Beloved???

In Jude verse 17 he address the beloved by stating, “But you, beloved…”  What a great statement!  Beloved!  In this portion of scripture Jude is talking about the believer.  Do you realize that when a person becomes a follower of Jesus Christ that he or she is beloved by God.  This transformation from enemy of God to child of God can and does only take place through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.  He completely redeems us from our sinful state and transforms us into children of the living God, Beloved.  The problem and challenge is to allow this stance before the Lord almighty to impact the way that we act day-in and day-out.

At the movies for xmen

Aimee, Brandon, and I are at the theater waiting for the new xmen movie to start a 12:01. It was aimee’s idea, in which she must have read my mind becuase I have been waiting for it to come out. The showing is almost sold out.

Seized by the Hand…

“…So the men seized him by the hand…” Genesis 19:16.  Genesis 19 is not one of the most kind hearted chapters of the Bible.  As a matter of fact many people stay completely away from it.  They feel it is too harsh, not loving, or even unfair.  But in the midst of destruction, God gives us a picture perfect, Kodak moment of salvation.  The cities Sodom and Gomorrah are about to be destroyed and Lot is brought to the understanding of the pending doom.  He then is rescued from this horrible situation by two angels who seize him by the hand and remove him and his family from the cities.  This is a great picture of what God does for us, in the midst of the pending doom due to our sin, God reaches down and “grabs us by the hand” and saves us.  He is so loving, kind, caring, and mighty that even though I am stuck in my sin that He saved me through His son Jesus Christ.  Although chapter 19 of Genesis has destruction in it, it is a great picture and reminder of salvation!

Higher then Angels…

“For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU’?” (Hebrews 1:5)  Catch what is being stated, Christ is above all angels.  Those who were being written to were struggling with the teaching as to wether or not Christ was on the same level as Angels.  The author of Hebrews makes the argument that their is not one angel that God the Father declared as begotten.  The statement that Christ is Begotten of God carries tremendous weight.  Our Lord and Savior was Begotten of God, means that God the Father brought about the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is brings the most glory to God the Father.  Jesus is not another angel but rather he is much higher, there will be a day when all on earth will declare that Jesus Christ is Lord.  When Christ served here on earth the angels ministered to him.  Christ himself states that at his very word legions of angels would come to his rescue (Matt. 26:53)  Jesus Christ is far above the created beings called angels.  In Jude we learn that there are certain angels that have a condemnation awaiting for them that will come at the day of Judgement.  Elsewhere in scripture we learn that Christ will be the one judging.  Jesus Christ is not some exalted angel, He is our Lord and Savior.  He is the God who humbled himself to come into humanity to save us from our dead state due to sin.  He died in our place and rose from the dead to show forth that He is more powerful then death and that he conquered the grave on our behalf.  Jesus Christ deserves, demands, and declares that we worship Him not as an exalted angel but rather as Lord.