2004-08-20
Good Morning Cherished Readers,
In last week’s message, God led me to the plan to explain why Christ is the only solution to mankind’s difficulty in living sanctified (holy) lives. You’ll remember that I explained that the word “baptism” from the Greek means “to be identified with or united with.” Just as with Abraham’s circumcision, our baptism is an outward symbol of “an inward transformation by the renewal of our minds” [RO 12: 2]. That means that God had already done the work of bringing rebellious thoughts and actions into line with His goodness before either Abraham’s circumcision or our baptism has taken place. In no way does this devalue these outward symbols. This helps us to better understand RO 6: 5-6, “For since we have become one with Him in dying as He did, in the same way we shall be one with Him by being raise to life as He was. And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on His cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin.” It helps to understand all of this when we know that Abraham was justified [deemed acceptable by God-RO 15: 6] before he was circumcised [GN 17: 24-25]. RO 4: 9b-11a begins by citing RO 15: 6, "’Abraham believed God, and because of His faith God accepted him as righteous.’ When did this take place? Was it before or after Abraham was circumcised? It was before, not after. He was circumcised later, and his circumcision was a sign to show that because of his faith God had accepted him as righteous before he had been circumcised.” This idea is further illuminated by God through Paul in RO 2: 14-15, “The Gentiles do not have the Law; but whenever they do what the Law commands, they are their own law, even through they do not have the Law. Their conduct shows that what the Law commands is written in their hearts. They consciences also show that this is true, since their thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defends them.”
We are all familiar with 2 COR 5: 17, “When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone and the new has come.” This verse will forever be connected in my mind to COL 3: 9-10, which explains it and reveals God’s will. “Do not lie to one another, for you have put on the new self. This is the new being which God, its Creator, is constantly renewing in His own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of Himself.” God really wants us to know Him and uses study of His word and prayer to reveal Himself. Think about it, we have a God Who is constantly renewing our new self in His own image; He is sanctifying us! We are His valued diamonds, and He is polishing our dull, ridged surfaces, so that His light can shine through us. He preparing us to share His glory forever! These verses from the NT shed further light on why Christ is the only solution. EPH 4: 22, “So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to-the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires.” JN 8: 34-36, “Jesus said to them, ‘I am telling you the truth: Everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave does not belong to a family permanently, but a son belongs there forever. If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free.” RO 6: 14, 18, “Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God’s grace…You were set free from sin and became the slaves of righteousness.”
God has a purpose for our lives, one that He set for us before we were born [JER 1: 4 reveals this]. Without our purpose, our lives are meaningless and useless. Abraham had no idea of the greater, cosmic purpose for his life [GN 12: 1-3; GN 15: 13-21; 2 SAM 7: 13-14; MT 1: 21-23], but he was willing to leave home without even knowing where God would take him in his faithful obedience. How many of us would do that? We have to trust in what God tells us. He has no plan to bring us disaster, but wants to prosper us [JER 29: 11]. God tells us in MT 5: 3, “Blessed are those who know they are spiritually poor, for they shall inherit God’s Kingdom.” With Him, we have everything; without Him, we have nothing! We have been told that His purpose is to bring as many of us who will listen and obey back to His side for eternity [JN 6: 39-40]. The Lord loves us so much that He delights in every detail of our lives. PS 37: 23-24, “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every details of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” He surrounds us with His love. PS 33: 22, “Yes, Lord, let your constant love surround us, for our hopes are in You alone.” He provides what we need. PS 37: 11, “But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing, and shall have wonderful peace.” He blesses each of us, if we will only go through that narrow gate and take the hard path that leads to eternal life with Him [MT 7: 13-14. He deserves nothing less than our praise and thanks forever. PS 104: 1, “Praise the Lord, my soul! O Lord, my God, how great You are! You are clothed with majesty and glory…”
PRAYER: O Lord, when we were spiritually immature, those with maturity told us to spend daily time in the Scriptures. We may have done this grudgingly, but we didn’t understand the value of it. We were also told to pray often, but we didn’t understand that either. I surely did my best to avoid this, giving in to a fleshly desire for more worldly interests. But, Dearest Father, You never ask us to do anything that isn’t in our best interests in the eternal sense. You know that daily study of Your word and prayer [two-way communication with You where we let You speak first] are the ways You can reveal Yourself and Your will to us. You waited patiently for us to listen, and now we are trying to do that. What love and compassion You show us by picking us up when we slip into our old ways and setting us back on Your right path. You are eager to reveal Your truth to us, even though we are so very undeserving. We come before Your altar to say that we finally get it. You want to reveal Yourself to us to transform our minds, refine Your teaching in them, and watch our hearts soften to Your perspective. All of this is due to Your love for us and desire to enjoy bliss and sweet fellowship with us forever. We are Your creation, and we can’t come to Your side for eternity on our own. Christ is the Solution, the only Solution, for our difficulty living lives which please You. We come before Your throne to offer You our lives and our hearts. We offer You eternal praise and thanks, which You absolutely deserve. You have taught us through Your word, prayer, the circumstances of our lives, and our congregations that a lifestyle which includes these things is best for us: 1) daily study of Your word; 2) frequent prayer, as Christ modeled for us; 3) taking the new perspective You give us to fuel our attitudes, decisions, and actions. Dearest Abba, we love You and consecrate our lives to You. Your purpose for us is the best purpose, just as it was for Abraham, Moses, Your Son, and Paul. We offer You our praise and thanks. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
I’m led in next week’s message to discuss this question: Why did God set believers free? Our Lord has a lot to say about that, and all of this teaching is a blessing. There are times when we feel so unequal to a task that God has set before us, but we must trust that He is definitely there to help us all of the time. It’s hard to think of a God Who manages to be present and accounted for ALL of the time. And yet, He is there. My own experience with asking that three-pronged prayer before I do a task for God is an example. I ask that 1) I can empty my spiritual vessel of all human agendas; 2) He will fill my vessel with the Holy Spirit and make His agenda known to me; and 3) the Holy Spirit will take over leadership in the course of my doing whatever God has asked me to do. From first hand experience, I can tell you this works! It allows anyone who prays this request to see it work. Our Lord is a Promise-keeper. He tells us in JN 15: 7, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it.” We all need to pray that God will give us His perspective on our lives and that we will have the courage to empty our vessels of man-made agendas, replacing them with His plan. I’m not just saying this, because it works for me. Instead, the real value of this is in gaining conformity with God’s greater, cosmic plan for each of us, even through we don’t know what it is right now. His plan is best; His timing is perfect. He loves each of us so much that He has the patience to wait for us to tune in to His will as long as we are sincerely attempting to do this. That’s what our covenant relationship with Him should lead us to do. Above all, remember that God’s love for each of us is unconditional. Praise be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn