God's Grace in the Old Testament-Part 1

Most people are comfortable with the notion of grace in the New Testament, but find it difficult to reconcile to the God of the Old Testament. Most, when reading the Old Testament, see a God of judgement and wrath whereas the New Testament reveals through Christ, a God of mercy and Truth.

As much as we cannot in our finite minds hope to understand God, the Bible assures us that He never changes (Heb 13:8). That means His character is constant. He has always been a God of grace! God does not have a split personality. Genesis is the book of beginnings, foundational to our belief and doctrines, and I have learned some amazing lessons on Jesus Christ, faith and grace right from page one of the Bible! In order to understand the deep truths in God’s Word, it is essential that one have a strong foundation and what better place to start than in Genesis?

What is “grace”? Many have described it as “unmerited favour.” Somone once described it as “God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.” The very essence of grace means that it is God -initiated; grace is not a reward of obedience. Rather, it inspires obedience by the transformation of the heart that it engenders. Let’s look at some examples of grace in Genesis.

Gen 12 records the call of Abram. God makes a promise to Abram, a heathen man living in Ur of the Chaldees (otherwise known as Mesopotamia). The people of this nation were known for polytheism, the worship of many gods (Josh 24:2).  In Gen 12:1-3 God makes a promise to Abram to bless him and make him a great nation and that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him. Only a God of grace would choose to make an idolator into a great nation! God affirms this promise  to Abram many times, eventually even making the promise part of his name by changing it from “Abram” (exalted father) to “Abraham” (father of nations). (Gen 13:14-17, Gen 15:1-5, Gen 17:5).

The fulfillment of God’s promise to Abram did not rest on his obedience, but rather he believed in God and God accounted it to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). Our salvation is not based on our good works or lack thereof; it is based entirely on God’s grace. If the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abram were based on Abram’s works or obedience, he would have failed on many accounts. He lied on more than one occasion that his wife was his sister; he doubted and conceded to his wife’s plan to “help God fulfil His promise” by sleeping with Hagar, etc. God intervened through all of this to ensure that His plan would come to pass. Abraham’s future obedience was only a response to God’s grace that radically changed his heart. In Gen 17:1 God commands Abram to walk before Him and be blameless. God was merely telling him to let the result of His grace (the “credited righteousness” in 15:6) to shine through Abram’s life. Have you experienced God’s grace? He  wants you to let His grace transform you into a shining light for Him in the world today so others may experience His grace too!(Matt 5:16, Eph 2:1-10)

Scripture references: Gen 12-15

The Brother who died for me

Our Bible study at church this quarter has focused on what it means to be clothed in Christ. I cannot resist the temptation to share this story told by a Romanian pastor imprisoned for his faith before the fall of Communism, to criminals sharing his cell.

There were once two brothers. The elder was a devout, God-fearing man while the younger was a rebel who surrounded himself with unsavoury companions and riotous living. One day, he ran to his older brother who was reading in his study screaming: “Brother, save me! The police are after me. I have killed a man!” Without hesitating, his older brother grasped the situation. “I will save you, let us change garments,” he replied. The elder brother donned the blood-stained garments, and handed his white robe to his younger sibling. They had barely dressed when the cops burst in on the scene and arrested the older brother on charges of murder.

At his trial he pleaded guilty, saying to the judge: “I accept full responsibility for the crime.” Faced with the evidence-the pursuit, the bloodstained clothes and a confession, he was sentenced to death. “What is your final wish?” the judge asked. “Only one”, replied the supposed criminal. “Please deliver this letter to my brother at the moment of my execution.”

On opening the letter, the younger brother read: “My beloved, at this moment I die in your place, in your bloodstained clothes, for your crime. I am happy to offer this sacrifice because I love you. All I ask is that in the white robe I gave you, you live a life of righteousness and purity. I have no other desire!”

As the younger brother read the letter, tears flowed down his cheeks. He ran in desperation, hoping to stop the execution but no one believed his story. “The crime has been expiated-what happened between you two is none of our concern” said the judge. Thereafter, every time his former friends called him to loose living, the younger brother would say: “In the white robe left to me by my brother who gave his life for me, I can no longer do the evil deeds I did before.”

Jesus Christ,  Son of God (our elder Brother) paid a terrible price in dying for our sins. Our token of love to Him is a life of righteousness and purity. Our good works cannot save us-if they could, Christ would not have had to die. No matter how good you are now or intend to be in future, your past sins still condemn you until you accept Christ's sacrifice for your atonement. Keeping God’s Commandments should not be a burden to us, but a token of our love for Christ.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments. "-John 14:15 (Jesus speaking)
"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."- 1 John 5:3
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.-Romans 5:6-10

Also read Matt ch 26-ch 28 on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, remembering that He did all this for you. Also read John 13.

The Secret to Contentment Part 1: One Day at a Time

This week, I was reminded of the fragility of life when a good friend of my father passed away. He was fine the one day, and two days later he had passed on! Needless to say, it was a great shock to his family and many friends.

We often live our lives thinking that we’re invincible, but little do we realize the fine line between life and death. One could hope that all of us are alive to be caught up in the air with the Lord at His glorious return, but that would be wishful thinking. Some of us will not be alive then, although that will not detract from the excitement of the resurrection that awaits us! (1 Thes 4:15-18, Phil 1:21)

Life is fragile. It can end at any time, meaning the close of probation for each individual may well be closer than the general close of probation. Wise King Solomon said it well when he said that the living know they shall die, but the dead know not anything. Since life passes so quickly, it should be all the more reason to find those things that matter the most and make your life count for something bigger and better than your wildest dreams -  something that will last for eternity! I speak of the Kingdom of God which will never pass away. Jesus said: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things will be added unto you.” (Matt 6:24-34, Matt 6:19-21)

Are you stressed about things that often seem beyond your control? Do you feel like a headless chicken, or a wave in a tempest, tossed to and fro? Do the little annoyances in life leave you feeling angry and bitter, and then worst of all…ALONE? Are you suffering the negative physical effects of a body and spirit that is exhausted from the relentless pressures of life and the wild dreams and fantasies you chase that mean nothing in the greater scheme of things? Do you feel like a hamster on a wheel, running as fast as you can, but going nowhere? Are you trapped in a vicious cycle of debt that leaves a lump in your throat and feels like an anaconda squeezing the life out of you?

I speak from personal experience when I tell people that Jesus is the answer to true contentment. After all, if the Spirit of the Lord of the Universe dwells within you, what more could you want? I felt my colleague’s sentiments this week when he said that if he didn’t have Jesus, he probably would have committed suicide a long time ago. Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with forward planning and a healthy sense of God-given ambition. God wants us to use all our talents, but most times we take it beyond the boundaries for healthful living. None of us is given a guarantee that we will have tomorrow; all we have is today. Make it count! As the old hymn goes: “…one day at a time, Sweet Jesus; that’s all I am asking of You…”

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."- Matt 6:24-34

Scripture refs: Read the whole of Matthew ch 6, 1Thes 4:15-18, Phil 1:21

The Loneliness of God

Have you ever been lonely? To be lonely is to be misunderstood, to have experienced something that you long to share with others only to be shunned. One can feel lonely despite being surrounded by the crowds. Did you know that Jesus felt lonely too?

Jesus had just finished feeding 5000 people, excluding woman and children. He had the crowds following Him, but He knew they were following Him for the wrong reason. In John 6:26-27, Jesus displays the true intent of the people. They followed him for the loaves and the fish, the physical food for their mortal bodies. Jesus, by feeding the 5000, was not just trying to teach them a lesson about faith but also about the truth of Him being the Bread of Heaven. He longed for them to hunger and thirst for righteousness, for He promised that He would fill that desire yet none seemed to understand His message.  (Matt 5:6)

Jesus described Himself as the Bread of Heaven, saying that whoever ate of His body and drank of His blood would taste everlasting life and share in His eternal Kingdom. The people misunderstood His message and, thinking He spoke of cannibalism, some walked with Him no more.

In exasperation, He looked at the twelve men before Him. Even among them, He knew that there was a traitor. In a feeling of utter loneliness, He uttered these words in verse 67: “Will ye also go away?”

Jesus knew that a lonely road lay ahead of Him. God who created the Universe, who owned all the silver and the gold and the cattle on the thousand hills and who doesn’t need anything from man, felt lonely. So the Bible tells us that He emptied Heaven so He could fill it. He gave His only begotten Son to the world to walk the lonely way of the Cross.  He gave one Son in order to bring many sons to glory. (Heb 2:10)

Today, the world has largely forsaken God. Some who profess His Name merely utter it in vain. The Bible says that when we who have known God choose to forsake His ways, it’s like we’re crucifying Jesus all over again and putting Him to an open shame. God made us so He could share His love with us. Heaven will be restored when the loneliness of God meets the loneliness of man, and loneliness will forever be banished in the Heavens and Earth made new.  Surrender to Jesus today-it’s the first step to not being lonely anymore. What will your decision be? He is asking you today: "Will you also go away?"

Scripture refs: Read John 6, Heb 4:15-16, Matt 5:6, Heb 2:10, Heb 6:4-6

"From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?"- John 6:66-67

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."-Matt 5:6

"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."- Heb 4:15-16

"For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation [Jesus] perfect through sufferings."-Heb 2:10

"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."-Heb 6:4-6