2012-09-21
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week the Holy Spirit had me finishing up the segment of “Our Covenant” messages called “Accepting Christ.” Time and space didn’t permit me to include one last passage that helps put the cap on it, MT 3: 3-5 in reference to John the Baptist. “This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: ‘A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’ John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.” In this situation, God was using John the Baptist to call the people out of darkness and into His light, bringing the Kingdom of heaven to earth. You’ll remember from IS 46: 10 that God expresses His truth that “my purpose will stand.”
MT 3: 2 is the first of 32 times the term “Kingdom of heaven” is used in the Gospels. A good working definition of Kingdom of heaven is the sphere in which God’s rule is acknowledged. This is supported in DN 4: 24-25 when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had his dream about a tree and wanted Daniel to interpret it. “This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most high has issued against my lord the king: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.” Those who have read the remainder of DN 4 know that this interpretation was the truth that led Nebuchadnezzar to finally accept God as sovereign Lord in his life. Now the problem of causing the people of John the Baptist’s time to do this was much the same thing. The people/events that lead to an acceptance of God as supreme and sovereign Savior means coming out of darkness and into His light. Whenever people acknowledge God’s rule, the Kingdom of heaven exists. Truthfully, if one can think of two concentric circles, the larger one denotes those who profess God’s lordship, but the small circle, a subset of the larger one, truly believe what they profess and allow for God’s leadership over their lives. These are the ones who accept Christ.
Now, we need to begin moving on to the next segment of these “Our Covenant” messages, looking at what is meant by “A New Creation.” It never hurts to reiterate something important. 2 COR 5: 17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” My long-time readers know I was initially confused by what was meant operationally by “a new creation.” That is when the Holy Spirit led me to COL 3: 9-10, which sheds His light on this confusion. “Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off your old self and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” One has a bird’s eye view of the real work the Holy Spirit is doing, the work of revealing the Lord God to us in such a way that we know Him better and better. As we get to know God better, we see His goodness at work in us and in other believers, changing our perspective by bringing it closer to His (even though we can never have his total perspective). We also stop any self-loathing, due to the understanding that God has created us in His own image and would never hate one made this way. I can report some of the changes that took place in me when the Holy Spirit gradually took over leadership in my life. My language choices changed. I no longer felt the need to get attention by using foul language I had picked up from the streets and play yards where I had learned it. Over time, I became more patient with tasks assigned and other people. My grades in school reflected that change. My interests changed, as did what I chose to do in my career. I learned to listen to others, rather than spending time cutting them off and trying to get my own points across.
A definition for sin, as most of you know is separation from God. This is also a measure of independence from God, rather than submission to His control. If I were writing about submitting to another human being this way, one would have a hard time considering this kind of definition as emotionally and spiritually balanced. However, I’m writing about God, which is quite different. I truly believe that a person who has the Holy Spirit in leadership of his life loses his desire to sin. That is why when Christ uttered, in LK 22: 42, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup [of suffering] from Me, yet not My will, but Yours be done,” in the Garden of Gethsemane, His and the Father’s greatest suffering was their time of separation –when Christ was taking on the sins of the world on the cross. No human can love in quite the same way as God can. It’s the reason why totally submitting to another human isn’t healthy and well balanced, even one’s spouse. I have seen marriages where one partner abrogates his personality to the other, and those marriages are not healthy ones. But, we can give up our old selves to God with gusto and never be hurt by it, only benefitted. This is learned behavior done over a period of time, and another name for it is gaining spiritual maturation.
PRAYER: O Lord, every week, we come to Your throne with our responses to what our lives are teaching us. We must first count our blessings and offer You thanks and praise for the hard work You do in us through the Holy Spirit. It isn’t easy to deal with rebellious human beings, ones vulnerable to Satan’s wily tricks. And yet, You don’t give up on us, working out Your mission statement. JN 6: 39-30, “And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given Me, but raise them up at the last Day. For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last Day.” When we look at our sins, which stain us like filthy rags [IS 64:6], our own sinful, judgmental side asks, “Why bother, Abba, with such tainted beings, as we are?” But that is the side of us that still doesn’t know God intimately. It’s the part of our sinful being that needs Your gentle touch, Your great wisdom, and Your incomparable love. Earlier, we learned the meaning of “a new creation” as shown in EPH 3: 10. We are works in progress, hard works that often rebel, don’t understand, or show stubbornness. Yet, somehow, You keep us under Your wing like the mother eagle who shades and protects her young near her pinion feathers. Nothing is hidden from Your sight or understanding [HE 4: 13], Dearest Father. We have nothing to fear, except outright foolish rebellion. We can trust that if we submit to You, You will never gives us a challenge that will destroy our resolve, our faith [1 COR 10: 13], nor will you ever allow our spirits to be broken. Once again, we offer You our spirits submitted, our hearts true, and our willingness to expunge sin. Praise and thanks be to Christ, in His holy/mighty name. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m led by the Holy Spirit to continue writing the segment called “A New Creation.” In doing so, we can examine how God uses His power to bring about a credible and powerful opposition to the work of Satan. A short view of who Satan is and the power we have been given by God through Christ to oppose Satan will help. Truth is cleansing and grants power; lies are not. I remember one story of a man who tried to empower himself by cutting down others who were his co-workers. It soon began to became obvious that he was creating a toxic work environment. In the end this man’s boss had no choice other than to fire him. He didn’t have that death of sin that comes from having the Holy Spirit in leadership. We must remember the vital reconnaissance found in HE 10: 19-24, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place [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 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.” Praise and thanks be to Him forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24:15
© Lynn Johnson 2012. All Rights Reserved.
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