MEN’S LORD’S DAY SERVICE Sunday February 27th, 2011
COLE BAY METHODIST CHURCH
SERMON by Leopold BALY
Theme: “A PEOPLE AVAILABLE TO GOD”
I. INTRODUCTION:
Sisters and Brothers,
I greet you from the bottom of my heart in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
My wife Pat and myself are deeply thankful to you for your warm welcome. We are very happy to share this moment of fellowship with you.
I’m honored and very grateful for been given the opportunity this morning to share with you my thoughts on the holy “Word” of God and of his Son Jesus Christ.
My dearest wish is that this moment we share together be preciously useful to each and every one of us as we pursue our Christian journey here on earth.
It is also fair that I should express my gratitude to Brother Nathaniel Richardson. President of the Leewards Island District Men's Work Commission, for granting me the privilege to be here this morning sharing God message with you. Brother Nathaniel always make it his personal business that I'm never be left out of activities of the Church under his authority and I thank him for that.
The theme for our 2011 Methodist year is: “A People Available to God”
Before getting into the subject, I wish to make a point:
Not to make my sermon too lengthy, I may not deliver on my full preparation. But as I do whenever the honor is given to me to address a congregation, I will dedicate a full copy of my preparation to the Church.
I suppose that somewhere in the church is a little documentary cupboard open to all who may wish to get information on the pass life of the Church.
We have a duty to close up the generational gap we deplore today in our society and there is no better way to start than for the elders to make their thoughts available.
If we elders can offer to our coming generation a little documentary spot in the Church where they may find thoughts from their Christian elders most likely they may find answers to some of their serious questions and that will keep them from deviating on their own.
By doing so, we will be doing a very worthy and fruitful step in the reestablishment of the necessary communication of one generation to the next.
I thank you,
Let us pray: Lord let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight. Amen
II. SERMON:
“A People Available to God”, chosen theme for this 2011 Methodist year:
The word “People” can be defined as all persons in general, not taking into consideration any particular attachment or belonging to a specific group. This is when it is use in the sense of individuals.
In this context I may use it as to define personal responsibility in opposition to the collective responsibility of the Lord’s People.
When referring to People belonging to a specific collectivity, such as a Nation, a country, a tribe, a Church we will usually say “A People”.
In the Bible we find the notion of “God’s Chosen People” and in our case as a Church we may say: “The Methodist People” meaning all the People of Methodist faith.
Both sense of the word apply to us as Methodist, first because we believe in personal responsibility for our sins, personal redemption and personal sanctification and we do not believe in generational curse.
But we also believe in our collective responsibility, because we know that living a life with God is not living in a bed of rose.
As Christians we are before all other personal interest, soldiers of God and we are convinced that God has too much work to be done in the fulfillment of his plan to just forgive us of our sins, offer us his love and faithfulness for the only satisfaction of a selfish relaxing life.
Redemption is free in the sense that it opens to us the door to a life with God without having to recourse to any sacrificial offering as in God’s old covenant with the Israelites.
But we know as Christians, believing in the Holy Scriptures, that the beginning of a life with God is not the end of all troubles or a life of peace and comfort, giving our back to the rest of the world.
The beginning of a life with God is not the end of troubles but simply a change in the nature of our troubles.
When we make a plea to God for the forgiveness of our sins, it is not limited to God answer to single addressed prayers. In God understanding prayers of forgiveness are the expression of our desire to begin a new life with him
Prayers of forgiveness to be heard by God must be accompanied with our unequivocal commitment to subscribe to a new life with God.
Prayers of forgiveness are an unequivocal commitment to be available to the fulfillment of God’s plan for the world and surely not a selfish life boasting on only our own life accomplishments.
Forgiveness of our sins is the beginning of a long and challenging career carrying out the duty God has assigned to us as his People, in his commandments and through Jesus Christ, having faith in him and under his grace.
Before any prosperity in a life with God, we are call to go through a season of very hard times during which our faith in God is put to the test and we must give proof of our unfailing trust in God’s Love and faithfulness,
As God’s People under covenant with him, failure to stand up to the test of our faith in God, is not simply a breach of faith but a breach of our whole covenant with God,
In the sight of God it is a decision to end our life with him and just as he was angry with Moses and the Israelites for their disobedience so will he be also angry with us today as Christians under his new covenant.
As we quote through the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament, we discover that every one of God’s chosen People or apostles of Jesus Christ went through a season of hardship during which their faith in God was put to very hard test.
- Adam and Eve were tempted by the forbidden fruit of wisdom,
- Job a very righteous man also very rich, lost all that he had and suffered terrible sickness, but never fail in confessing his trust in God.
- Abraham at the age of 100 with his wife Sarah at the age of 90, lost hope in ever becoming a father in spite of God’s promise to make him the father of a Nation in the fruitful land of Canaan, we know the following of his story.
In the New Testament we quote words of God apostle Paul:
In 2 Corinthians 11: 22 – 29: We quote: “ Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites So am I, Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been expose to death again and again.
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beating with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spend a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move.
I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own country-men, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the City, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the Churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
Brothers and Sisters let us honestly from the depts. of our heart, imagine us having today in our St-Martin society and even in our Church a Brother Paul?
Would he be recognized for what he stands for?
Would he be recognized for his true human and Christian value?
Would he be embraced open heartedly as a dedicated soldier of God and Jesus Christ?
Or on the contrary would he not by the target of wild critics such as, in our jargon language:
Who he thinks he is to be against the Government?
He thinks he know more than any body else!
What could he teach us! He is a prison rat
What a shame, With all his education he even don’t have a job,
Poor thing he on his feet, he can’t even pay himself a car,
Poor thing he even don’t have a home, he even don’t have a wife,
He even can’t afford himself a little vacation, a cruise, and the list of critics continues,
A Brother Paul today in our little St-Martin society will be looked down upon by his own country People and treated as a society drop-out, “ some may say a persona non grata”.
Finally Brother Paul's season of prosperity in the Lord comes and what will be our reaction?
Will the negative critics against him turn into a positive recognition of the goodness of God?
Very little chances if any, because doing so will will mean rising to the high level called: Self-control, a process that consist of questioning our true values.
We can fool the world on our true human and Christian values but we cannot fool God because it is his Spirit that feeds and gives power to our soul and not the reverse.
In today’s society, even within the Church one is less counted for his human and Christian value than for his standard of living.
To be embraced by society, even by our Church, one must have the means to compete with the Jones or be prepared to face wild critics and the back of others.
This is not simply a true fact. It is a serious destructive condition because it is to be blamed for our young People deviation from society norms.
If we are serious about the reintegration of our young people into society and into our Church, we have to start building a society on new foundations, giving priority to self-control and Christian values.
If we want to truly shine as a People available to God, we ought to convince ourselves of the fact that there is no short cut to prosperity in a life with God. This is an unquestionable fact that we need to exercise and to teach to our Children.
We have to stop holding fast to official positions whether in government or in our Church as if they are our exclusive properties and be open to the integration of new blood, new innovating faculties.
Always bear in mind that God do not save us and grant us his grace by the quantity of our good works we do but through the quality of our Spirit in the performance of our duty.
God is Spirit and he can only value us in Spirit and this means the way our soul synchronizes with his Spirit blown into us to make each of us a living soul to his relationship with us and in our relationship with him.
A People that know how to turn their back from flashy artificial society styles and cultivate wholeheartedly human and godly values, is a People that will be respected one towards another and by all other nations.
And cultivating wholeheartedly human and godly values calls for practicing transparency in all of our doing. Transparency inspires confidence.
And a People, a country, a Church that inspires confidence in the run of their affairs, are never in short of means to fulfill their plans because firstly God will be in the midst and secondly it is a known economy law that where confidence reign moneys inflow.
A government that holds secrets in regards to the People it represents do not fulfill the characteristics of a democratic government
A Church that holds secrets in regards to its members do not fulfill the definition of a Church.
A life with God is like having an orchard, God will provide the fruits but the gardening work is our task. If we do not go through the process of preparing the soil, planting the fruit trees, watering in time of drought, pruning, replanting etc., we will reap no fruits.
Trying to define a “People Available to God” necessarily leads us to “God Chosen People” of the Old Testament, called at time the Hebrews at another time the Israelites at another the Jews and known to be descendants of Abraham through a concluded covenant with God.
Whether our approach is in terms of “A People available to God” or in terms of “God’s Chosen People, we find ourselves before the same question:
What’s God’s relationship with his People and what relationship in return God expect to receive from his People?
And this master question forces us to the following sub-questions:
1. Who are the Methodist People?
2. What is God’s relationship with us today as Christians through Jesus Christ compared to his relationship with his “Chosen People”, descendants of Abraham?
3. Can God change?
4. Can God reveals to his People all of his secrets?
A – WHO ARE THE METHODIST PEOPLE?
By the doctrine of Methodism priesthood is the status of all believers, to the contrary to most other religions, the notion of priesthood exclusivity to a particular order or to a class of persons is not retained by the Methodist Church. This means that in the Methodist faith every member of the Church is supposed to be an apostle of Jesus Christ.
Therefore the Methodist Church is built on the principle of all members being “A people Available to God”.
So Brothers and Sisters let us all rise up to the standard of our status as members of the Methodist faith. We are not just a membership, more important than that we are all apostles with a collective responsibility and accountability, that is to be a watchman for God and accountable to him.
In Ezekiel 3: 17-18: We quote: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel…. When I say to a wicked man, you will surely die, and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.”
So in making our pledge to Methodism we ought to be also aware of the responsibility and accountability resulting from our covenant with God.
The most common answer I have heard from Methodist members when asked: Why do they practice the Methodist faith is: Because I was born a Methodist, my mother and father were Methodist, my grand mother and grand father were Methodist, so I will die a Methodist.
Sisters and Brothers not only this is not a praise worthy answer but it is an answer that bears in itself death, death of Methodism. And this is more surely a fact in a society as St-Martin that is going through a generational gap crisis.
The life of Methodism and of the Methodist Church demands that its doctrine be taught and reminded ceaselessly.
One to be a true follower must find within oneself a profound and convincing reason for following.
In our daily life, to follow anything simply as a family tradition is not only an unsustainable reason but it is more depressively an expression of faithlessness in the life we are living.
To hold fast steadfastly as a matter of choice, to one religious faith in preference to another we must be fully knowledgeable of the content of its doctrine.
Unless we stand for something, we will fall for anything.
B – WHAT IS GOD’S RELATIONSHIP WITH US AS CHRISTIANS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST COMPARED TO HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ISRAELITES, DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM?
In God’s covenant with the Israelites revealed to Moses, we quote in:
Exodus 19: 5-6: “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priest and a holy nation.”
Certain forerunners of the protestant movement have build upon the terms of this promise of God, a predestination precept, claiming that God has his predestined Chosen People, the only elected to the favor of his grace while the others are predestined to eternal damnation.
All People are created by God and belong to him. Nowhere in God’s teaching or revelations through his prophets or through his Son Jesus Christ we find a predestinating will of God on the contrary we find a divinely free will God.
Therefore we can be affirmative that the notion “God’s chosen People” we find in the Old Testament has nothing to do with any sort of predestination plan of God.
The “Free Will” we enjoy today comes from God our creator, so then how possible can God not be “Free Will” himself? Because predestination is the contrary to “Free Will”
It will be contradicting for one to believe in the divine nature of God, and at the same time conceive God self-imprisoned within the boundaries of predestination.
A predestinating God is absurd and contrary to the divine nature of the God we worship, his love and faithfulness to all mankind.
The notion “God’s Chosen People” is to be interpreted in the sense of God creating a particular relationship with a People with whom he consent to entrust with his Love and faithfulness, expecting them in return to be faithful and obedient to him.
This is no different from Jesus Christ chosen his 12 disciples or from his decision to built his Church upon his disciple Peter.
God promised prosperity to his “Chosen People” was meant to be a shining proof in the eyes of all the other nations that he is the Lord God, so that they too may believe in him as the only God Almighty the beginner and ender of all things on earth, convincing them to do away with all the different gods they worship and rally to his purpose.
God’s choice to make Abraham the father of “His Chosen People” was not a question of tribal or Nation choice but simply a choice grounded on the history of Abraham’s personal love and strong faith in God.
In all of God’s relationship with his “Chosen People” we find not a God with predestination principles but rather a God in search for “A People available” who of their own free will are ready to receive his love and faithfulness and in return be committed to a life with him and through him,
A people willing to make of their life an available example of what it meant to live a life in God’s grace and under his protection.
As Methodist Christians, we do not believe, in predestination, we believe in the Free redeeming Will of God in favor of all who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord God and savior and put their trust in him and obey to his commandments.
God plan to elect a Chosen People was nothing more than a plan in search for a people available to him in the bringing of his love and faithfulness to the world.
Being a “People Available to God” is to be up to date in our relationship with God and this by acknowledging his love and faithfulness to us and in return, holding a relationship with him in conformity with his commandments and his recommendations through his Son Jesus Christ.
Being “A People available to God” is to be in our daily life a living reflection of God’s grace in our relation with each other.
C. – CAN GOD CHANGE?
Let me begin by saying this is an absurd question. God cannot change: He is divine, eternal, Almighty,
Revelation 1: 8: we quote: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, Who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty”
Through the changing ages and generations, God has concluded new covenants to meet evolution needs of his People, but as God, he remains unchanged and so his relationship with his People..
The same God we find in the Old Testament in quest for ‘A Chosen People” is the same God we find today, in quest for a People available to him, meaning being dedicated to his purpose.
He is the same God we find offering his Love and faithfulness to the People of Israel and simply asking them in return to love him and trust him, to worship him as the only almighty God,
He is the same God that is offering to us today as Christians through his Son Jesus Christ, his unchanging Love and faithfulness with the same unchanging uncompromising demand in return: Love him, Love his Son Jesus Christ, Love our brethren as he loves us, obey his commandments, uphold his beatitudes in our relation one to another.
The God we worship today is the same God of the People of Israel, the same God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Moses, of Jacob,
What has changed is that in those days we find God in regular intimacy with his chosen leaders and prophets, given them practical instructions in their role as intermediary between him and his People.
Today as Christians we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord God and as our only intermediary to God.
As Christians, we claim relationship with God not through prophets but through our belief in Jesus Christ and in the shed of his blood, his death and rising from the dead
God has not changed but our approach to redemption from our sins has changed through Jesus Christ sacrificial shedding of his blood as ransom in redemption of the sins of the world and his victory over death.
What has changed, thanks to Jesus Christ, all who believe in him as the Son of God and redeemer of mankind, are no more under the old covenant claiming generational curse, as we quote in God warning to Moses in:
Exodus 20:5 “… For I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Before the coming of Jesus Christ, we find God concluding a new covenant with the Israelites through Ezekiel his chosen to be his prophet amongst the exiled Jews to Babylon, this taking place around the year 597 B.C.
As we quote in Ezekiel chapter 18: 1- 4 & 20: “The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “The father eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
As surely as I live, declared the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son, both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.”
The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.
The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.”
(Just to have an idea on the chronology of God’s successive covenants: Abraham is between 2000 to 1700 years B.C. Moses is about 1300 years B.C. and Ezekiel is between 650 to 500 years B.C.)
What has changed, thanks to Jesus Christ who had shed his blood to redeem the world once and for all, we are no more subject to the sacrificial offering of blood for the forgiveness of our sins as we quote in Leviticus 4: 13 forward:
“If the whole Israelite community sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands…The assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and the elders are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord,
(If a leader sins the offering had to be a male goat, If a member sins the offering had to be a female goat)
What has changed, thanks to Jesus Christ, today as Christians we are no more subject to God’s kingdom of priests with all its sacrificial ceremonies before the altar of God.
But through our new covenant concluded with God through the death and rising from the dead of Jesus Christ, whose Spirit abides within us, every human being has become the incarnation of God’s kingdom here on earth, we have become inwardly the dwelling place of God’s love and commandments through the living Spirit of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ that dwells within us.
This has been revealed to us in: Luke 17: 21: “Nor will people say, here it is, or there it is, because the kingdom of God is within you.”
Most likely when Jesus said to his disciples in: Matthew 11: 11: “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist, yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Here Jesus enlighten his disciples on the new concept of God's heavenly kingdom, possible through the living Spirit of Jesus Christ compared to God’s kingdom (The Tabernacle conceived under Moses) in the hands of his “Chosen People” the Israelites
Today we are under a new covenant concluded with mankind through his Son Jesus Christ coming to the world in both his divine nature as the Son of God and his human nature as the Son of the Virgin Mary, to live, suffer, offer his life in a sacrificial ransom for the redemption of the sins of the world,
And then rise from the dead transformed into a new supernatural body to be a living Spirit among and within us
Let me be clear, when God conclude a new covenant with his People that is not to be interpreted that the old covenant is abrogated, because whatever is done by God is eternal.
In Hebrews 8: 13: We quote: “By calling this covenant new, he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”
The truth is that any law, word, practice etc. that is not use becomes over time obsolete, meaning fallen into disuse, note that this do not meant abrogated and also that this is a fact that is only valid at our human standards not at the eternal standard of God. God is eternal and so is each covenant he ever concluded with mankind.
So let us be aware: All of God old covenants we find through the Old Testament still exist as actualities at God's standard because they are a part of God and whatever is of God is eternal.
Therefore all of God covenants ever concluded with mankind are yet actualities from his stand point and remain applicable to all those who do not love God or do not believe in the redeeming power of the blood of his Son Jesus Christ.
God’s new covenant of redemption of sins with mankind through his Son Jesus Christ is not a systematical grant but a virtual favor that becomes real only to those who conclude relationship with God through his Son Jesus Christ.
So it is a fact that God has concluded successive covenants with his People through the ages and generations but neither God nor his plan for the world have change,
The same inflexible and uncompromising God we find in regards to the disobedience of his Chosen People, the Israelites, is the same inflexible and uncompromising God we worship today as Christians and he will be the same tomorrow and for ever in regards to his Christian People disobedience and failure in their trust in him.
What has changed is the redeeming process of our sins, but we are worshiping the same God of love and faithfulness but also the same God that can be angry and reprimanding,
We are dealing with the same God that was angry with Adam and Eve when he was deceived by them broking the covenant he had concluded with them,
We are dealing with the same God that declared to Moses, quoted in:
Deuteronomy 30: 19-20: ”This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses, now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God. Listen to his voice and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham Isaac and Jacob.”
D. - CAN GOD REVEALS TO HIS PEOPLE ALL OF HIS SECRETS?
Let me begin by saying that this is and absurd question for the simple reason, that mankind is only human nature when on the contrary God is Spirit, he is supernatural, he is divine, he is eternal, he is Almighty, qualities that human nature is not conceive with the faculty to assimilate.
Nevertheless, my reason for opening this chapter is that many times I have heard people saying that they do not believe in God because of all the cruelties associated to God in the Old Testament.
We can only see God’s work as much as our human nature ability permits us to see. So when we associate God’s work to cruelties we are simplistically reducing God’s work to our human nature definitions of words.
The difference of standard between the reasoning ability of our human nature is immeasurable compared to God almighty, divine and eternal standard.
The reason behind God’s work is far beyond human concept so any time we pretend to interpret his work we fall into the trap of our own limited standard of reasoning.
God has always been very clear to us whether through his prophets in the Old Testament or through his .Son Jesus Christ, his only demand is that we Love, we obey his commandment and we have faith in him. He did not ask us to be the advocate of his works but simply of his love and faithfulness.
Even as God messengers, our knowledge and wisdom in God are limited to the only things God want us to know of him and our rational ability can only leads us astray any time we should try to venture beyond.
Can human concept explain the double nature of Jesus Christ?
Even Jesus Christ in his double nature, being God and at the same time a human being retrained himself from acting as equal to his father God.
In Matthew 26: 39: We find him in the garden of Gethsemane with his face to the ground praying: “My father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will”
The example given here by Jesus Christ is that even him in his divine nature as Son of God, because of his human nature he was not qualified to be equal with his father God and therefore to question his will but simply obey.
In Philippians 2: 5-8: We read: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.”
An in Deuteronomy 29: 29: We read: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of his law”
God is Almighty, omnipotent, eternal, divine, Spirit, supernatural, faculties that are all beyond the reach of human nature to the exception to the things he reveals to us.
Never can any knowledge or reason of the flesh, perceive the fullness of God’s nature as to give a rational interpretation of his will, purpose and acts.
It is fundamental as we press on as a “A People available to God” spreading his love to the world that we do not fall into the trap that consist of trying to find justified answers to unbelievers questions about God’s nature and works.
Make no mistake concerning our inability to grasp the full Almightiness of God.
As a matter of fact, human nature values very much life of the flesh and give very little value to life of the Spirit and life of the Soul, but God is the reverse, for him the flesh is just an accessory to his Spirit and to man’s soul.
While we may evaluate the state of our life of the flesh to be all of God’s goodness to us, at God’s standard life of the flesh is simply an accessory to his available Spirit that gives life to our soul.
When death may same to be the end of a journey for us, for God it is neither an end nor the beginning of his relationship with us because eternal life with God begins not after we die but from the moment we accept God’s sovereignty over our life.
At our standard death is a drama, at God’s standard death of the flesh has no effect on his relationship with us because our eternal life with him begins from the moment we put our faith and trust in him as the only Almighty God through the shed of blood of his Son Jesus Christ that give us free access to redemption of our sins.
There are two factors to be noted about God uncompromising attitude in regards to his people’s disobedience and lack of faith:
First: God’s Chosen People of the Old Testament were destined to be the reflecting mirror of his love and faithfulness and there prosperity such that all the other Nations may acknowledge him as the only Almighty God and that there is no other to be worship than him.
His “Chosen People” have deceived him in his plan and this was to God not only a breach of covenant, but also blemishing the picture of his Almightiness in the sight of all the other Nations he wanted to convince that he is the Lord God.
Once we enter into covenant with God, disobedience to any clause of the covenant is cause of interruption of our entire life with God, therefore becoming vulnerable to Satan’s evils.
A covenant with God is like any normal contract, the terms (Conditions) and consequences in the event that any of the parties should not comply with all of the terms are decided and agreed upon from the moment all parties appose their signature on the contract.
The only difference is that in a covenant with God, one party is perfect and Almighty and the other party imperfect and vulnerable.
But God is just in his almighty powers, he never condemns his People without given chances to repent, so it is through our own initiative to brake away from a life with God that we find ourselves on our own facing our enemies, without the security of God supernatural power.
Therefore it is not God the initiator of the curse that falls upon us or of our tragic fate, it is out of our own free will that we enter into a process we know through God’s laws, will lead to our death.
A life with God is a permanent challenge between good and evil. But God always send a messenger to explain to us the difference and the consequences.
The choice between eternal life with God and a life with Satan reduced to all sorts of evil is ours and the results are the fruits of our liberty of choice and are not to be credited to any punctual reprimand of God.
The point I want to make is that just as we believe that God's’ Love and faithfulness are not punctual but permanently knocking at the door of our heart, so we ought to believe that neither there is any punctuality in God anger and reprimand to our disobedience.
Both God’s Love and faithfulness and his anger and reprimand are conclude the moment we enter into covenant with him and the good or bad outcome are simply the result of our free choice.
Let me repeat myself to be clear, God is the creator of good and evil but he is not a dispenser of a mixture of good and evil. God is good. Satan is evil. That is the law.
Genesis. 2: 9: “And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
God is the creator of “Good” and “Evil” but we are, out of our free will our self-dispensers. What happens to us is simply all our fault.
As Christians when we acknowledge the fact that God is not a mixture of “Good” and “Evil” but almighty good, we also consent to the fact that we cannot pretend to a life with God if we should content ourselves with a way of life consisted of even what we may consider to be a reasonable mixture of good and evil. It is either one or the next:
In Isaiah 64: 5- 6: “ You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continue to sin against them, you were angry. How can we be saved?
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags”
Ezekiel 3: 20: “When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die……The righteous things he did will not be remembered”
Secondly: We must always bear in mind that what is righteous with God and through God can be unrighteousness when done by his people without his order.
God can revenge but he forbids us to seek revenge,
God can curse but he forbids us to curse,
God can destroy our enemies but he recommended us in Matthew 5: 39 & 44: “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also”
“You have heard that it was said: Love your neighbor and hate your enemy! But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”
To God be the glory. Amen
III. PRAYER
1. God our Father,
You have created us in thy image but we have followed our own desires and betrayed over and over your
desire for us and we have fallen short of thy glory.
But you are a merciful and forgiving God, you have sacrificed your only begotten Son as a ransom to
redeem us from the curse of the earth and the burden of our sins.
We thank you God for your mercy and loving care. We give glory to thy name,
Awake in us this day the Blessed and Holy Spirit of your Son Jesus Christ.
In our duties as Christians instill us with thy love and humility,
In times of trouble endue us with thy might;
Help us to be true to ourselves, to our brethren and therefore to thee O Lord
Father God you know the burden we carry, you know the desires of our hearts, you know our needs,
We beg you again for thy mercy, redeem us from our burden, fulfill our desires and needs that are worthy in
thy sight and cast away from our minds those that are unpleasing to thee.
Instill us this day O Lord with thy strength, thy power and grace and make us faithful servants to thy
purpose and desires here on earth as we aspire to the heavenly vision.
We are and will forever be grateful to thee O Lord
Amen,
