Vessels of Mercy

October 31, 2017

Vessels of Mercy

And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

Romans 9:23-24 (NASB)

Read Romans 9: 14-24

Paul is continuing to weave the story of Israel into the New Covenant church. To do so, he reached back to several OT passages for the inspiration of his metaphor of the potter and clay. (See Isaiah 29:16; 45:9 and Jeremiah 18:1-6) For Paul, God’s plan of redemption is a continuing story. Although Israel failed to grasp her mission to be a light of salvation to the world, God did not throw out the clay he was working with; rather, he chose to remold the clay into new vessels of mercy. I chose the NASB translation because of its use of ‘vessels of mercy’ as opposed to other translations that refer to ‘objects of mercy.’ I think this is an important distinction because it points to the vocation God has in mind for those whom he spoke with Moses: “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose” (Romans 9:15 and Exodus 33:19). When Israel failed to grasp her mission, God remolded Israel into the New Covenant church made up of both Jews and Gentiles.

My Takeaway: I recall the closing line in yesterday’s takeaway, “much is expected from those to whom much has been given.” Yes, God has chosen to shower upon us his compassion and his mercy, but not so we can bask in his glory for own sake; rather so that we can be a vessel through which God can shower his mercy and compassion on others.

 Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Much Is Expected

October 30, 2017

Much Is Expected

This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.

Romans 9:11b-12a

Read Romans 9: 6-13

In today’s passage, the Apostle Paul continued to address how his Jewish heritage fit into the New Covenant community established by Jesus. This is the continuing issue addressed in chapter nine. We could be tempted to gloss over this chapter as though it didn’t pertain to the modern era church, but we want to resist that temptation; there is good stuff here!

In reading this passage, I am reminded of the Apostle Peter’s statement that God shows no favoritism. (Acts 10:34) God has chosen to work through humankind to complete his plan of redemption, and he has chosen whom he wants to work with and through. When God chooses a person, there is a temptation for that person to get puffed up and think, “God got a pretty good deal when he got me.” Such thoughts are not of God. As the Prophet Isaiah noted, ““My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). People are chosen by God simply because God sees something that can be useful in fulfilling his plan. I suspect most of the time the people so chosen are completely oblivious to what God sees. That’s OK. They just have to be faithful and obedient. By the way, all who have been saved by God’s grace have been chosen by God to be his instruments of grace to a fallen world.

My Takeaway: Take a moment to recall all that we learned in chapter eight about what God has given to the disciples of Jesus. Actually, there is so much, it will take longer than a moment to recall all of the blessings. When you do, remember much is expected from those to whom much has been given.   

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

He is God

October 27, 2017

He is God

And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Romans 9:5b

Read Romans 9:1-5

Wow, what a shift in tone. From the exhilarating proclamation in chapter 8 of all that God has worked into the life of the followers of Jesus, Paul begins chapter 9 with his personal confession of sorrow for his Jewish brothers and sisters. Yogi Berra said when you come to a fork in the road, take it. Here Paul makes clear that it is hugely important which fork you take. Jesus is God’s Messiah who came first to God’s people, Israel, to show them how to live in a right relationship with God and thus fulfill their destiny. But the Messiah came for not just Israel, but for the entire world, and according to Paul, following the Messiah is the only way to live in a right relationship with God. Paul is completely heartbroken that his brethren have denied their Messiah. Paul’s personal lament is an invitation to each of us to consider how heartbroken, or not, we are over those within our own family, our neighbors and others within our circle of influence, for whom the love of God in Christ Jesus is yet a stranger.

My Takeaway: I saw an ad recently from The Great Courses, a lifelong learning company, for a course on, How Jesus Became God. While there is no doubt that the divinity of Jesus is a significant theological underpinning of the Western worldview, it really isn’t a mystery. Paul stated it pretty emphatically in verse 5, “Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.”

Yes, Amen!

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Not Even The Powers Of Hell

October 26, 2017

Not Even The Powers Of Hell

If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

Romans 8:31b

Read Romans 8:31-39

I am not sure there is another passage in the entire Bible that exceeds the beautiful prose in this closing passage to Romans 8. We could camp out here for a while, but for today I just want to share three insights. First, let the ground of your life in Christ be in verse 31b quoted above. The wonder of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus is proclaimed in verses 31-34 and assures us we can now and for all eternity rest in God’s love for us.

Secondly, the wonder of the power and beauty of God’s New Covenant relationship with us is proclaimed in the middle section, verses 35-37. The Old Covenant included blessings and curses (See Deuteronomy 11). The bad things coming into the life of Job was the basis for Jobs friends to accuse him of having sin in his camp. Bad things, curses, were evidence of sin and sin cut you off from God. Over and against this, Paul asked a rhetorical question, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”

Paul then closes this passage with a catalog of all the forces that we encounter in life and concludes “nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

My Takeaway: God is for me. Who can rise up against me and is more powerful than God? There is none! Nothing can separate me from God’s love for me in Christ Jesus. What else do I need to know? I think I’ll sing the Doxology.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2017 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.