SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/21/2015
10:54 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2, 2nd Day, 2nd
Group, 2nd Emphasis
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 1:29-34
Message of
the verses: “29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him
and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30
“This is He on behalf of whom I said, ’After me comes a Man who has a higher
rank than I, for He existed before me.’ 31 “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be
manifested to Israel, I
came baptizing in water." 32 John testified saying, "I have
seen the Spirit descending
as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 “I did not
recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ’He upon whom
you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who
baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 “I myself have seen, and have testified that
this is the Son of God."”
We were talking about Jesus Christ being the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world in our last SD, and now let us take a
look at Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 53 and verse seven: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet
He did not open His mouth; Like
a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its
shearers, So He did not open His mouth.”
Let us compare this with Acts 8:32, and then 1 Peter 1:19: “Now the passage of Scripture which he was
reading was this: "HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB
BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.” “but with precious blood, as of a lamb
unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
We know that the people of Israel were looking for a
conquering king and a prophet, however God sent them a lamb in order to take
away their sin so that when He came the next time they would be read to receive
their King as we saw when we studied the later chapters of the book of
Revelation.
I want to quote from John MacArthur here as he
explains what the word “world” means in verse 29. “As noted in the discussion of 1:9-11…kosmos (world) has a variety of meanings
in the New Testament. Here it refers to
humanity in general, to all people without distinction, transcending all
national, racial, and ethnic boundaries.
The use of the singular term ‘sin’ with the collective noun ‘world’
reveals that as sin is worldwide, so Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient for all
people without distinction. But though
His sacrificial death is sufficient for the sins of everyone, it is efficacious
only for those who savingly believe in Him.
This verse does not teach universalism, the false doctrine that everyone
will be saved. That such is not the case
is obvious, since the Bible teaches that most people will suffer eternal
punishment in hell, and only a few will be saved.” “13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the
gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many
who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that
leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
We once again see John stressing his subordinate
role to Jesus who is the eternal Word who has become ‘a Man.” For John
acknowledged “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ’After me comes a Man who
has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.” We actually went over this in yesterday’s
SD.
Now I want to look at verse thirty-two and the
phrase “descending as a dove” which I have highlighted at the beginning of this
SD. We know that like and as are similes
and so the use of the simile as in this phrase does not mean that the Holy
Spirit descended on the Lord at His baptism in the form of a dove, but landed
on Him like a dove lands, softly.
We also see once again why John the Baptist came and
the fact that God had spoken to him, telling him how to recognize the Messiah
and then to baptize Him. MacArthur
writes “John understood who Jesus truly was only through divine
revelation. That Jesus is far greater
than John is reinforced in that He ‘baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’
“For the sixth time in his gospel (cf. 1:7, 8, 15,
19, 32), John the apostle refers to the Baptist’s witness to Christ, recording
his affirmation, ‘I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son
of God.’” “Witness, or testifying, is
thematic in this gospel. John’s
testimony in verse 34 is a fitting conclusion to this section, as the narrative
makes the transition from him to Jesus.
Although believers are in a limited sense children of God, Jesus is uniquely ‘the Son of God’ in that He
alone shares the same nature as the Father.
“To his
first emphasis—Messiah is here—John added an equally compelling
exhortation: Recognize Him for who He is—the
Son of God, the Messiah, the ultimate sacrificial Lamb for the sin of the
world.”
I hope that this SD has cleared up some things that
may have been a bit difficult to understand like the use of the word “world”
and how we learned the meaning of verse 29 a bit better, and also about the
word “dove” and that the Holy Spirit did not come in the form of a dove.
Spiritual
Meaning for my life today: Once again I am drawn to the humbleness of
John the Baptist, and also, even though it did not come up in this section, the
courage and strength and conviction that he had too.
My Steps of Faith
for Today:
To live my life with courage, and strength and with humility.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Peter” (Matthew 16:16).
Today’s Bible question: “Where did Lazarus live?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/21/2015 11:37 AM
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