The Attributes of God:

The Absolute Authority of Christ Matthew 8:1-13 “For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”               Christ is either sovereign over all things, or He is not sovereign over anything.  Either He possesses absolute authority to control all events at all times, or He has no authority at all.             After Jesus finished his sermon on the mountain, He was confronted by a Roman Centurion.  We can only imagine what the disciples thought when the symbol of Roman authority and rule over Israel approached Jesus.  Was he there to arrest Jesus as an insurrectionist?  Was he there to warn Jesus to walk carefully after Jesus had condemned the Gentiles for their pursuit of power and wealth (6:32...

The Arrival of the King Matthew 2:1-12 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?”             The Magi’s’ story is familiar and is read and proclaimed every Christmas. It is so recognizable we can almost recite it by memory. It has been embedded in our minds from our childhood as we hear the story recounted through Christmas carols, pageants, and children's books.  However, it is one thing to know the story, but it is another to recognize the significance and embrace its implications.  The story introduces the book's theme and the message that Matthew interweaves throughout his book.  The gospel of Matthew is not just a record of the events of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.  Matthew is not just writing as a historian.  Matthew is writing as a theologian with a theological message.  Matthew's central theme and message is to present Christ as the Messianic King who fulfilled all the Old Testame...

The Geneology of Christ: A Testimony of God’s Grace and Sovereignty Matthew 1:1-17 “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the son of Abraham”               The sovereignty of God is more than just God controlling what will happen and his grace is more than just a byword. They are the outworking of God’s divine purpose, culminating in our salvation and the world's redemption.  We often gloss over the genealogies as a mundane list of names we find impossible to pronounce.  Yet, if we stop and reflect upon them, we do not just see a list of names in an endless march of generations.  We see the hand of God orchestrating and directing human affairs for his redemptive purposes. Time marches onward, but time marches to the tune of God’s purpose and control.             In the genealogy of Jesus, we see four wome...

Act Before It Is Too Late Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them.’” Having encouraged youth to enjoy life and the present, Solomon concludes with a warning that provides perspective. Solomon compares the decay of age to the decaying effects of an old house in one of the most picturesque allegories in scripture. In verses 2-6, We find a number of descriptive phrases that give a vivid picture of the physical decline that occurs as age brings its destructive force upon our lives. The allegories present a vivid picture of old age that might be paraphrased in this way: “3) Before the mental capacities decline and the struggles of life return, when our body starts to tremble with feebleness, and the body becomes bent and stooped over. When the teeth no longer chew because they are few and the eyes no longer see with clarity, and 4) the ears no...

Enjoy the Moment Ecclesiastes 11:8-10   “Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all.”               It is easy to become so focused on the future and what we want to achieve and attain in life that we stop enjoying the present.  The book gives us an accurate picture of life in a fallen world.  Sin has brought futility and brokenness in a world God created for our enjoyment and accomplishment.  However, the book does not desire to leave us there, wallowing in a meaningless life with no purpose and where all ultimately has no value in death.  As he reaches the book's climax (11:7-12:14), the sage seeks to give us the answer to finding meaning and enjoyment in life.  Even though we are traveling towards death, where all wealth and accomplishments are nullified, we are still to remember that life is a gift from God and the dawning of a new day bri...

Trusting in God’s Unseeable Hand Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 “Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of god who makes all things.”            Life would be much easier if we knew the outcome of our efforts.  However, for all our knowledge, planning, strategizing, and work, in the end, we do not know what will succeed or what will faith.  In a series of succinct statements, we are again reminded that we cannot predict the outcome of any endeavor, whether positive or negative. God’s providential and sovereign hand remains unseen to our human eyes, so we cannot fathom God’s purpose and what He will accomplish.  The outcomes we strive to perform are not always achieved.  However, this is not the work of blind chance or uncontrolled circumstances that thwart all our efforts. Instead, the outcome is determined by Go...

The Danger of Folly Ecclesiastes 10:1-7 “Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil stick, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.” The hardest thing to fix is distorted thinking. When our thinking is corrupted, it distorts our whole perspective of life and what is right or wrong. Yet the tragedy is that even a small amount of distortion in our thinking can devastate lives. To illustrate, the sage reminds us that a small fly can ruin a whole batch of perfume. So, a small amount of distorted thinking can corrupt our entire outlook on life and our perception of what is morally right and wrong (vs 1). This becomes our great tragedy. In our distorted thinking, we are self-deluded, for we believe that we genuinely think rightly because we only listen to what we want to believe. Instead of desiring transformation, we want only confirmation. Ultimately, we follow the pathway of folly (vs 3). We are the product of what we choose to listen to. In verse two, we are reminded that our ch...