We’re not just a holy priesthood. We’re also a royal priesthood. This is a particularly important phrase. Back in the days of Genesis, there was a first royal priest, the king of Salem, Melchizedek. A king (of peace, the meaning of Salem), but he was also a priest. Genesis 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem […]
Our identity in Christ is not just our being living stones in the spiritual house He is building. In Scripture it says, there’s a purpose: 1 Peter 2: 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. […]
How far does God’s love extend? It is as wide as the Church universal (the entire community of redeemed Image-bearers, rescued from every corner and former faith tradition into Christ’s spiritual house) and as personal as you and me (living stones and individual Image-bearers whom God knows personally). But… When Scripture says in John 3:16 […]
We aren’t built into a spiritual house to be nothing and do nothing. This spiritual house, Scripture says, is to be a holy priesthood. “As you come to him, the living Stone– rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him– you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house […]
To Jesus who is the living Stone, God’s Chosen and Precious Cornerstone, His view is that the Church and its faithful are not just a jar of identical marbles. Each man, woman, and child is individual–and is as individual as each person’s decision to follow Christ. This fact is proven by unique gifting from the […]
Now that I’ve risked making YOU feel like YOU are unimportant, let me correct back to who YOU are that God would send Jesus as payment for your sins. He loves you and in Christ, you are family. This love is powerful and salvific. What kind of love is that? Scripture says in 1 John […]
Here’s a good litmus test for our understanding of how “God loves YOU, God cares for YOU, Jesus died for YOU” and how YOU view this love…made personal to YOU by well-meaning evangelical pastors looking for a new convert. Another favorite idea with Bible-believing Christians in the evangelical world is predestination, meaning that God chose […]
What is mankind that God is mindful of us? And beyond that, exactly how personal does God get with knowing us individually? Evangelicals are fond of the personal relationship aspect of Christianity. Especially at Easter, pastors will often emphasize that “God loves YOU!” Which God does, it’s just His love is on a totally different […]
Throughout Lent, I emphasized the point that we are Image-bearers. Each person belonging to the human race is endowed with this Image-bearing. Now because of sin, it’s in broken form–a relic of what once was…in original created perfection. It was my hope to offer a helpful corrective to the human-centric “Jesus thinks you’re so special […]
Take a moment today to consider where you are. In the flow of time and in the story of the Bible and God’s redemptive work in the world, we’re nearing the end of the story. Time remaining is short. Who is man that God is mindful of us? We will explore this question over the […]
