What God expects of each human (Love, Faith, Obedience, Fellowship, Perfection, Holiness, and Glory)
After God created man in His own image and likeness in Genesis chapter 1, verse 26 (Genesis 1:26), He saw everything He made was very good (verse 31). Genesis 2:7 says God formed man of dust and breathed the breath (spirit, soul) of life; and man became a living being. Many scriptures in the Old and New Testaments speak of God as our Father, and us as His children. “Is He not your Father, who bought you? Has He not made you and established you?” (Deuteronomy 32:6) “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?” (Malachi 2:10) Acts 17:29 begins “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God…” and many epistles (letters, writings, books) in the New Testament begin like Colossians 1:2 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father…” Every good quality we possess, we want our offspring or children to possess as well, and it is no different in our relationship with God as our Father, and us as His children.
Faithful Holy Fellowship. He expects us to function as He designed us to be, to remain in His image and likeness (think His character, not physical aspects). In Genesis 6:9 and 7:1 scripture (and God) declare “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generation. Noah walked with God“, and “I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.” Even before Noah in Genesis 5:24 it is written “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Walk means not only to be alongside but to be in constant conversation, even carrying the meaning of behaving one’s self. True fellowship or a strong relationship with God. After Enoch and Noah, In Genesis 17:1 God tells Abram “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.”
Over 2,000 years later, God expects the same, as Jesus said in Matthew 5:48 to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The terms righteous, just, perfect, blameless, all focus on moral character; being one who does and obeys what is morally right without spot or blemish or fault, doing what is lawful in the eyes of God according to His laws. When God took the people of Israel from bondage out of Egypt, He gave the famous 10 commandments, the first being “You shall have no other gods before Me”, and Moses said to them immediately after “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, that you may not sin” (Exodus 20:3, 20). God expects Him to be first in our lives, and He will test us to see if this is so. God, through Moses, also instructed them to “be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:1, 18). To be holy is to be pure, separate or set apart in a special way (consecrated), especially when compared with what is common or unclean. In Deuteronomy 4:29, Moses told them to “seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Perfect Loving Obedience. All this must be done in love, and cannot be done without love (1 Corinthians 13). It’s not just a sense of duty, but God expects us to love others, and love Him above all else. In Deuteronomy 6:5, Moses said “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength”, and Christ echoed this same command 1500 years later, also mentioning loving your neighbor (see Matthew 22:34-40). Obedience shows God our love, and when we obey Him, we fulfill God’s purpose for us. Moses told Israel “You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him” (Deuteronomy 13:4), just as Jesus stated, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
God spoke through the prophet Isaiah “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him” (Isaiah 43:7), and those worshipping God state “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:11). So God, by His will or desires, designed us to glorify His image, name, and character, to function according to His purposes, by being in a loving, faithful (moral fidelity) obedient, constant relationship with Him in holiness and perfection. Read Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Have you done all of this as far back as you can remember, and are you doing it now? Have you lived up to God’s glory, righteously and faithfully obeyed His voice in love, perfection, and holiness, keeping yourself pure and blameless before Him in constant fellowship with Him? How about right now?
The Problem and Its Consequences (Sin, Separation, Death, Pain, Suffering, No Glory, No eternal life)
Sin. If your answer is or ever was “no” to the last few questions, you are among the overwhelming majority of mankind, who have sinned against God and fallen far short of His glory. This is not one of those times where you are safe among the majority. You may think the above few questions unfair as if they were all impossible, but with God, nothing is impossible. From mankind’s beginning, and from the beginning of our individual lives, He truly expected and still expects all of us (mankind) to meet His standards. The problem is sin, which means literally to “miss the mark” morally. In other words, we failed to reach the objective, target, or goal God set for us as mentioned above on the first page, also summarized in those last few questions.
Definitions & Examples. Scripture gives many examples of sin, but summarizes its definition in the New Testament in four places: Romans 14:23, James 4:17, 1 John 3:4, and 1 John 5:17. In short, “whatever is not from faith”, “to him who knows to do good and does not do it”, “lawlessness”, and “all unrighteousness.” We saw above faith is moral fidelity (not just intellectual belief), and righteous is to do morally right, so unrighteousness is failing to do so (moral wrongfulness). Knowledge is part of this failure as one clearly knows the good he ought to do (a known law exists), yet the person in “lawlessness” goes against (transgresses) the law (God’s law). In summary, one knows morally the right thing to do (or not do) and unfaithfully violates it. This is how God reckons or counts sin, as the apostle Paul wrote “where there is no law, there is no transgression” and “sin is not imputed when there is no law” (Romans 4:15 & 5:13). “Imputed” means take inventory, regard, consider, or to make an account of. Eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil was accounted or considered sin to Adam, the first man, because he knew the command or law God spoke to him “but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
History of Disobedience. Since then, most follow in Adam’s footsteps. Disobedience brought death to humans as a result of Adam’s sin, and God cursed the ground bringing toil/sorrow on man, placed enmity/hostility between the serpent (Satan) and mankind’s offspring, pain/sorrow in pregnancy and childbirth for women, and God declared the husband to rule over the wife. It also personally separated Adam from God, forfeiting the glory God created man in His image of, causing loss of eternal life for mankind (Genesis 3:22-24). We saw examples of Enoch, Noah, and Abram above; exceptions who walked with God, but most of mankind has not. God saw how wicked mankind was, how continuously evil man’s heart was, and God became grieved in His heart, even sorry He made man, because all flesh had corrupted their way on earth (Genesis 6:5-6, 12). God destroyed the entire earth with a flood, save Noah and his family, promising never again “to curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). God in His wisdom shortened man’s lifespan, so death is closer to us, so we’d seek Him and turn from sin.
Choice & Consequences. Adam, his sin, and God’s curse cannot be blamed for ones sin today, though many try. God forms our inward parts making us wonderful, also giving us our spirit (Psalm 139:13-14, and Isaiah 42:5). Though surrounded by sinful people, their habits in this world, and mankind turns to evil at a young age (“from his youth”), we have the same choice Satan (the serpent) and Adam did. My sin was my own choice, as is anyone else’s. It separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2) and His glory (He also does not hear our prayers), makes us God’s enemy (James 4:4), a child of the devil (1 John 3:8), and its slave (John 8:34); it causes pain and suffering to ourselves and others, causes our soul to die (Ezekiel 18:20), and results in our names blotted out of God’s Book of Life (Revelation 3:5), earning us a place in the lake of fire for eternity (Revelation 20:15, 21:8). Since Cain, Adam and Eve’s first son chose sin murdering his brother; mankind has multiplied iniquity (sins). [Scripture lists many: lust, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, lies, blasphemy, covetousness, envy, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, backbiters, violent, proud, boasters, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, unrighteous judgment, idolaters, sodomites, homosexuals, drunkards, revilers, exhtortioners, sorcery, hatred, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, heresies, lovers of themselves or money, unthankful, without self-control, brutal, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than God, cowardly, unbelieving/sinners (read Matthew 5:28, Matthew 15:18-19, Romans 1:21-2:3, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Galatians 5:19-21, 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Revelation 21:8); just to name a few.]
The Solution (Christ – His Life, Death, Resurrection, Repentance, Forgiveness, Holy Spirit) and the Cost
If you found the above pages greatly depressing, you should; it’s the saddest tragedy in history. If you’ve sinned even once, you failed to live up to God’s expectations of you. There’s hope and good news in Yeshua (God Saves/Delivers) the Messiah (Anointed), or Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He was a man born of the virgin Mary by God’s power/Holy Spirit, called the Son of God, who increased in wisdom and favor with God (with whom God was well pleased), did not give in to temptations of Satan, preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, healed the brokenhearted, proclaimed liberty to captives, recovered sight to the blind, and set free the oppressed (Luke 1:30-35, Luke 2:52, Luke 3:22, Luke 4:1-13, 18-19, 4:43).
His life and teachings influenced more than any man in history. He never committed one sin (2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15), and was approved of God “by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him”, “delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God” to lawless men who put him to death through crucifixion, “whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it” (Acts 2:22-24). Christ was not left in the grave after death, his flesh didn’t experience corruption (after 3 days he rose), and after God raised him, God exalted Jesus to His right hand (a position/place of authority), he “received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit” which Christ poured out (Acts 2:30-36). Jesus brings peace to those who fear God and work righteousness, for he was ordained (appointed) by God “to be Judge of the living and the dead. Of him all the prophets witness that through his name, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:34-43).
How this works. How does this help or work for us who have sinned, and fallen short of God’s glory? Where the first man Adam and later you and I failed, Christ “the last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45) succeeded, fully accomplishing everything mentioned on page one. He had the same flesh and blood we have, and was made in every way like us, his brethren (Hebrews 4:14, 17), yet never sinned, and so received authority, power, and the resurrection (his own and ours) from God. God has decided to justify (render us innocent) and redeem (deliver) mankind from death through Christ “whom God set forth as a propitiation [reparation or amend for wrongdoing] by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26).
In other words, where Adam (and we) chose disobedience at a tree resulting in dishonor and death (for himself and the human race), Christ chose obedience to point of death on a tree/cross resulting in glory and eternal life (for himself and the human race), and forgiveness for our past/previously committed sins; his blood and through faith or believing on him (John 3:16) are the condition for us all. Like faith, ‘belief’ or ‘to believe’ means more than just intellectual agreement or persuasion, but morally to be true or certain of long continuance, commit to, entrust, rely upon. Without your full commitment of being morally true to him (or faith –moral fidelity), you are not forgiven or “cleansed” from past sins by his blood, and his blood (or death) does not result in eternal life for you.
“What must I do?” Jesus and His disciples (followers) preached the Kingdom of God by repentance, belief in the gospel, baptism, forgiveness of sins, to receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. Read Matthew 3:2, 4:17, Mark 1:15, Mark 6:12, Mark 16:16, Luke 13:3-5, Acts 2:38 & 3:19-20, Acts 17:30-31, Acts 26:20, Revelation 3:19. Proverbs 28:13 says “he who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” Your heart and spirit should be broken and contrite (crushed/collapsed) before Him, admitting and apologizing for your sin (Psalm 51:17, Isaiah 57:15). Hold nothing back, humble yourself under God; He’s against the proud, but gives grace (favor) to the humble (1 Peter 5:5-6). Repentance isn’t merely feeling sorrow and apologizing, but also to morally reconsider or think differently, turn back, or reversal. Turn back to God and Jesus and away from your sin; turn your heart to keep His commands forever, to the very end and to sin no more (Psalm 119:112, John 5:14 & 8:11), following His example and footsteps who committed no sin (1 Peter 2:21-22), keeping Jesus’ commandments. Looking over your life, don’t claim you have no past sin or have not sinned, but confess it and walk in the light as Jesus is in the light, and you’ll be cleansed from all sin (1 John 1:7-2:2).
Born Again, Help from Above. You don’t do this on your own; it’s all with His help. If you do the above and walk in light, practicing truth, obeying God and Jesus, ask, and their Spirit will come and make their home in you and you will remain in their love, bearing holy fruit, and be full of joy (read Luke 11:13, John 14:15-24 & 15:1-11, Acts 5:32). You will produce the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22. It is through God and Jesus’ Spirit that you get a new heart and new spirit, becoming born again, empowered and able to fully converse with them in fellowship, hear their teachings, wisdom, love, guidance, voice, and keep all their commands. Read Ezekiel 18:31 and 36:25-27. This is the ‘born again’ (anew, from the first, from above) Jesus spoke of in John 3:3-5. As Jeremiah prophesied of this new covenant (or agreement/contract) and the writer of Hebrews confirmed, God will put His laws in you, writing them on your heart and mind (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 10:15-17). You will be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).
Cost & Expectations. The expectations haven’t changed; God didn’t lower His standards, and neither did Jesus. You’ve just been offered a second chance, as we all have. But you must count the cost. His commands are not burdensome, but the way will be narrow and difficult to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14, & 1 John 5:2-3). You will be expected to prove yourself by taking up your cross daily and following Jesus, taking the way out in temptation God always gives you, not allowing your desires to conceive (never aiding them or allowing them to capture you) as they attempt to draw you away – see Luke 9:23-26, 1 Corinthians 10:13, and James 1:12-16. Just cutting back on sin or eliminating one or two “bad habit” sins in your life will not cut it, neither will adding a few good works to your plate. Jesus said you can’t serve two masters, warning to cut off hand, foot, or eye to avoid sin and everlasting fire (Matthew 6:24 & 18:8-9). If you quit drunkenness, but still fornicate with a girlfriend or boyfriend, Jesus wasn’t worth it to you. If you pray and read your bible but still tell lies, He wasn’t worth it to you.
God isn’t obligated to forgive and show favor just because a murderer stops murdering or an idolater gives up an idol [note: idols aren’t just wood, stone, or metal figures, but something worshipped above God in your life, examples today could be TV, Video games, Nutrition, Money, Exercise, Sex, Status, Job/Career, House/Car/Possessions, Education/Knowledge, Relationships (friends, marriage, kids) etc. – in moderation with the right heart and circumstances before God, none of these are evil]. It’s not merely your repentance and works that save you, nor is it only God’s grace/favor either, but “grace through faith” (Ephesians 2:8-9, remember what faith means, and note faith without works is dead – James 2:17). Read Luke 14:25-33. Jesus wants you to count the cost of following him not take this lightly. This is a full commitment which if you turn back after following His way of righteousness, you will be worse off (see 2 Peter 2:20-22).
So is this all worth it? You may or may not be martyred some day, but Jesus was. His righteousness and obedience cost him his life, after he was rejected and humiliatingly tortured by men out of his love for God and for you. Are you willing and determined to love them back with everything you have? Count the cost; are he and God, and their kingdom worth it to you?
Matt Sacra © 2016