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Buying My Pardon

On April 3, 2015 in Holidays by Robert Kelley

Originally Posted In Part For Resurrection Sunday 2012--Edited.

Today through Sunday is always renewing for me as I rehearse again in my memory the events leading up to the death, burial and resurrection of my Lord, Jesus Christ. His death on the cross, of course, is a major focus of these three days because through it He purchased my divine pardon from sin and death. I grieve because my sins (and yours) put Him on that cross. It should have been me being punished for my own sins. But in love, He took my place.

Come Sunday morning, I rejoice because the resurrection of my Lord certifies the acceptance of His sacrifice by the Father and the hope of my own bodily resurrection He promised all who believe on Him for salvation. I also rejoice because I became a believer and was born again on Resurrection Sunday 1977. It is my spiritual birthday!! Because of all of the foregoing and more, I serve my Lord with my whole heart, waiting eagerly in all devotion for His appearing (Galatians 2:20; Titus 2:11-14). Glory To God!

I have written this blog for today, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday! My next blog will be posted on Sunday, April 12^th. Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday celebration!

Tagged With: It's personal: He did it for me

God's New Covenant

On January 28, 2014 in Holidays by Robert Kelley

Originally Posted January 10, 2014

Welcome to the New Year 2014! The New Year like many things new provides a sense of freshness, excitement, anticipation and the promise of great benefits to come. While writing my December 2013 blogs, the Holy Spirit renewed great joy in me concerning God’s New Covenant with Israel that in “the exceeding riches of His grace” He has opened up to Gentiles willing to enter into its terms and conditions through the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:4-9, NKJV)! The surpassing greatness of God’s New compared with the Old Covenant include superior promises that bless those who enter into it with Him both now in this present age and endless ages to come!

A covenant is a binding agreement. The Bible shows God making covenants with men of His choosing. While there is no formal stating of a covenant with Adam, the Lord acts toward him in a way that will become His covenant pattern with some of Adam’s future sons. Adam’s first sight upon coming to life from the dust was his Creator as Ruler (Genesis 2:7). God then transports His creature to a garden He had planted with the expectation of relationship and the man’s obedience (Genesis 2:8-17). Adam disobeyed God rejecting His rule. God brought the promised consequence but not without providing a future hope for making things right again (Genesis 3).

Of Adam’s future sons, Abram found favor with God and He approached him with a covenant of promise to make him a great nation of innumerable size and to give them a land to live in (Genesis 12:1-3, 15:1-21). Later, after changing his name to Abraham as ‘“a father of many nations,’” the Lord makes an ‘“everlasting covenant’” with him promising ‘“to be God to you and your descendants after you’” and to give the land ‘“as an everlasting possession.’” For Abraham and his descendants through Isaac it was required by God that every male be circumcised as a perpetual sign of the covenant which if they did not obey, they would be guilty of breaking it (Genesis 17:1-22, NKJV).

After bringing Abraham’s descendants out of slavery in Egypt as promised, God spoke to the people from Mt. Sinai concerning His covenant made specifically with them as a nation. He would be God to them and bless them as a holy people if they for their part would keep the covenant by obeying His commandments (Exodus 19:1-9; Deuteronomy 4:12-14, 5:1-29, 7:9-15, 26:16-19, 28:1-14). But the people disobeyed the first two of His Ten Commandments written in stone before Moses had come down from the mountain (Deuteronomy 9:7-21). And they continued to sin against the Lord for centuries breaking His covenant until He sent them out of the land in judgment--Judah last (2 Chronicles 36:15-23).

In the midst of judgment, the Lord announced through Jeremiah the prophet that in future days He would ‘“make a new covenant’” with Israel that would not be like the one in key provisions He made previously with their fathers which they had broken. God’s offer of Himself to be their God from the Old remains in the New Covenant but He would do something supernatural to enable the people to obey if they would as their part. He says, ‘“I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts and I will be their God, and they shall be My people,’” (Jeremiah 31:31-33, NKJV). So pervasive would be God’s inner work in each heart, no one would need to be urged to know the Lord on an intimate basis and He would forgive (remove rather than just cover) their sins (Jeremiah 31:34).

Hallelujah! The New Covenant like the New Year has come, inaugurated through the blood Jesus the Jewish Messiah shed on the cross in the first century AD we who believe in Him mark in Communion (1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Hebrews 9:16-22)! The Old Covenant established the Levitical priesthood to intercede for the covering of the people’s sins once per year. However, the Lord Jesus is God’s appointed eternal High Priest of the New Covenant who has offered Himself once and for all to obtain forgiveness and blessings for the saints of old as well as mortal men that believe in Him now (Hebrews 7:1-9:15, 9:23-10:18). Forgiveness and cleansing through confession and repentance is only a prayer away at all times (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 1:1-2:2)!

Of the superior promises too in God’s New Covenant through Christ is the spiritual new birth caused by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who puts God’s law into our minds and writes it on our hearts (John 1:12-13, 3:1-8, 14:15-26, 16:12-15; Romans 2:17-29, 8:1-30, 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3; Hebrews 10:19-25; 1 John 3:4-9). Even so, mortals that enter into God’s New Covenant can still break it as it was broken in the Old through unbelief driven willful disobedience without repentance or apostasy to their eternal destruction (Ezekiel 18:19-32; Hosea 8:1-8; Mark 8:34-38; Luke 12:4-12; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Hebrews 3:1-4:13, 6:1-12, 10:26-39). God’s foreknown elect stand by persevering faith in Christ to the end (Matthew 22:1-14; Hebrews 11:1-12:2, NKJV)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, “Who is on the Lord's side?”

Tagged With: God's superior New Covenant Through Christ

Strong Man Of God Blog

Robert Kelley's weekly instruction, observations and reflections inspired by the Lord posted each Sunday night.

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