Topic: There Is a Way Out!

 

Text: 1^st Corinthians portrays Christ as “LORD”

Prophetic Scripture: (1 Corinthians 10:13).

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it .

 

The Spirit says, “When you are feeling tested and tempted beyond measure, always remember I have created a way out even when it seems there is no escape. Stay close to Me and I will ease the burden and temptations that put excess pressure upon you!”

God has sent me to the people of God with a message; THERE IS A WAY OUT!!!

How many know the devil never plays fair. He does exactly what:

John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

He doesn’t relent (be more tender and merciful) in his attempts to defeat you. He kicks you when you are down to make you feel there is no way out.

 He wants you to think you are powerless to overcome by shooting every defeating thought or fiery darts imaginable into your mind.

He will use all sorts of things to lure you away from God and His Word.

He will tempt your flesh relentlessly!

How many know today, “GOD WILL MAKE A WAY OUT.”                                    

Have you ever felt trapped by your problems? When you lay down at night do your worries get in bed with you? Do you tell yourself, "If I can get some sleep things will look better tomorrow", only to find that the same situations are waiting on you when you awake? 

I read where a writer wrote, "Sleep, for many, is not a robber but a refuge - eight hours of relief for our wounded souls”. And if you are kept awake, it's not by counting your fingers or sheep, but by counting your debts, tasks or even your tears.                  
You’re tired.  You’re weary.  Weary of being slapped by the waves of broken dreams.  Weary of being stepped on and run over in the endless marathon to the top.  Weary of trusting in someone only to have that trust returned in an envelope with no return address.  Weary of staring into the future and seeing only futility” (uselessness; ineffectiveness; unimportance; something futile, such as an action or event).

The strength of futility is its apparent finality/final result.  We begin to believe that things will never change.  We need someone to reassure us that there is hope.                                               
 Look back at this timeless story of the Red Sea crossing.  We find that, with God, there's always hope and it's always too early to give up.

The Israelites had nothing but water in front of them and the Egyptian army on their trail. Now you’re talking about no way out.

Two little words I preached, and the message was “BUT GOD!!!”  

See how many times human resources have been brought to an utter end; despair has gripped the heart and pessimism/tendency to look on the dark side of things or to see difficulties and disadvantages and gloom has settled upon a people; and there is nothing that can be done. (So they thought).

 Then see how the Spirit of God writes in luminous letters, "BUT GOD," and the whole situation changes into victory. Good God Almighty!!!

Look, God not only made a way out for the Israelites, but He also took care of their enemies as well.

Once again we see the promise of God – God will always make a way out. 

A. GOD WILL MAKE A WAY OUT, WHEN ONE’S BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL           (Exodus 14:1-10). 

1^st. Satan wants you to believe that there's no way out and the walls are closing in (v. 3-4). 

When the Israelites had nowhere else to go, the LORD gave Moses a plan…and reassured him in Exodus 14:3-4.  [God seeing Pharaoh’s thoughts]!!!
                                                                                     
God said, “Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, “They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut then in”.  “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD!”  And they did so. Our God is Awesome!!!

What about when you have done everything right and you still end up between a rock and a hard place, what does it mean?

2^nd. Satan wants you to believe that he will overcome you (Exodus 14:9):
This verse tells us that “The Egyptians—all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops--pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea…”

3^rd. The enemy wants fear to blind your vision of faith (Exodus 14:10): 

This verse tells us that, as Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD.

When the children of Israel saw the Egyptians, they were very afraid.                          
Satan will box you in in an attempt to keep your eyes off the Lord.

So, what do you do when there's nowhere to go? That’s when YOU continue to trust God Almighty!

How many know “true faith” goes into operation when there are no answers.

• 1^st Corinthians 10:13: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 

This verse gives assurance of the eternal keeping of God in all temptations and His help in every one of them, providing we obey the warnings of 1^st Corinthians 10:1-12. No man can be kept from a fall if he persistently refuses to meet conditions.

Our standing depends upon our faith and union with God and steadfastness in prayer.

 

People of God, you can stand only as long as you depend upon God and continue in obedience to the gospel.

 

Genesis 2:17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eat thereof thou shalt surely die.

 

Luke 8:13 “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.”

 

John 15:7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

 

1^st Timothy 5:15 “For some are already turned aside after Satan.”

 

So in order to stand you must be obedient to God!!!

 

 B. GOD WILL MAKE A WAY OUT WHEN YOUR PROBLEM IS BIGGER THAN YOU (Exodus 14:11-2O).

 How many know old slew foot/Satan would have you to believe there's no escaping your problems (vv. 11-12).

11 And they said unto Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?”

12 “Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians, for it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness?”

A lot of people don't like to face problems head on. Some think the best way to solve problems is to avoid them.

Just know no problem is so big or so complicated that it can't be run away from!" 

God’s working on our behalf even when we can’t see it all. He has a plan and purpose in whatever we walk through. He can cut a clear pathway through anything.  

Look just think, “Why would God deliver His children and then allow them to be plagued by the enemy?”   Because God wants you to know the battle is His (vv. 13-14).

13 And Moses said unto the people, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.”

14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Every problem we face is an opportunity to see God work.

The victory is obtained by going forward with the Lord (vv. 15-20).

15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

17 And I behold I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

 

II Chronicles 20:15 Thus saith the LORD unto you, “Be not afraid, nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.”

And last:

C.  GOD WILL MAKE A WAY OUT EVEN IF HE HAS TO TAKE YOU THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF IMPOSSIBILITY (vv. 21-31).

God is a God of making your impossible possible.

1. God always points us in the direction of impossibility (vv. 16 & 21).

 16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

The Red Sea represents the sum of all the thoughts about life with which the human race has impregnated the universal ether (regions of space) and their own mind.  In Hebrew, ether means plenty, riches, abundance, fullness. 

This is why man must fulfill:

• Romans 12:2: Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.
• Philippians 2:5: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
  
  This is the way man (male and female) can have plenty, riches, and abundance, by walking in the "fullness" of God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost!

A city in the lowland of Judah - which is Praise (the meaning of Judah), is being in touch with the fullness of abundant substance in the subconsciousness (lowland) that which is beneath the "heavenly"!  That's why the "loins of our mind must be girded up" (1 Peter 1:13).  The "loins" are the reproductive organs of the body.  And our "mind" have "loins" that can reproduce within us and bring forth the total of Christ in us!  And "praise" is one of the avenues we must travel in our walk with God!

Moses symbolizes this progressive or drawing-out process, which works from within outward. You see…..we have to go into the solitude of the within and lead our flock of thoughts to the backside of the wilderness, where dwells the Exalted One, the divine I AM, whose kingdom is righteous judgment.

Now a lot of people are only tempted to think that this is a wonderful story of God’s miraculous saving power on display, and leave it at that.

 

However, we would be missing the bigger picture in the story of redemption. The Old Testament prepares the way for the New Testament, and all of God’s promises, find their “yes” and “amen” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).
The exodus from Egypt, though a real, historical event, prefigures the saving work of Christ for His people. What God did through Moses was to provide physical salvation from physical slavery. What God does through Christ is to provide spiritual salvation from a spiritual slavery.

 

However, our slavery isn’t like that of the Israelites in Egypt. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt, but we are all slaves to sin.  As Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34, 36).

 

So you see, the passing through the Red Sea is symbolic of the believer’s identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says, “For I want you to know brothers that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1–4).
Paul is giving the exodus from Egypt a Christological reading; he is making the connection between the exodus from Egypt and salvation in Christ.

 

Notice how Paul says “all were baptized into Moses.” Just as the Israelites and those that were in the cloud were “baptized into Moses,” so too are Christians baptized into Christ:

• “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

So the parting of the Red Sea not only finalized God’s redemption of His people from slavery in Egypt, but it also prefigured the greater spiritual reality of God’s redemption of His people from slavery to sin through the work of Christ.

We have to recognize that in the power and presence of God, all our strength and ability lie. We must have the assurance of God’s power with us and in us.

Jesus said, “I speak not of myself; but the Father abiding in me, he doeth his works” (John 14:10).

 God always makes us walk our way through our problems (vv. 22-25).

The Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.  The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt”…

God always uses that which blesses us to destroy the enemy - His mighty power.

God is always glorified in the middle of impossibility (vv. 30, 31). 

That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses, His servant. 

 Just know, "Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends."

People of God, the Holy Spirit always has a way out of temptation.

Sure, there may be those moments or periods of several hours where you are having to fight thoughts almost every minute. Don’t give up!

Just stay close to the Lord, stay connected to other believers, and keep casting down those negative thoughts. Be on guard regarding your weaknesses.

If you do those things, the Spirit of God will begin to take over and the pressure will ease.

Remember, the Bible says God will not allow the temptation to become greater than you can bear.

•  (1 Corinthians10:13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:  but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.                                                                                                             

So stand up strong and see that the Lord has provided your way out today!

Clap Your Hands and Give God The Praise!!!

People of God…… just know:

GOD WILL MAKE A WAY OUT WHEN YOUR BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL!!!

GOD WILL MAKE A WAY OUT WHEN YOUR PROBLEM IS BIGGER THAT YOU!!!

GOD WILL MAKE A WAY OUT EVEN IF HE HAS TO TAKE YOU THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF IMPOSSIBILITY!!!

Father, I thank you that you always provide a way out of temptation. I take control of my thoughts today and press in close to You. I know that YOU will ease the pressure of every temptation against me, in Jesus’ Name, Amen!

 

Evangelist Jackie Burton

TOPIC: “THE PURPOSE OF THE CROSS”!

TEXT:  JOHN 19:17-18:  [Shows Christ as our Savior and Lord]!

 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:  where they crucified him and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.    

CROSS, is from the root word stauros’, and is defined as an instrument of capital punishment; exposure to death; self-denial; atonement of Christ.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”.  We know there was a “purpose” (intention; aim; goal) for the Cross, and to every purpose there is an “effect” (consequence; result; outcome).

1 Corinthians 15:22: For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Hebrews 9:11-12: But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Vs 22: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (forgiveness; pardoning for sin, or annulment; suspension; or cancellation of sin).

IN RELATION TO THE “PURPOSE” OF THE CROSS:  CHRIST HATH REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW:

• Redeemed mankind: Galatians 3:13: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree.

Redeemed is the root word exagora’zo, meaning to buy up; ransom; to rescue from loss.  It goes to another root word,  exagora’zo, meaning, “to buy out”, especially of purchasing a slave with a view to his freedom.

We had been sold to the market  place of sin, but God in His infinite wisdom, love, grace, and mercy bought us back with the precious  blood of His Son Jesus the Christ, and put us back on the path of righteousness which leads to eternal life, as stated above in Hebrews 9:11-12.

The Law or the torah’, was a precept (a rule of moral conduct) or statute (an established rule). Law is from the root word yarah’, meaning to lay or throw (an arrow; to shoot); to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach; direct; inform; instruct. 

The “Law” was put in place to direct the people to Christ.

 

Once Christ came on the scene, the Law wasn’t abolished but it was fulfilled in Him:     

• Matthew 5:17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:  I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 
• Romans 13:8: Owe no man anything but to love one another:  for he that loves another hath fulfilled the law.  (As we love we won’t commit adultery; steal; bear false witness; covet, etc, as verse 9 states).
• James 2:10: For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 
• Mark 12: [the great commandment]:  vs 28: And one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which is the first commandment of all”?  Vs 29-31: And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:  this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these.
• John 13:34-35: A new commandment I give unto you, “That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another”.

PURPOSE OF THE CROSS: 

“CHRIST BORE OUR SINS AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE”:  

• 2 Corinthians 5:21: 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.
• 1 Peter 2:24: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:  by whose stripes you were healed (ia’omai) (ee-ah-omai) to cure; make whole.

 Isaiah 53:5: 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. 

HEALED here is rapha’, meaning to mend (by stitching); to cure; repair; thoroughly make whole.

From the Old Testament to the New Testament God had the bases covered for His people to not just be healed, but to be “made whole”!

Luke 17:11-19: [the ten lepers]:  vs 12-13: And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:  and they lifted up their voices, and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us”.  Vs 14: And when he saw them, he said unto them, “Go show yourselves unto the priests”.  And it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed (not made whole).  [Only the priest could pronounce them as cleansed]:  vs 15-16: And one of them, when he saw that he was healed (not just cleansed), turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks:  and he was a Samaritan.  Vs 17-18: And Jesus answering said, “Were there not ten cleansed”?  “But where are the nine”?  There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save (except) this stranger (a Samaritan).  Vs 19: And he said unto him, “Arise, go thy way:  thy faith hath made thee whole”!  

This Samaritan wasn’t just cleansed, but he was “made whole”.   All ten were cleansed so that they could come out of seclusion.  But the Samaritan, the one that turned back to give God praise and glory, he wasn’t just “cleansed” but he was “made whole”.  Whatever negative effect leprosy had on the Samaritan whether boils, scabs, whiteness of skin; eaten flesh; or a lost limb, he was restored, healed, made completely whole in every aspect, because of his faith and his praise!  Praise can restore limbs, dry up cancer, fill an empty gas tank, and turn any negative into a positive!!

CHRIST BORE OUR SINS – AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE:

• Romans 5:12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin:  and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

This word “entered” does not denote that this is when sin began, because it was already here.                Entered is from the root word eiserchomai, meaning to enter; arise.  It goes to another word, eis, indicating the point reached or entered, of place, time, or purpose.   Wherefore, as by one man “sin entered” into the world:  meaning that “sin attained or reached its ultimate goal by taking hold of the man that was head of the creation which caused the creation to fall”.  Remember, the woman was in the transgression, 1Timothy 2:14, and the creation was still intact, even after the woman (the church) ate of the fruit.  But when the man (male and female) that had the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Genesis 2:16-17, partook of the fruit, it was then that the creation fell.

• Romans 5: 18-21: Therefore as by the offence of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound.  But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:  that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
• Romans 6:12-14: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof.  Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:  but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.  For sin shall not have dominion over you:  for you are not under the law, but under grace.
  Vs 16: Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey:  whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
   
   
   

 

That’s why we have to take on the new birth:

• 1 John 3:8: He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
• Romans 8:2-4: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

We know that religion looks at sin basically as: smoking, drinking, having sex, wearing pants and make-up: 

• Romans 14:23: Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.
• 1 John 3:4-6: Whosoever commits sin, transgresses also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.  And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.  Whosoever abides in him sins not:  whosoever sins hath not seen him neither known him.
  In relation to “sin”, in this scripture, the word I want to stress here is “transgression”.  To understand what’s being said we have to look at the prefix of the word “gression” and it has several:  AGRESSION (unprovoked attack or warlike):  DIGRESSION (to go different ways):  PROGRESSION (moving forward):  REGRESSION (going backward):  TRANSGRESSION (is not moving at all, but staying in the same place).
  This is what’s happening in the church today (the false church system), the people are not moving forward, they’re standing or sitting, waiting for Jesus to come back and clean this mess up “down here”, when in reality Jesus is waiting for us the church to do the work!   John 14:12: Jesus said, “He that believes on me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to my Father”.
  Matthew 28:19-20: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:  and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.  Amen. 
  Mark 16:15: Go ye, into all the world, and preach the gospel, to every creature. 
   

EFFECTS OF THE CROSS: (consequences; results):  [The penalty for sin had to be paid in blood]!

• Hebrews 9:22: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission:  Synonyms for “remission” [annulment; cancellation; pardon; forgiveness; suspension; payment].

• Reconciled us back to God: 2 Corinthians 5:18-19: And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
   
  (RECONCILED) (katalas’so) to change mutually, in relation to compounding a difference: to make us “all one”:
   
  (Reconciliation) [katallage’] (exchange); (adjustment), in relation to restoration to (the divine) favor:  atonement.
   
• Colossians 1:20-21: And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.  And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind (dianoi’a – deep thought) by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled (apokatalas’so) [unite fully] in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable, in his sight.
   
  Holy: (hag’ios): sacred (physically pure, morally blameless, ceremonially consecrated) / (hagnos’) innocent; perfect; clean.
   Unblameable:  (am’omos) unblemished; without rebuke; without blame; without spot; faultless; without fault.
  Unreproveable: (aneg’kletos) unaccused, in relation to irreproachable; blameless unblameable.
   
•  Ephesians 2:15-16: Having abolished (destroyed; did away with; made void) in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile  both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.
   Reconciled: (apokatalas’so) [to reconcile fully – meaning to move us from that which pertains to man or humanity into our divinity, while we’re still in our physical bodies, right here and right now!!!

Ephesians 4:13: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man; unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Colossians 2:8-23 [speaks of the sufficiency (adequacy; abundance; plenitude) of Christ]:                                                  Vs 14: Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

Vs 16-17: Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days:  which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.           [“OF” is a preposition meaning, “from or coming from, resulting from”].   

We are made one in Him!

• Acts 17:26: And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.
  [Blood in Hebrew is “DAM” (dawm):  all God had to do was make man, put His blood in him and call him “Adam or Awdawm’”!
  [Within the human body are many different kinds of tissues:  muscle, nerve, fat, gland, bone, connective tissues, etc.  All these tissues have one thing in common:  they are fixed cells, and have a specific and limited function.  But the blood is fluid and mobile, that is, it is not limited to one part of the body but is free to move throughout the entire body including the fixed cells].
   
• Romans 15:5-6: Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one towards another according to Christ Jesus:  that you may with one mind [homothumadon’] (unanimously:  with one accord) and one mouth (sto’ma) [language; face] glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:  
• 1 Corinthians 12:12: For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:  so also is Christ!
   

IN ORDER FOR GOD to bring about the “EFFECTS” of (consequences; results) and fulfill “PURPOSE” of the Cross, it had to be through the death of His Son, via “the Cross”!

• Matthew 27:45-46: Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour (from noon to three).  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?  That is to say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”?

This is the only fear Jesus had – being separated from His Father:

• Hebrews 5:7: Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.

Feared:  (eula’eia) reverenced or had godly fear.

• Vs 8: Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.

Matthew 27:46:  When Jesus said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”?                          Forsaken: (egkatalei’po), meaning to leave behind in some place: denoting a “fixed position” [of dying the death of a sinner].  He was experiencing what it was like as a sinner dying without God!                                           It was the Cross that made Jesus call His Father God!  In His relationship with God He always called Him Father!  Due to the purpose of the cross, at the time Jesus was made sin for us, He called Him God! 

But before He gave up the ghost:  Luke 23:46: And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”:  and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

At 12 o’clock things happen – the sun is at its peak:  at midnight you’re moving from one day into another!

 Here from noon to three:  there was darkness over all the land:  (skot’os) [shadiness; obscurity; interruption or blocking of the light; darkness of error (untruth’s; misconceptions; misunderstandings; inaccuracies; misconstruction); misery; destruction; death; ignorance; poverty; sickness:  but during these hours, via the Cross, Jesus is redeeming man from:

• Death to life: (John 5:24): Verily, verily I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life”. 
  Romans 8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
   
• Corruption to incorruption; mortality to immortality: 1 Corinthians 15:51-54: Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:  for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised:   [(egei’ro) (through the idea of collecting one’s faculties); to waken or rouse [from sleep; sitting or lying; disease; death; obscurity; inactivity; ruins]; rise; rise again; raise again; lift up; arise stand]:  incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption:  and this mortal (thenatos’) liable to die:  [subject to death] must put on immortality (athanasi’a) [deathlessness].  So when this corruptible (phthora’) [decay, in relation to ruin (spontaneous or inflicted) (destroy; perish) [being brought into a worse condition, a destruction] – (phthei’ro) (to pine or waste; to shrivel, or wither, in relation to spoil (by any process) or to ruin especially by moral influences, to deprave; defile):  shall have put on incorruption (aphtharsi’a) (incorruptibility; unending existence; genuineness; sincerity) and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.
   
• From darkness to light: Colossians 1:12-14: Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:  who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:  in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
  1 Thessalonians 5:5: You are all the children of light, and the children of the day:  we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
   
• From sickness to health: Isaiah 53:5: He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes, we are healed.
  1 Peter 2:24: Who in his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:  by whose stripes you were healed.
   
• From torment to peace: Isaiah 26:3: Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:  because he trusts in thee.

[Colossians 2:8]: Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.    

BY WAY OF THE CROSS God fulfilled:

• Ephesians 4:11-13: And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: 
  Vs 14: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 
  Vs 15: But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.
  Vs 16: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The Cross brought about:

• The “crown of thorns”:  (to give us peace and victory in our mind):  Isaiah 26:3: Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee.
  Romans 12:2: Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.
  1 Corinthians 2:16: But we have the mind of Christ.
  Philippians 2:5:  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
   
• “The nails in His hands”:  (gives us power to lay hands on the sick and they shall recover):
   Mark 16:17: And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
   
• “The nails in His feet”:  (gives us power to walk on the enemy):
   Luke 10:19: Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 
  Acts 1:8: But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:  and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
   
• “The spear in His side”: (the blood and water was for “sanctification and redemption”):  (Ephesians 5:22-32 is an analogy of “Christ and the Church”):
   Vs 26: That he might sanctify and cleanse it (the church) with the washing of water by the word. 
  Hebrews 9:12: Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.  Vs 22: Without shedding of blood is no remission.

Pastor Gracie Perry