Reconciled by The Blood of Jesus :: By Nathele Graham

“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:11-12).

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

In a few short words, God tells us that He created everything. No evolution, no aliens leaving crumbs from a picnic. The word “created” comes from two Hebrew words, “bara’” and “’eth.” When used together, these words take all doubt away as to the fact that it was God who created, not an accident of evolution. It’s hard to wrap our human minds around the fact that at one time nothing existed but God. No sun, moon, or stars. No trees, flowers, or animals. Certainly, there were no people. Then God spoke.

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3).

The creation of light was just the first day. For five more days, God was busy speaking everything into existence. He separated light from darkness, then made the firmament, which He called Heaven, and divided the waters above it and below. That was the second day. On the third day, God gathered together the waters under Heaven, and dry land appeared. Then it was time to create life in the form of grass, herbs, and trees. The fourth day was when God created the sun, moon, and stars to be signs for seasons, days, and years. On the fifth day, He made the sea creatures and birds. The beauty of creation kept getting more and more spectacular. On the sixth day, He made the land animals. He made the cattle, the rabbits, the elephants, and everything that lives on land. Then He created man.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27).

Creation was done; and on the seventh day, God rested. “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31).

It must have been breathtaking. Verses in the New Testament tell us that it was Jesus, God the Son, who spoke everything into existence. Of course, this all happened prior to Adam’s sin. We only know the world as it is after Adam’s sin, so we miss much of the perfection of creation. That sin separated Adam and Eve from God, and every generation since then has suffered from that separation. There had to be reconciliation, and God had a plan.

How was that reconciliation to come about?

When Adam sinned, God taught him about blood sacrifice. “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).

Blood was shed from an animal, and its skin made coats for Adam and Eve. The skin covered the sinners, but the sin wasn’t taken away. Many years would pass before God’s plan was fulfilled. It would be revealed to people slowly, but the ultimate reconciliation would be perfect reconciliation.

First God called Abraham in order to separate a special group of people from others. Even though idol worship was everywhere, Abraham came away from that way of life and placed his trust in God Almighty. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and through many generations, people looked forward to the perfect fulfillment of God’s plan. Even Job looked forward to that perfect solution to sin.

“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: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me” (Job 19:25-27).

Job looked forward to his salvation. Because of his faith he will surely see His redeemer in the latter day.

God had made it clear that animal blood was to be shed as a sacrifice for sin. It was a covering over the sin, not the perfect sin offering to take sin away. “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

Seeing blood can turn a person’s stomach, but that is only a small picture of the stomach-turning ugliness of even the smallest sin. The blood of animals is just that, animal blood. It cannot bring salvation to humans, yet God doesn’t require human blood to be shed for any reason. How, then, did He plan to take sin completely away?

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Jesus Christ is God, and He created everything. He entered His creation and was fully human and fully God. This is another concept that’s difficult to understand by human terms, but must be understood in order to grasp what God actually did. You see, in order to redeem us from our sin, the blood which was shed had to be human and untainted by sin. Mary was a young woman who was a virgin. She wasn’t a goddess or anything except a normal human. An angel appeared to her and said she would bear a child. Confused, Mary asked how that would be accomplished since she was a virgin.

“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

In this way, the baby which was conceived would be fully human, because Mary was human, and fully God because the Father was God. Therefore, Jesus was able to shed His own blood, untainted by sin, to redeem humans because He was born to a human.

God’s plan to redeem mankind was for Him to be our Sacrificial Lamb. He was born in a manger in Bethlehem for that very purpose. He led a small band of men, who learned from Him and saw miracles. They documented what they saw, and we have their accounts in Scripture. They knew He was God incarnate, and they came to understand what that meant to humanity.

“For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:19-20).

The blood of the cross, the blood Jesus shed, brought reconciliation.

John the Baptist had proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God, but the full meaning of his statement wasn’t made clear until Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be crucified. He was beaten to a bloody pulp, then nails were driven into his hands and feet. His blood ran down, and His body was drained of human life. Only His love for you and me held Him there. The nails were man’s way of shedding blood, but it was within Jesus’ power to step down from that cross at any time. Love kept Him there. He was sinless but took upon Himself the sin of all humans. At that moment, for the first time ever, He felt separation from God the Father which is caused by sin. That separation brought anguish to Him. His cry echoes down through the ages.

“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).

Can you feel His pain…feel His emptiness? Humans have always felt the separation from God. We are born with sin within us, and we’re somewhat numb to it. This was the first time that Jesus felt the separation. Then, it was over. The means of reconciliation was accomplished.

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30).

His blood was shed, and the only means of reconciliation was accomplished. His body was removed from the cross and placed in a tomb. His friends’ grief was deep. All they had hoped for had died on the cross. Unbeknownst to them, God’s greater plan was accomplished. Redemption.

Before Jesus shed His blood for our redemption, the Jewish High Priest would sprinkle the blood of a sacrificed animal upon the Mercy Seat. That yearly ritual only foreshadowed what Christ accomplished for eternity.

“But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:7-10).

The Jewish priests were sinners just like anyone else. Nothing they did could take sin away. The same is true of priests today. From the pope to the lowliest priest, they are merely human and therefore sinners. Nothing they do can ever take your sin away. Only the blood of Jesus can make you clean.

“For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:13-14).

It wasn’t the blood of animals that Jesus sprinkled, but His own blood. It wasn’t a tabernacle on earth where He sprinkled it, but the true tabernacle in Heaven. “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Hebrews 9:24).

We are only fully reconciled to God by the blood of Jesus.

God did all He could. He entered His creation and shed His own blood for our redemption. His free gift of eternal life is offered, but if you don’t accept it, then you choose eternal death. Every person has to make the decision for themselves. Many people believe that infant baptism brings salvation. If they were baptized as a baby but never make the confession of faith for themselves, they haven’t accepted God’s gift for themselves. Baptism doesn’t bring salvation; only individual faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ will bring eternal life. Baptism is obedience.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

A baby cannot confess with his mouth, nor can he believe in his heart. If you’ve never made that confession for yourself, do it now.

You may celebrate Easter by hunting eggs and eating chocolate bunnies, but that isn’t why Christ died. He didn’t stay in the grave, but arose on the third day.

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). 

Rather than celebrating Easter, celebrate the Living Christ. Celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com

www.straitandnarrowministry.com

ron@straitandnarrowministry.com

Ron and Nathele Graham’s previous commentaries archived at https://www.raptureready.com/featured/graham/graham.html

All original scripture is “theopneustos” – God breathed.

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What in the World is Happening? :: By Rob Pue

It’s been said that “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the TRUTH is still putting on its shoes.” We live in a time of great deception, like no other. Some are now coming to understand that, but others are still blind. Even though WE KNOW the government and our politicians lie to us about just about everything. And we know the mainstream media is nothing more than the indoctrination and propaganda arm of a giant octopus of globalists and New World Order elitists. Yet so many still believe that SOMEHOW, THIS TIME, the government, politicians and media are really telling us the truth and only have our best interests in mind regarding this coronavirus “pandemic.”

I don’t claim to know exactly what’s happening now. There are many theories. But clearly something’s not right here. You don’t shut down the engine and economy of the entire GLOBE, locking down the majority of citizens of Planet Earth because of a virus that has proven to be largely harmless to most of the people. Things are not as they’d have us believe.

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW:

On October 18, 2019, The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in partnership with the World Economic Forum hosted “a high-level pandemic exercise” in New York City called “Event 201.” This event included CEOs of major corporations, media and communications professionals, business, finance and economic leaders, health officials, UN officials and government leaders. Key players included New World Order Globalists and those pushing for global “population control.” This was a SIMULATION of a world-wide pandemic, to study how such a catastrophe would impact the world economically and socially. It was sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, the Center for Disease Control, the United Nations Foundation, NBC broadcasting, the Bloomberg Foundation, and the Central Intelligence Agency — yes, the CIA. And the TYPE of pandemic that was studied was a CORONAVIRUS.

On the same day that Event 201 began, the World Military Games began in Wuhan, China. This was an “Olympic-type” sporting event for service members from around the world to compete in sporting events. And the United Nations had a very large presence at the World Military Games. Incidentally, the United States came in 35th place in awards out of 56 countries at the games. China came in first, and Russia second.

Also, for some reason, there was a mass exodus of CEOs resigning from their companies in 2019. In all, 1,480 CEOs resigned last year, and nearly 300 more quit between January and March of this year. It seems they knew something we didn’t know.

We also know that China has been busy building economic, diplomatic and military alliances with countries around the world, including Mexico and many Central and South American nations. There are Chinese army troops currently on the ground in many of these countries right now, training and financing their armed forces.

And did you know that 200 Italian businesses are now controlled by Chinese owners… and Chinese investors and firms now own a majority of 2,400 US companies? Additionally, China owns 150,000 acres of prime farmland in the United States.

We hear the word “pandemic” a lot now. But just what, exactly, IS a “pandemic?” A ‘Pandemic’ is declared when the death-to-infection rate of a disease reaches more than 12%. Here are the current statistics on the Coronavirus:

In Europe, the death rate is 0.4%, except for Italy, which peaked at 6% and is now declining. According to the official reports, 99% of those who died in Italy — with their deaths attributed to the virus — were 80 years old or older and had other underlying illnesses already. China’s death rate from the virus peaked at 3% but is now reported to be less than 0.7%. On March 26th, Dr. Anthony Fauci HIMSELF wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine that the effects of the Coronavirus would be substantially less than that of the normal flu virus, with a mortality rate of less than 0.1%. So why, now, all the hysteria and over-reaction?

I’ve been researching all of this extensively, and I HAVE the numbers; but for the sake of space, I’ll leave it to you to do the research and math. But suffice to say that as of April 4th, worldwide deaths from the coronavirus have been less than 0.5% of those infected. What’s more, studies show that only 2% of people age 19 and younger contract COVID-19; 12% of middle-aged people get it; and just 24% of people 80 years old or older catch it, MOST who are already sick with other illnesses.

SO, WHAT HAS BEEN OUR RESPONSE TO THIS?

Millions of people worldwide have essentially been locked down. All businesses considered to be “non-essential” have been forced to close. Here in America, draconian measures have been taken to assure “social distancing,” meaning that in most places now, it’s forbidden for ten or more people to gather, even outdoors. In some states, groups of two or more people are forbidden. Hotlines and websites have been set up for people to essentially “turn their neighbors in” to law enforcement if they feel they’re not following the rules.

In addition to professional sports, movie theaters, theme parks and concert arenas have been forced to close for the foreseeable future; 93% of churches in the United States are now closed. Bill DeBlasio, Mayor of New York, has stated that churches that disregard his order to close may be forced to close permanently. In China, they’re demolishing church buildings.

And here in our country, those who are considered to be “essential workers” are “allowed” to leave home, but they’ve been issued “travel papers” by their employers to prove to law enforcement they have a legitimate reason to be out on the streets if they’re stopped and questioned.

On March 27th, Trump signed an Executive Order allowing him to activate up to 1 million Individual Ready Reserves. These are retired military personnel, not regular “Reserve” troops. Currently, there are 12,500 National Guard members that have been mobilized, and countless numbers of heavy military vehicles have been seen being transported throughout the country.

On April 1st, Mike Pompeo ordered all American citizens who are currently in other countries to return home immediately.

And here’s something you won’t see on the evening news: The Pentagon and NORAD are now sending high-level staffers — and some of the most critical US senior military commanders and nuclear and special operations forces to the Cheyenne Mountain bunker facility in Colorado — 2,000 feet underground — to ensure that in the event of a sudden security crisis, including any potential nuclear mission, there will be enough healthy troops and leaders to carry out orders.

Social distancing rules are becoming more and more strict in public, even now at Walmart stores, where only a certain number of people are being allowed in the building at a time, and aisles have been cordoned off so customers must move single file, all in one direction while inside the stores. Several states have ordered that IF people must leave their homes to obtain essential supplies, only one family member is allowed to make the trip. Even outdoor facilities like playgrounds and parks have closed down.

Still, as we see every day when President Trump and his White House Coronavirus Task Force hold press conferences, THEY are NOT ‘social distancing’ but, rather, standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Likewise, the MEDIA at these press conferences are sitting right next to one another in the audience. Curious.

The media has been reporting that hospitals across the country are being ‘overwhelmed’ with patients coming to be tested and hospitalized with the virus. Hospitals across the country have set up tents outside to accommodate overflow patients and for virus testing. Refrigerated semi-trucks have been brought in to serve as overflow “morgue” space for deceased patients.

HOWEVER, citizen reporters have checked on this: in city after city, ordinary citizens have visited their local hospitals — including hospitals in New York City — and posted videos online showing hospitals that are completely empty, totally void of people. Empty emergency rooms, empty tents, no people anywhere. Videos are circulating all over the internet showing the same thing: in MOST cities across the country, there ARE NO COVID-19 patients, no overwhelmed hospitals or hospital workers. In New York harbor, the 1,000-bed hospital ship “Comfort” has a total of three patients. In Los Angeles, the hospital ship “Mercy” has 15.

SO, WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON HERE? 

I don’t believe the entire world has been shut down because of a virus that has been PROVEN to be much less serious and much less devastating than the annual flu bug. There IS a Coronavirus, and it DOES make people sick, but it’s not an airborne virus — you can only catch it through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person. And, as studies have repeatedly shown, even among the most vulnerable people in the population — those over 80 years old — only 24% contract the virus. What’s more, unless one is very elderly and suffering from other ailments already, most people recover at home within a few days or a couple of weeks.

Many people — even Christians — believe in the mysterious figure on the internet known as “Q-Anon.”   “Q” has been predicting a lot of things for a lot of years, but I have yet to see even one of those predictions come to pass. The current theory from “Q” is that while everyone around the world is “locked down,” the “good guys” will be arresting the “bad guys,” including members of the “deep state,” “shadow government,” pedophile celebrities and traitors. That would be great if it were true, but I don’t believe it is.

A theory that I find much more plausible is a coming global financial reset — as the world economy is destroyed under the guise of a deadly “pandemic.” This seems like an opportune time for the implementation of a new, one-world currency. Debt would be erased, the slate wiped clean and the world would start over with this new currency, which would, of course, be a DIGITAL currency. In fact, during the stimulus package negotiations in Congress, Nancy Pelosi even floated the idea of a “digital wallet” which would be mandatory for all.

This also lines up with the UN agenda for what they call “ID 2020.” (It IS the year 2020, after all, so this is right on schedule). “ID 2020” is a UN plan that uses a VACCINATION as a platform for a digital form of identification. Your digital ID would include everything about you, including health and vaccine records, assets, credit and debt, and could also TRACK everyone in the world digitally — for our own “safety” and “protection,” of course. Imagine: no more missing children, no more identity theft or stolen credit cards.  And now that the media has pretty much the whole world frightened out of their wits over this coronavirus “pandemic,” it seems millions would eagerly line up now to get the vaccine, which would, at the same time, wipe out their debts as we start over, and even include “free money” in the “digital accounts” — something millions will actually need, having lost everything after months of no income.  And what could be easier than an implanted microchip in one’s hand or forehead that’s simply scanned wherever you go, for whatever you may need?

Incidentally, Bill Gates and other world “elites” and globalists have been big supporters of “ID 2020” as they seek to bring about a one-world government, a New World Order and a One-World Economic System. We’ve already been told we’re on the “fast track” now for a coronavirus vaccine, and what would normally take a year or more to develop could come in just a few months.

There’s yet one more theory as to why the world has suddenly become a prison planet, which I believe is very plausible as well, but space does not allow me to elaborate here. Maybe next time I will speak on that. In the meantime, let us pray together that the plans of the evil ones are thwarted. We also need to prepare, as true Christ-followers for the persecution that God’s Word TELLS US is coming. And it IS coming, and it’s out of our control. But friends, remember, it is NOT out of GOD’S control. We may not escape persecution or perilous times, but as we read in Revelation, we WILL overcome the enemy “by the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and loving not our own lives, even unto death.”

Let us be faithful to our Lord and Savior and stand strong ‘til the end — no matter what comes — and regarding the work He has called us all to, no matter what comes upon us, may we all finish well, KNOWING that He will work all things together for good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.

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Audio CDs and transcripts of this message are available when you call me at Wisconsin Christian News, (715) 486-8066. Or email Rob@WisconsinChristianNews.com and ask for message number 287.