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Hebrews 9:15
Hebrews 9:15
"And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance”
Eternal Life is Zoe! this means the very Life of God, otherwise referred to as 'God's kind of Life freely given to humanity', which comes only through the cross of Christ. This message is to commemorate my birthday celebration on the 31st of May, 2012. it gives me great pleasure to share this subject of Eternal Life with you and your lovesones, particularly with all our ministry supporters and partners who are making it possible for us through their gifts to reach out to millions of souls via radio, free gospel tracts and literature publications. This subject is taken from one of our last series on the radio tithed: Christ Our Mediator' You can order for the full package , which consist of Audio CD and about 245 page expository book on the Hebrew Epistles; it unveils the present ministry of Christ to the believers and unbelievers alike, victorious living through the cross of Christ over the sinful nature, the contemporary church settings. It's informative, inspiring and life changing book.Now! God’s gift to humanity is abundant life, which comes only through Christ. Mankind was imparted with the life of God at creation; though this life is eternal; man was separated from God as a result of Adam’s disobedience against God; thus was corrupted by sin. Adam’s disobedience against God’s command in Genesis 2 brought physical and spiritual death to humanity.
Genesis 2:15 – 17
“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”
This command was crucial as it patterns to life and death; this means obedience to God will result in continuous unification to the sources of life, while disobedience to God will result in separation from the very source of life. In Genesis chapter 3 Adam was tempted and he made the wrong choice, by disobeying God’s command, thus brought spiritual death upon himself, which ultimately brought physical death on the human race. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” This same temptation from the evil one is ongoing today and have caused untold millions their lives and faith in Christ. Adam was tempted by the lust of the eyes; the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Apostle John admonishing us concerning these destructive lustful desires said in 1st John 2
1st John 2:15 – 17
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever”
Adam lost his original position with God because of unbelief. Eve his wife was deceived while he obviously watch on in unbelief. Apostle Paul speaking concerning this said in 1st Timothy 2:14 “And Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” As a result of not believing God’s word fell into the same temptation of the lust of the eyes, the flesh and the pride of life; this eventually caused him his position with God; and subjected him to both spiritual and physical death. He became a slave to sin, and was now subject to the evil one, Satan. At this fallen state Adam was held by condemnation, shame, fear and intimidation. Everything around him became strange and God’s voice that was joyfully understood and welcome became very dreadful. It was at this fallen state of man that the first question in the entire bible was asked by God: “…Where are you?” But Adam’s conscience was now corrupted by sin and fear, so seek to hide himself from God. Adam became naked; because sin now stripped him of God’s glorious light that clothed him; and then seek a covering by using fig leaves.
Friend, this is the same error today; many are trying to clothe themselves with God’s glory by self righteousness and all types of religious rites and dogmatism. Just as Adam’s own effort using fig leaves cold not cover him, in the same way our own human effort cannot meet God’s required standard, neither can our religious rites justify us. We have to depend absolutely on the finish work of Christ to be justified and seat us in the place of righteousness by divine decree; which is referred to as sanctification. So! Adam’s disobedience brought death and condemnation. It was at this fallen state that God intervene and promised the redemption of humanity through a substitute; which was eventually the gift of His only begotten Son, our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. God had to literally slain an innocent animal to give a covering to Adam and Eve. Adam had never thought that any of those innocent animals surrounding him will have to take his place of disobedience to give him a covering - clothes of skin. In fact this innocent animal was a type of Christ who also was innocent and had to take our guilt upon Himself at Calvary cross in order to reconcile us back to God and clothe us with the gift of God’s righteousness. Our Lord Jesus Christ became the second Adam. Apostle Paul speaking concerning this; said in 1st Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall be made alive” verse 45 reads: “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” Just as the first Adam was subject to temptation, the second Adam- Our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ was also subject to temptation. Luke speaking concerning this said in Luke 4. 1 – 13 bears out the three forms of this lustful destructive temptation as it relates to Christ temptation in the wilderness.
Praise God! Our Lord Jesus Christ overcame all temptations and trials to bring us redemption from eternal condemnation. Apostle Paul speaking concerning this said in Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”
Now, there are three sub heading to consider on this subject of 'Eternal Life' in order to properly grasp the understanding of Christ sulvivic work of redemption, thus granting access to God and made eternal life available to ‘whosoever will’. When you grasp this understanding you will then understand the new birth, the family of God and be able to run the race that is set before us through the cross of Christ. However, I will only consider the third part of this sub heading in this article. ' Eternal Life' I encourage you to order for this material, and take time to visit our library page for some free download.
- The New Life
- Living in the Newness of Life
- Eternal Inheritance
Eternity
Eternal life is a life that never ends; every human being will live eternally; but whatever choices we make on earth determines where we will spend eternity. There are two destinations. Our Lord Jesus Christ speaking concerning this said in Matthew 25: 46 “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” These destinations are differentiated by ‘punishment’. Both parties will live eternally; one to ‘life eternal’ the other to ‘everlasting punishment’. The former is referred to as eternal life because it patterns to eternal union and fellowship in God’s presence. The latter is referred to everlasting punishment because it is eternal separation from God’s presence.
The first Adam made the wrong choice and was separated from God’s presence, but the second Adam granted us access to God’s presence again; but it remains our responsibility to choice God’s gift of life, which guarantees our eternal fellowship and reunion with Him, or to reject His gift of life and suffer eternal separation from Him. Christ is the gift of life to all humanity; He came to give us the life that never ends. Our Lord Jesus Christ speaking concerning this gift of life to humanity said in John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” The thief refers to the evil one and lustful worldly system which is enmity against God. In verse 27 through 28 our Lord Jesus Christ said: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” Again, we see a promise with a condition. The condition is to hear His voice and follow Him by relying on the cross of Christ and making Christ the very object of faith. The promise is Eternal security: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand”. This God given life is void of darkness and only those who receive Christ as Lord and personal saviour receives this life.
