A faith based on love!
But when? In God’s perfect timing Jesus Christ will return! Although the exact day is unknown we can rest in peace knowing that He will.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
The curse had fallen and mankind entered into the period of time for the coming of Jesus the Christ who would redeem them. The work of the Cross would defeat the evil of the world that had overcome them in the fall of Adam.
Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Through the family of Abraham the whole world would be blessed. The promises of God were directed and were dealing almost exclusively with the nation of Israel. There were few exceptions.
Isaiah 42:1-4 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
The rule of the 12 tribes of Israel under the head of Jesus Christ will be established when Jesus returns to His rightful place on the throne. The King will rule with justice and truth and under His leadership there will be peace.
Galatians 4:4-5 when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
In the ancient secular world tutors were hired to teach their children until the father and the tutor decided that they were fully established in their learning. Then the time was right for them to enter into the family business. When the perfect time had come Jesus was born. Born of a woman and Holy Spirit, the seed of the woman and the very Spirit of God, all God-all man, He alone could conquer sin and death.
Galatians 1:11-12 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Paul, a Jew, was separated from the law to preach to the non-Jewish people. He preached Christ and Him crucified. When the time was ripe God sent Jesus that in Him the world could be saved. John 3:16-18 Salvation could only come in the third person of the Godhead, Jesus the Christ, there is no other way to the Father for the non-Jewish person but through Him and His sacrifice on the Cross.
Isaiah 42:6 I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,
Jesus was the fulfillment of the covenant of the nation of Israel given to Abraham and David. He was also a light to the whole world. In His mercy and abundant grace in the Cross, salvation came to the world. The Abrahamic Covenant paved the way for the coming of mankind’s Savior. Because of the overwhelming sin God found in the world He destroyed it with the flood. He found 8 people of the family of Noah that believed in Him. There will always be a remnant of Israelite believers that will remain true to the God of Abraham. In their faithfulness they would be able to be a blessing to the world. Faith in Jesus, in the work of the Cross, pleases the Father and allows Holy Spirit to work in the lives of mankind. Carla
Paul began the letter with a defense of his apostleship—it came from God, not people. His argument here is similar, but this time it is not about himself, but his gospel. Faithlife Study Bible
There was no human creativity flavoring the gospel Paul preached. Paul knew it only because he received it by special revelation from Jesus Christ at his conversion (Acts 26:12–18). The NKJV Study Bible
1 Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
Galatians 1:16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures
The gift of “Release”: verb
1. to free from confinement, bondage, obligation, pain, let go.
2. to free from anything that retrains.
3. to allow to be known, issued, done.
4. to give up, relinquish, or surrender.
Sabbath Moments
For Peace
As the fever of day calms towards twilight
May all that is strained in us come to ease.
We pray for all who suffered violence today,
May an unexpected serenity surprise them.
For those who risk their lives each day for peace,
May their hearts glimpse providence at the heart of history.
That those who make riches from violence and war
Might hear in their dreams the cries of the lost.
That we might see through our fear of each other
A new vision to heal our fatal attraction to aggression.
That those who enjoy the privilege of peace
Might not forget their tormented brothers and sisters.
That the wolf might lie down with the lamb,
That our swords be beaten into ploughshares
And no hurt or harm be done
Anywhere along the holy mountain.
John O'Donohue
In Acts 9:4, God called "Saul, Saul" with an intimate invitation from Jesus. Henceforth, Saul would be God's chosen vessel to share the gospel with gentiles, and he would suffer greatly for Jesus' name (Acts 9:15-16).
Acts 9:20 says Saul (also known as Paul) then "immediately ... proclaimed Jesus" in Jewish synagogues, proving Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the world. The man who had fervently arrested disciples of Jesus only "some days" before (Acts 9:19) was now boldly preaching Jesus as the promised Messiah! Saul was radically transformed from the greatest enemy of the gospel to the greatest advocate for the gospel.
Jesus met Saul on the path to his darkest sin: the persecution of the Church. Yet it was for these very sins that Christ died (Romans 5:8). The same is true for us. The shameful acts of our past do not disqualify us from the lavish grace of God and His complete forgiveness.
For the rest of his life, the gift of God's grace and the depth of His mercy was never far from Paul's mind. In Ephesians 3:8, he humbly referred to himself as "the very least of all the saints," and in 1 Timothy 1:15, he called himself the "foremost" of all sinners. Still, Paul also held firmly to the glorious truth that those who belong to Christ are not condemned (Romans 8:1). Rather, the awareness of our sinfulness fuels our gratitude for His extraordinary gift of salvation. First5
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