What is faith? Faith gives substance to our hopes, and makes us certain of realities we do not see. By faith the men of old received God’s approval (Hebrews 11:1-2 NEB). In other words, faith is the essence of what it means to be a Christian. Above all, first and foremost, a Christian must have faith. There is no such thing as a believer without faith. The lives of godly people in the Old Testament attest to that. But what does it actually mean to have faith? How does faith work itself out in our lives? We have already seen that Abel’s faith was evident in the sacrifice he offered to God (Hebrews 11:4). It was by faith that he offered a sacrifice that was pleasing to God. And the apostle Paul tells us the sacrifice pleasing to God today is the sacrifice of ourselves (Romans 12:1). The second example of faith given in Hebrews 11 is Enoch. Genesis 5:21,22 and 24 tells us that Enoch was sixty-five years old when he became the father of Methuselah. Then Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. God took Enoch! Enoch walked with God for 365 years and then one day as he was walking with God, God took him home to be with Him. Enoch walked right out of this world and into glory! Hebrews 11:5-6 tells us what happened. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. Enoch had faith, he demonstrated his faith by walking with God, and that was pleasing to God. So what does it mean when the Bible says Enoch walked with God? First of all, we can understand a bit from our own human experience. When two people decide to walk together, they both need to commit to going in the same direction and walking at the same pace. That is obvious. So when you walk with God, you need to commit to go in God’s direction. You fall in beside Him and you don't wander off. And you do that by faith - you believe that God is going in the right direction, in the best direction, and in the direction He has planned for you. Then you walk at God’s pace. You don’t run ahead because you get impatient or lag behind because you’re unsure or a little lazy. You go at the pace God sets for you because you have faith in His plan and purpose for your life. That’s what Enoch did. Secondly, we know that Enoch walked in agreement with God because Amos 3:3 asks the rhetorical question, Can two walk together except they be agreed? (See also 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.) Enoch may have had some questions for God, but he didn’t argue with God or insist on his own way. He aligned his mind with God and agreed with God -- with His plan, His direction, and His timing. Thirdly, Enoch walked in surrender to God. Micah 6:8 calls us to walk humbly with your God. Quite a few years ago I went to a stadium event put on by Anne Graham Lotz and Angel Ministries. In her talk, Anne challenged us, a stadium filled with women, to surrender to God. We all stood and humbly sang together the words of the hymn, “I Surrender All”. Women took hankies or tissues out of their purses and waved them in the air - an act of surrender. I still have my tissue folded in the back of my Bible - a reminder of my need and commitment to surrender to God. This means I surrender my body, my brain, my heart and my will to God. I leave myself behind and follow Him wherever He leads me. I am no longer mine. I am His. See Galatians 2:20. Fourth, Enoch walked in fellowship with God. Walking with God was his way of life. The fellowship Enoch enjoyed with God was not an on again, off again thing, but an ongoing way of life. He did it for over 300 years. In 1 John 1:3 the apostle John calls us, as believers, to walk in the light and in fellowship with God, indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. When we walk with Him, we walk in the light and our fellowship is sweet and true. So we see that those of faith walk with God. We do not walk by feeling but by faith, for without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6) and Enoch walked with God by faith and pleased God (Hebrews 11:5). I’d like to close with a little story about my husband, Barry. His favorite person in the Bible was Enoch, partly because he was intrigued that Enoch walked with God and then one day he just did not go home but kept on walking with God, beyond the confines of this fallen world. He could envision that. The other reason was that he wanted to be like Enoch. He wanted to walk with God every day, in step with God, in agreement with God, in surrender to God, and in fellowship with God. He was committed to that. He read and studied God’s Word and memorized it and taught others. He fellowshipped with other Christian men and they held each other accountable in their thoughts, words, and actions. He served God humbly and joyfully in ministry where God called him. Then one morning my husband went out for a run, as he did every morning. And he never came home. The doctors called it “sudden cardiac death”. I knew it was just that he had continued on his walk with God that day and now he walks with Him in glory. Some day I will walk with him again. So, what about your own walk? Are you walking with God? Or are you expecting God to walk with you and fit into your plans and desires and timetable. Will you humble yourself like Enoch and deliberately fall into step with God and let Him take control of your life? Will you walk by faith with the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, trusting His will, His timing? Will you wave your flag of surrender today? May your walk of faith, pleasing to God. With love, Suzie
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Hebrews Chapter 12, verse 1 gives us the following encouragement and warning: Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1). The writer of Hebrews, a letter originally written to first century Jewish Christians, pictures the Christian life as a race and calls believers (including us) to get rid of anything that would weigh us down or hold us back from running that race with endurance. Our inspiration as we run, is to be the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. And who are those witnesses? They are the men and women of faith whom the writer has just held up as examples in Chapter 11. The purpose of Hebrews 11 is to inspire believers in our faith. We are not alone in our struggle of living for Christ in a secular world where the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2) seems to reign. There are countless heroes of faith who have gone before us, blazing the trail of faith and righteousness, and showing us how God would have us live and run our race. Hebrews 11 names many, and the first example given is Abel. It was by faith that Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain’s. Because Abel’s sacrifice was offered by faith, it was pleasing to God, resulting in God declaring him righteous. And although Abel has died, the testimony of his faith shines forth as a lesson for us (Hebrews 11:4). It is back in Genesis Chapter 4:3-5 that the story of Abel is first told; it was after Adam and Eve’s first two sons were born. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. The two brothers both presented sacrifices to God but only Abel’s was accepted. We are not told why in Genesis, but Hebrews 11:4 has revealed the reason. Abel’s sacrifice was offered by faith. The Scriptures do not tell us if Cain and Abel had been instructed in what sacrifices were acceptable to God. God’s command of an animal sacrifice for atonement for sin is not given until Leviticus 4. However, Genesis 3:21 records that God had sacrificed an animal to make clothing for Adam and Eve. Their sons may have been aware of this and understood the shedding of blood to be needed as an atonement sin. But it is not until Leviticus 4 that God’s command of a blood sacrifice for the atonement for sin is revealed to us. And in Leviticus 17:11 God revealed through Moses, The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement (Leviticus 17:11). But whether or not Cain and Abel had been instructed in what to sacrifice, it was not the sacrifice alone that God regarded - from Hebrews 11:4, we know it was the faith of the offerer. The offering merely reflected what was in the heart of each of the brothers. Clearly Hebrews 11 testifies to Abel’s faith. And Genesis 4:7 gives us a further look into Cain’s heart. When God confronted him and encouraged him to do the right thing, Cain showed no repentance. In addition, he became angry, killed his brother, Abel, and spoke defiantly to God, “Am I my brothers keeper” (Genesis 4:9)? Do your actions reflect the faithful heart of Abel or the prideful, stubborn heart of Cain? Abel’s faith determined his actions, but Cain’s actions were void of faith. God spoke, and both of them knew what pleased God, but only one chose to humbly submit in faith. And God has given him to us as an example of faith. In Roman’s 12:2, the apostle Paul calls us to, present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. How is your life a living, holy and acceptable sacrifice to God? Does a heart of faith shine through your actions? How are you an example of faith like Abel - to your family, your friends, and to the world around you? With love, Suzie I was just wondering if you have a favorite book of the Bible, one that you keep going back to and reading over and over so often that you come to know parts of it by memory. I have a book like that, and it’s the Book of Hebrews. The first time I studied Hebrews it was like a light bulb went on in my head illuminating God’s purpose and plan and reason for giving us His precious Word. The Book of Hebrews revealed to me the connection between the Old and New Testaments. As my teacher, Pearl Hamilton, explained, quoting Augustine, “The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.” Seeing how God’s Word is so interconnected and how all the different parts explain each other, opened a whole new world to me and filled me with a passion for reading, studying, and memorizing it. I saw how everything in the Old Testament looked forward to Jesus Christ and that much of it is a picture of Him, although a dim and imperfect picture. And I saw how Jesus Christ came as a perfect fulfillment of the Old, which although it was good, was flawed and incomplete until He came. Everything in the Old, under the law, was only a shadow of the good things to come (Hebrews 10:1). The writer of Hebrews (and no one is sure who that was) goes to great lengths to explain the superiority of Jesus Christ and why, as the fulfillment of the law, He is superior. He is better than the prophets and the angels (Hebrews 1-2), better than Moses (Hebrews 3), and a better priest (Hebrews 5, 7). He brought a better rest (Hebrews 4), a better hope (Hebrews 7), a better ministry, a better covenant, and better promises (Hebrews 8). He offered a better sacrifice (Hebrews 10) and is our minister in a better sanctuary, the perfect mediator of a better covenant (Hebrews 9). Does all this boggle your mind and overwhelm your imagination? What is your response? The writer calls us to respond with faith and gives us, in Hebrews 11, inspirational examples of faith from the Old Testament. Hebrews 11 has been called The Faith Hall of Fame, and I love that chapter. I read it when I am tired or down or discouraged and it always lifts my spirits and encourages me. Although I know I will probably never attain to the faith of those listed in that chapter, they encourage me to aspire, to set my sights high - to set my eyes on Jesus! What I would like to do in the coming weeks is go through Hebrews 11 and get to know a bit about the faith of each of the heroes of faith listed there: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak and Deborah, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Each one of these has a story to encourage us in our faith. How important is faith? Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the very substance (the foundation) of everything we hope for. Our faith is evidence that everything we do not now see as tangible and touchable is real. By faith we understand that the worlds (or “the ages”) were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible (Hebrews 11:3). We need to look at the world, at our lives and our present situation, through eyes of faith. That is how the heroes of Hebrews 11 lived. It was by faith these men and women gained approval (Hebrews 11:2). They knew that in living by faith, they pleased God, and they believed that faith was worth everything. They were looking to the reward - to what they desired more than anything else - God Himself. They knew, as the writer of Hebrews revealed, Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). I hope I’ve piqued your interest in Hebrews 11, the wonderful Chapter of Faith, and that you will want to come back every other week as we take a peek at the faith of the men and women who are named there. We will begin next time with Abel, whose actions showed what was in his heart. We will see how he put faith into action. Lets be encouraged to grow in our faith! Blessings, Suzie This past week as I’ve been thinking about the winding down of 2017 and a brand New Year looming ahead, a passage from the Book of 1 Samuel came to mind. The book is named for Samuel who was born in answer to the fervent prayers of his mother, Hannah. He grew up to be a prophet and a judge in Israel. But when he grew old, the people decided they wanted to be like all the other nations and have a king rule over them. So they asked Samuel to appoint a king over Israel. No, actually they did not just ask, they demanded a king! So God gave them what their hearts desired. But after anointing Saul as the first king of Israel, Samuel addressed the people and pointed out their rebellion against God. After all, it was God who was to be their king. Their rejection of Him was sin. In Chapter 12, Samuel reminded the people of God's mighty power in caring for them and their forefathers over many generations. He also confronted them with their rebellion. When their eyes were opened to realize their demand for a king was wrong and a sin in God's eyes, they were fearful. Here is what Samuel said to them: "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart....Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you" (12:20,24). Looking ahead to a New Year, we see a clean slate of 365 days upon which to write another year of our lives. It is also a time to leaf back through the pages of 2017 and consider what great things God has done for you. The changing of the calendar from 2017 to 2018 is both a time for reflection and a time for resolutions. It is a time to remember all of God’s blessings in your life, His mercies, and His grace and then, with grateful heart, commit to following and serving Him. As Samuel told the Israelites, it is not a time for fear or regrets. It is a time to remember God's grace, mercy, and mighty power that has protected and fortified you and your family in the past. And it is a time to turn away from lesser things and set your face in His direction with strong resolution to follow and serve Him with all your heart. As far as New Year’s resolutions go, it is said that most people who make them will abandon them by February. But as Christians we are not "most people", and we do not just "make resolutions". We make a commitment to our calling. Remember, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). By His grace we have been chosen, predestined, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, lavished with grace, and sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:1-14). And, as the apostle Paul also wrote, I am confident that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). No matter what trials and troubles you and I endured in 2017 and no matter how many times we messed up and sinned, each one of us has much to be grateful for. And we have all good things to look forward to in 2018 as we follow and serve our King of kings! When you make Him the desire of your heart, all your desires will be fulfilled. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). Happy New Year ~Suzie For the past few months we have been looking at the apostle Paul’s list of blessings in Ephesians 1. Paul calls them spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus. Paul has explained that, as believers, we have been chosen, predestined, adopted, graced, redeemed, forgiven, given insight into God’s will, and given an inheritance. These are a wonderful list of blessings that should instill in us grateful hearts. But in this uncertain world where nothing is ever for sure, perhaps you harbor some doubts about the reality of your possession of these blessings. Many years ago our family fostered a little six year-old boy whose favorite phrase was “What if?” Whenever we made him a promise or told him we were going to do something fun and exciting, he always responded with, “What if……” followed my his imagined scenario of what might happen to spoil his fun. In this world, where nothing is really certain, I think we all tend to do that, at least from time to time. Do you ever ask the question “What if?” What if I fail the exam and don’t pass the class? What if I don’t get the promotion? What if I lose my job? What if the biopsy results show cancer? Let’s face it. Our uncertain world is a stressful place that can cause anxiety. But, we have an Almighty God who has given us promises and blessings with no “what if’s” at all. And Paul explains in Ephesians 1:13 exactly why we can have confidence and no doubts. It is because, at the moment we believed, God sealed us with His Holy Spirit: having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. What does it mean that God has sealed us with His Holy Spirit? The Greek word Paul used is “sphragizo”, commonly used to refer to the official seal of a person’s signet ring made in wax. The seal was an official mark placed on a document to mark it as authentic and secure and protect its contents. When God seals us with His Holy Spirit, He officially identifies us as belonging to Him. It places us under His authority and is His pledge of our inheritance in Christ (Ephesians 1:11). Remember from last time that our inheritance includes our present blessings in Christ, our eternal salvation, and His kingdom, which was prepared for us from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34). In a sermon on the Holy Spirit John Piper referred to the seal as “a message of safety and security in God's love and power. God sends the Holy Spirit as a preserving seal to lock in our faith, as an authenticating seal to validate our sonship, and as a protecting seal to keep out destructive forces. God gives us security and safety in His love and power…..When He seals us with His Holy Spirit, God is saying, ‘My great desire for those who believe in me is that you feel secure in my love. I have chosen you before the foundation of the world. I have predestined you to be my children forever. I have redeemed you by the blood of my Son. And I have put my Spirit in you as a seal and a guarantee. Therefore, you will receive the inheritance and praise the glory of my grace forever and ever. And I tell you this here in Ephesians Chapter 1 because I want you to feel secure in my love and my power.’” Especially at this time of year, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, through whom all our blessings come, let us lay aside our anxious “What if’s” and let us celebrate our safety and security in the sovereign, unchanging Creator and Sustainer of all things who sent His Son to save us and will never fail us or forsake us. Merry Christmas! And may you fully enjoy all your blessings in Christ in the New Year, Suzie Did you know that whoever you are, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God has an inheritance reserved for you? In legal terms, an inheritance refers to property or other gifts conferred after the death of a family member. Jewish inheritance law was always linked to family blood lines, whereas Roman law permitted awarding of the inheritance to an heir through adoption. We have seen, in Ephesians 1:5 that through Jesus Christ, we have been adopted as sons of God. In the Old Testament, God deemed Israel to be His "son" (see Deuteronomy 14:1; Psalm 82:2; Jeremiah 31:20) and made a promise to Abraham to give his descendants all the land of Canaan (Genesis 13). Over 600 years later, Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River and into that Promised Land. Joshua Chapter 13 records God’s command to Joshua “divide this land as an inheritance” among the tribes of Israel (13:7). Two tribes and half of another had chosen to make their home on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Nine tribes and a half received their inheritance in the Promised Land of Canaan. But the Hebrew word for inheritance, “nachalah” embraces a meaning beyond just an inheritance in the land. It can refer also to a cultural or spiritual heritage. In Psalm 16:5, David proclaimed that God Himself was the inheritance of His people, O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup. In fact, there was one tribe, the tribe of Levi that never received an earthly inheritance. The tribe of Levi was given no land because the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance (Genesis 13:33; Numbers 18:23,24; Deuteronomy 18:1-2; Ezekiel 44:23). In Ephesians 1:11, we learn that New Testament believers also receive an inheritance. The apostle Paul, wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, also we have obtained an inheritance. In Galatians 4:7 he wrote, You are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. So what is our inheritance? In a sense, we are like the tribe of Levi, we have no worldly inheritance, and like Abraham, we are but sojourners here on earth (Genesis 23:4). Our inheritance is in Christ (Ephesians 1:11), the mediator of the new covenant, by means of death…, so that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15). It took Christ’s death to acquire it, but He rose again and we receive our inheritance in Him (Ephesians 1:11) because He lives. And as we have been seeing in Ephesians 1, we are experiencing a portion of that inheritance here and now through our spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ (1:3). We have seen so far that those blessings include being chosen, predestined, adopted, graced, redeemed, forgiven, and the ability to know the mystery of God’s will. Those blessings are all part of our inheritance in Christ. Beyond that, our inheritance includes eternal salvation and the kingdom of God. Hebrews 1:14 speaks of angels as ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation, and in speaking of His second coming and the judgment, Jesus told His disciples, “Then the King will say to those on his right hand ‘Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world’ (Matthew 25:34). 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:21, and Ephesians 5:5 also confirm that our inheritance includes the kingdom of God. There is so much to be learned about each of these blessings included in our inheritance that whole books have been written about each, but the apostle Peter tells us there are four things we can be confident of knowing about our inheritance (1 Peter 1:4):
Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology says, “The concept of the believer's inheritance highlights the dignity of the family relationship of the believer in Christ. No higher position or greater wealth can an individual acquire than to become an heir of God through faith in Christ.” Therefore we do not lose heart, for though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Our inheritance is a gift, a promise, and a blessing from God through Christ. We can be sure of it and we should be thankful. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28). Next time we will see how God gives us assurance that we will receive the promised inheritance. ~with love, Suzie I was born into a Christian family. It was during World War II, and my dad was in the army. He landed on the coast of France the day I was born and was not able to come home and meet me until I was 18 months old. While he was fighting the war in Europe, my mom and I lived just down the street from my maternal grandparents. Grandpa was a Methodist minister, and I learned about Jesus at an early age. Before I could walk, I was taught to get on my knees and pray. Every night at bedtime, my mom and I knelt and she prayed for my Daddy. Some of my first words were prayers. I went to Sunday School and learned to sing “Jesus Loves Me” and “The B-I-B-L-E, That's the Book for Me”. When I got older, I learned the liturgy in the Lutheran Church because every summer we spent time with my dad's parents and went to their church. I had a Bible and knew the names of all the books by heart, but I hardly ever read it and never studied it. It wasn't until I was 35 years old that I started reading the Bible seriously and discovered that in learning the Lutheran liturgy, I had memorized many of the psalms. It was also, as I read, that I discovered I could know the mystery of God's will. As we have been looking at Ephesians Chapter 1 (in past blog posts), we have been taking note of the many spiritual blessings believers have in Jesus Christ: all believers have been chosen in Christ (Ephesians 1:4), predestined to adoption as sons (1:5), freely lavished with God’s grace (1:6-7), redeemed (1:7), and forgiven (1:7). But that’s not all. God has generously and freely made know to us the mystery of His will (1:9). Hmmmm. What does that mean? How is that relevant in a personal way? Well, first of all, although the Old Testament, believers had God’s promises and looked forward to the coming of Messiah, they did not know the fullness of His plan. Even the prophets did not have full knowledge of God’s plan. There was much that remained a mystery. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son (Galatians 4:4). God had a marvelous plan all along, but He was waiting for just the right time to reveal it. And it was not just a plan for His chosen people of the Old Testament, the Jews. It turned out to be a plan that is inclusive of all who will believe. You and I can be a part of that plan by simple faith. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:4-5) Look at Galatians 4:4 again: But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son. When Christ came, the mystery of God’s will was revealed. Christ is the embodiment of the mystery of God’s will. This is all revealed to us in the Scriptures. We can know the mystery, we can know the fullness -- all we have to do is open His Book, read it, study it, take it into our minds and hearts and be blessed by it all. Martin Luther discovered this when he was a young Augustinian monk and it changed his life. And when God’s Word changed Martin Luther’s life, it changed the world. What Luther discovered was that God had provided a sure and simple solution to save lost sinners and restore us to fellowship with Himself. The solution is salvation by faith through the grace of God. The solution has nothing to do with our own righteousness or working hard or self-denial! God solved the problem of sin for us by sending His Son to die in our place. And that is the best news ever! For centuries the Jewish people had been offering countless sacrifices for their sins. They knew the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and they meticulously complied with God’s commands regarding the sacrifices for sin. When they laid their hand on an innocent animal, symbolically transferring their sin to that one who would have its blood shed in their place, they knew that the sins they had committed would be forgiven, but they had to continually offer more sacrifices because they continued to sin. They were powerless to stop sinning, to help themselves, to save themselves. They just couldn’t stop being sinners. In Christ, God revealed the solution to the problem. Jesus Christ, the God-man, the perfect Lamb of God, the only man who had never sinned, shed His blood so those who believe in Him will never have to sacrifice an animal and will never have to die for their own sins, but can take refuge and stand secure in Christ’s righteousness and have eternal life with Him forever through faith (John 3:16). When Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world (John 1:29), the Jewish people, indeed all people who put their faith in Him, were absolutely absolved of their sins once and for all -- they were saved and passed from death unto life (John 5:24). The mystery was clearly revealed in the cross of Christ, and those who had been wandering in a spiritual wilderness stepped into the light of Jesus Christ. It is a high privilege we have been given to possess God’s Word in His Book, the Bible. It is the greatest gift that we have in this world because it reveals to us the mystery of God’s will. This is what Martin Luther discovered. It was in God’s Word that he discovered the truth that set him free and led him to dedicate his life to ensure that everyday ordinary people could also discover that truth for themselves. A couple of months ago, my life became so busy that I often neglected my daily Bible reading. Every day I felt a tugging at my heart to pick up my Bible and read, but the days flew by so quickly -- and when I sat down at night to read, I fell asleep. This past week, as I reflected on Ephesians 1:9, I knew I needed to get back onto my habit of reading my Bible daily. What a difference that has made in my busy life! Yes, I’m still busy, but the busyness is buffered by God’s Word in my heart and mind and that makes all the difference! Putting God and His Word first needs to be a priority for each of us because it is a great blessing that God has bestowed upon us to know the mystery of His will and the only way we can know it fully is through His Word. I hope you will join me in committing to placing God and His Word first in our lives, even during the busy holiday season ahead. I can testify: that is what “living” really means. With love, Suzie The Bible is a love story, the story of God’s love for mankind in general and love for His people in particular. We have been looking at the manifestation of God’s love to His people through the spiritual blessings He has bestowed upon us. The apostle Paul calls them every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). We have reflected upon God’s blessing of redemption (Ephesians 1:7) and seen how that blessing is pictured in the love story of Boaz and Ruth -- just as Boaz paid a ransom to save Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, from poverty and took them under his wing (Ruth 2:12 and 3:9), God paid a ransom, the life of His only begotten Son, to save us from slavery to sin and take us under His wing (Psalm 91:4) by bringing us into His family (Ephesians 1:5). But that is where the analogy ends, for God has done for us something that Boaz could never do for Ruth - something that no mere man could ever do for another. God has forgiven our sins. We are all sinners. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), so if God has chosen to redeem us and bring us into His family, if He desires to fellowship with us as sons and daughters, He must forgive us. As believers, we received God's forgiveness when we repented (denounced and turned away from) our sins and turned to Jesus Christ for salvation. Now all of our sins are forgiven forever. God has reached down and lifted us up to fellowship with Himself in the light. The apostle John tells us that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5), so we had to be lifted out of the darkness of sin to fellowship with Him. Amazingly, God desires our fellowship, so He has graciously blessed us with the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us (Ephesians 1:7-8). For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, (1 Peter 3:18). We need to understand that forgiveness is more than just a gift from God. Without forgiveness, we could never, ever fellowship with Him, and “we were made for God….made to know him and love him and be with him in a fellowship that is satisfying to the soul and, because it is satisfying to the soul, it is glorifying to His name (John Piper, DesiringGod.org). This blessing of forgiveness was costly to God. Without the shedding of Blood, there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22), and Christ shed His blood for our sins, having been offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28). God may be calling you today to turn….from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that [you] may receive forgiveness of sins (Acts 26:18). Although you are dead in your sins, they have been nailed to the cross with Christ, and you will be alive together with Him, with all your sins forgiven (Colossians 2:13-14), forever. God graciously forgives all of who believe. He has promised to cast all your sins into the depth of the sea (Micah 7:19) and “remember your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). “Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin, And be washed in the blood of the Lamb; There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean, Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!” (Elisha Hoffman, 1878) May we all take advantage of all our blessings in Christ, Suzie Have you ever read the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament? If not, I would encourage you to take just twenty minutes from your day and treat yourself to this beautiful little love story. Ruth is not only a heartwarming story, it pictures for us the biblical concept of the "kinsman redeemer". The characters are Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, both widows. Boaz is a wealthy landowner and a relative of Naomi. The beauty of the story lies, not only in Boaz falling in love with Ruth, but his being her “kinsman redeemer”, or “go’el” (redeemer in Hebrew). In biblical days, when a person fell on hard times, it was the duty of the nearest relative, the go’el to restore lost property and stand up for the rights of the one in need (Leviticus 25). Boaz became not only Ruth’s husband and Naomi’s son-in-law; He fulfilled his duty as the go’el. Boaz is the only person in the Bible mentioned as a kinsman redeemer, and as such he is the picture our redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. I have mentioned all this because in the past weeks we have been looking at our spiritual blessings in Christ as presented by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 1:1-14). We have seen that through Jesus Christ, we have been chosen, predestined, and adopted as sons (Ephesians 1:4-5). And we now come to the blessing of redemption: In Him we have redemption through His blood (Ephesians 1:7). Naomi and Ruth were poor widows who had been forced to sell the family land. They had no means of paying their debts, saving their land, and saving themselves. People in their position were often forced to sell themselves into slavery. Naomi and Ruth needed a go’el to pay the price to rescue them. When Boaz was confronted with their need, he graciously stepped forward to redeem (buy back) the land and redeem the women by taking Ruth as his wife. As a close relative of Naomi’s husband, being free from debt, and willing and able to pay the price, Boaz fulfilled his role as kinsman redeemer. Like Naomi and Ruth, all people are in need of a redeemer. We are lost sinners, slaves to sin, who have no means of lifting ourselves out of sin and saving ourselves . The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Furthermore, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin (John 8:34) and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Every human being is in desperate need of a redeemer to pay the price to be set free from sin and death. The good news is that God has sent redemption to His people (Psalm 111:9) in the person of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. As the apostle Paul has stated, In Him we have redemption through His blood (Ephesians 1:7). The word Paul uses for redemption is the Greek “apolutrosis” which means “to pay a price to deliver someone from bondage”. The blessing of redemption is an act by which God has paid a ransom for the price of our sin, sending His Son Jesus to be our Kinsman Redeemer. Hebrews 2:11-18 explains how Jesus is our kinsman: being not ashamed to take on flesh and blood and call us brothers, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. Being sinless, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for sin. You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19). And you know that He appeared to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin (1 John 3:5). Jesus Christ came to earth as God incarnate, Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me (John 14:11). And He humbled Himself to pay the price to redeem us. To sum up, we were lost sinners. Like Naomi and Ruth, we were helpless and our case seemed hopeless. But in His grace and mercy, God saw fit to bless us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). And our blessing of redemption means that our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,….gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds (Titus 2:13-14). [Our] Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Hosts is His name: He shall thoroughly plead [our] cause (Jeremiah 50:34). As Christians, we are a redeemed people, saved from our sins and purified by Christ’s blood to be His own possession. We are His and He is ours, and He calls us to turn to Him, I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you (Isaiah 44:22). “Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am.” (Fanny Crosby, 1882) Suzie Someone has said that grace is the most important concept in the Bible, in Christianity, and even in the world. It is most clearly expressed in God’s promises revealed in Scripture and it is embodied in Jesus Christ. In Ephesians Chapter 1, where the apostle Paul lists our spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ, we discover that grace is one of those blessings. Along with being chosen, predestined, and adopted into God’s family, Paul reveals that God acted according to the kind intention of His will and to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:5-6). In choosing to adopt us into His family with all the privileges of sons, God has freely bestowed His grace upon us. Grace is God's method of choosing, predestining, and adopting us -- grace through Jesus Christ, the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God’s grace. He came into our sinful, self-centered, selfish world and showed us what grace is. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men (Titus 2:11). But God’s grace was not a new concept with the coming of Christ. The message of God’s grace is proclaimed throughout the Bible. God declared it from the beginning in Exodus 34:6-7, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin…”. The Old Testament goes on to tell us that Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6:8); The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory (Psalm 84:11); So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness (Joel 2:13). In the New Testament, the truth of God’s grace comes alive with application to us as believers today: For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace (John 1:16); For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; (Ephesians 2:8); Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). As human beings, it may be difficult for us to comprehend God’s grace. Although we’ve experienced grace and even shown grace to others, there is no such thing as perfect human grace. This is because there are no perfect humans. All humans are sinners. True and perfect grace can only come through God who is perfect and holy in every way. “He is a holy and righteous God, completely void of sin and full of goodness and love. He has never made a mistake and He can do anything….except fail. He is perfect in all His ways. If He were a doctor, He’d never lose a patient. If He were a lawyer, He’d never lose a case. There is no moral compass that could measure how upright and blameless He is” (“God’s Grace is Mind-blowing” by Philip Holmes). All of mankind lives under the incomparable grace of God. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works (Psalm 145:8-9). There is no other religion that emphasizes Divine grace the way the Bible does. Whenever we experience God’s mercy, forgiveness, favor, blessing, kindness, patience, or correction, it is all by His grace, by His unconditional lovingkindness that cares and stoops and rescues sinners who do not deserve it. God’s grace is at the very core of His relationship with all of us He has adopted as “sons”. His grace is a blessing we have in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul always thanked God, not only for the grace bestowed upon Him personally but for the grace God had given to all believers in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:4). How has God graced you and others you know? I hope you will take a few moments to consider the answer to that question and then thank Him for His blessing of grace today. Grace be with you all (Hebrews 13:25), Suzie |
SUZIE KLEIN
I have been involved in Disciplers since 1987, as a discussion leader, teacher, writer, and now as director. I am profoundly committed to the stewardship of this ministry which God has entrusted to me for a time. God’s word is the chief joy of my life. I cherish my personal time in the word, and I am filled with gratitude to be able to share His word with you, my fellow disciples in Christ. Categories |