2015-07-17
Good Morning Dear Ones,
By the time God reiterated His promises (given to Abraham) of a people and a land, Joseph was already second in command of Egypt, and it was the time when Jacob and his huge family were about to leave Canaan for Egypt due to a draught. To get an idea of how large this family was, read GN 46: 8-25. GN 46: 2-4, “And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, ‘Jacob! Jacob!’ ‘Here I am,’ Jacob replied. ‘I am God, the God of your father,’ He said. ‘Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.’” Altogether, the Jews were in Egypt for 430 years, 30 good years and then 400 years of slavery for a total of 430 years. We know from EX 12: 40 that it was the exact number of years. A careful study of God’s history with the Jewish people reveals that “He heard their groans under slavery and never forgot His covenant with them, “ [EX 2: 23-24; AC 7: 33-34].
Let’s look at law and sin. RO 7: 7, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have know what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet.’” The Spirit leads me to remind us all that the law functions to let us know what is sinful and what is not in God’s sight. Being the imperfect organisms we are, we are reminded of a sin and then commit some of them. Coveting is the beginning of most sins. We see something, then we want it, and if we are going to sin, we take action to get it. These things can be tangible, like more money, more valuables, for cars, gems, etc., or they can be intangible, like more power, more sway over people, more time to commit other sins, etc. Only our genuine faith in God can interfere with this process, which is brought on by the dirty work of the evil one. EPH 1: 18-20 tells us that God, through Christ, has given us the same power that He used to bring Christ from death to eternal life, to battle the evil one in spiritual warfare, in His own name. Think of the power Christ used against the evil one in His temptation in the wilderness [MT 4: 1-11]. Christ was able to banish the devil, and so can we, who believe in the Lord. The devil can’t do his dirty work unless we allow it. This is important reconnaissance in our dealing with disappointments, challenges, and losses. If we leave sin unchecked, it begins a downward spiral into spiritual death.
We must understand that the law, given to the people at the base of Mt. Sinai [EX 24: 7-11] doesn’t replace the Abrahamic Covenant [GN 12: 1-3]. It is added to it. Mankind is left with this definer of goodness vs. transgression alone until the time of Christ’s Atonement. It is only then, that faith is available in Him that leads to salvation [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25], justification [RO 4: 3], and eternal forgiveness [1 JN 1: 9]. What is required is genuine repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for these latter things. As was mentioned last week, Christ becomes the Fulfillment of the Law, not it’s replacement [RO 10: 4]. He makes possible righteousness in all who believe. It is as if there were an electric cord with a plug to a person, representing sinfulness. That cord can’t be unplugged until Christ dies on the cross, and the person believes in Him. At that time, the person has the choice he didn’t have beforehand, to sin or not to sin, to leave plugged or to unplug that cord. RO 2: 2, 5 comments on God’s righteous judgment, in this case against hypocrisy of the traditional Jews of Paul’s time. “…You are condemning yourselves because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth…But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will revealed.”
Law alone won’t make us righteous. Had that been so, there would have been no need for Jesus. But Jesus is very germane to the issue; He is the only One capable of bringing righteousness to us, by virtue of His great Atonement and our faith in Him. If law alone had been enough, we would have been working our way into heaven, and that isn’t possible [see EPH 2: 8-10; JN 14: 6]. Christ looks at each person’s life as a unit, not based on what other people do with or say about him. Righteousness is His “measuring rod.” The root of sin is our own decision to turn away from God’s teaching as is suggested in IS 53: 6 and JN 15: 5. To be righteous is to live apart from sin, and that can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. GA 3: 2, 14, “I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing what your heard?...He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” And what a blessing it is to be at peace with God, Who gives the righteous inner peace! What a precious spiritual jewel we have when we know we can anticipate an eternal life of bliss and fellowship with our Creator, Who loves us enough to sacrifice His only begotten Son on the cross for us!
PRAYER: O Lord, we bow our heads in reverence and awe before Your mighty throne. Our hearts are full, as we contemplate the wide-ranging and profound gift of Your Son’s sacrifice on the cross for us. You are indeed a Promise-keeper, a true God Who never lies and has no evil in Him [PS 138: 8; 1 JN 1: 5]. Today, we rehearse Your words given to the Psalmist in PS 138: 1-8, words which reveal our heart-attitudes toward You. “I will praise You, O Lord, with all my heart; before these ‘gods’ I will sing Your praise. I will bow down toward Your holy temple and will praise Your name, for Your love and Your faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your name and Your word. When I called, Your answered m; You made me bold and stouthearted. May all the kings of the earth praise You, O Lord, when they hear the words of Your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great. Though the Lord is on high, He looks upon the lowly, but the proud He knows, from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve my life; You stretch out Your hand against the anger of my foes, with Your right hand You save me. The Lord will full His purpose for me; Your love, O Lord, endures forever---do not abandon the works of Your hands.” Every verse of this precious psalm is the truth today, just as it was when the Jews sang it as they ascended the hills to the temple at the time of sacred feasts long ago. You reveal the path that leads to eternal life and guide us through our need to expunge our sins and live in righteousness. We can’t do this without You. You are truly the Nourishment of our spirits and our Source of truth [2 TIM 3: 16-17; HE 4: 12]. We offer You our heartfelt love, honor, glory, praise, and thanks, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will continue with our examination of law and the covenant with more revealing Scriptures and explanations at the behest of the Holy Spirit. Learning to pray to the Holy Spirit is an amazing experience. A very good friend encouraged me to learn to do this, because he knows the many opportunities and requests that I have to pray for others. I often encounter young people from their late teens to their thirties, who are going through a period in their lives marked by a great need for learning to make decisions. They are deciding which of their parent’s values they will retain in their lives and which not, what their main areas of study in college will be, what their career goals are, what to look for in their relationships with others of the same sex and the opposite sex, about love and marriage, and what their spiritual beliefs should be. It is a time of stress and dealing with areas of inexperience. It is a time of life where some mistakes are made and lessons learned. My task, as that of all the volunteers for In Search of Shalom, is to help guide them through this seeming morass toward reliance on the Lord, and yes, to often “pray them through” it. I see this as a huge responsibility which God has placed on my shoulders, one that I take very seriously. Truthfully, I think it’s harder to work through all this decision-making now than it was when I did it. And yes, I know I couldn’t do this without the Holy Spirit guiding me. The seekers often ask about the relationships between themselves and God, between the law and sin, and between our covenant relationships and sin. How appropriate that the Spirit is giving me this series of messages to share with you at this time! Our God always maximizes His lessons and messages for us. He is a very efficient and loving God indeed. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2015. All Rights Reserved.
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