SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/23/2016 9:04 AM
My Worship Time Focus: They Claim to be God’s Children PT-1
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 8:41b-47
Message of the verses: “They said to Him, "We were not born of
fornication; we have one Father: God." 42
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me,
for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My
own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 "Why do you not understand what I am
saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 “You are of your father the
devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in
him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar
and the father of lies. 45 “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe
Me. 46 "Which one of you convicts
Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 “He who is of God
hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are
not of God.’”
I have to
say that when I looked at the last part of verse forty-one where the rulers of
the Jewish religious establishment who were talking with Jesus that they were
talking about what they said was the controversy surrounding the birth of
Jesus. However when I was listening to
MacArthur’s first sermon on this section he mentioned that they were talking
about the fact that they were not worshipers of idols, but it is clear that he
has changed his mind for in his commentary which was written many years after
that sermon he states that they were talking about the birth of Jesus. Let’s face it if the Spirit of God does not
show us the truth of Scripture we would have a difficult time believing in the
virgin birth ourselves. Look at Geneses
3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed
and her seed; He
shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.’” Her seed” is the only time that this is used
in the Bible for it is the seed of man that is the way women have babies. “Her Seed” speaks of Jesus Christ, and this
speaks of the virgin birth, the first mention of it. The Jews “were implying that His birth,
unlike theirs, was illegitimate (cf. v. 48).”
“48 The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that
You are a Samaritan and have a demon?’” By stating that He was a Samaritan they were
stating that just as the Samaritan’s were not true children of Israel because
of their history, that Jesus was not either.
Next we
look at the statement that they said “We have on Father: God.”
They may have been thinking of Exodus 4:22 “"Then you shall say to
Pharaoh, ’Thus says the LORD, "Israel is My son, My firstborn.” Jeremiah 31:9b says “For I am a father to
Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn.’”
These are true statements as God is the Father of all Israel in a national
sense. However when we speak of a
spiritual sense God is not the Father of all of them, only those who believe in
the forgiveness that He offers them through their Messiah, Jesus Christ whom
they were talking to.
We have
seen on more than one occasion during this talk that Jesus was having with
these Jews that He has spoken to them about their father whom in verse 44 He
tells them who he is, but perhaps they were beginning to understand that Jesus
was talking about this for these Jews were maintaining that their religion was
pure not having any idolatry in it. Now
this is the point that MacArthur makes in his first sermon when he stated that
what the Jews meant about the statement “we were not born of fornication”
speaking of their religion not having any idolatry in it. (I did not understand it too well when I
heard it and not now either.) MacArthur
writes “Perhaps at this point Jesus’ opponents began to grasp what He was
implying and would soon say—that they were children of Satan (vv. 38, 41). In response, they maintained that their
religion was pure, untainted by idolatrous false religion. Hence they could not be Satan’s children,
because he was the spiritual father of the heathen. Thus, they asserted with confidence, they
must be children of God.”
He goes on
to write: “But their proud boast was
palpably false; as ‘Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father’ (and the
implication is that He was not), ‘you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and
have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.’
Those who profess love for God yet reject the One who ‘proceeded forth and’
came ‘from’ Him cannot be true children of God.
By refusing to embrace Jesus, the Jewish leaders completely undermined
their claim that God was their Father.
As Jesus had said to them earlier, ‘He who does not honor the Son does
not honor the Father who sent Him’ (5:23); later He would warn them, ‘He who
hates Me hates My Father (15:23). True
children of God are inherently characterized by a love for His Son.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: In our Sunday school class this coming Sunday
we will be looking at the trinity. When
I think of the trinity it makes me think of Deuteronomy 29:29 which says “"The
secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us
and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” Perhaps the Message rendition of this verse
will help “GOD, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed
things are our business. It’s up to us and our children to attend to all the
terms in this Revelation.” What I am
saying is that I believe in the trinity, but I cannot explain it and what we
have been looking at recently in this 8th chapter of John shows us
that Jesus Christ is God, the Son and so I see the trinity, but as stated
cannot explain it.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Trust the Lord to help me
believe the things in His Word that are true, but I cannot explain.
Memory verses for the week:
(2 Corinthians 12:10 & Psalm 119:27) “10 “Therefore I am well
content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” 27 “Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
So I will meditate on Your wonders.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “A captive maid from Israel” (2 Kings 5:2-3).
Today’s Bible question:
“What Old Testament book begins with the words “In the beginning?”
Answer in our next SD.
6/23/2016 10:00 AM
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