Faith Inspiration - Oswald Chambers - Our Great Capacity for God - Part 2: Sin's Beginning

Last month we started a deeper dive into this quote from Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His Highest.

“We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin——we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience...We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him...we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our ‘arguments...and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5)——we have to do it.””

— My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers - November 18

I discussed what it might mean for us to have a great capacity for God. You can see that post here. This week we are going to start looking at the three things keeping us from experiencing this great capacity for God. The first of these deterrents is sin. Let’s do a quick Biblical review of sin’s origins.

Image by Petra Ohmer from Pixabay

Once again, we are taken to the beginning. In the book of Genesis we see the story of the creation of the world, including all that is living from plants and animals, to fish and humans. We see that God placed Adam, the first man, and his wife, Eve in a beautiful garden called Eden. He gave them everything they needed and they could eat from any tree in the garden but one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

“15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.””

— Genesis 2:15-17 (NASB 1995)

Image by NoName_13 from Pixabay

All we need to do is read the following chapter to see that Adam and Eve chose to do exactly what God told them not to do and from that tree they ate. Of course, they were manipulated by God’s enemy, Satan, who was disguised as a beautiful serpent.

“1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

— Genesis 3:1-7 (NASB 1995)

Image by NoName_13 from Pixabay

We need to look at this passage and really understand how easily one wrong thought, one wrong choice led to the downfall of humanity. Let’s look at Satan’s tactics (and yes I have covered this before, but it is important), and look at Adam and Eve’s responses.

1 - Satan went to Eve first. We are not told where Adam was, but the serpent started with Eve. I don’t know why he approached her first. Perhaps he knew she was more easily persuaded by his charm and beauty.

2 - Satan immediately manipulates God’s words. He asks Eve, Did God say you couldn’t eat from the trees in the garden? I am assuming he already knew exactly what God had told the couple. He knew they could eat from all the trees except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

3 - Eve misquotes God. We can see in chapter 2 God told them if they ate of the tree they would surely die. He said nothing about them touching it. Eve adds the idea of physical touch also leading to death, as though that would seem more dramatic.

4 - Once again, Satan manipulates. “You surely will not die!” While we know it was not an immediate physical death, we also know eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil did lead to both an eventual physical and spiritual death; just a little detail the serpent left out.

Image by Alex Yomare from Pixabay

5 - Satan turns the screw tighter. “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” Satan offered, not only the possibility of being like God, but he caused Eve to question whether God was trustworthy. Can’t you hear her thinking, “If God really loves us, why didn’t He tell us this from the start? Why is He withholding it from us?”

6 - Eve looked and desired. Instead of turning away from Satan and looking for Adam to seek his input, she looked at the tree and saw it was desirable for food, and a delight to look at. You can see the wheels spinning in her mind. She saw that it was beautiful, then she desired it, then she remembered what Satan had just told her, it would make her wise…so she took and ate.

7 - Eve took her husband down with her. We can’t say Eve did this with any bad intentions. She may have just been very excited and perhaps the fruit tasted divine and she wanted to share it with her beloved. Whatever her reasons for including her husband in this defiance of God’s command it lead to the fall of humanity from the grace of their loving Creator.

Image by Nika Akin from Pixabay

8 - Adam and Eve immediately experience shame and want to hide. The serpent was absolutely right about one thing, their eyes would be open and they would know good and evil. It would be interesting to hear their conversation as they suddenly came to the realization they were naked and as they sought to find leaves to cover themselves.

The reason I covered this in detail is to show you the progression that all sin takes and has taken from the very beginning.

1 - Satan finds us when we are alone and vulnerable. When do the temptations come in our lives? It is always when we are struggling and discouraged, and most often when we feel no one has our back. Sin will creep in when we feel alone, sad, angry, discouraged, overwhelmed, anxious, and not enough.

2 - Satan will manipulate God’s words. How often have you heard people say, “If God is good, why is this bad thing happening?” Or, “God must not really love me, or I wouldn’t be struggling.” Or, “Where was God when this terrible thing happened?” Satan takes the truth about our God: that He is good, that He loves us, or that is with us always, and turns it on its head. “God didn’t really say….”

Image by Fathromi Ramdlon from Pixabay

3 - Satan doesn’t just manipulate God’s words, he manipulates our circumstances and the voices we hear around us to reinforce the lies he has begun to feed us. God isn’t really loving if He condemns people to hell. God isn’t really good, just look at all the terrible things going on in the world. There is no such place as hell, we will all be in heaven one day. When we die we become our spirit animals and play happily in the clouds. I am sure you can list other thoughts and ideas you have heard.

If we do not know God’s word well, or we begin to question God’s love and authority, we will begin to question the authenticity of the Bible. I know many who were raised in the the church who grew up under the teaching of God’s word who now are questioning that it was actually inspired by God, and that the men who wrote it were just interjecting their own opinions and thoughts. It is not too far a leap to give up on the truth of the Word all together when going down that path.

4 - We no longer talk about sin. The word sin is no longer politically correct, or woke. This is exactly where our enemy wants us to be. Sin has gone into hiding, covering itself with the beauty of the world’s philosophies that everyone is okay and no one is bad.

Next month we will delve deeper into what the Bible says about sin, this obstacle that keeps us from our great capacity for God. I hope you will join me.

Let me know your thoughts by leaving me a comment. I appreciate all of your feedback.

A Year of Waiting - Anticipate - Part 2: Waiting for Hope

The time between the Old Testament and the New Testament is often referred to as the intertestamental period. It is a silent period of over 400 years where there was no direct revelation from God and nothing was being written as far as future prophesies. This does not mean there weren’t plenty of events taking place with regard to the people of Israel. The last we hear from Malachi closing out the Old Testament was written during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah when the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem was taking place. (Info gleaned from this article from Focus on the Family - Canada - What Happened Between the Old and New Testaments by Subby Szterszky.)

Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay

By the time of Christ’s birth the Jewish people were ready for a Messiah. They needed a sign. They wanted to hear God’s voice speaking to them once again as a nation. They longed for hope, but for many of them that hope did not come in the form of a babe born in a stable in Bethlehem…even though it was prophesied in their very own writings from the Old Testament. However, there were a few who faithfully waited with anticipation for what God was going to do. One of these was a man named Simeon.

“25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,
28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 A Light of revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.
34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—
35 and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.””

— Luke 2:25-35

I want to look more closely at this man whose story is only mentioned in the book of Luke. What was it about this Jew that made him different from many other Jewish men in his time?

1 - Like our friend Zacharias and his wife, Elizabeth in Luke 1, Simeon was righteous and devout. Some commentaries believe he was a priest in the temple, thus his ability to take Jesus from Mary and Joseph and raise him as a blessing to God. There is something to be said for being a righteous person. Zacharias and Elizabeth were described as, “walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.” (Luke 1:6) The word “devout” used to describe Simeon, would portray a similar commitment to Zacharias and Elizabeth’s walking blamelessly.

Image from Pixabay

2 - Simeon was looking. He wasn’t passively waiting, He was looking. He was looking for the consolation of Israel. The word consolation can be described as giving comfort to; being compassionate; counseling; and giving relief to. Simeon was waiting for God. He was waiting to see how God would provide His compassion to Israel, and what sort of relief it would bring to them. In my own opinion, I think Simeon believed, and what I mean by that is He trusted God.

3 - The Holy Spirit was upon Simeon. We do not know by this short character sketch in the Scripture whether Simeon had the Holy Spirit upon him for his whole life, or if the Spirit came on Him just for this particular incident. We do know the Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that He would not die before he had seen the “Lord’s Christ.” The name Christ meant the chosen or anointed one. Simeon was meant to see Jesus, the Messiah.

4 - Simeon moved with the Spirit. The Holy Sprit led the man into the temple at the exact moment Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus came into the temple to register their first born. This was done according to the law.

5 - He took the baby Jesus into his arms.

6 - He blesses God by stating what God had done for him, which was to let him see the salvation of Israel before he died. We do not know if Simeon was a young, middle aged or old man and we do not need to know. God was faithful in allowing him to see the Messiah as He had promised him.

Simeon was familiar with the Old Testament prophesies. He knew that the baby Jesus was the One that God had promised. He also knew that this salvation was not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles as well. This child would be a light of salvation to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel.

7 - He speaks a prophecy to Mary. This was a difficult prophecy for it told of Jesus’ controversial ministry; that it would cause many to rise and fall and that He would be opposed to the extent that Mary’s own heart would be pierced with the outcome.

We learn these things about Simeon by reading the passage. There are many things we do not know about this man, but we can learn a lot from studying his example in these eleven verses by asking ourselves the following questions:

Am I an upright person? Am I, like Simeon, righteous and devout? With so many ideas and terms being redefined these days I think it is important to remember being righteous looks much different to God that it does to fallen humans. However, if I am seeking Him, reading His word, and listening to His Holy Spirit’s voice in my life I have a much better chance of being righteous in God’s eyes.

Image by andreas N from Pixabay

The term devout is rarely heard in our current society, but it simply means devoted. Am I devoted to God’s truth? Am I devoted to obeying His truth to the best of my ability? Amy I devoted to my spouse? Am I devoted to keeping my heart and mind pure, whether married or not? Am I devoted to shining the light of Christ in this dark world?

Am I looking? Am I like Simeon in that I am looking for Jesus? Am I looking to see where He is at work? This one has been hard for me. I get so caught up in life and in the overwhelm that I neglect to see all He is doing, and all the ways He is still actively involved in my life and in the world. I believe this is where the act of thanksgiving is important.

Image by CJ from Pixabay

In addition, am I passively looking or am I anticipating? Am I anticipating where God is going to intervene, or where He is going to perform a miracle, or where He is going to bring about something I never thought possible. He is God, and He is trustworthy.

Am I familiar with the Holy Spirit, His work and His leading? For some reason it seems many in the Christian community have forgotten how to wait on the Holy Spirit, and have moved away from the truth of His revelation in our lives. He is just as much an active part of the triune God head as the Father and the Son. Indeed, in our lives He is our closest companion. He knows our hearts, our desires and our unspoken prayers. He is the One who works out Christ’s salvation, and sanctification in our lives. Perhaps it is time to reacquaint ourselves with this ever present part of God’s person.

Image by Iuliia Bondarenko from Pixabay

Have I taken the baby Jesus into my arms? Have I honestly made a choice to believe that Jesus, the Son of God, came as a vulnerable baby, born to a virgin, in a tiny town called Bethlehem? Do I believe that He grew into a man, lived among and taught a rag tag band of disciples, that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life? Have I embraced the fact that we are all sinners, and because of that sin Jesus, in obedience to His father, died on a cross as the perfect, once for all sacrifice? Do I cradle the reality to my breast that He rose from the dead and walked out of the grave, and that whoever calls on His name and believes will be saved?

Image from Pixabay.

Do I bless God? If you have ever thought about this idea of blessing God, then you have probably asked the question, how do I do that? It is simple, offer praise and thanksgiving to Him for all that He is and all He has done. Even if you are struggling in a dark place right now, you can bless God. You can identify His character by looking at scripture: He is good, just, faithful, compassionate, righteous, all knowing, forgiving, merciful, full of grace, creative, glorious….the list is endless. Even when things are chaotic we can bless God by taking time to thank Him, even for the smallest pleasures like a hot shower, food, blankets, clean air to breath….

Do I speak truth into other people’s lives? Simeon prophesied, but not all of us have the gift of prophecy. but we all have the choice to speak into other people’s lives the truth of God’s word in the form of encouragement, admonition, and even rebuke when it is called for. I think we can speak encouragement much more regularly than we do. Admonition and rebuke need to be done with love and it is best to think it through and really pray about the situation before proceeding. However, this is an important part of being in the body of Christ and probably isn’t done as often as it should be.

As I finish this post, we are winding down to Christmas. Tomorrow is the day. All the waiting and preparing and anticipating will be past tense in a matter of hours and some of us will be feeling a bit blue that it is over. As we age, we also begin to think about the what ifs. What if we don’t make it to next Christmas? Will everyone still be here? What will the world look like by the end of next year? But God…

To anticipate is to look forward to, and that means I have hope. I am choosing to look forward with trust in the Holy God for all that He will do!

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. See you in 2025!

A Year of Waiting - Anticipate - Part 1: Waiting for the Wrong Things

The year is quickly drawing to a close and it is time for me to finish up my monthly series on my word for the year - Wait. This month I am going to focus these last few Faith posts on the word Anticipate. As we look forward to Christmas, the word anticipate seems apropos for the season. We are anticipating the holidays, the family gatherings, the cookie baking and the gift giving, but we wouldn’t celebrate if over two thousand years ago the birth of Christ was not anticipated.

The coming of the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born to a virgin in a pauper’s stable in Bethlehem. See this article on the Jews for Jesus website showing 40 Old Testament prophesies and their New Testament fulfillment. These are a few of the most famous surrounding Christ’s birth:

Image by PBernfeld from Pixabay

Born to a virgin.

Prophecy:

“14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

— Isaiah 7:14 (NASB 1995)

Fulfillment:

“31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

— Luke 1:31-35 (NASB 1995)

“23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,
25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.”

— Matthew 1:23-27 (NASB 1995)

Image by G.C. from Pixabay

Born in Bethlehem.

Prophecy:

“2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.””

— Micah 5:2 (NASB 1995)

Fulfillment:

“1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;
For out of you shall come forth a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”— Matthew 2:1-6 (NASB 1995)

Image by GERVASIO RUIZ from Pixabay

Descendant of David

Prophecy:

“12 When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
14 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men,
15 but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’””

— 2 Samuel 7:12-16 (NASB 1995)

Fulfillment:

“32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.””

— Luke 1:32-33 (NASB 1995)

“1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:”

— Matthew 1:1 (NASB 1995)

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Called out of Egypt.

Prophecy:

“When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son.”

— Hosea 11:1 (NASB 1995)

Fulfillment:

“13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.””

— Matthew 2:13-15 (NASB 1995)

I wanted to share these with you, not only as a reminder of what Christmas is truly about, but a reminder of who and what we are anticipating. The people of Israel were knowledgeable of the Old Testament scriptures. They memorized multiple portions and read and reread the commandments, the laws and the prophecies. However, knowing all this did not make them any more in tune when the true Messiah actually was born and dwelt among them. I believe that was because they were waiting for the wrong thing.

Many of the Jews at Jesus’ time were looking for a Messiah who would overthrow the oppressive Roman empire and lead them into a new kingdom with their Messiah as king. We have been studying the book of John in my Saturday morning Bible study and I have the distinct impression that the religious leaders would have preferred a puppet king that they could control. Jesus was far from the Messiah they were looking for.

“37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him.
38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,
40 “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.”
41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.
42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”

— John 12:37-43 (NASB 1995)

We see in the above passage that unbelief was prophesied about Jesus’ ministry, and it was not just the unbelief of choice, but in many instances a situation where God “blinded their eyes” and “hardened their heart”. This is not an easy thing. We don’t like to hear that our loving God would purposefully keep people from getting into heaven, but many commentaries reveal that this hardening and blinding was already in process by the individuals’ unrelenting disbelief. Disbelief almost always turns a soft heart into unmovable stone. This truth makes me more grateful that our Lord has always kept a remnant of the Jewish people who believe He is the true Messiah, and that those of us who are Gentile were brought into the family of God just as much His sons and daughters as those who were from the lineage of Abraham.

All of this causes me to pause and ask the question, this Christmas what am I anticipating? What am I waiting for? Am I looking for a God who will get me out of a jam; who will get rid of the oppressive people in my life; make life comfortable for me? Or am I awaiting and anticipating a God who will bring me from the edge of the abyss to the deepest most profound peace a person could ever know?

Next week we will take a closer look at this idea of anticipation and how it leads us to hope. Until then have a great week.

The Greatest Story - The Story Behind the Cross

We are all story tellers in one form or another. Whether you are telling a friend about your trip to the doctor’s office, your spouse about the new movie you just saw, or people on social media about the sales at Nordstrom, we are all telling a story. Your story might not be exciting, or full of action and romance, but it is your story. Story telling is a way of relaying information. At times the information might be made up for the purpose of entertainment, but more often story telling is a way to relay true accounts and facts.

Image by Ri Butov from Pixabay

We tell stories with our words, but we can also tell stories with our body language and other vocalizations. Crying tells a story of great sadness, or euphoric joy. Anger tells a story of frustration or hatred. Walking with your head raised, making eye contact tells us you are confident and most likely friendly. Sitting alone at a social even with your head down looking at your phone tells a story of relational struggle and possible low self esteem.

Story telling has been around for centuries. It is one of the oldest ways of relaying information. When God inspired the writers of the Old and New Testaments He spoke to them in a type of story form. He didn’t just give them a list of facts telling them to write them down as bullet points. He gave them people, places, events with incredible details.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are rich with details on the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ. Indeed, they do not just include the who, what and wheres of a good story, but they are also seen as true accounts of Christ’s teaching, travels, prayers, and sufferings.

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

To be sure, these are not made up stories, but factual accounts of the life of Christ and the lives of his followers. From His birth in a stable in Bethlehem, to His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, to His agony in the Garden, to His death on a hill with a criminal on each side, to His burial, to His walk in the garden after three days, these books give us every detail we need to know the living Christ.

What makes Christ’s story the greatest story ever told? It is unique in its message, and universal in its reach. This story is the only one inspired by the true, living God, put together by 36 different men, all with the same message over a period of 1500 years.

The focus of the Old Testament is the why. The first two chapters of Genesis relate the beautiful symphony of the triune God bringing our planet, and life into existence. Unfortunately by Chapter three, we learn of the devastating fall of that glorious creation by one choice to sin. What follows is a detailed telling of the history of the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people and the system of the law, God put into place to govern those people.

We need to remember this was all laid out to point to a future event: the coming of the fulfillment of the Law, Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is full of prophecy pointing to Christ’s coming. In order to fully understand the need and provision of the New Covenant, God gave us the detailed account of the Old Covenant. As seen in Hebrews, the Law was imperfect, but Christ was perfect.

“18 For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness
19 (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20 And inasmuch as it was not without an oath
21 (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him,

“The Lord has sworn
And will not change His mind,
‘You are a priest forever’”);

22 so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.”

— Hebrews 7:18-22 (NASB 1995)

Christ is the guarantee of a better covenant, the new covenant brought about in the New Testament. This covenant is laid out simply in a few simple verses from the New Testament.

“16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

— John 3:16 (NASB 1995)

Image by Fernando Rodriguez from Pixabay

The following verses are known as the Roman Road. They tell the Gospel of Christ in simplistic terms.

“23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

— Romans 3:23 (NASB 1995)

“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 6:23 (NASB 1995)

“8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

— Romans 5:8 (NASB 1995)

“9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. ”

— Romans 10:9-10 (NASB 1995)

We learn all about the system of sacrifices that were part of the Old Covenant in the Old Testament. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross did away with the need for that system. The Law given to Moses by God, was fulfilled in Christ given to us by His Father.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The story of the cross was centuries in the making, but the most beautiful thing about it is that it gave access to the throne of God to every single person who believes. It doesn’t matter who you are or who you have been. It doesn’t matter where you live or what sort of job you have. It doesn’t matter how low you have gone, or how great you have been. The story of the the cross is for all.

If you are struggling today with the story of your life, look to Jesus. He will make all the difference.