Four – Understand Our Purpose – pg. 122

May 3

Jesus, the Last Adam

One of Jesus’ main purposes was to restore Adam’s original purpose – to be the living, breathing, and active revelation of the One True God.

This thought is brought out in two portions of Scripture that compare and contrast the first man (Adam) with the second, or last, Adam (Jesus). These passages of Scripture are found in 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 and in Romans 5:12-19. The portion of Scripture in 1 Corinthians says:

While these verses deal primarily with what occurs with believer’s bodies in the great resurrection (at Jesus’ second coming) – they find an application in our present day. The apostle’s inspired points are based on what Jesus, as the “last Adam” has done.

As the first Adam was meant to be the standard, or likeness, by which all mankind would exist; so also the new Adam would bring a new standard or likeness by which all who believe in Him will exist.

A new way of existing is possible because a new Adam (Jesus) has come from heaven and instituted this new life through His own resurrection from death. All those who have died while believing in The Christ, will be granted a new “spiritual” body, in that coming day of the great resurrection, and it will be just like the body Jesus now possesses (see 1 John 3:2; Philippians 3:21).

This is all because Jesus, as the new Adam (the last Adam), has prepared the way. He accomplished God’s purpose completely, and opened the way, for all those who believe in Him, to experience what He has accomplished and experienced Himself. Because of the work of this second Adam, there is a very real experience to be known in our present-day life.

Four – Understand Our Purpose – pg. 119

April 30

By the time of the arrival of The Christ, our original design and purpose had become mostly “lost” to us. A major factor in the arrival of Jesus was to restore what had become so “lost” and forgotten.

The Lord Himself referred to this condition in the account of His encounter with Zacchaeus (Luke 19). At the conclusion of His encounter, Jesus makes an amazing statement. He speaks openly about His Divine purpose and the restoration to come to humanity through His Presence:

Jesus’ purpose was much deeper than merely seeking to save people from their sins – His purpose was to restore what had become lost to us.

“That which was lost,” when mankind fell into sin, was mankind’s sense of the immense value and importance of being the very “image” or “picture” of God, and of being “crowned with glory and honor” by the Most High. A remnant of this hope, capacity, and purpose, has always remained within human hearts – but it has so often been pushed aside and trampled in humanity’s attempts to be our own gods, to create our own image, to seize godlike control over our own lives, circumstances, and surroundings. It is a pointless pursuit, producing empty results. God did not design us to exalt ourselves. He designed us to exalt Him!

This is where the Christian message shines and the true Christian life inspires. The true message of Christianity is one of the complete restoration of mankind to God’s original design, and to God’s true purpose. Jesus came to reestablish that state where mankind could live life “crowned with glory and honor.” This is the kind of life that The Christ came to demonstrate to us, and to make possible for us. The things that Jesus demonstrated daily, through His life and ministry, illustrated and confirmed humanity’s divine purpose.

The Christ’s redemptive work, through His suffering, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, fully facilitated the restoration of humanity’s purpose for all of humanity to experience. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, came to this earth and exhibited the manifest presence of God. When He came to this earth, He revealed God to us, as He really is. He came to be that living, active “picture” of God – to be “God with us.”

Jesus also came to restore us back to what we were all designed to be. He came to enable all of us to fulfill God’s special purpose for humanity. The redemptive work of The Christ brought about this great enabling. It is an enabling that is available to all who will truly believe. This is the great message of the true Christian faith.

Three – Understanding Salvation – pg. 105

April 16

The message of God’s salvation is a glorious epic of His enduring love and mercy. “Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved… He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.” (Ephesians 2:4-5; Titus 3:5)

We can never earn what God has done for us. God’s love and mercy are never dependent upon “the righteous things we have done” – as if what He has done could be deserved. Scripture implores us to understand the very foundation of God’s free gift of salvation: “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us… if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!” (Romans 5:8, 10)

His love and mercy continually and perpetually extend to the very depths of our human need, and supply all that we need, by His divine favor, and in accord with His divine power. It is because He loves us so much that He sent His Own Son to make this full provision available to all who would receive it by faith. Our part is simply to bow in humble gratitude and surrender to the fullness… and live in the ongoing experience, of His immense love. As Scripture tells us: “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit…” (Titus 3:5) Salvation is the love of God washing over us to cleanse and heal, to redeem and restore, and to renew us to His design and purpose. This work of salvation is at the very heart of true Christianity!

To be “saved” simply means that we have personally received, and now experience, God’s provision of salvation in our lives. It is not a one-time event – it is a lifetime experience. A true understanding of salvation leads us to rely upon (trust in) God’s provision of salvation each and every moment of our lives.

Becoming saved is the first essential step in the life of a true Christian. But it is not the only step. True salvation is a step-by-step, walking out our faith in what Jesus has done, as we apply His work to every area of our lives, throughout our lifetimes. Salvation deals with every problem caused by sin. It provides for the eradication of the guilt and penalty of our sin. Salvation faces down the issue of the mastery, dominion, and deceptive draw of sin. It addresses the dire ramifications caused by sin. Salvation confronts, and conquers, sins’ devastating effects. And finally, salvation assuages the wrath of a Holy God against our sin. All this is because of the work of Jesus (Yeshua!), our Savior – Who came to this earth “to take away the sins of the world,” and to “save His people from their sins.”

Three – Understanding Salvation – pg. 98

April 9

All believers need to understand that our commitment to believing in Jesus is a lifetime activity – not just a one-time action. Praying a one-time prayer of commitment (as many churches emphasize) does not meet the requirements. There is nothing wrong with a prayer of commitment to Jesus (telling Him that you receive what He has done for us) – but a true understanding of our commitment to Jesus recognizes that He must be Lord and Master over our lives, every day of our lives. Without this surrender, and dedication, our prayer cannot secure our salvation.

Only the act of a complete submission and devotion to Jesus is commensurate with the gift He offers to us. The pursuit of seeking to order our own lives must come to an end (we must take up our cross daily; see Luke 9:23-24) and we must follow after Jesus (as His devoted disciple, dedicated to His Mastery over us). This is what it truly means to declare, with our mouths, “Jesus is Lord.”

Only this manner of commitment – a complete and utter surrender to The Christ – is able to assure that our hearts will remain faithful to the end. Perseverance in the Lordship of Jesus is critical. This is a warning that comes directly from our Lord: “…he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13; see also 10:22; Mark 13:13) Hardship and persecution will come, false teachers will arise (seeking to mislead us from the way of truth), temptations will come to entice us to falter. We are virtually promised that there will be opposition to our commitment to Jesus. Only those who have truly settled the issue of Lordship, in their hearts, will be able to persevere and endure under trial.

We must remain aware of this fact: untested faith is not a true faith. This is precisely the point behind James’ inspired words:

The goal of faith in The Christ is to live out our lives in maturity and completeness – in the understanding, and activity, of knowing and applying all that is ours in our relationship with our Master. This understanding can only come to those who live out their commitment to the Lordship of Jesus, every day of their lives – to those who, from the depths of their hearts, declare, and demonstrate, “Jesus is Lord.”

 

Three – Understanding Salvation – pg. 94

April 5

Those who believe in Jesus, and embrace His sacrifice, receive the provision of a new type of clothing, borne out of The Christ’s resurrection. It is called the righteousness of God. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! …God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become (literally: be and continue being) the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21)

Because the issue of God’s wrath, against our sin, has been settled in our present, it is also settled in our future. Those who have received Jesus, and His “garment” of righteousness, will be wearing that garment when they stand before a Holy God on that great Day of Judgment (this is what John is seeing in Revelation 7!). Because of Jesus, and only because of Jesus, will we be declared righteous in that day.

This takes all fear away. This is why we are able to come boldly before the Throne of God (see Hebrews 4:16). We do not approach a God Who stands in wrathful opposition to our sin – we come before a God Who is eager to pour out His infinite love upon us because we are wearing our “garment” of His righteousness.

We do not come before God as a filthy vagabond – we come as His Own lovingly adopted children, and to a Father Who reigns over all creation. He is a Father that longs to pour out a vivid display of His Own righteous goodness into, and through, our lives. This was His plan from the very beginning – a plan fully revealed through the work of Jesus, The Christ. This is salvation!

Three – Understanding Salvation – pg. 93

April 4

The great problem for all of humanity lies in the fact that we are all wearing our sin like we wear our clothing. A simple lesson from daily life teaches us that if we are wearing clothing and our clothing catches fire – we are also on fire! God is trying to get us to understand that sinners are wearing their sins like filthy garments, and we must not be wearing those garments when we stand before a holy God!

This thought is reinforced when we see another picture from John’s Revelation of heaven: “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes – who are they, and where did they come from?”

I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9,13-14; of course, the “Lamb” is Jesus!)

We also see the apostle Paul inspired to use this clothing analogy in his letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians: “Be made new in the attitude of your minds; and… put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood… Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (from Ephesians 4:23-25; Colossians 3:8-10) Notice that the “new self” reflects the “image” of our Creator. The new “clothing” we receive reflects the character and goodness of a holy God, just as it was designed to do.

We are saved from God’s wrath because Jesus has taken upon Himself each of our own personal sin “garments.” He wore our sin upon that cross – and became so connected with our sin that He “became sin.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, quoted below) The punishment He suffered was for us. God’s righteous wrath was poured out upon our sin as Jesus was wearing our sin. When Jesus died, He died while wearing our sin. When they laid Him in that tomb, He was wearing our sin. But when He rose from the dead He was no longer wearing our sin! Those who embrace Jesus as Savior discover that their own sin was judged, condemned, punished, and laid to rest – forever!

Three – Understanding Salvation – pg. 91

April 2

We see this particular emphasis on wholeness through Jesus’ ordeal of torture and death. Isaiah, the prophet, focused on this truth when he was inspired to paint the prophetic portrait of the death of the Messiah. We read these famous words: “Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds (stripes) we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5) Two most essential thoughts rise up from this passage.

First, Scripture declares that healing comes through the sacrificial wounds of The Messiah. Through the terrible torment of The Christ, we see that Jesus paid the price that not only bought our forgiveness, and our deliverance, but also bought our healing. Just as Jesus died for those in bondage to sin, so He also died for those in bondage to sickness and disease. This deliverance came through His immense suffering. Scripture records that Jesus was whipped mercilessly (scourged/flogged) before carrying the cross to Golgotha (see Matthew 27: 26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1; as He Himself had predicted; see Mark 10:33-34; Luke 18:31-33). This severe scourging produced gaping wounds in Jesus’ back, legs and shoulders.

Not only was he scourged, but He was also nailed to the cross, producing horrific wounds in His hands and feet. These terrible wounds would be destined to endure through all of time. They are the wounds that would encompass and engulf all human frailty and flaw, all human sorrow and suffering, as well as every disease and malady. The Christ bore on His body the physical wounds that would be the provision for all the physical human suffering brought by the curse of sin.

This truth is further emphasized by our second observation in Isaiah’s prophetic words. Not only is it true that “by His wounds we are healed;” but it is also true that “the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.” The Hebrew word translated “peace” in this passage is very familiar to most people. It is the word “Shalom.”

But it means far more than just a greeting of, “peace to you.” The core concept of the word is a compilation of God’s covenant blessing and carries the equal emphases of “completeness, soundness, health, prosperity, contentment, and welfare – and the peace produced by this blessed condition.” In other words, “shalom” equates to “wholeness.” It is a complete condition provided by the blessing of God. It encompasses the culmination of God’s blessing, providing peace of mind, body, soul and spirit within those touched by His handiwork. We could just as properly render the verse: “the punishment that brought us wholeness was upon Him.” This word usage brings renewed emphasis that God’s intent, in salvation, is to bring wholeness to all those damaged by sin’s destructive effects.

 

In Yeshua’s work, providing our salvation, we see that God is a God of complete provision. His intention has always been to bring a complete renewal of His people. God’s handiwork is always representative of His character and His nature. God is a God of perfection, of purity, and of wholeness. When God addressed the malady of the human condition, He addressed every aspect of that malady – and He did it in the only way He could. He dealt with it by shattering the shackles of the penalty, the power, and the ramifications of sin over our lives.

Three – Understanding Salvation – pg. 89

March 31

Because we now have this new person living within us, we have been completely released from our bondage to the taskmaster called sin, and we have a new identity before God. Scripture even goes so far as to tell us that God now calls us “saints.” We are not just “sinners saved by grace.”

Take a quick glance at the opening paragraph in most of the letters to the New Testament churches and you will find that these letters are addressed to the “saints.” These letters are not just written to the ultra-spiritual, or to the best of the best, within these churches. These letters are addressed to all who dwell in fellowship with the Lord Jesus, and the apostle is inspired to refer to all these people as “saints.” This term, in the original language, literally means “holy ones.” It is not just because our sins have been forgiven and our slates are wiped clean. It is because an amazing work has been done, within each of us, that causes us to be able to resemble and represent our Holy God!

This change is reflected in the new manner in which we can now approach life. No longer enslaved and encumbered by the wicked taskmaster of sin, we are free to live by the power and influence of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit. Simply stated: God has come to live within the dedicated believer, and God will lead that believer to do the kinds of things that God does, and to say the kind of things that God says.

The believer in Jesus is truly able to live life as The Christ Himself lived on this earth. We talk a lot about the need to be Christlike – this is where it finds it’s true foundation! True holiness is not so much to be seen as moral purity – but rather as the ability to faithfully reflect and imitate the very character and nature of God Himself. This is exactly what God is seeking from those who would embrace His New Covenant promises and provisions.

God’s plan from the very beginning was to produce a holy people. “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” (Ephesians 1:4) The work of Jesus was the centerpiece of God’s intention and provision. Peter makes note of God’s goal when he is inspired to write, “Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”” (1 Peter 1:15, 16) This last phrase is significant in two ways. 1) It is directly from the mouth of God (see Leviticus 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7); and 2) It is a command! Holiness is near and dear to God’s Heart, and He expects and commands it from His Covenant people.

As we have stated before, and it bears repeating here, whenever God commands something, He always makes provision to enable His people to be obedient. God’s commands are obeyed through God’s provision, and God supplies whatever is needed to produce in us what He desires. No human being can ever take credit for obedience or holiness before the Lord. Every act of our obedience or purity or holiness is because the grace of God has enabled us to be obedient, pure, and holy. It is His work, manifested (made seen) through us! He alone deserves all the credit.

The work and message of Jesus, our Savior, is more than just a message about God’s love in providing forgiveness for our sins. It is also about the provision of God’s grace to utterly defeat the power of sin and its subversive sway over our lives. We have been truly saved and delivered from the guilt of our sin. We have also been saved and delivered from the dominion of sin. True Christians have discovered the awesome power of this truth, and daily experience the reality of its liberating capacity.

Three – Understanding Salvation – pg. 88

March 30

The good news of our deliverance from the power of sin goes even deeper. They took Jesus’ lifeless body off of that cross and buried Him in a tomb. Scripture asserts that those who believe in Jesus “were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death…” (Romans 6:4) We, who believe, are made to share in Jesus’ burial.

The good news goes deeper still… we know that Jesus did not remain dead and buried, but He rose from that grave three days after His sacrificial death. The apostle says: “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (also Romans 6:4) The apostle concludes, “If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.” (Romans 6:5) So as Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God, so also, we who believe in Him, and embrace Him as Savior, are “united with Him” and share in His resurrection!

The spiritual reality for every devoted believer in Jesus is that the old person (the old self, the sinner, helplessly and hopelessly caught in the bondage of sin) was literally crucified with Jesus, died with Jesus, and was buried with Jesus. But the same old person was not raised with Jesus – the person raised up with The Christ was completely new! This new person (also called the “new man” or “new self,” in Scripture; see Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24) is fully capable of living life just as Jesus Himself lived His earthly life – in unbroken fellowship and harmony with God, in eagerly seeking God’s desires, and in making God known through what is done and said.

All this is possible because Y’shua, our Savior, came to do much more than just bring forgiveness into our lives. He came to destroy the tyrannical reign of sin upon our hearts, by making a way for that old person (so enslaved to sin) to utterly die. “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with (i.e. rendered powerless), that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” (Romans 6:6-7) The Christ gave us the opportunity for new life by making a way to kill our “old man” – and bring the “new man” to life.

Three – Understanding Salvation – pg. 87

March 29

The issue of freedom from the power of sin is one of mastery.

Who or what will influence, persuade, order, and control our lives? The apostle is inspired to take great pains in driving His point home. Before receiving Jesus, we were all helplessly enslaved to sin – it was our master and we repeatedly obeyed its self-gratifying demands (often unwillingly; see Romans 7:14-23!). The apostle reminds us, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? …When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness… you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness…” (from Romans 6:16-19)

The human condition, without the salvation of The Savior, is one of inescapable bondage and slavery to the ruthless taskmaster called sin. It is a slavery that leaves a deep and devastating impact on our lives. It is a slavery that thrives on our doubts, fears, and perceived inadequacies, and keeps us chained to the dark self-serving nature of our depraved, unregenerate hearts. In this state, we need more than just to know that our sins are forgiven – we need to escape the wicked taskmaster that keeps us bound in those oppressive and dreadful chains!

This is the exact provision that God gives us. As the apostle was inspired to say: “We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – for sin shall not be your master… You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” (Romans 6:6, 14, 18, 22)

Believers in Jesus are now capable of living life without sinning! How is this even possible? Because God made it possible, through the all-encompassing grace He poured out to us through our Savior. It is God’s full provision that makes any of this possible – not humanity’s efforts, merits, or goodness.

When Jesus died on that cross, He died on behalf of all who would believe in Him, and who would receive His sacrificial death did for them. Those who receive Jesus, through devoting their hearts to Him, at that very moment, experience something utterly extraordinary… The New Testament Scriptures declare that those who believe in Jesus are actually “baptized” (or “plunged/immersed”) into Jesus, and we now share in everything He did!