This is the final of a four part series on putting God first in every area.
Do you ever think of what God is like? He set out to make a perfect world… which He did… and make a perfect people (Man and Woman)… to have a perfect relationship… with Him. And He walked and talked with them in the garden.
And then…
mankind blew it!
Because of the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
Eve wanted the wisdom that Satan tempted her with. And — she believed satan’s lie — that God had lied to her about dying if she ate it. She had every beautiful fruit to eat, and only one rule to follow, and she disobeyed because she felt it was not enough. And we were set on the path to death. God does not lie. (See Hebrews 6:18)
But God did not give up on His creation. He really could have. But in His foreknowledge, He knew before the world began that He would have to provide a Redeemer for Mankind, and He would sacrifice His only perfect Son for a people that sins continually. Then Jesus shows up throughout the Old Testament at different times to interact with special ones that were called to be steps in the redemption process. Like Abraham and Moses.
He appeared as an Angel of the Lord to:
- Hagar
- Abraham
- Jacob
- Moses
- Joshua
- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
These appearances showed God’s interaction by His Preincarnate Son and His help in the lives of His people long before Jesus came to earth as a baby.
Then Jesus died on the cross, and He asks only one thing of us, confession of being a sinner and repentance (turning) from sin by believing Jesus died and rose again for our salvation. (See Romans 10:9-10, 13)
He even breaks the power that sin has over us. See Romans chapter 6. (Jesus’ death on the cross did that for us.)
And Romans 6:12-13 tells us how to live: “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” (NLT)
And what if we choose not to stop sinning?
Hebrews 10:26-31 answers that…”Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume His enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. For we know the one who said, ‘I will take revenge. I will pay them back.’ He also said, ‘The LORD will judge His own people.’ It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (NLT)
But by God’s great love, He gives us continual mercy: “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.” 1 John 1:9-10 (NLT)
This means we must continually study God’s Word and introspect to make sure we are on God’s path for us and not our own path of sin.
And we can rest in the fact that God has given us everything we need to live as we should.
“By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” 2 Peter 1:3-4 (NLT)
Great post! Thank you, Jane.