Must We Have A God Encounter?

 

Must We Have A God Encounter?

      When Jesus talked with Nicodemus, He was addressing all the Israelites that had ever come before him.  Being a humble man who kept the Mosaic law, he still was inadequate.  Was he indeed a child of God?  Israel in totality was known as God’s son.  Together they kept that identity, but what reassured them individually?

     Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Jesus goes on to say a man must be born of the Spirit.  To enjoy the kingdom reign, a man must have this personal relationship.  Jesus addressed this as fundamental knowledge since it was in Adam all fell away.  Consequently, He rebuked Nicodemus’ lack of understanding in being a teacher of Israel.

     If needing only the Old Testament to be assured of sonship, why would many verses in the New Testament be dedicated to this?  Was this a new thing?  To Jews reading letters, this would be old hat.  Everyone knew Israel was God’s chosen people and that made them children, right?  Maybe God sought to underline this idea, in blood.

     All Abraham’s children were not his children.  It was only those of faith did God elect.  Even direct descendants of the tribes could claim no “God-status” since without faith it is impossible to please God.  Faith is the acceptance of something as truth.  When a matter is revealed to us, we apply faith to call it right or a lie.  In Christianity, we accept Jesus as Truth.

     The Jews reject Jesus as the Truth.  Claiming they are the chosen, their rights surpass the need for His teachings.  Guaranteed the grand inheritance, they cling to the past to envision future domination under a ruling Lord.  If they have it all, then why was Nicodemus incomplete?

     We are their envy now.  We have something they do not have.  Since Pentecost, an inner Spirit testifies of our adoption as children.  Both Jew and Gentile who have come to this experience, have been brought into God’s family.  In what the Jews early on dragged their feet with, God opened up His offering to the Gentiles and so exploded His gospel globally.  It was in Christ God desired to bring all under one head.  That meant the children elected would come before Him only in Jesus’ name.

     Nicodemus lacked.  We who are saved can take identity with God for granted.  However, even as the Jews use props to convince them of their “God-status”, churchgoers can fall into religion to take them all the way to the grave without knowing Christ.

     Do we need God’s intervention?  Yes, He must meet all of us individually.  Adoption then makes more sense to our heart.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Church Picture

  The Church Picture 2 Samiuel 6: 20  “ Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! 21  And David said unto Michal, It was before the  Lord , which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the  Lord , over Israel: therefore will I play before the  Lord . 22  And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour. ” Revelation 4: 10  “ The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive ...
Read more

Infectious Disease

  Infectious Disease      I watch network T.V., the free kind over the airwaves.   It is inundated with self-help medicine commercials.   I think of Sky-ri-zee .   Perhaps this is the concoction for clearer skin.   What wouldn’t an Aaronic priest have given for this special med?   “Got a blemish?   Come closer, son.   Looks like the onset of leprosy.   Go away.   Two pills in the mouth and come back in seven.”   Much of Leviticus would have to be rewritten.   The red heifer sacrifice could be summed up with a cream.   “Touched a dead body?   Rub this on the contact area.   Go away.   Come back tomorrow.”      But what if pills don’t work?   Adam would have O.D.’d on the blue and reds seeking to forget the fall. Thankfully the neighborhood drug store was not on his corner.   He heard vaguely of a savior to come.   God said it was in his genes.   ...
Read more

God's Successive Revelations

  God’s Successive Revelations Search Me diligently, and I will reveal Myself to you.      Yah, that sound like something God would say.   I understand He revealed the Trinity to us.   I plead ignorance in Church history.   Some theologians, perhaps 400 A.D. came upon this gem that we hold true today.   The idea of the rapture is new on the Church radar.   Late 1800’s?      What if God revealed His truth to His people in time?   Surely, Solomon was the wisest man in his day, but did he know about Pentecost?   Daniel, the far seer, was only shown glimpses.   What did he know of Peter and miracles in the temple?   A certain king discovered God’s truth again and that made for a reformation, but what did he know of the beast standing in the sea?   God gives insight in His time.      I have trained seven children.   As young  children, I did not flood them with...
Read more