All posts by Hanspeter

Bible

The impacts of the Holy Spirit

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In addition to a genuine interest in God, the Holy Spirit brings knowledge about God and our wrongdoings. We realise that we cannot save ourselves and grasp the hand of God that he extends to us in Jesus.

When we hold on to Jesus, the Holy Spirit causes us to love the heavenly Father, Jesus and the Bible, the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit causes us to accept God as a trustworthy Father. An inner knowledge arises in us that we are children of God. The Holy Spirit also works divine peace in us.

The Holy Spirit also creates the fruits of the Holy Spirit in us and gives us the gifts we need for our tasks. Our lives change slowly. Why slowly? No fruit suddenly pops up. It grows and matures over time.

Bible

The Holy Spirit give a genuine interest in God

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The Holy Spirit speaks to all people. John 16:8 says: “ And when he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”

God speaks to all people. The decisive factor is how we react to this. Do we want to open ourselves up to him or do we barricade ourselves in and want to keep him away from us?

The Holy Spirit causes us to have a genuine interest in God. So the question is: do I want to know more of God or am I just questioning him?

Jesus

The Holy Spirit places Jesus at the centre

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At Pentecost, Peter picks up his listeners by explaining what has happened (Acts 2:14-21).

It is important for him to say that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. This Lord is Jesus, as he points out in verse 36.

Calling on Jesus in prayer is the hallmark of Christians (Acts 9:20-21). In Joel 3:5 quoted by Peter, Lord means God YHWH. Jesus is therefore God and Messiah. Today he sits at the right hand of God and through him we receive God’s Holy Spirit.

Even for David, Jesus is his Lord (verses 34-35). In the midst of our failures, we can turn to Jesus because the heavenly father has made him Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36).  Continue reading The Holy Spirit places Jesus at the centre →

Israel

Al-Aqsa Flood and the red heifer

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Update about the rumors 2024: There is no ceremony on April 22nd, which is Passover Eve, when Jews will all concentrate on the Passover lamb, not on a burned red cow. There is no altar anywhere in Jerusalem. There is no prophecy of a red heifer whatsoever.

The “Al-Aqsa Flood” is what Hamas named the October 7th invasion and massacre. This is not a new thing. The attempt to create a pan Islamic unity in the fight to eliminate Israel is leading them always to talk about the Temple Mount. “Al-Aqsa is in danger” (Arabic: الأقصى في خطر) is a popular political slogan used to oppose efforts by Jewish hardliners to take over the Temple Mount. The annual “Al-Aqsa in Danger Festival” was in some years (1996-2015) the most-attended Islamic festival in Israel.

The rise in numbers of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount to over 50,000 in the past couple of years made Islamic fanatics worry and get angry.

However, the red heifer wasn’t specified as the reason for the October attack when it was announced on that horrific Saturday morning. What has been mentioned was the constant “invasion” of Jews to the Al Aqsa holy site.

It wasn’t until 100 days into the war that Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubeidah mentioned the words “red cows” in his speech. Why? Continue reading Al-Aqsa Flood and the red heifer →

Bible

The synod

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The shock must first be dealt with (Acts 1:12-26), that someone who had even been entrusted with money was a traitor. The first Christians withdrew, reconciled themselves with history and had to find a new way of working together.

The name Judas Iscariot could indicate that he was associated with the particularly radical movement of the Sicarii (Dagger Men). This was a subgroup of the Zealots. They Continue reading The synod →

Uncategorized

Living with the vision of the coming kingdom

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Jesus goes to the heavenly Father (Acts 1:9-11) and thus clears the way for the direct work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). The heavenly Father determines the time of his return (Acts 1:7).

With his ascension, Jesus has completed his first mission on earth. He has gone in the flesh to a real, otherworldly place. He promised to prepare dwellings there for his followers (John 14:2). Jesus has not vanished into a spirit world, but is seated at the right hand of the heavenly Father (Acts 7:56).

The two angels make it clear to the disciples that they should not dwell on the past, but live with the vision of the coming reign of God (Acts 1:11).  Continue reading Living with the vision of the coming kingdom →

Bible, Jesus

You will be my martyrs

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The disciples want to know whether Jesus will now make Israel into a great and mighty kingdom (Acts 1:6).

Jesus replies that there is a time for everything. He does not deny an earthly kingdom, but first comes a time of waiting, then of witnessing in all the world and then the visible return of Jesus to this earth.

His reign begins in the place where people have decided against him (Jerusalem), then continues into the surrounding area (Judea), to the despised Samaritans and to the end of the world. Continue reading You will be my martyrs →

Bible

The Sadducees’ expectation of the Messiah

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The Sadducees were the liberals.

They rejected everything supernatural. God is a nice thought, but it has nothing directly to do with life. Religion is a beautiful tradition that needs to be preserved. But it all ends with death.

We find an indication of this in Acts 23:8, where it says: “For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.”

Josephus, a Jewish historian, writes in “Antiquities” (ant. XVIII 1,4): “The doctrine of the Sadducees allows the soul to perish with the body and recognises no other regulations than the law” (Five Books of Moses).

In the dispute with the Sadducees, Jesus said in Matthew 22:31-32: “As for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

It is a hint from Jesus that not everything ends with death.