In Adam or Christ?

Charles Hodge asked a crucial question: "If God requires one thing, and we present another, how can we be saved? If He has revealed a method in which He can be just and yet justify the sinner, and if we reject that method and insist upon pursuing a different way, how can we hope to be accepted?"
The safest answer, of course, is in the Scriptures. What has God revealed?

The first man sinned, but not just once. Adam sinned many times. Before he sinned the first time he was righteous. His righteousness was of his own doing, as a created being. It was the righteousness of a man.

However, Adam never had the righteousness of Jesus Christ on him. What he lost was his own self righteousness.

When you and I put our faith in Jesus Christ and trust and obey His Word for salvation, we are not merely given back a human righteousness that Adam had before the fall. 
We are given the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.

God gives us 'much more' and in abundance, He gives a superabundance of grace. He gives us the full weight of His perfect righteousness.
Adam did not stand in his own righteousness. He fell. If we attempt to stand in our own righteousness we will fall as well.

The gift of God in Christ far surpasses the effects of Adam's sin and all other sins we have committed.

The humbling fact is we were all in Adam once, and we fell in him. He brought sin and death to the human race by way of his own sin.

How can you and I escape the effects of the fall of Adam? We can stand in a divine righteousness provided by our divine substitute that will never be taken from us as we remain true to Him. It is God's gift to us in His grace by our faith and trust in Him.

The apostle Paul wrote that we have received, "God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." (Rom. 5:17)

We 'reign in life' even now through Jesus Christ. We have been elevated to a position far above what Adam had before his fall. We not only have been 'recovered from the fall, but made to reign through Jesus Christ.'

The righteousness of Jesus Christ has been put to our account, put upon us and it is a righteousness in great abundance.

Because it is of divine grace, all of the glory belongs to God alone. Adam stood at the head of the human race and brought death upon all, so our Lord Jesus stood for man and brings life to all who believe on Him. 
Every one of us is in Adam. However, the most important question is, are you in Christ? We have Christ only through obedient faith in God's Word.

We are under grace because we stand before God as justified men. Grace is the state of justification. Because we have been justified, as we remain justified we can never be condemned.

We have been justified by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. There is no other way to have a right standing with a just and holy God. What a tremendous debt we owe to our great God!

God was under no obligation or compulsion to save us. Nothing made Jesus Christ die for our sins on the cross. Nothing made God credit the perfect righteousness of Christ to our account. God did it because He chose to do so out of grace.

If you are objecting to God's revealed word saying how can I be saved by something someone else has done for me, it is probably because you are not saved.

The good news for all in Adam is that a righteous God by a judicial act declares sinful men to be in a right standing before Him, not on the basis of their own merits because they have none as sinners, but only on the basis of what Jesus Christ has done by dying in our place on the cross. Jesus took the penalty of death for our sins on Himself and died on our behalf. Now those sins have been punished and God imputes the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ to our account.

You are in Adam, but are you in Christ?

"NAME OF GOD"

In the great intercessory prayer of Jesus for His Church in John 17, the last statement He prayed was when He said; "I made known unto them Thy name and will make it known." This petition of the Master reminds us of the three times in the scripture the Name Jehovah God is mentioned with a very distinctive addition.

The first one is in Genesis 22 when Abraham called God, Jehovah-jireh, meaning 'The Lord will provide.' God said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." (NKJV)

Abraham rose up early in the morning to go to the land of Moriah. He did not wait, he rose up early. If there is something to do for the Lord, is that not is the best way to do it. Rise up early. Get with it and get with it now. Don't hang around all day making excuses, do it and do it now.

This was an unexpected challenge. Abraham had been challenged many times before, but here in his old age he receives the greatest test of all. Whether it be a challenge or a temptation, it is often that the greatest amount of faith is required in our old age. It was not as a young man that David was tempted as he looked on Bathsheba, but as a man in middle life. Our greatest challenge may not be in our youth. But the greatest challenge our youth have may be the lack of faith in the older generation.

God impressed on Abraham that He was asking for the sacrifice of his son, Isaac, that he loved. Abraham would rather have offered up one of his servants. That would have been hard enough. If he had said, offer up Ishmael and Ishmael had not already been sent away it would have been hard enough. No, it wasn't Ishmael that God was asking for and it wasn't a servant, it was Isaac whom he loved.

Notice that Abraham, like Paul, did not confer with flesh and blood. He did not ask Sarah what she thought about it, and neither did he seek the advice of anybody else. God had spoken. He rose up early in the morning, saddled his animal, set off with Isaac and two servants and went to the place where God had appointed.

When they got to the place on the third day, Abraham told the two servants to wait at the bottom of the hill while he and the boy go and worship. At this point Isaac had something to say.
He said, "My father, I see that you have a knife; you have the fire in your hand, I am carrying the wood, But where is the Lamb?"

Abraham did not spring it on him yet; he simply said that God would provide the lamb. It did not take Isaac long to find out that he was the sacrifice. Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood, got everything ready and then Isaac realized he was the sacrifice. His question, "Where is the lamb?" is very significant, "Where is the lamb?" I'll tell you where the lamb is.

In Acts chapter 8 the Ethiopian Eunuch was reading a passage of scripture from Isaiah that told where the Lamb was. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, as a Lamb before His shearer is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. Where is the Lamb? The Lamb is on the cross dying for your sins. Where is the Lamb? John the forerunner of Jesus tells us when he said, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." The Lamb is at the waters of baptism. Paul said, "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" (NKJV)

That is why we were buried with Him in baptism because that is where we contacted the blood of the slain Lamb. Where is the Lamb? The Lamb is in heaven. In The Revelation, John received a vision of heaven and he says he saw the Lamb standing as though it had been slain. That is where you will find the Lamb. At the cross, in your obedience to Him in baptism for the remission of sins, and then you will meet Him in heaven.

At the moment that Abraham would have sacrificed Isaac, an angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, "Abraham, Abraham, Lay not your hand on the lad."
Abraham saw a ram caught in the thicket by his horns and he offered up the ram. God had provided the sacrifice. Since God had provided the Lamb, Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-jireh.

The meaning of this name could be summed up in the statement, "The Lord will provide." Abraham said, "The Lord will provide a Lamb," and God did provide.

When he left home with Isaac he may have wondered, "What will I tell Sarah when I come home and tell her I have killed Isaac?" The Lord will provide!
"What will the neighbors think about me offering up my son?" The Lord will provide!
"How can Isaac be the father of many nations if I kill him?" The Lord will provide!
"How can I know that I shall be raised up from the dead?" The Lord will provide. In every activity of God, if what we are doing is His will, The Lord will provide.
If you can believe that God provided Jesus the spotless Son of God as a substitute for your sins and are then obedient to His determined plan that will keep you from damnation, then you know the meaning of the name of God, Jehovah-jireh.

"The Lord will provide."

Are You A Christian? Part 2

We are continuing to look at some of the marks of a Christian according to God's Word.

The next mark Paul mentions is that of being hopeful. This again comes from the last words of verse 4. Paul says, "that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." The world has no real hope. The world is without God and Christ. It is the Christian who has hope for all the good in the present time and hope for that world to come. Hope, for the Christian, is "the anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast," (Heb. 6)

The storms of this life will surely come, but just as the anchor holds the ship steady, so hope, our desire and expectation for good things in the future, will hold us sure and steadfast.

The next mark of a Christian is his being peaceful. This comes from verse 5 of Romans 15. Paul says, "Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus."

The Christian is one who works for unity. Notice Paul said 'like-minded.' The Christian is not looking to divide people, but to unite them. There is enough division between nations and within nations. There is enough division between families and within families. There is certainly enough division between churches and within churches. The Christian is the one, among so many pretenders, who is working to bring unity to those around him.

The next mark Paul mentions is that the Christian is worshipful. Notice verse 6, "that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Christian is one who worships. The church worships and the church is made up of Christians. The Christian lives his life in the very presence of God and the acknowledgement of Him.

There are time he worships privately. There are God's set times for him to worship in the assembly (Heb.10). Worship is our reaching up to God. It is the picture of a child on tiptoes, reaching out for the one he trusts to meet his every need. A Christian who does not worship is like a farmer who does not farm. A man is a farmer because of what he does and not where he lives. A Christian worships.

The next mark of a Christian is one who is joyful. In verse 13 Paul uses three words to describe or identify the Christian; joy, peace and power. Paul says , "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy..."
The Christian is one who can rejoice even in the face of adversity. Why? Because of who he is and to whom he belongs. Philippians 4:4 reminds us, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"

The Christian is the world's truly happy man. His life is on target. His relationship with God is genuine. His eternal destiny is sealed. He is a person of joy in spite of...!
In this same verse Paul shows us another mark as he uses the word peace. He says, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing," There is an inner peace in the life of a Christian because of who he now is.

In Philippians 4:6-7 Paul said, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; (7) and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

The Christian lives and breathes peace. Storms may rage around him, but at the center of his being there is peace. Why does he have this peace? Simply because he has peace with God. When there is peace with God there is peace within. When we look within ourselves we may find, at times, that we have the same anxieties as those who do not know God or do not claim to know Him. The Christian should have peace within and be able to rejoice always.

The next mark Paul mentions is that of being powerful. Again from verse 13, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." God has not left His children alone in this world.

In Ephesians 3:16 Paul prayed for the Ephesian Christians that they might be able "to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man." God strengthens with His dynamite, His power, each of us who wants to live the Christian life so we might live successfully. If you want to be a Christian you can be one. God will help you. 

Sometimes a person will make this statement, "I'd like to be a Christian, but I'm not sure that I can live the Christian life. I am going to first see if I can live right, and if I can, then I will become a Christian."
That will never work because if a man could live right without being a Christian, he would never need to become one. When a person enters the Christian life, it is God who helps him to be successful. He forgives him when he sins (1 John 1:7) He delivers him from temptation so he has no burden greater than he could ever bear on his own. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The next mark Paul mentions is that of being dutiful. From Romans 15:13 we read, "For even Christ did not please Himself..." I saved this one for last because it seems to bring everything together.

What is implied here? He is saying that we are to follow the example of Christ. That's what a Christian is. He is one who is trying daily to become more like Christ. He is trying to follow His example. Philippians 2:5 says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..." 

In 1 Peter 2:21 Peter said He has left us an example that we should follow in His steps. In our response to God, in our response to others, in our response to life itself, we are to be like Him.

When a person dies to sin, is buried with Christ, and is raised to walk in that newness of life, when he obeys The Gospel of Christ, and when these characteristics of Romans 15 begin to be a part of his life, we may point to that person and and say from a Biblical perspective that that man or woman is a "Christian."

Now go do the right thing!