Th Incarnation-The Atonements And The Will Of God

...for you know what 
commandments we gave
you through
the Lord Jesus.
For this is
the will of God,
your sanctification: 
that you should abstain 
from sexual immorality;
that each of you 
should know how 
to possess his own
vessel in sanctification
and honor.
1 Thessalonians 4:2-4

     Who are the "you" that Paul addresses? The very first verse of this letter gives us the answer: "...To the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 1b). Paul is reminding the Thessalonians and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he is giving a truth for all Christians that God's will is for His children; the Church of God, to be sanctified. Paul is not writing to non-Christians, they cannot know nor do they understand the truth of the Incarnation and that God wills His children to be sanctified. It is not a question of God's will; it is a question of our will. Is our will in line with God's? We need to ask ourselves; are we willing to allow God to do all that is possible in me by means of the atonement? Further, am I willing to let Jesus be made sanctification to me and be manifested in my mortal life? It when the free gift of grace and mercy is given to those God has chosen that we can receive Jesus Christ and be sanctified in our implicit faith, a faith given to us by God. We have nothing that has not been given to us by God: "...as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue" (2 Peter 1: 3). Who is Peter speaking too? It is: "To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:1b). Sanctification makes us one with Jesus Christ who is our Lord, and in Him one with God and this has been done by means of the Incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into heaven by Jesus Christ; it is by this atonement that gives to His children the impetus to live in obedience, service, and prayer; by this our sanctification is wrought out in us. It is this knowledge of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ that will aid our growth in Him for it was by Him that we were called into being only to have this knowledge of Him lost, and along with that our existence with Him, that is in we became corrupt and only by the grace of God is there hope that our corruption will be abolished and life eternal will be given to all whom God has called and placed in the hands of His Son: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one" (John 10: 27-30). This is a great promise and hope of all of God's children. But, where does evil come from that so affects us? 

     It is God alone who exists in all His goodness and is the ultimate and only true being; evil is not a being, it is the negation and antithesis of good. Evil is a thing of the mind; therefore it is not a physical entity, although evil is known by the actions that it produces. God is not evil, evil cannot be predicated upon God for He is Good and evil does not reside in Him nor does He produce evil. God's actions are good, and all that He has created is good. It was by the mind of Adam that sin, or evil was produced, even though Satan prior to this event had determined in his mind to be evil, to usurp God and God's authority. It was this sin of Adam that man lost the knowledge of God. Man could not by himself recover this loss, for his loss causes him to be totally depraved, unable to renew his mind so that the mind is the mind of God. This God did by the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ. You might quickly point out that man does good things, therefore there must by some good in man, maybe man is not totally depraved, that there is a remnant of the original goodness that God placed in man? Some think this way, in fact, they believe that there is enough goodness in man so that when they hear the word of God they will repent due to that goodness. This cannot be true for if it was then any man could hear the word of God and repent; they don't, only those that God has drawn and enable do. Man by some form of philanthropy causes some good and bring to himself some sense of satisfaction; but this is due to his senses being satisfied; that he is philanthropic, and not due to himself being aware of God and having the knowledge of God that causes him to be aware that what he does is due to the love of God residing in him. There is a difference in two Greek words: Agape, or love as we translate has the the meaning of a principled love that is derived from God. Phileo from which we derive the word philanthropic, is a love towards another person.

     By nature man is mortal since he was made from nothing but he does bear the Likeness of Him Who is, and if he preserves that Likeness through constant contemplation (This contemplation spoken of here is not to be confounded with what is being taught in some Christian Universities and in some Churches, that is, a form of contemplation that has its roots in Oriental religion called Spiritual Contemplation: may I say it boldly; we are not called to meditate our "belly button," but we are called to have God in our thoughts and as we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to think upon God, and Godly things), then man's nature is deprived out its power and man remains incorrupt. This incorruptness that comes from our minds placed upon the Sovereign God and upon His will to sanctify His Children, this by means of the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ we would then have the position that God gives to His children as the Scripture so plainly points out: "I have said, Ye are gods and sons of the Highest all of you: but ye die as men and fall as one of the princes" (Psalm 82:6). There is the rub, we die, this is our plight and we have no control over that Law of Death that affects all men in this life. Jesus states: "Jesus answered them (the Jews), 'Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods?" if He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom, the Father sanctified and sent into the world, You are blaspheming, because I said, I am the Son of God? if I do not do the words of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him" (John 10:34-38). 

     The greatest work that Jesus Christ ever did was to become incarnate and die upon a cross for those He came to save. Do you Believe?

Jesus said to her,

     'Did I not say

to you that if you

    believe you would

see the glory of God?"

                John 11: 40

Today Be Obedient In A Godly Way

Richard L. Crumb