To the Beloved, Update from March 24th

Our study continued in Matthew 4: 12-16 AMP, ¹²Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested and put in prison, He withdrew into Galilee.     ¹³And leaving Nazareth, He went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the country of Zebulun and Naphtali--     ¹⁴That what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be brought to pass:     ¹⁵The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, in the ^[a]way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles [of the ^[b]peoples who are not of Israel]--     ¹⁶The people who sat ^[c](dwelt enveloped) in darkness have seen a great Light, and for those who sat in the land and shadow of death Light has dawned.

This led us to the passage in Mark 1:15 AMP, ¹⁵And saying, The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled (completed), and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent (^[a]have a change of mind which issues in regret for past sins and in change of conduct for the better) and believe (trust in, rely on, and adhere to) the good news (the Gospel).

The point of our lesion was the fact that we have to repent and believe.  We must not just think upon this lightly but really think about the act of repentance, is to change one’s mind and then believe in the finished work of Jesus, on the cross.

We learned that in 1John 4:10 AMP, ¹⁰In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins.

So, it is not that we love God enough, in ourselves, we can’t, but God loved us.   By Law is the knowledge of sin.   Mark 12:30-31, KJV, ³⁰And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  ³¹And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

 Here we see even the best of us, even David, could not measure up to this but God Sent Jesus to be our atoning sacrifice once and for all. So we see:

Law condemns the best of us.

Grace saves the worst of us.

The Law demands righteousness from  men.

Grace imparts righteousness to men.

Under Law, God says take your shoes off for I am Holy. (Exodus 3:5)

Under Grace, (Luke 15) Put shoes on his (your) feet, You are with your Daddy (Abba Father).

We looked back at the last chapter of Genesis 50:14-17, AMP, ¹⁵When Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Perhaps now Joseph will hate us and will pay us back for all the evil we did to him.     ¹⁶And they sent a messenger to Joseph, saying, your father commanded before he died, saying,     ¹⁷So shall you say to Joseph: Forgive (take up and away all resentment and all claim to requital concerning), I pray you now, the trespass of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you. Now, we pray you, forgive the trespass of the servants of your father's God. And Joseph wept when they spoke thus to him.
The brothers were taken care of for many years by Joseph.  They had seen him provide for their households, they were fed, clothed and all due to Joseph’s generosity.  They had been in Egypt many years, but when their father had died, they said Joseph might exact his vengeance on us.  They had believed in forgiveness, yet their idea of forgiveness is, yes he forgives but now he will also punish. 

 Is it possible that, Today, Jesus earthly brothers are thinking this way.  Do we understand the far reaching effect of God’s love.  Can this be happening to any of us?  Do we believe that God has forgiven us, but there is still justice that must be paid?  Beloved, the full wrath of God was poured out into the body of Jesus, on the cross. 

Remember the verse Matthew 8:20, KJV, And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
The Greek word for lay is Klino.  The same word is use in John19:30 for bowed, KJV, ³⁰When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

When HE said it is finished and Klino (bowed) His head. He finally found rest for His head, in bringing us into the kingdom. Hebrews 1:3b KJV, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:

1 John 4:17, AMP,  ¹⁷In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.

As Jesus is today, so are we in this world. AMEN.

May Grace and Peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our loving Lord and Savior! 2. Peter 1:2.