If we could learn to understand that God knows all things, not just to consider it, but to really accept it as fact, then we can possibly feel a little more secure in our walk with Him. Israel is most definitely God's chosen people, there is no reason that we should need to feel offended or threatened by that fact; they are God's way of illustrating His love of a people that constantly reject Him and mercy to a nation that has trouble being obedient to His commands. It will all make perfect sense one of these days, but in the meantime, we must remember that Israel is God's people, and that we are grafted into them. I think that we forget to consider that, about how it is that we who were not God's people are actually made God's people because of Israel. You do know that Jesus was born from Israel, right? There is really no way to deny the fact that Israel is a key factor in our salvation; no matter where you are from or what nation you believe that you belong to, the New Jerusalem will be where you end up. As to the point that I was making from yesterday's post, Adam was a type of Christ, just as Paul tries to illustrate in the Book of Romans. But for Adam to be in love with his wife in the way that I saw it, he did what he did regardless of the outcome, just as long as he was in whatever state she was. This is not something that is easy to illustrate; I am not sure that I do it any justice. Except to point out something very similar, in that Jesus Christ had to take on our sins in order to pay the punishment in our place. How that connects to what I believe God was showing me, I really don't know. But this much I know, that we are the bride of Christ, and He was willing to do anything to make us whole and to be joined to Himself...
"Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God's sight be the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died -from the time of Adam to the time of Moses -even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ."
(Romans 5:7-15) NLT
No comments:
Post a Comment