The Tulip Driven Life

By: Nathan Fox Introduction Last week I spoke about the message of redemption from our sins through the blood of Jesus. In last week’s blog, I spoke as openly as I could about the Gospel and the way that it changes lives. I spoke of Jesus’ persecution and pain for the forgiveness of our sins. This week, the topic remains Jesus, but it turns to His superiority. It is true that He shed his blood, but what makes His blood so worthy to be shed on our behalf? What makes Him so different that the entire crux of the Christian faith rests squarely on His shoulders? What makes Jesus the one that delivered us? Paul turns to answering these questions in Colossians 1:15-20, and it is there that we will focus our attention Christ is God Colossians 1:15 says this: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Look at the first part of that verse. In the first clause of this verse, Paul makes the argument that God could be seen in the fleshly body of Jesus. G...

By: Thomas Clayton Booher Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. The author of the letter to the Hebrews is unknown. The writer does not identify himself, and the clues are sufficiently weak as to make it impossible to offer a suggestion with any certainty. The Scofield Reference Bible ascribes the letter to Paul. Most all other such Bibles refrain. It is very unlikely that Paul was the author. The writer places himself among those who had not received any direct revelation from Christ, but heard only those who had (Heb 2:3). Paul insists that he had received his Gospel from Christ himself (Gal 1:11, 12; Cf Eph 1:3). The occasion of the letter is an apparent danger of some Jewish converts to turn back to the Old Testament system of worship in some fashion. The temptation to succumb is easier because the temple and priestly offices were still in tact, as the letter seem...