A Word from pastor Rich
This weeks word is sacrifice, "covenant sacrifice"!
What is a Blood Covenant? What are the benefits? And what are the pitfalls? We as American's, as Westerner's have absolutely no earthly idea what a blood covenant is ... but we should!
What we call Christianity, is based on "the blood covenant"!
All that you have, all that you receive, and all that you were able to give up, as a new Born-Again, Believer in Jesus Christ ... it all is defined by those two words: blood covenant.
The fact that you now do not have to spend all of eternity ... in Hell, is because of that covenant! The fact that your life, now that you are born-again, will never be the same again ... is because of "the covenant"!
When you asked Jesus into your heart, to be THE Lord of your life, you entered into a Blood Covenant. Make no mistake about it, whether you knew it or not, YOU activated the single-most powerful written agreement ever put into action, here in the Earth! It's a sobering thought!
With those simple words, "Jesus, forgive me. I repent of my sin, and I give my life to you, asking you to be my Lord. I receive your free gift of salvation." When you spoke those words, or something similar, all of Hell could not have stopped what happened next! In fact, it's already been done!
When Jesus died on the cross, He did it for you! He took upon Himself your sin, your sickness, your poverty, and all that you endured (and some things you didn't) while a sinner, and He exchanged with you His Righteousness! In other words, as the Bible puts it, "He, Who knew no sin, BECAME SIN ... that YOU might become The Rightousness of God!"
In a nutshell, ALL of the sinful nature, the bad habits, and the times that we drop the ball ... ALL of it is covered under this covenant! ALL of it was exchanged with Jesus, for HIS goodness, for HIS righteousness, and for HIS ... place with God, so that we could actually "join Him" as a bonafide, blood bought MEMBER of the FAMILY OF GOD!!
In 1 John, we find that when we "confess our sin", He (Jesus) is faithful and just (authorized to do so), to forgive us our sin, and to "cleanse us" ... from ALL unrighteousness! EVERYTHING! It doesn't matter what you've done, or not done! It's covered ... by the Blood Covenant!
His sacrifice, the work that placed "US" in good standing with GOD ...
that sacrifice through obedience to the Plan of God, has put us in a place of being "join heirs" with Jesus! The Bible teaches that "we" sit at the right hand of God, with Him (Jesus)! ALL that He received, through that covenant, was not for Him! He did it for US!
Jesus already had all of that, before He ever came to Earth for this assignment! BUT, He chose to be obedient to God's Plan, and to become a man (forever) and fulfill this Covenant that God had put together ... the single most powerful agreement ever written and ratified in the existence of the Earth!
So, this season, REMEMBER ...
... remember the fact that Jesus will now and forever, be a "man" ... for US!
... remember the time that Jesus spent with His disciples, in teaching and training them, and in showing them the way that "we" are to do it. He spent all of this time on the Earth, "showing us" how WE are to be! If we are going to call ourselves "Christians", then we need to be like Him!
He did all of this ... for US!
... remember that He got up early every morning, to spend time with His Father, in order to get the plan for the day ... so that He would be in total and complete compliance with how GOD wanted it done ... for US!
... remember, that when He got the word that they cut off the head of His cousin John (the baptist), He did not give in to the emotions of the moment! He could not strike out and do what He may have wanted to do, but instead, He placed a bit in His mouth, and stayed "on-track", remaining within the guidelines of the covenant, and the plan of God. Instead, He struck out at His true enemy (Satan) with the single-most one-day healing spree that this world has ever seen! And, He did this because He remembered ... US!
... remember, when ALL of His disciples left Him ... not just the 12, but over 70 others who were actively studying and learning under His ministry, they ALL left Him cold! Even His inner circle, the three closest to Him, the very ones He took with Him in the garden when He went before God to pray ... just before all of these events were about to take place - His very INNER CIRCLE of friends - the THREE, James, John ... and even Peter! They all left Him! And Peter, the one who showed the most promise of all ... he swore and cursed at those who recognized him, saying that he did not even KNOW Jesus! When EVERYBODY He knew and loved had left Him, He still remained, and He continued on ... with The Plan ... for US!
... remember, when He was beaten bloody, and almost unconscious, with extreme pain and exhaustion, barely able to stand. When the guards would hit Him, point-blank in the face, with the blows of their fists, as He struggled to see the fists coming before they hit Him! Even then, He "pressed on"! And even then, He ... He remained "on-track" ... for US!
... remember, when everyone else had left Him, when the soldiers around Him stripped Him naked and gambled for His clothes ... right there in front of everyone! Remember when He hung there, on the cross, totally naked and exposed! You remember, how He hung there, while they all laughed, and made jokes, and mocked Him? Remember? And yet, He remained ... for US!
... remember, that though EVERYONE else had left Him, He knew that God would always be there for Him. And then, suddenly ... even GOD turned away His eyes! God could not look upon the sin ... His Only Son ... and now even GOD had turned away! And as the clouds began to roll in, and the winds began to blow, Jesus hung there ... now, totally and completely alone!
All of the things that Satan had tempted Him with, all of the possible compromises and options He could exercise ... these all came suddenly on His mind, bombarding Him with regrets! And still ... He remained ... for US!
... remember that now, truly alone ... even estranged from God, Jesus hung there on the cross, covered in sin and in shame! This was not His sin, but it was OUR SIN ... the SINS of the World! He was so covered with that sin, and with the wounds that He bore for our sicknesses and our diseases, that the Bible says that He didn't even look like a man anymore! The people there at the cross truly thought that God had smitten Jesus! They thought that God had cursed Him, because He had claimed to be ... the Son of God!
How utterly alone He must have felt now ... gasping for every breath, aching in every muscle, hurting in joints that He'd never even knew could hurt so bad before ... spitting out the blood, mixed with His own sweat, that now drained down His face, and into His mouth! In order to breath, He had to lift Himself up, pushing up with His feet, now nailed to the cross itself! And as He stood, a searing pain would go through both of His feet, forcing Him to drop down again! He could take a momentary breath, but as His ribs stabbed His lungs because of the way they hung Him, the breath brought with it's sweet relief, a pain more severe than all of the beatings! And, as He fell back down, the ropes around His arms would tear at His flesh, causing a burning in His flesh, reminding Him again of the excruciating pain of His now dislocated arm sockets! But He hung there, with no way to find comfort!
This was the loneliest time He had ever know. Never before had He EVER been apart from GOD ... but now, even God Himself had turned away! And as the voices of those laughing below, and the shouts of the hecklers making fun of "The Healer", began to fade off into now dull, distant sounds in the background, Jesus looked around, taking in the view of the Earth. He knew that this was it! He knew that this was over, that He was about to meet face-to-face with Hell itself ... not as God, but as a sinner!! He was about to go to a place never, ever meant for Mankind, let alone Himself, but He was about to do this ... this terribly fearful thing ... all alone ... for US!
And if you don't remember anything else, remember that after 3 days and nights, deep in the bowels of the darkest places of Hell, a place where we were supposed to go ... deep in this truly God-forsaken gathering of wickedness, enduring torment and torture from Satan and his demons ... this same Jesus ... suddenly "burst forth" with the POWER and the MAJESTY of the KING of KINGS and the LORD of all LORDS! Suddenly, the brightest LIGHT that has ever been known literally EXPLODES and BLINDS ALL OF HELL with it's goodness and purety ... with it's AWESOME POWER!!
And standing there in the midst of the light ... apparently now THE SOURCE of that light ... stands JESUS!! He reaches out and grabs the keys to death, Hell and the grave, and making a show of them all openly, He bursts forth from that place with more show and more excellence that all of the superhero's that Man has ever conceived in Hollywood!! And while all of Hell itself is still rattled and shaken by what has just happen, the demons (now all over on the ground) cower and shreek back as Jesus, now the FIRST BORN-AGAIN MAN walks with all boldness, confidently, right out of Hell, taking WITH HIM those keys ... now wearing THE NAME that is "above all names", at which every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess (willingly or otherwise) ... JESUS WALKED OUT IN VICTORY!! and He did it ... for US!
Make me proud!
-pastor rich-
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