Tuesday January 17, 2017
“from Satan’s hold, to the Hands
of Jesus”
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in
which you once walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and
were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in
mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (Ephesians 2:1-4)
God’s Broken Image
I.
The Image of God defaced
II.
Man under the dominion of sin and death
III.
Man guilty before God
IV.
Man in the grip of Satan
…”the greater the light of God’s
revelation, the sharper the darkness of opposition to it. The light shows the
true nature of the darkness”
We have been travelling down a dark place. A place no one who is a
Christian would like to dwell. But a place we need to be reacquainted with if
we are to come to a full understanding of our current place in Christ (in we
truly are in Him). We are going through the doctrine of “sin”, known in
theology as “Hamartiology” (missing
the mark). We are covering four affects of sin in man with regard to God’s
image in us.
Today we are taking a look at the hold Satan has on us. Have you heard of
the “Flip Wilson” excuse? “The devil made
me do it?” The motive for this phrase may be self-serving but there may be
some truth to this as we will observe from the following passages. There were
hints of Satan and his influence in the Old Testament but only through the full
light of Christ is he drawn out into the open, unmasked and identified. The
world is said to be under the dominion of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-4). Jesus calls
Satan the “prince of this world” (1 John 5:19; John 12:31; 16:11). The
tragedy of man’s thinking is that he sees and feels like he is free, when in
fact he is a slave to sin and serves the will of Satan!
What then are the basic needs which
are met in the message of the gospel?
(i)
we need re-creation by Christ in order that the image of God, once distorted by sin, may be restored.
(ii) we need deliverance from the dominion of sin in order that we may live freely for God
(iii)
we need to be rescued from the
power of Satan so that our lives may be given to Christ the Lord as his glad bond slaves.
(iv) we need to be saved from the
wrath of God so that, released from this most terrifying of all prospects, we may live life as forgiven sinners.
Challenge: we are only
free from Satan’s hold if we are in Christ. Rest on Him and His completed work.
Trust He has done it all. He has delivered you from the powers of hell. He can’t
touch you, other than lie to you through your mind. Renew your mind through His
Word.
This Day in Christian History:
Jan 17, 1525 – public debate over the issue of
infant baptism verses believers’ baptism in Zurich, Switzerland. The State run
church won, led by Ulrich Zwingli and Conrad
Grebel and Felix Manz lost. They
were later persecuted for their beliefs and Grebel is credited with the start
of the Anabaptist movement.
Memory Verse: (Sun Jan 15)
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of
His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren – Romans 8:29
He ko kinautolu na‘a ne toka mea‘i, na‘a ne toka tu‘utu‘uni foki ke nau
hokosi ‘a e ‘īmisi ‘o hono ‘Alo; koe‘uhi ke ne ta‘okete ki he tehina tokolahi – Loma 8:29
Bible Reading Plan: (52 weeks; 5 days a week)
Week 3 – Gen 32-34; Psalm
145; Mark 13
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