Category: Saturday Study

Satan 1.27.24

Who is Satan?

Satan opposes God as the chief of all fallen angels by deceiving, tempting, and lying. Satan only has the access and ability that God permits him to have.

Satan’s Origins–

Satan was created at the same time as all the other angels and because God said that His creation was good, we can infer that Satan had not fallen yet.

There is a reference to the angels worshiping God in joy at the creation of the stars.

Job 38:7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Notice it says, “all” the sons of God. This is a reference to the angels. It is also used of man, but in this text, it is clearly speaking of the heavenly host and the usage is implying that God is speaking of all that He had created.

Angels are created spiritual beings. They are created by the only one who creates life. The Scriptures tell us that they are created by God.

Nehemiah 9:6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.”

Genesis 2:1 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.”

Notice the little phase in this text “all the host of them.”

John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

John tells us that ALL things where created by Jesus and, in case that is not enough, everything that is made was made by Him. By this, it is clear the host of heaven, angels, were created by the Triune God and, by this text specifically, Jesus.

Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

Angels were not only created by Him, but they were created for Him. He sustains and upholds them.

What Kinds of Angels Are There?

The Bible tells us of two kinds of angels: elect angels and fallen angels (demons). Elect angels are those whom God ordained to not fall but to serve and to enjoy God and His ways. Fallen angels (demons) are evil angels who sinned against God and now continually work evil in creation; There is no redemption for fallen angels.

1 Timothy 5:21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.

Because this is a study of Satan, I want to turn from the elect angels and focus on the fallen angels of whom Satan is the leader.

The word demon/demons is used 122 times in the New Testament. It is used three times in the Old Testament. All three uses of the word link demons to idolatrous worship.

Leviticus 17:7 So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.

Psalm 106:37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons

The Scriptures do not speak about how the angels fell or what caused them to rebel towards a good, loving, and gracious God or why they would follow a tyrannical leader like Satan.

We must remember that Satan is an angel and nothing more.

The first of the angels to rebel was Satan who was promptly thrown out of heaven along with myriads of fallen angels who followed his lead.

The Bible says they “did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling” (Jude 1:6) in contrast to “the elect angels” (1 Tim. 5:21) who were given grace to remain sinless.

Now, unlike mankind, who fell as a result of our federal head (Adam), each apostate angel fell by his own personal choice.

Satan is spoken of more often in Scripture than all of the other evil angels combined and out of twenty-nine references in the Gospels, Jesus spoke of him twenty-five times.

He is “the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24), the undisputed ruler of a host of evil spirits that inhabit the cosmos as surely as humanity inhabits planet earth.

He is “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), which includes all unregenerate humanity and all fallen angels.

He is “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), the whole world order that rejects the Creator and substitutes the creature.

The Bible refers to him fifty-two times as “Satan” and thirty-five times as the “Devil”.

His many titles give us great insight into the work of Satan. Let’s look at those as a way to see the depth of how truly evil Satan is.

The Work of Satan

To focus on the work of Satan, turn with me to Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

1-Satan confuses us with what God really has done.

Genesis 3:2-4 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

2-Satan tries to blur our consequences.

Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

3- Satan attacks how we view God.

Satan also uses things like:

Doubt—questioning God’s Word and His goodness.

Discouragement—looking at your problems rather than at God.

Diversion—the wrong things seem attractive so that you will want them more than right things.

Defeat—feeling like a failure so that you don’t even try.

Delay—putting off doing something good and God-honoring so that it never gets done.

Satan wants nothing more than to offer up the trap—bait us with wealth, pleasure, fame, acceptance, and so on!

He is like an Eskimo wolf hunter.

According to tradition, this is how an Eskimo hunter kills a wolf:

First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. He then adds layer after layer of blood until the blade is completely concealed by the frozen blood. Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder, the wolf licks the blade in the cold Arctic night. His craving for blood becomes so great that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize the instant when his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his own warm blood. His carnivorous appetite continues to crave more until, in the morning light, the wolf is found dead on the snow!

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

The Limitations of Satan

Praise God that Satan is not unleashed and out of control. He is under the sovereign authority of God almighty.

All things are under God’s rule and control and nothing happens without His direction or permission. Providentially, He is a God who works not just some things, but all things after the counsel of His own holy will. God’s purpose is all-inclusive and is never thwarted. It is not merely that God has the power and right to govern all things, but He does so always and without exception. God is the “Supreme Being” who answers to no one and who has the absolute right to do with His creation as He desires.

Daniel 4:35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

What we must understand is, Satan is not a formidable foe of God’s. God and Satan are not on an even playing field engaged in the cosmic battle of all battles. You have maybe seen modern pictures portraying Satan and Jesus arm wrestling. This is nonsense; this is unbiblical. Satan was created and is ultimately ruled by Jesus.

Colossians 1:16 For by him [Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities …

In Job, we read that Satan only did what God allowed him to do to Job.

Satan is not omniscient. Nowhere in Scripture does it give Satan the power to read minds or know anything exhaustively. Satan is on a leash with his power. God limits how far, or what, Satan can do to Job. We should see the sovereignty of God in this and also see that nothing comes to us without the express permission of God. We have no need to fear Satan or his demonic host because they are controlled by a sovereign God. We are called to be alert for the work and the temptation of Satan, but we need not fear him.

God promised the defeat of Satan in Genesis 3:15 and on the cross, Jesus conquered sin and death on behalf of the redeemed people of God.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (NIV) … “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

While we are still at war with the work of the flesh, the temptation of sin, and the powers of darkness, we are claimed and secure in the victory of Jesus Christ. We fear no one but God. We need to remember God is sovereign—Satan is not!

The Destiny of Satan

Finally, Satan is destined for eternal destruction. Satan and all his fallen angels will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.

Revelation 20:9-10 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Armor up, brothers and sisters in Christ! We endure this fight knowing our bloodied Champion has already claimed our victory and that He stands supreme over all things, including our adversary. Praise the Lord!

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Adam 1.20.24

To dig into Adam, we will start where the bible starts—in Genesis 1:26-31.

1. The Imago Dei

In Genesis 1:26, we see a new way in which God creates. Every aspect of creation is the work of the spoken word of Christ to create. But when it comes to mankind, instead of “He”, it says, “Let US create man in OUR image, in OUR likeness.”

Do you see the work of the Trinity here?

The perfect unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit aimed to create not just a single man but a community of mankind. A oneness in marriage that would mirror the oneness of the holy Trinity.

The fact that mankind is made in the image of God is called the “Imago Dei”.

The image of God is a foundational concept for understanding our significance and purpose in life. Understanding how we are made in God’s image helps us understand our inherent dignity as a human being created by our heavenly Father.

Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

From these verses, we understand that our worth is connected to our Creator. If God is of indescribable worth, then human beings made in His image must have immense value, too.

In Genesis 9:6, God reminds Noah that man is made in God’s image: Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

In other words, this verse tells us, “To attack a person, is to attack God through His image bearer.”

We are also told again in the New Testament that human beings are made in God’s image.

James 3:9 With it [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

So how we treat people indicates how we value God.

C. S. Lewis says in his book The Weight of Glory, “There are no ordinary people. You have never met a mere mortal.” The people you see every day, even the ones to whom you give little regard, will live forever either under salvation or judgment. Even the most obscure person is not ordinary in God’s eyes.

For all of God’s creation, He said it was good. But after He created Man in the Imago Dei He said it was “very good”.

2. The Federal Head of Mankind

Read: Genesis 2:4-25

The Hebrew word for Adam, is translated most simply as man. What is cool, too, is that the Hebrew word for earth, or dirt, is almost exactly the same. So, this dirt man, is the representative of manhood.

Adam acted as a representative of the entire human race. With the test that God set before Adam and Eve, He was testing the whole of mankind. Adam’s name means “man” or “mankind.” Adam was the first human being created. He stands at the head of the human race. He was placed in the garden to act not only for himself but also for all who would come from him. Just as a federal government has a chief spokesman who is the head of the nation, so Adam was the federal head of mankind.

This is called federal headship. I will further define what Adam’s federal headship means for us later.

For now, let’s look at the four key responsibilities God gave Adam.

Read: Genesis 2:15-24

God gave man a work to do (work in the garden and take care of it).

God gave man a will to obey (do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will die).

God gave man a woman to love (a helper suitable for him; The two became one flesh).

Read: Genesis 1:28

God gave man a legacy to pass on (be fruitful and multiply).

3. In Adam, All Die

Read: Genesis 3:1-24

The Problem is Adam failed. Adam and Eve’s decision to choose death and sin over God and life meant that the human race would pay the consequences of life separated from God. A life deserving only death!

As a consequence of the fall of the first man, Adam, every person born into the world is morally corrupt and spiritually dead. It took only a single act of disobedience. This was the first sin on Earth, and through it entered sin and death to the rest of humanity (Romans 5:12). Sin is disobeying God. Sin is worshiping anything above God.

The Bible describes sin as the breaking, or transgression, of God’s law (1 John 3:4) Sin is disobedience! Sin is trying to find your identity, personal significance, personal salvation, sense of security, purpose for living, or happiness and joy in these things, people, or status INSTEAD OF IN GOD! Sin is when we fail to do what God tells us to do or when we do what God tells us not to do.

As a result, all human beings incur physical, spiritual and eternal death, which is separation from God. Adam and Eve were punished with immediate spiritual death, eventual physical death, banishment from Eden, and loss of fellowship with God. Adam was cursed with having to sweat hard in his work, and Eve was cursed with labor pains in childbirth and the tendency to rebel against Adam.

The stark reality is this: God’s perfect wrath sits on all sinners no matter how many, or what kind of, sins they have committed.

Rom. 6:23 says, “… the wages of sin is death …”, meaning we have earned death because of our sin.

Consequently, all human beings are born sinful by nature and practice sin by choice which enslaves man to the fleeting pleasures of self-rule and sin leaving them totally depraved in every aspect of their being.

The chief idea of federal headship is that, when Adam sinned, it was counted for all of us. His fall was our fall. When God punished Adam by taking away his original righteousness, we were all likewise punished. The curse of the Fall affects us all. Not only was Adam then declared to make his living by the sweat of his brow, but that is true for us as well. Not only was Eve consigned to have pain in childbirth, but that has been true for women of all human generations.

God ordained that Adam act on behalf of all people when he was in the garden, so Adam’s choice to sin means that we are brought forth under the penalty of that sin and that his sin is imputed (credited) to us.

Imputation means to attribute or ascribe or credit.

Imputation speaks of what I am accredited. At no time in all of human history have we been more accurately represented than in the Garden of Eden. To be sure, we did not choose our representative there. Our representative was chosen for us. The one who chose our representative was almighty God.

When God chooses our representative, He does so perfectly. His choice is an infallible choice. Adam represented me infallibly, not because he was infallible, but because God is infallible. Given God’s infallibility, I can never argue that Adam was a poor choice to represent me.

The assumption many of us make when we struggle with the Fall is that, had we been there, we would have made a different choice. We would not have made a decision that would plunge the world into ruin. Such an assumption is just not possible given the character of God. God doesn’t make mistakes. His choice of my representative is greater than my choice of my own.

So, the result of the Fall of Adam means that each one of us to follow him are totally depraved in sin.

In Genesis 5, we see the line of people that came from the original man, Adam. In Genesis 6, we see God’s evaluation of mankind after the fall and His explanation of mankind’s condition due to the fall of Adam.

Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

In Romans 3, Paul rightly explains mankind’s condition.

Romans 3:10-12 … “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Jesus said we are like bad trees bearing bad fruit. Because of Original Sin, there is no good, only bad in us. Indeed, we are sons of the Devil (John 8:44).

Man has no hope or power to restore or save himself apart from God’s own gracious intervention. We call this Total Depravity. In man’s natural state, he can do nothing that honors God and has no will that longs for God apart from any grace exerted by God to transform him.

We have no hope or power—no ability to restore or save ourselves into right standing with God.

This reality of our sin leaves us utterly desperate for the Second ADAM.

Martin Luther wrote about Him this way: “Since all of us, born in sin and God’s enemies, have earned nothing but eternal wrath and hell so that everything we are and can do is damned, and there is no help or way of getting out of this predicament…therefore another man had to step into our place, namely Jesus Christ, God and man, and had to render satisfaction and make payment for sin through his suffering and death”

4. In Christ is Life

Read Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 45-49

This is good news to us. Because the first Adam failed, all of us did. Mankind chooses to be self-centered and rebel against life and the Dance. To try to make the dance happen around our self-centered sinful existence. In this, we choose the battlefield that we now know as life in this world—full of sin and death.

But, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, stood face to face with the enemy on the battleground you and I face every day and instead of saying, “Ok. Let’s make it all about me. He chooses to stay in the Dance of the Trinity. He chooses to not be self-centered but to remain other-centered, to remain in LOVE and the glory of the Godhead. He chooses life.

Now watch this:

God told Adam and Eve to obey him regarding the Tree in the middle of the garden. Right? DO NOT eat of it. But they did eat of it and denied God and choose death. We all did.

God told Jesus to obey him about a tree, too. That tree was the Cross. But the flip was that in obeying God the Father, Jesus would die.

He willingly stepped into the heart of the battle so that He could draw you and me into the heart of LIFE.

What Jesus has known and experienced for all eternity is the beauty, the love, and the satisfaction of the fellowship of the trinity, and He has come to bring it to His people.

This is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, Adam wildly failed at all four of the responsibilities God gave him. But in the second Adam, we see a different result.

Jesus, who is the last Adam, is given the same four responsibilities:

[A work to do] – Redeem the Lost

[A will to obey] – His Father’s

[A woman to love] – The Church

[A legacy to pass on] – The Disciples and the Church

In the same passage that Paul speaks of the first Man, Adam, he speaks of another man, Jesus!

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures

“What I received I pass onto you as of first importance.” Paul rightly emphasizes the most important fact in all of human history—that “Christ died for our sins.”

Theologically, the Bible calls this atonement. Atonement is what was made for God’s people at the cross of Jesus.

Atonement means “at one with God.” Atonement means that at the cross, God reconciled His people to himself in Christ, making us one with Him again.

Romans 3:25 tell us that God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood.

Romans 5:8 says it this way: “… God shows his love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB) He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

“God made Him (Christ) who had no sin (first requirement), to be sin for us (die for us [second requirement]), (why?) so that, in Him (Christ) we might become the righteousness of God.” God sent Christ who was sinless, to take on our sin, our punishment, and die for us.

Charles Hodge says this well:

“There is probably no passage in the Scriptures in which the doctrine of justification is more concisely or clearly stated than [this]. Our sins were imputed to Christ, and his righteousness is imputed to us. He bore our sins; we are clothed in his righteousness.”

Again, imputation means to attribute or ascribe or credit.  Imputation speaks of what I am accredited.

While this worked for our bad under the first Adam, this is for our absolute good under the second Adam. The righteousness I am judged by is Jesus’, not mine. The veil, or the clothing, that God sees on me is Christ—His righteousness. This righteousness is not infused into me and is not performed by me. It is imputed. It is laid upon me—like a garment.

Every Human will be represented by one of these two Adams. Adam and Christ stand as the two great figures at the entrance to two different realities. Adam and Jesus represent two different generals who lead two very different armies.

The first Adam—a manhood set on a natural course, based on instinct—a manhood devoid of transcendent meaning.

The second Adam, Jesus—a manhood empowered by God, dependent on Christ and not flesh—a manhood full of transcendent meaning.

Thank God for “The Man,” Jesus Christ.

Thank God for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ—The Second Adam; Jesus, who left His thrown in heaven where He rules and reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords to come to earth and take on the life of a servant.

He humbly and painfully took on our deserved wrath so that we might have life eternal with God and be empowered to serve Him on the mission He has given us for His Glory.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

God the Holy Spirit 1.13.24

Last week we read in Deuteronomy 6:4 that “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

The Scriptures teach us that there is one God—not many gods! One God.

2 Corinthians 13:14 says,“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”Here, we see in one verse the testimony of all three persons of the Holy Godhead. The glorious Father, His beloved Son and the life-giving Holy Spirit.”

So, God the Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of the holy Trinity that make up the holy Godhead. It is important to understand that the Holy Spirit is coequal in essence and eternity with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is not less important or less God than the Father or Son. With that understood, the actions and role of the Holy Spirit are different than that of the Father and the Son within the Godhead.

To better understand God the Holy Spirit, let’s first go to creation. As we read in Genesis 1:1-2, we see that from the very beginning of creation, there is evidence that the Holy Spirit is present and at work to help do His part in what God the Father has planned and what God the Son is doing in creation.

To better understand God the Holy Spirit, let’s next look at some of the key roles and work the Holy Spirit carries out.

1. The Empowering Work of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the one who breathes in the breath of life to creation:

When you send forth your Spirit, they are created (Ps. 104:30).

This is so central to all living things that if God “should take back his spirit to himself, and gather to himself his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust” (Job 34:14- 15).

Consistent with this life-giving function of the Holy Spirit is the fact that it was the Holy Spirit who conceived Jesus in the womb of Mary His mother (Matt. 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35).

It is the Holy Spirit who gives new life in regeneration to those whom God has chosen to draw to and save for Himself. I will expand on this very important work of the Holy Spirit later.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit often empowered people for special service for God’s purposes:

• He empowered Joshua with leadership skills and wisdom (Numbers 27:18; Deuteronomy 34:9).
• He empowered the judges to deliver Israel from their oppressors (Othniel in Judges 3:10, Gideon in 6:34, Jephthah in 11:29, and Samson in 13:25).
• The Holy Spirit came mightily upon Saul to arouse him to battle against the enemies of Israel (1 Samuel 11:6).
• When David was anointed as king, “the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13), equipping David to fulfill the task of kingship to which God had called him.

The Holy Spirit also worked mightily in the New Testament:

• First, and most importantly, in His anointing and empowering of Jesus as the Messiah. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at His baptism (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22).
• John the Baptist said, “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him” (John 1:32).
• Jesus then entered into the temptation in the wilderness “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1).
• Later, when coming to preach in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus said, Himself, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).

To see what else the Holy Spirit has done in and through the New Testament, we now look to the church.

2. The Promise of the Holy Spirit to the Church

John 14:15-20 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

John 14:25-27 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

The New Testament Scriptures reveal that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ at salvation and provides abiding help and power for daily living, conviction of sin, understanding biblical truth, testimony of Christ, progressive sanctification, and distributing spiritual gifts. These are to be used to build up the body of Christ and are to be exercised according to biblical guidelines and priorities.

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

It is also appropriate that Paul later will call the Holy Spirit the “first fruits” (Romans 8:23) and the “guarantee” (or “down payment” [2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5]) of the full manifestation of God’s presence that we will know in the new heavens and new earth (cf. Revelation 21:3-4).

3. The Work of the Holy Spirit in Salvation

Romans 8:30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Paul specifies here in our reading in Romans 8 that all who were “called” were also “justified.” This powerful act of God that always brings about salvation is often referred to as His “effective calling.” It is an act of God that guarantees a response!

We may define “effective calling” as follows:

Effective calling is an act of God the Father, speaking through the human proclamation of the gospel, in which He summons His people to Himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith.

2 Thessalonians 2:14 To this he called you through our gospel so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

John 6:44 Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

A specific example of the gospel call working effectively as God ordains is seen in Paul’s first visit to Philippi. When Lydia heard the gospel message, Acts 16:14 says, “The Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul.”

For those whom God effectively calls by His will and grace, they then must be reborn by the Holy Spirit if they are going to see and savor the gospel of Jesus Christ with repentance and faith. This is the work of God the Holy Spirit to give new birth! It is also referred to as regeneration.

Regeneration is the act of the Holy Spirit in which He imparts new spiritual life to us. This is sometimes called being “born again”(using language from John 3:3-8).

It is important to see that the work of regeneration is totally a work of God the Holy Spirit and not of us. We did not assist in our physical birth, and we do not assist in our spiritual birth. We see this, for example, when John talks about those to whom Christ gave power to become children of God. They “were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). Here John specifies that children of God are those who are “born of God,” and our human will (“the will of man”) does not bring about this kind of birth. The fact that we are passive in regeneration is also evident when Scripture refers to it as being “born again.”

John 3:3-8 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

This sovereign work of God in regeneration was spoken of clearly in the prophecy of Ezekiel. Through his prophecy, God promised He would give new spiritual life to His people:

Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

This work of the Holy Spirit to make our dead hearts alive is the result of the amazing grace of God to save His people when we were dead in our sin and deserving nothing but judgment and wrath. This is our new birth. This is of the utmost importance because we could have never had eyes to see nor ears to hear the gospel unless the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit had given us a new heart.

1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Romans 8:7-8 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Praise God for His saving grace and the power of the Holy Spirit to unshackle our dead and depraved hearts so that we would see and savor the gospel of Jesus Christ and repent and believe in Jesus alone for salvation.

4. Sanctification of the Holy Spirit

Another of the major works of the Holy Spirit can be found in His name: “HOLY” Spirit. One of the primary activities of God the Holy Spirit is to cleanse us from sin and to “sanctify us”, or make us more holy, in actual conduct of life. When people become Christians, the Holy Spirit does an initial cleansing work in them, making a decisive break with the patterns of sin that were in their lives before.

Paul says of the Corinthians, “You were washed, you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11; see also Titus 3:5).

Sanctification happens at regeneration when a man or woman is set free and saved. Sanctification is also a progressive work that the Holy Spirit produces throughout our lives until, one day, we are glorified and made complete. Sanctification comes by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; cf. Romans 8:4, 15-16), so that it is “by the Spirit” that we are able to “put to death the deeds of the body” and grow in personal holiness (Romans 8:13; see 7:6; Philippians 1:19).

He brings forth the “fruit of the Spirit” within us (“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,” Galatians 5:22-23), which are those qualities that reflect the character of God. As we continually “are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another,” we should be reminded that “this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Romans 8:1-3 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The redeemed no longer rightly sit under God’s wrath because of sin.

This is the essence of Christianity—the central and foundational message of God to the world. This is what we announce. This is what we plead. This is what we lay down our lives to communicate to the nations and the neighborhoods: no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are “SET FREE” from the bondage of sin and death to which we were once completely enslaved.But God has not just saved us to provide us with a GOLDEN TICKET to heaven one day. It’s more than that. He has saved us to send us on mission in a dark and lost world with His life changing good news to live out loud the transformed life in Christ.

This transformed life is the ongoing work of God to purify us, to sanctify us—to make us holy, obedient, and righteous.

Romans 8:4 … in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Paul says that those who are alive in Christ “walk [live] no longer according the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

We find this a little later in the passage:

Romans 8:7-8 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

There is NO power in the flesh for ANYTHING righteous!

Romans 8:9-10 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

There is great power in the Spirit to practice righteousness!

In biblical theology, when you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit indwells you and then unites you with God.

Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

There is power in the Spirit because the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in you.

The Spirit strengthens us with power within our inner being.

Ephesians 3:16 … that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being …

Yes, we all have sin struggles, but for those in Christ, you also have the Holy Spirit in you to fight and overcome that sin.

Another aspect to the work of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification is exposing our sin by drawing us into the light.

John 16:7-8 “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”

The Helper that Jesus is speaking of is the Holy Spirit. One of the Holy Spirit’s roles that we see here is convicting us of sin. This is a beautiful work—hard, but beautiful.

It’s like when someone points out that your fly is down. You are embarrassed, but thankful you are told. It is the same with the Holy Spirit, but on a much larger scale as the sin He convicts us of is very personal and deep.

This is a good thing in the life of believers because of His great love for us. He doesn’t leave us in sin and darkness. He saves us and calls us out of it into the light.

John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”

This is a great thing! Do you see how the work of the Holy Spirit is central in our journey of sanctification? This is how God is refining us. We are given eyes to see the truth, and the truth sets us free. But the truth also is the very light that He shines into our sin drawing us out—out of practicing sin. This causes us to confess and repent as we talked about last week. It causes us to live life in the light.

We need to learn to not ignore or dislike this work of the Spirit, but embrace it as a great thing. This is why it is very troubling when someone who is struggling with, and/or is confronted with, sin decides to leave the church or the club. It is troubling because they are hating the LIGHT. They want to be at a church or in a group that is content to leave them in the dark corners of their sinful habits. This is not the role of the church nor the club. This is not the role of the Holy Spirit.

When we close our eyes to this light, the Bible calls this resisting the Spirit.When we close our eyes to this light or disparage what we are meant to see by this brightness, we are guilty of resisting the Spirit (Acts 7:51) or quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19) or grieving the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).

There may be slight nuances among the three terms, but they are all speaking of the same basic reality: denying seeing and savoring what the Spirit means to show us.

Let me highlight a few practical ways we are in danger of doing this in our daily lives:

1. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we use Him to excuse sinful behavior.

The Spirit is meant to be the source of conviction in the human hearts. How sad it is, therefore, when Christians try to use the “leading of the Holy Spirit” to support ungodly behavior. We see this when people claim the leading of the Spirit as the reason for their nonbiblical divorce, or for their financial mismanagement, or for extra-marital sexual participation.

The Holy Spirit is always the Spirit of holiness. He means to show us our sin and to not excuse it through subjective feelings, spontaneous impressions, and our personal wishes disguised as enlightened spirituality. If the Holy Spirit is grieved when we turn from righteous into sin, how much more grieved He must be when we claim the Spirit’s authority for such deliberate rebellion!

2. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we pit Him against the Scriptures.

The Spirit works to reveal the truth of the Word of God, not to lead us away from it. There is no place in the Christian life for supposing nor suggesting that careful attention to the Bible is somehow less spiritual than acting upon what he or she feels is the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes Christians will cite the promise we read a moment ago in John 16:13 that the Spirit “will guide you into all the truth” as reason to expect that the third person of the Trinity will give us new insights not found in the Scripture. The “truth” referred to in John 16 is the whole truth about everything bound up in Jesus Christ—the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

The Spirit, speaking for the Father and the Son, helped the apostles remember and understand what Jesus said and accomplished. This is what John 14:26 says: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” This means that the Spirit is responsible for the truths the apostles preached and that, in turn, were written down in what we now call the New Testament.

If we are going to honor the Spirit, we are to honor the Scriptures He inspired and is charged to illuminate. The holy Scriptures are the Holy Spirit’s words to us. We don’t need to pray for, nor look for, new revelation or insight. God’s Word is sufficient. This is why we always grow as we continue to study it again and again. We trust the Bible and do not need to go beyond the Bible for God’s leading. The Bible is the Spirit’s book. It is the measure of truth we are to put next to all revelation or leanings of the Holy Spirit to verify that indeed what we feel that we are hearing is in line with God’s holy word and, therefore, the word of the Lord to us.

Finally, look with me at verses 5 and 6:

Romans 8:5-6 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

This is a similar teaching Paul gives in Galatians 6 when he speaks of the war we are in between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. We are to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. If life and satisfaction and transformation, at our core, are found in step with the Holy Spirit, then let us walk with the Holy Spirit each day.

Galatians 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

God the Father 1.6.24

This is the first “Saturday Study” of this year’s new reading plan as we focus on 52 key figures of Holy Scripture. Every Saturday, we will send out a personal Bible study for you to use to dig into something that we read that week in the Bible reading plan. Some will be short and to the point, and others will be longer, giving you a chance to really dig in and study and grow. Understand, this is not meant to be a quick read on the way through the Starbucks drive thru. It is meant to be a tool to help you sit with God’s word and truly dig in and grow and mature in your understanding of the things of God. I pray you will take the time each week to make it a priority to study with us and be stretched unto a more mature walk with God. Know that I am praying for you as you study this year–that God’s word would come alive to you in greater ways and cause you to grow in repentance and belief. 

Who is God the Father?

God is the almighty Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of everything. He is perfect and the standard by which all things are measured.

The Bible never attempts to prove the existence of God; rather, it rightly assumes His existence from the very beginning. What the Bible does is reveal the nature, character, and work of God.

Without good biblical insight, many people think of God as any various being conceived of having special powers.

If you are God, is this a definition that suits you? No way! It is vague and not specific. It says that you are conceived or made up! This definition of God is, in other words, a something-out-there god!

The problem is a vast majority of Americans say they believe in God who is a something-out-there god, a cosmic grandpa, or a 911 service in the sky. This is why we are desperate for God’s holy word to rightly reveal to us who He really is.

Today, I want to help us understand:

1. Who God the Father is within the holy Trinity

2. His name

3. His attributes

4. His purpose

5. The takeaways we can apply to our everyday life regarding God the Father.

1. God the Father Within the Holy Trinity of the Godhead

On Monday, we read in Deuteronomy 6:4 that “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” This verse is known as the Shema. It’s the cornerstone verse that every Jewish child would memorize and live by. The Lord is one! The Scriptures teach us there is one God—not many gods! One God.

2 Corinthians 13:14 says “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Here, we see in one verse testimony of all three persons of the holy Godhead: the glorious Father, His beloved Son, and the life-giving Holy Spirit. It is within the eternal existence of the holy Trinity that we have the source of all true beauty, joy, goodness, holiness, and love. To belong to God is to participate in this circle of divine fellowship. It is the goal of all existence. It is the meaning of life.

Did you know:

-The word Trinity is never found in Scripture.

-The word Trinity means tri-unity or three in oneness.

-It is used to summarize the teaching of Scripture that there is one God who eternally and equally exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 

So, God the Father is one of the three persons of the holy Trinity that make up the holy Godhead. He is coequal in essence and eternity with God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, yet His actions and roles within the Godhead are different than that of the Son and the Holy Spirit. To better understand God the Father let’s first look at…

2. God’s Name

Turn with me to Exodus Chapter 3.

Exodus 3:13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

What you need to understand about the religious system in Egypt in that day is a belief in many gods. These are “little g,” little pretender gods, like a god of soil, of fertility, of the sun, or of death. So Moses is asking, “How do I describe you to those who believe in many gods? Which god will they think you are?”

Now listen to God’s answer:

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” 

 “I am who I am” is taken from a Hebrew word that means “to exist.” God is telling Moses, “I exist, I am REAL!”

In this, God is totally slamming the entire religious system and putting to correct shame all the little g, man-made gods.

He makes no excuses, no explanation. He is as straightforward as He can be: “I AM! Whether you figure me out or not or whether you acknowledge me or not! I AM.”

Next, God says: Exodus 3:14b, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” So, God’s name is I AM.

Exodus 3:15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.”

The LORD (all CAPS): L O R D !!!!!!!!!!

The LORD = four Hebrew consonants (YHWH). This was so sacred that Jews wouldn’t even pronounce them. Our modern word for God’s name is “Yahweh.” So if you see the LORD in all caps in the Bible, this is a sign that it is in reference to the one true God. This is the name of God! YAHWEH! It is not a name to be taken lightly! It is full of power and wonder! It is a name describing His eternal power and unchangeable character. In a world where values, morals, and laws change constantly, we can find stability and security in our unchanging God.

This name is used 6800 times in the Old Testament!

Now think of the difference between knowing Him as GOD and knowing Him as Yahweh—HE IS! When God reveals His name, He is not only letting us get to know Him, He is proclaiming who He is. So, when He says, “I AM,” He is saying, “I am huge, I am it, I am vast, I am who I am! No matter what you think or have been told, I AM!”

God says in Isaiah 45:5, “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.”

3. God’s Attributes

In our Thursday Reading in Psalm 136, we read many statements about God and His attributes, followed by the proclamation that “His steadfast love endures forever.” To study and review the attributes of God is a way to better understand Him. Here is a list of some of the key attributes of God. It is important to note that not one of these is higher or more of an attribute of God. Each one is a critical and a central part of who God is.

Goodness: All that God is and does is perfectly good and He alone is the final standard of good. There is such an absolute perfection in God’s nature and being that nothing is wanting to it or defective in Him. Nothing can be added to it to make it better (Psalm 34:8, Psalm 145:9, Psalm 25:8, Matthew 7:7-11, Romans 8:28-29).

Grace: God gives unmerited favor to the guilty and unworthy that He has chosen. This includes blessings such as regeneration, faith, reconciliation, and eternal life (Ephesians 1:2-14, Romans 11:6, Romans 3:10-12, Ephesians 2:8-9, Hebrews 4:16).

Immutability: God, in His being, perfections, purposes, ordinations, and promises, does not change in any way. He has always been and will always be exactly the same (Numbers 23:19-20, James 1:17, 1 Samuel 15:29, Exodus 3:14, Acts 14:15) .

Impassibility: God does not experience emotional changes either from within or effected by His relationship to creation. He remains unchanged and unchanging both prior and subsequent to creation (Numbers 23:19-20, Malachi 3:6, James 1:17, 1 Samuel 15:29, Exodus 3:14).

Omnipotence: God is able to do all His holy will. He is all-powerful (Psalm 33:9, Isaiah 46:10, Jeremiah 32:17, Matthew 19:26, Job 42:2).

Omnipresence: God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with His whole being. Nothing in the universe exists outside the presence of God (Psalm 139:7-10, Jer 23:24, Deut 4:39, Heb 13:5, Revelation 14:10).

Omniscience: God has perfect, complete knowledge. He never learns, nor does He forget. He knows all things that exist and all things that could have existed. God cannot grow in knowledge, understanding, or wisdom (Job 37:16, Psalm 147:5, Isaiah 46:9-10, Romans 11:33-34, Matthew 11:21, 23).

Spirituality: God is spirit. He exists as a being that is not made of any matter, has no parts or dimensions, and is more excellent than any other kind of existence. That is to say, He is an immaterial, invisible, and infinite being that is fundamentally distinct from material, visible, and finite creatures (Jn 4:24, 1 Tim 1:17, Matt 1:23, Col 1:15).

Truthfulness (Faithfulness): God does not lie. All His knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth. He keeps all of His promises (Isaiah 40:8, Numbers 23:19, John 14:6, John 17:17-19, 2 Timothy 2:15).

Holiness: God is distinct, separate, in a class by Himself (He is “set apart”). He is morally pure (without any sin), and He is holy in relation to every aspect of His nature and character (Ex 15:11, 1 Sam 2:2, Rev 4:8, 1 Peter 1:14-16, 1 John 1:5, Ps 99:3).

Love: God is love and in this He gives Himself for the blessing and salvation of undeserving sinners (1 John 4:8, Ephesians 5:1-2, John 15:9-11, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 1:2-6).

Wrath: By His holiness, God decreed eternal punishment against sinners and justice against evil. It is the eternal detestation of all unrighteousness (Romans 1:18, Psalm 5:5-6, Psalm 11:5, Psalm 7:11, Revelation 14:9-10).

Justice: Based on God’s own perfect righteousness and holiness, He deals with all things rightly and completely. He hates sin and always judges perfectly (Job 34:12, Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalms 9:7-8, Romans 12:19, Romans 3:26).

Wisdom: God possesses wisdom perfectly and has decidedly ordained all things perfectly, including the best ways to accomplish His decisions (Job 12:13, Isaiah 55:9, Romans 11:33, Romans 11:36, Acts 2:23).

Sovereignty: All things are under God’s rule and control and nothing happens without His direction. Providentially, He is a God who works, not just some things, but all things after the counsel of His own holy will. God’s purpose is all-inclusive and is never thwarted. It is not merely that God has the power and right to govern all things but that He does so always and without exception. God is the supreme being who answers to no one and who has the absolute right to do with His creation as He desires (Ps 115:3, Eph 1:11, Dan 4:35, Ps 139:16, Is 45:7).

4. God’s Purpose

On Wednesday, we read Job 38:1-21. Here, God brings a strong correction to Job’s mind about Job in comparison to God. Essentially, God is saying, “Where were you, little man, when I, the one true God, made all of creation?” Go back and read it again. It is a powerful heart check for us all. In Romans 11, we have a similar statement:

Romans 11:33-26 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

What is God alone due? The answer is GLORY! We use the phrase glory of God so often that it can begin to lose its deserved awe. God’s glory is like the sun in the sense that it is no less blazing and no less beneficial just because people ignore it or don’t have a full idea about how radiant it is.

So, what is the glory of God?

The glory of God is the holiness of God put on display. It is the infinite worth of God made manifest. It is His importance above all else.

 Isaiah 6:3 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

When the holiness of God fills the earth for people to see, it is called glory. Holy means “set apart from what is common.”  In speaking of God’s glory, God’s infinite value shines. God’s glory is the radiance of His holiness, the out-streaming of His infinite value. “The glory of God” is a way to say that there is an objective, absolute reality to which all human wonder, awe, veneration, praise, honor, acclaim, and worship is pointing. God alone is truly worthy of our worship and wonder forever!

            Romans 11:36 For to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

The glory of God is the ultimate purpose of everything that exists!

What is included in “all things”?

1. God is ultimately for God’s glory:

God is God-centered! It is important that we see how Scripture teaches that the primary reason that God acts and saves is “ultimately” for His sake and His glory and not ours.

2. The universe and everything in it is ultimately for God’s glory:

The glory of God is the goal of all things.

Psalm 96:1-3 Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

What this helps us with is to understand that the things of life—the everyday things we have come to enjoy—these things He has created and entrusted to us are to be enjoyed so that we will see Him as central to it all and give Him praise. So, as I ride my motorcycle down the windy country road and feel the cool wind in my face, I have that experience so that I will see His hand central to me having that experience and give Him praise. God gave us food and wine, not so we could guzzle it down and gorge ourselves on it, but rather as we take a bite of good food or we take a sip of great wine, something would occur in the deepest parts of our soul where it didn’t terminate on the thing we are consuming, but rather stir in us an awe and a joy for its ultimate creator, which results in worship of God’s name.

God reigns over all things and is the reason why all things exist.

Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

5. Practical Take-Aways

A twentieth century writer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think of God is the most important thing about us.” What that boils down to is this: Who you believe God to be and what He is like is the single most important factor in your life.

In Monday’s reading of Deuteronomy 6:1-25, we were given a very practical way to fear, obey, and worship God.

Open your Bibles and look with me again at these most central commands of God in the Shema:

Deuteronomy 6:2,13-14: We are to live in a righteous fear and reverence for who God is at all times.

Deuteronomy 6:5: We are to love God above all others in life.

Deuteronomy 6:2, 17, 25: We are to walk in obedience to His commands as our way of honoring Him.

Deuteronomy 6:2, 7: We must disciple those entrusted to our care—to pass down generation to generation the truths of God and truths about God.

We have a great victory to look forward to based on what God has ordained and Christ has accomplished on our behalf.

In our Friday reading in Revelation 21:1-8, we got to see into the future reign of God over the new heavens and new earth.

We who repent and trust in Jesus alone will enjoy and worship God forever and ever.

Revelation 21:1-8 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Mark 12-16  (12.30.23)

**This is my last “Saturday Study” for this year’s reading plan. If you have journeyed with me all year, it means you have successfully read through the entire New Testament. 

260 chapters and 52 Going Deeper Bible studies. 

I praise God for all the awesome feedback we have received from many of you who are studying your Bible every day with us and who are growing every weekend through the Saturday Studies.

We are excited to be launching a brand new reading plan for this next year and I will announce Sunday at church,  The first reading will be on Monday, January 1, 2024.  In the meantime, invite with your friends and family to sign up to read along with us and they can join us as we start into a new year of studying God’s word together.

Grab your Bible, and let’s go deeper into Mark 14 & 15 :

Read:Mark 14:32-42

It says, “Jesus began to be greatly distressed and troubled.”   

We must see that Jesus is fully man and fully God.

As fully man, he experienced the weight of the hardship before him just as you and I do. 

He had to be fully human so that he could be our substitute. 

It says in Luke’s gospel account that he was so intensely distressed that he sweat blood. 

I don’t know about you, but that is a heavy weight he is carrying.    I have sat with many people through their darkest hours and I have seen many reactions to the weight of this world’s hardships, but I am yet to see anyone sweat blood in his or her distress.

What does this tell us?  It tells us that Jesus understands what it means to have heavy burdens on your shoulders, to be in the midst of the storm, or to hurt at your core.    It tells us that nothing you experience is beyond what he has known or experienced. 

Jesus is not a God who is far off and doesn’t get you.  

He came. He bore the fullness of our struggle.

He understands.   Like Jesus is running to God the Father in prayer, we need to also see no higher priority in the middle of the storm than to get on our face and go to God the Father in prayer.  

Notice he doesn’t do this once.  He spends significant time in the garden in prayer with the Father and returns to find his crew sleeping each time.

What a perfect contrast for Jesus’ righteousness and our selfishness.

Peter, James, and John, his core three disciples, are so focused on the flesh that they are missing what God is doing.  They are disobedient to their Rabbi’s instruction.   They are lazy with their posture.     They are useless to do anything by their own power for what God is about to do.


Jesus finally says: It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Praise God that Jesus was all he needed to carry out our redemption.

If he trusted one ounce of it to us, we would have messed it up.  

This is why our salvation is God’s work alone and not a synergistic work between God and us.  Because in our sin we are hopeless, powerless, not willing to participate. 

We would rather sleep!  If left to ourselves, we would lay in our grave of sin and death forever.

Praise God for his election- for his pursuit of us when we were his enemies- for his substitutionary atonement.

Praise God for his amazing grace which sets us free to see and savor the true gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

We are not willing, but Jesus is!  

Mark 14: 35-36 “And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’”

Jesus is both fully God and fully man in this moment. 

His flesh cries out in absolute honesty for a pass from what is about to come- that the cup of God’s perfect wrath would be satisfied another way.

But his righteousness is immediate and without pause.  He says, not my will but your will be done!

It is imperative we understand that Jesus willingly submits to being captured, to being falsely testified about, to being beaten, to being hung on a criminal’s cross and to dying.  

He says in John 10:18 “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

I want us to see the beauty of Jesus’ submission.  This is the response man should have had in the Garden of Eden.  This is the response we should have but we don’t.

What makes us not submissive to God’s will- to God’s Commands? Idolatry = Self or something else above God.

Praise God for his substitutionary atonement that sets us free from our grip on our idols so that we can submit to his will and we can enjoy his supremacy!

Even in the face of great suffering like Jesus, we too can truly say God, your will be done- not mine.    

-Please understand, in Christ alone this is possible.  

Read: Mark 14:53-65-

A quick overview of the six trials of Jesus:

Religious       Annas                    – A Religious Leader (former High Priest)              

Caiaphas               – The High Priest                                 

The Sanhedrin       – The Religious Supreme Court                 

Civil              Pilate                     – The Roman Governor In Jerusalem                        

Herod                     – The King Of Judea                                               

Pilate                     – A Second Trial                                             

The way these trials went down in the middle of the night was shady.   This makes sense because they have nothing on Jesus, but are so distraught at his teachings and influence on the people that they want him gone.

So they do what man does when we are blinded by our selfish agenda.  
We lie, we cheat, we steal, we take, we kill.

Why do they lie and give false witness?   For the same reason why you and I lie about anything- because something else is so important to them that they will do anything to have it. 

Something is functioning in our lives as god, so we will lie to keep it or have it.  

This can be a relationship thing (lie to your parent or spouse because you want to please them or not lose them).

This can be a physical thing (money is commonly something we lie to keep or to have more of).

This can be an identity thing (you are so concerned about how other people see you or talk about you, that you wear a mask to keep them or get them to like you).  That mask is a LIE!

This is all idolatry. It is elevating something to define your joy or identity that you lie to have it or keep it.

When God is our greatest joy- when He is who we worship- we don’t need to lie because we are clinging to other things to complete us, keep us, define us, complete us or make us happy. 

Romans 1: 25  “…they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”

Now, do you see the contrary response of Jesus?  He is the one facing the greatest consequence being the one standing on trial.   But instead of lies and false witness about himself, he is truthful in his witness!

By saying “I AM”, Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah- the promised royal Redeemer that they have been waiting for.

Now, you and I would easily lie to save our skin, but Jesus is most concerned with God’s will and so he speaks honestly knowing what it will produce.      

We see a perfect example of how we (mankind) respond in our flesh in Peter’s denial of Christ.

Read: Mark 14:66-72

Peter is the only one we know of that risked getting close to the trial by standing in the courtyard with the cops.

This is a testimony to his love for Christ.  This was very risky.  It would be like the accomplice of a murder and while the trial for your buddy happens inside, you are sipping a venti coffee with the investigators just outside the courtroom doors.  

But Peter’s faithfulness is short lived in the face of possible ridicule or persecution.

Unlike Christ who boldly proclaims his allegiance to God, Peter lies and claims to not even know Jesus.

We need to see the depth of our lostness, of our sickness, of our spiritual death in this. 

Everything in Peter wants to be loyal and true to his master.  That is why he is there. 

He is the first one to always tell Jesus “I got your back.  I will die for you.”   He wants to be faithful.  But his flesh- his depravity- leaves him enslaved to the fear of man- to the fear of persecution.  

Like Peter, you and I can sit and tell God all day that we will be faithful!

But without Christ’s substitutionary atonement, you cannot do it. 


We are desperate for Jesus. Only Christ in and through you and me can produce true honesty in the face of ridicule or persecution- true faith in the face of suffering or death.

Read Mark 15:1-15

It is commonly said that you and I were standing there.  We would be the ones screaming out “Crucify him!”

By our sinful actions we have said this indirectly every day of our life as we are so blind in our sin that we actually think an innocent man is more deserving of death than I am.  

Our selfishness will cause us to do just about anything to stay on top of our world.  

That said, what I believe God wants us to see today is less of you and I being like those yelling “Crucify him!” and more like that of Barabbas.

We are the one who deserves death for our crimes against God.

We are the ones who should be in shackles in route to the cross.

We are the ones who do not deserve in the slightest to be released to the streets while an innocent man dies in our place.

Don’t miss this because it should change everything about us today and everyday.

Just as Jesus proclaimed to the Sanhedrin, “He is the Judge of the entire world…”,

but he is the one in shackles being judged.    Do you see it? This is our trial!

We are the ones that should be in the shackles being condemned for our sin and actual blasphemy, but he is our substitute.     Jesus Christ is worthy of all our praise forever. 

Romans 5:8 “God demonstrates his love for us in this. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

The question today is:  Do you feel the weight of the amazing grace of God?

The substitutionary atonement of Jesus?

It’s like Barabbas must have felt that day.  He knew he was a murderer.  He knew he should not be walking the streets a free man.   Can you imagine the power of that freedom for him?

That is what you and I should feel every day.   The good news washing over us, shaping every thought and decision we make, freeing us to enjoy God through Christ.

Now, here is the crossroad!

If Barabbas goes home that day back to his old life, murdering, he will never see or savor the life Christ gave him.     He will remain in spiritual death. 

But, if that day he found his way to the cross and watched the innocent blood of Jesus spill out of his broken body and he suffered and died in his place- if God opened his eyes to the gospel and he responded in repentance of his sin and trusting in Jesus with his entire life- he will be forever, truly, forever changed! 

He would be reconciled to God, set free from slavery of sin and commissioned to enjoy and live for the living God. 

May we always see and savor and share the fullness of the freedom of Barabbas that the substitutionary atonement of Jesus gives us.   AMEN! 

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church