I hope and pray that some fruit of that Gospel would be manifest in that my life reflected some of what you read below.Īll Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. So I hope my posterity could look at my life (if they remember me at all) and say I, by the grace of God, failingly and haltingly lived in light of the Gospel.
#PAIGE BROWN ROMANS BIBLE STUDY ZIP#
Will my great-great grandchildren judge me for complicity in the sin of abortion? Will they judge me for my racism? Will they judge me for participating in an economic system that allows many of our consumer products to be produced in sweatshops in Asia? Will I be judged for not stopping the rampant growth and ubiquity of pornography and it’s degradation of women? Will I be judged for participating in a system of taxation and public education that unfairly discriminates against poorer zip codes? These are just a few of the things I have thought. I have been humbled lately by the thought of how future generations will judge us, just as we are judging our ancestors. I came across the statement below this week. This past Sunday we kicked off a new year and looked at some important principles for spiritual growth modeled by our Savior and his earthly parents, Mary and Joseph.June 27, 2020- A Message from Steve Shelby This four-fold pattern of growth we found in Luke 2:52 which reads, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52 ESV) To increase in favor with God is spiritual growth To increase in stature is physical growth To increase in wisdom is intellectual growth In Luke 2:52 we are told that during Jesus' growing years, as he became a man, that he “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” This gives us a four-fold pattern in this New Year as we think about ways in which we want to grow: To increase in favor with man is relational growth.Īll of these growth patterns that we see in Jesus point to the humanity of Christ. We focus a lot on the deity of Christ but we must not forget that he was also fully man and Jesus’ humanity is meant to serve as a pattern for us … to model for us spiritual growth. This commentary on Jesus’ growth will help you and me in the New Year to not set worldly goals, but spiritual goals and resolutions so that we will be useful in our service to the Lord! Also, as we look at this pattern of growth, we are constantly warned not to idolize men in our present day or men of the Bible for often they will let us down. He is a true example for us to follow.įirst, we see the Intellectual Growth of Jesus - He increased in wisdom. We have this fascinating scene here at the end of Luke 2:41 where Jesus’ parents realized that he was not with them as they traveled home from the Passover in Jerusalem, back to Nazareth.
And as they went back to Jerusalem to find him, where did they find him?. They found 12 year old Jesus in the Synagogue … learning, asking questions, seeking knowledge. How can we do that in this new year? How can you increase in wisdom? What a great example to all of us … to take every advantage to grow in wisdom like Jesus did.
Second, we see the Physical Growth of Jesus - He increased in stature. Perhaps what is most fascinating about these verses is simply how mundane they describe Jesus’ life.
Luke could have simply said, "Jesus grew as a boy and then became a man." And part of growing and living life is realizing that not only are we spiritual beings but we are physical beings. There is an unbiblical truth that has sought to infiltrate the church throughout the centuries and that is this idea that the material and physical does not really matter - it is less important than the spirit.
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