April 10, 2005
Scripture:
Scripture:
Genesis 22:1, 2 – Thine only son, whom thou lovest.
I have a brief thought from Ephesians 1:4, According as He hathchosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love…It says that we are chosen in him. As you read through the Bible, you can see that God is taken up with the glorification of His Son. We can remember God saying, “It is not good for man to be alone,” This verse shows us His Son, alone. God chose us, fully knowing that we would be sinners, obnoxious to Him. That’s where the work of Christ comes in for us, it makes us without blame. God gave His Son a bride, but before He could have her, he had to show His love for her on the cross. Jesus doesn’t have His bride yet, but when He gets her, we will be holy and without blame. When that time comes we will be ushered into the presence of that divine love. Is there anything more marvellous? We have been touched by that love this morning; and when we get to heaven we will not be strangers to that love, but will have a deeper understanding of that love. May we be drawn to Him; may these things have an affect on our lives, and our love to Him.
EG Hymn 109 – “O, the love of God is boundless,” Prayer • Adam and Eve were the first parents. • Cain and Abel were the first children. Genesis 4:1-4 • Cain knew that to approach God, you needed a sacrifice, but he didn’t bring the right kind. • To approach God, we need an offering with blood. What sacrifice do we have? The Lamb of God who shed his blood for us. • Many people try to get to heaven by doing good works, but there is no blood in it, so God refuses it.
Hebrews 2:14-18 • V 11 -We are “all of one” family; v 14- we are the children. • V. 14 - “flesh and blood” — God could have said ‘humanity’, but saying ‘flesh and blood’ shows that Jesus took part in exactly what we take part in, He was completely human. In order to do what He did for us on the cross, he had to be in the ranks of mankind. Romans 8:3 says He was ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh’, human in every way, apart from sin. • When man sinned, God said he would surely die; the wages of sin is death. Man is a dying creature. Satan got that advantage; but the Lord came to bear the consequence of sin, death. He conquered the one who had the power of death. • Satan still has other powers. Exodus 17:8-16 — Amalek is the only enemy Israel had in the wilderness. They are a picture of Satan, as tempter, using the lust of the flesh, another one of his powers, to defeat us. Moses is a picture of the Lord interceding for us. In Canaan, there were the seven nations (Deut. 7:1) that Israel had to get rid of so that they could take possession of the land. The nations are a picture of the wiles of the devil, craftily seeking to hinder us. They hinder the enjoyment of our heavenly portion. • V. 16 -For He does not take hold of angels [by the hand], but He takes hold of the seed of Abraham. (Darby)—The Lord didn’t put his love on angels, but on the seed of Abraham. Are we the seed of Abraham? Galatians 3:29 & John 8:39. By doing the works of Abraham (being faithful), we are counted as Abraham’s seed. EG Hymn 31 – “Precious, precious blood of Jesus,” Prayer[pic]