2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We are the recipients of extraordinary blessings from a loving God, blessings not attainable from any other source. This can really be seen in reviewing the contrast between the old and new covenants He has made with us. When we think that our Lord gave us some of His own sovereign power so that we could have free agency, we can only begin to realize the extent of the love He has for us. This is made even more poignant and impressive when one realizes that because God loves us, He has been made to suffer as a result of those who choose to do evil. Since Christ is the second personality of our triune God, then we must realize the extent God must have been pained to see His own Son suffer on the cross, especially for people who didn’t deserve this sacrifice. Yet, the Lord in making this great sacrifice, improved on the old covenant giving His creation the opportunity for salvation. Now, let’s take a look at the contrast between the old and new covenants from 2 COR 3: 1-18.
No doubt the Lord wanted to see His children learn to live with the moral convictions He taught at the time He presented Moses with the stone tablets upon which were etched the Ten Commandments by His own hand. In reviewing the story of what happened in EX 32, we are reminded that Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with these tablets only to find his own brother, Aaron, the Jewish high priest, leading the people in the idolatrous worship of a gold calf that they had constructed from the wealth given them by the Egyptians when they escaped from that country. Moses’ righteous anger resulted in the destruction of those tablets upon witnessing this sorry scene. As in many times of human history, mankind’s sinfulness was to delay God’s attempt to offer a remedy for it. We are treated to a view of the issue of forgiveness and goodness, when we see Moses engage in intercessory prayer for the Jewish people afterward, basically asking God to give the people a second chance. That goodness and love in him came from God. God’s response was the give the Law a second time. This time, the people received it [EX 34: 1-8, 29-35]. While the Law didn’t offer salvation, it did give the people a chance to understand what is acceptable to the Lord and what isn’t [RO 7: 7]. When we look at 2 COR 3: 1-3, we see that people who have repented and accepted Christ as the Lord of their lives no longer have a recommendation letter written on stone tablets, but in fact, are fulfilling God’s original intent for His people. Their “letter of recommendation” is written not on stone, but in their hearts by Christ Himself.
Since the Law didn’t function to produce salvation, it was a sure bet that those living under it would eventually die. Our loving Abba was not satisfied with this, which is why He knew that a way to salvation would have to be made open if the children He loves so much were to survive spiritually. Sadly, this problem with the old covenant could be seen in the legalistic approach to ritual and life in general that resulted from this covenant. This is another area in which pain for God was being produced. It is the reason why Christ argued with the Pharisees in the temple during the last week of His earthly life. His point was that they had become so mired in ritual and legalism that they were missing God’s real message. In other words, they were so focused on form that they were missing the content of His word. This argument fell on deaf ears, as God knew from before the creation that it would. We all know the events that followed in the end of that week with Christ’s arrest, “trial,” and crucifixion. Our Lord in His most remarkable and undeserved love, would see His plan carried out. Christ’s blood shed on the cross ushered in the new covenant, the Covenant of Grace, and sealed it. Those who accepted Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, i.e. the Gospel [1 COR 15: 1-8], were no longer on a one way crash course with spiritual death. Instead, they would share Christ’s victory over it. There are more contrasts which I will share with you tomorrow, but we must take time out to ask ourselves: What does this really mean to us?
Of course this question has been asked and answered many times, but my point in raising it here is to cause all of us to examine our personal walks with the Lord to see where we stand as individuals with it and also as members of congregations and the Body of Christ as a whole. In my own life as I look back over it, I must confess that I have given my loving Abba a hard time. No doubt I personally caused Him a lot of pain when I spent my childhood rejecting Him, belonged to a cult for a time, and then so slowly began to open myself to studying His word. For a long time, my prayer life was in bad shape too. Yet, the Lord has stood by me the whole time. He didn’t give up on me. Any improvements made in My life are from Him and due to His patience with me. I’m still a work in progress, but I’m here to express my profound gratitude that He has been willing to endure whatever pain I give Him in my sometimes clumsy efforts to allow Him to sanctify me. I’ve known a lot of pain in my life, both physical and emotional. He has consistently blessed me with His compassion and patience, and I never deserve it. Look over your own lives and see how He has been a part of them. You’ll be surprised at some of the wonderful things He can and has done.
PRAYER: O Lord, a lot of people look at some of the violence written about in the Scriptures viewing You as a Lord of vengeance. And yet, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. You are a loving Lord, Who wants nothing more than to see as many of His children saved as possible. To what do You want them saved? To a life of eternal joy and fellowship with You in heaven. Because You love us so much, You gave up a part of Your power laying Yourself open to enormous pain as a result of our iniquity. Yet, You willingly shoulder this pain, knowing it is the only way to give us the choice to accept the grace You offer us. The vengeance which is Your right to exercise is only delivered as a part of Your effort to give us salvation and sanctification, never as an act of evil. We humbly express our utmost gratitude that there is no evil in You, that we can trust You to be consistently loving and righteous. To demonstrate that gratitude, we pledge to spend eternity worshipping, adoring, trusting, and obeying You. We offer You praise for standing by us in our times of suffering and pain. In the same sense we also praise You for having the patience and compassion You have shown us when we sin and then repented of that sin. We understand that we must not choose a lifestyle of sin and that You command us to make often difficult changes in our lives to please You. We acknowledge that Your desire is for us to conform our lives to the life of Your Son Who died on the cross for us [RO 12: 1-2]. The love that You give us is a model for the love that You want us to show others and You in return. We pledge You our loyalty and diligence in obeying You, for You are the Lord of our lives forever. In Christ’s name, amen.
As promised, I will share some more of the contrasts between law and grace tomorrow. God’s whole existence has and will always be about love. Because of His willingness to endure pain and vulnerability, He has shown us how to be loving toward Him and one another. That kind of relationship is eternal and can be called a “koininea” relationship. It was set up supernaturally, because of His love for us and His desire that we should be full participants in the Covenant of Grace. Hallelujah! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn