Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Jesus Christ is the source
of all life as well as its sustainer. No creature has life within themselves,
but receive it from him who kills and makes alive. In him was life,
and the life was the light of men. For as the Father hath life
in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.
For in him we live and move and have our being. Every breath
that we take, every beat of our heart, is that which is determined
and wrought in us according to the good pleasure of His will.
Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath
wrought this, in whose hand is the soul of every living thing,
and the breath of all mankind? Adam was created in a state of
carnal innocence, having no knowledge of death, sin, or destruction,
before he disobeyed the clear and simple command of God. Yet
when he acted according to his nature, as the Lord told him
he would, he brought all of that upon his own head, as well as
his posterity. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Now we are quite
certain that Adam did not physically die in that day when he ate of
that which was forbidden. In fact, he lived to be 930 years
old. Yet he did indeed die in that
day because the sentence of death and condemnation came upon him.
And every day in which his body drew breath, he came closer to
the ultimate outcome of his disregard of the Lord's command. And as
it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
There is no power which men have to stave off this appointed end,
even though they expend all manner of money and effort to avoid
it. Their life must cease according to the ordained purpose of Him
who gives them life in the first place. In their rebellion against
this One who appoints a man's bounds that he cannot pass, men
have devised all sorts of religions and philosophies which they believe
help them cope with this certain end. Most are hopeful that their
beliefs will uphold them in that day, which is rapidly approaching.
Most men believe that they have a soul, yet the scriptures indicate
that they are a soul. The same scriptures speak of
the spirit of a man. It is impossible, however, for
men to discern the exact difference between the soul and the spirit,
or even how they can be differentiated from the body, since the only
visible evidence of a man is seen by his body. Yet we do know
that the Word of God, which is sharper than any two-edged sword,
can divide between the soul and spirit according to the Scriptures.
The sons of God are given the great and precious promise of
the Lord, that He will raise their corruptible bodies from
the grave in the day of the resurrection. This is the hope which is implanted
in those who are given faith to lay hold upon Jesus Christ. This is, in part, that promise
of life which is in Christ Jesus. Yet it is a most vital part.
Even as Paul said, If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from
the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. Because Christ
arose from the dead, those who believe on Him are assured of
this great and precious promise. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who were kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. This promise of life which is
in Christ Jesus can only be enjoyed by those whom the Lord has called
from darkness to light, those who are the sons of God, which
were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God. As Adam died in the day in which
he ate of that forbidden tree, and was all his lifetime subject
unto bondage, awaiting his demise, so too, in contrast, are those
who are born from above, made alive in the present time by
the gift of life from the hand of him who is life eternal, and
live their lifetime free from bondage. For there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh. It is the promise of life in
Christ Jesus which prompted Paul to write, I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Do you have this promise of life
in Christ Jesus? For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.