Tag: word

Immanuel

But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins.”
Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Immanuel;”
which is, being interpreted, “God with us” (Matthew 1:20-23).

The Incarnation is one of the most profound and challenging truths found in the pages of the New Testament. The One through whom all creation came forth now as a human being. God humbling Himself by taking on the form of a man (cf. Philippians 2:5-11). How amazing! How unbelievable!

For many years men pondered over the Incarnation. Many of the heresies of the first millennium came about because of such speculations: was Jesus born the Son of God, or did He become the Son of God in baptism (adoptionism)? Was He truly a man, or did He just appear to be a man (docetism)? Did Jesus have two natures or one nature, and how did those natures work together (Nestorianism, monophytism)?

The Scriptures make it clear that Jesus was God from the beginning, the Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14). In Him is the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form (Colossians 2:8-10). Matthew affirms that Jesus’ birth fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, and that Jesus is the Immanuel child– God with us. In the flesh. In a man that can be seen, felt, and heard (cf. 1 John 1:1-3).

How can this be? We cannot understand exactly how it came about, but we can be sure that it was accomplished through the power of God. The Incarnation is another reminder that the “foolishness” of God is wiser than the wisdom of men, and that in Jesus Christ God has made void the “wisdom” of the world (1 Corinthians 1:18-25). To the unbelieving world, the idea of God in the flesh is pure folly. To those of us who believe in God, His power, and His wisdom, it is part of a wonderful plan to save mankind (Ephesians 3:10-11).

The implications of the Incarnation are astounding. It is easy to look at Jesus and think about Him as God the Son, as the great and powerful Lord who quiets the sea and casts out demons (cf. Matthew 12, 14, etc.). Yet He is also human, learning obedience through the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:7-10). This is the profound reality of the Incarnation: God the Son needing a diaper change. The Word made flesh babbling as an infant, crying and needing the tender care of His mother Mary. The Lord learning how to walk and move about.

The Bible does not reveal a whole lot about Jesus’ early life and upbringing, but the very fact that He is both God the Son, the Word made flesh, and a growing child is quite amazing. It ought to remind us how Jesus is not so removed from us as to not be able to understand our difficulties (cf. Hebrews 4:15-16)!

To think that God the Son took on the form of flesh in order to live, suffer, die, and be raised again so that we could have eternal life is beyond humbling (cf. Philippians 2:5-11). When we think about all that Jesus would go through as Immanuel, God with us, it should lead us to greater appreciation of the Incarnation and His life and a renewed zeal to serve Him and His purposes. Let us praise God that Jesus is our Immanuel and obey Him!

Ethan R. Longhenry

Jesus’ Example of Forgiveness

“And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
And parting his garments among them, they cast lots (Luke 23:34).

One of the beautiful things about Jesus is that He is not merely a great teacher, but the ultimate Teacher: God’s message in the flesh. Jesus, therefore, does not simply utter commandments or provide abstract concepts. His very life provides examples of God’s Word in action (John 1:1, 14, 18)!

One such command is seen in Luke’s Gospel:

“But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. To him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also” (Luke 6:27-29).

Love an enemy? Bless those who curse? Pray for those who hurt you? These are very difficult things indeed!

Jesus never denies that they are difficult. Instead, He shows you the way by demonstrating the command in Himself, in a circumstance you are rather unlikely to experience!

In the midst of His great suffering on the cross, He petitions His Father to do this very thing: forgive those who are despitefully using Him. As He suffers such great and terrible anguish– anguish that most of us can barely imagine– He still represents God’s Word. He still holds firm to God’s intentions for the Kingdom.

If Jesus is able to forgive those who nailed His body to the cross, can we not forgive our fellow man who may strike us?

If Jesus is able to forgive those who mock Him, can we not forgive our fellow man when he insults us?

If Jesus is able to forgive those who conspired to have Him killed, can we not forgive those who do not particularly like us or attempt to do evil toward us?

It is not easy. It is rather counter-intuitive. But it was just as counter-intuitive for Jesus. The whole experience of suffering for our sins was likely counter-intuitive, yet He accomplished it because He was obedient to God’s will (Hebrews 5:7-9).

Forgiveness is not an option; if we cannot forgive others, we cannot be forgiven (Matthew 18:35). Nevertheless, we are not left without example. Let us seek to forgive others as we have been forgiven in Christ Jesus!

Ethan R. Longhenry

The Lord in Glory

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle. And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength (Revelation 1:12-16).

Stop for just a moment and picture Jesus in your own mind.

Odds are your mental picture is highly influenced by one of two cultural presentations: a picture of Jesus suffering on a cross, or a picture of Jesus as a gentle, mild shepherd, either present with sheep or children.

We confess that we do not really know what Jesus would have looked like, save that He probably looked little like the pictures made of Him.  Regardless, most of our pictures of Him involve moments in His life and the qualities He espoused in life.

Yet Jesus is still alive, and is now Lord (Matthew 28:18).  Few, if any, when considering Jesus, would think about Him as John describes Him in Revelation.

John, in his vision, sees one “like a son of man,” with a long robe and a golden sash.  His hair is snow white and like wool.  His eyes are fiery, His feet are as refined bronze, from His mouth comes a two-edged sword, and His face shines as light.

It is no wonder that John falls before Jesus as one dead (Revelation 1:17)!  This presentation of Jesus is quite awe-inspiring.  Granted, the picture represents Jesus as the Ancient of Days (cf. Daniel 7), that is, God, who is holy and pure, the light of the world, and His word as the two-edged sword (John 1, Hebrews 4:12).

This is the picture of Jesus today: the most holy and pure God whose Word can give life or can kill.  If we are His servants, we can trust in Him and have no fear (cf. Revelation 1:17).  If He is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31-39)?

Let none be deceived: Jesus is not some absentee landlord.  He moves in the midst of His churches (cf. Revelation 1:12, 20).  He knows what goes on (cf. Revelation 2:2, 2:9, 2:13, etc.).  He is there, and He is watching.

When we think in our minds about Jesus, there are times to think about Jesus the Good Shepherd, and Jesus agonizing on the cross.  But it is good to also think about Jesus as the Lord of glory, in the midst of His church, a powerful and awesome sight to behold!

Let us serve our Lord and God!

Ethan R. Longhenry

Spiritual Manna

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Welcome to Spiritual Manna.  It is my hope and prayer that this devotional will encourage you in your faith, and be of value in your life.

Why “spiritual manna”?  While Israel lived in the Wilderness, God fed them with manna (cf. Exodus 16).  It fell like dew from the heavens, and it could be gathered up, cooked, and eaten as bread.  Israel had no idea what it was, and thus called it “manna” (“what is it?”).  Without it, Israel could not have survived the Wilderness.

As Moses reveals to Israel in Deuteronomy 8:5, God so fed them to teach them to rely upon Him.  God provided the manna so that Israel would learn that man does not live by the bread that he gains by his toil alone (cf. Genesis 3:17-19): they can only survive by trusting in the LORD and His blessings.

So it was with the physical manna with which God fed Israel.  Yet, as Jesus indicates in John 6:49, all of those who ate that manna died.  He came to provide a better bread, as He explains in John 6:47-51:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth hath eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which cometh down out of heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: yea and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.”

The manna that Israel ate is the physical copy of the spiritual reality in Jesus Christ.  It came down from Heaven, as did Jesus.  Israel ate of it and lived; we must spiritually partake of Jesus to live.  God intended the physical manna to direct Israel to the mouth of God; we must subsist upon the Word of God, the Bread of Life, if we desire to live eternally.

Therefore, as recipients of the promise and inheritors of the Kingdom, we must partake of the “spiritual manna.”  We must “digest” the Word of God, who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1, 14), that is, Jesus and His instruction.  We must learn of Him and trust in Him as Israel was to trust God in the Wilderness.

This is the reason for “spiritual manna.”  We hope, in this devotional, to help you better understand God’s will, especially the instructions of Jesus, and how to apply them to our lives.  We hope to encourage you to greater trust and faithfulness to God, wholly leaning on Him.

As we persevere in the wilderness of our lives on earth, heading toward the Promised Land of rest that is set before us (cf. Hebrews 4:1-11; 12:1-2, 1 Peter 1:3-9), let us take strength by feasting on the Word of God, that we may never lose hold of life indeed!

Ethan R. Longhenry