Messiah, 181

~ Messiah Would Be A Blessing To Gentiles, 8 ~

“Search the Scriptures—they testify of Me.”

— Jesus Christ (John 5:39)

The Scripture

“And now the Lord speaks—the One who formed Me in My mother's womb to be His servant, Who commissioned Me to bring Israel back to Him.  The Lord has honored Me, and My God has given Me strength.  He says, ‘You will do more than restore the people of Israel to Me.  I will make You a light to the Gentiles, and You will bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.’  The Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the One who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the One who is the servant of rulers: ‘kings will stand at attention when you pass by.  Princes will also bow low because of the Lord, the faithful One, the Holy One of Israel, Who has chosen You." (Isaiah 49:5-7, NLT).

The Messiah  

“But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.  Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  ‘Behold!  My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust’” (Matthew 12:15-21). 

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins’” (Romans 11:25-27).  “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’  So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (Galatians 3:8-9). 

~~~ EXPLANATORY “MESSIAH” NOTES ~~~   

(1)  Each Saturday ALN posts an example of a Hebrew Scriptures prophecy (or foreshadowing) related to the coming Messiah which was fulfilled in the birth, life, death, or resurrection of Jesus Christ.

(2)  While extensive it will not be a complete list—there are hundreds of prophecies of the coming Messiah which have been fulfilled by one man—Jesus Christ at His First Coming.

(3)  It is important that there are many more prophecies of the Messiah, yet unfulfilled, which Christians believe will be fulfilled at the time of His Second Coming.  A particularly relevant Scripture verse in this regard is: “Do not despise prophesies” (1 Thessalonians 5:20).

(4)  These posts will typically consist only of Scripture—which speaks for itself.  Sometimes italicized or bold font will be used by ALN for emphasis.

(5)  The numbering of these fulfilled prophecies of the Messiah is used to differentiate individual posts. It is not chronological (either by time of the prophecy or by sequence in the life of the Messiah).  The posting sequence will, for the most part, be in the order that the prophecies appear in Scripture.

(6)  Because of the chosen methodology (#5 above) we will find many specific prophecies repeated multiple times throughout the Scriptures.

(7)  These serial posts are in addition to our regular Tuesday ALN postings on random topics.

(8)  Subscription to ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog is simple—just use the link on the left sidebar.  Once subscribed you will not miss future posts.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

If you found this post personally interesting or helpful, you are welcome to add a link to it on your own blog or website. 

If you would prefer to copy this post, please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight (http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/).

EXTRA: Media Event

~ Author Interview on the “Christian Author’s Show” ~

All day Monday, December 8, 2014, the “Christian Author’s Show” will be running an interview with yours truly regarding the book “GOD LIGHT: Sunlight Sonlight.” 

On Monday click on this link to go to the interview: http://www.wnbnetworkwest.com/WnbAuthorsShowChristian.html

For those of you who may not be familiar with the book “GOD LIGHT” it is a truly unique book which shows the many parallels between natural sunlight and spiritual Sonlight. 

The book has won six national and international literary awards. 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Quote: Discernment

~ Distinguishing Between Alternatives ~

Do you have a good decision-making process?

The following is an excerpt from a book.

Discernment has to do with the ability to distinguish between alternatives—decision-making based on principles. Discernment is a critical component of the Christian life. It takes life out of the realm of the mechanical and puts it into the realm of the decisional. Discernment takes knowledge and sensitivity to the Spirit of God. Spiritual discernment brings about action on the requirements and relationships required to live a life in accordance with God’s general will.

What about decision-making? Your decisions will not be pleasing to God unless they are based on knowledge of His desires for you. How can you know what God wants at a specific decision point? That is what you are about to examine.

Paul wrote to the Colossians, “we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Colossians 1:9). Clearly Paul understood that you can know God’s will and he linked it to wisdom and understanding. Following the general will of God is the solid base for spiritual understanding and Godly wisdom. Paul defines wisdom’s source as God through Jesus Christ. “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

~ from “THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH: Understanding God’s Will for You” by Robert Lloyd Russell, pgs 88-89 (ISBN: 9781606474303)

Learn more about this important book at Amazon, the Publisher, or the Author’s website. 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

If you found this post personally interesting or helpful, you are welcome to add a link to it on your own blog or website. 

If you would prefer to copy this post, please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight (http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/).

Law vs. Grace, 4

~ A Return to a Familiar Topic ~

introduction  ~  Long-time followers of Abundant Life Now know that the subject of law versus grace has been posted multiple times in the past (a listing of relevant past postings are at the bottom of this post). 

Sometime ago I read a marvelous book, I Never Thought I’d See the Day: Culture at the Crossroads, by Dr. David Jeremiah which I heartily recommend.  It is about what’s happening both in our culture at large and within the Church.  What follows is an excerpt relevant to Law vs. Grace.

quote  ~  For those Christians who think that living under grace in the New Testament means morality is no longer the hyper issue it might have been under the Old Testament law, the Bible offers several clarifications:

First, through the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament, God promised to take His laws off of stone tablets and put them in the minds and write them on the hearts of His people (Jeremiah 31:33).  That promise was part of the provision of the new covenant that was instituted through the shed blood of Christ:  “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).  In other words, by the indwelling Spirit of God, the laws of God—His standards of morality—move from being an external to an internal reality.  God’s law is no longer something to be read, examined, and debated as an intellectual matter.  It becomes part of the heart and the mind of the one united to God by faith in Christ.  As the great Bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote, “When the law of God is written on our hearts, our duty will be our delight.”  The law changes from being a burden that keeps us from pleasure to a guide that leads us to a wholly new kind of pleasure—the pleasure of walking in God’s best plan for our lives.  As Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).

In addition, we find that conforming to God’s law in our hearts allows us to experience in all activities of life the specific kind of pleasure and satisfaction God meant for us to find in that particular activity.  So the laws are entirely for our benefit; they are given not to prevent pleasure, but to increase it.

Second, the apostle Paul clarifies what grace doesn’t mean: It doesn’t mean that God’s law has been nullified.  Anticipating that he, by his preaching of grace, might be accused of antinomianism (negating the obligation to live a lawful life), Paul wrote, “Do we then make void the law through faith?  Certainly not!  On the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).  He says that we are not free to disregard God’s moral laws must because we live under grace (Romans 6:1-2).  And he confirms what Christ taught about love being the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8-10).  As we noted above, we follow the law because we love God, knowing that His ways are always best for us and increase our joy.

So New Testament Christians are in no way exempt from the moral and ethical requirements of God’s law.  Indeed, we have an even higher motivation for fulfilling God’s moral law: love.  Grace means living a moral life not because we have to but because we want to.

Third, Paul puts an even sharper point on making moral choices by saying, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.  Let no none seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being” (1 Corinthians 10:23-24).  There may be an action or choice that breaks none of God’s laws yet is still not “helpful” or “edifying.”  The Christian Gospel moves us to a higher plane in life.  No longer do we look out only for our well-being but also for the well-being of others.  Is something is “lawful” on the basis of the letter of the law, yet it has the potential for hurting another person or tarnishing our testimony for Christ, then it becomes unlawful of us.

Fourth,  when a Christian acts immorally, he or she negates the reason for the death of Christ on the cross.  Christ died to satisfy the demands of the law”  “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20).  Christ died and was raised from the dead to pay the penalty of the law and to break its power over us.  The law was good, but because we were sinners, we could not obey it.  Thus we failed to be what God created us to be and incurred the condemnation that comes from breaking the law and the enslavement that comes from being subject to it (Romans 6:1-14; 8:1).  But by His death, Christ took the penalty we deserved.

Considering everything that is bound up in the cross and the empty grave, our choice to bend the moral requirements of the law of God is an outrageous affront to the One who suffered and died to free us from the power of sin.  Why would anyone who claims to have accepted God’s gift of forgiveness for breaking the law choose to insult the Christ who procured that gift through His own suffering?

But the most delicate take on the laws of God is the one provided by Jesus Himself in the Sermon on the Mount—the place in which He corrected human interpretations of the law with divine interpretations, where He revealed to His followers the difference between the letter and the spirit of the law.

closing comment  ~  Previous Law vs. Grace posts on Abundant Life Now include: 

(1)  Law vs. Grace (July 6, 2010)

(2)  Law vs. Grace, 2 (July 5, 2011)

(3)  The Core Message of the Bible #2 (February 1, 2011)

(4)  Law vs. Grace, 3 (This was a 12-part series, published one per month during 2013, and was based upon the book of Galatians.) 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

If you found this post personally interesting or helpful, you are welcome to add a link to it on your own blog or website. 

If you would prefer to copy this post, please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight (http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/).