2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Yesterday, I wrote about God’s plan of salvation for us and am led to say more about that. Anyone who spends time with the Scriptures begins to see that while mankind has been given his free agency, there is a magnificent plan in place, put there by God and created by God, to maximize the number of His children who will be saved from their sins. RO 5: 12, “Sin came into the world through one man, and his sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned.” This is part of a very crucial explanation why God felt it necessary to devise this plan of salvation in the first place. Let me go on in this important section of Romans. RO 5: 13-14a, “There was sin in the world before the Law was given; but where there is no law, there is no account kept of sins. But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses death ruled over all mankind, even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam did when he disobeyed God’s command…”
Our world would be in a fine kettle of fish if God had left things as they were after the original sin! Because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” [RO 3: 23], everyone would have been on a one-way trip to the lake of fire and sulfur. Our Lord loves us too much to allow such a condition to exist. That is why He inspired Paul to tell us in RO 5: 14b-15, “’Adam was a figure of the One Who was to come. But the two were not the same, because God’s free gift was not like Adam’s sin. It is true that many people died because of the sin of that one man. But God’s grace is much greater, and so is His free gift to so many people through the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ.” RO 5: 18-19, “So then, as the one sin condemned all mankind, in the same way the one righteous act set all mankind free and gives them life. And just as all people were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of one man, in the same way they will all be put right with God as the result of the obedience of the one Man.”
Since the subject of this series is covenants, we need to look at some Scriptures that let us see the Covenant of Grace as a part of this plan of salvation. If we pay attention to Christ’s words in LK 22: 17-20 spoken at the Lord’s Supper, we can see this. “Then Jesus took a cup, gave thanks to God, and said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves. I tell you that from now on I will not drink this wine until the Kingdom of God comes.’ Then He took a piece of bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and gave it to them, saying ‘This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in memory of Me.’ In the same way, He gave them the cup after the supper, saying “This cup is God’s new covenant sealed with My blood, which is poured out for you.’” What can be seen here is that Christ knew ahead of time what was to happen. He knew that He would die on the cross shortly, as well as that in a time in our future, He would establish God’s Kingdom where He would once again drink wine surrounded by believers. As with any other covenant, it is sealed-this time with His blood poured out for us. That means that forgiveness of the eternal kind is available in accordance with the principles of LV 17: 11 and HE 9: 22. The taking of the sacrament which is a practice first established and explained at the Lord’s supper, is an intimate and very sacred way that we interface with God and a way for us to acknowledge God’s free gift of grace given to us and sealed with the blood of His Son.
I always feel like I’m privileged when invited to kneel before our altar to take the sacrament. During that time, I confess my sins and come before the Lord in humility to ask for forgiveness. But there is even more to it than that for me. Because so relatively few Jewish people have had the veil lifted from their eyes and have been allowed to know that Jesus Christ is their Messiah, it is a time of recommitment for me to my part of the covenant in which I have been allowed to participate. Privileges never come without responsibilities to counterbalance them. As a Jewish person, mine is to live up to EX 19: 5-6, to be “a people dedicated to Me alone, a nation of priests,” and IS 49:6, to be “a light to the nations.” To carry out these responsibilities, I view myself as having taken on a pledge to live to a higher standard of morality and dedication to God than people who have not been given this privilege. God, through Christ, has taught me to feel grateful too. Knowing you are saved is a fabulous gift that totally changes the way you view your life, the people around you, the decisions you make, and the actions you take. It also means that not living up to this responsibility will lead to some pretty dire consequences. That’s a good reason for any faithful person to remain obedient and trusting of God.
PRAYER: O Lord, when Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent, they could not have known the extent of the problems this original sin would cause. Yet, even with this sin, You saw fit to clothe them in animal skins [GN 3: 21] before casting them out of the Garden of Eden. For that to have been done, the animal’s blood had to have been poured. Thus, in that act alone, You promised mankind a way to forgiveness. Time that seems long to us but short to You went on before You acted with boldness, courage, and unparalleled compassion to gave up Your Son to suffer and die on the cross, thus opening the way for mankind’s salvation. As if it wasn’t enough, You also commanded Him to send the Holy Spirit to be our Counselor [JN 14: 15], so that we could progress in the process of sanctification. Your magnificent plan for us is one that leads us to eternal life with You and victory over second death. With the privilege of being invited to Your table to take the sacrament, we also rededicate ourselves to our part of this Covenant of Grace. You have told us that Christ is the “First among many brothers” [RO 8: 29] to be resurrected. That gives us great hope and is a wonderful manifestation of the profound love You have for us. For that and so much more, we humbly offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, glory, honor, trust, obedience, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to continue discussing the Covenant of Grace and God’s plan of salvation. This is no academic exercise; it is personal to each of us. That’s how God wants it to be, because He is eager, out of the love He has for each of us, for us to follow His plan in obedience. He knows and wants us to know that it is the only way to eternal life. The alternative is unacceptable to Him and should also be to us. We have an awesome God Who loves each of us with all His heart. Peter and I also send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn