He is Served by Angels (Hebrews 1:7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-09-02

 

 

My Worship Time                                                     Focus: He is served by the angels

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Hebrews 1:7

 

            Message of the verse:  “7 And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.’”  (NKJV)  “God calls His angels, ‘messengers swift as the wind, and servants made of flaming fire.’”

            Even though I do not see what the commentators that I use see in this verse I must agree with them because they both have said close to the same thing.   The verse is saying that angels were created as spirits that have no bodies, but can take on a human body if need be, were created to serve the Lord and to minister to Him.  They did this for Jesus when He was on the earth as recorded in the gospels.  Angels also serve believers while they are on the earth.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As a believer I to am made to serve just as Jesus gave the examples while on this earth.  The key verse for the book of Mark speaks of Jesus coming to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.  He is my example and I am to follow this example.

 

The Word of God brought conviction to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  To continue to trust the Lord with the outcome of the funds that we have with Haven Equity.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Ephesians 2:10; Mark 12:30; Romans 12:5

 

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

 

… so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

 

 

My First Born (Hebrews 1:6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-07-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  My First-born

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 1:6

 

            Message of the verse:  “6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’"  (NKJV)  “And when He presented His honored, (Greek firstborn), Son to the world, God said, ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’”

            This little verse has much written about in the study tools that I use for my devotions.  I am sure that there is much more written about it in other books, but I usually use three, and sometimes four different study tools while doing these devotions. 

            The word “firstborn”, or in the KJV “firstbegotten”, is a word that the Jewish people were very familiar with from the writings of the OT.  In Psalm 89:27 it says, “Also I will make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.”  Dr. MaCarthur says that five of the OT passages that are quoted are verses that are related to the Davidic Covent, which emphasizes the concepts of sonship, kingship, and kingdom.  Psalm eighty-nine is a psalm of the Davidic Covenant.

            I believe the main point of this verse is that of the Messiah being worshiped by the angels, thus showing that the Messiah is higher than the angels, and better than them. 

            Going back to the term “firstborn” as used in this verse it does not mean birth order all of the time when it is in the Scriptures.  Here it refers to prominence of position or title and not in order of time.  This verse shows without any doubt the Deity of Jesus Christ, that He is indeed the second person of the Godhead and God in flesh.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I think a bit of what it means to know that Jesus Christ is the God-man I am so amazed at how this truth has had such a profound affect on my life since He first saved me.  There has never been a day go by that I have not thought of the Lord and how He changed my life so much that it brings tears to my eyes to think of what my life would have been without the Lord Jesus Christ in my life.  I think of how the Lord has changed my marriage, my wife, my children and hopefully someday our grandchildren.  He has made all the difference in my life and for this I praise Him and thank Him.  Amen.

 

The Word of God has been pure delight to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  I have some things that I want to get done today, and by faith I want to do them, as all things, to the honor of the Lord.  I want to shop for some gifts for my wife, and also start to put together our Christmas letter, and get our little Christmas done.  I pray that the Lord will be in all of these things to guide me and direct me.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Ephesians 2:10 & Mark 12:30

 

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all of your soul and all of your mind and all of your strength.

 

   

He is The Son (Heb. 1:5)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-06-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  He is the Son

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 1:5

 

            Message of the verse:  “For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son?’”  (NKJV)  “5 For God never said to any angel what He said to Jesus:  ‘You are my Son, today I have become Your Father.’  And again God said, ‘I will be His Father, and He will be my Son.’”

            It is interesting that the second quote in this verse is from 2Samuel 7:14, and it is Solomon who is the one speaking there.  The first quote is from Psalm 2:7.  The writer is continuing his point of the superiority of Christ to the angels.  Angels are important to the Jewish religion because they are the ones who assisted in the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai.  The word Son is used in this verse and in this section and it refers to the second person of the Trinity.  Jesus put aside His glory or hid His glory in order to be born into the human race.  This was decided in eternity past and Jesus willingly submitted to the Father to complete the redemption of man.  At the completing of this He received His glory back at His resurrection.  Two verses in John seventeen show this truth.  “1 ¶ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,” and “5 “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”  This is important in explaining that Jesus Christ is and always has been superior to angels.

           

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is wonderful to have this insight into Jesus Christ receiving His glory back at the completion of His work on earth.  I have never understood this in quite this way before and it is a blessing to me.  And because Jesus Christ received a new glorious body at His resurrection, then I to can look forward to getting a new body at the return of Christ at the rapture.

 

The Word of God was very insightful to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  I know that I will be tempted while Sandy and Kim are at the women’s conference this evening and tomorrow.  I would ask for much strength to overcome these temptations, and also to use the spiritual armor described in the Word of God.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Ephesians 2:10 & Mark 12:30

 

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 

 

 

 

Christ is Better than the Angels (Heb. 1:4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-05-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Christ better than the angels

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 1:4

 

            Message of the verse:  “4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”  (NKJV)  “This shows that God’s Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave Him is far greater than their names.”  (NLT)

            Dr. John Macarthur says in his study Bible about the words “having become” that “the Gr. Verb used here refers to a change of state, not a change of existence.  The son in His divine essence has eternally existed, but for a while He was made lower than the angels (2:9) and afterward was exalted to an infinitely higher position by virtue of what He had accomplished in His redemptive work.”  This is important to realize this so that one would not think that the Lord Jesus Christ did not just come into being at His birth.  The word “angels” speaks of spirit beings that were created by God to serve Him and to do His bidding.  The verse goes on to speak of the name of Christ, which is a more excellent name than the names of the angels.  Dr. Macarthur says that name is Lord for no angel is Sovereign Lord.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What a wonderful Savior is Jesus my Jesus, What a wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord.  The wonderful Savior had a wonderful plan to deliver me from the curse of the law and deliver me from the penalty of my sins.  I praise God for His gift to me.

 

The Word of God was uplifting to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  Not to have fear over my IBS.

 

Memory verse for the week:  Ephesians 2:10  & Mark 12:30

 

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

 

God in the Flesh PT-2 (Heb. 1:3b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-04-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  God in flesh part II

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 1:3b

 

            Message of the verse:  “3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” (NKJV)  ““The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything about Him represents God exactly.  He sustains the universe by the mighty power of His command.  After He died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, He sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven.”  (NLV)”

            Upholding all things by the word of His power is speaking of Him sustaining the universe, as stated in the NLV.  Colossians 1:17 speaks to this, “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”  Jesus Christ not only created all of the universes, but also by His Word sustains them.  The next phrase “purged our sins” is speaking of Christ’s work on the cross of Calvary.  Paul’s letter to Titus shows this truth in Titus 2:14, “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”  The next phrase in this verse, “sat down at the right hand” speaks of Jesus Christ’s work being done, for He now sits down at the right hand of God the Father.  The book of Hebrews speaks of Christ as the believers High Priest, and this verse speaks of Him sitting, but the work of the OT priests was ongoing and they could not sit down because their work was never done.  This is one reason that the Priesthood of Jesus Christ is better than the OT priesthood.  By sitting at the right hand of the Father it shows a position of subordination, implying that the Son is under the authority of the Father.  1Corinthians 15:27 & 28 speak of this truth, “27 For "He has put all things under His feet." But when He says "all things are put under Him," it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.  28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There is a lot of material in this verse and that is why I have taken two days to go over it.  The portion that has spoken to me today is the part that tells that Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God the Father in heaven today for me as my High Priest and also as my Lawyer ever making intersection for me.  As a human being it is so hard for me to understand this great love that my Savior has for me, for I certainly cannot explain it in human terms.  I know that He loves me and that He did not do this for Himself or for the Father without having me in His heart.  This boggles my mind and I find it hard to understand, but by faith I do believe it with all of my heart.

 

The Word of God has brought humility to me as I studied it today.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  To believe the truth of God’s Word when it speaks of loving me with a perfect love and to fear nothing but the Lord.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Ephesians 2:10 & Mark 12:30

 

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  (NIV)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength.  (NIV)

 

 

 

 

God in the Flesh (Hebrews1:3a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-03-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  God in the flesh

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 1:3a

 

            Message of the verse:  “The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything about Him represents God exactly.  He sustains the universe by the mighty power of His command.  After He died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, He sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven.”  (NLV)  “3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;” (NASB)

            The word radiance in the NASB is translated brightness in the KJV and the Greek word that it comes from is the only use of it in the Bible.  Christ is not just reflecting the glory of the Father, but He is God and radiates His own glory.  John 8:12 says, “12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.’"  Jesus is the light of the world so He has His own light.  The term for glory in the NASV speaks of the “schekinah glory” that is mentioned in the OT and comes from two Hebrew words meaning, “to dwell.” “Jesus Christ is to the Father what the rays of the sun are to the sun:  He is the radiance of God’s glory.  As it is impossible to separate the rays from the sun, it is also impossible to separate Christ’s glory from the nature of God,” quoted from “Be Confident” by Warren W. Wiersbe.

            The verse goes on to say Christ is “the exact representation of His nature.”  The Greek word for exact representation is used only here in the NT.  In extrabiblical literature, it was employed for an engraving of wood, an etching in metal, a brand of animal hide, an impression in clay, and a stamped image of coins.  Thus Jesus Christ is the perfect imprint, the exact representation of the nature and essence of God in time and space. John 14:9b says, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, 'Show us the Father'?”  Colossians 1:15 says, “And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.”  Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The writer of the book of Hebrews has gone to much trouble to proclaim that Jesus Christ was no ordinary man; in fact he plainly says that He is God in the flesh and because of this fact I can be saved from sin and accepted by God into His family.  This is something to give thanks for and to rejoice over for all of eternity.  This is also something to reflect on too.

 

The Word of God has brought great joy to my heart because it has expressed that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  I stepped out on faith and asked the other members of the Webbs team to join Jimmy, Clair and myself in a men’s Bible Sturdy, and even more than a Bible study for it will be a small fellowship group studying Rick Warren’s book on a purposed filled life.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Ephesians 2:10 & Mark 12:30:  “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us to do. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

 

 

God Spoke (Hebrews 1:1-2)

SPIRITITUAL DIARY FOR 12-02-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  God spoke

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 1:1-2

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 God, who at many times and in many ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds,”  (NKJV)  “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.  But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through His Son.  God promised everything to the Son.”

            God spoke to His people first starting with the book of Job and all the way through the Old Testament concluding with Nehemiah.  He did this in both spoken and written revelation as these people of God told others the things that God had given to them.  This is how the Old Testament was written which Peter described in his letter 1Peter 1: 10-12.  In verse two the writer says that in these last days God has spoken to us through His Son, the Messiah.  (The last days refer to the time of the Messiah according to the understanding of the Jews.)  God appointed His Son, Jesus Christ, to be heir of all things, and the world was made through the Son.  Everything that exists now will some day come under the control of Jesus Christ as He rules from Jerusalem in the Millennial Kingdom.  The word “worlds” can be translated “ages.”  It refers to time, space, energy and matter—the entire universe and everything that makes it function (cf. John 1:3).  “All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that God speaking to me through His Son is, as the letter of Hebrews says, is a better way than it was done before.  To have access directly to Jesus Christ is so much better than going through the system of the Law that the Israelites had to go through.  I am thankful for living in a time where I can have this direct access.

 

The Word of God was uplifting to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  I want to continue to trust the Lord to give me the love for my wife that I do need.  I do not want to fear anything but the Lord.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Ephesians 2:10, & Mark 12:30 (NIV)

 

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.