2010-09-10
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The call to a covenant relationship with God when answered gives us the confidence to remove the fear of death. Answering God’s call to such a relationship is an act of faith. However, it has some really wonderful benefits when we listen obediently to what He tells us. HE 2: 14-15, “Since the children, as He called them, are people of flesh and blood, Jesus Himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through His death He mighty destroy the devil, who has the power over death, and in this way set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.” In a real sense, this is like walking through the blood-washed door of a Jewish home just before the events of Passover took place [EX 12: 1-42]. You’ll remember from this story that God commanded the Jews to sacrifice a lamb which was perfect and without spot or blemish. Then the blood of that lamb was to be smeared on the doorposts and lintels of their homes. They were to be ready for a trek with sandals on, and God would pass over their homes in putting the tenth plague into place, which was the killing of all the Egyptian’s first-born sons [including the next in line to the Egyptian throne. This was followed by the exodus of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. PS 81: 10, “’I am the Lord your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth, and I will feed you,” He said to the Jews. And what God promises, He does-in this case supplying manna [EX 16: 31], which He gave them throughout their 40 years of wandering in the desert.
The Jews would have never wandered so long had it not been for various acts of disobedience they committed during that time. A whole generation of Jews, except for Caleb and Joshua, lived and died without ever seeing the Promised Land [NU 14: 30-31]. Moses himself struck a rock when God asked him to speak to it. This act of disobedience cost him the chance to go into the Promised Land, but He did get to see it [NU 20: 7-11]. These were not the only acts of disobedience to God. One that God found wholly repugnant was the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in NU 16: 1-35. These were the leaders of a group which refused to listen to Moses’ orders. They burned unholy fire, angering God, and were punished by being swallowed up into the earth, in what would appear to the modern eye to be like what happens in an earthquake. There was also a time when the Jews were complaining about not getting meat. So, God sent a flock of quails which they ate in excess with some of them getting sick and others even dying. This lesson in obedience was one that God found quite necessary, since it was manna that He wanted them to eat [NU 11: 31-34].
Getting back to the subject at hand, we must consider why believers have no reason to fear physical death. Our covenant relationship with God is quite complete. He protects those who obey Him and are faithful to Him. He even goes so far as to adopt us as His children [RO 8: 14-16]. Thus, as our adoptive Parent, God takes on all the responsibilities of a parent. PS 103: 13, “The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.” NH 1: 7, “The Lord is good; He protects His people in times of trouble; He takes care of those who turn to Him.” We find ourselves disciplined in all consistency and fairness by Him when we make mistakes, and we are encouraged when we do things that please Him [PHIL 4: 7]. He trains us to use the talents He endows us with [PS 90: 17], and He tenderly heals us when we become ill. I love to think of the faithful Hezekiah, king of Judah at the time Isaiah was God’s prophet. Hezekiah took ill and amidst his pain, prayed to God, begging Him to heal him. Isaiah had already told Hezekiah he would die and left. God stopped His prophet along the road and told him to go back to Hezekiah to tell him He had decided he would live awhile longer. That stretched on to 15 more years [IS 38: 1-9, 16-17]. Every aspect of a child’s life is deeply affected by his relationship with his parents. Such is also the case with God’s adopted children [the believers] with Him in our covenant relationship.
One other aspect of a covenant relationship with God is God’s intent. Both God and the Son have given us mission statements [EPH 1: 4-5 and JN 6: 39-40] respectively] that have as their main thrust our glorification-the act of God bringing us back to Him in heaven for an eternity of blissful fellowship with Him. Christ is the Redeemer, having died in the greatest of all personal sacrifices on the cross, so that our salvation can be possible [JN 3: 16; JN 15: 13-16; RO 3: 24-25]. God’s eternal forgiveness is a chief aspect of this, as is His willingness to forget our past sins [HE 8: 12]. This pouring out of Christ’s blood for us is told not just in the NT, but in the OT as well. No account of this is more poignant that IS 53: 1-12-one of my favorite passages in the Scriptures. It gives the reasons why such a death on the cross is necessary, tells of it, and gives us amazing perspective on it for so ancient a writing. We must remember that Isaiah lived 300 years before Christ. Even mention of this is made as far back as PS 2, “God’s Chosen King.” PS 2: 6, “’On Zion, My sacred hill,’ He says, ’I have installed My King.” It ends with PS 2: 11b, “Happy are all who go to Him for protection.” This may have been written as far back as 1400 BC. God’s plan for us is not only consistent throughout the Scriptures, but it is unselfish and loving- even more than the best human parents can be. It is truly beyond me that anyone can be foolish enough to reject such a marvelous covenant relationship as God offers us.
PRAYER: O Lord, You call us to a covenant relationship with You. At first, we think it is too limiting to our freedom to be worth it. That is our human flesh speaking to us. But those of us who will think further about it and allow these thoughts to enter our hearts along with the Holy Spirit, know differently. We “know the truth, and the truth sets us free” [JN 8: 32]. We begin to see that real freedom is that which saves us from condemnation for sin and all the negative consequences of allowing our flesh to lead, rather than the Spirit. This calls for a kind of discipline, as all learning does, but the efforts to learn are more than worth it. The very fact that You, Dearest Abba, are willing to make our redemption Your main priority makes us realize the love You have for us is deeper than we can understand. You have no evil in You, so that all of Your thoughts, actions, and agendas are always-righteous. Nothing like that can be said of the evil one or other humans. If my experience is any teacher, You are eager for us to enter into a continuing covenant relationship with You. You are happy to take on the responsibilities of caring for, guiding, encouraging, protecting, and teaching us what we must do to gain eternal life with You. In turn You ask us to live by Your teaching in the Scriptures, making You and Your word the Center of our lives. We must make the choice that is made possible for us by Christ’s Atonement to go against our human nature and obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit. We are imperfect sinners in need of God’s direction and intervention in our lives. We thank and praise You for caring enough about us to adopt us as Your children and remain with us through the rest of eternity [MT 5: 3, 5 and 9]. We thank You for walking us through the pitfalls the evil one sets in our paths and for giving us the power to say “no” to the desires of the flesh. Our prayer is in the holy, mighty name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Savior. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The covenant relationship can hardly be described in one devotion, so the Holy Spirit directs me to continue discussing what it means to be covered with the blood of the Lord Jesus. Our relationship with the Lord, when we comply with His commands, builds us into people who will one day [in God’s perfect time and way] be glorified and share in His glory with the Lord Jesus. CO 3: 3-4, “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then You too will appear with Him and share His glory!” It is a splendid thought that those of us who endure in our faith in God will be joint-heirs with Christ to the Kingdom of God. RO 8: 17, “Since we are His children, we will possess the blessings He keeps for His people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for Him; for it we share in Christ’s suffering, we will also share in His glory.” Paul goes on to say in RO 8: 18-19, this important message. “I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all wit the glory that is going to be revealed to us. All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his sons.” We must be obediently faith and patient, as we go through whatever trials God allows in our earthly lives. We must hang in there, knowing that this suffering is worth it, and eternal life with our loving God is worth it. Now, that’s the truth! We can thank and praise our God for His constant love, His work in doing His part in the covenant relationship we have with Him, and His patience with us as we learn how to be obediently faithful believers.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15