Ezekiel
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Ezekiel Chapter 43
This reminds me of the song, "I will
meet you in the morning, just inside the Eastern Gate."
Here we see a vision of the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ and the glory that accompanies His coming presence.
We need to be ready for the coming of the Lord whether as believers before this time of His visible literal return, to at this coming to set up His kingdom on earth. To be ready is to have received Jesus in our lives before that time.
The message is always the same. To avoid the judgment of God, just simply obey the word of God. Jesus is the word made flesh. To believe in the Son of God is to believe in life. To reject Him is to walk in darkness and receive eternal death.
To be part of His salvation we must fear the Lord. To fear the Lord is to have respect to His word and believe in His power to save us from sin to make us worthy to enter into the kingdom to come. According to Psalm 85:9, this salvation is close to those that fear Him. If we feared the Lord, we would not ignore His word or His commandments. We would not neglect the way of salvation provided to us by the atonement Christ paid for all our sin. We would not neglect to study His word or seek His face.
This describes the future kingdom under Jesus Christ. He will reign from Israel, more exact would be the city of Jerusalem. There will be no more idolatry which caused Israel to be defiled with whoredom and worship idols in the high places. Israel will be made pure and will not be apart from God or defiled with sin after this time.
Here we see clearly how the abomination of sin separated Israel from God. Sin also is what will separate any other nation or individual person from God. That is why Jesus came to save His people from their sins. This promise of salvation was given to the Jews first and then to the rest of the world. Some have rejected this way of salvation but a remnant have received this way of salvation. As we look at our world today, 2021, we see that the gospel is returning to the Jewish people who first gave it to the Gentiles.
Here is the simple gospel. Put away sin and God comes to dwell with us. This can happen within each and every
individual who accepts Jesus Christ now in this present time. We are
literally born again by the spirit of God when we turn to Christ and
turn away from sin. Right now it is given to individuals who will receive Him but one day He is returning to bring judgment to those that refuse to repent of sin and He will set up His kingdom. This is what the Jews thought Christ was supposed to do the first time around. They wanted to be free from Roman oppression. They thought Christ would come to free them from Rome and set up a kingdom with Christ ruling from Jerusalem. Actually they were not wrong but they had the timing wrong. Jesus had to come the first time to die for sins. The sin problem had to be dealt with first before Christ could come, deliver Israel from their enemies and then set up His kingdom. This is why many of them missed the message. They were looking for the visible kingdom and not the eternal salvation and repentance from sin. They didn't see themselves as sinners in need of salvation. The thing is that every one of us who have reached the age of accountability has to repent of sin and has to trust in Christ to deliver us from sin in order for us to be saved from sin and inherit eternal life. The same is true for both Jews and Gentiles, bond or free, male or female, rich or poor, good or bad. We all have to come the same way, through faith in Jesus Christ because that is the reason Jesus came the first time. To make an offering for sin and usher in the way of salvation for all mankind. Our part is to accept this or reject this and be lost and eternally separated from God. SIN SEPARATES US FROM GOD. JESUS CAME TO REPAIR THAT SEPARATION BY REMOVING THE SIN THAT SEPARATES US FROM A HOLY GOD. In order for this salvation to count for us as individuals, we have to first simply believe in Jesus to the point that we are willing to allow Him to cleanse us from sin and our attitude changes to the point that we turn away from sin and do not desire to return to the sin that Jesus saves us out of.
Notice that they had to be ashamed of sin before they are reconciled back to God. The first step to genuine repentance is to be ashamed of our sin so much that we want to be rid of it. We have not will power to get rid of sin by ourselves so we have to turn to Christ and allow Him to deliver us from sin. It's like being in a pit of mire so deep that we can't get out unless we get outside help to come and lift us out. That is why God sent Jesus to do. If someone is in the pit with us, they are trapped and can't help us but someone from the outside that is not trapped with us can pull us out. Jesus had no sin and when He died, He paid the penalty for sin when He didn't deserve the penalty. Now it can count for us if we receive this promise and not neglect to repent and turn to Christ.
True biblical holiness is necessary to see the Lord and dwell with Him but it has to come from the holy one, Jesus Christ who gives us the Holy Spirit to abide with us after we turn from sin and turn to Him (Jesus).
Notice that without holiness no one, Jew or Gentile will see the Lord. How can we be made holy enough to see the Lord?
The blood of Jesus that was shed when He died for our sin, is what covers our sin and makes us holy enough to dwell in the very presence of a Holy God. We come by faith that what God says is true and that faith in Christ will save our eternal souls.
We glory in the fact that we understand and know God. Nothing else is worthy being proud or boastful about.
We see here a picture of how they had to come for cleansing from sin before the coming of Jesus Christ who offering Himself once and for all for our sins. Before the time Jesus said, "It is finished," when He died upon the cross, they had to offer sacrifices to show a type of what was to come. Here is how it is described in the book of Hebrews:
Christ brought to us a new and living way so that the old way was fulfilled. In the Old Testament we see pictured an outward show of religious works that pointed toward the salvation to come. Those that died believing in this would be saved. In the New Testament we see a new covenant and a new way that no only saves us from past sin but brings us into a live of being filled with God's spirit. It is a new and living way. The sacrificial law was fulfilled in Christ. The moral law of God is now put within our hearts. We now can live with the spirit of God within us helping us to live above sin and not return to our old nature. We have a new and living attitude that hates sin and continually allows the spirit of God to keep us from returning to the old nature. This is why when we come to Christ, we turn away from sin, are cleansed from sin and then we are filled with the Holy Spirit. All these things are freely given to all who will just simply believe and come to Jesus Christ. |
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