They Fell On Their Faces

And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.   And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.       Leviticus 9:23-24

Leviticus is probably not my favorite book of the Bible, and not of the five books of the Law. It does clearly show us the need of a blood sacrifice for the redemption of us all. It is also clear that the blood, of lambs, goats, rams, and bullocks are not adequate for the taking away of sin. These sacrifices are a foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus Christ to once and for all, and all time, put away our sin.

What Leviticus declares to us is the sinfulness of Adamkind, and our need for a Redeemer. We do know today, that the only redemption for sin is the blood of Jesus Christ poured out at Calvary’s cross where the wrath of the Almighty was put on His Son, and He was judged on our behalf; so that all who come to Him through faith would receive eternal life.

As the people in the days of Moses, and Aaron and his sons fell on their faces when they saw the glory of GOD; we have an even greater reason and privilege to fall on our faces before the Living Son of God, Jesus Christ who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. Fall down before Him in repentance and faith; call on His name.

God Does Not Condemn You

“For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”  John 3:17-19

The truth of the matter is we were all condemned through the sin of Adam and Eve while they were living in paradise. They had it made and chose to believe the lie of the serpent rather than the One who walked with them in that beautiful paradise.

Because they chose to sin against God they condemned the whole race of Adam – that is you and me. Since that sad day every child ever born into this world is in a condemned state, spiritually dead, separated from God, and headed to an eternity separated from good and from God, to a burning eternal fire.

For Adam and Eve God sent the means of redemption through the shed blood of innocent animals (possibly lambs) a covering for their sin. For us today, He has given us His Son Jesus Christ.

For all who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, believing that He died on the cross for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose from the grave bodily we can have eternal life with Him. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). God does not condemn; He delivers us unto eternal life.

Will you call on His name today, believing Him? He will hear and He will deliver you from condemnation.

Beauty and Holiness

Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”  Psalm 29:1-2 (KJB)

For some folks they have a problem reconciling beauty and holiness.  We probably have the idea of “Beauty” mostly wrong.  Most of us marvel at the beauty of creation, all that God has made in the outdoors.  I fear that some see more beauty in the things which Adamkind (mankind) has made.  Some see beauty in city lights, and horizons of cities lit up in the night sky.

I see much more of beauty as I look at the stars above at night.  The lights of cities I see as “Light pollution”, polluting the sky with man made conveniences. Now, please do not get me wrong; I do appreciate those conveniences just as much as others do.

What is beauty?  There is an old saying which state, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”.  That is probably true with some things, but not God things.  If God states that something is beautiful, then we need to see it as beautiful as well.  The heart right with God will see holiness as something of great beauty.

It anything is holy to the LORD, then, it is beautiful as well.

With God human life is holy.  The blood that flows through our veins and most living creatures, is sacred and holy to the LORD.  The LORD has stated in the book of Leviticus 17:11…

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”

For one individual to haphazardly take the life of another individual that is that beauty, neither is it glory to the LORD.  It grieves His heart.  That is why He authorized human government the right of corporal punishment, or the death penalty. My life is no more important that another life.  To intentionally kill for one’s own personal gain, or pleasure is plainly murder, and deserves to die equally.

God created Adamkind in His likeness and after His image.  That has been tainted, and ruined by our sin.  It is restored through the redemptive work of Jesus God’s Son by His death on  the cross.  That is holiness in its beauty.  The Holy dying for the unholy, that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Beauty and Holiness in Christ Jesus.

The Shout of Creation

“Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them has He set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” Psalm 19:2-6 (KJV)

The declaration of creation is that God is. There are those who look at the order of this ordered creation and somehow, though very illogically, proclaim that “It just happened”.  Really?

Would you say that your new car was formed when a tornado tragically went through a salvage yard, or even a steel mill, and suddenly that car landed there fully formed.  Now, that is just plain illogical; if not just plumb dumb.

Creation shouts of the glory of God.  The size of the universe is beyond my comprehension.  Yet we have scientists who are trying to figure out just how large it is.  All they have is a wild guess.  No matter how big the universe; God is bigger.  He created it.  He spoke the world, and the stars, the planets, and any other solar system which exist, into existence (Psalm 33:6).

The apostle Paul clearly proclaims…

For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.  Romans 1:20

“They that are without excuse” are those who cannot hear the shout of creation telling loudly and clearly that God is.  The creation is even groaning waiting for the deliverance from corruption (Romans 8:21-22).  Do you not hear the groaning in the fires, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and the evil of Adamkind in the world.

When you have one of our own political parties that are more concerned will illegal aliens in our nation, and definitely not concerned about the legal murder of 63,000,000 unborn babies; there is something desperately wrong, and evil in the minds and hearts of this world, and this country.

Can you hear the shout of creation?  Can you hear the shout of the gospel of Jesus Christ that a good, righteous, holy, just, and innocent gave His life for the evil, unrighteous, unholy, unjust, and guilty race of Adamkind?  He died, was buried, and He rose again.  He is returning again to receive His own unto Himself.  O, will you hear Him?

The Throne of God and of the Lamb

The blessings of being with God are wonderful, fantastic, and I do not know if any earthly word could describe it unless it would be AWESOME. His desire for us to know and understand the Revelation is clearly revealed to us, though the understanding may be difficult. Warnings and invitation to the unrepentant and warnings to those who might treat His prophecies with contempt are plentiful and quite clear in their description of the judgment which will follow for those with evil hearts and minds; and the declaration by Jesus of a quick coming sums up The Revelation of Jesus Christ. A marvelous word from God.

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. Revelation 22:1-5 (KJV)

We will be gathered around the throne of God; the Holy, Righteous, Glorious, One.

Around the throne, we find the “Water of life”. It reminds us of the refreshing purity of God. There was a time when King David was in battle and he desired water from the well of Bethlehem. The water from that certain well was known for its fresh, clean, clear and cool refreshment. Three of David’s men broke through enemy lines and brought him a drink (1 Chronicles 11:15-19). Even the water from the freshest of wells here on earth could not begin to match the satisfaction of that “water of life” which flows from the throne of God. Out of the belly of those who love Jesus shall flow rivers of living water.

John sees the “Tree of Life”. Driven from the garden by the wrath of God wrapped in grace, Adam and Eve would never see the tree in the garden of Eden again. By God’s grace, they will see it again when we all stand before the face of God. Mankind has been kept from this tree for thousands of years (Genesis 3:22-24). Where the book of Genesis drives Adamkind from the garden, in the Revelation we find access to the tree once again for all who came by way of Jesus Christ. Access is granted again. The Tree of Life bears twelve different kinds of fruit each month. Its leaves provide healing for the nations. What kind of healing this is speaking of I do not know, unless it would be speaking of ethnic groups who will find peace and grace, and mercy at the feet of Jesus.

There was a curse put on Adamkind in the garden of Eden due to Adam’s and Eve’s sin of disobedience and eating the forbidden fruit. The curse was sin, death, and hell. It has been the inclination of mankind to rebel against God and curse Him. There is an emptiness in man that causes him to search for someone greater than himself, but always, apart from God’s searching for him, looking elsewhere other than the Creator. Making gods in their own likeness, like creatures, and other men. According to the Psalmist these gods have hands, but cannot work; feet but cannot walk; eyes but cannot see, and they that make them are like unto them (Psalm 115, and 135). The curse is eternally lifted at the glorification of Jesus Christ, and obedience will be the inclination of all who enter that city, that is called Holy. God and the Lamb are present, and where God and the Lamb are, sin cannot be. PRAISE HIM!!!!

We are gathered around the throne as His children glorifying Him for all eternity. What a blessing to be before His face (Coram Deo is Latin for “Before the face of God”). That should be the heart of the child of God until we see Him face to face. One of the greatest blessings will be that we will be marked by His name in our foreheads.

God is the Light of that city. Scripture does not say there is no sun or moon. My mind tells me that the glory of God and the Lamb will be so bright and majestic that the light of the sun and moon will only fade behind the scene.

O, do you know Jesus the Glorious One who died, was buried, and rose again?