Nothing like man had ever existed in the universe prior to his creation. Through the power of God’s Word, man was brought into existence from nothing. What sets man so distinctly apart from the animals that he required a separate creative process of God? The distinct difference between man and all other animals and life forms is that man was created in the image of God.
By creating man in His own image, God fixed a gulf between animals and man that will never be bridged. Animals always have been and always will be animals. Man always has been and always will be man. The fossil evidence confirms this. No one has ever found the “missing link,” and no one ever will because it’s missing! It doesn’t exist! Since Creation, approximately ten billion human beings have been born, yet there is not a single recorded case of one ever being genetically less than a human being. Man was created in God’s own image with a capacity to know the Creator in a personal relationship. Do you know Him?
The God of peace … make you complete in every good work to do His will.
Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. § Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. § Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. § [Be] filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.
Heb. 13:20–21; 2 Cor. 13:11; Eph. 2:8–9; James 1:17;
Phil. 2:12–13; Rom. 12:2; Phil. 1:11; 2 Cor. 3:5
I will allure her, will bring her into the
wilderness, and speak comfort to her.
Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. § Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Jesus … , that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
[Jesus] said … , “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” § The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Hos. 2:14; 2 Cor. 6:17–18; 7:1; Heb. 13:12–13; Mark 6:31; Ps. 23:1–3
Today countless people look for a god within themselves or in crystals or in trees or in a former life or in some statue or in a religious experience or in the stars. But John declares the awesome truth that the glory of God is not confined in any of those things, just as it is no longer confined on a mountain or in a Tabernacle or as a cloud or fire or as a reflection on a face. Instead “the Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John is saying emphatically, “I have seen Him!”
“I’ve seen Him when He was alone.”
“I’ve seen Him when He was surrounded by a crowd of people.”
“I’ve seen Him dead,”
“I’ve seen Him buried,”
“I’ve seen Him risen,”
“I’ve seen Him ascended.”
And in every situation I have seen Him full of grace and full of truth! I have seen the face of God-in the face of Jesus!
The joy of the Lord is your strength.
Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted. § Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; “for Yah, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation.” § The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. § My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. § We … rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. § I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Neh. 8:10; Isa. 49:13; 12:2; Ps. 28:7; Isa. 61:10; Rom. 15:17; 5:11; Hab. 3:18
He has made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and secure.
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He fore- knew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son … Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
2 Sam. 23:5; 2 Tim. 1:12; Eph. 1:3–5; Rom. 8:28–30
One reason I never approach the Scripture without praying first is because it is the person of the Holy Spirit Who clarifies the truth for you and me. Jesus identified His role in this way: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
The Bible is a wonderful book of history and poetry and prophecy and ceremony. Anyone can be blessed by just reading this truly magnificent piece of literature that spans the years of human history. But there is a unique blessing that is reserved for those who prayerfully, earnestly, and humbly approach it by faith as the truth, seeking to go past the surface reading into the deeper meaning. And it is impossible to reach this deeper level of understanding and blessing without the Holy Spirit’s guidance. How do you approach God’s Word?
