Spans in the Bridge of Salvation
A double barrier separates God and the sinner. Sin has caused man to be offended toward God as truly as it has caused God to be offended toward man. The Cross of Christ shall have failed to deal adequately with sin if it only removes the cause of offence in its Godward aspect and does not equally remove it in its manward aspect.
And this is exactly what the Cross of Christ does. "We love him because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). "By grace are ye saved through faith." The grace of God built the bridge of salvation before ever a single sinner made a start toward crossing it. Grace took God into the garden in the cool of the day to seek the first two sinners and to offer them the gracious promise of salvation through a Saviour even before He dealt righteously with their sin in pronouncing upon them the judgment of the curse. Even in the prophecy - promise given in Eden God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. God took the initiative in effecting reconciliation by giving His Son to die.
Romans 5:10, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled we shall be saved by his life."
Colossians 1:21, 22, "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled. In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight."
2 Corinthians 5:18, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ."
The Son of God endured the suffering and the shame of the Cross that thereby He might tell a world of sinners who have turned their backs on God that God loves them with an everlasting love. When the sinner sees the Saviour suffering, the just for the unjust, when he sees Christ crucified by his sin, dying his death, enduring his punishment, then his heart is melted, his rebellion is removed, his whole attitude toward God is changed from enmity to love, from estrangement to fellowship, from indifference to devotion, from fear to faith, from shame to peace.
In Christ crucified God has provided such propitiation and reconciliation as has made possible the removal of the barrier of separation between God and man, and has opened a merciful yet righteous way of access and acceptance; thus giving to every man who will avail himself of God's grace the opportunity for full restoration to God's favor and fellowship.
The Cross of Christ - The End of the Old Creation and the Beginning of the New
Through propitiation and reconciliation accomplished in the death of Christ adequate provision has been made for a change of relationship between the sinner and God which effects a radical change in the sinner's position before God. But is there provision for a change in his condition also? The natural man is a slave, "sold under sin" (Romans 7:14).
Where sin abounded grace did much more abound. God's boundless grace was undaunted by the sinner's helpless, hopeless condition. God's right to proprietorship through creation still remained but it had been lost to Him through man's surrender of himself to the sovereignty of another. But God would Himself go down unto the slave market of sin and buy back that which was His own. He would then take the sinner out of the sphere of satan, out of the slave market of sin, and set him free in the glorious liberty of a new life in Christ.
Such redemption demanded a ransom. it required a life for a life. "The life is in the blood." To redeem the race from the bondage of sin involved the paying of a price which was nothing less than the precious blood of the spotless Lamb of God. To buy back His own for a possession God paid the costly price of His own blood.
Acts 20:28, "take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."
1 Peter 1:18, 19, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
Revelation 5:9, "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation."
But God did not go into the slave market of sin only to buy the captive sinner but also to bring him out from that old sphere of bondage and set him free in a new sphere of liberty. Not alone would He lead him out of Egypt but He would bring him into Canaan. Christ Jesus would become not only the sinner's Saviour but He would be the believer's Lord and Life. In the Cross of Christ God rejected the old order of fallen, sinful humanity "sold under sin" through the first Adam's disobedience that He might raise up a new order of holy, heavenly beings redeemed from sin through the last Adam's obedience.
The death of Christ upon the Cross not only redeems but it re-creates; it not only provides complete emancipation from the old life but abundant entrance into the new.
Exodus 13:3, "And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place."
Exodus 13:11, "And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee..."
Titus 2:14, "Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 1 - "The Cross of Christ - The Place of Decision that Determines Destiny.")
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Who Do You Want to Please?
But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
-First Thessalonians 2:4 (King James Version)
For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.
-First Thessalonians 2:4 (New Living Translation)
Let me start out with a question: Who are you trying to please with your life? Common answers may be: employer, family, friends & coworkers. Who should we really be trying to please? I think the answer is found in First Thessalonians 2:4.
The past few weeks on Talkin' Scripture, we have been focusing our study on teachers. I stated that, whether we admit it or not, or whether we know it or not, each and every one of us is a teacher to others. We teach other about Jesus, and about God, through our way of life. In First Thessalonians 2:4, Paul reveals the importance of his calling, and the importance of the calling God has on each and every one of us. "For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News." We, you and me, are messengers of the Gospel message. We are to be sharing that message with others. Then, Paul says, "Our purpose is to please God, not people." Paul knew that the Gospel message was one that some people didn't want to hear. Paul knew that bringing the Gospel message to people who never heard of God would not be easy. Paul taught some tough doctrine to the churches he ministered to on his missionary journeys, and in the letters he sent to various churches. Yet, his aim was to please God. Would it have pleased God if he "candy coated" or "watered down" the message that he was entrusted with? If Paul decided that he would "tone down" his teaching, so as not to offend anyone, would God be pleased? Absolutely not! And, God is not pleased with us when we proclaim anything less than truth of the Gospel message. Paul writes in Second Timothy 4:3-4, "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths." People, today, have rejected the truth, and have found themselves "teachers" who are aiming to please the people instead of pleasing God. God help the person who isn't preaching the truth!
So, again, I ask you: Who are you living your life to please?
-First Thessalonians 2:4 (King James Version)
For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.
-First Thessalonians 2:4 (New Living Translation)
Let me start out with a question: Who are you trying to please with your life? Common answers may be: employer, family, friends & coworkers. Who should we really be trying to please? I think the answer is found in First Thessalonians 2:4.
The past few weeks on Talkin' Scripture, we have been focusing our study on teachers. I stated that, whether we admit it or not, or whether we know it or not, each and every one of us is a teacher to others. We teach other about Jesus, and about God, through our way of life. In First Thessalonians 2:4, Paul reveals the importance of his calling, and the importance of the calling God has on each and every one of us. "For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News." We, you and me, are messengers of the Gospel message. We are to be sharing that message with others. Then, Paul says, "Our purpose is to please God, not people." Paul knew that the Gospel message was one that some people didn't want to hear. Paul knew that bringing the Gospel message to people who never heard of God would not be easy. Paul taught some tough doctrine to the churches he ministered to on his missionary journeys, and in the letters he sent to various churches. Yet, his aim was to please God. Would it have pleased God if he "candy coated" or "watered down" the message that he was entrusted with? If Paul decided that he would "tone down" his teaching, so as not to offend anyone, would God be pleased? Absolutely not! And, God is not pleased with us when we proclaim anything less than truth of the Gospel message. Paul writes in Second Timothy 4:3-4, "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths." People, today, have rejected the truth, and have found themselves "teachers" who are aiming to please the people instead of pleasing God. God help the person who isn't preaching the truth!
So, again, I ask you: Who are you living your life to please?
~Think About It~
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
The Cross of Christ - The Place of Victory # 2
Spans in the Bridge of Salvation
The death of Jesus Christ meant an open and decisive victory for God over all the principalities and powers in rebellion against Him. It severs the believer from the powers of darkness.
Colossians 2:14, 15, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it."
The devil has two active, aggressive allies in his diabolical work of keeping sinners living in self-will and rebellion toward God. They are the "world" and the "flesh". For the defeat of both of these God has made ample provision in the Cross of Christ.
Galatians 6:14, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."
Galatians 5:24, "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."
In the Cross of Christ the sinner who truly desires it may find complete deliverance from the evil one and all his entanglements. satan's reign over him may end there if he seeks release through the Cross.
The Cross of Christ - A Divinely Provided Meeting Place
Sin made every man unrighteous in God's sight, (Romans 3:10-12) and by so doing it created an impassable chasm between a righteous God and an unrighteous sinner. It did more than that, it totally disqualified man for doing anything to bridge this chasm thus placing upon God the whole responsibility of making a way of access into His presence and of providing a meeting place between Himself and the sinner.
But how could a righteous God be just and the justifier of sinners. (Romans 3:26). How could God maintain His holiness in His dealing with sin and at the same time manifest His graciousness in mercy toward the sinner? How could God provide such a meeting place and not deny Himself through compromise?
Before God was a law which was holy and right. It was the expression of His own character; the essence of His own nature. To ignore or condone man's rebellion and disobedience as evidenced in that law broken would be to deny Himself. God could not do that; He must be true to Himself so He must treat sin as sin and deal with it as such. It must be condemned and its merited punishment meted out. "Even God cannot change the character of righteousness by altering, or lessening to the slightest degree, its holy demands. What is done for the satisfaction of His love in saving any one whom His righteousness condemns must be done in full view of all that His righteousness could ever require."
Before God was not only a broken law but a broken relationship, a broken bond of love which had united Him to the human race. Before Him, too, was the desperate need of those whom He loved with an everlasting love, the undone condition of those who were precious in His sight. Before Him was His own broken heart made desolate by the prodigal's departure into the far country.
Viewing the sinner in his relationship to God his fundamental need is a way of access and acceptance with God despite his guilt. Viewing God in His relationship to the sinner His fundamental necessity is a way of granting favor and fellowship to the sinner despite His holiness. A meeting place between a righteous God and an unrighteous sinner is the demand made upon the righteousness of God. But it is equal to even this necessity for in His death upon Calvary's Cross Jesus Christ became the propitiation for the sins of the world.
1 John 2:2, "And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world."
Romans 3:25, 26, "Whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done before time, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus."
To the spiritually minded Christian who has a realization of the awful chasm sin made between him and his God the truth that centers around the word "propitiation" is inexpressibly precious. But to the natural man living still in pride, rebellion and self-satisfaction, it is insufferably offensive.
"Propitiation" means a mercy seat or covering, a divinely provided meeting place. In Old Testament times on the Day of Atonement the great high priest took the blood of the sacrificial lamb into the Holy of Holies and with it sprinkled the mercy seat. Within the ark under the cover of the blood was the broken law. The blood-sprinkled mercy seat provided a meeting place between God and the sinner where the guilty one could come to God without remembrance of his past offences and without fear of judgment and where the Holy One could receive the sinner without compromise and yet without condemnation. "A holy God could righteously meet a sinful man and a sinful man could fearlessly meet a holy God."
God set forth His well-beloved Son to be such a propitiation for all the guilty sinners in all the world. Through the shedding of the precious blood of the Lamb of God on the Cross of Calvary such a covering for sin and for broken law was provided. In His death Jesus Christ honors God's holy law by bearing in full the punishment meted out to the sinner for breaking it. Thus in the crucified Lord the sinner has found a meeting place with God and a way of access into His favor and fellowship.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 1 - "The Cross of Christ - A Divinely-prepared Turning Point.")
The death of Jesus Christ meant an open and decisive victory for God over all the principalities and powers in rebellion against Him. It severs the believer from the powers of darkness.
Colossians 2:14, 15, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it."
The devil has two active, aggressive allies in his diabolical work of keeping sinners living in self-will and rebellion toward God. They are the "world" and the "flesh". For the defeat of both of these God has made ample provision in the Cross of Christ.
Galatians 6:14, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."
Galatians 5:24, "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."
In the Cross of Christ the sinner who truly desires it may find complete deliverance from the evil one and all his entanglements. satan's reign over him may end there if he seeks release through the Cross.
The Cross of Christ - A Divinely Provided Meeting Place
Sin made every man unrighteous in God's sight, (Romans 3:10-12) and by so doing it created an impassable chasm between a righteous God and an unrighteous sinner. It did more than that, it totally disqualified man for doing anything to bridge this chasm thus placing upon God the whole responsibility of making a way of access into His presence and of providing a meeting place between Himself and the sinner.
But how could a righteous God be just and the justifier of sinners. (Romans 3:26). How could God maintain His holiness in His dealing with sin and at the same time manifest His graciousness in mercy toward the sinner? How could God provide such a meeting place and not deny Himself through compromise?
Before God was a law which was holy and right. It was the expression of His own character; the essence of His own nature. To ignore or condone man's rebellion and disobedience as evidenced in that law broken would be to deny Himself. God could not do that; He must be true to Himself so He must treat sin as sin and deal with it as such. It must be condemned and its merited punishment meted out. "Even God cannot change the character of righteousness by altering, or lessening to the slightest degree, its holy demands. What is done for the satisfaction of His love in saving any one whom His righteousness condemns must be done in full view of all that His righteousness could ever require."
Before God was not only a broken law but a broken relationship, a broken bond of love which had united Him to the human race. Before Him, too, was the desperate need of those whom He loved with an everlasting love, the undone condition of those who were precious in His sight. Before Him was His own broken heart made desolate by the prodigal's departure into the far country.
Viewing the sinner in his relationship to God his fundamental need is a way of access and acceptance with God despite his guilt. Viewing God in His relationship to the sinner His fundamental necessity is a way of granting favor and fellowship to the sinner despite His holiness. A meeting place between a righteous God and an unrighteous sinner is the demand made upon the righteousness of God. But it is equal to even this necessity for in His death upon Calvary's Cross Jesus Christ became the propitiation for the sins of the world.
1 John 2:2, "And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world."
Romans 3:25, 26, "Whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done before time, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus."
To the spiritually minded Christian who has a realization of the awful chasm sin made between him and his God the truth that centers around the word "propitiation" is inexpressibly precious. But to the natural man living still in pride, rebellion and self-satisfaction, it is insufferably offensive.
"Propitiation" means a mercy seat or covering, a divinely provided meeting place. In Old Testament times on the Day of Atonement the great high priest took the blood of the sacrificial lamb into the Holy of Holies and with it sprinkled the mercy seat. Within the ark under the cover of the blood was the broken law. The blood-sprinkled mercy seat provided a meeting place between God and the sinner where the guilty one could come to God without remembrance of his past offences and without fear of judgment and where the Holy One could receive the sinner without compromise and yet without condemnation. "A holy God could righteously meet a sinful man and a sinful man could fearlessly meet a holy God."
God set forth His well-beloved Son to be such a propitiation for all the guilty sinners in all the world. Through the shedding of the precious blood of the Lamb of God on the Cross of Calvary such a covering for sin and for broken law was provided. In His death Jesus Christ honors God's holy law by bearing in full the punishment meted out to the sinner for breaking it. Thus in the crucified Lord the sinner has found a meeting place with God and a way of access into His favor and fellowship.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 1 - "The Cross of Christ - A Divinely-prepared Turning Point.")
Heart Exam
But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
-First Thessalonians 2:4 (KJV)
For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.
-First Thessalonians 2:4 (NLT)
This week, we've been looking at Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." We've been studying about how we can live a life that is acceptable to God. Yesterday we studied about our words. Read that post HERE.
Today, I want us to focus on the second part of that verse, "...and the meditation of my heart..." I think what David was thinking about is the desires of his heart. Whatever our true desires lay, that is where our hearts are. It's a principle that Jesus taught in Matthew 6:21, " For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." So, how can my heart be acceptable to God?
Well, first, we must understand what Paul wrote in First Thessalonians 2:4, "For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts." That single verse contains so much that we're going to have to study it again tomorrow. Anyway, I want us to focus on the last sentence of that verse, " He alone examines the motives of our hearts." God examines the motives of our hearts. Think about that. Our desires, our motives are what dictates the direction of our lives. Since God examines our motives, how can I make sure they line up with Him? Psalm 139:23-24 reveals to us a prayer, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. The writer of Psalm 139 asks God to search him, and know his thoughts and heart. Do you or I have the courage to pray a prayer like that? But, if we want to live a life acceptable unto God, we must. Ask God to search you, and see if there is any left over wickedness from your life in sin that needs to be dealt with. Then, make Psalm 51:10 your prayer, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." God examines the motives of your heart, allow Him to reveal any wickedness that is still there, and then allow Him to create a clean heart and right spirit in you.
-First Thessalonians 2:4 (KJV)
For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.
-First Thessalonians 2:4 (NLT)
This week, we've been looking at Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." We've been studying about how we can live a life that is acceptable to God. Yesterday we studied about our words. Read that post HERE.
Today, I want us to focus on the second part of that verse, "...and the meditation of my heart..." I think what David was thinking about is the desires of his heart. Whatever our true desires lay, that is where our hearts are. It's a principle that Jesus taught in Matthew 6:21, " For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." So, how can my heart be acceptable to God?
Well, first, we must understand what Paul wrote in First Thessalonians 2:4, "For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts." That single verse contains so much that we're going to have to study it again tomorrow. Anyway, I want us to focus on the last sentence of that verse, " He alone examines the motives of our hearts." God examines the motives of our hearts. Think about that. Our desires, our motives are what dictates the direction of our lives. Since God examines our motives, how can I make sure they line up with Him? Psalm 139:23-24 reveals to us a prayer, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. The writer of Psalm 139 asks God to search him, and know his thoughts and heart. Do you or I have the courage to pray a prayer like that? But, if we want to live a life acceptable unto God, we must. Ask God to search you, and see if there is any left over wickedness from your life in sin that needs to be dealt with. Then, make Psalm 51:10 your prayer, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." God examines the motives of your heart, allow Him to reveal any wickedness that is still there, and then allow Him to create a clean heart and right spirit in you.
~Think About It~
Monday, December 24, 2012
The Cross of Christ - The Place of Victory
God has but one problem in His universe - it is sin. All other problems of whatever nature emanate from this one. The sweat of grinding toil, the suffering of broken hearts, the sorrow of the world's crushing maladjustments, all have their beginning in sin. God has but one enemy in the universe - it is satan. All other enmities, whether among angels or men, have their ultimate source in him. To regain His rightful sovereignty over the world and in the human race God had a double victory to win. This twofold victory was won through the Saviourhood of Jesus Christ. Salvation from sin and all its consequences, deliverance from satan and all his allies, were gained for the sinner at the Cross.
The Old Testament classic which reveals Jesus Christ as the Sin-bearer is Isaiah fifty-three.
Isaiah 53:4, 6, 11, 12, "Surely he hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. For he shall bear their iniquities. He bare the sin of many."
The New Testament is full of the same truth.
John 1:29, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
Hebrews 9:28, "So Christ was once offered to bear the sin of many; and unto them which look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Jesus Christ faced the problem which sin had created and solved it by taking upon Himself the whole responsibility for it. When He entered into human life and as the Son of Man became the connecting link between God and the ruined race, He pledged to become responsible for sin and its effects.
Sin had brought upon man four terrible consequences for which Christ as Sin-bearer assumed responsibility. The first is guilt. The whole world is guilty before God (Romans 3:19). The whole of man is defiled and depraved. That this guilt might be removed God made Christ sin and then treated Him as sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21, "Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him."
The second is death. "The wages of sin is death." The sentence of death rested upon the whole human race. As the last Adam Jesus Christ assumed all responsibility for the first Adam's sin and its consequences. Therefore He executed the death sentence upon sinners by Himself dying.
Romans 5:6, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
The third consequence of sin is the curse. Sin is lawlessness and the penalty for broken law is the curse. Jesus Christ acknowledged the justice in God's judgment upon sin and voluntarily offered to assume even this responsibility on the sinner's behalf.
Galatians 3:13, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."
The fourth consequence of sin is the wrath of God. God hates sin. God's holiness demanded that He take some action against it. So God was compelled to decree that sin would bar sinners from His presence through time and eternity. Here again Jesus Christ assumed responsibility for the presence of sin in men and on the Cross of Calvary bore the full force of God's wrath against it even to the point of conscious separation from His Father's presence.
Romans 5:9, "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."
In becoming the Sin-bearer Jesus Christ fully met and solved the problem of sin. "In His death everything was made His that sin had made ours ... everything in sin except its sinfulness."
The Cross of Christ is God's starting point of victory over satan and all his allies. God is the One who has been hurt most by sin. "satan was putting the knife into God's heart through Adam's hand." So any effectual dealing with sin must go back to its first cause and any permanent victory for God must be a crushing defeat for satan.
The first curse pronounced after the fall was upon the serpent. The serpent's curse and the Saviour's Cross are inextricably interwoven. The prophecy containing the curse foretells a double bruising. "It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel."
Men and women are being taught that the record of the fall in Genesis three is just a myth and that no scholarly person believes it today. This is indeed the devil's lie and he has a very good reason for telling it. By the death of Christ his head was bruised, his doom was sealed. The Cross of Christ robbed that world and of all dominion over any man or woman who fully trusts in the atoning blood of the Saviour and who yields to the Lordship of Jesus. Christ's cry of victory from Calvary's Cross "It is finished" was satan's death knell. The victory over the devil commenced in the wilderness, continued in Gethsemane, culminated on Calvary. The hour of Christ's death was the hour of satan's defeat.
John 12:31, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."
The death of the Cross deprived him of his power and rendered him inoperative.
Hebrews 2:14, "Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 2)
The Old Testament classic which reveals Jesus Christ as the Sin-bearer is Isaiah fifty-three.
Isaiah 53:4, 6, 11, 12, "Surely he hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. For he shall bear their iniquities. He bare the sin of many."
The New Testament is full of the same truth.
John 1:29, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
Hebrews 9:28, "So Christ was once offered to bear the sin of many; and unto them which look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Jesus Christ faced the problem which sin had created and solved it by taking upon Himself the whole responsibility for it. When He entered into human life and as the Son of Man became the connecting link between God and the ruined race, He pledged to become responsible for sin and its effects.
Sin had brought upon man four terrible consequences for which Christ as Sin-bearer assumed responsibility. The first is guilt. The whole world is guilty before God (Romans 3:19). The whole of man is defiled and depraved. That this guilt might be removed God made Christ sin and then treated Him as sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21, "Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him."
The second is death. "The wages of sin is death." The sentence of death rested upon the whole human race. As the last Adam Jesus Christ assumed all responsibility for the first Adam's sin and its consequences. Therefore He executed the death sentence upon sinners by Himself dying.
Romans 5:6, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
The third consequence of sin is the curse. Sin is lawlessness and the penalty for broken law is the curse. Jesus Christ acknowledged the justice in God's judgment upon sin and voluntarily offered to assume even this responsibility on the sinner's behalf.
Galatians 3:13, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."
The fourth consequence of sin is the wrath of God. God hates sin. God's holiness demanded that He take some action against it. So God was compelled to decree that sin would bar sinners from His presence through time and eternity. Here again Jesus Christ assumed responsibility for the presence of sin in men and on the Cross of Calvary bore the full force of God's wrath against it even to the point of conscious separation from His Father's presence.
Romans 5:9, "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."
In becoming the Sin-bearer Jesus Christ fully met and solved the problem of sin. "In His death everything was made His that sin had made ours ... everything in sin except its sinfulness."
The Cross of Christ is God's starting point of victory over satan and all his allies. God is the One who has been hurt most by sin. "satan was putting the knife into God's heart through Adam's hand." So any effectual dealing with sin must go back to its first cause and any permanent victory for God must be a crushing defeat for satan.
The first curse pronounced after the fall was upon the serpent. The serpent's curse and the Saviour's Cross are inextricably interwoven. The prophecy containing the curse foretells a double bruising. "It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel."
Men and women are being taught that the record of the fall in Genesis three is just a myth and that no scholarly person believes it today. This is indeed the devil's lie and he has a very good reason for telling it. By the death of Christ his head was bruised, his doom was sealed. The Cross of Christ robbed that world and of all dominion over any man or woman who fully trusts in the atoning blood of the Saviour and who yields to the Lordship of Jesus. Christ's cry of victory from Calvary's Cross "It is finished" was satan's death knell. The victory over the devil commenced in the wilderness, continued in Gethsemane, culminated on Calvary. The hour of Christ's death was the hour of satan's defeat.
John 12:31, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out."
The death of the Cross deprived him of his power and rendered him inoperative.
Hebrews 2:14, "Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 2)
Christ Is Superior to Angels
"Having become . . . much better than the angels" (Heb. 1:4).
Man is a wonderful and amazing creation--higher than plants, animals, and any other material creation in this world. But there are created beings even higher than man--angels.Hebrews 2:9 shows this to be the case because when Jesus became a man, He was "made for a little while lower than the angels." After the fall of the rebellious angels under Lucifer, the angels in heaven were no longer subject to sin. These angels are holy, powerful, and wise. They are special beings created by God before He created man.
The Jewish people understood the exalted position of angels because they knew that the Old Covenant was brought to men and maintained by angelic mediation. Galatians 3:19 says, "Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made."
Because of this high regard for angels by his readers, the writer of Hebrews was faced with a problem. If he was to show that Christ was the mediator of a better covenant, he would have to prove that Christ is better than angels. To do so, he used seven Old Testament passages to verify his claim.
If he had tried to prove from Christian writings that Christ is a better mediator, his unbelieving Jewish readers would have said, "We don't accept these writings as being from God." So in effect he wisely replies, "Open up your own Scriptures and I'll prove my claim from them." It results in a powerful and irresistible argument.
For the next several days, we'll see in what ways Christ is superior to angels and how He could mediate a better covenant for us.
Suggestion for Prayer:
Because much of our understanding of the New Testament is based on the writings of the Old Testament, thank God for how He has brought His complete Word to us intact throughout the centuries.
For Further Study:
Read Galatians 3:8, Romans 9:15, and Matthew 4:4.
- What Old Testament verses to those passages quote?
- What truth does each of them verify?
~John MacArthur~
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Crucifixion # 5
Four Spans in the Bridge of Salvation
The theme of the entire Bible is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. "Cut the Bible anywhere and it bleeds; it is red with redemption truth." A suffering, crucified Christ was the Christ preached by the Apostles and to them His sufferings were a vital factor in the sinner's salvation because of their expiatory nature. Paul testifying before King Agrippa preached a suffering Christ.
Acts 26:22, 23, "Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and the he should be the first that should rise from the dead."
Peter told us that it was through the victorious, atoning sufferings of Christ that men were brought back to God.
1 Peter 3: 18, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."
John taught that there was no cleansing power except in the blood of Christ shed on Calvary.
1 John 1:7, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Respectable sinners will flock to the church today to hear ministers preach on the life of Jesus; many are even not averse to listening to an occasional sermon of the death of Christ, providing that death is preached only as the greatest example of sacrificial love, or as the culminating event in a life of obedience, or as an act of martyrdom in a good cause. But in this age there is a widespread refusal on the part of the man in the pew, and on the part of the man in the pulpit a conspicuous rejection of the Biblical, evangelical teaching regarding the death of the Cross. The reason for this will grow more apparent as we proceed with our studies.
The Cross of Christ - The Great Divide
The Cross of Christ makes a clean cut cleavage between the two spheres, the sphere of death, darkness and disorder, and the sphere of life, light and liberty, and it challenges sinners to decide in which they purpose to live. The Cross of Christ is the battlefield on which the conflict between satan and God over the sovereignty of human lives is being waged and it compels men to take sides either for or against God. The Cross of Christ marks the boundary line between the kingdom of satan and the Kingdom of God and it calls subjects in the one to come out and to become subjects in the other. The Cross of Christ finds men living on the plane of the natural and it opens a way for them to live on the plane of the spiritual and then appeals to them to enter the open door. The Cross of Christ is the Great Divide: it separates men into two classes, the unsaved and the saved.
1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."
The Cross of Christ - A Double Exposure
The Cross of Christ is the place of exposure. There as nowhere else is revealed the hatred of man for God and the love of God for man. Sin is seen at its worst and love is seen at its best in the Cross. Man's sin and God's love both reach a climax on Calvary. There the hideousness of the one and the glory of the other are brought out into sharpest relief.
Acts 2:23, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
The desperate, despicable wickedness of the human heart is uncovered at Calvary. All the rebellion, self-will and enmity of the natural man found vent in this one act. In the crucifixion of the Holy One sin came out into the open and disclosed its inwardness.
"Him - ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Sin nailed the Saviour to a Cross and by doing so exposed to the world its ugly hideousness. Sinners stained their hands with the blood of their Saviour and thereby revealed the length and breadth, the height and depth of the infamy of sin.
However, the sin of man could not outstrip the love of God. Nor could sin defeat God by taking Him unawares. Before that hydra-headed monster had raised its head in rebellion against God He had accomplished its defeat. "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." In the eternal counsels of the Godhead and Cross of Christ was set up in love before man and was made or the world created. In the atoning death of the well-beloved Son on the Cross of Calvary God was fully prepared to assume responsibility for sin and its consequences. God, the Father, spelled out in capital letters on the Cross His unquenchable love for sinners.
The Cross of Christ reveals not only the love of the Father but the love of the Son as well. In the lament over Jerusalem, in the parable of the father's love for the prodigal, in the tender look at the denying Peter, and in the pathetic question to Judas the betrayer, Jesus Christ showed His sorrow for sin and the outreaching of His loving heart to the sinner. But only in the laying down of His sinless life in death as the sinner's Substitute do we see the perfect outshining of His infinite, limitless love. With the most perfect apprehension of what the sin of man was on the one hand, and of what the mind of God toward sin was on the other and of sin's due from God, there went up from the depths of Christ's sinless humanity a perfect Adam to the righteous judgment of God against sin, and a willingness to bear that judgment.
The Cross of Christ is the heart of God broken by sin. It tells you and me that the God who must judge and punish sin will save and forgive the sinner. It discovers to us the unfathomable depths of God's love.
Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son."
Galatians 1:3, 4, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 6 - "The Cross of Christ - The Place of Victory")
The theme of the entire Bible is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. "Cut the Bible anywhere and it bleeds; it is red with redemption truth." A suffering, crucified Christ was the Christ preached by the Apostles and to them His sufferings were a vital factor in the sinner's salvation because of their expiatory nature. Paul testifying before King Agrippa preached a suffering Christ.
Acts 26:22, 23, "Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and the he should be the first that should rise from the dead."
Peter told us that it was through the victorious, atoning sufferings of Christ that men were brought back to God.
1 Peter 3: 18, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."
John taught that there was no cleansing power except in the blood of Christ shed on Calvary.
1 John 1:7, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Respectable sinners will flock to the church today to hear ministers preach on the life of Jesus; many are even not averse to listening to an occasional sermon of the death of Christ, providing that death is preached only as the greatest example of sacrificial love, or as the culminating event in a life of obedience, or as an act of martyrdom in a good cause. But in this age there is a widespread refusal on the part of the man in the pew, and on the part of the man in the pulpit a conspicuous rejection of the Biblical, evangelical teaching regarding the death of the Cross. The reason for this will grow more apparent as we proceed with our studies.
The Cross of Christ - The Great Divide
The Cross of Christ makes a clean cut cleavage between the two spheres, the sphere of death, darkness and disorder, and the sphere of life, light and liberty, and it challenges sinners to decide in which they purpose to live. The Cross of Christ is the battlefield on which the conflict between satan and God over the sovereignty of human lives is being waged and it compels men to take sides either for or against God. The Cross of Christ marks the boundary line between the kingdom of satan and the Kingdom of God and it calls subjects in the one to come out and to become subjects in the other. The Cross of Christ finds men living on the plane of the natural and it opens a way for them to live on the plane of the spiritual and then appeals to them to enter the open door. The Cross of Christ is the Great Divide: it separates men into two classes, the unsaved and the saved.
1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."
The Cross of Christ - A Double Exposure
The Cross of Christ is the place of exposure. There as nowhere else is revealed the hatred of man for God and the love of God for man. Sin is seen at its worst and love is seen at its best in the Cross. Man's sin and God's love both reach a climax on Calvary. There the hideousness of the one and the glory of the other are brought out into sharpest relief.
Acts 2:23, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
The desperate, despicable wickedness of the human heart is uncovered at Calvary. All the rebellion, self-will and enmity of the natural man found vent in this one act. In the crucifixion of the Holy One sin came out into the open and disclosed its inwardness.
"Him - ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Sin nailed the Saviour to a Cross and by doing so exposed to the world its ugly hideousness. Sinners stained their hands with the blood of their Saviour and thereby revealed the length and breadth, the height and depth of the infamy of sin.
However, the sin of man could not outstrip the love of God. Nor could sin defeat God by taking Him unawares. Before that hydra-headed monster had raised its head in rebellion against God He had accomplished its defeat. "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." In the eternal counsels of the Godhead and Cross of Christ was set up in love before man and was made or the world created. In the atoning death of the well-beloved Son on the Cross of Calvary God was fully prepared to assume responsibility for sin and its consequences. God, the Father, spelled out in capital letters on the Cross His unquenchable love for sinners.
The Cross of Christ reveals not only the love of the Father but the love of the Son as well. In the lament over Jerusalem, in the parable of the father's love for the prodigal, in the tender look at the denying Peter, and in the pathetic question to Judas the betrayer, Jesus Christ showed His sorrow for sin and the outreaching of His loving heart to the sinner. But only in the laying down of His sinless life in death as the sinner's Substitute do we see the perfect outshining of His infinite, limitless love. With the most perfect apprehension of what the sin of man was on the one hand, and of what the mind of God toward sin was on the other and of sin's due from God, there went up from the depths of Christ's sinless humanity a perfect Adam to the righteous judgment of God against sin, and a willingness to bear that judgment.
The Cross of Christ is the heart of God broken by sin. It tells you and me that the God who must judge and punish sin will save and forgive the sinner. It discovers to us the unfathomable depths of God's love.
Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son."
Galatians 1:3, 4, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 6 - "The Cross of Christ - The Place of Victory")
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