2010-11-12
Good Morning Dear Ones,
There had been many prophecies of God taking some kind of special action to deal with the problems of legalism and basic disobedience that arose from misconstruing what He means in the Covenant of the Law. Such ideas as were found in PS 2: 1-11, “God’s Chosen King,” IS 53: 1-12, “The Suffering Servant,” and JER 31: 31-34, “A New Covenant” had to be given life to keep their meaning from being questioned. Our God is omniscient [all knowing] and thus, knew exactly the right time in mankind’s history to bring these prophecies to fruition. GA 4: 4-6, “But when the right time finally came, God sent His own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we mighty become God’s sons. To show that you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit Who cries out, ‘Abba, my Abba.’” The promise God made to David long centuries before the first Advent of Christ was now to be brought to light. 2 SAM 7: 12-13, “When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong [ref. to Solomon]. He will be the one to build a temple for Me, and I will make sure that His dynasty continues forever.” That last phrase is a reference to the King, Jesus Christ, Who will rule forever. Hence we are foretold of the royal line of David out of which is, ‘a tree that has been cut down out of which a Branch will sprout from the stump of Jesse [David’s father], so that a new King will arise from among David’s descendants’” [IS 11: 1].
There has been a holy adoption, for lack of a better description, that is made possible by the Father for believers in His Son, Jesus Christ. It’s described in RO 8: 15-17, “For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, ‘Abba! My Abba!’, God’s Spirit joins Himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children. 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 if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share His glory.” Yes, we will be joint-heirs to His Kingdom! How does this covenant come about? Using the old expression, it will be “cut” through His Son. You’ll remember back in GN 15, the original covenant or two-way agreement between God and man, was symbolized by passing one’s hand between the two halves of an animal that had been sacrificed on the altar. God’s covenant with Abram is described in GN 15: 17, “When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals.” Later, the men of the village would pass their hands between their covenant partner’s thighs to indicate a covenant between them and God had been made. Getting back to the Covenant of Grace [the new covenant], it would be “cut” through the body of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Son of God would carry with Him the world’s sins to give His life on the cross for the salvation of mankind [JN 3: 16]. For whatever reason that God had, He knew only the sacrifice of His Son on the cross would be a propitiation [a satisfactory sin sacrifice] for mankind.
We must be reminded of just how in charge God really is. He set the stage for Christ’s entrance on to the earthly scene with the birth of Jesus’ first cousin, John the Baptist, whose function would be to announce Christ’s coming. For example, when Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was struck silent in the temple, it lasted just long enough for him to confirm his wife, Elizabeth’s, statement that the baby’s name would be John. The people of the village expressed their surprise in view of the fact that no other person in that family had the name, John. At that moment, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave his confirming answer vocally. LK 1: 68-69, 72, “Let us praise the Lord, the God of Israel! He has come to the help of His people and has set them free. He has provided for us a mighty Savior, a Descent of His servant David…He said He would show mercy to our ancestors and remember His sacred covenant.” The Davidic covenant of 2 SAM 7: 13 has been reiterated and made true! Amazingly, Zechariah-filled with the Holy Spirit-knew he was not talking about his own son, John [the Baptist], but was referring to John’s first cousin, Jesus. We must remember that this took place before Pentecost, to my belief-proof positive that the Holy Spirit has been on the earthly scene intermittently inhabiting humans before that momentous moment when He came to dwell in the souls of all who believe in the Lord Jesus [AC 2: 1-3]. As we continue to investigate the security we have in our covenant relationship with the Lord, we should spend this week considering how that applies to our individual experience with Him and His Spirit dwelling within us.
PRAYER: O Lord, we can review the facts of Your history with us and can see the truth that You always keep Your covenant promises. PS 107: 43, “Those who are wise will take all this to heart: they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.” As true believers in the Lord, Jesus Christ, how can we forget God’s promise kept in response to the ancient Jewish slaves groaning under the weight of Egyptian oppression? EX 2: 23-25, “Their cry went up to God, Who heard their groaning and remember His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He saw the slavery of the Israelites and was concerned for them.” How many times You have shown the generosity, care, and love in Your heart for us! PS 34: 8, “ O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” It is high time that we take You at Your word, when we pray, in PS 138: 8, “You will do everything You have promised; Lord, Your love is eternal. Complete the work that You have begun.” That last phrase is not only our prayer, but should also be our promise to Him that we will do our part to serve Him in His purpose to help redeem as many people as God has given Him. We must remember Christ’s mission statement in JN 6: 39-40, which should be rehearsed as many times as necessary to plant it firmly in the minds of all who believe. “And it is the will of Him Who sent Me that I should not lose any of all those He has given Me, but that I should raise them all to life on the last Day. For what My Father wants is that all who see the Son and believe in Him should have eternal life. And I will raise them to life on the last Day.” Once we came to faith in You, Dearest Lord, we also took on the responsibility of joining You in Your work of spreading the Gospel truth to as many as will listen to it and believe. Through Your Holy Spirit, You will give them faith. You never wanted mankind to be mired in legalism, their own ideas that didn’t come from You, and the notion of relying only on themselves. Instead, Dearest Father, You wanted us to know and understand the truth, be obediently faithful to You, and eventually gain eternal life. What greater love can their be than what You bless us with every day? We pledge before You to be better covenant partners with You now and in the future. These things we say in the holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will continue learning more about our security in covenant by examining what a covenant relationship with the Father gives a person. As we do this, the true significance of Christ’s Atonement to us personally should become clearer and clearer than it’s ever been to us. Please remember that God, through the Holy Spirit, is not only teaching each reader of these devotions, but He is also teaching me as their human author as I write them. Thus, the Holy Spirit, and not I, deserves all the credit for any insights given in them [PS 115: 1]. Even readers who have been believers for many years can always gain fresh perspective from God each time a verse or passage in His word is revisited. I can testify to this personally [2 TIM 3: 16-17]. Unlike the gods of other belief systems, our one and only true God wants us to know Him in a very personal way. It is He Who reached down to us first, rather than the other way around. He inspired the Lord Jesus to say, in JN 15: 16, “You did not choose Me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of Him in My name.” It is for this reason that I must repeat, we are truly a blessed people! Now, we must take our blessings and go forth this week and always encouraging faith in the Lord in others. Our God is worth whatever appropriate and sensitive effort we put into this. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15