DEATH OF A WORLD
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Rom 5:12)
And so a call went out to the entire universe -
WANTED, A SAVIOR FOR THE WORLD!
© Del Leger
“And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book, (book of life) and to loose the seals thereof?
And no man in heaven, or in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon” (Rev 5:2-3).
We Have An Applicant!
“---Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book---”(Rev 5:5).
“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain---”(Rev 5:6).
“Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev 5:9-10).
Problem Solved? Well, not quite.
Why is redemption necessary? Mankind, in all his pride, self-assurance and arrogance, just doesn’t seem to understand his condition. How can you help a dying man if he doesn’t know that what he is doing is killing him? The results of sin is death, but man does not recognize sin.
There Is A Need.
Needed is a means by which man can recognize sin as it really is. Something to shock mankind into emptying his cup of arrogance and pride so that it can be filled with the truth of God. What matters is what God thinks of you, not what you think of yourself or even what you believe.
Therefore The Law Was Codified And Given To Man.
“Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions” (Gal 3:19). “For all have sinned” (Rom 5:12). “---There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10).
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster---“ (Gal 3:24). It tells us what sin is, so we can recognize it.
“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law” (Rom 7:7). Don’t be deceived; the problem is not the law, but man.
But I’m not so bad; we might say to ourselves. I know lots of people who are worse sinners than I am.
But James tells us, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10)
Maybe we should take a closer look at this law that so describes and defines this terrible poison that is killing the whole world.
We can read a brief summary in Exodus 20:3-17.
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.
Man’s Desperate Condition – Guilty!
In reviewing these laws of God is there anyone who can claim innocence? Can we now understand why this world is headed for total destruction, and we along with it?
However:
There is good news for those who realize their condition.
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isa 9:2).
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6).
He is the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:8-10). He will do the works in us, that’s what fathers do.
Even when we were dead in sins, (He) hath quickened us together with Christ (Eph 2:5).
We now can understand the mystery described in Col 1:26-27.
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
The law is now in our hearts and our mind, (the new covenant, Heb 8:10).
We know this is true because Jesus prayed the Father for it to be so.
The Greatest Prayer Ever Spoken On Behalf Of Mankind!
Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,
2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.
5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
6 I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
7 Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You;
8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.
11 I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
19 For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
20 I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 Their Future Glory "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;
26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:1-26 NASU).
How Now Should We Live?
So let us consider our journey, where we were, where we are, and where we will be.
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us (2 Cor 1:9-10).
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).
Paul is not here proclaiming salvation by works, for that is impossible. He is urging us to be very concerned, ever watchful, to pray without ceasing, study to show thyself worthy and be well founded in the truth. For it is the truth that that sets you free (John 8:31-32).
What have We Learned?
1. Without the saving grace of Jesus Christ mankind is doomed.
2. Jesus Christ is the only being in the entire universe that has prevailed to open the book of life (salvation).
3. Therefore there is no other name by which man may be saved.
4. The law was never intended to save, but rather to teach us how to live and show us where we have failed.
5. The law is not sin; breaking the law is sin.
6. We are saved by following Him in Baptism, symbolizing the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ; followed by the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit.
7. Baptism must be a freewill decision made from the heart, for Christ judges the heart.
8. We then are made one with Christ and the Father just as Christ is one with the Father.
9. It is now revealed to his chosen ones, that great mystery hidden from the angels and the ancients.
10. We are in the world but not of the world, and are sent that others may also believe and be sanctified in His truth.
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him” (Heb 2:3).
THE DECISION IS YOURS; DO NOT NEGLECT SO GREAT A SALVATION.
Del Leger, Christian Church of God, Grand Junction, Co. 11/4/05, 970-249-6857, dlleger@mnotrose.net.
THE FEAR OF THE lord is the beginning of knowledge:
but fools despise wisdom and instruction
(prov 1:7).
