Epaggelia

15 April 1912, it was Sunday night and John Phillips was the wireless operator on board duty for the Titanic in the North Atlantic. He received a message from the USS California 10 miles away at 11pm warning him of a large ice field. Mr Phillips had been working all day transmitting messages and was tired. He simply replied, “Shut up, shut up, I’m busy”. 40 minutes later the Titanic collided with an ice berg at high speed, causing too many holes, breaching the safety walls inside the ship to isolate the water leaking in, flooding too many compartments. It began to sink! Something which Mr. Phillips didn’t really believe could happen.  Over 1,500 passengers and crew sank into a watery grave by 2.20am. One of the worlds most horrible human disasters took the greatest cruise ship of all time to the bottom of the ocean. The reason? Actually there were a few mistakes which culminated in the Titanic’s tragedy, but the very first mistake was this: Mr. Phillips ignored the warning! He had the wrong attitude towards a warning from wisdom. It is wise to avoid ice fields.

King Solomon’s kingdom proved to be the Titanic among Hebrew reigns. He had the greatest of wealth & wisdom, with unprecedented peace & prosperity, while Israel seemed to be unsinkable, Solomon ordered full speed ahead, only to be hit by huge icebergs which sank Israel. One of the worlds’ greatest spiritual disasters is having Solomon at the helm while icebergs caused 4 huge holes in his life (Eccl. 2:1-2, 1st Kings 4:26 & Duet 17:14-16).

1- Misdirected wisdom (Eccl 1)

2- Misdirected wealth (Eccl. 2:1-2, 1st Kings 4:26 & Duet 17:14-16)

3- Misusing women (Duet. 17:17, 1st Kings 3:1-2, & 11:3, Eccl. 9:9)

4- Mixed worship (1st Kings 11:4-8, Eccl. 5:1-7)

The book of Ecclesiastes is a record of Solomon’s regret and despair as he rehearses the utter uselessness of squandering God’s wisdom, blessings and power, and spending them all on our self. One of the most important points we can learn from Solomon’s derelict duty is that wisdom itself cannot save you, knowledge cannot save you, nothing can save us from all our sinful mistakes, other than God’s grace and the blood of Jesus.  David said it best on his deathbed to his son Solomon, “…pay close attention to your ways, to walk before God in faithfulness with all your heart and with all your soul and you will not lack a man on the throne of Israel” (1st Kings 2:4). What Christians should hope Proverbs does for us, is this: enlighten us into the mind of Christ, so we can react the right way when we receive warnings. 

Solomon’s spiritual failures resulted not because he lacked knowledge, but because he fell short in the discipline of growing, “knowing” the truth into “being” true and then on into truly “doing” what is right. Solomon’s sinful unwillingness to heed his own words doesn’t diminish the value of Proverbs in any little way. It is a huge and powerful house of wisdom for us today. Paul told Timothy (2Tim. 3:16), “All Scripture is inspired of God….”. If only Mr Phillips had read Proverbs 14:35 on the night he received his warning about the ice. “The Captain favors a wise servant, but his anger falls on a disgraceful one”. How could that have changed history and saved lives?  If Mr. Philips had desired to be a wise servant he could have at least passed on the message from the USS California. No one knows what the Captain would have done. How can Proverbs change our life?

The Covenant made with Abraham in circumcision and with Moses in the law was RENEWED and RESTORED several times in the history of the Jews. Blood sealed the covenant in it’s initial announcement and in each renewal blood was present or nearby. Firstly of course every time a male child was circumcised and also every time the law was obeyed in making animal sacrifices. But of course, the act of circumcision was not always faithfully obeyed, and neither were the sacrifices consistently offered. Therefore the need to renew or restore the covenant was a reality with ancient Israel, suffering from rebellious sins, here are a few examples.

The first renewal was in Deuteronomy 31:24-30, led by Moses. Notice the Ark/Mercy Seat was present!

The second renewal was led by Joshua in 5:2-8 before they entered Canaan (where all men were circumcised) and again another renewal before his death in chapter 24.

Thirdly, King Josiah led a renewal of the covenant in 2Kings 23:2-3. Notice it took place in the Temple and then he reinstated the Passover, v21-23.

Fourthly and most likely the last renewal was led during the exile of Israelites from Babylon by Nehemiah,  after Ezra secured sacrifices to be offered in Jerusalem for the rebuilding of the Temple, Ez. 6:8-10, the renewal was completed in Neh. 9 & 10.  

Sporadically individuals restored the covenant they had with God in their sacrifices, (Psa. 50:5), showing throughout every renewal, blood was present and representing the priceless value of the covenant.

Once God’s covenanted promise was fulfilled, in Jesus, He provided and planned a constant renewal of the New Covenant in Jesus. The blood of Jesus is an eternal covenant, compare Mt. 26:28 with Isaiah 42:5-6.  We enter into an agreement of submission to the Lordship of Jesus by faith in His blood and victorious death (baptism, Romans 6:1-7) and in turn we receive the benefits of his blood, forgiveness & life in the heavenly city.  The renewal in a Christian’s life, is observed in the communion where it was first instituted, Mark 14:22-25 & Luke 22:14-22.  In John’s gospel the institution of the Lord’s supper is recorded in the context of the Passover supper where His betrayal is predicted and He teaches on love & service, prophesying the coming of the Comforting Holy Spirit of Christ (Jon. 13:2-16:33). Later, the first day of the week commemorates the resurrection, but the communion was established as Thursday turned into Friday. The reason we commemorate and renew His covenant of blood on a Sunday is because that was the day His resurrection proved the power of His blood, wherein eternal life resides. Do you believe this? If you do, you can enter into a covenant relationship with God, who is faithful to keep His promise of forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus. Therein lay the motivation for us to always have a reason to rejoice in the Lord, Philippians 4:4. Rejoice and give thanks for His blood is always working and eternal, 1John 1:7.

Jesus is the reality in time, which casts a shadow back on the centuries God worked with the Jews. One way we can see the identity of Jesus is in the design of the Tabernacle/Temple. Hebrews 8:1-5.

Temple Gate, Ex. 27:16 shadows Jesus as the Gate, Jn. 10:9.

Bronze Altar, Ex. 27:1-8 shadows the Lamb of God in Jesus, Jn. 1:29.

Bronze Laver, Ex. 29:4 & 30:17-21 shadows the cleansing Jesus provides  in baptism, Hebrews 10:22 & 1st Peter 3:21.

Golden Lampstand, Ex. 25:31-40 shadows the Light of the world in Jesus, Jn. 8:12, 9:5 and reflection of him, Mt. 5:14-16.

Bread of The Presence, Ex. 25:30 shadows the body of Jesus he gave in paying our price for sin, Jn. 6:35, 51, Lk. 22:19.

Altar of Incense, Ex. 30:1-10, shadows the mediation of Jesus in our prayers, Revelation 5:8, Mt. 6:5-15, Rom. 8:26.

The Veil, Ex. 26:31-33, shadows the work of Jesus making access to the presence of God for everyone in His body. Mt. 27:51 & Heb. 10:19-20.

The Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant, Ex. 25:10-22, shadows the presence of God while Jesus sacrificed Himself by blood.

Inside the Ark were tablets of stone (10 commandments), The law shadowed the reality of God’s Spirit writing the perfect law of liberty on disciples’ hearts. Jeremiah 31:31-33, Hebrews 7:18-19, 9:15, James 1:25.

Old Law                                                            New Law
1. God designed it, (Dt. 5:2)                          1. God designed it, (Jer. 31:31)
2. Very little Mercy, (Heb 10:28)                      2. Abundant Mercy, (Heb 8:12)
3. Condemnation, (2Cor. 3:9)                         3. Righteousness, (2Cor. 5:21),  
4. Death, (2Cor. 3:7, Rom. 8:2)                      4. Life, (Rom 8:2)
5. Ineffective sacrifice, (Heb. 10:4,11)              5. Effective sacrifice, (Mat 26:28)
6. Stirred Sinful Desires, (Rom 7:5-8)              6. Strength over sin, (Gal 5:16)
7. Weakness through the flesh, (Rom. 8:3)      7. Life through the Spirit, (Eph. 3:16)
8. Wrath, (Rom 4:15)                                     8. Reconciled Friendship, (Col. 1:22)
9. Imperfection, (Heb 8:7)                               9. Perfect Law of Liberty, (Jas 1:25)
10. Law Cannot Justify, (Rom 3:20)                 10. Faith Justifies, (Rom 5:1)
11. Cannot make Heirs, (Rom 4:14)                 11. Makes Heirs, (Rom 8:17, Gal. 4:7).
12. Temporarily covers sin, (Heb 10:4)             12. Forgives Sin, (Heb. 9:15)
13. Mediator is Moses, (Dt. 5:5)                      13. Mediator is Jesus (Heb. 12:22-24)
14. Started during Exodus, 1Kg. 8:9               14. When Jesus died, (Heb. 9:16-17)
15. Dedicated by blood of animals, Ex. 24:6     15. By blood of Jesus (Mt. 26:27-28)
16. Made only for Israel, (1Kg. 8:9)                 16. Made for all humanity, (Mrk 16:15)

Truly the Law was a promise-bearer, given to bless the Jews. Within the law was the promises of blessed prosperity (land) and the promise of a powerful ruler (messiah), for the Israelites, NOT the Gentiles. Both promises inside the law had their original condition shadowing the reality of Christianity and Christ. We Gentiles are beneficiaries of God’s grace, not the law. Yes the law teaches us about God, but it does not bless us with the fulfilment of any of it’s promises. However, The Jews are beneficiaries of the law, as long as they kept the law. The law’s benefit was not salvation, it was the privilege of bringing The Messiah into the world AND peaceful possession of their land. Once that was completed, the law would be fulfilled and made obsolete in the Messiah Jesus. So today, the Jews still strive in futility to possess their land in rejection of their own Messiah. We should pray for them. The covenants God made with Moses & David, reflect truths we can grow & strengthen our faith upon in Christianity, let’s look at both of them:

Moses: The Book of The Covenant, Ex. 24:7-8. The most important covenant for Jews was not in this book. CIRCUMCISION. Circumcision was a sign for Jews from Abraham, BEFORE the book of the Covenant through Moses. The promise within circumcision is: blessing the world with Christ Jesus’ salvation, the seed of Abraham. However the promise in the book of the covenant or law of Moses, is different. What is it? Firstly, peaceful Possession of the Land with prosperity and secondly the BRINGING of the Messiah into the world to bless everyone. Neither the Land, nor the BRINGING of the Messiah made the Jews SAVED for eternity in Heaven. Only Jesus can do that. For Gentile Christians, the most important truth we can learn from the old Book of The Covenant through Moses for the Jews, is this: within it’s laws were sacrifices showing everyone the BLOOD OF THE COVENANT. This element of the Book of the Covenant is what attracted Gentiles to be proselytised. It was not the superiority of the 10 commandments or the rigid tithes, or all the many feast days observed by Jews which attracted Gentiles to be proselytised, but indeed the blood of the sacrifices, made the Gentiles take an interest in the God of the Jews. See Acts 8:30-34. This need for sacrifice is what Christians should grow in, because Jesus is our High Priest and we are a Royal Priesthood. Herein we find a way to please our Savior & God, 1Peter 2:9 & Romans 12:1, and show Him thanks for saving us.

 David: The Covenant of Salt, 2Chronicles 13:5. Salt was a necessary addition to all sacrifices, Leviticus 2:13. When people ate together, they became friends and often used phrases like, “there is salt between us”, which always meant that they had cemented a friendship and promised loyalty with one another. You can see this in Ezra 4:14. Offerings to God were to be made with a statute forever before Him, Numbers 18:19. What exactly was the covenanted promise of salt between God and David? That his dynasty would last, unlike Saul’s dynasty. Actually Jesus is legally kin to David through the legal guardianship of Joseph, being Mary’s husband. Jesus said “Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another”, Mk. 9:50, this obviously means we should be living sacrifices, meeting one another’s needs in service. Paul said Christians were living sacrifices. He says, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone”, Colossians 4:6. The rule of Jesus as King in your life is exercised by your usage of His grace and words.  David’s covenant of salt is to remind us that our dynasty in Jesus to rule forever will never be broken as long as we confess Him daily in our ‘salty’ lifestyle, Luke 9:23 & Mt. 10:32.  In this we are made a ROYAL Priesthood, 1Peter 3:9, here and in eternity!

The Blood of Jesus is unique, it was physically different and also divinely appointed to be an acceptable sacrifice. From the Garden of Gethsemene to the Grave of Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus deliberately paid a full price for our sins with his blood.  It was unique physically in the sense that Jesus had no physical father. The virgin birth necessitates a genetical miracle in the womb of Mary. Every babies blood supply and type is different from the mother, if it isn’t, then the baby would not develop and neither would the baby be male. But Jesus was circumcised on his eigth day, and his blood was holy.  His blood paid a full price on the cross, and it is not to be under valued, the effect of the cross is powerful. The apostle Paul wanted it’s effect to stay full, he warned, “…preach the gospel, not with clever words so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of it’s effect. (1st Cor. 1:17-18). The effect of Christ’s blood-stained cross results in bringing peace between us and God, His price paid, covers the damage incurred against our fellowship with God. Our sin makes us enemies against God, His price makes us friends again, that is spiritual eternal peace to be enjoyed here and now and into eternity. The only way to get true peace with God is as Paul declared, “by making peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20).

The blood of Jesus is the reality of a shadow cast over centuries by the Mercy-seat on the Ark of the Testimony in the Temple’s Holy of Holies. The High Priest once a year would sprinkle the blood of a bull and goat upon it seven times. (Leviticus 16:11-29). What reality cast this shadow on the past historically? The blood of Christ. It is significant that there are seven places the gospels mention, where the blood of Christ was exposed.

1. The Garden of Gethsemane on Mt. Olive, Luke 22:44
2. The High Priest’s Courtyard, Luke 22:54-64, Mt. 26:57-68, John 18:22 & Isa. 50:2-9
3. Pilate’s Judgment Hall & Stone Pavement, John 18:28, 19:13.
4. The Praetorium & Herod’s Quarters in Jerusalem, Mark 16:15, John 19:1-5, Mt. 27:26-29, Luke 23:7-11
5. On the Road through the city and out the gates. John 19:1-5, Mt. 27:26-29
6. Golgotha (Calvary), Mt. 27:31-34
7. Gravesite of Joseph’s Tomb, John 19:38-42

In each place mentioned, the blood was seen and eventually recorded for us to remember. Remember what? That Jesus was the reality of the Mercy-Seat of God. Paul makes this clear in Romans 3:25, by using a particular word in the Greek which is synonymous with the Hebrew word for Mercy-Seat, it is “Propitiation”. The annual observance of this act of sprinkling blood seven times upon the Temple’s Mercy Seat was called the “Day of Atonement”, (Lev. 23:27).  Since Jesus covered himself in the blood, and died in giving his blood, he now offers us all a blood bought covenant to be born into. God is moved by mercy toward sinners that unite with Jesus in His victorious death and join His covenant in His blood. Never forget what was kept under the Mercy-Seat. The budding rod of Aaron which reminded everyone of God’s power to bring life from death. The gold jar of manna, reminding us of God’s love in providing for our daily needs, and of course the stone tablets of commandments, reminding us of God’s will and justice enforced by our lifestyle being in accordance with His word. All of this was covered by God’s mercy-seat, and it was covered annually with blood. Is your spirit sealed and touched by God’s sign of this new covenant in the blood? If not, then we by faith must enter into it by baptism, Romans 6:1-7, & Colossians 2:10-12. The necessity of remembering the new covenant in His blood is seen in the memorial of the Lord’s Supper every Lord’s Day (Sunday) by His people in a covenant relationship with him.

When we approach the subject of God’s promises, we should start at the beginning. Firstly, Peter tells us that God foreordained Christ as providing a Covenant in His blood, and He did this before the foundation of the world (1st Peter 1:19-20).  Isaiah knew of this ancient Covenant and claimed it applied to all humanity (Isaiah 42:5-6). Even Hosea mentions God’s covenant with Adam (Hosea 6:7). In the garden of Eden, God prophesied that a descendent of Eve would victoriously crush the head of the serpent’s descendant (Gen. 3:16). What does Peter, Isaiah, Hosea and Adam have in common? God’s covenanted promise to provide a Christ who would rescue us from sin, death & the devil. This is good news! We praise God because He has always wanted to save us and bless us, even though we continually play into the hands of Satan and sin against Him. This covenant and promise to save us is first and more important than any other covenant God has ever made. All the other covenants hang on this one primary promise, to save us.

Let’s view them.                                                                              

Noah: God covenanted a promise to Noah regarding humanities maintenance with seasons, never to destroy it again with water. This is still in effect with His promising sign of a rainbow. This will only end at the appointed Day, when God will send Jesus and destroy the earth by fire (Genesis 6:18 & 8:15-9:17). Peter understood how this covenant was still effective and how it will come to an end (2nd Peter 3:4-13).                                             

Abraham: God covenanted a promise to Abraham with the solitary agreement of acceptance by Abraham, being circumcision.  It was kind of like getting into a movie, with a ticket that didn’t cost you any money, you just had to obtain the ticket and present it at the door. Remember, you couldn’t see the show without having the ticket!  Read all of Genesis 15 through 17, it was God who passed through the blood of animals. It was God who would do the blessing, God would provide Abraham’s descendant through a barren wife, and God would provide His descendants with an inherited land through a miraculous journey of freed slaves out of Egypt. This was based solely on God’s gracious power to perform the fulfilment of these promises, on ONE condition, that Abraham and his descendants would accept the ‘ticket’, circumcision. Circumcision was the sign. Inside this covenant is the promise of BLESSING the whole world through Abraham’s seed (descendant), which turned out to be Jesus Christ, (Gen. 12:3 & 17:3-14 & Galatians 3:15-18, 3:27-29). Originally Abraham thought his descendant to be Ishamael, then Isaac, but finally he realized it was Jesus Christ, See John 8:56.                                                                           

The Christian: Both Peter & Paul teach on the subject of circumcision as having been replaced in significance with baptism. Read Colossians 2:10-12 & 1st Peter 3:18-21. The new covenant which ensures God’s promise of salvation with a Christian is prophesied by Jeremiah 31:31-34. The human heart is to have God’s law written upon it, and that is what God’s Spirit of Christ does today, 2nd Corinthians 3:3. Remember it was Peter who proclaimed to circumcised Jews admitting their guilt of sin,  that if they were not repentant and baptised, then God’s wrath was upon them, Acts 2:37-41. The beauty of this covenant is that it’s power to provide the blessing of forgiveness and eternal life, lay in the blood of Christ, which we get applied to our heart by faith in the watery grave of baptism,  by the Holy Spirit of Christ, Roman 6:1-7 & 1st John 1:7, Hebrews 10:15-22. Do we have the seal of God’s Spirit in our spirit? Read Romans 8:9. In the new covenant, the sign is the blood and it is sealed with His Spirit on our heart, Eph. 1:13. For these three testify, the Spirit, the water & the blood, 1st John 5:7-8.

Everyone appreciates and values ‘originals’. Originals teach us where we came from, and warn us of mistakes we shouldn’t repeat. Originals stand for success.  Original cars, computers, artists and even original molds, which make great casts for several copies to come.  We have in Acts the original church in God’s design. This is good news because since it is God’s original, it doesn’t change or deteriorate. The church is not only described with various pictures like Bride, Body, Light, Flock, Vine, Temple, Nation and Family we viewed in the last lesson. But the Church has also been titled with only one owner, shown as the following:

Church of God Acts 20:28,
Churches of Christ, Romans 16:16.
Church of the Firstborn, Hebrews 12:23,
Church of the Living God, 1st Timothy 3:15.

With all of these names in the title for ONE owner, it is comforting to know that the Owner and Head of the Church tell us of it’s original name. THE WAY.

John the Immersionist proclaimed preparation for the Way of the Lord, Mark 1:3, and Jesus spoke of the Kingdom as near, he also spoke of the Way as being straight and narrow, with only a few finding it (Mat. 7:14).  Later on towards the end of his ministry, Jesus claimed that He Himself is THE WAY, (Jn. 14:6). As the church was born and started to become established, the Hebrew writer by inspiration of God described the House of God as The Way, (Heb. 10:19-21).

Chronologically, the first time people of the world are on record as calling the church a name, it was in a derogatory sense, speaking in Acts 9:1-2, “The Way”, was the term they used to target disciples of the Lord Jesus.  Then in Acts 11:26, the Disciples are called Christians. This sequence of descriptions, proves to us who owns and controls the Church. Jesus Christ, The Way. There are seven more examples of Christians being described by Luke as belonging to the Way, Acts 16:17, 18:25, 26, 19:9, 23, 24:14 & 22. Even in the mind of Paul (Romans 14:16-20) and Peter (2nd Peter 2:1-2) was the idea of the Church being called the “Way”. To the first Christians, there was only ONE way to please God, love God and grow closer to God.  In every instance we talk of a “way”, we are always in need of a map or directions. This is good news, and the Way of Truth & Life with God can be seen clearly as:

Hearing about Jesus, Romans 10:13-15.
Believing in Jesus as God’s Son, John 3:16.
Confessing Jesus as Lord, Mat. 10:32, Romans 10:9 & Acts 8:37.
Changing/Repenting for Jesus, Luke 9:23 & Acts 3:19.
Immersed with Jesus, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:37-38, Romans 6:1-8.
Following Jesus Forever, 2nd Tim. 2:10, James 5:11 & Rev. 2:10.

It is good news to be given such a clear and certain, original Way to grow closer to God and be accepted by Him now and for eternity.