June 2001

[Part 162]

“Issues of the heart”

[Part Eighty]

Hope For the Fearful Heart! [LLL]

“WHO CAN I TURN TO?”

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn 1:29)

In Parts 154-161 [See: “Past Issues”] our spirits have quickened to more enlightenment on the Savior of the world. We are seeing Him portrayed in Scripture as all four members of the ovine family- the ram, ewe, sheep and lamb; after which we will see Him as the Good Shepherd Who lovingly tends and saves all His lost sheep! Part 159 revealed GOD IS THE “RAM”; Part 160 showed GOD IS THE “EWE”; Part 161 expressed GOD IS THE “SHEEP” and now we see,

GOD IS THE “LAMB” [A]

How sweet the little nursery rhyme:

Mary had a little Lamb,

[A virgin brought forth her firstborn Son, in a stable, and she
laid Him in a manger which is a feeding trough for beasts;
and one day He would be called the Lamb of God!!]

His fleece was white as snow.

[This Son was sinless from the beginning; and because of Him,
“Though our sins be as scarlet, they shall also be made as
white as snow” (Isa 1:18) when our sins are washed
in the Blood of this precious Lamb! (Rev 1:5]

And everywhere that Mary went,
the lamb was sure to go.

             A lamb is usually less than a year old, is helpless against enemies, and utterly dependent on his mother ewe-sheep. Jesus was surely an obedient and respectful son in every way to Mary, the woman who birthed his natural body. He was raised according to the OT Law and there were very specific do’s and don’ts connected with honoring a mother. But Jewish tradition considered boys to be men at age 13- and therefore, maternal rearing yielded to paternal training. This ritual is called “bar mitzvah”, but this is really the title given to the young man; as the Hebrew words lit. mean: “Son of the Divine Law”! But Jesus was no ordinary son of man; He was truly the Son of God! As such, He was the first human whose spirit was quickened by the Anointing of God (or Christ)!! This means when He read Scripture, He did not perceive it with the same darkened understanding as the learned scholars and teachers of His religion. Jesus was “Son of the Divine Law”, but not of the “Oldness of the dead letter that kills”; rather of the “Newness of the Spirit that gives Life!!” (Ro 7:6; 2 Co 3:6) The Royal Law of which Jesus was a Son was unconditional LOVE! (Jas 2:8) We can see His “passover” from Childhood to Manhood as Mary and Joseph took Him for their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of “Passover”. According to Lk 2:49, Jesus was 12 years old at the time- but in my spirit I receive a witness that most likely, He was right on the cusp of turning 13. For when Mary and Joseph completed their required ritual, they prepared to return home but they suddenly realized that Jesus was nowhere to be found. For three frantic days they searched for their son- even journeying a mile in the direction of home thinking He might have gone ahead with some of their family or friends. Failing that, they hurried back to Jerusalem [let us keep in mind that walking a mile out and a mile back in that hot region was no stroll in the park!]. Finally “They found Jesus sitting in the temple amid learned teachers listening to them and asking penetrating questions. All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and questions! Mary asked Him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been searching for you with great anguish for three days!’ But Jesus answered, ‘Why were you looking all over for Me? Did you not know I MUST BE ABOUT MY FATHER’S BUSINESS?!’ But they did not understand what He was saying!!” (Lk 2:46-50) Do YOU understand what He was saying? Think where Jesus was when He made this statement! HE WAS IN THE TEMPLE! It was there He said He had to be about His Father’s Business! And “Don’t you know that Y-O-U A-R-E THE T-E-M-P-L-E OF GOD!” (1 Co 3:16) And what is His Father’s Business in us? He says, “The Son of Man is come to SAVE THAT WHICH IS LOST!”(Mt 18:11) And what, in us, is lost, beloved? OUR SOUL! Christ is come to quicken alive our Spiritual Nature so that, through Him, our first Adamic Nature that was lost in the Garden can be saved! First by His Death that reconciles us back to our heavenly Father; then by His RESURRECTION LIFE which is our Salvation!!

[TO BE CONTINUED]