- 40th International Bible Conference, July 31, 2008 “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh.”  Hebrews 10:19-20     God Who Came as the Word Made Flesh One day I heard something. It was not that I tried to listen, nor was I listening very intently. I just happened to notice some of the words that I heard and as I did so, all of the thoughts that had formed a barrier between me and the Bible just crumbled. Also, through these words that I heard with my ears, a change came about within me, and this gave me certain strength?strength to understand the Bible. Before this, my ears had been dull because of my sins and because of my stubborn heart. I had tried to read the Bible but just could not manage it, but as soon as my ears were opened, the words of the Bible became my own. It is very strange, but it is true.There is a verse in the Bible that talks about how this new life is given to us individually. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  Romans 10:17 It says here that “faith” arises by “hearing”. It arises when an individual hears the words of the Bible or someone talking about the Bible, or when a person is reading the Bible. There are many who are born again while reading the Bible. That is to say, faith arises within them. Then, it also says here that it is through the word of God that the spirit hears the voice of God. The message of the Bible is conveyed through the mouth of a person, but the voice we hear is that of God who had the Bible recorded, the Bible in which He established the immutable truth. So, the important thing is not the words of the people conveying the message of the Bible, but the heart of God contained within what they are saying. That is everything. The people conveying the message of the Bible cannot determine whether the person listening is saved or not. All they do is introduce the words of God so that they can be heard. Then the voice of the Lord will definitely be heard deep down in the heart, in the conscience, of the person listening. This is absolutely not a case of simply hearing something through your ears or experiencing some kind of physical feeling. When the wind we cannot see it, and even though we hear the sound of the wind, we cannot know where it has come from or where it is going; and yet we know for certain that it has brushed past us (see John 3:8). This is also how it is when we experience this change in our spirits. “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”  Galatians 3:23-27Just because it says here, “Before faith came,” you cannot just sit and do nothing and expect faith to drop into your lap, nor can you expect a preacher or a pastor to pour the Holy Spirit into you. The Bible says that, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” When it says that faith comes, it is talking about the change that comes about within us when we understand the heart of the One who speaks to us through the words of the Bible. It is as it says in the Bible, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). It is not a case of experiencing some kind of hot feeling or seeing something flash before your eyes. Nevertheless, as you continue living your life in this world after you are born again, the day will come when you will realize just how precious your experience of being born again really was. Within these verses from the book of Galatians, it says, “before faith came,” and, “after faith has come.” It also talks about a tutor. This tutor is the law. First we have considered mankind, the sins of mankind, Israel and the history of Israel in regard to the verse that says, “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” The basic thought that underlies the entire context of the Old Testament, the thing that forms its central axis, is the law.The reason we have been examining the history of Israel and the lawas recorded in the Old Testament has been to find out through the Old Testament precisely what the “faith” referred to in the New Testament is. Faith arises naturally when the individual realizes what God?who has been saying through the history of Israel that blood provides forgiveness of sins?has done for him through this One Man, Jesus Christ; when the person comes to understand in his own heart what is in the heart of God. When we receive this tiny seed of life in our hearts, it begins to blossom, just like when a child is born from his mother’s womb. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  John 1:1 Where does it say God is? The very words recorded in the Bible are God. The Bible is telling us that this Bible that I am reading is itself the voice of God. God, who created the heavens and the earth, who breathed the breath of life into our bodies, who appointed all the order and balance of power between the earth, the sun, the moon and the vast number of stars in space, who appointed the laws of life and the laws that govern the blood flowing through our bodies, God who created all things wants to draw near to my heart through His word. Even my filthy, hideous hearts can definitely be changed by the power of the One who created the heavens and the earth. “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.”  John 1:2-7 Before Jesus came into the view of the world, John appeared as the last of the prophets and bore witness of Him. Also, as the person who told us that Jesus is the true Savior, he had the same role as the words of the Old Testament. The reason John the Baptist was sent was “to bear witness of the Light, that all through Him might believe.” As we come to understand through the Old Testament what God has done for us, we come to know God who is life. “He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”  John 1:8-13 All things created in this world are merely shadows that God is showing us in order that we might know Him. Yet, the Bible talks about the “true light,” that is, not a shadow, but the real light which “gives light to every man coming into the world.” It also says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him.” That light was the Life of the Lord of creation who made the heavens and the earth, and yet, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” As it says here, when Jesus came to the land of Israel, the Israelites persecuted Him, turned their backs on Him and crucified Him. They themselves had experienced persecution from a Gentile nation when they had been taken captive to Babylon because they had turned their backs on God, worshipped idols, and violated the law; yet when the Son of God who was the true life came to the world, they did not recognize Him and they so ostracized Him. But next the Bible talks about how we can receive Him. It says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” All you have to do is believe in His name, the name of Jesus. Let us turn now to Matthew chapter 1. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.”  Matthew 1:18 When a sperm and an egg meet, a person is formed, but the Bible says that the conception of Christ came about by the Holy Spirit and had nothing at all to do with the blood of a man. This is what makes us different from Jesus as human beings. As a man, Jesus could feel hunger and shed tears, but His life was not inherited from Adam. The Bible tells us that God, who created the heavens and the earthand is the source of the power of life, granted that this life be planted inside the body of a woman. “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.”  Matthew 1:19 Since Mary had conceived while not yet married, Joseph thought she was carrying another man’s child. If he were not careful, she would be stoned to death for this and so he tried to put her away secretly “But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.’”  Matthew 1:20-21 When we pray, we say that we pray in the name of Jesus. This means that we are praying to God the Father through Jesus who has set us free from our sins. Then, when the Bible says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name,” it is saying that we become children of God through faith in the One who has taken away our sins. “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’”  Matthew 1:22-23 The words, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son,” are also recorded in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. This record in Matthew’s Gospel testifies that the words recorded in the Old Testament came to pass exactly as recorded. The tremendous number of laws that are evident through the history of Israel as well as the words that God spoke through their history refer to the life and death of Jesus Christ who was born at the dividing point between the Old and New Testaments. Let’s take another look at John’s Gospel chapter 1 from verse 13. “Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”  John 1:13-14 At John 1:1 it said that “the Word was God,” and now here it says at verse 14, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The apostle John, who followed Jesus, ate and drank with Him and listened to His words, testified that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He was God, who testified through the words of the Old Testament and who spoke directly to the Israelites in Old Testament times; and now He came into the world, being conceived in the body of a woman in accordance with the words of the Old Testament. This was Jesus Christ. If we examine carefully the tabernacle in the Old Testament, we can see clearly that it is an expression of God who lived in this world as a man for a brief thirty-three years. The Bible promises that when we come to know Him and believe in His name, we become children of God. “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’”  John 3:1-2 In Matthew, Mark and Luke’s Gospels we find a detailed record of the signs that Jesus did. In John chapter 2 we have a record of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding feast.While living in the world, Jesus performed many signs such as bringing the dead back to life, opening the eyes of the blind, and making the lame walk. When Nicodemus said to Him that no one could do these signs unless God was with him, Jesus answered as follows: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’”  John 3:3-8 When Jesus said that unless a person was born again, he could not see the kingdom of God, He was talking about being born a second time. Previously we studied the verse that says that “the life of flesh is in the blood.” This life may be maintaining us as we are living in this world, but actually we are walking the path of sin, having been born of the seed of a man who disobeyed God; we are walking the path of death. But now the Bible is telling us, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”  John 6:63 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  John 1:1 Many people say they have received the grace of the Holy Spirit or that they have been moved by the Holy Spirit, but what is important is whether they have truly experienced being born again in their hearts through the Holy Spirit. Being born again of the Holy Spirit comes about through God’s word.Through the words of the Bible we can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, we can hear the voice of God, and we can hear the voice of Jesus. Even though you have already been born once in the flesh, when these words shine through to your conscience, your spirit experiences new birth. The blood of your flesh was inherited from Adam, but now through the blood of Jesus, you experience being born anew. The Bible says, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” There is nothing for us to do except just look and listen.In that case, what have we heard and what have we seen so far? First we have considered Israel and examined the laws that God expressed to the Israelites. We have also looked into the laws pertaining to the tabernacle recorded in Exodus chapter 25 onwards. We have also considered together the colors and forms of the materials used to build the tabernacle and the order in which it was built?none of which is without meaning?and we have seen how all of this presents an image of Jesus whom we are trying to get to know. Yet the Bible says, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” The tabernacle in Old Testament times was covered with badger skins in order to protect it the frequent weather changes and extreme conditions of the wilderness. From the outside it looked like nothing but animal skins, but inside everything was overlaid with gold and there was the lampstand, the light of which was never allowed to go out. The image of this tabernacle is exactly the same as the image of Jesus as He came to this world. In the eyes of men, Jesus was merely an ordinary man, as it says in the Bible, “And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2). Nevertheless, He was God, the Lord of life and the fountain of life, and His blood and His essential nature were far more beautiful than all the glittering gold and the light reflected in it inside the tabernacle. God had spoken of this truth through the history of Israel, drawing man’s attention to it, but the Israelites were awaiting a Messiah who would free them from the oppression of the Gentiles; so when Jesus came in such an apparently insignificant form, claiming to be the Son of God and performing miracles on the Sabbath day, the Jews had Him crucified. Mankind became sinners through eating the fruit that hung on one branch of a tree. Almost all of the many utensils used in the service for the tabernacle described in Exodus were made of wood and overlaid with gold. This is a prophetic image of God in His glory who would come to this world.Also, when Jesus came to this world, He was a carpenter by profession. Of the numerous different occupations in this world, Jesus did the work of a carpenter during His brief life here. At the time of Adam there was a tree that caused us to fall, and the history of sin that was passed on through the blood of Adam began. This caused God a great deal of anguish, and the One who came to the world in order to overturn this situation worked with wood. He did not do anything arbitrarily. He had the mission to walk to Calvary when the time came carrying the wood on His shoulders, and so while He was in this world He worked as a carpenter. Every time He hammered a nail into the wood, He was probably laying onto it His heart, which was full of love for mankind. The One who knew that one day He would have to deliver up His flesh to be laid out on the woodnow tells us everything through the Bible.   Without the Shedding of Blood, There is No ForgivenessLet’s turn to the book of Leviticus. The book of Leviticus contains a record of how the sacrifices performed by the priests in the tabernacle were to be carried out. It also contains the laws that pertain to the offerings of sacrifices.There were five basic types of sacrifices: the burnt offering in which the sacrifice was burnt up; the grain offering in which fine flour was offered; the peace offering, which was intended to bring peace; the sin offering, and the trespass offering. Except for the grain offering, all of these offerings involved blood. “If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD. Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He shall kill the bull before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting.”  Leviticus 1:3-5 The animal is slaughtered at the door of the tabernacle of meeting and the priest takes the blood and sprinkles it on the altar. If you look at the description of the other offerings, you will find a repetition of blood being poured out on the ground.&nb

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