Posted in Salvation, tagged Ephesians 06, John 04 on December 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »
And take the helmet of salvation – Ephesians 6:17a
Our salvation is not just something for the heart, it’s for the head, too. Jesus chided the woman at the well just little by saying, “You worship what you do not know”.1
Salvation is knowable – we can know that we are saved, we can know how we are saved, we can know how salvation “works”, and we are to do so.
– fritz
1 – John 4:22a (NASB)
Posted in Parables, tagged Galatians 3, John 04, Matthew 13 on July 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »
“[T]he kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. – Matthew 13:45-46
In algebra class we were given word problems. We had to express them in terms of variables (“x”, “y”, and “z”) then solve the equation. We considered them both enlightening and confusing – enlightening if figured correctly, confusing if our equation was wrong.
Jesus taught parables both illustrating and obfuscating reality, but they can be seen like heavenly word problems that, with the right correlation of variables, reveal their secrets.
Jesus, here, says there is a Merchant man, a valuable pearl, and currency to purchase it – “x”, “y”, and “z”. He also tells us the merchant man, “x”, is really the Kingdom of Heaven. What, then, could the currency of Heaven be? Not gold, that’s paving material, the valuable God had was his only Son.
“Christ purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation]” – Galatians 3:13a (Amplified)
And the Pearl of great price, that would be you and me.
“… true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” – Jesus (John 4:23b NIV)
Do you see yourself as a valuable pearl? God does.
– fritz
Posted in Experience, tagged Ephesians 05, John 04, Phil 03, Prov 30 on March 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. – Ephesians 5:31-32
Jesus elevated physical existence and circumstances to a new level.
He spoke of “living” water – something like water, but for the soul (John 4:10). With his water you don’t get wet but you do get refreshed, in a different way.
Jesus said He was the “Light” of the world. He illuminates reality. It could be said light is simply a physical metaphor for what God does when he come into the human heart.
The Bible uses another physical metaphor, that of being a Bride for Christ.
Our female brethren may have an easier time understanding the metaphor, but not the exclusive rights to it. It has nothing to do with gender or sex like his “living” water has nothing to do with getting wet.
It has everything to do with the relationship and love between the saved and their Saviour. It describes the heartfelt relationship Jesus has towards me (individually and for the Church as a whole). It illustrates the excitement of being sought out and chosen by the real “Mr. Right” – not in us finding him but him finding us(Philippians 3:12b).
If 2nd Timothy 3:16 is to be believed, when it says “All scripture is inspired…” then the mystery of “a man with a maid” (Proverbs 30:19) and the book of the Song of Solomon are physical metaphors of the mystical relationship between the man, Christ Jesus, and the maid, us individually and collectively as the church.
I have heard this but until now it has been dormant; I am awaking to a whole new world!
– Fritz
Patrikin - Kinship through The Father 