Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....October 26, 2020
We continue in our series on Hope Found Here and this week, our focus is on...Hope in the Cross.
If we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior we have the certain hope, the assurance, God has forgiven us of all our sins because of what Jesus has done on the Cross.
The dictionary defines hope as a feeling of expectation or a desire for certain things to happen.
As Christians, we have a hope in God that is steadfast and certain, we have a blessed assurance that God is faithful.
We have placed our hope and trust in Jesus Christ, He alone is our Lord, our Savior, our Deliverer, our Holy Healer, our Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, He is our coming King.
Jesus is the only one who can save us from our sins, He is the only one who can assure us of eternal life, Jesus is our only true and certain hope.
If we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we have the certain hope, the assurance, God has forgiven us of all our sins because of what Jesus has done on the Cross.
The cross is one of the earliest and most widely used images of Christianity. The cross of Jesus tells a story with one single picture,
Jesus has come to save the world, He lived, He died on the Cross, He rose from the grave, He ascended into Heaven and one day He has promised He will return again, this is the reality of the cross and our certain hope.
The cross provides us with hope on our journey through life.
The cross is a reminder of God’s great love for us.
The cross is a reminder of what Jesus endured for our salvation.
There are many passages in the Bible that speak of the importance of the cross and throughout the years many men and women of God have preached or written books on the importance of the Cross.
The minister and author John Piper, whom I read and follow religiously, wrote these words in his book Don’t Waste Your Life:
“Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. What was once foolishness to us—a crucified God—must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world.”
When I think of the Cross and what Jesus endured there for you and for me, what He willingly chose to go through for all people who would come to trust Him as their personal Lord and Saviour, I am amazed.
How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
When I think about what Jesus did for me on the cross, I am so thankful.
Jesus suffered and died a terrible death so that you and I, and all who accept the free gift of salvation, can be saved.
Jesus willingly died on the cross for you and for me. Our sins nailed Him to the Cross.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
Jesus paid the price for my sin on the cross, He sacrificed himself so that I could be redeemed.
I have been forgiven,
I have been saved,
I have been blessed,
I have been accepted by God,
I have been assured of a place in Heaven, because of what Jesus willingly did for me.
Jesus chose to go to the Cross, Jesus willingly laid down His life for your sin and mine.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Jesus died in our place, He defeated the power of sin, He conquered the power of death. Jesus was triumphant over all the forces of evil and death and hell.
What Jesus did at the cross assures us of the greatest hope of all, our sins forgiven, peace with God the Father, and the promise of eternal life for all who trust in Him as Savior and Lord.
2000 years ago the City of Corinth was known as a great center of intellectual excellence, yet the cross of Christ was a stumbling block to both the Jews and the Gentiles.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
2000 years later, and there are still many who think believing in Jesus is foolish. 2000 years later, and people still choose to reject Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
When Paul described what this message was, he said,“we preach that Christ was crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
We preach that Christ was crucified. This is the core of the Gospel, Jesus was crucified, He suffered, He bled, He died to save us from our sins.
To the people of Corinth the preaching of the cross was foolish nonsense. Paul told them, “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:25).
Foolish, the Greek word here is moria, which literally means “idiocy.” From this Greek word comes the word moron.
For the Corinthians, the idea of a world being saved by someone who had been crucified was foolishness.
The Corinthians were proud of their human wisdom, the Corinthians were boastful of their wisdom, they thought that there was nowhere else in the world that could compare to their philosophers and scholars.
They thought they knew it all, reminds me of many in the world today.
Yet, there were many in the Corinthian church, just as there are many in the world today, who by faith, accept the fact that Jesus was crucified on the cross for our sins. Our Hope is in our Savior who willingly went to the cross for us.
Romans 3:23 tells us, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
John 3:16-18, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”
Romans 5:6-8, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
In Galatians 2:20-21 the Apostle Paul wrote, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”
Because Christ was crucified for us, we have a certain Hope of our sins forgiven and our eternal salvation.
2,000 years ago The Apostle Paul said “We preach Christ crucified.” The world still needs to hear this message of hope, even more so, today. This message of hope, peace and forgiveness in Christ, the world may call it foolish but it is the wisdom of God.
“This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”
God sent His Son to die on the cross. God took all of your sins and all of my sins and laid them on Jesus.
Jesus became sin for us, His blood was shed for us, His body was broken for us. His life was given for you and me. Jesus took your death, your suffering, your punishment on the cross.
Because Jesus did all that the Bible says in Romans 8:1-2, “now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”
Because Jesus is my Savior, I will not be condemned. I will not be sentenced to the punishment my sin deserves. I will never see hell, I will spend eternity with God.
Why? Because I deserve it? No, because God the Father, in His love and His mercy, has said to me, “I forgive you, because you trust in my Son Jesus as your Lord and Savior.”
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
To quote Dr. Billy,“For the believer there is hope beyond the grave, because Jesus Christ has opened the door to heaven for us by His death and resurrection.”
This the power of the cross
Son of God slain for us
What a love, what a cost
We stand forgiven at the cross.
I will close with this, at the Cross of Christ we see God’s commitment to us, we see His unconditional love for us.
Read these words from Isaiah 53: “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. He was pierced for our rebellion, He was crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all.”
Jesus came to die and serve His Father by being a sacrifice for us, to pay the penalty for our sins, in Him we are forgiven, in Him we have the assurance of eternal life.
Just as He has promised to save us we have made a commitment to love Him, to follow Him and to serve Him.
In Mark 8:34 Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.”
We need to take up our cross and commit to following Jesus every day. Turn your life over to Him and let Him walk with you daily, hourly, minute by minute...Renew your commitment to give God your soul, your life, and your all for His honour and His Glory.
Our Certain Hope is in Christ and in His Sacrifice on the Cross for us. I love you all:)
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
His House....How would you respond to this....Be Honest!!
It was a cold Sunday morning when members started arriving at church, snow flakes had just fallen, people were rushing in to get inside. To the warmth, to the dry sanctuary.
As the members were walking in they were astonished to see a homeless person laying on the sidewalk by the front door. He was bent over all covered up with an old black trench coat, that had many holes in it. His shoes had holes in it and you could see his socks filthy from months of grime on them. The man had a black hat on that covered his face. His hands filthy with dirt from probably digging in a garbage can some thought.
As the members made their way into the sanctuary, they were all discussing how this horrible filthy man, had the nerve to sleep at THEIR church doors! Finally the pianist started playing and the members all sat down in their seats. They were all looking around, wondering where the Pastor could be. You could hear people whispering, saying, "Pastor Joe is probably telling that homeless man he needs to leave the property." "What would visitors think if they seen him."
All of a sudden, you could hear a gasp! The homeless man was walking down the middle of the church aisle, he made his way to the front, and then to the platform!!! When the homeless man got to the microphone. He said "Good morning, how are you all?" The homeless man was their Pastor Joe!
Not a word was said, no one moved all around. Even the pianist stopped playing.
Then Pastor Joe said, "Did any of you see Jesus outside this morning?" "He was cold, He was dirty, His clothes were filthy!" However no one asked Him into HIS house."
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
This week, in our tour of Religions from around the world, we look at.....Baha’i
The newest of what are generally considered world religions is Baha’i, which only began in the mid-nineteenth century. Although small, with about six million followers, in less than one hundred fifty years it has become a global and growing religion with adherents in almost every country.
Baha’i began in what is now Iran and was first seen as a sect of Shi’ite Islam. Shi’ites believe that one of the great imams of the past (some Shi’ites believe there were seven imams, others twelve) is still alive, in hiding, and one day will reveal himself as the Mahdi, who will bring worldwide peace and justice. In 1844, Ali Muhammad declared himself to be the twelfth imam and took the name Bab-ud-Din, meaning “Gate of Faith.” Great excitement and rejoicing turned to anger and persecution when Bab-ud-Din’s teachings turned out to be inconsistent with the Qur’an. He was executed in 1850, along with many of his followers, but predicted before his death that another man would come after him who would establish a new religion.
Those followers who were not killed were exiled to Baghdad, where in 1863, one of them, Husayn Ali, proclaimed he was the foretold one and took the name Bahaullah, meaning “glory of God.” Those who believed him took the name Baha’i. This group was forcibly moved around the Middle East for years until eventually arriving in Acre, near present-day Haifa, Israel.
Bahaullah was imprisoned the rest of his life, but wrote a number of books and letters and sent out missionaries to spread his message. When he died in 1892, he was succeeded by his son Abbas Effendi, who took the name Abdul Baha, meaning “Servant of Baha.” He continued his father’s work of writing, was released from prison in 1908, and began to travel widely in Europe and North America, proclaiming the Baha’i message and organizing local assemblies of followers. Baha’i leadership passed to his grandson Shoghi Effendi in 1921, who continued this work until his death in 1957. Thereafter, leadership ceased to be hereditary and was handed over to an elected body chosen from the now global Baha’i community.
The basics of Baha’i belief began with Bab-ud-Din, but it was the prolific writer Bahaullah who organized and articulated the faith in several books and other writings. Baha’is believe that all religions come from the same source and that revelation is progressive through a kind of spiritual evolution. As humanity has progressed, God has sent different messengers with additional revelation. Therefore, all prophets, and all religious scriptures, have some truth, and each new prophet’s teachings build on that of the previous ones. Among the named prophets are Moses, Zoroaster (Zarathustra), Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Unlike Muhammad, who claimed to be the final prophet, Bahaullah said other prophets would come after him as humanity became sufficiently developed to receive further revelation.
Central to the Baha’i belief system is the oneness, or unity, of humanity. A major emphasis springing from this is their work for world peace. In 1920, Abdul Baha was given the Order of the British Empire for his work in promoting world peace. Even before the League of Nations was formed following World War I, Baha’is advocated for the establishment of a world tribunal for peacefully settling global disputes. Some would even prefer a world government and the elimination of all national boundaries, believing that national pride and greed have led to many wars. Another is the creation of a universal language to aid communication between nations. Baha’is were early advocates of Esperanto, a language created to be easy to learn (it has no exceptions to its grammar rules) and politically and culturally neutral. Some U.S. high schools included Esperanto in their foreign language offerings between the 1950s and 1970s, but it never became popular and has nearly faded from public knowledge today.
Other Baha’i values also support the beliefs above. They were early advocates for compulsory public education. While not suggesting everyone should live at the same socioeconomic level, Baha’is believe that extremes of wealth and poverty should be abolished. Bahaullah did not give a specific plan or type of government he thought could best carry out that goal, preferring that the wealthy voluntarily contribute to alleviate suffering among the poor. They believe in complete equality between the sexes and condemn all prejudice of other ethnicities, religions, nations, etc.
Baha’is do not believe Satan is an actual being and reject the idea of evil as an active force. They do not believe in a literal heaven or hell, seeing those statements in the Bible and Qur’an as allegorical or adapted to an earlier, less-developed age. Instead, they believe people’s souls will exist either closer to or further from God depending on their deeds in this present life. They teach the harmony of religion and science. Any differences, they say, eventually will be resolved as humans gain further knowledge.
Baha’is promote high moral standards for their followers. Use of alcohol and drugs is forbidden. All are expected to work and to see their work as an act of worship. Divorce, though permitted, is difficult to obtain and must be preceded by a yearlong attempt at reconciliation. Parents are expected to provide their children with the highest quality education possible. Baha’i is a missionary religion, and followers are expected to actively propagate their faith. They do not accept donations from non-members.
Baha’is use prescribed daily individual prayers. Corporate worship is rather informal and, depending on the size of a congregation, may be held in a home or rented facility. There is no clergy, and anyone, male or female, may speak. Readings include not only the writings of Bahaullah, but may be taken from the Bible, Qur’an, or any other religious scriptures. Prayers are recited; there is no formal sermon or teaching. Some cities with many Baha’is have magnificent buildings for worship—always nine-sided, covered with a dome.
The Baha’i emphasis on world peace and unity of all religions appeals to many and contributes to steady growth. The struggles of maintaining high moral standards in today’s world create one of Baha’is’ greatest challenges: that of attrition or members leaving the faith in discouragement.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou