Lesson #4 - A Tale of Two Covenants

The animals were not the only thing in the Bible that came in twos. Undoubtedly they are the most memorable, by both believers and non believers. In this new lesson we will study the other not so famous twos.

         Two Covenants - The Old and the New
         Two Women - Hagar and Sarah
         Two Mountains - Sinai and Zion
         Two Jerusalems -  one for the Israelites  and the other for the New Creation
         Two Adams - 1st Adam  (making his debut in the garden) and Jesus 2nd Adam (making His exit in the garden)

In each set above the 1st were the efforts of something which is corruptible. The 2nd is not. Corruptible that is. (1 peter 1:23)


Word Search "corruptible" blueletterbible.com.

God started with the covenant of Love which is Grace towards Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob which was then extended to their offspring. He could not in all his efforts turn their hearts toward Him. By the time they reached the foot of Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:7) and declared their own self-righteousness (Rom 10:3), God introduced the Law.

However, when Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Law for those who accept him as Lord and Savior (Rom 8:4), then grace was reinstated. God's wrath has been satisfied towards those who are in Christ.

As Christians today it is important not to ask whether something applies to us based on Old vs New Testament. We must discern the difference between Old vs New Covenant. 

The Old Testament was given to us for our example (1 Cor 10:11). The Old Covenant has passed away and become obsolete in God's eyes (Hebrews 8:13). There is a difference between the two. The work of the New Covenant is grace.

God's goodness, his mercies, his love, his forgiveness, his comfort, his power and his strength all have been given to us through Christ. After you have become born again and clothed in Christ, God warns us instead, not of falling short of his glory (which also was restored by Christ) but of falling short of his grace (Hebrews 12:15).

Under the New Covenant, we are ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor 5:20) and all have the exact same purpose. We are to bring all things in our lives subject unto Christ and God has given us an abundant supply of grace to do so.

Everything that is opposed to Christ in your life must be cut off. The offer of eternal life can only be obtained under the "better promises" (Hebrews 8:6) of the New Covenant. 

The way we fulfill that purpose will not of course be the same. After all we are not all the same part of the body. We are not all an eye or a leg.

So if you take your place be sure that it is the correct one. 




Under the New Covenant your:

Your mother is Sarah (the free woman) not Hagar (the bondwoman) (Gal 4:22-31)
Your mountain is Zion and not Sinai (Hebrews 12:22)
Your Jerusalem (the one from above) has not come yet. (Revelation 3:2)
Your Adam is not the 1st but the 2nd. (1 Cor 15:45)
Your reign is grace and not death. (Romans 5:21)

If you find yourself not understanding the difference between the Covenants you will find it hard to reconcile what the bible is saying vs. what you are experiencing in your Christian walk. In other words, you will find yourself not being able to put the bible into practice. 


Just to recap:

 The Old Testament is full of examples for you to better understand God's heart for you.
The New Testament is written for our instruction.
 The Law was only a shadow of the good things to come (Hebrews 10:1).
 The Old Covenant is obsolete
 and the New Covenant is grace.

Read the Following passages: (your bible may be divided differently but each is a full section of passage)


Law vs. Grace

Gal 4: 21-31 Hagar/Sarah
Romans 2:17-29 Jews and the Law
Romans 3: 9-20 No one Righteous
Romans 11: 1-10 Remnant of Israel
Romans 11:25-36 All Israel will be saved
Matt 5:17-20 Jesus the fulfillment of the Law



 and join me next time for Lesson #5- Jesus the Christ 


May the God of peace be with you. 

Lesson #3 - His Gift

We talked in the first lesson about His Story, which was His relationship with mankind and His Plan, which was to redeem us and now in this lesson we will see His Gift that was given so that you can reign in your Christian life. Now we go a little deeper.

Our lesson is from Ephesians 6: 10-20. 

This passage comes on the heals of v. 1- 9 which instructs us to be obedient, give honor to our parents, serve the Lord not men, and also that you will receive back what you give because the Lord does not play favorites among us.

What I love most about this passage is that it is a perfect example of the three things given to us in scripture; instruction, explanation and warning. 

Instruction explains what you are to do. Explanation gives reasons as to why something is done or how something will or has happened. Warning tells us what not to do and what to watch out for.

It is like the game red light green light. When He gives you instruction, you are to take off on a green light and if a warning is given then you are to stop.

For our benefit and understanding because He knows us so well, He throws in explanation to settle our desire to always know why. Come on parents, you know what I'm talking about.

If you can't find the explanation to something in the scripture then, it is not necessary to know "the why" in order to accomplish the instruction. Remember that.

Let's continue.

v. 10 begins with finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 

Whoa!!! Before you jump down to putting on your armor of God, He explains the purpose of having armor. In other words, the purpose of the armor is to be in His strength, not your own.

If you wear your armor and do not understand its purpose  then you have missed the point of the instruction from the very beginning.

Okay. Now let's use some highlighting to demonstrate and see what it all looks like. Remember instruction, explanation, and warning and further down Christ.


How are we to be strong?
v.11 Put on the full armor of God, (Why?) so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 

Who is struggling against us?
v.12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

Again
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, (Why?) so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 

How do we stand firm?
14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 

Notice that the first stand firm is a warning and the second time we see stand firm it is an explanation. He says stand firm then tells us how to do it. Brilliant!! I love, love the teaching of the scripture.

Also notice that the purple highlight is Christ. He himself is our armor.


Although He is giving you explanation in terms you can understand such as breastplate, helmet, belt etc. Don't have images of war and battle and struggling or fighting when you are reading Ephesians 6. Such thoughts and images are not from our Lord.


Those terms are accompanied by the spiritual truth of Christ being the armor of God. If you look in the natural you will see a belt. But if you look with spiritual eyes you will see The Truth. Also if you look in the natural you will see a breastplate and in the spiritual you will see your Righteousness. So those who have eyes let them see the spiritual things of God. 


You should have images of strength and covering on all sides by a power that is unshakeable. You stand before God clothe in the beauty of His son Jesus. 

It looks like this:
 Truth
 Righteousness
 Gospel
 Faith
 Salvation
 Word of God 


Our faith is surrounded by who Christ is. We are in Christ through faith. Amazing!

Sidebar: (in your word search (www.blueletterbible.com) type in "put on Christ") 


Okay let's wrap this up with some truths:


#1 Jesus is the Prince of Peace not of War.


#2 Those you struggle against have been disarmed and put to shame. You are instructed to stand against them because, as the demon said, their hour has not yet come. 


#3 Blessed are the peacemakers not the war makers. 


#4 You are to be praying for your enemies not making war against them. 


#5 Even though you are fully clothe in armor, the instruction 3 times is to stand not to fight. 


#6 Joseph fled from evil but you having the Holy Spirit are instructed to resist the devil and he will flee from you! 
                                         ********************************************
 If you are still not full let's continue with one last truth.

The 1st generation of Israelites were tested in the wars of Canaan.

Nations were left standing so that the 2nd generation of Israelites who had not known the wars would be tested. (Judges 3:1-3 gives explanation as to who was left ( the five lords ) and why (so they might be tested and to know whether or not they would obey the commands of the Lord)

Sidebar: word search "tested" 


We, as children of God, are also tested (1 Peter 1: 6-9) to determine the genuineness of our faith and to see if we will obey the command of God, which is to love both the Lord and our neighbor.

Ephesians 6 explains that unlike the Israelites our battle is not a physical fighting but a spiritual standing in the finish work of Christ.

We are born again of the spirit so the principalities of the heavenly places that come against us now have access to us but cannot just take what has been given to us by God.

 Oh, the evil one would if he could but, he cannot. He has been disarmed.
(Col 2:15) Instead he must get you to turn from the godly things to the ungodly.

Don't do it.

Your flesh has desires but they are not greater than the desires of the Spirit inside of you that desires to do godly things.

At the end of Paul's Romans 7 moment he said who can save me and the answer was Jesus Christ.

Now Jesus has come and He has saved you. Now use the members of your body to produce fruit for God. (Romans 6:19)

We are instructed not to be deceived by the devils schemes as Eve was.  He can only take what you have if YOU exchange it (Lesson #1) for what he has.

His scheme was to deceive Eve by using her desires against her and by trying to get her to doubt what God has said.

Likewise, he tempted Jesus by offering Him what he had conned out of Adam and tried to make him prove who God has said He is (if you are the Son of God then do this....).

He has not changed his tactics in the least when it comes to the children of God.

He came to steal what Adam had been given which was dominion over the earth. And for now he has dominion over the earth.

He comes to steal what you have been given which is eternal life and an inheritance from the Father.

Because he has not been given authority over you, his scheme is to deceive you with lies and half truths and teachings that are against the gospel of God's grace.

Be alert and do not waver** in your faith during the testing. 

Remember that the Lord is with you :)


**Waver  - shake with a quivering motion : the flame wavered in the draft.• become unsteady or unreliable : his love for her had never wavered.• be undecided between two opinions or courses of action; be irresolute : she never wavered from her intention.

Lesson #2 - His Plan

This passage reveals Gods plan of redemption:

Q. How will He deliver the gift to those who confess Jesus as Lord?

Read the passage and then let's break it down.

12Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam, until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likenesss of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.


15But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions, resulting in justification.


17For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. 18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.


19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. 20 The law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.




First He says there are two Adams:
The original or 1st Adam (a type of him who was to come)
 and Jesus who is the 2nd Adam (the one that came)

Let's look at the chain reaction that resulted from their actions:


1st Adam
--one trespass
--judgement arose and mankind was condemned (sentenced to death). Many died
--death spread (infected) all men
--through one man's disobedience many were made sinners
--sin increased with the Law
--sin reigned through death

2nd Adam
--many trespasses
--free gift arose from many transgressions, resulting in justification. Many will live.
--grace of God and the gift (came into the world through Jesus)--spread to all men
--through the obedience of the One many will be made righteous
--grace abounded even more
--grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

A. He will deliver the gift to those who confess Jesus as Lord through grace and His righteousness.

For each sentence handed down from the disobedience of Adam, God sent a pardon through the obedience of Christ Jesus.

Bam in your face :) God is amazing!

He created something beautiful that was exchanged by Adam and Eve for something else. God then came up with a plan of redemption knowing that we now have been condemned to a life without His presence.


Think: 


In Sodom and Gomorrah they were warned... the way out...
leave the city.
In the days of Noah... they were warned... the way out... 
get on the ark.
The nation of Israel... they were warned... the way out...
choose life.
Today... we have been warned...the way out... 
Jesus Christ 

We have studied His Story, His Plan and in lesson #3 we will look at His Gift. Stay tuned.

Lesson #1 - Part 2

The following verses are known as what I call the great exchange.

21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools

Let's take a look at the pattern of explanation that is given.

first they start with something... knowing God
then they did something... did not honor Him
as a result they became something... foolish

v. 23 - 32 explains that three godly things were given... Glory, Truth and Knowledge

Let's look at the pattern again.

23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.  24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 

first they start with something... glory 

they exchange it for something else... an image 

then God gives them over to... impurity in the lusts of their hearts

         
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 

first they start with something... truth

they exchange it for something else... a lie 

then God gives them over to... degrading passions
               


28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer,

God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanders, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. 

first they start with something... acknowledging God 

they exchange it for something else... refusing to acknowledge God  

then God gives them over to... a depraved mind 

Wow! How many religions can you see in the verses above?

Do you now understand where homosexuality comes from?  It comes from not just believing the lie but worshiping the creature not the creator. It is clearly not a question of, "Are you born that way?" But have you believed the lie? You cannot say you believe the truth and continue to live the lie. You will be given over.

Think about it, every one of the many religions that exist today and even in the past 2000 years can be narrowed down into one or more or a combination of the categories above.

Notice that each exchange is the godly for the ungodly. What we see in the world is the result of God giving them over. It is as if you were given a priceless gift and you exchanged it for a cheaper broken down version or took parts of one and mixed it with another and insisted that it will retain its value.

It cannot.

If you find that you are holding in your hands the ungodly things, then no worries. God has made Christ Jesus the spiritual exchange department. He is the only way to change it back. He is a gift from God himself, to undo what we cannot undo for ourselves.

 Unless you believe that the exchange is on a spiritual playing field and not a mere mortal one you will try in vain to fix what has been done but will not. So drop your idols, believe on the Truth (Jesus) and acknowledge the living God.

When we come to the acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and savior, not only are we then restored to full glory in Christ but we are urged to not live as though we have not heard the truths of God.

Christians can no longer come short of His glory but are warned not to fall from His grace.

Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness. 
2 Tim 2:19


We will learn how to do this in the following lessons. At this point we will continue building on the foundation of our knowledge. Be blessed.


Think: 
Your acceptance of Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, the only begotten Son of the living God exchanges your unrighteousness for His righteousness.


Exchanges your bag of lies for the truth.


Exchanges your refusal to acknowledge Him for accepting His indescribable gift of love, mercy and grace. 


This concludes Lesson #1. To recap we saw the answers to the following questions:

What is God's relationship with mankind?
How diverse and complex are our opinions of one book?
Why is the wrath of God coming? Against whom?
Can we see the invisible attributes of God?
Where did homosexuality come from?
How can we exchange our exchange?
Why is Jesus the only way?



 In Lesson #2 we will take a look at His plan. How will those that accept Jesus be saved?

Lesson #1

 His story - Wrath and the redemption - Part One


God tells his story. Where? Where else? In the Bible of course :0) That may seem simple enough especially for those of you who have been christians for a while but to someone just coming to Christ it may not be so obvious.


After all the Bible does have a very prominent t.v. and movie career. It plays the innocent and is used to pray. It plays the faithful and is used to swear an oath. It plays the teacher and is used for instruction and it plays the villain and is used for head bashing and condemning.


It has the longest running career of anything I can think of. 


It's text is said to be hateful yet full of love, ancient yet still in mass production and historic yet still hands down wins the most likely to succeed vote of many. 


It's secrets are openly shown but revealed only to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see. 


Let's dig in. 


To understand the Bible you must first ask questions.  We will go slow at first and then tie all of the pieces together. Soon you will see the bigger plan God has designed. 


The relationship between God and His creation is found in Romans 1:18-32.


18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 


Let's break that down. 


v.18 -  What did God reveal from Heaven? His wrath. 
Why? Because of ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 
What do they do?  They suppress the truth in their unrighteousness. 
Now why would He be mad about that? v.19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 


Notice that the truth is evident in you first and then to you. In other words everyone knows within themselves what the real truth is and God says this truth is then proved by what is seen. 


Let's keep going.

vs. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.


Ok, now here's the good part. God says first, that His attributes, power and divine nature are all invisible and second that they are clearly seen through what has been made. 


That may sound strange but think about it. What do we know to be examples of what He is saying?


Air is invisible but the effects can be clearly seen. Airwaves are invisible but the effects are clearly seen. The invisible attributes of this world generate billions and billions of dollars each year. 


We give them a name and then use them (the invisible attributes) in our daily lives without question.


Names like my favorite tv show (insert name) , my favorite song on the radio, solar power, electricity, gas and wireless. Can you see them, or just the effects of them? 


Yet our minds cannot seem to grasp what God is saying. Why is that? 


God says His effects are clearly seen by what has been MADE (the earth, the plants, man, the animals, the stars, the universe, water, planets etc.) 


He lumps everyone of us into the same category named, "no excuse". 


What can also be clearly seen, is not just what has been created but the relationship between what has been created. 


Those relationships are not even something we have control over. Have you ever told a plant I refuse to breathe out for you? Have you ever demanded that the earth stop revolving long enough for you to get something done? 


Have you ever flipped a switch to turn off the moon when you can't sleep? Does the sun stop shining because it's pouring down raining? 


Stop and take a moment. What other relationships can you think of that are automatic, where neither of the objects or persons in the relationship has any control of the requirements of the other one? 


Where did that come from? God, of course. He said it, not me. 




This ends part- 1 


Stop and look! Take in what you see during the day. Look at the amazing things that have been created. Look for the things which cannot be seen but would change the world we live in if they did not exist. 


One example is gravity. We may know what it is and how it works and have given it a name, but can we see it? Do we know where it came from?


 Google: "Where did gravity come from" and check out the various ways in which we can say I don't know. 

Introduction to knowing God

THE KNOWING-

Do you want to know something? I will warn you that this may sound crazy. But here it goes.

There is a God. 

That one simple statement will destroy lives, divide families, create religions, start arguments, fuel violence, cause murderous acts, conquer nations, produce discriminations of every possible kind, ring louder than a church bell throughout history and cast souls into Hell itself.

It will plan futures, create families, wear out knees, bring hope throughout history, define time, start revivals, bring peace, and sooth the depths of your soul.

There is a God. 

And He has come so that you will know Him. Do you want to?

Read Lesson #1.   Let's start with His Story.

The bridge is out!

Truth: "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away." Rev 21:1

This  world is set on a course for destruction. Just as the flood created a new beginning so too will the fire create a new heaven and earth.


Scenario
The passengers on a train are completely unaware of their pending doom.  After all it is a beautiful day. Birds are singing. All is well.  After a few set backs departing and some bumps and jolts along the way the ride is business as usual.  Some passengers have taken the train daily and for some this is their first ride.

Suddenly there is a commotion and you hear over the intercom that the bridge is out! Everyone must get off at the next stop.

Which passenger are you? 

#1 - You flood off the train with other passengers as soon as the door opens and don't ask questions. The warning is enough for you.

Note:

When the passengers get off the train at the first stop they are met by their friends and family who received word of the pending disaster on the t.v. and have come knowing that you would be wise enough to just get off. 

#2 -  You stay on the train in unbelief since you have not heard directly from the engineer yourself.

#3 -  You don't know what to believe so you join in the debate as to whether or not it is the truth.

#4 -  You believe it's true but stay on the train believing that the bridge may be out but you are going to be okay. There's time to worry about it later.

#5 -  Based on your own calculations the bridge can sustain x amount of damage before a real impact will produce any injuries.

#6 -  You believe that the bridge is out but you will party until the last minute and then jump.

#7 -  You can see for yourself that the bridge has some signs of damage but since you can't see the entire bridge from your view point you still refuse to come to a conclusion and thus remain on the train.

How many of the passengers will discover that the truth has set them free from destruction and be saved?

Only one set of passengers made it off the train that day. 

Which passenger were you? 


"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding."
Proverbs 3:5 

The cart before the horse

Whether you are making a commitment for the first time or are recommitting your life to Christ, the following lessons will change your life. No , literally. I don't mean angels singing and harps playing change. I mean spirit change.

First, briefly about the blog. It is not written to wow you or keep you on the edge of your seat but, it will do both if you are wanting to change your direction in life and become a true follower of Christ. There is a difference between saying you are a Christian (having a religious tag) and following Christ.

Keep this one thing in mind. Your opinion of whether or not you are following counts for nothing. A big fat zero. Christ has given His opinion as to how you are to determine if you are a Christian.

Be very careful.  Christ will be the one to decide if you are following. You are not the one who will decide. So what are you to do?


A. Know the truth. 

Do you know the Truth? Do you know that the Truth is Jesus Christ himself. Jesus says I AM the way, the truth and the life. John 14:6

He is not telling you he knows the way. He is telling you he is the way.  He is not saying he knows the truth. He is saying he is the truth. He is eternal life.

It's brilliant! Hollywood has nothing on that script.

God made the truth of all things a person, not a doctrine and not a religion. There is so much anger and debate over whether or not this is true or that is true, even among Christians.

It is very comforting to know even if you were saying the wrong thing Christ himself will know and correct you, as long as, you are following, listening and allow for His correction.

So relax. He has such a gentle heart.

This journey is one of knowing Him:) So don't have an opinion until you are using Jesus as your truth. I tell you it is a lot less stressful.

Peace