May 4 Esight, 2008

“…Jesus Christ, through whom we have caught grace and apostleship ushering us into obedience to faith in the midst of all the Gentiles for His name’s sake.” (Romans 1:4,5; personal translation)There are three things I would like to point out this week that have truly blessed my reading of Romans recently.

First is Paul’s use of the Greek word lambano. Traditionally, this word has been translated as the part each of us must play, what each of us must do, in order to obtain God’s grace. Lambano has been seen as our receiving or acceptance, but the word lambano truly means to take into one’s own possession, to catch something, kind of like “catching” a cold. You see, “God has encircled the whole world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air which circulates around the globe” (E. G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 69). It’s all around us already; He simply wants us to catch it, as though we were in a room full of germs. (I know, but it’s the best illustration I could think of at this moment.) Or, rather, to be caught up in God’s already present, all-pervading grace.

Second, what Paul caught was not only God’s grace, but also “apostleship.” Apostleship was the avenue by which Paul could express the obedience he desired to give God that had grown out of his faith in God’s love for him. Paul’s heart longed to say, “thank you.”

And, third, this was in plain sight of others for the purpose of declaring God’s name or Character before the world! (“His name’s sake”).

I was asked just last night, “how does one see God correctly, Herb? How do we catch the vision of what He truly is?” Would you like this experience, dear reader? Would you like to be caught up in God’s grace, to see His heart unfurled? And then to be caught up in a deep heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for all He has done for you? He has saved you—do you desire to be overwhelmed with the longing to give your all to Him, to be used by Him to “save” His character from all the lies told about who and what He is? Then spend some time in the atmosphere of God’s unmerited, non-condemning, self-abandoning love this week. Put yourself in a place where you can be “infected.” It’s all around us! The only question is, will you choose to breathe?

April 27 Esight, 2008

In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.—Psalm 16:11With so many demands on our busy schedules today, it is extremely easy for our time with God to become just another item on our daily agendas for which we must spare some time, something for us to check off our to-do list. Before we know it, the hustle and bustle of the day has begun. We rush off with the ever-present nagging in our hearts: did you put in your time with God today? Thus we put in our time, watching the clock, timing ourselves.

We feel as if God is just another person in our life demanding our attention. On top of all this, we feel that what He wants to discuss with us is also a little too invasive, perhaps some unrepented sin or a tedious duty left undone. After a while we begin to resent it all.

But this is not how God would have you feel toward Him. He desires for you to understand that “in His presence is the fullness of Joy!” “In His right hand there are eternal pleasures.” He “opens” His “hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:16).

Hear His message to you at this moment. He is whispering to you, “I don’t want anything from you…I want to give you something. I am the great Giver of the Universe. It is My nature, not to take from you but to give to you. Why don’t you give Him a chance this week to show you what He’s really like? If we could just see Him as He truly is, everything inside of us would begin to resonate. Our heart would begin to whisper, “This is what I’ve always been looking for… this is that for which I was made.” We would find in His presence the “fullness of Joy.” In Him, we find all our “desires” satisfied and fulfilled. He really is beautiful, if we can see Him as He truly is.

Have you been drinking from the broken cisterns that this world has to offer? Why not try the thirst-quenching water of His non-condemning, unconditional, self-abandoning love for you? You are truly precious to Him. He adores you, for you are the “apple of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8).

For more on this topic, please listen to To Love and Be Loved at:

https://renewedheartministries.com/resources.asp?t=sermons

April 20 Esight, 2008

And the Word was God…—John 1:1The church that I belong to provides a Bible study guideline for the study time that takes place during their weekly service. It seems as though the subject of last week’s lesson was the Divinity of Jesus, because I received no less than 10 emails or text messages from friends who teach these classes in their respective churches. The emails and messages asked nearly identical questions regarding this subject.

Rather than debating whether or not Jesus was God, let’s assume that Jesus was God. Let’s assume He was Divine and look rather at how He defined Divinity. What does Divinity mean? Who was Jesus? Well, He was God! But what does that mean? What is God? One verse immediately comes to mind: “God is Love” (I John 4:8).

Paul states that Jesus is God’s own self-revelation:

God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Jesus is referred to as “the radiance of [the Father’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature.” (Hebrews 1:3)

Jesus himself stated, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me . . . He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father ‘? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” (John 14:9-10) Did you catch that? Jesus was the express revelation of what type of a person God truly is, because during every moment of Jesus’ life, he was not merely Jesus, but the Father within Jesus living out His love.

A friend once questioned me, “If God loves us so much, why did He send His Son? Why didn’t He just come Himself?” That’s an excellent question, but the truth is this: He did come Himself. God did not send someone else, He came Himself in the person of His Son! God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. (2 Corinthians 5:19)

Consider these statements:

“Christ was the medium through which He could pour out His infinite love upon a fallen world. ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.’ 2 Corinthians 5:19. God suffered with His Son. In the agony of Gethsemane, the death of Calvary, the heart of Infinite Love paid the price of our redemption.”- Steps to Christ, p. 13

“God gave Himself in His Son that He might have the joy of receiving back the sheep that was lost.”- Christ Object Lessons pg. 190

“Every gift is stamped with the cross and bears the image and superscription of Jesus Christ. All things come of God. From the smallest benefits up to the largest blessing, all flow through the one Channel–a superhuman mediation sprinkled with the blood that is of value beyond estimate because it was the life of God in His Son.”- Faith and Works pg. 22

I would like to encourage you to spend some time this week simply writing down one-word descriptions of what you see in Jesus. Then ponder the list. Ask the tough questions. Consider: had the Father come instead of the Son, not one note would have been different. The song would have remained the same. The story would be left unchanged. . .

April 12 Esight, 2008

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no changing or shadow of turning.—James 1:17Do you know what one of my favorite things about God is? It is the fact that you can tell Him anything, you can let Him in, so to speak, and He is never going to change in reference to you. He’ll never pull back, never will the expression on His face change. In our darkest moments, He does not withdrawal, but presses in even closer with His eternally loving embrace to heal, help, and cause us to grow. He wants you to let Him into your deepest darkest secrets. He wants an intimate relationship with you. He promises not to condemn, but to help. He will always be honest with us, but it will be in kindness and love. He’s not afraid to tell us where we are wrong. And where we are not in the wrong, He will come “to our defense with the wrath of a God.” He will stand by us through it all. And, after all, no matter what you tell Him, no matter how deeply you let Him in, doesn’t He already know anyway? This leads us to today’s passage, on which I would like you to meditate this week.

James tells us that with God there is no changing or shadow of turning. What does he mean by shadow of turning?

Have you ever just sat on your front porch and watched the shadows turn as the sun moves across the sky? Why do the shadows turn? This happens because the position of the sun to these objects is constantly changing. God is whispering to us in this passage, “tell me anything, let me in, my position toward you, my relating to you, will not change! No matter what you could tell me, I will not pull away, I will remain.”

C.S. Lewis stated in his book The Problem of Pain “Why else were individuals created, but that God, loving all infinitely, should love each differently? And this difference, so far from impairing, floods with meaning the love of all blessed creatures.” Yes God loves each of us infinitely, but each of us is different and, thus, God wants a unique and individual, intimate relationship with each of us, as well. (This thought is also reflected in John’s statement in Revelation 2:17.)

Dear friend, do you need a God that knows everything there is to know about you and still loves you nonetheless for it? I give you my God. He truly is the most beautiful being I have ever encountered….

April 1 Esight, 2008

Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.—1 John 2:28Thank you, most sincerely, for your patience over the last two weeks. We just completed filming 17 one-hour presentations to be released soon on DVD. But, rest assured, I’m back now, and thus this week’s E-sight. Thank you for understanding.

Over the course of the last two weeks I had the chance to interact with a young man who was quite distraught. He has heard so much about faith, God’s mercy, love and grace, but it had made no difference to him in a practical way. His fear, or rather lack of assurance, was still rooted and grounded. His question to me was, “Yes, all that is fine and good, but I’m still going to be judged by my works.”

I immediately understood his dilemma. And, yes, you cannot deny the plain, clear teaching of the scriptures that “we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10) and, yes, Paul is clear, “each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12), and, yes, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

My friend was quick to also quote this well-known statement: “The condition of eternal life is now just what it always has been,–just what it was in Paradise before the fall of our first parents,–perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness. If eternal life were granted on any condition short of this, then the happiness of the whole universe would be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of woe and misery, to be immortalized” (Ellen White, Steps to Christ, p. 62).

Where my new friend failed was in the fact that he did not continue reading to the next paragraph. The very next paragraph states, “It was possible for Adam, before the fall, to form a righteous character by obedience to God’s law. But he failed to do this, and because of his sin our natures are fallen and we cannot make ourselves righteous. Since we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly obey the holy law. We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned” (White, p. 62, emphasis added).

Did you catch that? Yes, the judgment is based on works, but whose works would you rather be standing in, yours or Christ’s? It is not your own righteousness that saves you, but the righteousness of Christ which saves you both now and in the judgment. This is exactly why eternal life is a free gift given to all. Jesus has given His righteousness, the condition of eternal life, to all.

Jeremiah is clear:

“In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness’” (Jeremiah 23:6).

“In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16).

Paul unequivocally states, “We shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10). Not by our own. On that day, whose life would you rather answer for, the one you’ve lived–or the life that Jesus lived and has given to every man, woman, and child as a gift? There is not the slightest reason why each and every person should not pass through the judgment with all hope and joy, save the single fact that they themselves would not have it that way. Christ’s “works” have been given to all, whether any person receives them as their own is another question.

Be at peace, my friend, you’ve learned the fear of God, now learn to love Him. Begin to see yourself not as you are in and of yourself, but according to what you are in Christ. This is His gift to you.

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:17-19).

March 17 Esight, 2008

noneThere will be no weekly E-sight this week due to filming.

March 10 Esight, 2008

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.—Matthew 6:10The Bible clearly states that God is an omnipotent¹ and sovereign² Creator who is confidently guiding the world toward his desired end. Yet, because of this all important truth, many Christians have gone a step further, and assumed that because God is omnipotent, sovereign, and has a plan that He is carrying out, that everything that happens in this world must somehow fit into His sovereign plan. This assumption has permeated much of Christian theology. It is also expressed in some of the clichés we often use in the face of suffering. We attempt to console others and ourselves by saying such trite statements such as “All things happen for a purpose,” “God has his reasons,” and “His ways are not our ways.” Popular hymns have also carried this message, such as Day by Day. The words to this familiar hymn read “Help me then when toil and trouble meeting, E’er to take as from a father’s hand…”

Augustine, arguably the most influential theologian in Church history, wrote “Nothing happens unless the Omnipotent wills it to happen.”³ This view of God’s relationship to the world takes many different forms, some saying that God ordains all things, others saying that He simply allows all tragic events to occur. But each one shares a common assumption that there is a specific divine reason for every tragic event, for, if God had wanted to prevent the event from taking place, He could have done so. Since He did not, He must have had a good reason for not doing so.

This teaching has done almost irreparable damage to the character of God in the hearts of many who have experienced great horror in their lives. It has led some to abandon their belief in God altogether.

Much to many people’s surprise, the scriptures do not support the view that there must be a specific and divine reason behind all tragedies. It is, rather, rooted in an imbalanced reading of the Bible. Although the scriptures do teach that God is sovereign, they also emphasize that there are agents who God has created who are free and can and do resist His will. Scripture does not teach that God controls all behavior of free moral agents, whether human or angel. Humans and angels are able to act contrary to God’s designs and purposes. While God’s general will for this world cannot fail, His particular will for individuals often does fail. Notice the following passages:

Genesis 6:6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.

Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

Acts 7:51 You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Hebrews 3:8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness.

Hebrews 3:15 While it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Hebrews 4:7 Again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”

Certainly God’s will is for everyone to be saved, yet, at the same time, He has created agents who are morally free, and with the potential to thwart His will.

1 Timothy 2:4 Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

According to the Bible, all the events of this world need to be understood against the backdrop of a spiritual warfare between God and free moral agents who have rebelled. ⁴ Therefore, when we look at the events that transpire here on earth, we are to remember that we are in the midst of warfare during which God’s will is not always carried out. The Bible pictures God as warring against opponents precisely because their will is working against His will. According to the Bible, we would not wonder about the specific reason God might have had in allowing a rape, murder, or child molestation. Rather, we would view these individuals as “victims of war” and assign the blame to either human or demonic beings who are opposing God’s will.

It seems, therefore, that we have one of two deductions to make: Either God does not prevent things because He chooses not to or because He is unable to. If we decide that He does not prevent evil events because He chooses not to, we are put in the position of a child who has two parents, one abusing and the other knowing about the abuse and doing nothing to stop it. In the heart of the child, then, neither parent can be trusted. If God knows that free moral agents are about to cause another free moral agent pain, and yet He makes a conscious choice not stop it, can God still be trusted? On the other hand, if you say that God does not prevent evil because He is unable to prevent it, how do you reconcile that with His omnipotence? The answer to these dilemmas, I believe, can be found in a closer look at the nature of love, the necessity of freedom, and the logical possibility that if God is to have His ultimate will carried out for His creation, as a God of Love⁵, He also risks the possibility of war breaking out in His creation. Yet, as we study the scriptures with the aim of understanding these three themes, we do begin to see that the ultimate explanation for the evil that transpires in our world is the purpose that a genuinely⁶ free moral agent had in freely carrying out his, her, or its particular deed. We need not look for some higher reason in God for a specific tragic event, but, rather, we need to find the ultimate reason for the atrocity in the free moral agent from whom the tragic event found its source.

Notice that when we look around on this planet, it is not God’s will that we see carried out.

Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Jesus’ prayer makes sense when we realize that God’s will isn’t yet taking place on earth as it is in heaven. David also seems to hint at this idea.

Psalm 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.

It is a grave injustice to the character of God to state unqualified that “Nothing happens on this planet unless God allows it to happen” Paul and Jeremiah add clarification to the nature in which God allows evil. God does not specifically allow each particular tragedy, but, rather, He has generally allowed for the possibility of love between Himself and His creation; therefore, He has generally allowed us freedom of choice. Therefore, God has generally allowed the possibility of suffering to exist. Free moral agents themselves are the once who specifically choose whether or not to use their freedom of choice to bring hurt or to bless.

Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;

God unwillingly subjected the creation to futility. He did not desire us to suffer; rather, we choose to plunge this creation into futility. Yet, if we were ever truly free not to sin, then we must be truly free to sin. Having made that choice, God, against His will, was forced by our choice to allow us to have what we had chosen.

Lamentations 3:33 For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men.

When people do things that they are unwilling to do, we call that being “forced against their will…”

6. If God prevented us from doing what we freely choose to do, are we truly ever free to commit those actions in the first place?

March 7 Esight, 2008

“Whom God set forth to be a reconciliation through faith in His blood . . .” (Romans 3:25, Geneva).Please forgive my tardiness with delivering this week’s e-sight devotional. I was on my way out of town for two weeks, and I desired to spend the three days I had at home with my lovely wife and three children. I’m sure you understand.

The above verse, which we are pondering this week states two of the greatest central themes from the everlasting gospel. First, the gift of Christ was initiated by God Himself, and second, it was for the purpose of reconciliation. Reconciliation is defined by the dictionary as “The ending of conflict or renewing of a friendly relationship between disputing people or groups.”

However, notice that this gift, with the end result of reconciliation in mind, was made by God. We, therefore, have two options to explain why God desired to reconcile with us. The first option is that God is the offended party, and out of duty, He gave us His Son because He felt it was the right thing to do. The second option is that God is the misunderstood party, and we are the offended; we declared civil war against heaven, and Christ came forth to reveal to us the truth about the Father in an effort to win back our love and allegiance.

This week, I would like to point out what is not said in John 3:16.

The passage does not say that God was “So angry with the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” nor does it say that God was “So offended with what this world did that He gave His only begotten Son.” No, no, dear reader, it states, too clearly to be misunderstood that God “So loved this world that He gave His only begotten Son.” He took all that was precious, and He gave; He gave all.

God appears to be whispering to us, “Your sin is against me, but I will bear it” (1 Peter 2:24); “Your debt is to me, but I will cancel it and nail to my cross” (Colossians 2:13,14); “Your grievances are against me, yet I will frankly forgive them all” (Luke 7:42); “I know, even if when you do not, that in regards to me, you have believed a lie” (Genesis 3:1-6); “You are under a delusion. Will you not let me show you the truth?” (John 8:32); “Will you let me show you who I really am? “

These are the questions all of heaven is asking. When all is said and done, of how many others, like Abraham, Lot, Daniel, Moses, and Paul, will it be said, “Behold one who was once lost, but whom once again has become My Friend.”

Listen, O heavens, and hear, O Earth, for the LORD speaks: “Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know [Me], My people do not understand [Me]” (Isaiah 1:2-3).

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 18-20).

(For more on this topic please listen to Who Do You See?)

February 27 Esight, 2008

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.—Colossians 2:13–14.I meet many people who are confused regarding what God’s thoughts and feelings toward them truly are. I find that much of this confusion is the result of a common misunderstanding regarding God’s forgiveness.

As in the above texts, the Bible states that God, through the cross, has forgiven every man, woman, and child of every sin he or she ever has or ever could commit. God is not harboring any ill feelings toward any of his children, faithful or wayward.

And yet, I hear many say, wait Herb, what about repentance, confession, and faith. Aren’t these necessary? Yes, absolutely! But here is the rub. The Bible speaks of two very different—related, but different—truths. They are different, but in English we have only one word to describe them both. That word is Forgiveness.

What are these two truths? First, that every person has a conscience. Thus, when they sin, they set in motion the effects of shame and guilt, the full weight of which, if they were left to bear it alone, would crush out their life. The Bible calls this cleansing of the shame and guilt transpiring in us forgiveness or, in the Greek, apheimi. And this change in us takes place through repentance, confession, and faith.

But the second truth is that God, in His heart, is not harboring any ill feelings toward any member of the human race. He has taken all our “debt,” “all” our “transgressions,” and nailed them to His cross. From His perspective, because of the cross, all charges have been dropped for every person who has ever lived or ever will live. The Bible calls this glorious good news of what is truly in God’s heart toward every person, repentant or rebellious, by the same word—Forgiveness or, in the Greek, Charizomai.

One experience takes place through faith and repentance; the other, called by the same word, has taken place in God’s heart toward all regardless of whether they repent or not.

The question arises, “Well, if God has forgiven everyone, then why will some be lost?” That is the million-dollar question.

“There is not the slightest reason why every man that has ever lived should not be saved unto eternal life, except that they would not have it. So many spurn the gift offered so freely” (Waggoner on Romans, p. 102).

“”What! Do you mean to teach universal salvation?” We mean to teach just what the Word of God teaches—that “the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men.” Titus 2:11, R.V. “God has wrought out salvation for every man, and has given it to him; but the majority spurn it, and throw it away. The Judgment will reveal the fact that full and complete salvation was given to every man, and that the lost have deliberately thrown away their birthright possession” (Waggoner, Glad Tidings, p. 23).

“The common idea is that when God forgives sin the change is in Himself, and not in the man. It is thought that God simply ceases to hold anything against the one who has sinned. But this is to imply that God had a hardness against the man, which is not the case. God is not a man; He does not cherish enmity, nor harbor a feeling of revenge. It is not because God has an angry feeling in His heart against a sinner that he asks forgiveness, but because the sinner has something in his heart. God is all right, the man is all wrong; therefore God forgives the man, that he also may be all right” (Waggoner, The Power of Forgiveness).

Meditate on these themes this week and see whether God’s great forgiveness not only sets you free, but also awakens in you that same Forgiveness toward others as well.

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

Have a great week!

February 18 Esight, 2008

“…Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day…”—Colossians 2:13-23Let the full impact of the following statement rest upon your heart.

“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through the cross.” (emphasis added)

The above is quite possibly one of the most profound statements ever made by the apostle, Paul. It is as though God is saying to this world, through the medium of the cross, that all charges have been dropped. And it is on this basis that Paul wrote the very next statement.

“Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.”

What does “food,” “drink,” “festivals,” “new moons,” or the “Sabbath” have to do with the great accomplishments of Calvary? With our being forgiven of all our transgressions? With having all our debt cancelled out?

The answer is quite astonishing.

First, the Sabbath is a holy day (Exodus 20:8-11). And holy days in the Old Testament were to be kept much like we celebrate holidays in our modern culture. “Then he said to them, ‘Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). This is the same spirit in which the Sabbath is to be celebrated. The Lord’s Sabbath is commemorative of not simply creation, but Redemption as well, along with all its accomplishments. (For more on this subject, please listen to A Rest That Remains from our sermons/downloads page at https://renewedheartministries.com/resources.asp?t=sermons)

Second, the situation in Colossia was much different than in Galatia. In the Galatian church, Judaisers were secretly stealing from and seeking to defraud the Galatians of their assurance by trying to add certain requirements of the law in addition to their receiving the grace of God through faith as conditions for their salvation. However, here in Colossia, it was not the Judaisers stealing, but the early Gnostics. The Gnostics believed in many things, yet one of their central beliefs was that the body was evil and a person’s soul was immortal and holy. In order to free or redeem his or her soul, a person needs to abase his or her body through severe treatment. They believed that any sensory pleasure, for any purpose, was wrong. This would strike right at the heart of celebrating Calvary. How could a person eat the fat and drink the sweet every Sabbath in celebration of the cross if all sensory pleasure was forbidden?

Paul continued, “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’ (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

This week, stand fast in the glorious accomplishments of the cross. Let no one be your judge in regards to:

Food;

Drink;

Festivals or New Moons;

but especially, the Sabbath.

This Friday evening, when Sabbath roles around, be like those early Colossian believers who, having received the blessings of the Cross, longed to celebrate their Savior. Set aside that holy time to eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and remember, the God of this universe has forgiven you all of your transgressions, having cancelled every last debt, having nailed them to His cross. May the meditation and celebration of these great themes truly set your heart free to run in the expanse of His grace.