As He Was, Pt. 2 - The Mandate

"On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side.' Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him."
Mark 4:35-36

I am focusing on the words, "...as He was" from this passage recognizing that, in order to represent Him to the world, we must understand "how He was".

Today we focus on His role in restoring our mandate.

God set us in His beautiful creation with a mandate. It is found in Genesis, Chapter 1:28 “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue, and have dominion”. It was a mandate that expressed God’s heart in involving man in His conquest to fill the earth with His glory. God was counting on man to do his part. He trusted Adam to take the instruction he was given and to faithfully conduct himself.

Our authority to carry out this mandate was forfeited when, in the Garden, Adam submitted to the serpent ("You are slave to him whom you obey" - Romans 6:16).

The Old Testament laws were enacted to teach us about the need for redemption and to begin our way back to partnership with God. Blood became necessary. A precious and perfect sacrifice was necessary. One could only be made clean through an act or ritual conducted by a priest and a blood sacrifice declared to be perfect.

But the priests made it a business. They set themselves up to be the ones to benefit from the plan of God. THEY were the important ones. THEY were the holy ones.

Religion prospered. But the people lost sight of God. And, distant from their Creator, they lost sight of themselves and their purpose.

From Isaiah Chapter 1:

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” says the LORD.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.
When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
Your New Moons and your appointed feast my soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them."

Thankfully, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). For 33 years He walked in the flesh as our example. And then He fulfilled His role as Redeemer - the Perfect Sacrifice, once and for all. His blood was shed to provide access to God for every Believer, not just the privileged.

As Redeemer He bought us back. As Our Example He showed us what God is like and what WE can be like.

Our mandate is restored as we re-engage in His purpose, understanding the weight of the matter that God has set upon us.

Jesus is our example. He shows us the way. What He did - AS HE WAS - we can do AS HE IS, because the same Spirit lives in us.

More tomorrow.