free spirit
Well-Known Member
I have been accused of arrogance because I say that I understand the NT. But we read in Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
Also we read in Colossians 2:2 to 4 "That their hearts may be encouraged, having bee knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with persuasive argument."
I Have the full assurance of understanding, the following article is a small part of that understanding.
THE WILL OF GOD AND THAT OF THE HIGH PRIEST
We read in Matthew 26 – 42: “He went away again a second time and prayed saying, “My father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, thy will be done”.
As we read the above verse we can be forgiven if we think that God’s will was for Jesus to be executed, and if we think that, then the high priest was only doing God’s will, and if that is so we should also be screaming crucify, crucify him. Therefore it is in the interest and integrity of our holy faith to understand and separate God’s will, from the high priest’s will, because those two wills are intertwined. It is clear however that God could not have achieved his plan of redemption for men without making use of the High priest’s free will. The important thing to understand for the sake of our holy faith is that God used the evil deed of the high Priest, but he (God) had nothing to do with bringing it about, otherwise the high priest would no longer be acting alone or by his own free will.
We all know that the high priest’s will was to have Jesus put to death by execution, for we read in John 11 – 48 – 49 – 50: “If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation”. But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you (us) that one man should die, and that the whole nation should not perish”.
The above verses make the reason and intention of the high priest clear. For he is mainly afraid that his influential position and the Jewish religion will be abolished by the Romans, because they all thought that if Jesus was not stopped, eventually the entire congregation would believe in him and there would be no longer any need for their office and their religion (or nation.) In a nutshell we can confidently say, that the high priest had Jesus put to death so that his influential office and the Jewish religion could continue its existence.
By that knowledge alone we now understand, that Jesus’ execution was soli the will of the high priest and his associates, and God had nothing to do with that decision, nevertheless he did not interfere to save his son or alleviate his sufferings. Therefore, we all should ask ourselves, why he had to pay for our sins with his life? The answer is found in Matthew 5 – 17: For Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfil.”
We know that all the prophecies that were written about him in the Old Testament were fulfilled as his life unfolded. But how could Jesus fulfil the law? I believe that in order to fulfil the law he had to die sinless. For we read in Hebrews 9 – 27: “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” Yes, it stand to reason, that only after death the judgement can be final, because only then we can no longer sin.
We know that Adam could not keep one simple law, “Genesis 2 – 17” and as a consequence mankind had to die. But Jesus, a type of Adam kept all of the law, despite the temptation within himself to escape death, as well as the temptation to respond, to those that inflicted on him excruciating pain and verbal abuses. Yet, in all that agonising time he did not utter one single complain or accusing word, but blessed them by forgiving them. And because of that he fulfilled the law, (or accomplished God’s will) in consequence he reversed what Adam did, therefore now the entire human race has justification of life.
We should know, that much more than justification of life awaits the believer, who through the spirit of Christ become the adopted sons and daughters of God. For we read in ACTS 2 – 33 and verses 38 – 41: “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you both see and hear.” In verse 38 we read. And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” And verse 41 reads: “So then, those who had received his word were baptised; and there were added that day about three thousand souls”. So, through the Holy Spirit that was given to us, we know that the fulfilment of the law is the true irreversible outcome of his sacrificial mission, for we also read in 1st Corinthians 2 – 10: “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.”
The following illustration should clarify God’s will regarding the mission given to Jesus. It will also clearly define Jesus’ sacrificial mission of love. So let us imagine that during wartime there are many missions to be carried out against the enemy and all of them contain some risk of possible loss of some members of those who are taking part in the mission. But other times the mission is so risky that they call for volunteers, the mission is such that the probability of survival are nil, but it has to be done; in this case the commander is sacrificing a small willing number of men for the greater good of the cause.
The question we should ask ourselves is this: Is the commander’s will to have those men killed? Or is the commander’s will that the mission is accomplished? And if your answer is what I think it is, now apply the same formula to God’s will regarding the mission given to Jesus.
John 3 – 16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave (sacrificed) his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” So God willingly sacrificed his son for the greater good of humanity. Our thanks go to God and to Jesus who successfully carried out the sacrificial mission of fulfilling the law. Hence, believing in his life and in his triumph over the temptation of sinful flesh now saves us. Furthermore we have been fully assured that he has gracefully donated to us his triumph over sin in the flesh through the gift of his Holy Spirit, so that we now can also resist temptation and live holy lives.
Certainly we can now live holy lives it is confirmed in Luke 1 – 73 – 74 – 75, for we read, “The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies (power of sin) might serve him without fear. In holiness and righteousness before him all of our days.”
The above understanding of the scripture is a trustworthy rendering as we read in 1st Corinthians 15 – 56: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”
So we can now confidently say, that Jesus by dying sinless fulfilled the law, consequently stripped sin (our enemy) of its power.
Glory to God
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