A Daily Devotional

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The Godhead

"For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9).

The term "Godhead" occurs three times in the King James translation. Each time it translates a slightly different Greek noun, all being slight modifications of the Greek word for "God" (theos, from which we derive such English words as "theology"). It essentially means the nature, or "structure" of God, as He has revealed Himself in His Word.

The first occurrence is in Acts 17:29: "We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." Men have been guilty throughout the ages of trying to "model" the Godhead, but this leads quickly to idolatry, whether that model is a graven image of wood or stone or a philosophical construct of the human mind.

What man cannot do, however, God has done, in the very structure of His creation. "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead" (Romans 1:20). His tri-universe (space, matter, and time, with each component unique in definition and function, yet permeating and comprising the whole) perfectly "models" His triune nature (Father, Son, Holy Spirit -- each distinct, yet each the whole).

This analogy can be carried much further, for this remarkable triunity pervades all reality. The tri-universe is not God (that would be pantheism), but it does clearly reflect and reveal the triune nature of His Godhead.

The last occurrence of the word is in our text. Although we cannot see the Godhead in its fullness, that fullness does dwell eternally in the Lord Jesus Christ. All that God is, is manifest in Him. "And ye are complete in Him" (Colossians 2:10).

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Why Christ Came

"Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:7-8).

Although these words were written by David, they go far beyond any of his own experiences. By divine inspiration, he was penning the very words of the coming Messiah, whose coming into the world had been already written down in God's eternal Word. These words were later quoted as Messianic by the writer of Hebrews. "Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God" (Hebrews 10:7). Thus, the basic reason why the infinite God became man at the incarnation was that this was the will of the triune God, planned before the foundation of the world (note I Peter 1:18-19).

But then the Lord Jesus elaborated the human implications of His coming in many other wonderful ways. For example, He said concerning His mission: "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). All of us were lost sinners, deserving only to be rejected by God, but He came to save us from our sins.

And that salvation not only included forgiveness of sins, but also the gift of eternal life. "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (John 6:51).

Furthermore, this everlasting life begins the moment we "eat of that bread," by faith believing in His name and receiving His gift, and this transaction results in a changed life here on Earth, "I am come," He said, "that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17).

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When the Angels Worshiped Christ

"And again, when He bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him" (Hebrews 1:6).

Jesus Christ is "the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18), but the day finally came when He had to enter humankind, and the eternal Word "was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). By eternal generation, by the incarnation, by the virgin birth, and by the resurrection, He is in every sense God's "first begotten" -- His only begotten -- Son.

Our text says that when He first entered the world, born of the virgin, His heavenly Father called on all the innumerable angels in the heavenly host to bow down and worship Him. It is not clear whether this command is a quotation from the Old Testament or not, although it is cited in a passage which also quotes several other Messianic prophecies as applied to Jesus Christ. Psalm 97:7 and Deuteronomy 32:43 have been suggested as possible source verses, but neither of these seems to fit very well in context. Thus it may be that our text refers directly, and solely, to a specific decree of God, proclaimed throughout the universe at the time of the human birth of His Son, and recorded here alone. All the angels of the infinite cosmos bowed in solemn worship, but a special contingent was commissioned to watch directly over the birth, and proclaim the good news to those nearby. "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:13-14). The angels saw and worshiped; the shepherds heard and told. And "all they that heard it wondered" (Luke 2:18).

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Ancient Times

"I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times" (Psalm 77:5).

The Bible provides for us a fascinating perspective on the passage of time. Three thousand years ago, the psalmist was reflecting on God's ways in even earlier times and was seeking to understand God's ways in his time. Each new generation seems to think that it is the "new wave," leading the world out of its past darkness into a new age of enlightenment.

There is need for scientific research, of course (in fact, this is implied in the "dominion mandate" of Genesis 1:26-28), but we need to keep in mind that true science is really "thinking God's thoughts after Him." The results of our scientific "discoveries" should always be to glorify the Creator and to draw men closer to Him, not lead them away from Him.

The same is true of history. We are merely the children of ancient patriarchs, and our moral natures are the same as theirs, all contaminated by inherent sinfulness and the need for divine salvation. God dealt with them as He does with us, so that every later generation needs to study and learn from the generations of ancient times and from God's inspired histories of them in the earliest books of the Bible -- especially Genesis, as well as Exodus, Job, and other ancient books. "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4).

God is the same today as He was in Eden, on Mount Ararat, in Babel, and Canaan, and Sinai, and Calvary. "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Psalm 90:1-2).

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Christ the King

"But His citizens hated Him, and sent a message after Him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14).

In this parable, the nobleman who had gone into a far country to receive His kingdom is a picture of Christ in the interim between His first and second comings. The "citizens" of His kingdom, however, refuse His Kingship. Nevertheless, He is the King, and when He returns, those "enemies, which would not that I should reign over them" (v.27) will be slain. How much better to accept Him now!

The first title ascribed to Him was "King of the Jews" (Matthew 2:2). Long before that, however, He was King of creation. "For God is the King of all the earth, . . . a great King above all gods. . . . The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands formed the dry land" (Psalm 47:7; 95:3,5).

He is also King of redemption, providing salvation for the world He created. "For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth" (Psalm 74:12). "|The Father| hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13-14).

He is not only King of all the worlds, but also King of all the ages. He is "my King of old" and also "King for ever" (Psalm 10:16). He is "the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God" (I Timothy 1:17).

He is "King of saints" (Revelation 15:3), the "Lord of hosts, my King, and my God" (Psalm 84:3). Indeed, He is "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (I Timothy 6:15). Therefore, let His citizens say: "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever" (Revelation 5:13).

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Forty Days

"To whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).

It is interesting how often the Scriptures refer to a forty-day period. There are nine different forty-day periods noted in Scripture (the phrase itself occurs seventeen times), and it may be noteworthy that forty days is one-ninth of the original (and prophetic) lunar/solar year of 360 days (note Genesis 7:11; 8:3-4; Revelation 11:2-3). Thus the total of the nine forty-day periods equals the ideal year.

The periods are as follows: the intense rainfall at the Flood (Genesis 7:12,17); the first giving of the law (Exodus 24:18; Deuteronomy 9:9,11); the second giving of the law (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:18,25); the searching of Canaan by the fearful spies (Numbers 13:25; 14:34); the defiance of Israel by Goliath (I Samuel 17:16); Elijah's journey to Horeb (I Kings 19:; Jonah's reluctant preaching in Nineveh (Jonah 3:4); Christ's temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2); Christ's post-resurrection ministry (Acts 1:3).

Each of these periods was a time of intense testing for one or more of God's people, except the last. The final forty-day period, encompassing Christ's ministry to His disciples after His resurrection, was a time of triumph and great blessing. He had come victoriously through the most intense time of testing that anyone could ever experience, and now He could show Himself alive eternally to His disciples and promise them the same victory. Forty days of testing, then forty days of triumph! Even a lifetime of testing is more than balanced by an eternity of blessing. "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).

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And Forty Nights

"And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights" (Genesis 7:12).

There are nine forty-day periods in Scripture, but on only five of these the notation, "and forty nights," is added. On the other four occasions (the spies in Canaan, Goliath's challenges, Jonah in Nineveh, and the post-resurrection ministry of Christ) we can assume that the activity ceased at night. But on these five it continued unabated.

The first of these was the great Flood. The most intense rains ever experienced on the earth poured torrentially, night and day. One can visualize the stress-filled nights for Noah's family, with the cries of the dying outside, and no light of the sun or moon to pierce the outer darkness. But, of course, they were all safe in God's specially designed ark.

Many years later, Moses twice spent forty days and forty nights in the awful presence of God on Mount Sinai, receiving the divinely-inscribed tablets, with the Ten Commandments and all the laws of God. The mountain was intermittently quaking and breathing fire and smoke while he was there, and the nights were surely more awesome even than the days, but God was there!

Elijah spent forty days and forty nights traveling back from Beersheba to Sinai, even though this relatively short journey would not normally require forty days. Evidently Elijah experienced great hardships and obstacles along the way and many sleepless nights, but God met him again at Sinai, and it was worth it all.

Finally, the Lord Jesus (God Himself!) was "led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil . . . forty days and forty nights" (Matthew 4:1-2). In weakened human flesh, without food or rest, this was a greater trial than any of the rest, but He was triumphant, and then the "angels came and ministered unto Him" (Matthew 4:11).

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Christ The Foundation

"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 3:11).

The only sure and lasting foundation, for either a Christian institution or an individual Christian life, is the Lord Jesus Christ. No other foundation will endure in that coming day when "the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is" (v.13).

It is vital, therefore, to build on the foundation that Christ Himself has laid. This is laid in three courses, each of which is essential for its permanence. First of all, we must acknowledge with the apostle that: "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands" (Hebrews 1:10). He is the Creator of all things, and therefore Lord over all.

Second, we must acknowledge with Peter that we have been "redeemed . . . with the precious blood of Christ . . . Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world" (I Peter 1:18-20). His foreordained work of redemption thus was foundational even to the foundation of the world!

Then there is the Word of God, which is foundational to everything beyond creation and redemption. "Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them. . . . He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock" (Luke 6:47-48).

The Lord Jesus Christ is the true foundation, for He has Himself laid every sure foundation. He created all things, His shed blood is the price to redeem all things, and His written Word, by His Holy Spirit, reveals all things needed to build a beautiful, fruitful Christian life or ministry. No other foundation will last, and "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3).

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The Power in Us

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20).

This amazing assurance of God's unlimited ability to answer our prayers is related to a unique "power |Greek, dunamis| that worketh in us." Paul had used the same word twice before in this same epistle, speaking of "the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe," and "the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power" (Ephesians 1:19; 3:7). "Effectual working" in the original is one word, energeia, from which we get our word "energy."

Such power working in us is actually nothing less than the presence of God Himself. Its very first occurrence is in the model prayer. "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever" (Matthew 6:13). It is this "power of God unto salvation" which is received when we first believe on Christ through the gospel (Romans 1:16). It has been so ever since the fulfillment of Christ's promise when He told His disciples that "ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you" (Acts 1:.

This remarkable power of God is thus imparted to us and energized in us by the Holy Spirit. Because of this, we can be filled "with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost" (Romans 15:13). Furthermore, He thereby provides impregnable security for time and eternity, for we "are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (I Peter 1:5).

With such a resource of unlimited spiritual power working in us, God is able indeed to accomplish far more than we can ever imagine, as He works in and through those yielded to His will.

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The Trinity in Salvation

"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14).

There are a number of significant references to the work of all three Persons of the Trinity in the great work of salvation. Note the implicit reference to the Trinity in our text.
" . . . the blood of Christ . . . through the eternal Spirit offered . . . to God." There is also a beautiful Trinitarian implication in Ephesians 2:18. "For through |Christ| we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."

The promise of Christ to send the Holy Spirit is a high point of the Gospel of John. "I will pray the Father," said the Lord Jesus, "and He shall give you another Comforter" (Greek, parakletos, meaning "one called alongside"), "that He may abide with you for ever" (John 14:16). "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things" (John 14:26). "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me" (John 15:26).

It seems very clear from such Scriptures that all three -- Father, Son, Holy Spirit -- are each distinct persons. Yet that the three together are one God is also clear from the fact that they are identified by name as One. Converts are to be baptized "in the name |note the singular -- one Name| of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). Note also the benediction formula. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen" (II Corinthians 13:14). What we cannot fully understand in our minds of this wonderful triune Godhead, we can understand and believe with our hearts.

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Action Verbs

"Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates" (Deuteronomy 11:18-20).

This passage is similar to others (e.g., Deuteronomy 6:6-9) throughout Moses' writings and concerns the preserving and propagating of the news of God's miraculous protection of the people of Israel and the marvelous legal code He had revealed to them. We can understand better the care by which this preservation was to take place, by noting the action verbs used in this passage.

First, the people were to "lay up" or impress the information in their hearts and souls. Every fiber of their being was to be aware of and in submission to the law. This personal commitment was to be aided by physical reminders "bound" on each person's hands and clothing, in plain sight, so that it could not be ignored or forgotten.

Next, the personal saturation was to move from the family leaders into the family, particularly the children. Parents were to "teach" the law, "speaking" of it at every opportunity, whether sitting, walking, lying down, or rising up. In this way, the personal would become corporate.

Finally, it was to become public, for each was instructed to "write" portions of the law where all could see and know of the personal commitment within.

Before God will give us a public ministry, there must be an inner submission to and love for the things of God. This should be obvious to everyone around us. Then God can use us at home and elsewhere to His glory.

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So the Wall Was Finished

"So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days'' (Nehemiah 6:15).

Nehemiah was given permission by the Persian King Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the walls, set up the gates that had been burned with fire, and bring, as his appointed governor (5:14), stability over the land of Judah.

Fortunately, when Nehemiah challenged the people to "build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach" (2:17), there was immediate approval by the people. "Let us rise up and build" (2:18).

But as they began to build, tremendous problems arose. They came from without and they came from within.

Problems from without: the avowed enemies of Nehemiah, (Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem) (2:19), tried every tactic they could think of to stop the work. They mocked and despised the Jews (2:10); they became violently angry (4:1); they criticized the project (4:2-3); they threatened war (4:7-8); they threatened assassination (4:11-12); they tried ecumenical compromise (6:2,4); they tried outright lies (6:6-7); they instigated fear tactics (6:9,19) and they hired false prophets (6:10,14).

Problems from within: working from sunup to sunset brought on fatigue, discouragement, and desire to give up (4:10); Jews took advantage of other Jews who could not pay their debts (5:2,4) greed and hard-heartedness set in (5:5); plus, a betrayal by a trusted friend of Nehemiah's (6:10-13).

Yet in spite of it all, "the wall was finished" (6:15), with great rejoicing among the people.

The lesson for us all: God's work, done for God's glory, will be accomplished by God's power -- Never give up!

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Spirit, Soul, Body

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians 5:23).

The threefold nature of mankind reflects, to a degree, the triune nature of the Godhead. Just as each member of the triune God is complete and wholly God, yet distinct, so each aspect of mankind is also the whole, yet distinct. The body of man comprises the entire man, yet he also possesses certain soulish emotions, desires, and propensities; and finally, the total man is endowed with a spiritual, eternal nature, somehow reflecting the image of God.

These three reflect the three great creative acts of God during Creation Week, identified by the three usages of the Hebrew word bara, or create. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1); i.e., physical material. Later, certain of this physical material was granted consciousness (1:21), which man shares with animals. On the sixth day, man was created as a spiritual being "in the image of God" (1:27), setting him qualitatively distinct from the animals, though he shares body and consciousness with the animals.

As in our text, when the "God of peace" sets about the task of sanctifying representatives of sinful, fallen mankind, restoring such ones to a measure of Christ-likeness, He does so in the order mentioned, beginning with a spiritual awakening. Then, through the transformed spirit, the soul is reached, and finally the body, with its appetites and lusts.

The wisdom of man says just the opposite, claiming the inner man can be improved by changing outside influences, a mentality all too often reflected even in evangelistic efforts. God's way is to start with the inner man -- the root of the problem -- and then affect the outer man.

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Seeking Signs

"An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:39-40).

If there was ever "an evil and adulterous generation," it is surely this present one and, once again, there is a widespread seeking after signs (same word in the Greek as "miracles"). The almost explosive rise of the so-called New Age movement has produced an amazing interest in all forms of occultism and supernatural phenomena: astrology, channeling, ESP, near-death experiences, UFO's, meditation, and mysticism of many strange varieties.

Even in Christian circles, there is an unhealthy interest in new revelations and other supernatural signs. The Lord Jesus, however, rebuked those who wanted special signs before receiving Him. "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe" (John 4:48). He has already given us the greatest of all signs -- His bodily resurrection from the dead, the best-evidenced fact of all history -- and this should suffice, as He told the scribes and Pharisees in our text.

In fact, there is a real danger in seeking such signs and wonders, for many of these things -- while perhaps supernatural -- are not from God. "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:24).

Unlike the first generation of Christians, we now have the complete written Word of God, both Old and New Testaments, and it is sufficient for every need of every believer until Christ returns, "whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts" (II Peter 1:19).

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He Counted Me Faithful

"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry" (I Timothy 1:12).

The testimony of a changed life is perhaps the best evidence that God is alive and active today. The fact that at salvation a dead slave to sin is given life and a new nature, comprises the only rational explanation for one who lives in victory and power after a lifetime of defeat.

Take Paul for example. Our introduction to him is at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58), after which his ardor for the Jewish traditions and hatred of Christianity caused him to wreak "havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison" (Acts 8:3). This was not just casual opposition, for he was "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9:1). He was a "blasphemer, and a persecutor |not only of Christians, but of Christ Himself -- Acts 9:5|, and injurious" (I Timothy 1:13).

However, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I |Paul| am chief" (I Timothy 1:15), he said. Paul "obtained mercy" (v.13), not receiving the punishment he deserved, through "the grace of our Lord |which| was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (v.14), even though he was not even seeking God (Acts 9:1-5).

To a greater or lesser degree, God has worked that same work of grace in each life which now belongs to Him. Paul called himself the chief of sinners, but each of us has done or has been capable of equally heinous acts. Through His grace, we are not only rescued from addiction to sin, but rehabilitated and empowered and given, as we see in our text, missions to accomplish that are of eternal significance. Let us "thank Christ Jesus our Lord" with Paul.