Sanctified by the Cross

Matthew 1:18-25 (ESV) 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a s...

John 6:66-69 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” The scene here in John 6 comes right after Jesus proclaims himself to be the bread of life. One would think that after he says something as seemingly innocent as claiming to be the Bread of Life, there would not be the kind of reaction we see in vs 66. They turned back and no longer walked with him. Why? He has just said in vs 47-48 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. That seems pretty straightforward. So why did many turn away? It is when Jesus outlines what believing really means. He compares himself to the manna that came down from heaven to feed the Israelites in the wilderness during the time...

Psalm 2:1-4 1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. We live in interesting times, to say the least. It is especially a strange time to be a believer in Jesus Christ and hold on to the high and exalted nature of God as described in the Scriptures. As I have mentioned before, though the unbelieving world would deny God, the world actually does know Him. They know he exists, that He created them and that one day He will hold them accountable and yet they suppress, push down that truth so they don't have to deal with it (Romans 1:18-20). They, and we before we trusted Christ are rebels. This explains, to a great extent why the world is the way it is today. Rebellion. One look at the news and all that...