Can I pray for you in any way?
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised. Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is One coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’”
Acts 13:23-25
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Paul’s first documented message in the scriptures was a building event. Invited to share a special message of exhortation by the synagogue leaders in Pisidian Antioch, Paul first demanded his audience’s attention before embarking on what was a small history lesson, starting with the Israelites as being chosen by God before being led to the land He had set aside for them to dwell.
Paul then detailed how the Israelites weren’t satisfied with His selected leaders, those who were known as the judges. God’s people had seen how other nations had kings and so they wanted to be the same. God warned them against this idea but the people demanded a king and so a king is what they got in the way of a very wicked and unstable leader by the name of Saul. He was such a terrible leader who eventually fell out of favor of God and was replaced by another king but one who God had chosen. Of course, this king was none other than David, a man the scriptures tell us was after God’s own heart. He also was a king who would be in the lineage of the greatest king ever, the King of all kings, Jesus Christ.
We know this because of Paul’s words which were derived from the scriptures, and in particular, the words of the prophets who proclaimed God’s promise of a coming Messiah. Indeed, God brought the Savior Jesus to Israel via David’s descendants and perhaps it’s something we forget about but just think about why Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary were of the house and line of David and so they had to go and register during the ordered census in the city of David, which was Bethlehem. It was while they were there that Jesus was born and since both His father and mother were from the family tree of King David, Jesus became part of that tree as well.
Thus, we find the Old Testament married to the New. Jesus didn’t come to replace the Law. Rather, He came to fulfill it and then take it to a new, more divine and holy level. John knew this was coming well before it did. Before Jesus came into prominence, the scriptures remind us that John was busy preaching repentance and calling on the people of Israel to be baptized (the reason he was labeled as “the Baptist”).
John had gained quite a following during his ministry work and we know he had his own disciples because they clashed with Jesus and His followers on several occasions. But John wanted everyone to know that he was a lightweight compared to the Savior he proclaimed. He wanted to make sure everyone knew that he (John) was not the one the people should be looking for. Rather, he points them toward the coming Jesus, the One that John was unworthy before, the One who would not baptize with water but rather with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
In this third devotion of this six devotion series, we find Paul connecting the Old Testament with the New while continuing to show that God was at the center of it all, the holy Organizer and Instigator of every good and perfect thing on earth from His place of power in heaven above.
Tomorrow, we’ll see how Paul’s exhortation message shifts attention to the matter of God’s salvation through His Son. I hope you’ll come back to take in that study then.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please
share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment