The law, grace and truth (2)

Father God, we thank you for You especially as we reflect and ponder on the wonder and the love gift that is Christ, Your beloved Son that You sent to die for all humanity so that we can be one with you. Thank you Abba. We give you all the glory and praise and thank you King Jesus, worthy is the Lamb of God. Amen.

This is the second part to the series on law, grace and truth. To fully appreciate the blessings we have received in Christ, as Gentile believers we may find it helpful to firstly understand the covenantal blessing that God had with the Jews and in particular the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

When Jesus was sharing the gospel during His physical ministry on earth, the Pharisees who happened to be Jewish religious leaders rightly told Jesus they were Abraham's children and had never been in bondage to anyone (John 8:33). Except Jesus in this case was referring to the truth that sets all who believe in Him free (John 8:36) which also includes the forgiveness of their sins. For this is what can truly give freedom to a man. Jesus responded to them and said if you were truly Abraham's seed, you would have believed in me because Abraham saw His day and was glad (John 8:56).

However, their hearts were still hardened. The coming of Christ was announced for many years before its fulfilment. It was not hidden. God does not surprise His own. And He came to His own first (John 1:11) because as God's chosen people, they had the privilege to recognize and believe in Christ before anyone else.

The Bible is filled with God's promises for His people and we see some (if not most) of these blessings found in the Old Testament for example, Deuteronomy 28:1-13. In Romans 13:10, tells us that love is the fulfilment of the law. And what is love? 1 John 4:10 (NKJV) tells us, "In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

This kind of love does no harm to a neighbor. Most importantly this love that God has for humanity does no harm to you as well. I reiterate, the love that God has for you and I is not harmful. As God's children, we are under a blessing and cannot be cursed because of this love. Jesus became a curse for you and I when He was crucified on the cross (Galatians 3:13) because the law mentions a curse for everyone who hangs upon a tree (Deuteronomy 21:23).

In the Old Testament, God's people never got sick and were not poor because they were under the covenant of Abraham. In John 4:22, when Jesus told the Samaritan woman you worship what you do not know but we know what we worship because salvation is of the Jews. Indeed they do know what they worship as they witnessed the salvation of the LORD in unimaginable ways and they kept God's wonders in remembrance with their future generations (Deuteronomy 6:7).

Furthermore, LORD God told them, that the number of their days, He would fulfill (Exodus 23:26), He also blessed all their water and bread and took sickness and disease away from them (Exodus 23:25), and they were prosperous as well.

Also, during their bondage in Egypt, the plagues that befall the Egyptians could not touch God's people. I believe this is because they were inherently blessed by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In retrospect, calamity was in their midst but it could not touch them. This demonstrates the power of God's covenant. The negative circumstances experienced by the children of Israel revealed the blessing of God upon their lives. Isaac, Abraham's son, sowed seed in a time of famine and reaped a hundred fold (Genesis 26:12). Again, God's blessing upon Isaac's life that flowed from the covenant God had made with his father, Abraham was revealed in the midst of hardship. God's people are blessed people going through a wilderness on their way to a promised land.

The above is true for every Gentile who has received the gift of salvation and believed in Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Because of what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross, we also have access to every spiritual blessing in Christ which includes the blessing that God gave to Abraham and all his descendants (Galatians 3:14). As a result, we are blessed people who cannot be cursed and the "wilderness" reveals our identity in Christ which is our only true identity as sons and daughters of God.

Amen, thank you LORD for the gift of Your love.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Invitation to salvation: Today, God's free gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ is extended to you. It is not something you have to earn because God has freely given it to you so if you feel a stirring in your heart to know more and draw closer to God's heart because of the Word of God that has been shared today, please say these words:

"I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that; Jesus Christ, the Son of God came in a human body to die for my sins so that I could have a new life where I am dead to sin and alive to God. I repent of my past sins and enter the Kingdom of light where I choose relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour and with God as my loving Father today and forever. Thank you Father that because the Son has made me free, I am now free indeed." AMEN.

YOU ARE NOW A NEW CREATION & CHILD OF GOD - PRAISE GOD. Please find a church, become a member and get water baptized!