September 14 2017 – Click here to listen
In the fourth chapter of Matthew, Jesus was in the desert fasting for forty days and nights prior to beginning His ministry. It is interesting for me to note that the Jews wandered in the desert for “forty” years; Elijah traveled toward the “mountain of God” for “Forty”days; it rained for “forty” days and nights during the great flood of Noah. Why all the references to “forty”? Much of the Old Testament is a mirror image of the life of Jesus Christ. This is not an accident. The Old Testament prepares us for Christ and much of it is symbolic of Him, His accomplishments, and His purpose. I believe that God is demonstrating the need to purge and refine. Someone who wants pure gold must remove the impurities from the gold by heating it to high temperatures to burn away the impurities. Sin must be removed from us prior to our entering the presence of a holy God.
God told Adam and Eve that the day that they ate of the fruit in the Garden of Eden that they would surely die. Death and sin came into the world and was burned into every human being’s DNA, from then until now, from that moment on. God did not just let the Jews leave Egypt and then take them directly to the Promised Land. Indeed many who came out of Egypt never got to the Promised Land. The faithful got there just as the faithful survived the forty days and nights of rain in an ark during the great flood. The rest died.
All of this is symbolic of the coming of Jesus and what He means to a sinful world. Our Promised Land is forever and Jesus is the way to get there. The entire Bible leads us to one inescapable conclusion and that is that the blood of Jesus Christ is what purifies us and removes/covers our sins and enables us to enter into God’s holy presence once again. We cannot be reunited to God until we are purified and free of sin. I believe that the Bible teaches unequivocally that our life on this earth is our preparation and purification process that must occur before we can meet our holy Father. We are wandering through the desert of this life looking for God. When we find Jesus, we will complete the purification process. Our faith in Jesus is our “ark” and will deliver us to paradise. Those who do not find Jesus will be removed by fire.
_____________
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh,
but according to the Spirit.
For the law of Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has made me free
from the law of sin and death.