God's plan for man was foreordained in Christ before the foundation of the world, as it is written; “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.'
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth --- in Him”.
“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:3-12).
The plan which God has for man and was foreordained before the foundation of the world, is the covenant He made with Jesus Christ, for man's restoration and holiness. For “Thus says God the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the LORD, have called You (Jesus Christ) in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images” (Isaiah 42:5-8).
Again, thus says the LORD; " In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages” (Isaiah 49:8).
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."
God the Father gave Jesus Christ as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth. This covenant was ratified with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, when He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” This covenant became effective after the death of Jesus Christ since it is stated that, “Where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives” (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:16-17).
The sad thing is that, the majority of people do not see this covenant which became effective only after the death of Jesus Christ, going beyond the cross, they believe that the once and for all necessitates no more offerings to be made on behalf of sins. But the irony of truth is, the once and for all signifies that , once and for all there is an offering that can present the worshiper perfect and sinless before God, and thus fulfilling the will of God. And so Jesus said; "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
So the question is, are we offering the Lord the food for His offering when we present ourselves before Him! Or are we so self righteous to believe that we can with all our limitations, with all our sinfulness, and with all our unworthiness present ourselves before the Father?
Going to the Father through Jesus Christ who intercedes on our behalf as our High Priest without presenting His body and blood is incomplete, because one is incomplete without the other. For it is stated quite clearly that; “There are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit (Jesus Christ), the water (His flesh), and the blood; and these three agree as one” (1John 5:8).
The testimony which God has given us regarding His Son is simply this; “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Now with regards to this life the Son said quite emphatically; “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven --- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6: 53-58).
Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life
It is the offering of the body and blood of Jesus Christ with Jesus Christ interceding as our High Priest that grant us access to the Father, as clearly stated by the apostle Paul who wrote; “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.'
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:19-25).
The bottom line is, “ This is what the LORD spoke, saying: ' By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified " (Leviticus 10:3).
To regard the Lord as holy, one must be holy themselves, and the way one becomes holy is by eating of those things with which the atonement was made. Truly these times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.
Copyright © 2013 by Lucius Joseph
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