Monday
Carpenter Diem (Because Jesus Was a Carpenter and Is Now Preparing a Home for His People)
The resurrection of God the Son, Jesus Christ, is crucial to the Christian faith. In Luke 24:13-35, we read of the resurrected Savior walking the road to Emmaus. This specific geographical reference reminds us of the absolute accuracy of God’s Word in all areas. In verse 27, Jesus begins to teach from the Old Testament; He not only walked the talk but also talked the walk! This passage does not reveal the exact Scriptures Jesus employed to teach these journeying believers, but we do know that He fulfilled the entire Old Testament (Matthew 5:17,18). Fulfilled prophecy is one of the major reasons that we can be certain that our faith in Jesus is not misplaced. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
I Chronicles 16 is mostly a song of King David to celebrate the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Verse 35 asks for the “God of our salvation” to “save us.” The specific role of saving us from our sins is fulfilled by God the Son, Jesus Christ. He is the Savior. When Jesus was born, Joseph named Him (Matthew 1:21, 25) as commanded. The name Jesus is the equivalent of the Old Testament name Joshua and means “the Lord is salvation.” Obviously, Jesus lived up to the full import of that name. In Matthew 18:11, Jesus states, “For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost.” He is specifically called the Savior (Luke 1:47, 2:11; Acts 5:31; Ephesians 5:23; II Peter 2:20). We are exhorted in II Peter 3:8a to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Jesus our Savior has saved us from what we deserve to give us what we could never earn. Our greatest need has been freely and fully met in Jesus.