behindthewillowtrees

It seems a long time since Genesis 1!  40 days and some Sundays! And here’s the last section. There are perhaps no more significant and awesome words in Scripture than those of this epilogue. These verses are full of encouragement, declaration, warning, and response to God. They are tremendously significant.

Here is another of the beatitudes [...]

There is surprisingly little revealed about the character of the new heaven and earth in Scripture. The main emphasis is its uniqueness; it is quite different from the old. The new heaven and earth is not simply the old renovated but an act of new creation (Rev. 20:1; 20:11; 2 Pet. 3:10, which describes the dissolving [...]

If holy Scripture was a ring, and the Epistle to the Romans its precious stone, chapter 8 would be the sparkling point of the jewel.

The Spirit of Hope (8:18-25)

The Christian life is obviously no bed of roses, no flower-strewn pathway. It is a life of suffering, a life of struggle. These sufferings, Paul tells us, are [...]

Hal Lindsay’s The Late Great Planet Earth was a book of it’s time. Allegedly, according to the New York Times, it was the number one best-selling non-fiction book in the decade of the 70’s. Lindsay plays the dangerous game of “this is that,” pointing to future people, nations, and events as depicted in biblical prophecy and [...]

At the end of the age, God will create a new heaven and a new earth and a new Jerusalem. It will be characterised by security, prosperity, safety, and close communion with God. Isaiah 65 picks up a theme continued by John in the Book of Revelation.

The central focus is the Lord, Immanuel; and the [...]

1. This comfort is intended only for Christians. Paul’s sentence begins, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, …” And then he says that their toil is not in vain “in the Lord.” These words are addressed to Christians, and the hope which Paul speaks of is for Christians only. Death has no power, no [...]

By this time, the gospel was advancing in a way that partially fulfilled the Great Commission given in Acts 1:8, but this was far less than what had been commanded. The apostles had not yet come to terms with the fact that the gospel was the good news of salvation for Jews and Gentiles, without distinction. [...]

Pentecost is the sovereign activity of God.

1. The Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3 is essential and foundational to our understanding Pentecost. At Baptism, Jesus identified himself with John, his ministry, and his message and he identified himself with lost sinners. And we see God [...]

The ascension is not a fitting conclusion to the life and ministry of our Lord. It  seems a bit of an anti-climax in the light of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. It concludes on a note of sorrow and separation rather than of joy, victory, and triumph.

The gospel accounts hardly mention the ascension. But Luke does [...]

The resurrection of Christ is absolutely essential. It is the proof of his deity and Lordship and is indispensable evidence of the power of the cross. If he did not rise from the dead, then he is not the Son of God; and it follows that his death on the cross is the death of an [...]