HIS PRESENT DAY MINISTRY WHEN He finished His work in Redemption, He sat down at the Right Hand of the Majesty on High. His work as Messiah, the Incarnate One and the Member of the Abrahamic Covenant was completed. He had fulfilled that Covenant. Its laws, sacrifices, and priesthood were ended in the sight of God. What a momentous period in Israels history that was. It was the beginning of a New Covenant in His blood. Heb. 8:6-7, But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second. Heb. 8:13, In that he saith, a new covenant, he hath made the first old. But that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away. This New Covenant has a High Priest. Jesus is the High Priest. It has Sacrifices. Jesus was the major Sacrifice. The Eternal Sacrifice. Now we have a sacrifice of praise. Heb. 13:15, Through him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to his name. The sacrifice of the First Covenant was the blood of animals. It was poured around the base of the brazen alter. Our sacrifices are words born of love. The Old Covenant was for servants ; the New Covenant is made up of sons. The Old Covenant gave to Jehovah a nation ; the New Covenant gives to the Father a family. The Old Covenant headed up in Jehovah ; the New Covenant heads up in Jesus the Lord of this Covenant. John 20:17 tells us that Jesus suddenly appeared to Mary after His Resurrection. When He revealed himself to her, she cried, Rabboni, my teacher. She fell at His feet ; and He said, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended unto the Father. He had died a Lamb. He arose a High Priest of the New Covenant. Heb. 9-12, Nor yet with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. He entered the new Holy of Holies bringing His blood as the new High Priest. When His blood was accepted, it was possible for God on legal grounds to remit the sins of every person who would accept Christ as Saviour and confess Him as their Lord. When they did this, they received eternal life, making them New Creations. Heb. 1:3 is a tribute to Jesus and a striking fact of great importance. Who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High. This statement is the capping of the climax in regard to the finished work of Christ. The work had been completed. He sat down. He entered into His rest. He had met the demands of justice and satisfied them. He had met the needs of humanity. God could now claim all who came to Him through Christ, as sons and daughters, on absolutely legal grounds. Heb. 9:26, But now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Sin could not be put away by man. It had to be done by God himself. Heb. 9:15, And for this cause he is the mediator of a New Covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. You see, He not only died for our sins giving us a standing with God, but He was also dealing with the Sin problem of those under the First Covenant, so that they could receive the promised inheritance. Jesus is the Mediator It is vitally important now that we grasp this fact that Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant. Jesus told the disciples in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me. Peter preaching to the Jews in Acts 4:12 tells them, And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved. That Name is Jesus. I Tim. 2:5-6, For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, Who gave himself a ransom for all. How it hurts to hear ignorant men say they are good enough to stand right with God independent of this Mediator. It makes no difference how religious you are, or how much money you give, or how loudly you preach, if you deny Jesus Christ as the Mediator between God and man you are lost. Christ is mans only approach to God. Man must have Eternal Life and there is no receiving Eternal Life but through Jesus Christ. Christ is mans only Saviour. I Tim. 4:10, For to this end we labor and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe. Man is spiritually dead, without God and without hope. He can only find Eternal Life through the one Man Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Saviour No -man can save himself. Eph. 2:8, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. This Saviour is Gods gift, with Him comes Eternal Life. It is very important that the heart grasp this fact, Jesus is the Mediator between fallen man and God, when man accepts Him as such He becomes His Saviour, imparting to him Eternal Life, which brings him into the Family of God. Jesus is the Intercessor He is now mans Intercessor. Heb. 7:25, Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. It makes no difference how difficult the problem may look to us we have One seated at the Right Hand of the Father who ever lives to make intercession for us. As far as we know He has never taken a vacation. Love has made Him our slave. He is the Chief of Love Slaves. Jesus is our Righteousness Another wonderful truth is that Jesus is our Righteousness. I Cor. 1:30. When we feel unworthy and unfit to approach the Throne we have a Righteous Intercessor who ever lives to pray for us. This assurance has kept me from feeling discouraged many times during my past years of ministry. I have become very conscious of the upholding power of the arms of His grace and Intercession. Paul said, He loved me and gave Himself up for me. He caught a glimpse of Loves Intercession at the Right Hand of the Father. It must have melted him. No wonder he so utterly yielded himself to the dominance of the Master. This Ministry of my Lord at the Right Hand of the Majesty on High is the most priceless truth my heart has ever known. Jesus is our Advocate Not only is He our Intercessor, but He is our Advocate. The New Covenant Advocate is a beautiful title. He is the Atforney General for the Family of God. I John 2:1, My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. There are tears in this scripture, tears mingled with joy. It is one of the most thrilling of all the things written in the New Covenant. In a previous chapter he has shown you when one steps out of the love realm into the realm of selfishness they sin. When they sin they break fellowship. This does not mean they break their relationship. They cannot do that, only the One Who made them sons can break this relationship. We need not worry about committing the unpardonable sin, it is simply that we have been led astray and satisfied the demand of some selfish impulse, thus breaking our fellowship. I John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It is very important that we understand this fact that the moment we step out of love we step into darkness, and in that darkness we know not whither we go, for the darkness blinds our eyes. You see, darkness is the realm of Satan. I am a child of God, but selfishness has enticed me to leave the realm of love and go over into the realm of darkness or selfishness. When I do this I lose contact with the Father. I lose my sense of Righteousness. I need a Righteous Advocate, someone who can step into the Fathers presence and take up my case, and restore my lost fellowship. Isnt it wonderful that He is called the Righteous Advocate, the one who can always stand in the Fathers presence for the erring one. It isnt that we never do wrong. But it is only when we step out of love that we do wrong. There is only one real sin for the believer, that is to break the love law. John 13:34-35, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another ; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples (students) if you have love one to another. That is not only the badge of the New Creation but the law of the New Creation. The Father expects us to keep that law as faithfully as Israel kept the Ten Commandments. You remember that they worshipped the Ten Commandments. They may not have always kept them but they were ever conscious of them. Wouldnt it be beautiful if we believing sons and daughters of God were always conscious of this New Commandment. It makes no difference what sin you commit, that sin is stepping out of love. If we walk in love we never sin. Jesus is our Lord He is not only our great Advocate, but He is also our Lord. We come into the Family by confessing His Lordship. Rom. 10:9-10, Because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and with the. mouth confession is made unto salvation. Notice that we come into the Family by confessing with our lips the Lordship of this New Creation Man. He is the Head of the New Creation. He is the first born from among the dead. Phil. 2:9-11, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name ; That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. When you confess His Lordship, your heart accepts the fact that He automatically becomes your Righteousness. He not only becomes your Righteousness, but you become the Righteousness of God in Him. That brings you into the closest possible fellowship with the Father. Through the Son, the Holy Spirit has imparted to you Eternal Life, the nature of the Father. Now you are a child by nature; you are an heir of God, a joint heir with Jesus Christ. You ask, What does this Lordship mean? Why it means that He is your Protector, your Shepherd, the Lord of the New Creation, the Caretaker of the New Creation. The 23rd Psalm describes Him. Jehovah is my Shepherd, I shall not want. You know that the Jehovah of the Old Covenant is the Jesus of the New. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the Lord of the three tenses. The past, present and future tenses. What He was yesterday, He is today and what He is today, He will be tomorrow. As your Mediator, He brought you into vital union with the Father ; as Intercessor, He ever lives to pray for you ; as your Advocate, He protects you against the enemy : as your Lord, He is your supply, to meet every need of yours. You can say with Paul, Phil. 4:11, Not that I speak in respect of want : for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be independent of circumstances. And that wonderful thirteenth verse, I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me. The 19th verse, And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. The wealth of Heaven is ours. The wealth of Love is at our disposal. Jesus gave us instructions in the Sermon on the Mount. Matt. 6:30-34, He climaxed it with But seek ye first his king dom and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you. The kingdom had not yet come. Righteousness was not yet available. They had not yet been born again. Notice Rom. 10:11, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame. Another translation is Whosoever believeth on Him shall not wander about distractedly, looking for another Protector, Saviour or Lord. Of all the promises given in the Pauline Revelation, to me this is the most priceless, that we shall not be put to shame. There is not power enough in all this selfish world to sever, injure or hinder the fruit bearing of one branch of this vine. I can say, great peace have they who love the Master. Nothing shall offend them. You can rest in absolute security in His protecting care. He cannot overlook or forget you are tied to Him, just as a branch is tied to the vine. Jesus is the New Covenant Surety Heb. 7:21-22, The Lord sware and will not repent himself, Thou art a priest forever; by so much also has Jesus become the surety of a better covenant. I know of no scripture that thrills my heart more. This One sat down at the Right Hand of the Majesty on High, when He had completed His work, to become the Mediator. As soon as we find Christ as Saviour and receive Eternal Life, He becomes our Intercessor, and then the Advocate, He is our Lord, and now we look at Him as the Surety, the Guarantor of the New Covenant. The Throne is back of every Word from Matthew to Revelation. Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are back of the Throne. Now the heart can rest in His love. How many times I have whispered Luke 1:37, For no word from God shall be void of ability in fulfillment. Or I watch over my word to perform it. Or Is. 55:11, So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. His word cannot be broken so I rest with a quiet assurance. Gen. 22:17, That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. As Jehovah was back of that first Covenant Jesus is back of this New Covenant. Is. 42:6 is a remarkable statement, I Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. 750 years before He came He was promised to be the Covenant. He became the Covenant Lamb; the Covenant Sacrifice that Israel offered upon the cross. My heart can see how He loves me, He died for me, and He ever lives for me. Jesus is the High Priest The High Priestly ministry of the Master at the Right Hand of the Father is the most priceless. He offered His own blood as the basis of this New Covenant. He is the great High Priest Who makes our worship and love acceptable to the Father. No truth of life is more thrillingly priceless than this. You can see now that the work of Christ was first for us as a Sin Substitute; then in us through the Word by the Holy Spirit, building the very nature and life of Christ into our inner beings, making this hidden lean of the heart a fit companion for the Master. But that would be incomplete if He did not have a ministry for the sons of God now. So the most vital of all teachings is the ministry given in this chapter. Read it over and over until your heart takes it in, and you know that He ever lives for you, that He loves you and bears you upon His shoulders before the Father. Read Eph. 2:6, And raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. Your Lord is there; your Father is there; your name is inscribed there and you are there as a member of that new Body of which Christ is the Head. My heart is thrilled as I go from scene to scene with the Man of the cross, the Resurrection, and the Throne. We have seen Him seated at the Right Hand of the Majesty on High after the completion of the Eternal Redemption. Now we come to the close and give you this final chapter, The Fathers Care. Somehow the heart goes back over these momentous days of the great Substitution and in letters of transcendent light, we see these words, God so loved the world. If He loved the world that was held in captivity by Satanic nature, how He must love those whom He has Redeemed and Recreated; those who have received His own nature, His own substance and Being. He has now Recreated them and made them His own sons and daughters. If He loved them enough to give His Son as a Substitute for them while they were still His enemies, who can measure His love for them now as sons and daughters. They are in the Beloved. They are a part of Him. It is His joy to care for them and comfort them. He is love and they are His own. Jesus said, If a man love me he will keep my word, and the Father and I will love him and come and make our home with him. I can hear Him whisper, Cast all your anxiety on me for I am caring for you. What Happened From The Cross To The Throne Kindly share this post
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 21:00:01 +0000
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