DawnMc13

As we go through suffering we allow God to shape us through these pressures to look more and more like Christ. A potter forms the clay by exerting pressure on it until it looks like he designed it to look.

When Abraham brought Isaac to the altar, willing to sacrifice his beloved son, he demonstrated to God by his action that he fully trusted God and was willing to be obedient to him when it went against his own heart. God knew that Abraham believed in him fully by this action. He was counted as righteous, because of his faith.

As children of God, we have been given the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is God in us to give us His power to overcome the power of sin and to guide us to live for Him, to become like Christ. Now we can draw others to Him by His power.

Mankind is the slave. I think this slave-ransom analogy is clearly spelled out in the NT. When God created man, man was without sin and was present with God in the Garden. Man’s sin separated him from God. Mankind is now under the control of the devil from birth. A sacrificial system was immediately set up by God for man to atone for his sin, temporarily. God later came to make a covenant with His chosen people. They became slaves to the law and in turn God would give them His guidance, power and protection. Again, man broke this covenant. God made a new covenant with His people, by sending His Son to be our redeemer and Savior. Christ has truly set us free from slavery to the law.

Since we were purchased at a high price we now belong to God’s family. Therefore, because we love Him wholly we seek to live a life that brings Him honor and praise. We are now part of His family. Now our lives sole purpose is to bring others into the family by sharing the gospel with them, out of love and concern for them.

In the OT, there was a very strong sense of family, and being part of a particular family meant that family members would look out for one another, to rescue, redeem or avenge one another when they were in trouble. Since we were in danger of the power of Satan and spending an eternity is separation from our Father, Jesus came to rescue us from our danger. He redeemed us back to our Father, since we are part of His family.

Slaves were the class of humans that were freed by payment of a redemption price or a ransom. I think that Jesus, Peter and Paul used this analogy because slavery was a part of their culture and was very well understood by the people of that time. We are all born as sinners and therefore are slaves to sin. This puts us under the control of the devil. When Jesus died on the cross He bought us back to the ownership of the Father to those who accept Him as their Saviour. Romans 6:22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.

Romans 8:3 (ESV) 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, I chose this verse because it gives a synopsis of the Bible…OT and NT

God’s righteousness demands sin’s punishment. This is necessary for God to be a just God. By God’s love for us and His mercy… (not receiving what we deserve) we are given grace… (not getting what we do deserve). Jesus received what we deserved…the punishment that our sin required, so that we don’t get the punishment we do deserve!

When Adam sinned, man became separated from God by that sin. God is holy and cannot be in the presence of sin. God set up a sacrificial system that would temporarily pay for the sin of man in the Old Testament. This was done by the sacrifice of an unblemished animal. The blood of that animal is what contained its life and by the shedding of the blood this animal’s life was a temporary payment of sin. The reason it was temporary is because God considers animals lower than man. This repeated procedure reminded man of his sin before the Almighty God. For the payment to be permanent, the blood needed to come from a man without blemish (sin). Since all man is born in sin, only God’s Son could be born without sin and live a sinless life. His life was the only life that could be acceptable by God as a permanent payment for sin. Jesus’ death of the cross (His sacrifice) was man’s substitutionary payment for sin. We can then, by putting our faith in Him and His sacrifice, receive the atonement of our sin, and in turn, receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We are then given an inheritance into God’s eternal kingdom.

The fact that Jesus predicted His own death three time, and He did so with the precision of knowing exactly what would happen and why. His disciples were not able to grasp what was happening until later, after His resurrection. They, along with the scholars of the Old Testament, believed Jesus was coming to set up an earthly kingdom, even though Jesus was explaining His kingdom to them constantly in many of His parables. Jesus knew exactly who He was and what God was requiring of Him. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He was asking God to remove this cup from Him, but not His will, but His Fathers will.

God removes the sins of the Gentiles as well as the Jews when He says, “many nations. “Our transgressions” not only means ours now, but from the beginning of time until the end of the age, for those who belong to Him. I don’t think it is wasted on people, for God knew His people in advance and He died to wash repentant sinner’s sins away. His call is open for everyone but in His Sovereignty, He knew and knows who belong to Him. Only their sin is wiped away.

. God taught us that the wages of sin is death. Without a payment for our sin we would be eternally separated from God by our sin. The payment was very costly…the death of His own beloved Son. God is merciful to us because He loves us and longs to be with us. He freely offers salvation to us by grace. “Receiving what we don’t deserve”

Mercy means we don’t get what we deserve. Our sin deserves punishment, but by God accepting His Son’s sacrifice for out sin, undeservedly, we are receiving His mercy. Animals were not adequate for mans’ sin because animals were less that man. God, again, bestowed upon man His mercy by allowing animals to be a temporary atonement until Christ.

The basic elements involved in a sacrifice for sin were… · Confession of the sin · A female lamb, without defect, pure of any blemish must be brought for sacrifice · He must lay his hands the head of this lamb which his sin was then imparted to the lamb in his stead. · The lamb would then be slayed by cutting its throat · Blood would be collected by the priest and poured at the base of the altar · Removal of fat portions were burned on the altar · The meat was eaten by the priest The elements that are still necessary of our sin today are… · Confession of sin After Jesus’ death on the cross, He was for us… · The lamb without defect (sinless because He was true God) · Our sin was transferred to Him when we accepted Him as our Savior. · He died on the cross, bloodied and bruised, slain · His blood was laid at our Fathers feet who was sitting on His altar. · The meat being eaten by the priest represents that Christ sacrifice for our sins was accepted by His Father