2004-05-07
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We are examining how God transforms the hearts of mankind and the enormous task that He has had in civilizing them. And yes, that job isn’t done yet. Our society is still riddled with crime, acts of mean-spiritedness, and persecution of one kind or another. That doesn’t mean that God is giving up, not by a long shot! He has promised us that for those who love Him all things will work for good in RO 8: 28 and that believing mankind will be resurrected to a blissful life eternally in heaven [RO 8: 29; PHIL 3: 14, 20]. We saw that God began this task by giving us the Noahtic Covenant, a promise not to destroy the earth again by flooding it [GN 8: 21]. Then, God began to institute a code of laws to deal with premeditated murder in GN 9: 5-6. He knew this was just the beginning of the task He would accomplish. His next step was to call a man named Abram out of Ur of the Chaldes in Mesopotamia to begin a long journey that would further His purpose of bringing orderliness to the lives of mankind [GN 12: 1].
The old perspective that mankind has had since the days of the original sin in the Garden of Eden is simply “me, me, myself, and I.” This totally self-centered place is where all of his thoughts and actions arose. The devil danced with joy at his handiwork. Taking responsibility for one’s own actions wasn’t even a consideration. If something went wrong for a person, he simply took what he wanted without regard for the feelings, needs, and even the life of his fellow man. That was the caveman approach to earthly life. However, now there would need to be some consideration for the consequences of one’s actions on another. Of course, there were many people who thought that man was the center of all, and they were the ones who built the Tower of Babel and denied God’s sovereign supremacy over all [GN 11]. In Abram, God created a man with a different kind of heart-one that would obey Him without trying to second guess Him or put his own self ambitions before God’s will. Even through Abram was raised in a place where paganism was the belief of choice, God knew that Abram could recognize Him as the One and only true God. And thus, God deemed Abram acceptable-justified him [GN 15: 6]. Abram was brave enough to follow God to wherever God told him to go, and that ultimately turned out to be what was then Canaan and is now Israel. Moreover, God made a history-altering promise to Abram called the Abrahamic Covenant. GN 12: 3. “I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse those who curse you. And through you, I will bless all the nations.” Abram was told his descendants would be great in number, so great that no one can count them in GN 16: 9. Beyond that, God outlined a huge piece of real estate that takes up what is today Israel, Lebanon, part of Syria, Jordan, and a piece of what is today Egypt in GN 15: 13-21 that would belong to Abraham’s descendants. Much later the third component of that Abrahamic Covenant would be promised, that a King, Who is a Descendant of Abraham who would rule God’s Kingdom for eternity [2 SAM 7: 12-13; DN 2: 34-35; GA 3: 16-18]. So, we can see that this Abrahamic Covenant promised: 1) people, 2) land, and 3) a King.
What God said in GN 12: 3, “…And though you, I will bless all the nations” is key to His intent that Abram and his descendants, the Jewish people, were to be set aside as His chosen people who 1) knew that He is the One and only true God and 2) would be given His laws to obey them and to bring them to the rest of mankind [EX 19: 5-6 and IS 49: 6]. God loved Abram so very much that He attached the first letter of His own name, shin-the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet, to Abram’s name changing it to Abraham. This new name means “father of nations” [GN 17: 5]. Abram’s wife, Sarai, was given the name Sarah, meaning “mother of nations.” Sarah was told that she would have kings among her descendants [GN 17: 15-16]. Both Abraham and Sarah learned in their lives that God keeps His promises, and so should we. Of course, the story of how God is working to civilize mankind didn’t end here. So, next week I’ll pick up with the next steps that God took in this process.
In the meanwhile, there are a lot of lessons we need to see that arise out of the establishment of the Jewish people. With our perfect 20/20 hindsight, we know that God will go on to give the Jewish people the Law [the Ten Commandments] and that over time, the traditionally Jewish people will disappoint God with mounting disobedience to Him, leading to His decision to punish them but not destroy them. When we look at mankind’s history from the point of view of God’s gradual attempts to civilize them, we see forward motion with lots of backsliding. We can also see the valuable and precious nature of the covenants which God has forged over the years with mankind as a part of this process. Imagine how horrific our lives would be without God’s patience, His wisdom, His forthright attitude, His righteousness, and His promises. Our part, Dear Readers, is to believe in Him and to obey Him. We must hold to the truth that if we do this, no effort on Satan’s part will be ultimately successful. Oh yes, Satan may win some battles along the way, but He won’t win the war! Those of us who truly believe will never let that happen, nor will the God Who loves each of us so very much.
PRAYER: O Lord, long after You established the Jewish people and gave them the Covenant of the Law, You waited until You felt the time was right and brought our Lord Yeshua [Jesus Christ] to teach and then to give His life. This was so that the salvation of those who would believe in Him would be possible. That great act of sacrifice, one which has never been paralleled, washed those who would believe in His blood. The new Covenant of Grace sealed in His blood would begin a process to purify mankind from their sins, bring forgiveness, and ultimately bring Your people who love You back to Yourself for eternity. How can we miss the matchless love in all of that? How can we believe that we are meant to suffer needlessly in the face of all that? You give our lives a purpose that is holy and true when Your Spirit bonds with our spirits and takes leadership in our lives. You have no evil in You, Dearest Abba. Instead, You use Your considerable power for always-righteous purposes. You teach us, encourage us, rebuke us, correct us, comfort us, and love us with all that You have to do so. Through Your word and prayer, You keep us immersed in what we need to know to be victorious over evil. While we can’t see You right now, we can feel the impact of Your goodness through our interactions with fellow believers. Indeed, You have called us to a relationship with You and with them that is based on unconditional love and which You forge in a way that cannot be broken. You are a generous God, Who is eager to shower us with Your blessings. We are Your people. Your laws are etched in our hearts, and You are our God. We dedicate ourselves to the confession of our sins and to living out Your greatest desires for us. [See EX 6: 7; DT 6: 4-5; DT 28: 13; JER 31: 33; EZK 37: 23; EZK 11: 19- 20; EZK 36: 28; JER 32: 38; 2 COR 11: 19-20; GA 2: 29]. We offer You our thanks and praise, which You richly deserve. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
As mentioned above, we will begin looking at the Covenant of the Law in next week’s message. How marvelous our God is in that He understands so much more than we ever could and has so much patience and compassion for His creation. This is the case even though we are such imperfect sinners and hardly deserve the grace He has extended to us. We must examine our own lives to see how God’s perspective has changed them. Look at what God does to the hearts of believers to get an idea of this. Even though He knows we are “works in progress,” He continues to love us unconditionally. These verses come to mind. PS 139: 6, “Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding.” PS 119: 93, “I will never forget Thy precepts: for with them Thou hast quickened me.” PS 145: 8-9, “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” PS 136: 3-4, “O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever; Who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever.” Hallelujah!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn