GOD WILL ALWAYS GIVE YOU THE BEST

TUESDAY 07 JUNE 2022

When you have experienced the salvation of Christ, which involves redemption, justification and sanctification, the work of the Lord begins in your life. Everything begins to change for the better. As the righteous, you begin to practise righteousness and uphold the doctrine of justification by faith, and then live soberly, righteously, and godly. Instead of observing the "dos and don'ts" of Mosaic law one by one, you now experience their thorough fulfilment in Christ through God's grace and glory - by walking in step with the Spirit.

Reference: Isaiah 60:17 New International Version (NIV)

"Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your governor and well-being your ruler."

Here it is definitely specified that God grants us good and perfect gifts in their highest degree. The Bible says, "Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow" (James 1:17 NLT). In other words, God gives the best: both perfect and good gift without restriction or reservation. Now pay eager attention to the revelation of today's referenced verse, to grasp what each gift represents. The first, in the order of mention, assures that God gives us gold instead of bronze and silver instead of iron, and the moral quality of this gift signifies the glory of the latter day which will continually exceed the former state of things.

In view of this truth, Hebrews 10:1 (NIV) reads, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming - not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship." So far, the Gospel of grace dispensation is in place and it exceeds the former one. The former or legal one being the shadow, has carnal ordinances, which have been done away with; and the latter - the real substance, has the spiritual realities, which endures by the governing influence of the Holy Spirit.

In clearer light, Haggai 2:8-9 reads, "'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house', says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty" (NIV). This Scripture is talking about the revelation of the present Gospel dispensation, which is grace and truth. More so, it was distinctly revealed in John 1:17 (NIV): "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." We are now in the dispensation of grace and truth, which is exerted in purity of doctrine and worship, and observed in spirit and in truth, in newness of life, and in love, peace, holiness and unity of the Spirit.

Although the next gift in the order of mention, is bronze and iron, replacing "wood and stones", it suggests that in the Old Testament dispensation, Moses made a bronze serpent instead of wooden image, and put it on a pole (Numbers 21:9 NIV). Later, Jesus referred to this significant occurrence in John 3:14-15 (NKJV) saying: "And as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." So Jesus plainly pointed out the similarity or likeness of what Moses did, and what He did on the cross for us, as an analogy denoting that bronze and iron far exceed wood and stones. Now, the stones represent a stony heart which is stubborn and cannot be melted, while iron represents a heart of flesh and it replaces the stones because it can easily be bent and melted (Ezekiel 36:26 NLT).

Now watch this: In a nutshell, the spiritual reign of Christ in the church represents the gift of gold and silver, which has replaced bronze and iron, while His personal reign in our hearts represents bronze and iron in place of wood and stones. The best gifts have taken over as the glory of the latter reign, which implies that the gift of gold and silver in the body of Christ, will forever exceed that of bronze and iron. It will remain perfectly glorious, exceeding the shadow or former one. Also Christ's personal and peaceful reign in our hearts has taken over as "bronze and iron", in place of "wood and stones", making peace our governor and well-being our ruler. Shalom! Scripture Reading - Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 24:7; Ezekiel 11:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:17. Guided Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank you for giving me the best gift, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the grand fulfilment of your promises to me, as the very seed of Abraham. As a devout Christian, I cherish forever, Christ's glorious reign in my heart, the intenseness and definiteness of His peaceful shepherding, and the conviction that I'm led by your Spirit, in Jesus' Name, Amen!