<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="ro+15:23-30">Romans 15:23-30</span></span></p><p>"God is One, yet God is Three. How can such a strange thing be?" These are the lines of a ditty that supposedly was sung by troops on the march in World War I. Theologians down the ages have tried to illuminate this doctrine for us, but it is an issue that will never be fully clarified until we arrive in heaven  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="1co+13:12">1 Corinthians 13:12</span>). Basically the doctrine of the Trinity is: God is One but with three distinct centers of consciousness. Around this truth a number of errors have been propounded. The first was the teaching that there are three gods. The Jehovah's Witnesses accuse present-day Christians of believing this, and say that we conceive of God as a body with three heads. That might be true of ancient heresy but it is not true of classic Trinitarianism. The second heresy taught that God is unipersonal and the other two Persons in the Trinity are simply manifestations of the Being of the one God. The third main error denied the equality of the divine Persons and regarded them as being of different rank. The historic Church formulated the Athanasian Creed which states that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity. What we must see, however, is that no words can fully explain the truth of the Trinity. "The creed is a safety net to keep us from falling into error," says one preacher, "rather than a verbal net in which to trap the truth." We use the term "Trinity" expecting not so much that in that one word the truth may be spoken, but that it may not be left unspoken.</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Father, I see that life often presents me with facts which seem irreconcilable at one stage of knowledge - though better understood at another. Perhaps one day this great mystery of the Trinity may be cleared up. Meanwhile I simply worship and adore. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1pe+1:1-6">1 Peter 1:1-6</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1ti+2:5">1 Timothy 2:5</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How did Peter make a distinction between the members of the Trinity?</li><li>What did Paul confirm to Timothy?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"I urge you  by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit  by praying to God " (v. 30)

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="joh+5:31-47">John 5:31-47</span></span></p><p>Jesus claimed to be greater than the Scriptures. Everyone else has to put themselves under the authority of the Scriptures. In one sense, of course, Christ subjected Himself to the Scriptures, but in another sense He was superior to them. He did not emerge from the Bible; the Bible emerged from Him. The Amplified Bible puts our text for today: "You search and investigate and pore over the Scriptures diligently, because you suppose and trust that you have eternal life through them ... And still you are not willing ... to come to Me, so that you might have life." We saw the other day how Christ declared: "One greater than the temple is here." He could also have said: "One greater than the Scriptures is here." A prominent theologian stated: "The Bible is the supreme method of communication between God and man." Is it? I thought Christ is the supreme method of communication between God and man. "There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ..."  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="1ti+2:5">1 Timothy 2:5</span>). It is true that we would know little of Christ were it not for the New Testament. But Christ existed before the New Testament. I do not say this to denigrate the Scriptures in any way. They are divinely inspired and thus they inspire me. But the Person is greater than the product. We honor the product but only as it leads us to Christ's feet and to an allegiance to Him. Indeed, one greater than the Bible is here. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Lord Jesus, I am thankful for the Scriptures for many reasons, but most of all because they lead me to You. You are the Word that is bigger than men's words. Not a page but a Person. All honor and glory be to Your Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="joh+10:1-10">John 10:1-10</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="joh+1:4">John 1:4</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="joh+11:25">John 11:25</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ro+5:21">Romans 5:21</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1jo+5:12">1 John 5:12</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What is Jesus the source of?</li><li>What does this mean for us?</li></ul></div></div>

"You diligently study the Scriptures. ... These are the Scriptures that testify about me ..." (v. 39) 

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="ga+2:11-21">Galatians 2:11-21</span></span></p><p>The argument presented by pluralists that Christians must view their religion as one among many, and Jesus as only one Savior among others, must be firmly resisted. It may sound arrogant to say so but it is nevertheless a fact that Christianity is unique, absolute, definitive, ultimate, and final. Critics of the uniqueness of Christianity can be very persuasive. "The world is under great threat," they tell us, "because of environmental pollution, economic injustice, and many other problems. Nothing that divides us, including our religions, should be considered as important as the need to live together in harmony." Another emphasis is on the need to study comparative faiths. There is a sense in which understanding what other people believe is useful, but not until the claims of Christianity are seen to be definitive and final. Christianity is not a comparative religion; it reveals God's one and only way of entering into a personal relationship with Him. The text before us today in the Amplified Bible reads: "The life I now live ... I live by faith - by adherence to and reliance on and [complete] trust - in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Bishop Leslie Newbigin put it well: "If it is really true, as it is, that 'the Son of God loved me and gave himself up for me,' how can I agree that this amazing act of matchless grace should merely become part of a syllabus for the 'comparative study of religions'?" Christ is not first in a class; He occupies the category all by Himself. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">My Father and my God, may the Person of Your Son become as real and as precious to me as He is to You. And teach me more about Him so that I can make clear to others why He is a Savior beyond compare. For His own dear Name's sake. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ac+4:1-12">Acts 4:1-12</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1ti+2:1-6">1 Timothy 2:1-6</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1co+3:11">1 Corinthians 3:11</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What did Peter declare to the Sanhedrin?</li><li>What did Paul declare to Timothy?</li></ul></div></div>

"The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God ..." (v. 20) 

<font size="2" face="Verdana">
<p align="justify"><i>There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the 
Man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)</i></p>

<p align="justify">God's answer to everything, 
God's explanation of everything, and God's means of realizing everything is a Man, 
"the man Christ Jesus." When this world has run its evil course, this inhabited 
earth will be judged <i>in</i> a Man. Men will be judged by what their inward 
relationship is to that Man. The question at the judgment will never be of how 
much good or bad, right or wrong, more or less, is in a man; it will turn upon 
this one point, "Are you in Christ?" If not, more or less makes no difference. 
God's intention, God's proclamation is that all things are in His Son. Are you 
in Him? Why not? The basis of judgment is very simple. It is all gathered up in 
a Man, and what is in that Man of God for us. That is the basis of judgment. It 
all comes back to the very simple, and yet comprehensive and blessed truth, that 
it is what Christ is that satisfies God, reaches God's end, and meets all our 
need. It is all summed up in a Man, "the man Christ Jesus." </p>
<p align="justify">The Lord continue to open our eyes to His 
glorious and Heavenly Man, Who is also the Divine Servant.</p>




</font>

<p>This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” </p><p>Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.</p>

Open Windows

All Things in Christ - Chapter 15

 The Man Christ Jesus 

<p>The Man Christ Jesus. § [Jesus came] in the likeness of men. [He was] found in appearance as a man. § Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death.<br><br>I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. § Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. § What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? § He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. § In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.<br><br>Though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God.<br><br>For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God.</p>

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 On the likeness of the throne was a likeness with  the appearance of a man high above it. 

<p>Inasmuch … as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same.<br><br>Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.<br><br>We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. § In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace. § With His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption… And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. § He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.</p>

 There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. 

<p>Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died … who also makes intercession for us. § Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.<br><br>If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. § There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.<br><br>Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. § Through Him we . . . have access by one Spirit to the Father.</p>

 He always lives to make intercession. 

<p>I [Moses] stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid. § There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.<br><br>Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. § Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. § Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.<br><br>Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.</p>

 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren. 

<p>I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior. § There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. § There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.<br><br>Mighty God. § Made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name. § We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. § Inasmuch … as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same.</p>

 I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. 

<p>Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! § A mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.<br><br>We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies … Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.<br><br>Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.<br><br>He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises… I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.</p>

Evening Daily Light

 One God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. 

<p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num ">5 </sup>For there is one God   and one mediator   between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,   </span></p>

For there is one God<cr>1</cr>  and one mediator<cr>2</cr>  between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,<cr>3</cr> 

1 Timothy 2:5

 5 For there is one God   and one mediator   between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,

<p><span class="bible-text ">For there is one God   and one mediator   between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,   </span></p>

 For there is one God   and one mediator   between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,  

Bible Verse of the Day

January 29, 2018

1 Timothy 2:5 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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