God's covenant - Rainbow

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 “As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”  Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him:  “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”   [Genesis 9:7-11]

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God's covenant

Noah responded to God’s saving grace by building an altar. Those of us who have been saved from the wrath to come should likewise bring to God our heartfelt worship. It is an acceptable and pleasing today as it was in Noah’s day. The Lord made a covenant that He would never again curse the ground or destroy every living thing, as He had done; also, He would provide regular seasons as long as the earth endured.

The rainbow was given as a pledge that God would never again destroy the earth with a  flood.

Again, God said to Noah and his sons:

 “ I am going to make a solemn promise to you and to everyone who will live after you. This includes the birds and the animals that came out of the boat. I promise every living creature that the earth and those living on it will never again be destroyed by a flood.

The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. It will remind you that I will keep this promise forever. When I send clouds over the earth, and a rainbow appears in the sky, I will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures. Never again will I let floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the sky, I will always remember the promise that I have made to every living creature. The rainbow will be the sign of that solemn promise.”




 



Rainbow

 “And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:  I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,  I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:12-16 ]

 

The serpent of brass was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ

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 “They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;  they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.  The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ”   [Numbers 21: 4-7]

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The serpent of brass was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ

Once again the people complained about their living conditions, with the result that God sent fiery serpents among them. Many of the people died, and many more were dying. In answer to the intercession of Moses, God commanded that a bronze serpent be lifted on a pole and promised that whoever looked at the bronze serpent would be healed of the snakebite. This incident was used by the Lord Jesus to teach Nicodemus that Christ must be lifted up on a pole (the cross), so that sinners looking to Him by faith might have everlasting life.

The serpent later became a stumbling block to the nation and was finally destroyed in the days of Hezekiah. King Hezekiah conducted a campaign against all form of idolatry, destroying even the high places and the bronze serpent. God did not want the people to make the bronze serpent as an idol. Similarly, God will not allow us to worship a cross or any idol.

Jesus quoted this Old Testament incident to illustrate how the new birth takes place.  Men and women have been bitten by the viper of sin and are condemned to eternal death. The serpent of brass was a type or picture of the Lord Jesus. Brass, in the Bible, speaks of judgment. The Lord Jesus was sinless and should never have been punished, but He took our place and bore the judgment which we deserved.

The pole speaks of the cross of Calvary on which the Lord Jesus was lifted up. We are saved by looking to Him in faith. The Savior was made sin for us, He who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ receives eternal life as a free gift.



 



 

"...the Son of Man must be lifted up..."

 “The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."

"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.” [Numbers 21:8, John 3:14-15]

 

Parable of the Talents

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 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’  His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’  He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’  His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’  “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’”   [Matthew 25;20-25]

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Parable of the Talents

This parable also teaches that when the Lord returns, there will be true and false servants. It is not difficult to see that Christ is the master. After a long time the lord…came back and settled accounts with them.

This depicts the Second Advent. The first two received exactly the same commendation: “Well done, good and faithful servant…” The test of their service was not how much they earned, but how hard they tried. Each used his ability fully and earned one hundred percent. These represent true believers whose rewards is to enjoy the blessings of the Messianic kingdom.

The third servant had nothing but insults and excuses for his master. He accused him of being hard and unreasonable, reaping where he had not sown, and gathering where he had not scattered seed. He excused himself on the basis that, paralyzed with fear, he buried his talent. This servant was doubtless an unbeliever; no genuine servant would entertain such thoughts of his master.

His lord rebuked him as wicked and lazy. The master is not agreeing with the charges against him. Rather he is saying, “If that’s the kind of master you thought I am, all the more reason to have put the talent to work. Your words condemn, not excuse you.”

The unprofitable servant was cast out—excluded from the kingdom. He shared the anguished fate of the wicked.

Dear friend, are you faithful in what the Lord has entrusted you with? 

 



"...cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness.."

 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Matthew 25:26:28]

 

“...present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God...”

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 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”   [Romans 12:1-2]

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“...present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God...”

Paul mentions here that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. Our bodies stand for all our members and, by extension, our entire lives.  Total commitment is our reasonable service. It is our reasonable service in this sense: if the Son of God has died for me, then the least I can do is live for Him. “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me,” said the great British cricketer and missionary C. T. Studd,  “then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him.”

Reasonable service may also be translated “spiritual worship.” As believer-priests, we do not come to God with the bodies of slain animals as sacrifice but with the spiritual sacrifice of yielded lives. We also offer to Him our service, and our possessions.

Paul also urges us not to be conformed to this world. In other words, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.” When we come to the kingdom of God, we should abandon the thought-patterns and lifestyles of the world. The world means the society or system that man has built in order to make himself happy without God. It is a kingdom that is antagonistic to God. The god and price of this world is Satan. All unconverted people are his subjects. He seeks to attract and hold people through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. The world hates nonconformists—like Christ and His followers.

Christ died to deliver us from this world. The world is crucified to us, and we are crucified to the world. It would be absolute disloyalty to the Lord for believers to love the world. Anyone who loves the world is an enemy of God.  We should be transformed by the renewing of our mind, which means that we should think the way God thinks, as revealed in the Bible.

If tattoos were the pagan way, why would a god fearing Christian worship God through a pagan ritual? We are called not to be conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of our mind.  Which do you want - be like Christ or like the world? 


 



"...walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.."

 “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes.   You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.” [Leviticus 19:26-28]

 

If God is for us, who can be against us?

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 “David and his men left and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought back the proof and showed it to Saul, so he could marry Michal. Saul agreed to let David marry Michal. Saul knew that she loved David, and he also realized that the LORD was helping David. But knowing those things made Saul even more afraid of David, and he was David's enemy for the rest of his life. The Philistine rulers kept coming to fight Israel, but whenever David fought them, he won. He was famous because he won more battles against the Philistines than any of Saul's other officers. ”   [1 Samuel 18:27-30]

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“If God is for us, who can be against us?”

As David continued to win battle after battle, Saul became extremely jealous. When he heard the songs of the women ascribing to David greater exploits than to himself, he became livid with rage. God sometimes uses evil to chastise evil; that is why he allowed Saul to be tormented by a distressing spirit. Twice the king tried to personally kill David, but both times David escaped. Then Saul made him..captain over a thousand soldiers, perhaps hoping that David would be killed while fighting the Philistines. But the Lord was with David, and his exploits attracted the attention of all Israel. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” [Romans:8:31]

The king’s daughter had been promised to the man who would kill the Philistine giant, so Merab, Saul’s older daughter, was offered to David. However, more victories would have to be won first. Saul hoped David would be killed in the process. When David expressed his social unworthiness to be son-in-law to the king, Merab was given to another man, which perhaps Saul’s way of trying to humiliate David. But Saul’s younger daughter, Michal, loved David, and Saul agreed to give her to him, provided he produced a dowry of one hundred Philistine foreskins.

Again Saul hoped to kill David by the hand of the Philistines. But David was not to be eliminated so easily. “..no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD [Isaiah:54:17]. He returned with the bizarre dowry in double measure and won Michal as his bride. As continual military success made it clear the Lord was with David, Saul’s hatred and fear of him continued to grow.
 


 

David was playing the lyre


Saul: I'll pin David to the wall

 “The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand  and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.  Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had departed from Saul. ” [1 Samuel 18:10-12]

Your Faith has Healed You

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 “Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”  Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. ”   [Mark 10:45-50]

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Your Faith has Healed You

The Lord and His disciples had crossed the Jordan and come to Jericho. There He met blind Bartimaeus, a man with a desperate need, a knowledge of the need, and a determination to have it met.

Bartimaeus recognized and addressed our Lord as the Son of David. It was ironical that while the nation of Israel was blind to the presence of the Messiah, a blind Jew had true spiritual sight!

His persistent pleas for mercy did not go unanswered. His specific prayer for sight brought a specific answer. His gratitude was expressed in faithful discipleship, following Jesus on His last trip to Jerusalem. It must have cheered the heart of the Lord to find faith like this in Jericho as He moved on toward the cross. It was a good thing that Bartimaeus sought the Lord that day because the Savior never passed that way again.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” [Hebrews 11:6]

“He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.” [Luke 17:6]

Dear friend, do you have the faith in the Lord Jesus, who can save you from eternal damnation and give you eternal life? 


 

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight


Blind Bartimaeus Reveives His Sight

 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. ” [Mark 10:51-52]

All I want is Christ and to know that I belong to Him

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 “All I want is Christ and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, so that somehow I also may be raised to life.”   [Philippians 3:8-11]

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All I want is Christ and to know that I belong to Him

In these verses, it sounds like as if Paul was still seeking to gain Christ.  Actually, he had won Christ when he first acknowledged His as Lord and Savior. But the present tense indicates that this is still his attitude—he still counts all else as rubbish when compared to the value of knowing the Lord Jesus. The great desire of his heart is : “That Christ may be my gain.” Not gold, or silver, or religious reputation, but Christ.
Paul had made his choice. He had abandoned all else in order to be found in Christ. The moment he believed on the Lord Jesus, he stood in a new position before God. No longer was he seen as a child of sinful Adam, but now he was seen in Christ, enjoying all the favor which the Lord Jesus enjoys before God the Father.
Likewise he had renounced the filthy rags of his own self-righteousness, which he had sought to win by keeping the law, and had chosen the righteousness of God which is bestowed on everyone who receives the Savior.
Righteousness is spoken here of as a garment or covering. Man needs righteousness in order to stand before God in favor. But man cannot product it. And so, in grace, God gives His own righteousness to those who receive His Son as Lord and Savior.
The apostle contrasts the heavenly-minded attitude of the true believer. Paul reminds the believers that their citizenship is in heaven. Not only we are citizens of heaven, but we also eagerly wait for the Savior from heaven!

Dear friend, have you got your ‘Heavenly Passport’—the Lord Jesus Christ?


 

Passport


But our citizenship is in heaven

 “For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.  But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,  who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. ” [Philippians 3:18-21]