Friday – April 1, 2016
It is Friday and time to honor and pray for the Churches across America or whatever country you live in. The Church is not the buildings in which The Church gathers but it is the anointed ones, the saints and faithful brethren. Of course we want the Churches in which we gather to be the most beautiful edifices in the area. Poverty has nothing to do with God. The Church pictured is the First United Methodist Church located in Cheyenne Wyoming. The congregation for this Church was established in 1867 and reportedly Wild Bill Hickok married Agnes Thatcher Lake in this building on March 5, 1876. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) Now back to our study.
Colossians 2:6-7 (KJV)
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
We will continue our discussion about how we received the Savior by faith and how we walk in Him by faith.
Ephesians 2:5-6 (KJV)
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
To be dead in sin means that our spirit man is dead and unable to hear or understand God. At salvation, we were quickened, we were made alive to God. Thank God we have all been given a measure of faith. Let’s take a look at this same passage in a different translation of the Bible (Holman Christian Standard Bible).
Ephesians 2:4-5 (HCSB)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us,
5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
One critical obligation under The Blood Covenant is the willingness to do for our covenant partner what they have done or are willing to do for us. You see Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son that he loved and even had the knife raised to accomplish that when stopped by the angel of the Lord (Genesis 22). Interestingly the number twenty-two is the Bible number for light. Who was the original light of the world?
John 9:5 (KJV)
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
And, since Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father who is the light of the world now?
Matthew 5:14 (KJV)
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
On the cross Jesus became sin, he did not sin, He took our sin and because of the law of sin and death His spirit man died. When the spirit man died the physical man soon followed. However the soul man, the mind of Christ was alive and uncorrupted. His faith in the Fathers love (that He would perform the Scripture) brought Him, Jesus, triumphantly out of Hell and with Him all of the Old Testament saints. Likewise when Justice, The Father, raised Jesus from not only the physical dead with an incorruptible body but the spiritual dead He, the Father, had to be willing to do the same for us, the ones for whom the Son died. Jesus died physically and spiritually so that we could also have a resurrection body and an eternal living spirit just like Him. This was all possible “by grace”. Grace is the Holy Spirit, He is the One who quickens or makes alive. He is the One who helped Jesus do what He did and He is the One who helps us every second of every day if we will be listen and obey. By The Grace of God we are accepted of the Father and made whole because of the Blood on the Mercy Seat of Heaven. Consider the following and we will pick up here next week.
Ephesians 2:6-8 (KJV)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Bold added)
By Pastor David R. Wood
