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carlerinle · 4 years

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Understanding His Purpose

Friday 12th June 2020

1 john 3:8 – “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

It is something truly worth considering that God came down in human form to this earth. It is such a drastic move that it must be pondered upon by everyone who knows Him. Prior to Jesus’ coming as a baby, He’d come to the earth before now in what we call “Christophanic” or “Theophanic” manifestations, usually in the old testament era. But all those manifestations were merely brief interventions in happenings on the earth. If it was about getting something done on the earth, He’d used angels many times in the past to either deliver a message to a person/people. What then could have been so important that He had to come Himself, become human and live among His creation for thirty-three and a half years before going back to heaven? Clearly this is not something that man could do for himself, or angels could do effectively on His behalf. This was something only God could do.

Our focal text explains very simply that Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. This was the singular thing that angels could not do on His behalf, that man could not do for himself, and that only God Himself could do. What are the works of the devil? We understand the works of the devil primarily form the context of the passage in which it appears. The context refers to those who do righteousness and those who commit sin as a matter of practice, lifestyle and nature. Our focal text says that the one who commits sin originates from or has the nature of the devil. This is the big problem that humanity contends with that we cannot fix on our own because the problem is deeper than our mind can resolve. Sin is at the root of all of man’s problems in the world, whether it’s hunger, depravity, immorality, etc. and from it spring all other issues like sickness, depression, and even death. In fact, sin causes more than just physical death, sin also causes spiritual death, which is the ultimate of all deaths.

And so, Christ’s purpose was clear from the beginning – to destroy sin and its effects. It is very important to understand this so that we can have the right expectations about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He is interested in our welfare, but the work of the Spirit is to prepare and perfect us in holiness and righteousness. He does this by the washing influence of the Word of God on our hearts when we take in the Word of God into our spirits. The more of the Word we have in us, the more Spirit filled we become, and the less influence and power sin has over us. Don’t spend your time fighting sin, there’s a ready response to sin that immediately and effectively silences it. Rather than fighting darkness, we simply turn on the light and the darkness disappears. In that same vein, let the Word of Christ build up in you; have a strong, sincere and consistent culture of reading and studying the Word of God. As you do this, the Spirit in you is washing away the old ideologies and thought patterns that made sin have a strong hold over you.

In addition, your spiritual stamina is also being slowly built up for deeper fellowship with God. A believer who is focused on fellowship with God will have no space for sin, it’s that simple. Yet that simplicity comes because of the work of the Spirit in you. The reason why you would even engage in this is because you understand the purpose of the Son’s manifestation, not for your bread and butter, but for your spiritual development and victory over sin. This sets the right expectation in you about the work and ministry of the Spirit in you, and keeps you obedient to His leadings always, till He perfects you.

Have a blessed day.

#Devotional DiligentBibleStudy GrowingInFaith TheDailyWord

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cherylchan · 6 years

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Many firsts today. . For one, we finally brought Mikaela for a little stroll in our backyard (the Botanic Gardens, lol). Met @christophane , who very kindly/enthusiastically/lovingly held the sleeping baby for over an hour while Kelvin and I had a slow, leisurely brunch. It has been a while since I didn’t have to gobble down my food. (If there’s one thing I’ve mastered since becoming a mom, it’s to eat quickly; something I’ve never been capable of, and my babysitter can attest to that. “显东西在嘴里、显一百年!”) . We then went to the mall as Kelvin was gonna catch Avengers with the boys and I gamely decided I would loiter around for the entire duration of the movie... but promptly got bored after half an hour. . How timely then that my aunt’s family was visiting my parents and they asked me over. I told them I would try - all dependent on whether I could eject the car seat (WITH baby - ~10kg!!!) from the stroller, belt it up in the car... and remember the right buttons to press to get the car going, given that the last time I drove was something like three months ago. . Everything went smoothly and I was soon on the road, on my way to my parents’, admittedly a little nervous with Mikaela behind. . Bébé was a happy chappy this arvo and had an early night tonight. I don’t know why being out tires her so easily because she literally sleeps most of the trip away. . Save to say, today was a pretty eventful day for all of us. #smallwins because apart from all of the above, I also unexpectedly managed to get myself a large cup of Thai iced milk tea, something I have been yearning for, for weeks. 😌

#smallwins

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