|
The One New Man Study - The Theology Of Jew And Gentile - One In Messiah Entire Study Recently Updated January 2006
|
|
Lesson THREE: The One New Man: The Key To Revival And Glory
Ephes. 2:12-15 - That at that time ye were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: [13] But now
in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. [14] For he is our peace, who
hath made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us; [15] Having abolished 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;
Hebrews 8:5 - Who serve unto the example and
shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to
make the tabernacle: for, See, said he, that thou make all things
according to the pattern showed
to you in the mount.
So the Jewish people, as a result of their unbelief, without knowing it passed the baton to the Gentile Christians. After centuries of running this race with the gospel for nearly two centuries signs that we too are wearing down fast are showing. But we are at a time in human history when we can't afford to faint. This is the last lap! Harvest is coming but the laborers are FEW. The question is then should the Gentile Christians pass the baton back to the Messianic Jews (Jewish believers in Jesus)? NO! They are strong, but not strong enough. They too are flawed and not without problems in their ranks. One group cannot win this race on their on. What then should the church do in these last days?
A "champion" is needed to win this race to the finish line. And the winner is not going to be the Messianic Jews or the Gentile Christians. It is going to be the JEWISH and GENTILE believers holding the baton together. For when that happens there will not be two "groups" anymore. There will be ONE NEW MAN - IN JESUS! Jesus is the Second Adam and He is the LORD OF THE HARVEST. With Him as our Head, we will win this battle for the eternal souls of men.
Today, most Jewish people are more secular than religious. Many in the Jewish faith do not even attend traditional Jewish services anymore. Most traditions of Judaism are rooted in ritualistic prayers and fellowship with friends more than intimacy with God. But before we Gentiles say a hearty amen to that - we need to take a look at our own religious activity today in the modern church. Christians on the whole act like most Jews.
Many Christians know "about" God. They believe in Him or an abstract thought about Him. They think they will probably go to heaven. Yet some have greater intimacy with their denomination than with God. Others attend church merely for social reasons or to ease a guilty conscience. In the Jewish faith there are what is called "high holy days." Many Christians smirk and laugh at these dates thinking those who celebrate them are trying to find righteousness through the law. (We will deal with this in a later lesson). But we are no different. Easter and Christmas Christians compartmentalize God to their convenience by the scores! We treat Jesus more as a servant to us than our LORD and MASTER. Many may surrender Sunday morning (and maybe Sunday night) - but fewer and fewer are sacrificing and surrendering their entire LIVES.
The church has become a warehouse instead of a BODY of deliverance and salvation. Many can attend our churches with sin in their lives without feeling one ounce of remorse or feel the need for repentance. Most experience church in a spectator fashion - looking into what God is doing with everyone else without ever seeking God for themselves. On a more tragic and serious note many sit in our churches lost without a personal relationship with Jesus while being deceived into thinking their condition is ok. If they die in this state, hell, not heaven, will be their eternal destination. That's a sobering thought but one we need to pause and think about.
Even the more larger churches in America are steeped in traditions that rival ANYTHING a traditional or orthodox Jewish person or Rabbi would offer us if we as an American Christian ever thought of converting to their faith. Most pastors are more concerned about the announcements, offering and getting their three-point sermon in (and ending on time) instead of our church services being gatherings where we wait on the Holy Spirit to fall and TRULY minister to the needs of the people. Many people - young and old - are leaving our churches because they are dissatisfied with what the church is offering them. THEY HEARTS BURN FOR INTIMACY WITH GOD yet we give them a structure without life.
A man used a great deal in prophetic gifts was once asked why there were so few true miracles here in the American church as compared to other parts of the world. The prophet didn't hesitate and said, "the REAL miracle is that ANY miracles occur here at all in America with the idolatry, distractions and just plain out lack of intimacy with God in the American church." WHEW. What a statement but one that is true.
The glory that existed under Moses in the Old Covenant was so great men had to put his face under a veil because it shined so brightly. Can we honestly say we have that type glory in the church? We brag that we do but friend we have not experienced the glory of God yet. We have experienced some miracles and certainly there are anointed men of God who have been used greatly in healing and deliverance. But the corporate church as a whole lacks GOD! What do I mean when I say we lack God? Because:
This generation of believers has a choice before it unlike any other in our past. We can follow the cloud of God's presence and GLORY just as Israel did so long ago in the wilderness or we can remain stuck in our old ways. God gave Israel a specific plan to enter into the promised land AND to enter into His glory. He brought Moses into the Mount and gave him a PATTERN. That pattern was a bridge to intimacy with GOD! When the pattern is right, the glory explodes.
Hebrews 8:5 - Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, said he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to you in the mount.
This pattern is not a FORMULA. Man wants to place God in a box. That is why there are so many different theologies and views of God through various denominations and movements. Biblical patterns always lead to intimacy. Church-birthed formulas lead to death. This is what happened with doctrines such as healing and prosperity.
Although there is a great truth in both of these teachings, sometimes not everyone who is prayed for is healed and not everyone in the Body of Christ experiences financial (monetary) prosperity. Those who knew God through these teachings by the formulas we presented them were quickly offended and lost their faith in God altogether. But those who had a pure faith in God used those disappointments to draw CLOSER to HIM, not run from HIM.
This same pattern also will lead to a tremendous end-time UNITY between JEW AND GENTILE. This is a "new thing" to many in the church because of our past traditional teachings and views on the Jewish people. God is about to scale back the devil's deception over us and when that happens - LOOK OUT!
Isaiah 43:19 - Behold,
I will do a new thing; now it shall
spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the
wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
First Israel The Natural, Then Blessings On The Church, The Spiritual
1 Cor. 15:46 - Howbeit
that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward
that which is spiritual.
Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
[17] For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it
is written, The just shall live by faith.
What will be the next move of God in the church? Watch Israel! Because of sin, the Lord scattered the Jewish people to the four corners of the earth. But in the last days He promises to restore them back to Israel. In the Old Covenant, the nation of Israel was a "divided" land. The Northern Kingdom was called "Israel," and the Southern Kingdom was called, "Judah." Judah and Israel fought with each other. God promises to restore these two Kingdoms and return them to their land. They will be "one nation under one King."
Ezekiel 37:21-22 - And say unto them, Thus saith the
Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen,
whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into
their own land: [22] And I will make them one nation in the land upon the
mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be
no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at
all:
Jeremiah
16:14-16 - Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall
no more be said, The Lord lives, that brought up the children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt; [15] But, The Lord lives, that brought up the children of
Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven
them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their
fathers. [16] Behold, I will send
for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after
will I send for many hunters, and
they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the
holes of the rocks.
The union of Israel and Judah as a nation is in type a picture of the union between two other covenant peoples of Gods - Jews and Christians will one day both unite under One King - JESUS. This will cause a spiritual explosion in the church and usher in I believe one final harvest before judgment. The rapture of the church will then usher in one of earth's and Israel's darkest hours - the Great Tribulation. Whatever happens must happen quickly- we must be praying to this end that the two parts of the body come together in UNITY and ONENESS! When the church's focus becomes interceding for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, glory will fall! Salvation is to the JEW FIRST, then the Gentile. It doesn't mean we stop praying for Gentiles to be saved. On the contrary. When our focus though is on the Lord's focus- ISRAEL, the Gentiles will come in in record numbers because of what Paul says in Romans will happen upon Israel's reconciliation to Christ: "Life from the Dead." That sounds like revival to me!
Romans 11:14-15 Judgment is coming friend. There is no escaping that unless man makes a 180-degree turn and quickly. The hardness of man's heart and Satan's demonic deception over the masses will prevent that from happening. I wish that were not true but the scriptures bear it out that during the Great Tribulation men will not turn to God even when the sky is literally falling upon them through catastrophe after catastrophe. It will only harden man's heart more and make men curse God.
The One New Man in Messiah is the devil's worst nightmare! The underlying purpose for the current outpourings of the Holy Spirit is to equip believers with power to evangelize the JEW FIRST, then the Greek. When Jewish believers join with those in the Gentile part of the Church to form the One New Man, it will trigger a major release of power to usher in the coming harvest. But before the church can enter into this glorious future we must over our anti-Semitic past and have the ignorance of our hearts removed. That's the purpose of this study.
|
|
The Priceless Page -Because It's Getting Late Neighbor
|