December

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 In addition to our salvation freely provided to us under the New Covenant we have full access for baptism of the Holy Spirit whereas we can be filled with the Spirit of God for life while still here on earth. Under the Old Covenant the Holy Spirit only came upon a few people, but today He is available for us all. 

Hebrews 9:8, 8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

                For the original people reading the book of Hebrews, this verse was probably a stand out verse along with 2:4, 3:7, 6:4, and once again in 10:5. The fact that the Holy Spirit would speak, teach, or witness to people in general is another pivotal point in the New Covenant. Today there is so much rhetoric among the many denominations regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that His true significance is often overlooked. Not so with the first church, especially those who had converted from Judaism into followers of Jesus Christ. Prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus, no human was able to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In fact no one in the Old Testament was filled with the Holy Spirit because of man’s fallen nature. True He ministered as much as possible to all of the prophets of Old, but when you dig in the scriptures you will see the wording where He came upon people for short time’s in their lives. He only spoke to a few people and was not available to everyone as He is today, and no one was filled with the Holy Spirit under the Old Covenant or even prior to the Law of Moses. It was the prophets of Old who heard from the Holy Spirit as needed and in turn they spoke prophesy’s to the people. Because of Man’s fallen sin nature the Holy Spirit who is truly the Spirit of God could never dwell in a sinful vessel, but after Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself at the cross, all mankind is able to receive the Holy Spirit providing they first accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

                On a side note there is a movement growing loosely across the US trying to bring back the significance of having Prophets overseeing the church to guide the people as in the days of Old. Self-proclaimed Prophets are rising up within Full Gospel denominations and non-denominational churches; others are traveling all across the US and even around the world drawing thousands of people to themselves so people can hear them speak great words from God. Nowhere in the New Testament is this practice established, but is John 14, 15, & 16 we read where Jesus told us that He would send the Holy Spirit to us as our Helper and Teacher. True Jesus gave us Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers in His ascension gifts, but their purpose is to edify the saints for the work of the ministry. There may be a time where a person could use encouragement from a prophetic word, and there is a need for prophets in the church today, but at best that is truly second rate to the will of God. His desire is that all men be filled with His Spirit where He could communicate to all of us individually. This is a point often missed in Christianity today in that Jesus did not establish a new religion; He established the ability for believers to have a personal relationship with God.      

                The way into the Holiest of All was not available while the first tabernacle was still standing is also a powerful statement overlooked by Christians today.  In our minds we all wish the Ark of the Covenant could be found so we could show the rest of the world that what our bible says is truth compared to all of the other religions and their teachings. The biggest problem with finding the Ark is that man in general has such a difficult time walking by faith which cannot be seen, that many Christians would begin worshiping the Ark over Jesus. By nature men look for something tangible to help explain the intangible which is why we gravitate toward religion in general. At least religion gives us a pattern to follow and tangible things to do so we can feel good about our lives. Walking by faith has nothing to hold onto which is why faith is the substance of things hoped for.                        .

 We must remember that Jesus is our High Priest of “good things to come”. The “religion” of Christianity has believers caught up in living, doing, and saying the right things in effort to become or appear righteous. A “relationship” with Jesus Christ opens up the believer to receive the good things in life that Jesus paid for with His own blood. Relationship will always triumph of religion, because the strength of the believers walk is solely based on Jesus’ perfect work on the cross and not man’s efforts.   

Hebrews 9:11-12, 11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

We need to remember that previously in Hebrews the comparison was made of Jesus to Melchizedek in that he was without beginning and without end, Hebrews 7:3.  From this we can see the perfect Priesthood of Jesus in that there is no end to His sitting at the throne of God making intercession for us. Moreover He is the High Priest of “good things to come” not judgment and condemnation. When we look back in Deuteronomy 28:1-13 we see the promises of blessings to the children of Israel if they keep all of God’s commandments. Jesus fulfilled those commandments on our behalf which makes Him the administrator of those blessings. The only commandment Jesus gave us is found in John 13:34. By loving others as He first loved us we meet His only requirement to receive all of the blessings He earned for us through His perfect work on the cross. Think of this through the heart of a child whose dad just won the big bear at the carnival and then hands the bear to his child.  The dad does not give the bear to the child because they have never made a mistake and have lived up to the parent’s ridged expectations, but just because he loves his child and the child asked. God loves us with the same full measure to the point that He sent His only begotten Son to fulfill the requirements for us and then die for our sins so that He could give us the prize; the promises of God. Also in verse 11 we see the comparison of earthly efforts to heavenly accomplishments. The Levis had to disassemble move and reassemble the tabernacle every time they moved. Every think on earth will grow old and decay as a result of the fall of man, hence the precious tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, and everything else they made according to the directions of God would eventually decay as well. Should we still have the Ark of the Covenant, the wood inside would have decayed leaving only the Gold overlay. Everything in the natural held as precious in the hearts of man will eventually decay, but the tabernacle in heaven made by the hand of God will remain forever. This is the tabernacle that held the spiritual alter that Jesus sprinkled His blood on for our atonement. Think about this; where do you truly want to place your confidence in, man’s best efforts to please God or Jesus’ perfect work on the cross.

Verse 12 is the final comparison in that the best sacrificial blood the children of Israel could offer as a seal of their end of the covenant was the blood of animals. However man was created as superior to the animals as read in Genesis chapter one. Meditate on this questions.

Why would God rest His final covenant between man and Himself on the ability of man to fulfill his side of the covenant? A covenant is only a covenant when both parties agree and fulfill it.
Had man not already proven that he could not follow the simplest of instructions, “don’t eat the forbidden fruit”?
Why would God, who hates idol worship, have the children of Israel create an idol “The Ark” as a symbol of His covenant unless He was going to replace that idol with Himself someday?
How could the blood of a lessor creature like a bull, goat, or sheep, make any real atonement for the sins of a man who was created as greater creation?

Jesus having taken stripes on His back for our healing, bearing all of our transgressions, and fulfilling all of our shame, allowed our sins to be nailed upon the cross through His flesh. Jesus who was God in the likeness of sinful flesh (John 1:1-3, & 14, and 1Timothy 3:16), allowed Himself to be sacrificed. It took a Man to be sacrificed for all of mankind. And Jesus sprinkle His own blood for all men upon the heavenly alter not made with hands, but created by God in the heavens.  God replaced the lessor covenant with a perfect covenant signed by the blood of His own Son, so He could fulfill His promises to us. 

 If a man cannot understand the importance and depth of Ephesians 5:25 and 28-29 then neither has he grasped the importance of what Jesus truly did for us on the cross. Today I am 1st a son of God, 2nd a husband, 3rd a father to my children, and 4th a pastor & teacher. If I get any of those areas of my life out of that specific order; I risk failure in all of them and cannot live my life to its fullest potential. 

Ephesians 5:28 -29, 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

                This parallels Jesus’ words on the second greatest commandment as recorded in Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, & Luke 10:27. (“And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.) There are no other commandments greater than these. There are no other greater commandment than these, is a heavy statement especially for the person claiming to be a Christian. We are first to love our God, with all our heart, sole, body, and mind and then love everyone else. The most amazing concept for me to never understand is how two Christians in a marriage, will allow the devil to play in their lives and cause them to get divorced. Robbye and I have had difficult times in our marriage and we had thought of divorce, but always came back to Romans 10:8 “What does the word say”. We also loved each other enough to look honestly at our own actions and lives and measure them to the word of God. We both realized we were living selfishly and not for God. We were claiming Christianity, but not doing what we knew to do in regards to our marriage. I had to make some serious changes and in following these scriptures I was able to gently, over time, guide our marriage back to where God intended it to be. I also realized that if God sees the two as one, then there is strength and power in that unity. Neither of us would be where we are today spiritually or emotionally if we would have let Satan pull us apart. An interesting point here before I go on. There are eleven verses in Ephesians 5:22-33 with the first three as charges for the wife, but the next five are action charges for the husband. Personally I see the greatest weight on the husband regarding the spiritual growth and stability of his home, and therefore, men need to step up to the plate and stop playing games.

                With the few and rare exceptions where self-destruction is prevalent in a man’s life, he will do everything in his power to survive and be on top. Men do not hate themselves, in fact this drive to survive needs to be seen for what it truly is, self-love. I am not talking about selfish lust for oneself, which is another form of perversion, but true agape love for self. Agape meaning to desire the best, not allowing harm or damage to self, creating a level of personal worth that is healthy. If a man begins to develop this agape love for his wife, washing her with true words of love, he is loving himself. What better way for a husband to come home from work and whether his wife is already there or comes home from her job, she is kind and respectful, tender and encouraging. These desired responses do not automatically happen; there is always a cause and effect. You truly reap what you sow, Gal 6:7-9.

                Verse 29 is the formula for success in marriage, nourish and cherish. A man will not purposely starve himself, except for going on a fast. He will make the time to feed himself, and usually he will feed himself well. Look inside a quality restaurant during lunch time, there is a vastly larger number of business men sitting down for a good lunch than there are women. As a man you feed yourself, but what are you feeding your wife in regards to your marriage. There is an old saying, “garbage in garbage out”. Men are going home all across this country sowing bad seed into their marriage and not liking the crop that is coming up so they start looking for another field to harvest. I have to wonder how stupid can men be to sow bad seed at home and when the first younger female showing a business level of respect at the office comes along they are ready to compare and even plan to jump ship. Those that do remarry will eventually see some of the same old crop starting to come back and never realize they are the ones sowing the bad seed still. I stand firm on my belief that Christian men are not following the word of God in their marriage, because there is no longer any difference in the percentage of divorce in the church then in the world.

                Even if a man is not happy with the way he looks in the mirror, and does not like the fact that his personality is compared to the back end of a horse, he will still cherish his body.  Man will do everything in his power to protect himself from harm. Let a man get hot and you will see a man running to the A/C, let him get hungry and you had better not get between him and the feed bag, watch a man see something his flesh truly desires and you will see a man get glassy eyed in his effort to bring it to himself. Husbands need to devote the same energy, commitment, and devotion to their wives. That is easy to say, but takes consistent effort to do. Cherishing your own body comes natural, God built it into us, cherishing your wife is something that must be learned and consistently developed. We have the ultimate example in Christ and his love for the church. Not only did He lay His life down for her, but spoke the necessary words over her to lift her up. Because Jesus is alive, and His word never fails or falls away, He is consistent in showing the church His love. Jesus is consistently cherishing His bride, the church, husbands are you. What seeds do you sow? 

 Children do not know anything before they have been taught. To let a child decide anything for themselves is the same as throwing them to wolves; the world and its ways will destroy them. If the parents do not take the effort to learn the truth of the word of God and teach is to their children, what they learn from the world or other religious people may cause them to turn against their own parents. We see way too much of this in this country.  Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it, Proverbs 22:6 NKJV.

Ephesians 6:1-3, 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: 3 "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.

                In today’s society children have been given so many rights that they can almost do whatever they want. This is sad because none of us when we were children knew what was best for us to do. All children want to do is play and eat fun foods. If parents were to allow this, across the board our children would grow up to be fat, stupid adults, because none of them want to eat the healthy foods, and I have yet to see a five year old walking to school on their own because they wanted to go learn. God is a God of order and in His order there are great blessings and protection. The key to the importance in understanding what God is saying in verse 1 is, “in the Lord”. Children are to obey their parents in all things, but not to the point of entering into a sin. Even at the command of a parent, children are not to steal, or kill; they should be protected from sexual immorality, not made to enter into it. If a parent is leading their child into a sin life and the child is able to understand what is happening, they do not have to obey. Just as I mentioned in Ephesians 5:22, there is a difference in submission and obedience, children are to obey, but they too will stand before the Lord alone someday to answer for themselves. God wants each of us to have our own relationship with Him through Christ Jesus. The weight is on the parents to train their child up in the way of the Lord. We must keep in mind that Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus and therefore speaking to believers. The natural mind cannot comprehend the truths of God and even believers have a tendency to slip back into carnal thinking. This verse is a great reminder of how to live Godly lives. 

                As children grow up they need added responsibility of making some of their own decisions. This is a part of training children up to be productive adults. Parents are in a constant state of guidance and release so that when the child is ready they can step into life without holding mommy or daddy’s hand like they did going to school the first time. As the child grows older honor comes into play and is to remain throughout the parent’s life. Honor at times may look like obedience, but is more of a reverence for the position and understanding of the sacrifice made by the parent to raise the child. To honor is to esteem and respect. The Greek word (TIAMEO) from which honor is translated means “to prize” or to fix a value on. Where children fail in this area is when they put their parents down, either to their face or behind their backs. ALL children grow up to a point of thinking their parents are too old to understand what they are going through and that their peers know what is best so they choose to follow their peers. This is an act of dishonoring your parents. Paul references Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16, when he is writing verse 2. This truly is the first of the Ten Commandments that has a promise attached to it. God is not lack in fulfilling His promises. .

 Jesus did not have anything to do with the original temple that Moses and the children of Israel built in the wilderness. Neither did He have anything to do with the temple of God built by Solomon. He established His ministry and our salvation in the Holy of Holies in heaven once and for all who will believe.

Hebrews 9:24-28, “24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-- 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.   

                Verse 24-26 sums up the importance of what Jesus did after He rose from the grave as well as paints a picture comparison between the Old and New Covenants. The Law of Moses and all of the actions of service set forth were for the temple that was manmade by the children of Israel while in the wilderness. Where is that temple now; gone? Even when Solomon built a temple for God with stone and huge timber, it too is now gone. The truth is that nothing made by man will last an eternity, hence the works and sacrifices set forth by the Law of Moses were at best temporary. They by default kept the children of Israel conscious of their sins and busy with works and sacrifices. Under the Old Covenant the High Priest was the only one who could come close to the presence of God. Under the New Covenant, because the sacrifice was Jesus and not an animal, He now lives and sits at the right hand of God making intercession for us. This intercession is the foundation we stand on for Hebrews 4:16 which tells us we can come boldly to the throne of grace and find mercy and grace in our time of needs. Remember the previous teaching and comparison of the value of animals verses the value of man. Understanding this concept and realizing the truth and depth of Jesus’ perfect work on the cross, we can lean, trust, be comforted, and most of all be strengthened by God through the power of His Holy Spirit while here on earth. There is no fear of condemnation in comfort from God.

                The concept of verse 26 stating that He would have to suffer often, more often than not loses its depth of importance in our Christian walk today. We can understand that the value of a man could only be purchased with the same value, but this One Man, Jesus, paid the value for all mankind with His own natural life. The only way a single human could have the value of all mankind if for that One Man to be God Himself in the likeness of sinful flesh. Hebrews 9:24-26 validates John 1:1-3, 14, 1 Timothy 3:16 and vice versa.

John 1:1-3 & 14, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

1 Timothy 3:16, 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

What does this truly mean to us today, if God is for us, no one can be against us? It also means that if God sacrificed His own Son for us, than He also freely give us all things along with Jesus. Hebrews 9:24-26 also validates Romans 8:31-32.

Romans 8:31-32, 31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

                Verses 27-28 are a conformation of our salvation through the death of Jesus for our sins. For all mankind there is the assurance of a natural death, no one lives in the natural forever. However in the spiritual there is a second death for those who are not raised in Jesus. What does this mean? Belief in and confession of Jesus as your Lord and Savior is your only requirement for salvation and protection from the second death, or “spiritual death”.

We know that the second death is real as it is mentioned four times in the book of Revelations. Some false teachings today try to convince people that there is no Hell, however in the KJV version it is recorded fifteen times in the gospels where Jesus referred to Hell. Eight additional references in the New Testament, four of which by Jesus again in the book of Revelation. Hell is real and in Revelations 20:14, death and hell are said to be cast into the lake of fire which is the second death. To be in hell is to be completely spiritually separated from God, but the second death is where the spirit of the non-believers will be cast into the lake of fire where there is continual torment for the rest of eternity. 

 God does not want you to remain conscious of your sin; He wants you to remain conscious of Him.

Hebrews 10:2-3, 2 “For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.” 

                God has made the only way for us to boldly come to the throne of grace in our times of need, and He only wants a relationship with His children. God is not interested in our sacrifices. Our personal sacrifices mean nothing to God and only remind us of our sinful nature and flawed shortcomings. You can never change the type of fruit after you pluck it from the tree, and yet Christians often get caught up trying to change their flawed life in effort to please God instead of spending time with Him and allowing His love for us to cover, change, and mold us into who we truly are.

                God is not pleased with religion or sacrifices and both only have the appearance of righteousness to the natural eye.  Neither religion nor sacrifices provide the righteousness of God, they only keep the person stuck in their own sin consciousness. This is not to say that we can live carelessly or remain in a sinful life style once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Our effort to change is because we fully understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us and our love for Him because of it. Today there seems to be a stronger push to incorporate a combination of Old Testament rituals, feasts, and ways of life into the church. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:4, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” This is a powerful and painful verse to the religious, but the truth. God does not want us to be conscious of sin, He wants us to remain conscious of Him. 

 Where do envy, strife, and contentions come from? Our lack of understanding of spiritual warfare will cause us to look at a situation between us and another person as a natural conflict. The truth is there is a spiritual warfare going on and you have a choice. You can either being a Pawn or become the King and Priest that God has made you into by putting on the whole armor of God.

Ephesians 6:12, 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

                Where do envy, strife and contentions come from? Why is it that the very sin we want to stay away from is so right in our face? Where is the righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, that Paul speaks of in Galatians 5? Why are we so sin conscious, and Satan fearful to the point we unknowingly attribute more authority and power over our lives to him than we do God? Why are there so many denominations of Christianity today even to the point of finger pointing between churches within a denomination? It is because we do not truly know who we are in Christ, and who God is. We have no real understanding of what He has done for us. We have not understood Ephesians 6:11 and the whole armor of God for starters, and we do not understand the spiritual realm spoken of in Ephesians 6:12. We Christians, just like Peter when he stepped out of the boat and began to walk on water and then sank, are all too quick to look at the natural circumstances and forget all about the spiritual authority that has been given to us. In fact many Christians today do not understand the spiritual authority that we can walk in. If we did, America would not be in the political and financial distress it has reached. It’s June 19, 2008 and America is not in a monetary recession today as the news media and politicians are speaking of, we are in a “spiritual” recession that started many years ago. We are simply reaping the bad fruit of the crops that were sown in the past and are still being watered today. Well did I make you mad or sad? Hopefully I have opened up a door in the hearts of some to begin to look at Ephesians 6:12 with a renewed desire to learn how to overcome the lies in our lives.

                We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities. Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 3:3 that Christians who look at the actions of other Christians are still in carnal thinking. The person that just made you mad is not the one to be mad at, but rather it is either Satan and his deception or yourself and your lack of understanding. I tend to look at our lack of understanding first. Isaiah 5:13 says “Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge”, Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”, and Job 36:12, “But if they do not obey, they shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge.” I am not saying someone is going to kill you if you do not have knowledge, but in 1 Peter 5:8 we are told that the Devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Most conflict between people is due largely in part to lack of knowledge, and especially between believers. Who we need to take the battle to is Satan, and “against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”. Satan is a defeated foe and we have been given the keys to bind and loose. (Matthew 16:19 & 18:18)

I have heard it preached falsely that we, Christians, are not to bring reviling accusations against the enemy using one verse from Jude 1:9, “Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!". This verse is often coupled wrongly with 1 Chronicles 16:22, & Psalms 105:15 which states “touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm”. We must look at verses in their entirety and line them up with the New Testament. In Jude, he is speaking of non-Christians, ungodly people. Jesus Himself often confronted the religious leaders in His day, to the point of calling them whitewashed tombs. At another point He turned to Peter after Peter made a statement that did not line up with the word of God and said “get behind me Satan”. God’s true anointed will, for the most part, speak truth that lines up with the entire Spirit of the New Testament and not stumble on a specific verse into legalism. When legalism and condemnation seem to be the focal point of a person’s speech, the chances are high that they are not moving in God’s anointing at that time. Beside every Christian, a true follower of Christ, is the Anointed one. Jesus’ blood is our anointing. The non-believer here on earth is similar to Michael the Arch Angel; they do not have the authority here on earth like God’s children do to speak God’s word with power. When we put on the whole armor of God, Satan sees Him not us, and as we grow in God, Satan recognizes our authority in Christ Jesus. Look at Acts 19:15 when an evil spirit refused to be cast out by non-Christians, “And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?". Acts 19:13-16 is worth reading as it depicts the total lack of authority a non-Christian has in the spirit world. In these verses is a clear example of spiritual warfare without the warrior wearing the “whole armor of God”. Just knowing the words or worse yet repeating words you have heard from the pulpit without studying to make them your own, is like wearing your helmet of salvation, and no other armor. You will lose! Yes we are to take the battle to the enemy, providing we have the whole armor of God. 

 The military knows that the ability for a soldier to perform their best at whatever they physically train for in starts with having the right shoe or boot for the right job. How often do we pick up our shield of faith or sword of the spirit to do battle, but our feet are not shod completely with the gospel of peace? 

Ephesians 6:15-16, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

                It is not surprising that Paul would continue in the same venue of armor for a solder in these two versus. Of all people we read of in the New Testament, Paul had the greatest opposition. In 1 Corinthians 16:9 he tells us there is a great and effective door open for him to preach the gospel, but there is much opposition. Paul is trying to prepare us for the battle that is sure to come. The very moment a Christian makes the decision to stand on the word of God no matter what, they will experience the pressure from the enemy. This surprised many new Christians, it did me. At first I thought all of my friends would think it was great and want to become a Christian along with me. I also thought everything in life was going to get instantly better. Neither happened! What I found was that my decision was just that, “my” decision. Secondly I had made the decision from my heart, but my knowledge and understanding of the gospel was null. In fact I spent many years just going to church without joining any type of bible study, therefore the only word that got into me was the preached word. That is just not enough. We must remember that even though Paul had his Damascus road conversion and immediately began to preach the gospel he was not a rookie. Paul knew the Torah, and in his own words was a Pharisee of Pharisees.

                For the Roman soldier, the armor they wore was actually a daily way of life. Even their shoes, which were actually sandals, were not typical. They had spikes in the bottom of them for traction for running into a battle and for stability in hand-to-hand combat. Every other army had traditional flat sandals and during battle they would slip or get tired faster from having to constantly re adjust their footing to keep from slipping. The same goes for the Christian; slipping on the word and constantly re adjusting our thoughts, gives the enemy a huge advantage over us. Remember the last statement in verse 13 and the first statement in verse 14, “and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore”. Have you done all to stand? The beginning my Christian lifestyle seemed to lean toward living on the side of my flesh and slipping into the side of God’s righteousness. With God’s love and His grace, as I put the word of God, “with the preparation of the gospel of peace”, into my heart my lifestyle changed. Today I tend to live longer and longer in His righteousness and slip less and less into the side of my flesh. We will never reach the perfect man as long as we live here on earth, but with Jesus standing for us, and by learning the word of God we can draw closer every day.

                In verse 16 Paul lists a part of armor that is actually not worn and put great importance on it. In the Old Testament we read of two different types of shields used by soldiers. One is called a buckler which was small and actually worn on the weakest forearm which was light enough to move and deflect the attacking blows of the enemy’s weapon. This is the first line of protection for the soldier in hand – to – hand combat. All other armor was a secondary protection for the non-deflected blow. This is not the shield of faith Paul is referring to. There was a second and much larger shield used in Old Testament battle. Keep in mind hand-to-hand combat did not happen until after the attacking army was able to breach the protective walls of the city to be conquered. The breastplate and later on the chainmail worn under the breastplate was metal which would harm the wearer just with simple movement. The soldier had to first wear thick wool under garments to protect his skin from the metal rubbing against his skin. One of the deadliest and most difficult weapons to protect oneself from was the arrow because it was silent and often came without warning. The fiery darts were smaller arrows that had a patch of wool attached at the point and were dipped in pitch and set on fire. When the archers on the wall saw the approaching army, they would shoot these fiery darts high into the sky allowing them to fall down on the army catching their wool undergarments on fire. The shield Paul is talking about was the large body length wooden shield with silver or gold, hammered onto the outer surface that the fiery darts would bounce off of and fall to the ground. This allowed the approaching army to get close enough to breach the weakest wall of the city to be conquered. 

 Jesus built the bridge over the spiritual crevasse that separated man from God as the result of the fall of Adam. That bridge was His life, and His blood shed for us. Put your hammer down and stop trying to build what God has already done and run across that bridge and jump into your Daddy’s arms. 

Hebrews 10:5-7, 5 “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come-- In the volume of the book it is written of Me-- To do Your will, O God.' "

                What many people reading Hebrews fail to realize is verses 5-7 are actually written as a reminder to the Hebrews what King David had already written. The Old Testament points to what we have today under the New Covenant that was paid for by the life of Jesus on the cross. Psalms 40:6-8 is the reference where David reveals to the children of Israel that God does not desire sacrifice and offerings. If you read and meditate on Psalms 39 it is clear how futile man’s life is compared to the eternity and presence of God. Whatever man’s best could possibly be is nothing to who God is and what He has already done. If you think about this you have to ask yourself; is there any sacrifice, any offering, anything whatsoever that man could do, or think of, or create, that would account for any value to God with all He has already done for us? No! So what does God actually want from us? Our love for Him and a relationship with us individually.  If Christians could grasp this depth and truth we would have greater peace in our lives and could walk with greater authority in our walk with Jesus while here on earth. This is the reason Jesus told His disciples, and consequently us in John chapters 14-16, that He would send the Helper, the Holy Spirit from God because we cannot understand or handle everything God has already done with just our own carnal thinking. Christians from all denominations who hold so tightly to the doctrines of man are doing so because they do not fully understand what Jesus did on the cross nearly 2000 years ago. He did so much more than just pay for our sins, He gave us life and life abundantly. He built the bridge over the spiritual crevasse that separated man from God as a result of the fall of Adam. Jesus put everything back into spiritual order. There is nothing we can do to please God, or pay God, or offer to God, that He would want other than to love Him and fellowship with Him.  Everything written in the bible is summed up in Jesus and His perfect work on the cross. .

 Jesus was referred to as Son of God 45 times in the gospels and but only five references of His calling Himself Son of Man and they all were in the book of John. 85 times throughout the other three gospels Jesus referred to Himself as Son of Man. As Son of Man His work of miracles was only while He was here on earth. As Son of God He is at the right hand of God and His work was the forgiveness of our sins. Now that He is sitting at the right Hand of God making intercession for us, our work is to fulfill His ministry of teaching about the kingdom of heaven and if filled with the Holy Spirit that He sent to us, we too can work in that same power.  

Hebrews 10:12-13, “12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.”

                In the New Testament Jesus is referred to as the Son of God and the Son of Man. Here is a few interesting points about both true statements. The Devil challenged Jesus in the wilderness and said, if He was the Son of God. His Disciples declared that He was truly the Son of God when He stilled the stormy waters while in the boat. The Pharisees accused Him of claiming to be the Son of God. When He died on the cross and the earth shook the centurions realized and declared that Jesus was the Son of God. Mark and Luke both declared Jesus to be the Son of God and when the demons saw Him and spoke, they called Him Son of God. When Jesus referenced His spiritual authority to forgive sins, or in healing the sick He called Himself Son of God as found in John 3:18, 5:25, 9:35, 10:36, and 11:4. However, eighty five times when Jesus spoke of His life and His actions here on earth He called Himself son of Man. Because He was born of a woman by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was spiritually Son of God. We know by John 1:1-3, 14, and 1 Timothy 3:16 that in fact Jesus was God in Spirit while in the form of Man. Where we need to focus our attention on is His reference to Himself as Son of Man. He was establishing the truth that He was a Man born under the Law and therefore had to live His life perfect as a Man under the Law, otherwise the grave could have held Him. As Son of Man, His ministry while here on earth was teaching the kingdom of heaven was at hand. As Son of Man His death paid for our sins because He went to the cross on our behalf.

Why is this so important to emphasis the difference between the two descriptions of Jesus? As Son of Man His work was only while He was here on earth, and according to Romans 8:11 and Ephesians 1:19-20 it was the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the grave. As Son of God He now sits at the right hand of God making intercession for us and waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool. The only enemy against man that remains to be under Christ’s feet is our natural death. The day will come when the enemy of death will also be under His feet. In the meantime Jesus’ work is done here on earth.

If you look at His work here on earth it all started when He was filled with the Holy Spirit. His life of perfection which prevented death and the grave from holding Him was because He was God in the flesh; the Son of God. His power to do miracles as Son of Man while here on earth was through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in Romans 8:11 that if the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the grave is in you He will quicken your mortal body. The Greek word for quicken means to produce spiritual power to arouse and invigorate life, this is more than just our being spiritually raised from the dead. This spiritual power is the Holy Spirit and His purpose is to help us live our lives to the fullest, and complete the ministry Jesus started while He was here on earth. All sin has been taken out of the way and the only two things keeping us from moving in the same power Jesus moved in when He was here on earth, is our receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit and our belief and confidence of Jesus’ perfect work on the cross. 

 The first covenant required earthly service as a means of maintaining a godly conscience. The New Covenant creates a godly conscience which empowers the believer to enter into godly service while here on earth.

Hebrews 9:1-7, 1 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. 6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance;

                The first seven verses are actually a sharp contrasts between the Old and New Covenants that is often overlooked. They had ordinances which are simply laws, rules, and commands on how to serve in the temple which was confined to earthly things. We have an open door of freedom to enter into the throne of grace in heaven where we are empowered from on High to live in His kingdom while here on earth. Their tabernacle was prepared by man’s hands with material things which were separated by a veil from the rest of the population where only the priests could enter. Psalms 23:5-6 tells us that God prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies; He anoints our head with oil; and our cup runs over with goodness and mercy following us all the days of our life. They had a second veil to the Holy of Holies keeping even the priests out except the chosen High Priest, and he could only enter once a year. Jesus tore the veil into so we could have instant access to God simply through our faith in His perfect work on the cross. They had a gold covered box called the Ark of the Covenant with items of importance, kept inside the box out of sight, as a reminder of the great things God had done for them. We have a personal covenant in our heart, and we are God’s treasure placed in full sight of all man proclaiming His great love for us. They had two fixed statues of Cherubim overlooking the Ark where a man would sprinkle the blood of bulls and goats on it once a year for atonement of sins till the next year. We have an alter in heaven where Jesus sprinkled His blood for all of our sins for now and forever more. No one can discuss in detail what any of these items listed in verse 1-5 truly looked like because God has hidden them from man that we would not hold them in higher significance than Jesus. We can discuss in detail who Jesus is because He lives forever in us proclaiming His victory for our lives.

                Question; which covenant do you want to be under? At first this seems to be an easy answer, however Hebrews was written to Jewish converts to help guide them back into a walk of faith instead of their original walk of works. God added Hebrews to the bible to help us from drifting into a fruitless walk of works instead of maintaining our walk of faith.