The Messiahs Secret –
God’s Timing (Law and Grace)
Paul
writing to the Ephesians wrote that now was the time for the Gentiles to enter
into the Kingdom of God, “Remember at that time you were separate from Christ,
excluded from the citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the
promise, without hope and without God in the world.” Ephesians 2: 12
Visual Aid - Hickory
Dickory Dock Nursery Rhyme (for
the young children)
Hickory, dickory, dock,
the mouse ran up the clock,
(the tab was pulled down by a child)
the clock struck one,
the mouse ran down,
hickory dickory dock.
(The tab was pushed up to allow the mouse to come down).
In a booklet which was given out, the mice were scurrying off to church for 9.45am
It
was God’s timing when he intervened in human affairs when Jesus was born into
the world to fulfil God’s plans and purposes, it was to end the law given to
Moses by God and to establish the New Covenant by grace.
The cop got out of
his car and the kid who was stopped for speeding rolled down his window, the
cop said “I’ve been waiting for you all day,” The kid replied “Yeah, well I got
hear as fast as I could.”
When the cop finally
stopped laughing, he sent the kid on his way without a ticket. (grace.) 'Barrel of Laughs' J John Monach Books.
The greatest healing that
Jesus accomplished was reconciling humanity and God.
Ephesians
2: 14. "For he (Jesus) is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed
the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law
with its commandments and regulation. His purpose was to create in himself one
new man, so making peace, and in this one new body to reconcile both of them to
God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”
To
understand what Paul has written we
remind ourselves that In the Bible there are only two nations the Jewish nation
and the Gentiles.
The Law given to
Moses
by God separated the two nations. The Gentiles didn’t keep these laws they had
no covenants with God.
The law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, the book
containing the law was ratified, made legal with the sprinkling with
sacrificial blood over the book and the people.
As
part of that agreement Moses and
the elders of Israel sat and ate with God on Sinai. God having fellowship with
his people. Exodus 24: 1-11.
The same is seen when Jesus sat at table with
his disciples at the last supper where he put in place the new covenant.”This
is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins.” Matthew 26: 28
And in Revelation 3: 20 Jesus is knocking at
the door of a person’s heart, Behold, I stand at the door
and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with
him, and he with me.” The
barrier, the door of sin in our life.
Visual Aid - A large piece of tarmac
The
tarmac has a hard wearing surface which represents the law, the hardness, and the unyielding law.
The Policeman caught a motorist speeding and gave him a ticket, the motorist complained. The Policeman reminded him, “Get two more of these tickets and you will be riding a bicycle.”
The Law was given to Moses by God and it was designed to illuminate what sin is in God’s eyes: Hatred, bitterness, envy, pride, unbelief, malice, steal, cheat, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, fornication etc. Galatians 5: 19-21.
We understand that it
is impossible to keep the law, so a sacrifice was made to atone for sin.
When
we hear what Jesus has done for us on the cross, and in faith we accept that he
has become our sacrifice, dying for our sin, we are raised up from the dead, from the state that we were in before we heard about Jesus.
Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus' dead body down from the cross and laid him in a tomb, where they wrapped his body with strips of linen coated with myrrh and aloes.
From within the tomb, the power of God raised Jesus’ dead disjointed, bloodless body up from the dead, Jesus rolled back his grave clothes coated with myrrh and aloes, it was by the power of God the stone was rolled away from the entrance to the tomb.
It’s
like the seed under the tarmac germinates in the darkness and by the power of
God, forces its way through the tarmac, cracking its hard surface. Have you
felt the soft texture of grass and yet it has broken through that hard surface
of the tarmac.
The
seed of faith sown in our heart, by the power of God’s Spirit raises us up, as Jesus
got up in the tomb, he released us from our sin and raises us up in him, he rolls away the
stony heart and gives us a heart that beats in time with God’s heart.
Our
nature has been transformed by the power of God’s Spirit acting on repentance
and our faith in Jesus, so our nature becomes God centred
We
are raised up with Christ to know the holiness of God the law written in our
hearts, and the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, kindness, patience,
goodness, faithfulness, self control, against which there is no law. Galatians 5: 22 -24
Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, “When (Christian)
Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires . . . They
show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their
conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps
excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel,
God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” Romans 2: 4-16
Jesus has fulfilled
the purpose for his coming, he has broken down the barrier of sin, Paul calls
it ‘hostility’ he
has made it possible for all people
to be reconciled to God. So fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham, all the
nations of the earth will be blessed
I
would normally end my sermon here, but please bear with me for five more minutes
as three weeks ago & and this week I was asked this question.
“Why doesn’t God
intervene in the current world affairs?
In response to the question: God’s intervention in world affairs ties in with Biblical
prophesies.
One significant prophecy that has already been fulfilled, “They will fall by
the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations; and Jerusalem will
be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilled.” Luke 21:24
Many
Christians believe this prophecy was fulfilled in 1980, when Jewish people took
control over a divided Jerusalem.
Since then the tension in the region continues to escalate, until hopefully, quite soon the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy will be fulfilled.
Since then the tension in the region continues to escalate, until hopefully, quite soon the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy will be fulfilled.
This seven year period will begin with Israel
signing a peace treaty with other countries. Daniel 9: 27 “He will confirm a
covenant with many for one week.”
Israel
will relax as this period of peace continues
Ezekiel
38: 14 “On that day when my people are dwelling securely, you will bestir
yourself.”
After
three and a half years, the peace treaty is broken Gog the King of the North
comes against Israel and the tribulation period begins and lasts for three and
a half years. So desolation comes before restoration by the Messiah.
Jesus
informs us God intervenes at this point, “The Son of man will send his angels,
and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin
and evil doers and throw them into the fire, like the weeds will be gathered up
and burned.” Matthew 13: 41.
The armies of Gog and his allies gather to take Jerusalem, Jesus returns to take up with the remnant of Israel and defeats Gog to bring peace and security to the region and the world through the reign of the Messiah for a period of time 1,000 Revelation 21.
The intervention of God in world affairs lies with prophesies being fulfilled and its God’s timing.
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Three
views based on Eezkiel as to when Armageddon takes place: 1. Before the
tribulation. 2. The middle of the
tribulation. 3. The end of the tribulation.
1.Before
the tribulation Russia Gog the King of the North with her allies will invades
Israel, this is before the antichrist is revealed, it is suggested the reason
behind the invasion is to take the minerals from the land.
2.Middle of tribulation: the invasion of Israel by Gog the King of the North takes place while Israel is dwelling in her own land enjoying a false security of relative peace, provided by the covenant with the antichrist. Gog is not mentioned in Revelation chapter 19 along with the demise of the beast and the false prophet, he must have been destroyed previously, in the middle of the tribulation.
3. At the end of the Tribulation period: The armies of Gog and his allies gather to take Jerusalem, Jesus returns to take up with the remnant of Israel and defeats Gog to bring peace and security to the region and the world through the reign of the Messiah for a period of time 1,000 Revelation 21.
I
personally go with the third view
Numbers in the Bible (Clock)
One: There is one God,
Sunday the first day of the week. Exodus 20: 1. John 20:1
Two: There are two
sections to the Bible Old and New Testaments
Three. Three persons making up the one God, Father,
Son & Holy Spirit. Matthew 28: 19
Four . 4 Gospels:
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Five: Five the number in
the Bible associated with grace. Five commandments on each tablet of stone.
Multiples of five in the inner sanctuary in the temple. 1 Kings 6. 23 – 27.
Six: God created man on
the sixth day. Genesis 1: 26
Seven: Seven days in the
week, number 7 associated with perfection. Genesis 1. 2:3
Eight. Rainbow has eight
colours. Genesis 9: 13
Nine: Finality or
conclusion or .come to the end or completeness. Jesus said on the cross, “It is
finished.” John 19: 30
Ten: Two tablets of stone
with the commandments on them.
Exodus
32: 15
Eleven: Jesus appeared
before the eleven after his resurrection.
Mark
16: 14
Twelve: Twelve disciples
Mark 3: 17 – 19.
