Christ Alone Can Save

Lessons from Genesis – 24

“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations” Luke 24:47 NKJV

Joseph’s brothers had been glad to get rid of him, the troublesome dreamer. He had declared to them his superiority and they thought they had proven him wrong. But he wasn’t just a dreamer; he was a prophet. Moreover, however much they may have believed it to be true; they were not done with him either. Their evil had produced salvation for the whole world, including themselves. But it was going to take a while to bring it about for those ten spiteful brothers.

When they met Joseph they did not recognize him, just as the Jews did not recognize their Messiah. They were not honest with Joseph either. They tried to play down their wickedness and prove their own self worth to be saved by him. It didn’t work. Finally they had to fall on their faces and admit their unworthiness to be saved. They had to repent and then he revealed himself to them and gave them both bread and hope and a new home. Jesus wants us to come to Him for salvation without the pretext of our own worthiness. We are not worthy. He wants us to repent and take the new way, His way, for our eternal salvation. Then He will give us hope and a new home.

Dear Father, Thank You for offering us salvation through Jesus Christ. Help us to always understand that we are not worthy of salvation and that only Jesus can make us that way. Amen.

You can contact me and find inspiring Christian books at my website: www.davidccraig.net

If you don’t already subscribe to this blog, you can do so and receive it each day M-F by choosing the Abundant Grace section on my website and signing up for free delivery every day. 

"Come unto me," Jesus said. And He meant it.

Lessons from Genesis – 23

“The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” I John 4:14 KJV

After Joseph had spent years in slavery or in jail, he was finally exalted to the position as second only to Pharaoh in Egypt. In that office he was given a new name which loosely translated means “savior of the world”. That is quite a title. Then Pharaoh took an Egyptian girl, a Gentile, and gave her to Joseph as his wife. He was going to save Egyptians and all the people from the entire world who came to buy bread in Egypt. He would provide the bread of life for the whole world. He didn’t just save the Israelites; he saved all who came to him.  

What a picture we have of Jesus Christ. He was crucified, dead, buried and raised again from the dead and then declared by the apostles to be the Savior of the world. The message was taken to Jews and Gentiles alike. Jesus even took a Gentile bride (spiritually speaking) to bring all mankind into one community of faith in Him. All could come; anyone who would could come and be saved. He offered Himself as the Bread of Life to feed the multitudes of mankind. Joseph turned no one away who came to him for bread. Neither will our precious Savior. Thanks be to God for such a Redeemer as ours. 

Dear Father, Thank You for sending us the Savior of the world. Amen

You can contact me and find inspiring Christian books at my website: www.davidccraig.net

If you don’t already subscribe to this blog, you can do so and receive it each day M-F by choosing the Abundant Grace section on my website and signing up for free delivery every day. 

Great Expectations

Lessons from Genesis – 22

“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NKJV

Suppose you are obeying God and someone who hates you upsets your whole life. They take your home, your job and your sense of earthly security. When you settle in a new place this happens again. You are obeying God and a hateful person upsets your whole life again and you find yourself in jail. Do you begin to wonder if God cares for you, or if God is even real? We do this because we expect God to keep us in pleasant pastures if we are good little boys and girls. But Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation.” We have no further to look for an example of this than Joseph.

Ambushed by his brothers he was thrown into a pit, sold as a slave and declared to his father to be dead. He rose from this humiliation and defeat to become the chief servant of a powerful man. Then the man’s wife spun a web of lies about him and he ended up in jail. He could have acted like many modern “so called” Christians and thrown in the towel on God. Instead he went on believing and obeying. Then one day he became master of the powerful man who had thrown him in jail and master of his conniving brothers. We may not receive the same accolades. We may have to wait until heaven to be repaid, but we will be repaid. When tribulation hits, don’t despair. Christ has overcome the world and those who live in Him have done the same. Rejoice and press on for the high mark of the calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Dear Father, You have called us to the opposite of what men crave. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on You and the certain victory that will be ours in Christ. Amen.

You can contact me and find inspiring Christian books at my website: www.davidccraig.net

If you don’t already subscribe to this blog, you can do so and receive it each day M-F by choosing the Abundant Grace section on my website and signing up for free delivery every day. 

The Past is Still Present

Lessons from Genesis – 21

“Be sure your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:23 KJV

Most people would like to think that those sins we have committed in the past are in the past to stay. Yet we read quite often in the paper about someone who escaped justice twenty years ago who is now found living a respectable life believing the consequences of their sin is behind them. Still the consequences catch up and the illusion that our past doesn’t matter is shattered. While the confessed sin is forgiven with God, the human authorities might take a different opinion.

In Genesis 38 Judah is found in just such a position. First he married a Canaanite woman which was contrary to the will of God. By her he had three sons and for the first he arranged a Canaanite marriage. The first son died childless and so she was given to the second son who sinned and was slain by God. In fear for his third son’s life Judah withholds him from marriage to the same woman which was contrary to law and custom. In the meantime Judah went to visit a harlot who conceived by him. It is revealed that the harlot is really his son’s wife who was seeking her legal security. When Judah finds that she is pregnant he calls for her to be executed for playing the harlot. How is she saved? She has the token Judah gave her in payment for her services. He is exposed. His sin has found him out. It is a picture for us that with God nothing is hidden. If we don’t deal with our sins before God in this life, be sure our sins will find us out.

Dear Father, Thank You for the cross of Christ where our sins can be forgiven and forgotten by You forever. Help me to walk honestly with You regarding the sins of my daily life that I may have continued close fellowship with You. Amen. 

You can contact me and find inspiring Christian books at my website: www.davidccraig.net

If you don’t already subscribe to this blog, you can do so and receive it each day M-F by choosing the Abundant Grace section on my website and signing up for free delivery every day. 

A Slightly Different Look at the Christian Home

Lessons from Genesis – 20

“But his brothers hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.” Genesis 37:4 NKJV

Somehow the Christian community has become obsessed with the idea of dysfunctional homes. It would seem from Christian literature that such an institution would be the result of great failure on the part of parents who have failed to parent or children who are too rebellious to be parented. It is an unfortunate guilt trip that should be examined just a little more closely. What we actually find throughout Scripture, when home life is being discussed, is the very picture of the so called modern dysfunctional family.

Granted, our family discussed in Genesis 37 wasn’t marked by much godliness and yet they were God’s people, called by God’s promises and from whom great prophecies would be fulfilled. Jacob, the usurper, who God renamed Israel, Prince with God, was not the prime example of Christian marital partner or parent. His wives squabbled and his children hated each other. King David, the man after God’s own heart, had multiple problems with his offspring. King Hezekiah, one of the truly good kings of Judah, had a son who turned out to be the butcher of Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph had four sons after the birth of Jesus who tormented Him to no end. I am not endorsing sin as the proper choice for the Christian home. I am encouraging you to know that God cares for your home and that when it goes awry, as sinful people will do, God still cares for your home and wants the best for you and yours. Be thankful today that if you don’t meet the standards of some author’s concept of the perfect Christian home, you are still God’s child and He will still lead you on and can bring great success where today there seems to only be great turmoil.

Dear Father, Thank You for Your constant love and the hope that You can make eternal order out of our daily chaos. Amen. 

The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

You can contact me and find inspiring Christian books at my website: www.davidccraig.net

If you don’t already subscribe to this blog, you can do so and receive it each day M-F by choosing the Abundant Grace section on my website and signing up for free delivery every day. 

Plans for Tomorrow?

Lessons from Genesis – 19

“And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozra reigned in his place.” Genesis 36:33 NKJV

This is probably not the most commonly memorized verse in Scripture, but maybe it should become one of them. It contains both an absolute certainty and a very great probability. First, Bela died. The Bible says that “it is appointed on to man once to die.” In Genesis 36 we find that death hits in about every other verse starting in verse 33 to verse 43. Everyone dies. That is a certainty. For all the plans that we make, we are not permanent. For the plans we even make for tomorrow we can have no certainty of fulfilling. Jesus said of the rich man, “thou fool, tonight thy soul will be required of thee.” Death is certain, our plans are not. So, we must know the second half of the verse about death, “it is appointed on to man once to die and after that the judgment.” That is certain.

The probability in this verse is that what we have planned for our children’s children may very well not come to pass. Notice that Bela’s son did not reign after him. Another man did and after him another man from another place and family reigned after him. What we store up on this earth has no guarantee that it will go to the ones we hoped it would. The house we built will be occupied by another. The business we built will be ruined by another. The money we saved will be squandered by another. Therefore Jesus says, “Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven where the thief does not break in to steal nor the moth nor the rust will destroy.” The living we do in this life needs to be more eternally directed than we usually make it. It is a lesson from Genesis that we should learn well and apply faithfully.

Dear Father, You have given me today to know you and prepare for eternity with my soul and my goods. Help me to faithfully do so with both. Amen. 

You can contact me and find inspiring Christian books at my website: www.davidccraig.net

If you don’t already subscribe to this blog, you can do so and receive it each day M-F by choosing the Abundant Grace section on my website and signing up for free delivery every day. 

Forgiven!

Lessons from Genesis – 18

“And {if you} shall return unto the LORD thy God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day . . .  that then the LORD thy God will have compassion upon thee.” Deut 30:2-3 KJV

What do I consider to be one of the greatest promises of Scripture – repentance and forgiveness? John wrote, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” In Genesis, right after the slaughter of the Shechemites, God tells Jacob to return to Bethel and dwell there. Bethel was the spot where God had openly revealed Himself to Jacob some twenty-five years earlier as he fled from Esau. Now, after all the wandering and sin, highlighted by the recent sin as Shechem, God said to Jacob, “Return to Bethel.”

What does this mean? It means that there is plenteous mercy and forgiveness with the Lord. God is always calling His people to return to the place of rest in God. He is calling them to put away the idols of this world, to come in repentance and be restored by the grace of our caring God. Some churches have a part of the service where the pastor declares the absolution of God for the confessed sins of the people. The pastor is telling the people clearly what God has done for them – forgiven them. What greater words can we hear than that we have been forgiven? This is the call of God to Jacob, “Arise, and go to Bethel. There I will meet with you and accept you and let you know that I am your God and that you are My child.” Arise today, friends, and go to Bethel and feel the warm cleansing from the blood of our blessed Savior.

Dear Father, Thank You that we are invited to come to You for cleansing for our sins and not just to hear the anger of Your righteous judgment. Amen. 

You can contact me and find inspiring Christian books at my website: www.davidccraig.net

If you don’t already subscribe to this blog, you can do so and receive it each day M-F by choosing the Abundant Grace section on my website and signing up for free delivery every day.