When we read the Old Testament in comparison to the New Testament; we sometimes just don't get it. That's because, we really don't understand just how 'fallen' we are. God is Pure and Holy and we have fallen far from Him but not so far that He can't save us from the condition of this fallen world- sin and death. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ as a means 'the way' out.
The Old Testament was a way for God to communicate with man before He sent His Son. It was His way of revealing to us His ultimate battle plan (His Son - Jesus Christ) for redemption. To better imagine His battle plan, we first have to know that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and in that realization accept that God's timing is not our timing.
In the Old Testament, we read about generations of numerous wars and conflicts and many strange procedures for being clean whenever there was an unclean event/experience or circumstances which involved the shedding of blood - life.
That is why, when we read in the Old Testament about God's strict instructions, we should not be surprised. There were many things including places/people, that were embedded in sin and death. And, thus only God's battle plan and His strict disciplines with regard to all that and including who/what was clean and unclean, could deliver us into eternal life.
For instance, reading Joshua 8, we can even be shocked that the Lord commanded Joshua to kill all the people of Ai, or in Leviticus, where we read about all those disciplines or necessary practices for someone to become clean from being unclean; such 'cleansings' were reminders of the graveness of sin and death, a reminder of being outside the Presence of God and outside His Will for us...the greatest tragedy of all as devised by Satan.
The Ten Commandments given to Moses by God and all instructions for avoiding sin and death including those instructions for living a Christian life found in the New Testament, are meant to steer you/us away from sin and death, from becoming embedded in it. You see, those things named 'as sin' bring death. Its not about man's attempts to understand 'right from wrong'. Its about avoiding all sin (s) which leads to death; which causes us to be outside of the Presence of God.
God never intended for man to die or to live outside of Him in sin and death. He did not intend for us to die. His sole intention for us was always to live with Him and to live forever! We fell into sin and death. But, thanks be to God that He loved us so much that He sent His Son so that we may escape this looping cycle of sin and death in order that we live forever; by His stripes we are healed.
The Gospel, the New Testament, is God revealing His final battle plan. God enters in, God in the flesh is Jesus Christ, who was always meant to be our way out... God's final plan for us to overcome sin and death forever. Jesus (God) entered into this world and He went after sin and death on our behalf!
We no longer need the disciplines of the Old Testament; we have been redeemed through the birth of Jesus Christ, His death, burial and resurrection. That is what Jesus did for us. And, what we do for Him is to avoid sin and death by renewing our mind - repenting and giving thanks and praise!
Alive with Christ
Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus... Ephesians 2: 4-6.
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ReplyDeleteYou say, how can that be...sin and death are everywhere? You say, maybe its just how a person looks at it? Like the glass being half full or half empty. Sure, one could go through life in that way. I guess then that person would not see the changing seasons either or decaying food, or people getting old and sick and dying. Yes, as a believer in Christ and Resurrection, I see the seasons changing, I see food decaying and people getting sick or old and dying while at the same time, I see new foliage, new fruit and new persons coming into this world. Does that mean all we will ever have is this looping cycle; always having the good, bad and the ugly? What it means is that God has His plan for this fallen world. We read His plan in His Word, and we see it in this looping cycle; man's struggling and overcoming through the Holy Spirit ~ Immanuel "God with Us". Yes, even in the looping of this fallen world, we see the truth of His creation and the promise of its truer existence as it was created to be - pure/holy and eternal. We know its true because we can observe some of it here and now and so we want to be an eternal part of it. Yes, even in such a looping cycle of the fallen world, the truth of who we are is made known to us - eternally His! And, we want to stay in that truth eternally. God knows this, He wrote that truth on our hearts. He will bring His Kingdom here and this looping cycle (caused by Satan) will come to its end! For now, God knows that we battle with sin and death; but He never allows more than we can handle. Even if we stumble, He is there to give us strength as long as we repent and believe that He will come again and His Kingdom will be done!
ReplyDeleteOur God is a Living God and He wants Life for us Forever because He designed us for eternal life! The LORD is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King" ~ Jeremiah 10:10; He is not the God of the dead, but of the living ~ Mark 12:27; We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe ~ 1 Timothy 4:10.
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