The
Glorious Good News of Jesus Christ...
For those who do not cherish Jesus Christ as
their most precious Treasure
&
The Power of the Gospel for those who do Desire to
cherish Jesus Christ as their most precious treasure
~ ~ ~
...For Those
Who DO NOT Cherish Jesus Christ as their most
precious and
valuable Treasure
I am convinced that the
majority of individuals in America, who claim to be Christians, are only
Cultural Christians. You may ask, “What does that mean?”. That means,
that the majority of people who think of themselves as Christians and who
go to church (some regularly, some only once in a while) are in the fast
lane that leads straight to the pits of hell!
Every culture in all of
history has fashioned gods to worship. Nothing has changed in the modern
age and the United States. Things are just different. I believe that
American culture has fashioned itself a god, or at least a horrible
misrepresentation of the real and true God. We have fashioned a god in
our own image; a god we believe honors the American dream more than the
Bible. We trust in a god who has an eternal party for everyone who has
done some good or nice deeds in this life – excluding the mean guys like
Hitler and bin Laden. The god most Americans trust in is a god who hasn’t
the fortitude to condemn anyone, because this god exists for us!
Frankly these beliefs
sicken me! If you believe and follow this false god, you will burn in
hell for eternity! In fact, if you do not cherish the Lord Jesus Christ
as your most precious possession, He will judge you in the depths of the
lake of fire. Disturbing isn’t it?!
What I have just written
is very depressing and sad. What sickens me is that so many are perishing
by believing in this false god, and the True Church of Jesus Christ is
standing by watching. At times we even participate in the worship of the
false god. But now I pray that the Almighty God might let His glorious
Good News shine through the darkness. Many will spiritually drown and
never come to Christ, but God willing, YOU will listen to this wonderful
and Good News that Jesus Christ wants YOU to hear and be saved from
eternal punishment.
Now let me tell you the
Good News.
There is a God in heaven.
He is One God, made up of three persons, God the Father, God the Son
(Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. The Father, Jesus, and Holy
Spirit are all equally God and equal in power, however they have different
roles in the Godhead. God is holy and righteous and just, and these are
only some of His attributes. God is love and does love human beings, but
God also loves Himself. (Many might be turned off by this statement, but
please continue to read and hear what I have to say). The tragedy is that
human beings have rebelled against God and do not love Him.
Jesus Christ says that the
greatest commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37 NIV). If this
is the greatest commandment, then disobeying this must be the greatest
sin. Not loving the Lord our God with everything we have is the chief
evil in the universe. We are all guilty of this great treason against
God. The reason we are to love God above all else is because He is the
supreme and most valuable one we could ever value and cherish. Everyone
would agree that there are some things that are more valuable things than
others in this world. We may disagree as to what they are, but we would
agree that we should value certain things above other things.
Human beings were created
to be happy! God wants you to be happy. God wants us to be supremely
happy, not just a little happy. When we are happy in Jesus Christ, we are
supremely happy. When we put anything in front of Him, we may feel happy,
we think we are happy, but we are not supremely happy. God, the supreme
being of the universe, says that supreme happiness can only come from
Him. God is so concerned with our happiness that He commands us to love
Him above all else. To love anything more than Him is to be miserable
compared to the happiness He offers.
Please take to heart the
following quotes:
“Our Lord finds our
desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures,
fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is
offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies
in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a
holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
~ C.S. Lewis
“Sin comes when we take a perfectly natural desire or longing or
ambition and try desperately to fulfill it without God. Not only is it
sin, it is a perverse distortion of the image of the Creator in us. All
these good things, and all our security, are rightly found only and
completely in him.”
~ Augustine (The Confessions of St. Augustine)
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me;
and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he
who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He
who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My
sake shall find it.”
~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:37-38
What Jesus has said is
hard. But once He has opened your eyes to see that He is indeed the
superior treasure to value, He will bring you to the point of loving Him
above all else.
This is a life long task. Only in loving the Lord our God with all of
ourselves, will we ever find fulfillment in the life He gives us.
The Good News is that
through Jesus Christ, we who were far off in rebellion, unable to love
God, can be brought near to God. Through Jesus Christ, God the Son, you
and I can draw near to God and love Him and treasure Him above all
else…fulfilling our God-given longing in life!
The Bible says in 1 Peter
3:18, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the
unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been
put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit…”
“Why did Jesus have to
die?”, you may ask. The answer is, because the penalty for not
loving the Lord God is death. God told Adam about sin in these
words, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that
you eat from it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17). Because of
Adam’s choice to love the fruit more than God, we have all died
spiritually and will one day die physically.
These passages reflect
God’s feelings about the sad state and plight of sinful man.
Romans
3:10-18, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who
understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside,
together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is
not even one.
“Their
throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving,
“The
poison of asps is under their lips;
“Whose
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;
Their
feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths,
and the path of peace have they not known.
There is
no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans
3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
Romans
6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…”
Colossians 1:21, “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile
in mind, engaged in evil deeds…”
Genesis 6:5, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great
on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually.”
Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is
desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Ephesians 2:1-3, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in
which you formerly walked according to the course of his world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working
in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the
lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest…”
But please pay attention
to the rest of this Ephesians passage (Ephesians 2:4-6):
“…But
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), and raised us up with Him, and
seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus…”
This is the Good News,
that God makes us alive in Christ and enables us to love Him, our greatest
need!
But you may wonder how
does this glorious work happens, in which God makes a person alive. In
the book of Acts, Peter answers a crowd who asked this same thing. Peter
says in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children,
and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to
Himself.”
Again in Acts 16:30, a man
asks the Apostle Paul, “ ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they
[Paul and Silas] said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved,
you and your household.”
Paul quotes Joel 2:32,
when he writes in Romans 10:13, “...Whoever will call upon the Name of the
Lord will be saved.”
This calling on the name
of the Lord involves, knowing that God is Who He says He is in the Bible.
It involves knowing that you and I are sinners only deserving of hell. We
are calling on the name of the Lord to save us. We ask Him to save us
from sin, from ourselves, from hell, and from God. God loves humans, but
He must love Himself above all else. For us to love anything more than
God is the chief sin and idolatry. The same would be true if God
treasured anything of lesser value than Himself, the superior and most
precious treasure. So God must value Himself above all else. Praise God
for this, for if God valued anything else as more valuable than Himself,
we would be lost forever! Because God values Himself and His glory above
all, He must punish sin – someone must pay by death. If you think that
your sins are not that big of a deal, consider that it cost the very life
and blood of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to pay for our sin! Those who
call on the name of the Lord for salvation, will receive the forgiveness
of God and complete access to God. We are freed from our death and
imprisonment and freed to love God with all our hearts! Those who refuse
the forgiveness of God, will face eternity under His wrath and torment.
So I beg you to come to
Christ and receive His salvation. I also beg you to examine your
“faith”. There are far too many people who think they are saved but are
not and will rot for eternity in hell. 2 Corinthians 13:5 states, “Test
yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you
not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you – unless
indeed you fail the test?”
To be saved, you must
place your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord, God, and Savior. You must
approach God the Father by coming through the Son and in the confidence
Jesus Christ gives you. “And without faith it is impossible to please Him
[God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Lest you think you are too
sinful for God to forgive you, consider this verse, 1 Timothy 1:15. The
Apostle Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament says, “It is a
trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, among whom I am the foremost of all.”
Paul says that he is the worst sinner, and yet Christ still forgave him
and used him mightily for His glory.
Many Christians would end
a presentation of the gospel with a model prayer. I will not. I think
that far to many people are trusting in a magical prayer they prayed when
they were 6, instead of trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I will not end
with a model prayer guaranteeing you salvation, but I will end with my
prayer for your salvation.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray that You,
Almighty God, would use this very humble presentation of Your Glorious
Good News. I pray You would cover over my mistakes and still glorify
Yourself through this attempt of mine. Please save the Person who is
reading this right now! Please fill them with the horrors of their sins
and the desire to find safety in Your salvation! Please make alive the
person who is reading this. May your Holy Spirit take the Word of God and
Awaken the dead Soul who is reading this right now!
Fill my Friend with the
peace and joy that is only found in Jesus Christ! Show my friend the
words he or she should say to You. Right now, I call on You to make this
person call on Your Name for salvation!
Glorify Yourself, O
Lord!
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Back To Top
...The Power of the Gospel for those who DO
DESIRE to Cherish the Lord Jesus Christ as their greatest Treasure!
A Meditation on Hebrews 10:19-22
Three
Reasons why Christians can be completely confident to draw near to God
through the power of the gospel even when everything else screams, “DON”T!”
INTRODUCTION
Every religion, culture,
and I believe every person on this earth has a plan with how they will
deal with their sins before they die. God has given every human being the
knowledge that there will be a day of reckoning for sins committed.
People on the British
Isles devised a plan known as “Sin Eating” to deal with their sins. These
people followed this practice even into the 1800 hundreds!
“Sin eating” was built on
a false belief that one person, selected from the community, could bear
the sins of the others upon their deaths. The selected person was called
the “Sin Eater”.
The Sin Eater lived a
lonely, dark life, as an outcast from society. Superstition kept people
from associating with the Sin Eater except at funeral services. Before
burying a loved one, the people would summon the Sin Eater. The Sin Eater
was to eat a piece of bread and drink a flask of wine that had been placed
on the deceased’s chest. In doing this, it was believed that the Sin
Eater took that person’s sin upon himself.
People sought after the
Sin Eater to ease their guilty conscience which told them, they were
condemned.
We as Christians,
sometimes revert back to these old beliefs that we have to deal with our
own sins. We often take the feelings of our conscience without focusing
on Christ as the one who took our guilt away.
God designed the
conscience to show us our sins and cause us to draw near to Himself.
However, when you and I place all of our focus on the feelings of guilt
and unworthiness, we begin to stray from God.
Our greatest need is to
draw near to God, but many times we misinterpret our conscience and hide
from God when we should be running to Him.
In this portion of
The Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will be looking at Hebrews
10:19-22. In this passage the Holy Spirit shows us the power of the
Gospel and gives us three reasons that show us why we can draw near to
God, even when everything else tells us we cannot because we are unworthy.
Hebrews 10:19 states, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy
Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through
the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the
house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a
guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
(NIV)
BIOGRAPHY
We do not know who
the human author of the Book of Hebrews is, but we do know that the Holy
Spirit is the ultimate author of this rich book.
The Holy Spirit
wrote this book to Jewish Christians before the year 70 A.D. The reason
for the book was: some of the Jewish Christians were close to reverting
back to the teachings of Judaism.
The reason this is
significant to you and me is because Judaism was a religion of works based
merit. In Judaism, a person’s worthiness and acceptance before God comes
from himself and his own actions.
We may never be
tempted to convert to Judaism, but you and I do struggle with the feelings
of guilt that tell us we cannot draw near to God because we are
displeasing to God.
What the Holy
Spirit told the Hebrews and is telling us, is the message at the very
heart of the gospel. “…there is now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1 NIV).
So the Holy Spirit
gives every Christian the book of Hebrews, which is devoted to displaying
the sufficiency and greatness of Jesus Christ our Savior and Sacrifice.
In Hebrews
10:19-22, the Holy Spirit gives us three reasons for why we can have
confidence to draw near to God.
Let us look at the
first reason.
REASON # 1:
We can have
confidence to draw near to God, Because of What Jesus Christ has Done For
Us.
First of all, the
text, Hebrews 10:19, says that you and I have Confidence to enter the Holy
Place, where God is.
The Greek Word for
the confidence that we have is PARRESIAN. This is a word that means
boldness in the freedom and frankness of speech. This boldness comes from
setting aside our guilt, and talking with God. It is manifested in our
undoubting prayer to the Father. (Zodiates, The Complete
Word Study New Testament, page 929).
So, the Holy
Spirit begins this passage by declaring that We have complete Confidence
to speak with God. We have a perfect mediator, and we do not have to
approach God through any mere man on earth. We have confidence to come to
the very God of the Universe THROUGH the very God of the
Universe – Jesus Christ, alone!
And this is where
the battle often starts. We are too preoccupied with ourselves and we
fail to talk to God.
To combat this, we
must grasp how amazing our relationship with God is. The problem is not
if we have the right to talk with God. We either don’t desire to talk to
God, or we don’t believe He desires us to talk to Him.
In this passage,
GOD is calling out to you and me, declaring He wants us to talk to Him.
This past May, a
terrible accident took the life of Steven Curtis Chapman’s young daughter,
Maria, when his older son, Will, was driving into their driveway. I can
only imagine the feelings of horror and guilt that Will must have felt
when he hit Maria and even now after that accident.
I recently watched
a Good Morning America interview with the Chapmans. In it, Steven told of
his concern to not lose his son also in this terrible accident. As Steven
was driving away with Maria to the hospital, he looked at his son and
said, “Will, your father loves you!”.
And this is
exactly what Our Father is telling us in this passage. He is telling us,
“I love you and want you to talk to Me!”
You might think,
that, that is fine for everyone else, but there is no way God would want
you with what you have done.
The HOLY Spirit is
telling you and me in this passage, that no matter what we have done, what
Christ has done is greater. He is a greater Savior, than We are sinners.
Now just exactly
what has Christ done for us? Well, the passage says,
“…since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of
Jesus…” NIV
Jesus Christ, God
the Son, has shed His precious blood for His people.
Listen to Hebrews
9:22:
“…In
fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” NIV
…and Colossians
1:19:
“For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through
Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things
in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.” NIV
We must never
loose sight that our sin is great! Only the precious blood of God the
Son, Jesus Christ, could pay our enormous debt. If it took the very life
and blood of God to pay for our sins, ask yourself, “How great is my
sin?”
But Jesus Christ
is a greater Savior that we are sinners! And His righteousness, credited
to our account, far outweighs the depths of our grievous sins! Now ask
yourself, “How great is our Savior?!”
Our text in
Hebrews 10 goes on to say:
“since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the
blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the
curtain, that is, his body…”
“Why did Jesus have to be
the member of the Trinity to die for me?”, and “Why was Jesus Christ the
only member of the Trinity who could pay for our salvation?”.
The reason that only God
the Son, Jesus Christ, could do this is because of His Divine Role in the
Trinity. It is the eternal responsibility of God the Son to display the
holiness and greatness of God the Father. John 1:18, states, “No, one has
ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side
[JESUS], has made Him known.” (NIV).
This is why Jesus is the
member of the God-head who created everything. Jesus created everything
out of nothing to show just how awesome and beautiful God truly is!
Colossians 1 speaks of Jesus being the creator of everything. Hebrews 1
declares that God created the universe through Jesus Christ. John 1 tells
of the Word of God, Jesus, through whom everything was made.
Not only is Jesus charged
with the display of the magnificence of God, He is also responsible to
defend the magnificence and holiness of the Father. According to Hebrews
10:19-22, Jesus Christ is the Curtain which protects the Most Holy Place
from any who might enter unworthily.
Revelation 14:10, “…he,
too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full
strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning
sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.” (NIV)
We often don’t think of
Jesus being present at the punishment of those in the lake of fire. But
He will be, because He is the protector of God’s holiness. It is Jesus’
duty, to execute the wrath of God on all those who have rebelled against
the God of the Universe.
According to Hebrews, the
Son is the Curtain, guarding the Holiness of God from the Unholy, sinful
Rebels on Earth. Jesus could not and would not let sinners defame God by
approaching Him.
On the same note, it has
always been God’s plan to redeem fallen humanity, but this could never be
while Jesus was functioning as the divine Curtain, guarding God’s
holiness. However, Jesus also knew the plan to redeem humanity.
The only way to bring the
Unholy through the Curtain was to tear the Curtain. So, the Son willingly
submitted to the Father crushing Him that sinners might pass through the
Curtain to the Father.
Isaiah 53:10 says, “Yet it
was the LORD’S will to crush him and cause him to suffer…”
The Father crushed the
Son, because He willed to save sinners. The only way to save sinners was
to tear and crush the Curtain, Jesus Christ, who was responsible to
destroy sinners.
When Jesus Christ died on
the cross, the curtain in the temple, which was a picture of Jesus, was
torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). This symbolized that the Father
had crushed the Son, and made access to Himself through the true Curtain,
Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the Son, willingly
submitted to the Father’s crushing Him, because it is Jesus responsibility
to carry out the will of God. Because it was the will of God to save
sinners, Jesus submitted to being torn and crushed.
In Matthew 26:39, Jesus
says, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet
not as I will, but as you will.” (NIV).
Look at Acts 2:23, “This
man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge…” (NIV)
It is Jesus responsibility
to magnify and glorify God the Father at any cost. It glorified God most
to redeem man. Jesus had to be crushed to redeem man. Thus, Jesus
willingly gave Himself to be crushed and torn, so that we could be made
Holy and draw near to God which is what glorifies God most, which is what
Jesus is responsible to do!
Now Jesus defends us with
the same passion that He defends the Father’s holiness and punishes His
enemies. We are of heavenly interest to the Father, and thus we have
complete confidence that the Son will defend us from every enemy of God’s
holiness!
The Curtain now covers us,
protecting us from the unholy. And we are also priests according to 1
Peter 2, charged with defending the glory and holiness of our God to the
world.
In addition to what Jesus
has done for us, the Holy Spirit goes on to tell us reason two of why we
can draw near to God.
REASON # 2:
We can draw near to God
in confidence because of Who Jesus is for Us!
The text says:
“…and
since we have a great priest over the house of God…”
The Holy Spirit devotes a
vast part of the book of Hebrews demonstrating that Jesus Christ is our
High Priest. This role of Jesus as our High Priest is of overwhelming
significance!
Examine Exodus 28:36,
“Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE
LORD. Fasten a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban; it is to be on
the front of the turban. It will be on Aaron's forehead, and he will bear
the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever
their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron's forehead continually so that
they will be acceptable to the LORD.” (NIV)
Again, this is a picture
of Jesus Christ, our true High Priest.
What this passage says is,
the High Priest was responsible before God for the gifts the Israelites
offered to God. God charged Aaron with ensuring the offerings of the
Israelites were acceptable.
Aaron could certainly
ensure that these gifts were “acceptable” in outward appearance. However,
there is no way, a mere man could make the hearts of the Israelites
acceptable to God. In the same way, there is no way a mere animal
sacrifice could save a person.
Because Jesus is greater
than the Priests in the line of Aaron, because Jesus is our High Priest,
we are demanded to draw near to God! Because Jesus Christ is our High
Priest, He and not you or me, is responsible to make us acceptable to
God. If left to ourselves, even as Christians, the best we could ever
earn is a place in Hell!
Look at Hebrews 10:12-14,
“But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for
sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for
his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made
perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (NIV)
The reason we can
confidently approach God is because our High Priest, Jesus Christ, God the
Son, is waiting in the presence of God for us. He is calling us to join
Him before the Throne of God. We will never face God without Jesus
Christ, our righteousness, at our side!
Colossians 3:1-3, “Since,
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things
above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden
with Christ in God.” (NIV).
1 Corinthians 1:30, “It is
because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom
from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (NIV).
Because Jesus is our High
Priest, God looks to Jesus to make us acceptable. With the acceptance
that God accepts Jesus, so God accepts you and me!
This is how God looks at
and accepts His children! So, how should we view ourselves? That being
asked, how should we view our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? We
would be far less critical and judgmental of ourselves and each other if
we chose to look at ourselves and other Christians as God sees us. When
God looks at us, He sees Christ’s merit, righeousness, and holiness – He
sees Christ!
On our best day, we are
never more able to draw near to God than on our very worst day as a
Christian. Because when God looks at us, He sees Jesus Christ, our High
Priest. When we are tempted to stay a far from God, we must remember that
He wants us to draw near…He gave His very Son’s life so we could draw
near.
Because Jesus Christ is
our High Priest, at this very moment, He defends us. Hebrews 7:25 says,
“Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through
him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” (NIV)
1 John 1:8-2:2 states,
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive
us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have
not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our
lives. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.
But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our
defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for
our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole
world.” (NIV).
Right now, as Satan and
everything else accuse us and suggest condemnation, Jesus Christ is
defending us before the Father!
I know that you and I
would ever make the claim that Jesus Christ is not acceptable to God. But
when God’s people live as though they themselves are not acceptable to
God, they are telling God and the World, “My sin is a greater debt than
Jesus Righteousness can pay!”
We declare by our actions
that Jesus Christ is not worthy, when you and I act as if we are not
worthy to draw near to God.
The Father accepts us as
He accepts Christ. So, if it is true that the Father does not accept us,
He does not accept Christ! Praise God, that this is not true, and that He
DOES, IN FACT, ACCEPT Christ and Us!
We must put an end to this
false teaching that is killing the church! We must preach the gospel to
our souls and draw near to God in Christ Jesus’ righteousness. We must
remember that when God sees us, He sees our High Priest, Jesus Christ.
This is what God says of Jesus Christ. “This is my Son, whom I love; with
Him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17 NIV).
So often we are confused
in regards to pleasing God. You and I cannot be any more or less pleasing
to God than Jesus Christ is. WE ARE PLEASING TO GOD! Because when God
looks at us, He sees Christ, this verse applies to you and me! “You are
my Child, whom I love; with You I am well pleased!”
Our actions may or may not
please God, but You and I are pleasing to the Father. Our actions will
never please God, until We recognize that We are indeed pleasing to God,
because of Jesus Christ!
When sin and Satan and
self try to distract us with ourselves, look to Jesus Christ, our High
Priest. He is responsible to make us acceptable to God, and He will
certainly do it! We look to Him our Victorious Champion to rescue us!
Philippians 1:6 says,
“...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will
carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (NIV).
Our High Priest is in the
presence of God, beckoning us to draw near through Him, because of all
that He is for Us! Now the Holy Spirit shows us how to draw near to God
in Hebrews 10:22.
Draw Near To God
“…let us draw near
to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…”
We must combat and destroy
the sin of Avoiding and Neglecting God by drawing near to Him! What an
insult to the work of God in Christ for us to persist in doubting God’s
provision and the worth of His Son Jesus Christ, by refusing or simply
neglecting to draw near to Him.
Drawing near to God does
not mean attending church. Drawing near to God does not mean
participating in empty Spiritual Pilgrimages. These words, “Let Us Draw
Near” mean a Spiritual Movement. It does not mean that we should move our
physical bodies, but rather our immaterial spirits must draw near to God!
The problem with many
Christians is that we go to church. We are involved with ministry. We
are doing God’s work. And all the while our hearts and spirits are
failing to draw near to God. Remember this is a spiritual drawing near.
The verb also indicates a
“continual” drawing near to God and a “draw near to God NOW!” in the
Greek. This is something you and I must never stop doing. I pray that
now even as we hear these words, we would all draw near to God. We must
do this, at this very movement! Ask God to help you draw near to Him as
you read these words.
I pleads with you to DRAW
NEAR TO GOD! Our Spiritual Life depends on it!
If you are a Believer,
draw near to God spiritually or you will be very spiritually sick!
Remember that God has attributed all God the Son’s righteousness to you!
If you do not believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I implore you to recognize
that Jesus Christ’s righteousness is not attributed to you. You
are not worthy to draw near to God, until you call out to Him, begging Him
to save you and give you Jesus Christ’s righteousness.
When you have come to God
and Christ’s righteousness has been given you, you too, are given the
right to draw near to God and be among His people.
“Let us Draw Near” is
subject to a certain condition in the Greek. Jesus Christ has met that
condition for us. The condition was this: the unholy had to be made
holy, before we could come to God. Because of the work of Jesus Christ
and His role as our High Priest, we are assured the confidence to draw
near to the throne of God.
If we only realized the
significance of this, would we pray more? Would we read our Bibles more?
Would we memorize more Scripture? Would we fast? Would we risk
everything for the sake of Jesus Christ? Would the Holy Spirit change the
world through us? How much do we miss out on because we fail to draw near
as we should because we’re worried about having to meet the condition
ourselves, when Jesus has already met it?
Now what is the
gospel…really? We were far off and Jesus brought us near! Look at 1 Peter
3:18, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous, to bring you to God…” (NIV)
Acts 2:39 says, “The
promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all
whom the Lord our God will call.” (NIV)
The gospel of Jesus Christ
is this, “God the Son, Jesus Christ, brings us to God and KEEPS us
there!”
The Holy Spirit now even
gives us the third reason of why we can draw near to God.
REASON #3:
We can draw near to God
because of What Christ Did in Us!
“…let us draw near
to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies
washed with pure water.” (NIV)
The tense of these words,
“having our hearts sprinkled” and “having our bodies washed” indicate an
action that took place in the past with results continuing to the
present. Because Christ has sprinkled us with His blood and washed us
with His pure water, we may draw near to God.
So when everything around
us screams, “GUILTY! UNWORTHY!”, when our own consciences condemn us, we
must preach the gospel to our souls.
We must not reserve the
gospel for the lost only and keep it on a shelf waiting for a chance to
share it. You and I must preach the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ to
our souls every day! For it is only through the truth of this gospel that
we may draw near to God!
So I ask us all, “How well
do we know this Gospel?”
Romans 1:16 states, “…[the
gospel] is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” (NIV)
This is a salvation to
bring sinners to God, and also to keep sinners, like you and me, in the
presence of our God!
We must declare the gospel
that in Jesus Christ we are worthy to draw near to God, because of what
Christ has done for us, because of Who Christ is for us, and because of
what Christ has done in us.
When our thoughts whisper
to us, “You really messed up this time! Just stay away from God a little
bit, and show Him your remorse”, even though they seem religious and
pious, CUT those evil thoughts down with the sword of the
Spirit!
You know, in my own life,
I am tempted to not read the Bible or pray because my feelings tell me I
am unworthy. I also struggle believing I can sing and worship God until I
have dealt with every little sin. I fail to realize that Christ already
has dealt with all my sin!
I think that others also
struggle with this. Some of you may feel you are not worthy to serve
God. You may think, He does not want your service. The truth is, the
Father does want your service.
Luke 1:74 states that
Jesus was sent:
“…to
rescue us from the hand of our enemies and to enable us to serve him [the
Father] without fear…” NIV
So when Satan, and Self,
and everything else tell us we are condemned, remember What Jesus Christ
has done for us, Who He Is for Us, and what He has done In Us!
Our consciences and
feelings of guilt are meant to push us to God not keep us away from Him.
When tempted to seek ways of dealing with our sin like those people in the
British Isles who invented “Sin Eating”, remember this:
We already have a Sin
Eater, who has eaten and absorbed everyone of our sins, so that we can
draw near to God, despite everything else telling us we are unworthy!
You are worthy, because
when God looks at you and me, He only sees Christ!
If we do not embrace the
gospel of Jesus Christ and draw near to God in this deployment, we will
have wasted it!
~ ~ ~ ~
Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray for my Christian
brothers and sisters that through out the rest of our lives, we would draw
near to You, through the power of the gospel!
That is our greatest
need and desire! Fulfill this in us. May Your Spirit glorify Christ in
us as we embrace the gospel by drawing near to You.
Help us to pray and
approach Your throne, through Christ’s righteousness. We are weak, but we
have a Mighty Savior!
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen!
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One Thirst Ministries 2008
