Three basic characteristics of a mature Christian is love, joy, and peace. All of these grow with our faith in God, and the pursuit to be like Him. These are also three of the most “divinely powerful weapons” we have been given.

         The Lord helps us mature by allowing people and conditions in our life that require us to grow in these. For love He will send those to us who are not very lovable. Trials and difficulties will test our joy and peace to help us grow in these, because...

         Last week we discussed how God loves the whole world, not just man. Because man was given dominion over the earth, when man fell all that was under his dominion suffered too. This is why we are told in Romans 8:19 that the creation is“anxiously waiting for the revelation of the sons of God.” The creation is waiting for mankind (the sons of God) to turn back to God and walk in harmony with Him so that harmony can be brought back to the creation that man was created to rule over. 

         Consider how the creation...

         There is a theological principle called “The Principle of First Mention.” This establishes that when something is first mentioned in Scripture, it is with a revelation of its main purpose. For example, pray and prophet are both first mentioned in the same verse, Genesis 20:7. This implies that prophets will also be devoted to prayer. 

         The first mention in Scripture that God has a house is in Genesis 28:17. Here Jacob has a dream of ladders that reach into heaven, and the messengers of God are ascending and descending upon the ladders. This implies that a basic purpose of...

         As we covered last week, this life is a war for a great purpose. As I John 5:19 states, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Jesus purchased the whole world on the cross, and He is coming to take it back. He has delayed doing this for the sake of those He has called to reign with Him in the age to come, which will be for the time of the “restoration of all things.” 

         Jesus did not just redeem us, but also the whole world. The Father...

         We are in a war. That should not surprise us because we have been in a war our whole life, as has every other human being to live since the fall in the Garden. It never stops, it only changes forms. As we are told in I John 5:19, “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” We’ve been in a war from the day we were born and were dropped behind enemy lines. 

         The whole world may lie in the power of the evil one, but...