Date of message: 06 January 2003
Subject: The Family Prayer - "Your Kingdom Come"
Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
It is the start of a fresh year and I pray that throughout this year you
will experience more of the love that our Lord Jesus Christ wants to bless
you with. It is going to be an exceptional year for you and you will see
greater blessings in the Lord as you lean on His love for you.
When John the Baptist began his ministry on Earth, his common message
was "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew
3: 2) John the Baptist, a cousin of our Lord Jesus (John's mother Elizabeth
was the cousin of Mary, the earthly mother of our Lord) was sent by God
to prepare the way for our Lord Jesus to minister to the people. John
was to be the front-runner (or bearer of news) going ahead of our Lord
to declare that the Savior had come.
The Old Testament or Old Covenant is also known as the Covenant of the
Law while the New Covenant that Jesus came to establish is called the
Covenant of Grace. Hebrews 10: 9 tells us that Jesus came to take away
the first covenant that He may establish the second.
There must have been something wrong with the first covenant (the covenant
of the Law); otherwise why would Jesus have to come to establish the second
covenant? Interestingly enough, we can find a first clue in Exodus 20
immediate after the LORD God gave the Ten Commandments to the children
of Israel.
God knew that man could not keep the law. His heart was not in the giving
of the Law but because the people boasted in their ability to keep everything
that God commanded them to do, did the Lord give them the Law. And immediately
after He had given them the Ten Commandments, He followed up with the
instructions about building an altar to sacrifice their burnt offerings
(Exodus 20: 24 - 26).
An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it
your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen.
In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless
you.
And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone;
for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.
Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not
be exposed on it.
All along the LORD had in mind that the sacrifice for our sin was to have
been His Son, our Lord Jesus and therefore those special instructions
on how the Sacrifice was to have been offered - as a sweet-smelling aroma
to the LORD - were given. The Father's love for His Son was so intense
that He did not want anything to come in between. The LORD is jealous
of His Son. The plan for man's salvation was hatched right at the beginning
even before the Creation and definitely way before the Fall of Adam and
Eve. So great is the love of the LORD towards us that He would not want
to leave us destitute.
And so, at the right time, God the Father sent forth His only Son Jesus
into this world to be born as a man so that He can redeem us from our
fallen state and restore us back to the original plan that God had for
man. That plan was that we should not depart from His Presence and that
we can have close fellowship with Him forever.
Jesus came, was obedient to the Father and He willingly went to the cross
to die for all humanity. His one perfect act of obedience so satisfied
the Father that God has now given Him the place of honor in heaven; to
be seated at the right hand of the Father. Our Lord Jesus has been given
all authority over everything in heaven and on earth and at His Name,
all shall bow and worship.
The Kingdom that Jesus came to establish is an eternal kingdom. Some of
the Jews during Jesus' days on the earth, thought that He would set up
an earthly kingdom and that He would lead His army to overthrow the Romans
who were the governing power at that time. They were grossly disappointed
and so they decided that He had to die.
It is interesting to note that the Old Testament, in Malachi 4: 6, ended
with the warning, "Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse".
To contrast that, the New Testament, in Revelations 22: 21, declared,
"the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
One warned of the consequences of not being obedient to the Law while
the second exhorts us of the abundant grace that is ours because of the
Lord Jesus and this grace is not temporal but is forever.
The choice is ours to make. We can ignore what Jesus did and continue
to live a life of struggle trying to obey all the requirements of the
Law? Or we can place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted Him
into our heart as our personal Lord and Savior. Have you made the decision
to accept the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart and start to enjoy His
blessings for your life? Spend a couple of moments and pray this prayer
and invite Jesus into your hearts and your life will be turned around.
Our Heavenly Father, our Daddy God, thank you that You loved us so much
that even when we were still sinners, You sent Your Beloved Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ, down into this world to die for all our sins.
Lord Jesus, thank you that You came, You obeyed the Father, You died for
all on the cross, You conquered death and You rose again on the third
day. And now, because of Your death and resurrection, we, who believe
in You as our Lord and Savior, will no longer have to die but we receive
Your eternal life. Come into my heart, I pray, and make my heart Your
home.
Thank you that because of what You have accomplished for us on the cross,
I am now a child of God the Father. I am eternally forgiven of all my
sins, greatly blessed as Your child, highly favored as a joint-heir with
Jesus, deeply loved because of my position in Jesus and completely protected
because of You, Lord Jesus and in Your precious Name I pray.
Amen.
If you have prayed that prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family
of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important
that you are not alone facing your personal trials but that you can obtain
good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your own local
Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together? You will
be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father, for
fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all
your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 - 26
Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
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