2019-09-13
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Holy Spirit commands me to share what He has to say about the blessing of being part of God’s chosen people. This includes believing people from other faiths, like Ruth, who chose to remain with her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi, and convert to Judaism. These people are Jews and Gentiles who choose to believe in Jesus Christ. (Ruth lived before Jesus came from heaven, so she is “grandfathered” into God’s chosen people). God’s will for us conforms to 1 PET 2: 9, “But you are a chosen race, a Kingdom of priests, the holy nation, God’s own people, chosen to proclaim His mighty acts, Who called you out of darkness into His magnificent light.”
Earlier in this same chapter of 1 PETER, we learn: 1 PET 2: 4, “Jesus is the Living Stone deemed valuable by God but worthless by people who reject coming to Him,” and 1 PET 2: 6, “The Scripture [IS 28: 16-17] says, ‘I chose a valuable Stone, Who I chose as the Cornerstone in Zion. Whoever believes in Him will never be disappointed.’” How very precious this message is! That Stone is a clear reference to the Father’s Son, Jesus Christ. When ISAIAH was written 300 years before Christ, those who were righteous in God’s sight were told, “I [the Father] am placing in Zion a foundation that is solid and strong. In it I am putting a solid Cornerstone on which are written the words, ‘Faith that is firm is also patient.’ Justice will be the measuring line for the foundation, and honesty will be its plumb line.” All the while as time progressed, God not only makes His will clearer and clearer, but He keeps His covenant promises as well. Using the metaphor of a building, the Father conveys this important message: EPH 2: 20-22, “As citizens with God’s people, you, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the Cornerstone being Christ Jesus Himself. He is the One Who holds the whole building together and makes it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord. In union with Him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through His Spirit.” Such notions as these certainly fulfill my effort to present supporting Scriptures to the book of Colossians.
When we are in union with Christ, then 2 JN 1-2 apply. This is that “we love our Lord Jesus, and the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever.” Yet another blessing is revealed in REV 17: 14. Power to fight against the Lamb (Christ) is temporarily given to the evil kings and the Beast (the devil). However, we can find the words of verse 14 enormously comforting. “They will fight against the lamb, but the Lamb, together with His called, chosen, and faithful followers, will defeat them, because He is Lord of lords, King of kings.” We are given the view of our future in the book of Revelation, especially because we need this view to know what to believe about how God keeps His ultimate promise to believers of eternal life and the end of evil. In Greek there is a tense called the aorist tense. It means a past action, in this case making the new covenant, which is either completed or continuing.
From my own point of view, God has asked us to be patient believers of Christ, because He wants us to allow God to handle evil His own way and in His own perfect time. Because of the love God has for those who believe in Christ, He wants to reveal His promise-keeping in a way which maximizes for the world what lessons He has for us. I believe that with all my heart. As for the Jews that are still rejecting Christ’s deity, RO 11: 25 applies, “There is a secret truth I want you to know, so you won’t think you are wiser than God. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent but will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God.” We must remember that God (in His three Persons) is supernatural. This means He is not limited, as we are, to conform to Newtonian mechanics or even Einsteinian relativity. His power to do His will is so much greater than ours, that we can’t conceive of its full nature or extent. As for what we should do in this circumstance, we are to be humble, kind, good, compassionate, gentle, patient, faithful, obedient, forgiving, loving, tolerant, and in unity with Christ. Isn’t it appropriate that once I’m finished writing this series of “Knowing God” messages on Colossians that the Holy Spirit directs me to write one called “The Spirit Speaks” on His gifts as listed in GA 5: 22-23?
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your throne to acknowledge Your love and greatness. When You raise us with Christ, we are able, through the Holy Spirit, to know and understand the truth of Jesus Christ-Who He is, what He does for us, and how we can model His love. We are imperfect and don’t always follow His teaching. We allow our emotions and prejudices to push us into sin. For that we apologize and confess. We know You want us to stop our sinning and make changes necessary to be faithfully obedient. When we have a breakthrough, You give us inner peace and contentment. We pledge to keep uncovering even our most subtle sins and to expunge them from our lives. With Your guidance, we can discover what sets off our sinning and how to avoid these temptations. Dearest Father, there are so many ways that you bless us when we are in union with Your Son. It is our hope that You will intervene in our lives to help us discover and count all the blessings being believers in Christ gives us. We know we have much to learn, and we take joy in doing so. We are forever thankful for those blessings and for Your presence in our lives. It is in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ that we offer this prayer. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: With some prompting from the list of the Holy Spirit’s gifts, we will look at how these traits apply to our lives. The Greeks who translated the Bible into their own exacting language help us to understand what God, through Paul, wants us to know about these gifts. This is an extension of offering supporting Scriptures to the book of Colossians. We shouldn’t be fooled by the brevity of some of the Bible’s books. God packs in many concepts for us to believe and learn from in each book. I’ve taught courses on longer books, like Romans and Revelation, but shorter books can have just as much information for us. Most of all, we should come to know that God really does love those who believe in Christ and others who potentially will. There is no need to force our beliefs on anyone rejecting them. Instead, God’s interests are best furthered by setting an example of how He wants us to live in our own lives. We can develop a relationship with seekers and discover where they are in their belief maturation. When vocally testifying to our own faith, we must take the time to understand our audience. Never be afraid to testify when asked. There are some people that will be best swayed by the example we set and some others that want us to put a voice to our belief in Christ and the reasons why. Beyond this, we must give considerable thought to the legacy we will leave behind when God takes us home to Himself. As one sinner to another, the choice to faithfully obey our Lord sure beats the alternative! Praise, glory, honor, and thanks be to our Lord Jesus!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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