THE GREAT TRANSITION

THE GREAT TRANSITION

                And the Lord spoke to Moses that very same day saying, “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. Then die on the mountain where you ascend and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. For you shall see the land at a distance, but you shall not go there into the land which I am giving to the sons of Israel.” Deut. 32:48-52.

                We have to ask ourselves why God was so harsh with Moses. He had turned from the palaces of Egypt to suffer with God’s people. He had led them faithfully for 40 years. He had done everything that God had given him to do and now, with just one mistake, one moment of lost temper in striking the rock when God had told him to speak to the rock and Moses was disqualified from the Promised Land.

                The Bible testifies of Moses saying: “Since then no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.” Deut. 34:10 And in the book of Hebrews God declares of Moses saying:
“Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later…” Heb. 3:5.

                Jesus was even called a Prophet like unto Moses and so we have to wonder why God could not have merely forgiven Moses for that one transgression and rewarded him after all of those years with a place in the Promised Land.

                In order to understand this and many other things in the Old Testament, we need to understand that throughout the experiences of Israel, God was laying down templates, types and shadows, foundations upon which the New Covenant would be built.

                We need to see this world as a giant prison. This prison of lost souls is like a penal colony where everyone suffers from the greed, lust, pride and rebellion of everyone else. Satan is the ruler of this dark planet and there is no escape. Paul describes our situation on Galatians 3:22, 23 saying:

                “But Scripture has shut up all men under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came we were kept in custody under law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.”

                In other words keeping the Law might make us good prisoners, but it can offer no escape from prison. Because of Adam’s sin and fall we are all prisoners in this penal colony called Earth. There is literally no escape.  We are all kept in custody under a law that we have all broken and that’s why we are in prison.

                So Moses is the representative of all of that which came before a way of escape was offered through Jesus Christ. His job, so to speak, was to create an intricate system of laws, types, symbols and shadows that would pave the way for a Messiah. This Messiah would provide a way of escape from the penal colony for all who would follow Him. But He could not be just another prophet. He had to be Someone with the power and authority to unlock the gates of the prison and to both rescue and transform those who came out. If not, then the ones that came out would just form another penal colony. So the system of types and shadows that Moses erected under God’s direction would have to show us the nature of and provide the authenticity of this Messiah so that He could not be mistaken for anyone else.

                 So Moses had to die before crossing into the Promised Land because as we said above the Law could make model prisoners, but it could not break them out of prison. It is more than law keeping we need… we need righteousness and holiness in our lives or we will simply end up in another penal colony and nothing will have changed.  So, Joshua became the new leader of Israel representing escape from the penal colony… Joshua represented Yeshua, the Messiah that would provide a way of escape from the penal colony… but notice, if you will that even at that, the only way of escape lay through the Jordon River which is death.

                Unless we fully understand our predicament as prisoners under Law, we will never fully understand just what the New Birth really is. Escape from this penal colony Earth can only be made through death. And as long as we remain alive we are prisoners and as I said, keeping the Law might make you model prisoners, but it will not provide escape from prison.

                Paul described this situation in Galatians 2:15-21 saying: “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles: ( IN other words Paul is saying that because of the Law, Jews were model prisoners) “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law;  since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.”

                So as I described above, Paul is now showing us that the Jews were a chosen group of prisoners who through keeping the Law became model prisoners.  Ideally they were not to get involved in all of the debauchery that the pagans were involved in, nevertheless they were still prisoners. They were better than the pagans, but they were still prisoners being kept under custody of the Law until a way of escape could be provided.

                It is within this context that we begin to appreciate more deeply just what Jesus Christ offered to us. He was the only light in a dark prison planet and he was the only door of escape out of prison. No amount of Law keeping could get you through that door            … and likewise, the only way through that door was through death. Yeshua, as our Messiah offered us this death to the penal colony and a new life in His kingdom both now and for eternity.

                So then here is where we pick up Paul’s theme again as He says: “For through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God. Gal. 2:19

                In other words, the Law has brought us to the escape door, but the only way through the door is to die and so the Law has effectively brought us to the point of death. We gaze longingly at the light and beauty that is shining through the door. We know that freedom lies on the other side, and yet, in what may seem to be the cruelest of ironies I have to die to pass through the door.

                And it doesn’t get any better as we learn more about this death for it is not only death to the Law, but it is death to the world as I have known it, but worse than that it actually involves death to myself, my flesh, my way of thinking, my likes and dislikes my self-motivated purposes.

                Have you ever been to a funeral and stood there in deep contemplation of the dead loved one lying there? Whatever they strove for in this life, whatever accumulated wealth and possessions, whatever cars, or clothes or houses… whatever empire they had built under the sun… they are now lying their inert and totally separate from all that has gone before. Now all we can ask ourselves as we look at that person is what lies beyond the grave. Did he live his life with eternity in mind or did he live only for that which he has now left behind? Nothing else matters any more. He is dead.

                This is what the Law does to us. It puts us in the casket and says, “I am done with you. You are now dead and as far as I am concerned, you no longer exist. Goodbye.”

                So… what now?  Is that it? Am I finished? Well, if you have died of natural causes then you are indeed dead and gone forever. But if by faith you have entered into Christ’s death, then something quite different awaits you. A New Birth awaits you.  The burial has taken place, the weeping crowd has all gone home when suddenly with a burst of light the Holy Spirit breathes eternal life into your once dead spirit and you burst forth from the grave. Your new life is now coming from a new source. Your life in the penal colony is over and by your death you rendered the Law on stone null and void. The flesh in you that once kept that old Law is now dead and your life is no longer derived from the flesh, but from the Spirit. Now read Paul’s words with new understanding.

                “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I, who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” Gal 2:20-21.

                So, now that we have been born again and now that Jesus Christ is our new life through the Holy Spirit, what about the Law? After all, it was not the Law that died, it was me that died. And now I am living by the power and grace of the One who gave the Law in the first place. The Law forced me (so to speak, through death’s door and I was born again, but now the Lawgiver is living in me so how does that work exactly?

                Upon this very question Paul says: “Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if the law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.” Gal. 3:21

                What he is saying here is that the Law had the purpose of bringing us to our death so that we could be born into a new life in which the Lawgiver now lives inside of us. So it was not the Law that was contrary to God’s promises… in was our inability to keep it perfectly that brought us to our death. So what’s next? Romans 8:1-4 is next.

                “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through (my) flesh, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, IN ORDER THAT THE REQUAREMENT OF THE LAW MIGHT BE FULFILLED IN US, WHO DO NOT WALK ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, BUT ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT.”

                In other words the Law brought my flesh to death so that the Law might be fulfilled in me as I live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. He writes it in our hearts so that we can walk in newness of life. Instead of our flesh keeping the Law on stone as it did in the old penal colony, the Spirit now produces His fruit in us and against that fruit there is no law. Instead of telling us not to kill, it now enables us to love. Instead of telling us not to commit adultery it now changes the way we look at people. We are new creatures in Christ.

                “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For we have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but we have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba, Father!”  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” Romans 8:14-17

                So, as you can see: those who say that the Law was done away at the cross, have an incomplete Gospel. It was not the law that died, but our flesh… so that the Law might be fulfilled in us who no longer walk by the flesh, but by the Spirit.

                So in all of his twists and turns concerning the Law Paul concludes by saying: “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.” Romans 3:31.

                But we have to use the Law lawfully. The Law is designed to bring our flesh to death so that we can be born again through the death and resurrection of Christ in order that we can live by the Spirit rather than by the letter of the Law, for the letter kills, but the Spirit brings life.

                So those who believe in keeping the Law as well as those who believe that the Law is done away, both are usually wrong. The Law will be fulfilled in those who are truly born again, not by the letter but by the Spirit.

                “It was for freedom that Christ has set us free, therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we, through the spirit by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.” Galatians 5:1-6.

                What is Paul saying here? He is saying that once you have entered through the door of Christ’s death, why would you want to go back through the doorway back into the penal colony to become model prisoners by the works of the Law, when you have died to all of that? Why would you ever go back to try to accomplish in the flesh that which is now done in and through you by the very Spirit of Christ? WE are now taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5)

                You see, circumcision was a physical sign of the physical obedience of the flesh, but now in Christ we undergo a circumcision of the heart. We live in an entirely new way and by an entirely different power and it is this that neither law keepers nor law breakers fully understand.

                “See to it that no takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men according to the elementary principles of the world (the penal colony) rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God who raised Him from the dead.” Col 2:8-12

                Do you see the dynamic here? Circumcision is not done away. Rather we now have a circumcision of the heart by the Spirit instead of a cutting of the foreskin as Abraham did it and all of Israel after him. Likewise Sabbaths and new moons and festivals all served as mere shadows of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

                In other words, all of these things as if kept in the flesh will never get us out of the penal colony. They must now be done in the Spirit with the full knowledge that in Christ all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.

                It was for this that Paul strove saying: “And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor striving according to His power which mightily works within me.” Col. 1:28, 29.

                The Sabbath rest has not been done away, rather the Sabbath rest is now found in Christ. (Come unto ME… and I will give you rest.)The Feast Days are not done away rather we see them fulfilled in Christ at His first coming and soon to be fulfilled by His second coming. We cannot earn salvation by doing these things. After all, we have escaped the penal colony by death and we are now alive only in Christ. If we celebrate these things now it is because we have been set free and what we do now we do in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

                The Sabbath becomes a celebration of Yeshua as our Creator who has entered us into His rest and the feast days become celebrations of God’s great acts through time that not only point back to what He has done, but forward to what He will yet do.

                If we truly understand these things, then we, of all people will be the least legalistic people on the planet. Even as we observe these things we will be freer than those who don’t. How do I know this?

                “For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name will endure; and it shall be from new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before ME.” says the Lord. Isa. 66:22, 23.

                And speaking of the earthly millennial reign of Christ Zechariah says: “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. (Sukkot)

                Study Zechariah chapters 12-14. They describe the second coming of Christ when the Jews look upon Him whom they have pierced. They describe Jesus setting foot on the Mt. f Olives as it splits into a broad plain and then as He enters Jerusalem to take up His earthly millennial reign and a little of what life will be like during that final Sabbath millennium when the glory of the Lord will cover the earth even as the waters cover the sea, when all flesh will observe the New Moons and Sabbaths together.

                It will be a glorious time of freedom like no other for Satan will be bound for 1000 years and Earth will be restored to its original purposes. It is a period of time that is not yet perfect, but rather a training period for those who reign with Christ as well as a time of obedience and restoration as Jesus rules the nations with a rod of iron and enforces the rules of His kingdom, the rules of freedom, prior to the creation of the New heavens and the New earth.. Nothing will pass over into eternity that has not been subjected to Christ, who will then subject it to God and He will be all in all.

                In both legalism and liberalism there is a great lack of understanding. Satan has done everything he can to hide the true nature of the New Birth. It offers us escape from the penal colony, not from the Law. The Law was given to lead us to Christ where we die to the Law as it was in the flesh and we are born again into a new Law that is the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

                God has not changed His mind about murder, or adultery, or theft, or Idols or even the Sabbath day. Evil is evil no matter how you spin it. Satan has been offering us substitutes for righteousness but in time they will lead us back to the penal colony. So God has not provided this way of escape for us to do evil, but to live in righteousness by His Spirit. And God provides us a peek into His coming kingdom by showing us that we, as a totally free and righteous people will still go up to Jerusalem  from new moon to new moon and Sabbath to Sabbath to worship the great King.

                Moses had to die on the borders of the Promised Land in order to provide us with a template of salvation. The Law, as it is in the flesh, can only take us to the Jordon. By faith in Jesus Christ we enter into His death where we are born again to live under the administration of Yeshua. Think on these things.