Wednesday, December 29, 2010

God is Our Redeemer

January 2, 2011

Background Scripture: Isaiah 44
Lesson Passage: Isaiah 44:21 – 28

It is a depressing reality to find oneself in a situation that could have been avoided and should have been avoided but was not avoided because of a poor decision. It is even more sobering when one cannot get oneself out of that situation. It is difficult because in many cases such as this, deliverance must come from the one who was offended by the decision. How do you seek help when the only one who can help is the one who was hurt by your decision? First, you should take accountability for the situation by acknowledging that it was a very poor decision on your part that led to it. Don’t look for anyone to blame or for anyone to share the blame. Second, you must decide if you want to get out of the situation or just remain in it and have an endless pity party. Third, are you willing to place your hope for deliverance completely in the hands of another? Finally, are you willing to take prescribed steps to get back on track with your life? When you are not in an out of control situation, these four steps can sound so easy. When you are in an out of control situation, you are likely to agree to almost anything that promises to bring relief even if you are not sincere in agreeing to prescribed terms. Our thoughts and emotions concerning the four steps are greatly impacted by our feelings about the one we must go to for deliverance. Children of God should be thankful that no matter what the situation or the circumstances, we can always go to God for deliverance. Whether we have brought things on ourselves or not, God is the only one who can truly deliver us from anything. God is never so disappointed in His children that He refuses to either deliver us or sustain us. Israel is once again our example in today’s lesson. Their situation was brought about because of their disobedience to God’s commands, their ignoring God’s warnings, and their occasional reliance on human deliverers. In spite of their shortcomings, God declared that he would redeem them back to himself. Redemption carries with it the notion that Israel was at one time in right relationship with God but had strayed from it. Redemption also implies a desire on God’s part to restore the right relationship with Israel. Today’s scripture text continues the exposition of God’s promise to be Israel’s God in good times and bad. Israel has brought the bad time on herself but God yet remains steadfast with his promise of deliverance and restoration. Not only will God deliver them from their situation, He will also restore them to their former relationship of security in Him. Redemption and restoration provide a clear view of God’s sovereign purpose. God is not just saving Israel from the problems but He is also saving them to Himself. We are not redeemed to follow our own course of action but instead we are redeemed to be in right relationship with God. Again, this is all made wonderfully exciting when we stop and remember that God promised deliverance for Israel about a hundred years before Israel strayed from Him and went into captivity. God looked into Israel’s future and declared that they would go astray and be punished but He encouraged them to not lose hope because when their punishment was fulfilled, God would redeem them back to Himself. Today, we should be encouraged because Jesus taught us that God is also the Christians’ redeemer.

Robert C. Hudson
December 21, 2010

God is with Us

December 26, 2010

Background Scripture: Isaiah 43
Lesson Passage: Isaiah 43:1 – 7, 10 – 12

“Through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.” That statement from the song Through It All by recording artist Andrae’ Crouch, is a reminder that God is an ever present help in the time of need. Our lesson today focuses on God’s assurance to Israel that no matter what circumstances they will encounter, He will be faithful to them as their God. God lays claim to Israel as a people that belong to Him. God asserts His right to be Israel’s God by reminding them that he created them, he formed them into a nation, and after they were sold into sin as a result of their own will, God redeemed them. Yes, that’s right. Even after Israel willfully disobeyed God and turned their back on Him, He did not forsake them but rather remained faithful as their God. So now God declares, you are mine. He redeemed them out of the physical slavery of Egyptian bondage and He will now redeem them out of the spiritual bondage of sin. When God says that Israel will not be overtaken by the waters of a flood or the flames of fire, He is providing words of assurance that He is their protector. The word “through” suggests that they will not perish in the midst of their circumstances or conditions. When I know that I am going through, then I have the assurance that things will not always be the way they are. The word through implies transition. “Through” suggests a conduit between two sets of conditions. No matter what the people of God go through, God is there with them. Yes, even during that transition, God assures His people that He is with them. Furthermore, God asserts that He will sacrifice others for the sake of His own. Others will be given as a ransom so that God’s people can again be gathered as one. God’s people will not always be scattered. Today, it sometimes seem as though we will never agree and be as one on anything although we profess to serve the same one and true living God. But in spite of our differences and disagreements, one day God will gather all that are called by His name into one. We have all been created for the shining greatness of God. We are all living testimonies of God’s wonderful and unimaginable grace. We are each a symbol of the works of God’s grace. Together, we will show forth the handiwork of God’s glory in the earth. For those who have been redeemed, we will go through our own floods and fire. Even this will be to God’s glory. When we did not know of a power such as God’s power, He revealed himself to each of us that were created for His purpose. He demonstrated power in our lives to save us from eternal damnation and He gave us a new spirit in us that we had not known before. God has revealed so much of Himself to us so that we could come to know Him and have a personal relationship with Him. We are therefore His witnesses of who He is and what He is able to do. There is no denying for the truly regenerated that God is who He says He is and God is with us.


Robert C. Hudson
December 20, 2010

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A Child is Born

December 19, 2010

Background Scripture: Isaiah 9:1 – 7; 11:1 – 9; Matthew 1:18 – 25
Lesson Passage: Isaiah 9:6, 7; 11:1 – 8; Matthew 1:21 – 23

There are few moments during our adult life that will ever match the excitement and overflowing joy of becoming a parent. We notify all of our friends and family as well as complete strangers we may happen to bump into of the great news concerning this birth. We truly celebrate the child’s arrival and we want the whole world to know about it if we could find a way to inform them—thank God for Twitter and Facebook. When a child is born, their birth changes the whole complexion of life for the parent. We realize that our priorities are no longer our priorities. We must realign our priorities in support of this child. Our daily—and indeed hourly—schedule will be dictated by this child for now. When we sleep and when we awake is no longer decisions that we have the luxury of making for ourselves. Our immediate outlook for the future is overshadowed by the growing needs of this child. We understand that how we go about shaping the character and life of this child will have serious repercussions for this child from now on. We must teach them to be kind, respectful, gracious, and productive members of society. Their future depends heavily on how we direct and provide for them.

In today’s lesson, we look at a birth announcement that was sent out about seven hundred years before the actual birth occurred. It has been about two thousand years since the birth and we are still sending forth the announcement to those who have not heard about it. It is the greatest birth in the world. God sent his own son to be born in human flesh. The birth announcement made by the prophet Isaiah announced the birth, the mission, and the destination of this child. He will be born, he will lead, and he will be King forever. To those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, this announcement is good news but to those who walk in darkness, a great light will shine forth that will reveal their deeds that have been hidden by the darkness. To his earthly parents, Joseph and Mary, this birth will not be about them shaping the child’s character but about allowing him to shape theirs. The child indeed submitted himself to them as a child that they might submit themselves to him after he grew up. This child’s future will not be dependent upon how his earthly parents directed and provided for him. Their future will depend on this child leading and providing for them. He would teach all who come to him to be kind, respectful, gracious, and productive members of a different society. He invites us to be citizens in the kingdom of God. He summons all who are weary and heavy laden to cast their burdens on him and enter into his rest. As much as we celebrate his birth this time of the year, his greatest triumph came through his sacrificial death and victorious resurrection on the third day. Today, we celebrate the most wonderful birth the world has ever known and we would not have known it had it not been for his death, burial, and resurrection to make our understanding complete. So today he still lives because he was born to be King forever.

Robert C. Hudson
December 8, 2010

The Lord is Our God

December 12, 2010

Background Scripture: Isaiah 41:1 – 42:9
Lesson Passage: Isaiah 41:8 – 10, 17 – 20; 42:1 – 4, 9

Isaiah continues his prophetic writing in our lesson this week. God continues his promise of assistance to Israel by delivering them out of exile in Babylon and restoring them to the land of Canaan. He again confirms that he will raise up a Gentile king to overthrow Babylon and to release the Jews to return to their land. God assures Israel that they will be protected from their enemy and, furthermore, God was going to destroy their enemy. God would again perform miracles to supply all that was needed by his people, Israel.

In our lesson today, God challenges the nations to prove that they are equal to him. Are the nations as powerful and wise as God? Do the nations know the history of eternity pass or the yet to be unfolded details of the future? Can they prophesy and then cause their word to be true? God summoned them to meet him at the place of judgment to offer proof of their abilities that would show that they are his equal. The conclusion of all of this is that they are worthless and all who follow them are nothing except an abomination to God. Now, God again offers a prophecy that he would indeed raise up a Gentile king to do his will and deliver his people out of Babylonian exile and back to the land of Canaan. This would again be proof of God’s power and prophetic word. God then offers a word of warning to those who put their trust in idols that are no more than the work of man’s hands. Those who do not put their trust in God are empty, or vain, and the idols they worship are also worthless. God would solve this dilemma for his people. God made choice of the descendents of Abraham and Israel. God will remain faithful to them to help them and give them the strength they need. God will oppose all who dare to come against his chosen ones. He will utterly destroy their enemy so that no remnant of them can be found. Again, God challenged the nations to work miracles of good or evil so that their power can be displayed and admired. God had searched the nations and found no one in them who could give counsel or answer his questions. This is further proof of their worthlessness. But God would put his servant in the midst of his people who would show them the way of perfection. His servant would be anointed with the spirit of God and he will be an example of meekness before them. His success is guaranteed. This servant himself will be a new covenant between God and his people. He shall also provide true knowledge to the Gentiles that they may also come to know God. He will liberate those who are spiritually bound. This servant will speak a prophetic word of truth. He will reveal things to come that Israel may know that he is the anointed Christ of God. When those things of old that were prophesied have come to pass, then God would prophesy new things through his anointed servant. God would not leave the future as a mystery to his people but would declare the future beforetime. For the Lord is God.


Robert C. Hudson
December 6, 2010

Friday, December 3, 2010

God Gives Strength

December 5, 2010

Background Scripture: Isaiah 40
Lesson Passage: Isaiah 40:1 – 8, 25, 26, 29 – 31

Disaster often happens so quickly that we don’t have enough time to think about what is really going on. Perhaps this is best to keep us from going into shock and mentally shutting down during difficult times. On the other hand, the process of recovery often affords us plenty of time to reflect on the past and contemplate an uncertain future. It is during this time of recovery, rehabilitation, or reordering of our priorities that we are apt to experience the most anxiety. It can be comforting to have someone available who knows all about the situation and is willing to guide us through the process. The presence of such an ally strengthens us. Isaiah informs us that God is that ally.

As we consider the book of Isaiah, we are reminded that its structure is very similar to that of the bible. Its sixty six chapters appear to mirror the sixty six books of the bible. Many scholars refer to the first thirty nine chapters of the book as first Isaiah and the last twenty seven chapters as second Isaiah. This general structure aligns Chapter 40 of Isaiah with the fortieth book of the bible, The Gospel of Matthew. Just as Isaiah 40 signals a renewal of sorts of the covenant between God and the children of Israel, so, too, does Matthew signal the beginning of a new revelation and dispensation from God to his people. Historically, Isaiah 40 is seen as God’s reassuring message to the Jews that their Babylonian captivity is about to end and they will be restored to Canaan, the land of promise, according to the covenant. Captivity in Babylon had served as punishment for the Jews for breaking the covenant with God. The time of their punishment was ending and God was again offering blessed assurance to them that he would indeed be a kind and loving God towards them in spite of their failures in the past. God admonished the prophet to speak gently to his people and inform them that their time of punishment was ending and they were now entering a time of recovery. He went on to tell them of his new plans for them. Prior to the revealing of this new dispensation, God’s messenger would come to prepare the people to receive him even as royalty sent ambassadors ahead to pave the way for their arrival. God’s anointed one would be a shepherd for them and would care for and protect them. They could depend on God’s word as they always had. God’s word had never failed and it never will. They were not to trust in anyone else or anything else but God. God cannot be compared to anyone or anything. No one has given God instructions as a counselor. No idol could ever be compared to God’s greatness no matter how skillful the craftsman that fashions it. Whereas men fashion idols, God fashions men and therefore he knows all about man—who is the work of his hands. There is an assurance in knowing that God knows all about his people and their condition. He promises to remedy their condition and deliver them from their situations. We cannot fully comprehend the knowledge of God because the human mind is too limited. He knows our weakness; therefore he is able to give us strength.

Robert C. Hudson
November 26, 2010

God is Omniscient

November 28, 2010

Background Scripture: Psalm 139
Lesson Passage: Psalm 139:1 – 6; 13 – 16, 23, 24

There are those who are familiar with us as friends. They tend to know our likes and dislikes. This could include things such as foods, colors, clothes, or even types of vehicles. They know if we like to exercise or just go for a brisk walk. On the other hand, there is family who know us more intimately. They know what hurts us and what makes us happy. They can determine our disposition by simply reading our body language. Whether we are worried, scared, overly confident, or just plain naïve, our family members know us all too well. Even within families there are different levels of interpersonal knowledge. There are relationships between parents and children, between siblings, and between spouses—not to mention cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. There are many people who know us on some level, however, none of them know all there is to know about us. Our friends know us differently than our families or spouses. It seems next to impossible to be seen in the same light by all who know us. The bottom line is that although many may know something about us, there is no person who knows everything there is to know about us. This fact is often to our detriment. Many times we wish that someone could know us as well as others in a particular area of concern. We often feel misunderstood because of this. When we hurt, we can’t just arbitrarily turn to anyone who may happen to know something about us. They may not know us on an emotional level nor might they care to know us on that level. When we are wrestling with major life decisions, we are very judicious to whom we turn to confide in or seek advice. We can see in this that to know and to be known is very important to relationships. Quality relationships are very important to living a balanced and wholesome life. We work hard to build and sustain many wholesome relationships to improve the quality of our lives.

In Psalm 139, David lets us know that there is one relationship that satisfies the need of all of them. God reveals enough of himself to those that seek him that we may know him. On the other hand, he knows all there is to know about us. When we add up everything that others know about us, it is still less than what God knows about us. God knows everything. God knows who I am. He knows my activities and my habits. God knows my thoughts and my speech. God didn’t just learn this by watching me. He knew me before I was born. It is not just those observable things that others can learn about me. God knows my innermost person that others cannot observe. God knows me through and through. I can turn to him for anything and never have to worry about surprising him. When I pray for a blessing, I don’t have to specify size, type, color, fashion, or any other personal taste I might have for he already knows it. In fact, God knows things about me that I have not yet discovered about myself. He knows what I like and dislike although I have not yet experienced it. He has created me such that I cannot truly know myself until I first come into a relationship with him. It seems that I am constantly discovering new things about myself as I seek to strengthen my relationship with him. Indeed I am fearfully and wonderfully made but I cannot discover the depths of that until I seek God first. There is nothing that can be known about me that God does not already know perfectly. God is truly all knowing. God is omniscient.

Robert C. Hudson
November 19, 2010

God is Forever

November 14, 2010

Background Scripture: Psalm 90
Lesson Passage: Psalm 90:1 – 12

Forever is a very long time. I suppose that this is the only way we mortals can even have a concept of eternity. We visualize eternity as being independent of time. Almost by definition, time can not exist in eternity. Some theologians define eternity as a state of forever now. There is no yesterday or tomorrow; there is just now. God, in introducing himself to Moses, declared that I am that I am. In such a theology, God exists in the eternal now. God is forever. In Psalm 90, Moses’ prayer expresses man’s time-dependent existence in relationship to God’s existence. We don’t often think of Moses as a poet or hymn writer but the psalm in our lesson today is the only one that identifies Moses as the author. Certainly with his vast experience interacting with God, we should expect anything that Moses took time to write to be worthwhile studying. In this psalm, Moses acknowledges God’s infinite nature and contrasts it to man’s finite physical existence. Moses adds perspective to a lot of priorities we dare to set in life. We are reminded that our life is a brief existence. Moses prays for God’s guidance in how we establish priorities in this life seeing that our time is limited here. As a young man seeks the counsel and advice of an elder who has experience beyond his years, mankind should seek the guidance of the eternal and only wise God in all matters pertaining to life and godliness. God has been and is both the source and sustainer for man since the very beginning of time. God is our habitation or place of dwelling. Paul noted that even those who don’t know God personally acknowledge that in him we live and move and have our being. There is no place that we can go to escape God’s presence. God existed even before he called into existence everything else. There is no physical existence that has been here forever. God always has been and he always is. For the self-existent God, all of time is brief and fleeting. Since we can think of God existing within the eternal now, yesterday and tomorrow are insignificant. So then a thousand years really are but as a watch in the night. God does not lend himself to discovery by us. All that we can ever know of God or about God he must reveal to us in a way that is finite enough for us to comprehend it. At God’s word, men are turned back into dust from where we were taken. Our time between birth and death passes quickly. In light of the fact that we shall stand before the judgment seat of God and give an account of the deeds done in our bodies, we should depend on God’s guidance as to how we are to use this brief time wisely. If we cannot aspire unto righteousness and holiness during these few years, what hope do we have for an eternity in the presence of God’s holiness? Should we not seek to experience now a portion of what eternity promises the children of God? Moses’ prayer is that God would grant us now the will and the ability to live here in preparation for the eternity that is promised for the future for God’s children. If we desire to live in God’s presence, then let us aspire to live forever in a manner that is pleasing to him since God is forever.

Robert C. Hudson
November 5, 2010

God is Awesome

November 7, 2010

Background Scripture: Psalm 66
Lesson Passage: Psalm 66

This psalm was written by an anonymous author. Although the author is not known, the truths recorded in this psalm are universally known by God’s children. The title here says it all. God is awesome! This expression can only come from the heart of one who has been delivered by God in a time of great need. There is nothing that comes close to personal experience with God. Deliverance leads to praise. Praise comes easily for those who have had an encounter with God and he has dealt kindly with them. A testimony is birthed when the realness of God is experienced in one’s life and not just thought about or felt. When God allows us to see his works, we praise him for his works. God’s wisdom and his power are awesome. No one can do the things that God does. God acts according to his own character or nature and therefore his actions are not subject to circumstances. The fact that a holy God interacts with man—who has a sinful nature—is incomprehensible. God’s dealings with man are awesome. Today, all do not know him but one day all will know him and acknowledge him for his holiness. His power is irresistible; every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God. Nature has already succumbed to God’s divine power. His power over nature is awesome. He dried up the Red Sea and the Jordan River. Although this may have occurred many years before the psalmist wrote about it, yet the very nature of these actions are testimonies worth repeating to encourage future generations. It is a reminder that there are no barriers in this life that can resist God’s power to overcome and subdue. God’s knowledge and wisdom are to be praised. His all-seeing eye beholds everything without limit in regard to time or space. Yesterday and tomorrow are as clear to God as right now. His omniscience is awesome. He is aware of all of the affairs of man throughout the nations. David, in one of his psalms, declared that there is nowhere one can go to escape God’s presence. Man appears to be one of the last frontiers that will be conquered by God’s divine holiness. We think of God in reverent fear. We reverence him because of his holiness and great love towards us. Although we are mortal and our frames are made of dust, God upholds us in our time of weakness. We praise him for his ability to keep his children from falling. All of these things are known by those who are his. Although we have a collective testimony, yet our testimony of him is also deeply personal. My personal testimony of God’s dealings with me is awesome. I cannot count my blessings for they are too numerous. When I cry out to him in sincerity, he hears my cry and responds as a father to a tender young child. I am in awe that he is attentive to my prayers and responds to them when I do not cherish sin. A sinful nature is abomination towards God but he cleans us up and makes us fit to come into his holy presence. Through the blood of his only begotten Son, we come boldly before his throne of grace to render the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to our awesome God!

Robert C. Hudson
October 26, 2010