Three ministries of Christ
We have His intercession, His intervention, and His inspection. Does this sound like Christ isn't personally involved in our lives? Does this sound like He is too busy to hear our prayers? Does this sound He is not interested in what is happening in our lives? No one, dead or alive, has done more for you than Jesus. He tells you to come boldly before the throne of grace in times of need to find grace. His death on the cross is all you need to see that He is merciful, compassionate, longsuffering, kind, gentle, and forgiving. Do you have problems? Go to Jesus! Do you have troubles? Go to Jesus! Are you afraid? Go to Jesus! There is only one mediator between God and man...Jesus!
Yet the inscription on the cathedral in Lubeck, Germany, is still true:
Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us:
Ye call Me Master and obey Me not. Ye call Me Light and see Me not.
Ye call Me Way and walk Me not. Ye fall Me life and choose Me not.
Ye all Me Wise and follow Me not. Ye fall Me Fair and love Me not.
Ye call Me Rich and ask Me not. Ye call Me Eternal and seek Me not.
Ye call Me Noble and serve Me not. Ye fall Me Gracious and trust Me not.
Ye call me Might and honor Me not. Ye call Me Just and fear Me not.
If I condemn you, blame Me not.
"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, " (Romans 3:23). "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). In God's plan of salvation, man comes to a crossroads of sorts. He either stands in front of a Holy God in his own righteousness paying the price for his own sin, or, he can rely on Jesus' death and resurrection to pay the price on his behalf. We are studying a book of prophecy. These things will be in the future, but don't let that truth take your gaze off the here and now. Time could be very short for some of us. We might suffer a heart attack, stroke, fatal car accident, crushed by a piano falling from a third story building, or trip on the sidewalk cracking our head on a curb. In other words, we are not guaranteed our next heart beat. Then it will be past the time of choosing, we will find ourselves in the clutches of the "consequences of our disobedience," or, "the joy of the Lord!" (Dan)
Consciousness at its simplest is "sentience or awareness of internal or external existence". Despite centuries of analyses, definitions, explanations and debates by philosophers and scientists, consciousness remains puzzling and controversial, being "at once the most familiar and most mysterious aspect of our lives".
definition from Wikipedia
Image our conscious is unexplainable by man, the wind can't be seen, and yet men can say without a shadow of a doubt that God doesn't exist - hum.
Men profess this falsehood to others to make their OWN consciousness fell better.
We are so easily deceived by Satan. I can't count how many times I have heard people, believers and non-believers, say, "I don't know what the truth is anymore. I don't know what to believe." That is why the study of God's Word is so important. It reveals the false teachings, it delivers the believer from doubting, and it points only to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Remember what Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Learn the Scriptures, and study to show thyself approved of God, and you will recognize the lies.
Just in case anyone doesn't know what a "covenant" signifies, here is my understanding. Two parties engage in a binding relationship, and each promises to honor their committment. Now at this point, it appears to be nothing other, than a typical contractional ageement. If this type of contract is broken by one or both, the contract is called a "broken contract." One of the participants has violated the terms, thus the other is now not bound to honor their promises. The relationship is broken and all that remains is the consequences. But a "covenant" is different. Yes, two parties enter a relationship and agree to fulfill promises made. But if one party doesn't honor the terms of the "covenant" the other party is still bound to fulfill their promises. The relationship isn't broken, and the honorable party must fulfill their obligation because they promised to. In other words, a typical contract is conditional, but a "covenant" is unconditional. If one promises something, it is binding because of the character of the person promising.
If God loved us conditionally, He would only love us if we were obedient. But if we sinned against Him he would no longer love us, because it was contingent upon our keeping our promise to be good. In the terms of our salvation, the love of God is unconditional. It is a "covenant relationship." This means, that if we break our promise to be obedient, He will continue to hold up His promise to love us and save us. Please don't misunderstand me. God wants us to be obedient. He doesn't want us to sin. But the requirements for salvation rest on His side of the promise:
Acts 16:27-34: And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.
These people placed their trust in what Jesus did on the cross to settle their sin debt. Then they proclaimed to all present, that they were believers, and followers of Christ, through baptism. Even if they fell into sin, and broke their terms of the "covenant," God would forever honor his promise to save them. The relationship between them and their God would never be broken by God. Their salvation was assured and secure. (Dan)
Bishop Robert Barron is an author, speaker, theologian, and founder of Word on Fire
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