Acts: The Spread of the Gospel

This study is taken from John MacArthur's "Acts: The Spread of the Gospel." My prayer and goal for this devo is that we will learn more about how the early church laid the foundation for what we possess today, and that we would allow God to use us to turn our world upside for Him!

This will be an exciting journey, so encourage others to join you! I'm looking forward to the interaction we will have on this blog as we study the book of Acts!

The devos will differ in format from day to day, but two things are constant: 1) a daily reading, and 2) additional Scripture passages that are in bold. Be sure to read any and all of the readings/bold verses that appear so that you can see the full picture of what is taught that day.

Remember, you can access any of the previous devos that have been posted from the "Blog Archive" section on the left side of this page.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Back to the Future - Part 4 - Devo for 01/01/2009

Reading
Revelation 1:1-20

Questions
1. Describe the amazing appearance of the Son of Man in this vision (vv. 13-18). What do these images convey about Christ?

2. What effect did this vision of the risen Christ have on John?
(Verses to consider: Genesis 17:3; Numbers 16:22; Isaiah 6:1-8; Ezekiel 1:28; Acts 9:4)

3. Why is Revelation 1:19 such a significant verse in relation to our understanding of this book?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. Describe the amazing appearance of the Son of Man in this vision (vv. 13-18). What do these images convey about Christ?

Jesus showed himeslf to John in all his holy glory with fine dressings of gold, and had 7 candlesticks (representing the churches) and 7 stars (representing the angels of the chuch's) and his feet were as bronze and the sword from his mouth represented his word that was a double edge sword that showed the strength of the word of God.

2. What effect did this vision of the risen Christ have on John?

The effect on John is pretty funny bcause after John has just all of a sudden maybe he had been going threw his usual routine nothing special AND ALL OF A SUDDEN!! Jesus Christ shown himself in ALL HIS DEVINED AND HOLY GLORY and STRENGTH and poor John how does he react? BY FAINTING AT CHRIST'S FEET!! hahaha I just find it a little funny I could just imagine it! Ofcourse we all would have probably done the same thing.
" And when i saw him, I FELL AT HIS FEET AS DEAD." Rev. 1:17.
it clearly shows a depiction of fainting^_^

3. Why is Revelation 1:19 such a significant verse in relation to our understanding of this book?

Rev 1:19 is a very significant verse in our understanding of the book because it was The Lords COMMANDMENT to John to write these things down so that we (future genreations of believers) may read and know of the second comming. It shows that Jesus, GOD, WANTED us to know what the future held for the world. In relation, it shows how much MORE God loves us that he not ONLY saved us from hell and eternal damnation but also from the fate of having to suffer the future tribulations and horrors that are later depicted in Revelations.
(but thats just in my opinion):D

P.S.
Oh and Pastor Jason,

Why is Jesus often called THE SON OF MAN? i thought he was the SON OF GOD, but i dont get why they call him the SON OF MAN. could you explain this a little better, please?

Anonymous said...

1. His hair was white and his feet looked like bronze.He also had a sword with 2 edges came out of his mouth. This description helps us see a little bit of the Glory of Christ. It reminds us that he is powerful and almighty.

2. John is so amazed that he felt as if he was dead. The glory of Christ is just so great that we can't get our minds around it even if we wanted.

3. Because this book not only talks about the things that happened in the bible, but it also talks about all the things that are to come. This book basically "reveals" to us the future events.

Anonymous said...

1. that there are 7 stars that mean the angels of the 7 churchs and the 7 candlesticks are the 7 churchs.
2. that he fall on his face.
3. he is basically telling us to be witnesses

Anonymous said...

Great question Gerson! I will answer it for you after I post my devo.

Anonymous said...

Gerson,

Here ia a brief explanation of the term Son of Man. Hope it is helpful!

This sounds like some kind of contradiction at first glance, but in fact there is no contradiction. An examination of Scripture reveals that the phrase "Son of Man" carries broad significance.

First of all, even if the phrase "Son of Man" is a reference to Jesus' humanity, it is not a denial of His deity. By becoming a man, Jesus did not cease being God. The incarnation of Christ did not involve the subtraction of deity, but the addition of humanity. Jesus clearly claimed to be God on many occasions (Matthew 16:16,17; John 8:58; 10:30). But in addition to being divine, He was also human (see Philippians 2:6-8). He had two natures (divine and human) conjoined in one person.

Further, Scripture indicates that Jesus was not denying His deity by referring to Himself as the Son of Man. In fact, it is highly revealing that the term "Son of Man" is used in Scripture in contexts of Christ's deity. For example, the Bible says that only God can forgive sins (Isaiah 43:25; Mark 2:7). But as the "Son of Man," Jesus had the power to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). Likewise, Christ will return to earth as the "Son of Man" in clouds of glory to reign on earth (Matthew 26:63-64). In this passage, Jesus is citing Daniel 7:13 where the Messiah is described as the "Ancient of Days," a phrase used to indicate His deity (cf. Daniel 7:9).

Further, when Jesus was asked by the high priest whether He was the "Son of God" (Matthew 26:63), He responded affirmatively, declaring that He was the "Son of Man" who would come in power and great glory (verse 64). This indicated that Jesus Himself used the phrase "Son of Man" to indicate His deity as the Son of God.

Finally, the phrase "Son of Man" also emphasizes who Jesus is in relation to His incarnation and His work of salvation. In the Old Testament (Leviticus 25:25-26, 48-49; Ruth 2:20), the next of kin (one related by blood) always functioned as the "kinsman-redeemer" of a family member who needed redemption from jail. Jesus became related to us "by blood" (that is, He became a man) so He could function as our Kinsman-Redeemer and rescue us from sin.

Anonymous said...

1. It conveys His deity, His authority, His compassion and desire for man to have a relationship with Him, and His eternal plan to redeem man.

2. He fell at Jesus' feet as dead, and was obviously afraid based on Jesus' response to him.

3. It is significant because the message came from Christ Himself, it tells us of actual events that will take place, and it was intended for us to hear and obey. This destroys any notion that the Revelation is allegorical or simply a story that gives us guidelines for truth. What we read will happen!

Anonymous said...

1. John just explains this powerful being and He is someone you want to fear because he has fire in his eyes and in his mouth was a sharp double-edged sword. he was scary and i would probebly fall down on my face and cry for mercy, but then he said to John dont be afraid, i was dead but now i am alive, i am the living one. it just shows all the truths about Jesus Christ.

2.John probebly fell to the ground on his face (and maybe begged for mercy).

3. it is telling us that the book tells us the future events that are about to take place.

Anonymous said...

~That he can be very mean to the ones who do not love Him but he can be loving and kind to His followers!

~wel...he fell on his face as if dead because he probley thought he was dead seeing God before him!

~it lets us know what is going to happen so that we can tell other people!