Preparing to see the Salvation of God
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Preparing the World
Preparing the World
Time is on God’s side
Time is on God’s side
He invented it
He invented it
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
Abraham and time
Abraham and time
Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
gen 15:
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
The nativity was on schedule
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
All this was by God’s design
All this was by God’s design
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Do NOT buy into the lie that the Old and New Testaments can be disconnected from one another or that all we need are the gospels
There is an over-arching meta-narrative to human history. What is taking place now is about fulfilling what came before.
1689 3.1 Of God’s Decree
God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established; in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree.
Men are not puppets; our choices are real and meaningful, but yet God has been Sovereignly working, weaving the affairs of men according to His plan since creation
this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
So it should be no surprise that the nativity happened on God’s predetermined schedule
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
Preparing the Way
Preparing the Way
John as Herald
John as Herald
Kingdom Presence
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
That long fore-told Kingdom had finally come
Repentance and forgiveness were indicators of this
Kingdom Inclusion
all flesh = Jew and Gentile
Simeon
a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
The purpose:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
John as Baptizer
John as Baptizer
He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Washing was nothing new to the Jews
luke 3:7-
Elisha and Namaan
So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
2 kings 5:14
Yet there was something new and different about this washing; this baptism - it was required/prerequisite for membership in a local church
Temple - Synagogue - Local Church
For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,
So then, not only was John preparing for Jesus’ ministry in a general sense, acting as a herald, he was literally by means of baptism preparing the people to be formed together into a local church by Christ
So then, God left nothing to chance in preparing the world for Jesus’s coming. He further left nothing to chance in preparing the people to be the first church. The pattern being set, now ask yourself, “How has God prepared and/or how IS He preparing me?”
Preparing You
Preparing You
For Salvation:
For Salvation:
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
It is by hearing the law of God and of His judgment that God awakens us to our own fallen state and need of Christ
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
It is by the proclaiming of the gospel of Jesus that sinners see the answer, see their savior: Jesus!
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
It is only by the moving and working of God’s Free and Holy Spirit that we are awakened and drawn to Christ, and there enabled to trust Him to the saving of our souls!
For Glory:
For Glory:
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
rom
We cannot understand how, yet scripture plainly states that the entirety of our lives is about bringing us to resemble Christ!
Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,
What have you given up? lost? Even to the losing of our loved ones, yet God in His Sovereignty has purposed to redeem our suffering in this to His glory and our good!
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
All flesh will see the salvation of God. Our continued presence and gospel ministry are for the purpose of preparing our lost loved ones to be saved. Those who are in Christ are presently being prepared to be with God forever. Let us commit ourselves to His preparation!