Tag: alive in Christ
Made alive in Christ!
Scripture reading for March 8th: Numbers 12-14, Psalm 28, Colossians 2
Colossians 2: 13-15 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.”
All mankind is born in sin and shaped in iniquity because of Adam’s sin and rebellion. Our spiritual condition is “dead in trespasses.” But our God is rich in mercy and full of grace and love towards those made in His image. Through the cross of Calvary, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the record of debt against mankind because of sin. The legal demand that the soul that sins must die was met by Jesus taking this demand and nailing it to His cross. In doing so, He paid the debt we owed and triumphed over death and hell and Satan and his fallen angels. He heard our cry for mercy and forgave us all of our sins! Hallelujah! We are free! We appropriate the freedom through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ!
Psalm 28:6-7 “Blessed be the Lord! For He has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for hearing Moses’ cry for mercy when You could have legally destroyed Your rebelling people. Thank You for Your steadfast love and mercy through Jesus Christ and His death on the cross on our behalf. Thank You for canceled sins and debt and disarmed rulers and authorities! Blessed be Your Name forever and ever!
Numbers 14:17-19 “And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as You have promised, saying, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.””
A dwelling for God!
Scripture reading for September 23rd: Ephesians 2:1-22
God does everything with a purpose in mind. God knew His plans for us before creation. (Ephesians 1:4) God knew how these plans would be accomplished and is still active in bringing them to completion. One of His stated desires was to dwell intimately with His people and be their God. (Jeremiah 31:33-34) He chose to accomplish this through sending His Son, Jesus Christ to provide redemption and forgiveness of sins. His further plan was to send the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Father, to dwell within each believer. (Ephesians 1:13-14) The Holy Spirit is a guarantee of our full redemption when God’s plan is fully completed to bring all things in heaven and earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:9-10)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) God’s grace is at work through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. He has made us into a new creation. He is the Master Craftsman working on us from within to work in us God’s grace. He leads us into the things of God and reveals Christ to us. He prepares us for the good works God wants us to do and shows us what they are. We must chose to walk in them.
God is taking both Jew and Gentile into this plan through the blood of Christ. The two are no longer separate, but by faith in Christ they are now one! Both have access to God by the Spirit and both have become children in God’s house. This house included the apostles and Old Testament prophets and Jesus Christ Himself the chief cornerstone! (Ephesians 2:20) “In Him the building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:21-22)
God’s plan included all nations, not just the Jews. God’s plan was outlined in former times before Christ by the prophets and now is being preached by the apostles. We who know Christ and believe are joined with those of faith to become a dwelling place for God–the new temple!