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| Bus Driver from Soweto |
Time with Jesus - Friday, 17 May 2013
Hi all,
What would you say if a bus
driver from Soweto told you that he was the Son of God?
Most of us would want
to check and see if there was anyone missing from Tara. A few of us, not many,
would want to investigate this, just in case there was any truth in what the
man said. How would we investigate? Who would we talk with about this? I suppose
if you were a Roman Catholic you would want to talk to your priest or bishop or
perhaps the pope. Protestants would want to talk with their respective priest,
minister or pastor. No doubt our Jewish friends would want to talk with their
rabbi.
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| Check things out Maths? |
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| "Our God compressed into a Span Incomprehensibly made Man" Charles Wesley |
Two thousand years ago, ordinary
Jewish people would have wanted to talk with their religious authorities. Back
then, the average Jewish man or woman was not nearly as sceptical as we are. In
a way they were expecting Messiah to arrive on the scene at any moment. Years
of oppression by the Romans had greatly influenced their thinking. Furthermore,
no “voice of the Lord” had been heard in Judea, since the prophet Malachi, some
400 years previously. In addition, a “crazy man” who wore weird clothes, ate
locusts and wild honey was drawing huge crowds into the desert to be baptised
in the River Jordan. “Repent” the man declared to all who would listen. “The
Kingdom of God is at hand”.
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| The creation of the World |
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| Jesus Christ The Messiah |
There were a number of “tests”
whereby the claims of the individual would be checked. Was He a descendant of
King David? Yes He was. His mother and “father” could both trace their ancestry
back to King David. He had been born in Bethlehem exactly as had been
predicted. He had been conceived by a virgin. Certainly His mother confirmed
this. His “father” Joseph had died so he could not confirm the claim. In fact,
there was nothing anyone could find to prove He was not the Son of God.
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| 100% God and 100% Man |
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| What think ye of Christ? |
Shalom,
Jim & Phyllida Strickland
Matt
10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Friday, 17 May 2013
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Matt
10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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©
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These
devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright
protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it
is for non-commercial Christian purposes
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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THE
MAN WHO IS GOD
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Mathematics.
The word alone is often sufficient to make people run for cover. At first it
was also my reaction. Then Brother Leonard came on the scene. Suddenly, Maths
made sense. He seemed to have a way of teaching that was right for me. He imparted
the logic of the subject. Part of his method was the liberal use of the cane!
It’s amazing how much difference this made. You “got the point” one way or
another. Even dear old friend Pythagoras made good sound sense!
At
that time I was introduced to the symbol Ξ It meant “is congruent with”. It
looks like a double equals sign and meant “is the same in every way” or “is
identical to”; a convenient maths shorthand which was very much the “sauce”
in geometry, if you follow my meaning. If you sprinkled the sign liberally
round a couple of equal triangles, it meant they were “identical”.
Those
days are now long gone. But the sign remains in memory and is useful in
theology in the 21st century. For example we can say that Jesus is
identical to God and is identical to man. In maths it would read Jesus Ξ God,
and Jesus Ξ with man. In some incomprehensible way, when you look at Jesus,
you are looking at man. Also, when you are looking at Jesus you are looking
at God.
Now I
must admit my memory is not all that good some 52 years later, so if I’ve
misled you, please forgive me. But to my way of thinking it is a very useful
way of showing that Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. Note that this is
essential from the point of view of fallen man. When we look at Him, He looks
like any other ordinary man. There was nothing about Him which would cause
you to say, “There goes God!” Of course Satan and his demons knew it! So did
the Father and His angels.
It
was necessary for Jesus to be both, simultaneously. He had to be a man to
defeat Satan. He also had to be every man who has ever lived, a feat only
possible by God Himself.
This
raises a couple of interesting problems which I’ve tried to understand and
explain. The first is how it was possible for God to make Himself small
enough to fit into Mary’s baby. Charles Wesley put it this way, “Our God
contracted to a span. Incomprehensibly made man.” It’s marked in green in the meditation.
The
other is how He could possibly have lived a sin free life? To do so, it was
imperative that he be born without the sin nature we all share. Thus God had
to be His Father and His mother had to be mortal. This didn’t make Him 50%
human and 50% God. In some respects He was like us. We are not 50% our mother
and 50% our father. We are their offspring. We are 100% the combination of
them both. How does that work? I thought that perhaps I should ask you! The
blood in His veins was not tainted by sin. If it had been, there would have
been no point in shedding it for us. He would then have been the same as
every other person who has lived since Adam and Eve. But He wasn’t. He was
Divinity in the flesh. He was and is the Son of the Most High God. There are
times I’m tempted to feel sorry for Satan. He was fighting God. He had no
chance!
Jim &
Phyllida
Strickland
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19 Long ago You spoke in a vision to Your faithful people. You said,
"I have raised up a warrior. I have selected
him from the common people to be king.
Psalms 89:19 NLT
16 We also know that the Son did not come to
help angels; He came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17
Therefore, it was necessary for Him to be made in
every respect like us, His brothers and sisters, so that He could be
our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then He could offer a
sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.
Hebrews 2:16-17 NLT
26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a
throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above
the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.
Ezekiel 1:26 ESV
13 No one has gone to heaven except the Son
of Man, who came from heaven.
John 3:13 GW
39 Look at My hands. Look at My feet. You
can see that it's really Me. Touch Me and make sure that I am not a ghost,
because ghosts don't have bodies, as you see that I do."
Luke 24:39 NLT
7 but (He) made himself nothing, taking the
form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed
on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:7-11 ESV
2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and
is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my
God.
Revelation 3:2 ESV
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One thing we know for certain. Christ Jesus was a man.
To look at Him, you’d never know, ‘contracted
to a span’,
Within Him the Creator, of Heaven, sea and sky,
Had been incorporated to come to us and die!
We know that it sounds fanciful. Indeed we think it odd,
That in a little baby there dwelt the Son of God!
It seems to be ridiculous that nursing at her breast
Was He Who made the Universe and was now manifest.
This little tiny infant, a babe in swaddling clothes
Was truly God Almighty, from head down to His toes.
If you can understand this, then you can help us out.
Explain just what was going on and what it’s all about.
The greatest theologians this world has seen and known,
Don’t have an explanation of what God’s Word has shown.
We know His birth was prophesied soon after Adam fell.
That He had been expected; but when, no one could tell.
One thing we know for certain. That when the time was right
The Lord would send us someone equipped to win the fight!
He had to be of flesh and blood or couldn’t qualify.
He had to look like everyone. Would even have to die.
He had to walk life’s journey without committing sin.
And if He lost the battle, then Lucifer would win;
And God would be defeated! A possibility
That’s truly inconceivable to folk like you and me.
That’s why this little baby was more than meets the eye.
God clothed with humanity. A man, yet God Most High!
What was the baby thinking? What functioned in His brain!
We contemplate this matter and all our thoughts are vain.
But why should we explain it? If we know something’s true,
We needn’t understand it, to make it work for you.
We know that scientifically a virgin can conceive.
She only needs a donor and she’s able to receive,
All that’s necessary for her to bring to birth,
A child who looks exactly like all other folk on earth.
If science can achieve this, why should we be surprised,
If God could do the very same and not be supervised?
We also know the gender is determined by the male.
So Jesus’ conception is not some fairy-tale.
And so He grew to manhood; our God who was made man.
This wasn’t just some accident, but part of God’s great plan,
To change that which had happened to Adam at the fall;
And bring to full fruition the Man Who’s Lord of all.
Jim Strickland
Written
17th
May 2012
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