…for the people of Israel who are near to him. Psalm 148:14
Distance and separation were marks of the old covenant. When God appeared even to His servant Moses, He said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet”;1 and when He revealed Himself on Mount Sinai to His own chosen and separated people, one of the first commands was, “You shall set limits for the people all around.”2 In the sacred worship of the tabernacle and the temple, the thought of distance was always prominent. The majority of the people did not even enter the outer court. Into the inner court none but the priests might dare to intrude, while into the innermost place, or the holy of holies, the high priest entered but only once in the year. It was as if the Lord in those early ages was teaching man that sin was so utterly loathsome to Him that He must treat men as lepers put outside the camp; and when He came closest to them, He still made them feel the extent of the separation between a holy God and an impure sinner.
When the Gospel came, we were placed on quite another footing. The word “Go” was replaced with “Come”; distance was replaced with nearness, and we who previously were far away were brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. Incarnate Deity has no fire wall around it. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”3 is the joyful proclamation of God as He appears in human flesh. He no longer teaches the leper his leprosy by setting him at a distance, but by Himself suffering the penalty of the leper’s defilement.
What a state of safety and privilege is this proximity to God through Jesus! Do you know it by experience? If you know it, are you living in the power of it? This closeness is wonderful, and yet it is to be followed by a greater nearness still, when it shall be said, “The dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.”4 Lord, haste the day!
1) Exodus 3:5 2) Exodus 19:12 3) Matthew 11:28 4) Revelation 21:3
The family reading plan for September 15, 2014 * Ezekiel 18 * Psalm 62, 63
Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.
Tag Archives: holy god
Presidential Prayer Team; C.P. – Getting to Know You
Besides singing White Christmas, Bing Crosby also crooned Getting to Know You: “Getting to know you / Getting to know all about you / Getting to like you / Getting to hope you like me.” In Jesus, God introduced Himself to all mankind. “He (Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…” (Hebrews 1:3)
That which was from the beginning…concerning the word of life.
I John 1:1
Since the very beginning, the Holy God began working out a way to have loving relationships with sinful people. From Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses, to the Jewish people, He made a way for The Way for people to get to know Him. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6)
Let the Christmas season remind you that God knows you completely and wants you to get to know Him. And when you take advantage of this gift, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18) Pray for the leaders and citizens of this nation to get to know “the word of life.”
Recommended Reading: John 14:1-14
Charles Stanley – The Lord’s Rescue Plan
Romans 3:10-26
The Creator placed two people with clean souls in the Garden of Eden, but when Adam and Eve chose to disobey, their hearts became sinful. God had told them that the penalty for their sin was death (Gen. 2: 17).
Mankind’s first parents bequeathed their sin nature to the entire human race. So we are all born with hearts rebelling against God. Like a toddler who defies his parents by touching a forbidden item, we disobey our heavenly Father because we prefer to follow our own desires.
It is not our wrong conduct that condemns us, but rather the fact that our nature is corrupt. Whether good or bad, our deeds don’t determine where we will spend eternity. Apart from the Lord, no one is righteous—not a single person has done enough good to earn a place in heaven. But the Father loves us and wants us to live with Him eternally. So, before the creation of the world, He planned a solution.
The rescue plan was simple—a perfect sacrifice had to be made for mankind’s sin so that everyone could be blameless before a holy God. By accepting this sacrifice on his or her own behalf, any individual would receive a new nature to replace the corrupted one. In addition, the Holy Spirit would indwell that person to provide truth and guidance.
The sacrifice was Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, bearing all our sin. When we trust Him as Savior, our “flesh” nature dies with Him. The Holy Spirit comes to make our hearts new so we can find joy in obeying God. We are rescued and set free!
Presidential Prayer Team; J.K. – Light in Darkness
In his last sermon to Israel, Moses reiterated that God loved them. If you believe in the Lord Jesus, the first phrase of today’s verse should be a reminder to you. Since you have been grafted into that relationship, this means you, too.
Yes, he loved his people…so they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you. Deuteronomy 33:3
God loved Israel not because they were a large nation; they were few in number. It was not because they honored Him with constant obedience; they disobeyed and worshipped other gods many times. He loved them because He chose them and made His promise to Abraham to make them a great nation.
Israel – chosen to be light in a world of darkness. Think of the book of Deuteronomy not just as laws, but as a book of love. God’s love shows the way for the believer. The writer of Psalm 119 yearns to walk blameless (Psalm 119:1) but depends completely on the Lord to enjoy the beauty, pleasure and relief that living under the guidelines of a holy God can give.
Reflect God’s love in your actions and your words. Pray for this country that its people would realize the joy that will come if they follow the ways of the true God.
Recommended Reading: Psalm 119:33-40
Charles Stanley – Christ’s Blood: The Necessity
Romans 3:21-26
Romans 3 communicates the very heart of Scripture. Apart from the cross of Christ and His atoning death, no one can be declared righteous.
In other words, there is only one way to become a child of God—through the blood of the Savior (John 14:6). Good works and right living will not earn the Lord’s favor, because every person inevitably sins, and a sinner cannot enter the presence of holy God. The shedding of Christ’s blood on the world’s behalf made it possible for anyone to be cleansed of sin and have a relationship with the Creator. The only requirement is trusting Jesus as Savior.
For God to be just, He must remain true to His own principles. His holiness dictated that “the soul who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:4). The penalty for sin—namely, death—had to be paid in a way that was acceptable to God. He explained through Moses why a blood sacrifice was required: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement” (Lev. 17:11). A life must be given for a life to be spared.
On that basis, the heavenly Father provided a perfectly sinless sacrifice for all mankind. The only way God’s justice could be satisfied and His holiness could be maintained was for Jesus Christ to take our guilt and sin upon Himself and die in our place.
When we say that there is only one way to the Father, we mean that a person must believe Jesus Christ died as a perfect sacrifice. To trust in anything else is to ignore God’s holiness and the admonition of His Word (Acts 4:12).
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