Messianic Perspectives

Guest (Male): Jesus said if we know the truth, the truth will make us free. On this edition of Messianic Perspectives, Dr. Gary Hedrick shows us one truth in particular that enables us to walk in real freedom. Stay with us as we discuss the Christian’s greatest discovery right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Liz Aiello: Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Today Dr. Gary Hedrick is discussing the Christian’s greatest discovery. I’ll be back at the close of the program with news about a special offer. And now, here’s Gary.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thank you, and we welcome you, listening friend. It’s good to have you with us today as we continue our series of studies from the life of Abraham, which we’ve entitled The Christian’s Greatest Discovery. And of course, the discovery we’re talking about is the assurance of salvation.

And you know, it’s interesting. There are people who don’t believe it’s possible to have absolute assurance of salvation. In fact, they say it’s presumptuous to say you have absolute assurance that you’re a child of God and that you’re on your way to heaven. Presumptuous!

And every time I talk about this, I get letters from these people. So let’s just stop here for a moment and deal with this question. Is it presumptuous to suggest that a child of God can have absolute assurance of his salvation? Well, go back to the Old Testament. Look at the Jewish patriarchs: Abraham, as we’ve been discussing in this series of lessons, as well as Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and the others. They were all men who had a definite sense of certainty about their eternal destiny.

And what about Job, the oldest book in the entire Bible? In the very earliest stages of Hebrew revelation, what did Job say? He said, "For I think that my redeemer liveth. I hope my redeemer liveth." Is that what he said? No. What he said was, "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God" (Job 19:25 and 26). You see, Job knew he had a redeemer, and he knew he would be resurrected someday. Was that presumptuous of him?

Or you can go to the New Testament. How about the Apostle John, who said, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren." That’s in 1 John chapter 3, verses 2 and 14.

And how about the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 1:12, where he said this: "For the which cause I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." So if it’s presumptuous to say you can have the assurance of your salvation, my friend, there were a lot of presumptuous people in the Bible.

In fact, we’ve been looking at the life of Abraham, the father of the Jews, and we’ve seen that Abraham came to a point in his life where he needed assurance. We’ve already seen that God deliberately delayed the fulfillment of his promise because when Isaac came, the Lord wanted there to be no doubt about the fact that this was a miracle child. But after 10 years went by and Abraham still had no son, his faith was beginning to wane, and he needed assurance.

And when we finished last time, we were looking at this very unusual scene in Genesis 15, where God carries out this strange ceremony. He tells Abram, or Abraham, to sacrifice five animals. Then the animals are cut in half and arranged in rows with a path down through the middle of them. Then before the ceremony begins, Abraham is put to sleep. Now, the Hebrew word for sleep there is tardemah, the same word used to describe the sleep of Adam when God performed that surgery in the Garden of Eden to create Eve. And while Abraham is asleep, the Bible says a smoking furnace and a burning lamp moved down through the middle of those pieces.

But as strange as this ceremony sounds to us, a person who lived back in the ancient Middle East would have known exactly what it meant. You see, it was a covenant of blood, which was the most binding of all covenants in that day. It was a covenant where the parties to the agreement would slay an animal, usually a calf. They would cut it in half, and then they would stand in between the pieces of the animal while they repeated the vows together. It was a covenant of blood, the most binding of all covenants, and it meant that death would be the penalty for breaking that agreement.

In fact, there was a temple ceremony in the Old Testament in which the Jewish priest would slay a calf, divide the parts, and they would stand between the parts and make their vows. And that’s what we have here in Genesis 15, a covenant of blood. And what made this particular covenant of blood unique was the fact that there was only one party to the agreement. Usually there were two or more, but in this case, only one. And to emphasize that fact, God puts Abraham to sleep so he’s not involved in any way.

And then God passes through the midst of those sacrificial animals by himself. Now listen, we’re getting into some heavy stuff here. I know that, but stay with me. This is vitally, vitally important. Basically, what’s happening here is that God is making the covenant with himself, and Abraham is merely the beneficiary. It was an unconditional covenant.

Now let’s stop here for just a moment and talk about the smoking furnace and the burning lamp. It says in Genesis 15:17, "And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces." Now first of all, let’s take the smoking furnace. What’s the significance of this smoking furnace as it passes through the midst of these sacrificial animals? Well, let’s go to the scriptures and see if we can detect a pattern. When smoke is mentioned in scripture, what does it mean?

Well, when God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, the Bible says Abraham saw the smoke like the smoke of a furnace rising up to heaven. And when Jehovah came down on Mount Sinai in the days of Moses to give his judgments there, the whole mountain was covered with smoke, the Bible says. And in the book of Revelation, we’re told about the terrible destiny of those who reject Jesus Christ as savior. What does the Bible say? "The smoke of their torment goeth up forever and ever," it says. So the smoking furnace in Genesis 15 must represent God himself in his holiness, justice, and righteousness.

Now what about the burning lamp? Literally, it’s a lamp of fire, and it represents two things. First, the light of salvation, and secondly, the love of God. In Isaiah 62, verse 1, the prophet says, "For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth." And there are many other scriptures we could turn to as well if our time wasn’t so limited. But let me just say that the lamp of fire speaks of the love of God in salvation through the work of the Holy Spirit.

So what we have here, basically, in this smoking furnace and the burning lamp is the presence of Almighty God, smoke and fire. Does that remind you of anything? How did God lead the children of Israel through the wilderness? A cloud by day, it says, and a pillar of fire by night. Smoke and fire. See how it all fits together? So you’ve got these two contrasting aspects of God’s character represented here: his holiness and his love, the smoking furnace and the lamp of fire.

And notice how the two meet together in the midst of those sacrificial animals because it’s in the midst of the sacrifice that God’s holiness comes together with his love. You see, you have these two attributes of God that seem irreconcilable. On the one hand, you’ve got his holiness, which demands that sin must be judged. It cannot be tolerated. But then on the other hand, you’ve got his love. "God is love," First John says. And his love cries out for mercy for the sinner. His holiness says that sin must be punished, and his love says the sinner must be pardoned.

So how do the two come together? That’s the great problem of the atonement. How can both the love and justice of God be satisfied without violating either one? Well, the answer is seen in the sacrifice here in Genesis 15. As the smoking furnace representing God’s holiness and the burning lamp representing his love, both move through the midst of the sacrifice. You see, the bodies and the blood of those sacrificial animals represent the death of the Messiah when he died on Calvary.

Because you see, it’s at the cross that God’s justice is satisfied as the suffering savior took upon himself our sins. Isaiah 53 says, "Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded," and the Hebrew word there is literally pierced. "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed."

So at Calvary, we see the expression of both of those attributes of God, his justice and his love. That’s why both the smoking furnace and the lamp of fire move in between those pieces of the sacrifice here in Genesis 15. Well, that’s all we have time for today, so we’ll continue on the next program.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. Now, let me tell you about our special offer. It’s the compact disc, which includes all of the programs in this current series of studies on The Christian’s Greatest Discovery. Of course, the discovery we’re talking about is the truth of the believer’s security. When we understand that salvation depends on Christ and his merits, rather than on ourselves and our merits, then we’ve taken the first step toward walking in true freedom.

It’s unfortunate that so many of us don’t fully appreciate our security in Christ. We get bogged down in our spiritual lives because we never know from one minute to the next how we stand with God. That’s why this teaching is so important. We need to know that our standing before God doesn’t fluctuate depending on how well we perform. All of our sins, past, present, and future, have been forgiven through the shed blood of the Messiah. His righteousness has been imputed to us. So we can know that we’re saved, and that’s what this series is all about.

The title once again is The Christian’s Greatest Discovery, and it’s yours for a gift of just $6 or more to Messianic Perspectives. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas, 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397.

And as always, when you’re in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you’re listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that, too. This is Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won’t you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series on The Christian’s Greatest Discovery right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the free-will contributions of our listeners in this area.