The First Covenant

Genesis 8:21 “And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.”

Throughout the Bible, there are plenty of examples where God changes His plans when we please Him. One person’s obedience, sacrifice, worship or prayer had successfully influenced God Almighty to execute things favorably to us or to subside His wrath. It was not Noah’s obedience or sacrifices. Sacrifices were offered earlier by Abel and Cain but they did not please God as an aroma. This time it was the complete repentance and men’s understanding of how huge God’s wrath is that made this sacrifice worthy and acceptable to the Creator. God does not accept sacrifices alone. If we read Isaiah 1: 11, 16, 17 and 18 we can see that unless there is cleansing, sacrifices become abominable to God. It is like presenting food to important guests in dirty vessels. To God it was pleasing because the repentance was true. This true worship is what God expects as in John 4:23.

God saw an important reason in us to avoid destruction. This reason is that from childhood our imagination is evil. This imagination gives us no choice but to fall into sin. God says imagination from youth (childhood) because that’s where goodness should start. But evil gets a head start in man’s life. So, we see God’s decision that destruction is no solution to mankind, but salvation is. The curse on the ground that was given to Adam & Cain was taken away so that we could seed and reap.

True sacrifices helps God reason with us. God could have seen this before Noah building the ark. But the fury of the Almighty did not allow Him to see any goodness in man. Both sacrifices and deeds are required to have God’s attention. Otherwise, sin is so hated by God that He does not see any reason to save us. But Grace is a different gift from God which was given to us at the right time while we were sinners (Romans 5:8) and in sin. This was the only time God had shed His love to an undeserving audience. We are living in this love by promising God that we will become perfect through this grace. But if that promise does not happen in due time, it becomes even more abominable like a client or servant who uses the grace period just for fun and does not even think about the task given.

In verse 22, we read God replacing his curse on the ground with variable seasons. This changing behavior of the earth is given so that man could escape the evil imagination in his heart. Harvest, heat, summer and day is hoped for during seedtime, cold, winter and night. This constant change is given to us so that we understand that God is in control and not let these thoughts drag us further into sin. Every weakness and trouble is allowed to us so that we come closer with God.

Further on in Genesis 9:4, God gives to Noah all the animals as food. Hunting was allowed so that the animals would fear man. But we have to be compassionate with these animals so that they are gracefully handled by ensuring their life being shed completely before consumption. Just after this instruction, God further adds that man’s blood is very precious and He will avenge for it because man has God’s likeness. And God clearly mentions that He requires the blood and that the blood belongs to Him. But Christ had to suffer without receiving this compassion from us. That is why we are asked to eat the body and the blood has to be drunk to be saved. This symbolizes that our sins are so severe that the sacrifice has to be without any mercy. Many translations of verse 5 say that God requires an accounting for man’s blood. But this was God’s precious blood and it needs proper accounting for its shedding. A proper answer to this incident is our perfect salvation. The verse also says that from every man’s brother the accounting will be required which shows the need of evangelizing.

In verses 1 and 7, God clearly explains Noah to be fruitful and then multiply. This is why Christ uses the term “bear fruit” throughout the New Testament. (Example John 15:16) God’s instruction is clearly that we would produce good attitudes and transform into His image and then bring forth a generation that would again imitate us. We seek to multiply first by filling churches faster and bringing people to Christ with a wrong motive. These are dangerous and will produce bad fruits which become weeds and needs to be plucked out in the right time.

The need for a covenant is not that God’s motive may change, but our deeds will be so deadly to provoke His anger. God mentions that He keeps His rainbow on the clouds so that whenever it appears, it makes God remember this covenant. It is God’s message to us that in spite of our sins, God is still patient and kind. The words His covenant and His rainbow explain that it is God who initiates love and we are still in the receiving end only. But this covenant has a purpose that we should be fruitful and multiply.

Amen.

The First Salvation - Noah's Ark

Genesis 8:1 “Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.”

God was very upset with Flesh (verse 6:13) and this flesh was to be blamed for all violence in earth. Interestingly God involves the one single person who had found grace in God’s eyes in the process of his own salvation. Noah was already a righteous person and as a reward, God could have given him the ark directly. But God decided Noah to toil with his family (6:14) amidst the earth which was not just making fun of Noah, but was violent. The reason is that Noah, his family and more importantly we should understand the cost of salvation. If we read Genesis 5:63 and 7:11 we can see that Noah had spent 100 years to make this ark in the middle of severe violence. Righteousness and obedience for 600 years made Noah a worthy candidate for salvation but we got it by grace.

But interestingly we get all the instructions from God. In 6:14-16 we read the precise instructions on how to construct the ark. God knows better on how many animals to accommodate, how many days the wood should contain everybody and how water would enter into the ark. Scientists confirm that this size is the exact size for maximum strength, comfort and stability. God even gave instructions on a single window and where the window should be placed. This is how God wants us to overcome. The bible clearly instructs us that Sin is terrible and large enough to drown us. If we have the right gear and if we had put on Christ, we will be able to survive this condemnation. Christians do not need to be geniuses to survive. In fact great winners in the Bible were people who depend on Him for decision making.

Verse 7:16 says that the Lord shut him in. This shows the final completion of safety being done by the Almighty Himself. All our efforts in building a fortress, church or home will always be incomplete and there will be leakages. In Psalms 127:1, we read the importance of God’s presence in our daily chores. In everything we do or try, if we have Him along we are safe and our actions mature. Especially in our spiritual warfare we need to depend on Christ to seal us safely. Giving up our sinful nature because of any other reason is never safe unless we have the love of Christ as the only reason for repentance, ministry and all our steps towards Christlikeness. We can also read this in verses 6:19,20 where Noah had to bring some animals and some would themselves come. This is a communion or joint venture with God and us in fulfilling His plans in the earth.

The ark is a symbol of Christ Himself as per many preachers. We have to come into Jesus. We have to put on Jesus. He is the only opportunity to salvation and the new life afterwards giving a fresh start. To come to Christ and be saved, repentance is the only way. Similarly in 1 Peter 3:20, 21 we read that water had saved those who were in the ark. The same water that God Himself had sent (Gen 6:17) makes those in Jesus float and be saved. The ones that are not in Christ drown. The flood is compared with baptism by Peter.  Baptism makes everybody else dead and those in Christ live. The method of salvation is to come through testing and trouble. The only comfort and the only stronghold that can withstand all the trouble in the world is Christ Himself and trusting on anything else would be foolishness.

In 8:1 we read that God remembered with states that God did not remember Noah until the right time came. We read this term “God remembered” in many other instances like 19:29 when God remembered Abraham after destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. A similar situation is found in Numbers 10:9. When God is furious and when he is destroying, sin is so severe that there are no blessings to those who are saved. All we have to do is to wait patiently in Christ. When the other souls are being lost God is not happy enough to comfort us.

Reading 6:22 and 7:1 together, we see that Noah was seen righteous because he did exactly what God wanted him to do. God sees a just man to be righteous after his patience and exact obedience to God’s instructions. He did not raise any question for 100 years in times of trouble. That is what a person who walks with God (6:9) matures to. To be such a person, all we have to do is live close with God.

Amen.

Christ – A Father’s Promise

Mathew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”

Calling to God as a Father is a teaching exclusive to Christianity. Even Israel or Judaism did not use that term when calling towards heaven.

To understand properly we need to see that God created man in his own form but sin created a massive separation and this separation is further widened by our individual deeds. This tendency is not individuality but inherited. Being children of Adam, we all are motivated towards further sinning and drifting away from the presence of God. Sin has brought every curse that makes our life difficult and brings a tendency to have fake and temporary happiness and satisfaction. When this satisfaction is lost like a hangover after alcohol, we further regret and try to punish ours
elves. The seriousness of this curse is that our children go even further into our deeds. They do not listen to what we instruct them, they just do a little more than what we do.

We highly regard Israel even today as they are very intelligent and blessed more than many other nations. Israel was the first born son who was given a salvation from this path of doom because of one man’s obedience and faith. Abraham was not perfect but had a heart to honor God. So, all his descendants were proudly identified as children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This generation were called as sons of God in a few instances for behavioral changes (Deuteronomy 14:1, Malachi 2:10) but were not asked to address God as the Father but as “Elohim” or “God”.

God’s had always accepted a single person, family or group like Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All of Jacob’s descendants were given the status of being God’s own people. But this Israel also had rejected God and was punished severely. It was so severe that a whole nation was held as captives in another nation. The severity of sin is so large that God had abandoned every single soul in Israel and the world and was totally silent for centuries.

Choosing a generation who were perfect from birth miserably failed because of our blood-relationship with sin. We needed a Redeemer and not just another earthly father. God had earlier promised a Child, a person to hold the whole government on His shoulders. This responsibility to sacrifice and save could not be filled by any earthly person and so God Himself came down to earth as Jesus Christ. Jesus had the first authority to call the Almighty God as “My Father” (Luke 2:49). But Jesus our perfect redeemer always had asked us to call His Father as “our Father”. Jesus really wants to lift us up together with Him as His fellow heirs to all the riches of heaven.  This is the perfect will of our Father that we would love Him becoming His own Children and so, came to the earth as the begotten son who lay down His life to earn us.

Any person drunkard, addict, adulterer, murderer or anybody can just trust in Jesus and receive Him as our Savior to be saved. Jesus is our only hope and the wonderful, happiest path for our relationship with God. This relationship will clean us away from every sin and curse and help us live a completely successful life so that our children can learn from us. The Loving Father has given us a Baby which would first conquer the world and then through Him become worthy to call Him as “Abba Father”.

Amen.

The Enormity of Sin

Genesis 4:7: If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.

If the first sin was disobedience and disregard to God’s word, the results of that sin were so terrible to cause further transgressions by the upcoming generations. The knowledge of good and evil had caused a lot of partiality in the family. The first example is where Eve saying that “I have acquired a man from the LORD” for Cain alone. She might have seen goodness in Cain and nothing in Abel. This is understood because Cain was given the responsibilities which were given to Adam from God. Cain was thought to be the heir. This knowledge of good and evil was not discerned properly. Cain was confident that God will accept him because of his status in the family. This is the reason why he did not give the first fruits. Abel desired God’s approval and that desire had pushed him enough to prioritize God above all his needs.

When Cain and Abel brought their offerings, God’s approval and respect was upon both Abel and his offering. There is no single person who God has approved based on birth or any other parameter than actions. That’s why in verse 7 God asks Cain to “do well”. If we do not act as per God’s desire, all our offering, suffering and earnings become wasted. In Psalms 14:1 we read that corrupt men deny God’s existence because they cannot do good deeds. This is the extremity of sin. Cain did a similar action by just denying God’s personal advice. For Adam, God gave a commandment, but to Cain it was a usable advice that Sin is waiting to consume and he should rule over sin. He simply ignored God’s advice and received condemnation.

The characteristic of sin is that it lies at the door to consume at any given opportunity. God says that if we are deficient in any of the good works, then sin comes forward waiting for the right opportunity to come and cause failure. God points to the problem to Cain which is anger and the facial display. God has also explained to Cain that this rejection is temporary but Cain’s anger created a permanent wound. We need to submit ourselves to God’s wisdom and disciplining. In Numbers 20:12, when Moses strikes the rock for water, the Lord condemns Moses by saying that you did not believe me. When anger came, faith was lost. The next thing that was not done is Holiness to the Lord’s name.

In many stages of life, our small failures cause sin to approach us. During this time, God wants us to rule over sin. This was the initial stage where Sin should be mastered upon. But, now we are in a much worsened earth where sin tries to be a master. In Romans 6:14 Paul advises not to give dominance to sin. We are 2000 years after this verse and we need to understand how sin has taken over the earth. Man after his initial sin, got another opportunity where he could have dominated sin. But Cain’s failure made sin dominate us. Remembering that God cursed the serpent and not Adam and Eve, we should understand the seriousness of sin one after the another which can cause God to say “you are cursed from the earth”. This was much more unbearable than Adam and Eve.

We can see Cain’s family grow with many skills but nowhere it is written how many years they lived which show how God counts a person’s lifetime. But in the next chapter in whole every person’s lifetime is clearly explained. We can see a few names repeating like Enoch and Lamech. These names clearly state how closely related these families were. Even the skills were learned by Noah’s sons so that they are still present until this date. But, Noah even though he was living so close with evil men, he was perfect in his generations. In 4:26 we see that men started calling the name of the Lord. But even this worship did not help anywhere in building righteousness. The Lord saw the wickedness and the evil intentions of the heart and He was sorry and grieved. We always believe that God already knew that man would fail. If God had already known our deeds, He would not grieve. Our actions are not defined by God. But God is very much grieving whenever we fail to fulfill His desires.

It was one single sin that initially started where God was a little upset and gave some punishments to man. But man allowed sin to grow and master him which led to a state where God says that “he is just flesh”. Man lost his original qualification which is a “living being”. Sin always explodes easily if we allow a little bit of sin to succeed. Sin is so severe that God was forced to send His only begotten Son to earth so that we could be redeemed.

Amen.

The First Punishments

Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

When God was disappointed at Man’s first disobedience, God give three kinds of punishments to the three transgressions. The first one was deception, the second was greed and the third one was disregard. These three sins deserve different treatments so that we could learn from them properly.

This characteristic of the serpent is already known as per verse 1. But God is still angry at the devil and sentenced it. God did not ask the serpent for any explanation because of his known cunningness. Also the serpent is cursed but neither man not woman. Leading others into sin is a very terrible thing God gets furious about in any stage of life. If our actions discourage others away from holiness, we are doomed. Mark 9:42, 43 is a perfect example of this. The reason why Jesus hated almost every Pharisee and scholar is that they had made tradition so bad that no action of the poor, ignorant people were useful in God’s sight. God curses the animal more than all other domestic and wild beasts which clearly show that being a hindrance to anybody puts us lower than all believers and non-believers. These people lose their dignity, freedom and also their basic necessities.  

When God says that the enmity between us and the devil starts with Eve, the enmity should be understood as repentance which is the basic necessity of salvation. This enmity causes this controversy between the serpent and the woman’s Seed. The importance of women in salvation is that God brings repentance in them first. We see that the whole genealogy of David and Jesus starts with Ruth. This is very important for us to learn how this is done. She makes sure not to abandon her mother in law by keeping the LORD in her commitment. (Ruth 1:17). We can see repentance here when we read Orpah’s departure to “her gods”. The woman does not necessarily point at Ruth alone, but many others primarily including Mary. God always seeks women to start working. There is no trouble between man and the serpent. The hardness of men never sees the need for salvation.

Jesus was the one who had crushed the serpent completely. God wants Satan to fail even further by calling Jesus as the woman’s seed. This is to make sure that God wants complete victory by using the same vessels that failed to succeed.

Woman in most instances point at a congregation or a group of people. Examples are Jerusalem, Babylon and the Church. This woman in Genesis 3:15 should be Israel who had received enmity with sin (repentance) through Moses. Israel was led through a lot of trouble, slavery, failures, captivity and silence for salvation. This is portrayed exactly as childbirth. Salvation becomes a very expensive prize for man. When there is greed, God sees to it that the gift is transferred but comes with a cost. The cost is given in two- fold (pregnancy and while labor) for us to understand the value of the outcome. Please note that this gift from God is not what we were greedy for (being like God). This gift is salvation which is the first step towards glory.

There are reasons why God had chosen woman for salvation. This is because of man’s tendency to ignore God and to listen to her. Many instances in the Bible point to the importance of women’s role. One important example is the birth of Samson where the angel of God appeared to Samson’s mother and asked her to refrain from eating and drinking unclean things (Judges 13:9). In the two appearances, the angel chooses to meet the woman first. This is God’s method of always choosing a weaker congregation who would depend on Him. However, the woman’s ambitions and desires are all now focused on man and the man should rule her. This submission helps us not to lose her and her family to the darts of Satan. It is interesting that the woman holds the enmity but is submissive to the husband to avoid pride.

The sin of disregard is also very expensive where our properties are cursed instead of us. Man has to spend all his lifetime toiling to survive. God starts the sentence with the phrase “because you have heeded the voice of your wife”. Since God wanted Man to have dominion, it was very disrespectful of man to be silent and let woman do the deciding. So, God pushes man to a status where all his concentration would be wasted for survival.

But Jesus comes with a new definition that man does not live by bread alone but by the word of God which is said during starvation. The original statement of this verse is in Deuteronomy 8:3 and speaks about manna. We can see the maturity here away from Sin. Adam had to toil only for bread. Israel had to toil to execute God’s plan and God provided bread. But Jesus starved proving that the salvation from God can deliver us from all the bindings of this world which is a much better situation than Eden.

Lastly, man is doomed to dust which is also victoriously won by Christ. We are not born of the dust but are called as a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). We do not return to dust because we are born of the Spirit and so, we return to the Lord Himself. This promise of eternal life gets executed only through Jesus Christ. John 3:6 says that we are not flesh. Flesh does not define us because if it does, we will be ending in dust. However we are destined to eternal life.

This is the value of salvation and how it has brought us away from Sin. Let us uphold this strongly.

Amen.

The First Sin

Genesis 3:9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

God had wanted man to choose life over knowledge of good and evil. This life had authority, immortality and happiness. But man’s selfishness always desired what God had denied to us. But, the reality was God had protected us from one important enemy, which is the flesh. In this meditation, let us detail the stages into sin.

From Verse 1, we see cunningness being the only method Satan uses to win man. The question he poses to Eve can be seen here. Even when God had given complete dominion to Adam and Eve, Satan asks her if it is true that God has denied complete authority. This question itself has venom and is provoking. The sentence is craftily designed so that it uses our disappointment against God. God had denied only a single tree but Satan uses that tiny variance in pointing out that it is not complete authority. Satan uses a similar term to Jesus himself in Mathew 4:3 “If you are Son of God”. Whenever somebody questions our authority, we tend to react immediately and prove that we are the best. This attempt to establish or prove one’s authority has been the failure of many preachers. This is the same problem with Pharisees and other current time scholars who always try to promote their talent and knowledge.

And the woman when answering to this question comes with an explanation that has two problems. She mentions that there is only one tree in the midst of the garden. Verse 2:9 says mentions the tree of life at first and then the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But Eve mentions that there is only one tree in the middle of the garden and that tree has been restricted. We also read in verse 6 how Eve saw the tree was good, pleasant and desirable. When there is a tiny denial or a rejection, the human mind always focuses on that and presents that as a failure. We casually forget all the benefits God has given us and complain saying God did not give me a Rolls-Royce. Unless we do away with this greed and develop a satisfaction on all our possessions, obedience becomes a hard target. In 1 Kings 21:4 we can read how a king’s heart was filled with another person’s property and that perversion pushes his wife into murder. Ahab had other problems and has seen God’s power in the previous chapter. However, his desire for trade with Syria brought condemnation to him. In spite of this condemnation, Ahab was childish with Naboth’s vineyard.

The second problem with Eve’s statement is that she adds “you shall not touch it” which God never had ordered (2:17 and 3:11). This part is where she believes that God is unreasonable. We always imagine a strict and unreasonable God who never understands us. We blow up the task God had given us that it is so hard and impossible. This is primarily caused because we do not trust God that He loves us. We are expected to submit to His wisdom. Another reason for this problem is tradition where unnecessary practices are still followed without understanding and context.

In verse 6, we read that Eve saw all the goodness of the tree, she ate and gave her husband too. In all this time Adam was with her which can be seen in the words “with her”. God created woman as a helper to man. But, this man had become a silent listener and just let the helper do the talking, seeing and decision making. This is why God had ordered a submission to the husband. This is a punishment to all women just like the one given to man for toiling. When God gives some liberty and responsibility we should honor them and not abuse. More than a punishment, it is also a wise decision by God so that women who are weaker will not have authority to lead men towards sin. We need to remember that God was seeking Adam first. (1 Timothy 2:11-15).

The knowledge about good and bad has first given them the information that they are naked. Nakedness was frowned upon by God throughout the bible. But in the early stage when Adam and Eve’s eyes were not opened, God did not see that as a problem. In the last verse of Chapter 2 we read that they were not ashamed. But now they were very much ashamed even after covering themselves with fig leaves. This cover is an important thing what Jesus had to give up so that we could be saved (Isaiah 52:10). This is an illustration of Christ losing His diving status and all the benefits of knowledge which is the opposite of what Adam did. This is the symbol of selflessness.

God’s search for mankind with “where are you” started right at Adam. We can see this question from God in many instances like to Cain God asks “where is Abel?”. God is never concerned about all his creations, but about every man God is completely worried and is constantly seeking our repentance. We were part of this glory and shared a great relationship where we could even hear God walking. But sin threw us out of this and our distance kept increasing and increasing so that grace upon grace was required for salvation. Jesus’ arrival to earth is God’s descending to earth so that we can ascend to that glory. This search for souls has brought Him here. Let us make Him victorious by being able to answer this question righteously. But our pathetic situation is that God is still asking the same question “where are you” from heaven as the Father, from earth as Jesus and even after being inside us as the Holy Spirit, He still has to ask the same question to us.

Amen.

Life and Knowledge

Genesis 2:9 “And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Life, as per our understanding is all about planning, toiling and then success. Unless success is attained, life becomes meaningless according to the world’s standards. But according to verse 3, the resting day was the blessed one. The verse clearly mentions that God rested from His work and not after His work. The rest was not a result of hard work but it is a separation from all worldly issues to concentrate on God Himself. The importance will be seen in Exodus 35:2. This was given to a generation who had not received grace yet. They were to work for 6 days and spend time with the Lord in the seventh day. We are expected to spend all seven days to the Lord. This does not apply for full time ministers alone. In fact full time ministry is not something separated to specific people. We are all given the responsibility to live as living sacrifices.

If we read John 1:4, Life was present only in Jesus. The tone in introducing Jesus is that He had the wonderful element of life which was not present in anybody else. This life was the light of men. We were enlightened on how life should be lived when we saw Jesus live His life. Jesus defined what success is. This was a life which never succumbed to the darts of the world and the earth. When his anger was provoked through false accusations, he did not give way to it. But at a time when there should have been peace at the temple just after everybody exalting Him singing “hosanna” at the gates of the city. He did not change with the circumstances around Him, but created circumstances. That is the example of a great leader and a successful warrior.

And life is something that is present inside and not outside. Just as knowledge is something we enjoy inside and then make use of it externally, life is similar. God had breathed life inside us and searching for life outside is toiling in vain. When God said “you will surely die”, it did not mean death in this world, for God’s eyes those who are not in grace are already dead.

We can also understand that the plants of the “field” were not grown because of the absence of rain and man’s work. But, God was very supportive that he sent the mist that did not require both the rain and man’s tilling. Of the four rivers, only one was present when Moses was writing this book. We also see the word “garden” which means that it was completely decorated and Adam was put there. This is the life God wants to give us.

But, the only thing that God had positioned opposite to life is knowledge of good and evil. God sees that this knowledge is dangerous to man. But we are required to ignore this knowledge and seek life instead. These simple decisions are the hardest to mankind. There are two trees in the middle of the garden which means that Adam was free to eat the tree of life. The reason why God had denied knowledge of good and evil is that we should depend on God to make decisions. The immediate next verse mentions how God saw “it was not good” for man to be alone. This good and bad decision is something God had always wanted to make. That’s why the serpent uses the word “you will be like God knowing good and evil”. Man was already in the image and likeness of God. He also had access to the fruit of life which would provide eternal life. He also had dominion over all the other living beings (1:26). The only attribute that was lacking was this knowledge or deciding between good and evil. But this knowledge caused him to lose life. God had clearly warned Adam what is good between knowledge and life and expected him to choose between the two.

Also, one wrong choice and one disobedient act will lead to the end and cause man to choose evil and not anything that is good. That is the effect of choices. All God expects from us is to trust in Him without questioning and accept His way. If we want to decide ourselves, even a simple decision like choosing between a forbidden and a life giving fruit will fail. That dependency is something we need to build.

In verses 18 and 20, we can read God and man together searching for a suitable helper to Adam. This was the reason God had made and sent all the animals towards him to choose. The word helper is used because of the duty man had to perform. This duty was not just to tend and keep the garden, but also to keep himself away from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This is the role of a spouse here. God saw that it is not good for a man to be alone. This decision was from God and it was the best. When God decides on what is required, we always get the best.

All God wants man to do is live a life that depends on Him and trust in Him for everything. We are expected to be calm and rest with Him. But our wrong choices drag us towards toiling and suffering for simple needs. We are just surviving now because of unwanted knowledge and dangerous decisions.  God wants us to live and not just survive.

Amen.

Light and Darkness

Genesis 1:4 “And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. “

The creation is the most studied and least understood event in the Bible. We are not going to study this again for a better understanding about the event but for a little more light about who God is.

After the beginning and when the earth was without form and void, God brings light to set things right. We can understand that God did not see anything good in creating heavens and the earth. Here darkness does not point to the absence of light but is described as an object. Since darkness was on the surface of the deep, there was something even more abominable in the deep. Above the deep was solid earth and then water was covering the whole earth. Above the waters was the Holy Spirit moving around. In Rev 21:23 we read that the glory of God will illuminate and Jesus will be the lamp that provides light to the New Jerusalem. This is the importance of Christ in The Trinity. In John 17:5, Jesus has mentioned about the glory that was shared between the Father and Christ before this time. Based on these verses, we may understand that the Father and the Son were glorious before the earth was created but this glory was not present in the earth when it was without form and void. It was dark everywhere. This could have been because of Lucifer’s fall into the deep.

Even when the presence of the Holy Spirit was there, light was required.  The requirement of light has to be seen with a right revelation from God. The creation of the heavens and the earth is not revealed to us in detail but our revelation starts with the creation of light. After God created the light, He saw that it was good. This was not because He could see things only with light (Psalms 139:2), it was because it was His glory that was shining on earth. This explains why God had to separate His glory apart from darkness. Glory and sin cannot be together.

But the Holy Spirit and sin can be found simultaneously which should be noted particularly. The role of the Holy Spirit is very crucial in our salvation. He is the part of God the Father who is able to be support in our darkness. He is the person who is waiting for the light to come into our lives. In 1 Cor 6:19, we read that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and it does not mean that we cannot sin or sin drives the Holy Spirit away, but it means that we are rejecting the ownership of the Holy Spirit. He will still be hovering around waiting for an opportunity when we will come back to Him.

Also, it was not mere words that created this division but this division requires hands. This is applicable in our personal lives. Blessings are easy, but cleansing requires toiling and hard-work even to God. Let us be very careful during temptation. Failure is very expensive. We read this in Mathew 18:12-14 where a loss of a single soul is very painful and it makes everybody else in the fellowship exposed to temptation as the master has abandoned them in search of a single person. Our sins cause pain to us, our family, church and the person who suffers most is Christ Himself. We need to exercise that kind of caution when in the outer world outside the presence of God.

From Verse 14 onwards, we read God creating separate lights with responsibility to rule the earth. These lights are categorized as bigger, smaller and then stars. We also see that all herbs, plants and trees were created before these lights and these plants had capabilities to reproduce through their seeds before their creation. If we understand that it was the glory of God which was there to create all these plants, then all sea and animals were created under the sun which is another source of light, we can see that we are inferior to these plants. All the sea and land animals have eyes and the brain which needs somebody to rule. The plants do not need disciplining. That’s why God created these lights to rule the day and night.

This can be compared with Jesus wanting us to be lights of the world after He Himself was the original light. God sees the light as good and for this light to stay good, it needs separation from darkness. In each family or situation or location God places some people as lights to rule. Many lives are created when these lights rule. But, the tendency of human beings is that they look at the stars and not their actual rulers to rule them.

God did not work at night time, everything was performed during the light. This teaches us to not try anything without His presence. If we are outside His presence, we should just survive the night time and wait for the day to complete. In the morning, His mercies are new and so we wait for His mercies to forgive our failures during the night time. We complete the day with receiving forgiveness and had renewed our relationship with Him. And God does not consider the rest we take without His presence as a proper resting. We need to rest with Him on the Sabbath.

Our God is awesome in giving us plenty of lessons and messages in every action He does. We are expected to exactly follow Him. Let us understand Him more and love Him more.

Amen.

The Law of Christ

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

According to Paul’s teachings there is no law that can control or manipulate us as we are beyond all law and belong to the Holy Spirit. But here and in 1 Corinthians 9:21, Paul uses the term “law of Christ”. Both these statements point at the emphasis of fellowship between brothers being the law of Christ.

In the NT, no other law but fellowship is given the status of a law. This is a very important message as Jesus when spoke about this in Mathew 22:37-40, after the first law that emphasizes the relationship with God that we need to love Him, the next important law is to love our neighbors. This does not contradict with Paul’s statement that we are above all law because this law does not require obedience like all worldly laws. The law of Christ expects love.

A detailed description of Christ’s law is the Sermon on the Mount. Here in Mathew 5:38-42 Christ makes it mandatory to lose all kinds of hatred or revenge completely and send love everywhere. To win souls Jesus proposes three submissions from us. The first is to the neighbor’s anger, second to his need and then to his love. These are the perfect steps in displaying Christ’s love where he submitted to our anger at the cross, then to our need through death and resurrection so that we would be forgiven and then to our love by sending the Holy Spirit to walk with us in our pursuit of glory.

Just like the commandment in the Ten Commandments that required us to honor our father and mother which has an attached blessing that our days will be more, this commandment of loving our enemies has an attachment that we will be sons of our Father in heaven (V 44,45). Jesus in the same statement adds that the Father is perfect with His Fatherly role with all good and evil people, but if we have to be this Father’s sons we have to copy this action of the Father.

In Galatians, as soon as Paul speaks about the fruit of the Spirit, he requests the church to do away with hatred, practice encouragement and burden sharing which fulfills the law of Christ. In 5:26, Paul advises not to provoke anger and immediately in 6:1 he requests to restore if anybody sins with a spirit of gentleness. Restoration is completely different from condemnation. We are expected to do this restoration in the model of verse 2 which wants us to share each other’s burdens. If anybody sins, we should share the burden and encourage this person towards perfection. This was exactly what Jesus did at the cross.

Similarly in 1 Corinthians 9:21 Paul emphasizes in going to whatever extent to earn souls for the Lord. Paul, though being a free person, acted like a complete servant to all. This servant carried the burdens of others. His submission is willing to take up any role or responsibility to win hearts. In this context only Paul says that even if he is not under the OT law, he is submissive to the law of Christ which again is towards God. The law of Christ expects mutual encouragement and sincere burden towards souls at whatever costs it may require.

Additionally, Paul includes self-examination in Galatians 6:3-5 with this statement. This is because of the reason given in the first verse. When we share other’s burdens we are open to temptation and that may lead to failure. Self-examination is very much required at many stages before we start sharing the burdens of others. The lesson given to us is that people can bear their own burdens, but if we who are spiritual, can share other’s burdens and restore them. This ministry needs caution. The word “deceive himself” points to the fact that this examination is not simple and most people are falsely convinced that they are righteous and are being led by the Holy Spirit.

And in the next few verses (6-10), Paul includes material helps in the law of Christ. This especially has be done inside the church because material debts or crisis are reasons for sin. Carrying one another’s burdens is expected with all our earnings and strength. Also, this is where the scripture allows offerings to preachers. But here, Paul includes the verse “Be not deceived, God is not mocked” which monitors the motive of our good deeds on if we would want to feed the flesh or the spirit by doing these deeds. Let us note that when we think ourselves being worthy and try to take other’s burdens, we are deceiving ourselves. But when we try to feed the flesh (self-satisfaction) by helping others, then we are mocking God.

While concluding the book of Galatians, Paul emphasizes that our relationship with the world is crucified at the cross and so, we do all good things for the glory of the cross. This relationship when started brings us towards glory that elevates Christ about everything else. 

Amen.

Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5: 22,23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

From Verse 16 onwards Paul encourages all of us to walk in the Spirit so that we can overcome the flesh. This walking is very crucial to every Christian. The advice is to completely ignore all fleshy desires (verse 24) and fulfill spiritual needs so that we live spiritually. Spiritual living is life that strongly believes that this flesh is temporary and so it builds the spirit for the eternal life Christ has prepared. The Holy Spirit takes precedence over our self for this preparation.

We also see the confrontation between the spirit and the flesh which cause us not to progress anywhere in life. We can see this situation in most Christians who do not move anywhere either spiritually or materially where this confusion is not handled well. Paul uses the word “we wish for” in verse 17 because we have wishes on both sides. If we had not started walking in the beginning spiritually, the flesh takes over easily and we end up being stagnant completely. This stagnancy is a situation God really hates because after sometime, we lose the necessity of salvation itself.

In this context, verse 18 says that if we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law. This statement is given to us because, the law helps us control the flesh with fear whereas the Holy Spirit helps us progress towards Christlikeness which was not a necessity previously but now is mandatory. Paul uses the term “led by the Spirit” to establish that there is a new leader who has the responsibility. Law holds us from sinning but the Holy Spirit makes us holy and pure. We can see this in Mathew 4:1, Acts 16:7 etc where the Holy Spirit leads everybody to perfection and progression.

When Paul starts talking about the works of the flesh, he says that these actions and evident and thus prove the dominance of the flesh. This is one important location where Paul breaks his “No Condemnation” (Romans 8:1) teaching. The lesson here and also in Romans 8:1 is that we are saved from condemnation only when we are led by the Holy Spirit. If we are not being led so, it is evident that the flesh rules and so there will be condemnation for sure.

Paul uses the word “works” for these actions which explain how the flesh produces this. We do not realize at most incidents where the flesh is in control until it brings up these actions. If these actions show up, it is evident that the flesh has started to control a lot earlier in our thoughts and decisions and it has started to display externally. This is the reason the Holy Spirit resides inside us to stop the flesh in our thoughts.

If we categorize the works of the flesh the first four starts at our personal life, the next two with our relationship with God and all the rest on fellowship. This is the order in which we fail and also the areas in which we should be very careful at. Let us note that heresies and drunkenness are placed in between envy and anger. Heresies are ways that we twist the gospel to justify ourselves. This is placed along with murder because not only we are falsely justified but we make others fail into sin. Further on, Paul does not close the list but adds other items which the Holy Spirit conveys to us. This is because we should not judge by this list alone, but allow the Holy Spirit to help us understand a vast other areas in which we need cleansing. If we have a definite list, it becomes law.

Now, the fruit of the Spirit is given in singular form which shows that the complete fruit has all these characters. These are not individual fruits but attributes like the verse “God is Love”. The requirement for a fruit to be consumed is that all its characteristics should be present. If there is a fruit without sweetness or its skin it is immediately rejected. A person without self-control is as harmful as any person without all these characteristics.

The sentence “Against such there is no law” explains that there is no requirement of a law for people who had grown enough to become such a fruit. This does not remove the OT law alone but every other law. We become lights of the world as Jesus expects from us. The next verse (v24) says that these men have crucified their desires and passions so that these do not appear again for any other law to discipline them.

With this understanding let us honor the fellowship and liberty Jesus has given us.

Amen.

Falling from Grace

Galatians 5:4 “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. “

This situation is mentioned only here in the Bible where Grace is the tremendous outflow of God’s love upon mankind and yes there can be a situation where we can withdraw from this grace even after receiving it.  Satan’s one method of deception is that he convinces us that we have to try hard with our might to please God. This marks most of us as failures causing discouragement. But, this condemnation from a loving God comes not as the end result of our diversion towards law, but at the beginning. As soon as we try to use any other method other than grace to come towards God, then He is offended as we do not value His ultimate gift of grace.

This can be compared with a situation when a powerful person had come to visit us to our home and we ignore him and go try to get an appointment to meet the same person through his secretary. We need this understanding of grace where God has directly come to save us with His mighty wisdom , power and love. We have to note that the fall from grace has happened as soon as they attempted to be justified by law and not after they did that. Even a small thought of using our own strength offends Him.

From verse 2, we can understand that Christ will profit us nothing if we go back to law. During the dispensation of grace, God is very patient at our sins and weaknesses but is furious when we reject grace. This happens when we go behind celebrity pastors, prophets and trust in them completely than in Christ Himself.

Verses 5 and 6 explain that the only response we need to give back to grace is faith by love. In Luke 17:6 when Jesus was requested to increase the faith of the apostles, Jesus mentions about the power of faith even in the size of a mustard seed. This tiny faith becomes powerful not by of any of its characteristics, but because of its presence there. Sin does not remove faith, but deviation from grace removes the complete presence of faith. That’s why Jesus was excited by the faith of the Centurion in Mathew 8.

 The same incident as recorded in Mathew 17:20, the reason for the lack of ability to do miracles was that the disciples did not have faith (verse 17). There is a difference between absence of faith and presence in the size of a mustard seed. Any disbelief will automatically make us faithless. There are many verses (John 16:9) which point to the lack of faith leading towards sin. Faith is the license we are expected to have for Christian growth and the Holy Spirit helps as the fuel. Lack of faith distracts us to make drastic decisions in our personal and spiritual lives. If we are faithless and do not believe in God’s grace, we will try to do things on our own for salvation. Faith is total dependence on God’s might, wisdom and love.

In John 3:36, we see faith and obedience positioned in opposite directions. If somebody has faith, he will automatically obey and progress. If we do not have faith, then there is wrath of God. There is condemnation for people who do not have faith in the Son. There are many other verses like Mark 16:16 where lack of faith becomes the only reason for Christians to fail into sin.

In Mark 6:6, we read Jesus wondering how it is possible for people to not believe. These people were just the relatives of the Lord and we have higher expectations now as recipients of grace. After receiving grace, if we still cannot trust in Him, God is puzzled why man is so selfish that even the ultimate sacrifice would not make him believe. Satan has always been using deception as the best weapon against grace. Churches like the Roman Catholic church had failed because at some point they mixed other traditions and rituals in the church. This happens everywhere including protestant churches and now even Pentecostalism has started to fail because spiritual experiences and some partial sacrifices are being emphasized more than faith and grace. At some point everybody become church-goers and not true Christians.

Verse 8 portrays Christ as the one who had called us. The reason Paul uses this name is because we forget our purpose on why we had been called. Calling has been done after pre knowledge and  predestination. We have progressed these levels and after being called we are about to be justified by the blood of Christ. We are all in this level and will be glorified soon only because of our submission to grace and our possession of faith. Let us hold on tightly to grace.

Amen.

Known by God

Galatians 4:9 “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?”

Apostle Paul in this verse explains that if we had known God, we are now actually known by God Himself and so, the expectations on us are very higher. The problem Paul is raising here is that our status now is we have a mutual understanding with God and even then we try to please God by worldly elements. God takes these as insults and that’s why Paul is positioning this as a serious deviation from the plan of God on mankind. The actual requirement of God is that we have to turn away from sin and love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. This is the progress we need to give to God and not in terms of anything of this world.

We are now in pursuit of a stronger and richer element after receiving grace. This is actual freedom. This is the best encouragement we can ever have in this world. But we still seek more mercy from God through deeds and this is pathetic. That is why Paul uses the word “beggarly”. As in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, the opposite of knowing God is lust. We need to note that knowledge removes lust and not power or wealth. If knowledge could remove lust, then the knowledge should be about something richer and much better. This understanding of God is needed to us. Whatever He has provided till now is nothing when compared to what He is.

As per John 17:3, knowing God is eternal life. This is the prize given to us. The previous verse explains that Jesus came to this earth with authority over all flesh so that we, people who were given to Jesus by the Father would know God and Jesus. We can read this as we’ll want to live forever with Him if we know Him. This knowledge of God that He loves us so much happened only when Christ came into this world. If we know more of Him, we would not just receive eternal life, but love inside us would overflow into eternal life as in the dialogue with Samaritan lady (John 4:13, 14). This is why God has sent His spirit to enable us call Him as “Abba Father”. This knowledge to make us lovingly call Him is eternal life. We are not called to live for ourselves in heaven, but are called there to love Him. 1 John 4:7, 8 says the basic quality of knowing God is to love Him.

Based on 1 Cor 8:3, God knows us through our love. The previous verse says that if we think we know a lot, we actually do not as there are ways in which we need to know things. And that sole way is love. Paul expects us to use this method of discernment in things like what to eat and what not. This is a wonderful encouragement to us where love rules over knowledge. Even if we do not know a lot about Christ and yet we love Him, He knows us completely.

If our knowledge about Him is so strongly focused on His love, then God expects to know how much we love Him. In reality, He already knows and is worried that our love isn’t maturing well in time.

To many of our questions during our Christian maturity like why there are problems, starvation or what is right or wrong, a clear answer is that we know God and God knows us. Based on Psalm 139:1, God has searched our real motives and knows us by them.  And since God does not just want us to prosper here, but prosper in heavenly riches, it requires Him to discipline us towards perfection. He looks at every motive (Proverbs 16:2) behind our deeds. If we do good for self-exclamation, it is immediately ignored by Him. This is the reason the Holy Spirit has come to live inside us and not as a physical companion. We need cleansing from within and not outwardly. Also, Christ hated hypocrisy more than any other sin as this leads to deception that we are right because the world sees us as righteous and then we land in hell. We have to listen to the Holy Spirit and change our inner thoughts first before showing off charity.

When raising children (1 Samuel 16:7), it is required that we ask them to develop the right motives because that is the actual weight that is valued. More than training them into wise or talented, we should want their hearts to be pure.

Children of God

Galatians 3:26 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Being a son is the highest stature God has promised us. This position is not just for enjoyment and authority but a huge responsibility to hold. Here in this verse, despite their acceptance of traditions along with grace and Paul’s disappointment over them, Paul still calls all of them as Sons of God. This is an encouragement to us. Baptism brings us to a protection that we are sons who God would discipline.

This is made possible only because we are baptized into Christ and have put on Christ. Baptism is a representation of our faith because, we believe in Him to give us a new life and submit ourselves completely allowing all our previous life to die. This unlimited trust only makes us as sons. Baptism into Christ means that we have agreed to be cleansed and are entering into Christ Himself. The verse says that all who were baptized had put on Christ. There were no exemptions here. This commitment of putting on Christ is required during baptism. Otherwise, it becomes vain.

Since we had put on Christ, we become heirs to the Father. The Father looks us as joint partners with His Son for the kingdom. By calling us Abraham’s true seed in Chapter 3:16, God goes further into clarifying that the whole Jewish kingdom, its laws, promises, prophesies were all given to prepare way for Christ to come. That’s why Jesus was born under the law (Galatians 4:4). This birth is called as fullness of time which means that everything else was just preparing for this climax. Jesus is this important to our faith and life. Similar to Noah’s time, God had rejected everybody and adopted people who cling on to Jesus Christ.

Reading verses 4 & 5 together, we can see that Jesus was born with so simplicity so that He could overcome the world and we are just sharing His victory. Jesus was born under the law to redeem those who are under the law. In 3:13 we read that He became a curse so that we could be redeemed from the curse. The role Jesus Christ plays for our redemption is that he takes up every hindrance into Himself and makes way for us to just share His inheritance.

Verse 4:6 puts more light into this. The reason for the most precious gift we can ever receive, that is the Holy Spirit, is that God wants us to cry out to Him as “Abba Father”. We can see this again in Romans 8:15, 16. The Holy Spirit bears witnesses to both us and the Father. A true and very important guidance of the Holy Spirit is a strong assurance of inheritance.

In Gal 4:1,2 and 3, we how our relationship as a son may not be visible to others and even us. But faith makes us sons. The only link between the offspring and is faith. The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance, comfort and guidance but faith in the way towards this. That’s why in verse 6, it is mentioned that the Spirit was given after we became sons. So, when the time had come, we are redeemed from all bondage both sin and traditions. So, it is required for us to come out of all bondages and claim our freedom and so, do everything in freedom with God.

We are not sons by birth, but sons by adoption. Unlike the world claims that everybody is a son of God, a true relationship starts only by faith. God takes responsibility as a Father only after faith sprouts out. This adoption does not apply for Non-Jews alone as Paul includes himself in verse 5. John 1:12 says that we are given the right to become sons. In Ephesians 1:5 we see how great His will is that we had already determined all of us as sons. The decision was that everybody who comes through Jesus are His sons.

The higher emphasis on the promotion as sons is seen in verses 21 to 28. Where if we think we are sons by tradition, family or other parameters, we are compared with the situation of Ishmael. Faith should be the only parameter in our love with Christ. The Church is compared with Issac and was born out of bondage and is free. Verse 23 says that the law was born according to the flesh, which means that it’s only purpose was to keep the flesh in purity. But the promise given to us is that all our spirit, soul and body should be holy and acceptable as sons. For that stature, we need to become sons.

Pleasing God and not Men

Galatians 1:10 “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

Pleasing God exclusively is a very hard task especially for Christian workers. But, this message applies to everybody including believers where we make many decisions in our life where it requires to please men more than God. First and foremost, we are bondservants. We chose not to have a life of our own and have given everything to Christ. Bondservants unconditionally serve their masters. Our case is even more important we are representatives or lights that are expected to reflect Him. Both ministers and believers have this responsibility. Since we are working to the world for Christ, our bond has to be clearly seen in our work. In Ephesians 6:6 we see the word bond servants again but here, we are given as an example to slaves.

In John 12:43 onwards, we can see Jesus crying out for people who after seeing and receiving miracles, did not believe Him because of their need to please men. Verses 44 to 50 are a clear answer to this problem from Christ. First, He sets a model that He transfers all credits and faith to the Father. Jesus does not claim anything here. If we imagine this sentence in the tone as Jesus said, we can understand how Jesus claimed credits to the Father.  And this is not just faith, vision is also included. Christ had the submission to completely display the Father instead of Himself. Third, Jesus claims the authority was given by the Father. That is faith, vision and obedience are all expected to be diverted to the Father. Jesus could easily forward all his benefits to the sender even after being the one who suffered for us.

The instruction is the focus on the purpose and not men in between. This is the reason that Jesus does not condemn those who reject, but just saves those who come towards Him. He prioritizes salvation first and mentions that there is a time when condemnation will come, but let us focus on the job. If we focus on condemning people or shattering their faiths by proving our authority, God is not pleased. That is why Jesus when saw that men were trying to please each other, fist He shattered His own authority for us to learn.

In verse 50, we can see eternal life as a commandment given to Jesus and he follows this commandment only. We have always been seeing this as a blessing, but if this was the commandment and in line with the love God with all our heart, mind and might command, we can see that this is God’s eternal plan that we would live with Him filled with love for eternity. This is the ultimate purpose and Jesus was sent with this plan to be executed. But, we are deviating by trying to please other men. See, when Jesus says that we are seeing the Father by seeing Him, He says that this vision of ours is not real. That is why the law is not real but caters to the temporary world. That’s why Paul goes to the extent of calling the Galatians as foolish who are looking at temporary things, plans and still hoping for eternity. Eternal life is the commandment that pushes us towards pleasing God.

According to John 5:44, believing in Jesus and seeking men’s honor cannot happen together. If we really believe Jesus is the son of God and has come to prepare a greater honor for us, we would start giving all our trust in Him and will not align with the desires of the world. In verse 43, Jesus says that pleasing men will take us towards accepting a lot of false preachers. This was the problem with Jews, early church believers and even believers today. When they keep following men, they set standards for leadership in terms of authority, elocution and wisdom. But when Christ came, it was hard for them to accept because these standards prevented them. They had been searching scriptures for eternal life but they led towards Jesus and still they rejected. The culprit is worldly wisdom which seeks human acceptance and leads to false honor which is complete failure.

And in Luke 16:15, Jesus makes it clear to law keepers that they are just keeping them outwardly clean to show themselves off. God hates this because Satan has been successful in making them understand that it is enough to enjoy honor from men. Inner cleansing is required and the characteristics should start from within.

For ministers, Paul displays him as a model in 1 Thes 2:4-6 where every word we speak or submit would have one single motto which is to please God. The reason is that we are entrusted with the gospel which was conceived with a heavy price. This responsibility requires us to submit one hundred percent that the self will not be displayed or seek honor among men.                

Suffering in Vain

Galatians 3:4 “Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?”

This is the same context where Paul mentions how their acceptance of circumcision is leading them towards foolishness first, then the flesh taking over and at last all their suffering is about to be wasted. These three effects happen when we deviate from God’s plans on us.

In our previous meditations about Christ living in us (Gal 2:20), Paul had positioned the doctrine of circumcision along with living with the flesh. It means that these teachings help us live in this world but our requirement is to prepare us for the kingdom of God. This preparation requires us to focus on a single method of salvation which is by grace. This is the reason why Paul says in verse 21 that if righteousness comes through the law then Christ had died in vain. The law has suffering and needs obedience. But the validity of this suffering was before Christ’s death and this incident has transformed all mankind’s path towards righteousness.

In 3:1, Paul reasons that since Christ was portrayed as crucified, it is not good for them to be dependent on the law at any quantity. This dependence on any other law other than Christ Himself is against the truth. This portrayal has to change our attitude towards religion, church and the world. The final outcome of the Church in Galatia (if they had really accepted traditions inside) is that all their efforts and growth through suffering has become vain as they had failed in the fundamentals. They have mixed grace with earthly efforts.

The name “Christ” is mentioned here because the Messiah was crucified and this was the only way. If the redeemer himself was put to death, redemption cannot be given by just surviving. We are expected to submit towards suffering. The only question is if we are suffering for a reason or in vain.

Now, suffering is common to both Christians and others. But there is a huge difference in the suffering on being useful or not. Israelites were suffering both in Egypt and in the wilderness. But the former had no purpose or hope. In Exodus 3:8, God take rigorous steps to bring His people out of Egypt. The need had come that God delivers His people out of misery. We need to check if we are in Egypt of in the wilderness. The wilderness is much better as we are free and have hope of glory. We have to check if God wants to deliver us out of this suffering or has He allowed this for our growth.

In Habakkuk 2:13,14 we see that it is God’s plan that people would suffer in vain. This was given as a punishment for the evil deeds of Judah. The glory of God is seen in this action and the whole earth would see that God’s own people are given away towards suffering in vain because of their actions. A similar verse is seen in the Church (Ep 3:10). God permits these sufferings. But here we see Paul’s suffering (v13) which brings glory but in the previous verse Judah’s suffering is clearly mentioned as vain. We should be in a position to use our suffering to encourage others or else, it is in vain.

But, if we repent and turn completely towards Him, God makes our wasted sufferings to produce. The Israelites in Egypt got their wages in gold and silver enough to build the temple of God and more. These gifts are proof that God takes care of our every hard work.

As in Galatians 3:10, people under the law were under a curse that they would be condemned if they do not follow it completely. This curse is suffering in vain. We would be punished for our evil deeds and this punishment was completely vain. But the suffering of Christ was not vain, it brought forward wonderful products that is our redemption. We are expected not to suffer like sinners or the Jews, but like Christ. Our crucifixion is together with Christ so that people are redeemed and the kingdom of God is built both inside us and through us towards others. This difference has to be noticed. Are our sufferings bringing in death or life? The church in Galatia did not do blunders. They just had added a few rituals along with grace and that caused all their labor to become useless.

One important encouragement to us is that, God personally helps us when we are suffering for a purpose. Duet 29:5 and many other verses point to this fact. God was leading them by cloud and fire, he was training the people there. He ensured that everybody was fed properly. Nothing of this sort happens when we are being punished. According to Mathew 5:3 and 10, we need to have spiritual humbleness to accept suffering happily for Christ sake. And these will own the kingdom of heaven. Others will just be participants or tenants there.

 In 1 Corinthians 5:56-58 we read that the law was given as sin got strengthened. But, our actual redeemer is Christ himself. We have victory only through Christ. So, we have to move forward strongly and abounding in the Lord’s work and only then our labor will be useful. Abounding also means overflowing. We need to work for God more than our capabilities or otherwise, all our work will become vain.

Crucified with Christ

Galatians 2:20 “ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Dying with Christ is an important teaching in Christendom. Here, Paul has explicitly mentioned crucifixion meaning that our old self should die and this death should be that terrible and in that method only and not an easy smooth one. In the verse’s context Paul says that the old person has completely died to sin and the law. Paul wants to make clear that he does not approve sin and if he approves that it would be unpardonable. The outcome is that we need to live to God. Justification should be done not by ourselves, the law, the world or anything else but by Christ alone. This should be the only path taken for salvation.

This requirement of justification by Christ alone is given to us because Christ should be exalted here. We are created to glorify Christ alone and if we try to show off any of our strengths or goodness, Christ is not being glorified there or it is that we are stealing the glory of Christ into ourselves. We are glorified along with Christ that means the reason for the glory is not our deeds but His.

Similarly, we are crucified with Christ meaning that even though the suffering was received by Him alone at that time, we should share the surrender of the flesh and self as Christ did. This surrender should happen for the old self to be humiliated and destroyed. We read in Proverbs 28:13 that he who confesses his sins and forsakes them. This confession is a part of repentance. We need to clearly acknowledge that Christ was crucified only because of our deeds and we hate our own selfish nature and are longing to forsake it. We need to see the distance between us and sin to be that of humiliation and glory.

In Colossians 2:20, 21 we see the expectations God has in us. He wants us to be beyond the law; that is we need to be in a perfect relationship that there is no need for law. Verse 23 says that the flesh is more powerful than the results of these laws. These doctrines of men help me succeed or survive in this world. God wants us to excel in spiritual warfare and so these laws do not help there. The problem in Christians is that they still believe that they are living in this world. That makes it very hard for us to forsake it completely. Jesus wants us to crucify the body that belongs to this world.

In Mathew 10:38, Jesus speaks to His disciples as soon as He had chosen them. Among the basic principles of discipleship was to carry the cross. Jesus says that this cross brings worthiness to us. This particular verse is said about family’s oppositions when the cross is taken. This message is not for discipleship alone, in Mark 8:34 we read the same statement as a message to “all”. This cross is the destiny to our earlier self and our hope of a new person.  Family or the world would demand that we ignore the cross completely and progress in life as they expect. Taking up the cross would hurt relationships as they are part of our previous personal lives. The cross is not correction. This is our hope of salvation.

The ownership “his” is also mentioned. This is a personal requirement where we identify things we are asked to suffer with individually. We have to accept that this life is not good and take up suffering for Christ’s sakes. Only this event enables us to be worthy of having Jesus in us. This worthiness comes when we love Him more than all the comfort the world gives us. Jesus repeats this again in Mathew 16:24 adding “deny himself”.  

The next verse (10:39 and 16:25) says that we need to lose what we consider as life for Jesus’ sake to live. This loss is not optional. We should not read this as this means martyrdom. To follow Jesus we need to lose what we call as life and then we’ll find what life actually is.

2 Tim 2:11-13 Let us commit ourselves to Christ up to the cross because it is a faithful statement. There is no other way to win. Jesus calls us to freedom through a small suffering that is not a punishment but a yolk. The verse Mathew 11:28 proceeds to the introduction of the yolk. Jesus needs us to love him so much that we would love to suffer for His plans to be executed. This suffering is not easy, but we are not alone in this. We are following a great successful warrior here. This person loves us and is living in us. 

Living by Faith

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

There are many verses in the Bible that direct us to living by faith. In this particular verse, Paul explains that Christ is the one who has to live in us. Paul goes further to differentiate his life into two. The first one is spiritual and the second one is of the flesh. If a person is truly spiritual he would understand that he has given everything up to Christ and Christ lives in him.

But the most contradictory thing to Christ is the flesh and for us to live in the flesh, we need faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This contradiction is answered by faith that is on a person who is the powerful Son of God and this Person loves us and this love has been showered as Grace up to a level where He gave Himself for us. This unshakable faith makes us survivors in this flesh. Every time we are tested or thrown into trouble, faith helps us stand up and walk.

2 Corinthians 5:6 says that we do not walk by sight but by faith. The context of that verse is where Paul explains the flesh and the heavenly body that God will provide us when we die. Here the warning given is that the earthly tent will be taken away in a particular time and we need to ensure that we should not be found naked. Let us note that Paul uses the term “tent” for the earthly body and “building” for the heavenly body. We long to be clothed in the everlasting building that God will provide us. That promise is not seen.

Even though we are physically absent from God’s complete presence that is heaven, we are still confident about our future because of this faith. Faith removes all doubts and fear. If faith is present there would absolutely be no confusion. The answer to almost all questions is that “Jesus loves me and I trust Him completely”. Whatever disaster may seem to affect us, we would have our concentration on the newer clothing God is going to provide.

We also need to note we, ourselves are going to heaven. It is the same “I” that is being transferred from one body to another at death. This transfer invalidates death and mortality. In this life with a temporary tent, there is no visible proof of the heavenly promise. If things that are seen drive or influence us to progress, we are progressing. Every step we take is a leap of faith. 2 Cor 5:4 says that for life to take over death, we long to have an assurance of the newer clothing while we are in the old clothing. That assurance is the Holy Spirit.

As per Gal 3:7 we are promised all the promises given to Abraham for his generations as we live by this faith. The life given to us is the only real execution of all promises to Abraham. In Genesis 17:8, God promised Abraham that He’ll give Canaan to his descendants forever which did not happen at all. The reason is that the God did not consider Israel as Abraham’s descendants. We are. We will be inheriting the real Canaan or the New Jerusalem and will live there forever. If everything that matters is spiritual then even inheritance comes in spiritual terms only.

In Galatians 3:11 and in few other instances we read that “The Just shall live by faith.” This means that we cannot survive as righteous unless we cling on to faith. As per Phil 4:13, our trust in Jesus Christ gives us abilities to do or withstand anything including hunger. The actual promise of this statement in Habakkuk 2:4 is given as the alternative to being proud. Pride comes from self-confidence and self-exaltation. We need our faith as the fuel for life and not anything else that is of the world.

Faith produces Life. It is not the faith but the person on whom the faith is placed that gives life to us. We believe in Him and He gives us life. This is seen in all the verses including John 14:6 where He said that I am the way, the truth and the life. As in Galatians 3:13,14 the law does its job of bringing down curses, but Jesus Christ is producing life in us and all the promises given to Abraham are fulfilled in us.

With this strong assurance, we need to take every step of our life with faith. We should not be able to imagine a life without Jesus. As per John 10:10, Jesus gives life for the first time to us. We are mistakenly calling this earthly life as actual life. The opportunity of life is given to us only through Jesus’ death and resurrection. And this life is given to us abundantly without looking at what we deserve or qualify. That gesture is grace.

Spirit or Flesh

Galatians 3:3 “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”

In this verse, Paul gives a strong comment on the people’s decision to receive circumcision. Paul explains that this decision was to prove ourselves to be in line with others and this is flesh. He explains that we need to have total dependence on the Holy Spirit. In this verse, we can all see ourselves in our early saved days when everything was spiritual. We had huge enthusiasm for our spiritual growth and depended on God for everything. The failure began when carnal thoughts and priorities had taken precedence.

Our decisions matter the most here. There always is an argument between the spirit and the flesh inside us. The flesh always wants fun and satisfaction. The spirit wants us to be pure and holier. The winner matters. We are concerned about this discernment only when or not sinning. But, this discernment was required by Galatians in their acceptance of doctrine and rituals. Circumcision is not a sin, but Paul classifies that as a fleshy decision. This can be related to any situation especially in ministry where we give our efforts to God. We tend to accept everything because we see everything as prayer and harmless. Nowadays or maybe for centuries prayer are wonderful weapons for brainwashing and even cursing. This is the space where many evangelists come in and try to promote themselves. For Christians, honoring or selfies with these celebrity preachers are to be discerned. Many doctrines are fleshy and we need to be vigilant here. The Good Samaritan’s parable is a wonderful example of spiritual decision making. For such wisdom, it is better to lack worldly or even sometimes biblical knowledge and completely depend on God Himself.    

The importance of this can be read in the next verse. It nullifies all our previous efforts and achievements if we have given precedence to fleshy decisions for our relationship with Christ. Everything we have earned or learnt has become vain if we try to perfect things in flesh.

Romans 8 is the chapter where Paul explains this in detail. Verse 4 says that salvation is only for those who walk in the Spirit. Salvation is explained as the righteous requirement of the law. This was the purpose of every toil God has taken including the Law and Jesus. In Luke 7:37, the woman who broke the alabaster jar of perfume understood that forgiveness was the ultimate requirement. So, she gave up every savings she had for this forgiveness. We need to take this decision where perfection in Spirit is what we really need and not wealth.

God wants us to walk, progress and live completely for our spiritual needs only. This means that we should work hard putting all our efforts and strength together to progress spiritually and not in this world. Verse 5 says that Spiritual people always think about the spiritual things. They do not belong to material world or its pleasures, but they seek holiness and peace.

Life and Peace is an important sign in a spiritual person. This person has assurance of living with a purpose. Worldly people have everything but still are unhappy. They are already dead deep inside. This life makes us happy and would want to give more. As per James 4:1-6, all confusion and wars are results of flesh and this seeks pride. The Spirit always seeks humility. Jesus always stayed at the simplest lifestyle. A truly spiritual person would never promote himself but will seek God’s name to be honored. Humility is a mandatory requirement for every Christian.

Rom 8:8 says that the fleshy decisions do not please God. This can be used as a testing tool. The Holy Spirit inside us will explain us if He is happy or sad because of our deeds. If we ask Him, He would certainly reply and we can hear Him. However, we still choose to ignore Him. A simple prayer everytime increments our dependency on God and He will for sure be pleased in our actions.

In Genesis 6:3, we read that God mentioning the flesh as a temporary thing and this is all we are. Jesus came down to the earth and made us into spiritual beings with heavenly ambitions. The whole realm we see and live is not reality. But, in this period, the Holy Spirit has to strive with man to make him perfect. This struggle is what we read in Rom 8:26.

Back to Galatians 3:3, we should ensure if we are being perfected by the Spirit and not the flesh. We are expected to grow and this growth should only be originating from the Holy Spirit. All others are vain. The flesh seeks worldly honor, pleasures and completely makes us different. God calls this foolish because fools are essentially people who after knowing make wrong decisions and lose benefits. After learning that faith in Jesus brings us perfection, if we still keep seeking for carnal benefits, we become fools and all our previous efforts become wasted.