Tag Archives: faith

PUT ON THE HELMET OF SALVATION

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:17a. “And take the helmet of salvation,“

Our next part of the armour to put on is the helmet of salvation. What is the helmet of salvation?

It refers to the final salvation of the Christian. It concerns the appearance of the Lord to finally take home His people. Romans 13:11 put it this way: “And that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed”. The final redemption of all believers is called SALVATION. We would be taken into the presence of the Father where all the many problems of this life shall be no more. Revelation 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”.

These things are in the future, so we hope or expect them to come to pass in some time to come. It is called a helmet because it protects your head from the worries of the present moment. This helmet gives protection to your head so that, no matter the difficulties, persecutions, or adversities, we are assured that everything will one day come to an end.
1st Thessalonians 5:8 presents this thought very clearly to us, “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.“

Every Christian must put on this helmet of salvation so that the challenges of this life will not wear them down. Every Christian who lives godly for Christ shall suffer persecution. In some cases, the persecutions are so grave that we are tempted to give up.

Dear child of God no matter what you are facing, never give up, but put on this armour: that is the helmet of the hope of salvation. Keep hope alive. The entry of our Lord into the heavens gives us a very sure hope of His coming for us as well as a glorious life after we have left this place.

CONFESSION

I have a glorious hope because my Lord Jesus did not remain in the grave. He passed into the heavens and He would also come back for us. This is my hope and assurance even as the enemy raises his persecutions to any level.

THOUGHT: THE CHRISTIAN HAS A GUARANTEED HOPE BECAUSE JESUS WENT INTO HEAVEN.

FURTHER STUDIES

Hebrews 6:19-20. ” Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Romans 5:4-5 ” And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

TAKE THE SHIELD OF FAITH

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked”.

The Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle asks us to take the shield of faith, wherewith we can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Please note the first two words in our key scripture. It says “above all”. This is a powerful emphasis on the importance of this part of the armour. He says with this shield of faith, we could quench or put out every explosive weapon thrown at us. Note also the word “every”. It does not matter how terrible or destructive the onslaught may be; you would be able to put it out by the shield of faith.

My candid advice is, never consider any situation as beyond your ability to deal with. All you need is that your faith must be in place. The faith of the Christian is such an important virtue, and every child of God must endeavour to maintain an active faith at all times.

Trouble does not announce itself or give a prior warning before it arrives. Every problem comes to destroy or stop God’s testimony in your life. You need to keep working on your faith. The Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

Many children of God go through trials or satanic attacks and are waiting for God to do something about the situation. Our key scripture tells us something different. It says you must take the shield of faith. You must use it to quench the fiery dart of the wicked. You must put your faith into action.

Faith is a product of the word of God. It is not a product of our reasoning. Give attention to the word of God. Keep feeding on the word. Do not worry about how weak or small your faith is. Keep feeding on the word and keep acting on what you have been hearing. Please faith has nothing to do with your feelings. Faith has everything to do with the word of God. Faith is an individual thing. It is not a cooperate issue. If you are faced with a condition that must change or stop for you to be free, then you must use your faith. If a fiery dart is thrown at you, you must have your shield to quench it.

How do we get our faith into action? You must believe the word of God about the situation. Speak out the word in line with what you expect, and then finally act on the word. Hold your ground if need be, and don’t give up.

CONFESSION

I give attention to the word of God always. This gets my faith ready for every situation. By faith, I stop every attack that the enemy raises against me.

FURTHER STUDIES.

1 John 5:4 ” For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith”.

Mark 9:23 “Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth”.

THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:14b ” … and having on the breastplate of righteousness; ”

Our next part of God’s armour to put on is the breastplate of righteousness. Please understand that we are not asked to pray for the Lord to put on us these things. We must put them on. You do so as you act on what the Bible says about these things.

Righteousness is a gift that we receive by faith. This comes with our new birth. A righteous consciousness keeps you from living in sin consciousness. Satan succeeds more in making one live in sin when he has a sin consciousness. It is sin consciousness that leads many into acts of sin (sin consciousness is the belief that you are a sinner). Sinning is a condition of the heart. It defiles as well as a rebellion against God.
The Lord said in Mark 7:20 “And He said that which cometh out of the man, that defiles the man, for from within out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder…”
Such a heart of filth will drive out the influence of the Spirit from you.

A man becomes the cheapest influence and control of the devil when sin is permitted into the heart. Keep your righteousness. It is your breastplate. It guards the heart out of demonic intruders. Remember the advice of the Spirit in Proverbs 4:23 “Keep the heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.” The heart is the centre of your being. The heart should be the sole possession and control of the Holy Spirit.

Give attention to the word of God and meditate on the word of God. This is the only way you can maintain a right heart. Make a decision never to allow the flesh and the world to take over your heart. Satan is always knocking to be allowed in. Never permit him. Put on the breastplate of righteousness.

Physically, a diseased heart is a terminal case. Secondly, if a fiery dart shot hits the heart, you are dead. This perfectly applies to our spiritual state. You must never leave your heart unprotected. Other parts of the body, when hit or attacked, may not cause fatalities, not so with the heart. It must be protected with all diligence. Righteousness is non-negotiable. If there is any act of dishonesty, please stop it now. Failure to stop would lead you to spiritual death. Spiritual death is separation from God, and it is the worst thing that may happen to you.

CONFESSION

My heart is the centre of my life. I guard it with all diligence, putting on the breastplate of righteousness. Every act of dishonesty has no place in me. I maintain my righteousness by believing whatever God says about me, as well as doing it.

THOUGHT: SATAN CAN NEVER OVERWHELM THE MAN LIVING RIGHT

FURTHER STUDIES:

2 Corinthians 4:2 ”But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”

Proverbs 14:34 ” Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”

GOD’S ARMOUR, OUR STRENGTH

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand”

Our key scripture instructs us that, if we were victorious over the devil, then we ought to put on the whole armour of God.

The Apostle starts with the first armour calling it truth: Ephesians. 6:14 “Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth… “He describes truth as a belt that holds the whole armour in place. Truth is light. Truth makes the power of the enemy useless. Remember that the power of the enemy is darkness.

The enemy is eternally defeated. Hebrews 2:14 says “For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil.”

The word ‘destroy’ means to be paralyzed or to be made ineffective

 Again, wearing the belt of truth is to accept that the Bible is God’s word to us. Every promise has God’s full backing and you fully rely on it. Satan has used his age-old deception to hold many captives. He tells people, “Don’t trust your whole life on God’s word”. Please refuse that, as Moses did. Get to the word of God and approach every scripture with a very open mind. God is the greatest unseen reality (truth), and your heart must be fully open to whatever he says. Give no room to any suggestion that waters down the reliability of the word.

Know the truth about yourself. Take time to study all that the Bible says about God’s investment in you through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are not just a piece of dust on the earth seeking to find out how things would work out for you. You are God’s object of love and care by giving up Jesus to die in your place. You are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You are the apple of God’s eye. Know the truth about who you are.

Accept these scriptural truths and keep speaking the truth to yourself always. You have got to be established in these present truths. Keep declaring the truth about Satan. Satan is a liar and eternally defeated. Confess the truth about our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Every knee and every name bows to Him. Finally, confess the truth about yourself. In making these confessions daily, you put on this belt of truth.

 CONFESSION

God’s word is the truth. I submit my life to the truth always without holding back. I keep soaring high and high in Jesus’ name.

FURTHER STUDIES:

John 17:17.” Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.“

John 8:31-32 ” Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

TAKING YOUR VICTORY

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”.

In our previous study, we learned that there is an organized host of demonic forces that are arrayed against the Christian. We Christians are identified with the Lord Jesus. This means whatever belongs to Jesus belongs to us. We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17). Our identification with Jesus also means whatever Jesus did, we did it with Him.

In spiritual warfare, the enemy’s main objective is to cause you to accept that you are defeated and that what God says is not true.

I would use an illustration to explain this point. Archbishop Benson Idahosa who has gone to be with the Lord, shared the following story. He said, that in November 1968, a car knocked him off his bicycle and threw him to the other side of the road. He was rushed to the hospital where the x-ray pictures showed he had multiple fractures in about ten different places. The doctor who attended to him said, “Man of God do you know you have broken your bones in ten different places?” The Archbishop responded by saying, “HIS BONES WERE NOT BROKEN.” He quoted Psalm 34:20 “He keepeth all His bones: not one of them is broken”. The man of God was on a battlefront at that moment. He either had to identify with Jesus in the fact that his bones were never broken or not to identify with Jesus, accept his physical condition, and suffer naturally, going through the normal process of healing.

A cast was put on the leg and was given four months to stay in the hospital. He told the doctor he would be in the hospital for a day. Just after the cast was fixed he limped off from the hospital, went to church that evening, and preached. He was healed from that day.

It was the enemy that attacked through the accident. He decided to stand on the victory in Jesus and not submit to the natural or physical conditions.

He felt the pain, yet he identified with the Lord Jesus and claimed Jesus’ bones were not broken and so his was also not broken. Spiritual warfare is won by taking your position in Christ irrespective of what the physical and natural evidence shows. Many of us have understood spiritual warfare as praying warfare prayers. Well, they are supposed to keep you standing in your victory in Christ. “….. And having done all stand.”(Ephesians 6:13b).

You don’t pray and go complaining about how Satan is defeating you. No!

 CONFESSION

I am secured in Jesus. No matter what the enemy throws at me, I maintain my victory in Jesus. He is my victory and success and I always remain victorious

FURTHER STUDIES.

Romans 8:31. ” What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? “

1 John 5:4 ”For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

OUR ENEMIES ARE NOT MEN

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”.

Our key scripture shows us that our enemies are spiritual beings. They are not flesh and blood. Satan may use human beings to oppose and even attack us in many forms, yet we’ve got to know that these people are not our real enemies but certain unseen persons.

The Bible lists them as.

Principalities

Powers

Rulers of darkness of this world.

Spiritual wickedness in higher places.

This is an orderly organized regime of satanic forces that come up against the Christian. The Bible lists them in a proper order of rank.

These names of these devils should never instill fear in any child of God. We have been raised together with Jesus and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ. 

Ephesians 1:21 reads “Far above all principality and power, and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world. But also in that which is to come”. 

The Christian shares in the authority of Christ. We are seated or ranked in authority far above these evil spirits.

Our life and experience are also after the position of Christ. Jesus is forever victorious. We share in His victory as well. This is the reason we must remain standing even in the face of trying moments that seem to depict failure. Jesus is our life. We represent him on the earth. If the Christian accepts failure and defeat from the enemy, it means he has decided to step out of his or her identification with Jesus. We are called Christians because of our identification with Jesus. We are in Him, He is in us, and we are one with our Lord.

The devil knowing this, attacks by deception. His strategy is to make us lose sight or awareness of our oneness with Jesus. He also seeks to make us lose sight of our non-negotiable victory in Jesus. The Bible calls the conflict we have with the devil as a wrestle. The Greek word for wrestle is “Pale”, it comes from the root word “Pallo”. This means to oscillate or vibrate. The idea is to sway you from your victorious position in Christ. Whatever Satan and his demons seek to achieve, is to take you from the truth that is your victory in Jesus.

Your part of the contest is to maintain your grounds and not lose your place of victory

CONFESSION

I am fully established in the Lord Jesus. I am very victorious and no matter what comes against me I am more than a conqueror.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Romans 8:37 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us “.

1 John 4:4. “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world”

THE CHRISTIAN’S WARFARE

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might”.

In today’s study, we look at an introduction to the Christian’s spiritual warfare. This calls on us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

This particular study spans the whole of Ephesians 6:10-18. It can not be treated or studied from one verse only. We would, therefore go through it in turns to be able to understand and appreciate the whole teaching on being strong in the Lord,

Our key scripture is the foundation or the need for all that followed. He tells us to be strong in the power of His might. The word “strong” means to be endowed with strength. It means do not be moved in your relationship with the Lord. Not to be shaken about anything whatsoever. It also said we must be strong in the power of His might: God is almighty. All power belongs to Him.

Although God is extremely powerful, many of His children fall short of walking in His power to defeat the devil. He shows us how to be strong. The way to be strong is to put on the whole armor of God. Our strength is not within ourselves. His strength to us is His armor. We have no strength of ourselves. Your ability to make use 

of the armor will determine how strong you will become and how effective you will be able to defeat the devil.

The enemy that is the devil is a schemer. He is a trickster. The Bible calls it the wiles of the devil. These wiles are described as cunning arts, deceit, craft, or trickery. Everything Satan does is not the real thing. He is not the truth and has no truth in Him, yet whatever he does appears so real and has been believed by most Christians.

The Bible calls on us to stand or be able to resist all these tricks and strategies of the devil.

Now, get this point very clearly in our context with the enemy. No matter what the devil does, we are those who are STANDING and not those who are on the floor. A look at the entire passage reveals four different places where the word STAND or WITHSTAND is used.
Ephesians 6:11, 13-14. Please, no matter how defeated you appear, don’t ever accept that you are on the floor. STAND, STAND, STAND! Because you are not down but STANDING. The Christian is standing because we represent our Lord on this earth. We do not only represent Him, He is living in us. He has forever defeated Satan. No matter what we experience physically, Jesus in us is the winner, and so we are also winners and must not bow to the enemy in defeat

 CONFESSION

I am strong in the Lord. My strength is in the Armour of the Lord. The devil is a schemer and a trickster. I always win over him as I stand my ground to overcome him.

THOUGHT: KEEP STANDING, BECAUSE JESUS IN YOU HAS DEFEATED THE DEVIL

FURTHER STUDIES:

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole Armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil “.

Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”

BE NOT DECEIVED 2

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Colossians 2:8 KJV “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

In our previous study, we looked at one aspect of the devil’s way of deceiving Christians and the world as a whole. We looked at philosophy as one way He deceives men. He easily succeeds because the meaning of the word ‘philosophy’ in ancient Greek is, that is ‘lover of wisdom’ or better still common sense. Common sense is a Normal human access to issues within the natural realm. This is called sense knowledge.

The knowledge that God communicates to His children is revelation knowledge. This is knowledge outside our three-dimensional world. Until it is revealed, you can’t know it. 

1Co 2:14 KJV “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Any child of God who decides to relate to the things of God from the natural point of view will be lost and will surely end up accepting those things that appeal to his natural sense, yet they are all deceit from God’s point of view. Listen to the advice the Lord gave Thomas. 

John 20:29 KJV “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

The next line of deceit, according to our key scripture, is vain deceit. Sadly, this is one of the very strong points or ways Satan uses to deceive most men. Can you believe some people go about saying “Jesus is alien”? Aliens are supposed to be beings who come from other planets with higher superpowers than human beings. This is a vain deceit. The sources of vain deceit are the same as the philosophies. They are traditions of men and the rudiments of this world. It is just strange to hear certain individuals claim Jesus is a myth. In Ghana, we have folk stories about Kwaku Ananse. Kwaku Ananse, Is a myth. 

No human being was ever called Kwaku Ananse who had all those stories spoken about Him. Another such vain deceit is the widely held view that Christianity is a white man’s religion. The original religion of Europe or the white man is idol worshipping. 

Acts 17:16 KJV “ Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry“. 

Athens, a city in Europe was given to idol worship. Rome was the center of idol worship. Europe is a fragment of the old Roman empire. Christianity rather spread to Europe and they accepted it. A million and one vain deceits are making the runs among most people. 

Rev 12:9 KJV ” And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” 

This being as described above is the original deceiver of all people. Satan is still using people to deceive others using vain deceit 

The truth is always available. That is the bible or the word of God. Stick to it

THOUGHT: STAY GLUED TO GOD’S WORD, AND AVOID BEING DECEIVED

FURTHER STUDIES

2Thessalonians 2:11 KJV “And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:“

John 8:44 KJV ” Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.”

DO NOT BE DECEIVED

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ”.

Apostle Paul, in this verse, exposed the root of deception that comes to most children of God. He tells us to beware of these traps of the enemy. To be aware is to be on the alert. It involves knowing who your enemy is and how you could be deceived. Satan is a specialized deceiver. This is even an understatement. He is a natural deceiver. Our key scripture says “ Beware lest any man spoil you…”

We know that the Greek word for man is ‘Anthropos’. In Colossians 2:8, The word used for man is ‘Tis’, But could also be translated as, a thing or anything whatsoever. This implies you could be taken captive, deceived, or spoilt by an event, a situation, a man, an information from the radio. Simply be on the alert against anything the devil may use to spoil (to carry one away as booty, a slave, or lead away from the truth). Many children of God are led away from the truth. Be on the alert.

He tells us the two main (weapons) means by which children of God are deceived.

These are, 

Philosophy

Vain deceit

He also adds the sources of these two weapons of deception. They are:

Traditions of men

The rudiments of this world.

Philosophy means love of wisdom. There are a number of us who, by much learning, are prone to human wisdom, using our minds to analyze whatever we are told. These philosophies are rooted in human traditions, which are the experiences and beliefs of people that have been passed or transmitted from one generation to another. The second source of these philosophies is the rudiments or the basic principles of this life. This could be related to arts, science, and the general physical functions of our world and not faith in Christ.

These things have formed the thinking and worldview of most people. Secularism and its high level of worldliness are rooted in this. No amount of human reasoning can contact God except by accepting God’s revelation about Himself.

1st Corinthians 1:18 reads “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of God”. According to 1st Corinthians 1:21, the world by wisdom can not and would not know God.

There have arisen these days a lot of motivational preachers. Most of their teachings are human philosophies and not Christ. Be on the alert lest you are carried away as a captive.

Dear one, your surest grounds to keep safe from being deceived is to settle it that the Bible is God’s word, and it is infallible.

CONFESSION

I am committed to Christ, His death, and resurrection that has brought me into the kingdom of God. I am aware of the human philosophies that do not save or bless anyone.

FURTHER STUDIES:

1 Corinthians 1:19 “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent “.

1 Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe”

JESUS IS GOD WHO TOOK ON FLESH

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Colossians 2:9 “ For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily ”.

For in Him (Jesus Christ) dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

The word ‘Godhead’ means deity or divinity. The word ‘fullness’ also means completeness, abundance, or filled. This scripture could be said this way, “He is the manifestation of God in a bodily form”. He is not just a representative of the original but the real divine one in a bodily form.

Jesus is God.

Colossians 1:15-19 throws more light on His deity and the fact that He (JESUS) is the creator of all things. Colossians 1:15 says “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature”. This issue of Jesus being the firstborn of every creature has been misunderstood by some people, especially the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They claim Jesus is a creature.

Well, to understand the meaning and import of certain statements you must read further. Colossians 1:16 reads “For by Him were all things created“. The word by is the Greek word “En” which means “IN” in English. It could be translated as follows, “for in Him were all things created”.  He states “…that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him”.

Please consider this, how could He be a creature and all things would be created ”IN” Him and then “FOR” Him, If He is not the ultimate Lord of all things? 

Colossians 1:17 also reads “And He is before all things and by (in) Him all things consist”. 

Jesus is not a creature but the creator. 

Colossians 1:19 also teaches that“For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell”.

 Note: The whole fullness of deity or divinity dwells in Him in bodily form. He is God in a bodily form. Let’s look at 1st Timothy 3:16 ” And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world, received up into glory”.

Beloved, this scripture undoubtedly refers to our Lord Jesus. He is God in bodily form.

CONFESSION

Jesus is God who became man. He died for me and bought me with His blood. This makes me very precious and my salvation the dearest thing or experience on this earth. I would continue to keep faith with Him and live to glorify His name.

FURTHER STUDIES.

John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”.

John 1:1,3 ” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made”