EMMAUS SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

Jesus is the word of God and all things came through him. God Spoke all things into existence and formed man with his hands. Man was made in the image of God as the Holy trinity that he is. Man was made in the image of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.It is important that although we were made in the image of our creator we turned from him and did not try to do his works but our own works which inevitably led to our fall. I ask myself what did we learn. It seems to me that we did not learn much because directly after being separated form God by means of our own works we tried to reach God by our own works in the instance of the tower of Babel. Our own works lead to murder, deceit,lies,adultery and every other sin that began immediately. I heard it said that the world is becoming a much worse place but it just isn’t true. The world is staying right where its been since the fall, it just isnt getting much better. If our works got us here how is it that by our works we can change it. We can’t, we can trust God and allow him to work through us, because when we take our eyes off of ourselves and put them on him, then we will move forward and we will cease to call what deeds we’ve done our works, but the work of the Lord, fo rthe works of the lord through us are his works not our own. Genesis shows us that the works of God are good works and our own works lead to depravity. Depravity is a separation from the source, its like a flower torn from the ground, it die because it lost its roots, i think we should get back to ours. Thats what genesis has taught me. God is my root and without him i am depraved and and i will die.

We are truly nothing without love. Love is the single greatest gift we have and the single most underused gift. I’ve always had a distinct problem with love, I guess from lack of faith in it. Love is elusive to us in today’s world and when it finally finds us our guards are so strong it often cannot break through. Without Love it is incredibly hard to lay down the rights we as people and as Christians feel we have, and in that we are often very immature and therefore cannot set a positive example for the new members just accepting the faith. It kills me to understand that without love we have driven ourselves into a hate-filed place where our emotional guards are always up, but it lifts me up to know that yet and still god loves us and loved us so much he gave up his most precious son to die for us so that we may be justified and receive righteousness through faith in him. What is love? We might ask and the answer is clear in chapter 13 of Corinthians, Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. 

In my life I can only apply this in letting go of my defenses and believing that it is possible for love to reach me without harming me, it is possible that I can love genuinely, it is possible someone can love me genuinely as well. God already does. I can identify with the Corinthians, their lustfulness, their search for wisdom, their judging, their interest in spiritual gifts, their greed, their misunderstanding of worship and marriage, its all there inside of me because its all here in the world where I’ve come to learn and grow. Even reading about how great love is causes my rebellious spirit to churn in dislike because it feels foreign, but I think if you look in the right places you can find love and it may not be so foreign after all it may be just outside waiting for your wall to crumble so you can reunite with it and feel the love of god shining. 

I need to understand that it is easy to fall by the wayside but that I need to fortify my heart against destruction and stand firm in the faith. No matter where I go or what I do, as I believe in Christ and he has died for my sins I am washed clean and god is a god of love who cares for me, Jesus showed compassion to all the sinners, in fact he came not for the righteous but for the sinners and therefore came for me and has never let me go. Times are tough and times get even tougher everyday and God does always provide but with a willing brother, sister, family member, or just a friend things are easier and all things are made possible. I should take a look at my life and see what kind of Christian I am, am I the idle type or an on again off again type, either way I know I can always use improvement and I pray to god that I may receive his grace as it comes.

I can see that God has called us to be faithful and obedient in the word that has been taught us through the Holy Spirit and through Christ. We are all brothers and sisters and are therefore to treat each other with respect and lift each other up. As imitators of God and as Christians whose goal is to try and become more Christ like our life is meant to be a model for those who are searching for the truth. When people see us as Christians living a certain way they will naturally become interested in what is different about our life. Then we are to proclaim the word to them in a way that glorifies God not man. Jesus is coming back and we don’t know the hour or day but if we encourage our family in Christ we may not be caught sleeping but alert and awake and doing the works of Christ living in the spirit and influencing one another towards good. I have also learned that Christians suffer persecution and it comes in many shapes and forms, but if we stand firm in the faith, the spirit can conquer any obstacles that stand in our way. The Thessalonians heard the word and acknowledged it as Gods word from the beginning and began to model their lives around it, as much as I would like to believe I am much like them the truth is that I have questioned many times and made my own interpretations of what the word means to better suit my Goals.   I pray that the lord will give me a willingness to be subject to the word and let it filter into to me and change my perception. I pray that god make me an example and allow my maturity in the faith to grow so that when the time comes I am ready to go with him.

I realize that I have been set free from the burden of carrying out the law handed down to Moses by the Grace of God. In sending his son, Jesus Christ, down to cleanse me of my sin;. I know that I need not follow the law because of the legalism of it. I should follow the law, or do what is right, Because I am grateful to be free. The Galatians had received this message from Paul while he taught for three years and stayed with them pouring out his spirit and words in order to bring the holy spirit into them and release them from the burden. After hearing this Gospel they rejoiced and were relieved but the moment they were told something contrary or different; that gospel was snatched away from them. My Question to myself is this; Am I so different from the Galatians? Am I so much more grounded in the word that I could  not be fooled and the gospel could not be distorted directly in front of me and I not realize the difference? Am I no longer a slave to  the opinions of others who preach a different gospel who have also enslaved themseleves by rejecting christ still stuck in the legalism of the law? The answer is that I don’t know but that I have battled myself and my tiny version of what God is, and I have found that he is much bigger than any of my ideals and that Christ is much bigger than I ever even imagined or dared fathom, and that if the spirit of Christ is truly in me and I Believe whole heartedly, then I am free, by faith. I am unburdened and unhindered and I can worship and give of myself exponentially and rejoice because I am not a slave, but I am a child of God and an heir to  righteousness.  God has shown us grace and set us free and we can leave the shckles behind, broken and unable to bind anyone. In grace we should help others to break loose of their shckles by giving them the key to the shackles that bind them, the key is the true gospel, and the core of that Gospel is Christ. Let us be obidient out of love of Christ.

In view of the truths in the book of Luke. Its is plain to see that we who were lost but were found, recieved a blessing; There was much rejoicining in heaven because Jesus came to save the lost. Jesus has saved many lost sheep and the one who stray from the path will be retrieved because that is God’s good pleasure and will, that is why Jesus came. We are humans, people of flesh, sinners who often worry about whats to come, always trying to interpret the signs. We constantly worry about what we have and what we dont have(like an I-Pod, can a brother please get an I-Pod?)but God will provide all things, and we should realize that all things will pass away and give up all things in search of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of heaven is here but not quite yet fully here. The age of tension will come to a close and holding onto whatever you consider valuable when it comes will reveal your pettiness and greed. Althogh we have found the path it is still possible to stray and become lost, so we must be diligent and keep our eyes on the Shepherd so that he may not have to search for us when the time comes to go to the pasture.