It Lasts Forever

Many of us probably feasted on traditional turkey dinners with all the trimmings on Thanksgiving Day, and now we are eating leftovers.

Some may also have used Thanksgiving Day as a time to think of material blessings—and to be thankful for them. And now we can be thankful for leftovers!

Life would be tough without God's blessings—including necessities, leftovers, and even some of our luxuries. But there is another blessing we should remember during the Thanksgiving season: In his great mercy he [God] has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (I Pet. 1:3b NIV)

This blessing is more important than food, shelter, clothing—or any of the less vital, but enjoyable benefits of comfortable living. Although the new birth cannot be touched or seen, it will last forever.

God gives the new birth as a spiritual feast to all who come to Him, and we never grow tired of it as we do with physical food. There will always be enough to satisfy us over and over. The new birth is an eternal blessing that offers consistent hope and joy, an inheritance can never perish, spoil or fade. . . . (v. 4a) It comes to us directly from God—and will be with us when other blessings fail.

Originally published Novemer 25, 1988.

Picture: Potted plant on deck, 2008. Photo by Solveig.

He Is God of the Living

The Sadducees were a religious sect of Jesus' time that did not believe in either the resurrection from the dead or in eternal life. Jesus came against their doctrine by reminding them of God’s Word to Moses: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (Mt. 22:32a NKJV)

I AM is present tense, and in His discussion with the Sadducees Jesus provided a reasoned argument. Although the Sadducees thought the I AM statementwas a cornerstone of their theology, they did not understand the implications. If the I AM God was currently the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—those men who had been dead for centuries would still have life. Jesus said, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. (Mt. 22:32b) God could not have been the patriarch's I AM God if the men were not still alive.

We can use the same verse and the same reasoning to refute reincarnation. If God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—and if He is God of the living—then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob exist as the people they were when they walked on earth—or God could not be their God.

But God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And He is the God of the living!

Originally published January 15, 1988.

God Incarnate

Jesus revealed that He believed He was God Incarnate when He said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, He will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (Jn. 6:51 NKJV)

The claims of the statement are fantastic and audacious. Jesus was saying He had come from heaven, even though it was well known that He had grown up and lived most of His adult life as a resident of Palestine. He was claiming to be the key to eternal life, a concept about which even the religious leaders of His time could not agree. And He was referring to a sacrifice that would save the entire world, a sacrifice no one could understand because He had not yet died on the cross.

Jesus' claims were absurd in the ears of all who heard Him. They were guaranteed to confuse the general population and antagonize the religious leaders or the powers-that-be.

Jesus risked everything for Truth.

Originally published January 15, 1993