Bible-in OneYear- Day 2 (January 2)

The Epistles explains more of Jesus. To understand the epistle, however, we need to seek the help of the Holy Spirit (the inspiration) to reveal His thoughts in the epistles. Chapters 1-3 of the book of Hebrew reveal the Superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ to all things (“… Heir of all things …” Heb1:2). Through Him, the worlds are made; it is amazing to see in the scripture that there are many WORLDS (Heb1:2). Man has three attributes to his soul (sometimes referred to as the heart) – mind, will and emotion. In the Old Testament days (i.e. before the walk of Christ on earth), the word of God comes to man through the prophets and in diverse manners (Heb1:1). In such times, the three attributes of man were suspended and only the physical features of man (vocal cavity, tongue, frame etc) were in use. It was always an overwhelming phenomenon which couldn’t be resisted, though without the mind, emotion and will of man at that instance. Therefore, when the word comes upon a man then, his will, emotion and mind were not in use but suspended for the word to be expressed through the physical features. That is why you will ever see the phrase “thus saith the Lord” in the Old Testament and most of the prophecies are poetic in nature. God did not need the three attributes of man to relate with man, because man was still in the absolute corrupt state; the mind corrupted, emotion and will corrupted. I guess this was what put the man who wanted to help the Ark from falling in trouble; he was emotional (2 Sam6:6-7). Peter was emotional when Jesus was arrested by cutting off the servant’s ear; he was not worked on then by the Holy Spirit. We can’t do ministry work in this state; such work will be unholy. The sinful and corrupted inner being of man could not inhabit together with the incorruptible Word because of the brightness and glory of the Word;

Hebrews 1:3 “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

In essence, the Word does the purging in man as it comes upon man. There is Light in the WORD, there is life and there is glory in the Word. When the Word comes in, the image of the Person of God comes in; i.e. the Word has the same glory and brightness of God and has the power of God to do all things. Therefore, the entrance of that WORD brings the light and life into the heart of man and God is expressed incorruptible.

Psalms 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

In the gospel, that WORD came and used the body of man to wrap or cover Himself up; that is JESUS CHRIST. At this juncture, emotion, will and mind of man are involved in expressing God. Since He is the Word of God, His mind, emotion and will becomes those of God; remember the Word is God. This is evident in instances where Jesus had to perform some miracles, the phrase, mostly, is “moved with compassion”; emotion is involved. In the Old Testament, only God was the phrase “full of compassion” attributed to, because it is His nature. This was evident in the Son also in the gospel. Only God could be gracious and compassionate, it is not in the nature of man in the corrupted state. Pharaoh’s daughter had that, and it is because the her emotion was need to preserve the agenda of God in Moses. Jesus knitted the three elements of man (mind, emotion and will) with the Word. At His ascension, He prayed the Father to send the Holy Spirit to let this be; i.e. the use of the emotion, will and mind of man in God’s work. The word is not changed but the Holy Spirit patterns man to conform to the Word so that man can be in the image of God’s dear Son. This is the work of the Holy Spirit; to reveal Jesus to us through the Word. As this is done, that brightness in the Word affects our lives and through understanding, our lives conform to the Word; this is growing in grace. As your life conforms to God’s word, the “will” becomes the “will” of God, emotion becomes that of God and mind thinks the thought of God. The more your life live the word by the working of the Holy Spirit, the greater the grace upon you. Jesus told the disciples that they have been washed by the word;

John 15:3 “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken to you.”

Part of the understanding of the washing of the feet of the disciples is that they should continue to walk in the cleanliness and uprightness of the word. Because the Apostles lived the word of God by the help of the Holy Spirit, great grace was upon them;

Acts 4:33 “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”

To memorize the word of God is not good enough but to live it is what makes the word to become holy and powerful in our lives. The Word is what kindles the soul of a minister to become fire by reason of its brightness;

Psalms 104:4 “Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:”

Jesus is God; He carries the same image as God and God called Him God;

Hebrews 1:8 “But to the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”

His humility is so great that He called men His brethren and He put on the likeness of man to bring man to glory and honor;

Hebrews 2:9-10 “But 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 should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”

Jesus is God because angels worship Him. He took the nature of man so as to destroy him who had the power of death (Heb2:14), brought deliverance to the captive (v15) and to reconcile man to God (v17).

He is thus superior to angels, Moses and all things put together as God has committed all things into His hands.

Hebrews 3:7 “Wherefore (as the Holy Spirit saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)”

Once a man goes wrong with word of God in the heart, all his ways go wrong; emotion, mind and will. The consequence is that, man loses God’s rest.

Hebrews 3:17-18 “But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?”

But when the heart is right, through the emotion our works for God becomes holy, the mind makes our word holy and the will makes our prayers holy (the Holy Spirit helps us to prayer according to the will of God). Whoever wants to live a shining and re-branded life must pray the Holy Spirit to touch and control these three attributes of man; mind, emotion and will.

The next reading is Hebrew7-9. Keep the fire burning and alive