Continued Series from “The Church…The Clash of Man’s Expectation & God’s Plan Series”

How do you view the role of  leadership at your church?

The role and the authority of a leadership team can look different in various churches. Sometimes it is greatly defined by the culture of a denomination/church rather than being strictly established according to scripture.

Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. Hebrews 13: 17

As a church member, God gives us instruction in submitting to our leaders and helping their job to be a joyful task. The leaders have a great responsibility before God,  and they are ultimately accountable to Him. Relating to our leaders in a healthy and a Biblical way can be a great blessing, and it produces a good environment for growth. However, if we don’t relate right to our leaders, it can cause pain, frustration, and ungodly ties.

Sometimes the church members take one of two extreme positions in relating to their leaders.

There are some who tend to put the leadership on a pedestal of perfection. This group views the voice of the leadership as the voice of God and over time becomes passive in hearing the voice of the Lord for themselves. They tend to gravitate towards one person and follow them closely. The side effect of this approach is division and making the church political as Paul described it in (1Corinthians 1 :10-17). These individuals have a greater likelihood of conformity than being transformed because they are more enamored by a person rather than with Jesus! All is well until something happens and a leader disappoints them. Then they are completely distraught and disillusioned by the leadership.

Another group likes to see the shepherds as peers who happen to be the leaders in the church. The shepherd’s instruction and advice is not taken seriously but only as a suggestion. They feel the freedom to share their opinion on various matters and have no problem criticizing the leadership and backbiting those who lead the church. Since they are focused on leaders’ humanity and imperfections, they tend not to grow much in their faith. Their intent is to change the leadership and help them become enlightened.

I have not seen anywhere in the Bible where God was led by the opinion of man to put a particular person in place of authority or to take him down. If/when people chose to criticize their leaders, they were the ones who got into trouble with God! God does hold his leaders accountable, and He ultimately confronts any rebellion and sin in a leaders’ life. However He is not moved by man’s preference and neither does He choose to take care of a situation in man’s timetable.  

As believers,  we are called to keep our eyes on Jesus and not on man.  We will never completely understand what God is doing and how He is using a leader in people’s lives. Sometimes things will not make sense at all, but we are all called to look to Jesus and get our marching orders from Him. 

For some of us, it is time to stop being enamored by the icons in the church. This will take the pressure off the leadership to be perfect or act a certain way. It will also allow the fellow church members to relate to a leader in a healthy way. It will stop people elbowing each other to be seen by a leader. Properly relating to our leaders will change the atmosphere in the church by bringing fresh air of freedom, love, and authenticity. We can all go about our merry way living our lives as light and salt without making church complicated and ministry unattainable as it appears at times!

Obviously the shepherds have a role in understanding their great responsibility towards the flock. Knowing how to lead their congregation according to God’s will is of utmost importance. If you are in leadership, please study Ezekiel 34 and John 10. I used to spend an entire session covering these scriptures when I taught a Lay Pastoring class at the Rock School of Ministry. These scriptures share God’s heart for the leadership clearly and powerfully.  We all should count the cost of leading before accepting the responsibility of overseeing the people of God!

What are some of your church cultural values that cause unnecessary stress or expectation in your life? This doesn’t mean it’s time for you to leave your church. It may just mean to adjust your thinking, expectation, and even your relationships. This will help you not to get tripped up by some of the church issues that may not be as important to Jesus as they are to your church culture/members.

I will continue with this series in the next devotional.

Continued Series from “The Church…The Clash of Man’s Expectation & God’s Plan Series”

One of the important factors that we should consider when it comes to clash of man’s expectation and God’s plan is the church culture. If we spend long enough time in any church we will discern the culture of that particular church. We will see the flavor of the church and what they highly value. We will observe the goals that it sets for itself. Many of those flavors are God’s heart uniquely expressed in various churches which is beautiful to see. However, sometimes a church can set out goals that on the surface look very spiritual, but they can have negative implications.

Goals and Values

For example, a church that sets a timeline for planting new churches can create an unrealistic goal that makes people strive to reach it. While planting churches is a wonderful desire, it cannot happen in man’s timetable. Making it a goal, can cause a sense of failure in those who can’t reach it. For others it can drive them to create “Ishmaels” in attempting to meet the objectives that “man” has set.

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,  Romans 12:4

Another example of the church culture is the work of ministry. If  “ministry” is considered the most important job, it can set certain unrealistic expectations for the flock such as the following:

1. The work of “ministry” can become more important than the person we are ministering to.
2. Individuals can become performance driven.  Some are compelled to reach a pinnacle of success in “ministry” in order to feel validated or significant.
3. Some are convinced that unless they directly minister to others, lead a ministry, or work for the church; they are not fulfilling God’s call in their lives.
4. Imitation and competition can develop in order to appear successful.
5. Marriages can get strained because one spouse desires to do the work of the “ministry” and the other doesn’t feel led to do so.

Ministering to people is one of the hallmarks of the life of a believer, but the nature and the sphere of ministry will be unique to each individual. All of us are called to be ministers unto the Lord in whatever sphere we are.   The majority of people will not be called to do their primary work of ministry in the church but in their community. As the people of God, we should always contribute to the work of our local church, but we’re not necessarily called to make a career out of it.

God will use us in our daily lives if we are submitted to His authority and yielded to His voice. When ministry becomes part of our DNA,  we represent Him wherever we go. It is not a cloak that we put on and take off based on our duties and responsibilities in ministry. We are passionate to take the Good News of Salvation to those who are perishing and the words of encouragement to those who already know Him.

There is much more to say about the church culture. I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

I have been observing various discussions on social media lately as to whether it’s important to attend a local church or not. There are many who still believe attending the church is an important part of the life of a believer. However, some are for the idea of giving up going to church altogether. Others find it more comfortable to attend a home gathering with only a small group of like-minded people for the purpose of support and fellowship. They believe that as long as two or more are gathered Jesus has promised to be there.

From my own personal experience, I have found that most people leave the church because of hurt and disappointments. They may have had a fall out with one or more church members specifically the leaders within the particular church they were part of.

I will examine this issue by looking at three factors: Expectations, church culture, and the Biblical role of the church in the life of a believer.

Unmet Expectations

Generally unmet expectations cause hurt and disappointment. When we are disappointed, we either feel sorry for ourselves and/or get angry at someone else for not meeting our needs. We don’t usually question our expectations and line them up to scripture to see if they have any validity. As a believer, the word of God is our plumb line. That’s the only way that we know if our thoughts and expectations are in line with truth or not. If our expectations are not Biblical, then we will set ourselves up for unnecessary heartache and disappointment.

A man who has friends must himself be friendly, Proverbs 18:24a

Some people are disappointed for not feeling connected to others. It is not an easy task in this day and age to connect to others because there are many competing interests in people’s lives.  Believers just like the rest of the world juggle many balls all at one time. If someone reaches out to us, it’s a great blessing, but it can’t be the only way we are going to get connected. Connection to others will require time, consistency, and a risk to reach out to others.

There was a long season when I was waiting for people to reach out to me. My kids were young during that time, so I expected those whose kids were older to reach out to me and my two toddlers. Those were lonely years that caused much unnecessary rejection in my life. I didn’t have the option of running to my natural family for connection. I had just lost my mother when I was eight months pregnant with my first child.  I also did not feel led to leave the church because of it.

God used those tough years to deal with my rejection issue and helped me to be delivered from it to a great degree. Over time, I developed relationships with people inside the church as well as parents from my kids’ school. I began forming friendships that are still valuable to me. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I am so glad that I didn’t give up on God or on people. I have learned not to wait until someone reaches out to me and not to take things personally.

praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:47

Those of us who are established in a body have a responsibility to reach out to those who aren’t connected yet. Sunday mornings should be a time to reach out to others rather than catching up with friends. If we are going to win people to Christ, we need to learn to be inclusive of others. I have learned to reach out to others and include others for there could some who feel the way I used to. It hurts me when I hear people left a church because no one cared about them. Sometimes people look like they have it altogether, but it doesn’t mean they don’t have a need for fellowship and connection.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

We represent a merciful God

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Being merciful is not a natural behavior but a supernatural one! People have a tendency to defend and fight for number one and those associated with number one. The individuals who are willing to be givers of mercy instead of fighting for their own rights are peculiar people!

Being merciful is not an easy task in most cases, but we are called to be merciful as children of God. The Lord can use those opportunities of being merciful to minister and speak of God’s great mercies towards mankind. He can convict those who are harboring anger and un-forgiveness in their hearts. Mercy also has an affect in the atmosphere. It brings sweetness where there was bitterness. Mercy cuts off strife and brings the oil of gladness!

Although Joseph’s brothers deserved punishment and even death, he did not give them what they deserved.  Joseph chose to look at the blessing that came out of their evil behavior and did not focus on their past wickedness. Out of his great love towards his family, he chose to be merciful and compassionate towards them. This was God’s heart operating through this young man representing his special relationship with a holy God thus glorifying the Father.

Sowing mercy will reap blessings

Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5: 7

God is the initiator of mercy in our lives. Once we have tasted the mercies of God, we know how great and awesome his mercies are. Then the Lord begins to show us that we need to live in mercy and operate in mercy as well. While the flesh desires greatly to get even, our spirit man has been designed to grow by being merciful. Jesus is telling us that if we want to live a blessed life, we need to develop a lifestyle of being merciful. This will keep us from hardened hearts and polluted minds. It will free our soul to live in peace with God and with man. God delights to shower the merciful with more mercy!

Sometimes it is hard to know how to hold on to God’s truth and be merciful at the same time. It is something that we have to grow into by studying how Jesus dealt with people’s sin and at the same time He was merciful towards them. He is the true authentic model who never compromised truth but was sincere in showing mercy where mercy was needed.

Do people consider you a merciful person?

In the last devotional, I shared about God’s constant mercy that keeps us and aids us throughout our lives. His mercy is not something we earn, but it is out of his great love that He continues to give us generously what we don’t deserve.

A merciful God begets merciful children! If we have a Father who is rich in mercy what should that say about us!?

We were given mercy to be givers of mercy

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.²³ Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants…….

 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’….

³² Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. ³³ Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ ³⁴ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.” Matthew 18:23-34

In the above parable, Jesus tells a story of an unforgiving person. The master forgave the great debt of his servant, however the servant was not willing to forgive the small debt that his fellow worker owed him.

The Bible continually reminds us that while God loves us deeply, He is not intending to raise spoiled brats! The difference between a spoiled child and one who is not, is that a spoiled child cares primarily about his/her own welfare. The world revolves around his/her needs.  A child who is not spoiled has a heart to care for others and considers others’ needs. He/she doesn’t need to have all the attention be directed towards him/her.  In the same manner, our spiritual walk is not just about us, but it is for the benefit of others and how we represent Him to the world!

When I look at this parable, the servant’s actions look very selfish and cruel in the light of how much his master had been merciful to him. Then, I think about all the times we are not willing to forgive the petty little offenses of others because we feel unjustly wronged. What if part of the reason God is merciful to us is because He wants to show mercy to others through us?  Do we allow ourselves to become an outlet of His mercy?

Mercy in its nature has to be given out, or it looses its effectiveness in the believer’s life .The mercies of God should be like a flowing river in the life of a believer otherwise we become stagnant and self-righteous!  If the above servant had been merciful to his fellow worker, it could have been a great testimony on how the servant had received mercy from his master. However, because he wasn’t merciful, he had no testimony to share with others. As a matter of fact, he looked wicked to his master as well as his fellow servant!

It’s good to have a reminder of God’s mercies and not forget the benefits He provides for us through them. Praise God that He has new mercies in store for us every morning!

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), Ephesians 2:4-5

Mercy (According to Strong’s Concordance): kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them

of men towards men: to exercise the virtue of mercy, show one’s self merciful

of God towards men: in general providence; the mercy and clemency of God in providing and offering to men salvation by Christ

the mercy of Christ, whereby at his return to judgment he will bless true Christians with eternal life

His mercy moves Him to our aid

Praise God for His richness in mercy! Those of us who know Him can testify to the mercies of God. He is always there to come to the aid of those who call upon Him. He doesn’t hold grudges against us nor does He give up on us. He has goodwill towards all of us, and He is always working for our benefit even in tough times. The Lord has no shortage of mercy towards His children, but He is rich in lavishing us with His mercy.

His mercy frees us from sin

God showed His great mercy towards us by allowing Jesus to go to the cross. While people falsely accused Him, Christ died for us. His mercies don’t run out but are new every morning. Praise God that He didn’t give us what our sins deserved instead He gave us wholeness. He imparted gladness and peace and took away the shame and the guilt of our sins.

After my painful divorce, I thought I will have to live with the pain and the guilt of the divorce for the rest of my life, but God was rich in mercy! He could have left me in my pain, but He didn’t give me what I deserved. In His mercy, He forgave me and delivered me from the miry pit! He gave me a new chance in life. Thank you Lord for your rich mercies towards us!

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. Lamentations 3:22

His mercies keep us

Every moment of the day, it is His mercy that holds our lives together and allows us not to be consumed and taken over by the enemy and the darkness of the world around us. He keeps our minds sound, holds our hearts soft, and helps our wills to be yielded to Him. Our bodies are protected from all kinds of things that come against it. If we just look at the molecular level, the number of bacteria and viruses that are out there is astounding, but God keeps us and protects us at all times.

He mercifully accepts us

We have a merciful father who is at ease with us. He is not appalled or threatened by our sins and weaknesses, but He is ready and able to help us to come to a higher place because of His great love towards us. He truly knows our helpless condition, and He knows how to interact with us in such a way that we are not overwhelmed but are motivated to change.

A merciful God begets merciful children! If we have a Father who is rich in mercy what should that say about us!?

As I stated in the last devotional, I will be sharing basic scripture this time as I did in the last devotional.  May the Lord minister to you and touch your heart!

Today’s scripture comes from  Matthew 5 known as the Sermon on the Mount in the Message translation.

Matthew 5:1-16 (MSG)

When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. 

Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

Thank you Lord for your gentleness with us. Help us to believe your definition of being blessed. Amen!

It’s good to have a reminder from time to time of the basics of our walk with God, which is a simple devotion to Christ and a sincere love towards others. In the next two devotionals, I will be sharing basic scripture in the Message translation. This translation is a contemporary translation of the Bible; it is one which I use only on occasion.

My hope is that the word of God would speak to you in a fresh way and illuminate the areas that He wants to highlight. Please don’t rush into reading large amounts of scripture but chew and meditate on what God is speaking to you, and then put it work in your everyday life!

Romans 12:1-8 (MSG)

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

Lord,  we don’t want to be just content with our external appearance before people, but we desire a greater level of maturity in all areas of life. Adjust our attitude and our perspective to come in line with your heart and mind. Make us more sincere and true! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

A distant God becomes our Abba Father as we become partakers of His nature. We no longer need to be an orphan in a harsh and indifferent world, but we are accepted as beloved sons and daughters of the most high. Thank you Lord!

We now have the privilege of having a personal relationship with a holy God because of Jesus fulfilling the requirements of the law established by God in the Old Testament. We don’t have to fear of God with respect to judgment/punishment but only in honor and adoration!

God takes the step of adopting us. The adoption must take place by the parent initiating the adoption process because he is the one who has the power and authority to take on the responsibility of raising the child. The adoption cannot originate from the child because he/she is helpless to do anything to change his/her situation until a benevolent parent comes into the picture.

The Lord extended His hand and chose us to become His. It was a free gift that we couldn’t earn or gain by self-effort. We were helpless to reach God by doing good works. God offered the gift of salvation for whosoever believes in His son. We only have two options. We can either choose to accept the gift and become adopted into the family of God, or we can choose to reject it and continue to live life as orphans independent of God.

When we choose to accept Him, there is much in store for us as adopted children of God. He doesn’t leave us alone to figure out life on our own. He comes to fellowship with us and helps us to walk on this journey called life.

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

The Lord sent His son and gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit work together as one person to bring the wonder of God to us. The Lord left us with the Holy Spirit, so we can have a counselor and a comforter in our times of pain and need. All true peace stems from Him. While the world around us maybe raging with strife, hatred, and uncertainty,  we are the benefactors of the His peace in our hearts when we stay in His presence.

If you have never met Jesus, I invite you to get to know Him. Some religions have a problem with Jesus being the Son of God, and they also have a problem with Him being an intermediary between God and us.

Here is a limited example that may help with this issue. I may think that I know the President of the United States because he’s waved at me a few times when I have been around His entourage. However, If I really want to know the President, I must meet the Chief of Staff and allow him to usher me into the White House, so I can meet the President face to face and have a conversation with Him. The Chief of Staff is completely trusted by the President, and we must trust the Chief of Staff if we want to meet the President.

Are you satisfied with your knowledge and level of intimacy with God? Would you like to get to know God as your Abba Father? I would encourage you not to allow anything to stop you from getting to know the Lord intimately. You may not understand everything about Jesus right away, and that’s ok. In time, He will show you more.

The first important step is to know that you are a sinner and there is nothing you can do to erase your past sins or change your nature to become better. Then trust God that He made a way for you to become healed and whole through the work of Jesus and accept it in faith. Let God begin to show Himself to you. Receive His love and acceptance. You will find a transformation taking place on the inside of you that you will not be able to deny or ever regret. That is called regeneration.

If you are ready to receive the Lord as your Abba Father and Jesus as your Savior, you can pray this prayer: God, I recognize that I am sinner because I have done wrong in my life. I have ignored your laws and commandments. At times, I have even hurt others by my actions and words. I desire to be cleaned up from my past and have a fresh start in my life. I am tired of living life as an orphan. I believe you are able to save me. I accept, Jesus’ work on the cross on my behalf, so I can be free from my past sins. I don’t understand everything about Jesus, but I trust you will show me in time. I want to belong to you. Please come into my life and change me and make me whole. I need your peace and your love in my life. Thank you for receiving me into your family. Amen!

This devotional is a continuation of the concept of sin and how various faiths have dealt with the issue.

Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Galatians 3:24-25

Definition of Tutor: (In Greek according Strong’s concordance): “schoolmaster”: a guardian and guide of boys. Among the Greeks and the Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood.

The Jewish law was the schoolmaster to keep people in check. Unfortunately, man used the law to babysit each other’s righteousness. He also created additional rules to make sure no one gets away with sin because of loopholes in the law.  Jesus had to address this issue on numerous occasions with the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Since morality was based on the law, as long as people looked like they followed the law, they appeared to be in the right standing with God. However, the law increased the fear of man in people’s hearts and did not deal with man’s nature. This is the reason why religion is powerless to change humanity. At best, it is only a band-aid to a deep-seated problem of man’s unbelief and rebellion before a holy God.

If we are honest with ourselves, we all have doubted and rebelled against a holy God. We have failed to followed God’s rules in a consistent way and at times we have outright disobeyed Him. That makes us all sinners and guilty as charged. We can honestly admit that our nature continually desires to move independently of God and wants to do what feels right at the moment. The question is: What is the solution to our sinful nature?

God proved to man that the law wasn’t going to change their nature. That’s why He had a plan to send a Savior to the world which He spoke about in various prophesies in the Old Testament. What man could not do for himself, the Savior was going to accomplish by first forgiving man and then freeing him from his sinful state before a holy God.

God’s solution to sin came 2000 years ago. He chose to enter the scene of humanity formed as a baby to dwell among us. The Lord sent Jesus to the earth through a virgin to protect his sinless nature in order to accomplish the purpose of redeeming humanity from sin.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15

Jesus was still a human being with a free will. He could have chosen to sin, but the scriptures tell us otherwise.

In the Old testament, God instituted a lamb without blemish to be sacrificed as a substitute for the sin of the people. Because Jesus remained sinless, He was the only qualified one to fulfill the Old Testament law of God that stated the punishment for sin is death. Jesus took the shame, the blame, and the chastisement of our sins upon himself. He became the bridge to this great chasm between God and us. He tore the veil, so we can get to know a holy God up close and personal! He breathed life into our spirit, so now we can commune with God in our spirit man.

And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45

Jesus began a new line for humanity by becoming the last Adam. The first Adam sinned, and so all his descendants had the sinful nature in them. The last Adam remained sinless.

Those of us who put our faith in Him are a new creation. At the point of salvation, a new sinless nature is deposited in those of us who accept His work on the cross on our behalf! We now have the responsibility to nurture the new nature and allow it to take control of our lives and our actions. Lord, we Thank you for sending your son to bring us back into a right relationship with you! Amen!