2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Yesterday, the Lord directed me to discuss the Gospel of the Kingdom with you. You will remember that John the Baptist preached the necessity of turning from sin in his effort to “prepare the way” for the coming of God’s Son. This act of repentance is symbolized by “water baptism.” But, one’s coming to faith isn’t complete until he accepts Christ as His Savior and receives the gift of the Holy Spirit indwelt in his soul. That is symbolized by “Spirit baptism.” The Gospel of the Kingdom was Christ’s main message. Repent and come to faith, then you will be saved and will inherit the Kingdom of God eternally. That is the Gospel of the Kingdom. Both John the Baptist and Christ tell us to do so, “because the Kingdom of heaven is near” (MT 3: 2 & 4: 17). This urging of people to repent and come to faith as soon as possible is seen throughout the Scriptures in one way or another from OT times. Since our time is not the same as God’s time, from God’s point of view we may have only the time it takes for Him to blink His eye before it is too late-a good reason for not procrastinating. When you realize that Christ had not yet died on the cross, the people hearing this message then needed to have faith in something yet to come.
We know more about the truth than people in Christ’s day did, because we can look back in history and know that He did die on the cross and at the same time some rather remarkable and supernatural events took place. MK 15: 38-39 is an example. “The curtain hanging in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The army officer who was standing there in front of the cross saw how Jesus had died. ‘This man really was the Son of God!’ he said.” The darkness at the time of the crucifixion and the earthquake that happened are other signs of the truth of Christ’s deity and of the supernatural intervention that was going on. Yet, we are still not told God’s time-table for when certain events will happen ahead. Faith is even more necessary now, because we have less excuse for not having it. And then, there is the Gospel of Grace revealed to us by God through the apostle Paul.
Nowhere in the Scriptures is the Gospel more clearly delineated than in I COR 15: 1-8. Those of you who know my way of presenting this information know that I include the last four verses in it so that you not only see the teaching itself, but you also see the human witnesses to its truth. 1 COR 15: 1-8, “And now I [Paul] want to remind you, my brothers, of the Good News which I preached to you, which you received and on which your faith stands firm. That is the Gospel, the message that I preached to you. You are saved by the Gospel if you hold firmly to it-unless it was for nothing that you believed. I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures [IS 53: 5-12]; that He was buried and that He raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures [PS 16: 8-10; MT 12: 40; Ac 2: 24-32]; that He appeared to Peter and then to all twelve apostles. Then He appeared to more than five hundred of His followers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have died. Then He appeared to James, and afterward to all the apostles. Last of all He appeared also to me-even through I am like someone whose birth was abnormal.”
In a previous devotion grace was defined as undeserved merit from God. That those who are saved by their faith in Jesus Christ are granted grace is the quintessential act of love and compassion showered on us by a loving Abba. We did nothing to deserve this wonderful blessing that He grants us. Just in case we get the idea that Paul’s teaching was not known to be coming by Christ, look at LK 18: 31-34 and see how Christ prophesied the coming of grace while he was still alive. “Pilate said to them [the Jewish people who wanted Christ crucified], ‘Then you yourselves take Him and try Him according to your own law.’ (This happened in order to make come true what Jesus had said when He indicated the kind of death He would die). Pilate went back into the palace and called Jesus, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ he asked Him. Jesus answered, ‘Does this question come from you or have others told you about Me?’ “
For the last several days we have been looking at various aspects of grace in an effort to better understand the enormous extent of the undeserved merit (blessing) given us by the Lord Who loves us. These citations from Romans help us to understand it. RO 5: 1-2, “Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory!” RO 5: 15-16, “But the two [Adam and Christ] are not the same, because God’s free gift is not like Adam’s sin. It is true 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. And there is a difference between God’s gift and the sin of one man. After one sin came the judgment of ‘Guilty’; but after so many sins, comes the undeserved gift of ‘Not Guilty!’ “ RO 5: 21, “So then, just as sin ruled by means of death, so also God’s grace rules by means of righteousness, leading us to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is through God’s grace that we are “dead to sin,” i.e. sin no longer has power over us. (RO 6: 6, 11, & 18). RO 10: 4, “Christ is the fulfillment of the law.” This citation is often misunderstood. The law is still in place to let us know what is sinful. However, those who are faithful are justified by that faith-deemed acceptable in God’s sight. Those who are faithful hunger for righteousness and want to turn away from being controlled by their fleshly desires. Now, that is grace! That is what living “in Christ” is all about.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have given us our view of past history so that we can see the Christ’s prophesy of the coming of grace was true. You shower that grace upon those Who believe in Christ, understand the huge significance of His blood shed on the cross, and know the importance to them of His resurrection. We never deserved this grace, yet You love us enough to give it to us anyway. Your desire is that as many people as possible will come to faith, so they can enjoy the benefits of living in Your grace. Thank You for loving us the way You do. Praise, honor, thanks, adoration, and obedience is what You deserve from us. We dedicate ourselves to worshipping You. In Christ’s name, amen.
Peter and I hope you feel blessed today and always. We hope you are encouraged in your faith and in Your need to thank God for all the grace He imparts to us through it. This last citation has been given to us by a loving Lord to show us the way we can show Him our love. JN 14: 21, “Whoever accepts My commandments and obeys them is the one who loves Me. My Father will love whoever loves Me; I too will love him and reveal myself to him.” The grace imparted here is that the Lord is always with those who make Him the Lord of their lives. I hope you are feeling God’s presence in your life today and in the future.
Standing in Awe of His Grace,
Lynn