Tag: Christ

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1 John

The anointing we have

1 John

One of the things the false teachers were apparently telling the people was, “What you have learned from the apostles is not enough. We have a special anointing from God that neither they nor you have.”

But John tells his readers,

 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. (1 John 2:20)

And again,

 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you.

But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit — just as it has taught you, remain in him. (27)

What is this anointing John is speaking of? He’s speaking of the Holy Spirit whom God gives to all believers.

And what John says here echoes strongly the words of Jesus himself. Jesus said,

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you…

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.

He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. (14:26; 16:13-14)

Two things here: First, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is ultimately our teacher.

What will he teach us? Things clearly contrary to the things Jesus has said? Of course not. Instead he reminds us of what Jesus has said. And if he does not speak on his own, but speaks only what he hears, he will never contradict anything Jesus said.

So if you hear anyone saying, “I have a special anointing from God,” and yet they contradict what Jesus has said, you can safely ignore them.

Second, in bringing us the words of Christ and making them known to us, he always brings glory to Christ. He will never, as some of the false teachers did in John’s day and do even now, deny that Jesus is God or degrade him in any way.

John is not saying then that we don’t need teachers in the church. (He himself was teaching the people in this very letter.)

What he is saying is you don’t need these teachers with special “anointings” who try to teach you something contrary to what you have already heard.

Instead, just as the Holy Spirit taught you from the very beginning, remain in Jesus. Acknowledge him as Lord and God, and surrender your life daily to him.

Are you listening to the Words of the Spirit today?

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Hebrews

If we choose to reject Christ

Hebrews

What will you do with Christ?

When all is said and done, that is the ultimate question that everyone has to answer.

For those who decide to put their trust in him, they find life, both here in this world and in the world to come.

But for those who hear the message of Christ and reject it, there is no hope for them in this life or in the life to come.

And that’s what the writer of Hebrews warns in this passage. He says,

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?  (Hebrews 10:26-29)

What is the writer saying here?

If we deliberately sin by rejecting Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, there is no other way of salvation. There is no other sacrifice God will accept, whether it be animal sacrifice, the sacrifice of “good” deeds, of money, or anything else.

The writer tells us that even with the Mosaic law, a law brought by angels (2:2), people would perish for their rebellion against God on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

How much more then will people be punished for continuing to rebel against God when Christ himself offers us this salvation bought with his own blood? 

It’s as if we are treating the precious blood he shed on the cross as if it were nothing. As if it were just ordinary blood as common as a bull’s or a goat’s.

And in rejecting Christ, we trample him under foot and insult the Holy Spirit himself.

The consequences of such behavior?

For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (30-31)

In short, we will be judged. If we will not let Christ pay the penalty for our sin, we will have to pay it ourselves for all eternity. And there will be no escape.

How about you? What will you do with Christ? Will you accept the gift of grace he offers that he paid for with his own blood?

Or will you spit on his gift, and continue to rebelliously walk your own way?

You can receive his grace or you can receive his wrath. Which will you choose? 

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Hebrews

What Christmas is all about

seal

As I write this, Christmas season is well in swing and is in fact just around the corner.

And in Hebrews, we find out just what Christmas is all about. Who is this Christ that came? And why is he so important?

The writer of Hebrews starts by telling us,

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. (Hebrews 1:1-2)

In other words, while there were many prophets throughout the centuries, now in these last days, we find one that was greater than them all. Greater than even Isaiah and Jeremiah, and Daniel.

While these men spoke many things clouded in mystery, these mysteries were all revealed in Jesus Christ. He is, as John put it, the very Word of God made flesh (John 1:1, 14), and all the scriptures find their fulfillment in him.

But who is he, really?

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim he is the archangel Michael. But the writer of Hebrews flatly denies this.

Instead, he said,

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (3a)

The picture here is of a signet ring that was put into wax and then pressed onto paper. And Jesus is the exact representation of the very nature of God.

All that God is can be seen in Jesus. Jesus himself is the radiance of God’s glory.

The writer then says,

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (3b)

Here we see the why of Jesus’ coming. To die on a cross that our sins may be forgiven. But after he died, he rose again, and now is sitting at the right hand of God the Father in glory.

And on the day Jesus rose from the dead, the Father said,

“You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” (Verse 5, but also see Acts 13:32-34 where Paul uses this passage in reference to the resurrection.)

In ancient times, a king who was over another had a “father-son” relationship with the king who was subject to him. God himself said that of his relationship with Solomon (2 Samuel 7:14)

And the writer of Hebrews makes very clear, “No angel ever had this said to them. Only Jesus.” (4-5)

More, when God brought Jesus into the world, he said,

Let all God’s angels worship him. (6)

We see that during the angel’s worship in front of the shepherds. And on the day Jesus returns to earth, God will again command, “Let all the angels worship him.”

That’s significant, because only God is worthy of worship. The Father could not say that if Jesus were not one with Him. (Luke 4:8)

And while angels are compared to things created things like wind and fire (7), Jesus is called the eternal God himself, and the creator of all things. (2, 8-12)

Finally, no angel had the position of authority that Jesus has. Rather their job is to serve those who will be saved because of the work Jesus did. (13-14)

In short, as glorious as angels are, Jesus is so much more. He is God himself in human flesh. And when he came, he revealed to us who God really is.

Not only that, but through him and him alone we find salvation from our sins and the gift of eternal life.

That’s what Christmas is all about.

More on this tomorrow.

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Colossians

The fullness we have in Christ

Colossians

“Fullness.”

It apparently was one of the catchwords of the false teaching that was creeping into the Colossian church. And basically, Paul threw it back in these teachers’ faces by saying, “You have no idea what true ‘fullness’ is all about.”

Paul told the Colossians, “You are made perfect in Christ. The thing that I strive for in my ministry is that you may reach that maturity and fullness in him. I want you to have the full riches of complete understanding and assurance (ESV) concerning the mystery of God.

“All the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge, however, are not found in these false teachers and their ideas of ‘fullness.’ Rather, they are found completely in Christ.

“So don’t let people deceive you by their fine-sounding arguments.” (Colossians 1:28-2:4)

He then told them, “Since it is in Christ that you can find these treasures of wisdom and knowledge, root and build yourself up in him.

“Remember how you were saved? It was by putting your faith in Christ and coming into relationship with him.

“So as you continue to live each day, don’t get away from that. Keep walking each day trusting in him and with thankfulness and joy for all he’s done for you.” (2:6-7)

He then warned the Colossians, “Don’t let yourself get sucked into any philosophy that would pull you away from Christ. Such philosophies are empty and are based on mere human tradition and the basic principles of this world.” (2:8)

Other translations translate “basic principles” as “elemental spirits” (ESV) which seems to point to Satanic forces as the source of this teaching.

But Paul makes clear to the Colossians two things.

He says, “Do you want to know the fullness of God in your life? Well, all the fullness of God is found in Christ. All that God is, is found in Christ. And now you too find your fullness in Christ. You can’t find it anywhere else.” (2:9-10)

Why is that? Because it is only in Christ that our sinful nature can be dealt with. Christ himself circumcises or cuts off that sinful nature from us in a way that no person can through their own human effort.

Through Christ, we die to our old self, and he raises us as a new person in him, living not by our own power, but through the power of God. (11-12）

We were dead. There was nothing we could do to save ourselves. But God himself made us alive, forgiving our sins. He ripped up our certificate of debt that we owed him because of our sins and nailed it to the cross.

And by dying on the cross and then rising from the dead, he totally humiliated all the Satanic powers that crucified him and tried to destroy us. (13-15)

So Paul says to stop trying to add to the work that Christ is done. You already have your fullness in him.

Don’t go back to the old religious practices the Jews followed. They were mere shadows of the true reality that is found in Christ. All the sacrifices and religious celebrations pointed to Christ. Since Christ has come, look to him, not the shadows. (16-17)

And don’t get caught up in false religious experiences either, whether it’s worshiping angels or any other creature. When you do that, you separate yourself from Christ. Christ is the one that causes you to mature and grow into completeness. (18-19)

In Christ, you died to these things. How can you now go back to them? And why go back to religious rules that look good, but can’t solve the real problem of your sinful nature? (20-22)

In short, Christ is all. And as I said yesterday, if we want true “fullness” in this life, Christ is the one we are to go to.

The question is, are you? What is your life rooted in? Is it rooted in Christ? Or is it rooted in something else? Who or what is at the center of your life?

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Colossians

The only One we need

Colossians

The Colossian church was facing some kind of false teaching that was slipping in among them. What exactly that teaching was is not clear.

But one thing that seems to be clear is that people were teaching them that Christ is not enough. That they needed something more.

That there were perhaps ranks of angels that they needed to go through to reach God, and that these powers were worthy of worship.

That there were “mysteries” that they had yet to learn, and could only do so through these false teachers.

And that there were certain rituals and religious practices they needed to follow in order to truly be right with God.

And if there is one thing that Paul seems to emphasize in Colossians 1:15-29, it’s this: Christ is the only One we need.

Why is Christ all that we need?

For one thing, he is the preeminent one over all creation. That’s what it means by “first-born of all creation.”

Not that he was created before all other things as the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach (even so far as to insert, “other” several times into this passage.)

But that he is the one who is supreme over all creation. His rank and position is high over anything that was created. (15)

Why is Jesus the preeminent one over all creation? Paul tells us. Jesus was the one who created all things. All things were created through him and for him, including all the angels and other heavenly powers, not to mention us. (16)

On top of that, he existed before all things, and all things hold together through him. We can’t even hold the atoms that make up our body together. Nothing in this world could hold together without him. (17)

God also placed Christ as the church’s head, not angels or anyone else. And he was the example for all the church in that he died and rose again. (18)

If that weren’t enough, all God’s fullness dwelt in him. Because of that, he is the very image of the invisible God. If we want to know who God is, we need not look any further than Christ. (15, 19)

And it is through him and his death on the cross that we are now reconciled to God. We need no other mediator. And through him, we are made holy in God’s sight, without blemish and free from accusation. (20-22)

And as for mysteries of God, THE mystery has already been revealed. It was a mystery that had been hidden for ages and generations, but now is revealed.

What is that mystery? That through faith in him, Christ now dwells in us. Whether Jew or non-Jew, Christ dwells in us and we are now one body, one church in Christ, shining God’s glory to the world. (25-27)

So what need is there for anything or anyone else? None. And so Paul emphatically states, “We proclaim HIM, admonishing and teaching everyone about HIM.” Why? Because we are only made perfect in Christ. (28)

Yet so often, we live as though we need more than Christ in our lives. We start pursuing religion instead of Christ. We start pursuing “spiritual experiences.” Or we start pursuing the things of this world to fill us.

But these things will not bring us “fullness,” as the Colossians seemed to be seeking. Only Christ can.

How about you? How are you seeking to become complete? There is only way, and that’s Christ. He is truly the only One we need.

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Galatians

What the law is and isn’t. What the law does and doesn’t do. (Part 3)

Galatians

We saw yesterday that the law was not some alternative way God developed to bring about salvation, but rather was something that was meant to lead us to Christ.

Paul goes into further detail in the next few verses.

Paul said,

But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. (Galatians 3:22-23)

A lot of this is similar to what Paul wrote in Romans 7-8. And basically, what Paul says there is that before the law came, people were not really aware of what sin was. They just lived their lives, blissfully unaware that a lot of their behavior was displeasing to God.

God then brought in the law to show the people, “This is the way to live.”

The problem was, the law didn’t cause people to say, “Oh, really? I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I’ll live your way now.”

Rather, for many, it stirred up an even more rebellious attitude toward God.

And even for those who were repentant and wanted to please God, they found that they still weren’t able to keep the law. Their sinful nature still had such a hold on them, it was impossible for them to keep the law. They were in bondage to sin.

Still, what the law did do was help put some restraints on sin until Christ came. The new NIV puts verse 23 this way,

Before the coming of faith, we were held in custody under the law.

In other words, for those Old Testament believers, the law couldn’t make them perfect, but it did help them from going completely wild into sin.

Staying with the new NIV in verse 24,

So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.

A guardian back in those days was someone who was in charge of supervising the life and morals of boys. Wherever the boys went, the guardian went with them to make sure they didn’t get into trouble.

It was also his duty to take them to and from school, thus putting them in the hands of the true teacher.

That’s what the law did for Old Testament believers.

First, it helped keep them out of trouble (although not all trouble, because all still sinned).

Second, it eventually led people to the true teacher, Christ. How?

Through the law, God gave the Israelites many pictures of a Savior to come through, among other things, the sacrifices, the Passover feast, and the Day of Atonement.

These things in themselves could not save them from their sin. But through these pictures, Moses and all the Israelites following after him until the time of Christ saw Jesus and what he would do on the cross (John 5:39, 46).

And as they did, they put their faith in him.

The law in itself then, couldn’t save them. But it led them to put their trust in Christ, though they of course didn’t have all the details yet because Christ hadn’t come yet.

And it was on the basis of that faith, not keeping the law itself, that God saved them.

So then, we come to the ultimate point of this passage. Paul said,

Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. (Galatians 3:25)

With the coming of Christ, faith has truly come with all the details filled in.

We are no longer like Moses and all the Old Testament believers forced to look at the pictures. Now in Christ, we have the reality, and thus the law is no longer needed as our guardian.

Rather, we look solely to Christ for our salvation. And through the Holy Spirit whom Christ gave to live in us, we start to naturally do the things that are pleasing to God.

So as we go through life, let us not put all our focus on trying to keep a bunch of rules. Rather, let us look each day in gratitude to the cross, and walk each day under the guidance of God’s Spirit.

That’s the true Christian life.

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2 Corinthians

Our example in giving

2 Corinthians

How much do we know the grace of Jesus in our lives?

And if we really did know it, how would it change our attitude in our giving, not only of our money, but of our time, our resources, and of our very lives?

Paul told the Corinthians,

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

What is grace? It is the giving of something to a people that don’t deserve it.

And Jesus was full of grace, giving to us what we didn’t deserve. Think about what he did for us.

Jesus was “rich” in heaven. Not in that he had lots of gold or silver or money. Such things really have little worth in heaven.

But Jesus, while he was in heaven, shared in the glory of God, and was worshiped by the angels. He sat on the throne next to the Father, lacking nothing.

He in fact ruled over all things, and through him, all things in heaven and earth hold together. (Colossians 1:15-18)

And yet, he gave up all his glory in heaven to come to this earth as a man. Not as a king. Not even as a rich man. But as a mere carpenter.

Even when he began his ministry, it was as an itinerant preacher, one who never knew where he would lay his head for the night. (Luke 9:58)

And at the end of his life, instead of receiving worship, he was reviled. Instead of sitting on his throne, he hung on a cross. Instead of reigning in glory, he hung in shame. Why?

So that we might become rich. So that our sins might be paid for by his work on the cross. And so that one day we would become co-heirs with him in his kingdom (Romans 8:17).

That’s the grace of Jesus that he freely gave to us. So once again, the question is, “Do we know that grace in our lives?”

Has that truth truly sunk into our hearts? Because if it has, it will show in our lives as well. Generosity will spring out of our hearts just as it sprang out of Jesus’.

Honestly, it’s a truth that needs to sink a lot deeper into my heart.

How about you? Do you know the grace of Jesus in your life?

Is it overflowing out of your heart in generosity to others?

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2 Corinthians

The fragrance of life, the stench of death

Fork in the road

As Christians, there will never be a point in time when everyone will like us.

Jesus was perfect, and still people hated him. Why?

Because of the aroma that flows out from Christ.

Paul says something very interesting here in this passage.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

The picture here is of a Roman general leading his troops in a victory parade. And among those following him were the priests who would scatter sweet smelling incense out onto the streets.

For those celebrating the victory, it was the fragrance of life and victory. But to those who were in chains, it was the stench of their own death staring them in the face.

In the same way, we are God’s priests, following our General who won the victory at the cross.

And as we spread the fragrance of the knowledge of him, to those who are saved and to those who hear the message and believe, we are the smell of ultimate victory and life.

But there are many others who hear what we say, and to them, it has the stench of death.

Why? Because it shows them their sin, and it shows them where their sin is leading them: to eternal damnation in hell. And they hate it.

They hate their sin being called sin. And they hate the idea that they will be held accountable for it. To them, Jesus is the stench of death leading them to their own death (HCSB).

And because Jesus is in us, we become that stench to them as well.

To many others, however, Jesus is the fragrance of life leading to life eternal (HCSB). And so when they see Christ in us, we become the fragrance of life to them as well.

I love the words of Jim Elliot who once said,

Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision.

Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.

How about you? When people see you, do they encounter the fragrance of Christ?

And are they forced to make a choice, turning one way or another, to eternal life or eternal death, on facing Christ in you?

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Romans

Married to Christ

Romans

I mentioned before that there were two points that Paul was trying to make through his marriage illustration.

The first, as we’ve already seen, is that when we die with Christ, the law’s power over us is broken. He illustrates that with the point that death breaks the law’s power over people in a marriage.

And as I said in my last post, you would think that in making that point, it would only seem natural for Paul to focus on the husband and compare us directly to him. The husband died, and the law lost power over him. We died with Christ, and the law lost power over us.

But instead, Paul puts his entire focus on how the husband’s death frees his wife from the law of marriage that bound her to him.

The result is a very confusing metaphor in which we are not compared to the husband who dies but to the wife who lives.

But in comparing us to the wife, Paul can more easily make his second point. What is that point?

Before we became Christians, we belonged to another “husband.” Now we belong to Christ.

In making that point, Paul clearly refers to Christ as the new husband and us as the wife. The question then becomes, “Who did we used to be married to? Who was our husband that died?”

I mentioned earlier that it can’t be the law, because we never see any passage referring to the law dying. Even now, the law serves a very important function. It shows what is good and what is sin. (Romans 7:7)

Who then were we married to? I believe it’s our old sinful nature. What do I mean by our sinful nature?

It’s a heart that is in total rebellion against God and insistent on going its own way. And from the time we were born, we were married to it. And the fruit of this joining, the “children we bear” so to speak, is sin leading to death. (Romans 7:5)

More, as long as we were married to our sinful nature, it was impossible to be married to Christ.

But when God saves us, he crucifies our sinful nature and puts it to death.

What happens when the sinful nature we were married to dies? Two things.

First, the law no longer has authority over us, just as when a husband dies, the law of marriage no longer has authority over a woman.

She died to the law of marriage when her husband died, and we died to the law of Moses and all its requirements when our sinful nature was crucified with Christ on the cross.

Second, with our sinful nature dead, we now are free to marry Christ.

And as I said before, through this joining with Christ, we no longer give birth to sin that leads to death. Rather, we give birth to the fruit of righteousness that leads to life.

It is ultimately the reason that only through Christ we can be saved.

As long as we are married to a nature that is rebellious towards God, we can never bear fruit towards eternal life. The “seed” it plants within us causes us to give birth to sin.

But when we are joined with Christ, through his seed planted in us, we give birth to true righteousness in our lives, and the result is eternal life.

Who are you married to?

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John John 19 Luke Luke 23 Mark Mark 15 Matthew Matthew 27

If we were forced to bear the cross Christ bore

The gospels

We know very little of this man of Cyrene, this Simon. It is conjectured that he is the father of the Rufus mentioned in Romans 16:13, the only other Rufus mentioned in the Bible.

In all probability, he was a pilgrim from Northern Africa, a Jew who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, perhaps for the first time ever.

But when he arrived, he got more than he expected. He saw the true Passover lamb sacrificed for him. (I Corinthians 5:7).

For a time, though, Simon had to bear the cross Jesus was eventually crucified on.

As Jesus was going up the hill, the physical strain, the loss of blood, the scourging, the beating he had taken at the hands of the soldiers, and the emotional strain, of being betrayed and abandoned by those he loved most dearly, became too much and he fell under the weight of the cross. He could no longer bear it.

And so Simon had to carry it for him.

And it makes me think. What would have happened if Jesus had said to us at Calvary, “Enough. I can’t bear this anymore. You carry the cross. You die on that cross. You deserve it, after all, not me. I’ve never sinned. You have.”

In a sense, Simon had to experience that, if only for a short time. A cross that he should have been carrying anyway because of his sin, was put on him because Jesus simply couldn’t do it anymore.

Did he realize later, “I was doing Jesus no favor by taking up that cross for him. I was carrying the cross I deserved anyway.

It was he who was doing me the favor by trying to carry my cross up to Calvary. It was he who helped me, he who saved me by dying on that cross when I should have been the one hung there.

But what if he had chosen not to? What if he had simply felt like he could not bear it any longer? Where would I be now?”

The answer? Hell. Because that’s what we all deserve. Hell.

But Jesus did bear the cross. He loved us so much that he died there, and by doing so he took the punishment we deserved upon himself.

And now, because of what he did, our sins can be forgiven, and we can find life as we were meant to have it. A life in relationship with the God who loves us more than any other.

So let us never take the cross for granted. And when we look at it, may we look to the One who died there with hearts full of gratitude.

Jesus Christ,
Praise your name,
Lord, I sing
Without shame.

You bore the cross.
So much love.
All my life, all I need is you.
–James Gabriel

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John John 19

Who is your king?

John

As we look at the interaction between Pilate and the chief priests, we see one of the great ironies of scripture.

On one hand, we have this pagan governor who has little or no concept of who God really is, telling the Jews, “Here is your King.”

And he was absolutely right. Jesus was their rightful king.

But here were the religious leaders of the Jews, the ones who should have known God better than anyone else, insisting, “We have no king but Caesar.”

The one that should have been insisting Caesar was king (Pilate) was saying Jesus was their king.

The ones who should have been insisting that Jesus was their king (the chief priests) instead declared Caesar as their king.

Even if the priests didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah, they still should have proclaimed God as their king. But in their fervent hatred for Jesus, they called Caesar their king.

How about you? Who is your king?

Maybe unlike the priests, your mouth declares Jesus as your king, but how about your actions?

When people look at your actions, would they say your job is your king? That is, your job considerations trump every other consideration? Or would they say it’s your family? Or your hobbies or interests?

Here in Japan, one of the biggest gods is the god of culture. Even among Christians, culture often reigns as king.

The pressure to yield to cultural norms is tremendous whether it’s to maintain family harmony at the expense of compromising your Christian faith, or whether it’s to place job above church or even family.

If someone were to look at your life and based on that said, “Here is your king,” what would they be pointing at?

Would they be pointing to your job? Your culture? Yourself? Or would they be pointing at God?

More importantly, what would your response be? Could you honestly acknowledge God as your king? Or would you have to point to something else?

Who is your king?

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Daniel 3

The coming of Messiah, the coming of Antichrist

Daniel

Before I go to today’s blog, I just noticed a mistake from my last blog which has now been corrected.

I had said that Daniel had recalled the words of Isaiah concerning the 70 year exile, and it should have been Jeremiah.  Somehow it slipped past my notice in my editing stage.

Going to today’s passage, we look at one of the most remarkable passages of prophesy.

Many people discount the prophesies of Daniel concerning the rise and fall of the Babylonian, Persian, and Greek Empires, insisting that it must have been written after the fact.

This is an argument based on a disbelief in supernaturalism, however, not on fact.

However, I think that this prophesy in Daniel alone, written well before the coming of Christ (the entire Old Testament was translated into Greek between the 3rd and 1st century B.C.), more than dispels that argument.

God told Daniel that there would be seventy sevens, that is seventy seven year periods in which,

  • Transgression would be finished.
  • Sin would be put an end to.
  • Wickedness would be atoned for.
  • Everlasting righteousness would be established.
  • The vision and prophesy would be sealed up (that is, fulfilled).
  • The most holy (that is, the new temple) would be anointed.

There are several interpretations for this and when the sevens start.

I take the position that it starts when King Artaxerxes gave the command to adorn and strengthen the temple, as well as enforcing the Mosaic code  in Ezra 7.

Although the focus on this seems to be merely on the temple, it also seems from Ezra 9:9 that Ezra was also permitted to build up the city walls as well.

As a result, Nehemiah was very disappointed to find out years later that this was never done.

In the first set of seven (49 years), we find that Jerusalem was rebuilt, but “in times of trouble.”

Certainly, the Israelites would face much opposition in the rebuilding of their city and temple as noted in Ezra and Nehemiah.

Also, I think you could qualify someone trying to annihilate your entire race as times of trouble as well (see Esther).

Then if you count off the next 62 sets of 7 (434 years), from the year the decree was made (457) and account for the fact that we skip immediately from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. (there is no year 0), we come out with a date of 27 A.D., the year the Messiah came (that is, he started his ministry).

Then sometime after the 62 sevens, he was cut off.

Literally, it means that he died.

The NIV adds “and will have nothing,” which could possibly refer to the fact that all his supporters abandoned him.

The King James puts it, “But not for himself,” which could refer to the fact that Jesus didn’t die for his own sins, but for ours.

However you interpret it, it was clearly at this time that sin was atoned for at this point by Jesus’ death on the cross.

Then the city of Jerusalem and the temple were both destroyed following this in A.D. 70.

The final seven years refers to the future when Antichrist comes.

He’ll make a covenant with “the many” (that is, the Jews) and will allow them religious freedom to worship God as they please.

Then in the middle of the seven, he’ll break the covenant and end the sacrifices and offerings and set up an abomination that causes desolation.

This will mirror in some way the same abomination that Antiochus committed during the Maccabean period.

But then Antichrist will fall and be judged, at which time transgression and sin will come to an end, and everlasting righteousness will come.

The new temple will be established (probably referring to temple in Ezekiel chapters 40-44) and all the prophesies will be fulfilled.

That’s a mouthful.  But to me, it proves that God holds the future.

If he could predict accurately the rise and fall of empires, the coming of his own Son, and the destruction of Jerusalem once again, I think we can bank on his prediction of the Antichrist and the coming of God’s kingdom thereafter.

So let us not worry so much about the future, terrible though things may get.

Let us remember that God is in control, and all that he has promised will come to pass.