Month: September 2021

Your E-mails- October 2021

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Your E-mails- October 2021

Why is Jesus sometimes referred to as the Son of Man and sometimes as the Son of God? HE IS BOTH. His mother was Mary, his father was God. As the angel said to Mary: ‘And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High’ (Luke 1:31–32). The terms ‘son of man’ and ‘son of God’ are both used throughout the Bible. ‘Son of man’ can be a general term for a human, for example ‘Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation’ (Psalm 146:3). ‘Son of God’ usually refers to Godly people, for example ‘all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God’ (Romans 8:14). But the majority of times each phrase occurs,

Deliverer of His People

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Deliverer of His People

Moses was keeping the sheep of his father-in-law, Jethro the priest of Midian. He led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, which the Bible calls the mountain of God (Exodus 3:1). And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed (v.2). At the Burning Bush Critics of the Bible have tried to explain away the burning bush. There is a type of wilderness thorn whose leaves turn red once a year, and it must have been one of these which caught Moses’ eye. The snag with such a suggestion is that it does not fit the context. Moses fled from Egypt when he was 40 years old. He returned to deliver his people at the age of 80.

Mark

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Mark

THIS GOSPEL was written by John Mark, the nephew of Barnabas. He went with Paul and Barnabas on their preaching mission to Cyprus (Acts 13:4–5). He was well known to Peter who called him his “son” (1 Peter 5:13) and may have been the “young man” referred to in Mark 14:51. Four Views of Jesus An interesting connection has been made between the four Gospels and the four faces of the “living creatures”, or cherubim, of Ezekiel’s prophecy (compare Ezekiel 1:10 with 10:14–15). Just as those creatures each had four faces—a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle—so the four Gospels, while offering a full portrait, present characteristically different views of the Lord Jesus Christ. The lion is a fitting symbol to represent Matthew’s view of the ‘King’. The ox corresponds to Mark’s view of the ‘Servant’. The human face relates to Luke’s view of Christ the ‘Man’ (often

Worse Than the Virus

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Worse Than the Virus

COVID 19 has been a worldwide tragedy that has changed our lives. Some people are traumatised by it, while others deny its severity or try to ignore it. We can be enormously grateful for those scientists who worked hard to understand the virus and formulate vaccines. The Problem Many people don’t realise that there is a worldwide problem which affects us all, and is far, far worse than the virus. It is an old-fashioned word, and it is an unpleasant concept. But it features strongly in the Bible. It is ‘SIN’. Like it or not, we all sin. And like it or not, we all die as a result. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). For the wages of sin is death.… (Romans 6:23). Isolation is a good precaution against contracting the virus, but it cannot

How Medical Science Supports the Bible

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How Medical Science Supports the Bible

The first five books of the Bible are generally known as the Books of Moses, because they were written (or compiled) by Moses, around 1500 bc. Moses was brought up as a prince in the highly sophisticated world of Egypt. He ‘was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds’ (Acts 7:22). The Books of Moses contain the detailed and elaborate Law which God gave (via Moses) to His people Israel, which would govern every aspect of their lives including health and welfare. It’s remarkable that the Law of Moses does not contain a single reference to the medical practices of Egypt, with which Moses would have been familiar—instead it contains rules and principles which must have seemed bizarre to Moses and his people, but (three and a half thousand years later) make absolute sense to us. Here is a brief

The True Vine

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The True Vine

The Gospel of John records a number of sayings of Jesus which begin “I am…” In this series we think about some of the profound things he said about himself. You can catch up with the previous articles at https://gladtidingsmagazine.org/previous-articles/ I AM THE TRUE VINE, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you

The Man of Sorrows

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The Man of Sorrows

THERE ARE JUST TWO occasions in the Gospels on which we’re told that Jesus Christ wept. The first is recorded in John chapter 11. Lazarus, a close friend, had died, and Jesus went to meet his grieving family. He could have gone earlier and healed Lazarus of his disease. But he deliberately waited till Lazarus had died, then went with the purpose of raising him back to life: ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him’ (John 11:11). In this episode the Lord was teaching profound lessons about his mission to the world: ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ (v. 25). He is the Lord of life, and death has no power over those who are his. As they approached the village of Bethany, Lazarus’s two distraught sisters came out to meet them. Jesus and his disciples were escorted to the tomb by the mourners.