Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "vicarious-atonement"
Interstate Billboards – Part 1
When they came to the place called “The Skull”, there they crucified Him and the (two) criminals, one on the right and the other on the left [Luke 23:33].
Israel in Old Testament times was a nation ruled by the Law of Moses. The Lord (aka YHWH) was her King, and He gave Israel her Law through His prophet Moses. King YHWH also gave Israel the Promised Land as her terrestrial abode.
In other words the Lord created a new nation. He began with one man, Abraham, and grew him and his progeny into a multitude. Then the Lord delivered them from Egyptian slavery, took them to Mt. Sinai where He gave them the Law to govern their lives, and brought them into the Promised Land and gave it to them as their inheritance.
There was a purpose for the Lord doing all this. He created the heavens and the earth and planted man in His beautiful garden to tend it for Him. He looked over His creation and saw that everything was very good. That sly critter named SIN didn’t exist in man. Everything God made was very good.
Alas, but it didn’t stay that way. Satan was at odds with God, thinking to elevate himself to the throne of God. He wound up being “elevated” downward—far, far, downward—when the Lord booted his sorry rump out of heaven. Satan’s behavior made him a sinner. When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, Satan brought his sin along and shared it with Eve. She in turn shared it with Adam. Thenceforth mankind universally has been comprised of sinners.
That was where the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel came in. The world was filled with sinners, peoples and nations who shook their fist at God and refused to submit to His rule. The two major civilizations back in the day were Egypt and Mesopotamia. If you take a gander at a map of those times, you will see Mesopotamia on the east and Egypt on the west, and…the Promised Land smack dab in the middle.
Yes, the Lord created a new nation to represent Him to the world, to show sinful men that they were sinners, separated from Him and needing to return to Him. He gave Israel the Law and His tabernacle worship structure to accomplish this feat, and He planted Israel smack dab in the middle of the civilized world of the day so everyone would see this.
Israel, you see, served as a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate between Egypt and Mesopotamia. All commerce passed between those two civilizations, so everyone learned the truth about God from Israel—even during times when Israel wasn’t much to look at righteousness-wise. Israel was God’s witness to the world, sometimes for good and other times for ill.
Well, the Law was in effect only until the fullness of the time had come (Galatians 4:4). That time came when the eternal Son of God became a man named Jesus. Jesus is the God-man, fully God and fully man simultaneously. He came to earth to fulfill the Law for mankind. He then went to the cross and died to pay the penalty for all mankind’s sins. He rose out of death on the third day and ascended into heaven.
From heaven Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to create a new nation, a spiritual nation, known as the Church. Whoever will call upon Jesus in order to accept His payment for the penalty of their sins receives forgiveness of sins and is born again into the family of God, the Church of Jesus Christ. Originally this offer was given to Israel, to the Jewish people. Since then it has also gone out to the Gentiles, i.e., all non-Jewish people.
Let’s pull off the interstate into this shady arbor along the road. It’s time to take a breather and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while. We will continue this study in our next post. See you then!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Israel in Old Testament times was a nation ruled by the Law of Moses. The Lord (aka YHWH) was her King, and He gave Israel her Law through His prophet Moses. King YHWH also gave Israel the Promised Land as her terrestrial abode.
In other words the Lord created a new nation. He began with one man, Abraham, and grew him and his progeny into a multitude. Then the Lord delivered them from Egyptian slavery, took them to Mt. Sinai where He gave them the Law to govern their lives, and brought them into the Promised Land and gave it to them as their inheritance.
There was a purpose for the Lord doing all this. He created the heavens and the earth and planted man in His beautiful garden to tend it for Him. He looked over His creation and saw that everything was very good. That sly critter named SIN didn’t exist in man. Everything God made was very good.
Alas, but it didn’t stay that way. Satan was at odds with God, thinking to elevate himself to the throne of God. He wound up being “elevated” downward—far, far, downward—when the Lord booted his sorry rump out of heaven. Satan’s behavior made him a sinner. When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, Satan brought his sin along and shared it with Eve. She in turn shared it with Adam. Thenceforth mankind universally has been comprised of sinners.
That was where the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel came in. The world was filled with sinners, peoples and nations who shook their fist at God and refused to submit to His rule. The two major civilizations back in the day were Egypt and Mesopotamia. If you take a gander at a map of those times, you will see Mesopotamia on the east and Egypt on the west, and…the Promised Land smack dab in the middle.
Yes, the Lord created a new nation to represent Him to the world, to show sinful men that they were sinners, separated from Him and needing to return to Him. He gave Israel the Law and His tabernacle worship structure to accomplish this feat, and He planted Israel smack dab in the middle of the civilized world of the day so everyone would see this.
Israel, you see, served as a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate between Egypt and Mesopotamia. All commerce passed between those two civilizations, so everyone learned the truth about God from Israel—even during times when Israel wasn’t much to look at righteousness-wise. Israel was God’s witness to the world, sometimes for good and other times for ill.
Well, the Law was in effect only until the fullness of the time had come (Galatians 4:4). That time came when the eternal Son of God became a man named Jesus. Jesus is the God-man, fully God and fully man simultaneously. He came to earth to fulfill the Law for mankind. He then went to the cross and died to pay the penalty for all mankind’s sins. He rose out of death on the third day and ascended into heaven.
From heaven Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to create a new nation, a spiritual nation, known as the Church. Whoever will call upon Jesus in order to accept His payment for the penalty of their sins receives forgiveness of sins and is born again into the family of God, the Church of Jesus Christ. Originally this offer was given to Israel, to the Jewish people. Since then it has also gone out to the Gentiles, i.e., all non-Jewish people.
Let’s pull off the interstate into this shady arbor along the road. It’s time to take a breather and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while. We will continue this study in our next post. See you then!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Interstate Billboards – Part 2
When they came to the place called “The Skull”, there they crucified Him and the (two) criminals, one on the right and the other on the left [Luke 23:33].
Here’s the thing. Just as in the Old Testament God wanted to call sinful man back to Himself, so too does He in the New Testament. Just as in the Old Testament God employed the Law to do this, so too in the New Testament does He employ grace to do this. The word grace refers to God’s free gift of salvation to sinful man, which was earned by His Son Jesus on the cross. Just as in the Old Testament God created the earthly nation of Israel to be His witness to sinful mankind, so too in the New Testament did He create a spiritual nation, the Church, to be His witness to sinful mankind.
And this is where the story or the three crosses on Calvary comes in. Just as the Promised Land was smack dab at the crossroads of the two world empires back in the day, so too was Jerusalem smack dab at the crossroads of the Roman Empire back in the day. Calvary was located on a main street outside the gates of Jerusalem, where everyone passing through the city would witness the crucifixion.
Israel in the Promised Land was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate, advertising God’s righteousness and man’s sinfulness. Jesus on the cross was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate too, advertising God’s righteous judgment on man’s sins and His offer of grace for whoever will receive it, His forgiveness through the substitutionary death of His one and only Son.
Let’s take a gander at this billboard. In the center was a cross with Jesus dying on it. Jesus being God, He has no sin. He is holy. His death wasn’t for His own sins. He willingly laid down His life in order to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins. That was the purpose of God taking on flesh in the first place, viz., so that He could die on sinful man’s behalf. Therein lies real love, dear friends.
Two criminals were crucified with Jesus, one on Jesus’ right side and the other on His left. People passing along the road stopped and mocked Jesus. The Jewish authorities stoked the fire by mocking too. The Roman soldiers thought it was funny and joined in. What with all this mocking going on, even one of the crucified criminals took part in making fun of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was the laughing stock of the day.
The second criminal also spoke up, but not at all like the first criminal. He rebuked the first criminal for mocking Jesus. He confessed that Jesus had done no wrong and didn’t deserve to be on the cross. He admitted his own sins and chided the first criminal for being a sinner himself. How could he mock the holy Jesus, all the while he was so sinful and deserved to be on the cross?
That is the billboard the Lord set up along the world’s interstate, dear people. During the times of the Gentiles it replaces the billboard of Israel in the Promised Land. Israel as a nation is temporarily set aside as the Lord’s witness to the world. During the Church Age His spiritual nation, the Church, fulfills this function.
The billboard of the Law fulfilled its purpose and is no longer in effect. The billboard of God’s grace through His Son Jesus the Messiah is now in effect. That is the picture story painted on Calvary. At the center of it all, the axis of God’s grace is Jesus Christ. His cross was situated at center stage on Calvary.
Two criminals were crucified alongside Jesus, one on His right and the other on His left. Every human being aside from Jesus is born a sinner. Each one of us is a criminal, a rebel against God’s righteous rule. Each and every human being has, does, or will fit into the mold of one or the other of those two criminals. Either we mock Jesus and die in our sins, or else we confess that Jesus is sinless, is holy, and ask Him to receive us into His Kingdom.
All that’s left for us to do now is to decide which criminal we choose to be. The billboard paints the picture, my dear friends. What response will you make to it?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Here’s the thing. Just as in the Old Testament God wanted to call sinful man back to Himself, so too does He in the New Testament. Just as in the Old Testament God employed the Law to do this, so too in the New Testament does He employ grace to do this. The word grace refers to God’s free gift of salvation to sinful man, which was earned by His Son Jesus on the cross. Just as in the Old Testament God created the earthly nation of Israel to be His witness to sinful mankind, so too in the New Testament did He create a spiritual nation, the Church, to be His witness to sinful mankind.
And this is where the story or the three crosses on Calvary comes in. Just as the Promised Land was smack dab at the crossroads of the two world empires back in the day, so too was Jerusalem smack dab at the crossroads of the Roman Empire back in the day. Calvary was located on a main street outside the gates of Jerusalem, where everyone passing through the city would witness the crucifixion.
Israel in the Promised Land was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate, advertising God’s righteousness and man’s sinfulness. Jesus on the cross was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate too, advertising God’s righteous judgment on man’s sins and His offer of grace for whoever will receive it, His forgiveness through the substitutionary death of His one and only Son.
Let’s take a gander at this billboard. In the center was a cross with Jesus dying on it. Jesus being God, He has no sin. He is holy. His death wasn’t for His own sins. He willingly laid down His life in order to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins. That was the purpose of God taking on flesh in the first place, viz., so that He could die on sinful man’s behalf. Therein lies real love, dear friends.
Two criminals were crucified with Jesus, one on Jesus’ right side and the other on His left. People passing along the road stopped and mocked Jesus. The Jewish authorities stoked the fire by mocking too. The Roman soldiers thought it was funny and joined in. What with all this mocking going on, even one of the crucified criminals took part in making fun of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was the laughing stock of the day.
The second criminal also spoke up, but not at all like the first criminal. He rebuked the first criminal for mocking Jesus. He confessed that Jesus had done no wrong and didn’t deserve to be on the cross. He admitted his own sins and chided the first criminal for being a sinner himself. How could he mock the holy Jesus, all the while he was so sinful and deserved to be on the cross?
That is the billboard the Lord set up along the world’s interstate, dear people. During the times of the Gentiles it replaces the billboard of Israel in the Promised Land. Israel as a nation is temporarily set aside as the Lord’s witness to the world. During the Church Age His spiritual nation, the Church, fulfills this function.
The billboard of the Law fulfilled its purpose and is no longer in effect. The billboard of God’s grace through His Son Jesus the Messiah is now in effect. That is the picture story painted on Calvary. At the center of it all, the axis of God’s grace is Jesus Christ. His cross was situated at center stage on Calvary.
Two criminals were crucified alongside Jesus, one on His right and the other on His left. Every human being aside from Jesus is born a sinner. Each one of us is a criminal, a rebel against God’s righteous rule. Each and every human being has, does, or will fit into the mold of one or the other of those two criminals. Either we mock Jesus and die in our sins, or else we confess that Jesus is sinless, is holy, and ask Him to receive us into His Kingdom.
All that’s left for us to do now is to decide which criminal we choose to be. The billboard paints the picture, my dear friends. What response will you make to it?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
No Wiggle Room Allowed - Part 1
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted [Isaiah 53:4].
Emotions are a funny thing. If I ride the emotional roller coaster, I am up one moment and down another. Sometimes the ups and downs aren’t so far apart, in which case I appear to be “normal”, whatever that is! At other times though the ups and downs are so distant, it would take the Hubble telescope to make the two meet. Does the medical term bipolar disorder come to mind?
I’m really not a raving maniac, honest? Not even in the worst of times, if I may be so forward as to borrow from Dickens. It’s just that sometimes I realize I am not the cause of all the evils in the world, in which case I am having a good day. Then there are those times where my emotions tyrannize me into thinking everything is my fault. Those are not the good days, believe me.
You see, I suffer from the same affliction which all of us share to one extent or another. It appears in the Spiritual Dictionary of Medicine wearing a decorative three-piece suit “s-i-n”. Some of us blame self for every wrong. Sin is at the root of this malady. Others of us blame everyone else for the wrongs they encounter. Sin is also at the root of that malady.
What is so baffling about such a state is this: though we blame the world when things go wrong, we take all the bows when things go right. One side of the coin is our inability to look in the mirror and see self as the culprit. The other side of the coin is our ability to look in the same mirror and see self as the hero. “Never at fault and always in the right!” Such is the motto of sinful man.
When the Lord Jesus came on the scene circa 3 B.C., sinful man was bedecked in the same three-piece suit. The Son of God simultaneously became Jesus the Son of man. At circa 27 A.D. He went about the Promised Land sharing the Good News. He healed the sick and gave sight to the blind, restored hearing to the deaf and raised the dead. He even feed multitudes with food He called into existence by His mere Word.
Oh, no. We’re out of time once again…and just when we finally met up with Jesus too! We will continue this topic tomorrow. See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Emotions are a funny thing. If I ride the emotional roller coaster, I am up one moment and down another. Sometimes the ups and downs aren’t so far apart, in which case I appear to be “normal”, whatever that is! At other times though the ups and downs are so distant, it would take the Hubble telescope to make the two meet. Does the medical term bipolar disorder come to mind?
I’m really not a raving maniac, honest? Not even in the worst of times, if I may be so forward as to borrow from Dickens. It’s just that sometimes I realize I am not the cause of all the evils in the world, in which case I am having a good day. Then there are those times where my emotions tyrannize me into thinking everything is my fault. Those are not the good days, believe me.
You see, I suffer from the same affliction which all of us share to one extent or another. It appears in the Spiritual Dictionary of Medicine wearing a decorative three-piece suit “s-i-n”. Some of us blame self for every wrong. Sin is at the root of this malady. Others of us blame everyone else for the wrongs they encounter. Sin is also at the root of that malady.
What is so baffling about such a state is this: though we blame the world when things go wrong, we take all the bows when things go right. One side of the coin is our inability to look in the mirror and see self as the culprit. The other side of the coin is our ability to look in the same mirror and see self as the hero. “Never at fault and always in the right!” Such is the motto of sinful man.
When the Lord Jesus came on the scene circa 3 B.C., sinful man was bedecked in the same three-piece suit. The Son of God simultaneously became Jesus the Son of man. At circa 27 A.D. He went about the Promised Land sharing the Good News. He healed the sick and gave sight to the blind, restored hearing to the deaf and raised the dead. He even feed multitudes with food He called into existence by His mere Word.
Oh, no. We’re out of time once again…and just when we finally met up with Jesus too! We will continue this topic tomorrow. See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
No Wiggle Room Allowed - Part 2
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted [Isaiah 53:4].
We concluded our last study by noting how Jesus came on the scene of history doing many good works. The sick were healed, the hungry fed, the naked clothed, the blind given sight. That was the good side of the coin. Now let’s take a gander at the bad side of the coin.
The bad side was that He suffered terribly from scorn, derision, persecution, and finally martyrdom. And here’s the thing, dear friends. Jesus didn’t take the bows when the good side of the coin was on the ascendant. No, but instead He gave the glory to His Father in heaven. And when the bad side of the coin had its day, He neither complained nor blamed.
Alas, but sinful man back in the day failed to take his cue from this holy behavior by the Son of man. Instead he continued deluging Him with the blame for every wrong He faced, while portraying the good He did as bad. Sinful man redefined the good side of the coin as “bad” and the bad side as “good”. No wonder they crucified the Lord of glory!
Isaiah foretold this roughly 550 years before it occurred. Methinks even the Hubble telescope could not see that far! But Isaiah did. So how’d he do it? Simply put, the Holy Spirit revealed it to Him. The Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Godhead, so He knows everything always.
In the verse quoted to start this study Isaiah expressed this predilection of sinful man most incisively. On His part Jesus “bore our griefs and carried our sorrows”. Two sides are involved here:
1. Jesus
2. sinful Israel (and by extension sinful Gentiles too)
Jesus suffered and died, but it wasn’t for His own sins. It was for the sins of sinful man. This is known as substitutionary or vicarious atonement. One person suffers punishment on behalf of another.
Notwithstanding this truth, sinful Israel (and we Gentiles too) mocked and contemned Him during His sufferings, claiming He was being punished by God for His own sins. For the good He did they offered Him no appreciation. For the sufferings He bore they affixed the blame to His forehead. From their perspective Jesus could do no right, but He was adept at doing wrong.
We today are confronted with the same choice. Is Jesus never right but always wrong? Or is He always right and never wrong? Those are the only two choices, dear friends. He cannot be partially right and partially wrong. He doesn’t allow us that wiggle room. He claimed He was God. God can never be partially right and partially wrong.
This is the issue confronting every son of Adam today. Make your choice, my friends. Your eternity rides on which one you choose.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We concluded our last study by noting how Jesus came on the scene of history doing many good works. The sick were healed, the hungry fed, the naked clothed, the blind given sight. That was the good side of the coin. Now let’s take a gander at the bad side of the coin.
The bad side was that He suffered terribly from scorn, derision, persecution, and finally martyrdom. And here’s the thing, dear friends. Jesus didn’t take the bows when the good side of the coin was on the ascendant. No, but instead He gave the glory to His Father in heaven. And when the bad side of the coin had its day, He neither complained nor blamed.
Alas, but sinful man back in the day failed to take his cue from this holy behavior by the Son of man. Instead he continued deluging Him with the blame for every wrong He faced, while portraying the good He did as bad. Sinful man redefined the good side of the coin as “bad” and the bad side as “good”. No wonder they crucified the Lord of glory!
Isaiah foretold this roughly 550 years before it occurred. Methinks even the Hubble telescope could not see that far! But Isaiah did. So how’d he do it? Simply put, the Holy Spirit revealed it to Him. The Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Godhead, so He knows everything always.
In the verse quoted to start this study Isaiah expressed this predilection of sinful man most incisively. On His part Jesus “bore our griefs and carried our sorrows”. Two sides are involved here:
1. Jesus
2. sinful Israel (and by extension sinful Gentiles too)
Jesus suffered and died, but it wasn’t for His own sins. It was for the sins of sinful man. This is known as substitutionary or vicarious atonement. One person suffers punishment on behalf of another.
Notwithstanding this truth, sinful Israel (and we Gentiles too) mocked and contemned Him during His sufferings, claiming He was being punished by God for His own sins. For the good He did they offered Him no appreciation. For the sufferings He bore they affixed the blame to His forehead. From their perspective Jesus could do no right, but He was adept at doing wrong.
We today are confronted with the same choice. Is Jesus never right but always wrong? Or is He always right and never wrong? Those are the only two choices, dear friends. He cannot be partially right and partially wrong. He doesn’t allow us that wiggle room. He claimed He was God. God can never be partially right and partially wrong.
This is the issue confronting every son of Adam today. Make your choice, my friends. Your eternity rides on which one you choose.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Interstate Billboards – Part 1
When they came to the place called “The Skull”, there they crucified Him and the (two) criminals, one on the right and the other on the left [Luke 23:33].
Israel in Old Testament times was a nation ruled by the Law of Moses. The Lord (aka YHWH) was her King, and He gave Israel her Law through His prophet Moses. King YHWH also gave Israel the Promised Land as her terrestrial abode.
In other words the Lord created a new nation. He began with one man, Abraham, and grew him and his progeny into a multitude. Then the Lord delivered them from Egyptian slavery, took them to Mt. Sinai where He gave them the Law to govern their lives, and brought them into the Promised Land and gave it to them as their inheritance.
There was a purpose for the Lord doing all this. He created the heavens and the earth and planted man in His beautiful garden to tend it for Him. He looked over His creation and saw that everything was very good. That sly critter named SIN didn’t exist in man. Everything God made was very good.
Alas, but it didn’t stay that way. Satan was at odds with God, thinking to elevate himself to the throne of God. He wound up being “elevated” downward—far, far, downward—when the Lord booted his sorry rump out of heaven. Satan’s behavior made him a sinner. When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, Satan brought his sin along and shared it with Eve. She in turn shared it with Adam. Thenceforth mankind universally has been comprised of sinners.
That was where the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel came in. The world was filled with sinners, peoples and nations who shook their fist at God and refused to submit to His rule. The two major civilizations back in the day were Egypt and Mesopotamia. If you take a gander at a map of those times, you will see Mesopotamia on the east and Egypt on the west, and…the Promised Land smack dab in the middle.
Yes, the Lord created a new nation to represent Him to the world, to show sinful men that they were sinners, separated from Him and needing to return to Him. He gave Israel the Law and His tabernacle worship structure to accomplish this feat, and He planted Israel smack dab in the middle of the civilized world of the day so everyone would see this.
Israel, you see, served as a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate between Egypt and Mesopotamia. All commerce passed between those two civilizations, so everyone learned the truth about God from Israel—even during times when Israel wasn’t much to look at righteousness-wise. Israel was God’s witness to the world, sometimes for good and other times for ill.
Well, the Law was in effect only until the fullness of the time had come (Galatians 4:4). That time came when the eternal Son of God became a man named Jesus. Jesus is the God-man, fully God and fully man simultaneously. He came to earth to fulfill the Law for mankind. He then went to the cross and died to pay the penalty for all mankind’s sins. He rose out of death on the third day and ascended into heaven.
From heaven Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to create a new nation, a spiritual nation, known as the Church. Whoever will call upon Jesus in order to accept His payment for the penalty of their sins receives forgiveness of sins and is born again into the family of God, the Church of Jesus Christ. Originally this offer was given to Israel, to the Jewish people. Since then it has also gone out to the Gentiles, i.e., all non-Jewish people.
Let’s pull off the interstate into this shady arbor along the road. It’s time to take a breather and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while. We will continue this study in our next post. See you then!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Israel in Old Testament times was a nation ruled by the Law of Moses. The Lord (aka YHWH) was her King, and He gave Israel her Law through His prophet Moses. King YHWH also gave Israel the Promised Land as her terrestrial abode.
In other words the Lord created a new nation. He began with one man, Abraham, and grew him and his progeny into a multitude. Then the Lord delivered them from Egyptian slavery, took them to Mt. Sinai where He gave them the Law to govern their lives, and brought them into the Promised Land and gave it to them as their inheritance.
There was a purpose for the Lord doing all this. He created the heavens and the earth and planted man in His beautiful garden to tend it for Him. He looked over His creation and saw that everything was very good. That sly critter named SIN didn’t exist in man. Everything God made was very good.
Alas, but it didn’t stay that way. Satan was at odds with God, thinking to elevate himself to the throne of God. He wound up being “elevated” downward—far, far, downward—when the Lord booted his sorry rump out of heaven. Satan’s behavior made him a sinner. When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, Satan brought his sin along and shared it with Eve. She in turn shared it with Adam. Thenceforth mankind universally has been comprised of sinners.
That was where the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel came in. The world was filled with sinners, peoples and nations who shook their fist at God and refused to submit to His rule. The two major civilizations back in the day were Egypt and Mesopotamia. If you take a gander at a map of those times, you will see Mesopotamia on the east and Egypt on the west, and…the Promised Land smack dab in the middle.
Yes, the Lord created a new nation to represent Him to the world, to show sinful men that they were sinners, separated from Him and needing to return to Him. He gave Israel the Law and His tabernacle worship structure to accomplish this feat, and He planted Israel smack dab in the middle of the civilized world of the day so everyone would see this.
Israel, you see, served as a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate between Egypt and Mesopotamia. All commerce passed between those two civilizations, so everyone learned the truth about God from Israel—even during times when Israel wasn’t much to look at righteousness-wise. Israel was God’s witness to the world, sometimes for good and other times for ill.
Well, the Law was in effect only until the fullness of the time had come (Galatians 4:4). That time came when the eternal Son of God became a man named Jesus. Jesus is the God-man, fully God and fully man simultaneously. He came to earth to fulfill the Law for mankind. He then went to the cross and died to pay the penalty for all mankind’s sins. He rose out of death on the third day and ascended into heaven.
From heaven Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to create a new nation, a spiritual nation, known as the Church. Whoever will call upon Jesus in order to accept His payment for the penalty of their sins receives forgiveness of sins and is born again into the family of God, the Church of Jesus Christ. Originally this offer was given to Israel, to the Jewish people. Since then it has also gone out to the Gentiles, i.e., all non-Jewish people.
Let’s pull off the interstate into this shady arbor along the road. It’s time to take a breather and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while. We will continue this study in our next post. See you then!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Interstate Billboards – Part 2
When they came to the place called “The Skull”, there they crucified Him and the (two) criminals, one on the right and the other on the left [Luke 23:33].
Here’s the thing. Just as in the Old Testament God wanted to call sinful man back to Himself, so too does He in the New Testament. Just as in the Old Testament God employed the Law to do this, so too in the New Testament does He employ grace to do this. The word grace refers to God’s free gift of salvation to sinful man, which was earned by His Son Jesus on the cross. Just as in the Old Testament God created the earthly nation of Israel to be His witness to sinful mankind, so too in the New Testament did He create a spiritual nation, the Church, to be His witness to sinful mankind.
And this is where the story or the three crosses on Calvary comes in. Just as the Promised Land was smack dab at the crossroads of the two world empires back in the day, so too was Jerusalem smack dab at the crossroads of the Roman Empire back in the day. Calvary was located on a main street outside the gates of Jerusalem, where everyone passing through the city would witness the crucifixion.
Israel in the Promised Land was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate, advertising God’s righteousness and man’s sinfulness. Jesus on the cross was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate too, advertising God’s righteous judgment on man’s sins and His offer of grace for whoever will receive it, His forgiveness through the substitutionary death of His one and only Son.
Let’s take a gander at this billboard. In the center was a cross with Jesus dying on it. Jesus being God, He has no sin. He is holy. His death wasn’t for His own sins. He willingly laid down His life in order to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins. That was the purpose of God taking on flesh in the first place, viz., so that He could die on sinful man’s behalf. Therein lies real love, dear friends.
Two criminals were crucified with Jesus, one on Jesus’ right side and the other on His left. People passing along the road stopped and mocked Jesus. The Jewish authorities stoked the fire by mocking too. The Roman soldiers thought it was funny and joined in. What with all this mocking going on, even one of the crucified criminals took part in making fun of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was the laughing stock of the day.
The second criminal also spoke up, but not at all like the first criminal. He rebuked the first criminal for mocking Jesus. He confessed that Jesus had done no wrong and didn’t deserve to be on the cross. He admitted his own sins and chided the first criminal for being a sinner himself. How could he mock the holy Jesus, all the while he was so sinful and deserved to be on the cross?
That is the billboard the Lord set up along the world’s interstate, dear people. During the times of the Gentiles it replaces the billboard of Israel in the Promised Land. Israel as a nation is temporarily set aside as the Lord’s witness to the world. During the Church Age His spiritual nation, the Church, fulfills this function.
The billboard of the Law fulfilled its purpose and is no longer in effect. The billboard of God’s grace through His Son Jesus the Messiah is now in effect. That is the picture story painted on Calvary. At the center of it all, the axis of God’s grace is Jesus Christ. His cross was situated at center stage on Calvary.
Two criminals were crucified alongside Jesus, one on His right and the other on His left. Every human being aside from Jesus is born a sinner. Each one of us is a criminal, a rebel against God’s righteous rule. Each and every human being has, does, or will fit into the mold of one or the other of those two criminals. Either we mock Jesus and die in our sins, or else we confess that Jesus is sinless, is holy, and ask Him to receive us into His Kingdom.
All that’s left for us to do now is to decide which criminal we choose to be. The billboard paints the picture, my dear friends. What response will you make to it?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Here’s the thing. Just as in the Old Testament God wanted to call sinful man back to Himself, so too does He in the New Testament. Just as in the Old Testament God employed the Law to do this, so too in the New Testament does He employ grace to do this. The word grace refers to God’s free gift of salvation to sinful man, which was earned by His Son Jesus on the cross. Just as in the Old Testament God created the earthly nation of Israel to be His witness to sinful mankind, so too in the New Testament did He create a spiritual nation, the Church, to be His witness to sinful mankind.
And this is where the story or the three crosses on Calvary comes in. Just as the Promised Land was smack dab at the crossroads of the two world empires back in the day, so too was Jerusalem smack dab at the crossroads of the Roman Empire back in the day. Calvary was located on a main street outside the gates of Jerusalem, where everyone passing through the city would witness the crucifixion.
Israel in the Promised Land was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate, advertising God’s righteousness and man’s sinfulness. Jesus on the cross was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate too, advertising God’s righteous judgment on man’s sins and His offer of grace for whoever will receive it, His forgiveness through the substitutionary death of His one and only Son.
Let’s take a gander at this billboard. In the center was a cross with Jesus dying on it. Jesus being God, He has no sin. He is holy. His death wasn’t for His own sins. He willingly laid down His life in order to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins. That was the purpose of God taking on flesh in the first place, viz., so that He could die on sinful man’s behalf. Therein lies real love, dear friends.
Two criminals were crucified with Jesus, one on Jesus’ right side and the other on His left. People passing along the road stopped and mocked Jesus. The Jewish authorities stoked the fire by mocking too. The Roman soldiers thought it was funny and joined in. What with all this mocking going on, even one of the crucified criminals took part in making fun of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was the laughing stock of the day.
The second criminal also spoke up, but not at all like the first criminal. He rebuked the first criminal for mocking Jesus. He confessed that Jesus had done no wrong and didn’t deserve to be on the cross. He admitted his own sins and chided the first criminal for being a sinner himself. How could he mock the holy Jesus, all the while he was so sinful and deserved to be on the cross?
That is the billboard the Lord set up along the world’s interstate, dear people. During the times of the Gentiles it replaces the billboard of Israel in the Promised Land. Israel as a nation is temporarily set aside as the Lord’s witness to the world. During the Church Age His spiritual nation, the Church, fulfills this function.
The billboard of the Law fulfilled its purpose and is no longer in effect. The billboard of God’s grace through His Son Jesus the Messiah is now in effect. That is the picture story painted on Calvary. At the center of it all, the axis of God’s grace is Jesus Christ. His cross was situated at center stage on Calvary.
Two criminals were crucified alongside Jesus, one on His right and the other on His left. Every human being aside from Jesus is born a sinner. Each one of us is a criminal, a rebel against God’s righteous rule. Each and every human being has, does, or will fit into the mold of one or the other of those two criminals. Either we mock Jesus and die in our sins, or else we confess that Jesus is sinless, is holy, and ask Him to receive us into His Kingdom.
All that’s left for us to do now is to decide which criminal we choose to be. The billboard paints the picture, my dear friends. What response will you make to it?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
No Wiggle Room Allowed – Part 1
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted [Isaiah 53:4].
Emotions are a funny thing. If I ride the emotional roller coaster, I am up one moment and down another. Sometimes the ups and downs aren’t so far apart, in which case I appear to be “normal”, whatever that is! At other times though the ups and downs are so distant, it would take the Hubble telescope to make the two meet. Does the medical term bipolar disorder come to mind?
I’m really not a raving maniac, honest? Not even in the worst of times, if I may be so forward as to borrow from Dickens. It’s just that sometimes I realize I am not the cause of all the evils in the world, in which case I am having a good day. Then there are those times where my emotions tyrannize me into thinking everything is my fault. Those are not the good days, believe me.
You see, I suffer from the same affliction which all of us share to one extent or another. It appears in the Spiritual Dictionary of Medicine wearing a decorative three-piece suit “s-i-n”. Some of us blame self for every wrong. Sin is at the root of this malady. Others of us blame everyone else for the wrongs they encounter. Sin is also at the root of that malady.
What is so baffling about such a state is this: though we blame the world when things go wrong, we take all the bows when things go right. One side of the coin is our inability to look in the mirror and see self as the culprit. The other side of the coin is our ability to look in the same mirror and see self as the hero. “Never at fault and always in the right!” Such is the motto of sinful man.
When the Lord Jesus came on the scene circa 3 B.C., sinful man was bedecked in the same three-piece suit. The Son of God simultaneously became Jesus the Son of man. At circa 27 A.D. He went about the Promised Land sharing the Good News. He healed the sick and gave sight to the blind, restored hearing to the deaf and raised the dead. He even feed multitudes with food He called into existence by His mere Word.
Oh, no. We’re out of time once again…and just when we finally met up with Jesus too! We will continue this topic tomorrow. See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Emotions are a funny thing. If I ride the emotional roller coaster, I am up one moment and down another. Sometimes the ups and downs aren’t so far apart, in which case I appear to be “normal”, whatever that is! At other times though the ups and downs are so distant, it would take the Hubble telescope to make the two meet. Does the medical term bipolar disorder come to mind?
I’m really not a raving maniac, honest? Not even in the worst of times, if I may be so forward as to borrow from Dickens. It’s just that sometimes I realize I am not the cause of all the evils in the world, in which case I am having a good day. Then there are those times where my emotions tyrannize me into thinking everything is my fault. Those are not the good days, believe me.
You see, I suffer from the same affliction which all of us share to one extent or another. It appears in the Spiritual Dictionary of Medicine wearing a decorative three-piece suit “s-i-n”. Some of us blame self for every wrong. Sin is at the root of this malady. Others of us blame everyone else for the wrongs they encounter. Sin is also at the root of that malady.
What is so baffling about such a state is this: though we blame the world when things go wrong, we take all the bows when things go right. One side of the coin is our inability to look in the mirror and see self as the culprit. The other side of the coin is our ability to look in the same mirror and see self as the hero. “Never at fault and always in the right!” Such is the motto of sinful man.
When the Lord Jesus came on the scene circa 3 B.C., sinful man was bedecked in the same three-piece suit. The Son of God simultaneously became Jesus the Son of man. At circa 27 A.D. He went about the Promised Land sharing the Good News. He healed the sick and gave sight to the blind, restored hearing to the deaf and raised the dead. He even feed multitudes with food He called into existence by His mere Word.
Oh, no. We’re out of time once again…and just when we finally met up with Jesus too! We will continue this topic tomorrow. See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
No Wiggle Room Allowed – Part 2
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted [Isaiah 53:4].
We concluded our last study by noting how Jesus came on the scene of history doing many good works. The sick were healed, the hungry fed, the naked clothed, the blind given sight. That was the good side of the coin. Now let’s take a gander at the bad side of the coin.
The bad side was that He suffered terribly from scorn, derision, persecution, and finally martyrdom. And here’s the thing, dear friends. Jesus didn’t take the bows when the good side of the coin was on the ascendant. No, but instead He gave the glory to His Father in heaven. And when the bad side of the coin had its day, He neither complained nor blamed.
Alas, but sinful man back in the day failed to take his cue from this holy behavior by the Son of man. Instead he continued deluging Him with the blame for every wrong He faced, while portraying the good He did as bad. Sinful man redefined the good side of the coin as “bad” and the bad side as “good”. No wonder they crucified the Lord of glory!
Isaiah foretold this roughly 550 years before it occurred. Methinks even the Hubble telescope could not see that far! But Isaiah did. So how’d he do it? Simply put, the Holy Spirit revealed it to Him. The Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Godhead, so He knows everything always.
In the verse quoted to start this study Isaiah expressed this predilection of sinful man most incisively. On His part Jesus “bore our griefs and carried our sorrows”. Two sides are involved here:
1. Jesus
2. sinful Israel (and by extension sinful Gentiles too)
Jesus suffered and died, but it wasn’t for His own sins. It was for the sins of sinful man. This is known as substitutionary or vicarious atonement. One person suffers punishment on behalf of another.
Notwithstanding this truth, sinful Israel (and we Gentiles too) mocked and contemned Him during His sufferings, claiming He was being punished by God for His own sins. For the good He did they offered Him no appreciation. For the sufferings He bore they affixed the blame to His forehead. From their perspective Jesus could do no right, but He was adept at doing wrong.
We today are confronted with the same choice. Is Jesus never right but always wrong? Or is He always right and never wrong? Those are the only two choices, dear friends. He cannot be partially right and partially wrong. He doesn’t allow us that wiggle room. He claimed He was God. God can never be partially right and partially wrong.
This is the issue confronting every son of Adam today. Make your choice, my friends. Your eternity rides on which one you choose.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
We concluded our last study by noting how Jesus came on the scene of history doing many good works. The sick were healed, the hungry fed, the naked clothed, the blind given sight. That was the good side of the coin. Now let’s take a gander at the bad side of the coin.
The bad side was that He suffered terribly from scorn, derision, persecution, and finally martyrdom. And here’s the thing, dear friends. Jesus didn’t take the bows when the good side of the coin was on the ascendant. No, but instead He gave the glory to His Father in heaven. And when the bad side of the coin had its day, He neither complained nor blamed.
Alas, but sinful man back in the day failed to take his cue from this holy behavior by the Son of man. Instead he continued deluging Him with the blame for every wrong He faced, while portraying the good He did as bad. Sinful man redefined the good side of the coin as “bad” and the bad side as “good”. No wonder they crucified the Lord of glory!
Isaiah foretold this roughly 550 years before it occurred. Methinks even the Hubble telescope could not see that far! But Isaiah did. So how’d he do it? Simply put, the Holy Spirit revealed it to Him. The Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Godhead, so He knows everything always.
In the verse quoted to start this study Isaiah expressed this predilection of sinful man most incisively. On His part Jesus “bore our griefs and carried our sorrows”. Two sides are involved here:
1. Jesus
2. sinful Israel (and by extension sinful Gentiles too)
Jesus suffered and died, but it wasn’t for His own sins. It was for the sins of sinful man. This is known as substitutionary or vicarious atonement. One person suffers punishment on behalf of another.
Notwithstanding this truth, sinful Israel (and we Gentiles too) mocked and contemned Him during His sufferings, claiming He was being punished by God for His own sins. For the good He did they offered Him no appreciation. For the sufferings He bore they affixed the blame to His forehead. From their perspective Jesus could do no right, but He was adept at doing wrong.
We today are confronted with the same choice. Is Jesus never right but always wrong? Or is He always right and never wrong? Those are the only two choices, dear friends. He cannot be partially right and partially wrong. He doesn’t allow us that wiggle room. He claimed He was God. God can never be partially right and partially wrong.
This is the issue confronting every son of Adam today. Make your choice, my friends. Your eternity rides on which one you choose.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Interstate Billboards – Part 1
When they came to the place called “The Skull”, there they crucified Him and the (two) criminals, one on the right and the other on the left [Luke 23:33].
Israel in Old Testament times was a nation ruled by the Law of Moses. The Lord (aka YHWH) was her King, and He gave Israel her Law through His prophet Moses. King YHWH also gave Israel the Promised Land as her terrestrial abode.
In other words the Lord created a new nation. He began with one man, Abraham, and grew him and his progeny into a multitude. Then the Lord delivered them from Egyptian slavery, took them to Mount Sinai where He gave them the Law to govern their lives, and brought them into the Promised Land and gave it to them as their inheritance.
There was a purpose for the Lord doing all this. He created the heavens and the earth and planted man in His beautiful garden to tend it for Him. He looked over His creation and saw that everything was very good. That sly critter named SIN didn’t exist in man. Everything God made was very good.
Alas, but it didn’t stay that way. Satan was at odds with God, thinking to elevate himself to the throne of God. He wound up being “elevated” downward—far, far, downward—when the Lord booted his sorry rump out of heaven. Satan’s behavior made him a sinner. When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, Satan brought his sin along and shared it with Eve. She in turn shared it with Adam. Thenceforth mankind universally has been comprised of sinners.
That was where the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel came in. The world was filled with sinners, peoples and nations who shook their fist at God and refused to submit to His rule. The two major civilizations back in the day were Egypt and Mesopotamia. If you take a gander at a map of those times, you will see Mesopotamia on the east and Egypt on the west, and…the Promised Land smack dab in the middle.
Yes, the Lord created a new nation to represent Him to the world, to show sinful men that they were sinners, separated from Him and needing to return to Him. He gave Israel the Law and His tabernacle worship structure to accomplish this feat, and He planted Israel smack dab in the middle of the civilized world of the day so everyone would see this.
Israel, you see, served as a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate between Egypt and Mesopotamia. All commerce passed between those two civilizations, so everyone learned the truth about God from Israel—even during times when Israel wasn’t much to look at righteousness-wise. Israel was God’s witness to the world, sometimes for good and other times for ill.
Well, the Law was in effect only until the fullness of the time had come (Galatians 4:4). That time came when the eternal Son of God became a man named Jesus. Jesus is the God-man, fully God and fully man simultaneously. He came to earth to fulfill the Law for mankind. He then went to the cross and died to pay the penalty for all mankind’s sins. He rose out of death on the third day and ascended into heaven.
From heaven Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to create a new nation, a spiritual nation, known as the Church. Whoever will call upon Jesus, in order to accept His payment for the penalty of their sins, receives forgiveness of sins and is born again into the family of God, the Church of Jesus Christ. Originally this offer was given to Israel, to the Jewish people. Since then it has also gone out to the Gentiles, i.e., all non-Jewish people.
Let’s pull off the interstate into this shady arbor along the road. It’s time to take a breather and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while. We will continue this study in our next post. See you then!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Israel in Old Testament times was a nation ruled by the Law of Moses. The Lord (aka YHWH) was her King, and He gave Israel her Law through His prophet Moses. King YHWH also gave Israel the Promised Land as her terrestrial abode.
In other words the Lord created a new nation. He began with one man, Abraham, and grew him and his progeny into a multitude. Then the Lord delivered them from Egyptian slavery, took them to Mount Sinai where He gave them the Law to govern their lives, and brought them into the Promised Land and gave it to them as their inheritance.
There was a purpose for the Lord doing all this. He created the heavens and the earth and planted man in His beautiful garden to tend it for Him. He looked over His creation and saw that everything was very good. That sly critter named SIN didn’t exist in man. Everything God made was very good.
Alas, but it didn’t stay that way. Satan was at odds with God, thinking to elevate himself to the throne of God. He wound up being “elevated” downward—far, far, downward—when the Lord booted his sorry rump out of heaven. Satan’s behavior made him a sinner. When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, Satan brought his sin along and shared it with Eve. She in turn shared it with Adam. Thenceforth mankind universally has been comprised of sinners.
That was where the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel came in. The world was filled with sinners, peoples and nations who shook their fist at God and refused to submit to His rule. The two major civilizations back in the day were Egypt and Mesopotamia. If you take a gander at a map of those times, you will see Mesopotamia on the east and Egypt on the west, and…the Promised Land smack dab in the middle.
Yes, the Lord created a new nation to represent Him to the world, to show sinful men that they were sinners, separated from Him and needing to return to Him. He gave Israel the Law and His tabernacle worship structure to accomplish this feat, and He planted Israel smack dab in the middle of the civilized world of the day so everyone would see this.
Israel, you see, served as a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate between Egypt and Mesopotamia. All commerce passed between those two civilizations, so everyone learned the truth about God from Israel—even during times when Israel wasn’t much to look at righteousness-wise. Israel was God’s witness to the world, sometimes for good and other times for ill.
Well, the Law was in effect only until the fullness of the time had come (Galatians 4:4). That time came when the eternal Son of God became a man named Jesus. Jesus is the God-man, fully God and fully man simultaneously. He came to earth to fulfill the Law for mankind. He then went to the cross and died to pay the penalty for all mankind’s sins. He rose out of death on the third day and ascended into heaven.
From heaven Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to create a new nation, a spiritual nation, known as the Church. Whoever will call upon Jesus, in order to accept His payment for the penalty of their sins, receives forgiveness of sins and is born again into the family of God, the Church of Jesus Christ. Originally this offer was given to Israel, to the Jewish people. Since then it has also gone out to the Gentiles, i.e., all non-Jewish people.
Let’s pull off the interstate into this shady arbor along the road. It’s time to take a breather and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while. We will continue this study in our next post. See you then!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Interstate Billboards – Part 2
When they came to the place called “The Skull”, there they crucified Him and the (two) criminals, one on the right and the other on the left [Luke 23:33].
Here’s the thing. Just as in the Old Testament God wanted to call sinful man back to Himself, so too does He in the New Testament. Just as in the Old Testament God employed the Law to do this, so too in the New Testament does He employ grace to do this. The word grace refers to God’s free gift of salvation to sinful man, which was earned by His Son Jesus on the cross. Just as in the Old Testament God created the earthly nation of Israel to be His witness to sinful mankind, so too in the New Testament did He create a spiritual nation, the Church, to be His witness to sinful mankind.
And this is where the story or the three crosses on Calvary comes in. Just as the Promised Land was smack dab at the crossroads of the two world empires back in the day, so too was Jerusalem smack dab at the crossroads of the Roman Empire back in the day. Calvary was located on a main street outside the gates of Jerusalem, where everyone passing through the city would witness the crucifixion.
Israel in the Promised Land was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate, advertising God’s righteousness and man’s sinfulness. Jesus on the cross was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate too, advertising God’s righteous judgment on man’s sins and His offer of grace for whoever will receive it, His forgiveness through the substitutionary death of His one and only Son.
Let’s take a gander at this billboard. In the center was a cross with Jesus dying on it. Jesus being God, He has no sin. He is holy. His death wasn’t for His own sins. He willingly laid down His life in order to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins. That was the purpose of God taking on flesh in the first place, viz., so that He could die on behalf of sinful man. Therein lies real love, dear friends.
Two criminals were crucified with Jesus, one on Jesus’ right side and the other on His left. People passing along the road stopped and mocked Jesus. The Jewish authorities stoked the fire by mocking too. The Roman soldiers thought it was funny and joined in. What with all this mocking going on, even one of the crucified criminals took part in making fun of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was the laughing stock of the day.
The second criminal also spoke up, but not at all like the first criminal. He rebuked the first criminal for mocking Jesus. He confessed that Jesus had done no wrong and didn’t deserve to be on the cross. He admitted his own sins and chided the first criminal for being a sinner himself. How could he mock the holy Jesus, all the while he was so sinful and deserved to be on the cross?
That is the billboard the Lord set up along the world’s interstate, dear people. During the times of the Gentiles it replaces the billboard of Israel in the Promised Land. Israel as a nation is temporarily set aside as the Lord’s witness to the world. During the Church Age His spiritual nation, the Church, fulfills this function.
The billboard of the Law fulfilled its purpose and is no longer in effect. The billboard of God’s grace through His Son Jesus the Messiah is now in effect. That is the picture story painted on Calvary. At the center of it all, as the axis of God’s grace, is Jesus Christ. His cross was situated at center stage on Calvary.
Two criminals were crucified alongside Jesus, one on His right and the other on His left. Every human being aside from Jesus is born a sinner. Each one of us is a criminal, a rebel against God’s righteous rule. Each and every human being has, does, or will fit into the mold of one or the other of those two criminals. Either we mock Jesus and die in our sins; or we confess that Jesus is sinless, is holy, and ask Him to receive us into His Kingdom.
All that’s left for us to do now is to decide which criminal we choose to be. The billboard paints the picture, my dear friends. What response will you make to it?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Here’s the thing. Just as in the Old Testament God wanted to call sinful man back to Himself, so too does He in the New Testament. Just as in the Old Testament God employed the Law to do this, so too in the New Testament does He employ grace to do this. The word grace refers to God’s free gift of salvation to sinful man, which was earned by His Son Jesus on the cross. Just as in the Old Testament God created the earthly nation of Israel to be His witness to sinful mankind, so too in the New Testament did He create a spiritual nation, the Church, to be His witness to sinful mankind.
And this is where the story or the three crosses on Calvary comes in. Just as the Promised Land was smack dab at the crossroads of the two world empires back in the day, so too was Jerusalem smack dab at the crossroads of the Roman Empire back in the day. Calvary was located on a main street outside the gates of Jerusalem, where everyone passing through the city would witness the crucifixion.
Israel in the Promised Land was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate, advertising God’s righteousness and man’s sinfulness. Jesus on the cross was a gigantic neon billboard along the interstate too, advertising God’s righteous judgment on man’s sins and His offer of grace for whoever will receive it, His forgiveness through the substitutionary death of His one and only Son.
Let’s take a gander at this billboard. In the center was a cross with Jesus dying on it. Jesus being God, He has no sin. He is holy. His death wasn’t for His own sins. He willingly laid down His life in order to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins. That was the purpose of God taking on flesh in the first place, viz., so that He could die on behalf of sinful man. Therein lies real love, dear friends.
Two criminals were crucified with Jesus, one on Jesus’ right side and the other on His left. People passing along the road stopped and mocked Jesus. The Jewish authorities stoked the fire by mocking too. The Roman soldiers thought it was funny and joined in. What with all this mocking going on, even one of the crucified criminals took part in making fun of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was the laughing stock of the day.
The second criminal also spoke up, but not at all like the first criminal. He rebuked the first criminal for mocking Jesus. He confessed that Jesus had done no wrong and didn’t deserve to be on the cross. He admitted his own sins and chided the first criminal for being a sinner himself. How could he mock the holy Jesus, all the while he was so sinful and deserved to be on the cross?
That is the billboard the Lord set up along the world’s interstate, dear people. During the times of the Gentiles it replaces the billboard of Israel in the Promised Land. Israel as a nation is temporarily set aside as the Lord’s witness to the world. During the Church Age His spiritual nation, the Church, fulfills this function.
The billboard of the Law fulfilled its purpose and is no longer in effect. The billboard of God’s grace through His Son Jesus the Messiah is now in effect. That is the picture story painted on Calvary. At the center of it all, as the axis of God’s grace, is Jesus Christ. His cross was situated at center stage on Calvary.
Two criminals were crucified alongside Jesus, one on His right and the other on His left. Every human being aside from Jesus is born a sinner. Each one of us is a criminal, a rebel against God’s righteous rule. Each and every human being has, does, or will fit into the mold of one or the other of those two criminals. Either we mock Jesus and die in our sins; or we confess that Jesus is sinless, is holy, and ask Him to receive us into His Kingdom.
All that’s left for us to do now is to decide which criminal we choose to be. The billboard paints the picture, my dear friends. What response will you make to it?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
