Blessed or Cursed

All covenants in Bible days had promised blessings and warned of the curse. Matthew 25:31-46 describes our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, coming again to bring judgment. Those who are not blessed are cursed. Everyone is either blessed or cursed. There is no other covenant option. There is a sharp contrast between those who are blessed and those who are cursed.

Those who are blessed are like sheep. Our Lord Jesus is the great Shepherd of the sheep. They hear his voice and follow him. Those who reject Jesus as Lord are described as the goats. They neither hear his voice nor follow. The sheep are blessed, whereas the goats are cursed.

Those at the King's right hand are blessed. Remember, covenants were made with an uplifted right hand. That was an oath of promise. Those at the King's right hand are his covenant people. They have believed and received his covenant promises. Those at his left hand have neither believed nor received his promises. They are cursed at his left hand.

The sheep at the King's right hand are blessed to receive life everlasting. They are believers in the Son of God (John 3:16). The goats at the King's left hand are cursed with everlasting punishment. The word cursed means to be cut off and marked for destruction. The everlasting covenant of our Lord Jesus Christ is a blessing for all at his right hand (Hebrews 13:20-21). Yet, the curse is for all at his left hand.

God Is Everywhere

Don't think of God as being far away, because God is present everywhere. "For in Him we live and move and have our being"(Acts 17:28) That means God is where you are. God is there all the time. Only faith recognizes God is present everywhere. Unbelief does not consider God present anywhere.

God is everywhere. He's where you are now. Even though you don't see God, the Bible teaches that God is everywhere. Theologians use the word omnipresence, which means God is everywhere. Therefore, we can say with the psalmist,"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth"(Psalm 145:18).

There is not only the omnipresence of God, but there is also the manifest presence of God. While God is everywhere all the time, yet God may manifest himself in different ways at different times. God manifested his presence on the Day of Pentecost in a dramatic way (Acts 2). Yet, we must not think of God as only present in dramatic and unusual ways.

Faith sees God everywhere all the time (Hebrews 11:1-6). We need not dramatic manifestations to know that God is with us everywhere. Someone may say,"How can God be with us? We can't see Him nor feel His presence." Faith does not require feelings nor manifestations to know that God is present everywhere.

What a Joy Divine

An old hymn of the church has these words: "What a fellowship. what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms." The Bible says, "Truly our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3). Our fellowship with God brings joy. When we are out of fellowship with God, we need to confess our sins, that the joy we once knew may be restored. Sin separates us from fellowship with God. 

Restored fellowship with God results in joy. The barrier of sin is removed, as we confess it to God. The joy of salvation is restored. We may pray, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation" (Psalm 51:12).

Our fellowship with God is joy. His joy is our strength for living. Fellowship makes you aware of God's presence. His presence is the place of joy. Your joy now and forever is found in fellowship with God.

Make fellowship with God a daily part of your life. Praise God through prayer and singing unto Him. Give thanks to God for His love, goodness, and joy to you. 

Ask God to bring to your attention any sins that you need to confess. Recognize that fellowship with God is your joy. Then, we can truly sing, "what a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms." That's our fellowship with God!

Only One Mediator

"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time" (1 Timothy 2:5-6). A mediator brings two parties together who are in disagreement. God's disagreement with us is on one issue alone. That is our sin. There is only one Mediator with God. Jesus is the only one!

God the Father gave His Son as the one and only Mediator of mercy, grace and love (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ is rejecting God's mercy, grace and love. Jesus is the one and only Mediator between God and man, because He alone is the God-Man, fully God and fully man, incarnate deity.

Jesus gave Himself as our ransom at the cross. He is the gift of God the Father, who alone has paid the price to set believers free from condemnation and wrath (John 3:18, 36; Romans 8:1). Here we clearly see why Jesus is the only Mediator with God. Jesus giving Himself for sinners at the cross is grace so amazing. Grace is the gift of God's unmerited favor for us (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Jesus Christ is the only Mediator through the everlasting covenant. He works in believers to do what is well pleasing to God (Hebrews 13:20-21). God the Father is well pleased in His only begotten Son. We can only please God when His Son Jesus works in us and through us to the praise of His glory. 

How We Are Redeemed

We are redeemed from the bondage and curse of our sin in Christ. The word redeemed means to pay a price to set someone free. Christ redeems believers at the cross. The only way we can be redeemed from condemnation is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31).

We are redeemed from the curse of the law in Christ. The word curse is a covenant term. It means to be cut off from the blessings of God because of sin. Jesus died at the cross, "having become a curse for us." He died in your place, as your substitute. Jesus paid it all. As a believer, see Christ dying on the cross to take away the curse of your sin.

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree'), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:13-14).

We are redeemed "that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles." Jesus fulfilled the covenant God made with Abraham to be a blessing to all nations (Genesis 12:1-3). God blessed Abraham in all things (Genesis 24:1). Believers are blessed in all things,because they are redeemed in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). The blessing of Abraham is ours by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Believing the Gospel

Believers are saved through the gospel of Christ. It comes with much assurance. The Spirit of grace enables us to believe in Christ. When the gospel comes in the power of the Holy Spirit, we have much assurance. Only the Holy Spirit can give the believer this assurance. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance (1 Thessalonians 1:5). 

Believing the gospel of Christ is our salvation (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Never does God believe for us. However, God enables you to truly repent and believe in Christ. The grace of God enables us to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. After you repent and believe the gospel, you can testify how God brought you to that point. It is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe (Romans 1:16).

The Holy Spirit convinces believers of the gospel with much assurance. Without the Spirit of grace convincing you, there is no desire to be saved. The Holy Spirit convicts of unbelief and convinces us to turn to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:8-11). That's the Holy Spirit working in believers through the gospel.

The Holy Spirit enables us to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 17:30; 16:30-31). Our inability to do so is overcome only by looking to the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:2). What God commands, God provides through the Holy Spirit. He who commands repentance, grants us repentance (2 Timothy 2:25). He who commands faith in Christ, gives us faith by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

Born of the Spirit

Jesus said, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). Salvation is to be born of the Spirit. New birth is a work of God's grace in us, beyond our full comprehension.

New birth is salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord (Titus 3:4-5). The Holy Spirit alone can change our hearts (Romans 2:28-29). To be born of the Spirit is regeneration or new birth. It is being born from above, because the Holy Spirit comes from above (John 3:6-7).

Like the wind, the Spirit works with great power. His power is omnipotent. The wind moves at unexpected times and in unexpected ways. It's hard to explain, and often difficult to understand. The Holy Spirit, like the wind, moves when, where, and how he pleases. New birth is the work of the Holy Spirit to the praise of God's glory.

The Holy Spirit brings salvation through new birth to give us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). Regeneration or new birth is the work of only one, the Holy Spirit (John 3:7-8). New birth enables us to have a genuine love for God and a heart to obey Christ. God's Spirit does in us what we could never do for ourselves. In Christ, we are born of the Spirit to become a new creation (John 3:6; 2 Corinthians 5:17).