New Life in Believing

 

John 20: 19-31

Revelation 1:4-8

We all know the story of doubting Thomas. He really got a bad reputation due to his questioning. However, when you see Christ’s loving response to him by presenting himself to him and telling him to feel his nail prints and side, you see that Christ doesn’t chastise him for his doubt. What I think is the most beautiful thing to come from this story is not just Thomas’ belief but when Christ says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Jesus is talking to us many, many, many generations later. How did we come to believe? We did so by hearing the story of salvation as recorded in the Gospels. John 20:31 ends by saying that these things are written so we can come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and through this belief, we will have life in his name.

Revelation 1:4-8 talks about the eternal God who is, who was – has always been and who is to come. God says I am the Alpha and Omega. These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so God is saying I am the beginning and the end. Yet the eternal God has always been and always will be.

Jesus is said to be the faithful witness of God. He did so with his life on earth. With his resurrection he was the first born of the dead and is now ruler of all kings on earth. Praise forever and forever is given to Christ who loved us so much he freed us from our sins by his blood on the cross. He has also made us to be a kingdom serving his God and father. We not only have eternal life after death, but we are part of a new life on earth – part of God’s kingdom.

This is the life in his name. The word Christian is used for those who believe in Christ. A new life on earth and in heaven is what we receive from believing. Truly blessed are we.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Join Me on a Lenten Journey

For those of you not familiar with Lent, it is a season of forty days, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring." The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry. Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. Today, Christians focus on their relationship with God, often choosing to give up something or to volunteer and give of themselves for others. Easter comes early this year. Many of us not brought up in this tradition can still embrace its emphasis of focusing on the gifts Christ has brought into your lives and finding ways to share the love of Christ to others. This emphasis of love goes along well with the beginning of Lent this year, Ash Wednesday, falling on all days – Valentine’s Day. So whether or not you plan
Read more

Setting Your Hope in God

 Disclaimer: Paul talks about the Rapture in this passage a concept I still struggle with. I believe that once you die you go direct to the Lord, so bodies awaiting till the rapture to rise is hard for me to grasp. I can see how Paul was comforting the Thessalonians here but was his concept correct? Add any comments you wish to this bafflement of mine. That said, I wrote this per the text. What do you all think? Psalms 78:1-7; I Thessalonians 4:13-18   The psalmist in Psalms 78 is not only telling his current audience to listen to his teaching but to pass it on from one generation to the next. Just like he has heard it from his ancestors, he asks the Israelites to teach them to the coming generations. They are to teach them to the children yet unborn so that these children will teach their children. Why? So, they should set their hope in God, not forgetting God’s works. Fast forward to the New Testament where Paul is passing on this hope to the Thessalonians. The question these bel
Read more

Do What they Teach, Not What they Do

  Matthew 23: 1-12; I Thessalonians 2:9-13   Jesus when he talks about the scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23 basically says: “Do what they teach but not what they do.” What he questions most is their motivation. They do what they do to be seen by others. They wear fancy robes and love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted with respect. All this Jesus sums up in the word pride or not being humble. He states then that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Years later Paul writes to the Thessalonians telling how he did what Christ had instructed. That he was humble leading a life worthy of God, his motivation being for God’s glory not his own. He tells that not only are the Thessalonians his witnesses of this but God also. They have seen how pure, upright, and blameless his conduct has been. He encourages the Thessalonians to do the same. To live a life worthy of
Read more