Month: April 2016

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Why Did Jesus Have To Leave?

7th April

“But now I am going to the One who sent Me….Instead you grieve because of what I’ve told you. But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate (Holy Spirit) won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send Him to you.”

John 16:5-7

(Holy Spirit added)

A question that is often asked is ‘why did Jesus have to leave?’ To answer this question we simply need to look at Jesus’ own words, found here in John 16. If Jesus stayed in His physical body on Earth after His resurrection, then the Holy Spirit would not have been given to the believers. One of the Holy Spirit’s roles according to Jesus’ words in John, was to “convict the world of it’s sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgement”. It sounds intense, yet it is because we have been convicted of our sins that we can have an opportunity to be made right before God, through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, bringing us into a relationship with the Father. If the Holy Spirit was not sent, then we would never know the Father because we would remain dead in our sins.

On top of that, Jesus had to return to the Father to complete the purpose of His coming. For He is now “sitting in the place of honour at God’s right hand, pleading for us” (interceding for us) Romans 8:34. That is why Jesus came. He came to be the substitution for our sins and our great High Priest who continually pleads our innocence in front of the Father, using His own life as a sacrifice for our debt.

Yet there is more good news. Jesus in His bodily form ascended to Heaven, yet His presence still remains with us. In fact He lives in us. Jesus Himself said that when ‘two or three gather in My Name, I will be there in the midst of you’. The Apostle Paul in the book of Galatians also says that, “..it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

Let us rejoice that Jesus ascended, sent the Holy Spirit and lives as our High Priest at the right hand of the Father. Let us also rejoice that Christ lives in us and we are carriers of His light and love to all. Finally, let us look forward to Jesus’ coming once again!

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The Great Commission Includes Us All

6th April

“Jesus came and told His disciples, “I have been given all authority in Heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach the new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.”

Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew records, in his account of Jesus’ last days, what is probably the most famous of Jesus’ last words to His disciples. Yet the most exciting thing from this passage is that it includes us too. We too are also commissioned to go into the world and make disciples for Christ. Yet so often we reserve this particular passage for ‘missionaries’ who are being sent across the world to serve in gospel-deprived nations. The NLT translation of this text is so inclusive. It doesn’t say go to the nations and make disciples, rather it says make disciples of all nations. This is a more inclusive translation and when we think about it, in actual fact we can be God’s witnesses wherever we are. The rich man in our workplace who thinks he has life sorted because of his growing wealth and status on this earth needs someone to show him Christ’s love as much as the deprived, malnourished child in the war zone of Sudan.

So what message do we bring to the nations? How do we make new disciples for Christ? Well, according to Jesus’ words, it is by teaching them to obey God’s commands; the summary Jesus gave of all the commandments were these: “Love the Lord your God above all else” and “love your neighbour as yourself“. If we follow and teach others these commandments, then surely people will come to know Jesus’ love through our lifestyle and witness of Him. In actual fact Jesus has commissioned us all to do this. Whether that is through the way we live our lives in replicating Jesus’ commands or whether we actually verbally teach it to others, we are all called to be witnesses of Christ’s commandments to the world.

Yet the key to this passage is not ‘living’ and ‘doing’ in our own strength and authority but in rather in the authority given to us through Jesus Christ, the risen and resurrected King. Because He lives, we too can access authority in His Name as the sons and daughters of His Kingdom. Jesus is now and forever with us “even until the end of the ages”. All we need to do is draw on His strength, be His witnesses to All Nations, and show them Christ’s love through word and deed.

Go into the world and make disciples for Him!!

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Forgive As You Have Been Forgiven

5th April

“Then He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.””

John 20:22-23

After Jesus’ resurrection, on the Sunday evening, Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples. After comforting them with peace, as they were afraid of being arrested by the Jewish leaders, Jesus breathed on them and gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples. Jesus then said the following words to His disciples…“If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Why did Jesus say these words? He could have easily said, ‘now that you are filled with the Holy Spirit, go and do signs and wonders, go and use all the gifts of the Holy Spirit to bring people to Me..!’ Yet Jesus chose to speak words of forgiveness, not to belittle the above as they are important characteristics of a Christian, but rather because forgiveness is the essence of our salvation and our walk with Christ and can only take place through the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus didn’t say these words to give us power to forgive each others sins as if we are taking over God’s place, because as we know, only God can forgive sins committed towards Him. He spoke these words to give us power over holding on to bitterness and the hurts that people’s actions have caused us, so that we can release them from what they did and ourselves from holding on to it. How can we do that? Because Jesus did exactly that for us on the cross. He completely forgave us and released us from the guilt and condemnation that our sin brings. If we are forgiven to such a great extent, then we should as graciously forgive those who do wrong towards us.

Jesus chose to say these words because on the cross, He defeated all pain, bitterness and anger and after His resurrection empowered us to forgive others by giving us the Holy Spirit, and setting us the perfect example; so just as we are forgiven by Him, so we must forgive others. When we let go of un-forgiveness, we can be set free to live in joy and freedom. Let us this day ask God to reveal who we need to forgive and release from bitterness.

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Simon, Simon

4th April

“Simon, Simon, satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”

Luke 22:31-32

Today’s passage is written straight after Jesus has just introduced ‘communion’ with His disciples. As He prepares His disciples for His death, Jesus tells Peter that he would deny Him three times, to which Peter vehemently disagrees with, “No!… Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny You!” (Mark 14:31). Yet Jesus’ prophecy was correct and Peter did indeed deny Jesus three times. Yet what is interesting is the fact that Jesus was already planning Peter’s reconciliation before he had even denied Jesus. “..So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” How utterly incredible is this verse. Jesus didn’t say ‘if’ you come back to Me but ‘when’ you come back to me. Jesus knew that Peter would deny Him. He knew, despite Peter’s protests. He knew, despite the passion and vigour of Peter’s faith. And yet He still did not reject Peter but made a way for Him to come back to Him.

The Bible is full of stories where God is already paving the way for sinners to come back to Him, even before they have sinned. This highlights God’s character and God’s plans for our lives. He wants us to be saved and He gives us every opportunity to help us realise we have made a mistake and every opportunity to come back to Him. He wants us to have a relationship with Him, so much so, that He gave His Only Son in our place. It’s never too late to turn back to Him. He has already made a reconciliation plan for you.

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Victory In Resurrection

2nd & 3rd April

Weekend Edition

“Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea.”

2 Corinthians 11:24-25

The death of many of Jesus’ disciples has long been a talking point for Christian’s and non-Christians alike. Although there are not many ‘full and detailed’ stories of their deaths in the Bible, we can from historical documentation know how some of them died. Take Peter for example; many say that he did not feel worthy of dying the same way as Jesus, so he asked to be crucified upside down. Other disciples were either stoned, beaten to death and some even be-headed. The one account in the Bible, is of James, John’s brother, killed by the sword as described in Acts 12 verse 2. The Apostle Paul also talks of his many beatings and close encounters with death found in 2 Corinthians 11. So what makes what Jesus did so important, if many other people suffered the same fate as Him, or even worse physical pain?

It is the fact that on Him, lay every sin we have ever done and will ever do. As Peter says in his letter found in 1 Peter 2:24, “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.” That is the key. It is by His wounds that we find complete spiritual and physical healing. It is because an innocent man’s blood paid the price for our guilty sins. As nobel as the other disciple’s deaths were, their deaths were not to pay for our sins. Only Jesus’ was.

Even more incredible, is that Jesus didn’t stay dead. He rose again and by doing so, defeated sin and death once and for all. He destroyed the power of death, He destroyed the power of the enemy, and He once and for all, made it possible that we can be completely forgiven for our sins. It was Jesus that had to die for us, suffer for us and be resurrected for us. And it is only through Jesus’ death and resurrection that we have victory.

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Jesus Did Indeed Rise Again

1st April

“He was buried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the scripture said. He was seen by Peter and then by the twelve. After that, He was seen by more than 500 of His followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then He was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw Him.”

1 Corinthians 15:4-8

Why do so many people doubt Jesus’ resurrection? This is one of the most clearest scriptures in the whole of the Bible regarding Jesus’ appearances after His resurrection, which clearly states that Jesus is alive and was seen by many. How can we deny these facts? This living proof, a letter written by a real person, in a real context, in a real world, by real eye witnesses to the fact that Jesus did indeed rise again. This is historical ‘primary’ evidence. This is historical, first hand accounts of people who had seen Jesus after His resurrection. The grave was broken, the result of sin nullified and death has been rendered ‘defeated‘.

If Jesus didn’t rise again then as Paul continues in his letter, “… all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless” (verse 14). Paul adds that “.. if Christ has not been raised, then… you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost” (verse 17-18)! However, the hope of our salvation is that Jesus DID rise from the dead and now lives in complete victory over sin and the enemy. In addition, we also live in Christ’s resurrection power and His victory. We are forgiven because of Jesus’ resurrection. We are made alive because Jesus is alive!

“But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead…..!”

(verse 20a)