Jan 2008
February's Verse
God said to Moses, “Tell them: ‘I AM has sent me to
you.’” (Exodus 3:14)
This year’s calendar deals with the all important theme “Who is Jesus?”. Many voices down through the centuries have made all sorts of claims and promises. Many voices in the present make their claims and promises too. They clamour for our attention, call us to follow, believe and commit. How are we to know which voice to listen to?
Moses had the same question about 3500 years ago. Out minding sheep, he saw a bush on fire – not an uncommon event in the desert, but the fire wasn’t burning itself out. As he investigated, a voice spoke to him from the flames, commanding him to leave his job and rescue the Israelites from Egypt.
Naturally enough you’d have questions, like “Why’s there a voice speaking from a flaming bush?” and “Who are you that the Israelites should listen?”. The voice answered in cryptic fashion, “Tell them: ‘I AM has sent you’.”
What sort of an answer is that? God explained to Moses that he was the great never-changing God who had always existed, who had promised to make a great nation out of Israel, and how this never-changing God was coming to make good his promise.
The name ‘I AM’ came to sum up that eternal, never-changing, promise-keeping character of God. Down through the centuries of the Old Testament the Jews treated the name with great respect, not even daring to use it for fear of dishonouring it.
Then there appears a man making great claims about rescuing people, about being the promised one. Naturally enough people want to know who he is. And in answer to their questions, he takes the long unspoken name and utters it about himself – “Before Abraham was born, I am” – John 8:58. Many of the Jews thought it was blasphemy, that he was a con artist. They ignored the evidence of his life and his miracles. He used the same power that was seen in the rescue from Egypt: he controlled the sea, he provided miraculous food for the hungry crowds.
We mustn’t make the same mistake. Jesus is the great never-changing, promise-keeping God who has come to rescue people and take them out of slavery and death to a promised land, just like he did so long ago through Moses.
This year’s calendar deals with the all important theme “Who is Jesus?”. Many voices down through the centuries have made all sorts of claims and promises. Many voices in the present make their claims and promises too. They clamour for our attention, call us to follow, believe and commit. How are we to know which voice to listen to?
Moses had the same question about 3500 years ago. Out minding sheep, he saw a bush on fire – not an uncommon event in the desert, but the fire wasn’t burning itself out. As he investigated, a voice spoke to him from the flames, commanding him to leave his job and rescue the Israelites from Egypt.
Naturally enough you’d have questions, like “Why’s there a voice speaking from a flaming bush?” and “Who are you that the Israelites should listen?”. The voice answered in cryptic fashion, “Tell them: ‘I AM has sent you’.”
What sort of an answer is that? God explained to Moses that he was the great never-changing God who had always existed, who had promised to make a great nation out of Israel, and how this never-changing God was coming to make good his promise.
The name ‘I AM’ came to sum up that eternal, never-changing, promise-keeping character of God. Down through the centuries of the Old Testament the Jews treated the name with great respect, not even daring to use it for fear of dishonouring it.
Then there appears a man making great claims about rescuing people, about being the promised one. Naturally enough people want to know who he is. And in answer to their questions, he takes the long unspoken name and utters it about himself – “Before Abraham was born, I am” – John 8:58. Many of the Jews thought it was blasphemy, that he was a con artist. They ignored the evidence of his life and his miracles. He used the same power that was seen in the rescue from Egypt: he controlled the sea, he provided miraculous food for the hungry crowds.
We mustn’t make the same mistake. Jesus is the great never-changing, promise-keeping God who has come to rescue people and take them out of slavery and death to a promised land, just like he did so long ago through Moses.
January's Verse
Over the last number of weeks, some of you may have
received a calendar entitled “Who is Jesus?”, either
from ourselves or from one of several other local
churches. This is our first year to give it out, and
we started small, so if you didn’t get one and would
like one – let me know.
Every month a verse from the Bible sets out the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. Many voices down through the centuries have made all sorts of claims and promises. Many voices in the present make their claims and promises too. They clamour for our attention, call us to follow, believe and commit. How are we to know which voice to listen to?
Every month a verse from the Bible sets out the uniqueness of Jesus Christ – the only ‘voice’ to live, die and rise again; the only ‘voice’ to offer to take our place before an angry God. Throughout the course of the year I intend to explain a little of what each month’s verse means.
January’s verse is found in Revelation 1:8, ‘“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”’
Sometimes people say, “Christianity is OK for you, but it’s not for me. You can believe it, but I’ve got my own beliefs.” That would be fine if the final day of reckoning was like an airport check-in hall, with all the different religions each having their own check-in desk, with their own little deity and his staff seeing to those flying with them.
If this verse tells us anything, it tells us that it will not be like that. There is one God, not many. He is all-powerful. He has been in existence, and will always be in existence. There were no gods in existence before him, and none have come after him. Alpha and Omega refer to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet – it is a way of saying that Jesus is before all things, after all things. He is the all-encompassing one, with whom all mankind will have to deal. He is sovereign. And he is coming back.
This verse also means that Jesus is what life is all about. Life is not about getting all you can, or even giving all you can. It’s all about Jesus – that’s what we’re here for. If our lives haven’t been about Jesus, then we aren’t ready for him coming back. Does he pervade your life in every aspect, or is he left on the periphery?
If you would like to know more, or would like a calendar, just get in touch.
Every month a verse from the Bible sets out the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. Many voices down through the centuries have made all sorts of claims and promises. Many voices in the present make their claims and promises too. They clamour for our attention, call us to follow, believe and commit. How are we to know which voice to listen to?
Every month a verse from the Bible sets out the uniqueness of Jesus Christ – the only ‘voice’ to live, die and rise again; the only ‘voice’ to offer to take our place before an angry God. Throughout the course of the year I intend to explain a little of what each month’s verse means.
January’s verse is found in Revelation 1:8, ‘“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”’
Sometimes people say, “Christianity is OK for you, but it’s not for me. You can believe it, but I’ve got my own beliefs.” That would be fine if the final day of reckoning was like an airport check-in hall, with all the different religions each having their own check-in desk, with their own little deity and his staff seeing to those flying with them.
If this verse tells us anything, it tells us that it will not be like that. There is one God, not many. He is all-powerful. He has been in existence, and will always be in existence. There were no gods in existence before him, and none have come after him. Alpha and Omega refer to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet – it is a way of saying that Jesus is before all things, after all things. He is the all-encompassing one, with whom all mankind will have to deal. He is sovereign. And he is coming back.
This verse also means that Jesus is what life is all about. Life is not about getting all you can, or even giving all you can. It’s all about Jesus – that’s what we’re here for. If our lives haven’t been about Jesus, then we aren’t ready for him coming back. Does he pervade your life in every aspect, or is he left on the periphery?
If you would like to know more, or would like a calendar, just get in touch.