Messages that matter by Dr. Andrew Corbett

In this concluding chapter I am proceeding to discuss the final biblical instructions to men to be men. GOD has created and designed men to be strong, appropriately aggressive, protective, socially organised, romantic, godly, spiritual, courageous, and to problem-solve. Lately, these very traits have been categorised as “toxic masculinity.” I am arguing that these are the traits of positive-mascul...

For those who know the true identity and deity of the Christ, it may seem a little unfair to describe Him as the preeminent man. As Charles Wesley wrote, to look at Christ was view the Godhead veiled in flesh: "Christ, the everlasting Lord, late in time behold him come, offspring of the Virgin's womb: veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail th'incarnate Deity, pleased with us in flesh to dwell" But...

I am going to offer a brief list of some of the good men mentioned in the Old Testament. Three of these men receive a lot more attention than the first three men I will discuss. Four of these men were fathers, and I will point out that the implication of the biblical data is that they fathered their children after they had fathered them. Each of these six men were manly. They demonstrated diligenc...

The Developmental Roles of a Man In Part 1, I have laid the foundation that when God created the first man, it was a vital aspect of this creation that He created the first woman to be his ally and wife. While the man was created with a greater physical strength than the woman, I have pointed out that the reason for this was that he might resemble God’s protective strength for her, and use his phy...

Created to be Manish It might not be an exaggeration to say that many western societies are experiencing a crisis of manhood. Two and half millenniums ago Socrates was asked, “What is a virtuous (good) man?” Plato recorded Socrates long answer in The Republic in which Socrates defined what a virtuous man was, and how a society could organised and governed to ensure it could be achieved. The essenc...

The Message to the Hebrews and the Book of Revelation share 4 similar overarching themes. Every young preacher should have a listen to this to discover how their preaching can bring healing and strength to the congregation members. Watch today's daily Bible reading in the Journey Through the Entire Bible in One Year: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtlWLsHwjdASfAM2VBzPgdSpXJaE4B2ra logic,ph...

The writer to the Hebrews was, as Martin Luther suggested, probably Apollos. He was a man skilled in his knowledge of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (Psalms and wisdom literature) who was also trained in rhetoric (the art of persuasive communication) and wrote to the beleagured Jewish Christians in Rome about the need to endure and remain faithful. He demonstrated through this message tha...

As the writer to the Hebrew Christian community of Rome draws his sermon to a conclusion, he employs the rhetorical device of using exemplary heroes to urge his fellow congregation members to endure and remain faithful to Christ. In his absence, his fellow congregants were under a barrage of attack from Judaizers to deconvert back into Judaism. He has already shown throughout this sermon that Juda...

The Bible is made up of the Old Testament, which deals with God's Covenant with Israel, and then the New Testament which deals with Christ has established a New Covenant making a way for all people to find peace with God and the forgiveness of their sins once and for all. The writer to the Hebrews is writing the New Testament to a church of Jewish Christians who are experiencing great discourageme...

The writer to the Hebrews was addressing the errors that led some in the largely Jewish-Christian house-church to be lured back into Judaism with the false claims that Jesus was not really the promised Messiah and Son of God. He does most clearly in the opening six verses where he emphatically states that Jesus was indeed sent by Father God, Yahweh, as the Son of God who came to make purification...

The Message to the Hebrews in the New Testament also serves as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments. If you have never quite understood why the Old Testament is all about sacrifices and ceremonies and priestly rituals, then this brief presentation of the Message to the Hebrews may be just the thing you need. The Biblical book, “To the Hebrews”, is regarded as one of the most complex and rhe...

We need to keep in mind that the Bible in early Christian times was more often heard when read aloud to a group than read privately; very few early Christians owned copies of the Bible, and some did not known how to read. This is why preaching was so central to the early Christian worship. Teaching the Bible involved hearing more than reading. The early Christian preachers implemented what rhetori...

In what way is the Old Testament relevant for Christians today? Perhaps, in the same - or least similar - way that it was relevant for the first century believers! The message to the Hebrews cites or quotes the Old Testament in each of its 13 chapters. By doing so, the writer was demonstrating what Jesus told the two disheartened believers on the road to Emmaus - that all of the Old Testament poin...

The message to the Hebrews is often presented in English bibles as "The Letter fo the Hebrews" by several publishers - but the most ancient designation of it refers to it simply as "To the Hebrews". It is time that we realise this is not an epistle, but is a sermonic message. By reading Hebrews as a sermon, we can be enriched by two means. Firstly, we can read it as a relevant and classic message...

Why was the Epistle to the Hebrews written? Originally this epistle was written to a community of beleaguered Jewish Christians who had just suffered greatly by the Edict of Caesar Claudius, and then by some in their number defecting back into Judaism. Now, it seems that something worse was about to come their way. The writer to them has to remind them of - preeminently about the preeminence of Je...

The New Testament book of Hebrews is written to a church in the city of Rome which was comprised of persecuted Jewish Christians. This group of Christians, which numbered about 20 people or so, might be considered an insignificant church because it was only small. But this church was not treated as irrelevant by God who inspired this important document to be written to them. There are some powerfu...

The New Testament book of Hebrews is one of the most advanced biblical books to study. It draws deeply on the Old Testament so that many commentators have referred to as the bridge between the Old and the New Testament. In this introduction I outline what the book is about, why it was written and who probably wrote it.

The Latin term 'imago Dei' means "the image of God". It is considered one of the most influential anthropological concepts about what it means to be human. It occurs in various forms only four times in the first nine chapters of Genesis but is considered the chief reason for the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights declaring the inherent equality of all human beings, and the reason that huma...

The description of humankind as being in "the image of God" is an indication of what it means to be human and why we should regard each person with a sacred reverence which bestows on them dignity and a life that is worthy of respect. But can this "image of God" be lost, deformed and destroyed? If so, what does this mean for what it means to be a human being? In this episode Dr Corbett shows how t...

God’s final and ultimate act of creation was to create “’Ishah” (the Hebrew word for ‘woman’). She could reflect GOD in ways that A’dam could not. She was given the gift reproducing imago Dei life! Angels could not do this. No animal could do this. She could exhibit a quality that only GOD Himself had. Little wonder then that at the moment she was created envy and pride arose in the heart of one o...

The Latin term 'imago Dei' means "the image of God". It is considered one of the most influential anthropological concepts about what it means to be human. It occurs in various forms only four times in the first nine chapters of Genesis but is considered the chief reason for the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights declaring the inherent equality of all human beings, and the reason that huma...

The doctrine of the imago Dei is grounded on one verse in Genesis chapter 1. From Genesis 1:27, Brent Strawn observes, “The image of God (Latin imago Dei) is a familiar, even fraught, biblical notion because it has served as something of an empty cipher that countless interpreters have sought to fill.” Strawn continues to highlight how much of a lacuna there is in trying to define and explain the...

This is the first sub-series in the grander Imago Dei series. It is the first series because the Book of Genesis is the first book of the bible, and appropriately so because Genesis means “beginning”. Yet as I will show throughout the grander series it is not the very beginning - that will be referred to in the New Testament documents (Jn. 1:1, 17:5; 1Cor. 2:7; Titus 1:2; 2Tim. 1:9; Jude 25). In t...

This is the concluding message in this brief Peter Series and begins by pointing out why New Testament scholars consider that Jude was either the amanuensis of Second Peter or was at least a significant influence on Second Peter. Both apostles were concerned that their audiences would be prone to the errors of the false teachers, and that they would need something to remind them of what had taught...

The apostle Peter knows that his execution as a martyr is imminent and now pours out his pastoral heart for those he is writing to. He is deeply aware in the Spirit that after his 'departure' that false teachers will arise within the churches he has helped to plant and will try to deceive many of them. What he warns them of is still relevant for us today. May God grant us open hearts to hear what...