THE CALVARY MINISTRY - ONLINE

THE CROSS OF CALVARY
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MONDAY 10TH AUGUST, 2026

TEXT: COLOSSIANS 2:13-15

KEY VERSE: "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (COLOSSIANS 2:15).

This is the victory of Calvary. The Cross was not a defeat — it was a triumph. At first glance, it looked like darkness won. Jesus hung bleeding, dying, forsaken. Satan rejoiced, men mocked, and disciples fled. But what looked like defeat was God's greatest victory.

Three victories won at Calvary: One, He forgave all our sins. Verse 13 says, "having forgiven you all trespasses." Every sin — past, present, and future — was nailed to His Cross. The record that was against us was blotted out. Two, He cancelled the law's condemnation. Verse 14 says, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us... nailing it to his cross." The law that condemned us, He fulfilled and removed. Three, He spoiled principalities and powers. He did not just defeat Satan secretly; He made an open show of him. He paraded the defeated foe. At Calvary, Christ disarmed hell.

That is why the Cross is not a symbol of shame, but a throne of victory. Satan thought he was destroying Jesus at the Cross, but Jesus was destroying Satan at the Cross. The enemy you fear was defeated openly at Calvary.

Are you still living like a defeated man when Calvary made you a victor? Stop fighting for victory and start fighting from victory. The battle is already won.

Prayer
Father, thank You for the triumph of Calvary. Thank You that at the Cross, all my sins were forgiven, every charge against me was cancelled, and Satan was openly defeated. Today I walk not as a victim, but as a victor. Let the victory of the Cross be seen in my life, in my battles, and over every power of darkness. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

May the Lord open your eyes to see the triumph of the Cross today. May you live above sin, above guilt, and above Satan's accusations, and may the victory Christ won for you at Calvary be your daily testimony, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. 🏼

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Maranatha.
Physical Health and Noble Thinking.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. 1 Peter 2:11.

Many regard this text as a warning against licentiousness only; but it has a broader meaning. It forbids every injurious gratification of appetite or passion. Every perverted appetite becomes a warring lust. Appetite was given us for a good purpose, not to become the minister of death by being perverted, and thus degenerating into “lusts, which war against the soul.” Peter's admonition is a most direct and forcible warning against the use of all stimulants and narcotics. These indulgences may well be classed among the lusts that exert a pernicious influence upon moral character.24Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 54.

Let none who profess godliness regard with indifference the health of the body, and flatter themselves that intemperance is no sin and will not affect their spirituality. A close sympathy exists between the physical and the moral nature. The standard of virtue is elevated or degraded by the physical habits. Excessive eating of the best of food will produce a morbid condition of the moral feelings. And if the food is not the most healthful, the effects will be still more injurious. Any habit which does not promote healthful action in the human system degrades the higher and nobler faculties.... Indulgence of appetite strengthens the animal propensities, giving them the ascendancy over the mental and spiritual powers.25Counsels on Health, 67.

The strength of the temptation to indulge appetite can be measured only by the inexpressible anguish of our Redeemer in that long fast in the wilderness. He knew that the indulgence of perverted appetite would so deaden man's perceptions that sacred things could not be discerned.... If the power of indulged appetite was so strong upon the race, that, in order to break its hold, the divine Son of God, in man's behalf, had to endure a fast of nearly six weeks, what a work is before the Christian! Yet, however great the struggle, he may overcome. By the help of that divine power which withstood the fiercest temptations that Satan could invent, he, too, may be entirely successful in his warfare with evil, and at last may wear the victor's crown in the kingdom of God.26Counsels on Diet and Foods, 167.

Daily devotion for July 9th
Betrayal Or Denial?
I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

John 13:38b
Judas betrayed Jesus; Peter denied his Lord. What is the difference between these two men? What is the difference between betrayal and denial?

Jesus Himself has already explained this. He said that Peter had already been bathed and needed to wash only his feet. Judas had never been bathed and had never opened his life to Jesus. Peter had dirty feet but a clean heart; Judas had an evil heart of unbelief, though perhaps an outward walk of apparent morality. And that is the sort person who will betray Jesus.

What Peter lacked was the understanding of love. Peter thought that he loved Jesus, and he did with all the human emotion of which he was capable. But he had not yet learned to walk by Christ's love for him. He had not yet learned to find his identity, not in his efforts to try to be something in himself, but in Jesus' acceptance of him. That is the secret, and Jesus knew that. Peter, with the utmost dedication of his flesh, with complete consecration and sincerity of heart, could say to Jesus, Lord, I know where you're going--you're going into death. And I'll lay down my life with you. And Jesus understood that. He said, Peter, thank you. But before the morning breaks, you will have denied me three times.

Yet you remember in John 21 when Jesus gathered with His disciples on the shore of Galilee after the resurrection. He built a fire for them and laid some fish on to cook, and they had breakfast together. When they finished eating, Jesus said to Peter, Peter, do you love Me?

And Peter said, Lord, You know I love You.

Again, He said, Peter, do you love Me?

Lord, You know I love You.

And once again, Peter, do you love Me?

And Peter said, Lord, You know everything. You know that I love You.

And it was then that Jesus said, Feed my sheep and commissioned this disciple after he learned what love really was. When Peter learned how to draw upon Jesus' available love to be strengthened in order to reach out in love for others, then Jesus sent him out with a worldwide commission to feed the sheep of God.

John leaves us in this account helping us to see how thoroughly Jesus understands us and sees all that is going on in our lives and is ready to impart to us the great secret by which we can fulfill that impossible demand--to give up in order to gain, to lose in order to win, to go down to defeat in order to arise as a victor. It is as we learn to love by the love of Jesus and to draw upon Him that all men will know that you are my disciples (John 13:35).

Lord, teach me to love in this way. I stand, like Peter, uncertain, afraid, knowing how weak I am, knowing that my human love can never stand the pressure and the test, but knowing that You are able to say to me, as You said to Peter, You cannot follow Me now; but afterward you will.

Keeping and Passing the Faith

Written By Victor Bowen
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
2 Timothy 2:2 (ESV)
A campfire only lasts if someone keeps feeding it. Years ago, I watched the final night of a retreat end with church members quietly lighting candles from one central flame. One by one, the light spread across the room until every candle burned brightly. No one lost their flame by sharing it. The light only multiplied.

That image returns to me whenever I read Paul’s words to Timothy.

Paul was nearing the end of his life. He wasn’t building a platform or protecting his legacy. He was thinking generationally. The gospel had been entrusted to him, and now he was entrusting it to Timothy, who would one day entrust it to others. The mission of Jesus was never meant to stop with one person or one generation.

We often think of spiritual legacy in dramatic terms — preaching to crowds, writing books, leading ministries. But Scripture shows us that legacy is usually formed through ordinary faithfulness. Moses walked with Joshua. Elijah mentored Elisha. Lois and Eunice quietly shaped Timothy’s faith at home. Their influence stretched far beyond what they could see in the moment.
When I think about my own walk with Jesus, I realize how much of my faith was passed to me through simple acts of obedience from others. Someone prayed for me consistently. Someone opened Scripture with me. Someone modeled repentance instead of pretending to have it all together. Someone showed me what it looked like to depend on the Holy Spirit in everyday life.

None of those people were famous. But their faithfulness still bears fruit.

Sometimes we underestimate the impact of investing in one person. We may never know how God will multiply one conversation, one prayer, or one act of encouragement. The Kingdom often grows quietly, like seeds beneath the soil. But the Holy Spirit delights in using ordinary believers who are willing to pour into others.

Discipleship is not about having all the answers. It is about walking closely with Jesus and inviting others to do the same. As we remain rooted in Scripture, dependent on prayer, and surrendered to the Spirit, God forms a legacy that outlives us.
The question is not whether we have influence. We all do. The question is what we are passing on.

*Jesus, thank you for the people who faithfully passed their faith on to me. Help me to walk closely with you and to invest intentionally in others. Fill me with your Spirit so that my life points people toward you. Teach me to think beyond myself and to live for the generations that follow. Amen. *

Throughout this Day:
Think about one person who has shaped your faith. Reach out and thank them. Then ask God to show you one person you can intentionally encourage or disciple this week.

The Present Truth # 10
Jesus Christ’s Dual Natures,
Perfectly God - Perfectly Man.

The simple telephone is a most convenient invention. Itse surpasses the technology of modern travel and transport in comparing their bulk, speed and power. Although they both connect the needs of industry and development, the telephone gives instant connection for personal contact. The phone bridges the gap of time and space to connect us with home, friends, or business needs. All we need to do is to pick up the receiver and dial.

In the case of the deeper yearnings and securities of the heart, these connections are a lifeline to sanity and peace of mind. Strangely, there are many who have neither a telephone, nor a friend to turn to. In loneliness or despair, the heartaches and burdens weigh heavily through a crisis or need, without a friend or communication link to rely on.

How many suffer similarly in their spiritual lives? How many continue on alone through life and are burdened, neglected, or ignorant of the benefits of the communication link available to bridge the gap between heaven and earth? This link is available to all mankind, and such a connection is assured to lighten life’s burden, elevate the life, and bring us into harmony with heaven. All we need to do is to use the heavenly line God has installed.

What is this communication link? Lesson Number Nine revealed our part in making this connection as prayer. But what is the actual telephone link connecting earth to heaven, and heaven to earth? Whatever the link, it must have a perfect connection and understanding of man’s plight. How could such a link be possible between a sinful dying world and the perfect harmony of heaven?

Let us look at the perfect connection that God has provided in His son Jesus Christ. Jesus is spoken of as an ambassador or mediator, bridging the gap between God and man. This phenomenon has baffled many Bible students. How does the nature of Christ rate, is He human or divine?

Who is Jesus Christ? Was He just a man, a social worker, a great prophet or was He God?

Jesus Christ was all of these and more. History confirms His existence and the greatest of all history books ̶ the Bible ̶ records His life. Its pages reveal all we need to know. He has many titles, some of which are: the Lamb of God (John 1:36), the High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 21:6), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), King of kings (1 Timothy 6:15), Emmanuel ̶ God with us (Matthew 1:23), the Rock (I Corinthians 10:4), the Messiah (John 4:25), the Word (John 1:1), the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5), the Image of God (Colossians 1:15, 19).

From the Bible we learn that Jesus was the “Son of God” yet at the time was of the “Seed of David” ̶ divine yet human (Romans 1:1-4). This gives us a complex picture as does His many other titles. They tell us about His character. They tell us “He is God”̶ our Creator, Guide and Counselor, and also that “He was a man” ̶ our Brother, Saviour, and Friend. But let us look a little more closely at this dual nature of Christ.

Jesus Is God
The Old and New Testament leave us in no doubt that Jesus is God. In Isaiah 9:6 we are given a picture of a special child, raised for a divine purpose. In Isaiah 43:3, 11, 14, 15 the Holy One’s coming had been prophesied but Acts 3:14, 15 sadly reports that He was rejected, denied, and murdered. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jeremiah 23:5, 6. This verse foretells the line through which the King and Judge should come. Even His birthplace and eternal pre-existence was prophesied, “Bethlehem . . . out of thee shall he come forth . . . ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2.

Jesus Christ is called the Son of God. However, our human concept of “son” is the birth of a boy child. But the Bible clearly states that Christ’s pre-existence was not as a created being. The Gospel of John 1:1-3 tells us that the “Word was God” and that “the Word was the Creator.” Verses 14 and 15 then reveal who this Word was ̶ the Son ̶ “the only begotten of the Father.”

Colossians 1:15-19 explains what “begotten of the Father” means. Jesus, who was the image of the invisible God, was “the first born” or “the heir” of every creature because He created them all (verse 16). Begotten refers to the sole heirship of the Son ̶ His pre-eminence-chiefest, the first in charge, the most important; not a being created of God. Jesus Himself declared He was the “I AM” (John 8:58), a title given by God of Himself to Moses (Exodus 3:14). As a result the Jews “took up stones to cast at him” (John 8:59), for blasphemy was punishable by death. They did not understand His quality or coexistence with God.

“I and My Father are one.” Jesus put forth the claim that He and the Father were of one substance possessing the same attributes. The worlds’ Redeemer was equal with God. His authority was as the authority of God. He declared that He had no existence separate from the Father.

Once we recognize the fact that Jesus Christ was our Creator, it is inevitable that we must recognize and accept His Divinity. Man was made in God’s image and Jesus also “being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:6-8.

Jesus As a Man
Why did the Son of God become the Son of Man? As revealed in previous studies man’s sin made it necessary for a penalty to be paid. The Son of God offered Himself, the perfect plan to make a perfect substitute, a perfect connection ̶ God became man ̶ not only to die for us, but to live for us, this is the plan of salvation from sin. But why did Jesus take our humanity? Why man’s sinful nature? Hebrews 2:14-18 tells us He took not the nature of angels but our nature, in order to know and overcome temptation as a man, then He could ultimately destroy the devil who had the power of death. John 1:14 says “the Word was made flesh.” The Creator became a man, to redeem fallen man from sin and the condemnation of a broken law.

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; . . . he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:14, 16-18.

In contemplating the incarnation of Christ in humanity, we stand baffled before an unfathomable mystery that the human mind cannot comprehend. The more we reflect upon it, the more amazing does it appear. How wide is the contrast between the divinity of Christ and the helpless infant in Bethlehem’s manger! How can we span the distance between the mighty God and a helpless child? And yet the Creator of the worlds, He in whom was the fullness of the Godhead bodily, was manifest in the helpless babe in the manger. Far higher than any of the angels, equal with the Father in dignity and glory, and yet wearing the garb of humanity, the two natures were mysteriously combined, and man and God became one. It is in this union that we find the hope of our fallen race. Looking upon Christ in humanity, we look upon God, and see in Him the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person.

“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Romans 7:12. God’s law is perfect as God is perfect. Satan aimed to discredit this claim. Therefore “God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin” Jesus "condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3, 4), and the universe would know that God’s law is just and good and able to be kept. Christ became the perfect example, demonstrating how we, too, may live in harmony with God.

Just as we must believe that Jesus is God, it is just as necessary to believe He was a man also.

Jesus was a man, having experienced our infirmities, “but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus had to learn like you and I, how to obey, how to overcome temptation. He had to pray for guidance and help.

But, we say, "Jesus was God,” “He would always obey,” “God doesn’t sin.” True, in His divinity He would never sin but Jesus never at any time used His own divine powers to overcome sin. He laid aside His divinity, which made Him subject to sin with all its temptations. But Christ’s humanity took hold of His Father’s divinity.

“. . . He that said unto him, Thou are my Son, today have I begotten thee. . . . Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” Hebrews 5:5, 7-9.

His faith reached out to the Father. He lived the life that we must live. He was made our perfect example. This was His divine mission ̶ that He should live as a man in Satan’s domain, but by relying on God’s power, come forth the victor.

With His human arm Christ encircled the race, while with His divine arm, He grasped the throne of the infinite, uniting finite man with the infinite God. He bridged the gulf that sin had made, and connected earth with heaven. In His human nature He maintained the purity of His divine character. As one commentator expressed it, “He clothed His divinity with humanity.” Jesus showed us by His life, that we can also in our flesh overcome the devil by the power and grace that God offers through His Son. Thus in becoming a man Jesus showed us how we may live above sin as the sons and daughters of God.

Taking our nature, the Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. Through the eternal ages He is linked with us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” John 3:16. He gave Him not only to bear our sins, and to die as our sacrifice; He gave Him to the fallen race. To assure us of His immutable counsel of peace, God gave His only begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain His human nature. This is the pledge that God will fulfill His word. “. . . unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder . . . ” Isaiah 9:6. God has adopted human nature in the person of His Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven.

Let us often turn to the Lord Jesus Christ our mediator, opening our hearts to Him in prayer. He is a faithful and true advocate who is well able to plead our case before the Father. Will you accept His invitation?

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Sin is Powerless to Separate Us from Christ
Beloved, you are the glory of Christ as Paul said, and the boast of the heavens themselves, because you have put on Christ and are now at the right hand of the Father with the Victor.
There is one sin unto death, which is the sin of apostasy from the faith and denial of the blood of Christ that saved us by His death. This sin transfers the living believer from life to death. As for the rest of sins, they are powerless to separate us from the love of God; rather, through repentance, confession, prayer, and mental and bodily fasting, we return to the glory of Christ.
Indeed, even those who have apostatized from the faith, if they seek repentance and return, the Church accepts them, imitating Christ Jesus our Lord who accepted Peter, who cursed and denied the Lord before the servant girl. But he who falls into the pit of despair, like Judas who sold his Master and fell into the same sin as Peter, perishes due to his lack of love, because lack of love led him to destruction.

#Grace #Repentance #Forgiveness #LoveOfGod #Mercy #Hope #Salvation