The one
Triune Covenant God is differentiated and there is diversity within the unity.
The Father, Son, and the Spirit are different from each other, and in the one Covenant
God they differentiate themselves from each other. Teachers of the Bible will often
use the two words, “generation” and “procession” to describe the movement
within the one God. “Generation” is used to differentiate the Father and the
Son. The Father is the one who generates the Son. The Son is the only begotten
Son, as he is eternally generated by the Father. “Procession” is used to
differentiate the Spirit from the Father and from the Son. The Spirit is the
one who proceeds from the Father (and from the Son).
Category: Biblical teaching
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God is diversity and unity
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In the beginning: God
To be able
to begin to understand the meaning of life and grasp the intention of covenant
as well as vision, we need to go back to the beginning before the beginning of
the world. We need to go back to God who is the source of everything which
exists. Our destiny is only found in our origin. When we go back to God we will
find our future in our beginning in the Father heart of God before the creation
of the world. -
Our frame of reference determines our perception of life
The statement we are looking at, Covenant alongside vision is the key to arrive at our purpose, can only be properly understood when the Triune God is our frame of reference.
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:36)
• All things come from God. We need no additional principles beyond God in order to explain the existence of the universe. As the image we see in a mirror can be said to be a representation of the original, we can say that all things created by God represent him in a way and reflect some of his divine nature.
• All things exist through God. The entire universe, every created being, is sustained through his life-giving power. In other words, we all exist through him only and have no power of life in our selves.
• All things are intended to bring glory to God. All things find the ultimate intention and purpose of existence in God only.
The three prepositions from, through, and to will help us to find the right frame of reference. First, we need to start with God, and then we will see how all things fall into place when we covenant together to fulfil the eternal purpose of God, which is our purpose. -
Covenant and vision
We have just had an international gathering of an apostolic team working together in many parts of the world. We had a most wonderful time in prayer, fellowship and dialog. I was asked to prepare a paper on, "Covenant along vision is the key to arrive at our purpose." I will share some of it on my blog in the coming days.
When I worked on the paper I fist asked the question: Can the vision of God really be achieved without walking in covenant? And I answered immediately and strongly: NO! People may arrive at their goal independently from God or fellow men. People may even be able to achieve their own vision at the expense of others. People may become great in this world, but if they fail to live in covenant, eventually everything they have built will collapse. -
The DNA of the church of Christ
Neil Cole gave us biblical teaching on the DNA of the church even though he admitted that naturally the term DNA is not used in the Bible. The reality of the DNA is actually used many times by Jesus when he speaks of the seeds being planted in the soil and so many times describes the organic nature of Kingdom of God.
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The meaning of the Cross
On Good friday Keri Jones gave us a very profound message on the meaning of the Cross. To me that was the highlight of the Easter conference.
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Christian leadership
There is a discussion on leadership going on elsewhere on my blog on an article on apostolic leadership. It seems clear to me that many people have had some nasty encounters with so-called Christian leaders and leadership structures. Therefore they even reject the concept of leadership. They seem to feel that even all Biblical leadership terms are a power-language that we must avoid to use.
I thank God for his goodness and faithfulness to me in allowing me to work with apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, elders, overseers, – Christian leaders who express the love and care of Jesus Christ in their leadership functions towards me and the covenant communities to which I am related. The many different leadership terms used in the Bible are not part of a power-language to me, but rather expressions of the good order of God. I am happy to follow my Leader, Master, and Lord Jesus Christ and all those leaders he sends to me to guide me and help me in my walk with the Lord. I thank God for the blessings these Christ-like leaders have brought to my life.
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Brothers, friends, co-workers, fellow soldiers and saints
This morning I had the joy of listening to Noralv Askeland sharing the word of God at the gathering of the covenant community. He was ministering from Philemon 1-7. He started with this definition of church: people living together under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He continued to describe the different names Pauls is using in these verses of people living under the Lordship of Christ.
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Alan Hirsch on Missional Church
Last week Alan Hirsch was visiting Bergen. I had the privilege of attending a full day seminar as well as having a dinner with this servant of God with Jewish background from Australia. He shared some good insight on the missional church with us.
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Apostolic leadership
In a previous post I copied an article on leadership from the House Church Blog. Now, I do it again. I found an article by Mike Steele on "The Apostle Who Is A Father" that really is worth reading. I wonder what my friends think of his view?