Luciusministry

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Believe that Jesus Christ is our High Priest

6. BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS OUR HIGH PRIEST

The sixth important aspect of believing in Jesus Christ is to believe that Jesus Christ is our High Priest. The true believer believes that the reason why Jesus Christ had to be made like His brethren in every way, was to be become a merciful and faithful High Priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. He is the mediator of the New Covenant by which we can now draw near to God.

And because He lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. For it is fitting that we should have such a High Priest, one who is holy, blameless, pure, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself. For the law appoints as high priest men who are weak; but the oath which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever” (Hebrews 7:11-17; 21-28).

Worshiping God and ascribing to Him the glory due to His name is the primary objective of our calling for thus it is written; “Come to Him, to that living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him. You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The spiritual sacrifice one offers through Jesus Christ and is acceptable to God is the sacrificial body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is the only perfect offering that satisfies the will of the Father. Because when Jesus Christ came into the world He said, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings You were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll; I have come to do Your will, O God, He sets aside the first to establish the second, and by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”.

A true believer believes that Jesus Christ is our High Priest and He is officiating in the true Tabernacle in heaven, and as every high priest chosen from among men, He is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. It is stated quite explicitly, “For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer” (Hebrews 5:1; 8:3).

The food for the Lord’s offerings which was offered by the High Priest in the Old Testament and known as the burnt offering, was a combination of a lamb a year old without spot or blemish, its grain offering of fine flour mixed with pressed olive oil, and its drink offering, wine, were all copies of the reality.

The reality is Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, now in the capacity as High Priest, interceding on our behalf, with His body in the form of unleavened bread, and His blood in the form of the wine as the perfect offering for sin in order that we may have access to the Holiest of all.

And so we have been duly admonished by the apostle Paul saying, “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” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

In our New Testament dispensation it is imperative that believers are able to make a very clear distinction between the first which was taken away and the second which has been established because Jesus Christ said quite explicitly; “I have come to do Your will, O God, He sets aside the first to establish the second, and by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Unfortunately, there are not many believers who truly know, understand and believe in the reality and practicality of the second established will of God.

To be continued

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Thursday, November 21, 2024

What is Everlasting life?

The crux of the matter is, Everlasting life is different from both the eternal existence of the spirit, and the eternal salvation of the spirit. Everlasting life is the everlasting existence of the human body, which has a beginning and would have naturally ended, for it is appointed unto man to die, but it will be made to live forever. In contrast, eternal life has eternally existed, and will continue to exist forever. Eternal death is not the cessation of life as with physical death, but it is separation from God.

Everlasting life however, is the immortality of the human body which Christ alluded to by saying: “Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water [flesh] and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

In order for anyone to inherit the kingdom of God, the mortal must put on immortality, and the corruptible must put on incorruption, because Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: nor does corruption inherit in-corruption.”

Everlasting life or immortality is guaranteed only to those who, not only believe in Jesus Christ as the Beloved Son of God, who became the Son of Man, but who also believes in Jesus Christ as the Begotten Son of God.

Eternal life on the other hand is a free gift from God, as we have been duly instructed saying: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

Please note carefully that, the gift of God is eternal life; one has absolutely nothing to do to attain it, but to attain everlasting life one must first become a slave of God or a slave of righteousness which bears the fruit of holiness, a prior condition without which no one can see the Lord, which will ultimately result in everlasting life.

This was further endorsed by the apostle Paul who warned us saying, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life" (Galatians 6:7-8).

Now in relation to the immortality of the body there are also different levels of glory. Just as there is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Therefore, the degree of our glory is dependent on our level of belief in Jesus Christ as the Begotten Son of God and how much we have imitated Him until Hs nature is formed in us, for we all, with unveiled face, are beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (Galatians 4:19; 2Cornthans 3:18).

So the more the nature and character of Jesus Christ is formed in us the more glorified will our immortal body be. Our aim therefore should be to imitate the life of Jesus Christ and according to the apostle Paul; “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).

So while eternal life is a gift from God, something received without our input, however, everlasting life on the other hand is something we earn from the act of righteousness which produces holiness and the end result is everlasting life or the immortality of the human body in various degrees of glory.

God has overlooked these times of ignorance and has commanded all men everywhere to repent.

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Believe that Jesus Christ is the Begotten Son of God

5. BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD

The fifth important thing we all need to believe, is that Jesus Christ is the Begotten Son of God. This entails believing that He attained perfection through living a perfect sinless life in the flesh as the Son of Man, and became perfected at the resurrection, and became our resurrection and the life.

For the gospel which God promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding His Son, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God, by His resurrection from the dead.

“Jesus Christ reflects the glory of God and bears the exact representation of His being, upholding the universe by His word of power. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven, so He became as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You”? Or again, “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”? And again, when He brings His first born into the world, He says, “Let all God’s angels worship Him” (Hebrews 1:3-6).

Jesus Christ as the Son of Man was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, but as the Begotten Son of God through the resurrection, He is crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

“For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. For both the One who makes men holy, and those who are made holy have all one origin. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee.” And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Here am I and the children God has given Me” (Hebrews 2:9-13).

Believing in Jesus Christ as the Begotten Son of God promises a much greater and guaranteed reward than believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of Man. Those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of Man has the gift of eternal life; but may not necessarily receive the reward of everlasting life. For it is written; “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:14-16).

Unfortunately, it is not everyone that is able to differentiate the difference between eternal life, and everlasting life. I remembered back in 2008 when I first wrote an article defining what is Everlasting life, someone informed me that the topic was discussed on AOL "America on line", and someone commented on my blog stating, "Lucius one day you will say that the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit are not the same".

To be continued

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Believe that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Savior (Part 2)

Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins (transgresses the laws of God) is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3: 4-9).

For if by the one man's (first Adam) offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's (first Adam) offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's (last Adam) righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life: For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:17-19).

This righteous act and free gift which came to all men is the Lord´s death paying the penalty of sin in our stead, redeeming us from the powers of darkness, His resurrection from the dead giving us a new life in the Spirit and giving His flesh and blood in the form of the bread and wine to eat and drink for our physical healing and forgiveness of our sins. If therefore, we truly believe in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and Savior, we will express and demonstrate this belief by practicing righteousness which is the keeping of His commandments, and practicing the act of righteousness which Jesus Christ performed for the healing of our physical body and for the remission of sins and therefore we are to glorify God in our body and spirit which belongs to Him.

Therefore, if we truly believe in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and Savior we should not fail to show appreciation and to proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes at His appointed time and in the manner which He has prescribed and should show appreciation for what He has done by following the example of the Psalmist David who wrote “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's” (Psalms 103:1-5).

The sad reality is that, most professing believers are not taking literally the sacrificial body and blood of Jesus Christ for the healing of our bodies and forgiveness of our sins despite the fact that Jesus Christ emphatically stated; “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).

Unfortunately, the reason why many of us believers are weak, sick and some have fallen asleep it is because of the improper participation of the body and blood of Jesus Christ as we have been duly instructed saying; “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.’

“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep” (1Corinthians 11: 27-30).

The crux of the matter is, the Lord has ordained specific times and occasions for believers to partake of His spiritual food but how many of us are taking these instructions literally and not treating them as mere metaphors?

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Believe that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Savior

4. BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS OUR REDEEMER AND SAVIOR

The fourth important thing we need to know and believe about Jesus Christ, is to believe that He is our Redeemer and Savior, because He took our place in death by becoming sin for us. For, “Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken (wounded) smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.’

It is stated that, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way: and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the Lord makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand. After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by His knowledge My righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.’

“Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He poured His life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors, for He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:4-6;10-12).

Believing in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and Savior entails that we that we were under the dominion of the kingdom of darkness, but God the Father delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Now, having been purchased by His blood, we are no longer our own but should consider our body as the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in us, whom we have from God, for we were bought at a price; the price of Jesus' blood therefore, we are to glorify God in our body and in your spirit, which are God's.

This necessitates believing that while we were still weak, at the right time Jesus Christ died for the ungodly and that God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He took our place in death, and we are therefore convinced that, if one has died for all then all died, and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. And so, having been set free from sin, we became slaves of righteousness

This is the liberty and freedom that the Lord has given us, freedom from the wages of sin which is death. For since He created everything and everything belong to Him, and lived a perfect sinless life, His death is sufficient to pay for the sins of all mankind, all we need to do is to believe and obey Him.

This then is the true definition of not being under law but under grace. Being under law, the wages of sin would be death, but being under grace, if peradventure we sin and confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness: And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Therefore, the instruction is, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin,” because whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

To be continued

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Believe that Jesus Christ is the Bread of life (part 2)

We should also look at three other very important rationales for partaking of the bread of life.

1. The bread of life is an integral component of our access to the throne of grace

For thus says the Lord; “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The way to the Father is through the body of Jesus Christ which is represented by the bread as confirmed 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” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

2. The bread of life is what makes us have fellowship with one another

The apostle Paul made it abundantly clear when he warned us and said; “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (fellowship) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion (fellowship) of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread” (1Corinthians 10:14-17).

3. Partaking of the bread of life is the main reason for having a holy convocation.

For we have been duly instructed saying; “These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day ---besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:37-38).

Let us not be ignorant of the fact that in our new dispensation and the time of reformation the body and blood of Jesus Christ is the new burnt offering, the sweet smelling aroma which satisfies the will of the Father as we have been duly instructed saying; “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:2).

Thus signifying that, the Lord has designated specific days to have a holy convocation and the main objective for having this holy convocation is to offer to the Lord the food for His offerings which in our new dispensation is the bread and wine representing the body and blood of Jesus Christ and this is in addition to observing the Sabbaths, it is in addition or besides our gifts, all our vows, and besides or in addition to all our freewill offerings which we give to the Lord.

I therefore beg to ask the question again, are we all who professed to be believers in Jesus Christ as the Bread of life are feeding on Him as He ordained? For this is what the Lord Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever commanded saying; “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time” (Numbers 28:2).

My humble question is, how many of us who profess to be believers of Jesus Christ are obeying this command to offer the Lord the food for His offerings at their appointed times and do we know the appointed times and the rationale or objective for offering the Lord the food for His offerings?

To be continued

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