Isaiah 6:3, “And one called to another and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is YHWH of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’” In Scripture, holiness is often associated with otherness and separateness (a holy vessel is separate from common vessels etc.), so we might assume that the perfect (threefold) holiness of YHWH […]
Revelation 4:6, “And around the throne…are four living creatures…” In the central vision of Revelation (ch. 4-5), John stands before the throne of God. Four “living creatures” surround the throne and ceaselessly sing the praises of the one seated thereon. To this point, John’s vision of the divine throne room largely agrees with other
Ezekiel 37:27, “My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” In Ezekiel 1, we find an overwhelming vision of the cosmic Chariot-Throne of God. YHWH Himself rides on a throne of light above a firmament of crystal, supported on the wings of four
1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…” One implication of this verse is that, in order for fear to take root in our lives, it has to cast out—or at least obscure—perfect love. What is Fear? I would suggest that Fear happens when we believe in
Isaiah 8:12-13, “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But YHWH of hosts, Him you shall honor as holy. Let Him be your fear…” How we fear and what we fear reveals whose we are. When the wolves of an Assyrian
John 6:40, “…this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life…” What is the Will of God in this verse? Well, in the context of John 6, the Son who is looked upon is the crucified Son (v.51-56)….And to believe in this
Proverbs 12:18, “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” As those created in the image of the one who creates reality by His word, our words also have real power to alter what is around us….especially regarding the internal world of others.
John 4:14, “…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirst again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The one who drinks the water that Jesus freely gives—the water who is the Holy Spirit,
John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome [comprehended] it.” An interpretive question we must ask when we come to this passage is what we understand “κατέλαβεν” (translated either “overcome” or “comprehend”) to mean. The word appears again in John’s gospel only in 12:35 where the meaning seems to
Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Test me and know my anxious thoughts! See if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” If we have known God in Christ by the Spirit, we will not try to “hide” any aspect of our life
Exodus 33:20, “…man shall not see me and live.” When Moses asks to see YHWH’s glory on Mount Sinai, the Lord responds by telling Moses that he cannot see His face, since to see the face of God means death for a sinful human. However, John tells us that—with the incarnation of the self-declaring Word
Luke 11:34, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.” “Eye” here means something like “perspective” or “mindset” or “way of perceiving and assigning value to the world.” Jesus is
John 19:14, “Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover.” John mentions no account of Jesus’ Last Supper with His disciples. He does, of course, recount a lengthy discourse Jesus had with His disciples at a supper (13:1-2), but we never get a traditional account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper
Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally brothers, as much as is true, as much as is honorable, as much as is just, as much as is pure, as much as is lovely, as much as is admirable, if anything is virtuous and if anything is praise worthy, think on these things. And that which you have learned
John 20:27-28, “[Jesus] said to Thomas…’see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” Sometimes we read this passage and think that Jesus presents His wounds to Thomas as proof that He really has been raised from
Romans 3:21, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it.” The Law leaves us on the the “outside,” as it were, of God’s righteousness….It sets up a temporary veil of ordinances that preserves God’s people from destruction, but simultaneously bears
Isaiah 2:2, “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of YHWH shall be established as the highest of the mountains…and the nations shall flow to it.” John 12:32, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Jesus is
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Psalm 97:9, “For you, O YHWH, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted for above all gods.” YHWH is exalted above all other gods, and we see this most clearly when YHWH incarnate is lifted up (exalted) as the wrath absorbing sacrifice for His people. The bloody wood of the cross
1 Corinthians 2:10, “…even the depths of God.” The phrase, “these things” 1 Corinthians 2:10 refers to the wisdom of God, given by God, through which God is known and the soul is saved, namely, the wisdom of God revealed in the redemptive work of the crucified Christ. The crucified Christ as wisdom and power,
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Based on many texts, but most especially 1 John 4:10. As self-made enemies of God, we all face the shattering power of God’s War of Love. However—from the overflow of that same love—God sent forth His own Beloved, His Image, His Word, His SON: Jesus Christ. In every way like one of the rebels (except
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