Day: March 16, 2007

The Price of Success

/ Tim A. / 3 Comments

Matthew 4:1-11 conclusion

“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him” Matthew 4:8-11.

Success is the next temptation. The devil wanted to give Jesus immediate gratification. There are many people today [2007] who desire immediate success/gratification, and will sell their very lives and souls to obtain it. Many measure success by the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the car or pickup truck you drive, and how much money you have in the bank; what the stocks you own are worth, etc..

A question could come to some minds, asking, “Did the devil have the right to offer the kingdoms of the world to Jesus?” The answer to that is yes, if you are asking concerning man’s sin. Adam and Eve had dominion over the earth until sin entered the picture, then, the devil, as ‘the ruler of this world’ (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Perhaps the devil had Psalm 2:8 in mind, and was attempting to get Jesus to come around the way of obedience to the Father, and get what God had promised the Son; “Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen [Nations] for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession”.

“Jesus, you can rule the world now. You don’t have to be a servant to God. You don’t have to be obedient.” He goes on and basically states, “You can have it all NOW, if you will fall down and worship me”. I think Jesus knew in His mind and heart, that, first of all, the Father would not be glorified in that; secondly, He would not be glorified in yielding; thirdly, the devil would be undefeated; fourthly, mankind, whom He came to redeem would still be lost, condemned, and there would be no hope for them.

The thing Jesus did is what every Christian can, should and ought to do everytime the temptation comes to look to success as an end all to all our problems. “Be gone devil. It is written, “You shall worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve”.

The greatest success ever was the completion of the Father’s will as He died on the cross, suffering the judgment of sin at the hand of His Father, in the place of all sinners; and by His resurrection from the grave. The real success of Jesus Christ has not yet been delivered to the saints. It will be delivered in His time, not ours. His success will come, “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now thereefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him” Psalm 2:9-12 (KJV).

We know the work of Jesus Christ on the cross was successful, because He arose from the grave. We know He has been given His former glory, because He is seated at the Father’s right hand. We know that we will be with Him, because He has promised, and He does not lie.

When we are trusting the LORD, there are no shortcuts for survival, security, or success. These are truly obtained as we trust the One who died for us.

The Second Day

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

Genesis 1:3-13 continuing…

“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day” Genesis 1:6-8 (KJV).

On day two the waters of the earth were to be divided. The water of the surface of the land, and the waters in the sky. This does leave us with the knowledge that there is water above us, even in our time. We know that because of clouds, rainfall, snowfall, icefall, etc. On this second day of creation this water above the earth seems to have been much more massive than that of today.

One thing that should be noticed is the orderly fashion in which God created. Of course, it is obvious to us that it should be done this way. However, far too many times we humans get the proverbial “Cart before the horse”. This is further evidence of the All-Wise, All-Powerful Creator.

This second day is a recorded day of division. It should also be noted that this is the only day where it is not recorded that “God saw that it was good”. It seems that there is something of a sadness on this day. Could it be possible that this division typifies the cross of Jesus? The separation of man from God? The separation of the God-Man from His father as He becomes the sins of the world, and becomes the brunt of His Father’s judgment? “We believe that the ‘firmament’ here typifies the cross and sets forth its twofold aspect. There our blessed Lord was divided or separated from God Himsell — ‘My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’; and there also He was separated from man– ‘Cut off out of the land of the living'”. A. W. PINK Gleanings In Genesis pg. 24. One thing we must realize when we recognize “Types, shadows, etc.” is that a type does not deny the historicity or truth of the text. If we can see this here, then, truly glory is given to the Creator, and we magnify Him. This may be the reason why there is no acknowledgement of , “God saw that it was good”, His heart was grieved, because He saw the price that He would be paying to redeem fallen man.

It should be noted that at the last day of creation we are told, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (v. 31). At the completion of God’s New Creation he will be able to say, through His Son Jesus, “Well done Good and faithful servant. His creation is “Good”. The completion of creation – the New Creation (2 Cor. 5:17) – is “Very good”. Man, not the material things, are the priority of God’s glory.