INTRO: To follow God as He leads and protects and sustains us in moving AWAY from our captors and enslavers to sin …moving toward God’s True Liberty – (As in the Desert after leaving Egypt and being guided by the miracle working God). Sincerely, aware of God’s interventions and protections we might choose to serve God OUR way. OUR human reasoning:
BENEFIT STATEMENT: God’s Holy Nation was to prove God’s Order in the flesh. Yet there was to be more learned than merely following a Deliverer from their old life as slaves.
God’s Design is to allow and empower humans to also become like God and OF the God-Kind of Beings. (Through His living essence by Christ’s Life / Words).
Why are you following Christ? For Protection and Blessing, Salvation, the Kingdom, Special Knowledge – OR – to become like HIM from Above?
Guidance OF God over time is a Preparation for true Liberty. There is a “Zeal” for God that is OF human reasoning – then there is God’s Maturity and Perfection from Above ….
SPS: As we move away from sin by God’s Loving Guidance, are we Preparing for true Liberty OR …
Do you have Desert Zeal?
BODY: There is a “zeal” for God exhibited in the desert where Israel was sincere in following their Deliverer, but they would do it THEIR way. To follow God HIS Way is delivered from Outside us.
- We Start with the God-Given DESIRE to come OUT of sin-slavery by God’s Deliverance.
During the Days of Unleavened Bread, we look at our NEED to repent of not letting God lead us. We see ourselves compared to God and realize HE has sacrificed beyond measure for us to follow Him out of the ways of this corrupt world. We begin by following directions, the world does not. BUT:
Romans 10:1-3 (NKJV) 1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
Num 16.31,32; 41-48. (Deciding they should follow the Delivering God THEIR way).
God’s Righteousness is Through Faith in Jesus Christ. The Faith OF Christ was not generally available until “delivered” as our Father sent forth Christ that we might receive sonship as sons. This is accomplished from OUTSIDE our human reasoning, as we change our Trust FROM human to Trusting GOD and HIS design of LIFE for ALL. This is the Promise of the Spirit through Faith.
Galatians 5:5 (NKJV) 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith..
Stop here and consider that we are about to see God Legislate Freedom from the affairs that so beset us in this life. Mankind has attempted to do that through religion, government, and philosophy. All fail. ([Alexander Tytler])
Leviticus 25:8,10 (NKJV) 8 'And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
Israel was meant to BE God’s Examples of LIFE. They would be set free from concerns over food, clothing, housing, and resources at least once in their lifetimes. The world would be legislated away from their concerns. All by God’s Hand, so they would KNOW that GOD gives true LIBERTY.
Leviticus 25:55 (NKJV) 55 For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
The 50 years leading to the freedom of the nation pictured coming OUT of human reasoning while trusting and ultimately unifying together in freedom with God by His Spirit and Word through the LOGOS Who became Christ.
- We are being prepared by Trusting God’s Process – learning to Follow Christ in FAITH to Godly-Legislated Jubilee Liberty!
The Creation is to be Freed from the bondage of corruption. The Nation of God is of that Process.
FIRST God delivers us from sin as we follow His leadership.
THEN we are truly freed through faith in God through Christ.
We continue on to example true Freedom and Liberty from this world BY Christ OF God.
All this is to Create Unity and EXAMPLE God’s Way of Peace.
During the 50 Days from AD 31 Passover to Pentecost – We see “Zeal for God in the Desert” attitudes transforming into Unity, therefore true Freedom, by Trusting not in themselves or THEM transforming THIS world, but Faith in Christ to manage God’s Plan.
They were transforming to the place where they did not have a Zeal in the desert, but Faith IN/BY/WITH Christ, and they were READY for True Jubilee Freedom from this life…from ABOVE!
In 31AD - People willingly being Prepared to NOT decide for themselves how to follow their Deliverer.
(When was this happening? 10 Days before Pentecost during this present evil age.)
Acts 1:-8 (NKJV) 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
AFTER the transfiguration …(10 more days – Preparing to be Empowered from above into Liberty for ALL)
Acts 1:9-12,14 (NKJV) 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Acts 2:1 (NKJV) 1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
THEN true Freedom may grow …NEW Life free of this world’s chains of self-guidance …
“We are FOR God”: Our lives are gifted BY God for His Purpose.
1 Corinthians 8:6 (NKJV) 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
(((((Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Following the Deliverer by Faith vs. human reasoning is only possible from Above through the supplied Spirit of God from above.
How is the Spirit “supplied”? Under what circumstances? The ability to Trust outside our physical being comes by Faith, by hearing Christ through God’s Essence, not from human reasoning.
It is not whether you keep the Law of God, it is WHY!
Galatians 3:5-9 (NKJV) 5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Romans 10:17 (NKJV) 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
John 6:63 (NKJV) 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
The 10 Commandments were given to Israel on Pentecost as the foundation of the new and Holy Nation of Israel, and Pentecost 31AD was the beginning of the New Testament Holy Nation of God’s People, the foundation of the Church / Family of God.
The “Preparation for Freedom” Process was symbolized, in the desert, by taking in the FOOD from Above, and trusting that God would provide leadership and life through the FOOD from Above …ultimately leading to God’s People seeking another Way of life than enslavement in sin …all FROM ABOVE.
John 6:32-33 (NKJV) 32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
John 6:57-58 (NKJV) 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever."
Colossians 1:13 (NKJV) 13 He [our Father] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
(((((James 1:17-18 (NKJV) 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
A practical Spiritual Education from Above - Education and Continuing Grant in Spirit LIFE is given to Guide us in God-Living so we may prove what is good, acceptable, and perfect.
- The Goal – Transformed / Unified Under God and His Family BY Christ OF One Spirit.
We are therefore Prepared - as we follow God’s personal Guidance in Faith by Christ toward Unifying LIFE from above – NEW / Justified LIFE in God’s freedom from this life.
Galatians 5:1 (NKJV) 1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Philippians 3:15 (NKJV) 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
Faith in Christ – Access to the Father through ONE Spirit
((((Ephesians 4:4-6 (NKJV) 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
(((((1 John 3:1-3 (NKJV) 1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we(shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Christ gave Himself to Remove the Corruption from God’s “GOOD” Creation, so the Creation will not decay to dust, but continue in God’s Designed Plan for ALL.
Romans 8:19-25 (NKJV) 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
-REF(John 5:17 (NKJV) 17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."
What have They been doing? Creating NEW Beings who may choose to live HIS Way …
1 John 4:10-11 (NKJV) 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
(((((Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day ofJesus Christ;
Matthew 6:9 (NKJV) 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Ephesians 3:14-15 (NKJV) 14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
(((((Ephesians 4:13 (NKJV) 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
CONCLUSION: The 50 years leading to the liberty of the nation pictured coming OUT of human reasoning while trusting and ultimately unifying together in liberty with God by His Spirit and Word through Christ. Creation loses of the Attitude of “Zeal for God in the Desert” self-managed “following”.
(((((John 13:34-35 (NKJV) 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you lve one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
John 17:20-21 (NKJV) 20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
(((((Psalm 133:1 (NKJV) 1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
- We Start with the God-Given DESIRE to come OUT of sin-slavery by God’s Deliverance
- We are being prepared by Trusting God’s Process – learning to Follow Christ in FAITH to Godly-Legislated Jubilee Liberty!
- The Goal – Transformed / Unified Under God and His Family BY Christ OF One Spirit.
CLOSE: No longer are we to be guided by our OWN “Desert Zeal for God”: each deciding his way to follow our deliverer: but becoming by Christ …
ONE with God in God’s Spirit, Mind, Body, and Love.
Zechariah 14:9 (NKJV) 9 And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be-- "The LORD is one," And His name one.
