The debate has raged between those who see salvation as completely of God divorced from any part of works and those who see works as part of the process of salvation for hundreds of years. It was a great part of why the reformation occurred. Tonight I spoke to the youth at "Rise Teen Fellowship" about the second half of Epesians 2 : 10, " created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has ordained beforehand that we should walk in them. " it came out stronger than I had initially intended, but it was of God, and several students prayed to rededicate their lives to a life of working faith!
In our self-obsessed culture, we're all about "self-" words. Self-esteem, self-image, self-worth, self-empowerment, self-actualization. We run around for most of our lives trying to decide what we think about ourselves and worrying about what others think of us. What we need to do is read the word of God and realize who He says we are! It's a lot better than all the self-talk stupidity out there. You are His workmanship! Ephesians 2:10 is talked about, one word at a time. This is part 1 of 2, given at the "Rise Teen Fellowship" Wednesday night study at Calvary Chapel of Honolulu.
My Notes:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Who are you apart from Christ?
Self- words are all evil.
Part 1: For we are His workmanship, Created in Christ Jesus…
For: A transition word. What has come before?
We:
We, not I.
While the individual believer is important and loved of God, He is about building a unified church, not only the one saint.
1Pet 2:5
Eph 5:22-32
Rev 21:9
1Cor 3:16
Not They
Don’t get too distant from the goal. You are a part of it. It does include you as an individual.
Col 2:13
John 13:34-35
Psalm 139:13-16
Matthew 10:30-32
You are included, but it’s not ABOUT you.
Are:
Now, not only in the future.
Christians are used to the idea that they will be the workmanship of God (1Jn 3:2; Romans 8:17)
Romans 8:29-30.
Notice the tenses, though. They are complete acts.
Future for us, present for God.
God sees the workmanship as complete now, even if we don’t yet see what He sees in us.
Timothy Keller: “Do you know what it means that you are God’s workmanship? What is art? Art is beautiful, art is valuable, and art is an expression of the inner being of the maker, of the artist. Imagine what that means. You’re beautiful, you’re valuable, and you’re an expression of the very inner being of the Artist, the divine Artist, God Himself. You see, when Jesus gave Himself on the Cross, He didn’t say, “I’m going to die just so you know I love you.” He said, “I’m going to die, I’m going to bleed, for your splendor. I’m going to re-create you into something beautiful. I will turn you into something splendid, magnificent. I’m the Artist; you’re the art. I’m the Painter; you’re the canvas. I’m the Sculptor; you’re the marble. You don’t look like much there in the quarry, but I can see. Oh, I can see!” Jesus is an Artist!” And you beloved are His crowning achievement, His masterpiece!
Certainly not your past.
Phil 3:12-14
Eph 2:13
His:
Not your own.
Not the church’s.
God works in your life to make you what He wants you to be.
C H Spurgeon : “You have seen a painter with his palette on his finger and he has ugly little daubs of paint on the palette. What can he do with those spots? Go in and see the picture. What splendid painting! In an even wiser way does Jesus act toward us. He takes us, poor smudges of paint, and He makes the blessed pictures of His grace out of us. It is neither the brush nor the paint He uses, but it is the skill of His own hand which does it all.”
2 Cor 5:17
Workmanship:
G: Poiema, , a thing that is made, work of art, masterwork
Poem, Poetry.
Only used twice in scripture. Here and Rev 1:20. God has two great masterworks. The cosmos and the church.
C H Spurgeon : “You have seen a painter with his palette on his finger and he has ugly little daubs of paint on the palette. What can he do with those spots? Go in and see the picture. What splendid painting! In an even wiser way does Jesus act toward us. He takes us, poor smudges of paint, and He makes the blessed pictures of His grace out of us. It is neither the brush nor the paint He uses, but it is the skill of His own hand which does it all.”
Joni Eareckson Tada “(God) has a plan and purpose for my time on earth. He is the Master Artist or Sculptor, and He is the One Who chooses the tools He will use to perfect His workmanship. What of suffering, then? What of illness? What of disability? Am I to tell Him which tools He can use and which tools He can’t use in the lifelong task of perfecting me and molding me into the beautiful image of Jesus? Do I really know better than Him, so that I can state without equivocation that it’s always His will to heal me of every physical affliction? If I am His poem, do I have the right to say, “No, Lord. You need to trim line number two and brighten up lines three and five. They’re just a little bit dark.” Do I, the poem, the thing being written, know more than the poet?”
Created
2 Cor 5:17
Bara, out of nothing.
Asa, molded, sculpted.
Both!
Psa 51:10
Ezek 11:19
It isn’t something you have to work at in your own strength. God is doing this creative work in and through you. You are the thing made, not the thing making.
This is the BIGGEST PARTY of the year for Judaism. It's Christmas and Thanksgiving wrapped into one with a block party thrown in for fun.
The symbols of Concluding time, Light, Water, and Celebration permeate so much of our Christian faith, that you really don't understand all that the Bible means you to understand about Jesus' life without a knowledge of this feast. We'll take two weeks to walk through the outline that follows. I'll post the videos both on this blog, so check back next week for part 2.
Sacrificed 70 bulls across the 7 days, one for each of the original nations of men (Gen 10-11)
The branches that were waved before the Lord were from the 4 corners of Israel, symbolizing the four corners of the Earth, all the nations.
Greeting given during this feast: Peace to you and joy to the nations. It was to celebrate that God has blessed the whole earth through his residence among the Jews, Abrahamic covenant.
This joy, 5 days after the solemn Day of Atonement, was often called “wiping the tears from the eye.”
Deut 16:13-17
Fulfillment of time.
Precursor to thanksgiving as a harvest festival
The reading of the Torah ended and began again on the eighth day (Simkat Torah)
Called the “First and the Last”
God with us
Tabernacles: temporary housing. Israelite tents or the tent of meeting.
Isa 7:14
When the temple was dedicated (1 Kings 8:2)
Symbols:
Water
Everyone entering the temple needed to mikvah at the pool of siloam (be baptized). Afterward, a white robe.
Libation ceremony
Every day, the priests would go down to the pool of Siloam, which signified cleansing to the Jews, and would gather about ½ L of water. This would be poured out on the temple at sunrise each day.
It symbolized purification of their sins
It reminded the Israelites of their provision in the wilderness (The rock that was struck)
On the last day, they would pour the water into a silver bowl with a regulated hole in the bottom of it. A similar bowl would be filled with wine. The valves were opened and the water and wine would flow off the edge of the altar and strike the base of the altar at the same time.
This resulted in a huge celebration “You have not experienced joy unless you have participated in the water ablation ceremony.”
Rain Zech 14: 8, 16-20
Light
Birth of the Paschal Lamb
Lambs sacrificed at Passover need to be 1 year old. Middle of the year, 1.5 years old. 18 months. (Ex 12:5)
Lambs to be sacrificed at a passover are born during Sukkot two years before (born now, sacrificed April 2017).
Lambs needed to be born near Jerusalem. Biggest lamb-producing region was Bethlehem.
Shepherds kept pregnant Ewes in caves to protect them and would signal when the FIRST passover lamb was born.
Wrapped in linnen by a levitical shepherd if fit for sacrifice. Killed immediately if not.
It was the shepherd’s job to get word back to Jerusalem that the lamb had been born.
A unique location: Migdal Eder Genesis 35:21
Name means “Tower of the Flock”
Rachel dies near here, in hard labor.
Her child is named by her “Son of my Sorrow.”
Jacob calls the child, “Son of my Right Hand.”
Prophecy of the future suffering of Israel looks back to that moment, Jer 31:15.
This prophecy fulfilled in the slaughter of children 2 yrs old and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding area by Herod in an attempt to exterminate Jesus. Quoted in Matthew 1:18
The land between the tower and Bethlehem was believed by the Rabbis to be the land that Boaz bought when he married Ruth.
This land would then have passed down to his descendants, including Jesse and David.
It is possible that David watched his father’s sheep from this tower, about 1Km out of town, which is why he was not present when his other brothers were presented to Samuel and why he had to be fetched.
Mica 4:8, just a few verses before the prophecy that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, states that he would be announced from Migdal Eder.
Several of the Rabbis taught that Messiah will announce his arrival from the top of the tower based on this verse.
Temple Candelabra The festival of lights Took place on the last day as well. Just as the day’s light was fading
Huge lamps with bowls of oil containing 10 gal of oil each were attached in groups of four to one pillar that raised them 75 feet in the air. The wicks were made of worn-out priestly garments. There were four of these in the temple courtyard.
When they were lit, it was said that there could be no darkness in the whole temple square. Shadows were driven away.
One set of these lamps would be kept lit from the time of Migdal Eder’s signal. The others would be lit on the last twilight.
This would be the moment at which “Simkat Torah” occurred. The last passage from the Torah would be read in the fading moments of daylight, and Genesis 1 would be read after sunset.
God as light:
Zech 14:6-7
Rev 21:23
NT pictures
The Birth of Christ (luke 2)
Timing:
“Those days,” The days of Herod (1:5) Herod died in 4 BC
Decree that the world should be taxed, given by Cesar Augustus in 8 BC. Herod resisted, fearing a riot by the Jews. Herod’s resistance pushed the execution of the census back until at least 6BC.
“Quirinius was governor of Syria,” Bible vindicated. He was in power and functioning as governor under Varus, who was a drunkard. Then, he came to full power in AD 6, after spending some time in Rome.
Joseph fled Israel during the slaughter of the children under Herod and stayed in Egypt for a time, so the Birth of Christ must have been before 4BC.
The best guess is that Jesus was born in 5 BC.
We know the timing during that year. Zacharias was in the 8th course of priests, which serves during the 10th week of the year. Elizabeth conceived shortly after his return from service. 40 weeks later, John was born. Six months later, Jesus was born.
This puts his birth at the feast of Tabernacles, 5BC, which was Sept 14-22 on our calendar. He was born during this week.
Swaddled him, normal. Manger, unusual. Parallel to newborn sacrificial lambs. He was fit for sacrifice!
Shepherds—levitical shepherds waiting for the birth of the first Passover lamb on top of Migdal Eder
Cognate Accusatives: Use of the adverbal and verbal forms of a word to express a deeper meaning than the verb alone carries, almost always used to describe extreme emotion. 2x in this passage:
Watchfully watching
Fearfully gripped with fear Mega!
Glory to God. This is the ever-true situation of the universe. God seeks to magnify his own glory, and Creation sees to it that this is done.
The Angels don’t have to tell the Shepherds where Jesus is. Perhaps they knew that his mother had been forced to use a nearby “birthing cave.”
They spread the news of the birth of Jesus, the last and greatest Passover Lamb.
Light the fires? Perhaps. The star was God’s trump card there.
The shepherds left their post, left their “watchful watching.” They had found what they had been looking for all along, and they returned rejoicing.
Jesus came to Tabernacle among us Jn 1:14
Jesus at the feast: John 7-8
At the peak of the final day’s water libation ceremony, Jesus cries out that he is the source of living water and the light of the whole world!
Water: John 7:37-38 (Exek 45:25; 47:1-10)
Light: John 8:12 (While reading Ps 118?)
Jesus at Transfiguration:
Mark 9.
Peter’s outburst is not only characteristic speaking before thinking.
Peter is recognizing that God is among his people, and his mind goes to this feast.
Celebration of Sukkot in heaven! Rev 7
White Robes
Palm branches
All nations
In the presence of God (rather than God among men), vs 9, 15
Shelter them: verbal form of the greek word used to translate the hebrew Sukka in septuagint. “build a tabernacle over them.”
No more sun. God is light (16)
No thirst, living water (vs 16, 17)
Lamb and shepherd (vs17)
Rev 21-22. The ultimate fulfillment of the feast. THE GREAT DAY!
The dwelling of God is with man
21:3 He will tabernacle (verbal form) with them.
No temple (21:22) Perfect intimacy. No mediation
21:4 Wipe away every tear from every eye. Universal joy, not just for a few any longer.
Water
21:6- living water for everyone.
River of life, 22:1
Water of life without price 22:17
Light, radiance, glory
21:10-11.
21:23. No sun or moon. God is light (also 22:4)
For all the nations: 21:24-26
Jesus “first and last, beginning and end” Rev 22:12-13
