God and Country Blogspot

Is God Finished With Israel?

2010-04-10T08:51:00.001-05:00

There are those in the church today that believe that God is finished with Israel; that the church has taken over the promises God made to Israel. But God made some very strong statements and promises to Israel. Did God change His mind? Did He lie?

Let’s start in Zechariah 12:8,9. "In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” The nations, including the Obama administration, think they can push Israel around, but notice in verse 8, “the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and in verse 9, He will “set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”

God is for Israel, and we would do well to be on the same side God is. God told Abram, later known as Abraham, “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse” (Genesis 12:3). To be on God’s side, we have to be on Israel’s side.

In Psalm 89:34-36 we read:

"My covenant I will not violate,
Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.
Once I have sworn by My holiness;
I will not lie to David.
His descendants shall endure forever
And his throne as the sun before Me."

Notice the direct statements: He would not violate His covenant, and He would not lie to David.

In Jeremiah 31:31-34 God promises them a “new covenant,” and in verses 35-37 God’s promises are linked to the heavens. In verses 38 and 39, Jerusalem is rebuilt and He says in verse 40 Jerusalem will be “holy to the LORD,” and in the latter part of the verse that she will never be conquered again.

In Jeremiah 33:14-26 there are more very definite statements about Israel’s future. In verse 14 God once again promises to fulfill His word about Israel and Judah. In verse 15 He promises a “righteous Branch of David, who will “execute justice and righteousness on the earth.” As a result, in verse 16, Judah and Jerusalem dwell in security. In verses 17 and 18 He makes promises to David and the Levitical priests. David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man to offer offerings and prepare sacrifices continually. These promises are substantiated in verses 20-26. These promises are as sure as day and night in verses 20 and 21 and also verses 25,26. In verse 22, their descendents are as numerous as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is on the seashore.

Six times in these 13 verse, Jeremiah reminds us that this is a message from God. “Declares the LORD” verse 14; “For thus says the LORD” verses 17,20, and 25; “And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying” both verse 19 and verse 23, Do you think that just maybe Jeremiah thought he had a message from God? Did “the God who cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), lie? If God’s promises to Israel proved worthless, why would we in the church think His ones to us will be any better? Why would “Bible believing” theologians adhere to such a position?

What is even more remarkable, is while they are disbelieving the promises of God for Israel, what’s going on in the world and the promises recorded in Scripture are looking more and more similar, as if the fulfillment of these promises, may be looming dead ahead. Nothing like having a front row seat. Wouldn’t it be something to be living in the generation that is on the earth when Jesus comes for His saints? “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

Christ's Coming For Us => The Believer's Hope

2010-03-13T23:47:00.000-06:00

1. The Blessed Hope => (Titus 2:13) "Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."

2. This Purifying Hope => 1 John 3:2,3 "Beloved, now are we the children of God, and not yet has it been manifest what we shall be. We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope upon Him, purifies himself as That One is pure."

3. A Comforting Hope => 1 Thessalonians 4:18 "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

But there will be no "blessed hope" or purifying hope or comfort in the anticipation of Christ's coming unless you first put your trust in Him or believe in Him. "Christ died for our sins," and salvation is as simple as trusting in what He has done for us. John 3:16 => "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

Did Christ in taking our sin on the cross become a sinner?

2010-03-07T01:12:00.000-06:00

Recently, I heard a young preacher boy say that Christ became a homosexual and a rapist and a murder. That sounds pretty much like blasphemy, but is it true? I take it he was referring to 2 Corinthians 5:21 which says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Does this mean Christ became a sinner? The answer must be an emphatic NO. There are a number of New Testament scriptures that indicate Christ was sinless. Hebrews 4:15 “one that has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” 1 Peter 2:22 “…who committed no sin” 1 John 3:5 “And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.” Hebrews 7:26 “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” By the very understanding that Christ is God (John 1:1,14; Hebrews 1:1-8), we must understand Him to be sinless. 1 John 3:2,3 talk about God as being pure and 1 John 1:5 says, “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” So what does, “He made him to be sin for us” mean? The little word translated “for” (huper in Greek) is a word of substitution. To be “sin for us” means he paid the penalty for our sin. He didn’t become a sinner, but He became the sin bearer in that he took our penalty. Isaiah 53:5,6 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” 1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross” 1 Corinthians 15:3 “Christ died for our sins.” Hebrews 9:28 “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many…” So we must conclude, that Christ did not become a homosexual, or a rapist, or a murderer, or a sinner in any sense, but He did bear the sins of all men, including homosexuals, and rapists, and murders. We have all sinned in some way or another, and Christ died for all our sins, no matter what they are. All sin is an affront to God, and we all stand condemned before God unless we in simple faith believe in Him who took our place and bore our sin on the cross. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”