Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Who Killed Jesus

***If you start reading this please finish reading this or you may get the wrong opinion of what I'm saying***

The Passion of The Christ hit theaters a few years ago and immediately this question surfaced. Who killed Jesus? Some groups blasted the movie as Anti-Sematic for protraying the Jews as the culprits. Some people would say that like it or not, the Jews infact were the people that killed Jesus.

Other groups would say that it was the Romans who killed Jesus. They would point to Pilate and the Roman soldiers as the murderers.

The true answer might surprise you. The truth is that no one killed Jesus. No one had enough power to kill Jesus. No one else was in charge of the situation. Jesus was in control the entire time. In John 3:14 Jesus shows us that he knows how he will die. His words also show us that his death was decided long ago...much before Pilate or even the Roman empire. Jesus was in control of his destiny.

John 18 shows us Jesus was in control of his arrest. John 19 shows us that Jesus was in control of his death sentence.

John 19:30 tells us this, "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finishd.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

Jesus is too strong to be killed. No one and no power of evil has the strength to take the life from Jesus. Jesus is in control.

Yet in his strength, he gave up his life. He did this so that we could give him ours and find true life.

Trust in his strength today for whatever you are going through. He is strong enough.

Who Killed Jesus

***If you start reading this please finish reading this or you may get the wrong opinion of what I'm saying***

The Passion of The Christ hit theaters a few years ago and immediately this question surfaced. Who killed Jesus? Some groups blasted the movie as Anti-Sematic for protraying the Jews as the culprits. Some people would say that like it or not, the Jews infact were the people that killed Jesus.

Other groups would say that it was the Romans who killed Jesus. They would point to Pilate and the Roman soldiers as the murderers.

The true answer might surprise you. The truth is that no one killed Jesus. No one had enough power to kill Jesus. No one else was in charge of the situation. Jesus was in control the entire time. In John 3:14 Jesus shows us that he knows how he will die. His words also show us that his death was decided long ago...much before Pilate or even the Roman empire. Jesus was in control of his destiny.

John 18 shows us Jesus was in control of his arrest. John 19 shows us that Jesus was in control of his death sentence.

John 19:30 tells us this, "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finishd.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

Jesus is too strong to be killed. No one and no power of evil has the strength to take the life from Jesus. Jesus is in control.

Yet in his strength, he gave up his life. He did this so that we could give him ours and find true life.

Trust in his strength today for whatever you are going through. He is strong enough.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

A call to fight.

Ephesians 6:10-20

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

This verse is a call for all Christians to join a battle. The fact is that we are engaged in a Holy War. The stakes are high. The casualties are mounting. Every day the fighting intensifies.

This war is very real...yet you you won't read about it in your daily newspaper. This Holy War is not fought in the conventional way with conventional weapons. This verse tells us that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against...the spiritual forces of evil." This means that this Holy War is not between people, but between good and evil. The battle is real, and these verses command us to prepare for battle.

So, how do you fight this Holy War. The Bible tells us that if you want to be a mighty warrior you must be: saves, truthful, righteous. You must have faith in God. You must tell people about Jesus. You must fight with the Truth that is found ONLY in the Bible. You must stand. You must pray.

We have to remember that in this Holy War when we do these things in love here on earth, we are also fighting mightily in this Heavenly battle. If you want to swing your sword, share an encouraging verse with someone. If you want to charge into the battle, tell someone about the love and redemption of Jesus Christ. Remember that we don't fight this battle by fighting with people.

Love, stand, be committed to truth, follow God, trust in Jesus, pray. Join the fight today.