Blog Archives - Page 28 of 49 - The Gospel Outpost

Focusing on The Blessings in 2019

December 31, 2018

As I started 2018, I found a hope that, from the previous years, remained highly elusive. Numerous persons had routinely told me “This is going to be your year!” Quickly, I formulated things to do and ways to improve my spiritual health and well being. I met the first few weeks with gusto, powering through the challenges, pushing my skills and abilities, while simultaneously working on some persistent habitual sins that seemed to find a home. To Ben honest, for while, things were going pretty good. I felt like a super Christian.

Just An Ordinary Day | Jesus

December 24, 2018

We like to believe that Jesus and Satan actively battle for the souls and lives of mankind., each trying to beat the other in some divine spiritual competition. We share images of Jesus and Satan standing face to face as if they are preparing for a boxing match with the outcome largely unknown. Nothing could be further from the truth. For Jesus, there is no contest between the defunct fallen angel and the Son of God and ruler of all creation. Maintaining Divine rule over all creation requires nothing beyond the instrinsic personhood that He naturally exerts. Bringing salvation to mankind by becoming incarnate had been the plan from the beginning, not a plan B in response to sin. Rather, the work of Christ paved the only path for our return. While hugely momentous and the turning point of creation, for Jesus Christ, this event displayed the ordinary activities for a God incarnate who does the extraordinary for the unworthy.

Revelation 16:1-21 | The Seven Bowls of Wrath

The Revelation of Jesus Christ |The Seven Bowls of Wrath – Revelation 16:1-21

December 19, 2018

At the end of a harvest, everything in the field is harvested in some form or another. The outcome a harvest is largely dependent on what identity the thing being harvested holds. For harvesting, there is the physical act of removing everything from where it is and then the sorting by its identity. As the elders and angels declare the victory of God over all the world, they mark the beginning of the season of harvest. The angels herald the coming of the harvest as it passes over all the earth. First, the wheat are harvested and then the grapes. While both are harvested, their fates could not be more different, each facing a different outcome than the other. One thing becomes clear from chapter 14; everyone will face the harvest in some capacity. Up until this point, God reveals his sovereignty as the King of Heaven, the ruler of creation, and even dictating what the dragon and demons can and cannot do. At the end of human kind, everyone will experience the fullness of God. Some will experience the fullness of God’s eternal presence and blessing. Others will experience the fullness of the God’s wrath. The difference comes from who the son of man claims as His own.

Just An Ordinary Day | Shepherds

December 17, 2018

Shepherds, in that day, tended to not be the cleanest of people. They carried the reputation of dirty, inappropriate vagabonds who preferred the company of animals instead of mankind. They lived with the animals in the field to keep an eye on the animals. Their job consumed their life and this specific day, for all they knew, was just an ordinary day. Out of the ordinary, heavenly hosts appeared proclaiming the coming of the Savior. These outcasts of society received the proclamation of the presence of the King over all eternity. The Savior had arrived in lowly circumstances and the angelic hosts came to the lowliest of people. For the shepherds, they understood their unholiness and filthy ness, both externally and spiritually, and risked their livelihood to behold the face of the Savior.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ | Prelude to The Seven Plagues – Revelation 15:1-8

December 12, 2018

At the end of a harvest, everything in the field is harvested in some form or another. The outcome a harvest is largely dependent on what identity the thing being harvested holds. For harvesting, there is the physical act of removing everything from where it is and then the sorting by its identity. As the elders and angels declare the victory of God over all the world, they mark the beginning of the season of harvest. The angels herald the coming of the harvest as it passes over all the earth. First, the wheat are harvested and then the grapes. While both are harvested, their fates could not be more different, each facing a different outcome than the other. One thing becomes clear from chapter 14; everyone will face the harvest in some capacity. Up until this point, God reveals his sovereignty as the King of Heaven, the ruler of creation, and even dictating what the dragon and demons can and cannot do. At the end of human kind, everyone will experience the fullness of God. Some will experience the fullness of God’s eternal presence and blessing. Others will experience the fullness of the God’s wrath. The difference comes from who the son of man claims as His own.

Just An Ordinary Day | Simeon

December 10, 2018

Luke describes Simeon as righteous and devout. The Lord told him that he would not die until he saw the Savior who would come. So, the life of Simeon became a waiting game for God to reveal Himself. God gave no indication to Simeon as to when or where Christ would appear nor would there be circumstances that could hasten the coming. Everything would be completed on God’s timing and providence. Thus, for Simeon, expectation and waiting on the Lord became the every day, the mundane, and the normal. Until one day, a single event would fulfill the prophesies and the prophet who would speak them.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ | The Harvest of The Earth – Revelation 14:14-20

December 5, 2018

At the end of a harvest, everything in the field is harvested in some form or another. The outcome a harvest is largely dependent on what identity the thing being harvested holds. For harvesting, there is the physical act of removing everything from where it is and then the sorting by its identity. As the elders and angels declare the victory of God over all the world, they mark the beginning of the season of harvest. The angels herald the coming of the harvest as it passes over all the earth. First, the wheat are harvested and then the grapes. While both are harvested, their fates could not be more different, each facing a different outcome than the other. One thing becomes clear from chapter 14; everyone will face the harvest in some capacity. Up until this point, God reveals his sovereignty as the King of Heaven, the ruler of creation, and even dictating what the dragon and demons can and cannot do. At the end of human kind, everyone will experience the fullness of God. Some will experience the fullness of God’s eternal presence and blessing. Others will experience the fullness of the God’s wrath. The difference comes from who the son of man claims as His own.

Just An Ordinary Day | Joseph

December 3, 2018

Jospeh led a good but uneventful life. During that time, he found himself betrothed to a wonderful woman. They obediently followed God, refusing to give in to their desires by consummating their relationship before the wedding night. Then, Mary gave him the news that would shatter his heart; “I’m pregnant.” Joseph, being a man of integrity, knew the child could not be his. Yet, he understood the implications and consequences of what would happen to Mary if they divorced because of her “infidelity.” From Joseph’s perspective, He had full right to drag her before the temple and have her stone. Yet, while a man of righteous faith, Joseph also sought to be a man of love and great grace, choosing instead to spare her by divorcing her quietly. On this night, on just an ordinary day, Joseph’s life would change forever.

Just An Ordinary Day | Mary

November 26, 2018

For a moment that would change the trajectory of her life, the coming of the angel Gabriel seemed out of the ordinary for this young girl. She was engaged to be married to Joseph, a good man, who obeyed the law as good Jewish man. During that day, engagement meant more than just pre-marriage but the two committed to one another through their engagement, consummating their unity at their wedding. Joseph and Mary were no exception to this, remaining a virgin. Although they were good people, Mary and Joseph did not come from distinguished backgrounds or wealth and status. Mary found favor with God in the ordinary circumstances of her life as she faithfully followed God. With the announcement of Gabriel that she would give birth to the Messiah, Mary trusted God to walk her through an impossible situation giving glory to God in through faithfully trusting God to lead her through every step.

The Problem of Sin | Grace and Forgiveness

November 19, 2018

A Christian cannot have a reasonable discussion of sin and the consequences of sin without mentioning the crux of the Gospel; Jesus Christ died for sinners and offers forgiveness for their sins. Discussions of sin often become bogged down in either the acts of sin themselves or bypass any mention of sin, allowing people to continue in their sin. As we discussed in our previous post, the sin separated us from the fullness of God’s presence and made us deserving of death and separation from God. Yet, in God’s gracious mercy, by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, we have the opportunity to not only be forgiven from our sins but also enter into the fullness of God’s presence. We have been forgiven from our sins. We lay before the cross of Jesus Christ, pouring our sin out on Christ, knowing that he sustains us and forgives us. Furthermore, we have the opportunity to forgive ourselves and forgive one another. No matter the sin that we have done or the distance that we have traveled from God, everyone is offered the forgiveness in Jesus Christ and can extend the same forgiveness to one another.