2004-01-16
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
For awhile now, I’ve been writing about the coming glory and will continue today. But it’s time that I ask an important question: what does this really mean to each of us? It’s really not good enough to simply understand the fact that someday Christ will call us to a meeting in the air [1 THESS 4: 13-17-the rapture] or that His feet will one day come down upon the Mount of Olives [ZECH 14: 4-His second coming]. While we need to know these things, we also need to believe they will happen, know what Christ is really accomplishing in their happening, and, most important on an individual level, come to know what immeasurable grace is being delivered to us. The alternative is discussed often in the Scriptures, and it is unthinkable-eternal conscience torment in the lake of fire and sulfur. Let’s look at what Christ accomplishes first.
We all know that before His crucifixion, Christ had three years of public ministry. His attitude toward true believers is revealed in JN 15: 15-16, “I do not call you servants any longer, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from My Father. You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of Him in My name.” Yes, Christ has let us in on the entire plan that God has for us, a plan to “bear our burdens and give us our salvation” [PS 68: 19]. Christ tells us to “love one another, as He loves us” [JN 13: 34-35]. In LK 10: 8-9, we can see a wonderful example of how Christ is true to the words in JN 15. He is sending out the seventy-two to go ahead of Him to believing towns. “Whenever you go into a town and are made welcome, eat what is set before you, heal the sick in that town, and say to the people there, ‘The Kingdom of God is near.’” Look at the care and compassion in that directive. It’s palpable. Moreover, the people are given more than simple encouragement. Christ is inferring that whatever pain or suffering that they must endure to keep their faith is definitely be worth it. They are the “poor in spirit who will inherit the Kingdom of God” [MT 5: 3]. Christ is telling them that living righteous lives would not be in vain. He was revealing His plan to them. When we read LK 10: 8-9, He is also revealing that plan to us!
Another huge accomplishment of Christ’s has to do with the Law. Those OT people who lived according to the Law lived righteous lives, but there was a problem-a big problem. It was the legalism of the rabbis with their commentaries on the original Ten Commandments. Those commandments had ballooned up to 613 laws, which only Christ Himself could keep. That left all the people living under the Covenant of the Law without much hope, until Christ came along. Even the forgiveness which God granted them on the Day of Atonement [Yom Kippur] was temporary-only a year [LV 23]. Animal sacrifices were carried out until Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 AD. After that traditional Jews commemorated the Day of Atonement without them, but the problem was still the same-temporary forgiveness. God, through Christ, came up with a solution to this problem. It was Christ’s Atonement, which brought salvation through an act of grace to believing mankind [JN 3: 16]. This Covenant of Grace, sealed in Christ’s blood [1 COR 11: 25], granted eternal forgiveness, something never before obtainable. It didn’t replace the law, but it took away the curse of it placed there by those rabbinical commentaries. A human intermediary didn’t have to come between the believer and God any more. RO 10: 4, “For Christ has brought the curse of the law to an end, so that everyone who believes is put right with God.” In other words, “Christ is the fulfillment of the law.” A long ago promise, one made to David back in 2 SAM 7: 13-14, was fulfilled. It is the Davidic covenant. The King of His permanent Kingdom was provided to believers by God, One that would rule forever and was a Descendant of David, a “shoot from the stump of Jesse” [IS 11: 1]-Jesus Christ.
What does this mean to each of us personally? It means that we have a Deity Who loves us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His only begotten Son for us. It means that when we are in need of guidance through a tough time or a way to share a victory we have accomplished, He is always there for us-never abandoning us. We can think about the fact that our names are written on the palms of His hands [IS 49: 14-16]. It means that since He is the “first among many brothers” [RO 8: 29], we may assume that if we endure in our faith, we, like Him, will also be resurrected to eternal life with the Father. We have a Friend, Advocate, and Intercessor Who will take our prayers directly to the Father [HE 4: 15, 8: 1-2, & 9: 12]. It means that the forgiveness we are granted through His most excellent grace is forever, and that our sins are also forgotten [HE 8: 13]. Lastly, we can fulfill a command that God had for those who believe because of Jesus Christ. We who believe can be “a nation of priests, God’s chosen people, and a light to the nations” [EX 19: 5-6; IS 49: 6]. We can boldly go to the Father’s throne with our concerns and questions, knowing He will hear our prayers and answer them [EPH 3: 12; PS 116: 1]. We can testify to our faith in Christ helping others to come to where the Holy Spirit can either bring them to faith or strengthen existing faith. Now, that’s quite an accomplishment for Christ!
PRAYER: O Lord, by taking the time to understand the precious messages You have for us in the Scriptures, we get not only a historical perspective on Your work in the lives of people, but we also see tremendous motivation for us to seek You out in obedient faith. Without You, we are truly nothing, worthless and hopeless. With You, we are authorized and empowered to successfully battle the evil of the devil and his followers [EPH 1 :18-20]. With You, we can gain lofty and truthful perspective on our suffering. We can realize it is not in vain [1 PET 3: 17-18]. We bring to Your throne heartfelt thanks and praise for sending Your Son to the cross and thus, enabling us to escape from the curse that 613 laws brought to those under the Covenant of the Law. We can fulfill Your will that we have a relationship with You that is real and personal. We can be Your friends, those who have been informed ahead of the last judgment of Your marvelous plan of salvation. JN 14: 1-2 is an example of the many blessings You bestow upon those who love You. “’Do not be worried and upset,’ Jesus told them. ‘Believe in God and believe also in Me. There are many mansions in My Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for You. I would not tell you this if it were not so.’” Our physical deaths do not have to be hopeless trips to nothingness. Instead, we can look forward to the Coming Glory and all its rich and eternal rewards. Our poverty of spirit can be met with Your Spirit filling us with love, guidance, direction, and purpose for our lives. Your throne is a throne of grace-unmerited favor for those who believe even though they don’t deserve it. Dearest Abba, we confess our sins, offer You our thanks and praise, and submit to Your superior power with gladness. You are our loving God, the Author of all that is good in our lives, and our unselfish Savior. We dedicate ourselves to living according to Your teaching and helping to bring others to faith as well. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, I’m led to write about how we can better understand Christ’s statement, “the Kingdom of God is near.” What a great gift God has given us when we have strong, committed faith. Explaining the extent of this gift in earthly terms is inadequate, but it’s something like a wonderful marriage where the partners remain committed and faithful to each other for life and where they are each other’s best friend. When we face trouble or we have experienced an important victory in our lives, that loving spouse is there and vitally interested in what happens. We feel the same way about him or her. That barely describes the love that our Abba has for each of us. Love is the greatest motivator for good that exists, and that’s what God is all about. Each day, He is eager to bless us, and when we love Him, then we are eager to bless Him. In RO 12: 1, He commands us to make our lives “a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship you should offer.” We are told that our most important pursuit in heaven will be the worship of God. Imagine spending our time doing something we have learned to love doing for eternity. That is the kind of love relationship and eternal joy we can anticipate with Him. As kids would say, “Neato!”
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn