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.

Our Sinless Life?

Paul, in the ninth chapter of his second letter to the church at Corinth, is reminding the Corinthian churches of a gift they had proposed for the believers in Jerusalem. He ends this reminder with the declaration: "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15).

His reference to God's grace and the gift of Christ as "indescribable" is a powerful reminder to us of what was done to release us from our weighty sin.

There is much theological debate on original sin and on the subject of whether or not a believer can/should/must live without sin. I don't intend to resolve that debate. If the theologians have been (for centuries!) struggling with the apparent contradictory scripture on this subject, I can only conclude that this debate, like a parable, will serve to cause us to dig deep and examine the matters of our own heart.

If we side with those who say that a sinless life is necessary for salvation, perhaps our hearts demand an accounting of others' actions as we stand in judgment. Clearly, Jesus cautioned against this (Luke 6:37). This could serve to shame us in our own faults or lead us to pride. Many seem to fall (publicly) because of this stance. However, if we favor an acceptance of sin in the life of a believer, we settle for a lower nature. This liberality is dangerous, too.

I bear witness to the writings of one of Jesus' dearest friends, the Apostle John, in his discussion on the matter (1 John 2). He, at once, recognizes the pursuit of holiness as good while acknowledging our Advocate in the case that we fail in the pursuit.

At any rate, our gift to Him of a sinless life (however possible!) can never compare to the "indescribable gift" of His Son to us.

What Do These Stones Mean to You?

When Israel crossed the Jordan under Joshua (Joshua 3) it was a significant landmark for the people of God.

To remind them of this event, God instructed Joshua to have one man from each tribe take a stone from the Jordan and bring it to where they were lodging, with the instruction,

"...when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:6b-7).

When they came up from the Jordan and the waters returned to where the ground had been dry, they set the stones in Gilgal as a memorial.

What have you "set" in your life as a memorial to the victories God has attained in and through you?

For years I carried a matchbox car in my pocket to remind me that He accepted me as His son.

Then I began carrying a leaf from a silk tree to remind me of how Zacchaeus came down from the tree, out of hiding, and that He had also called me by name.

In the noise, hurry and crowds of our life we must remember what God has done for us.

In Gilgal, speaking about this memorial, Joshua said to the people,

“When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; ²³ for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, ²⁴ that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” (Joshua 4:21b-24)

Set a memorial marker in your life today.

His Power Saves You

From Romans 1, "... I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes..." .

I love that the Gospel is the only message we are commissioned to preach (Mark 16:15).

It strips away the religion and the science and the suggestion that God haphazardly saved us as an adjunct event to His Creativity or Sovereignty.

The Gospel is THE POWER OF GOD TO SALVATION. Front and center. Main event. Center ring.

Our redemption is head-and-shoulders above any happening anytime anywhere.

Our redemption means we have a right place in Him. Not a second-level membership, but a fully-redeemed place in the plans and purposes of the Creator of the universe.

"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:10-11).

This is not ambiguous language. This is heavy stuff not meant to be misunderstood or watered down.

It means (among so many other things):
- we can know God,
- we can have a relationship with God,
- we are valuable to God,
- we have power and authority over our enemy,
- we have a purpose in the Divine Kingdom.

I hope that encourages you as much as it does me!

Have a POWER-FULL day!

One Goes Free

The principle of salvation is interwoven recurrent throughout the Bible as God established, through His Word and faithful men and women, the spiritual laws that would set us free.

There's a beautiful picture of redemption in the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 14.

It applies to the leper on his day of cleansing.

The priest is instructed to go outside the camp to seek the leper. The leper does nothing, which validates the leper's faith (Romans 4:4-5), accounting it for righteousness.

There are two birds prepared for sacrifice. One is killed in a vessel over running water (John 7:37-39), the other is dipped in the blood (Hebrews 9:22) and released (1 Corinthians 15:17).

Wood, scarlet and hyssop are used. We see these, again, at the cross.

One pays the price and the other goes free, signifying the sacrifice made by Christ and the release of the one covered by His blood. It also testifies to the Risen Christ in the life of the freed bird.

Our redemption is perfect and complete. Our freedom is confirmed by the Mediator of our new covenant (Hebrews 9:11-15). His life bought ours.