4+4=8 1+7=8 3+5=8
E I G H T
any way you add it up
The
number eight (8) biblically represents a new beginning, meaning a new order or
creation, and man's true 'born again' event when he is resurrected from the
dead into eternal life.
·
Dead
meaning spiritually dead to sin, not in the physical realm.
Perfect
Sacrifice
Like
the Old Testament Passover lamb, Jesus was selected as the Lamb to take away
man's sins on the Hebrew day of Nisan 10 (April 1, 30 A.D. - John 12: 27–29). “Right now I am storm-tossed. And what am I
going to say? ‘Father, get me out of this’? No, this is why I came in the first
place. I’ll say, ‘Father, put your glory on display.’” A voice
came out of the sky: “I have glorified it, and I’ll glorify it again.” 29 The
listening crowd said, “Thunder!” Others said, “An angel spoke to him!” 30-33 Jesus
said, “The voice didn’t come for me but for you. At this moment the world is in
crisis. Now Satan, the ruler of this world, will be thrown out. And I, as I am
lifted up from the earth, will attract everyone to me and gather them around
me.” He put it this way to show how he was going to be put to death.
·
This
text covers the Passover season just prior to Jesus death when he was greatly
troubled about the upcoming crucifixion but he settles himself with the resolve
that the crucifixion is the very reason he is on earth; Jesus prays to God (in
essence for help, confirmation if you will) and the Father answers with a
thunderous voice which his followers heard.
He then tells them of his impending death but it goes right over their
heads.
He
was crucified on Nisan 14 (Wednesday, April 5 in 30 A.D.). His resurrection
occurred, exactly as he stated, three days and three nights after he was
buried, which was at the end of the weekly Sabbath day that fell on Nisan 17
(seventeen symbolizes victory). Nisan 17 was also the eighth day, counting
inclusively, from the time Christ was selected as man's sacrificial Lamb. All
this bears record of Jesus' perfect sacrifice and His complete victory over
death.
Physical
Circumcision
According
to The Mosaic Law boys were to be circumcised on the eight (8th) day
of life. The number eight (8) in this context symbolizes circumcision of the
heart through Christ and the receiving of the Holy Spirit (Romans 2:28-29,
Colossians 2:11-13).
·
For you are not a true Jew just because you were
born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of
circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one
whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the
letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And
a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. Romans 2:28-29 (NLT)
·
When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a
physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away
of your sinful nature, 12 For you were buried with
Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because
you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. 13 You were dead
because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then
God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. Colossians 2:11-13 (NLT)
Those
in Christ are a new creation, with godly character being created by the power
of God's Spirit:
·
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new
person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
·
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in
Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
·
Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and
attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature,
created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:23-24 (NLT)
The
Ephesians scriptures above almost sound contradictory, but if we look a little
closer we see they are not:
·
Ephesians
2:10 says we are God’s masterpiece, he created us the way we are on purpose so
we can attract the people assigned to our life’s journey. Our lives God…; “how could God have ….”; “I
thought God loved ….”. Let me stop you
before you get started. We are going to stop
whining about what we perceive is/is not fair (yes, me included). Do you remember the story of Joseph? Does your stuff compare to his in any shape,
form or fashion. Press pause, while you
think about it, go ahead, I’ll wait while you have your Selah moment. (10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) Yeah, No, I
didn’t think so. Again, we’re not going
to whine about the PROCESS (because that’s all it is, nothing more, nothing
less). Instead we’re gonna dig our heals
in, learn the lesson and go through it (the PROCESS). We’re not gonna pull over, park, get out of
the vehicle and stake our claim. We’re going
through, we’re not moving to Drama Lane permanently. The sooner we understand that point, the
sooner we will get it (the PROCESS) and move on, refined in the newness that
only our process will produce.
·
Ephesians
4:23-24 advises that we allow the Spirit of Christ us. If we don’t allow him to renew us he won’t
force himself and therein lies part of the problem. We don’t give him permission to “renew our
thoughts and attitudes”. We become
“frozen” like Pastor Dave talked about.
The bible also calls it being Lukewarm.
The role we have to play in the newness is putting on the new nature of
God.
Tania Not Tanya
nugget: I am not diminishing your
stuff. If you are anything like me my
stuff was so heavy that if I wasn’t sure of who God was and my faith and
confidence in him, I would have literally given up. That’s real talk right there. But I knew in my heart that God WAS NOT
unjust, unfair, mean, manipulative or an insensitive lying God. At one point on my process journey (not that
long ago either) all I had was my faith in God.
Some of the people that I thought loved me as much as I loved them
betrayed me and it cut deep, so deep that the only soothing balm was the word
of God and his voice when he would console me at night as I soaked the pillows
I was using with the hurt that leaked
from my heart, worked its way up to my tear ducts, slipped out of my closed
eyes and down my brown cheeks landing on pillows that weren’t even mine while I
stuffed the screams of anguish that I wanted so desperately to release but
could not. So I know some of our drama
is very deep but it is also very necessary in order to get us in the vehicle or
keep us in the vehicle that will be used on the road of our journey which leads
to purpose. That’s what I need you to
get dear heart.
Look
what Ephesians 4 says about the new nature:
· So stop telling lies. Let us tell our
neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And “don’t sin by letting
anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down
while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold
to the devil. If
you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and
then give generously to others in need. Don’t use foul or abusive
language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will
be an encouragement to those who hear them. And do
not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has
identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of
redemption. Get
rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all
types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each
other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has
forgiven you.
I
am totally out of time but I promise we’ll pick it up tomorrow.
In
His New Excellence,
Tania
Not Tanya
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