2012-03-16
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week we began looking at the significance to us of the fact that the moment Christ died on the cross, the veil [curtain separating the Holy of Holies in the temple and the Holy Place] tore from top to bottom, an event not engineered by human hands [MT 27: 51; MK 15: 38]. It has been made clear that this opened the Holy of Holies [the room containing the covenant box with its mercy seat over which the Lord’s shekinah glory dwelt] to all. In other words, we, who have repented and have faith in the Son, have access to the Father’s presence, as one of the blessings of Christ’s Atonement. EPH 3: 12, “In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Then we made the flesh-veil-light connection in looking at HE 10: 19-24. “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain that is, His body, and since we have a great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God and with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He Who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Dear Ones, this is huge! It now means that people who come to faith not only have direct access to their Creator, but that His light can shine on them, affecting their attitudes and deeds. None of this would have been possible without Christ’s Atonement on the cross!
The Abrahamic Covenant really has three parts, people-land-King. We’ve already discussed how God worked it out for the Jewish descendants of Abraham to multiply rapidly while they were slaves in Egypt, to such a degree that the Pharaoh [Egyptian king] didn’t want to support them any more. This was how God provided the people. As part prejudice and part an economic decision, he kept the Egyptians separate culturally from the Jews and had enslaved them- building his monuments [palaces, pyramids, etc.]. In the end, he wanted to be rid of them, but was stubborn about letting them go. That led to the ten plagues God placed on the Egyptians and the Jewish Passover. God told them of the Promised Land [then, Canaan], but it took 40 years of wandering in the desert under Moses’ leadership and ultimately God’s, before they finally entered Canaan. This was shortly after Moses’ death and Joshua’s taking over. This whole story is found in Exodus. In book of Joshua recounts the remarkable victories over the peoples occupying Canaan that the Jews had- with some bumps along the way due to human sinfulness. The last promise, the King, is prophesied in 2 SAM 7: 13-16 when the Lord promised David that “your throne will be established forever.” This same prophecy is repeated in DN 2: 34-35. Later in Revelation, we see this prophecy come to fruition in the full consummation of all prophecy in the Bible.
Let’s look at other Scriptures supporting the unconditional nature of the Abrahamic Covenant. GN 12: 1-3, “The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country [Ur of the Chaldeas or Mesopotamia, today’s SE Iraq] your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people’s on earth will be blessed through you.’” God knew the Mesopotamians were Baal worshipers and were polytheistic [believers in many gods]. He wanted this new nation to arise to be monotheistic [believe in only one God, Himself. That’s why a new place was needed for Abram and his descendants. God had imbued Abraham with the characteristic of leadership, and this would further God’s purposes. He deemed Abraham to be capable of belief in Him alone, which is why He deemed Abram acceptable in GN 15: 6. God took Abram and his family on a long journey, stopping in Haran [in Syria] until Abram’s father, Terah, finally passed away [GN 11: 31-32]. Then, He led this family into what is today Israel [then Canaan]. Many nations have opposed the Jews over the last 3000 years, and yet, they and the Jewish nation remains while the others have disappeared. That is how God cursed their enemies and blessed them. The part of GN 12: 1-3 about “you will be a blessing” is a reference to the fact that the Lord Jesus arose from the house of David and will one day be God’s appointed Ruler of His eternal Kingdom along with those who endured in their faith in Him. IS 9: 6, “For unto us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and He will be called, ‘Wonderful,’ ‘Counselor,’ ‘Mighty God,’ ‘Everlasting Father,’ ‘Prince of Peace.’” Moreover, God’s prophecy of a King is kept, as mentioned in IS 11: 1-2, “A Shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse [David’s father], from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him-the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord-.” Yes, when we enter the Covenant of Grace, this unconditional Abrahamic Covenant is fulfilled, because we walk through the veil, which has been rent.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne with heads bowed in reverence to You. We pledge You our faith and fidelity, knowing full well that Your Atonement has torn the veil from top to bottom- something no human could have done. We also know that we can approach you with confidence that You will hear our prayers and answer them, as long as our motives are pure in saying them. Nothing is hidden from You; You know the state of our heart attitude [HE 4: 13]. You teach us what is truth and what is not. You stand beside us in our battles against evil, and You encourage us to not only trust in You, but to be willing to let others know our experience with faith. Each one of us deals with challenges of many kinds, but when we are faithful to You, You are still there for us. 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 offer You thanks and praise for allowing us this unprecedented access to You, so that You can teach us, correct our faults, rebuke us for any bad thoughts or behavior, encourage us during our trials, and bless us with Your patience and wisdom. You are a loving, compassionate God, Who wants nothing more than for as many of us as possible to be able to become purified [perfected] sufficiently to return to Your side for eternity [JN 6: 39-40 and EPH 1: 4-5]. We must be cognizant of the tremendous and unparalleled sacrifice of Your life on the cross that You made for us. JN 3: 16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him will never perish but will have eternal life.” We all remember the story that there was a great earthquake at the moment of Your death and that the veil was rent from top to bottom. What we must be reminded of is the significance of these supernatural events. The centurion guarding the cross at its bottom, understood it right away, when he acknowledged Your deity. While he didn’t know all the ramifications to his own life of his new faith, we have no excuse for not knowing them in our own lives. Once again, we thank and praise You, for all You did and do for us. In Christ’s holy/mighty name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We continue examining when this unconditional covenant [the Abrahamic Covenant] is fulfilled in each person who comes to faith. Even though I am Messianic Jewish, those of you who are not Jewish by natural birth are still covenant partners with God when you come to true faith in Him. We learn this through RO 11: 13-24, the analogy of the cultured and wild olive tree branches. God truly know the state of one’s heart-attitude. I believe He really wants each of us to have a very close, intimate relationship with Him. The way He has brought us to this capability is by giving us saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and by Christ’s Atonement, opening us to this close access to Him. This is not to be treated as an exclusive club, the way the Gnostics did with their bogus faith in Paul’s time. Instead, God opens access to Himself to anyone willing to believe the truth. Each one reading this devotion, each one having faith in the Lord Jesus, is dearly loved and blessed by the Lord. His intervention and leadership in my own life causes me to testify to my faith in Him. He led me through four major denominations in preparation for the ministry I have now. I was stubborn in my youth, a difficult “nut for God to crack.” However, nothing is impossible for our Lord, when His mind is made up to bring even stubborn people to faith through the Holy Spirit. We need only look at the story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus to Paul [AC 9: 3-6]. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Saul’s job with the Jewish Ruling Council [the Sanhedrin] was to persecute Jewish Christians, a job he did with zeal. Our Lord “transformed him by the sudden renewal of his mind” [RO 12: 2]. And Paul went on to the greatest of the apostles for Christ! Praise and thanks be to our God forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15