Building Our Lives on the Good Stuff

 

 "But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him.”Romans 3:21 The Message (MSG)

by Alexandra Copeland

The Old Testament talks quite a bit about sacrifices. As a matter of fact, the word is used 218 times in the Old Testament alone. It was common place then to make a sacrifice as a way of offering something of substance to God, our Heavenly Father. Sometimes it was an offering of thankfulness for the many blessings that He has given. Other times sacrifices were made as a way of covering the sins of the people. The latter are the sacrifices that most of us are familiar with.

In the Book of Genesis, in the Old Testament, God commanded Adam and Eve to multiply in the earth, and they set out to do exactly that. During this time, it was entirely possible for the lifespan of humans to near a thousand years. It would have been wonderful if humanity has used those years to saturate themselves in the grace of God, and to solidify their relationships with the Father as one of thankfulness and faith. This did not happen. People misused their long lifespan to steer themselves further away from God rather than closer to Him. Proverbs 29:16(NKJV) says, “When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases;” and this is precisely what happened.

During this time in our history, we so abused the blessings of long life and fruitfulness that we turned it into a curse instead of the blessing it was meant to be. Genesis 6:3 (NLT) tells us that God said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.” So after the flood ended, we begin to see the lifespan of humans diminish greatly.

The heart of the Father was not to punish humanity, but to teach us that our lives have a purpose, and that this purpose is to fellowship and have a relationship with Him. That is our whole reason for being. God wanted a family and we’re it. We are the target of His affection; the apple of His eye. He desires a connection with us. This is why He stressed the importance of maximizing our time on earth to build and establish our relationships with Him, because it is the only opportunity afforded to us to do so; we must make the most of every moment of it.

In the Old Testament, there are numerous accounts of our stops and starts when it came to building a quality relationship with God. There were periods when humans remained faithful to their commitment to honor Him, and there were many periods when they did not. When they failed to honor God, satan would use the occasion to reap havoc upon their lives.

Through the Apostle Peter, God warns us in 1Peter 5:8(NLT),“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” Jesus Christ called satan a thief who comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. The enemy is the prince of darkness, and he thrives on the disobedience and ungratefulness of people. God has established His government and it is filled with life, love, liberty, and light. Our obedience to God’s sovereignty and government places and keeps us under the arch of His safety. We are protected as long as we align our wills with His Will. Once we take ourselves out from underneath God’s sovereignty by disobeying His Word, we are then outside of His defenses.

Sin is unbelief or doubt. It is an act of disobedience against God’s Will and Word. The first instance we see of it is in Genesis, when Adam and Eve took the word of the devil over what God had told them. They acted on their doubt by doing the very thing that God had specifically told them not to do. You see, God created us in such a way that when we believe something, that belief is anchored in our hearts; so much so that it, the thing we believe, becomes a part of us. Once it becomes a part of us, we continue to build our lives on it. We simply cannot afford to build our lives on a lie. Because instead of giving love, life, liberty, and light; a lie destroys. It breeds fear, death, bondage, and darkness.

Sin is the greatest lie of all, because it says that we are not who God says we are; that we do not have what He says we have, and that we cannot do what He says we can do.

In Old Testament times, much like those today, God would tell His people something, and they would not believe it. He would tell them to do something, and they would not honor it because of their unbelief. This greatly displeased Him. And not only that, their disobedience left them exposed to the enemy, satan, and all his demonic henchmen. Their sin meant that the devil could attack the people with all kinds of plagues, sicknesses, and diseases. Their unbelief gave the enemy permission to kill, steal, and destroy; because their disobedience caused them to leave God’s territory and to enter the devil’s domain of chaos and destruction. God, through His infinite mercy and grace, provided a way for them to cover their sin. He gave them a way to maintain a relationship with Him; and therefore, remain in His territory where they’d be protected.  

In Leviticus 4, God laid out the procedure for offering a sacrifice to cover the sins of the people. This offering could not wipe away their sins permanently, because it was only the blood of animals. It was a way of covering their sin so that when God looked upon them, He did not see their iniquity, but only their lovely faces so to speak. This covering worked, but only as long as the people did not sin. If they sinned again, another sacrifice would be necessary. This kind of back and forth was exhausting, and it soon became a curse. That is why it is referred to as the ‘curse of the law’. Our Heavenly wanted so much more for us, and so much more from us. And we were capable of so much more, but we just didn’t see it then.

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ opened our eyes. Romans 3:21 The Message (MSG) says, “But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him.” Jesus Christ was an up-close and personal, walking-and-talking example of God’s Word. Within Christ is everything that God wanted for  us—everything that He desires us to be.

God didn’t give us substandard building material. Our Lord and Savior is perfect, and he shed his perfect blood for us as a payment for our sins for all time. God’s spirit now lives on the inside of us because of what our tremendous Lord and Savior has done. In Hebrews 8:10, God said, “This time I’m writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I’ll be their God, they’ll be my people. They won’t go to school to learn about me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They’ll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great. They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.” God has placed His plan IN us. We’ve got a clean slate, and the wonderful reality of God’s love and truth living on the inside of us—written on the lining of our hearts, all because of Christ! We can’t lose!!! We have the good stuff of Jesus Christ!■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.