Scriptures: Lev.4; Gal.4:1-7; Luke 2
Greetings “Fan”-tastic Passengers,
Now that the Christmas season is fast approaching, many people are busy shopping and searching, for the best gift, for that special someone who they love. All this effort in trying to secure the right gift, is due to the fact that, when you give a gift to someone, in addition, to saying to them, “I love you” that gift conveys an immense amount of joy and peace to the receiver’s heart. Accordingly, on the first Christmas, when God thought of giving a gift to humanity, He gave us “The ultimate CHRIST-mas Gift,” wrapped up in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Substitute, Redeemer and the one who adopts us into His family.
Why did Mankind need a Redeemer?
Jesus Christ was, “made under the law” to become humanity’s “Substitute” for sin. Humanity failed at keeping God’s law, therefore, in our place, Jesus Christ:
Scripture in Hebrews 13:12b explains that, as He was crucified on the cross at Calvary, Jesus: “…suffered without the gate.” This is in accordance with the Levitical law, where the bodies of the animals which were sacrificed for sin, were afterwards burned outside the camp, indicating that the substitute became unclean, as the bearer of the people’s sins. Therefore, Jesus Christ, whom God, “…hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” also, “…suffered without the gate” of Jerusalem (Isa.53:12; Matt.27:32-56; Luke 23:26-43; John 19). This symbolized not only the reproach and the curse which He bore as the sin-bearer for humanity, but this was also a striking example of His humiliation, which He endured, at the hands of the Jewish religious establishments and its leaders (Psa.69:7-9; Isa.53; 2 Cor.5:21; Rom.15:3; Heb.13:14)
Redemption:
While we were living under the law, as servants, we dwelt in the compounds belonging to our master. Nevertheless, when Jesus Christ came and paid the price, or the ransom and purchased our redemption, we were set free from the master’s dwelling and, therefore, needed a new home in which to live. In order for us not to be “left out in the cold” so to speak, Jesus Christ adopts us as sons/daughters, into the family of God and the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:19 explains our new residency by saying: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God”:
We receive the adoption of sons
Many thanks for your continued support, in purchasing my music. If you have already purchased yours, you may also wish to consider purchasing music to bless the life of someone else. Joy Creed album/s or track/s, may be purchased at any of the following:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/joycreed
www.joycreed.com/audiocd
https://www.reverbnation.com/joycreed
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/yadah-single/id52179152
Your Conductor,
Joy
©Creed's Melody
'Positive Message: Diverse Cultures'
Website: http://www.joycreed.com
Blog: (http://joycreed.blogspot.ca/)
Facebook: http://facebook.com/joy.creed
Twitter: http://twitter.com/joycreedmusic
Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiN68R6Qo5g
ReverbNation: http://reverbnation.com/joycreed
Greetings “Fan”-tastic Passengers,
Now that the Christmas season is fast approaching, many people are busy shopping and searching, for the best gift, for that special someone who they love. All this effort in trying to secure the right gift, is due to the fact that, when you give a gift to someone, in addition, to saying to them, “I love you” that gift conveys an immense amount of joy and peace to the receiver’s heart. Accordingly, on the first Christmas, when God thought of giving a gift to humanity, He gave us “The ultimate CHRIST-mas Gift,” wrapped up in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Substitute, Redeemer and the one who adopts us into His family.
Why did Mankind need a Redeemer?
- In the Garden of Eden, when man fell and sin entered the world.It was here that the Lord began to reveal His plan for our salvation (Gen.3; John 8:33, 44; 1 John 3:8)
- In Genesis 12 we learn how God chose to establish His plan of redemption, through Abraham and his family
- Through His servant Moses, God provided the written law, in order for the people to lead holy lives, which were pleasing to Him (Exod.20)
- As a result of Israel’s failure to keep the law and refusal to listen to and obey God, they had seasons in their history, which were filled with wars because of their unfaithfulness to God
- In addition, during the period of the Judges, the Scripture says of Israel’s condition that:“In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25)
- The nation met with division, with the northern Kingdom keeping their name as Israel and the Southern Kingdom, adopting the name Judah.The people, however, were prone to idolatry, even though many of God’s prophets warned them of impending judgment, due to their disobedience to keeping God’s law
- Both the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, were defeated by their enemies and were scattered among the nations.This gave the Assyrians the opportunity to attack and destroy the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C, and the Babylonians overthrew Jerusalem approximately 585 B.C.
- This defeat lead to seventy years of Babylonian captivity by the people of Judah. It was during this time of sifting and sanding by their adversaries, that the Jews renewed their commitment to God and they were finally purged from idolatry.As they began to look to God for deliverance, with a renewed faith, the people formed study centres, which were known as synagogues, in the various communities of Jewish existence.During this time, as well, the Hebrew Bible, otherwise known as the Old Testament, was established and preserved.In God’s time, the Persians arose and defeated the Babylonians and the Jews were now allowed to return to Jerusalem
- Alexander the Great enlisted soldiers from the nations which he conquered and they quickly learned his dialect and culture.Ultimately, Greek was soon the language of commerce, medicine, and philosophy in the known world
- During this time period, a team of 70 Jewish scholars completed a work known as the Septuagint. Later, the Romans swept through the Greek empire, establishing a general peace and paving the roads, making travel less cumbersome for everyone
- Notwithstanding, when the time which was set by God the Father, to introduce Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, to the world, on the first Christmas, Scripture in Galatians 4:4-5 tells us that: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
- Jesus Christ, willingly left the splendours of heaven, came to earth and, “…made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Phil.2:5-11). He was fully man and fully God, while He was on earth
- He was born of a virgin (Luke 2:4-7)
- Jesus did not inherit humanity's sin nature, which comes from the blood of the earthly father.The Scripture explains that, His mother, Mary was, “…found with child of the Holy Ghost” and not by Joseph (Matt.1:18)
- Jesus kept the law of Moses which was given at Mount Sinai and proved himself to be perfectly sinless (Rom.5)
Jesus Christ was, “made under the law” to become humanity’s “Substitute” for sin. Humanity failed at keeping God’s law, therefore, in our place, Jesus Christ:
- In love and obedience to the Father, He perfectly kept the law and prophets, that is the entire Old Testament, on behalf of humanity, so that we can be made the righteousness of God in Him (Exod.20; Rom.3; 13:6-10; 1 Cor.13; 2 Cor.5:21; James 2:10)
- Demonstrated to His disciples and us, how to, follow His example and to live in obedience to the law of God, while living under the New Covenant, in the dispensation of grace.He taught the disciples that love, fulfills the law of God because it sums up God’s commandments and motivates one to obey them.Love, He explains, does not dissolve the Old Testament law, which was given at Mount Sinai, as God’s norms for conduct and holy living.On the contrary, love, illuminates and deepens them (Exod.20; Matt.22:36:40; Rom.8:4; 13:8-10; 1 Cor.13)
- Scripture in Leviticus 4 demonstrates how sin and uncleanness made a person unfit to be in God’s presence and also how it polluted the sanctuary, which made it impossible for God to dwell among the people. Consequently, under the Levitical law, the sin offering was designed to cope with this aspect of sin, by purifying both the sinner, as well as the sanctuary
- The distinctive feature of the sin offering, is the use to which the sacrificial blood of the innocent animal is put. In other sacrifices, the animal’s blood is splashed over the side of the altar, but in the case of the sin offering it could be applied to the horned corners of the altar, or sprinkled inside the tabernacle tent (on the incense altar or veil), or even inside the Most Holy Place
- Because the tabernacle and its furniture were closely associated with the people who met God there, the people’s sin defiled the tabernacle as well as themselves. Such pollution required cleansing (Heb.9:22)
- The Apostle Paul tells us in Scripture in 2 Cor.5:21 how God imputed our sin to Jesus Christ, as He became the ultimate Substitute and “Sin Offering” for all humanity.God who is holy, righteous and just, sits on His throne, as the Righteous Judge, judging righteously, and saw that:“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa.53:6; 1 Pet.2:24). Consequently, the Scripture says:“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin…” (2 Cor.5:21a; Heb.4:15)
- Not only did God impute our sin to Jesus Christ but He also imputed Christ’s perfect righteousness to us, so
- Scripture in Hebrews 13:12a explains that: “Wherefore Jesus also…sanctify the people with his own blood…” the blood of the sacrificed animals, which was brought into the Most Holy Place, declared that, only through the death of a blameless substitute, could anyone be sanctified and forgiven of their sins, in order to approach the holy God.Now, Jesus Christ, in fulfilling the requirements of the law and bearing the sin of the entire human race, “By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” and“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Isa.53:5; Eph.1:7; Col.1:14-24; Heb.9:12; 13:12a; 1 Pet.1:18-20).
- Just as the veil of the temple in Jerusalem was torn, when Jesus was crucified on the cross, to open the way into the Most Holy Place, even so, the body of Jesus Christ was torn on the cross at Calvary, so that His blood might be shed, in order to open the way into the Heavenly Sanctuary (Heb.6:19; 9:3; Matt.27:51). Hallelujah!
Scripture in Hebrews 13:12b explains that, as He was crucified on the cross at Calvary, Jesus: “…suffered without the gate.” This is in accordance with the Levitical law, where the bodies of the animals which were sacrificed for sin, were afterwards burned outside the camp, indicating that the substitute became unclean, as the bearer of the people’s sins. Therefore, Jesus Christ, whom God, “…hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” also, “…suffered without the gate” of Jerusalem (Isa.53:12; Matt.27:32-56; Luke 23:26-43; John 19). This symbolized not only the reproach and the curse which He bore as the sin-bearer for humanity, but this was also a striking example of His humiliation, which He endured, at the hands of the Jewish religious establishments and its leaders (Psa.69:7-9; Isa.53; 2 Cor.5:21; Rom.15:3; Heb.13:14)
- Today, every sinner who needs forgiveness of sins, must, by faith, come before God, with a broken and contrite heart in true repentance; and put their hand, as it were, on Christ's head; and confess all their sins.The sin will be no longer theirs because it is put on Jesus Christ, the “spotless” and “blameless” Lamb of God, who is their “Substitute” and “Sin Bearer.”Jesus Christ was crucified upon the cross, bore our sin, guilt and endure the shame, so that when we come to Him in true repentance, for forgiveness, we can say like the Psalmist:“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us”
Redemption:
- In order to, “redeem them that were under the law” a payment had to be made for mankind’s debt load of sin, in order to purchase our redemption
- The idea of redemption is derived from the ancient institution of slavery. It was customary in both the Jewish and Greco-Roman worlds that a slave could buy his freedom, or someone else could buy it for him, by paying a redemption price to his owners
- Consequently, when the appointed time, which was set by God the Father, came due, He Son, Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, to be our Redeemer, as He would:“… give his life a ransom for many.” Jesus paid the price with His precious blood, to redeem mankind (Matt.20:28)
- When it comes to redemption of the soul, no one can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him because the redemption of their soul is precious (Psa.49:6-9)
- Concerning the redemption of the soul of mankind, the Apostle Peter says:“…ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Pet.1:18-20)
- Ultimately, the Scripture tells us that, it is by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary, by which we have been made holy and blameless before God because Jesus Christ became our substitute and bore our sins in His body on the cross.By His death and resurrection, He has set humanity free from the curse of the law, as the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:10-14 explains that:“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gen.3; Deut.21:23; Psa.51:5; Matt.20:28; 2 Cor.5:21; Gal.3:10-14, 4:4-5; Eph.1:3-8)
While we were living under the law, as servants, we dwelt in the compounds belonging to our master. Nevertheless, when Jesus Christ came and paid the price, or the ransom and purchased our redemption, we were set free from the master’s dwelling and, therefore, needed a new home in which to live. In order for us not to be “left out in the cold” so to speak, Jesus Christ adopts us as sons/daughters, into the family of God and the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:19 explains our new residency by saying: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God”:
We receive the adoption of sons
- The Apostle Paul states that through redemption, born-again believers are adopted by God as His sons (Gal.4:5). What does this mean?
- In the natural, an adopted child is conveyed from one family into another.The born-again believer, therefore, by the process of spiritual adoption, has been taken from the, “family of condemnation” to the, “family of salvation” in Jesus Christ. As such, we are heirs who inherit His eternal blessings.Consequently, we who, “were by nature the children of wrath” have become by mercy, grace and kindness, children of love (Eph.2:1-7)
- Accordingly, the Jewish converts in Galatia, while they were under the law, even though they may have been heirs to vast estates, yet, while they were children under the law, in their minority, they were, as it were, under tutors and governors, until they became of full-age by the process of adoption, in becoming sons of God, under grace. Therefore, the Apostle Paul sums up the spiritual transition of those who were in this type of situation, by explaining, how God, in His wisdom and omniscience, designed the law to function as: ”… our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith”Nevertheless, now that they have been adopted by Jesus Christ, into God’s family of sons and daughters, they have grown up and have done away with the school-books and tutorship. This means that, as full-grown sons, they can now claim their possession as,”…heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” and share with the, “…saints in light…,” “…an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven…”
- As the Son of God, it was natural for Jesus, in His divine relationship with God the Father, to use the term “Abba” which is also Aramaic meaning “Father” (Mark 14:36).Subsequently, God also wants those who He has redeemed and adopted into His family, to also “know” Him in a close and personal relationship. Therefore, through the process of adoption, the Jewish converts, at Galatia, now under grace and not under law, and as a result, the Scripture says: “God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Matt.6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4; John 10:14-15; Gal.4:6; Phil.3:10-14). So, now they can relate to God the Father as a son, as not as a servant, who does not possess that type of relationship with his master.
- As a result of this relationship between God the Father and the born-again believer, due to adoption, the Scripture says:“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and, if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Rom.8:12-17; Gal.4:7; Eph.2:19, 5:8).Therefore, the son is neither a child any longer, under rudiments of the law, where he was governed by tutors.Instead, as a son and, therefore, the heir, he is fully grown and is able to possess his inheritance in Jesus Christ.Glory!
Christmas offers to everyone, an exciting, joyful and life-giving spiritual experience. God sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ, in order that, through Him, He might express to mankind, the wonders of His divine love and mercy. As our “Substitute,” Jesus took our old garments of sin, guilt and reproach; and then He clothed us in His righteousness (Isa.53:4-5; 61:10; 2 Cor.5:21). Jesus purchased our redemption, with His blood and He also adopts us, as sons and daughters, into the family of God. Oh the joy of such wonderful good news! This Christmas, I pray that, as you share the joy and warmth of Christmas, with family and friends and as you open your gifts, be sure to reach out to God with your heart and unwrap “The Ultimate CHRIST-mas Gift,” the Lord Jesus Christ, our Messiah, who has been freely given by God, to all humanity.
Many thanks for your continued support, in purchasing my music. If you have already purchased yours, you may also wish to consider purchasing music to bless the life of someone else. Joy Creed album/s or track/s, may be purchased at any of the following:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/joycreed
www.joycreed.com/audiocd
https://www.reverbnation.com/joycreed
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/yadah-single/id52179152
Your Conductor,
Joy
©Creed's Melody
'Positive Message: Diverse Cultures'
Website: http://www.joycreed.com
Blog: (http://joycreed.blogspot.ca/)
Facebook: http://facebook.com/joy.creed
Twitter: http://twitter.com/joycreedmusic
Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiN68R6Qo5g
ReverbNation: http://reverbnation.com/joycreed