Friday: Further Thought ~ Jesus, The Mediator of the New Covenant
Further Thought:
“If our hearts are renewed in the likeness of God, if the divine love is implanted in the soul, will not the law of God be carried out in the life? When the principle of love is implanted in the heart, when man is renewed after the image of Him that created him, the new-covenant promise is fulfilled, ‘I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.’ Hebrews 10:16.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
And if the law is written in the heart, will it not shape the life? Obedience — the service and allegiance of love — is the true sign of discipleship. Thus the Scripture says, ‘This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.’ ‘He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.’ 1 John 5:3; 1 John 2:4. Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render obedience. …
The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature. This is evidence that Satan’s delusions have lost their power; that the vivifying influence of the Spirit of God is arousing you.
No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not realize its own sinfulness. The soul that is transformed by the grace of Christ will admire His divine character; but if we do not see our own moral deformity, it is unmistakable evidence that we have not had a view of the beauty and excellence of Christ.” — Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, Pages 60, 64, 65.
Discussion Questions:
|
(17)
To be honest, I am a bit disappointed about where the lesson ended today. To finish up contemplating our sinfulness seems at odds with the whole purpose of the new covenant (or any of the covenants for that matter). Granted I am a sinner and there are things I need to fix in my life, but contemplating my sinfulness is not really what it is about.
I know one of my friends is going to kill me when he reads my illustration for this morning, but I hope he forgives me. My friend had a problem and it required surgery. I wished him well and he bravely said that it was only a minor thing and he would be over it quickly. Yesterday I enquired how the surgery went. He told me it did not quite go according to script and that procedural changes were made and that it was in fact quite painful. But, he added that in a few weeks time he will be able to play golf.
Now my friend could be sitting around contemplating his navel and the pain and suffering but instead, he is focused on getting out on the fairways and greens, hitting a white ball with a stick. That is something that obviously brings him a lot of joy.
Likewise, focusing on the joy that is set before us in our spiritual lives gives us something to look forward to.
Focus is important!
You are blessed to have such a positive friend Maurice. We would all be a lot better off if we all had this kind of a friend. I hope you treasure his friendship.
Good day Maurice.
What stood out for me in the lesson is not the focus on sinfulness but the part of a rhetorical question that says "...we must not let the realization of our own defects cause us to give up faith in despair". Your illustration reinforces this. Your friend is not allowing the discomfort of his surgery to discourage his hope (faith?) of playing golf soon.
Hi Brother Ashton, "Focus is important" it is very good for your friend to think that way.However, the author failed to encourage us to stay focus on Jesus as our Mediator of the new alliance and the end result (joy, happiness, holiness,ect.) that will come if we stay focus. Because sin was paid with love by the Mediator. It is my understanding.
It is impossible play tennis by focusing on the scoreboard. It is impossible to honour God by focusing on our failures and successes. Instead,
We want to follow the Lamb because he leads us directly into the Father's presence. (Revelation 14:4.)
Another great analogy, Richard! I really liked the of the bike with training wheels too. 🙂
Good morning Maurice, I have to say that I had the opposite reaction to today’s lesson. I felt like it wrapped up the weeks topic very well. What I came away with, was that if I keep my focus on Jesus, yes, I will see my sinfulness, but when my focus is on Jesus, my life will become like him. The whole idea of “by beholding, we become changed”, is a very hopeful thing. It requires me to choose though, to be obedient as he was obedient. The lesson brought that out in a very beautiful way. I will however agree that the questions at the end could just have been left off, it takes away from the positive direction of the previous thoughts.
I think the way we relate to today's lesson has a lot to do with personality. For me, I love the Ellen White quote about feeling sinful, because it is often how I feel. It's not a matter of dwelling on my sin, but a matter of my tendencies. I am quite introspective and have a tendency to beat myself up, both in ordinary areas of life and the spiritual. Sometimes I'll think, "How can I act this way and truly be a Christian?" And then I think of that quote and it assures me that there's more to the story.
When I omit the words "covenants" and just look at the Principles of Life in the Word of the LORD I understand better the LORD's Plan of Redemption which is revealed in the Everlasting Covenant and which is the same from Genesis to Revelation.
God is Love. He loves us so much He gave us His Son to reconcile humanity to Himself. He gives us the choice: love Him, serve Him, worship Him and at the Second Coming receive eternal life or reject Him and cease to exist.
EG White explains the Word of God better than I can.
I believe contemplating our sinfulness is a moment by moment awareness whereby we recognize the shadow of darkness (sin)that dwells within and at any particular moment in time we are able to change accordingly with the Spirit of God in us. “the vivifying influence of the Spirit of God is arousing you”
This week's lesson taught about Jesus being 'at' and 'the' core of the provisions of the New Covenant. The lesson writer introduced the different angles, but the wrap-up does not focus on the Father’s Grace and Love of mankind, it again focuses on ‘obedience and perfection’. Why is this? Why, even under the New Covenant, are we taught to focus on ‘fearing’ God, instead of learning to love the Father as a child loves his gracious, all-forgiving Father through Trust and Faith?
Why is the word ‘obedience’ used so frequently to express the operational aspect of faith when loving the Father? I have come to understand that ‘obedience’ derives its relevance when it is the doorstep of ones heart. It screens and selects what become the desires of the heart, and so assures that we will love the Father with all our heart and being. If this ‘obedience’ represents the ‘threshold’ to my heart, it is there to ‘guard’ the entrance to my heart - rejecting self-serving ways.
The lesson shows again that we use our own lens when learning about what the Spirit tells us in the Scriptures. I do not see 1John5:3 to say anything about ‘perfection’, ‘obedience’, or ‘demand’; instead I understand it to read that the Love of God causes our heart to desire to love Him.
1John2:4 similarly – on the surface, the text seems ‘black and white’, but reflecting a bit deeper, I find the focus to be on recognizing what it means to know God; that 'knowing' God rightly is evidenced through acts of loving kindness; it points out the heart’s need to learn how to love rightly.
I find that the closer I come to Jesus, the humbler I become; appreciating more and more to lean on His strength during my times of weakness and struggle. God has chosen to love us with all His heart because we are lost without His Love.
This week’s lesson helped me to renew my commitment not to focus my attention on my sinfulness, imperfection and the mind’s obedience to overcome them, but rather on strengthening my heart’s love of the Father through acknowledging how much He loves me; learning to be humble and grateful for His ever present Love and Grace.
The lesson this week is a reminder that we need Christ. People need the Lord. It is impossible for us to climb from out under the burden of sin without a growing relationship with Christ. If we don't neglect Christ as our one source of hope, as our Saviour, our Mediator of a new covenent, and our Friend, we have solved the heart problem.
He has promised to give us a new heart and much more. Ezekiel 11:18-20.
I really like the quote in today's lesson. "Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render obedience."
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Acts 16:31. The quote gives us much of what it means to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.