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Grace, Parenting, Uncategorized, Your Identity in Christ

Learning from the faith of children

“And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. But Jesus called for them, saying, ‘Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.’” (Lk 18.15-17)1

The acceptance Jesus offers to children promotes their simple potential faith in Him. Recall a child hanging on its mother’s hand. Ask, “Do I turn to Jesus Christ and our heavenly Father like that?”

A child trusts its parents, knowing a calm nearness and unity of engagement. Unlike most adults, a child’s mind is fully at peace in the moment when a loving mother or father engages with their child.

There are no stresses and fears entering the mind of a child because most young children are not worrying about their future. Nor are their memories of past regrets or harboured bitterness in the mind of a child, as most are not culpable of racking up traumatic memories of harm to or by others. Children are not generally focusing on the past, again free to experience the moment of parental unity.

I am hoping to be more like a child when I come into the moment with our Lord, to experience His presence with His Father, both who desire to dwell with us ongoingly. I know that only when my mind is practising the presence of God can His Spirit’s love, compassion, and kindness flow through me to those I connect with.

They will see Christ in us, and together with Him, we will make a difference in the lives of others that can impact their lives for eternity.

All stresses and fears enter our mind when we are thinking about the future. All regrets and bitterness come into our mind when you are focusing on the past.2 Mindfulness is lost and our faith life while living in Christ in the moment is distracted and lost in time. (see Mat 6:34)

Take a moment and think about how beautiful it is to see a child walking by the side of a parent with a small hand stretched up as high as it can go so his or her fragile fingers can lock onto the hand of Mom or Dad. The child’s feet scurry to keep up with the parent’s gait. In that scene is a picture of you, a child of God.

We are to metaphorically place our hands in his and walk with him at our side, letting him direct our steps. The humility, trust, and dependence of a child teach us to seek the face of our heavenly Father and stay close to him as we walk with him.3

1 New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
2 Scott, Steven K. (2015-12-15). Jesus Speaks: 365 Days of Guidance and Encouragement, Straight from the Words of Christ (p. 1). The Crown Publishing Group.
3 Life Application New Testament Commentary, Luke, Darrel L. Bock
Uncategorized

Lord, I will teach by using your Word alone

“Make them holy by your truth; teach them your Word, which is truth” (John 17:17 NLT)

Jesus is referred to as the express character of God, revealing His father’s love and His maxims expressed in His Word to mankind. He said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NIV) He came to reveal a new way of thinking about love, about grace, mercy, and forgiveness – a way of freedom from guilt and the eternal consequences of sin. Apostle John says that the Word of God is truth and is a standard to rely on. Jesus expressly prayed asking His Father to teach His apostles from the Scriptures alone: “…teach them your Word, which is truth” (John 17:17 NLT)

Holy Spirit, Sanctification: Living a Holy Life

The Pursuit of Overcoming sin

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2 ESV)

There is much evidence in the word of God that we are to overcome sin and live holy lives.

We can only achieve this with the indwelling light of the Holy Spirit; with the Spirit permeating our lives united as a church; as the pure Bride of Christ. The sanctification of the Spirit is the key process that brings the church “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2) to meet Jesus Christ face to face at His Second Advent.

Let’s look at ten scriptures presenting John’s teaching of “overcoming” in first John and then his prophecies imparted by Jesus to him for the church today in Revelation:

  1. 1 John 5:4
    “…for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith”
    1 John 5:3-5 (in Context) 1 John 5 (Whole Chapter)
  2. 1 John 5:5
    “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God”
    1 John 5:4-6 (in Context) 1 John 5 (Whole Chapter)
  3. Revelation 2:7
    “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God”
    Revelation 2:6-8 (in Context) Revelation 2 (Whole Chapter)
  4. Revelation 2:11
    “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death”
    Revelation 2:10-12 (in Context) Revelation 2 (Whole Chapter)
  5. Revelation 2:17
    “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it”
    Revelation 2:16-18 (in Context) Revelation 2 (Whole Chapter)
  6. Revelation 2:26
    “To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations”
    Revelation 2:25-27 (in Context) Revelation 2 (Whole Chapter)
  7. Revelation 3:5
    “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels”
    Revelation 3:4-6 (in Context) Revelation 3 (Whole Chapter)
  8. Revelation 3:12
    “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name”
    Revelation 3:11-13 (in Context) Revelation 3 (Whole Chapter)
  9. Revelation 3:21
    “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne”
    Revelation 3:20-22 (in Context) Revelation 3 (Whole Chapter)
  10. Revelation 21:7
    “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son”
    Revelation 21:6-8 (in Context) Revelation 21 (Whole Chapter)

To add insight to these “overcoming” scriptures symbolising holy living, let’s look at Pauls view in Romans chapter eight. He makes it clear that the church is made up of true believers engaged in this sanctification process who are freed from any condemnation through their faith in Christ, and the indwelling Holy Spirit is the guarantee of their salvation:

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 8:1-2)

“the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”  (Romans 8:4)

“if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Romans 8:13-14)

Only those who walk in the Spirit can possibly overcome sin and the world. They are the residents of the Holy City now called the New Jerusalem that John referred to in our scriptural list.

The metaphor of our prefacing verse indicates that the church is prepared as a Bride, prepared to meet and enter a long-term allegiance of loving transparent, honest oneness with Him. This is in contradistinction to the people walking in the flesh in the Old Jerusalem who turned their back on Him. In God’s plan, the old Jewish ways were going to be transformed anew into spiritual allegories depicting greater truths; an abiding relationship with Jesus (with His Father) in the Spirit (see the metaphor of  Abiding in the Vine, John 15)

Jesus reveals in Revelation that His angel is trying to inform us of this important message to allow His Spirit to indwell our hearts. Listen, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches” (Revelation 22:16).

Uncategorized

Poppa, God is Spirit, He wants to give us more Life

“His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:15b-16

I was to meet my daughter for the Kitchener, Christmas parade. The parade began, and she had not arrived with the children (held up at the doctor’s office). I got a call “I’m here, in the parking garage”! As I helped the grandkids out of the van, I was informed: “Santa Clause just passed by.”

Instead of the parade, I enjoyed a visit with my grandchildren for about an hour plus, alone. She conversed freely with me. Flipping through a little Bible, she noted the word love in 1 Corinthians 13. “I know this word, love”. She began to tell me about the Spirit of God, His love and His desire that we have more Life.

Next, she headed for my Bible with many inquiries. Flipping it open she said, “did you do this?” as she perused my underlining in the Word. “Why?” was the next question. I pondered, wow, Jesus must be akin to the Grandfather with His own grandchildren. I praised Him over my grandgirl silently, considering what Jesus said, “Except my Father invites, no one can come unto me” (John 6:65 my version) And we talked, further.

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Christians are commanded to be happy

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Phil 4:4 ESV)

Media can overwhelm if we believe that we must follow every rabbit down its hole. Most of us have packed schedules. We may worry about deadlines, find it hard to sleep or get enough exercise. Moreover, we may not be happy, and thus incapable of rejoicing in the Lord at all times.

Augustine wrote in the fifth century, “Every man, whatsoever his condition, desires to be happy.” Blaise Pascal, a Christian, French philosopher, and mathematician wrote, “All men seek happiness. This is without exception”. Theologian, J. C. Ryle said, “All men naturally hunger and thirst after happiness.”

We don’t have a choice. Scripture commands us, not just invites us to rejoice. The need and the desire for happiness, designed by God, is built into the GPS of our mind, but many have lost a sensitive ear to hear God calling into our heart. We are tempted to follow many drummers down every path.

Daily we are bombarded with facts, pseudo-facts, fake news, and if you watch TV you’ve just added a myriad of talking heads! Daniel Levitin, the author of The Organized Mind, noted:

According to a 2011 study, on a typical day, we take in the equivalent of about 174 newspapers’ worth of information, five times as much as we did in 1986. As the world’s 21,274 television stations produce some 85,000 hours of original programming every day (by 2003 figures), we watch an average of five hours of television per day.

Are we making it increasingly difficult to hear God’s call to be happy, to rejoice, to praise Him for what he has done and for what he gives us? Many Christians are highly disciplined. They exercise regularly, take time for relationships they value, cultivate kindness and reach out to help others, some exercise their talents and get into the flow of playing an instrument, playing golf, skiing or teaching.

For many Christians, “being happy yields an uneasy guilt. Being holy is something we can do in God’s presence one day a week, but being happy is something we’re more comfortable doing behind his back (which isn’t possible)” 1  Yet Scripture teaches us to be happy before the LORD: “You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters”. (Deuteronomy 12: 12). “May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!” (Psalm 40: 16, NET)

The Bible is full of guidance to bring us to the realization that we may have lost our joy in our relationship with the Lord. In fact over 2,700 verses in the Bible contain words such as joy, happiness, gladness, merriment, pleasure, cheer, laughter, delight, jubilation, feasting, exultation, and celebration. “God makes it clear that seeking happiness through sin is wrong and fruitless. But seeking happiness in him is good and right” 2

In the Old Testament, we find “Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD!” (Deuteronomy 33: 29) In the New Covenant Jesus said: “Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven” (Matthew 5: 12, CEV)

Further, Jesus taught why happiness makes total sense: “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10: 20). We need to consider that we may be disobeying this simple command to be happy, thinking that we do not deserve any joy. Faith in the Lord, as well as the happiness it brings comes from hearing the Word, not scanning Facebook, watching TV, or allowing our minds to switch to the sources of information that destroy our peace.

If you are not experiencing happiness in the Lord, you may be missing the abundant life Jesus came to give. Jesus made it very clear that there are other powers at work in the world that work to steal your joy: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”. (John 10:10)

I believe our happiness, when radiated is a great witness for the Lord. I agree with Randy Acorn: “Consistently seeking our happiness in Jesus shouts to everyone that God is present and working in the world and that he’ll one day reign over a new universe.” 3  “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24)

1 Alcorn, Randy. God’s Promise of Happiness (pp. 2-3). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

2 ibid

3 Ibid

Discernment and Thinking, Uncategorized, Your Identity in Christ

The divine maxim of fathers and sons

“…that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him”. (John 5:23)

shutterstock_59336677

God had impressed me to write about his Sovereign design of the father/son, about inter-relating in loving unity, which I had seen so clearly in the Gospel with the divine Father and Son. It was a very emotional subject because my son had just spent a week visiting from British Columbia. I often think about being closer to my son, through joint business for example.

Nathan and I did a lot of travel together. He slugged my cameras as I explored ruins doing art photography. He also directed my itinerary. During this time of travel Nathan was moving out of his youth into manhood. I also wanted him to experience history, art, and culture.

We traveled to the many ancient ruins of Italy and France once a quarter for one or more weeks, to photograph ruins and primary historical sites. I also found myself studying the photographic potential of the abstractions of modern architecture and oddities in urban and city settings. Old ruins in ancient settings interested me the most.

There is a theological connection with ruins. As a biblical teacher/writer I am very keen about naming the Old Covenant as a period of ruined hope, now focusing on the beauty of the distinctiveness of the New Covenant as taught by Jesus Christ.

In my traveling heyday, I was a much more complicated man. Now I de-access materialism, craving more time with my children and grandchildren. My daughter Christin has commented lovingly and frequently in our best moments, “Dad, you’ve changed” during which time I proudly see my little girl all grown up.

God was working in several ways to lead me. I was simultaneously led by the Spirit in another parallel project. Going over 40 years of photography, I thought “What could a ruin represent as a shadow-type of my life?” Perhaps, metaphoric milestones, representations of a progression or regression of my spiritual life-view over time could give me distinctive wisdom.

Now 62, looking over subjects I photographed. I reassessed my values, the scope of my personal growth, noting blind spots, revelations, foolish hindrances to vision, deafness to God’s voice, avoiding mindfulness in any present reality, and the glorious truths, as well as the dark side of my life’s journey.

Unearthing our distant past is hard work Similar to the ruins of Rome or Pompeii or Greece, my photographic images, in my mind’s eye, could never model a ruin to testify to my past terrifying ruin — the dissolution of familial love in my childhood family as the eldest of five siblings. My mother called on me as a boy, saying fraught with fear, I can hear her now: “you are now the man of the family.”

This would present to me a very serious loss to my psyche, my father, whom mother distanced us from.

Ruins depict the unknowableness of place and time. In a photo, it hides a different and disconnected past as hidden as my own (psychologists call this repression). It is looking back, a seeking for something, perhaps a reconstruction of a time that once was real. Freud wrote of ruins:

Imagine that an explorer arrives in a little-known region where his interest is aroused by an expanse of ruins…when they have been deciphered and translated, yield undreamed-of information about the events of the remote past, to commemorate which the monuments were built.

Ruins persist in the disorder of time, now to return as a metaphor for my very own past. My childhood family fell into ruination. Like the photographed ruins of Mars Hill during my trip to Athens, Greece, a time and place which resisted repression, thanks to the Apostle Paul’s preaching of the Gospel, ruins helped reactivate the repressed foes of my psyche with the help of the Holy Spirit leading.

Two writing projects coincided. It became clear to me that while dealing with my metaphoric journey, the present truth about Father and Son became powerfully activated. Nathan had recently told his friend in my presence about our last Italian dinner together after traveling to Rome, then Florence, and finally in Venice together. I listened. My mind was now very present in the conversation, and this past recalled the moment, though it was God working with my quest to understand more about my soul. Love, via the Spirit of God, flowed into my heart as I looked at Nathan before me, now twice the age of that evening’s memorable meal together. It was a kind of the last supper with him as our trip came to a close.

The reality of that unity with my son brought me resounding echoes of joy. Jesus prayed for His disciples before the cross. “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11)

The assessment of my photography of ruins coincided with recalling my son’s visit, bringing me to a revelation of the divine nature of father/son unity: “one as we are one.” I began to understand the relationship that Jesus would have me enjoy with the heavenly Father, unity, and the oneness that time with Nathan echoed.

New Covenant

The Church is a Royal Priesthood

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9 ESV)

The apostle Peter emphasized how the church is the antitype of Israel’s priesthood, through Jesus in 1 Peter 2:4–10, called to proclaim His grace, and His mercy for saving us from sin and the world.

As I ponder the New Covenant (NC), I see a distinctly different agreement with God, radically new in contrast to what He had with old Israel who failed to glorify God and proclaim His glory to the world. This covenant relationship now passes to the Christian church. The NC extrapolates –transitions from being gifted to old Israel to being gifted to the church as the heirs in Christ.

The identity of the church presents as the new Israel through Christ. Jesus, the resurrected Messiah, is the “living stone” and the cornerstone laid in Zion (Ps 118:22; Isa 28:16). Those conjoined to Him are “living stones” and are being built up as God’s true (antitypical) temple, serving as priests and offering spiritual sacrifices (1 Pet 2:5; cf. Eph 2:20–22).

All believers have their identity in Christ 

The church is the fulfillment of Israel only in Christ. It defines itself as the true/antitypical Israel (1 Cor 12:12–13; Gal 3:26–29). All the promises and the inheritance is theirs through him (Rom 4:12–17; 2 Cor 6:16–7:1; Eph 1:11–23; Heb 9:15), as God’s adopted sons (Rom 8:15–17; Gal 4:4–7). In Christ, the connection to Abraham, His ancestor, and the promises given to the patriarch about the many nations now transpose to the Christian (Gal 3:29).

Jesus is the antitype of OT Israel. His disciples are the true (antitypical) circumcision – hearts being inwardly right with God —  true Jews (Phil 3:3; Col 2:11, Rom 2:28–29), and Abraham’s true seed (Rom 4:16–18; Gal 3:7–9). It is evident that true Jewish Christians cannot be recipients of the conditional Old Covenant/Testament (OC) nationalistic promises apart from Gentile Christians in a future millennial stage. Dispensationalism erroneously believes Israel and the church are at arms-length — separate, implying that there are two peoples of God, both separately given two distinct plans — one more physically and geographically rooted for Israel and another metaphorically as antitype for the church further separated with time-gaps.

The logic of the NC in Paul’s and John’s writing, and Peter’s epistles (he recognized Paul’s epistles as Scripture in 2 Peter 3:15,16) unpack the NC as offered conditional on believing in Jesus Christ. When we see Paul and Peter teaching that the NC transitions us out of this dispensationalist dichotomy1 of two plans, we are free to see the church as under one Headship, Jesus Christ in the new creation with all things made new — restricting Israel’s OC mind-view in Christ.

As well we cannot collapse the church into Israel dependent upon how one puts the covenants together and interprets the many titles and designations of Israel. These are shadow-types now directly applied to the church in the NC metaphorically in Christ, blowing apart and unbinding the shadow-types of the OC versus the NC’s new way — the antitypes presenting in reality, albeit metaphorically in the NC.

The Temple in Jerusalem is no longer the center of God’s purposes within old Israel. In the NC, it is the church of Jesus Christ, composed of believers who now together with Him constitute the temple of God.

Now unified with Christ, God’s believers, as the new temple of God, take on Israel’s identity made up of God’s priests who communicate God’s glory to the nations mediating God’s blessings in the world.

Peter clearly depicts the church as God’s chosen race, a royal priesthood, holy nation, special possession, and constituted people accomplished through His amazing mercy (1 Pet 2:9–10,5). Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3:3-6 NLT also makes this clear that the NC plan was a secret (or mystery in the NASB) now revealed in Christ extending Israel’s inheritance from and now to the entire world (Gentiles).

Transitioning from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant

Israel’s constitutional texts are extrapolated into a new language for the church by the apostles from Israel’s old language noted in Exodus 19:6 NASB; Isaiah 43:20–21 NASB; Hosea 2:23 NASB; 1:9-11.

Israel was established as God’s people following the exodus exhibiting the divine goal of that OC relationship which was conditional on obeying God’s covenant. Only then would it be known as God’s treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. History reveals that Israel did not obey in many ways over the ancient centuries, and killed their prophets and eventually their own Messiah.

Peter applies these designations to the church conditional on believing in Christ for covenant relationship. The church embodies the people of the new exodus coming out of the world and its unbelief. Further, he emphasizes the priestly role of the use of blood, now seen in the NC as the redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ (compare 1 Pet 1:2 NASB; Exod 24:6–8 NASB)

Regardless of ethnic background, we can see the church as redeemed from the world of disobedience to Yahweh (God the Father) — due to His unmet conditions spelled out in the OC. The church is now the true (antitypical) race that God redeemed through the Passover lamb of the greater exodus (1 Pet 1:19 NASB; Isa 53:7 NASB; 1 Pet 1:2 NASB; Exod 24:6–8 NASB).

Peter transpositions from the privileges belonging to Israel as now belonging to Christ’s church – not to replace Israel, but to fulfill the promises made to Israel – conjoined to include all Jews and Gentiles who belong to Christ as now part of the new people of God. He identifies the church as a singular holy nation (1 Pet 2:9). The church evolved progressively from the OC nation of Israel pointing forward to a singular, multi-ethnic nation of the redeemed—the church—overcoming the world by obedience to Christ—unified from every nation on earth as seen in Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 21; 22-26.

The ‘nations’ and their kings who enter the gates of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21: 24–26 quoted above, are identified by John in Rev 22:14 with those ‘who wash their robes’ and thereby are rewarded the rights of obedience, ‘the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.’ Conversely, it is a very serious and solemn fact that the church is contrasted with the faithless that are designated for eternal destruction (Rev 21:8; 20:15).

Continuing to be faithful to our original commitment to Jesus Christ and his saving work, consummates in the view of Revelation 21–22 depicting the city of God wherein the people with Jesus and God are unified as One (see John 17).

1 I am indebted to Dr. Stephen J. Wellum, whom I met in a convention on the NC in Pennsylvania a few years back. He is the editor of a new book, Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course between Dispensational and Covenantal. B&H Publishing Group. He has helped me see Dispensationalism in the NC Light.

Uncategorized

Jesus reformed the Old Covenant

“…blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear” (Matthew 13:16)

Post 1: New Covenant Series

The Metaphor of Willful, or of Obstinate Perception

God used metaphors throughout the old and new covenant periods, to unlock the mystery of Israel’s rejection or acceptance of Jesus their Messiah and obedience to Yahweh’s — God the Father’s — will and covenants.

Ears to hear must love to hear from God Two of the key metaphors used throughout scripture are 1. “You have eyes to see but cannot see”; and 2. “You have ears to hear but cannot hear”. Both describe a mental attitude of rebellion and obstinacy, an act of the will, of shutting off one’s intellectual reasoning capacity to perceive the truth, versus allowing the opening of the mind to an honest perception of the Holy Spirit’s guidance. This was a prevailing attitude among the educated leaders of Christ’ day. It is also an attitude that we find today — a difficulty seeing the that the New Covenant in Christ, is in fact, new and different from the Old Covenant.

When Stephen opened up the scriptures as he was on trial for his faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the Jews rather than hearing the new covenant viewpoint about Jesus as noted in Acts 7:57, “cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him” to stone him. Stephen went back to the roots of the promises made to Abraham, their forefather, saying: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father, Abraham…” Try to get a visual of this as the narrative gets interrupted with a mad crowd, furious, and holding their ears in contempt with an attempt to not hear the truths that Stephen eloquently preached. With boldness, he stood trial and referenced this metaphor of Scripture: “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you” (v 51). Thus we see that the symbol of ear-stopping is contempt for truth coming directly from God, the Holy Spirit.

Alas, “Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’”. (vs 54-56) Consider how you might turn God off when he is trying to bring a message to you, to restore you and bring you into a relationship with Him.

As Jesus confronted Israel’s spiritual leaders and priests, He made it clear that the majority of them were not seeing what the Old Testament scriptures indicated about their coming Messiah. For this reason, His unfolding a new revelatory conception of how God would now relate to them was unwelcome. (see John 9:41) He further said to His disciples privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see”( see Luke 10:23; Matt 13:14-15) Antithetical to his view of his faithful disciples, he quoted Isaiah regarding the impudent spiritual leadership of his day who fought against and ignored His Word:

“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.” (Matt 13:14-15)

After His resurrection, John indicated that Jesus recommends that His church allows Him to reform their ways that they may see in Rev 3:18.

Peter’s opening words at Pentecost draw on new covenant themes, such as the forgiveness of sins and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) to lead the people, superior to the unfaithful leadership of the Jewish priesthood.

Paul, after accepting Jesus, after he had persecuted Stephen and had many Christians killed, he incorporated these ideas in his writings and states that the new covenant forms the core of his ministry (2 Cor 3:6). There is a language about the “washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (see Titus 3:5) He reflects the concept of the awakening shift away from legalism to a new arrangement with God that would ruin the reputation of the current priestly work and the status of the priests. Via the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the people would move away from the priestly leadership of the Jews to hear from God directly.

This also provides the background for Paul’s comments about the resurrection of those who are dead to sin (Rom 6:5–11; Eph 2:1–10). In Acts 28:21-29 Paul explained the scriptures about Jesus to the Jews, the most of whom left without understanding or believing. Paul clearly stated that the Jews did not care to understand the Gospel message in Rom 11:8.

Faith can only come by the honest hearing of the Word of God which occurs by reading the Bible and listening to those who minister the Word of God. When reading the Gospels, you will find Jesus remapping the Jewish religion as He introduces the New Covenant way of life – totally different than what old Israel had ever known. It was a way of living according to the precepts of love for God and man and allowing followers of God to have the entire freedom to choose to act in accord with the new covenant with respect to Christ’s redemption of their souls from eternal death.

The Old and New Covenant Distinctions