Jesus-Christ, the Man of God - Luke 21:20-38

I was touched this morning as I was reading in Luke 21:20-38 (see below).  The Lord speaks to his disciples in such a clear manner, without ambiguity; speaking of the things that would come like if they already happened.  If we pay attention to the development of this passage, we'll see Jesus as a true Shepperd, preparing his flock for the things that would come upon them.

I wonder what was going through their minds.  What would have went through mine if I would have been there?

Isn't it a blessed tough to know that He knows the future and prepares us accordingly.  For our Lord, the past and the future seem, from our persceptive, to all blend together.  He is the great 'I am'!  I also wonder what will the disciples in the Tribulation think and take away from this passage.

Wouldn't it have been great to follow him to the temple in the morning and listen to him all day and then follow him back to the mountains in the evening?  Well, I guess we can still do it without going to Jerusalem, simply taking time with Him in our own little quite place.

Song:

I have a Shepherd, One I love so well;
How He has blessed me tongue can never tell;
On the cross He suffered, shed His blood and died,
That I might ever in His love confide.

Refrain:

Following Jesus, ever day by day,
Nothing can harm me when He leads the way;
Darkness or sunshine, whate'er befall,
Jesus, the Shepherd, is my All in All.

Pastures abundant doth His hand provide,
Still waters flowing ever at my side,
Goodness and mercy follow on my track,
With such a Shepherd nothing can I lack.

When I would wander from the path astray,
Then He will draw me back into the way;
In the darkest valley I need fear no ill,
For He, my Shepherd, will be with me still.

When labor's ended and the journey done,
Then He will lead me safely to my home;
There I shall dwell in rapture sure and sweet,
With all the loved ones gathered round His feet.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/hymn_details.asp?PID=ihaveashepherd

Luke 21:20-38

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Destruction of Jerusalem

²⁰ “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. ²² For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. ²³ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. ²⁴ And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁵ “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶ men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

The Parable of the Fig Tree

²⁹ Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰ When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. ³¹ So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

The Importance of Watching

³⁴ “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. ³⁵ For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy^[a] to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
³⁷ And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. ³⁸ Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+21%3A20-38&version=NKJV

Treasures in James

I love the writing style of James.  The Holy Spirit used him in a special manner to convey to us important truths.  He uses many metaphors to shed light on his subject.  For instance, we see him using at least 4 images in the first chapter.

• The sea (v.6)
• The flower (v. 11)
• The mirror (v.23)
• The bridle (v.26)

It's interesting to note that the first two, God is in control of them.  And the last two, are items made by man.  I think if we look closely in the text, we'll see something special in this regard.

Importance of Genesis ch. 1-12

We cannot underestimate the importance of the first chapters of the bible. Many have tried and are still trying to discredit these wonderful chapters. The reason is evident for some: take out the foundation and the whole building eventually collapses.

We can then ask the question: 'In what sens are these chapters a foundation of all scriptural truths?' I firmly believe that it's a noble question and worthy of further investigation. From what I've gathered to this point is that there clearly is a rational structure in these chapters. It seems to prepare the reader for further insights into God will for mankind as well as God himself - the Revealer.

For example:

• In chapter on we see the concept of division before multiplying (or blessing) as discuss in a previous post.
• We see the primary theme that will be brought forth; such as light & darkness; the waters, so the skies above (upward direction) and the waters below (downward direction). We might take this for granted, but God created space as well as time and matter. We see the aspect of man in relationship with his surrounding.
• We also see diversity in creation, e.i. in animals of various kinds. (mammals, fish, birds, insects) Our God is a Gos of variety.
• Further on we see the toughs of responsibility and accountability. (the Garden & the fall)
• The truth of relationships (Man & Women; God and man; the snake - other worlds or spiritual world with man; among brothers and with other nations) is elaborated.
• We are also initiated into the truth of God working in a special manner with a selected group as well as with individual (ex. Israel and Abraham)
• The evolution & outcome of sin - from bad to worst.
• In Noah's Ark we see many foundational truths: judgement, accountability, obedience, faith, family, the relationship of man with creation, the worlds reaction.

Many other things could be added, but I'm not supposing to be exhaustive on this subject.
If you have any other ones you would add, please let me know and I'll gladly add them to the list.

Gen. 1 - Light of the world

Day one light came in this creation; light was not created because God is light. So, light entered into the new realm (e.i v.1). Many simply read over Genesis 1 and don't make any distinction between day 1 and day 4. They don't ponder on what was done on the first day in comparison to the fourth.

I've asked some Christians the following question: what was created on the first day? Some would even say that the sun was created on that day. Their logic is easy to understand; they're was light, so there had to be the sun.

But the truth is that we don't need the sun in our realm in order to have light; it sounds a bit counter intuitive but it's true. There was light before the tangible body that sheds light on our world. Doesn't that ring any bell?

Christ, the eternal Son (in this context: SUN, but this play on words only works in the English language), came into this world to bring forth light. (cp. John 1 & 1 John) Because of the incarnation, the Light has been seen of men and men have 'seen the light!'

Genesis 1 (Cont)

It's interresting to see that the first 3 days God divided, then the 3 following days He multiplied. I think we can see this principle in all of Scripture. Examples:

• God had to seperate Abram before he could multliply him; e.i. his seed.
• God needed to bring His people out of Egypt in order to take them into Canaan, the land of many blessings.
• God needed to seperate us from this evil worl (Gal.1) in order to bless us.
• God needs to seperate the christian in an local assembly before he can intrust us with all His promises and blessings.

Genesis 1

How interesting is it to see the parrallel that are in this opening chapter of our Bible. We can clearly see the link between the days. Day 1 & Day 4 In the first day, God created the sphere and then in the 4th day he dressed it up with the celestial inhabitant. Day 2 & Day 5 In day 2, God created the spheres and then in the 5th day he furnished them with heavenly and marine creatures. Day 3 & Day 6 In the same manner as the other days, God made the place and then filled them up with terrestrial animals.