JESUS BROUGHT A SUPERIOR COVENANT

Pastor Larry Gatlin, So Oregon

 

Abraham trusted God and so must we. It was counted unto him as faith. Abraham sought to always please God in every way. His life was a living monument to the Glory of God. In Genesis 11:14 we see a stark contrast to Abraham. The people were trying to build a tower that would reach to heaven. They were trying to reach god on their terms and by their owns means. They failed. But Abraham sought God on Gods terms and met Him on a totally different, even a higher level.

    Abraham was a man who sought Gods approval not mans. Many today are more interested in what man thinks than what God desires for them. When Abraham was asked  to offer his only son unto God he made a commitment that would never make sense to the human mind. But in Heb 11:17-19 Abraham took a major step of faith.

17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."   19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. NIV

     In Abrahams mind and heart He knew that if he offered Issac to the Lord, that the lord would raise Him from the dead. Just as father knew when He sent His only begotten Son that Jesus would be born of a Virgin, and one day go to an Old Rugged Cross and die for the sins of all mankind. But that He would be raised from the dead on the third day. We ll know that He did and that we have Salvation because of His great love for us. It was truly the fulfillment of Gods promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by His seed.

    Abraham was able to perceive the promise of God and walk into His blessings. If Abraham was able to walk into the blessings of God under an inferior covenant, how much more should we be able to walk in and enjoy the blessings of the superior covenant that Christ has provided.    Just as Abraham perceived Gods promises for his life we need to perceive them for our lives. The more we perceive God the less that the things of this world have a hold on us. The pleasure of this world give way to the pleasures of the KINGDOM. Everything else begins to fade away in the light of His presence. The acceptance of man becomes ridiculous to us.

    It becomes a priority for us to draw near to God. His Kingdom becomes more important than anything else. It become dependant upon the view we have. If I see everything through the eyes of man I will have a limited perspective. But if I can see through Gods eyes, the eyes of the Spirit, I'll see clearer.

 
    Have you ever tried to take a picture and suddenly realized that you still had the lens cap on? When we try to see things without Gods lenses we never get a clear perspective. But through His lenses the lense cap is always off and everything is clear. The Spirit never clouds our vision on Spiritual matters. It always releases a clear view of what God wants to do.
    As we go into this new year it is important that we start out by looking through Gods lenses and not our own. We must see by the eyes of faith. True Faith;

1. NEVER WAVERS
2. ALWAYS TRUSTS
3. ALWAYS BELIEVES
4. MAY HAVE DOUBT PASS THROUGH OUR MIND, BUT NEVER ALWAYS IT TO CAMP OUT THERE.
5. IT ALWAYS AND IMMEDIATELY CALLS UPON GOD.
6. LOOKS TO GOD AS THE AUTHOR AND THE FINISHER OF OUR FAITH. (HEB. 12;2)

    Abraham and Moses were called friends of God. David was called a man after Gods own heart. They were all three under an inferior covenant. Since that is true, then how much greater should our relationship with God under a superior covenant?

Pastor Larry