2013-10-25
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We continue today working toward answering the question: We all want unconditional love, but are we willing to give it? Last week, we looked at how things like our attitudes, goals, paradigm, behavior, choice of friends, and outside interests are markedly changed when God “transforms us by the renewal of our mind” [RO 12: 2]. Remember, we were created in His image [GN 1: 27], and it’s illogical for God not to love one created that way. We are reminded that Satan, in the form of the serpent, tantalized Adam and Eve into the original sin [GN 3: 1-6], which tainted their offspring. And yet, we are told the whole story of the Bible in one verse, GN 3: 15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Now mankind needed reconciliation, but it would be awhile before it was to come. But our God is a loving, forgiving Being, Who is eager to give mankind a way out. That came with Christ, our Redeemer, Who made the greatest sacrifice ever in His Atonement [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25; 1 COR 15: 3-8]. Not all of mankind will come to repent and accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior, but those who do are saved, eternally forgiven, justified, and begin the process of sanctification [1 JN 1: 9; RO 4: 3; 2 COR 3: 3, 6; 2 COR 5: 17; COL 3: 9-10] . The latter is a cooperation with God which leads to spiritual maturity and eventual glorification [return to His side in heaven for a blissful fellowship with God for eternity].
We are also reminded that each personality of the Trinity works in concert with the others. JN 14: 9, 11, [Christ’s words] “Anyone who has see Me has seen the Father…I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me.” The Holy Spirit was sent by Christ’s request of the Father, as we see in JN 14: 16-17a, And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…” I would be remiss, in view of my own present study of the Hebrew language, if I didn’t mention something about the use of the word, אלוח'ם Eloheim. This is a word for God, and it’s pleural. This is found in GN 2: 7, and it’s a reference to God’s three personalities found right in the Old Testament! It’s sad to me that my traditionally Jewish brothers and sisters don’t understand this aspect of the very God we all worship. This is by far not the only place in the OT where God’s name appears in this form in the original language. Before leaving the impact of language in understanding our God, note what happened and how it was stated to mankind due to their sinfulness in GN 11: 7-8. God saw the
Towerof Babelbeing erected and said, “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.” A question which might arise would be: why wait until mankind’s history laid out to the point where the Romans occupiedIsrael to bring the Lord Yeshua [Christ] on the scene? God knows all, including when the exact right time to do something to maximize what mankind can learn from it, how they can be best benefitted. That, Dear Ones, is only a small part of the goodness of our Covenant Partner!
As we view, in different contexts, the nature of our covenant bond with God and with our believing brothers and sisters, it only begins to dawn on us how precious this bond really is. I’m astonished that it took me until I was in my fifties before I realized God is with me wherever I am, 24/7. But our Lord has His reasons for His timing and what He does. Our former senior pastor repeated this comment many times, “God is in charge and not us. Get used to it!” How right he is. And let me add, how blessed we are that such is the case! We have 20/20 hindsight when we view GN 3: 21 carefully. “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” This happened just before they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. Think about it: a sacrifice in which an animal shed blood had to be made for those skins to be used by God this way. We are being told that at some point in their future, mankind will have forgiveness and reconciliation through a blood sacrifice [which we now know is Christ’s Atonement]. We know from LV 17:11 and HE 9: 22 that the life is in the blood, making a blood sacrifice necessary for our eternal lives to be saved. God loves us enough to sacrifice His only Son on the cross, so that His beloved mankind might be saved from spiritual death. Note how Peter begins his book of the NT inspired by God. 1 PET 1: 1-2, “To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered….who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood; Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” This book, rich with spiritual gems, is filled with God’s love for his human family. If this makes each of you, as it has me, see our relationships with our Lord and our believing brothers and sisters as more precious than before, then the Holy Spirit is using me effectively. This is why I can begin each devotion I send with a greeting like “Dear Ones,” and genuinely view that we are one big family. It’s because of our amazing, God-forged covenant bond with each other. Yes, think about it.
PRAYER: O Lord, what sweet reconciliation our Lord Jesus is! As we study Your words in both the OT and NT, we can’t help but begin to appreciate the precious covenant bond You have used to link us together. Through Christ’s Atonement You make it possible for people to repent of their sins and to embrace Him as our Savior. You use Your amazing power to transform us, forgive us, justify us, and save us from the worst condition possible-spiritual death. We bow before You now with awe and with reverence, in the hope that You are pleased with this and every prayer we utter. We rehearse Your history with us, which has revealed the content of Your heart and Your goals for us. Long ago, You responded to King Jehoshaphat’s leading of Israel in prayer in the face of tremendous peril from a combined army of advancing enemies [2 CH 20: 1-30] with these words, “This is what the Lord says to you, ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For this battle is not yours but God’s.’” You have never lied to us, which is why we can take Your words seriously from EZK 36: 26-27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws.” When your people, Israel, were nothing but dry bones, You breathed life into them [EZK 37: 10]. Over and over again, Dearest Abba, You continue to reveal Your love for us and keep Your promises. This is why we pray to You, asking for You to intervene in our lives, give us mid-course corrections when we need them, and continue to bless us abundantly as You always do. We offer You our loyalty, diligence, utmost love, honor, glory, praise and thanks in the holy/mighty name of Your Son, Jesus Christ (my Yeshua). Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m led to continue with this segment, “Our Covenant Bond,” as we look at how God has placed us in families and congregations to further His good and blessed goals for us. Our God wants nothing more than to bring us back to His side for eternity [JN 6: 39-40; EPH 1: 4-5]. We’ve seen how Christ’s Atonement has made reconciliation available with Himself. What we need to understand is how we are one with Christ, one with each other, one with our families, and one in our congregations. I use the word “one” in ways that we often neglect with some pretty disastrous consequences. But that discussion will wait for next week. For now, rest assured that we are taught to love by our Covenant Partner’s wonderful example. Some of us do it well; others need improvement. Our Covenant Partner is working daily to bond us together in ways no human can. By now, each of us should recognize just how loved we really are. We can pray PS 27: 11, “Teach me how to live, O Lord.” And our God will bring out the best in us. PS 63: 7, “Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice.” Real happiness is something that deep faith in our God gives. 1 JN 4: 9-10, “This is how God showed His love among us; He sent His one and only Son into the world, that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Praise and thanks be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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