Lost senses or a clear focus on the one at the stake

In this world we may find as much craziness perhaps as Paul could find by the Galatians, him even wondering if someone put a hex on them and if they had perhaps lost their senses.

Today we may find lots of Christians who put on an attitude totally against the teachings of rabbi Jeshua. They call themselves Christian but worship a Trinity and call people names and shun people who have another religion than theirs. We may clearly see that they like the Galatians have no longer the ‘crucified Jesus’ in clear focus in their lives. His sacrifice on the stake was certainly set before them clearly enough.

They like we should take these days coming up to 14–22 Nisan, the day of the Last Supper, the remembrance of the Exodus from the slavery out of Egypt, the exodus out of the slavery of the curse of death, by the ransom offering of Christ, the hope given to mankind showing the resurrection of man by Jesus’ taking out of the dead, to prepare ourselves to come before God, pure and clean.

Is it not obvious to you that Christians should be persons who put their trust in Christ and want to be like him and like Abraham: children of faith?

The upcoming celebration of Pasach or Pesach, 14 and 15 Nisan should have us to look at Paul’s complaint to the Galatians,

“You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have laboured over you in vain” (4:10,11).

Many Christians do forget that it was all laid out beforehand in Scripture that God would set things right with non-Jews by faith. Scripture anticipated this in the promise to Abraham:

“All nations will be blessed in you.”

Not just the Jewish nation. So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith — this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up:

“Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law.” (Galatians 4.10)

The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. This includes trying to live according to God’s commandments and God His holy days, not man’s festivals, like they shall soon celebrate Easter.

Easter bunnies and chocolate Easter eggs on what many Christians celebrate on their “Easter-day” or “Easter-Sunday” have nothing to do with God nor with Jesus, but everything with the goddess of Spring and the god of fertility.

When we would love to be Christians we should be followers of Christ Jesus and not following pagan festivals. Then we would do everything to be right in the eyes of God and should know that doing things for God according His Will is the most important thing to live up to.

We should be thankful that Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. And it are those days when Jesus was full in agony and had to put his trust totally on his heavenly Father, we are going to remember soon. Do you remember the Scripture that says,

“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”?

That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the wooden stake:

He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse.

In this dark world we as followers of Christ do know that by him light could enter again in the world and now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive the Grace of God which comes for free, we nothing having to pay for that Lamb of God or not having to contribute to that ransom Jesus paid for us.

“The Law”,

with all its rules, Paul writes,

“was our guardian until Christ came … but now faith has come we are no longer under a guardian … as many of you as were baptised into Christ, have put on Christ” (3:24,27).

We may see a will, earlier ratified by God, which is not annulled by an addendum attached 430 years later, thereby negating the promise of the will. No, this addendum, with its instructions and regulations, has nothing to do with the promised inheritance in the will. We should know that the purpose of the law was to keep a sinful people in the way of salvation until Christ (the descendant) came, inheriting the promises and distributing them to us. Obviously this law was not a firsthand encounter with God. It was arranged by angelic messengers through a middleman, Moses. But if there is a middleman as there was at Sinai, then the people are not dealing directly with God, are they?

But the original promise is the [direct] blessing of God, received by faith. If such is the case, is the law, then, an anti-promise, a negation of God’s will for us? Not at all.

Its purpose was to make obvious to everyone that we are, in ourselves, out of right relationship with God, and therefore to show us the futility of devising some religious system for getting by our own efforts what we can only get by waiting in faith for God to complete his promise. For if any kind of rule-keeping had power to create life in us, we would certainly have gotten it by this time. Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law.

We as Christians should be by faith in Christ in direct relationship with God, though we have Jesus as a mediator between God and man, at first hand. Christ’s life bringing the fulfilment of God’s original promise we want to remember his last days of his life.

English: Icon image of Jesus Christ, fragment ... — Icon image of Jesus Christ, fragment of the larger icon depicting the Last Supper. Icon comes from Ukraine and is a reproduction on wood. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Easter was never instituted by Christ nor by the followers of Christ. There is only one way to commemorate the death of Christ, that is to break bread and drink wine. The Catholic Church calls this the Eucharist, but there is no specific day commanded in relation to doing this! To begin with they did it every day (Acts 2:42-46)! Paul wrote most urgently that this had to be done with the right attitude (read 1 Corinthians 11:17 onwards). But they like Christ also kept to the Jewish holy days or Jewish festivals. And in Scriptures is indicated that the moment before the Exodus from Egypt shall be remembered into eternity, which makes we too should remember it. And Jesus asked the night he was with the apostles in the upper room to remember what they did that night. As such we as followers of Christ shall also each year over and over again remember those moments God has prepared for us.

In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and goy or non-Jew, slave and free, male and female, and all of those who want to be a Christian should fall under that Abrahamic promise but also under the Mosaic institution of the Remembrance day and having a memorial meal.

Therefore all who feel they are equal creations of the Most High Divine Creator, are invited to come to that evening meal and to remember those precious moments. That is that we by Jesus presenting his blood and flesh in the symbols of wine and bread, that we by his bloodshed have come all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since we are Christ’s family, then we are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises. (Galatians 3:29)

Let us make sure we observe the right days and keep to God His holy or set apart days and not to man’s pagan festivals.

Preceding

Anointing as a sign of Promotion

Preparation for Passover

This day shall be unto you for a memorial and you shall keep it a feast to the Most High God

Why we do not have our worship-services in a church building

Why we do not keep to a Sabbath or a Sunday or Lord’s Day #6 Sunday or the Lord’s day

Why we do not keep to a Sabbath or a Sunday or Lord’s Day #3 Days to be kept holy or set apart

Easter holiday, fun and rejoicing

Worship and worshipping

A Great Gift commemorated

Not making a runner