2013-12-06
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, the Holy Spirit directed me to begin writing a new segment of this “Our Covenant” series called “Many Called Few Answer.” We looked at Scripture that first revealed an initially misunderstood metaphor from Christ, describing Himself as the Bread of life, and instructing people to “eat of His flesh and drink His blood” [JN 6: 51-54; 1 COR 11: 23-25]. Rather than meaning something base and disgusting, as the people originally thought, our Lord Jesus was laying out the need to believe in Him after repenting of one’s sins, so that one could be saved for eternity. To better understand this concept of needing to obligate oneself to Christ and His teaching in return for this salvation, many people turned away initially from what they misunderstood. Others did so for their own evil reasons. It was also essential that we understand that our salvation is not a human achievement. But it does require our commitment and cooperation. This concept was difficult for unsophisticated people of Christ’s time.
We have to understand that the population of Israelin Christ’s time was mostly faithful but uneducated Jews, the Sanhedrin [Jewish ruling council], and their Roman occupiers. The Jews were devout in their beliefs, and they understood the OT stories, i.e. EX 16: 14-16 from the Torah about manna [sustenance from God for the Jews wandering in the desert long before Christ’s time in history]. The Sanhedrin was the link between ordinary Jews and the Romans, who governed them at the time. But it was a huge step for any of them to understand the human condition of sinfulness that makes it necessary for reconciliation with God in order to enjoy eternal life [GN 2: 17; PR 14: 12]. Furthermore, it was another huge step to recognize Christ as the Source for that reconciliation, so most people didn’t. [See 1 TIM 2: 5; 1 PET 3: 8: RO 5: 8]. It seems to be human nature to want to avoid making commitments, especially to something that would change one’s way of thinking, his choices, his behavior, and his goals for the rest of his life. It’s human nature to fear what we don’t understand.
Still and all, there were some things being done by Christ and His disciples that couldn’t be explained by what mankind understood at the time. How could someone feed a multitude of 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish [MT 16: 7-10; MK 8: 1-21]? And what about the many people, including Simon’s mother among them, who the Lord Jesus miraculously healed [LK 4: 38-40]? What explanation did the people have for the many demons that were cast from some of their numbers [LK 4:41]? The Gospels that we have today are full of stories of these healings. Even Jews like Josephus Flavius, a historian in Christ’s time, couldn’t deny them. The impact that all of this had on the spread of Christ’s teaching had to have been positive. Christ’s own words describing Himself in JN 6: 32-33 may have seem like heresy at first, but later as time went on, they were harder and harder to deny. “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who have give you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father, Who gives you the true Bread from heaven. For the Bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Once Christ was crucified, a true Martyr to the faith was revealed-something which always solidifies the following of One presenting such comforting promises. Salvation, grace, reconciliation, and peace are intangible phenomena, but are nevertheless true felt human needs. Seeing Christ’s talk of His divine qualities as heresy, the Sanhedrin no longer supported His teaching. It is why Jewish leadership’s withdrawal of support coupled with evil behavior on the part of the Roman “kangaroo court” that tried and crucified Him are the reasons such an abomination could even happen. And yet, we ask: Did God put blinders on their eyes as to Who Jesus really is? We humans with our limited perspective can’t answer such a question while still on earth. But God had a greater plan, one in which He used Christ to be the true Propitiation [acceptable Sin-Sacrifice], so that those who believe in Him and repented of their sins could be saved for eternity, eternally forgiven and justified [HE 8: 12; 1 JN 1: 9; HE 10: 10; JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25; RO 4: 3].
Stepping out of his comfort zones is never easy for a human being. To some degree, we are creatures of habit. We find it easier to follow than to lead. For the most part, we are social beings, seriously in need of interaction with our fellow like-minded people. Of course there are loners in this world, people who don’t crave much contact with others. Making such a change as Christ asks of us in our thinking isn’t easy. We were being called to put away the old, self-centered self and to establish a balance between taking care of ourselves and serving others. We were being asked to accept the reality that we inherited sin [GN 3: 1-6] and that we commit our own sin on top of that. It was necessary for us to understand our need for reconciliation with our God and Creator. As if that wasn’t enough, we were being asked to accept that Jesus of Nazareth, an ordinary appearing man is in reality both human and Deity, the second personality of God Himself. Moreover, we were being asked to commit to Christ and His teaching for the rest of our life-something that would require us making mind-bending changes in our very Paradigm and lives. Yes, Dear Ones, Christianity/Messianic Judaism, is indeed a huge and very eternally important commitment to make. And yes, it is the one way to eternal life! [JN 14: 6].
PRAYER: O Lord, You are the true Manna, the Bread of Life! We stand before You with heads bowed in awe and reverence of You. How amazing that You were willing to sacrifice Your very physical life, so that You were totally obedient to the Father and willing to open the door to eternal life for those humans willing to embrace faith in You and stop sinning. Still, Dearest Lord, we are imperfect and not able to present ourselves fully obedient and faithful. In MT 5: 44-45a, You instructed us to “love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.” It’s the most difficult of Your commands, and at times, crucial to our own eternal life. In both the OT and NT [LV 11: 44-45; LV 19: 2; 1 PET 1: 16], You commanded that we “love our neighbors as ourselves.” In JN 13: 34-35, You gave us that new commandment that showed us exactly what Your expectations for showing love that is from You are. What a different approach to human sinfulness You have given us! All the while that so much that was cruel and unfair was being done to You, You never complained. Instead, You gave us a true Paradigm for how to be good believers, how to gain eternal life. The Father, Who is always righteous, just, and fair accepted You into heaven by His side and honors You forever. We are blessed to have You here listening to our prayers, always with us even though in heaven due to Your omnipresence. We are strengthened in our battle against the evil one by the power You have given us [EZRA 7: 28; EPH 1: 18-20]. We lift our hands in utmost thanks and praise, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: It’s time now to launch a new segment of this “Our Covenant” series of messages called “Love That Lasts.” It begins with JN 5: 66-68, Christ’s prophecy of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal and the refusal of the rest of the 12 to leave Him. But we continue to examine both the blessings and obligations of our covenant relationship with God and other believers. Eventually, we’ll look at the qualities we want in our leaders. It will be interesting to see how they stack up with Christ Himself. Today’s step back into history depicts a period of time that is far from pleasant, peaceful, and pretty. When we compare it to our own, human traits are seen to be common to them both. We ask what can be done about bettering mankind? This author believes something like that must be done one person at a time, one commitment to Christ at a time. There are no easy, stock answers to these questions, but they are worth asking anyway. From my own perspective on my life, I never really lived without my Lord Jesus [Yeshua] in it, even though I wasn’t aware of Him until I was in my mid-twenties. If I have any purpose, and I believe I have not only an immediate one, but also a cosmic one, it is tied to Him and living by His precepts. Each of us can wonder what his legacy will be-those things that transcend our physical lives and impact those people who live on after us. I’m thinking each of you reading this message will want his legacy to be a good one, one that benefits mankind. It is through Christ and by His grace that we can do this. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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