SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/14/2020
9:06 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Context”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt. 5:1-2
Message of the verses: “1 And when He saw
the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His
disciples came to Him. 2 And opening His mouth He began to teach them,
saying,”
When
we continue our study of this section (Matt. 5-7) we will learn that the
blessedness that Christ offers is not dependent on self-effort or even self-righteousness,
but it is on the new nature that God gives to all believers. MacArthur writes “In God’s Son man comes to
share God’s very nature, which is characterized by true righteousness and its
consequence—blessedness, or happiness. In
Christ we partake of the very bliss of God Himself! That is the kind and the extent of the
contentment God wants His children to have–His very own peace and
happiness. So the Lord begins with the
offer of blessedness and then proceeds to demonstrate that human righteousness,
such as the Jew sought, cannot produce it.
The good news is that of blessing.
The bad news is that man cannot achieve it, no matter how self-righteous
and religious he is.”
When
we look at the Old Testament it is the book of Adam who was the first man on
the earth, and was the king, but as we know he fell, not by being tempted, but
by listening to his wife who was tempted by Satan. Let us look at Genesis 1:28 “God blessed
them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth,
and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky
and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” We can see from this verse that Adam was
indeed the first king. As mentioned this
first monarch fell soon after his rule began and his fall brought a curse—the curse
with which the Old Testament both begins and ends with.
The
NT begins with the presentation of the new sovereign Man, One who will not fall
and One who brings blessing rather than cursing. Jesus the second Adam is also the last Adam
as after Him will come no other ruler, no other sovereign. The first king sinned and left a curse,
however the Second Adam was sinless and He left us a blessing. The first Adam was tested in a beautiful
garden and failed, the second Adam was tested in the wilderness and did not
fail, but succeeded. MacArthur adds “Because
the first Adam was a thief, he was cast out of paradise, but the last Adam
turned to a thief on a cross and said, ‘Today you shall be with Me in paradise’
(Luke 23:43). The Old Testament, the
book of the generations of Adam, ends with a curse; the New Testament, the book
of the generations of Jesus Christ, ends with the promise, ‘There shall no
longer be any curse’ (Rev. 22:3). The
Old Testament gave the law to show man in his misery, and the New Testament
gives life to show man in his bliss.”
There
is a great deal of differences between what is seen in the Old Testament and
what is seen in the New Testament and in Jesus Christ a new reality dawned on
history as a new Man and a new King of the earth came to reverse the terrible
curse that the first king gave us. “The
Sermon on the Mount is the masterful revelation from the great King, offering
blessing instead of cursing to those who come on His terms to true
righteousness.” (MacArthur)
Spiritual meaning for my life today: One of the questions that I have always had
and it keeps coming up in my life is how do I follow the King, the New King,
and not follow the old king as all believers have his old nature. 1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable
to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may
prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect
(Romans 12:1-2).” The highlighted
portion from above is a great biblical way to not follow the old nature. The word transformed in the Greek is “metamorphoo”
where we get the word metamorphose. An
example is having an ugly worm turn into a beautiful butterfly. How is this done, well the first thing is to
be born-again, and the next thing is to study, memorize, and meditate on the
Word of God. By doing this we can think
on the Word of God to have our lives transformed as verse two tells us.
My Steps of Faith for Today: First of all we will continue our look at “The
Strategy of Satan” on Monday, Lord willing, and for today I desire to continue
to learn humility and to have joy as I study the Word of God each day.
3/14/2020 9:44 AM
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