Without question, many Christians and Jews and Messianic Jews agree that the G-d they worship is the Lord G-d of Israel; the Living G-d of all Creation. The difference is in their belief with regards to the Person of the Messiah. Judaism lives in hope of the Messiah’s coming, Christianity lives in the thanksgiving that He has already come and is soon to return.
The big difference between the two is the fact the while one group does not recognize the Messiah, the other does, and therein lies the difference. Be that as it may, nevertheless, whether or not He is recognizes does not mitigate in one bit what G-d accomplished through the Person of Yeshua during the Second Temple Era, a prophetic time of expectation for those within Judaism who were awaiting the Messiah’s coming, because Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and several other prophets indicated that specific period as the time when Israel should expect Him to make His appearance to the Jewish people.
Also prophesied and understood by Judaism before the rise of Christianity, was that Judaism would not recognize His visit, and reject Him for a time (Moschiach ben Joseph). Since the Second Temple Era, and the rise of Rabbinical Judaism following Jerusalem’s destruction on the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, in the year 70 of our Common Era, He has been rejected and cutoff from Jewish Social and Religious Life, just as the prophet Daniel predicted. Since that period to this day, Rabbinical Judaism, which is the form of Judaism that predominates Jewish Social and Religious Life, has rejected the Person and Messiahship of Yeshua/Jesus.
This however, as I mentioned earlier, has not mitigated what G-d has accomplished through this One Solitary Jewish Life – Yeshua ben Joseph, ben David, ben Abraham, ben Adam, Ben YHWH. While Rabbinical Judaism has remained a closed religion, and the Jewish Community a community where few non-Jews have been given access to, Messianic Judaism has brought down the wall that divides Jew and Gentile, and has brought together both into faith through the only One in Jewish History that has accomplished this; Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah.
It has been a belief of Judaism since time immemorial that the knowledge of G-d would one day span the earth. Before the coming of Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah, few non-Jews, Gentiles were part of the Jewish nation and Commonwealth of Israel, but since the coming and appearance of Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah, people from the nations of the earth, every nation; have become ardent worshippers of the G-d of Israel and supporters of Israel because of their faith in Jesus as Messiah.
Through Him, the knowledge and worship of the One True G-d of Israel has reached the nations of the world. There is not a corner of the earth that has not been affected by this One Significant Jewish Rabbi. Through Him, the veneration and study of the Hebrew Scriptures has reached even the most far away places.
Whether it is tuning to a radio station or watching television, it has become a common thing to see or hear Gentiles teach authoritatively from the Hebrew Scriptures, who are strong supporters of the right of the Jewish people to live in the modern State of Israel.
It is an amazing thing to both see and hear a Gentile believe with full conviction and venerate the unique sacredness of the Hebrew Bible. This has been made possible through their faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
Through Him human lives have been transformed. And through Him some day, Jews will worship the Lord G-d side by side with their worst enemies, whom have turned from hatred and religious bigotry and Jihad to the worship of the G-d of Israel through the knowledge of G-d brought only through accepting Yeshua/Jesus as their personal Messiah and Savior, and turning from sin and terror, and death.
We are already seeing such change in many places, and there is report that in Israel Jews and Arabs in many places are part of congregations worshipping the Lord G-d of Israel in and through the Person of the Messiah Yeshua/Jesus. These are the Messianics of which I and my family are a part of G-d’s grace. Today, Jews, Arabs, and Gentiles from many lands find their peace with each other and with themselves, through faith in Yeshua and what He promises to bring to them through faith in Him.
And through Him they have found their shalom with G-d, because not only is the Lord our Righteousness, He is also our Peace. In this message, I seek to outline by way of explanation what this faith means to me, and to so many others, who like me, have found Him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.
When has such a thing ever been seen in the history of Israel? When in religious history has such a thing been seen anywhere, except AFTER the appearance of Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah to the Jewish people during the Second Temple Era of the First Century of our Common Era? While Rabbinical Judaism, like Joseph’s family, does not recognize its Son, the non-Jews have found faith in the G-d of Israel through their faith in Him. This is without doubt, the most significant religious occurrence since the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai.
At Sinai, Israel met its G-d and received its Law. At Cavalry; the human race received the grace of G-d and reconciliation with Him through Jesus the Messiah. The evidence of this is all around us. And while the world as yet may not be transformed, it will never be transformed unless first human lives are first transformed, because before kingdoms change, men must change. It is of this change and what it means and how it has affected my life which I share below.
The following I wrote a couple of days ago while waiting for my mother at the butcher’s shop in my Jeep. It is about G-d’s grace towards us and what it means in light of Yeshua’s death and resurrection. My prayer is that it will communicate and do justice the message of the Good News that Messiah has come; that there is forgiveness for sin; that there is redemption of the soul; that there is a living hope of being fully and completely reconciled with G-d, and that the realization of this will encourage those who read what I share below, and the Lord G-d be glorified, and that the Lord Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah will be lifted up and glorified.
This morning as we listened on the radio to Dr. Charles Stanley, beloved teacher of G-d’s Word, he said something that brought home for us in his message about the free gift of God’s salvation in Messiah. He said that when we sin, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1John 1:9), if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and the truth is not in us. (1John 1:10)
When we confess our sins to Him, we are not forgiven because we confessed our sins (that is simply an admission of our guilt), we are forgiven because Messiah died for our sins and paid the penalty for them. This is why we are forgiven. Because of this, we are forgiven by G-d and cleansed by His blood from all unrighteousness. It is the sacrifice of G-d’s only Begotten Son, Who paid the penalty for our sins, having taken upon Himself the full force of G-d’s wrath that paid the price required by G-d for our redemption. This is why we are forgiven, and redeemed for G-d by the offering provided by Jesus the Messiah on our behalf.
Our confession to G-d of our guilt and repentance for having broken the commandment, asking for G-d’s pardon is our confession that we understand that we in and of ourselves are unworthy of G-d’s mercy, and cannot save ourselves, or do anything on our part to obtain our forgiveness (from G-d), but that we entrust ourselves, putting our complete trust in the complete sufficiency of G-d’s provision on our behalf to provide for us that which is needed to spare us of G-d’s wrath, and that such a provision has been made for us by the Lord Jesus the Messiah, for by faith you have been saved, and that not of yourselves, it is the free gift of G-d, lest any man should boast. (Romans 3:21-31, Ephesians 2:8-9) This is what is meant to live by faith; by faith in whom or what? By total faith in Him who died for us, rather who was raised and is seated at the right hand of G-d the Father; that He is who He says He is – the way, the truth, and the life, no can come to the Father but by Him. (John 14:6)
But the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart in taking this truth a step further – that is in giving me deeper appreciation of this life transforming truth – and this is what He disclosed and made so real to me, and brought it home.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. (Hebrews 9:22) If Jesus had not surrendered His life to pay the price for our redemption, and had not resurrected from the dead – defeating the price and power of sin over the grave; when coming to G-d to confess our sins before Him, the guilt would remain because there would be nothing to expiate the wrath of G-d for that sin upon us, and we would be lost, and still in our sins – the commandment bearing witness against us in the court of G-d’s assembly, making it abundantly evident that we are violators of G-d’s Law. Without Messiah there is no forgiveness for sins. What am I saying here? I am saying that without Jesus, every time we’d come before G-d to confess our sins, admit our guilt before Him, and ask for His forgiveness, there would be nothing to appease the wrath of G-d we merited for those sins, and we would remain with our guilt, separated by the holiness of G-d, and dead in our sins. The Law through the commandment would continue to bear witness against us that we have violated the Law by breaking the commandment through the sin committed, and there would be nothing to remove this guilt from us. We would be without an Advocate with the Father.
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:4-7) We were slaves to sin and were guilty before G-d, but now in Messiah we have been made righteous with the righteousness of G-d, granted to us who are undeserving, and yet made deserving through the blood of the New Covenant G-d has made with His people. Just as the Scripture describes this magnificent work of G-d in Messiah, through whom He has reconciled the world to Himself, just as He created it through Him and for Him.
But G-d commended His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us, (Romans 5:8), and having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, (Colossians 2:14) We are forgiven because of Jesus, not because of ourselves. No man can save himself by himself, but he can obtain salvation by G-d through that which G-d has provided on his behalf – Jesus, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” (John 1:29)
There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4) He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2Corinthians 5:21) Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Messiah, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Messiah reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2Corinthians 5:18-19) We are forgiven by G-d and reconciled to Him because of what He did through Jesus the Messiah, not because of anything we did. He has done it all. All we have done is admit our guilt and surrender to His mercy in Messiah.
So having been forgiven by G-d through Messiah, cleansed by His blood; the price of our redemption paid in full by the Lord Jesus, we are resurrected in our spirits to a new life – a new reality - awakened from our death sleep of sin and corruption; for though we were alive, we were dead in our sins without G-d in the world – but now we have been made alive again through a new birth to this new life by the power of that life which death could not keep in its clutches – the life of G-d – we are now joint heirs with Jesus of the glory of G-d’s wonderful realm, being made partakers of that secret unseen kingdom (all around us), even as we live in this life, as living letters as testimonies of the faithfulness and truth of G-d’s limitless love – His eternal grace. No one is beyond the reach of G-d’s love, and because of the reality that our salvation, our redemption, and the penalty for our guilt has been paid in full by the Lord Jesus, we know what it means when the Scripture declares with great boldness:
Salvation is FROM the Lord, (Jonah 2:9) It is not from us, nor do we possess the power of it or for it; it is exclusively G-d’s. This is why the Scripture also says, Salvation BELONGS to the Lord. (Psalm 3:8) Salvation begins and ends with G-d. It is not in the power of man to redeem himself, but it is in G-d’s power through the redemption He has provided, the forgiveness He offers, and the salvation He freely gives to all who come to Him through His lamb of sacrifice; His Son. If not for the lamb, and His shed blood, our sins would remain, and our guilt would follow us to the grave, and we would be separated forever from the Presence of G-d; but G-d has provided the Lamb for the sacrifice, and because of this, we are saved, having been reconciled to the Eternal Father by the Eternal Son, Who has given us the Eternal Spirit as His Pledge of this redemption (2Corinthians 5:5) – G-d in us, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27). So it says in the Scripture, therefore if any man is in Messiah, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come. (2Corinthians 5:17) And Peter bears witness of this in describing it so beautifully and fully in the following Scripture:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Messiah, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God though faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1Peter 1:3-5)
To sum it all up, we can’t save ourselves, but we know who can save us, and has, and the evidence of this salvation is this new life which we share; a common faith in One G-d, being of One Spirit, One Lord, One Savior, through whom we also have this magnificent salvation which we share. This is G-d’s unmerited favor; this is His grace. Praise be to G-d!
No comments:
Post a Comment