Showing posts with label Kingdom of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kingdom of God. Show all posts

Thursday, March 28, 2013

What really happened during the Last Supper?


The Last Supper we usually remember as breaking and sharing the bread and  sharing the cup of wine as remembrance of  Jesus body broken and Hid blood shed for forgiveness of sin..We see twelve  apostles sitting at the table with Jesus among them.
What else was taking place at the table when the cup of new covenant in  Jesus' blood  was  passed from hands to hands?
"When the hour came, Jesus and His apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you,
I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” Luke 22;14-16


Have you ever thought about what Jesus said at the table before the Passover meal started? He said He 'eagerly desired ' to eat that Passover before He was to suffer.
He had desire to spend the last hours with His disciples. Knowing that the worst was just a few hours away, that the 'pain' was  waiting at the door, He wanted to use that time  for the fellowship with His friends.
Think about it how would you feel knowing you are going to be betrayed and suffer soon? Would you withdraw into yourself and have pity on you and feel too upset to hang out  anybody around?
I can imagine I would definitely feel like that. I would be too stressed up to enjoy any party.
But let's look at Jesus. Of course  He was  feeling stressed up but the main thing   is- He was focusing on the  well-being  and  good spirit of His friends.

He talks about praying for Simon Peter;
"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”Luke 22;31-32

He gives the privilege for His people to ask in prayer for what they need;
"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." John 14;13-14 
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." John 15;7 



He is promising the Holy Spirit to come as a Helper and Comforter;    
"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever." John 14 ;16

He is promising His presence;
 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live." John 14;18-19

He is encouraging His friends' hearts. He wants them to have joy and peace.;
v.27 " Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
 "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." John 15;.11
“I am coming to you( Father)  now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them."
John 17;13


What an encouragement! He is preparing His disciples to have hope, to have faith. Notice -He is  praying  both  for them and for.... YOU!.
" I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message". John 17;20 
His focus are the people who responded to God and who believe His words. He makes sure they know the way to follow; " You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14;4
“I am the way and the truth and the life(...) v.7


He makes sure they have His promise they are not left abandon that one day He is coming for them;
 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."  John 14;3
He is encouraging them not to give up and to be aware of the hard times to come;
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16;33


He is washing His disciples' feet, showing them to serve one another, as He served them. He gave them a command for  having love for each other.

Before He leaves to pray for the strength for Himself to endure the cross, His main focus is you!  It is not only those twelve people at the table  but also YOU. If you know Him, He wants to leave you fully equipped in the knowledge you should have, in the things you should understand, in the hope you should hold on, and in the promised return  to look forward to!
All for those whom He loves. But among all these people at the table there is  somebody who  'kills' the joy of fellowship.
There is a betrayer - Judas- whose eyes are too blind to see Jesus' love  and his heart to hardened to understand the need for the Savior!  He chooses what looks good for the eyes. Money for which he will later loose his soul forever. 
After the disciples are all  'set'  there came time to Jesus to pray for His  own strength and  asking  the Father if  it was possible to remove that coming suffering from Him.  Jesus surely knew what He was going to face  so His sweat  ( we read) was like the drops of blood. But He didn't turn back. He didn't give up. He didn't ask  His father for legions  of angels for His protection. ( as He said He could have! Matthew 26;53)
He also might have said, 'that is too much! You guys cost me too much!' But there was  no ' too much' for God. His love is great enough. He wanted our redemption at all costs! That is how much He didn't want  you to die with  eternal death. He doesn't want  you to end up like  Judas with his  soul  lost. He wants you to choose life that will be completely new  with Him and He offers beyond that. Jesus' resurrection was a sign of a triumph over death. From that time on, death  has  no power any more  over those who are safe in  Jesus.
He  promised;  “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”  John 11;25-26






Saturday, March 16, 2013

The Kingdom of Heaven



There are so many books that are coming out about heaven and peoples' experiences  ' while they died for a short time'  and  these books  attract the most attention and sell the most. Recently a friend of mine gave me her old Kindle. There were so many of those books there with different titles; "5 minutes in heaven" ,
"2 minutes beyond the body", and many many more of that type. As I listened to some of them one thing struck me the most. People are talking about their experience while seeing heaven , seeing all their relatives but not seeing God, not seeing Jesus. What kind of hope these books give to you? I wondered. Knowing that heaven is for real  should be our hope? Of course there are so many people who are looking for any sign of life beyond the grave and these  books might give some evidence -yes- there is a sign, somebody experienced death and saw heaven. Personal experience , but how much of it is true? Don't satisfy your faith  by only believing in heaven. The Bible tells us clearly such place exists, there is no secret, Jesus Himself talked about it many times; " my Father in heaven",
"(...) there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents (...) Luke 15;7
"But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Act 7;55-56

These are just a few examples of reading  in the Bible that there is a place called heaven. The thing is we should be more concerned about whether we are on the way to it or not!
 Just believing in heaven doesn't make a person saved, knowing how the place looks like doesn't either.
Jesus said “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it."
  Luke 16;16
He also says; "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 7;21
We read here about two important things; " everyone forces his way into it" and that  " not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter it.
Our concerns should be whether we are doing the will of the Father who is in heaven. Some people weren't sure what does it mean and asked Jesus;
" Therefore they said to Him, What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
John 6;28-29

If you already heard what the Bible talks about salvation, how to be saved you will see it is all in agreement with the verse above; "believing in Him whom He ( Father) sent" which is believing in His Son Jesus Christ.
 He said in many ways how we should respond to Him;    "come to me" " repent",
"Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that believes on me has everlasting life." John 6;47
"You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,  yet you refuse to come to me to have life." John 5;39-40
He is a point. Without coming to Jesus we can't have everlasting life, we can't get to  heaven.
When we come to Him, then we will understand how much He did for us, we will understand the significance of the cross and His blood shed for our sin. That will open the way.
Heaven is for people who came to Jesus, who responded to His call.
Jesus said  to those who believe in Him
" And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14;3
He doesn't say this to the whole world, to people who go to church or trying to work  their way to heaven by good deeds. No such thing.
The verse 1 of John 14  says " Believe in God, believe also in Me". You have to be a believer in Jesus. You have to know the way to heaven . And the way is Jesus.
"You know the way to the place where I am going.” He said;.
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14;6
One day Jesus told people a parable about the Kingdom of  Heaven.The end of that story is really interesting.
"The Kingdom of heaven is like a King who arranged a wedding for his son..."
 The king prepares the banquet  He wants us to be His guests  He sends out an invitation  and with that invitation he provides the proper wedding clothes. Then the wedding day comes. The guests arrive . There the man enters who is not properly dressed. He is asked why he is dressed like that.? Did he not get an invitation? Yes, he received an invitation, in fact " I was asked to come so I came". Why then did he not put  on the proper wedding clothes? Did he not receive the clothes with the invitation? Yes, he received the clothes but  but was it really necessary for him to wear them? Was` it not far more important  that he was here  and had accepted the invitation? After all, the King did invite him.
Then just the King arrives. And that is what they have all been waiting for, to see the king. A silence  falls over the assembly. The king spots the man not properly dressed.
" How  did you come in here?" he asked  " Without being properly dressed for the wedding? The man stumbles  about for words , but can  find none.
 " Tie him up and throw him into darkness outside. There will be weeping and gnashing teeth"
The end for that person is really terrifying
.
You can not  play with  God's invitation. You can not come shamelessly with  your sins on you. You need to humble yourself. Your sins have to be ashed away, so your clothes are white. That can only happen if you come to Jesus and receive His forgiveness. Somebody said " You can not play a little game with the grace of God."   You either received it or not. You might know a lot about heaven, read lots of books, forced your way into it, but the question of the King will stop you. " How  did you come in here?" " Where are your clean clothes?" You might be disappointed  about heaven if you newer knew Jesus.
The King of the universe invites you.
The Kingdom of Heaven is for those  who" have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."