2011-07-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I was led to write about the meaning of taking Communion and its meaning to the believer. This week, the Holy Spirit leads me to discuss what Christ did for us regarding sin and Who He actually is. First we will look at RO 5, in particular verses 14 and 19 to have a better understanding of what Paul meant when he referred to the two Adams. Before the Covenant of the Law was handed down to Moses, sin was rampant, and even people who didn’t sin had to suffer the consequences of it. God didn’t allow this to go on indefinitely. That is why He gave the Covenant of the Law to the Jewish people in a special ceremony conducted by Moses at the base of Mt. Sinai [EX 24: 7-11]. Moses read the Ten Commandments, and the people committed themselves to obey them. God knew that people who obeyed Him and repented of their sin, should be given a way out of suffering consequences for sins they didn’t commit. RO 5: 14, “Nevertheless death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the One to come.” The word “pattern” used here is to indicate that Adam is a prototype or archetype of Christ. Adam brought total ruin to the human race, i.e. they had no choice but to be sinful and to endure spiritual death. Christ, the “second Adam” did exactly the opposite. By one righteous act, His Atonement on the cross, He made it possible for mankind to choose not to sin and be forgiven for past sin, thus bringing them salvation from spiritual death. This is further elaborated upon in RO 5 :19, “For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one Man the many will be made righteous.”
It wouldn’t be appropriate to go on without hovering over the question: Exactly Who is Jesus Christ? He so very important to our lives, and we need to understand why. One of the best descriptions of Him is found in COL 1: 15-20. “He is the image of the invisible God, the First-Born over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether throne or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. And He is the Head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the Firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace with His blood shed on the cross.” While this passage seems like quite a mouthful, it is one of the most accurate descriptions we have of Who Christ actually is, what it is to be the second Personality of God Himself. We can’t see the Father right now, unless we have seen Christ. This is because JN 14: 9a tells us, “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father,” and JN 14: 11 says, “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. If not, believe because of the things I do.”
I seem to remember a conversation which raised the question of who was the oldest, Abraham or Christ? This came up in a group that included some traditional Jews. I used the above verses to make my point that Christ was, along with JN 1: 1-4. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” To no one’s surprise, the traditional Jews refuted all of this, because traditional Judaism refutes Christ as the second personality of God or the Messiah. I knew that what is needed is not me, but the Holy Spirit to open these stubborn eyes. My relief from frustration comes with RO 11: 25, “There is a secret truth, my brothers, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God.”
As for the term “Firstborn from the dead,” used in COL 1: 18, has a very special meaning to anyone who believes in Christ-Messianic Jew or Gentile Christian. It means that Christ was the First to be raised from the dead and given a “resurrection body” or one that is immortal. Paul uses the term, “Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep,” in 1 COR 15: 20 for Christ. We shouldn’t miss the great promise that others who are purified by refusal to keep sinning and faith in Him will follow. Such a resurrection could never happen without the great sacrifice of Christ’s physical life, taking the world’s sins with Him, on the cross. This Atonement opens the way for all of us who believe to be glorified in the Father’s perfect time and way. Since I’m writing this devotion the week of Palm Sunday, we are in the process of not only answering the question of Who Christ is, but we are also gaining a new appreciation of why we celebrate Easter and why it’s my favorite holiday of the year. Consider prayerfully the full impact of Christ’s Passion and Atonement in your covenant relationship with Him as I am doing in mine.
PRAYER: O Lord, each day that we contemplate Who You are and what You have done for us, we must understand and accept Your supremacy in all things. We accept that and strive to better understand its application in our lives. Just as the Father in the pre-Creation counsel determined that You should come to earth to minister to mankind and make the greatest sacrifice ever made, to atone for mankind’s sins, He shares the earth and all that is on it with us [PS 24 :1]. We now can understand 1 PET 1: 20-21, “He was chosen before the Creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believed in God, Who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” You wanted us to know the importance of this fabulous hope of resurrection to eternal life, so You emphasized this notion in RO 8: 29. “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.” Your patience, compassion, and love for us is amazing. It is unlike that from any human being, so perfect in its nature, and so longstanding. You have give a great Paradigm [Model] to follow in Christ, and we are still imperfect in our living in Him. But, we pledge our willingness to expunge sins we know about and look for subtle sins we might still have- with the intent of getting them too out of our lives. You have our cooperation in the process of sanctification. We will not forget Solomon’s wisdom in PR 3: 3-4, “Let love and faithfulness never leave you. Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.” We offer these prayers in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit directs me to write about the old and new covenants. In the meanwhile, let me offer some encouragement. I have never found a question that dealt with the intangible and eternally important things in our lives that wasn’t answered in the Scriptures. Anything that isn’t in them was probably left out to force us to come to faithful and obedient submission to God’s leadership in our lives. Let me offer up a prayer from the word for each of us. EPH 3: 17-18, “…And I pray that Christ will make His home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have love, so that you together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love . Yes, may you come to know His love –although it can never be fully known-and so, be completely filled with the very nature of God.” I cannot stress enough the blessing that prayer is in our lives, as well. God can and will speak directly to each of us who prays, if we will only listen to Him. This is true if He doesn’t answer a prayer too, because there can be a lesson for us in His silence. No matter what He chooses to do in response to our pleas, we should not miss the great love He has for us. He really is the only Source of true eternal happiness and salvation. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15