The universal covenants which God created that are established with all men after Adam (as "every soul is mine" is illustrated in Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. This passage is part of a larger picture demonstrating that each individual is held responsible for being righteous or wicked and we aren't going to be responsible for our father's sin; and more importantly we aren't given special status if our father was righteous. We see this illustrated with the "sons of Abraham" when in John 8 starting in verse 31 Christ warns the Pharisees that they are in reality sons of the devil and can't use their biological heritage as some sort of defense to prevent judgment by God.
Therefore biology transfers a fallen nature in one respect; but what we DO with it is another matter. God prescribes the proper method to atone for our sins through the blood atonement of Christ; any other method we come up with will fail.
I thought of another sort of covenant this morning; and that is in regard to the slaves which God established in essentially two ways; with those who were Israelites working out their debts in servitude; and those who were made slaves due to conquest.
I am focusing on the former at this point; although no doubt there are other things relating to the latter in terms of how they were to be treated which I suppose I should elaborate on in order not to avoid hard scriptures. The best example of the latter would be the Gibeonites who although they used deception were able to hang onto their physical lives being slaves and obligated by God to protect.
As for the Israelites; God warned the judgment of Babylonian conquest had a sort of last minute reprieve available if they were to let them go after seven years. ( Jeremiah 34:8-22). They forced them back to servitude and God sealed their fate of judgment.
Biology does not transfer a fallen nature " The body is dead because of sin "
The fallen nature is spiritual not biological . The body dies because it is cut off at its roots from God .
The heart of man is desperately wicked deceitful above all else and who can know it " Is not the biological heart that pumps blood around the body but the ' main spring ' of a persons ' life' .
In truth though we say ' we give our life to Christ " we actually don't. We give our death and He gives us His life .
Outside of Christ we live in the flesh the body and function in the realm of this body and physical realm .
Seeing tasting touching reasoning perceiving only the " outward appearance "
We are more homeless than the homeless . Lost .
When we are truly born again the " old man" is crucified with Christ and buried with Christ " and we by the grace of God "become partakers of His nature"
" For the body is dead because of sin ,but if the same Spirit dwells in us thst raised up Jesus from the dead ,He shall quicken our mortal bodies".
Paul was praying for us Christian's in Ephesians that " the eyes of our understanding msy be opened thst we might see and comprehend what is the exceeding greatness of His power that is towards us who believe that raises Christ Jesus from the dead "
He himself said he wanted to know (more) the power of his resurrection" you can't know the power of a resurrection unless you are dead! But in this also he wrote " that I might be made conformable to his death" Clearly there is much more to " His death" than we realise but as the cross and His death is so little preached on is it any wonder?
For having reduced the gospel to being just BORN again there is very little exposition on anything else that will produce growth and development of the Christian .
" Little children "Praise the Lord!But what of " young men" ye have overcome the wicked one " Now there is a message I'd ,Ike to hear! But it goes onto maturity " Ye fathers..
The universal covenants which God created that are established with all men after Adam (as "every soul is mine" is illustrated in Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. This passage is part of a larger picture demonstrating that each individual is held responsible for being righteous or wicked and we aren't going to be responsible for our father's sin; and more importantly we aren't given special status if our father was righteous. We see this illustrated with the "sons of Abraham" when in John 8 starting in verse 31 Christ warns the Pharisees that they are in reality sons of the devil and can't use their biological heritage as some sort of defense to prevent judgment by God.
Therefore biology transfers a fallen nature in one respect; but what we DO with it is another matter. God prescribes the proper method to atone for our sins through the blood atonement of Christ; any other method we come up with will fail.
I thought of another sort of covenant this morning; and that is in regard to the slaves which God established in essentially two ways; with those who were Israelites working out their debts in servitude; and those who were made slaves due to conquest.
I am focusing on the former at this point; although no doubt there are other things relating to the latter in terms of how they were to be treated which I suppose I should elaborate on in order not to avoid hard scriptures. The best example of the latter would be the Gibeonites who although they used deception were able to hang onto their physical lives being slaves and obligated by God to protect.
As for the Israelites; God warned the judgment of Babylonian conquest had a sort of last minute reprieve available if they were to let them go after seven years. ( Jeremiah 34:8-22). They forced them back to servitude and God sealed their fate of judgment.
The fallen nature is spiritual not biological . The body dies because it is cut off at its roots from God .
The heart of man is desperately wicked deceitful above all else and who can know it " Is not the biological heart that pumps blood around the body but the ' main spring ' of a persons ' life' .
In truth though we say ' we give our life to Christ " we actually don't. We give our death and He gives us His life .
Outside of Christ we live in the flesh the body and function in the realm of this body and physical realm .
Seeing tasting touching reasoning perceiving only the " outward appearance "
We are more homeless than the homeless . Lost .
When we are truly born again the " old man" is crucified with Christ and buried with Christ " and we by the grace of God "become partakers of His nature"
" For the body is dead because of sin ,but if the same Spirit dwells in us thst raised up Jesus from the dead ,He shall quicken our mortal bodies".
Paul was praying for us Christian's in Ephesians that " the eyes of our understanding msy be opened thst we might see and comprehend what is the exceeding greatness of His power that is towards us who believe that raises Christ Jesus from the dead "
He himself said he wanted to know (more) the power of his resurrection" you can't know the power of a resurrection unless you are dead! But in this also he wrote " that I might be made conformable to his death" Clearly there is much more to " His death" than we realise but as the cross and His death is so little preached on is it any wonder?
For having reduced the gospel to being just BORN again there is very little exposition on anything else that will produce growth and development of the Christian .
" Little children "Praise the Lord!But what of " young men" ye have overcome the wicked one " Now there is a message I'd ,Ike to hear! But it goes onto maturity " Ye fathers..
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