Just a short post today on something interesting the Lord put in my path to share with you. There’s no such thing as coincidence…

We all know that when Adam ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, that his nakedness was revealed to him for the first time…and he was ashamed. Up to that point, he and Eve had been totally at ease romping around through the garden in the nude! Aside from eating the fruit, Adam had done nothing wrong…so why was he ashamed at being naked?

Perhaps, because it wasn’t so much the nakedness of his body that caused the shame, as much as the nakedness of his soul. God’s perfect creation, fallen from grace…with nowhere to hide. The glory of God, that had once been clothed Adam, had fallen away when he ate the fruit…

What happened next is interesting.

God, with his very own hands, stitched together the first clothes in our history, out of smelly, matted, unsightly animal skins…and He gave them to Adam to cover his nakedness so he could hide his shame. But though it was hidden, it was still there…beneath the animal skin clothing.

Still, the clothes couldn’t replace the glory of God. And while they covered Adam’s nakedness in his own eyes, and before man, they couldn’t cover his nakedness before God.

But here’s the REALLY interesting thing…

In order for Adam to have acceptable clothes on before the Lord…God had to remove His own robes and offer them to Adam. The animal skins, after all, would never be sufficient for Adam to wear into the Lord’s presence. It was then up to Adam to decide whether to continue to wear the smelly animal clothes of shame into the Lord’s presence, or to pick up the glorious robes of the Lord and stand before God in restored glory.

Now, how about this? Adam ate the fruit. His nakedness was revealed and filled him with shame. God made him clothes from animal skins to cover that shame. And at the cross, God removed His own clothing, hung there naked for all the world to see…took Adam’s shame upon Himself…and left His own glorious robe in Adam’s hands, to wear or not.

Just as He provided clothing for Adam to wear before man, God provided clothing for Adam to wear before His holy presence. Just as Adam was ashamed to have his nakedness revealed, God suffered shame in order to clothe Adam.

So, Adam. The choice is yours. You can stand before God in your smelly, matted, flea-infested animal skins…or you can stand before God in robes of righteousness.

Which will you choose?

Images of Jesus

There are a few other images of Jesus we need to carry with us into the new year. One of these is the image of Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Of all the images of Jesus we can imagine, this one is the most important… for without this one, we have no salvation.

The innocent lamb. The lamb that God, Himself, provided (Gen.22:8)…

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)

It’s no secret that God provided an acceptable sacrifice for sins through the crucifixion of Jesus. All sin of all men was heaped upon him on the cross and carried to the grave. We were given, in exchange, his righteousness…the righteousness of God.



It’s imperative that we understand that we have no role, whatsoever, in our salvation, other than making the choice to hide ourselves in Christ. We didn’t die on the cross for our sins, and if we had, our sacrifice would have been found lacking in the eyes of God.

Paul makes an interesting statement in Phil. 2:12:

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…”

For some reason, perhaps because we feel a need to contribute to our own salvation, we focus on this verse and assume we have to DO something in order to help Jesus save us. What we SHOULD be doing, however, is reading the next verse (Phil. 2:13):

“…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

See? It’s not YOU or what YOU do…it’s GOD and what GOD does IN you. Paul goes on to give some tips on how we should try to behave, relying on GOD to make the changes in us, in order to keep us from becoming one of those arrogant, religious, “holy” folks that Jesus used to condemn.

It’s so simple, it’s profound. We deserve punishment. Jesus took that punishment and offered his righteousness in its place. That’s it. We are free to accept it or reject it. But we wouldn’t be in this position if not for one thing:

The image of Jesus as the Lamb of God.

There are many other images of Jesus, of course…and we’ll look at a few more over the next couple of days, but this is the one that needs to stick with you more than any of the others.

The image of Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Images of Jesus

Images of Jesus

As humans, when we think about images of Jesus, we tend to need or want to put a face on him for some reason. There are pictures of a solemn Jesus, a white or black Jesus, a Jesus in pain, a weeping Jesus and even a laughing Jesus…among countless others.

What we fail to realize, is that it doesn’t matter what he looked like. He just looked like any other average person. Like you, maybe. Or like me. He didn’t look white or black. He looked Jewish. The length of his hair doesn’t matter. Whether or not he had a beard…

The images of Jesus that really are important, had nothing to do with his physical features. That’s why I decided to do this short series…to give us some images of Jesus that have a little meaning. Something we can take into the new year with us, and maybe share with others….

In the last post, we briefly looked at the image of the power and glory of God, wrapped in human flesh. Today, I would like to look at another image that’s rarely discussed. Perhaps it can be explained better, simply by jumping right into it:

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52)

Did you happen to catch it? Jesus grew in wisdom, stature and favor…with God…(and here’s the part you might have missed)…and with man. Jesus grew in favor with man. People LIKED him!



He wasn’t the ol’ stick in the mud that’s often portrayed in many pictures…the guy that never smiles and is always so serious about life that if he cracked a grin the picture frame would shatter into a gazillion pieces. People LIKED him. He was fun to be around!

Now, we all know God has a sense of humor…just look at us! Some folks are hilarious to be around…and we’re made in his image! God never asked any of us to be fuddy-duddies, but look around the church pews some Sunday morning at some of the faces you see…

How about this one? What was the first miracle Jesus performed? Turning water into wine at a wedding! Now a “religious” man wouldn’t be caught dead turning water (or anything else) into wine…wedding or not. If anything, he’d be trying to turn the wine into water!

Secondly, how did Jesus wind up at the wedding? Take a look at John 2:2, won’t you? What does it say? Jesus and the disciples were INVITED to the wedding. Why were they INVITED? Because they were a bunch of fun-loving guys! They were fun to be around. Nobody invites people to a party unless they enjoy being around them…right?
You don’t enjoy their company, you don’t invite ‘em…right?

I’m not trying to change the images of Jesus that you may have in your mind…but I am trying to expand some of the boxes those images may be kept in. Yes, Jesus was a serious guy when he needed to be serious…but he also enjoyed having a good time. He enjoyed laughing and joking and carrying on with the people around him. In other words, he enjoyed life!

Look around you. Don’t we all know people that other people seem to be attracted to, for some reason? What’s the reason? People enjoy being around them. Why do you choose the friends you choose? You enjoy their company, right? Why do people hang around YOU? Because they enjoy being around you…

People LIKED Jesus. Not because he was the Son of God, or the Savior of the world…
but because he was Jesus…the guy that was cool to hang with. In fact, when the Bible states that “he grew in favor with God and man”, Jesus hadn’t yet been revealed to be anything other than a carpenter’s son. Just plain ‘ol Jesus. The fun guy (with uncanny wisdom) that lived down the street…

And once his true identity was revealed…how refreshing it must have been to hear him condemn the religious people of the day…their arrogance and “holiness”…in order to reveal God’s true intent for humankind…faith (as opposed to works) and love.

So, of all the images of Jesus we can take into the new year with us, please, please, please, allow one of them to be this one: a man who grew in favor with God AND man. An image of a Savior…the Son of God…who wasn’t afraid to laugh, smile and have a good time. An image of a Jesus that was fun to hang with…and keep in mind, while you have that image in place, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:).

Images of Jesus

Images of Jesus

Today, I wanted to share with you some images of Jesus to take into the new year with you. Some of these images may be familiar, while others may be a little fresher…a little “newer” than some of those you may have filed away in the musuem of your mind…

For instance, with Christmas just winding down, you may have images of Jesus as a baby, lying in a manger, surrounded by cattle and sheep. It’s a peaceful image, and gives us the comfort of knowing we’re not alone…that God is truly with us.

But have you ever considered the sheer power that is displayed in that simple image?

Imagine this, will you? If the same unfathomable power that spoke all of creation into existence were to set foot upon that creation in all its glory, how could that creation contain that power and glory without bursting at the seams?



And yet, creation didn’t contain it. Nor did creation burst…because it was contained by a creation within the creation. In fact, all that power and all that glory was contained by the frailest of creations within that vast creation…the fragile skin of a human baby.

Human skin is so thin, that if you had a knife sharp enough to peel it from the body, you would be hard pressed to peel off nothing but the skin. You know, as well as I do, how easily it can be pierced or torn. Yet all the power and glory of God…the same power and glory that simply SPOKE an entire creation into being…was wrapped up and contained within the human skin of a newborn baby!

What kind of power can contain such power in such a delicate container? Who would dare, for instance, to wrap a nuclear reactor in frilly lace, rather than with concrete and steel? And we all know that even the concrete and steel can be easily burst by the atoms within, with the simple flick of an atom…

And we all know that the power of a nuclear reactor is nothing compared to the very real power that created all of creation…

At the same time, there it was…all that power and all that glory, wrapped up by a paper thin human skin…and none of it leaked out! None of it burst through even the weakest point. What POWER! What POWER did it take to contain the power and glory???

How did it all fit inside that tiny little, fragile body? How did it get in there? How did it NOT burst out? How did it all FIT???

Yet it did.

As time went by, there were tiny bursts of it here and there, like when the baby grew into a man and turned water into wine, or walked on water, or healed people or calmed storms…but they were controlled bursts.

One might think that with each step the man took, a little power would be bounced out through the pores, or through the eye sockets or SOMETHING…but it wasn’t. Or that if he sat down too hard, or fell to the ground, or took off running, something would have to be squeezed out somewhere. And remember, we’re talking the kind of power that if even just a little leaked out, it could destroy everything…

But there were no leaks. None ever got squeezed out by accident, or knocked out by bumps. Even when he skinned his knees as a child, you might think some of that power might leak out through the torn skin…but it never did.

Or when he was being flogged…when that thin human flesh was being ripped to shreds…the human flesh that was keeping all that power and glory from destroying creation…while it was being torn from his body, wouldn’t you think that stuff would just come exploding out with the first lash of the whip?

But it didn’t. And surely, by the last swing, when there was no flesh left to rip away from the meat…surely, THEN the power and glory would burst out and destroy creation! But it didn’t…

Not when the nails pierced the hands and feet…

What power did it take to keep all that stuff inside a human skin that had been torn apart? When all the flesh that was keeping it contained had been ripped away, punctured and mangled?

How would you feel living next to a nuclear reactor if the radioactive core were “protected” by such a shield? A shield that was full of holes, with the concrete and steel stripped away?

What unspeakable power kept the unspeakable glory and power controlled?

There can only be one power so great.

The power of the love of God.

Maybe we should add THAT to our mental museum of the images of Jesus…

Images of Jesus

Lamb of God

Final thoughts on the Lamb of God series…for now, anyway!

John the Baptist knew who the Lamb of God was. He seemed to fully understand the implications:

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Being born and raised a Jew, by devout Jewish parents, John the Baptist understood the significance of why Jesus was here on earth. While he may not have conciously had everything figured out, somewhere deep in his spirit, he knew who Jesus was and why he was here…to be the Lamb of God. The Lamb that God provided. The Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

According to Paul in Hebrews (Chapter 10), the sacrifices that had been offered down through the centuries could never be sufficient for cleansing a man’s soul. In fact, rather than get rid of sin, those sacrifices were actually reminders of sin (vs. 3)!

“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Heb. 10:4)

What God required was an unblemished lamb…pure and spotless. Take a look at Ezek. 46:13:

“‘Every day you are to provide a year-old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord; morning by morning you shall provide it…”

Every day. A lamb without defect. Every single day. To remind us of our sins. Why? Because the blood of lambs can’t take away our sin. That can only be done by THE Lamb. Not the ones chosen by man. But the One chosen by God.

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Pet. 18,19)

“First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…” (Heb. 10:8-12)

Why did he sit down? Because…

“It is finished.” (John 19:30)

Jesus didn’t come to remind us of our sins. He came to take them away. To put them as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). To make perfect forever, those who are being made holy (Heb. 10:14).

One more time. Jesus. The Lamb of God…who takes away the sins of the world.

Lamb of God

Lamb of God 3

Abraham was preparing to offer Isaac, his only son, as a sacrifice to God…and at the same time, he was looking and waiting for the “lamb of God” to appear. Abraham knew somehow that God would provide the sacrifice for him, just as He would provide the sacrifice for you and me centuries later.

Abraham knew he had the promise from God…that he would be the father of many nations, and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars…even though he had waited almost a century for the birth of his only son. And he knew, that even if he offered his son on the altar, that somehow that promise would be fulfilled. But he was looking for the lamb…the lamb that God would provide.

Keep in mind that Isaac had to be a willing participant in this whole ordeal. He could have easily overpowered the elderly Abraham, or run off into the woods. After all, he was strong enough to carry the wood on his back to the place of the offering…yet, he allowed himself to be tied and placed on the altar. On top of the bundle of wood he, himself, had carried up the mountain. Sound familiar?

In any case, just as Abraham was about to bring his knife down to sacrifice Isaac, he heard a voice from heaven that told him not to harm Isaac. And…

“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide…” (Gen. 22:13,14)

Abraham saw, in the thicket, a ram caught by its horns. A ram. A male lamb. A male lamb that God provided. The lamb of God.

How about this?

When Moses went up the mountain in the Desert of Sinai, and the Israelites were camped around the base…do you recall what happened?

“Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.” (Ex. 19:12,13)

Put limits for the people around the mountain. Tell ‘em to stay away, Moses. If any of them so much as even touch the foot of it, they must be put to death. Why? Because it was holy ground. The presence of God, Himself, was on the mountain. None were worthy to approach it or touch it. All the righteousness in the entire camp put together was still just filthy rags to a holy God. In other words, they were seperated from God by sin.

Folks, we can’t approach God. We’re not worthy. To attempt to approach God is to be put to death. We are no different from the Israelites camped around the base of the mountain. We’re nothing but filthy rags, and to have the arrogance to approach Him in His purity…well…it’s an act that leads to death.

But…we didn’t finish the verse…

“Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”

WOW!! What’s that? When the ram’s horn sounds, they may approach the mountain! When the ram’s horn sounds, you and I can approach God!! But what does it mean EXACTLY?

The ram’s horn. What is a ram? A male lamb. How do you get it’s horn? You don’t unless a ram has been killed. The ram’s horn has blasted. The ram…the male lamb…the Lamb of God has been slain for you and me so that the ram’s horn can be blasted! NOW WE CAN APPROACH THE MOUNTAIN, FOLKS!!!

NOW we can approach God! The ram has been slain, the horn has blasted…and the filthy rags made spotless by the blood of that Lamb! The Lamb that God provided. The Lamb of God…

I’d like to ask you to prayerfully consider sharing this with your friends and ask them to follow along…Thanks and many blessings!

Lamb of God

Lamb of God

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

We should all know that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). From the very beginning, starting with the sacrifice that God, Himself, carried out in Gen. 3:21 on Adam’s behalf for eating the forbidden fruit, death has been a part of life.

We should also know that it is destined for man to die once, according to Heb. 9:27, and after that, the judgment. In the meantime, however, we also know that “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” for sins (Heb. 9:22). That’s why God established the animal sacrifice…so that we might be cleansed from our sins.

While we know that Abel offered an animal sacrifice to God back in Gen. 4:4, the first sacrifice that goes into any detail is found in Gen. 22 when God instructs Abraham to take his son, Isaac, to Morhiah and offer him as a burnt sacrifice. It’s interesting to note that Abraham was asked to offer his only son…

Actually, there are quite a few interesting things about this account, but the one we want to focus on at the moment is the sacrifice…the lamb of God…Isaac, in this case…and the Lamb of God, Jesus, whom I believe was also present. This is what the Bible says…

“Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.” (Gen. 22:5-8)

The words I would like you to think about for a few minutes are these: “God himself will provide the lamb for the offering…”

God will provide the lamb. The Lamb of God. Once more. God will provide the lamb. The Lamb of God. Think about it, won’t you?

Best Juicers

Lamb of God

Lamb of God

The first in a short series on the “Lamb of God”. While I haven’t entirely finished the series on healing, I felt it was important to get this one started, and hope to finish the other in the mean time (so keep checking!).

Why the LAMB of God? It could just have easily been cows, rabbits or ducks, one would think. But it wasn’t. It was the LAMB of God. And, like everything else God does, I believe the lamb was chosen with a purpose in mind.

First of all, let’s look at the character of a lamb. Meek and gentle. Peaceful. Innocent. Just as a side note, it’s interesting to me, that while Jesus is portrayed as the Lamb of God, he is also the great Shepherd…and who better to shepherd the sheep than the Lamb, himself?

Secondly, it had to be a domesticated animal. One that was bred and raised by the human race. An animal that was plentiful and easily accessible. It had to be bred and raised so the sacrifice would have a cost…a price. A wild animal would have no cost. But a domesticated animal was part of the livelihood of the people. It cost them something…

Oxen were sometimes used as offerings, it’s true. But an ox wouldn’t be suitable as a representation of the Savior. An ox could get real mean real quick. An ox could be dangerous. They can be a little unpredictable sometimes. Oxen aren’t normally thought of as being lovable. People have to be a little cautious around oxen.

You really don’t have much to fear from a lamb. They seem…comfortable to be around. Something you can get close to and nuzzle with, if you like. Lovable. They seem to kinda draw you in, somehow. Whether it’s the soft eyes or the gentle spirit, they let you know that…it’s ok. You don’t have to be afraid…

The great Shepherd. The Lamb of God leading the sheep. Somehow, it just seems that nothing else would be quite right…

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Lamb of God

Define Salvation

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Define Salvation

King James Bible

There are a lot of folks in this world that won’t read any version of the Bible other than the King James Bible. While everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, the plain, simple truth is this:

The King James Bible is simply just another translation…just like any other version! In truth, some of the later versions may even be considered more accurate by some, because the understanding of some of the ideas behind the original Greek and Hebrew languages are better understood today than they were 400 years ago.

The mission here isn’t to downplay the King James Version of the Bible. Rather, it’s to open the minds of those who believe it’s the only version the Lord intended for us to read! My concern isn’t so much which version of the Bible is being read, as much as it is getting people to read the Bible (ANY version!), period! Far too many people rely on what others teach, rather than reading it for themselves…

There are a lot of folks that are concerned about other versions adding or omitting certain passages of the Bible, and that may be true, depending on the interpretations of those who are doing the “revising”. The thing is, it may well have been true of the scholars that translated the King James from the original text, as well. The only way to really know for sure, is to learn Greek and Hebrew…then read the original text and compare it to the King James we have today.

Far more disturbing is the liberties that some folks have taken in changing the text altogether… such as “God, the Father/Mother”, in an attempt to make the Bible “acceptable” to various groups of people who may feel discriminated against by the true Bible. Obviously, these “translations” are not translations at all, but rather alterations…an entirely different matter.

At the risk of upsetting the apple cart, the entire theme of the Bible centers around one thing:

Jesus.

God created everything, including man. Man sinned. God loved man enough to show up in the flesh…. Jesus…. to take our punishment and offer eternal life through his actions. If a particular version of the Bible follows this theme from page one to the last page, then it would seem preferable for someone to read that version (without condemnation from others), rather than reading no version at all.

Let’s take  a look at an example – John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. (American Standard)

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ([a]unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. (Amplified)

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. (Common English)

God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. (Contemporary English)

For God so loved the world,that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (English Standard)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (King James)

Though they may be worded slightly different, they still say the same thing! Personally, I like to compare several versions to see if I can get a clearer understanding of what it’s trying to say to me. Sometimes one version or another is easier for me to comprehend than another…and sometimes looking at several versions gives me an entirely different idea altogether!

The thing is NOT which version we read…in fact, it’s not what WE do at all. We can read them all, all day long, but if the Holy Spirit isn’t involved to give us understanding, then we haven’t really done anything but read a good book! And if the Holy Spirit is involved, it doesn’t matter which version we read, He’s going to give us the understanding that we are supposed to have…

We’ve gotta remember, folks…even with something as simple as reading the Bible, no matter which version…it’s not us. It’s God. He wrote the Bible. Who better to interpret it for us?

The King James Bible is great! It’s probably some of the most beautiful, poetic language in the world…but it’s not the ONLY version! Read the one that’s easiest for you to understand…then, if you like, compare it to the King James Bible and it will be easier for you to understand. The thing is, read a Bible. Don’t depend on others for your salvation…get it straight from the Source!

King James Bible

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