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Matthew 5:48 - “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Surely Jesus doesn’t mean “don’t ever make a mistake or sin” does he? How could this be? Doesn’t he know “nobody’s perfect?” What is Jesus saying here? Is this an impossible verse?

I recently received a link to a video (see it here) in which a “Reverend” spouted off about how evil President Obama is, and saying that “white folks are going to rise up” the way black folks did in reaction to the Rodney King incident - and this was from a black minister. Moreover, this man practically foamed at the mouth with his hatred for Obama, repeatedly calling him a “long-legged Mac-daddy” (whatever that means) and worse. No matter what you may think of the president’s politics and policies, we are told to honor and pray for our governmental leaders, not spout off such strife-gendering rhetoric.

The second part of the Bible is commonly known as the New Testament.  This is a phrase that means the same thing as “New Covenant” in reference to the New Covenant that Jesus introduced and ratified with his blood.  His disciples, who were Jewish, were surprised and awed at the idea that Gentiles would be able to partake of God’s promises to Abraham.  But there were some Jewish Christians who insisted that Gentiles needed to keep the Law of Moses to be saved.  Paul expounded in great detail about this in his epistles, declaring that the New Covenant which Jesus made has superseded the Old Covenant of the Mosaic Law which had been only a temporary measure.

What do you think?  What are the traits of a humble person?  How do you know that you’re being humble?  We know Jesus wants us to be humble, but how can we know when we truly are there?  Do you agree with Mark Driscoll that we are prideful people working on being humble?

Here’s part THREE of the four part booklet - The Two Adams, by Homer D. Baxter.  This is the first half of Part II - with the last half of it (or the final quarter) to come next week.  A fitting topic (The SECOND Adam) to present here this weekend where we celebrate the Resurrection of our Messiah!

What would you do?

What would you do?

What would you do?

It is your first month at your new job.  You’re working at a local fitness gym, dealing with the clients’ contracts.  You have continually expressed your gratitude to your friends and family to have this job after an extended time of unemployment - especially in the economic climate we are currently in - to have a job is indeed a blessing.  You interact well with the other employees in your office and by now have even learned that your manager is a Christian who prays daily on their commute to work. 

Yesterday, I ran across two different blogs that quoted Kierkegaard in regards to interpreting the Bible.  I have to admit I don’t know much about the man, but I found his statements thought provoking.  For those of us who love to study God’s Word and read scholarly books about the Bible, his quotes help to remind us what the goal is.

“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obligated to act accordingly.

You could choose to live for Jesus. You will never live like Jesus.

There is something entirely unique about Jesus. It goes beyond the consequential facts about his life. Yes, he was crucified and endured it. Other people have suffered evils like this. Yes he forgave those who killed him. There are not many who have done this. Even Peter, as the article states, refused to be made an equal of Jesus though he matched the martyrdom and forgiveness. One could surmise that the big difference (and again the article says as much) is that Jesus paid for sin. But I think even that falls short.Jesus is more. Jesus is the climax of Israel’s story, the peak, what it was all building towards. Jesus is what Israel was supposed to be.