The meal that heals ( PDFDrive )

was still in the loins of the father. In the following Scripture, the writer points
out how Abraham paid tithe for Levi while Levi was still in his father’s loins:
“And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in
Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him.”
Hebrews 7:9-10
Circumcision was the visible sign of the covenant. Any Hebrew child that
was not circumcised would be cut off from the people (Genesis 17:14). This
mark upon the flesh was the most important act a Hebrew male could receive as
evidence of his covenant with God. The main problem was the mark in the flesh
had little impact upon the heart. Jesus revealed that sin came out of man’s heart:
“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”
Matthew 15:19
The Hebrew prophets understood the weakness of circumcision of the flesh
and predicted God would one day bring a New Covenant that would change the
heart:
“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I
will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh. ”
Ezekiel 11:19
The Change in the Heart
The proof of the Gospel is in the power of the Gospel. The evidence that the
message of Christ is life changing is seen in those whose lives it has changed.
What other message can transform the lost sinner in thirty minutes or less?
Picture this: a sinner enters a church where he has never been and sits in a seat
where he has never sat. A minister he has never before seen preaches from a
Bible the sinner has never read. He hears a message on redemption that he has
never heard and accepts an invitation he has never received to believe in a Savior
he cannot see. After praying a simple prayer, the man or woman is changed for
eternity!
This is the power of the Gospel. The radical transformation of a sinner is the
visible proof that the Gospel of Christ is not just another religion, but is the road
to a relationship with God. If any man is in Christ, he becomes a new creation (2
Corinthians 5:17). The spiritual heart surgery resulting from the miracle of
salvation will cause one to love the unlovable, reach the unreachable, and change
the unchangeable.
The Meal That Fills
Circumcision of the flesh is no longer the method God uses for entering the
covenant. God now requires circumcision of the heart. Jesus said that unless we