10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.[b] That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers
Tag: Church
A Peculiar People: MT episode 17
On Monday’s episode I closed our time together noting that while it is great Christ that was born into this world, it is more important Christ be born in you. Let’s consider this thought further and from a different angle.
“Jesus, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous for good works.” Titus 2:14
I picked this passage because it uses the word “peculiar.” As Kenneth Weust says, “Christians are the peculiar people of God.”
This is a word sometimes we use for people who are odd or strange. I have definitely met some people who claim Christ and are strange but that is not what is meant here.
The word here in the original language is a compound of two words, “around” and another word “to be”. Mentally, picture a circle with a dot in the middle.
As the circle is around the dot, so God is around His people. He has the dot all to himself. These people are His own unique possession. Peculiar!
There are days when my obedience and pursuit of God, on a scale of 1 to 10, I would put at a 7 or 8. Then there are those days or seasons, where things just are not going well. I might put it at a negative 5.
God is the constant. In speaking about the believer’s security, Jesus says, “My Father, who has given me (the sheep) is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” John 10:28
Good seasons and bad, we are circled by the Father. Keep that picture in your head and let it be and encouragement. As a believer, we are God’s circled people. His possession.
So, the different angle is, this season, it is not only to have Jesus in us (Colossians 1:27) but also, us in Christ (Colossians 2:6). What a beautiful gift!
S.D.G.
The Sunday Message: Hebrews 2:1-4
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. English Standard Version
The Sunday Message Hebrews 1:3-14
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10 And,
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11 they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
12 like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.[a]
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.”
13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?