peace to live by

Christ- the Fullness of God, Part 1 (TMF:2560)

Friday, February 28, 2025
Peace to Live By: Christ- the Fullness of God, Part 1 (TMF:2560) - Daniel Litton
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       Colossians 1:19: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (ESV). Upon reading this first, the mind’s first inclination is to see the Son as somehow lesser than the Father—for at first glance, it would appear the verse is implying the Son was created at one point in time or something like that. What seems to be the case, since that obviously could not and would not be the matter, it seems that the Apostle Paul is implying that when Christ took on the form of a human, when he became as us, taking on human flesh (the incarnation), that he still remained fully God. In other words, any of the Son’s original God-ness was not lost when he took on human flesh to come into the world. It is interesting that, in Ephesians, Paul calls the church the fullness of Jesus. He says there about after Jesus returned to Heaven, “he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22, 23, ESV).

Christ as Having the First Place (TMF:2559)

Thursday, February 27, 2025
Peace to Live By: Christ as Having the First Place (TMF:2559) - Daniel Litton
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       We often refer to Christ in the body during his earthly ministry as being limited by the earthly body—and certainly that was true to some degree, though, to what degree that may be debated. The point is that “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.” Because he has gone before us in being first, and in dying and rising from the dead first, that makes him in a special place. No one, like Satan tried to do way back when, can say he is greater than Christ, or a more worthy son or daughter of God over Christ. This then, invariably, would include any other gods who would try to make such a claim. This brings us to the familiar passage which the Apostle John concluded with in his first epistle. He said, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:20-21, ESV).

The Consciousness of the Believer, Part 2 (TMF2558)

Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Peace to Live By: The Consciousness of the Believer, Part 2 (TMF2558) - Daniel Litton
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       Rather, really, in reality, life continues after this one, with the same kind of consciousness, though the external surroundings are certainly different, and not to mention the internal differences (lack of a sin-nature, eventual new body, much greater understanding, etc). And, it is there, in the next life, where Christ’s preeminence is visible for everyone to see for all eternity, for in the New Jerusalem, it is stated, “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:22, 23, ESV). We often refer to Christ in the body during his earthly ministry as being limited by the earthly body—and certainly that was true to some degree, though, to what degree that may be debated. The point is that “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead”—because he has gone before us in being first.

The Consciousness of the Believer, Part 1 (TMF2557)

Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Peace to Live By: The Consciousness of the Believer, Part 1 (TMF2557) - Daniel Litton
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       Though, behind the command, is a consciousness. Within the consciousness is a mind. Elsewhere Paul would say, ““For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16, ESV). Finishing verse 18: “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” (ESV). So Christ, as we know by now, is the beginning of the church. Indeed, he establishes the church, and then ascends back to Heaven, where he will receive each one of us individually as we complete our time in this life and move on to eternity. He is the beginning of it because his life, as well as our own lives, continue after this life is completed. It’s not that once this life is over we ascend into some mystical cloudy state of awareness where we float around as random consciousness or something like that, with no meaning and no aim. Rather, really, in reality, life continues after this one, with the same kind of consciousness, though the external surroundings are certainly different.

The Love that Believers Emanate (TMF:2556)

Monday, February 24, 2025
Peace to Live By: The Love that Believers Emanate (TMF:2556) - Daniel Litton
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       This invariably would mean that the love we as good people, as obedient people, as Christ followers, the love we emanate—also contributes to the world holding together. In other words, the love we display toward others has a major positive impact in the unseen realm. Remember, Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”(John 13:35, ESV). Verse 18: “And he is the head of the body, the church.” Familiar to us by now is the biblical metaphor of the church as a physical, human body. It’s used a lot, and specifically in this instance, is the fact that Christ is noted as the head of this physical body. It may be asked, and it seems like the logical thing to do, as to what a head does? What is meant is what does it do speaking in terms of the human body? There are a variety of observations we could make, and one of those is that the head of the body commands, through signals, what the body is supposed to do.

Jesus- Not Merely the Man, But God (TMF:2555)

Friday, February 21, 2025
Peace to Live By: Jesus- Not Merely the Man, But God (TMF:2555) - Daniel Litton
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       Moving along to verse 17: “And he [God’s beloved Son] is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” This just didn’t come from Paul’s fanciful mind, but recall, John recorded for us in John 8:58: “Jesus said to them [the Jews], “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”” This verse in Colossians shows the eternality of Christ. Jesus not merely the man, but God, God who becomes man at a point in time. Incredible and hard to fathom—perhaps impossible to fathom. It makes good sense that in the Son “all things hold together.” Notice that all things are said to be holding together as if there is a force that works against “all things.” What constitutes that force? Obviously coming to mind is Satan. That’s obvious. But also it should be noted the rebelliousness of mankind, as we just discussed. The negativity of people—their sin. If it wasn’t for Christ’s consciousness—Christ’s love—that holds the world together, certainly everything would fall apart.

God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 4 (TMF:2554)

Thursday, February 20, 2025
Peace to Live By: God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 4 (TMF:2554) - Daniel Litton
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       And technically speaking, and not to get too off track, really it would appear that God never originally wanted governments to begin with—for they are a result of the fallen world. Now, we do know that Revelation 21 tells us of the New Jerusalem that, “By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there” (Revelation 21:24-26, ESV). Governments then could be part of the New World. To reiterate, though, evil is present in the current governments not because God is perverted—but rather it is because people are that way. God is not authoring evil. Remember, mentioned last week was the verse in Acts 12 where the angel of the Lord struck down Herod. If God had chosen Herod for evil purposes to bring about good, then why would God have struck Herod down? One could say that it was because God was through with him, but the passage doesn’t seem to imply that.

God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 3 (TMF:2553)

Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Peace to Live By: God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 3 (TMF:2553) - Daniel Litton
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       Where the misunderstanding comes, is when we believe that God puts bad people into power because he wants to accomplish good. Though, that’s not to say, he would love to see good come about from it in people turning from their sins. And, it’s not to say that God will not work good where he can, which includes any kind of situation in which he can—but he will not go against people’s freedom to choose. This is serious business we are discussing. What about Romans 9:17 and 18, and Pharaoh, and the fact that God raised him up and hardened his heart? It would seem that God in that instance already hardens a heart that is hardened. So, again, the verse stating “all things were created through him and for him” shows God’s original purpose for the creation—for the “thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.” And technically speaking, and not to get too off track, really it would appear that God never originally wanted governments to begin with—for they are a result of the fallen world.

God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 2 (TMF:2552)

Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Peace to Live By: God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 2 (TMF:2552) - Daniel Litton
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       Thusly, it only makes sense that God does not work toward evil. Even Romans 8:28 makes that clear in the simplest sense. Though that verse also tells us something—and that is that God works for the good of those who love him. It is qualified. It isn’t that God works for the good in all things, and let’s be clear, for that is because he cannot. Why? Freewill. People have freewill. God cannot go against people’s wills when they do not choose to freely love him. That would be force. God doesn’t operate by force. Where the misunderstanding comes, is when we believe that God puts bad people into power because he wants to accomplish good. Though, that’s not to say, he would love to see good come about from it in people turning from their sins. And, it’s not to say that God will not work good where he can, which includes any kind of situation in which he can—but he will not go against people’s freedom to choose. This is serious business we are discussing.

God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 1 (TMF:2551)

Monday, February 17, 2025
Peace to Live By: God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 1 (TMF:2551) - Daniel Litton
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       So, “all things were created through him and for him.” Does this mean that God has created the evil powers for his own sake, for his own purposes? It depends on who you ask—but the true answer would be no. Let us rewind for a moment and discuss the physical earthly kingdoms again. We know that certain leaders end up being evil leaders, or really, are already evil when they come into power. Again, we really need no explanation of this, and we just saw this with Herod. And we saw how God worked against this. It isn’t that God needs to have the evil present in order to show his power, as is often assumed. But it is that God works good out of the evil that is present, as he did with Peter (and again, this was in response to the believers prayers—don’t miss that). And he did use it to show his power, or course. It isn’t though that he desires it in order to show his power. Why, he created the world and everything in it, a very powerful act—a tremendous display of his power—with no evil present.