February 2, 2018 | Abraham & The Promise
Abraham did not receive the promise by obedience to the law, but by faith – it is impossible then that the promises were given to the body that serves the law (Israel), they were given to Jesus. Only they then who partake in the body of Jesus (the Church of God) through the obedience of faith receive the promised inheritance in him. Likewise, only they are counted righteous, for they do not trust in themselves, but they trust in the righteousness of God for justification. The true Israel of God have always been those children of Abraham born for and according to the promise, those not born of Abraham in Israel but they born of God in Christ.
February 8, 2018 | God, Creation, Adam, Sin
God created each separately of all the stars in the heavens in the first of his mighty works of creation. In their rightful places, he created and established them, and the glory of their countenance in proportion to their position – until the day a wandering star went out from its proper domain, and the star spoke to his brethren, and a third followed in his course.
Then God formed a new domain, earth, and from its substance he created anew, the man Adam. God loved Adam dearly, and Adam walked with God. In all this, the wandering star watched and was perplexed at the singularity of the creature.
Then from Adam and for him, God made Eve, and in Adam God contained all of humanity. In this, the star saw a root to strike, to murder all in the murder of one, to separate all, not only a third, from the love of God. He took the form of a serpent and struck Adam’s rib to strike at his heart. And Adam fell into sin and from glory, and corruption spread to all his children. And the children grew, and the star taunted God’s righteousness and accused man and put the children into slavery.
But the love of God was made flesh, the only begotten of God, and his son was sent forth in righteousness and in righteousness he conquered over the power of the star who held death in his right hand, and all that was found in the son of God were made free and sealed in his Spirit, the Spirit of life, and nothing in all creation could be found by the star to separate them again from the love of God. Then the earth cried out from her birth pains, and the dead were raised from out of her, they went to judgment along with the star, but the sons of God were saved, and they walked with God.
February 12, 2018 | The Law of God Judges
The law of God judges and is unforgiving; it is a statute of creation, a bookkeeper of thought and action, it is a consequence of intellectual life – the sun that came up yesterday never comes back the same. There is no return, it knows of no remission, no redaction – what is done immediately solidifies in the fixative of the moment and is past, recorded by law. But all things are possible with God, even salvation from condemnation under the law.
February 16, 2018 | Dieing Ahead of our Times
Man is truly a sheep to be shepherded – the flesh is an existential reality abiding within him and making commands, and he follows. The law did not destroy this flesh and did not bring life; it only exacerbated the flesh, made it cry out to be obeyed by the law all the more.
Through Jesus God put to death our flesh, so that we could live in the Spirit – it is necessary for the Christian to move beyond this as a wonderful concept or a command between two morals for their will to battle. As truly existentially real the flesh is and makes its commands, so too does the Spirit exist within the believer and makes commands. Listen carefully and discern the will of God, with a Spirit that is able, and be led by the Spirit through the obedience of faith – for like a sheep, a person either obey the flesh or if he is born of the Spirit, can obey the Spirit.
