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God Appointed First of All Apostles

I Corinthians 12:28-31 - And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.

When it comes to spiritual gifts, none are more important than any other, but some are more essential to the life of the church.  As we know, a body cannot live without a heart, but it can live without an arm.  It just won't function as well.  In the same way, the church can't live without apostles, but it can live without those speaking in different kinds of tongues.  It just won't function as well.

Some questions for thought:

If God appointed apostle as the most essential gift in the life of the church, do you know what that gift is and how it is supposed to function?

Are you experiencing this gift in operation in your church life?

The 2nd man united blog summarizes and discusses great Christian books for those who wish they could read more. It is written by 2nd man united, a Christian pop/alternative band that educates its fans in the Christian life through music, the blog, podcasts, videos and more.  Sign up now for the 2nd man united e-mail newsletter and receive FREE exclusive content for subscribers.

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The Four Laws of Spiritual Life

Romans 7 and 8 one of the more complicated yet important snippets of the New Testament there is.  Let me try and shed some light on it.

There are four laws - 

1.  The Law of God - given in 1445 BC/E to Israel through Moses.  There are 613 commandments (not just 10) and if you operate under this system, you are expected to keep all of them to be justified before God.  The purpose of this Law is to act like a mirror, showing you who you really are.  When you see who you really are, you realize that you are condemned and need something or someone to save you from this system of relating to God.

2.  The Law of Sin and Death - acquired by humans at the Fall, this is the desire to live the opposite of how humans were intended to live.  It wages war against the Law of Your Mind, which would rather live perfectly how God designed humans to live.

3.  The Law of the Mind - this is also called your conscience.  It is the inherent human ability given by God to be able to recognize how humans were intended to live or not live, or the ability to recognize sin.  All humans have it, although some are more sensitive than others.  Some even get to the point where they have lost all sensitivity and give themselves completely over to sin.

4.  The Law of the Spirit of Life - When the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of a person, that person now has the ability to allow the Spirit to supernaturally live in and through them to overcome the Law of Sin and Death that is at work in their bodies, doing what the Law of Your Mind, or your conscience, could not do.

When you received Christ, you died with Him and to the Law of God; meaning you are no longer a part of that system or operating under that Law.  Therefore, there is now no condemnation for you.  You live under a new system that consists of Laws #2, 3 and 4.  You are now given the freedom to allow any one of those Laws to run your life.  Laws 2 and 3 wage war against each other, but Law 4 has overcome Law 2.

The 2nd man united blog summarizes and discusses great Christian books for those who wish they could read more. It is written by 2nd man united, a Christian pop/alternative band that educates its fans in the Christian life through music, the blog, podcasts, videos and more.  Sign up now for the 2nd man united e-mail newsletter and receive FREE exclusive content for subscribers.

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How the World Defines Christianity

From "Christianity or Christ?" by Milt Rodriguez.

Colossians 2:16-17 - Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

The gospel preached to the Colossians was the reality of a Person.  But, they fell into chasing shadows.  They got into shadows like Jewish law, holy days, the Sabbath and so on in the same way that we get into sermons, teachings, methods, structures, movements and programs.  And these things became their new religion of shadows.  It is the religion the world identifies with by the name “Christianity.”  

Webster defines Christianity as “the religion of Christians, or the system of doctrines and precepts taught by Christ; conformity to the laws and precepts of the Christian religion.”  This is the system of Christianity that man has created with his shadows.  Under this definition, Paul clearly would have rejected the religion of Christianity in favor of the reality of Christ.  This is not to say he would reject the teachings of Christ, just that the teachings would lead to a Person, which is the reality.

Religions point to a teaching, a concept, a philosophy, a method, or a program to help you reach spirituality.  Jesus didn’t start a religion.  He pointed people to a Person.  The fullness of God is only found in one place.  That place is inside of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1:19) Nothing less will ever satisfy the human heart.  Yet, we continue to settle for lesser things.  We continue to live in the shadows instead of the substance. 

As blogger/author Milt Rodriguez points out in his post Christianity or Christ?, “People look in the sky at night and see that glowing orb and call it the “moon”. But actually, that’s only the shadow of the moon. The REAL moon is Jesus Christ. He is the perfect reflection of His Father. He said, “I am the true (real) Vine. Those things that you see across the landscape with grapes hanging on them are only a shadow of the real thing.  Recognize the things for what they are – merely shadows. And start recognizing Christ for who He is – the one Reality!”

The 2nd man united blog summarizes and discusses great Christian books for those who wish they could read more. It is written by 2nd man united, a Christian pop/alternative band that educates its fans in the Christian life through music, the blog, podcasts, videos and more.  Sign up now for the 2nd man united e-mail newsletter and receive FREE exclusive content for subscribers.

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Jesus is Your Meal

Inspired and Adapted from Exchanging Life with the Word of Life by John David Geib, Dean of the Logos Institute.

Did you know that Jesus' death and resurrection coincided perfectly with the three annual feasts that God commanded Israel to celebrate in the Older Testament?  

At the exact same time the Jews were celebrating...

Passover - celebration of God setting the Jewish people free from slavery and giving them hope of a new life of freedom. (Leviticus 23:5-8)

...Jesus died on the cross as the "Passover Lamb," the ultimate Life God uses to liberate humanity from slavery to sin into the newness of Christ's Life. (John 1:29, Revelation 5, Matthew 26:17, among many others)

First Fruits - spring harvest celebration of the first life of spring, the basis of hope for the complete harvest of fall. (Leviticus 23:9-14)

...Jesus rose from the dead as the "first fruits" of all who would be resurrected later by faith in Him. (Romans 8:23, I Corinthians 15:20-23)

Pentecost - celebrated exactly 50 days after the feast of First Fruits, it was a celebration of God provided physical and spiritual life. (Leviticus 23:15-21)

...the disciples of Jesus receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that comes to live in them, thus completing the fulfillment of all three feasts.  And they were all fulfilled at the exact same time that the Jews were celebrating them in all three instances. (Acts 2)

Coincidence? I think not.  Now, Jesus is your meal.

John 6:53-58 - Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

The 2nd man united blog summarizes and discusses great Christian books for those who wish they could read more. It is written by 2nd man united, a Christian pop/alternative band that educates its fans in the Christian life through music, the blog, podcasts, videos and more.  Sign up now for the 2nd man united e-mail newsletter and receive FREE exclusive content for subscribers.

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Crap, It's What We Do

Inspired and Adapted from Exchanging Life with the Word of Life by John David Geib, Dean of the Logos Institute.

Philippians 3:7-11 -

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Paul clearly says here that everything that he can do, accomplish or produce in his own power is nothing but the stuff that sits in a toilet.  Many translations have jipped us and said that they are rubbish, but in Greek the word is “skubala,” meaning the stuff that one would find in a toilet.

So, he gives up himself and his own power for that of Christ in and through him.  This is when he starts to know Christ and His righteousness, power, sufferings, death and resurrection.  Verse 10 means Christ repeats the living of His life again in you. If this happens, this is how the world reacts:

I Peter 4:4 - They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you.

The 2nd man united blog summarizes and discusses great Christian books for those who wish they could read more. It is written by 2nd man united, a Christian pop/alternative band that educates its fans in the Christian life through music, the blog, podcasts, videos and more.  Sign up now for the 2nd man united e-mail newsletter and receive FREE exclusive content for subscribers.

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