In His prayer to the Father in John 17, Jesus said that both He and His people (the Ekklesia) are in the world, but not of the world. Throughout church history, it has been, and still is, very difficult for the Church to understand this paradox, and has been even more difficult for the Church to embody its spiritual realities. The Church is to represent a heavenly King and a heavenly Kingdom. Herein lies the challenge: How do we effectively
Paul the apostle wrote: “As a wise master builder, I laid a Foundation.” For about 50 years I have pursued the knowledge, insight, understanding, and wisdom on what it means to “lay the Foundation of Christ” through discipleship. This publication discusses laying the Foundation of Christ through apostolic teaching in the context of Revelation of Christ in the whole of Scripture, with a view to answering whole-heartedly the Call of Discipleship.
The apostle, Peter, spoke of “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord”. (Acts 2:19-21) Taken in context, Peter is saying that before Christ returns at the end of this present age, there will be “times of refreshing”, and that these times would “come from the presence of the Lord”. What we call “revivals”, or “outpourings of the Spirit”, are in fact God-appointed “times of visitation” of the manifested presence of God. Thus, God manifests His presence throughout church
The Bible – the New and Old Testament scriptures are the Self-revelation of God – Father, Son, and Spirit. Only in these scriptures do we find the mysteries of God, including “the mystery of Christ”, revealed, and His “eternal purposes” prophesied. We need “diligent workers” like Paul. Indeed, every believer must be diligent in the study of scripture. I am convinced that, particularly in the age in which we live, the adjective, “biblical”, has become of utmost importance. It is definitive, separating true Christianity from
Christ-Centered Typology for Revelation of Christ, Relationship with Christ, and Reflection of Christ “Typology” – a term given to a method of interpreting the Old Testament scriptures in light of the New Covenant, was used by the apostolic writers of the New Testament. This approach to understanding the Old Testament is based on the principle Paul the apostle gives in 1 Corinthians 15:46, “The spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.”. There are many symbols – “types”,
This is an expository study of the Letter to the Hebrews. However, it does not cover every verse in the letter, but rather, goes deeply into key verses, focusing on the goal of SEEING JESUS. (John 12:21) Here we see Jesus as the Word of God, the Unique Son, the Heir of All Things, the Radiance of God’s Glory, the “Better Thing”.
In this article, I am focusing on the adjectives, “apostolic” and “prophetic”, rather than the nouns, “apostle” and “prophet”. My goal is a more Christ-centered perspective and understanding of the phrase, “the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:20-22), as well as, what it means to “lay” that Foundation. (1 Corinthians 3:10-11)
Christ is the Head of the Body, the Church. We cannot discern the Body until we first discern the Head. We cannot understand the mystery of the Church until we understand the mystery of Christ. Jesus is building His Church through revelation of Himself. As we pursue the revelation of Christ, He builds His Church. As disciples of Christ, let us pursue REVELATION of Christ as the Head and the Foundation, having that translated into RELATIONSHIP with Christ, with a
Joined to the Cornerstone Knowing & Experiencing Christ in, and by, and through Sound Doctrine Throughout the Old Testament, we see stones placed as memorials of experiential encounters with the Lord. In the New Covenant also there are foundational “stones”, as it were – foundational experiences of Christ. We need to be “devoted to the apostles teaching” which “lays the Foundation” of Christ. There are foundational doctrines upon which we should build our spiritual house, so we need to “take heed
The title of this message is a question found in Psalm 24: “Who is this King of Glory?” In Matthew’s gospel we find Jesus asking a question of His disciples: “Who do people say that I am?” And a little later in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is coming into the city of Jerusalem, and the crowd of people is asking: “Who is this?” In these passages, the people called Jesus “the Christ, the Son of the living God”, “the Son of
