Matthew 1 – Of the Holy Ghost
Mark 1 – The Kingdom of God is at Hand
Luke 1 – Serve Him Without Fear
John 1 – Witness of the Light
New Year, maybe two of these today. My plan of using the first chapter of each book in the Bible reached the New Testament and the Gospels. This layout reminds me that someday I want to do a study of the four gospels at once similar to how I used them all to do our study of Peter a few years ago. Not confident it can happen while I work on Job, but who knows.
From Matthew, the main take away was that Jesus was of a divine nature. If anyone ever tries to deny His divinity, then they have missed the mark. I know this is a topic of great human uncertainty, but my faith assures me.
Mark was highlighted in my mind by the concept of the Kingdom of God is at Hand. I always want to put it in the future with my daily prayer including “Your Kingdom Come”, but I know the term has two equally accurate applications. The kingdom came with the arrival of the baby Jesus and continues with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. This ability to live each moment for God with Him as our Master is the Kingdom come and sometimes I am just too dense for my own good.
Luke was highlighted by fear or rather the lack thereof. The typical Christian limits their impact by trying to not stand out in a crowd and trying not to be a target. When we are persecuted for being Christian, that is when Christ is most alive in us. As MJ said in Spiderman No Way Home (that we saw again last night), “There is no way to sugar coat this.” To represent Christ is to be a target for persecution from those who do not know Him.
John was highlighted by the drive to be a Witness of the Light. Our lives are to glorify God, and this is done in no better way than to speak of the gift of Jesus. My brain wants me to wrap up quickly and go clean up after the cat, but the hugeness of these phrases does not seem to have been done justice by this short piece. Again, this study path is not a method to study the Bible, but a method for me to daily be in the Word, reading, learning, living with Christ. There is no better message than has been given about Him in these gospels. We should use the Holy Spirit, to follow our master, to be a target, while witnessing. We should.