Love God, love neighbor, make disciples. doug@pastordougolson.com
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. John 12:1-2 We don’t often think of Jesus having close friends, other than perhaps His …
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Everything Paul has taught us this week points to this. You could also say everything the Bible says points to this. God loves us so much He …
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) God sent Jesus to carry our sin that we could be made clean and reconnected to Him. Such a sacrifice is unthinkable to us. We might be willing to …
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20) Christ’s ambassadors – what a glorious and humble calling! Jesus loves us, and trusts us enough to carry on His ministry here on earth. We are His partners …
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Christ came to make us all new, washed clean from sin and called to a life of faith and love in Him. Through His sacrifice our past deeds are forgotten; our …
In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.(2 Corinthians 5:19) God forgives our sins through the sacrifice Christ made for us, and calls us to be part of His saving work. What an amazing thing! How can we ever hope …
All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18) God could have separated from us long ago citing “irreconcilable differences” due to our sinful nature. Instead, as Paul writes, He “reconciled us to himself through Christ”, taking action to bring us …
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. (2 Corinthians 5:16) God wants us to see His love for creation in each one of us. Everyone we meet is …
And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:3-4) Paul teaches that Christ was with the children of Israel in the desert, providing for them. God has been constant in His love and …
We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. (1 Corinthians …