A Land Flowing With Milk And Honey - Part II
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II Corinthians 5:21 - “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
As a believer, we must understand that every single thing we have from the Lord, irrespective as to what it might be, has been made possible by what Christ did at the Cross. That must be the foundation of believing—the foundation of our faith.
Having anchored our faith in the sacrifice of Christ, which means we have made the Cross of Christ the object of our faith, the Holy Spirit, who is the key to all of our victory, can then function and work unhindered within our hearts and lives (Rom. 6:3-5, 10-14; 8:1-11).
Far too often we attempt to rid ourselves of sin by man-devised rules and regulations, which, in fact, the Holy Spirit will never honor. In other words, unless the Holy Spirit works within us, which He, of course, desires to do, we will be left functioning within the capacity of our own personal strength. We will quickly find this to be woefully insufficient.
To get you started, which I’ve already stated any number of times in this volume, always understand that Christ gives us all things through what He did at the Cross. Consequently, our faith must rest in that finished work, which then gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work unhindered within our lives. As stated, I have said this over and over and will continue to say it throughout this volume because it’s so very, very important.
The Holy Spirit works entirely within the parameters of the sacrifice of Christ, meaning that it is the Cross that gives the Holy Spirit the legal means to do all that He does.
That’s why Paul said: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).
A SIGN
“And you shall show your son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign unto you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth: for with a strong hand has the LORD brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year” (Ex. 13:8-10).
The great things that the Lord has done for us—and, to be sure, He has done many—must never be forgotten. They must be related over and over, and for a number of reasons:
- We must ever be mindful that it is the Lord who has done these things and not we ourselves.
- The relating to our children the great events done by the Lord builds faith in them that they might expect great and mighty things as well.
- All of this relates to an accomplished fact. The basis of this feast was what the Lord had done for Israel in delivering them from the land of bondage. In other words, its foundation was redemption accomplished, entered into, known, and enjoyed. It speaks of a work already accomplished. Until this joy of assurance is ours, there cannot be any feasting upon Christ.
PHYLACTERIES
There can be little doubt that the Jewish system of phylacteries grew mainly out of this passage and was intended as a fulfillment of the commands contained in it.
These phylacteries that Jesus mentioned were strips of parchment (leather) with passages of Scripture written upon them and deposited in small boxes that were fastened by a strap either to the left arm or across the forehead.
The original intention by the Holy Spirit was according to the following: It was to be a sign upon the hand that signified that all service was consecrated to God.
It was also to be a “memorial between the eyes,” that is, upon the forehead, where all could see, which, being interpreted, signified an open manifestation of separation unto God.
Finally, it was to be accompanied with “the Lord’s law in their mouth,” which meant that the law was ever to be the basis of all action taken.
Used in the right manner, it would be a great blessing to the people. As a front for self-righteousness, which happened with some, Jesus replied, “But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments” (Mat. 23:5).
The idea was, as is obvious, some in Jesus’ day wore large phylacteries to make themselves seem spiritual to others. Our Lord condemned this and did so strongly.
From its original purpose, the Jews had come to believe—and we continue to speak of the time of Christ—that the wearing of these things warded off demon spirits; however, this was reducing the Word of God to mere superstition and some type of magic incantation.
CONFESSION OF SCRIPTURE
The modern confession of Scripture as enjoined by the Word of Faith practitioners comes perilously close to this condemned by Christ.
They teach that if a problem is encountered, one should find particular Scriptures that address that problem, whatever it might be, memorize them, and then quote them over and over.
This is supposed to stir the Holy Spirit into action in order for the problem to be addressed.
The memorizing and quoting of Scriptures is something that every believer ought to do, which will always be a great blessing if used correctly; however, if not used correctly, it will come out to the same result as the Jews of old—superstition.
The quoting of Scriptures over and over doesn’t force God into action. Neither does it manipulate some type of force in the spirit world that brings forth positive results. Again we state that all of that is superstition, which God can never honor. The Word of God, in its true form, is always linked to the sacrifice of Christ. Unfortunately, the Word of Faith people have divorced the Word from its author, and the price that He paid (Jn. 1:1).
Everything we receive from the Lord comes to us through Christ and what He has done for us at the Cross. If we try to impose another way or method, we insult Christ and, therefore, do violence to the Word of God.
REDEMPTION
And it shall be when the LORD shall bring you into the land of Canaanites, as He swore unto you and to your fathers, and shall give it you, that you shall set apart unto the LORD all that opens the matrix, and every firstling that comes of a beast which you have; the males shall be the LORD’s. And every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among your children shall you redeem. And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What is this? that you shall say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage (Ex. 13:11-14).
Williams said, “Verse 13 legislated for the redemption of a man and of an ass by the death of a lamb. This is humbling to human pride. The ass was an unclean animal; and with its broken neck, fitly pictured the true moral condition of the most highly cultivated man. But the death of the lamb obtained redemption. Only thus can sinners be saved.”
The mule is the most stupid and senseless creature. So also is the natural man. Proudly as he may boast of his powers of reason, and conceited as he may be over his intellectual achievements, the truth is, he is utterly devoid of any spiritual intelligence.
Pink says, “Again, the ‘ass’ is stubborn and intractable, so also is the natural man. The sinner is rebellious and defiant. He will not come to Christ that he might have life (Jn. 5:40). It is in view of these things that Scripture declares, ‘For vain men would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass colt” (Job 11:12).
BY STRENGTH OF HAND
And it shall be when the LORD shall bring you into the land of Canaanites, as He swore unto you and to your fathers, and shall give it you, that you shall set apart unto the LORD all that opens the matrix, and every firstling that comes of a beast which you have; the males shall be the LORD’s. And every firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among your children shall you redeem. And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What is this? that you shall say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage (Ex. 13:11-14).
Unredeemed man thinks very highly of himself; however, as we can see from these passages, the Lord puts him in the same category as a dumb mule or donkey.
In Verse 13, we find two classes—the clean and the unclean. Man is classed with the latter. The lamb was to answer for the unclean, and if the ass was not redeemed, its neck was to be broken.
So, an unredeemed man was put on the same level with an unclean animal, moreover, in a condition in which nothing could be more worthless and unsightly. What a humiliating picture of man in his natural condition!
MAN’S EMPTY BOASTING
The lamb is pictured as a clean animal because it typifies Christ. In essence, Christ was the Lamb—the clean, the spotless Lamb. We were unclean, but He took our position, and on the Cross was made sin and treated as such. That which we should have endured throughout the countless ages of eternity, He endured for us on the tree. There and then, He bore all that was due to us in order that we might forever enjoy what is due to Him. He got our deserts that we might get His. The clean took, for a time, the place of the unclean in order that the unclean might take forever the place of the clean. Thus, whereas by nature we are represented by the loathsome figure of an ass with its neck broken, by grace we are represented by a risen and glorified Christ in heaven. That is an amazing contrast!
It lays man’s glory in the dust and magnifies the riches of redeeming love. It silences man’s empty boasting and puts into his mouth a hymn of praise to God and the Lamb, which shall swell throughout the courts of heaven during the everlasting ages.
GRACE
Mackintosh said:
It is interesting to see that by nature we are ranked with an unclean animal; by grace we are associated with Christ, the spotless Lamb. There can be nothing lower than the place which belongs to us by nature: nothing higher than that which belongs to us by grace. Look for example at an ass with its neck broken; there is what an unredeemed man is worth. Look at ‘the precious blood of Christ’; there is what a redeemed man is worth. ‘Unto you who believe is the preciousness.’ That is, all who are washed in the blood of the Lamb partake of Christ’s preciousness. As He is ‘a living stone,’ we are ‘living stones’; as He is ‘a precious stone,’ we are ‘precious stones.’ We get life and preciousness all from Him and in Him. We are as He is. Every stone in the edifice is precious, because purchased at no less a price than ‘the blood of the Lamb.’ May the people of God know more fully our place and privileges in Christ!
ALIVE WITH CHRIST
“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Rom. 6:8). What did Paul mean by this wonderful statement?
First of all, we can only live with Him if we are in Christ. Otherwise, we are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). Outside of Christ is no life; in Christ is all life.
However, if we are to truly live with Christ, which means to enjoy all that He is, all that He has, and all that He has done, which speaks of a victorious, overcoming, Christian experience, we must first of all “be dead with Christ.” What does that mean?
In this statement as given by the apostle, he is referring back to Romans 6:3-5. This speaks of Christ being crucified, buried, and then rising from the dead, all on our behalf.
When the believing sinner evidences faith in Christ, even though he understands very little about what is happening, God likens that particular individual as literally being in Christ when the Saviour died, in Christ when the Saviour was buried, and in Christ when the Saviour rose from the dead.
In other words, Christ died as our substitute, becoming in a sense what we were (bearing the penalty of our sin), that we might become what He is (II Cor. 5:21).
This article is an excerpt from the book, When I See The Blood, by Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart.
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