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"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Tag: Holy

A New Order.

October 26, 2024 /

MaryEllen Montville

“The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship.” –Hebrews 10:1.

The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God. –C.S. Lewis.

The prophets foretold of His coming—this King like no other— a foreshadowing. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” –Micah 5:2.

Year after year, the people had brought their lambs, rams, and doves, each one’s throat formulaically slit by the high priest. He spilled its lifeblood to atone for their sins. According to what God had told Moses, blood would always be required for the remission of sin. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” —Leviticus 17:11.

“Rid me of my sin! “Accept this animal’s blood as my atonement!”

It worked—for a time. But only for a time.

New blood would need to be spilled next year and the next.

The spilling of innocent blood was a stopgap only. A foreshadowing, pointing straight to the One spoken of by the Prophets of old—evident to those whose eyes would be opened—yet missed by those who, despite the myriads of detailed pieces of evidence painstakingly laid out for them by the Prophet Isaiah alone, refused to see entirely. “But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.” –Hebrews 9:7-10.

Read for yourselves just a few sentences of Isaiah’s words concerning the One foretold of. He who would come to do what no amount of blood shed from even a herd of animals ever could. “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.” –Isaiah 53:2-3.

Friends, it was God Himself who stepped down from heaven.

God took on flesh: helpless, dependent, human flesh, all that He might fully experience our weaknesses, helplessness, and dependence firsthand, in all its forms and fashions—yet even in His taking on our flesh, He sinned not. This sin-less Jesus would die in your place and mine—we who were born in sin—so that we might “get to” experience His eternal life within us. Should we accept His offer of salvation, that is. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” –Hebrews 4:15.

This unfathomable, Divine exchange—Jesus’ innocence swallowing up our guilt. Father God willingly offered up His only Begotten Son, who then freely laid down His Life so that we might gain eternal life. “Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.” –Galatians 1:4-5.

His Revelation declares He is named Faithful and True.

He’ll come again wearing a robe dipped in blood, and His title is the Word of God.

This King’s name? Jesus, Son of God—our Savior. King of kings and Lord of lords. “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.” –Revelation 19:11-13.

He alone, the Perfect atoning sacrifice. His Spotless Blood alone is able to wash the filthiest of sinners white as snow. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” –Isaiah 1:18.

“But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings  you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” –Hebrews 10: 3-10.

This same Jesus foreshadowed in the Old Testament, spoken of there as self-existent, eternal—having no beginning nor end, is confirmed to be God in the flesh in the New Testament by the Apostle John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 1 John 1:1.

Soon and very soon, this same Jesus will come again.

Jesus, speaking through the Apostle John, assures of this.

Jesus came to John when he was exiled on the isle of Patmos and revealed to him all of what was yet to come in such startling detail that if you’ve read news headlines this week, you’d swear the Apostle John got his information from that same news source. In Truth, He did.

Jesus, Omniscient God He is, shared with John all that is to come.

By default, that would mean this one statement made by Jesus must be Truth as well: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” –John 14:1-6.

Jesus is coming back; that is a fact, believe it or not.

But here’s the thing: that “place” Jesus has gone to prepare is for those who believe in Him, those He knows intimately, those He calls friends. Those who have a relationship with Him. Is that you, friend? If not, it can be

Jesus certainly wants it to be.

Jesus gave His life solely for you to ensure that it might be. “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.” –John 3:16.

You need only ask Him into your life as Lord. His Holy Spirit will take care of the rest of what needs to happen. Please, don’t allow men to complicate what Jesus made so simple; even a child can receive Him. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” –Romans 10:9-10.

Three Crosses Part 2. Matthew 6:33

August 5, 2018 /

  “But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.”

The Cross of Christ. There is only One…

So why is this teaching entitled, “Three crosses?” Allow me to explain. The “Three crosses” we’ll explore over the next few weeks are pathways created by God to both draw us into and to refine, as with gold, our relationship with Him. Leading us, ultimately, to our final cross—the Cross of Christ which we are blessed to share in—to carry.

Last week we looked at the how God established—laid out, His Laws in such a way that they lead us first, into a vertical relationship with Him—our firm foundation from which all else is built, then secondly, horizontally into relationship with each other.

Next week we will explore our final Cross. The Cross of Christ.

This week, however, we’ll find our second Cross of meeting and refinement in the teaching of a prayer…

Today, as we stand at the foot our second Cross—this simple yet profound prayer, this model, this exchange—let’s peek behind its surface, shall we?

Let’s look towards—take in, examine, challenge each other with, its lessons…

In the age of the patriarchs, each man understood that he was the priest of his household. He was responsible for all those he covered . He knew too, that his name stood as more than a mere title used to identify him. His name was attached to his identity, his character. It was cultural, part of the fiber of who he was, or would become. Jesus, our High Priest, is no different. He couldn’t be. That He might atone for our sins, empathize with our weaknesses, it was necessary for Him to take on human flesh, becoming “like us in every way”. It was necessary for God to take on flesh in the person of Christ Jesus and walk among us—yet being fully God still—He remains nonetheless, sinless. “Therefore, it was essential that He had to be made like His brothers (mankind) in every respect, so that He might [by experience] become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things related to God, to make atonement (propitiation) for the people’s sins [thereby wiping away the sin, satisfying divine justice, and providing a way of reconciliation between God and mankind]” Hebrews 2:17

It is this God, The Only Begotten of the Father, who is teaching our brothers—teaching us. His Character our model.

Let that sink in a moment…

Let’s head over to listen to how Matthew describes the way Jesus instructed him and his brothers—and through them, us—to pray.

Jesus says, pray like this: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” –Mathew 6:10-13

 

“Our Father in heaven”: Jesus straightaway leaves no room for doubt about who it is we must pray to. He points His disciples towards—and through them us, this revolutionary new way to address God. More, this new way to understand and enter into relationship with Him. Now, instead of calling on God by title only, as His creation— as El Shaddai, Yahweh, or G_d, as was custom, Jesus is teaching His friends to see themselves as His child, as personally connected—intimately connected to God, as a child is to their Father. His friends had witnessed Jesus taking time away to pray to His Father this way. Now they wanted this for themselves. There is a great lesson in their desire for us all… “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to son-ship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father” –Romans 8:15.

“May your name be kept holy.” Some versions rend this as “Hallowed by thine name.” Your name isn’t like any other. Your name, as is your person, is, “sanctified; consecrated; sacrosanct—set-apart.” Jesus, in part, teaches His friends the proper awe and reverence one should always have—even as a friend, even as a child must have when interacting with their Holy Father God. This is a Name that should not slip unguarded from colorful lips set on calling down curse on themselves or others. This Name is Holy. And, as with all things holy, it must be set apart for sacred use—not common. “And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Isaiah 6:3

“May your Kingdom come soon.” The Tabernacle of God—The Lamb who was from the beginning of the world. Slain for their sins and the sins of the whole world, was teaching them to pray for heaven to dwell on earth. For Gods perfect rule—a world without sin—to become a reality. They were all too familiar with evil and murder and persecution and lies and treachery. Jesus is teaching them—us, to pray for Gods perfection to be manifested. Firstly, in our own hearts. As our deepest desire. As we patiently await that glorious time when heaven will come in all its fullness. “They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations” –Psalm 145:11-13.

“May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” Jesus is, in part, teaching His friends to set aside their way of doing things. Set aside their feelings, our feelings and wants and ought to be’s—our ways of wanting God to show up and act and do. Stop asking God to bless our plans—our “golden calf”. Stop speaking to God in redundant, empty, ritualistic words. Pray instead that the will of The One who created you and everything in this world be sought after by every man—desired by all. That none miss out on heavens plan for their lives. That Gods perfect will—as it is in heaven—be done, lived out, strived for, shared, hungered after, here and now, on earth. God is seeking those who are willing to empty themselves of their will that He might manifest His own through them. The One who willingly laid down His life is teaching us this lesson. “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded” –John 10:18.

“Give us today the food we need…” Father, as with any good dad, we are trusting you to take care of us today. We’re resting in you. Firstly, give us more of you. Give us the spiritual milk we thirst after, the Living Water we need, and fill our bellies with your Life-giving Word. And shelter us and cloth us and protect us from harm. Then, please, meet our physical needs as well. We come to you in humble reliance daily—minute by minute, that you alone might nourish and sustain us rather than us looking to make it happen our way for ourselves. “But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”’ –Matthew 4:4.

“And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” His disciples had experienced firsthand how often Jesus flipped the proverbial script on them—commanding them to do, live, be, exactly opposite of what the world taught them. To love, to forgive their Roman oppressors and those who persecuted them. And, this forgiveness of those that sinned against them business was no different. Jesus teaches in order that they be forgiven their continued sinning, their daily sins, their guilt, and offenses, they must first forgive everyone else to the full measure they would hope to be forgiven of God. No exceptions. Least the pride of unforgiveness cause a chasm to form between them and the Father who wants desperately to bless His children with every good thing. This God, in His Perfect justice, cannot however, forgive us of our sins if we choose to close Him out and harden our hearts by hanging on to—nurturing an offense rather than forgiving it. “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” –Matthew 6:14-15.

“And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” Again, Jesus is, in part, teaching our brothers what they—and we, will hear from our brother Paul later on in his letter to the Philippians. Jesus, unbeknownst to them in that moment, is teaching them to allow the nascent roots of their faith in this “Father”, this “Abba God”, to go deep. To fully believe that the One who called them to Himself, the One that is teaching them how to communicate with Himself, will keep them safe from the enemy of their soul. Will provide a way out when the flood of temptation threatens to overtake them. And it will threaten to overtake them. Being His child did not  not exempt them and it does not exempt us from temptation—from falling, face first, into sin. Often actually, temptation singles us out as targets. “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure” –1 Corinthians 10:13.

Friends, our second cross, this simple, powerful, pure prayer is yet another way that God—our Father, our Daddy, Poppa, has paved the way for us to come to Him—to get to know Him, to enter into communion with Him. He has taken us from His Laws, which must never be forgotten, into relationship. He offers us this simple prayer as a model, a guide. He lovingly takes time to teach us to abandoned ourselves into His care. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?” 1 Corinthians 6:19. He sets our feet on a path that strengthens us each time we walk on it—which each new step on it. Trusting in its straightness and its solid foundation to keep us safe. But never, I beseech you, lose sight of, reverence for the fact, that “Our Father” is the Sovereign God of the universe. The Great I Am. Your Creator ,and the Creator of all heaven and earth. The Bright and Morning Star. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. “Let all the earth fear and worship the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.” “Then you will understand the [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome]
And discover the knowledge of God” Psalm 33:8;Proverbs 2:5.

Never forget to whom it is you have been given the awesome, unfathomable honor of praying to—of communicating with. And, the price the One teaching this simple prayer paid that you might be afforded that honor. “But we have this precious treasure [the good news about salvation] in [unworthy] earthen vessels [of human frailty], so that the grandeur and surpassing greatness of the power will be [shown to be] from God [His sufficiency] and not from ourselves. We are pressured in every way [hedged in], but not crushed; perplexed [unsure of finding a way out], but not driven to despair; hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted [to stand alone]; struck down, but never destroyed…” Corinthians 4:7-9.

Friend, if you find yourself here today not knowing this Father God, I ask that you take a moment as Jesus’s friends did, and ask Him for yourself how to pray. Ask Him first to come into your heart, if you haven’t already; to forgive you of your sins that He might come in and show you how to have ongoing communion with Our Father…

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