Wednesday, April 25,
2012, 9:10 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song, “Our Eyes on Jesus,” playing in my mind.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Malachi 2:1-9 (NIV 1984):
Admonition for the
Priests
“And now this admonition is for you, O
priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my
name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse
your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your
heart to honor me.
“Because of you I will rebuke your
descendants; I will spread on your faces the offal from your festival
sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. And you will know that I have
sent you this admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the
LORD Almighty. “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I
gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe
of my name. True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on
his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
“For the lips of a priest ought to preserve
knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction—because he is the
messenger of the LORD Almighty. But you have turned from the way and by your
teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with
Levi,” says the LORD Almighty. “So I have caused you to be despised and
humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but
have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
My Understanding: When
we study or teach the Old Testament writings, we must do so in light of the
teachings of the New Testament under the New Covenant, because we are now under
the New Covenant of grace through Jesus’ shed blood on the cross for our sins.
So, I will attempt to always parallel any teachings from the Old Testament to
the New Testament, where applicable, so that I am not teaching something that
no longer applies to us, and so that I remain accurate to what the New
Testament teaches us, the church, today.
The New Testament teaches us that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). This “All
Scripture” includes the Old Testament. So, we can still learn godly principles
for Christian living from the Old Testament, and that is what we will be
looking at today.
To the Priests
The priests of the Old and New Testaments, prior to Jesus
Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension into heaven, and the sending of
his Holy Spirit to indwell the lives of believers in Christ, were the mediators
between God and man. They presented offerings to God for the sins of the
people. Then, Jesus Christ, God the Son, died on the cross for our sins, thus
becoming our perfect sacrifice once for all, for all sin (see the book of
Hebrews). Thus, these priestly sacrifices are no longer needed for sin, nor is
there any need for us to have human mediators between us and God the Father. Jesus
Christ’s death tore that veil in half that stood between us and the Holy of
Holies so that now, through faith in Jesus Christ, we can enter into God’s holy
presence without the need for human mediators. Jesus Christ became, not only
our sacrifice for sins so that we could go free from the penalty and control of
sin, but through his life of suffering and his death and resurrection he also
became our compassionate, merciful and faithful high priest. So, there is no
longer a need for human priests, in the sense that they had in the times of the
Old and New Testaments prior to Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death for our sins.
Not only is Jesus Christ now our only high priest and
mediator between us and God the Father, but we are also priests, in that we now
have direct access to God, through faith in Christ, without human intervention.
1 Peter 2:4-5, 9 says: “As you come to
him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a
holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ.” “But you are a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you
may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light.” And, Rev. 1:5b-6; 5:10 says: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and
has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be
glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” (Speaking about Jesus Christ and
his followers) “You have made them to be
a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
Jesus Christ did away with the need of continuous blood sacrifice
for sins, but he did not do away with sacrifice entirely. As priests of God
Almighty; his servants and messengers; his chosen people; a holy nation
(spiritual) belonging to God; and those who have been freed from our sins by
his blood, we are to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ: “The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise”
(Ps. 51:17). “Therefore, I urge you,
brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform
any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind…” (Rom. 12:1-2a). The sacrifices God now desires are those of
hearts and lives given over to him in full surrender and obedience to his will,
and to his purposes and desires for our lives.
We, as kingdom priests, are also to declare the praises of
him (Jesus Christ) who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. The
praises of Christ are the totality of who he was and is, and what he did for us
in dying on the cross for our sins, i.e. we are to declare the truth of the
gospel of Jesus Christ by our lives and by our words (see Matt. 28:18-20). And,
we are to share our testimony of how he freed us from sin and how he gave us
new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord (see Acts 1:8). We have been given the
greatest gift of all – the gift of eternal life, and we should want nothing
more than for others to know Christ Jesus, too, so they can have life, and so
they can be freed from the control and penalty of sin, too!
Priestly Duties
In applying this passage of scripture to today, we must now
look at it in light of the New Testament teaching concerning priests and the
priesthood of the believer in Christ. So, although this was speaking to those
who served as mediators between God and man, and thus they had a grave
responsibility before God to live exemplary lives and to lead the people to
follow after God, these responsibilities are truly the same for all believers
in Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, with the exception of serving
as mediator between man and God, and with the exception of offering animal
sacrifices for people’s sins.
In other words, we are all responsible to listen to God and
to his words and to obey what he says, for true listening is followed by
obedience. “Do not merely listen to the
word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (Jms. 1:22). We are all
to honor (respect; reverence; give devotion to; and stand in awe of) God/Jesus
and his name. “Now to the King eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen”
(1 Tim. 1:17). “These have come so that
your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by
fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus
Christ is revealed” (1 Pet. 1:7).
Every follower of Christ should have true instruction on his
tongue and nothing false should come from his lips. “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to
his neighbor, for we are all members of one body” (Eph. 4:25). “Do not lie to each other, since you have
taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which
is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col. 3:8-10). And,
we should all walk in uprightness and have peace with God. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It
teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for
the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus
Christ…” (Titus 2:11-13).
We should all turn many from sin. “‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint
you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will
show you… I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me’”
(Acts 26:16-18). This is the responsibility of all servants and witnesses for
Jesus Christ. “My brothers, if one of you
should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this:
Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and
cover over a multitude of sins” (Jms. 5:19-20).
Admonishment
“But you have turned
from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble…” (Malachi
2:8a). Many have turned from “the way.” Jesus is “the way”: “Jesus answered, “I
am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me” (John 14:6). The gospel of Jesus Christ is “the Way”: “Meanwhile,
Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He
went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in
Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or
women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2). So, to turn
from “the way” means to turn from Jesus Christ and from the truth of the gospel
of Christ and his word. We can turn from “the way” while still holding on to a
primary faith in Christ, or hold on to religious practice, giving lip service,
but our hearts being far from him. In other words, we can still be Christians
but fall away from our pure devotion to Christ, our “first love,” and we can fall
back into sin.
The worst part of this, though, is that when we do this, not
only are we betraying our covenant relationship with Jesus Christ and are
hurting ourselves and that relationship, but we also influence others to follow
suit. As ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which we all have been
commissioned to be, and as the Lord’s servants, we also have a grave
responsibility before God, not only to live the life we profess ourselves, but
also to set an example for others in life and in purity. Yet, this is speaking
beyond even just setting the right example, but this is speaking about consciously
and willfully causing others to fall into sin by our teaching. Many false
teachers are doing that today when they preach a false gospel absent of true
repentance and obedience to Christ and to his commands. Many today are teaching
that repentance and obedience are not required for salvation, yet the New
Testament clearly teaches just the opposite. True faith is equivalent with true
repentance and a turning of one’s life to follow after Christ in full
obedience. This is a working of the Holy Spirit, though, and is not something
we can do in our own flesh, yet we must fully cooperate with that work. To
teach otherwise is to leave people in their sin.
Jesus Christ is our perfect (ideal) example for how we
should live our lives. He is the only one (priest) who ever perfectly revered
God the Father, who stood in awe of his name, who perfectly had true
instruction in his mouth, and nothing false was found on his lips. He is the
only one who walked with God the Father in perfect righteousness and
uprightness, and who truly and absolutely turned many from sin. He is the true
messenger of the Lord God Almighty, and our only faithful, compassionate and
merciful high priest. In 1 John we learn that we must walk as Jesus walked, so
he is the example we are to follow. None of us will ever be perfect in this
life, as he was and is perfect, but in his strength and power within us we can
live godly and upright lives, in true holiness that comes from God/Christ
alone.
Our Eyes on Jesus
/ An Original Work / April 23, 2012
Based off Hebrews 12:2-13
Let us fix our eyes on
Jesus.
Our faith starts and
grows in Him,
Who for the joy set
before Him
Endured all our sin.
Scorning the shame of
the cross,
He sat down beside God
above.
He was willing to die
for us,
To save us, in love.
Think about the
opposition
He endured from sinful
men,
So when you go through
life’s trials,
You stay strong
within.
Knowing all He went
through for us
Helps us not grow weak
of heart;
Not grow weary; don’t
give up;
And not from Him
depart.
In your struggle
against sin’s ways,
Resist not to shed
your blood.
Have you forgotten the
words
God spoke to us in
love?
“My child, don’t
ignore it when
The Lord corrects you;
do faint not,
Because the Lord disciplines
those
That He loves, of
God.”
God rebukes us all for
our good;
Share with Him in
holiness.
It produces a harvest
of
God’s own
righteousness.
Therefore, strengthen
all within you
That is weak and might
give way.
Stand firm in the
faith God gives you;
Trust Him and obey.
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