Jason Donaldson

Regenerated for Longing

1 Peter 1:22-2:3
Having discussed love, Peter now turns to longing, laying out instructions that may seem strange to us: Instead of the corrupt, sinful desires you used to have, long for the pure, spiritual sustenance that God provides. While it may seem odd to us to be told to desire, our text contains the key to this, as we are taught to yearn aright for the Lord whose kindness we have already experienced.

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Regenerated for Love

1 Peter 1:10-25
Peter says that Christians have been regenerated by God – born anew. He now goes on to expound how this new birth takes us from our old way of life to a new one, and evidences a new, holy, and self-sacrificial character, in accordance with that of our new and heavenly Father, and how this must issue forth in love.

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The Throne Room and the Scroll

Revelation 4-5
In this text, we are presented with a glorious, awe-inspiring, and central vision of the very throne room of God. By implication, we are also confronted with a heart-rending problem, as we see the contrast between how it is in heaven, vs. how it is on earth. Yet the text does not leave us there, but displays the glorious answer, central to history, of how the Lord brings about every last one of His purposes, in the answer that informs the whole book of Revelation, and is meant to drive us again and again to awestruck adoration and worship.

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Were You There?

Isaiah 52:13-53:12, et al.
The old song asks, were you there when they crucified the Lord? While this question serves as a powerful, evocative call to consider the facts of the crucifixion, it serves moreover to call us to consider the question in deeper ways. Looking into the matter, we see that the answer is “yes”, in at least one deeply foundational way for us all, and for some, two yet more powerful, glorious, and humbling ways.

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Too Small, Too Limited, Too Pagan

Looking through the book of Jonah, an overarching theme is that Jonah grossly misunderstands the Lord. By examining three main failures in his understanding of God’s character and His steadfast, gracious, enduring love, we see that Jonah’s understanding of the Lord he claims to serve is shown up as seeing God as too small, God’s compassion as too limited, and God’s worship as too pagan. What about ours?

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The Blood of the Eternal Covenant

Hebrews 13:20-21
As the author of this letter concludes his writing, he prays for believers, that God may equip them for doing His will. In doing so, he appeals to the fact that Jesus is our great shepherd, a term he’s not previously used. In doing so, he refers to the eternal covenant – a term that in fact means far more than one that lasts now and forever. Indeed, in this benediction, our author touches on one of the most beautiful, humbling, and awe-inspiring truths in all of Scripture, one intended to lead us to worship, love, and utter confidence in our dependence on Him.

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The Gospel Among Other Moralities

Hebrews 13:1-6
The main points of morality made in this passage are found, more or less, in most forms of religion, not to mention in most forms of secular philosophy. So what makes our author’s exhortations any different? Are these entailments of the Gospel any different than anyone else’s, flowing as they do from the Cross? The answer is yes, and we’ll look at how and why.

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Consider One Another

Hebrews 10
The author of Hebrews has taken pains to expound the all-surpassing superiority of Christ, culminating in how He is the very focal point to which the Law and the Prophets pointed all along. In light of His work on our behalf, the author now turns to the issue of “So what?” Here we begin to see the ramifications for the household of God, purchased and redeemed through Christ’s death, as our author begins to explain how his audience ought to live in the the light of the all-surpassing glory of God as revealed in the Gospel of Christ.

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Shear-Jashub: Judgment and Grace

Isaiah 7
In chapter 6, Isaiah received his commission, to harden the hearts of his people, yet with hope of a tiny remnant being made holy. In chapter 7, we see the beginning of this, as he is sent by God to speak words of assurance, and an offer of faith to a king who will refuse, and will lead his people down the road to ruin. It is in this context that we find one of our dearest Christmas prophesies, which would bear fruit ultimately in the birth of none other than Jesus, a sign for our faith today and forever.

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