). No one can deliver us from God’s power, and no one can thwart God’s purpose.

New Christians (no matter how long they have been “church members” or nominal “Christians”) are to seek spiritual nurture by reading the Bible and by being discipled by disciples who have been filled with the Holy Spirit. They are to spend time in daily Bible reading, prayer and fellowship with the Lord. They are to seek the gift of the Holy Spirit and then grow to spiritual maturity and salvation through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It is by the Holy Spirit that we come to personal knowledge and fellowship with the Lord, and through whom we experience the kindness and love of the Lord. It is through the indwelling Holy Spirit that our minds are opened to understand the scriptures, through whom we come to know God’s individual will for our life, and through whom we are empowered to carry out his will and mission (John 16:13; John 14:26). It is through the indwelling Holy Spirit that we experience and are empowered to declare the wonderful works of God.

The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that we are in Christ and have eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). It is possible for one to know with certainty whether one has received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2).  

The Church is built of “living stones”, “born again” Christian disciples (John 3:3, 5-8), founded on obedient trust in Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, who are led and empowered by his Holy Spirit and who are one spiritual body in the Lord through his indwelling Spirit. We are to be a kingdom of priests carrying on Christ’s ministry of reconciliation and salvation to the world. Only disciples who have been “born-again” by the gift of the Holy Spirit can testify to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Faith in Jesus does not conflict with faith in God. It is only through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus that we can come to God and know, “see” and have fellowship with God, through the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 10:22). Jesus is God made visible in human flesh (Matthew 1:23b; Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28). Jesus is the truth, and Jesus the only source of salvation and eternal life (John 14:6). Jesus gave up his physical life by dying on the Cross, as a sacrifice to God, to provide our forgiveness and salvation, so that we could live eternally with him in his heavenly kingdom.

We should be willing to surrender and live our earthly lives to him, so that we can carry on his ministry of forgiveness and salvation. Jesus’ disciples knew where Jesus was going because they believed and had come to know that Jesus was from God. They knew the way to God because they knew, trusted and obeyed Jesus.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

2 Easter  - Monday

Daniel 1:1-21,   Daniel and his friends
1 John 1:1-10,     Right attitude toward sin
John 17:1-11     Jesus’ high priestly prayer

Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon attacked Jerusalem in the third year (606 B.C.) of King Jehoiakim of Judah. The Lord allowed Nebuchadnezzar to capture Jehoiakim and some of the sacred vessels of the temple which he took to Babylon (a.k.a. Shinar). He placed the sacred vessels of God in the treasury of the temple of Marduk, the idol of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar commanded his chief eunuch to bring educated young men from the royalty and nobility of Judah to be trained in the Chaldean language of the Babylonian empire. These youths were to be trained for three years, and fed with the rich food and wine of the king so that they would be and look healthy. After their training they were to serve the King.

Among them were Daniel and three other youths from the tribe of Judah. They were given Babylonian names. Daniel was called Belteshazzar and the other three were called Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego.

Daniel was determined not to violate Jewish dietary laws by eating the food of the King, so he asked the chief of eunuchs to allow him to avoid defiling himself by eating forbidden foods. God blessed Daniel by giving him favor and compassion from the chief of eunuchs. The chief of eunuchs’ concern was that if Daniel appeared weaker and less healthy than the other youths, it might cost the chief his life.

The chief of eunuchs had appointed a steward over Daniel and his companions, and Daniel persuaded him to allow a test by giving them only vegetables and water, and then comparing them with the rest of the youths who were fed the King’s rich food and wine. At the end of ten days, it was obvious that they were healthier and stronger than those who had ate the king’s diet, so the steward allowed them to continue to eat vegetables and water.

The Lord blessed Daniel and his three companions with learning, skill and wisdom, and Daniel was able to interpret dreams and visions. At the end of their training the chief of eunuchs brought them before King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel and his three friends excelled beyond any of the other of the King’s advisors. They were found to be ten times wiser than all the magicians and enchanters of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. Daniel continued to serve Nebuchadnezzar until the first year (538 B.C.) of King Cyrus of Persia, almost seventy years after Daniel had been brought to Babylon.

The Gospel, the word of (eternal) life, which existed from the beginning (of Creation; John 1:1-5, 14) was witnessed and attested to (in the New Testament Scriptures) by the original Apostles. Jesus reveals and fulfills God’s Word of eternal life, and the Apostles heard, saw, and touched, and now proclaim it to us, so that we may have fellowship with God the Father, and with the disciples through God’s Son, Jesus Christ. John wrote this so that our joy, both his and ours, would be complete.

The Gospel message is that God is the “light” of spiritual knowledge, truth and righteousness; there is absolutely no “darkness” (evil; wickedness) in God at all. Those who claim to have fellowship with God while doing evil and wickedness are liars who do not live according to the truth. But those who live according to God’s righteousness have fellowship with the disciples of Jesus Christ, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

“If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make (call) him (God) a liar, and his word is not in us" (1 John 1:8-10).

On the night Jesus was betrayed, Jesus had comforted his disciples in preparation for his separation from them by his physical death on the Cross.  Then he prayed for his fulfillment of God’s will through Jesus’ perfect obedience unto death on the Cross, and for his disciples who would be left in the world after Jesus’ ascension.

Jesus acknowledged that the hour of his death had come, and asked that God would glorify Jesus, so that Jesus could glorify God. God has given Jesus power and authority over all mankind, to give eternal life to all who God had given to Jesus [those who come to Jesus in faith (obedient trust)]. Eternal life is in knowing God personally as the only true God, as God is revealed to us through our personal fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ, whom God has sent, through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit.

Jesus glorified God during his earthly ministry which was now about to be completed, and now asked to be restored to the glory of God’s presence which he had before Creation. Jesus has revealed God’s name (his character, power and authority) to those who God has given him (those who trust and obey Jesus; who obey God’s Word). They have believed and know that everything Jesus has done and said is from God. They have believed that Jesus came from God, by God’s will and command. Jesus prayed specifically for his disciples, who belong to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus’ prayer is that his disciples will be one in the Holy Spirit as Jesus and God the Father are one in the Holy Spirit.

God’s Word prophesying seventy years of exile of Judah (the remnant of Israel) in Babylon, because of Judah’s disobedience of God, was fulfilled (Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10)! In exile in Babylon, Daniel made a personal commitment to obey God’s Word, and God was faithful and blessed Daniel as Daniel fulfilled his commitment. Daniel trusted that the Word of God was in his best interest, and by living according to God’s Word he proved it. As Daniel began to live according to God’s Word, God prospered him above Daniel’s peers, and enabled Daniel to keep God’s commandments.

Jesus has demonstrated for us the truth of God’s Word. God’s plan of salvation through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ has been built into Creation (John 1:1-5, 14). From the beginning God has foreseen the consequences of giving mankind free will. God’s plan from the beginning of Creation has been to build an eternal kingdom of God’s people who trust and obey God’s Word.

This lifetime is an opportunity for us to seek and find God (Acts 17:26-27) and to learn to walk in obedience to him through the Holy Spirit. Temporal life is a selection process for eternity. Jesus set the perfect example of obedience to God’s Word, and demonstrated through his resurrection, which was witnessed by over five hundred people (1 Corinthians 15:3-8), the truth of God’s Word and the reality of eternal life.

God created the universe by his Word, which declares that the penalty for sin (disobedience of God’s Word) is eternal death (Romans 6:23). All have sinned and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23). Jesus Christ is God’s only plan for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12: John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). The Apostles witnessed Jesus’ resurrection and attest to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to the reality of the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the only way to forgiveness and eternal life in fellowship with God (John 14:6). Forgiveness and eternal life are the free gift of God to all who trust and obey Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). Only Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33-34). Jesus only gives his Holy Spirit to his disciples who trust and obey him (Isaiah 42:5e; John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and the guarantee that we are in Christ and have eternal life ((2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). It is possible for one to know with certainty whether one has received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2).

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
 

Daniel 2:1-16,     The king’s dream
1 John 2:1-11,     Love and obedience
John 17:12-19      Jesus’ prayer for his disciples

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a dream which troubled him so much that he was unable to sleep, so he summoned the seers and diviners of his kingdom and they assembled before him. The king commanded them to tell the king what he had dreamed (as a test of whether they were able to discern the occult, so that the king would know if their interpretation was reliable) and then to give the king the interpretation of the meaning of the dream.

The Chaldeans (the group of wise men who dwelt in the kingdom, as distinguished from Daniel and his three companions who were Judeans in exile; see entry for yesterday, Monday, 2 Easter, odd year) asked the king to tell them the dream and then they would give him the interpretation. But the king insisted that the wise men tell him what he had dreamed, and threatened to kill them and destroy their houses and families if they didn’t comply. He promised to reward them if they could tell him his dream and its interpretation.

Again the Chaldeans asked the king to first tell them the dream and then they would interpret it. Again the king refused, saying that they were stalling, lying to the king “until the times change,” (Daniel 2:9; trying to put off execution for their failure to do as the king had demanded). Then the wise men told the king that there is no human on earth who could do what the king had demanded. “The thing that the king asks is difficult, and none can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh” (Daniel 2:11).

The message from John was written to encourage the spiritual growth of its readers, and to warn against and correct false doctrine creeping into the Church. Christians are not to deliberately engage in sin, but if we sin unintentionally, Jesus is our advocate, who pleads with God on our behalf for our forgiveness. Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins, and for the sins of the whole world.

Those who know and are in Christ are those who obey Jesus’ commandments. Those who claim to know and be in Christ, but disobey Jesus’ teachings are liars, and do not know the truth. Our love for God is revealed and measured by our obedience to his Word.

Those who truly abide in Jesus will live in accordance with Jesus’ teachings. The commandment to love one another is not a new commandment. It is the basis of the Law which God gave to Moses, but it is always fresh and current, and it has new power and meaning since the coming of Christ.

The darkness of sin, despair and death is now giving way to the light of real, eternal life, hope and righteousness (through Jesus). Those who claim to be enlightened by Christ and yet hate their brother still abide in darkness, but those who love one another abide in Christ’s light, which keeps us from stumbling. Those who hate one another are in darkness, and they do not know where they are going, because their (spiritual) eyes are blinded by the darkness.

On the night of Jesus’ betrayal, he prayed for his disciples. While he was physically with them in his earthly ministry, Jesus had kept them in God’s name (in true faith in God’s character, power and authority). Now Jesus would no longer be physically present with them, and prayed that they would have Jesus’ joy (the joy of Jesus victory over sin and death) fulfilled in them.

Jesus had illustrated and taught God’s Word. The world opposes God’s Word, and hates Jesus’ disciples as the world has hated Jesus, because they have not conformed to the ways of the world. Jesus prays that, although they must remain in the world to carry on Christ’s mission of forgiveness and salvation, that they would be protected from evil. Jesus prayed that his disciples would be sanctified (purified and set apart, dedicated to God’s service) through faith (obedient trust) in God’s Word.

Jesus has given them the commission to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, as God had sent Jesus. Jesus consecrates himself to God’s will so that his disciples will also be consecrated through obedient trust in God’s Word.

The Chaldean wise men, although they didn’t know God, realized that only God could do what Nebuchadnezzar demanded. They trusted in idols, which couldn’t do anything; which didn’t even have human ability. Their “gods” were remote; they didn’t dwell with humans. The Chaldean wise men were willing to give the king “spiritual guidance” according to worldly wisdom.

The Lord is the God who truly is God. He’s not remote and indifferent to our needs. God gave us his Word through his personal relationship with the Patriarchs and prophets of Israel, to give us spiritual guidance according to divine wisdom (1 Corinthians1:18-25; 2:6-8) and he sent Jesus Christ, his Son, God in human flesh (Matthew 1:23; Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28) to live and teach among us, by word and example, in fulfillment and the personification of God's Word (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise of forgiveness and salvation which has been God’s plan from the beginning of Creation (See God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right; also see entry for yesterday, Monday, 2 Easter, odd year).  

Those who know and are in Christ are those who trust and obey Jesus’ teachings, because Jesus gives the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit only to his disciples who trust and obey him (Isaiah 42:5e; John 14:15-17). It is through the indwelling Holy Spirit that we have personal knowledge and fellowship with Jesus and God the Father. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that we are in Christ and have eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Through the indwelling Holy Spirit the Lord is not only with us but within us, personally and individually, giving us direct and personal spiritual guidance.

Spiritual growth is the process of discipleship by which Christians become “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8), beginning with a commitment to trust and obey Jesus. As disciples begin to fulfill that commitment, first learning what Jesus teaches, and beginning to apply those teachings, one by one, day by day, they receive the gift of the Spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit is source of enlightenment and empowerment who opens our spiritual eyes to understand God’s Word, recall his teachings to our remembrance and make it possible for us to “walk” in Jesus’ way without stumbling. Jesus himself disciples us, individually, by his indwelling Holy Spirit.

It is the indwelling Holy Spirit who purifies us and guides and empowers us to serve God and carry out Christ’s mission in our world. Those who trust and obey God’s Word will receive what God promises. It is through the indwelling Holy Spirit that we experience the love, joy and power of the Lord within us. The Holy Spirit reveals God’s personal and individual will and guidance for each of us, and keeps us in true faith in God through Jesus Christ.

The king of the universe wants us to obey his commands. He has the power of eternal life or eternal death over us. We cannot meet God’s expectations and cannot be saved except through Jesus Christ, Emmanuel (“God with us”). Are we trying to stall the king, trying to prolong our lives ourselves and avoid execution, hoping that times will change? Are we trusting some other “god” for our salvation? Do we trust and obey human masters more than we trust and obey the Lord?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

2 Easter  - Wednesday

 first posted 04/05/05

Daniel 2:17-30,    Dream revealed to Daniel
1 John 2:12-17,     True relationship to God and world
John 17:20-26     Jesus’ prayer for the Church

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had decided to kill all the wise men who had been his advisors, because they had been unable to tell Nebuchadnezzar what he had dreamed (see entry for yesterday, Tuesday, 2 Easter, odd year). When Daniel learned this he asked for an appointment with the king to tell him his dream. Then he went to his home and told his three companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to pray that God would have mercy on them and reveal the dream to them, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the wise men of Babylon.

God revealed the dream to Daniel in a vision at night. Daniel praised God for God’s wisdom and God's power to bestow wisdom and knowledge on people. God is Lord of time and seasons. He raises up kings, and he removes them. God knows deep and mysterious things, even those things which are hidden in darkness, since God is the creator and possessor of light.

Daniel thanked God for giving him wisdom and strength, and for God’s faithfulness in answering Daniel’s prayer. Daniel told the man whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon that he knew the king’s dream and its interpretation, and the man brought Daniel to the king in haste.

The king asked if Daniel could tell him the dream, and Daniel answered that no human could know the answer by worldly wisdom or occult practices, but God in Heaven knows and reveals mysteries and had revealed to Daniel the king’s dream.

By the king’s dream God revealed what would happen in the future. Daniel told the king that it was not because Daniel was greater than other people in any way, but so that God could make known to the king what would happen in latter days.

John’s message was written to Christians to encourage their spiritual growth, and to refute false doctrine arising within the Church. The author addressed the entire congregation as little children, including the "fathers" who are spiritually mature and the "young men" who are earnest new Christians. All believers have God's forgiveness for Jesus' sake. The mature Christians have come to a personal relationship with Jesus. The new believers have overcome Satan by accepting Jesus. The congregation knows the father (because they have accepted Jesus, his son). The mature have known Jesus personally (through the indwelling Holy Spirit). The new believers are strong because the Word of God abides in them, and they have overcome Satan (by accepting Jesus as their Lord).

We cannot love God and also love the world and worldly things, because the ways and things of the world are contrary to God’s ways. The things of the world which conflict with God’s Word involve sinful physical gratification, impure mental or emotional delight, and idolatrous reliance on self and material possessions (1 John 2:16; compare Genesis 3:6). This world and worldly lusts will pass away, but those who do God’s will abide for eternity in him.

On the night of Jesus’ betrayal, he prayed for himself, his disciples, and then for the Church. He prayed for all who would believe in Jesus through his disciples, that they would be unified by the indwelling Holy Spirit, so that they would be in Christ and Christ in them as Jesus and the Father are one in the Holy Spirit, so that the world may believe that God had sent Jesus, and realize the love of God (in Jesus and through the Holy Spirit) for the world. 

Jesus prayed that those who believe in him might be with him eternally and see Jesus’ glory which God gave him before the world was created. Mankind has not known God, but Jesus knows God and his disciples have believed and have come to know that Jesus has been sent by God. Jesus has revealed God’s name (his character, power and authority, and love), and Jesus will continue to reveal God (in Jesus’ death and resurrection, and personally and individually by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit).

True wisdom is the wisdom of God, not what the world falsely calls wisdom (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 2:6-7). God has the power to bestow his wisdom and knowledge and it is his desire to do so. He will give us his wisdom and knowledge if we will listen attentively and trust his Word. God is Lord of time and seasons. He alone knows what will happen in the future, and he wants us to know, and has been revealing it progressively since the beginning of Creation.

The Bible is God’s Word through which God first gives his divine wisdom and knowledge. Reading the Bible is the place to start to grow spiritually, and to recognize and avoid false doctrines. Christians are “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciples of Jesus Christ. Discipleship is not “optional,” and neither is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not automatically conferred by Baptism, Communion ("The Lord's Supper;" the Eucharist) or by Church membership. Those who believe in Jesus receive the power (the promise) to become children of God (John 1:12), born by the Spirit (John 1:13), and they receive the fulfillment as they trust and obey Jesus. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the ultimate source of God’s wisdom and knowledge, because he opens our minds to understand God’s Word, the Scriptures (Luke 24:45), and reveals God’s will to us personally and directly.

The Church is not only to preach the Gospel but to "disciple" new Christians. Christ’s ministry was to make disciples, and then send his disciples out to make other disciples, carrying on Jesus’ ministry in the world. The Church needs to have mature, “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciples of Jesus Christ to disciple new Christians. It takes a born-again disciple to make born-again disciples.

Jesus gave his “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:19-20) to his disciples to fulfill, after they had personally experienced the risen Jesus and after they had received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:3-5). Once disciples have been “born-again” the Lord himself continues to disciple them to spiritual maturity.

Jesus prayed for his Church, that those who believed in Jesus through his disciples’ testimony would be unified by the indwelling Holy Spirit in the same way that Jesus and God the Father were one through God’s Spirit in Jesus. Jesus had revealed God the Father to his disciples in what Jesus said and did during his earthly ministry. He revealed even more of God through his death and resurrection. The fullest revelation of God through Jesus is by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, through whom we personally experience God's love.

God has been progressively revealing himself to us through his Word and his prophets, then his Son; and the ultimate revelation of himself in this world is within us by his indwelling Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that we are in Christ and have eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

The Lord has revealed and wants us to know what is going to happen in the “latter days,” at the end of this age. This life is preparation for eternal life. It’s our only opportunity to seek and come to personal knowledge of God (Acts 17:26-27) through Jesus Christ by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey him (Isaiah 42:5e, John 14:15-17).

There is a Day of Judgment coming when every one who has ever lived will be accountable for what he has done in this life (John 5:28:29; Matthew 25:31-46). All have sinned (disobeyed God's Word) and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23) in Hell with all evil. God loves us and doesn’t want anyone to perish, but to have eternal life with him in Heaven (John 3:16-17). Jesus came and died for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to die eternally for them ourselves (Romans 5:8).

Forgiveness and salvation (from eternal death) are a free gift, to be received by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, not by works (good deeds; Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus is God’s only plan for our salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

Do you know and believe God’s Word? Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
 

2 Easter - Thursday

2 Easter  Friday

Daniel 3:1-18,     Nebuchadnezzar’s idol
1 John 3:1-10,    God’s children
Luke 3:15-22     The baptism of Jesus

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a large gold-plated idol about ninety feet tall set up on a plain in the province of Babylon. All of the officials of his kingdom were assembled for the dedication of the idol and were commanded that all the people of the kingdom were to fall down and worship the idol daily whenever they heard the sound of music. Anyone who did not worship the idol would be immediately thrown into a fiery furnace (kiln).

Shortly thereafter some Chaldeans (citizens of Babylon) maliciously accused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, (Jews who were in exile in Babylon who had been appointed to leadership in the province of Babylon; Daniel 2:49), of disobeying the decree to worship the idol.

Nebuchadnezzar was furious and ordered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego brought before him, and he asked them if it was true that they didn’t worship Nebuchadnezzar’s gods or the idol which he had set up. Nebuchadnezzar told them if they weren’t willing to worship his gods and the idol they would be thrown into the fiery furnace.

Nebuchadnezzar asked them what god would be able to deliver them from Nebuchadnezzar’s punishment. The three replied that they would not worship Nebuchadnezzar’s gods or the idol, and if he ordered their execution their God would deliver them from the furnace and from Nebuchadnezzar’s power.

God loves us and wants us to be his children, which we are. The world does not recognize us as God’s children because the world does not know God. We are God’s children now; we don’t know what we will be when the Lord appears, except that we will be like him, and will see his true nature.

Those who hope in the Lord are being purified so that we will be pure like him. Every one who sins is guilty of lawlessness, because sin is disobedience of God’s laws. Jesus came to do away with sin, and he is sinless. So no one who abides in Jesus continues to abide in sin. Those who persist in sin have not seen or known Jesus.

Don’t be deceived; Jesus is righteous and those who desire to be righteous must follow his example. Those who continue deliberately in sin are children of Satan, because sin is Satan’s nature. Jesus came into the world to destroy the works of Satan. No one who is truly born of God (“born-again” by his indwelling Holy Spirit; John 3:3, 5-8) continues to abide in sin because God’s nature abides in him and he cannot continue in sin because he is guided by God’s nature (compare 1 John 5:18). So we can tell who are children of God and who are children of Satan; those who do not live according to God’s Word or do not love their brother are not born of God.

The people of Israel were living in expectation of the coming of the Messiah, so they wondered whether John the Baptist might be the Christ (Messiah). John told them that John’s baptism was with water (for repentance; to prepare them for the coming Messiah), but the Christ who was coming would be much greater than John. The Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 19:2-6).

John described Christ’s role as a spiritual winnower harvesting “wheat” and separating grain from chaff. The grain will be gathered into his granary, but the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire.

John preached “Good News,” the Gospel of forgiveness and restoration of fellowship with God. But Herod had John arrested and imprisoned because John had rebuked Herod for marrying Herod’s brother’s wife and other evil things, and Herod added to them the imprisonment of John.

Jesus was baptized by John along with a crowd from the surrounding area, and after the baptism,  the Holy Spirit in the bodily form of a dove descended upon Jesus and a voice from Heaven declared , “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22; compare John 1:32-34).  

No matter how big we make our idols, no matter how much importance or how much value we attach to them, they cannot save us or deliver us from the fiery furnace of Hell. Idolatry is allowing anyone or anything to become more important to us than the Lord. Only God, through our faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ, can save us and deliver us from eternal destruction.

God’s Word declares that we have all sinned (disobeyed God’s Word) and fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23). The penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). Jesus’ is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trusted and obeyed God’s word instead of going along with the worldly society they lived among, and God delivered them from their enemy and from death.

In a sense we are all God’s children, because he is our Creator. But the true children of God are those who have been “born-again” by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus. The world doesn’t recognize the children of God, because they do not know God. They may claim to know and believe God, but if they did they would recognize that Jesus is God’s Son.

Jesus is the only way to come to God and know God (John 14:6). Similarly, there are those who claim to be Christian but who don’t know, trust and obey Jesus. There are those who claim to be “born-again” but who have not been filled with the Holy Spirit because they aren’t willing to be disciples of Jesus and trust and obey him. What we do reveals what we believe.

John’s ministry was to herald the coming of the Messiah, and to prepare the people to receive the Messiah by calling them to repent and turn to the Lord and by baptizing them with water for the forgiveness of sins. Those who responded and were baptized were then ready to receive the physical coming of the Messiah, who was revealed to John when Jesus had been baptized by him.

Jesus’ ministry was to provide the forgiveness of our sins by his sacrificial death on the Cross, to reveal the reality of the Resurrection and life beyond the grave, and to baptize his disciples with the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

John's ministry prepared people to receive Jesus, and only those who receive Jesus, who become his disciples and trust and obey Jesus, receive his indwelling Holy Spirit (Isaiah 42:5e; John 14:15-17).

This process is still going on today. Christians are calling people to repentance in preparation to receive Jesus and become his disciples through hearing and reading the Gospel, and then as disciples of Jesus, to be filled with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that we are in Christ and have eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

This life is a selection process for life in his eternal kingdom. It is a spiritual harvest, and Jesus is the winnower who will separate the “wheat” from the “chaff” on the Day of Judgment (John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

John preached “Good News:” God’s forgiveness of sins and restoration to personal fellowship and eternal life with him through obedient trust in Jesus Christ, through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit. Some people responded by their repentance and return to obedience to God’s word. Some people responded with hatred and refusal to obey God, adding that to their other sins (Luke 3:19-20; compare John 3:17-18). How have we responded?

Jesus is coming again. We are called to repent and to turn to God in obedience so that we can receive forgiveness and eternal life with God through Jesus Christ, through his indwelling Holy Spirit.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?  
 

2 Easter Saturday

Daniel 3:19-30,    The fiery furnace
1 John 3:11-18,     Love of the brethren
Luke 4:1-13      Jesus’ temptation

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Jews in exile in Babylon. Even though threatened with death in a fiery furnace (a kiln) they refused to worship the golden idol which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. They had declared that their God would deliver them from the fire and from Nebuchadnezzar’s power. Nebuchadnezzar was furious at their refusal, and he ordered the furnace heated hotter than usual, and he had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego bound fully clothed and thrown into the fire.

The furnace was so hot that the guards who threw the men into the fire were killed by the heat.  The king watched them thrown into the fire, and saw them walking in the fire with a fourth person, who was described as a “son of the gods.”  

Nebuchadnezzar went near to the furnace and called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to come forth out of the fire. All the leaders of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom were gathered and they witnessed that the three Jews came out of the fire unscathed. Their hair wasn’t singed, and their clothes didn’t even smell of fire. Then Nebuchadnezzar praised the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who had sent his angel to deliver them from the fire because they trusted in God and had refused to worship any other god.

Nebuchadnezzar decreed that anyone who spoke against God would be torn limb from limb and their houses destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that only God could have delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in this way.

God’s command from the beginning has been for us to love one another, and not follow the example of Cain, who murdered his brother. Cain murdered his brother Abel, because Abel’s deeds were righteous and Cain’s were evil.

Christians should not be surprised that the world hates us. Those who love their brothers have passed from death to life. Those who hate their brothers are murderers and do not have eternal life abiding in them but remain spiritually dead.

Genuine love sacrifices one’s life for his brethren, as Christ gave his life for us.  If someone has material things and sees his brother in need, but does not help his brother, he does not have God’s love abiding in him. Christians are to truly love others with love that manifests itself by our deeds, not merely claiming to love without the deeds of love, or by claiming to love but doing what is unloving.

Jesus had received the Holy Spirit from God at his baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River (Luke 3:21-22; Matthew 3:13-17). Jesus, “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1) came from his baptism in the Jordan and was led by the Holy Spirit for forty days in the wilderness.

When the forty days were past, Jesus was hungry, and Satan tempted Jesus, saying that if Jesus were really God’s Son Jesus could command the stones in the wilderness and change them into bread. Jesus answered him by quoting Scripture: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Satan showed Jesus a vision of all the kingdoms of the world, and offered all their authority and glory if Jesus would worship Satan. Jesus again quoted scripture: “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve (Deuteronomy 6:13).

Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and Satan quoted scripture, telling Jesus that if he were really the Son of God he should prove it by throwing himself off the temple, because scripture promised that God’s angels would protect Jesus and catch him as he fell, to keep him from being injured. Jesus again quoted scripture: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:16). Satan had no further temptations, and left Jesus until a more opportune time (to try again).

Christians are God’s people in exile in the “Babylon” of this world. The present ruler and “god” of this world is Satan, but he is not going to “reign” forever. Satan will try anything to get us to serve him and to destroy us.

One of his strategies is to convince us that he does not exist. If that doesn’t work he will reveal himself and try to convince us that he will make us rich and powerful, or fulfill any other worldly desire. The fiery furnace is Hell.

If we serve the “gods” of this world, Hell is where we will wind up. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the only one who can deliver us from Satan’s power and eternal destruction in the fire of Hell. We must trust in Jesus and refuse to serve the “gods” of this world if we want to escape the fiery furnace and the power of Satan.

Jesus summarized all God’s commandments into two: Love God, and love one another (Matthew 22:37-40). Cain represents worldly people, the children of Satan, and Abel represents the children of God. Cain hated Abel because Abel’s deeds were righteous and Cain’s deeds were evil. We are all born sinful (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), like Cain. Abel chose to worship and serve God. Cain chose to follow his sinful nature. The penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23).

Jesus Christ is our example of God’s love abiding in him. Jesus loved us and gave his life for us, so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God and live eternally with him (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Through trust and obedience to Jesus we receive the gift of his Holy Spirit abiding in us (John 14:15-17).

The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that we are in Christ and have eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit we personally experience God’s love in us, and are guided and empowered to love one another. Through the Holy Spirit we are transformed from Cain into Abel.

Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit by God at his baptism by John, and was guided by the Holy Spirit through the wilderness for forty days. Jesus’ wilderness experience, led by the Holy Spirit, recalls the forty years of Israel’s wilderness wandering, led by the Lord in the pillar of fire in the darkness (Exodus 13:21-22).

At the end of forty days, Satan tempted Jesus with the desires of the flesh (hunger), the desires of the eyes (worldly possessions) and human pride (to prove himself to be the Son of God; compare Genesis 3:6; 1 John 2:16 ). Jesus answered and resisted each temptation by quoting God’s Word from scripture. Satan also knows God’s Word, and he tried to use it by taking it out of context, but Jesus replied with scripture putting it in context.

The Lord wants us to trust and obey him, and he wants to give us the gift of his Holy Spirit to lead us through this wilderness and the spiritual darkness of this world. Jesus was tempted just as we are, but without sinning. We can resist and conquer the temptations of this world by knowing and applying God’s Word as Jesus did.

Satan can quote scripture; we need to know God’s Word as well as Satan does. If we have read God’s Word and have received the indwelling Holy Spirit, the Spirit will help us understand the Bible, and will recall to our minds appropriate scriptures to enable us to resist temptation and to serve the Lord. If we resist the temptations of this world and trust and obey the Lord he will help us and deliver us from the trials of this life and the fiery furnace in eternity.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?