Now, the sacrifice that Jesus made willingly of His life was to satisfy the Law. It paid for all the sins ever to be committed, from Adam until the end of time.
Hebrews 9 explains it in detail. The sacrificial blood of goats and bulls was only the shadow of Jesus' sacrifice. Here, see this... 9:14 by how much more the blood of Christ (who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God), will purify your conscience from dead works, to serve the living God!
From verse 14 through 23, the Hebrews author describes the reason for sacrifices. Then in verse 24 Heb 9:24 For Christ did not enter into the Holy of Holies made by hands, types of the true things, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf, Not so that He should offer Himself over and over, but once and for all as a Testimony in the Heavenly Court of Law that the Law was satisfied, once and for all.
Before that happened, no human soul could enter into God's presence. It was a matter of Law, not Grace. Heb 10:12 But He, offering but one sacrifice for sins, "sat down" in perpetuity "at the right hand" of God,
Until Jesus sat down at the right hand of God, we could not enter God's presence. Jesus resurrection was the single sign that all debt had been paid. If there was just one sin that had not been paid for, Jesus would have remained locked in the grave.
His resurrection was the victory over death AND over sin. Because the wages of sin IS death. Jesus was raised FOR our justification. Look up the different translations and then look at the original Greek.
Jesus was raised for the perfecting and completing of our justification. Sanctification and justification are two different things, very closely related, but they are two different things.
When Jesus was buried, He took the punishment or the consequence of our sins upon Himself. He was locked in prison, just as those OT saints were locked in Paradise with no way out until The Door opened in Heaven giving them their way into God's presence.
It is the resurrection of Jesus that proves we are not justified by our own works. It is the resurrection that proves God was satisfied... proves remission of sin... proves salvation is through Jesus and only Jesus because only Jesus is the First Fruit of the First Resurrection. Jesus was raised from the dead in His glorified body. Unlike Lazarus who died again. Unlike Enoch and Elijah who did not again walk the earth. Unlike Moses who's foot first touched the promised land when he was TRANSFIGURED that night.
We are justified because He was raised. Justified, declared righteous, sacrifice accepted. We are sanctified because He died on the cross. Sancified, purified, made holy by His blood, for without blood there is no remission of sins, but without perfect blood there is no purification. Again, Hebrews 9. Justification is a one time act. Sanctification is a continuing process because we are human. Eph 5:26 that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the washing of the water in the Word,
If you do not read the Bible and hide His Word in your heart every day, then God has no foundation in your heart with which to build the sanctification.
God did not pour manna into the Israelites bowls during the night. They had to wake up every morning and gather the manna for the day's food. They had to participate in their own feeding.
That directly relates to sanctification. We must work at it. God planned our good works that we should do at the very foundation of the world. It is by our good works that we glorify God.
Mat 5:16 So let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father in Heaven. Of course the works do not get us into Heaven.
Eph 2:9-10 not of works, that not anyone should boast for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before prepared that we should walk in them.
Without the resurrection, there would have been no eternal life, for death would still have the sting. Without the resurrection, the Holy Spirit that would not dwell within us. It would have remained as it did in the Old Testament times. Without the resurrection there would have been no salvation with glorified bodies because there would have been no firstfruit.
Rom 8:23 And not only so, but also we ourselves having the firstfruit of the Spirit, also we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly expecting adoption, the redemption of our body;
The Cross and The Resurrection are of such equal and great importance that the two make the fulfillment of One Promise. You cannot have one without the other for the redemption of our souls.
He most certainly does perfect His work by sanctifying those who participate with Him in the process. Those who do not particpate in it with Him find an empty Spiritual bone. Their plate is never full and they find themselves starving. When God says we have only to open our mouths and He will fill them up.
Psa 81:10 I am Jehovah your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. It is participating with Him in the work He does in us that brings Him glory.
Eze 2:8 But you, son of man, hear what I am saying to you. Do not be like that rebellious house of rebellion. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving to you.
It is precisely the reading of our Bibles, the study of His Word, the prayer and the listening to Him that changes us into being more like Christ. A person who was lost and then believes and then Jesus saves, absolutely is a new creation in Christ... a new man.
But, the New Man must put off the Old ways. That can't happen unless a person works at it with Jesus. Certainly there are some drug addicts that walk away from that life as soon as they become a Christian, but how many of those stay out of that life if they do not replace that old way with the New Way?
But a Christian does not fight the fight alone. We are commanded to put on the whole armor of God. Eph 6. That is an active part we must play.
Listen, the General of the army doesn't go out and put the clothes on his soldiers, does he? Of course not, the General provides the clothes and the soldier dresses himself. This is precisely what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 6.
We are made powerful in the LORD, with that same power that raised Jesus from the dead. We have to put on the belt of Truth. Our hearts are protected with the breastplate of righteousness, and we have the boots of peace, and the shield of faith to ward off the fiery darts from Satan, and the helmet of salvation and the Sword which is the Word of God. All of that is to be set in place and covered in prayer. The equipment is provided, but we must put it on. This is the process of sanctification. We are being sanctified because we are being perfected. Eph 4:12. That is the Greek verb which is an ongoing state.
I hope I have shown you how sanctification is an ongoing process. One day we will be like Him.
1Jo 3:2 Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it was not yet revealed what we shall be. But we know that if He is revealed, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.
Jesus changes the old man into the new man who becomes a brand new creation. But, it is like the story Jesus tells of the man who had many demons and those demons were banished from him. The man had a clean, and freshly swept heart. Then the demon, seeing that nothing had come in, came back into the man and brought all his friends, so the man was worse off than before.
Of course this would not happen to a True Believer because we have the Holy Spirit as a seal upon our hearts Who protects us from any demon invasion and from Satan.
However, if this man has no knowledge of the Bible, where is the foundation of comfort and wisdom that God can call to the man's mind in times of trials and tribulations which are common to man? If this man who is washed by the blood and completely cleansed does nothing to gain a greater understanding of his Redeemer, then how will he know His voice? How can he tell the difference between Satan's whisper and God's still small voice?
Rom 6:5 For if we have been joined together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the resurrection,
The metamorphasis of the old man into the New Creation is exactly that. The Holy Spirit enters and dwells within, changing the old man exactly as a caterpillar metamorphs into a butterfly. Something old and ugly changing into something beautiful. Another example is the planted seed. The plant cannot grow unless the seed dies and is planted. The metamorphsis is God's doing and God's creation.
No comments:
Post a Comment