No longer a Slave but God’s Own Child

Gal. 4:1-7 NLT 

   1 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. 

   4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

You and I understand what it was like prior to Christ calling us to Himself and our responding. We remember the struggles with self, the conflicts in the world's ways of trying to 'get ahead.'  Why are we tempted to go back into that after we have enjoyed the love and peace of Christ? Why do we listen when the enemy plants seeds of doubt before us and seeks to trip us up in our walk with Christ? We know several things-- we have already discovered them by faith-- in this new life. Paul reminds us of our enslavement to our fallen human nature prior to Christ (vv 1-3). Paul points out for us that we have been purchased and adopted from slavery into freedom by Christ's sacrifice. A terrible price was paid by God for us. Never feel you are worthless because it Cost God the life of His son Jesus Christ for you to become redeemed from sin.

You and I are now children of God-- God is our "Papa" (v 6). We can call Him that if we choose. We can cuddle up in his arms like a baby cuddles up in his father or mother's arms. We can be comforted by God in the same way a troubled child is comforted by his or her loving parent. And, there is more. We are an heir of the wealth of God. We inherit together with Jesus Christ for we are now of the same family as he.  Why would we ever consider turning our backs on all this? Oh, Lord, preserve us in our faith and the peace of Christ.

Your servant
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com

Talking about The Kingdom of God

¶ Matt. 12:28 But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.

¶ Luke 9:2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 

¶ Mark 4:11  He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God.

¶ Mark 9:1 Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!”

¶ John 18:36  Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
¶ Matt. 21:43 I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.

¶ Mark 10:14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

I've listed several starter scriptures for us to consider. Look up each one and read the contextual passage entirely.  What is this Kingdom of God?  We learned last time that there are some who may not enter it and some who may. Many preachers today talking about 'end-times theology' suggest the Kingdom of God is yet to come. However Jesus apparently disagrees. Jesus said his casting out demons gave evidence that it had at that point arrived among them (Mark 12:28). He sent out disciples to teach about it (Luke 9:2). He told disciples (and us) that we believers are permitted to understand its secrets ( Mark 4:11). He said that some in their presence would see the Kingdom arrive in power (Mark 9:1). The Jews were told that the Kingdom was to be taken from them and given to people who bear Spiritual fruit (Matt 21:43). John was the longest living Apostle who died in about 100 AD. But others were killed much earlier. The disciples must have been able to witness something powerful that represented the Kingdom of God. The Resurrection of Christ is just about the most powerful witness of God's Kingdom anyone could imagine, and all of them saw that plus many more believers.

The Kingdom of God is not something yet to come but is something that arrived with Jesus and has remained with us. The body of Christ, the church has survived these 2000 years in spite of our internal failures and errors, and in spite of Satan's attacks. The Kingdom of God is still preached. It is hear now and we are part of it. You and I are citizens of this Kingdom because of our faith in Christ as Redeemer, Lord, and King. The unity that we each have with the Holy Spirit, creates a unity among us. This unity is the bond of the Kingdom of God. Remember, Jesus told Pilot that His Kingdom was "not of this world (John 18:36). It is through simple faith that anyone enters the Kingdom of God, the faith of a child (Mark 10:14-15). While it is important that we try to reach children for the Kingdom, while they are still children, this does not mean that everyone over 18 who fails to believe is forever lost, of course. It just gets harder for us the older we get.

The important thing to remember today is that God's Kingdom is already here and we are part of it. Perhaps we should live in such a way that demonstrates that!

Your servant in Christ's Love
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com

To Those Who Use Well What they are Given, Even More will be Given

Luke 19:12-27 NLT 

  12 He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return.13 Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’14 But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’

   15  After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were. 16 The first servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’

   17  ‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’

   18 The next servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made five times the original amount.’

   19 ‘Well done!’ the king said. ‘You will be governor over five cities.’

   20 “But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. 21 I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’

   22 ‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant, 23 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

   24 “Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’25 ‘But, master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten pounds!’

   26  ‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 27 And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king—bring them in and execute them right here in front of me.’

This message from Jesus speaks of the coming Kingdom age. Jesus is the one about to be crowned King over all the universe. There are those among God's creation who fight against God, who resist the Lordship of God over their lives and embrace self in His place. That is the essence of sin and they embrace that sin. They tell anyone who will listen that they do not want God as king in their existence. In spite of this sin, God sent Christ to redeem them and they still demean and resist Him.

Then there are those to whom God has entrusted great gifts. He expects us to use those gifts to bless others and draw them to Him. He plans for us to use these gifts-- that's why he gave them to us. God always gives us the abilities to do the things He calls us to do. Those are his gifts. Problem is we don't always step forward and begin to obey in those called activities. We hold back, sort of like the guy with the single bag of silver. We hide our talents int he ground like he did his bag of coins. We decline to invest our talents into the work of the Kingdom out of fear of failure-- just like the one bag servant. And that servant reaped what he invested-- nothing. He invested nothing so he reaped nothing.  Notice that the other two servants also reaped what they invested. You and I will reap what we invest into the Kingdom of God as well. However many talents God has given you, if you will but invest them, they will duplicate and you will receive more. You will receive infinitely more for as long as we continue to reinvest our talents into God's work.

Those who resist the Lordship of Christ, in the end will pay a price (v 27). But among us who are His children, to whom He has given gifts for service, when we fail to invest our gifts into the service He calls us toward, there will also be a price to pay. We will lose our gifts. We will loose much more (v 26b). And there is no reason for us to suffer such loss because we already know what happened to the obedient servants who invested their gifts.  How are you investing the gifts God has given you thus far in your walk with Christ?

Your servant
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com

Then God Said Let There Be. . . . and it was so!

Gen. 1:14-23 NLT      

   14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day. 

   20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day. 

   24  Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 

   27  So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

The power of God to create something out of nothingness is the stuff of debate across the last two millenia.  But create is exactly what Genesis explains to us that God did. God imagined and then spoke space, galaxies, solar systems, suns, planets, oceans, continents, mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, and all manner of living creatures that populate those places. And we are only beginning to grasp a tiny part of the mind of God as we look at the sciences. The conclusion from scientific inquiry is not a naturalistic explanation of creation-- that would be impossible to honestly conclude. The complexity of geology and of life itself cannot be without intelligent design and initiation.

Notice that God created the places and then populated them with creatures. Notice that those creatures reproduced but only within specie. The text repeatedly used the phrase "produce offspring of the same kind." Only after this did God create humanity and the purpose was to rule over the planet and its animal life. They were made by God for humanity.

All the other forms of life God created within its kind from an original design. Humanity, however, God modeled after Himself. He imagined man with the image of Himself in mind, and then willed mankind into being in two genders. You and I have at our core, the image of God. Whether we choose to permit that core to flourish and grow through faith in Jesus Christ, is our choice. When we choose that we choose eternal life. When we resist that choice we choose death and eternal torment. I can't imagine why some people insist on choosing the latter.

Let's pray for some we know right now that have not yet chosen life and ask God to show them the way to life. Perhaps we can be a vehicle for helping them to find life.

Your servant in Christ
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com

Let there be. . . Forgiveness and Eternal Life

Gen. 1:1-13 NLT

    In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 

   3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day. 

   6  Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. 8 God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.  9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. 12 The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.

Let's go back to the beginning. Have you ever noticed how the creation narrative is worded?  It describes how God created.  Now if you were to make a narrative of me creating a wood project in my shop (ignoring all my errors and bad results), you would describe my planning, then my assembling materials, then my measureing, then my cutting, gluing, nailing, sanding, painting. . .  etc.  But that is not how the Creation narrative goes. We are not lead through a mechanical series of steps on how God created each aspect of creation. We are shown the pure power of God at work!




 We read that "God created" heavens and earth. That would mean the entire universe.  That space that is so vast it takes light gazillions of years to penetrate across its breadth, was something God could "hover over" (v2).  The next sentence sounds like the big bang of scientific myths when it says "God said 'let there be light' and there was light. Catch the vocuablulary-- "LET" is used. To paraphrase, it was like God said 'permit light to form.' Darkness was there but there was no light other than God. So God, who IS light empowered His light to become light for all the universe and all of the mechanical processes going in in the millions of galaxies with millions of suns each. God released his light to become light for creation.



Next, God said Let there be a space between the waters on the planet and the water in the atmosphere surrounding the planet, calling it Sky. In other words, the very power that IS God, impressed Sky into existence from the other elements he was creating. Still, in verse 9 we read that on the third day God said "let the waters flow. . ."  The power that IS God impressed movement upon the water on the planet so that bodies of water and land would emerge. God caused the continental plates to move across the face of the Globe-- something that scientists are only beginning to grasp. But a writer of Genesis understood it thousands of years ago.

The point is that God said "LET THERE BE. . . . . " and that became. So when we read later in God's Word about Christ coming to forgive sin, and that through trust and faith in Christ we begin to be remade by God, why do we doubt?  God said that we would be made again into new creations, freed from sin and empowered to love and serve others in His plan. Just as sure as we are of the existence of the sky and the land and the bodies of water, and the continental tectonic plates, we can be sure of God making us into a new creation released from sin and guided into eternal life.

Your servant in Christ's love

Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com

Guard what God has Entrusted to you

1Tim. 6:11-21 NLT

    11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. 13 And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 15 For at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. 16 He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen. 

   17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. 19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life. 

   20 Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. 21 Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness. May God’s grace be with you all.

Apostle and Teacher Paul gives some wise advise to Pastor Tim-- and to us today for living life in Christ Jesus. In previous verses Paul described the problems caused by loving money. He describes the ways evil can creep in and destroy our testimony before others. So he warns Paul to run away from such evil and, instead, run after righteousness. That would include a power from God to overcome our fallen human nature so that we can exemplify a godly life that includes faith, love, and stick-to-it-iveness (perseverance).

Apparently, there is a sort of a 'fight' in which we must engage called "the good fight.'  Apparently the gift of eternal life given us through God's grace is something we need to hold tightly. We must not be carelessly tossing it about lest it slip from our grasp. Paul's command about holding tightly to our eternal life was a command given to Timothy and all believers, not merely a suggestion (v14). We are to persevere until Christ is finally revealed again to assume direct rule over earth and the rest of creation.

We have a teaching role to fulfill where wealthy persons are concerned. We should help them to realize that their wealth is meant by God for them to be a blessing to others as God would lead. This, of course, applies to wealthy believers, not unbelievers. Wealth, as we have already seen, can drag people down from their Christian faith and complete trust in God to provide. You can help a wealthy believer to pray with them about how God might want them to use those resources "to do good" (vs 18-19).

The final caution is to simply trust in God and decline any invitations to debate godless foolishness or challenges to the Christian faith. Unless the Lord leads you to do so, you are not to become God's apologist. He can take care of himself. You will know when you should speak against a railing atheist. Most of the time arguing with them only urges them on.  It will be better to pray for them and pray that you are able to live a Godly life in their eyes, in spite of their unbelief. If a church member is teaching false doctrine you must correct them immediately-- but gently in love however. We cannot tolerate false doctrine taught in our churches. We are committed to the truth and helping to prevent others from wandering away from the faith (v 21).

Your servant in Christ's love
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com

These teachings promote a godly life

1Tim. 6:3-11 NLT 

   3Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life. 4 Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. 5 These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy. 

   6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. 

   9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. 

   11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 

Chapters 5 and 6 contain some very unusual teachings that seem culturally abrasive to our western politically correct culture traditions today. There are discussions about the church providing for widows, but only those widows who do not have believing children to care for them. There are words condemning believing children who refuse to care for their widow parents and force the burden on to the church (that was a neat trick of the Pharasees and Sadducees in Jesus' day.  There are words about Christians who are lazy and how the church should not be burdened with supporting them. But then the church should support the needy. There are words of caution about sins that we cover up and are not discovered until the end-- they lead to certain judgment and condemnation.

Then we move to chapter six and discuss proper conduct by Christians who are slaves. Slavery has, itself, become a sin in today's culture though some say we merely have a different form of it in our fiscal credit obligations. But that's another discussion.

In 6:3, Paul picks up the discussion reflecting back on the teaching themes of Chapter 5.Paul cautions Pastor Tim that there will be those who Contradict sound teaching from the Lord. He cautions that those who oppose them do so out of ignorance and even arrogance, seeking only to stir up controversies and trouble and appear to elevate themselves-- if only in their own eyes. He speaks of believers in the church. Notice he says in verse 5 that 'their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth" and now only use the faith community as access to wealth. To do this means they once embraced the truth but then turned again toward darkness.  Those clinging to a distance altar experience to save them, but who are not continuing in obedience do so at great risk according to this passage. The desirable alternative is Godliness (v 6) which is more valuable than wealth.

Paul warns us all that wealth is a dangerous element to the believer because it brings temptations and traps to stop trusting in God and trust, instead, in the wealth and its sources. Again we see the caution against turning away, in verses 9-10 where longing for money has caused people to have "wandered from the true faith. . ."

Your servant in Christ
Dan
drdanelliott@gmail.com