Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: There are many contrasts between the old and new covenants. One concept that is unique to the new covenant is that of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Join us as Dr. Gary Hedrick discusses the subject Christ in Us today right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinct first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Our Bible teacher is Dr. Gary Hedrick and his subject today is Christ in Us. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. And now with today's installment, here is Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thank you and welcome, listening friend, to another edition of the program. It's good to have you with us today as we begin a new series of studies dealing with the subject Christ in Us. And, of course, that comes from a passage in Colossians chapter 1 where Paul says, "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is," and here's the mystery, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27).

Now, do you remember what we said a mystery is in the New Testament? We said it's something that was concealed in the Old Testament but has been revealed in the New Testament. So, when Paul talks here about the glory of this mystery, what's he talking about? He's talking about something that was never known in the old dispensation but now it has been revealed. And what does he say the mystery is? He says it's Christ in us. The Spirit of Christ dwelling in us. The presence of God dwelling in us.

The Jewish term for the divine presence is Shekhinah, which means the presence. In the Old Testament, the Shekhinah dwelt where? In the tabernacle and later in the temple, in the Holy of Holies, over the mercy seat, between the cherubim, between the angels. But Paul says God doesn't live in a house built with hands anymore. He lives in us. It's one of the greatest blessings of the new covenant, and yet so often we take it for granted.

I was talking one time to our friend Itzak Shaya. He's home with the Lord now. He was a wonderful Jewish believer in Yeshua HaMashiach. Itzak was a Hasidic Jew. His father and grandfather before him had been Hasidic Jews. They're the ones who wear the black hats and coats and have their hair fixed with curls coming down the sides. They're very devout. In many ways, you can think of them as Jewish fundamentalists because they take the scriptures literally.

They're very conservative and they're very strong in what they believe. There's a Hasidic area in Jerusalem called Mea Shearim where the Hasidic Jews will literally stone your car or your bus if you try to drive through there on Shabbat because they believe it's a violation of the Sabbath laws to drive a car. Three times a day they put on tefillin and the prayer shawl and they read from the prayer book while rocking back and forth. It's called davening. I mean, they're serious about it. No messing around.

And that was Itzak's background. He was Hasidic, very strong in the law, very strict. And he told me one time after he had come to faith in Jesus Christ, he said, "Gary, you know what? You Christians take too much for granted." I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "When the Bible says we're free in Christ, we've been freed from the curse of the law," he said, "you guys take it too lightly." He said, "I lived under that law for almost 50 years of my life, the 613 laws of Maimonides and everything else that goes with it."

He said, "I just can't tell you what a relief and what a blessing it is not to have to worry about whether or not I'm doing everything just right. Not to have to worry about whether or not I'm measuring up. Not to have to worry about whether or not I'm getting every little detail just right because I know Yeshua got it right. He fulfilled the law on my behalf," Itzak said, "and I've been made righteous in him." But he said, "You guys just take it for granted."

And you know what? He was right. There is a lot we take for granted. And the same thing applies here. When the Bible talks about the indwelling spirit of the living God, that God actually lives in us, we take it for granted. We don't understand that this is something so radically different from anything that was known in previous ages. It was a mystery to previous generations. Listen, under the old covenant, God was around man, over man, with man, by man, upon man, and through man. But for the first time under the new covenant, God is in man. That's what we're talking about, Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Now, what we want to do in this series of studies is contrast the old covenant and the new covenant as it relates to the indwelling presence of God. So, first, let's go back and see where God was in the Old Testament. We'll begin in the book of Genesis chapter 2. And by the way, after we go through this whole study, this is where we'll end up, back here in Genesis chapter 2. We're going to come full circle and end up right back here where we started.

Genesis chapter 2, beginning in verse 7, it says, "And the Lord God," that's Yahweh Elohim, "the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Man became l’nefesh chaya, a living soul, a living being. Why? Because God breathed into him nishmat chayyim, the breath of life. It was this infusion of breath from God that made man a living soul.

Now, sometimes there are people who like to make the point that the Bible says the animals also had a nefesh or a soul here in the Garden of Eden, and that's true. The Bible says that. Not only that, but the Bible also says the animals have the breath of life in them, the same phrase that's used of man in Genesis 2:7. So what's the point? Are these people trying to say that we're no different from the animals? Let me show you the difference.

In all of the creation, listen, in all of the creation, man is the only one of whom it is said that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. In other words, man is the only one who received nishmat chayyim, the breath of life, directly from the in-breathing of almighty God. You can just imagine the scene in a clearing in the Garden of Eden with the animals gathered around watching curiously as the Lord God formed and shaped this last creature, the crowning achievement of his creation.

And when he was finished, he bent down and started breathing into his nostrils like someone doing CPR. Finally, the man began breathing on his own and he opened his eyes and he was alive. Just think, Adam was the perfect man, fashioned by the hand of God himself. It's interesting that the ancient rabbis said that Adam was not enosh, he was not human, because before the fall, he was immortal. His intellect, his mind, and his physical strength were all far beyond anything mankind possesses today.

We can only imagine what sorts of powers and abilities Adam must have had before the fall. But when he fell into sin, Adam became enosh. He became human. He became a mortal subject to death. But don't try to make the point that just because the animals are alive and have a nefesh that man is just like the animals, and when he dies, he's just sort of snuffed out like a skunk that gets run over by a pickup truck. Because that's not the way it is, my friend.

Adam received his life through a direct infusion of divine breath from almighty God himself. What does that mean? It means that God imparted more to Adam than just the breath of life, more than just a nefesh or a soul. With that infusion of divine breath, man received a part of God himself. Man became a spiritual being rather than just a physical being like the animals and the birds and the fish. Look down here at chapter 1, verse 26.

It says, "And God said, 'Let us make man in our image.'" Plural: let us. This is the godhead, Abba, Ben, and Ruach HaKodesh: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit deliberating with each other. "Let us make man." The ancient rabbis tried to explain this by saying that God was talking to the angels or he was speaking to the earth or to nature. But nowhere is the creation attributed to anyone but God himself. The angels were not partners in the creation; all they did was watch it.

In the book of Job, the angels were the ones who shouted for joy when they saw the creation. They were impressed with what God had done. So mankind is the only part of the creation that God said he created in his own image and after his likeness. Man is a tri-unity in much the same way that God is a tri-unity. Man consists of body, soul, and spirit. Three in one and one in three. One essence but consisting of three distinct yet inseparable parts.

That's how God is. He is a unity, one essence but consisting of three distinct yet inseparable aspects. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So man is created in the image of God, and that is not said of the animal creation. That's the difference. Man was created with a special capacity for spirituality and God awareness. In the Garden of Eden, the Bible says the Lord God came and walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, which would have been late afternoon.

Adam and his wife must have looked forward to those daily times of communion and fellowship with the Lord. But then something happened. Adam and Eve fell into sin, and then the Bible says when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, Adam and his wife did what? What did they do? It says they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8).

So in the creation, we have God around a man. They were around each other, God and man, in each other's presence on a daily basis. They had close fellowship and communion. But even then, God was not in Adam like he is in us under the new covenant. Well, we're just getting started, but that's all of our time for today. We'll pick it up here next time. Until then, this is Gary Hedrick saying God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. If you found today's program especially helpful and insightful, you'll be glad to know that we have placed the entire series of programs on compact disc. The title is Christ in Us by our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick. It's available for your gift of just six dollars or more to help us keep this program here on your station. Just visit our secure online store at MessianicSpecialties.com to place your order.

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I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on Christ in Us 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.