JESUS IS THE GAME CHANGER
Lately I’ve been recounting my childhood and youth spent at the Greek Orthodox Church. Perhaps not everyone’s experiences were like mine, but for me, this was the place I was told that for God to love me and to be a good Christian girl, I had to sit straight in church, never wear pants in church, never cross my legs in church, never wear makeup in church, never sew between sunrise on Friday to sundown in Saturday, never eat meat on Fridays, give up meat, fats, dairy for forty days during lent, buy candles to say a prayer, confess my sins to the priest and ask him for forgiveness, never ask the priest any questions, and not to have sex on Sunday mornings if I were married, etc.
Don’t get me wrong. The Greek Orthodox Church believes in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, but they also advocate several man-made traditions that detract from God’s grace. I never learned about the personal relationship I could have with Jesus. I never learned that God loved me just the way I was. Instead I learned to follow rules.
Basically, what I understood was that I had to follow a bunch of rules for God to love me. I was never told in church that Jesus died and rose for ME. I was never told that God’s salvation through Christ, is all about God’s grace and not by any works that I could do or any rules that I followed.
I know that those ‘rules’ in my childhood church seem harsh and some may say they are even cultural, however there are churches all over the world, including here in North America, that imply “law” over ‘grace”.
Here’s the deal. We are no longer under the old-testament law! We are under grace! The law was put in place to show us our sin and to show us that we could never live up to the law and redeem ourselves. THIS IS WHY JESUS CAME! He came to fulfill the law.
Jesus was the ‘game changer’!
In the old testament, the priests were from the tribe of Levi and they would serve in the tabernacle and as teachers of the law. The high priest would enter the holy of holies to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people and themselves.
Jesus (the ultimate sacrifice), our new high priest is from the tribe of Judah. He is not from the tribe of Levi. This is most significant, because when the priesthood changed, so did the rules.
God could have done anything, but arranged that Jesus come from a different line to accentuate the new priesthood and a new law, which Jesus himself fulfils.
Hebrews 7:12-14 And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it.13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.
Interesting note: The Levi priests were never allowed to sit while on the job because the job was never done. The sacrifices were never enough to complete the job. Then came Jesus. This change in Priesthood from the tribe of Levi to Jesus, was different. Jesus who came from the tribe of Judah, is the high priest. He torn the veil and gives us direct access to the Father, completing the job once and for all. Once it was finished (the death and resurrection), Jesus then sat at the right hand of the Father.
Hebrews 10:11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.
Hebrews 8:6-8 But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. 7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it
Hebrews 8:9-11 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the Lord. 10 But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already.
Interesting note: Gentiles were never under the Levitical law to begin with!
Ephesians 2:11-12 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.
Glory Be to God, that He sent Jesus for everyone!
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
When we accept Jesus, we accept God’s love and grace. We don’t have to jump through hoops to gain salvation. It is God’s free gift.
Galatians 2:19-21 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.
In other words, when we try to live by the the law (old covenant) to get closer to God, we are saying that the cross was not enough and that the Holy Spirit, which was promised to us, does not live within us to lead and guide us.
2 Corinthians 3:7-11 The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away.8 Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? 9 If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! 10 In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. 11 So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!
Romans 6:11-14 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
Romans 7:4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.
When we acknowledge all that Jesus did on the cross did for us, we then understand the we are temples of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself
Not only could we never save ourselves by obeying the law, we can’t live a life here on earth that is pleasing to God either. That’s why to those who confess Jesus as their Lord and Savior, have the indwelling of the His Holy Spirit.
God is so wonderful and worthy of every praise because He offers eternal salvation through Jesus AND provides a “life-coach” (the Holy Spirit) to live inside us while we are here on earth to help us live the holy life He calls us to live. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us live a life that is pleasing to God.
Philippians 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
There is no way that we can achieve a life that is pleasing to God by following the law. As Christians we live the Spirit’s power.
Galatians 5:16-24 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. 19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
Romans 8:13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
Galatians 5:13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—21 may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.
Ask Yourself:
What rules and regulations do you live by, that?
• Have been demanded of you
• Have been Implied
• You’ve been guilted into
• Make you feel justified in doing so
• Are man-made
What things do you do to make God love you that are exalted above the simply beautiful Gospel of Christ?
Romans 8:1-3 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.