Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me
Heb 10:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Heb 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Heb 10:8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
Heb 10:9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Isn't it amazing?! We are told so plainly which law was done away with- burnt offerings, sacrifices, , offering for sin… this sacrificial system was done away with, NOT God's Ten Commandments. People think is says the laws were done away with and that means the Ten Commandments, but it doesn't. There were many laws God gave that weren't put in the Ark of the Covenant, where God dwelled above the Mercy Seat. Only the Ten Commandments were put in the Ark of all the commands, of all the laws given. These Ten Commandments were everlasting. Christ came and lived the Ten Commandments- never changing one single one of them. He even told the rich young man that asked about eternal life this--
Luk 18:20 'Thou knowest the commandments…'
Then Christ Himself went on to name a few of the commandments from the eternal ten to show EXACTLY which commandments He was talking about.
Luk 18:20 '...Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.'
Where are these commandments from? The TEN COMMANDMENTS!
So here we have Christ coming and taking away a law, and that law is the sacrificial laws of burnt offerings, of blood sacrifices, offerings that were made by the sacrificial law to purge sins. NONE of those offerings could take away sin, NONE. It's always been our Savior, always been those sacrifices pointing to Christ's perfect sacrifice.
Heb 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Jesus' ONE sacrifice was enough. Jesus' ONE sacrifice meant more than the millions of sacrifices offered when the old sacrificial system was in place. Jesus' sacrifice was and is PERFECT - a human being born of the Spirit, born PERFECT, who lived PERFECT, and died PERFECT.
These are amazing revelations, amazing truths!
More tomorrow, it's been a very long day, a blessed day.
By the grace and mercy of our Perfect Savior! In His love, through HIS righteousness now and forever and ever and ever!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
A Shadow of Good Things
Heb 10:1-
'For the law having a shadow of good things to come.'
The sacrificial services all pointed to the ultimate Sacrifice.
The sacrificial system in place was a shadow of the true.
How silly to think that the blood of any animal at all in and of itself could cover our sins. That blood only covered our sins because God set up the sacrificial system as a shadow of what was to come. God was revealing to His people that with sin you need a sacrifice or that sin will keep you estranged from Him. That sin will keep you apart from God. Sin separates us from God. What are we apart from God? We are nothing.
Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world
Having no hope.
Without God in the world.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH.
Not perishing means having eternal life.
Having eternal life means living with God.
Living with God means NOT being separated from God.
Sin separates us from our Creator.
Is it any wonder we're told this---
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Separated from God we cannot live forever, we just can't it's impossible. God is the source of all life, without the source of all life we cannot live. I'm talking ETERNALLY here! ETERNAL LIFE! We have to get passed this life we live now. We have to get it through our heads in a very REAL way that the life we live right now is temporary! Remember this from James 4:14 'For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.'
I see so much pain in the world as I'm sure you do too. NO ONE can live in this world and not see the pain of life, not experience that pain, not know that pain. Being allowed to see the pain, to feel the pain, to be a part of the pain of this world reveals more and more that something isn't right with this world. Something is very wrong with the world we live in and you'd have to be a completely spiritually blind not to recognize the wrongness of so much in this world. It's not just our personal pains but the pains of all those around us, near and far. It's WRONG! Our world is ALL WRONG! A huge flaw has appeared in our world! You have to know this! You have to see it, feel it, you're living it!
'For the law having a shadow of good things to come.'
Of good things to come. The sacrificial law was temporary. When we're given a shadow of better things, we are given just s bit of that better thing. When someone gives you a little gift and tells you that's just the tip of the ice burg they mean there is more to come and your expectations are aroused to get more gifts. A shadow isn't the real thing, the real thing has more substance but a shadow gives the outline and idea of what the real thing is. When I see my shadow it's part of me, it reveals the idea of my shape, of what I look like. Yes, shadows can be distorted but allowing for the distortion we can still get an idea of what the true is from the shadow of a thing. You have to have a REAL thing to have a shadow of that real thing.
The sacrificial law was a shadow of what was to come. The sacrifice of animals a mere shadow of the sacrifice needed to obtain full forgiveness. The sacrifice of animal would NEVER do away with sin. Only the Savior could do away sin.
Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God
One sacrifice- the TRUE sacrifice that was foreshadowed by all the animal sacrifices pointing towards that perfect sacrifice- Jesus Christ, the innocent Lamb of God.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The sacrificial law was done away with and we cannot substitute any works of our own in its place. Christ and Christ ALONE, the true, perfect Sacrifice is the ONLY hope we have for atonement, for becoming one with God again, no longer separated by our sins.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord may we accept His Sacrifice
'For the law having a shadow of good things to come.'
The sacrificial services all pointed to the ultimate Sacrifice.
The sacrificial system in place was a shadow of the true.
How silly to think that the blood of any animal at all in and of itself could cover our sins. That blood only covered our sins because God set up the sacrificial system as a shadow of what was to come. God was revealing to His people that with sin you need a sacrifice or that sin will keep you estranged from Him. That sin will keep you apart from God. Sin separates us from God. What are we apart from God? We are nothing.
Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world
Having no hope.
Without God in the world.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH.
Not perishing means having eternal life.
Having eternal life means living with God.
Living with God means NOT being separated from God.
Sin separates us from our Creator.
Is it any wonder we're told this---
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Separated from God we cannot live forever, we just can't it's impossible. God is the source of all life, without the source of all life we cannot live. I'm talking ETERNALLY here! ETERNAL LIFE! We have to get passed this life we live now. We have to get it through our heads in a very REAL way that the life we live right now is temporary! Remember this from James 4:14 'For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.'
I see so much pain in the world as I'm sure you do too. NO ONE can live in this world and not see the pain of life, not experience that pain, not know that pain. Being allowed to see the pain, to feel the pain, to be a part of the pain of this world reveals more and more that something isn't right with this world. Something is very wrong with the world we live in and you'd have to be a completely spiritually blind not to recognize the wrongness of so much in this world. It's not just our personal pains but the pains of all those around us, near and far. It's WRONG! Our world is ALL WRONG! A huge flaw has appeared in our world! You have to know this! You have to see it, feel it, you're living it!
'For the law having a shadow of good things to come.'
Of good things to come. The sacrificial law was temporary. When we're given a shadow of better things, we are given just s bit of that better thing. When someone gives you a little gift and tells you that's just the tip of the ice burg they mean there is more to come and your expectations are aroused to get more gifts. A shadow isn't the real thing, the real thing has more substance but a shadow gives the outline and idea of what the real thing is. When I see my shadow it's part of me, it reveals the idea of my shape, of what I look like. Yes, shadows can be distorted but allowing for the distortion we can still get an idea of what the true is from the shadow of a thing. You have to have a REAL thing to have a shadow of that real thing.
The sacrificial law was a shadow of what was to come. The sacrifice of animals a mere shadow of the sacrifice needed to obtain full forgiveness. The sacrifice of animal would NEVER do away with sin. Only the Savior could do away sin.
Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God
One sacrifice- the TRUE sacrifice that was foreshadowed by all the animal sacrifices pointing towards that perfect sacrifice- Jesus Christ, the innocent Lamb of God.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The sacrificial law was done away with and we cannot substitute any works of our own in its place. Christ and Christ ALONE, the true, perfect Sacrifice is the ONLY hope we have for atonement, for becoming one with God again, no longer separated by our sins.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord may we accept His Sacrifice
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Christ's Righteousness
2Pe 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord
Precious faith-through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Not through our righteousness!
Is it any wonder that people give up hoping? They give up because they are placing their hope in themselves and not in God. We will ALWAYS lose hope when we begin to hope in ourselves. Hope in ourselves is a false hope, hope in our goodness, hope in our righteousness is a losing hope, a dead hope. We cannot hope in ourselves, we just can't. We have to get this drilled into our minds and keep it there. The hope is IN CHRIST, not in ourselves. We can hope until we are old and gray, or old and grayer, all we want and if that hope is placed in our own righteousness we will be unsaved. People love to pat themselves on their backs and take pride in being self-righteous, but all that self-righteousness means NOTHING. No, I'm not advocating being unrighteous and willfully committing unrighteousness. We need to stay as far from unrighteous things as we can. What I'm saying is we are only truly righteous in Christ's righteousness. Any good that we do must be a result of Christ's goodness, not our own. Is it any wonder we are to give God all the glory? That we are to freely given thanks to our God? We must be GOD centered. Our life has to revolve around GOD, not ourselves. We need to live FOR God. Our hope in life has to be in God who dwells in eternity and promises us eternity in Him.
I looked up a few verses on hope--
Psa 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
Psa 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy
Psa 33:22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Psa 78:7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments
Psa 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word
Psa 147:11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is
Lam 3:24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Lam 3:26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
Joe 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Rom 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Col 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
2Th 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace
1Ti 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope
Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life
Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Our all in all is Christ.
Note this particular verse--
Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began
PROMISED before the world began.
Mankind was created to be eternal.
We were meant to be eternal beings.
We were never meant to die. Death only came to us through sin.
Before the world began there was put in place - hope for eternal life. God CANNOT lie! The hope of eternal life was promised to mankind before mankind existed.
We all know what it means to make plans for things and have those plans work out smoothly, things go off without a hitch as the saying goes. And we all know what it means to make plans and have things NOT go off without a hitch. People have contingency plans for that reason.
We were promised the hope of eternal life and that hope has been realized in our Savior.
Satan would have that hope disappear. Satan would have us hold fast to false hope. Satan will do anything He can to keep each and every one of us with Him. If you think about it - to those who are considered to be the most influential, important people in the world we aren't even known. Those important people could careless whether we exist or not. Our lives mean nothing to those people and therefore we imagine that to God we mean even less, but this is the beauty of God being love. He cares about ALL of us on an eternal level. Yes, I said on an eternal level. I have to say on an eternal level because otherwise people will start spouting off about all the horrible things done to innocents and say if God cared that stuff wouldn't happen. God does care for us even now but more importantly He cares for our eternity. Satan is considered to be the most important evil influence in existence and people sometimes believe that he too is too important to bother with little ol' us. People place him on the same level as human beings and it's true that important human beings care nothing (or mostly nothing) about the average person outside their little realms. Satan CANNOT be placed on the same level as human beings, this is a HUGE mistake to put him there and believe he could care less about you, that you mean nothing to him at all. You mean A LOT to him, more than you realize.
Satan will have to pay one day for ALL the sin he's caused. For every human being that is lost to Him and is God's, He will have to take on all their sins, the sins that Christ has forgiven them for. The more people Satan has on His side the less he will be punished for. The more people He has on His side the less God will have and Satan glories in the knowledge that He can keep even one person from God.
We are in a war and there are only two sides to this war.
You are on one side or the other and BOTH generals of this war want you on their side.
Unlike our earthly wars where it's all up to chance whether you live or die, this war for eternity is up to us. We decide to either claim eternal life through our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, or we decide to claim eternal death courtesy of Satan.
My hope is in my Savior! My hope is in Christ's righteousness! My hope is in the grace and love, through the forgiveness of my Lord and King the Son of God.
Amen!
2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord
Precious faith-through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Not through our righteousness!
Is it any wonder that people give up hoping? They give up because they are placing their hope in themselves and not in God. We will ALWAYS lose hope when we begin to hope in ourselves. Hope in ourselves is a false hope, hope in our goodness, hope in our righteousness is a losing hope, a dead hope. We cannot hope in ourselves, we just can't. We have to get this drilled into our minds and keep it there. The hope is IN CHRIST, not in ourselves. We can hope until we are old and gray, or old and grayer, all we want and if that hope is placed in our own righteousness we will be unsaved. People love to pat themselves on their backs and take pride in being self-righteous, but all that self-righteousness means NOTHING. No, I'm not advocating being unrighteous and willfully committing unrighteousness. We need to stay as far from unrighteous things as we can. What I'm saying is we are only truly righteous in Christ's righteousness. Any good that we do must be a result of Christ's goodness, not our own. Is it any wonder we are to give God all the glory? That we are to freely given thanks to our God? We must be GOD centered. Our life has to revolve around GOD, not ourselves. We need to live FOR God. Our hope in life has to be in God who dwells in eternity and promises us eternity in Him.
I looked up a few verses on hope--
Psa 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
Psa 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy
Psa 33:22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Psa 78:7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments
Psa 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word
Psa 147:11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is
Lam 3:24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Lam 3:26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
Joe 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Rom 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Col 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
2Th 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace
1Ti 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope
Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life
Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Our all in all is Christ.
Note this particular verse--
Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began
PROMISED before the world began.
Mankind was created to be eternal.
We were meant to be eternal beings.
We were never meant to die. Death only came to us through sin.
Before the world began there was put in place - hope for eternal life. God CANNOT lie! The hope of eternal life was promised to mankind before mankind existed.
We all know what it means to make plans for things and have those plans work out smoothly, things go off without a hitch as the saying goes. And we all know what it means to make plans and have things NOT go off without a hitch. People have contingency plans for that reason.
We were promised the hope of eternal life and that hope has been realized in our Savior.
Satan would have that hope disappear. Satan would have us hold fast to false hope. Satan will do anything He can to keep each and every one of us with Him. If you think about it - to those who are considered to be the most influential, important people in the world we aren't even known. Those important people could careless whether we exist or not. Our lives mean nothing to those people and therefore we imagine that to God we mean even less, but this is the beauty of God being love. He cares about ALL of us on an eternal level. Yes, I said on an eternal level. I have to say on an eternal level because otherwise people will start spouting off about all the horrible things done to innocents and say if God cared that stuff wouldn't happen. God does care for us even now but more importantly He cares for our eternity. Satan is considered to be the most important evil influence in existence and people sometimes believe that he too is too important to bother with little ol' us. People place him on the same level as human beings and it's true that important human beings care nothing (or mostly nothing) about the average person outside their little realms. Satan CANNOT be placed on the same level as human beings, this is a HUGE mistake to put him there and believe he could care less about you, that you mean nothing to him at all. You mean A LOT to him, more than you realize.
Satan will have to pay one day for ALL the sin he's caused. For every human being that is lost to Him and is God's, He will have to take on all their sins, the sins that Christ has forgiven them for. The more people Satan has on His side the less he will be punished for. The more people He has on His side the less God will have and Satan glories in the knowledge that He can keep even one person from God.
We are in a war and there are only two sides to this war.
You are on one side or the other and BOTH generals of this war want you on their side.
Unlike our earthly wars where it's all up to chance whether you live or die, this war for eternity is up to us. We decide to either claim eternal life through our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, or we decide to claim eternal death courtesy of Satan.
My hope is in my Savior! My hope is in Christ's righteousness! My hope is in the grace and love, through the forgiveness of my Lord and King the Son of God.
Amen!
Friday, October 8, 2010
No Design Flaw
You have a tree.
You have a car.
You have rain.
You have a road.
There is nothing wrong with the tree- it's as perfect as any tree can be.
There is nothing wrong with the car- it's as perfect as any car can be.
There is nothing wrong with the rain- it's as perfect as any rain can be.
There is nothing wrong with the road- it's as perfect as any road can be.
The rain causes slick roads causing the car to hit the tree.
We call this an accident because the tree isn't at fault, the car isn't at fault, the rain isn't as fault, the road isn't at fault. An accident. Something happened without any intention for it to happen.
You have a person with an oil can.
You have a car.
You have a road.
The person DELIBERATELY chooses to put oil on the road. The car slides on the oil and crashes. It is not an accident. There was a choice made to put oil on the road.
The person with an oil can was fine - nothing wrong until they made the choice to use the oil for something deliberately wrong.
There doesn't HAVE to be a design flaw for something to go wrong.
Sin wasn't an accident. Sin was a choice. A choice to disobey was made. Some argue the design flaw exists and that design flaw was humanity being given the power of choice. Imagine having NO power of choice. Seriously. Some people can imagine that more than others. Slaves can imagine it perfectly when they have their every move dictated to them by someone else. Do you like even the idea of having your every move dictated to you? Do you remember as a child telling your parents not to tell you what to do? Maybe you can't, but do you remember thinking and wishing they wouldn't tell you what to do all the time? You wanted independence. You wanted to be able to do for yourself. You wanted to make your own choices.
~
People bring up the question- what's to stop sin from entering the world again, what's to stop someone from choosing to sin again after we are taken to heaven with Christ at His second coming?
Every heart will be tried and every human being will have to make a choice and that choice will be reflected in their lives. When Christ comes again and redeems His people from a sin-filled world to bring them into everlasting life in a sin-less existence everyone of His people will have made their choice.
This is why we live now, this is why we are tried in the fire of life, this is why our testing grounds are so harsh now. This life we live now reveals the choice we make between good and evil, between God and Satan, between sinlessness and sinning, between eternity and death. The choice we make now in this the harshest of proving grounds will determine our stance on sinning and being able to live sinless. Christ died to give us this choice.
We will choose sin or not sinning and it will be a choice that we have so thoroughly made that not even the idea of introducing sin into our new sinless existence will ever cross our minds. Yes, we will always have our freedom of choice and God will know our hearts and know whether we would be forever and always content in a sinless existence.
Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Our choices- our daily choices determine the fruit of our doings.
By the grace and mercy of our loving Savior, by His righteousness may we be tried and not found wanting. May we be tried and found to have hearts created clean and new by Christ, hearts that hate sin and love the righteousness of our Savior.
There will be no more sin, ever. The choice is ours individually. Our Lord will not give eternal life to anyone who loves sin. To love sin is to love the separation it brings from God. If we love being separated from God we will never choose eternal life. We must understand that each and every sin we commit has the power to separate us from God. God would not have us desire separation from Him, He is our Creator. If we desire separation we will inherit eternal death, eternal and everlasting without any end, forever and ever and ever death, death's endless sleep-- non-existence.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Believeth- an active, living faith in daily choosing to follow the only begotten Son of God, believing that only through Him and His righteousness by His grace and mercy are we saved and believing it always, living in that belief.
Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. - Mark 9:24
Amen
You have a car.
You have rain.
You have a road.
There is nothing wrong with the tree- it's as perfect as any tree can be.
There is nothing wrong with the car- it's as perfect as any car can be.
There is nothing wrong with the rain- it's as perfect as any rain can be.
There is nothing wrong with the road- it's as perfect as any road can be.
The rain causes slick roads causing the car to hit the tree.
We call this an accident because the tree isn't at fault, the car isn't at fault, the rain isn't as fault, the road isn't at fault. An accident. Something happened without any intention for it to happen.
You have a person with an oil can.
You have a car.
You have a road.
The person DELIBERATELY chooses to put oil on the road. The car slides on the oil and crashes. It is not an accident. There was a choice made to put oil on the road.
The person with an oil can was fine - nothing wrong until they made the choice to use the oil for something deliberately wrong.
There doesn't HAVE to be a design flaw for something to go wrong.
Sin wasn't an accident. Sin was a choice. A choice to disobey was made. Some argue the design flaw exists and that design flaw was humanity being given the power of choice. Imagine having NO power of choice. Seriously. Some people can imagine that more than others. Slaves can imagine it perfectly when they have their every move dictated to them by someone else. Do you like even the idea of having your every move dictated to you? Do you remember as a child telling your parents not to tell you what to do? Maybe you can't, but do you remember thinking and wishing they wouldn't tell you what to do all the time? You wanted independence. You wanted to be able to do for yourself. You wanted to make your own choices.
~
People bring up the question- what's to stop sin from entering the world again, what's to stop someone from choosing to sin again after we are taken to heaven with Christ at His second coming?
Every heart will be tried and every human being will have to make a choice and that choice will be reflected in their lives. When Christ comes again and redeems His people from a sin-filled world to bring them into everlasting life in a sin-less existence everyone of His people will have made their choice.
This is why we live now, this is why we are tried in the fire of life, this is why our testing grounds are so harsh now. This life we live now reveals the choice we make between good and evil, between God and Satan, between sinlessness and sinning, between eternity and death. The choice we make now in this the harshest of proving grounds will determine our stance on sinning and being able to live sinless. Christ died to give us this choice.
We will choose sin or not sinning and it will be a choice that we have so thoroughly made that not even the idea of introducing sin into our new sinless existence will ever cross our minds. Yes, we will always have our freedom of choice and God will know our hearts and know whether we would be forever and always content in a sinless existence.
Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Our choices- our daily choices determine the fruit of our doings.
By the grace and mercy of our loving Savior, by His righteousness may we be tried and not found wanting. May we be tried and found to have hearts created clean and new by Christ, hearts that hate sin and love the righteousness of our Savior.
There will be no more sin, ever. The choice is ours individually. Our Lord will not give eternal life to anyone who loves sin. To love sin is to love the separation it brings from God. If we love being separated from God we will never choose eternal life. We must understand that each and every sin we commit has the power to separate us from God. God would not have us desire separation from Him, He is our Creator. If we desire separation we will inherit eternal death, eternal and everlasting without any end, forever and ever and ever death, death's endless sleep-- non-existence.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Believeth- an active, living faith in daily choosing to follow the only begotten Son of God, believing that only through Him and His righteousness by His grace and mercy are we saved and believing it always, living in that belief.
Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. - Mark 9:24
Amen
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Blood of the New Testament
Heb 9:18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
Heb 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
Heb 9:20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
Heb 9:21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
Christ had to die for His will to go into effect. For anyone's will to go into effect the person has to die. Christ's will is the salvation of mankind.
God's will is the salvation of mankind.
Before Christ died there was a pointing forward to the need for Him to die.
Do people ever know what is in a will before hand? Yes. Some people make known what is in their will well before they die. Why? They want others to know what they're being given- or not being given. Can there be conditions on wills, things people need to do or not to do to receive what they were bequeathed? Yes. Sometimes people want others to know ahead of time what's in their will and what those conditions might be. Others set up wills and have stipulations right away, wanting those who will benefit from the will to act in a certain way, or do certain things or there is the threat they will be taken out of the will.
God's will is for us to love Him and worship Him as our Creator, as our Redeemer.
God's set up the entire first testament system to point towards our redemption in Him, through Him, by following Him, keeping the covenant between us and Him. The commandments we were given, those ten commandments that were put in the ark of the covenant, were given out of God's love. Those who love God and choose to worship Him above all else understand the love given to us in His commandments. Breaking the covenant meant choosing to go against God and God's commandments, God's will. Breaking the covenant meant we NO longer would be part of God's will.
Christ is the new testament. All that the old testament pointed forward to was realized in Christ. The promised redemption was to be fully realized. There was NO longer any looking forward to the realization of redemption, the will of God would finally go into effect because Christ shed His blood, Christ died. The plan of the will of God was for Christ to rise from the dead and after a short while He was to go to heaven to intercede there for mankind- the benefactors of the will of God would be decided. Before the full effects of God's will were to be realized and man's redemption would be complete in a new earth the reading of the will would need to be done. AND because the death of the will's owner would be temporary- this will was very special- is very special. We know the will of God is for us to be saved from eternal death, and this will be accomplished in time.
The death of the will's owner is necessary no one will dispute that.
Pointing towards the death of the Innocent Lamb of God almost all things needed to be purged by sacrifice. Christ saves us with His blood which was shed to purge us from our sins.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
The heavenly needing better sacrifices makes sense doesn't it? Before Christ, as people looked for Him, the earthly was set up to point the way. After Christ the heavenly was to be fully realized, the way revealed entirely.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Heb 9:25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
One death. The Only death. Christ suffered ONCE for all. The holiness, the pureness of His sacrifice, His HOLY sacrifice was needed ONCE, not over and over and over again. Christ didn't die and rise, only to have to die and rise again and again and again. His perfect sacrifice is enough. The innocent blood enough for all the redemption necessary. While animal after animal died to point the way to the ultimate death of the perfect sacrifice, that perfect sacrifice's death was just that- PERFECT in all ways, enough for all applications needed to fulfill the will of God.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Man dies once, but that isn't the end of their life just yet.
After death's sleep men will be raised from the dead and judged. When that part of the plan of salvation comes into action sin will be done away with once and for all.
Christ will appear a second time. Our Savior appeared a first time on earth and completed His ministry. Our Savior will appear a second time and complete the plan of salvation. God's will - will be done in everything. This is the day we need to look for. As benefactors of the will of God we need to love Him and be loved by Him, not all will be benefactors in fact MANY will not be and this is the truth! Many will NOT accept salvation in Christ, many will NOT love God, many will not even believe in God. Because God will not force His will upon anyone, the benefactors will only be those who choose to be benefactors in all truth without any guile, without any falsehoods, without any deception.
We CAN'T allow ourselves to believe that those who do not follow the will of God will be part of the redemption offered. Too many are blinded into believing that God is a teddy bear God, huggable and loveable to all without any restrictions at all whatsoever, with no real will of His own. Yes, it's comforting to people to imagine they are going to heaven no matter what, that they are going to be with Christ no matter what, but God did NOT work that way in the old covenant, and He does not work that way with the new covenant. The same God has been there through it all-- God the Father that Christ came to earth to manifest to mankind, to reveal His Father's will. GOD DID NOT CHANGE! God did not poof into a loving God after being a harsh God. He's always been a LOVING God! People who do not understand this are deceived. Do you think maybe the Pharisees and Saduccees, and all those of the old testament didn't recognize Jesus as the one manifesting God because they in their own imaginations had Him pictured as something much different than what He really is? They'd warped God into being a God that was nothing like Jesus so they couldn't recognize His Son who came manifesting God to them!
God is love.
And we can't forget this--
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us
Christ is in the heavenly sanctuary right now- for us. He's not in there asking God to let everybody into heaven regardless of everything. One day this will be said--
Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
There will be the unjust.
There will be the filthy.
There will be the righteous.
There will be the holy.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we be among those that through Him and Him alone are righteous and holy.
In His LOVE!
Amen.
Heb 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
Heb 9:20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
Heb 9:21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
Christ had to die for His will to go into effect. For anyone's will to go into effect the person has to die. Christ's will is the salvation of mankind.
God's will is the salvation of mankind.
Before Christ died there was a pointing forward to the need for Him to die.
Do people ever know what is in a will before hand? Yes. Some people make known what is in their will well before they die. Why? They want others to know what they're being given- or not being given. Can there be conditions on wills, things people need to do or not to do to receive what they were bequeathed? Yes. Sometimes people want others to know ahead of time what's in their will and what those conditions might be. Others set up wills and have stipulations right away, wanting those who will benefit from the will to act in a certain way, or do certain things or there is the threat they will be taken out of the will.
God's will is for us to love Him and worship Him as our Creator, as our Redeemer.
God's set up the entire first testament system to point towards our redemption in Him, through Him, by following Him, keeping the covenant between us and Him. The commandments we were given, those ten commandments that were put in the ark of the covenant, were given out of God's love. Those who love God and choose to worship Him above all else understand the love given to us in His commandments. Breaking the covenant meant choosing to go against God and God's commandments, God's will. Breaking the covenant meant we NO longer would be part of God's will.
Christ is the new testament. All that the old testament pointed forward to was realized in Christ. The promised redemption was to be fully realized. There was NO longer any looking forward to the realization of redemption, the will of God would finally go into effect because Christ shed His blood, Christ died. The plan of the will of God was for Christ to rise from the dead and after a short while He was to go to heaven to intercede there for mankind- the benefactors of the will of God would be decided. Before the full effects of God's will were to be realized and man's redemption would be complete in a new earth the reading of the will would need to be done. AND because the death of the will's owner would be temporary- this will was very special- is very special. We know the will of God is for us to be saved from eternal death, and this will be accomplished in time.
The death of the will's owner is necessary no one will dispute that.
Pointing towards the death of the Innocent Lamb of God almost all things needed to be purged by sacrifice. Christ saves us with His blood which was shed to purge us from our sins.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
The heavenly needing better sacrifices makes sense doesn't it? Before Christ, as people looked for Him, the earthly was set up to point the way. After Christ the heavenly was to be fully realized, the way revealed entirely.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Heb 9:25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
One death. The Only death. Christ suffered ONCE for all. The holiness, the pureness of His sacrifice, His HOLY sacrifice was needed ONCE, not over and over and over again. Christ didn't die and rise, only to have to die and rise again and again and again. His perfect sacrifice is enough. The innocent blood enough for all the redemption necessary. While animal after animal died to point the way to the ultimate death of the perfect sacrifice, that perfect sacrifice's death was just that- PERFECT in all ways, enough for all applications needed to fulfill the will of God.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Man dies once, but that isn't the end of their life just yet.
After death's sleep men will be raised from the dead and judged. When that part of the plan of salvation comes into action sin will be done away with once and for all.
Christ will appear a second time. Our Savior appeared a first time on earth and completed His ministry. Our Savior will appear a second time and complete the plan of salvation. God's will - will be done in everything. This is the day we need to look for. As benefactors of the will of God we need to love Him and be loved by Him, not all will be benefactors in fact MANY will not be and this is the truth! Many will NOT accept salvation in Christ, many will NOT love God, many will not even believe in God. Because God will not force His will upon anyone, the benefactors will only be those who choose to be benefactors in all truth without any guile, without any falsehoods, without any deception.
We CAN'T allow ourselves to believe that those who do not follow the will of God will be part of the redemption offered. Too many are blinded into believing that God is a teddy bear God, huggable and loveable to all without any restrictions at all whatsoever, with no real will of His own. Yes, it's comforting to people to imagine they are going to heaven no matter what, that they are going to be with Christ no matter what, but God did NOT work that way in the old covenant, and He does not work that way with the new covenant. The same God has been there through it all-- God the Father that Christ came to earth to manifest to mankind, to reveal His Father's will. GOD DID NOT CHANGE! God did not poof into a loving God after being a harsh God. He's always been a LOVING God! People who do not understand this are deceived. Do you think maybe the Pharisees and Saduccees, and all those of the old testament didn't recognize Jesus as the one manifesting God because they in their own imaginations had Him pictured as something much different than what He really is? They'd warped God into being a God that was nothing like Jesus so they couldn't recognize His Son who came manifesting God to them!
God is love.
And we can't forget this--
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us
Christ is in the heavenly sanctuary right now- for us. He's not in there asking God to let everybody into heaven regardless of everything. One day this will be said--
Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
There will be the unjust.
There will be the filthy.
There will be the righteous.
There will be the holy.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we be among those that through Him and Him alone are righteous and holy.
In His LOVE!
Amen.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
If the Lord will
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know NOT what shall be on the morrow.
For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say,
If the Lord will,
we shall live,
and do this,
or that.
Our lives are a vapor. Seen for a little bit, then gone.
Let's think about it for a moment- the earth is approximately 6000 years old, divide that by the Biblical average lifespan of 72 years and you come up with about 83 generations of people. Most of us can remember our grandparents, some of us can remember our great grandparents, less of us can remember our great great grandparents, and almost none of us can remember our great, great, great grandparents- five generations and beyond that there is no real remembrance of those who have lived before us- our relatives. Five generations and that's pushing it. Five out of 83 generations 78 unknown generations. People truly are as a vapor. The millions and millions of people who have lived in the last 6000 years are mostly unknown- completely unknown- they were as vapor they vanished away. We too will vanish away. We too will be as a vapor- here and then gone.
It's true, we ought to say…. If the Lord wills we shall live and do this or that.
The Lord's will, not if we will, but if the Lord wills.
Why would we want to do ANYTHING the Lord doesn't will for us to do? Why? Why would we ever not want the Lord's will to be done?
We are a willful people.
We have our own wills and believe that nothing matters but our wills- what we want, what we desire, what we need, what we obsess over, what we long for. We have ideas, we have thoughts, we have minds of our own that we believe MUST be allowed to be exercised freely. We believe we should indulge our lusts no matter what form they come in. Denying ourselves anything makes us feel deprived and we either shrug it off or we play martyr with it, pitying ourselves for the deprivation and wanting others to pity us even in the form of admiration.
If God wills should be first and foremost, allowing for Him to direct our paths in the way HE would have us go. This doesn't mean we sit around waiting for direction. It means we make our plans for this and that and we acknowledge that in all God's will be done. If it's not God's will then the plans we make may be altered and we need to understand that it's for the best even if we DON'T understand why it is for the best. To presume we know what is best for ourselves is to assume that we are our own creator. Our true Creator knows us better than we will ever know ourselves.
At best we can determine to choose and believe in our Creator. We can choose to follow our Creator's plan for us. We can pray God's will be done and then we can have faith that God's will is being done- no matter if we comprehend it at all in the least little bit.
People might think it's crazy to believe that when bad things happen it's God's will, just as when the miraculous occurs. It's not crazy to believe that our lives- the good, the bad, the horrific, the wonderful, the amazing, the miraculous, the awful- are for reasons beyond our comprehension. We don't get to play God. We don't get to have all the answers. God does NOT have to answer to US! We have to answer to God.
May God's will be done now and always in my life. I know I won't always like the ups and downs my life will take, sometimes I'll hate the things happening in my life, but I can't lose the faith that God's will is being done. If I lose that faith there is no hope and without hope nothing makes sense at all.
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know NOT what shall be on the morrow.
For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say,
If the Lord will,
we shall live,
and do this,
or that.
By His Grace.
Amen.
For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say,
If the Lord will,
we shall live,
and do this,
or that.
Our lives are a vapor. Seen for a little bit, then gone.
Let's think about it for a moment- the earth is approximately 6000 years old, divide that by the Biblical average lifespan of 72 years and you come up with about 83 generations of people. Most of us can remember our grandparents, some of us can remember our great grandparents, less of us can remember our great great grandparents, and almost none of us can remember our great, great, great grandparents- five generations and beyond that there is no real remembrance of those who have lived before us- our relatives. Five generations and that's pushing it. Five out of 83 generations 78 unknown generations. People truly are as a vapor. The millions and millions of people who have lived in the last 6000 years are mostly unknown- completely unknown- they were as vapor they vanished away. We too will vanish away. We too will be as a vapor- here and then gone.
It's true, we ought to say…. If the Lord wills we shall live and do this or that.
The Lord's will, not if we will, but if the Lord wills.
Why would we want to do ANYTHING the Lord doesn't will for us to do? Why? Why would we ever not want the Lord's will to be done?
We are a willful people.
We have our own wills and believe that nothing matters but our wills- what we want, what we desire, what we need, what we obsess over, what we long for. We have ideas, we have thoughts, we have minds of our own that we believe MUST be allowed to be exercised freely. We believe we should indulge our lusts no matter what form they come in. Denying ourselves anything makes us feel deprived and we either shrug it off or we play martyr with it, pitying ourselves for the deprivation and wanting others to pity us even in the form of admiration.
If God wills should be first and foremost, allowing for Him to direct our paths in the way HE would have us go. This doesn't mean we sit around waiting for direction. It means we make our plans for this and that and we acknowledge that in all God's will be done. If it's not God's will then the plans we make may be altered and we need to understand that it's for the best even if we DON'T understand why it is for the best. To presume we know what is best for ourselves is to assume that we are our own creator. Our true Creator knows us better than we will ever know ourselves.
At best we can determine to choose and believe in our Creator. We can choose to follow our Creator's plan for us. We can pray God's will be done and then we can have faith that God's will is being done- no matter if we comprehend it at all in the least little bit.
People might think it's crazy to believe that when bad things happen it's God's will, just as when the miraculous occurs. It's not crazy to believe that our lives- the good, the bad, the horrific, the wonderful, the amazing, the miraculous, the awful- are for reasons beyond our comprehension. We don't get to play God. We don't get to have all the answers. God does NOT have to answer to US! We have to answer to God.
May God's will be done now and always in my life. I know I won't always like the ups and downs my life will take, sometimes I'll hate the things happening in my life, but I can't lose the faith that God's will is being done. If I lose that faith there is no hope and without hope nothing makes sense at all.
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know NOT what shall be on the morrow.
For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say,
If the Lord will,
we shall live,
and do this,
or that.
By His Grace.
Amen.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Eterna Inheritance
Heb 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Eternal inheritance. An inheritance for eternity. We are NOT all going to have eternity. People have this delusion embedded in their minds that they will live forever in some manner. Death to so many doesn't mean death. Judgment doesn't mean really judging. Pronounced found wanting, pronounced filthy still, pronounced unjust, none of it is real to people. When they do begin to imagine eternity and themselves less than just, less than holy they do so using humor, making light of not being saved. Our world is so caught up in fantasy because reality is so exacting. We'd rather form beliefs that are not Biblical than hold fast to Biblical truths because they fit better with our sin-filled lives. We would much rather believe in an eternity as a so called lost soul, than believe that we don't have an eternity at all, that we are simply taken out of existence. So much has gone into convincing people that they will live on right after death that almost the whole world is caught up in the deception.
The truth- some will have eternity, but most will not.
We DO have an eternal inheritance- they which are CALLED might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Eternal inheritance - it really does exist but ONLY through Christ. The blood has been shed, the blood needs to cover our sins. The blood of Christ does not automatically cover our sins. The blood of Christ is not like rain falling from the sky over any and all without thought. The precious blood of our Savior has been spilt for those who ask for forgiveness, for those who repent, for those who believe they are saved by Christ and Christ alone and no other.
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
For the remission of sins.
Our Savior offers us an eternal inheritance. Our Savior DIED to give us this eternal inheritance...
Heb 9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
Heb 9:17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
People are advised to create wills. A will reveals our wishes after we are dead. A will has NO meaning as long as the person is alive. The person has to die before that will can have any meaning.
The testator has to die for the testament to have meaning. We understand this concept and it's the same with the promise of Christ. The Will of Christ was that we should have eternal life in Him, through Him. The only way we could have eternal life was if our sins were blotted out. The only way our sins could be blotted out were if Christ's blood covered them. The only way for Christ's blood to cover our sins was for that blood to be shed. As long as Christ lived His blood could not cover us. Our Savior had to die for His will to go into affect. Our Savior did die and we are His heirs. We can receive the promise of our inheritance.
Christ's will is for us to have eternal life.
Christ died and the will was in affect.
Christ rose from the dead which DID not null and void the will.
Christ became mediator of that will.
The will became active after the death of the will's owner.
Today we would be shocked if a person was dead, buried, and their will was read and the beneficiaries received their inheritance, and then the person rose from the dead. Imagine it, I know we can with all the movies we've been exposed to on this sort of fantastical stuff. The dead person comes back to life and realizes that all their possessions have been distributed as they wanted. The dead person comes back to life and can see that their wishes have been carried out according to their plan. We as being merely human would inject a plotline of that person reestablishing their lives and people most likely returning their possessions to them etc. Christ wasn't merely human though. And Christ, after He rose from the dead still had things to do. Christ couldn't remain here on earth and have those things done. The earth was filled with sin and that wasn't why He died. Christ died to do away with sin. For all this to be accomplished Christ's life after death was very important, His ministry was to carry on in the Heavenly Sanctuary. He left earth and went to the Heavenly Sanctuary to continue with His plan of salvation and a BIG part of that plan is being a mediator between us and God. He chose to be a mediator of His own will. He didn't rise from the dead and begin a life here, His will was and is still in affect and He left earth to be a mediator for us, a High Priest in the Heavenly Sanctuary.
He is the author and finisher of our faith.
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
May God continue to bless us as we study more and more of our Heavenly Mediator and the plan of salvation. May our eyes be opened, may our hearts be created new by Him, may His grace be all in all to us through His love, by His righteousness. Please Lord, we believe, help our unbelief.
You are our all in all now and forever!
Amen!
Receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Eternal inheritance. An inheritance for eternity. We are NOT all going to have eternity. People have this delusion embedded in their minds that they will live forever in some manner. Death to so many doesn't mean death. Judgment doesn't mean really judging. Pronounced found wanting, pronounced filthy still, pronounced unjust, none of it is real to people. When they do begin to imagine eternity and themselves less than just, less than holy they do so using humor, making light of not being saved. Our world is so caught up in fantasy because reality is so exacting. We'd rather form beliefs that are not Biblical than hold fast to Biblical truths because they fit better with our sin-filled lives. We would much rather believe in an eternity as a so called lost soul, than believe that we don't have an eternity at all, that we are simply taken out of existence. So much has gone into convincing people that they will live on right after death that almost the whole world is caught up in the deception.
The truth- some will have eternity, but most will not.
We DO have an eternal inheritance- they which are CALLED might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Eternal inheritance - it really does exist but ONLY through Christ. The blood has been shed, the blood needs to cover our sins. The blood of Christ does not automatically cover our sins. The blood of Christ is not like rain falling from the sky over any and all without thought. The precious blood of our Savior has been spilt for those who ask for forgiveness, for those who repent, for those who believe they are saved by Christ and Christ alone and no other.
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
For the remission of sins.
Our Savior offers us an eternal inheritance. Our Savior DIED to give us this eternal inheritance...
Heb 9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
Heb 9:17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
People are advised to create wills. A will reveals our wishes after we are dead. A will has NO meaning as long as the person is alive. The person has to die before that will can have any meaning.
The testator has to die for the testament to have meaning. We understand this concept and it's the same with the promise of Christ. The Will of Christ was that we should have eternal life in Him, through Him. The only way we could have eternal life was if our sins were blotted out. The only way our sins could be blotted out were if Christ's blood covered them. The only way for Christ's blood to cover our sins was for that blood to be shed. As long as Christ lived His blood could not cover us. Our Savior had to die for His will to go into affect. Our Savior did die and we are His heirs. We can receive the promise of our inheritance.
Christ's will is for us to have eternal life.
Christ died and the will was in affect.
Christ rose from the dead which DID not null and void the will.
Christ became mediator of that will.
The will became active after the death of the will's owner.
Today we would be shocked if a person was dead, buried, and their will was read and the beneficiaries received their inheritance, and then the person rose from the dead. Imagine it, I know we can with all the movies we've been exposed to on this sort of fantastical stuff. The dead person comes back to life and realizes that all their possessions have been distributed as they wanted. The dead person comes back to life and can see that their wishes have been carried out according to their plan. We as being merely human would inject a plotline of that person reestablishing their lives and people most likely returning their possessions to them etc. Christ wasn't merely human though. And Christ, after He rose from the dead still had things to do. Christ couldn't remain here on earth and have those things done. The earth was filled with sin and that wasn't why He died. Christ died to do away with sin. For all this to be accomplished Christ's life after death was very important, His ministry was to carry on in the Heavenly Sanctuary. He left earth and went to the Heavenly Sanctuary to continue with His plan of salvation and a BIG part of that plan is being a mediator between us and God. He chose to be a mediator of His own will. He didn't rise from the dead and begin a life here, His will was and is still in affect and He left earth to be a mediator for us, a High Priest in the Heavenly Sanctuary.
He is the author and finisher of our faith.
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
May God continue to bless us as we study more and more of our Heavenly Mediator and the plan of salvation. May our eyes be opened, may our hearts be created new by Him, may His grace be all in all to us through His love, by His righteousness. Please Lord, we believe, help our unbelief.
You are our all in all now and forever!
Amen!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)