- araratchurch
- May 20, 2023
- 2 min read
“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
Colossians 1:19-20 ESV
My dear father used to sing the song, “Peace in the Valley.” Part of this song reflects the prophetic word found in the book of Isaiah:
“In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.”
Isaiah 11:6-9 NLT
This passage describes the way things will be when Christ rules and reigns on/from the Earth.
Hearing that song as a child, I would feel awe in my heart when thinking of a time when there would be perfect peace, even in the creation, even in the animal kingdom.
Over the last couple of days we have been discussing the chasm that existed between God and man because of sin.
What many people fail to realize is, with the fall of man, the rest of creation fell as well. Indeed, Paul references this fact in his letter to the Romans:
“Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
Romans 8:20-22 NLT
Yes, ALL creation needed an intercessor; all creation needed a way, a bridge, from hopeless despair to reunion with the dynamo of God.
In our opening scripture we see Paul explaining to the Colossians that the reconciliation through Jesus Christ is made available to all the creation.
Only something that was estranged needs to be reconciled. Indeed, the creation was estranged from God; and, as such, also needed a Savior. All things needed an Intercessor!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- May 18, 2023
- 2 min read
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
Romans 3:23 NLT
“But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.”
Galatians 3:22 NLT
In our preparatory scriptures (Day 29) we looked at Job’s desire for an intercessor:
“O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf. Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high. My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God. I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends. For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return.”
Job 16:18-22 NLT
Job’s friends had tormented him with their speeches as they accused him of having sin in his life (in terms of his behavior). Job knew that he, indeed, had not—to the best of his understanding—been committing open sin.
Basically, when Job was asking for an intercessor, his point was that he needed someone to tell God that he was not deserving of this punishment because he was righteous.
Now, as righteous as Job was (even by the Lord’s estimation of him), he did not realize that the righteousness of man can never be compared with that of God. He did not appreciate the chasm (we discussed yesterday) separating man from his Maker.
Indeed, when Job realized the error in his reasoning, it triggered his recovery.
“Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.””
Job 42:1-6 NLT
Job, having “seen” the holiness and perfection of the Lord, repented for having compared his righteousness to God’s righteousness.
In our opening scriptures Paul is explaining the reason for our inability to meet God’s standards: We all—no matter how righteous—fall short of God’s standard. Without grasping this indisputable fact, you will never be able to know why you need the Intercessor. And, as the Lord once told me, “You must know you need a Savior, to have One.”
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- May 17, 2023
- 2 min read
“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.”
Isaiah 53:4-5, 10-11 NKJV
It seems that it’s become popular these days to promote a many-ways-to-God approach in terms of faith.
However, anyone who embraces this approach doesn’t believe what Jesus said about Himself.
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.””
John 14:6 NKJV
Not grasping that Jesus is the only way to God also indicates an ignorance of the true nature of sin.
Whereas, most people are aware of the story of Adam and Eve and their hard Fall, many do not understand that this event brought a cosmic change.
Indeed, that rebellion separated man’s will from that of the Father. And as such, he now had afforded the enemy of our souls an access point through which to inject evil into our being.
That costly rebellion—and the resulting sin nature—separated us from the never-ending life of God.
“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
Genesis 3:8
Sin caused man to want to hide from God because of the shame of what he had done. He somehow knew the profound change that came with their sin. Being disconnected from the light of God’s life, we were plunged into darkness.
“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”
Ephesians 4:17-19 NKJV
The state of being the apostle Paul was referencing to the Ephesians, was the state of being of all mankind after the Fall. Our sin created a chasm between us and the life of God, a chasm for which their was no bridge.
In our opening scripture we see a prophetic vision reaching forward in time and seeing a suffering Servant, suffering—not for His own sin—but for the sin of others. Could He be the bridge connecting us back to the never-ending life of God?
Indeed, we will hear more about this over the next few days.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!