A New Day Chapter Four

MONEY CHANGERS 4

A New Day


What a beautiful day was the day our Lord was resurrected! It was a day of freedom! A day for rejoicing! Who can imagine what it would have felt like to find his tomb empty and see angels who remind you that he had told you he would rise again?!
What a day of revelation! Incredible changes had taken place already. The disciples of Christ had seen the awesome demonstration of that change and of God's mighty power when Jesus had died, only three days before. The happenings on that day had been extraordinary.
The significance of these acts of God may have escaped them at the time. They had just watched their Lord be put to death; watched his excruciating pain and suffering and the last words they had heard him say was “It is finished” That sounded pretty final.
The emotion they felt must have been overwhelming. How many times did his bleeding, swollen face appear in their minds, even after he had been laid in the tomb. Surely they would have been exhausted after all they had been through and possibly nights of nearly no sleep, as they replayed and replayed the events of that terrible day over and over, their own sorrow and emotional suffering being so great, that rest was hard to find. Even when they did sleep it was likely fitful and tormented by dreams.
Even though Jesus had told them beforehand of his coming death and resurrection, how could they comprehend such things?! But on this day they would see him alive once again. They would touch him and hear him speak again. On this day he would explain to them what it had all meant.
Prison doors had opened in the spirit world, allowing believers to walk through to a life of liberty in Christ Jesus. But what good does that do, if you cannot see the door, and don't know how to walk through it?
Jesus came back to them on the day of his resurrection, and this is what he did first, when with two disciples.
Luke. 24:27 “And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in ALL the scriptures the things concerning himself. (emphasis mine)
Luke. 24:44 & 45 “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that ALL things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, CONCERNING ME.
45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.” (emphasis mine)
Jesus did for them what he will do for any of us who will 'turn' our hearts to him. He removed the veil, or the blinders, from their eyes, and opened their understanding. Resurrection day had become REVELATION DAY! And what did he show them? He showed them himself in the scriptures; those things written in the Law, and the prophets, and the Psalms concerning HIM.
The Law was to show man his need for a Savior. It illustrated the Savior and his coming. It demonstrated something better to come, and Jesus revealed to his disciples, that wonderful day, what the Law, prophets and Psalms had actually been saying. Then they could see what he had actually done. Now they could see where the door to freedom was!
Not everyone has seen this or understood. Even today, Jews who have the scriptures containing the Law available to them, still stand at the wailing wall, praying for the Messiah to come and save them, unaware that he has already been here and brought their salvation. Christians who have accepted him as Savior seldom understand the full extent of what he has done for them, and often allow themselves to be brought back under bondage through their ignorance.
So often human beings find it difficult to accept change, even when it's change they both want and need. To go from bondage to freedom, or from law to grace, requires a change of mind.
Rom. 12:2 says - “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, THAT YE MAY PROVE WHAT IS THAT GOOD, AND ACCEPTABLE, AND PERFECT WILL OF GOD (emphasis mine)
It is God's will that every man be born again, but it is also his will that we live in the new and better, based on better promises, and not go back into either bondage or sin, nor the bondage of the Law. Those who minister of the gospel today are to be ministers of the NEW Testament.
2 Cor. 3:6-8 +11 (God) “Who also hath made us able ministers of the NEW TESTAMENT: not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the LETTER KILLETH, but the SPIRIT GIVETH LIFE.
7 But if the ministration of DEATH, written and engraven in STONES, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be DONE AWAY;
8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
11 For if that which is DONE AWAY was glorious, how much more that which REMAINETH is glorious.” (emphasis and parenthesis mine)

PAUL SAID THAT THEY HAD BEEN MADE MINISTERS OF WHAT? THE OLD COVENANT? NO!! OF THE NEW TESTAMENT!

But he did not stop there. He spoke of things written and engraven in stones, calling them the ministration of death.

WHAT WAS WRITTEN ON THOSE STONES? WAS IT NOT THE LAW OF MOSES?

When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Law written on stones, his face shone and the people were afraid. He put a veil over his face while he gave them the commands of God. (Ex. 34:32-35) The Law he presented would serve to show them their sin, and also bring death. What God had Moses give to his people was of the written letter that kills. The ministration of the things of the Spirit is more glorious, for after all, it is the Spirit which gives life.
Now listen a little more to what Paul had to say in 2 Cor. 3:12 - 17
12 “Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
13 And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is ABOLISHED:
14 But their minds were blinded: for until THIS DAY remaineth the same veil untaken away.
15 But even unto THIS DAY, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.
16 Nevertheless when it (the heart) shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.
17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is LIBERTY.” (parenthesis and emphasis mine)
Paul did not cover his face when he spoke, as Moses had done. He used great plainness of speech. 'Plainness' in Greek, is the word parrhesia, par-rhay-see'-ah, “all out spokenness, that is, frankness, bluntness, etc. (Strong's') So Paul spoke unreservedly and said that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly to the END of that which IS abolished. The word 'end' here , is the Greek word telos, tel'-os, and is explained in the Greek Lexicon (Thayer's), this way - “end, that is, termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be.” The word 'abolished' is the word katargeo, kat-arg-eh'-o,: to be (render) entirely idle (useless). lit. or fig. : abolish, cease, etc. (Strong's)
The people were living in the Law, and it must have been difficult to conceive of the idea that one day this would actually end. That day did arrive however. The Old Law died away with Jesus on the cross, and a new way of life arose with him on that wonderful resurrection day. The people's minds were blinded then, and the minds of many today are also blinded. The word 'blinded' in the Greek, is poroo, po-ro'-o, : (a kind of stone); to petrify, that is, (fig.) to indurate, (render stupid or callous): blind, harden” (Strong's) The Lexicon puts it like this - “To grow hard or callous, become dull, lose the power of understanding.

WHY WERE THEIR MINDS BLINDED?

There was a veil upon their hearts. It is the same veil that remains on the hearts of people today when they read the Law of Moses, according to these scriptures. The Greek word for 'veil' is kaluma, kal'-oo-mah, which is, “a cover, that is, veil, vail” (Strong's) Somehow when the Law is brought back into people's lives, their understanding becomes darkened, as though their minds are covered with a veil, through which they cannot see clearly.
It has become difficult even for many Christians to believe that Jesus fulfilled all of the Law. As it was difficult for the Israelites to see the end of the Law and the beginning of a better way, it is also hard for most to fix their eyes on the time when Christ will return, and another dramatic change will occur on this old earth. If more believers could truly conceive of this truth, more could have the mind set of Abraham, the man of faith, who saw himself as a pilgrim and a stranger, traveling through this lifespan to an eternal country, not made by man but by God himself. With this mind set they would not hold so tightly to things of this life. Giving would become easier and more joyful.
Paul has told us how to get rid of the blindness, when it has been on our hearts. He tells us that when our hearts shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.
BY WHOM DO YOU SUPPOSE IT WILL BE TAKEN AWAY? DO YOU THINK THAT A BLIND MAN WILL SEE TO REMOVE IT FROM HIMSELF? CAN A PERSON WITH CATARACTS ON HIS EYES SEE TO OPERATE ON HIMSELF AND REMOVE THOSE CATARACTS? NO!
The phrase 'taken away' comes from the Greek word periaireo, pre-ee-ahee-reh'-o, meaning “to remove all around, that is, unveil, cast off ... “ (Strong's).
Our job is to 'turn' from the letter of the Law of condemnation and death, to Jesus, that Spirit that gives life. You see Dear Reader, Jesus is the liberator. As verse 17 of 2 Cor. Chapter three, says -
“Now the Lord is that Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
Do not go back and pick up even one part of the Law to live by, or to justify yourself in some way, in an attempt to ensure yourself some sort of spiritual blessing. Do you want to pick up the veil and the curse that comes with it?
IS THIS SOMETHING THAT HAS JUST BEEN CONJURED UP IN ORDER TO WRITE A BOOK? HAVE YOU NOT JUST READ AS MUCH IN THE SCRIPTURES WRITTEN BY PAUL THE APOSTLE WHO WAS SENT TO GIVE THE GOSPEL TO THE GENTILES?
I am afraid that the enemy of Christ and of our souls, has slipped just enough of the Mosaic Law into the church today to prevent it from functioning at full capacity as an army of God. After all, Satan does not want his own kingdom destroyed. If he cannot get the Saints to knowingly and willingly turn away from Jesus, then what a good idea to just dull their vision enough that they cannot see to do damage to him, or to detect his attacks in time to prevent them. He is indeed a very cunning enemy, who doesn't take time off from the battle he is waging against the kingdom of God.
Child of God, if you have not already done so, you can make the decision today to turn loose of the Old Law; turn from it to Jesus and his grace and allow him to remove the veil.
Psalms 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him!”
Step into the freshness of the new and better way! Breath the air of freedom and experience the liberty that Jesus brought to you at a great price. Walk through the door (His Word) into the New Covenant and take a closer look at what it is really like.
ARE THERE NO BOUNDARIES AT ALL IN THE NEW WAY?
Yes there are! Love itself is a boundary. But here you can stay or leave. It is your choice. This is a boundary of love, but within it there is freedom from the rulership of sin and death.