Luke 1:76-79 ESV
And you, child, will
be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare
his ways,
to give knowledge of
salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy
of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on
high
to give light to those
who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Prophecies of Old
Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s son John had just been born. And
then Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied concerning Jesus Christ,
and then concerning his son John. [Scripture refers to him as John the Baptist.]
But, Zechariah was not the first person to prophesy these words which he spoke
first here concerning his son John, for they had been spoken previously by the
prophets of old (Is. 40:3; Mal. 3:1).
When we read these prophecies of old, though, we realize
that John was to be God’s messenger in preparing the way for God, which makes
clear for us that Jesus Christ is not only the Son of God, but he is indeed God
(the Son).
God’s Messenger
The four gospels all make reference to John’s call to be God’s
messenger in preparing the way for Him – for the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 3:3; Matt.
11:10; Mk. 1:1-3; Lu. 1:76-79; Jn. 1:23). All of them mention that John was
sent to prepare the way for Jesus (the Lord), but each one gives us a little
more insight into what all that call of God entailed.
John was to be a voice crying in the wilderness, “Make ready
the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” John was to be a messenger sent before
Jesus Christ to prepare his way before Him. And, the way in which he was to
prepare his way was that he was to give knowledge of salvation to his people in
forgiveness of their sins. Thus, John’s message was always one of repentance,
which had to do with the forsaking of sin and turning to the Lord to follow
(obey) him the rest of our days.
Prepare His Ways
So, what are God’s ways? Basically they are that we should
no longer live in bondage (addiction) to sin – in immorality, impurity,
wickedness, lust, depravity, dishonesty, greed, slander, thievery, and
adultery, and the like.
But, we should live (conduct our lives) in purity, honesty,
integrity, faithfulness, holiness, godliness, and righteousness, etc. – all in
the power and working of God’s grace and His Holy Spirit at work within our
lives.
And, the other is like it in that we should love God with
all our hearts, souls, minds and strength and we should love our neighbors as
ourselves. For, love does no harm to its neighbor, and love for God is
obedience to his commands. So, if we love God and we love others, we won’t do
all those wicked and immoral things against God and against other people, but
we will do what is righteous and holy and honorable and upright.
Also, it is God’s ways that he be our only God and that
Jesus be our only Savior and Lord (boss). It is his ways, thus, that we should
surrender our lives over to our Lord, submit to his ways, and make him truly
the boss of our lives, instead of us running our own lives our own way. For, this
is what it means to walk in the fear of the Lord, which God requires for our
salvation from sin and for eternal life with him (Lu. 1:50; Phil. 2:12-13).
Knowledge of Salvation
What, too, is the knowledge (understanding) of our salvation
which we should be sharing with other people? For, we are all called to be the
Lord’s servants and messengers in taking the gospel of our salvation to the
ends of the earth. For, too, we are the Light of the World and the Salt of the
Earth, and we are to proclaim to the world the excellencies of Christ who
called us out of darkness into his wonderful light (Ac. 1:8; 1 Pet. 2:9).
Basically, it is that we are all born into this world with
sin natures, separate from God, and unable in ourselves to be righteous before
God and to be acceptable to him, in his sight. As well, because we have all
sinned, we have death as our payment for sin, which is eternal separation from
God, and which is eternal punishment in the fires of hell (Ro. 5:12-19; 1 Co.
15:21-22, 42-49; Rom. 3:23; 6:23).
But, that is not the end of the story. For, God the Father
sent his Son Jesus Christ to the earth, to be born as a baby, conceived of the
Holy Spirit, to suffer as we suffer, and to be tempted in like manner as we are
also tempted, yet without sin. He sent him to live on this earth, for a time,
so that he could share in our humanity, and so that he could sympathize with
our weaknesses, too.
Jesus then became the sacrifice for our sins on a cross when
those who hated him without cause put him to death. Yet, it was God’s will that
he should suffer in this way, for in his death he became sin for us that we
might become the righteousness of God. So, when he died, he put our sins to
death with him, and when he rose from the dead, he rose victorious over sin,
Satan, death and hell, on our behalf.
But, not everyone is saved from their sins just because
Jesus died and rose again. We have to each individually accept Jesus’ plan of
salvation into our lives. We do this by faith, which is God-given, and which is
divinely persuaded as to God’s holiness and righteousness, and as to the
necessity of us being dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Thus, this faith which is required for our salvation also
includes repentance (turning away from sin to God) and obedience to the Lord. This
is taught all throughout the New Testament by John the Baptist, who was to
prepare the way for us to receive Jesus Christ as Lord, and by Jesus, himself,
and by his New Testament apostles, too.
Basically, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, if it is
God-given faith, we die with Christ to sin so that we might live to Christ and
to his righteousness. This is what it means to be “born again” of the Spirit of
God. Our old lives of living to sin and self are put to death, and they continue
to be put to death daily. We are, thus, transformed (renewed) of the Spirit of
God in our hearts and minds, and we now walk in the ways of the Lord, living to
please him in all that we do and are and say.
And, this faith is continuous, too. It is not a one-time
event that takes place in our lives, then we are good, and then one day we get
to go to heaven when we die. We have to keep believing, and we have to keep
walking (living our lives) according to God’s ways and in his truth, and daily
we must die to sin and self and put on Christ and his love.
For, if we walk (conduct our lives) according to our flesh,
we will die in our sins, no matter what prayer we prayed or what decision we
think we made at one time in our lives. The scriptures are real clear on this.
If we make sin our practice, we don’t have eternal life with God, but we have
the expectation of the fires of hell when we die. If we don’t walk in obedience
to God’s commands, same deal. If we hate others, same deal. If we sow to please
the flesh and not the Spirit, same deal. We have to get this!!
Our salvation is not guaranteed us based on some past belief
or some experience we once had in our lives. If we don’t continue with Christ,
and if we don’t walk in purity, holiness and righteousness, and if we continue
to conduct our lives in lust, immorality and wickedness, we will not see God.
We don’t have eternal life with God, but hell as our future.
And, these are not my words. This is not something I made up
here. And, I am not taking scriptures out of context, nor am I preaching some
philosophy taught me by men. What I am sharing with you here is what the Word
of God teaches book after book, and chapter after chapter, and verse after
verse. So, reject my words – fine! But, if you reject God’s words – not fine!
So, know the truth, believe the truth, and live the truth.
[See: Lu. 9:23-25; Jn. 6:35-66; Jn. 10:27-30;
Ac. 26:16-18; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 2 Co. 5:15, 21; Gal. 2:20; Gal.
5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 2:8-10; Eph. 4:17-24; Eph. 5:3-6; Col. 1:13-14, 21-23;
Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Pet. 1:13-16; 1 Pet. 2:9-10; 1 Pet. 2:24-25; & 1 Jn. 1:5-9.]
Near
the Cross
Hymn
lyrics by Fanny J. Crosby, 1869
Music
by William H. Doane, 1869
Jesus, keep me near the cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.
Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o'er me.
Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand
Just beyond the river.
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
*copyright
status is public domain
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
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