Glory in the highest heavens to God... - Spirit & Truth Fellowship ...

Th e Co n t e n d e r
Because of the fall of Lucifer and Adam,
the whole universe is suffering pain and
is in the bondage of decay.
Along with the glory that the angels of heaven give to God, there
is to be peace on earth. But to whom The Greek phrase is only
three words, and is literally translated, “among men of goodwill.”
The truth being communicated is there is peace from God to people
with whom He has goodwill. Modern versions try to express this
idea, with, in my opinion, varying degrees of success, but the point
is that God’s peace is not to everyone; it is for those who have
turned their hearts to Him. This fits perfectly with the Old Testament
prophecies and predictions of the coming Messiah, who was foretold
to be a warrior for God, delivering His people while destroying His
enemies.
The very first prophecy of the Redeemer, in Genesis 3:15,
foretells him being in conflict with the Devil, and by extension, the
ungodly. That prophecy was confirmed in Moses’ time when Balaam
foretold that the Messiah would “…crush the foreheads of Moab, the
skulls of all the sons of Sheth” (Num. 24:17b). David continued the
picture of the Messiah as executing judgment on those who did not
turn to God:
Psalm 2:12
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your
way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all
who take refuge in him.
In the biblical culture, to kiss someone showed love, respect,
honor, or homage. God and His Messiah deserve and demand love
and respect, and those who refuse God will be destroyed, while those
who take refuge in the Son will be blessed, just as the verse says.
The message about the Messiah as an executor of God’s judgment
continued through the prophetic books, and the last prophet, Malachi,
wrote:
DID YOU KNOW...
That Genesis 3:15 contains the first prophetic
words about the coming Savior, who we know
will crush the head of Lucifer, God’s arch-enemy.
THAT is something to praise God about !!!
Malachi 3:1b-3a and 5a
(1b) …the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the
messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,”
says the Lo r d Almighty.
(2) But who can endure the day of his coming Who can
stand when he appears For he will be
like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.
(3a) He will sit as a refiner and purifier of
silver…
(5a) “So I will come near to you for
judgment….
John the Baptist continued to portray the
Messiah as one who would bless the people of
God but execute judgment upon the ungodly. One
way he expressed that was to compare the people
of earth to a harvest. The evil people would be
burned up like chaff, while the godly would be
gathered into the barn (Matt. 3:12). Thus, the
Messiah would bring peace, but he would bring it
only to the people with whom God was pleased.
Something else about the peace that people
of God will enjoy is that it is clearly linked in
prophecy to the destruction of those who oppose
God. It is undeniable that the lives of everyone
on earth would be more peaceful if there were no
wicked people here. The people of God will enjoy
peace in the future in part because Jesus Christ
will destroy the wicked and unrepentant.
Another aspect of the “peace” that would
come to the people of God was that it would exist
forever between God and His people due to Jesus’
offering himself as the “…Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29b). 10
Despite our best efforts to obey and please God,
our sin nature and seemingly overpowering
desires cause us to sin against God on a regular
basis. The Old Testament portrays the separation
between God and men very clearly, and in those
days people approached God with blood sacrifices
to cover and atone for their sin. Leviticus reveals
an important aspect of these offerings to God, an
aspect that is usually not clearly presented in our
English versions.
Leviticus 1:9
He [the sinner with the offering] is to wash
the inner parts and the legs with water, and
the priest is to burn all of it on the altar.
It is a burnt offering, an offering made by
fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lo r d.
The NIV says that the burnt offering made an
aroma “pleasing” to God, but the Hebrew word
means more than that. The NASB is much closer
when it says a “soothing” aroma. The Hebrew
word, nichowach, means “soothing, quieting,
12 www.STFonline.org