extravagant

Advent Day 2 The Arrival: Digging Deeper

Leave a Comment

Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out The Arrival!

The Questions

1) What title of Jesus is revealed in John 18:37?

2) Why does Jesus refer to Himself as a servant in Philippians 2:7?

3) What title descriptor of Christ is found in Matthew 20:28?

John 18:37

“You are a king then?” Pilate asked.
“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Philippians 2:7

Instead He emptied Himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.

Matthew 20:28

“[J]ust as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Original Intent

1) What title of Jesus is revealed in John 18:37?
Jesus is standing before Pilate on trial for His claim to be God. This claim infuriated the Jewish rulers, who declared Him a blasphemer (Matthew 26:64-65), rendering Him worthy of the death penalty according to Jewish Law. (Leviticus 24:16) Pilate is searching for a reason to crucify him and queries, “You are a king then?”. In Jesus’ three years of earthly ministry He described Himself with many titles, but He never declared himself King even though His role as king fulfilled many prophecies. (Isaiah 9:6-7, Zechariah 9:9) The Jews thought the Messiah would be an earthly king sent to free them from Roman rule and set up His geo-political reign on earth. They easily recalled the ancient prophecy foretelling how a king would come from (King) David’s lineage from his father, Jesse. (Isaiah 11:1-10) We can understand how this would be a reasonable conclusion given their perspective, but King Jesus didn’t arrive on the scene with an army. He arrived with all humility, though He held all power; He came with the fullness of all Truth and Light, yet gentle and compassionate. (Zechariah 9:9) This King perplexed everyone. His power was revealed in His words, His miracles, and the humility of His extravagant love not in military might. So, yes, Pilate, a King indeed; a King beyond description with humility so grand He is willing to stand before you.

2) Why does Jesus refer to Himself as a servant in Philippians 2:7?
In ancient times, a servant was considered slightly higher up on the socio-economic chain than a slave, but both were considered as significantly “less than”. To be a servant or slave was to be without identity or personhood, often traded as property. To associate oneself as a slave was to surrender all of oneself to another in ways that are quite difficult for our minds to comprehend today. No one desired to become a servant. For the Messiah to “assume the form of a servant” would have been utterly reprehensible to first century ears. Kings owned servants; they didn’t willfully become servants. Yet, this is precisely what the King of Kings modeled when He laid aside His rights as the second person of the Godhead, choosing to lower Himself as a servant to all mankind in order to rescue us from our sin, thereby demonstrating the deepest love. Jesus arrived on earth in complete humility and lived His life as a servant, culminating in His sacrificial, humiliating, and excruciating death by crucifixion, perfectly fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy. (Isaiah 53) Jesus refers to Himself as a servant even as He predicts His own death. (Matthew 20:28) The creator of the world became, not an earthly political king, but the Lord’s chosen servant. (Isaiah 42:1) No one expected the Messiah to act as He did. Yes, Christ, being God, performed miracle after miracle, proving His infinite authority. As a Jew, He taught in the synagogue, proving His infinite wisdom. But, in the greatest paradox, this God, the True Messiah, sat with the sinner, forgave the prostitute, touched the diseased, spoke calm to the deranged, and washed the dirt from filthy feet, even those of His enemy. This God served with infinite love and humility. (John 13:5-17)

3) What title descriptor of Christ is found in Matthew 20:28?
The title “Son of Man” was Jesus’ most preferred title for Himself in the gospels. (Mark 10:33, Mark 2:10) He used it so often because it carried significant implications for His Jewish audience. Every ear who heard Jesus call Himself “Son of Man” couldn’t possibly help but instantly bring to mind the famous prophetic words from Daniel, “I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before Him. He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14) This is a direct description of a Divine Being, co-equal with God the Father (the Ancient of Days). Every time Jesus used this title, He emphasized again that He was fulfilling this prophecy. Filling out this description, the disciple John writes in the opening words of his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. (…) The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1-2, 14) The Son of God became the Son of Man that we might see the duality of God’s nature and His purpose in coming to reconcile mankind back to God. Christ is the same God in the Old Testament as He is in the New. In the gospels, Christ is born in the likeness of man to fulfill the ancient prophecy and one day, as the Scriptures foretell, we will once again see the Son of Man on the throne of Heaven (Revelation 1:10-18) Jesus is from Genesis to Revelation, our perfect Redeeming God.

Everyday Application

1) What title of Jesus is revealed in John 18:37?
The Jewish rulers hated Jesus for His claim to be the promised Messiah, but they wanted Him dead for His claim to be the “I AM”, God Himself. (John 8:58-59, John 19:7) Though Pilate shifted uneasily with the death sentence upon Christ, and wrestled heavily with the idea of Christ being the King, he still gave in to the people and called for Jesus’ crucifixion. (John 19:8, Mark 15:10-15) With a subtle, but significant move, Pilate wrote, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” on a sign posted above Jesus’ head on the cross. (John 19:19-22) The Jews, not surprisingly, were insulted by this public declaration and made it known to Pilate that he should remove it, but he remained adamant. Like the Jews and Pilate, we each must wrestle with the title of King for Christ. Will we accept Him as the King He claims He is? To do so, insists on our complete surrender and fealty to Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Alternatively, we can deny and reject Him, attempting to ignore Him, but if even death by crucifixion couldn’t slay Him, our denial of truth will not change His authority. Scripture declares Christ as Ultimate King and Ruler; in Him alone are all things held together. (Colossian 1:17) How will we respond to this truth? Just as Christ conquered death, so He conquers our sin in our own lives when we surrender to Him. In the world to come, and for all eternity stretching forward, Scripture continues to declare Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Revelation 19:16) Only today, while we are alive, do we have the opportunity to come to Him in surrender and claim Him as our own King. If we do this through repentance of our sin, we will see the King of Kings seated on His throne and will join all other believers and angels in worshipping Him as King forever. (Revelation 5:11-14)

2) Why does Jesus refer to Himself as a servant in Philippians 2:7?
Even when we love others, it is sometimes difficult to become subservient to them. Perhaps part of you even pulls back from even the word “subservient”. On another level, serving our enemy is even more challenging. Your cranky neighbor who is always complaining? That ornery co-worker who often seems to have a chip on their shoulder? Not easy. But the Creator of the world humbled Himself to model serving others with love. Jesus didn’t boast of His power, but instead set it aside in order to love us well. Are we willing to love like this? God became flesh and dwelt among us to show us the best way to love. He surrendered His all, indeed emptying Himself on a cross as He suffered a cruel death and separation from God the Father. (Matthew 27:46) He took our punishment upon Himself that we might be made righteous. (2 Corinthians 5:21) See the “suffering servant” who laid down His life for us! Surrender hardly sounds enticing, and when told we are to surrender to Christ in order to gain His reward of eternal life and peace with Him, we worry what this surrender might cost. Will it mean our physical death? Will it mean surrendering our finances in ways we hadn’t expected? Will it mean surrendering our plans, career, or dreams? We cannot know the future, but choosing to serve Christ with total surrender means humble love toward others. Whether it’s your close family, your cranky co-worker, or someone who has betrayed, offended, or wounded you, these are the ones Christ calls us to lovingly serve with all humility. A humility deep enough to set ourselves aside entirely as we point others to the Great Light of Christ, the greatest servant King of all!

3) What title descriptor of Christ is found in Matthew 20:28?
What an unfathomable gift of grace that God the Son willfully became the Son of Man! Not only did He offer us rescue from our death-sentence of sin and prove He is worthy of our surrender to Him as King because He fulfilled all prophecy, but He also became like us that He would be intimately acquainted with all our suffering. (Luke 4:2, Matthew 4:1-11) He knows grief. (John 11:38-44) He knows anxiety. (Matthew 26:38, Luke 22:41-44) He knows betrayal, and the full range of human emotion. (Matthew 26:47-50) Other “gods” cannot do this. In fact, other religions, disdain the idea of deity integrating with puny humans! God isn’t on a pedestal somewhere waiting for us to do everything right before He will engage with us.  He has experienced everything we have, or will, walk through. Christ Jesus is indeed the “with us” God; He is as close as the mention of His name. He is ever ready to hear our pleas, our dreams, our struggles, our joys, and our fears. He became the Son of Man to pay the ultimate price for all who would trust Him as their Savior, that we might be with Him forever in Eternity. (Hebrews 2:17-18)

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with The Arrival!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Advent Week One!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

The GT Weekend! ~ Here Week 1

1 Comment

The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) Have you ever considered what that pivotal moment of revelation to the un-supposing shepherds was like from the perspective of the angels? Those beings who had also witnessed, and been part of, so many other pivotal moments throughout history. Those beings who adore God with their entirety for eternity. This moment was the one God had perfectly chosen to announce the arrival of His own Son; redemption wrapped in flesh. Take a few moments today and sit with the Lord in silence. Find a dark, quiet closet or bathroom and hold up your hands, or bow down your head, or lay prostrate, focusing on exactly who this Christ is in His fullness. Worship Him. Repeat, Holy! Holy! Holy! in awe, and rejoice in this Salvation revealed through Christ!

2)  Suppose for just a moment that you are Mary this December. Rejected, object of scorn, having no concept that one day people would honor her for her humble part of the Savior’s entrance to His world. As every parent will quickly attest, we all feel ill-equipped and profoundly confused at this glorious task of parenting. How much more so, Mary! Yet, the Lord used, and chose, her. Mary was favored by God to carry His Son into the world, but just as equally, He has chosen each of us to do His work, fulfilling specific kingdom purposes while we live out everyday lives. Every single believer has a calling. Are you stepping into yours with wholehearted humility and obedience, even with the fear and questions that surely tumble to the surface of your heart? Take courage, Sister! The Lord is equipping you, just as He did with Mary!

3) Is anything impossible for the Lord? This was surely part of Joseph’s wrestling as he decided what to do in his dilemma. Either Joseph could trust God, and follow in obedience, despite the fact he couldn’t make sense of it, or he could walk away. We know the rest of the story, and we know what Joseph would have been walking away from as the earthly father of Jesus, but he did not have that benefit. Do you see yourself here in this perspective of Christmas? Is the Lord calling you to trust Him, even though you don’t see how all the pieces fit together? Have you decided God is worthy of your trusting obedience? Or will you walk away?

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from Isaiah 7:14 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign:
See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

Prayer Journal
How undeserving we are, Lord! Sinful, we have rejected and scorned You, mocking Your holiness, yet You chose to come to save us. Your coming was not haphazard, You lovingly marked out the perfect time to come to us. You announced Your arrival, told of Your mighty rescue, and extended Your salvation to all humanity throughout all time. Throughout the entirety of time, we can trace Your hand of love as You designed to make Yourself known. Such love is too extravagant for me to understand! Lord, make my heart obedient in response to Your love! Teach me to love others, to share this incredible grace with the world around me.

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Prodigal Day 12
The Father Who Chose Disgrace: Digging Deeper

Leave a Comment

Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

Looking for yesterday’s Journey Post? Check out The Father Who Chose Disgrace!

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 English Standard Version (ESV)

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. 19 For it is written:

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and I will set aside the understanding of the experts.

20 Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, 25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

The Questions

1) What is the message of the cross? Why is it foolishness?

2) Where does the quote in verse 19 come from? How is it significant?

3) Verse 21 sounds confusing. What does it mean?

4) What is behind the mentioning of Jews and Greeks in verses 22-25?

The Findings for Intention

1) What is the message of the cross? Why is it foolishness?
The “message of the cross” is the gospel. The bold declaration that sinners can be freed from sin and attain a relationship with the Holy God, though we are sinful, simply by believing in His Name and His completed work of sacrifice, where our own “good deeds” are sin-filled. Every idea behind the gospel was foolish to the then-current-day onlookers. Life gained from death, blessing coming from the curse of “hanging on a tree” (Deut 21:23), and salvation by the one who was condemned. None of what they knew lined up with what they saw and heard preached – it was absurd and ludicrous.

2) Where does the quote in verse 19 come from? How is it significant?
In verse 19, Paul is quoting Isaiah 29:14, which had been written hundreds of years before Christ, but was intended to shine a spotlight forward to a time when all the best wisdom that could be manufactured by the wisest of the wise and most learned, would be trumped out by the far surpassing wisdom of God in the person and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The grand story of redemptive love that began in the Garden and continues even in this moment today and into eternal life is far beyond human comprehension or design.

3) Verse 21 sounds confusing. What does it mean?
Paul is making a strong point that zeros in on humanity’s weakness despite our many claims at attaining goodness or wisdom or advances in our understanding. He underscores that, no matter what our attempts at being wise are, we are still utterly far away from bringing ourselves into a relationship with the Holy God, which, in the greatest of ironies, God uses what we would view as foolishness, the “message of the cross”, to effectually bring about the otherwise impossible and reconcile us to Himself in a perfect relationship.

4) What is behind the mentioning of Jews and Greeks in verses 22-25?
The unbelieving Jews demanded a sign of Christ’s divinity, but nothing they witnessed seemed to measure up because they were waiting for a king who would overthrow Roman rule and save them from physical tyranny. The unbelieving Greeks were similar to our modern-day “new age movement”. They wanted wisdom, they sought after higher learning, sciences, and were Gnostics at their core. Of course, the cross was laughable to them because it made no scientific sense. It wasn’t reasonable. Why trust in the One who couldn’t even save Himself? BUT, to those who believe, to those who saw with eyes of faith the incredible mystery of God’s deep love hidden away in the “foolishness of the cross”, the gospel is precious life!

The Everyday Application

1) What is the message of the cross? Why is it foolishness?
The father in the story of the Prodigal Son disgraced himself, by all accounts foolishly, for an undeserving son. In that image we see the scars of the Son of God and know that we are assuredly loved. If the God of the Universe was willing to publicly disgrace himself and turn the wisdom of the world upside down to bring us into a relationship with Himself, though we ourselves are disgracefully sinful, there is absolutely nothing we could do that will separate us from His ceaseless love! God’s wisdom has brought us into a relationship of infinite power and love because we are hidden by His righteousness and not our own!

2) Where does verse 19 effect my everyday?
It can be easy to feel defeated when it comes to all the “wisdom” swirling around us. All the “proof” that seems to mount against believing in a knowable, loving God. How can we defend our faith and beliefs in the face of uncertain politics, persuasive arguments against the existence of God, and tragedies that leave our hearts hurting and our minds unsettled? Though there are plenty of very sound arguments to defend the Christian faith, we can rest soundly in knowing that, for all the wisdom the world can offer, the wisdom of our God supersedes it all. And by it, we are made secure and safe by the precious blood of the sacrificial Lamb of God!

3) Verse 21 sounds confusing. What does it mean?
Knowing that on our own we are impossibly far away from God, that we will die in our sins, and spend eternity in condemnation is endlessly hopeless. BUT at the same time, that truth combined with the unconditional loving offer of salvation from Christ, brings ultimate freedom. There is nothing we can do to attain peace with God. Blessedly. YES! All the work has been graciously done for us by a Father who was willingly disgraced for the sake of restoration; we need only to accept His work and admit our own failings without Him!

4) What is behind the mentioning of Jews and Greeks in verses 22-25?
God rarely shows up in the way we expect and always does more than we can imagine possible. But, we have to be willing to look for His ways, not ours. His understanding, not ours. His plans, not ours. When our wisdom says it’s impossible and hopeless, the Father who relentlessly loves us proves us wrong and shows up to blow us away with His grace and mercy in ways we couldn’t imagine.

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
Can we pray for you?
Sign up to receive every Journey Study!

I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
3) Write down your questions as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

The Community!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Prodigal Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Why!

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Prodigal!