October 5, 2013
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The Apostle Paul’s favorite description of committed disciples is found in the two words “in Christ.” Paul uses this expression just under 100 times in his inspired letters. “By Christ” means that by faith we are saved and have access to many blessings. “In Christ” means we are not taking Him into our plans but He is taking us into His plans. It means we can have a relationship with Christ, be united to Him, and draw strength from Him.
Paul also wrote that we have “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3) The heavenly places refer to the spiritual dimension of this life.
While living in Palo Alto, California, I had a friend with a Ph. D in paleontology from Stanford University. He told me that, as a devout believer, when he finished his master’s degree and started work on his doctor’s degree he surrendered to those teaching him by agreeing that there is no God.
He did not want to live if there is no God. He therefore decided to commit suicide. Just before he drank cyanide he bowed his head to pray. He then laughed at himself. He was taking his life because there is no God and the last thing he wanted to do was talk to Him. He then remembered a verse: “God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
He realized we do not find God in a fossil or a test tube. We find God in the spiritual dimension of this life, “in Christ.”
Are you seeking God in the right places?
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Posted by Dick Woodward
October 1, 2013
“And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18 KJV)
In the fifth chapter of Second Corinthians we find one of the most profound passages of Scripture in the New Testament. In this chapter we have a window into the heart of the Apostle Paul as he writes about what motivates him. It is a passage that clearly defines the Gospel. Paul gives us here the vision absolutes that defend why he lived like a madman. He then clearly writes that every believer who has been reconciled to God by Christ has been commissioned with the message and the ministry of being a peacemaker and a minister of reconciliation. The passage concludes with a very clear description of the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
This profound passage also describes three levels of commitment to Jesus Christ that are identified by prepositions. In the verse quoted above the first ‘entry’ level of commitment to Christ is described as Paul uses the preposition “by Jesus Christ.” We are saved “by Christ.” When He saves us He often fills our life with good things the way He filled Peter’s boat with fish (Luke 5: 1-11). It doesn’t take us long to realize that the changes taking place in our lives are by Jesus Christ. We also discover there are many things we can only do by Jesus Christ.
Study this passage (verse 13 through 21), and see if you can identify two more levels of commitment to Christ. What are they and what would they look like if you applied them to your walk with Christ?
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Posted by Dick Woodward
August 27, 2013
“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you… That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” (I Corinthians 15:1-4)
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he defended the gospel. He wrote that when he came to them he determined to know nothing among them but Christ and Him crucified. He did not use enticing words of man’s wisdom because he did not want their faith to be rooted in the wisdom of man but in the power of God (1Corinthians 2).
When he brought his letter to a conclusion he reminded them of the gospel he had preached in a very clear summary. It is simply two facts about Jesus Christ: He died, and He was raised from the dead for our sins. That was what Paul preached, that was what they believed, that was what saved them, and that was the foundation upon which their faith was to stand. Furthermore, if they believed anything else they were lost (Chapter 15).
We who are preachers often go beyond the gospel Paul proclaimed. Perhaps we are trying to make it more interesting for ourselves. We may be preaching to each other. Whatever our reasons may be we need to return to the simple presentation of the gospel Paul preached in Corinth and all over the world.
I know of no one who did that in my generation like Billy Graham. He wrote that early in his preaching when a meeting was not right, in prayer the Lord showed him that he was making it too complex. He then returned to an uncomplicated gospel and never wavered from that clear gospel message.
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Posted by Dick Woodward
August 2, 2013
“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me — that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said.” (1 Corinthians 15: 3-4)
I have now shared with you six eternal values that are the hallmark of people who live life in Christ at its deepest level of meaning and then “graduate” into eternal life. There is another value I must share with you because it is the supreme and absolute value, the “door” that must be opened if we are to find all these eternal values. This seventh value is the value we place on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let me explain.
Suppose I asked you to write your answer to this question: “What is the Gospel?” Imagine that I asked you to accompany your answer with Scripture verse references. How would you answer my question?
As you search the Scriptures, you will discover the seventh eternal value: Easter is far more important than Christmas. When the Apostle John wrote his Gospel, he devoted approximately half his twenty-one chapters to the thirty-three years Jesus lived on earth and half his chapters to just the last week Jesus lived. Of the eighty-nine combined chapters of the four Gospels, four chapters cover the birth and first thirty years Jesus lived, while twenty-seven chapters cover the last week Jesus lived. Why is the last week of the life of Jesus so very important, and why is Easter far more important than Christmas?
Easter is when Jesus died and rose again for our salvation. The cry of the church all over the world on Resurrection Sunday is:
He is risen, indeed.
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Posted by Dick Woodward
July 16, 2013
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)
To appreciate eternal values we must define these two words. The word “eternal” literally means “that which was, that which is, and that which always shall be.” The word “temporal” relates to that which is temporary.
Jesus made it clear that we have eternal life because we are related to the true God and the One Whom He has sent. They are eternal and we have eternal life because we are related to them. We must also make the observation that the words “eternal life” are referring to a quality of life as well as a quantity of life.
The word “value” also needs to be defined. The dictionaries tell us “a value is that quality of any certain thing by which it is determined by us to be more or less important, useful, profitable and therefore desirable.” When we bring these two concepts together we should realize we are discussing what is more or less important, useful, profitable and therefore desirable in this life and in the life to come.
A second eternal value is that the eternal is a greater value than the temporal. The Apostle Paul wrote: If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable (1 Corinthians 15:19 NKJV). Paul so highly valued the eternal he sacrificed his life here for the rewards he was sure awaited him in eternity. If there were no eternal dimension he should be pitied.
Do you value the eternal more than the temporal?
3 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: 1 corinthians 15, eternal life, eternal values, eternity, faith, Hope, Jesus Christ, John 17:3, Saint Paul, Teachings of Jesus, theology | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
July 10, 2013
“Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You.” (Psalm 73: 25)
The author of Psalm 73 has a problem. He envies the wicked because they always seem to prosper while God is forever chastening him and putting him through hard times that grow his character. The Psalmist becomes a great model for us as he takes his problem into the sanctuary where the Lord shows him the end of the wicked. That changes his attitude toward the wicked from envy to pity and compassion.
How would it affect your outlook on life if God permitted you to spend five minutes in hell — or in heaven? Both experiences would probably make you an evangelist.
The Psalmist goes on to write: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength (reality) of my heart and my portion forever.” By this he means that God is the great Reality in this life. Jesus said the same thing when He prayed: “This is eternal life that they might know You the only true God and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)
When we have a revelation of eternal reality we will realize that the things we leave when the Lord calls us home are not worth living for while we are here. As Peter considered the great Day of the Lord in which every material thing will be dissolved he asked the question, “Since everything will be dissolved in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?” (2 Peter 3:11)
The answer to Peter’s question is that we should be people who know God and make Him known in every nation. This is how we hasten the coming of that great Day of the Lord.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: eternal life, Evangelization, faith, Jesus Christ, knowing god, Psalm 73, religion, theology, Trusting God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
June 25, 2013
“For in fact the body is not one member but many.” (1Corinthians 12:14)
The greatest Scripture in the New Testament about the way a church is to function is chapter 12 of First Corinthians. After the Apostle Paul uses the words diversity and oneness several times, he brings these two opposite concepts together in his inspired metaphor that the Church is to function as a body.
He writes that it is not either/or but both/and; that diversity should be celebrated rather than resolved. As the diverse members of the body of Christ come together to have a ministry there are let it happen people, make it happen people, don’t know what’s happening people, and don’t know anything is supposed to be happening people.
Let it happen people desperately need make it happen people. And the other two kinds of people obviously need these first two kinds of people. The truth is they all need each other to function as a team, a body and a Church. There are Mary and Martha kinds of people and they both need each other. Often, Marthas do not appreciate Marys because they think they are unorganized. But Marys need Marthas and Marthas need to realize that if it were not for the Marys there would not be anything to organize.
Are you fitting in with those kinds of people who have what you do not have and sharing with them what you have that they do not have?
When we experience unity while celebrating diversity we do not have uniformity but a supernatural community that is in reality the body of our risen and living Lord Jesus Christ.
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Posted by Dick Woodward
June 20, 2013
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12)
A large convoy of ships was on elaborate maneuvers. The flagship at the center of the convoy signaled a hard right turn for the entire convoy. The commanding officer of a large cruiser missed the signal from the flagship. His cruiser was not in line with that right turn. The cruiser thrashed around, hopelessly out of formation. There was chaos on the bridge of the cruiser when the standard Navy signal came from the flagship: “What are your intentions?” The skipper of that cruiser flashed this return signal: “My intentions are to buy a farm!” (In the Navy, there is a fast track that makes admirals out of captains and there is a slow track that sends captains into retirement. When a captain makes a mistake like that one, he might as well make his retirement plans).
The cause of Christ is moving through this world like a convoy, in perfect formation, supernaturally synchronized by the Holy Spirit. The risen, living Christ is the Flagship at the heart of that convoy. Jesus Christ is sending signals to that convoy all the time. If you have your eye on the Flagship and you get your signals from Him, you will be in formation and part of His great work in this world. If you do not have your eye on the Flagship and you miss His signals, the work of Christ will move on without you, while you thrash around, out of formation, never a synchronized part this magnificent convoy.
Servants of the Lord must keep their eye on the Flagship and not get their signals from their culture, but from the risen, living Christ.
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Posted by Dick Woodward
June 3, 2013
“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.” (John 1:23)
THE SEVENTH STEP: Evaluate and surrender your natural and spiritual gifts.
Once you get a good evaluation of your gift inventory, a principle application to the will of God for your life is to accept the limits of your limitations and the responsibility for your abilities. John the Baptist is a good example of a man who implemented this application. John knew who he was and he knew who he was not. He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness… ” That was who, what, and where John was to be. He knew it was foolish to try to be more than he was called to be. He also knew that life was too precious to be anything less than that voice crying in the wilderness.
I have known parishioners who experienced needless pain because they would not accept the limits of their limitations. However, when we are evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ, most of us will suffer agonizing shortfall because we did not accept the responsibility for our abilities. Like the unprofitable servant in The Parable of the Talents, some of us believe we are not gifted and we bury our talents (Matthew 25:14-30).
Your natural gifts are the result of your genetic heritage. Your spiritual gifts come with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12). How are you utilizing them for God’s Kingdom?
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, Jesus Christ, John 1:23, John the Baptist, Kingdom builders, parable of the talents, religion, Spiritual Discernment, Spiritual Gifts, spirituality, theology | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
May 29, 2013
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
STEP NUMBER FIVE: Be completely open and unbiased about what the will of God for your life might be.
A well paid consultant told me that much of the time when he earns large fees, his clients do not want his consultation. They simply want him to affirm what they have already decided to do. The will of God is often just out of our reach because we have our agendas in place when we come to God seeking His will. If our minds are set like concrete before we converse with God regarding His will for our lives, we are not really seeking His will when we pray or open His Word. We are actually asking God to bless our will, our agenda, and the way we have decided to go.
We must have the faith to believe the verse quoted above. It is tragically possible for you to miss the will of God for your life because you do not have the faith to believe that God can make you a new creation in Christ. Your extraordinary potential as a new creation in Christ is one reason why you must be completely open and unbiased as to what the will of God for you may be. Seeking God with your mind already made up could rob you of the will of God for a life that is good, perfect and the only life acceptable to your God. God loves you too much to let you live a life that is only a fragment of the life He has planned for you.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: 2 corinthians 5, faith, God's love, God's will, Jesus Christ, new creations, religion, Seeking God, Spiritual Discernment, spirituality | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
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