Post by foxjj on May 25, 2023 7:38:07 GMT
Reconciled Unto God
When our Holy God created humanity it was to be in relation with him. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” - Genesis 1:27. This relationship was broken when Adam sinned against God's command concerning the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis Chapter 3. This separation has affected humanity ever since. People know that they cannot come into a personal relationship with God, unless their sin - which separates them from God - is removed: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." - Isaiah 59:2.
In the Hebrew Covenant the attempt to be reconciled to God was undertaken with sacrifices of atonement, of which were understood as a covering for sin. The book of Leviticus has list's of instructions to the people concerning sacrificial offerings by which they can make atonement for their sins such as:
“The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. You are to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” - Leviticus 1:1-5.
God could have left humanity to continue with their endless endeavours of reconciliation - offering sacrifices continually. However, the good news is He did not, instead, our Heavenly Father promised a Messiah; a Saviour who would: "save his people from their sins." - Matthew 1:21. When the time was right, Jesus came into history in order to make a way for you and I to attain reconciliation with our Merciful God.
Through the birth of Jesus, The Eternal Light came into our darkness, and as Isaiah foretold, He took upon Himself the iniquity of our sin by His death on the cross: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” - Isaiah 53:4-6.
In the New Testament the word Atonement has its roots in Anglo Saxon, meaning; "making at one," to make right a relationship. In old Latin it carries the meaning to bring at one - ment = reconciliation. Because it is impossible for sinful people to make their relationship right with God, He sent Jesus: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.” - John 3:16-17.
As the Christ, which is Greek for the Hebrew word Messiah, Jesus came to fulfill the Old Covenant and establish a New Covenant. As our High Priest He offered the perfect sacrifice: “But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.” - Hebrews 9:11-12.
Through the atoning sacrifice of His blood, Jesus made the way for redemption onto God: “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” - Hebrews 9:13-15.
We Gentiles, who have accepted by faith, the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins are now redeemed unto God: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” - Galatians 3:13-14.
For the normal human mind this spiritual truth is difficult to perceive. Because Jesus understands who we are, He sent the Holy Spirit to aid in our search for spiritual truth. In John Chapter 16, Jesus promised that The Holy Spirit would guide us into all spiritual truth: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” - John 16:13-14.
Have you been reconciled onto God? Or, as is most people's experience, do you simply know of God? There is a crucial difference. It is the difference between eternal life and eternal death. In John 17: 3, while praying to The Father, Jesus declared: "this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
Today, let us praise our loving God for Reconciliation.
John Joseph Fox.
When our Holy God created humanity it was to be in relation with him. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” - Genesis 1:27. This relationship was broken when Adam sinned against God's command concerning the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis Chapter 3. This separation has affected humanity ever since. People know that they cannot come into a personal relationship with God, unless their sin - which separates them from God - is removed: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." - Isaiah 59:2.
In the Hebrew Covenant the attempt to be reconciled to God was undertaken with sacrifices of atonement, of which were understood as a covering for sin. The book of Leviticus has list's of instructions to the people concerning sacrificial offerings by which they can make atonement for their sins such as:
“The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. You are to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” - Leviticus 1:1-5.
God could have left humanity to continue with their endless endeavours of reconciliation - offering sacrifices continually. However, the good news is He did not, instead, our Heavenly Father promised a Messiah; a Saviour who would: "save his people from their sins." - Matthew 1:21. When the time was right, Jesus came into history in order to make a way for you and I to attain reconciliation with our Merciful God.
Through the birth of Jesus, The Eternal Light came into our darkness, and as Isaiah foretold, He took upon Himself the iniquity of our sin by His death on the cross: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” - Isaiah 53:4-6.
In the New Testament the word Atonement has its roots in Anglo Saxon, meaning; "making at one," to make right a relationship. In old Latin it carries the meaning to bring at one - ment = reconciliation. Because it is impossible for sinful people to make their relationship right with God, He sent Jesus: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.” - John 3:16-17.
As the Christ, which is Greek for the Hebrew word Messiah, Jesus came to fulfill the Old Covenant and establish a New Covenant. As our High Priest He offered the perfect sacrifice: “But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.” - Hebrews 9:11-12.
Through the atoning sacrifice of His blood, Jesus made the way for redemption onto God: “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” - Hebrews 9:13-15.
We Gentiles, who have accepted by faith, the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins are now redeemed unto God: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” - Galatians 3:13-14.
For the normal human mind this spiritual truth is difficult to perceive. Because Jesus understands who we are, He sent the Holy Spirit to aid in our search for spiritual truth. In John Chapter 16, Jesus promised that The Holy Spirit would guide us into all spiritual truth: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” - John 16:13-14.
Have you been reconciled onto God? Or, as is most people's experience, do you simply know of God? There is a crucial difference. It is the difference between eternal life and eternal death. In John 17: 3, while praying to The Father, Jesus declared: "this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
Today, let us praise our loving God for Reconciliation.
John Joseph Fox.