The 2nd man Adam

Jesus, the only begotten son of God  came as a man.

The first man Adam had every advantage. He had only one  "don't" in all the universe - yet the appeal to be "like God, knowing good and evil" was his  undoing.

Then in the fullness of time Christ came, born a man in a fallen world where sin was the norm. His shared advantage with Adam was that he was not born with the sin nature.  And like Adam, with his sinless nature, his major obedience lay in obeying the voice of his Father.  But, like us, Jesus faced a world filled with sin and all it's temptations.  Tempted by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.  However he did what Adam failed to do, he lived without sinning.

I cannot even imagine how a sinless life would look. This awes me.

Moreover, part of his pressure was rejection  because his very life spoke to the unrighteousness in those around Him. At least it's a part of the pressure of our world around us today when we seek to walk in God's paths.

The expression  "Oh, don't be a holy Joe" or some form of that is the direct response to someone seeking to make righteous choices in the face of  temptations. Such choices are scary because of the rejection that we face.  We love the LORD but we also want to be acceptable by our peers and those whose approval we desire in our

The life of Christ is not teaching us if we try hard enough we can also live a sin free life, but that because he did so live, when He gave his life on the cross, his sacrifice was sufficient

His death  was sufficient to cover our sins.  And because death is the curse of Sin, once Christ's death was accomplished, and that only because our sins held him in death, when his sacrifice accomplished it's work, death could not keep him.  He arose from death unto eternal life.  His finished work is that now,  when we open the door of our life to his knocking, and repent of our sins and accept his covering for our sin, his life makes it possible for our sins to be forgive.   He, the righteous sacrifice is sufficient for my salvation.

His great love makes my heart explode with joy and gratitude.  I THANK YOU OH LORD.  There is no praise great enough I can give you that can fully express how amazing your gift of Salvation is, for me, and for all who will listen to, hear, and answer the knocking of the Savior on the door of our lives.  

     Revelation 3: 20    

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

 If anyone hears my

     voice and opens the door, 

I will come in to him 

and eat with him 

and he with

     me."

Remember the secular song "To know, know, know Him is to love love love Him, and I do............" Love my Savior the LORD Jesus Christ

               "What I  believe about God is the most important thing about  me." -                                                                                                     A W Tozer

Psalm 100 - ESV

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.


Worship is coming to celebrate Our LORD and God, not to find Him.  To bask in his presence.

Joy in worship - it is choosing to worship, expressing joy in the LORD, even if you don't feel it.   In your act of choice, the 'feeling'  will follow.

Serve the LORD with gladness in your life's duties.  Serve with verve/vigor.  Make a choice that in all you do, you deliberately do it unto the LORD

Come into His presence with singing -  God inhabits our praise raised to Him in the form of singing.

Worship in Truth
      Know Him as God
      Know Him as God who is! 
      Know Him as a God who is personal.                      
      Know Him as a God who made me.

God becomes our God when we open the door of our hearts to him.  As His child we can:  
           Know that we are His -
           Know we are His sheep
           Know we are His sheep in His pasture.  

We are given an identity  in God, a personal, named identity.

Therefore, let's enter God's presence with thanks giving, enter his courts with praise.
WHY?   The LORD is good.  His "Checed"  (Hebrew word with many meanings but steadfast love, loving kindness, mercy and favor are a few of the English words used in an effort to bring the true meaning of the word to life) love endures forever, faithful to and through all generations.  

                                                       Put together with notes from messages on worship by John Weldon.

We are the Dwelling place of the LORD.

         Psalm 84: 1-2 , 4-5a, 11-12   How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
         2      My Soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD, my heart and flesh sing
                 for joy to  the living God.
         4     Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah
         5     Blessed are those whose strength is in you.
         11   For the LORD God is a sun and shield, the LORD bestows favor and honor.
                No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
         12   O LORD of Hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!

We, our bodies, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 
So, in the words, "How lovely is your dwelling place" it means me and you - we His people.  See:
                  I Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)   Or do you not know that
                              your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, 
                              whom you have from God?  You are not your own, 
                              for you were bought with a price.  So, glorify God 
                              in your body.
  
Am I living as one who appreciates all He is and has done.

Am I proactively giving God thanks in ALL things, and seeing that HE is indeed the giver of good things, favor, honor, my sun and my shield.  Am I longing for His courts, singing for joy - rejoicing in the LORD for the truth of who HE is and what HE has done in my life.

 I need to live and act and and have my being in the LORD and unto the LORD.    

Man, the idol - Quote by John R. W. Stott

Man, the Idol — John R. W. Stott (1921 - 2011)

For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone.

  

Amazing words and powerful in meaning!