2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Let me begin by recapitulating the traits of a kinsman-redeemer that we have already been discussing. 1) He must be a blood relative; 2) He must be able to pay the price of redemption; 3) He must desire to redeem; 4) He must be willing to redeem; 5) He must be the judicial executioner of his relative’s murderer; 6) He has the authority and responsibility to redeem the land and evict squatters and invaders. I’m am led to continue with more that the Spirit has given me to say about 6). As already stated, the basis for this law was established in LV 25: 23-25. What that law foreshadows is Christ as our Kinsman-Redeemer wresting dominion over the earth from Satan’s hands into those of the Father. Satan is a murderer of mankind’s souls, which makes this construct of God’s plan both consistent and righteous. Christ really has been given all the authority He needs to carry out this task. JN 5: 26-29, “Just as the Father is Himself the Source of life, in the same way He has made His Son to be the Source of life. And He has given the Son the right to judge, because He is the Son of Man. Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear His voice and come out of their graves; those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.”
When Christ died on the cross, our sins were forgiven. That matters a lot to Satan, because it breaks open the shackles to sin he placed around us by our inheritance of the original sin and our naturally sinful nature. In other words, the adversary sees his power over us being destroyed. As I have said before, Christ’s death doesn’t insure that we won’t sin, but it does give us the choice as to whether or not to sin. Our repentance and faith in Christ gives us a God-connection through the Holy Spirit which allows us to know when we are sinning and when we are not. That is our conscience. It also gives us the desire not to sin. RO 6: 9-11, “For we know that Christ has been raised from death and will never die again-death has no power over Him; and now He lives His life in fellowship with God. In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.” Christ went to the cross for us to obey a very important command the Father gave Him at the time of the pre-Creation council in heaven. HE 2: 14b, “He did this so He could destroy the devil, who has power over death.” God wants us to understand Christ’s authority and effectiveness in this task well. That is why He gives us HE 10: 8-12, “First He [Christ] said [to God], ‘You neither want nor are You pleased with sacrifices and offerings or with animals burned on the altar and the sacrifices to take away sins.’ He said this even through all these sacrifices are offered according to the Law. Then He said, ‘Here I am, O God, to do Your will.’ So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted Him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that He made of His own body once and for all. Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; but these sacrifices can never take away sins. Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, and offering that is effective forever, and then He sat down at the right hand of God.”
Satan and his followers are the “squatters and invaders” referred to in trait 6). Under the rules that God set forth, Christ has every right, authority, and responsibility to evict them from earth. This was prophesied in DN 9: 27 that it would happen and will be consummated in the time in our future when REV 19: 20-21 and REV 20: 10. When we look at the gain to us, the blessing of the Atonement, we are given God’s perspective in RO 6: 20-23, “When you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. What did you gain from doing the things that you are now ashamed of? The results of those things is death! But now you have been set free from sin and are the slaves of God. your gain is a life fully dedicated to Him, and the result is eternal life. For sin pays its wage-death; but God’s free gift is life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What God reveals to us in the Scriptures about the significance to our individual lives of Christ’s magnificent sacrifice gives us some insight into the amazing achievement this act is. We’ll look more closely into that in tomorrow’s message, but for now, we need to spend time meditating on the issue that is raised in JN 8: 32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” We must ask ourselves: What is real freedom? Do I have it personally because of my relationship with Jesus Christ? What is the condition of my own faith? How willing am I to obey God’s commands even when they are not timed conveniently for us or when they take us to a place in our lives in which we are uncomfortable? As we ponder these questions today, we should never lose sight of the fact that our Lord loves us more than we can comprehend.
PRAYER: O Lord, there are times in our personal lives when we don’t understand the time or the way that You administer Your justice. We see people sinning, and for a time, they seem to get away with it. We must remember that Your timing is perfect, and we are by nature impatient and often unable to see Your greater perspective. That is why you inspired Isaiah to say in IS 55: 8-9, “’My thoughts,’ says the Lord, ‘are not like yours, and My ways are different from yours. As high as the heaven are above the earth, so high are My ways and thoughts above yours.’” We see injustices like the death of missionary, Martin Burnham, and the nurse who cared for him, and we ask: why do You allow such things to happen? Then, you remind us in REV 6: 9-11 that all the martyrs who died proclaiming their faith in You will be rewarded with an honored place in heaven. Even their question in that verse about when their deaths will be avenged is answered in Your way, “after all those who died for proclaiming the faith.” We must stand full of faith and patient for Your time and for justice to be carried out by the Son to Whom You have given full authority. We are not to take matter into our own hands or even judge the unrighteous. One of the fruits of the Spirit of which You have enabled us to produce is self-control [GA 5: 22-23]. We ask why You allow a six year old, Sammy Picotte, to be brought home to You at so young an age. And, Your answer is once again that we must trust in the righteousness of Your reasons and celebrate the fact that this brave little boy proclaimed his faith in You, that most of his service to You will be done in heaven. We must take comfort in knowing that he is now fully healed and remember that we will one day be that way too, without pain or sorrow walking streets of gold with all our departed fellow believers. Dearest Lord, we ask You to keep giving us faith, and to know that we intend to keep building on that. We offer You confession or our sins, adoration, worship, and a pledge of our loyalty, obedience, trust, diligence, glory, honor, praise, and utmost thanksgiving for being the wise and just God that You are. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
As mentioned above, tomorrow’s message will deal with the significance to our personal lives of Christ’s atonement and the amazing accomplishment that it is. Trust is an earned commodity. It doesn’t come overnight. The Psalmist in PS 107: 43 lends us sufficient reminder of why we should place our trust in our Abba Who loves us so much. “Those who are wise will take this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.” Our God is compassionate, merciful, and patient. PS 145: 9, The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.” We must pledge Him our trust and faith, stretching as far as we can by our study of the Scriptures and prayer toward an understanding of His perspective. When we do, we will see He is eager to bless us abundantly. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn