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Nugget #Six |
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Eph. 6 |
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Jewish people had to rely on a different system of forgiveness. They had
to continually offer sacrifices of unblemished bulls and goats shedding their blood
over and over again for the remission of their sins.
Even worse, the priest who was to offer the sacrifices had to go through a series of purification rituals. There were seven steps which took 7 days. Each step was to bring him closer to be holy or righteous enough to enter the Holy of Holies without dieing. He had to be perfectly holy. Sin cannot dwell with God. They tied a rope onto the chosen priests ankles so that they could pull the him out in case he died from being in the very presence of God. Think of it. He would smell pretty bad after seven more days went by before another priest was prepared so that he could go in and drag the dead priest out. To be a priest was serious business. Not my idea of fun. This was also done by faith. They had to have faith that this system God instructed them to use really did work. In Luke 1:5-6 it says that John The Baptist's parents, Zacharias and Elisabeth, were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord and were blameless. Mary, the Mother of Jesus was considered to be highly favoured by God in verse 27 of Luke but in Luke 2:21-24 it showed she still had to follow the commandments and ordinances of God. You see that again in verses 39-42 when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem when he was 12 years old. Faith was in operation through works or as we are told, through the letter of the Law. What a predicament man was in. After the fall of Adam the first man or first son of God (Luke 3:38) we were alienated from God. Man walked and talked with God before that. Now man had to seek or call on His name. Many have asked why we had to suffer all this because of Adam. We did not do this. We have all felt or said this sometime in our lives. Well yes you are absolutely right. It was not our fault but we inherited this sin. It is not fair. Again you are right. God knew this and He sent the excuse breaker. His name was Jesus. We are without excuse. God gave us his son or second Adam and his name was Jesus (1 Cor. 15:45). Jesus did not have to die for us. If we search scriptures we will find that Jesus had a choice. His Father did not force Him but Jesus shed His blood because He loved us. He was the obedient Adam. Jesus chose to die on the cross for our forgiveness. God loved us so much He gave up his only son and Jesus loved us so much He offered to take our place of death and pay the penalty once AND FOR ALL. Everyone is without excuse now. Just as Mary and Joseph had to have faith through the letter of the Law we need to have faith through grace. We could not obtain salvation on our own nor can we fight life's battles on our own, especially our own strength. Satan knows the rules. He knows what are our weaknesses and our strengths. He will use anything to kill, steal or destroy, but be of good cheer my friends, Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly. Do you see what we stand against. Powerful rulers, authorities, spiritual rulers and beings. Sin, plots, malice, ideals, philosophies and obscure (dark) things. It is like boxing with the wind. Grab a hold of the wind and wrestle it. Yes, you would look silly to others if they seen you. The fight of life is much the same. That is why we need Jesus and God's wonderful Word. Next week we will the find secret of how we can begin to fight in the power
of His might. I know you are eager to learn. Remember, Jesus Really Does Love
You |
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