Jesus came to this Earth to marry the Church and He did it in the same manner as God married Israel in the wilderness (see previous blog entry, "Married in the Wilderness").
John the Baptist was sent by God to proclaim to the people that they needed to repent because they were being held captive by sin. He also proclaimed to them who their deliverer would be, just like Moses did with the children of Israel.
John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
(Mar 1:4 ESV)
"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
(Mat 3:11 ESV)
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
(Joh 1:29 ESV)
The country of Judea is a land of mountains, or hills. Jesus came to the people in the wilderness of Judea and met with them at a mountain just like God came to the children of Israel at the mountain in the wilderness.
And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities.
(Jos 11:21 KJV)
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"
(Mat 3:1-3 ESV)
And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
(Mar 1:5 ESV)
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
(Mar 1:9 ESV)
Jesus Himself proclaimed to the people that He was sent by God to pardon them and set them free from their bondage in sin.
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to tell the good news to the poor. He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set oppressed people free”
(Luk 4:18 ISV)
During His ministry, Jesus would go up into the Mount of Olives alone to pray to God, just like Moses went up alone into the mountain to hear from God. Jesus also brought His disciples up to the mountain and revealed His glory to them there, just like God revealed His glory to Moses on the mountain.
And having dismissed the crowds, He went up into the mountain alone to pray. And evening coming on, He was there alone.
(Mat 14:23 LITV)
And in the days, He was teaching in the temple. And going out in the nights, He lodged in the Mount of Olives.
(Luk 21:37 LITV)
And after six days, Jesus took Peter and James, and his brother John, and brought them up into a high mountain privately. And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothing became white as the light.
(Mat 17:1-2 LITV)
And going out, according to His custom, He went to the Mount of Olives; and His disciples also followed Him.
(Luk 22:39 LITV)
Jesus would come down from the Mount of Olives, and would go and speak and teach the words of His love to the people, just like Moses came down from the mountain and spoke God's commandments to the people. People would speak their vow to Jesus when they confessed their sins to Him and decided to follow and obey Him. At the Last Supper, Jesus spoke His vow to all people, the words of the New Covenant, and afterwards He and the Disciples went to the Mount of Olives.
For this is My blood of the New Covenant which concerning many is being poured out for remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not at all drink of this fruit of the vine after this until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of My Father. And singing a hymn, they went to the Mount of Olives.
(Mat 26:28-30 LITV)
Jesus Himself was the blood sacrifice needed to cover the sins and to seal the New Covenant and Marriage. The sacrifice and death of the Husband would take place at Jerusalem, the permanent home of God's wife.
From that time, Jesus began to show to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go away to Jerusalem, and to suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised on the third day.
(Mat 16:21 LITV)
Jesus, the arm of the Lord, then redeemed all people by His sacrifice on the cross. By His resurrecting power, He brought them out of their bondage of sin, leading the way to a new life with Him.
Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me. (Joh 14:6 MKJV)
Jesus personally reconciled the relationship between God and His wife, making it alive and tangible, not dead and separated. Jesus is the very image of God come down to Earth and now His people can become one with Him. God made man first as a copy of His image, but now, through Jesus, they can be made new to become an actual part of His image - one body. The relationship of Jesus to the Church is also compared in scripture to a relationship between a Husband and wife - Jesus being the Head and the believers being the body.
“giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit for a share of the inheritance of the saints in light, who delivered us out of the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins; who is the image of the invisible God, the First-born of all creation. For all things were created in Him, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible; whether thrones, or lordships, or rulers, or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and all things have subsisted in Him. And He is the Head of the body, the assembly, who is the Beginning, the First-born out of the dead, that He be preeminent in all things; because all the fullness was pleased to dwell in Him, and through Him making peace by the blood of His cross, to reconcile all things to Himself; through Him, whether the things on the earth, or the things in the heavens. And you then being alienated and hostile in your mind by evil works, but now He reconciled in the body of His flesh, through death, to present you holy and without blemish and irreproachable before Him”
(Col 1:12-22 LITV)
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
(Eph 5:23 MKJV)
We have a new body now because Jesus gave us His! (See previous blog entry "United as one with Him".)
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
The Death of the Husband
Israel was bound by the Law (God's Commandments/Word) to God, her Husband. Life could not be produced through this union, though. Israel could not touch God and because of her sin, she would eventually die. God loved His wife and didn't want her to die. He wanted her to be free from sin so that she could live forever with Him. He also wanted to have godly offspring from His union with her. So, to set her free from the Law that could only produce death, God came down to Earth in the body (flesh) of Jesus.
For the married woman was bound by Law to the living husband; but if the husband dies, she is set free from the Law of the husband. So then, if the husband is living, she will be called an adulteress if she becomes another man's. But if the husband dies, she is free from the Law, so as for her not to be an adulteress by becoming another man's.
(Rom 7:2-3 LITV)
The "Law of the Husband" was God's Word written on stone. The Law stated that the wife could not marry another as long as her Husband was still living. In order to release His wife from this union of stone, God had to come in living human form in order to die. Jesus is God's living form in the flesh! (See these previous blog entries - "Why should we keep the commandments of Jesus?", "How does Jesus fit into the picture?", and "God's solution to restore relationship - Jesus".)
For the Law which has a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, appearing year by year with the same sacrifices, which they offer continually, they are never able to perfect those drawing near. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshipers, when they had been once for all purged, would have had no more conscience of sin. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Therefore when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have had no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God." Above, when He said, "Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings and offering for sin You did not desire, neither did You have pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, "Lo, I come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first so that He may establish the second. By this will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And indeed every priest stands daily ministering and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right of God, from then on expecting until His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. The Holy Spirit also is a witness to us; for after He had said before, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put My Laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," also He adds, "their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more."
(Heb 10:1-17 MKJV)
So, the first covenant marriage with the children of Israel was just a "shadow" or outline of the true, living, and perfect covenant marriage that would come through Jesus. It was God's will all along that Jesus would come to be the final sacrifice and offering for sin. God always reveals His plan to His people before He accomplishes it (see Amos 3:7). God's marriage to the children of Israel was His "blueprints" and example to show us how He wanted us to be married to Jesus and what would be desired and required in His bride.
Does the Law disagree with God's promises? No, it doesn't! If any law could give life to us, we could become acceptable to God by obeying that law. But the Scriptures say that sin controls everyone, so that God's promises will be for anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ. The Law controlled us and kept us under its power until the time came when we would have faith. In fact, the Law was our teacher. It was supposed to teach us until we had faith and were acceptable to God. But once a person has learned to have faith, there is no more need to have the Law as a teacher. All of you are God's children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes. Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman. So if you belong to Christ, you are now part of Abraham's family, and you will be given what God has promised.
(Gal 3:21-29 CEV)
His death made the way for the second covenant marriage to be established and it also gave new life to His wife, Israel. Just like Eve was formed from the body of Adam, the Church was formed from the body of Jesus (see previous blog entry - "United as one with Him"). The Church is Israel reborn and now is made up of all believers who have faith in Jesus Christ. The Church is now a member of Abraham's family through Christ.
God has always showed us examples of His transforming power to form life from death, even in the creation of the Earth. God took what He first created, which was the Earth without form and covered with darkness, and then formed light from the darkness and gave form to the Earth (see Genesis 1:1-10 and Isaiah 45:7). From the death of Jesus in the darkness of sin, the Church was formed and she was given the light and life of Jesus to shine in this world. Pretty amazing, huh?!
So, my friends, this is something like what has taken place with you. When Christ died he took that entire rule-dominated way of life down with him and left it in the tomb, leaving you free to "marry" a resurrection life and bear "offspring" of faith for God.
(Rom 7:4 MSG)
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, I am the Light of the world. The one following Me will in no way walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.
(Joh 8:12 LITV)
For the married woman was bound by Law to the living husband; but if the husband dies, she is set free from the Law of the husband. So then, if the husband is living, she will be called an adulteress if she becomes another man's. But if the husband dies, she is free from the Law, so as for her not to be an adulteress by becoming another man's.
(Rom 7:2-3 LITV)
The "Law of the Husband" was God's Word written on stone. The Law stated that the wife could not marry another as long as her Husband was still living. In order to release His wife from this union of stone, God had to come in living human form in order to die. Jesus is God's living form in the flesh! (See these previous blog entries - "Why should we keep the commandments of Jesus?", "How does Jesus fit into the picture?", and "God's solution to restore relationship - Jesus".)
For the Law which has a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, appearing year by year with the same sacrifices, which they offer continually, they are never able to perfect those drawing near. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshipers, when they had been once for all purged, would have had no more conscience of sin. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Therefore when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have had no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God." Above, when He said, "Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings and offering for sin You did not desire, neither did You have pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, "Lo, I come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first so that He may establish the second. By this will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And indeed every priest stands daily ministering and offering often the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right of God, from then on expecting until His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. The Holy Spirit also is a witness to us; for after He had said before, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put My Laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," also He adds, "their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more."
(Heb 10:1-17 MKJV)
So, the first covenant marriage with the children of Israel was just a "shadow" or outline of the true, living, and perfect covenant marriage that would come through Jesus. It was God's will all along that Jesus would come to be the final sacrifice and offering for sin. God always reveals His plan to His people before He accomplishes it (see Amos 3:7). God's marriage to the children of Israel was His "blueprints" and example to show us how He wanted us to be married to Jesus and what would be desired and required in His bride.
Does the Law disagree with God's promises? No, it doesn't! If any law could give life to us, we could become acceptable to God by obeying that law. But the Scriptures say that sin controls everyone, so that God's promises will be for anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ. The Law controlled us and kept us under its power until the time came when we would have faith. In fact, the Law was our teacher. It was supposed to teach us until we had faith and were acceptable to God. But once a person has learned to have faith, there is no more need to have the Law as a teacher. All of you are God's children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes. Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman. So if you belong to Christ, you are now part of Abraham's family, and you will be given what God has promised.
(Gal 3:21-29 CEV)
His death made the way for the second covenant marriage to be established and it also gave new life to His wife, Israel. Just like Eve was formed from the body of Adam, the Church was formed from the body of Jesus (see previous blog entry - "United as one with Him"). The Church is Israel reborn and now is made up of all believers who have faith in Jesus Christ. The Church is now a member of Abraham's family through Christ.
God has always showed us examples of His transforming power to form life from death, even in the creation of the Earth. God took what He first created, which was the Earth without form and covered with darkness, and then formed light from the darkness and gave form to the Earth (see Genesis 1:1-10 and Isaiah 45:7). From the death of Jesus in the darkness of sin, the Church was formed and she was given the light and life of Jesus to shine in this world. Pretty amazing, huh?!
So, my friends, this is something like what has taken place with you. When Christ died he took that entire rule-dominated way of life down with him and left it in the tomb, leaving you free to "marry" a resurrection life and bear "offspring" of faith for God.
(Rom 7:4 MSG)
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, I am the Light of the world. The one following Me will in no way walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.
(Joh 8:12 LITV)
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