"I, the Lord, silence you,
Satan!" (Zechariah 3:2). We cannot silence Satan. The Lord can silence
Satan. This is why we must answer Satan with the Word of the Lord. Satan
has no answer to the Word of the Lord. "See, I have taken your sin away
from you, and I will dress you in fine clothing" (Zechariah 3:4). This
is God's great salvation: our sin is removed, and we are clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. Satan has no answer to this. He may try to
accuse us, but the Lord's Word will prevail over him: "For those who are
in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation" (Romans 8:1). Those who have
been forgiven by the Lord are called to "live according to His ways"
(Zechariah 3:7). We are to walk in the Spirit. He gives life to us. He
raises us up from and above the way of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
"These men are a sign of things to come" (Zechariah 3:8) - a sign that
pointed forward to Jesus, God's Servant, "the Branch" (Zechariah 3:8).
We are to point to Jesus. We are to bring something of heaven and its
glory into the lives of the people we meet. "The stone" - Look at the
stone (Zechariah 3:9). This is a call to look to Jesus, the cornerstone,
the Foundation Stone of our faith. "I will remove this land's sin in a
single day" (Zechariah 3:9). The forgiveness of our sin comes in a day.
Its effects last for a lifetime - "each of you will invite your
neighbours to sit under your vine and fig tree" (Zechariah 3:10). We are
to invite people to rest in Jesus.
"The Son of Man came to save the lost" (Matthew 18:11). In Matthew 18:12-13, Jesus speaks about sheep. He's really speaking about us. He is the Shepherd. We are His sheep. Sheep wander away from the shepherd. We wander away from the Lord. The shepherd looks for the lost sheep. Jesus has come to seek for us and find us. He brings us home to God, our Father. Through His saving grace, we receive new life - a life in which we rejoice in our great Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He delivers us from the condemnation, which our sin has brought upon us. He brings us into the knowledge of His forgiveness. This Gospel of salvation changes us. It teaches us to live in the power of God's love. Jesus speaks about "the Kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:12,23), "the Kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:14,24) and "eternal life" (Matthew 19:29). Jesus' way of thinking and living is so very different from the world's way of thinking and living. He chall...
Comments
Post a Comment