The Good News Part 2
It was said in part one, “There will come a time when the solutions that are proposed by men have run their course.It will be at that time that God will intervene in the affairs of men”. How will this be done? Man’s historical record is told over and over again, of conflicts, bloodshed, and the destroying of empires. Men’s quest for peace has at times been noble but evasive. All men need is to allow the missing ingredient to put into the mix to bring about the peace that men desire.
This subject will inject that missing ingredient that evades men and focus on a history neglected by the best of us. The pages of the bible lay out step by step how the peace between men will be accomplished.
1 Corinthians: 10:11, Now all these things happened unto them as examples: and are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world (age) had come.
The apostle Paul expects those that are followers of Jesus Christ to examine the history of the wanderings of the nation of Israel and it‘s people. We can read about the character flaws or the rebellion of some and the inspiration of many of those that were led by the voice of God.
It seems natural to start with the book of Genesis although that book lays the foundation of the names of those our Father will be working with and the unconditional promises made by Him.
Geneses 22:15, And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham the second time, 16, And said “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and not witheld thy son, thine only son: 17, That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is upon the sea shore: and thy seed will possess the gate of their enemies; And in thy seed all the nations shall be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice.
Leaving Genesis, we come to the early chapters of Exodus. Here we find the children of Israel in bondage to the Egyptians. We can identify with the children of Israel because all men are in bondage one way or another whether we realize it or not.
Did the children leave Egypt because God had spoken to them directly. No. They left Egypt because they heard the voice of a mediator, Moses.
Romans 19:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The people heard and believed Moses. This is how all men and woman start their journey to our promised land. We believe that “voice crying in the wilderness” and we act on what we hear.
John 3:16, “ For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall have everlasting life.
In Exodus 12 we read the instructions God gave to Moses concerning the Passover and He passed those instructions on to the people. The Passover lamb was killed and eaten as was instructed and this became their first act of faith. This act by the people also fulfilled the first of three feasts ordained by God.
Deuteronomy 16:16, Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before thy God in the place where he shall choose; In the feast of unleavened bread ( Passover ) and in the feast of weeks, (Pentecost) and the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before Me empty.
These three feasts also picture three types of harvests, Passover, the barley harvest in the beginning of the year, Pentecost, the wheat harvest fifty days later and Tabernacles the grape harvest at the end of the year. Each feast would be an elevation of faith to move the Israelites from Egypt, a type of sin, to the promised land, which would be total freedom.
After their first act of faith, Passover, Moses led the people to meet with God himself.
Exodus 19:3, And Moses went up to the mountain of God and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, “ Thus shall thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4, Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings, and brought you unto Myself. 5, Now therefore, if you will keep My covenant then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all the people: for all the earth is mine.
Moses told the people what God had said and they responded to hear the words of the Lord.
Exodus 19:8, And all the people answered together, and said, “All that the lord hath spoken we will do.”
They had a right attitude toward what they were expected to do but they lacked the faith to have God speak to them directly.
Exodus 20:18, And all the people saw the thundering, and the lightning, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it they removed, and stood afar off. 19, and they said unto Moses, “Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us lest we die.”
The people didn’t want God to speak to them directly. They lacked faith and wanted Moses to act as mediator between them and God.
Romans 1:17, For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written “ The just shall live by faith.”
This would have fulfill the feast of Pentecost. The people, if they had heard God for themselves, would have had God’s law written in their hearts. But instead, even as it is today, men and woman need someone to stand between them and God. Most don’t have the faith to hear God’s voice for themselves.
The people, under Moses, had the faith to leave Egypt upon keeping the feast of the Passover but lacked the greater act of faith to keep Pentecost.
Both feasts were never fulfilled during the days of the Israelites. Only a shadow and type of the Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles were ever attempted. The true Passover and Pentecost would find it’s fulfillment in the new Testament.
God used the word “if” at the base of Mt. Sinai. “ If you keep my commandments”. No one could. It was impossible for men to keep God’s law perfectly. If anyone sinned, they would need to offer an animal as a sacrifice to atone for their sin. Jesus Christ, (who knew no sin) would be the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
John 1:29, The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, “Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Jesus would be the Passover Lamb, and raised three days later He told his disciples to wait for the promise of the Father.
Acts 1:4, And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, “ye have heard of Me.”
A great multitude of people left Egypt which made them believers in God and a first act of faith. Pentecost would have had God’s law written on their hearts and made them over comers if they had the faith to listen to God’s voice.
Acts 1: 15, And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, the number of names together were one hundred and twenty.
Now Pentecost had fully come and the one hundred and twenty would receive that missing ingredient which was the promise of the Father and enabled them to be over comers.
Acts 1:8, “ But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the world.
God’s Holy Spirit, instead of leading them from the outside, would now be leading them from within.
1 Corinthians 5:5, “Now He that had wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, Who also hath given us the earnest of the spirit.”
God’s Holy Spirit within a Christian is the missing ingredient and changes the cardinal nature of man with the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit. Love, Joy, Peace etc ( Galatians 5:22–23 ). That’s the Good News. That’s what God is working out within us. A peculiar treasure of people to bring blessings to others.