I Corinthians 1:22 ""For the Jews require a sign, (and we’ll be looking at that in a future section on Hebrews chapter 2. Oh, they were always saying, "show us a sign." And Christ did with wonders and miracles, but the Greeks on the other hand didn’t care about signs, and miracles, all they wanted was what?) and the Greeks seek after wisdom:"(Mans intellectualism and high degrees or doctorates) But for us God satisfies both sides of the coin, as He gives us the power of God, and the wisdom! He also gives us the robe of righteousness and the full armor to prepare us for that day of separation from Satan's power and influences. When we've learned the lessons for obedience which is what our first estate or as with Israel we're placed by God into the first covenant at our conversion. This as was its purpose for Israel is our training and learning to become dependent on the Holy Spirit who brings us through the first foundations of doctrine while under him as our tutor, the first oracles of God. These are to bring us to seeing our need for holiness and righteousness which the Law could not do or provide, it also by or through obedience reveals that for us to gain holiness and righteousness we've got to die. To become as dead to the worlds influence and our self-will or self life of sin and death.
Hebrews 2:3 "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, (that is by the Son, the One we’re emphasizing here in these first two chapters) and was confirmed to us by them that heard Him:" How through the written word, the eye witness accounts and Paul's first hand knowledge given to him by the risen LORD!
Now we guess the best place to start is, "What do we mean by this Salvation which was first spoken by the Lord Himself?" So turn back to Matthew, and we’ll go into His earthy ministry again. The Bible is a progressive revelation of Christ from cover to cover He is the central theme. They didn’t have everything back there in Genesis, and the prophets still didn’t know it all, though they did see a glimpse of the things to come. The Twelve didn’t get a grasp of it all, because it was a progressive thing and God had placed a veil over their eyes and ears, as He has done to all the worldly and those who don't seek or search the scripture for themselves. Remember that the Lord's name in Hebrew, EHYEH literally means (Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 44:6) the ever revealing one or the communicator, but even this is still undecided among religious leaders.
So as we progress on up through human history, and we come up through the Scriptures, then we finally come to this place where the Apostle Paul becomes the number one player on the stage, and he reveals how that all of these things were coming to the place where Redemption and Salvation could now go to the whole human race. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by trusting/faith in what Christ accomplished in His death, burial, and resurrection and ascension. Alright, but we’re not there yet in Christ’s earthly ministry, He’s still in the Kingdom economy offered to the Hebrews, so come back to Matthew chapter 4, and let’s just drop in at verse 17.
Matthew 4:17 "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Well, what was He talking about? He had come to them to present Himself to the Hebrews as their Messiah, their Redeemer, and their King. Now where do we get all that. Well let’s go all the way back to Genesis, even though we're sure Paul is making the original reference to the Lord’s earthly ministry there in Hebrews 2:3, but yet we think we can take the opportunity to go all the way back to when it all began in Genesis chapter 3, where we have the first prophetic utterance concerning the coming of a Redeemer and Saviour for the whole human race.
Genesis 3:15, a verse that most of us know forward and backwards, and this is just after the fall of mankind. Adam and Eve have just eaten of the tree, prompted, of course, by the adversary, the old tempter, the Devil himself. So God is dealing with Satan, and He’s making him a promise. A promise that He fulfilled when He finished the work of the cross and the resurrection. So God says:
Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your seed (the forces of Satan, and his whole demonic system of power. It would be an enmity between that) and her seed; (or the Seed of the woman, this seed is the secret of God that Christ's seed is in all humanity held as a grain until the Light strikes it, and we know from Galatians chapter 3, that the Seed of the woman was Christ. And He came through the woman, she was the vehicle) it (the Seed of the woman, Christ, the incorruptible seed spoken into and received by Mary, as we'll see shortly as “a body prepared for Him”) shall bruise your head, (that’s where you defeat a snake, you kill it at it’s head. So that’s where we struck Satan his death blow at the cross in the Lord, but Satan got in his lick by making Jesus Christ suffer) and you shall bruise his heel."(the piercing of Jesus' feet on the tree/cross, this is to also be done as referenced as the footstool and the enemies of the cross of Christ)
The promises and Abrahamic Covenant are so fundamental to this great Salvation. Now verse 1 of Genesis chapter 12, and remember this is half way between Adam and Christ’s first advent:
Genesis 12:1 "Now the LORD had said to Abram, Get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you: (which of course will be the land of Canaan. This promised land is Christ and his abundant Grace.) 2. And I will make of you a great nation (called Israel), and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing: 3. And I will bless them that bless you, and curse them that curses you: (now here comes the promise on which our Redemption and Salvation rests) and in you (Abraham) shall all families of the earth be blessed." This posses a great problem to all who follow the priesthood of Aaron's order an external religion based on works and a earthy or practical trust, a system from which this outline was taken. Point of note, how do we bless Abraham? Do we bless the nation of Israel or Abraham? Abraham. When God sees our obedience as that which was accredited to Abraham we have blessed Abraham by our trusting God just as he did. And it was counted to him as God's righteousness. How? When he turned his back toward his small world and fathers house and left it all behind him. He listened to God's voice and did as he was directed.
Abraham (Abram lived under the conviction of conscience, the restrainer the Holy Spirit, human government, and promise, in God's economy) had to wait a long time before he even got his first son, and how can we get a nation until you have a son? But from that one son, Isaac, there came another generation with one son, Jacob (remember that Esau was not counted as a son because he sold his birth right), then finally Jacob has the twelve sons, and the twelve sons and their families end up down in Egypt. Then, after the hundreds of years in Egypt, God raises up the next great character in Scripture, in Moses the deliverer. Note Moses' name in Egyptian means Mo or Mu which means water and shesh means to drawing out or rescue. A picture of Christ's redemption and salvation by drawing out or rescuing His people. And Moses leads the Nation of Israel out of bondage through the Red sea (a symbol of the worlds influence). And to the Nation of Israel, He now gives the Law.(The Hebrews now live under the conviction of conscience, the restrainer the Holy Spirit, human government, promise and now the Mosaic Law or Levitical Law in God's economy) The Mosaic Law was a whole idea of preparing that nation of people for the coming of a Redeemer. It was spiritual but they did not understand its purpose and goal. But according to the Abrahamic Covenant He was to be more than just a Redeemer, He was also to be a Messiah (Savor or one who brings salvation) and a King over an earthly Kingdom. Because the Hebrews were an earthy nation trusting concretely in the five senses because there were only a few who came to trusting/faith in God's word received in them by inspiration and revelation and acted upon what He revealed to them, as Abram and Moses did.
All of these things begin to snowball as we come up through human history, leading up to the day when Christ makes that initial appearance to the Nation of Israel, known as the last days or the day of the Lord. Now come back again to Matthew chapter 4, and we see He started His ministry crying:
Matthew 4:b "…Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Now come on over to chapter 9, and remember the basis for us doing this. "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord." Do you see where we're coming from? Alright then, how did the Lord come? By virtue of the promises made to woman, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets - and now here He is, and makes His appearance. All through the Old Testament Israel is told that they have broken God's Covenant with Him and what was to be its result? why death because of the curse which was upon it. Now let’s begin with verse 35, and this is the beginning of His earthly ministry to the Hebrews, as we call it.
No comments:
Post a Comment