The Transaction at the Cross

(This text is taken from an excellent Bible study by R. Nelson Colyar, Leviticus, The Book of Holiness. Second printing, July, 1945. pp. 15-16.)

Christ Jesus gave Himself as an offering and a sacrifice unto God for men.

As for men, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” (Isa. 53:6). “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (Rom. 3:10-11). By nature, all men are the children of wrath, Eph. 2:3. How ignorantly sinful men are, Jer. 17:9

As for Christ Jesus. He is the sinless One. When He offered Himself to God as a sacrifice for sin, God accepted Him as a substitute for the sinner in death. This could be done only as the sins of nature were adequately and finally dealt with in full satisfaction of God’s righteousness.

I. Christ Jesus as our Sin Offering expiated sin, i.e., He made complete satisfaction for sin.

a. It was on the cross of Calvary that He bore our sins (1 Peter 2:24).

b. It was on the cross of Calvary that God “sinned” the sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:21), that is,

God made Christ to be sin itself.

God did not make Him a sinner, for Christ “knew no sin.” He was not a sinner in any sense of the word.

God made Christ Jesus to be sin “for us,” on the behalf of sinners. The sins of human nature were laid on Christ.

c. God put sin on Christ that he might deal with it in righteousness.

He laid the penalty of — ”the soul that sinneth, it shall die” — on Christ to the utmost degree. “He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all” (Rom. 8:32). cf. Isa. 53:5, 10; Psa. 88:7, 16; Psa. 39:10.

God “sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin (concerning sin), condemned (gave judgment against; put in a guilty light) sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8: 3).

Having made Christ Jesus to be sin, God next treated Him on the cross as if He were the greatest of all sinners in letting His holy wrath fall upon Him. He must suffer it if He would save us.

Christ, bore it, with none to help. He was defenseless, having taken the sinner’s place. cf. Psa. 22:1; John 10:11; Mt. 27:46.

d. It was on the cross of Calvary that the Just One suffered for the unjust, 1 Pet. 3:18.

e. On Calvary, God set Christ Jesus forth as a satisfaction for sin. cf. Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2.

f. In so doing, God declared His righteousness to all the universe, i.e., that inasmuch as Christ Jesus had made satisfaction for sin, He (God) is just (righteous) in justifying (counting guiltless) a guilty sinner who believes in Jesus. cf. Rom. 3:26.

II. The result of this transaction is this:

a. Complete justification from sin is offered to all men through faith in Christ Jesus. cf. Rom. 3:25; 5:1. The priest sprinkled the blood seven times before the Lord (Lev. 4:6). Seven is the Bible number signifying spiritual perfection and dispensational fullness. It symbolizes the perfect work of Jesus when He was made a sacrifice for sin. It was and is a finished work. cf. Heb. 9:23-26; 10:10-14; 10:26-29. Ponder these scriptures well.

b. By virtue of this work, God forgives the sins of the sinner according to the riches of His grace, Eph. 1:7; Heb. 10:17.

c. He pardons the iniquities of them that believe on Christ, Isa. 55:7; Tit. 2:14.

d. He imputes to the believer the righteousness of Christ, Romans 4:5, 22-25; Gen. 15:6.

e. He judged sin in the flesh (of Christ) in order that “the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us (who are in Christ Jesus), Rom. 8: 3-4.

III. As the worshipper in Leviticus must lay his hand upon the head of his sin-offering and kill it before the Lord [Leviticus 4:3-4], so must we approach a holy God only in the Person of an acceptable Sin Offering, Jesus Christ the Righteous, by believing on Him, as it is written: “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power (exousia, authority, the right) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name,” John 1:12. cf. John 3:14-16, 18, 36.

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29

Triumphal Procession Bible Study

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)

What does Paul mean by this verse? Are we his captives or are we part of Christ’s triumphal parade of victors? Maclaren wrote in this commentary:

Paul thinks of himself and of his coadjutors in Christian work as being conquered captives, made to follow their Conqueror and to swell His triumph. He is thankful to be so overcome. What was deepest degradation is to him supreme honour. Curses in many a strange tongue would break from the lips of the prisoners who had to follow the general’s victorious chariot. But from Paul’s lips comes irrepressible praise; he joins in the shout of acclamation to the Conqueror. — Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V) — Alexander Maclaren

The New Living Translation translates this verse like this:

But thanks be to God, who made us his captives and leads us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume. 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NLT)

We don’t usually like the idea of being a captive. Why would we be Christ’s captives? Because we were God’s enemies.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. Colossians 1:21

For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:10

In 1 Corinthians Paul also wrote about the triumphal procession this way:

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. 1 Corinthians 4:9 (NIV)

Again, the New Living Translation puts it this way:

But sometimes I think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world––to people and angels alike. 1 Corinthians 4:9 (NLT)

What does this mean, “prisoners of war?” What war is Paul talking about?

And it says in Ephesians:

This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” Ephesians 4:8 (NIV)

That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” Ephesians 4:8 (NLT)

This verse is quoting Psalm 68:

When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious—that you, O LORD God, might dwell there. Psalm 68:18 (NIV)

You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives; You have received gifts among men, Even among the rebellious also, that the LORD God may dwell there. Psalm 68:18 (NASB)

In the Hebrew this verse says, you led captives captive, or you led captivity captive. This could mean that He rescued us from our captors – sin and/or the Enemy of our souls – and is leading us as His captives in triumph.

But this is what the LORD says: “Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save. Isaiah 49:26

But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Galatians 3:22

We, who were His enemies and prisoners of sin, are now His captives. But – Praise God! – he conquers us with love and he sets his captives free.

The Snake Bible Study

So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. Numbers 21:9

Snakes kill in lots of ways. Some inject a poison that quickly or slowly paralyzes its victim. Some use constriction, squeezing the life out of its prey. Others just swallow their victim whole, headfirst to immobilize them and lessen the chance of resistance and escape. Sounds like sin to me, especially the headfirst part. So often sin starts with wrong thinking.

In the Bible snakes are symbols of both sin and the consequences of sin. Numbers 21:5-9 the people grumbled against the Lord and he sent poisonous snakes among them. They cried out to Moses and God instructed him to make a snake image (or substitute) and raise it up on a pole for the Israelites to look at. If they looked at the snake, they would be healed/delivered. By looking at the snake in obedience to the command they were putting their faith, not in the snake, but in God who provided this way of salvation.

Pointing to this event, Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). Moses’ snake was a foreshadowing or picture of Jesus on the cross. The snakes were what was killing the people – a snake was lifted up on the pole. Sin is/was what is killings us – Jesus became that sin and was lifted up on the cross. When we look to him in faith we are healed and saved. A.W. Tozer commented on these verses.

Our plain man, in reading this, would make an important discovery. He would notice that look and believe are synonymous terms. “Looking” on the Old Testament serpent is identical with “believing” in the New Testament Christ. That is, the looking and the believing are the same thing. And he would understand that, while Israel looked with their external eyes, believing is done with the heart. I think he would conclude that faith is the gaze of a soul upon a saving God.–A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

It is hard to think of Jesus as a poisonous snake, but that is what he did for us. He became that poisonous snake in the form of sin on the cross. He became sin that sin could receive its righteous and just consequence from God in Jesus’ body. The consequence of sin – death and separation from the God who loves us. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” he cried (Matthew 27:46). He was separated from God hanging there on the pole. He became our sin; he took our consequence. The people in Moses day were healed/saved temporarily – we are healed/saved eternally.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:2

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” Galatians 3:13

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:14-17

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn, but to save.

“Dear God,

I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness.
I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died
for my sin and that you raised Him to life.
I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord,
from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will.

I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.” ∗

*Prayer from Billy Graham Ministries

Image Death in the Afternoon, Common/Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) swallowing an American toad (Bufo americanus), by Sarunas Burdulis, https://flic.kr/p/chmx5S

Another Lost Sheep Bible Study

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable:
“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them. ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’
“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”- Luke 15:1-7

This fellow welcomes sinners. One of my favorite verses. He welcomes us sinners! He doesn’t just tolerate us. That word means to receive or give access to one’s self, to admit into companionship, to accept and not to reject. It comes from a word that means to receive into one’s family, to embrace, make one’s own. What glorious grace! And, praise God, he doesn’t wait for us to come to him, because if he did, most of us would never find our way. This fellow goes out and tracks us down.

Everyone will be lost at one time or another. Or many times. Some of us chronically wander into narrow canyons where paths stop so abruptly you can’t even turn around and go back out. Only a shepherd’s crook from an overhanging ledge in the hands of a strong shepherd can haul you up to safety.—Suzanne Guthrie

I love that – everyone will be lost at one time or another. We are all another lost sheep.

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God … (Romans 3:22-23)

And that lostness does not merely mean the meandering wandering of a confused sheep. The word translated “lost” in Luke 15:6 is the Greek word apollumi, which means to destroy, mar or render useless, perish, be lost, die or kill. It comes from two words:

apo = the separation of a part from the whole; separation of one thing from another by
which the union or fellowship of the two is destroyed; a state of separation, that is of distance

olethros = ruin, death, destruction.

Isn’t that what sin is all about? Separation from the family. Separation from fellowship, leading to ruin, death, and destruction. It’s a hopeless word; it’s a seemingly final word. Yet (yet!), Jesus said he came for us destroyed, ruined, marred, perished, dead ones. He came for us, who by our sin and wandering from the way, have been separated from the flock, separated from fellowship with God, headed toward ruin, death, and destruction.

If you are trapped in one of those dead-end canyons and feel like you can’t turn around, that you can’t go back, that it’s too late for you, know this: Jesus came for the ones who have been written off. The ones, who in the eyes of world and maybe their own eyes too, are already dead. But not in the eyes of God. Never in the eyes of God.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10

Let’s read the whole story from where this verse comes. It’s the story of another lost sheep:

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the LORD, “Look, LORD! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10

For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. Romans 3:22-24 (MSG)

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:15

Are you ready to be welcomed into the family of God? He is seeking you right now. He welcomes you. Cry out to him and the strong Shepherd will be there instantly.

“Dear God,

I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.” ∗

This Bible Study is taken from the blog Another Lost Sheep. This Bible Study may be copied and shared.

∗Prayer from Billy Graham ministries

Imprisoned Bible Study

For God has imprisoned all people in their own disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone. Romans 11:32 (NLT)

God has imprisoned all people in their own disobedience – that really struck me. Another way you could say that is that God has made disobedience a prison for all people. He did this because he loves us and wanted to have mercy on us. He could have set up the universe so that disobedience resulted in – boing! – being flung off into unending space. Or he could have made it so that disobedience resulted in immediate vaporization. Zap. You’re gone.

But instead he made it so that disobedience to God becomes a prison. We have all experienced that prison – addictions, compulsions, obsessions, uncontrollable emotions and urges, those loud voices in our heads building razor-wire-topped walls. Romans 7:24 (NLT) cries out, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?” But what does the next verse answer? “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” The Way out of our prison is surrender to the one who loves us and died for us that we might be set free (Galatians 3:22). Did you ever feel that way? Like you were imprisoned in sin?

The amazing thing is that God did not fashion our disobedience into a prison to have a “so there!” retribution for our turning away from him, or so that he could have some kind of “see I told you so” triumph over us. But, he did it so he could have mercy! God is love and he longs to love us, he longs to have mercy on us (Isaiah 30:18). Instead of vaporizing us rebels he put us in protective custody. He gathered us into his loving net.

For that Greek word translated “imprisoned” in the above verse is sugkleio. It means to shut up together, embrace in a common subjection, enclose. It is used to describe fish caught in a net, as in Luke 5:6 (NIV).

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

Yes! Hallelujah! Instead of flinging us away into annihilation he has embraced us, enclosed us, caught us in his loving net. If right now you feel like you are flopping around, trapped, gasping for breath, surrender to the one who came and died that you might be set free.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish (be lost, ruined, destroyed, abolished) but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)

My eyes are continually toward the LORD, For He will pluck my feet out of the net. Psalm 25:15 (NASB)

Do you want to be set free from your prison? Pray this prayer with me:

“Dear God,

I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.” ∗

∗Prayer from Billy Graham ministries

Take Up My Cross Daily

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after (accompany, follow) Me, he must deny (disregard his own interests, refuse, disavow) himself, and take up his cross daily and follow (be on the same path with) Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” Luke 9:23-24

Denying yourself and taking up your cross are hard concepts to understand. What does Jesus mean when he says that we must deny ourselves?

Deny

That word translated deny is the same word as in Luke 22:34 and 54-62 where Peter denied knowing who Jesus was. So, in other words, when your old self-life is demanding that you do or feel or say something that is wrong, you have to say to your old self-life, “I don’t know who you are. I disavow you. I am not that old person anymore.” When old cravings, pride, resentment, jealousy, unforgiveness, addictions, hatred, rebellion rise up in us we say, “Get away from me, I’m not a follower of you anymore. I’m a follower of Jesus. I don’t know or recognize you.”

Crucify

What does Jesus mean when he says that we must take up our cross daily?

“To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion.” NetBible Study Note

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14 (NIV)

The word translated “lose” in Luke 9:24 means to destroy fully, to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to ruin, render useless, to kill, to declare that one must be put to death. So, we are not only to say to our old self-life, “I am not that old person anymore,” we are to say, “that person is dead, has been crucified on the cross with Jesus.” If we do this to our old self-life for Jesus, we will find real life in Him. But if we are determined and put all our effort into preserving out self-me-me-mine life we will end up destroying ourselves, for it is the way that leads to death.

“… there must be an utter committal of the whole life to Christ in faith. This is what it means to “believe in Christ.” It involves a volitional and emotional attachment to Him accompanied by a firm purpose to obey Him in all things. This requires that we keep His commandments, carry our cross, and love God and our fellow men.” A.W. Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

As Jesus put himself on the altar, so we have to offer ourselves on the altar to God. Oh, that is hard! Part of the definition of crucify includes “destruction attended with intense pain.” Our self-life kicks and screams all the way, making all kinds of arguments, rationalizations, and justifications for what we want. But Jesus said if we try to save that self-life, we will destroy ourselves. But if we put that self-life on the cross and crucify it, its power will be utterly destroyed, selfishness and all the other self-passions will be extinguished, and we will be saved.

We should not assume, however, that the old man will passively accept his sentence of execution. On the contrary, he will struggle—fiercely, at times—to regain his control over us. This explains Paul’s word of warning in Colossians 3: 3, where he said, “For you died.” Then, in verse 5, he said, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth.” We must stand in faith that the death of our old man is an accomplished fact, and we must actively resist his attempts to regain control over us. Derek Prince

He himself bore (anaphero) our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)

Anaphero means that Jesus put himself upon the altar as the sacrifice for our sins. It means he sustained our punishment, carried our load. He didn’t do that so we could keep on sinning and doing whatever we want – a way that leads to death. But he did it so we would have a way to kill that sin-life, to be set free from the bondage to sin and self, by dying with him on that cross every day.

Save

“ … whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”

The word save is sozo in the Greek, and means to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction, preserve.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Galatians 5:24 (NLT)

We nail all that stuff that gets us into trouble to the cross and we let Him guide our life and decisions from then on.

Set Free

We are set free! Our old self is no longer in control. We are no longer slaves to sin.

Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives (will no longer dominate us). We are no longer slaves to sin. Romans 6:6 (NLT; see also Romans 6:16)

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 (NASB)

“The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self—all your wishes and precautions—to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain what we call ‘ourselves,’ to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be ‘good.’ We are all trying to let our mind and heart go their own way—centered on money or pleasure or ambition—and hoping, in spite of this, to behave honestly and chastely and humbly.

And that is exactly what Christ warned us you could not do. As He said, a thistle cannot produce figs. If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and re-sown.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“I suddenly knew what was wrong: I had been using my ‘natural self’ as the starting point. I had been trying to keep my self and its desires intact. Christ was merely an addition to my self.” Richard Foster, Devotional Classics

What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)

Image in the Public Domain

The Lord Has Cut Me Free

They have greatly oppressed (bound, put in a narrow place, in distress, caused distress, besieged, straitened, confined) me from my youth (childhood), let Israel say;

they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory (prevailed) over me (never been able to finish me off).

Plowmen have plowed (engraved, cut into) my back and made their furrows long (prolonged, continued long).

But the LORD is righteous; he has cut me free from (severed, chopped off, cut asunder, cut in pieces, cut in sunder, cut off, hewn off) the cords (something entwined, bands, ropes, chains) of the wicked. Psalm 129:1-4 (NIV)

Did you ever feel that from childhood the enemy has bound you in a narrow place with cords, ropes, and chains consisting of lies? Entwined them into your very identity, engraved them into your personality? What are some lies that you have believed about yourself?

But the Righteous Lord (who is Jesus; 1 Cor. 1:30) has cut me free, severing the power of the lie and of sin in my life. That “cut me free” word in Psalm 129 is used for severing heads and cutting off hands of enemies. They are no longer able to say or do anything.

Interestingly, thinking of the narrow, besieged, confined place, one of the first prayers prayed over me after I was saved was that the Lord would bring me into a spacious place. Of course, I didn’t understand what that meant at the time. Later I read these verses:

He brought me out into a spacious place (broad or roomy place, wide, expanses); he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:19 (NIV)

You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious (wide open) place. Psalm 31:8 (NIV)

What do you think the “spacious place” is? What does it mean to you?

The word for cords in Psalm 129 above is the same word as in this verse:

The LORD is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. Psalm 118:27 (NASB)

Jesus was the festival (Passover) sacrifice bound (imprisoned, taken prisoner) with cords unto the altar for us. He was our sacrifice for sin. He was bound with cords so we could be cut free from sin and the lie. What is the truth?

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16 (NIV)

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 (NLT)

He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:16 (NIV)

Will you accept Jesus’ invitation to be your Lord and Savior and come out into the spacious place?

What is the truth about you in Christ Jesus?

I AM ACCEPTED…
John 1:12 I am God’s child.
John 15:15 As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1 I have been justified (declared righteous).
1 Corinthians 6:17 I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.
1 Corinthians 12:27 I am a member of Christ’s body.
Ephesians 1:3-8 I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.
Colossians 1:13-14 I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.
Colossians 2:9-10 I am complete in Christ.
Hebrews 4:14-16 I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.

I AM SECURE…
Romans 8:1-2 I am free from condemnation.
Romans 8:28 I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.
Romans 8:31-39 I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be
separated from the love of God.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.
Colossians 3:1-4 I am hidden with Christ in God.
Philippians 1:6 I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.
Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.
2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
1 John 5:18 I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.

I AM SIGNIFICANT…
John 15:5 I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life.
John 15:16 I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.
1 Corinthians 3:16 I am God’s temple.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 I am a minister of reconciliation for God.
Ephesians 2:6 I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.
Ephesians 2:10 I am God’s workmanship.
Ephesians 3:12 I may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

(originally compiled by Neil Anderson)

Everlasting Ruins Bible study

Turn your steps towards these everlasting ruins, all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary. Psalm 74:3 (NIV)

In this verse, the Psalmist mourns the destruction of the temple, possibly by the Babylonians. It seems like the Psalmist is very depressed, thinking of the continual, constant destruction of the enemy. Do you ever feel like that? Like you are constantly being beat down, all your hopes a pile of rubble? your life always in ruins? Yet, the word translated “everlasting” in this verse has a very positive meaning. It means “a goal, the bright object at a distance travelled towards.” It means: eminence, perpetuity, strength, victory, enduring, everlastingness. It comes from the root word that means “to glitter from afar,” to excel, be bright, be enduring, be preeminent, be perpetual.

The combination of such a positive word with “ruins” doesn’t seem to make sense – a ruin looking toward a bright, victorious goal. I wondered what it could mean. This is what God showed me – Yes!

In Christ, we are the temple:

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 1 Cor 3:16 (also, 1 Cor 6:16, 19-20)

Did you ever think of that? That you were made to contain God? That He wants to live in you, be with you? One of his names that we hear at Christmas time reflects that desire – Immanuel, God with us.

But the temple is in ruins. God always meant to dwell and walk with us, even from way back in the Garden of Eden. People were meant for glorious strength, to be victorious, to excel, to be a bright light. But instead, they were disobedient and sinned against God, and, as a result, men became natural born sinners.

Watchman Nee in The Normal Christian Life writes, “We are sinners. We are members of a race of people who are constitutionally other than what God intended them to be. By the fall, a fundamental change took place in the character of Adam whereby he became a sinner, one constitutionally unable to please God; and the family likeness which we all share is no merely superficial one but extends to our inward character also. We have been ‘constituted sinners.'” In other words, we are everlasting ruins, but not hopeless!

Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23-24 (Message).

The Rebuilder

Even though we are everlasting ruins, Psalm 74:12 replies with this wonderful “Yet” proclamation: “But (Yet!) you, O God, are my king from of old; you bring salvation (Hebrew = yeshua) upon the earth” (NIV). Jesus, Yeshua, came to save us out of this state of ruin. In Zechariah there is a beautiful prophesy of Jesus, calling him the Branch.

Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ Zechariah 6:12-13 (NIV)

Jesus came to rebuild the everlasting ruins. Israel’s physical temple was always a picture of our Lord – it’s destruction and rebuilding a picture of his death and resurrection. The Messiah was foretold to be the rebuilder of the temple – but this time not a building, but a group of people, believers, followers, who would be what God first intended and reach that bright goal. Jesus did this by dying and rising again – the destruction of the Temple and it’s rebuilding – the destruction also of the sinful nature and the restoring of the people of God. And if you are in Him – “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead” (Romans 10:9) – you may feel like a hopeless ruin right now, but you are the rebuilt, glorious temple.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7 (NIV)

This is why Jesus came, lived, died and rose again – to rebuild the everlasting ruins of our temple so he could be with us. Christ is Risen! And we are risen with Him, in Him, no longer ruins, but a holy temple, bright and shining, glorious, victorious! Hallelujah!

Dear God, I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died for my sin and that you raised Him to life. I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Come into my heart Lord Jesus. Rebuild your temple in me. Amen.

This Bible study is taken from the blog Everlasting Ruins