Covered by God's Grace!

COVERED IN GOD'S GRACE

Gen 3:21 Then the LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for the man and his wife. 22 The LORD said, "These people now know the difference between right and wrong, just as we do. But they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live forever." 23 So the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made.

-God provided cover for man, even after they had disobeyed. Naked and ashamed, they had covered themselves with leaves. God showed them that they were covered by his grace. The skin of a sacrifice was their covering. Even as we are covered acc to Psa_132:9, Psa_132:16; Isa_61:10; Rom_13:14; Eph_4:24; Col_3:10).

Various reasons for this action have been suggested:

And clothed them. The commentators are either too practical or too sin-focussed. Yes, there were practical reasons for God to cover Adam and Eve.  But look down at 8. for a prophetic understanding that gives purpose and meaning of this action in a Better Covenant Theology.

1. To show them how their mortal bodies might be defended from cold and other injuries.2. To cover their nakedness for comeliness’ sake; vestimenta honoris (Chaldee Paraphrase).3. To teach them the lawfulness of using the beasts of the field, as for food, so for clothing.4. To give a rule that modest and decent, not costly or sumptuous, apparel should be used.5. That they might know the difference between God’s works and man’s invention—between coats of leather and aprons of leaves; and, 6. To put them in mind of their mortality by their raiment of dead beasts’ skins.

...and from the School of Man's Total Depravity:

7. "That they might feel their degradation—quia vestes ex ca materia confectae, belluinum quiddam magis saperent, quam lineae vel laneae—and be reminded of their sin" (Calvin). "As the prisoner, looking on his irons, thinketh on his theft, so we, looking on our garments, should think on our sins" (Trapp).
8. But here is a Grace Perspective...A foreshadowing of the robe of Christ’s righteousness (Delitzsch, Macdonald, Murphy, Wordsworth, Candlish; cf. Psa_132:9, Psa_132:16; Isa_61:10; Rom_13:14; Eph_4:24; Col_3:10).   Bonar recognizes in Jehovah Elohim at the gate of Eden, clothing the first transgressors, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, as the High Priest of our salvation, had a right to the skins of the burnt offerings (Deu_7:8), and who, to prefigure his own work, appropriated them for covering the pardoned pair.

God's Grace covers you, as Christ is the clothing you wear. We are reminded to 'wear Jesus' in this world. Rom 13:12 Night is almost over, and day will soon appear. We must stop behaving as people do in the dark and be ready to live in the light. Rom 13:13 So behave properly, as people do in the day. Don't go to wild parties or get drunk or be vulgar or indecent. Don't quarrel or be jealous.

Rom 13:14 Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won't try to satisfy your selfish desires.

Isa 61:10 I celebrate and shout because of my LORD God. His saving power and justice are the very clothes I wear. They are more beautiful than the jewelry worn by a bride or a groom.

Psa 132:8 Come to your new home, LORD, you and the sacred chest with all of its power.

Psa 132:9 Let victory be like robes for the priests; let your faithful people celebrate and shout. >>Victory for priests, as they mediate with God

Psa 132:10 David is your chosen one, so don't reject him. 11 You made a solemn promise to David, when you said, "I, the LORD, promise that someone in your family will always be king.

Psa 132:12 If they keep our agreement and follow my teachings, then someone in your family will rule forever." 13 You have gladly chosen Zion as your home, our LORD. 14 You said, "This is my home! I will live here forever. 15 I will bless Zion with food, and even the poor will eat until they are full.

Psa 132:16 Victory will be like robes for the priests, and its faithful people will celebrate and shout. 17 I will give mighty power to the kingdom of David. Each one of my chosen kings will shine like a lamp 18 and wear a sparkling crown. But I will disgrace their enemies."

We too are clothed by our Father as was the Lost Son.

Luk 15:22 But his father said to the servants, "Hurry and bring the best clothes and put them on him. Give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.

[Next, I will explore the Davidic Covenant as it relates to the Covenant of Jesus, Son of David.  We need to dig deeper into Psalm 132!]

Be blessed, students of the Word, sons of the Kingdom!

Beautiful Scars

Our Scars are Beautiful for God

[Aug '16 while sitting w my mentor Jim Willard]

While I meditated on some of the social issues that caused great pain in different cultures in which I have journeyed and shared. Some are known in both Western and African cultures such as polygamy, whether serial or parallel, but some are so unfamiliar that they are labelled as atrocities. One so-called atrocity that is practised among several tribes in east Africa is Female Genital Mutilation. We need to see these practices from a Kingdom perspective.

1. FGM becoming an issue in developing countries. “The hand that feeds you; commands you.” Poverty creates an environment where young girls are 'more valuable' if they are cut. So to ensure that they can be married off well, with a generous bride price, they are cut and receive the scar of FGM.
2. Every culture has its rules which limit their relationship with God. Even denominations have distinctives which put walls up and allow admission to those who will conform to their practices.
3. These are the external transactions that ultimately hinder transformation.
   Rom 13:8 Let love be your only debt! If you love others, you have done all that the Law demands.
4. Galatians 6:12-14 Discovering the Scars of the Cross.
   12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God. 17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen. [Mirror translation] “18 Brothers, may the revelation of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be the rule of your spirit”
   
   - FGM 'scars' a woman's true identity. The scars of Christ's crucifixion become “our scars” and therefore define our true identity.
5. All prideful boasting is excluded by the cross of Christ, because identification with Christ in his death on the cross results in the death of all reasons for such boasting: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. The world is characterized by prideful boasting about national identity, social status and religious practices.
   > When I live in the world, my life will inevitably be characterized by such boasting. But when I die, the way of the world will no longer govern my life. My belief in the cross of Christ includes not only the realization that he died for me to rescue me from judgment under the law of God, but also the constant awareness that I must reckon myself to have died with him. My participation in Christ's death means that I no longer have any reason for boasting in myself, since the old self characterized by the values of the world is dead. This absolute renunciation of all prideful boasting because of total identification with the crucified Messiah is the aspiration of every true believer. In dying with Christ I live in the Father's love. [IVP NT Commentary]
   - Boasting in the cross affirms our transformed scars.
6. But 'sins mission is to murder you' [James 1:15]. But scars are reminders of what could have killed you, except for the power of the Cross and Empty Tomb.
7. Now let us discover the value of Christ's Scars. The wounds of His time spent on earth, that is, His Incarnation. But at His resurrection, Mary did not see the scars, she saw a gardener.
   a) His back – 'by His stripes we are healed'
   b) His head – the thorns became his throne; it was a crown of suffering that brought our hope.
   c) His Hands – by His hand he extended the Grace of the Father
   d) His feet – He came from heaven to earth. He walked where I walk; and our feet become sore.
   e) His Side – Pierced side (Ps. 22:16-18)
8. Psa 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. [a prophetic description of the Crucifixion].

Psa 22:17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. Psa 22:18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. >>Pierced means to bore thru with an awl. But the word originally describes the 'violence of a lion'. Will we allow our flesh to be penetrated in such a way...for that is the way we will become attached to our cross? Will we allow the lion to do violence to the works of our hands and the ways of our feet?

[CEV] Ps 22:16 Brutal enemies attack me like a pack of dogs, tearing at my hands and my feet. Ps 22:17 I can count all my bones, and my enemies just stare and sneer at me. 18 They took my clothes and gambled for them.

As they did violence to the Incarnate Christ so the world, with its religous systems will do to those who have taken their cross... and we will receive the scars of this world on our head (with our renewed mind), our hands which only do what our Father tells us; our feet which only go where we are told to go, not walking in the ways of this world.

9. But God also reveals the Hope that is found in those scars. Zec_12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, [cf Jn 19:37] and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. >> Here the action of piercing 'means to thrust through with spear, javelin, sword, or any such weapon.'
10. All of those scars were formed when Christ was Naked and Vulnerable on the Cross. If we are 'in Christ' we also have access to the Hope of His scars. Ah but are we willing to be vulnerable? Are we willing to lay down our own flesh to expose our nakedness?
11. We must understand the Nature of Grace as it is revealed thru the Cross. Power may have Passion and Purpose but that is not the fuel to see miracles or healing. Power is activated by Faith through Discernment of what God's Will is in that situation. We release the dynamic of the heavenly realm into a situation or infirmity or lack. What is not there God restores. The power that is released comes only because we walk in our authority as children of God.
12. [BBE]Joh 1:12 To all those who did so take him, however, he gave the right [authority] of becoming children of God--that is, to those who had faith in his name: [“God sanctions the legitimacy of their sonship”ⁱ]
    [KJV] Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
13. >> the Authority here is ἐξουσία exousia From G1832 (in the sense of ability); privilege, that is, (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence: - authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.
    >> literally “out of the I AM”; Our authority comes out of who God is in us.

iMirror Bible – John 1:12