Beautiful Savior

You left your throne to die for me
you gave and I am forgiven
went to the cross to cross out my debt
What a beautiful savior

Took my shame and gave fame
Took my grave and gave grace
Took my sin to set me free
The father sees not my filth
He sees the beauty you gave me
What a beautiful savior

You did not have to but you did
The creator for the created
you took my life and gave me yours
you took my place and suffered for me
what a beautiful savior

The whole world needs to know
Know what you have done for them
How would they know if they are not told
Lord of the harvest, send out laborers
That everyman may know
That everyman may experience
The fullness of life you give
That the cross may not be in vain
Indeed, it's not in vain.
In the fullness of time, people shall run...
Run to mount Zion and find
Find the Beautiful savior. (amen).

The comparison between Melchizedek and Jesus is NOT a case for Tithing

Hebrews 7 is a new testament Scripture used to promote the requirement for Christians to tithe; however, the purpose of this chapter is not to promote tithing in the church, but to explain the change in priesthood from men who are limited by death to that of Jesus whose priesthood is FOREVER. Death, hades, and the devil could not stop him from being a priest FOREVER. It is very important we understand who Melchizedek is; let’s see what the Scriptures say about Melchizedek.  

 Melchizedek is NOT Jesus.

The first time Melchizedek is mentioned in the bible is in Genesis 14:18; prior to this verse, we are not told anything about him. The bible normally tells us who the father and, or mother of a person of interest is; in the case of Melchizedek, we are not told who the parents are. The reader is also not told who or when he was anointed/appointed priest or king, neither are we told anything about the people Melchizedek is king over! The lack of this type of records on Melchizedek has led to several theories on who he is.  There is a sense of mystery when Melchizedek is brought up on the pulpit or in conversations; some have concluded that he is a preincarnation of Jesus in the Old Testament, while others have just given up on trying to know who he is. I was one of the people who resigned myself to getting to know who Melchizedek is when I get to heaven, but a good pastor friend of mine asked me the question: who is Melchizedek? I simply answered “he is what the bible says he is”. My friend laughed at my response; because I had to attend to some matters, we ended the conversation there. However, the question never left me: who is Melchizedek? I picked up my bible and prayed for understanding on who he is; The Lord answered my prayer and showed me who he is.  I am going to share this with you. First we need to realize that Melchizedek was made like Jesus; a likeness is not the same as the object it is made like. However, the likeness bears resemblance to the object it is made like. God created man in his image, after his likeness; this does not make man God the father. Now let’s read the first verse where Melchizedek is mentioned in the bible:

 Genesis 14:18 – “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.” (NKJV)

 This verse clearly describes Melchizedek as a king that existed in the days of Abraham, he was the king of Salem. The amplified bible elaborates on Salem in parenthesis “ancient Jerusalem”. Joshua 10 also makes reference to Salem and the king at the time, Adoni-Zedek. Adoni-Zedek of Jerusalem (formally Salem) went to war against Joshua with 4 other kings; he and the four kings fell before Joshua. This shows us that Salem was an actual place that existed in the days of Abraham; Salem had kings and Melchizedek was one of their kings who reigned in the days of Abraham. Adoni-Zedek was also the king of the same Salem (Jerusalem), but he existed in the time of Joshua. Reference to Melchizedek as the king of Salem is not a figure of speech or some mystical expression to hide his true identity.

 The name Adoni-Zedek is actually similar in meaning to Melchizedek, it means king of righteousness or my lord is righteousness. Melchizedek means king of righteousness (Hebrews 7:2); so, both Adoni-Zedek and Melchizedek mean king of righteousness, and both were kings of Salem i.e. king of peace. And like Melchizedek, there is no record of Adoni-Zedek’s father, mother, siblings, and genealogy.  Do these comparison between Adoni-zedek and Melchizedek sound familiar? These are some of the similarities between Jesus and Melchizedek, which inevitably they share with Adoni-Zedek who is not a priest of God, nor is there any indication that he walked with, or believed in The Lord God. So if there is no indication that Adoni-Zedek walked with The Lord, I believe it is safe to say that some might be reading too much into the interpretation of the name of Melchizedek to conclude that he is Jesus. As Hebrews 7 points out, there are comparisons to make between Melchizedek and Jesus, but the purpose behind these comparisons is not a case for tithing. Before we go into Hebrews 7, let’s look into some other Scriptures about Melchizedek; I believe this will give us a clearer picture of the comparison the Word of God is making between Melchizedek and Jesus.

The change in Priesthood

After Genesis 14, the next time we see Melchizedek mentioned is in one of the Psalms of King David; this Psalm is also quoted by the writer(s) of Hebrews:

 Psalm 110:4 “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:6 - As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”;” (NKJV)

 The emphasis in this psalm is that the priesthood of Jesus is FOREVER, just as the priesthood of Melchizedek never ended. This psalm is quoted twice in Hebrews 5 to imply the same thing: Jesus is a priest FOREVER after the order of Melchizedek. Under the Levitical priesthood, when priests died, someone else took their place; however, there is no record of anyone taking over the priesthood of Melchizedek, neither will anyone take over the priesthood of Jesus.

Hebrews 6: 19 – 20 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (NKJV)

These verses in Hebrews 6 further highlight the actual comparison being made between Jesus and Melchizedek. Verse 19 talks about how Jesus has gone behind the veil, which the Levitical high priest did yearly to offer sacrifices for both the priest and the people with the blood of animals. The Lord Jesus went in once and for all, having become High Priest FOREVER in the order of Melchizedek! We know that Melchizedek did not die for our sins, so there is only one comparison here between Jesus and Melchizedek, it is the unending FOREVER priesthood! Now let’s take a look at Hebrews 7.

Hebrews 7

Hebrews 7:2 “Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” (NKJV)

Hebrews 7:2 reemphasizes exactly what Abraham paid a tithe of, the spoils of war; this verse does not say that he gave a tithe of his personal belongings nor that he ever gave Melchizedek a tithe at any other time. To say this was one of many times that Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek would be adding to the bible; the bible does not say nor imply this.

Hebrews 7:3  “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.” (NKJV)

Verse 3 shows us again the actual comparison the writer is really trying to make here – both Melchizedek and Jesus continue to be a priest perpetually. This verse actually states that Melchizedek was made like Jesus.

Hebrews 7: 5&6 “And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.” (NKJV)

Under the law, the sons of Levi are commanded by God to receive tithes from their brothers, but Melchizedek whose genealogy is not in the line of Abraham received tithes from Abraham. On the other hand, Jesus is also not from the tribe of Levi, but as we saw earlier, He went behind the veil to perform priestly duties by presenting his blood for our sins. The comparison here is that both Melchizedek and Jesus performed priestly duties that were, under the law, only the responsibilities of the Levitical priests.

Hebrews 7: 8&9 “Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.  Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak,”  (NKJV)

“Mortal men” in verse 8 is referring to Levites, not pastors like some have interpreted it to mean; verse 9 clearly states this: “…even Levi …”. “But there he receives them” is referring to Melchizedek, not Jesus as some have inferred. It is important to point out here that the comparison in verse 8 and 9 about receiving tithes is between Melchizedek and the Levitical priesthood, not Jesus. Jesus is never recorded in the bible, nor is his disciples, to have ever received tithes from anyone while physically on earth. With this understanding, we see that the true purpose of these verses is another comparison between Melchizedek and Jesus, HE LIVES! Unlike priests under the Levitical priesthood who die and their successors take over from them, in the case of Melchizedek it is witnessed that he lives; like Melchizedek, JESUS LIVES! He rose from the dead on the third day and he lives forever. The declaration in these verses in Hebrews 7 is that Jesus is our High Priest and HE LIVES FOREVER! Amen!

 

Hope – the backbone of faith

Proverbs 13:12 - Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

Have you waited for something all your life and thought you were finally about to get it and then, just then, everything vaporizes and you are left feeling empty, unfulfilled, unwanted or a failure? Have you ever thought you are living your dream only to find that it was not the real thing? Have you ever had a man or woman walk out of your life when you thought they were the one? I believe most of us will say yes to at least one of the questions above; I want you to know you are not alone. The Word of God is so true, as always, when it says hope deferred makes the heart sick; many people have ended their own lives when they think all hope is lost; some people have compromised when they think there is no hope, others have settled for whatever comes their way because they stopped hoping. When hope is absent, the anchor for our soul is missing (Heb 6:19); he that stops hoping stops living. We can not afford to stop hoping - hope is the backbone of faith.

1 Corinthians 13:13 - Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.

Though hope is not as much spoken about in churches compared to faith and love, it is one of the three things that will last forever. Faith is anchored on hope; without hope, there is no faith. Why? Because faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Heb 11:1). We can clearly see that in the absence of hope, faith cannot exist, which means the absence of pleasing God (Heb 11:6). So, it is important to understand what hope is. What is hope? Let’s look at other translations of Heb 11:1

God’s Word Translation: Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see.
Jubilee Bible 2000: Faith, therefore, is the substance of things waited for, the evidence of things not seen.

In these versions of the bible,hope is interpreted as expectation and a waiting for; expectation or a waiting for what? Romans 4:18 provides the answer to this question:

Romans 4:18 - Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be (NIV).

Abraham hoped against all hope, expected, and waited for the promise God made him; his hope, expectation, and waiting for was totally based on a promise God made to him. So the hope that is the backbone of faith in God is based on the Word/promise of God. From these scriptures we can see why sometimes the claim of being in faith about something may not be necessarily true because a number of times, the hope/expectation are not based on the Word or promise of God. Psalm 119:114 also affirms this truth:

Psalm 119:114 - You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope (NLT).

Your word is my source of hope! This scripture confirms what we see in the life of the father of faith, Abraham. The source of hope that brings about true faith is the Word of God! There are also expectations based on the lies of the devil and his words; these expectations also bring about results, but results that are not God's will for our lives. Now, my question to us is: what is our hope or expectation based on? If it is not based on God’s Word or a Word from God, we need to search the scriptures for a Word to anchor our souls in regards to the situation. When our hope is based on the Word of God or a Word from God, then our faith can be in God.

What does the cross of Jesus mean to you?

The world has set aside days of the year to recognize the birth and resurrection of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. However, little is known about what these celebrations symbolize in our lives. Many see these days as days off, and some go to church only on these two days in the year.

What does the death and resurrection of Jesus mean to the world? What does the sacrifice of a guiltless man mean to the world? To answer this question, we will have to go back to the book of Genesis and take a look at the first Adam: God gave dominion of the earth to the first Adam when he commanded him in Genesis 1:28 to ...subdue it...have dominion over...that is still God’s plan today. However, man in Adam, gave over the rights to subdue and have dominion on earth to Satan when man disobeyed God and as it is written in Luke 4:6 

“And he said to Him, To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, pre-eminence, dignity, and grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will”

So the first Adam lost it to Satan when he disobeyed God, but God’s plan was and still is - for man to reign as kings in this world (Romans 5:17), he (God) had to redeem man back to his rightful position. You know when God commanded that man should subdue and have dominion in the beginning, he meant it and his words never go back to him without yielding fruits/results. In order for God to pay the ransom required to redeem man, he had to sacrifice his only begotten son.

Now, the first Adam was made in the image of God as it is written in Gen 1:27, so, man’s spirit was a reflection of God because God is Spirit and so his image must be spirit and not flesh because man’s body was formed from dust (Gen 2:7) to be a tent for man’s spirit (2 Pet 1:13).  Before the fall, as the image of God, Adam was a son of God (Luke 3:38).  That is why when man ate from the tree God had told him not to eat, he died like God had told him (Gen 2:17) he would if he ate of the tree of good and evil. As we know, the flesh of man did not die that day but his spirit did (became separated from God). Death began to reign in man through the first Adam; as man had children, the children were born as sinners and as his children had children, sin continued to reign (Romans 5:17) because the seed of Adam had been corrupted.

To redeem man, Jesus could not be born of the seed of man because death reigned and the state of death was passed on through the seed of the man. Matthew 1: 18 and Luke 1: 35 explain that Mary became pregnant with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, Luke’s account reads:

“Then the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a shining cloud]; and so the holy (pure, sinless) Thing (Offspring) which shall be born of you will be called the Son of God” (Amplified).

Jesus was born without sin and he never sinned, this made him the perfect sacrifice for the sins of man. A sinless man had to be punished for the sins of the guilty, hence the ransom for man was paid; man was redeemed when Jesus was crucified. In the Old Testament, the sins of man were covered each year with the blood of animals that had no blemish; the blood of animals could not erase (blot out) the transgression of man but the blood of Jesus blotted out our transgression once and for all (Hebrews 10: 1-18). Verse 18 of Hebrews 10 states something very important: 

“Now where there is absolute remission (forgiveness and cancellation of the penalty) of these [sins and lawbreaking], there is no longer any offering made to atone for sin”

Hallelujah! Unlike the Old Testament where sacrifice had to be made year after year, Jesus has paid for our sins once and for all. This also means that we don’t have to punish ourselves or be punished for our sins, he paid it all. When the enemy brings our past to us to make us feel unworthy to approach God or feel guilty, we need to remember that Jesus paid it all and that all sins are forgiven, forgotten and blotted out when we accept the sacrifice that Jesus paid on the cross.

Now, Jesus did not only bear our sins, he bore other things, which were a result of the fall of man. Isaiah 53 explains the sacrifice of Jesus explicitly; verse 4-6 describes an amazing truth:

⁴ Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
      it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
   And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
      a punishment for his own sins!
 ⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
      crushed for our sins.
   He was beaten so we could be whole.
      He was whipped so we could be healed.
 ⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
      We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
   Yet the Lord laid on him
      the sins of us all. (NLT)

So he took our weakness, sorrows, rebellion, our sins, our infirmities – He made us whole again. All that is needed to be restored to our rightful position is to believe in him as John 1: 12 reads: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. This is so because Christ is a life giving spirit as 1 Cor 15:5 (AMP) reads:

"Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit [restoring the dead to life]"

We are restored back to life, back to son-ship from the state of death by the sacrifice Jesus paid because in him is life (John 1:4).  We are not only sons of God, we are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) meaning that whatever Jesus has, we have and all that he did on earth, we can do too. 

1 John 4:17 reads “In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.”

As He is, so are we in this world? Amazing! As Christ is now, so are we in this world. We are to reign in this world as Christ reigned over everything; we are to live a victorious life. As children of God, we are not hopeless sinners because Christ paid it all for us. We are like him, we have been restored to his image and his likeness, and we are kings. For as death reigned through the trespass of one man, the sacrifice of Christ means a lot more. Romans 5:17 (AMP) reads:

"For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)"

As believers it is time to live in the fullness of life that Christ has given us (John 10:10). One thing is certain, to get the results he got, we have to pray, fast, and give ourselves to the Word like he did.  If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and saviour; the time is now, he loves you and paid the price for all your sins, invite him into your heart today.

The great commission

Acts 1:8

But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.

Matthew 28: 19-20

Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you…

The command Christ Jesus gave the church to go into the world and preach the good news was one of his last words before being taken up into heaven. As the last words of a dying man are usually about things that are dear to his heart, I believe this command is very dear to the heart of the Lord. It is a fair assessment to say that though Jesus is coming back soon,  the love of many has waxed cold. The church seems to be occupied by so many things apart from actively obeying this command.  Yes, we feed the poor, cloth the naked and do every other humanitarian activities, which are great, but the world also does all these things. There is one thing the world can’t give: the good news of Jesus Christ and his saving grace that is available to all. All our humanitarian support, though part of what we are to do, can not replace the need to evangelize the lost. 

The enemy of the church is busy finding cares for the church to focus on, so the real deal becomes secondary; the church is now preoccupied with cares of this life that the assignment of the master is often forgotten or neglected. Members of the body of Christ are so focused on what their temporal needs are and forget the eternal need of the World. While we are so busy asking him for this or that, the master is saying if you love me, obey my commandment. The enemy is keeping the church focused on self that all we pray about is about ourselves - what we want, need, desire, anticipate, love... and the list goes on. These are things Jesus has told us in Mathew 6:25-33 that he has got covered.

He did not leave us alone to get it done in anyway we can; he gave us the helper, the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth. For some of us, we are afraid of what people’s response will be; you are not alone, the disciples also had to pray for boldness to preach the gospel. Peter actually denied he ever knew the man he had walked with for three and a half years. After the Holy Spirit came into his life, he preached and about three thousand men came to the Lord in a day. I pray the Lord grants us the boldness to reach out to the unbelieving members of our families, our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and the world at large.

The enemy will do anything to distract us from this great commission. We are often occupied with our lives that we neglect such a great duty that the Lord gave to us. We are usually carried away with the doctrine of churches and forget about the ultimate yearning of the heart of the father. The church is full of people back biting, slandering, arguments, hunger for self gratification, lust after various temporal things, talking about one another in the name of wanting to pray for the person; all these are the devices of the enemy to distract us from reaching out to the world. Until the church is in unity with members of his own body, we may never be able to reach out to the people that need the light that we carry. We need to die to self; Paul said “I count my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus as given me; the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace”. We need to get to the point where the desire of the father is top priority. We need to reach out and shine our lights to a world that seems to get darker each and every day. It is time for us, the church, to rise up and reach out. We need to stop beating our own body and reach out to the world that waits in earnest expectation for our manifestation.  

People are dying without having a relationship with God, we need to have a passion for these souls and use whatever way the Spirit leads us to reach out to this world. Do not despise the gift you have; God can use any of our gifts to reach out to the world. We just need to be faithful in the office he has called us to.

Matthew 9:37-38

Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest

Let us reach out every way we can, let us pray to God to bring more laborers to join in. The harvest is ripe, Jesus will be coming back soon, let’s drop everything that easily weighs us down and work the works of him who sent us. He does not want anyone to perish, but the more we keep our faith to ourselves and not reach out, people will perish. We can not convict people of their ways, neither can we change people; that is the work of the Holy Spirit. We can however, tell others about him, we can tell them who he is, why he came, why he died, what he has done for us as individuals and what he can do for them - that he forgives, that he forgets their pasts, that he truly loves regardless.

Lord of the harvest, I pray you send laborers into your harvest in Jesus name.