2002-10-24
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I am led to continue looking at the issue of salvation and how it is one of God’s effective elements of His full armor that we are asked to put on in EPH 6: 10-20. It is specifically mentioned as the helmet we, as soldiers of Christ, put on our heads in EPH 6: 16. The moment we do this, we acknowledge that Satan can no longer hurt us. Yes, it’s true that some people amidst their battles with Satan are martyred physically, but people who die physically for their faith or while faithful to Christ, are never permanently vanquished. That is because they will not lose their spiritual lives. REV 6: 9-11 makes it clear that these martyrs will be rewarded as any believer who undergoes physical death would be. “Then the Lamb broke open the fifth seal. I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because they had proclaimed God’s word and had been faithful on their witnessing. They shouted in a loud voice, ‘Almighty Lord, holy and true! How long will it be until You judge the people on earth and punish them for killing us?’ Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the complete number of their fellow servants and brothers were killed, as they had been.” Remember that the white robe signified being deemed righteous and purified in God’s sight.
Those people who are saved, whether they are martyred in the process or not, and who go on to endure in their faith win victory against the devil in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul speaks about this in 2 COR 2: 14-15. “But thanks be to God! For in union with Christ we are always led by God as prisoners in Christ’s victory procession. God uses us to make the knowledge about Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance. For we are like a sweet-smelling incense offered by Christ to God, which spreads among those who are being saved and those who are being lost.” In the days of ancient battles, the victor often paraded his prisoners before the enemy who lost the battle in pride. It was to cause the enemy to wish he had the blessings that the victory brought the winners. God does this in a way to make those who have no faith wish they had the blessings that come from having it. The idea is to cause some hold-outs to come to faith. If we use the case of the traditional Jews, for example, RO 11: 2a, reveals God’s feeling about them. “God has not rejected His people, whom He chose from the beginning.” Now, look at RO 11: 11-12, which drives this point home. “I ask, then: When the Jews stumbled, did they fall to their ruin? By no means! Because they sinned salvation has come to the Gentiles to make the Jews jealous of them. The sin of the Jews brought rich blessings to the world, and their spiritual poverty brought rich blessings to the Gentiles. Then, how much greater the blessings will be when the complete number of Jews is included.” You can be sure this is the consummation of the prophecy made in GN 12: 3b at the time of the Abrahamic covenant, “…And through you [referring to Abraham and his descendants-the Jews] I will bless the nations.”
One question that might come up from those who are young in their study of God’s word is: What was the purpose of God allowing the Jews to become so disobedient that two dyasporas [temporary scattering and loss of nationhood by Israel] happened? This question brought to the forefront in IS 1: 21-22, “The city that was once faithful is behaving like a whore! At one time it was filled with righteous men, but now only murderers remain. Jerusalem, you were once like silver, but now you are worthless; you were like good wine, but now you are only water.” It points up the great need that existed for corrective action and the opportunity for salvation. Those of us who have read such citations as COL 1: 19-20 and 1 PET 1: 20-21 know that God already had a plan in motion since before the Creation to take care of that, but it was to be carried out by Christ’s Atonement at the time that God alone knew was perfect. One more important blessing should emerge in our minds and hearts. We are blessed to be living at the time we do, because we have immediate access through God’s Son and by our repentance and faith in Him to that salvation that is so badly needed by mankind. Those of you who have been reading my writing know that I believe that people like the OT prophets, who died in faith before Christ’s earthly ministry, have some way to make the choice to accept Him as their Messiah before God. I see as proof of that the appearance of Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration in MT 17:3.
Dear Ones, our God is so loving and just. His greatest desire is to see each of us gain eternal life with Him through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Mankind has given God a true “run for His money” with all their disobedient and disrespectful behavior. Why He chose to invite us first to have faith in Him and blesses us so abundantly even through we hardly deserve it goes right to the heart of His grace. We may never understand that, but we have every reason to be on our knees thanking Him for every day of our lives! This should be reason enough to motivate each of us to take the time and trouble to search out sin in our lives and get rid of it. For sending His Son to the cross and all else that He does for us out of His grace, we should say, “Hallelujah!”
PRAYER: O Lord, words seem hardly adequate to express the thanks we owe You. Salvation is a bigger issue than many of us understand. I’m reminded that our time on earth is but a blink of an eye in comparison to time and all eternity. Realizing that should motivate us to examine our lives and expunge the sin in them as soon as possible. We are told in 1 THESS 5: 2, “For you, yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes in the night.” You motivate us by giving us understanding through the Holy Spirit of what a great sacrifice Your Son’s life on the cross actually was. We come before You today to confess our sin in humility and to pledge not to waste of drop of the blood He shed for us by adding more sin to our lives. We know that the only way we will be able to honor the grace You have extended to us allowing us to be saved is to live lives with Christ in leadership. We accept Your invitation to faith, to make You our God, so You can claim us as Your people, and to join You in Your work. You have asked us to not only lead lives in which we trust and obey You, but You have called us to witness to others about the faith we have. You are busy at work in the lives of all believers, and we are blessed by that. You are the paradigm for a Covenant Partner, and we dedicate ourselves to following Your example in our own lives. These are the words that are in our hearts today: PS 8:1-2, “O Lord, our Lord, Your greatness is seen in all the world! Your praise reaches up to the heavens; it is sung by children and babies. You are safe and secure from all Your enemies; You stop anyone who opposes You.” PS 20: 7, “Some trust in their war chariots and others in their horses, but we trust in the power of the Lord our God.” PS 27:1, The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; I will fear no one. The Lord protects me from all danger; I will never be afraid.” Dearest Abba, You have our trust, obedience, adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, thanks, and utmost praise. In Christ’s name, amen.
I am led to begin discussing the three aspects of salvation in tomorrow’s message. The first one is justification, and we will see what God has to say about it and how it impacts our lives. Each day I write these messages, God reveals to me ways He shows His love for each of us that I didn’t notice before. The connection between the Abrahamic covenant promise of GN 12: 3b and what RO 11: 11-12 reveals is one such revelation. I’m sure that you may be discovering many others. Just as the Bible is God’s love letter to us, He doesn’t want us to forget that He is showering His love on us every day in other ways too. That’s easy to forget when we are amidst an attack by Satan’s fiery arrows, but it is still there anyway. God asks each of us to keep our minds on His big picture, those overarching lessons He has for us, so we won’t get mired in the details, pain, and suffering of our daily lives. This is another way He shows us His love and blesses us with inner peace. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn