"In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.'" -Genesis 4.3-7
Adam and Eve begin a family, and they have two sons, Cain and Abel. The boys grow, Cain becomes a farmer, Abel becomes a shepherd. In time, they bring an offering to God, Cain brings some of the fruit he has grown, and Abel brings an offering of the first born of his flock. Cain's offering is rejected, and Abel's is accepted by God. I don't know why this happens, and scholars are divided over the reason. In Leviticus grain offerings are shown to be acceptable to God, but for some reason, Cain's is not accepted. The only explanation given in the text is that Cain did not do what was right.
God has standards that must be lived by to be accepted by Him. Because of sin, we cannot live up to His standard of perfection, and so sacrifices were offered to pay the debt of sin, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6.23a). Jesus came, lived a perfect life, meeting God's standard of perfection, and offered Himself as a final sacrifice to pay for all sin. The standard of acceptance by God is Christ. We do what is right by accepting His forgiveness as Savior, and submitting to Him as Lord. We strive to live as Christ live through the power of the resurrection, and allow God to lead our us and transform us, as He molds us into the image of Christ.
As we strive towards Christlikeness, we find ourselves being made acceptable to God because of Christ. However, if we do not pursue Christ, sin is waiting to to devour us, and apart from Christ it cannot be mastered. The mastery of sin is not found in our strength or effort, but in submission to Christ and striving after the standards of God. James 4.7-8 says, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."
The only way to have mastery over sin is in submission to God. He has set the standard of what is right, and we are only able to pursue righteousness in Him. God is the standard.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Peace be with you
Showing posts with label Romans 6. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romans 6. Show all posts
Friday, October 28, 2016
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Justifyer
"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." -Genesis 3.21
God is just, He deals with sin from every guilty party. But God is also the justifyer, He does the work of paying for sin. Romans 6.23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." God must justly deal with sin, otherwise He is not a holy and righteous God. But because God is holy and righteous, He is the one who pays the price for sin. God does the dirty work that humanity is unable to do.
Adam and the woman, now named Eve, attempt to cover their nakedness by sewing fig leaves together. When a leaf is pulled from the tree it begins to dry out and wither. The coverings that Adam and Eve made for themselves were a feeble, temporary, and ultimately ineffective solution. They were a band-aid on a deep wound that needed stitches. God steps in, and does for them what they cannot do for themselves.
God makes garments of skin, covering Adam and Eve with clothing that will last. I don't know how many of you have taken part in the hunting, field dressing, and skinning of an animal, but let me tell you, it is not the most pleasant process. Adam and Eve did not have the means to kill or skin an animal. They were unable to cover themselves with proper clothing, and so God did it. He did the dirty work. Adam and Eve could not deal with their sin, and so God made the sacrifice, one animal each, to cover the cost of their sin. Throughout the Bible, we'll see how the grace of God grows in the area of payment for sin, culminating in Jesus.
God is just, and as such, He must hold sinners accountable for their sin. Sin is serious, and the only payment that can cover sin, is death. This price is too high for humanity to pay, and so God the just, acts on behalf of man as justifyer. God does what only He is able to do. God steps in, and pays the price for man's sin.
For the last few days I've been listening to a song titled, Before the Throne of God Above (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MUNywhsZPU)
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me
Behold Him there the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I am
The King of glory and of grace
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God!
With Christ my Savior and my God!
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God!
With Christ my Savior and my God!
God the just, the one who must condemn man for his sin, steps in as justifyer to redeem man from his sin.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Peace be with you
God is just, He deals with sin from every guilty party. But God is also the justifyer, He does the work of paying for sin. Romans 6.23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." God must justly deal with sin, otherwise He is not a holy and righteous God. But because God is holy and righteous, He is the one who pays the price for sin. God does the dirty work that humanity is unable to do.
Adam and the woman, now named Eve, attempt to cover their nakedness by sewing fig leaves together. When a leaf is pulled from the tree it begins to dry out and wither. The coverings that Adam and Eve made for themselves were a feeble, temporary, and ultimately ineffective solution. They were a band-aid on a deep wound that needed stitches. God steps in, and does for them what they cannot do for themselves.
God makes garments of skin, covering Adam and Eve with clothing that will last. I don't know how many of you have taken part in the hunting, field dressing, and skinning of an animal, but let me tell you, it is not the most pleasant process. Adam and Eve did not have the means to kill or skin an animal. They were unable to cover themselves with proper clothing, and so God did it. He did the dirty work. Adam and Eve could not deal with their sin, and so God made the sacrifice, one animal each, to cover the cost of their sin. Throughout the Bible, we'll see how the grace of God grows in the area of payment for sin, culminating in Jesus.
God is just, and as such, He must hold sinners accountable for their sin. Sin is serious, and the only payment that can cover sin, is death. This price is too high for humanity to pay, and so God the just, acts on behalf of man as justifyer. God does what only He is able to do. God steps in, and pays the price for man's sin.
For the last few days I've been listening to a song titled, Before the Throne of God Above (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MUNywhsZPU)
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me
Behold Him there the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I am
The King of glory and of grace
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God!
With Christ my Savior and my God!
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God!
With Christ my Savior and my God!
God the just, the one who must condemn man for his sin, steps in as justifyer to redeem man from his sin.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Peace be with you
Monday, October 24, 2016
Just
"And he said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?' The man said, 'The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.' Then the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' The woman said,'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'
So the Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.'
To the woman he said, 'I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.'
To Adam he said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, "You must not eat from it," cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.'” -Genesis 3.11-19
Something has gone wrong, and God directly deals with it. He asks Adam a direct question, and Adam passes the blame to his wife. God asks her a a direct question, and again, she passes the blame. Now that God is at the bottom of the problem, He begins to deal with it and enforces justice. The serpent is cursed for his deception. He is cursed to drawl on his belly and eat dust, with enmity existing forever between man and snake, with the promise of ultimate defeat.
At first glance this seems like it should be the end of it. The serpent was the one who brought all of this about, it's his fault. Now that he has been punished, that should be the end of it, and that was probably the hope of passing the blame, as it is the hope of us today. But the tactic didn't work then, and it will not work when we each stand before God. God is just, and every act of disobedience will be dealt with. Every sin will be punished.
God dealt with the serpent, but now He turns to Adam and his wife. They knew God's command, His one rule, and they chose to break it. The language earlier in the chapter shows deliberate choice and action. The woman saw that it was good for food and for gaining knowledge, so she took and ate, and then gave some to Adam who was with her, and he ate. They had the choice, and they chose to disobey God, and the blame cannot be passed on.
To the woman, she will still give life, but it will be painful. She will have a desire for her husband, and he will rule her. No longer will their relationship exist as helpers, but as leader and follower. To Adam, for his failure to lead, and failure to fight for his wife, and all of creation, the ground is cursed. No longer is there the freedom to simply reach out to a tree and eat freely, now food comes by the sweat of his brow. His muscles will ache, his back will be sore. The final punishment is death. Disobedience is sin, and Romans 6 says that sin brings death.
God is just, and all who violate His commands will be punished. God cannot overlook sin because it is a violation of His character. Sin was not part of His design. Painful childbirth, dominion of people over each other, cursed ground, and difficult toil were not part of His creation. But God is just, and He must, and will deal with sin, all sin. There were no innocent parties in Genesis 3. The man was guilty, the woman was guilty, and the serpent was guilty, and God the just, dealt with all of them. And just as God dealt justly with their sin, He will deal justly with all sin.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Peace be with you
So the Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.'
To the woman he said, 'I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.'
To Adam he said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, "You must not eat from it," cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.'” -Genesis 3.11-19
Something has gone wrong, and God directly deals with it. He asks Adam a direct question, and Adam passes the blame to his wife. God asks her a a direct question, and again, she passes the blame. Now that God is at the bottom of the problem, He begins to deal with it and enforces justice. The serpent is cursed for his deception. He is cursed to drawl on his belly and eat dust, with enmity existing forever between man and snake, with the promise of ultimate defeat.
At first glance this seems like it should be the end of it. The serpent was the one who brought all of this about, it's his fault. Now that he has been punished, that should be the end of it, and that was probably the hope of passing the blame, as it is the hope of us today. But the tactic didn't work then, and it will not work when we each stand before God. God is just, and every act of disobedience will be dealt with. Every sin will be punished.
God dealt with the serpent, but now He turns to Adam and his wife. They knew God's command, His one rule, and they chose to break it. The language earlier in the chapter shows deliberate choice and action. The woman saw that it was good for food and for gaining knowledge, so she took and ate, and then gave some to Adam who was with her, and he ate. They had the choice, and they chose to disobey God, and the blame cannot be passed on.
To the woman, she will still give life, but it will be painful. She will have a desire for her husband, and he will rule her. No longer will their relationship exist as helpers, but as leader and follower. To Adam, for his failure to lead, and failure to fight for his wife, and all of creation, the ground is cursed. No longer is there the freedom to simply reach out to a tree and eat freely, now food comes by the sweat of his brow. His muscles will ache, his back will be sore. The final punishment is death. Disobedience is sin, and Romans 6 says that sin brings death.
God is just, and all who violate His commands will be punished. God cannot overlook sin because it is a violation of His character. Sin was not part of His design. Painful childbirth, dominion of people over each other, cursed ground, and difficult toil were not part of His creation. But God is just, and He must, and will deal with sin, all sin. There were no innocent parties in Genesis 3. The man was guilty, the woman was guilty, and the serpent was guilty, and God the just, dealt with all of them. And just as God dealt justly with their sin, He will deal justly with all sin.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Peace be with you
Sunday, August 17, 2014
One Way
"Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people. The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to the Lord, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the Lord. They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations." -Leviticus 17.3-7
God is giving instructions on how the people are to kill and offer their sacrifices. It isn't be be done outside the camp, but brought before the Lord. The sacrifice is to be made to God at the tabernacle, not out in the field to a false God. Atonement comes from God alone, and He does not want His people to be led astray by the pagan nations they encounter. There was one way to find forgiveness, one way to make the sacrifice.
As we've said before, this sacrificial system has been made obsolete by the work of Jesus on the cross and at the empty tomb. But even with this there is still only one way to attain salvation. It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that our sins can be forgiven (John 14.6). It is only by accepting the new life that He offers that we can live with power over sin (Romans 6). There is no other option, and if we would be saved we must call on the name of the Lord (Acts 2.21). We must confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead to be saved (Romans 10.9).
Men, the only way to find salvation is in Jesus Christ. The five pillars of Islam, though good practices to live by, will not bring you salvation. Salvation is not found in the Buddhist attainment of nirvana. We don't find forgiveness by making it through the five caste systems of Hinduism. The only way to be saved is faith in Jesus Christ.
Let us turn to Jesus, and look to Him for salvation. Apart from Christ there can be no real forgiveness, no real salvation, and no path to God. There is only one way, and it is found in Jesus.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
God is giving instructions on how the people are to kill and offer their sacrifices. It isn't be be done outside the camp, but brought before the Lord. The sacrifice is to be made to God at the tabernacle, not out in the field to a false God. Atonement comes from God alone, and He does not want His people to be led astray by the pagan nations they encounter. There was one way to find forgiveness, one way to make the sacrifice.
As we've said before, this sacrificial system has been made obsolete by the work of Jesus on the cross and at the empty tomb. But even with this there is still only one way to attain salvation. It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that our sins can be forgiven (John 14.6). It is only by accepting the new life that He offers that we can live with power over sin (Romans 6). There is no other option, and if we would be saved we must call on the name of the Lord (Acts 2.21). We must confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead to be saved (Romans 10.9).
Men, the only way to find salvation is in Jesus Christ. The five pillars of Islam, though good practices to live by, will not bring you salvation. Salvation is not found in the Buddhist attainment of nirvana. We don't find forgiveness by making it through the five caste systems of Hinduism. The only way to be saved is faith in Jesus Christ.
Let us turn to Jesus, and look to Him for salvation. Apart from Christ there can be no real forgiveness, no real salvation, and no path to God. There is only one way, and it is found in Jesus.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Atonement Under the Law
"Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. He shall slay the young bull before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.'" -Leviticus 1.2-6
We enter the book of Leviticus, the spot where most Bible reading plans come to an end. I think part of the reason for this is that people don't understand why the book of Leviticus is in the Bible. Before we get into the above verses and how they speak to the heart of a man, let's take a minute to examine why Leviticus is a crucial part of the Bible.
Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for more than four centuries. During that time they had the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They knew what God had done for them, and what God had promised to them. But they were slaves, and after more than four hundred years, many things are lost. They didn't know how to worship God or live for God. In Exodus we see that God delivered His people and begins leading them to the Promised Land, and along the way He is teaching them, through Moses, about Himself and about how to live for Him. The book of Leviticus is God teaching His people how to worship Him and live life as He created them to live it.
The first thing that is instructed is about bringing an offering to God for atonement. For a long time I had this idea that you brought an animal to sacrifice, gave it to the priest and watched as he did the dirty work of killing it and preparing it to offer to God. Clearly I didn't pay too much attention to these verses the first time I read Leviticus. We can clearly see that it says the one who brings the animal is the one to kill it, and then to skin it and cut it up for the offering. You sin, you get to kill the animal and prepare it for the offering of atonement.
Atonement was not a spectator sport because sin is serious. And under the Law, atonement for sin meant you had to get your hands bloody. An innocent animal would be killed by your own hands so that you could be cleansed before God. I think if we could be PETA on board with this we might have less sin. If every time you sinned you had to go offer a sacrifice, that you personally had to cut the throat of, how likely would you be to sin?
Men, when we sin, something pure, beautiful, and innocent dies; Romans 6.23a says, "The wages of sin is death". Because "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6.23b) we no longer have to offer animals for forgiveness, but it was our sin that crucified the Son of God. When we sin we bring death in our own lives, and possibly in the lives of those around us. We may not have visible blood on our hands, but there is blood there. When we sin we bring death to ourselves and to others, maybe not physically, but always spiritually.
Because of the cross, we will never have to cut an animals throat to pay for our sins. But what if we lived life with the mindset of every time we sin we have to put a nail in Jesus' wrist, how often would we refrain from sin?
Atonement under the Law was a constant reminder of the severity of sin, may we always live with this in mind. And with that mindset let us strive to live above sin through the power of the cross and the empty tomb. Sin always causes death, but Jesus always gives new life to those who seek it.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
We enter the book of Leviticus, the spot where most Bible reading plans come to an end. I think part of the reason for this is that people don't understand why the book of Leviticus is in the Bible. Before we get into the above verses and how they speak to the heart of a man, let's take a minute to examine why Leviticus is a crucial part of the Bible.
Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for more than four centuries. During that time they had the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They knew what God had done for them, and what God had promised to them. But they were slaves, and after more than four hundred years, many things are lost. They didn't know how to worship God or live for God. In Exodus we see that God delivered His people and begins leading them to the Promised Land, and along the way He is teaching them, through Moses, about Himself and about how to live for Him. The book of Leviticus is God teaching His people how to worship Him and live life as He created them to live it.
The first thing that is instructed is about bringing an offering to God for atonement. For a long time I had this idea that you brought an animal to sacrifice, gave it to the priest and watched as he did the dirty work of killing it and preparing it to offer to God. Clearly I didn't pay too much attention to these verses the first time I read Leviticus. We can clearly see that it says the one who brings the animal is the one to kill it, and then to skin it and cut it up for the offering. You sin, you get to kill the animal and prepare it for the offering of atonement.
Atonement was not a spectator sport because sin is serious. And under the Law, atonement for sin meant you had to get your hands bloody. An innocent animal would be killed by your own hands so that you could be cleansed before God. I think if we could be PETA on board with this we might have less sin. If every time you sinned you had to go offer a sacrifice, that you personally had to cut the throat of, how likely would you be to sin?
Men, when we sin, something pure, beautiful, and innocent dies; Romans 6.23a says, "The wages of sin is death". Because "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6.23b) we no longer have to offer animals for forgiveness, but it was our sin that crucified the Son of God. When we sin we bring death in our own lives, and possibly in the lives of those around us. We may not have visible blood on our hands, but there is blood there. When we sin we bring death to ourselves and to others, maybe not physically, but always spiritually.
Because of the cross, we will never have to cut an animals throat to pay for our sins. But what if we lived life with the mindset of every time we sin we have to put a nail in Jesus' wrist, how often would we refrain from sin?
Atonement under the Law was a constant reminder of the severity of sin, may we always live with this in mind. And with that mindset let us strive to live above sin through the power of the cross and the empty tomb. Sin always causes death, but Jesus always gives new life to those who seek it.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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