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Coffee with Jesus: John 1

...seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ John plainly says that this “Word became flesh” (the incarnation of Jesus) and then clearly points to the pre-existence of Jesus here by saying “he was before me”. This isn’t an issue of age either, as John was actually six months older than Jesus, physically speaking (Luke 1:26–27). This also points towards something Jesus later declares about himself in John 8:58 when he says, “before Abraham was, I am.”. So definitely not an age thing! But...

Raised in the Heavenlies!

...ad by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. While these verses (and many others) make it clear that through baptism we die to our old selves and are raised anew in Christ, we must also understand that this prefigures our future resurrection when we finally “put on immortality”. Though we will eventually die physically in the body, we won't die at all because death is defeated and it has no sting nor power over us! What happens in death? You may have heard of the term “soul sleep”, which is the doctrine that when a person dies, their soul (or spirit) “sleeps” in the grave until the resurrection, knowing and experiencin...

Lent Day 18: Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 1-9

...ts former glory, he decreed that all Christian bishops be killed and any laity to be forced to recant in the face of death. Many Christians at this time were martyred but there were many who also abandoned their faith and sacrificed to the gods in exchange for their lives, or bought a certificate to say they had when they hadn't. This was all considered sin and blasphemy by the Church, though many felt regret and wanted to be forgiven and restored. “But how can a man say that he believes in Christ, who does not do what Christ commanded him to do?” Cyprian argues, since the faith of many had become weak. It is not “persecution alone that is to be fear...

Lent Day 19: Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 10-18

...r his own glory to show that which is genuine in contrast to the false, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 11:19Indeed, there have to be factions (Gk. Heresies) among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. Of these people, Cyprian makes reference to Psalm 1 as those who sit “in the seat of pestilence”. He has much harsher words about them too, which I just have to quote in full so you can really understand how serious this matter of creating heresy and schism was taken: [They are] deceiving with serpent's tongue, and artful in corrupting the truth, vomiting forth deadly poisons from pestilential tongues; whose...

Lent Day 21: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 1-10

..., love of glory” trying to cloud his mind with the things of the world. During this time, the devil went to great lengths to tempt and attack Anthony to try and cause him to stumble. In various ways and forms (some physical, even!) the devil took his best shots but Anthony put his mind to Christ and the Scriptures to overcome these trials. Details of later life “All this was a source of shame to his foe. For he, deeming himself like God, was now mocked by a young man” — Anthony overcame the devil's attacks and made him look foolish in his attempts. It was because of his faith and trust in Christ’s death and resurrection, that those “who truly fi...

Lent Day 26: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 51-60

...avoid vainglory; sing psalms before sleep and on awaking; hold in your heart the commandments of Scripture; be mindful of the works of the saints that your souls being put in remembrance of the commandments may be brought into harmony with the zeal of the saints. He also encouraged them to live by the words of Paul in Ephesians 4:26, where he said not to let the sun go down on your anger. Anthony interpreted this further to mean not just anger, but any sin which was committed so that before the end of the day you have set things right with others or have prayed and repented to the Lord. Even further still, he would teach that in order to control our thoughts...