Angelic Conflict part 296: Reigning in life – Rom 5:12-21; Exo 19:4-22; Heb 10:8-10; 19-22; 12:18-29.Title: Angelic Conflict part 296: Reigning in life – Rom 5:12-21; Exo 19:4-22; Heb 10:8-10; 19-22; 12:18-29.
Rom 5:17 For 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.
Rom 5:18 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.
Rom 5:19 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 [to rule in] righteous.
Christianity begins with resurrection.
If we go through the entire list of false religions we would find that the emphasis is always placed on something that man does for God. But the heart of the gospel is that man can do nothing for God and indeed even our service before God as believers is done through grace.
We work in righteousness through grace, we do not work through human energy or human wisdom.
1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
We don't work in the spiritual life just for the sake of working. In other words, there is a real purpose in spiritual work that is in accordance with the will and plan of God, right from the thinking to the doing. Some believers perform acts of so-called service just to look busy to others. They are like Pharisees that are white washed, but inside there is death. We also don't work in the spiritual life for self-interest. Self-interest is the work of the flesh.
Rom 5:20 And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
For 2500 years, God demonstrated that He could deal with man without the law of Moses. But now the law entered, in order to make sin, which had always been evil in the sight of God, to be disobedience in the sight of both God and man. Now recorded for all man to see, the sin of man, which always was, is now obvious rebellion and more laws means more infractions.
If blessing from God can only come freely then man must recognize and admit his own nothingness.
More commands meant more infractions and therefore more sin. The Law placed a burden on the flesh under which pressure revealed its sinfulness much more clearly and abundantly.
Turn to Exo 19:
The flesh, in its stubborn arrogance and ignorance, actually believes it can keep such a Law.
Exo 19:8 And all the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do!"
Man is hopelessly addicted to self-effort, and wants desperately to take care of himself and to do everything on his own. He does not realize his total inability to do the best for himself; he does not believe that he will be far better in the hands of God. Man would rather govern himself badly and even tragically, than submit to the merciful, gracious, and loving government of God. Even in spiritual childhood, after learning the things that God would have us do, we most often set off to do them in our flesh. We might as well set off to jump over the Grand Canyon on a bicycle.
Only by long association with God through His word can we come to know our utter dependence upon Him, forsake all human endeavor, mount with wings as eagles, and be carried by the love and grace of God, who does everything for us.
Only when we learn this will we actually reign in life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Exo 19:4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself.
Isa 40:31 Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
By stating that they would do all the things in the Law they adopted a covenant of works in their flesh. God injected animal sacrifices to reveal that only He can deliver.
They sought to stand on their own merits before God. In the wisdom of this, God injected the animal sacrifices, feasts, and procedures of the Tabernacle and the items that made up the Tabernacle as a constant reminder that only God could deliver and that man would constantly violate the Law. Why else would God command them to participate in the Day of Atonement, the only day that the high priest may enter the Holy of Holies, in which a sacrifice would be given for the sins of the people of Israel?
The Galatians were fooled into putting themselves under the Mosaic Law ...
Gal 5:2 You have been severed from Christ [by accepting circumcision for salvation], you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
To seek to be justified in life through works of the flesh is to have fallen from the platform of freely receiving gifts, power, and wisdom from God and implementing those things in life. To fall from grace is to quench the Holy Spirit.
So it is with every believer who has not come to a personal faith in the complete and final death of his flesh in Christ.
The contrast at Sinai is striking. When God brought them out of Egypt He stated that He brought them to Himself and then at Sinai told them not to approach Him.
Ex 19:4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself.
Yet in verses 9-25 they are told not to approach God lest they die.
Exo 19:9 And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I shall come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe in you forever." Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
Exo 19:10 The Lord also said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments;
We today are accustomed to having soap and water readily available, and extra clothes hanging in our closets, but people in Bible days didn't enjoy such luxuries. They couldn't take showers daily, and only the wealthy had stores of extra garments. That's why bathing and washing clothes often marked a consecration to God in a bodily cleanliness that represented a cleanliness of heart or sanctification of heart.
It is only through the work of Christ that we can approach God with a sanctified heart.
Heb 10:8 After saying above, "Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast not desired, nor hast Thou taken pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the Law),
Rom 3:25 God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
God withheld any judgment of sin before the cross and passed over them as He held them in account for pouring out upon Christ.
Heb 10:9 then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Thy will." He takes away the first in order to establish the second.
Heb 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Exo 19:10 The Lord also said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments;
Exo 19:11 and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
Exo 19:12 And you shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
It is likely that Moses was here instructed to construct a type of barrier to the mountain and to post guards and some at a distance with bow and arrow should any Israelite get curious and want a peek. If they did they were to be shot through. If anyone even touched the body of one who died in this manner, he was also to be stoned or shot through.
Exo 19:13 'No hand shall touch him [the dead body], but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.' When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."
Exo 19:14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments.
Exo 19:15 And he said to the people, "Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman."
Exo 19:16 So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
Exo 19:17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Exo 19:18 Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.
Exo 19:19 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder.
Exo 19:20 And the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Separation from God was not extended to Moses. This was to be a clear indication that Moses was sanctified unto God in his heart through his faith and humility before Him, thus Israel was to trust Moses, take his lead, and practice his ways.
Exo 33:11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.
Exo 19:21 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, "Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.
Exo 19:22 And also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them."
Exo 19:23 And Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for Thou didst warn us, saying, 'Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it.'"
Exo 19:24 Then the Lord said to him, "Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break forth upon them."
Exo 19:25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.
Soon after the elders of Israel, the representatives of the 12 tribes, were allowed to go up to the mountain with Moses and Aaron and see a form of Jehovah, which is not described, but they were not permitted to see the glory of the Lord as only Moses did.
Would you like your relationship with God to be like this? A tabernacle with a curtain all around, a holy place where only priests could enter, and a holy of holies where only the high priest could enter once a year? If we resort back to the Law, to the works of the flesh, then we are making it just like that.
The washing, the cleansing of clothes, the storm, and the distance from the mountain all spoke of God's holiness and the sinfulness of the people. In faith they could be sanctified unto Him as they believed His promises, acknowledging that they could not keep the Law and that the Law revealed their sinfulness, but the coming Messiah would take that away, as the animal sacrifices revealed, and so in humility and faith they had every advantage to consecrate themselves, separate from the idolatry of other nations, and set themselves as sanctified as unto Jehovah [I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself], yet their stubborn hearts wouldn't do it and they incurred barriers between them and God. |