I previously spoke of the “eternal rest” awaiting those who are faithful and obedient to God. The children of Israel who departed Egypt were unable to enter their rest, that being the promised land, because of unbelief and disobedience to their calling. Their example has been given to us as a warning lest any of us should fall short of reaching the soon-coming rest that awaits us at the end of days. We have been admonished to make our calling and election sure. However, we are all sinners and have fallen woefully short of the glory of God. We cannot obtain his mercy and grace by our own efforts. How then can we make our calling and election sure?
We are more than able, through faith in our savior, who has paved the way for us with his blood, having paid the penalty for our sins, and who now sits at the right hand of the majesty on high as our eternal high priest. He daily makes intercession before his father on our behalf. Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
He knows our weaknesses, our faults, and the temptations that bombard us on a daily basis. He laid aside his heavenly robe in exchange for a fleshly body such as ours and tabernacled among us. He can be merciful because he has experienced our physical journey and knows the path laid out before us.
There are many today that feel unworthy to approach that throne of grace. False religion has made them believe that an earthly intercessor is still necessary, be it a minister or priest as a go-between, someone “worthy” enough to approach God’s heavenly throne. Many are encouraged to confess their sins to this earthly intercessor, who will pray for them. This is not what scripture teaches us.
Yeshua, at his crucifixion, broke down the barrier between God and man. During the time he walked the earth, this barrier was the holy of holies in the temple at Jerusalem. It housed the ark of the covenant, a representation of the throne of God, and could only be accessed once a year by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, when he made intercession first for his own sins and then for the nation as a whole.
Upon Yeshua‘s sacrifice, the veil that covered that most holy place was rent in two from top to bottom, symbolically providing direct access for every believer to God’s throne. We no longer need an earthly priest to intercede for us. Our eternal high priest has provided the way to God’s throne, where our prayers are received.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are not worthy to pray directly to your heavenly father. Yeshua shed his blood to open up the way for the believer to humbly and reverently approach our God in heaven. We can go to him anytime, anywhere and know that he hears us. However, we must approach him in faith, coupled with obedience. Hebrew 11:6 tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”.
Showing posts with label plan of god. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plan of god. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Thursday, November 26, 2009
A Biblical Overview
When I speak to people about God’s word, I often find them completely unfamiliar with the scriptures. Most admit that they don’t read the Bible to any great degree because they find it mysterious and hard to understand. Even Christians who attend church every Sunday don’t seem to have any real knowledge of the Bible or its teachings. So I want to share a brief overview, as a foundation on which greater truth can be built.
First and foremost, the Bible is the story of God’s purpose for mankind. It is His instruction book, if you will, so that we can learn who we are, why we were created, how we are to live and what our final destination will be. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” we are told in the very first verse, Gen 1:1. Then in verse 26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” We follow the story of the creation of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, and their offspring Cain and Abel. We see that, although created in the image of their Creator, they were not to be mindless robots. God clearly revealed His law to them, but they were given free moral agency or the mental capacity to make choices for good or evil.
Why was it necessary for them to be introduced to both good and evil? From the beginning God ordained that we must choose for ourselves whether or not we will be obedient to our Creator. See Deut. 30:19. Sadly the biblical account chronicles the early decline of mankind, with few exceptions. A single thread of humanity proved itself righteous before God, and became the family tree through which Christ was born. We begin with Seth, whom Eve says God appointed to her instead of Abel, whom Cain slew, Gen 4:25. The bloodline followed with Enosh, Kenan, Mahalelel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and Noah. The bible doesn’t give any great detail of these men, other than to record in Gen 5:22 that Enoch walked with God, and in Gen 6:8 that Noah found grace in the sight of God. Hebrews 11:7 tells us, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
The bible records the story of Noah and the great flood and how all of mankind was destroyed due to wickedness, save Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives. The thread continued on after the flood as Noah’s family repopulated the earth. Eleven generations from Noah a man was born named Abram. He grew up in Ur of the Chaldees, in the land of Babylon. In time, God called him to leave his country and go unto a land that would be given him and his offspring as an everlasting inheritance.
The Old Testament chronicles the story of this man’s family and their destiny. Abraham (as he was later named by God) was given a son whom he named Isaac, who in turn begat Jacob. Jacob, whose name was also changed by God to Israel, was the father of twelve sons whom collectively became known as the twelve tribes of Israel.
As the biblical account continues, we follow the generations of this family as they escaped slavery in Egypt, wandered in the desert forty years receiving instruction by God through Moses, and entered the land of promise where they became a great kingdom. We read of their judges, their kings and their prophets, and we see the results of continued disobedience. We read of their triumphs and defeats. Most importantly, we see that in due process of time, a child was born from this family that was destined to be the Savior of the world.
This Savior was Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The New Testament is a history of His earthly life and teachings, His death, burial and resurrection. His disciples continued the story with their testimony of all that they witnessed and their letters stand as immortal lights even today to show us the way to eternal life in Him.
A key to understanding the bible is the fact that God’s entire plan from beginning to end was established before the world even came into existence. Revelation 13:8 declares that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The sacrifice of Christ for sin was not an afterthought, a reaction to Satan's deception. It was God's purpose from the very beginning. The plan of God is played out in the pages of our bibles in great detail, if we are given the understanding to see what is before our very eyes.
You see, the bible gives us all the instruction we require to know God and his purpose for mankind, yet it is written in such a way that we must seek it out like buried treasure. Isaiah 28:9-10 declares, "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breast. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little." This tells us that a cursory glance at the scriptures or an occasional reading will not yield much understanding. I liken the bible to a jigsaw puzzle. Until we fit all the pieces together, we cannot see the whole picture. God wants to know that we are serious about his word, so he doesn't put everything out there in plain sight. He rewards those who hunger and thirst for knowledge, those who search out every last morsel they can get. Proverbs 25:2 tells us, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter." II Timothy 2:15 says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. I have been studying for many years and I find new insights all the time. I will never understand all truth in this life but it is always exciting when I am given another piece of the puzzle.
Email comments or questions to thehiddenmanna@gmail.com
First and foremost, the Bible is the story of God’s purpose for mankind. It is His instruction book, if you will, so that we can learn who we are, why we were created, how we are to live and what our final destination will be. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” we are told in the very first verse, Gen 1:1. Then in verse 26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” We follow the story of the creation of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, and their offspring Cain and Abel. We see that, although created in the image of their Creator, they were not to be mindless robots. God clearly revealed His law to them, but they were given free moral agency or the mental capacity to make choices for good or evil.
Why was it necessary for them to be introduced to both good and evil? From the beginning God ordained that we must choose for ourselves whether or not we will be obedient to our Creator. See Deut. 30:19. Sadly the biblical account chronicles the early decline of mankind, with few exceptions. A single thread of humanity proved itself righteous before God, and became the family tree through which Christ was born. We begin with Seth, whom Eve says God appointed to her instead of Abel, whom Cain slew, Gen 4:25. The bloodline followed with Enosh, Kenan, Mahalelel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and Noah. The bible doesn’t give any great detail of these men, other than to record in Gen 5:22 that Enoch walked with God, and in Gen 6:8 that Noah found grace in the sight of God. Hebrews 11:7 tells us, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
The bible records the story of Noah and the great flood and how all of mankind was destroyed due to wickedness, save Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives. The thread continued on after the flood as Noah’s family repopulated the earth. Eleven generations from Noah a man was born named Abram. He grew up in Ur of the Chaldees, in the land of Babylon. In time, God called him to leave his country and go unto a land that would be given him and his offspring as an everlasting inheritance.
The Old Testament chronicles the story of this man’s family and their destiny. Abraham (as he was later named by God) was given a son whom he named Isaac, who in turn begat Jacob. Jacob, whose name was also changed by God to Israel, was the father of twelve sons whom collectively became known as the twelve tribes of Israel.
As the biblical account continues, we follow the generations of this family as they escaped slavery in Egypt, wandered in the desert forty years receiving instruction by God through Moses, and entered the land of promise where they became a great kingdom. We read of their judges, their kings and their prophets, and we see the results of continued disobedience. We read of their triumphs and defeats. Most importantly, we see that in due process of time, a child was born from this family that was destined to be the Savior of the world.
This Savior was Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The New Testament is a history of His earthly life and teachings, His death, burial and resurrection. His disciples continued the story with their testimony of all that they witnessed and their letters stand as immortal lights even today to show us the way to eternal life in Him.
A key to understanding the bible is the fact that God’s entire plan from beginning to end was established before the world even came into existence. Revelation 13:8 declares that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The sacrifice of Christ for sin was not an afterthought, a reaction to Satan's deception. It was God's purpose from the very beginning. The plan of God is played out in the pages of our bibles in great detail, if we are given the understanding to see what is before our very eyes.
You see, the bible gives us all the instruction we require to know God and his purpose for mankind, yet it is written in such a way that we must seek it out like buried treasure. Isaiah 28:9-10 declares, "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breast. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little." This tells us that a cursory glance at the scriptures or an occasional reading will not yield much understanding. I liken the bible to a jigsaw puzzle. Until we fit all the pieces together, we cannot see the whole picture. God wants to know that we are serious about his word, so he doesn't put everything out there in plain sight. He rewards those who hunger and thirst for knowledge, those who search out every last morsel they can get. Proverbs 25:2 tells us, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter." II Timothy 2:15 says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. I have been studying for many years and I find new insights all the time. I will never understand all truth in this life but it is always exciting when I am given another piece of the puzzle.
Email comments or questions to thehiddenmanna@gmail.com
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