The LORD called Abraham (then Abram) out of Ur of the Chaldees when he was still with his father. HE directed Abraham’s steps even before HE appeared to him in the land of Haran after his father’s death. There HE told Abraham of HIS purpose to bless him above all men in the Earth and that HE would through him, bless all nations in the Earth. “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen 12:2-3)
Abraham lived to be 175 years of age. Quite a long life compared to most men, yet quite short in consideration of the multitudes which were born and the unfolding of history which took place after his passing. In that comparison his life is almost insignificant. Yet in consideration of the LORD’s purpose for Abraham, he was perhaps the most consequential man to inhabit the Earth, for it is through HIM that the LORD purposed to raise up the ONE man who is personally the ONE through whom all blessings which have streamed unto mankind have both originated and flowed.
The promise of the LORD to Abraham to give him a son, had its immediate fulfilment when Sarah gave birth to Isaac according to the prophecy given to them on the plains of Mamre, when the LORD appeared to him as he sat in his tent door in the heat of the day. Yet HIS promise to Abraham had its true and complete fulfilment approximately 2,000 years later in a stable in Bethlehem as HE who is the ONLY BEGOTTEN of the FATHER took upon HIMSELF human flesh. No greater wonder has ever occurred in the Earth, either, before or since. Nor might I add, no greater avenue of blessing has ever been manifested to the human race.
Paul writes to Timothy of this AVENUE. He begins by stating a very obvious truth, which is often debated by religious men and scoffed at by those who have made gods in their own image. He said;
“there is ONE GOD”. Now this is actually a most basic truth, there cannot possibly be more that ONE GOD. Elsewise the world and all of creation would be destroyed in utter chaos. We sometimes hear men declare that HE is “absolutely sovereign”, yet that is in some ways a most redundant statement, there can be no such thing as a GOD who is not sovereign, and no true sovereign can be less than absolute. There are gods a-many in the imaginations and carnal religions of men, yet such are not GOD at all. Such gods have many limitations and must at all times have respect unto what men call the “free will” of man. In this mindset man makes himself to be god, determined to do as he wills to do and having control over his own destiny. All religions in the world pay homage to this god who is no GOD at all. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deut 6:4-5)
The TRUE and LIVING GOD plainly declares HIS determination to accomplish HIS purpose at all times and in all things. HE is never disappointed nor thwarted in what HE wills to perform, and nothing which occurs in the universe is outside of that determined purpose. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” (Isa 46:9-10) “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” (Isa 44:6)
That which occupies a central place in HIS manifestation of HIS purpose in the Earth, is the redemption of that people which HE has loved with an everlasting love. When the LORD gave prophecy concerning the “SEED” of the woman who would bruise Satan’s head, HE spoke of this REDEEMER. When HE clothed Adam and Eve with skins, HE foreshadowed this ONE who would come to give HIS people a covering of RIGHTEOUSNESS. When HE was pleased with Abel’s offering of the firstlings of his flock, HE foretold the necessity of the blood shed by this REDEEMER as an offering for sin. When HE shut up Noah and his family in the safety of the ark of gopher wood, HE manifested the ARK of SAFETY (i.e.; CHRIST JESUS) in which the sons of GOD might be shut up and carried out of the destruction of this world and to that eternal rest and enjoyment of HIS blessings for ever. “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:5-7)
From the beginning of the Bible to its very end, the main SUBJECT is the “ONE MEDIATOR between GOD and men.” There could be no way in which a man might come into the presence of HIM who dwells in “the light to which no man can approach” without a MEDIATOR. “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb 9:14-15)
Such a MEDIATOR as we have in CHRIST JESUS, is an INTERCESSOR who ever lives at the throne of GOD. There HE makes intercession, not with words as HE did upon the Earth, when HE prayed for those whom the LORD had given HIM, but rather mediates by HIS very presence there as the LAMB slain for sinners. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” (Heb 9:12)
This MEDIATOR, is the “MAN CHRIST JESUS”. While we must never shrink back from declaring HIM to be ONE with the FATHER, insomuch as he that has seen HIM has seen the FATHER, we must not neglect to declare that HIS redemptive work is performed as a MAN clothed in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. HE is the only sinless man who ever lived and yet HE has died with the curse of HIS people’s sin upon HIS head as a sinner in their behalf. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2Cor 5:21)
HE “gave HIMSELF”. Nothing compelled the LORD JESUS to come into this world of sin and sorrow and lay down HIS life, except HIS own perfect will to demonstrate HIS grace and mercy to undeserving sinners. In this demonstration HE has manifested HIS love for those who were given to HIM before the world was. They were chosen “in CHRIST”, and HE is their REDEEMER. They comprise the “all” for whom HE has made “HIMSELF a RANSOM”. The paying of a “ransom” necessarily involves a payment to deliver a particular individual or individuals from bondage. Not only is HIS ransom designed with a particular people in mind but it is also of such great worth as to be completely effectual in procuring their freedom. Not one of those for whom this ransom is paid can fail to be delivered by this transaction. The scripture indicates that HE is completely satisfied with the outcome of that payment which HE made. “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isa 53:10-11)
Those who are the “all”, who are ransomed, shall be manifested by the work of HIS SPIRIT in them as the scripture defines them as those who are “testified in due time.” The testimony of the LORD is that HE will not forsake those HE loves. “Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: --Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1Cor 1:6-9) “The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal,(i.e.; testimony) The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2Tim 2:19)
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