The Christian's Greatest Discovery - Part 03

Guest (Female): Jesus said if we know the truth, the truth will make us free. On this edition of Messianic Perspectives, Dr. Gary Hedrick shows us one truth in particular that enables us to walk in real freedom. Stay with us as we discuss the Christian's greatest discovery, right here on Messianic Perspectives.
Liz Aiello: Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick is discussing the Christian's greatest discovery. I'll be back at the close of the program with news about a special offer. And now, here's Gary.
Gary Hedrick: Thank you, and we welcome you, listening friend. It's good to have you with us today as we continue our series of studies from the life of Abraham, which we've entitled, "The Christian's Greatest Discovery." We've agreed that the greatest discovery anybody can make is Jesus Christ. But once you're a Christian, the greatest discovery you'll ever make is the absolute assurance of your salvation. To know that you know that you know that you are a child of God. We've gone back to the life of Abraham, the father of the Jews, and we've seen that Abraham had a very serious crisis of faith in his own life. In fact, when we come to Genesis chapter 15 here, Abraham is beginning to have doubts about God's ability to keep the covenant that he had made with him. Abraham says, "Lord, how can I know that you're going to keep your promise?" He says here in Genesis 15, "Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" What Abraham needed was assurance. He knew what God had said and he knew he believed it. In fact, he'd been believing it for 10 years since the promise was originally given back in Genesis 12. He understood it and he believed it, at least in principle he believed it. But what he needed was assurance. And God gave it to him in a very unusual way. Look at what he says in Genesis 15:9. If you have a Bible handy, follow along with me. Verse nine, "And the Lord said unto him, 'Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.'" Verse 10, "And he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst," that is he cut them in half, "and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not." And skipping down to verse 12, it says, "When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him." Verse 17, "And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces." Now this is a very strange scenario we have here. But when you take a very careful look at what happened here in Genesis 15, you discover that this was absolutely the most profound response God possibly could have given to Abraham's need for assurance. What we actually have here is a picture of Calvary. God's response to Abraham's need for assurance was the cross. You see what happened here? Abraham said, "Lord, I need assurance." And God's answer is, "Take these animals, Abraham, cut them in half, arrange the pieces in two rows, and then, Abraham, after you've done that, I want you completely out of the way. So I'm going to put you to sleep so you're totally unable to do anything." And then, while Abraham is asleep, there's this strange ritual in which the Bible says a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces. Now we're going to get into this more fully on the next program, but for now let me just point out that this is an Old Testament picture of Calvary. Every one of those animals—the heifer, the goat, the ram, the bird, the pigeon, the turtledove—every one of those animals is a type or a symbol of Jesus Christ. And Abraham himself represents the sinner in this picture. He must slay the sacrifice and then withdraw from the scene completely. When you stop and think about it, this is the only thing the sinner has to do with salvation, the only role we play in salvation: to slay the sacrifice. And then God, on the basis of the slain sacrifice, makes full atonement for our sins. The smoking furnace and the burning lamp pass through the sacrificial animals, and when it is all done, God awakens Abraham and confirms the covenant of grace in the rest of this chapter. You see, my friend, God's response to Abraham's need for assurance was Calvary. When Abraham said, "How can I know? How can I know it with certainty?" God responded with a picture of the cross. The bleeding animals were symbolic of the suffering servant, the Messiah, Mashiach ben Yosef, who would someday come and offer himself as the ultimate sacrifice for sins. God points Abraham to the cross. He's saying, "Abraham, this is not your work, but mine. Go to sleep, Abraham. I made the promise, and I will keep it." Now this is very interesting, that God pointed Abraham, the father of the Jews, to the cross. It's interesting because this is precisely the point the Jews have never understood. They have never understood the cross. In fact, let me show you something here if I may, and this is going to throw me behind schedule, but we'll just continue on the next program if we run out of time. But I want you to hold your place in Genesis and turn over to the New Testament for just a moment. First Corinthians chapter one. Let me show you something beginning in verse 18 of first Corinthians chapter one. He says, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God." And then he explains why these people consider the preaching of the cross to be foolishness. The reason is, in verse 22, "For the Jews require a sign," and the Greek word there literally means to demand. So the Jews demand a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. Now that word for sign in the Greek literally means a miraculous sign. So the Jews demanded some miraculous confirmation of the Messianship of the Lord Jesus Christ. But our Lord told the religious Jews that only one sign would be given to them. Do you remember? The sign of the prophet Jonah, that is his miraculous resurrection after three days and three nights in the tomb would be the only sign given to them. Then he goes on in verse 23 of first Corinthians chapter one and says, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." The cross was a stumbling block to the Jewish people. They didn't want a suffering Messiah. They didn't want a Messiah whose sole purpose in coming was to die on an old rugged cross. They wanted a mighty Messiah king, a deliverer who would ride into Palestine on his white horse, drive out the Romans, and restore the throne of David to Israel. Two thousand years ago, if Jesus Christ had said, "Friends, I've come to deliver you from Roman domination," they would have been happy to follow him. And they did follow him for a while. As long as he was working miracles and feeding the multitudes and raising the dead, they followed him in droves, multitudes. But when they realized he was going to die, when they saw him standing there before Pilate, what did the Jews say then? They said, "Give us Barabbas." They didn't want Jesus. The cross was a stumbling block to the Jews then, and it's still a stumbling block to the Jews. Let me tell you something that not many people know, and then we'll have to finish this up on the next program. Moses Maimonides, or Rambam as he was called, lived back in the 12th century. He was the chief rabbi of Cairo. He's sort of the Apostle Paul of Judaism. In fact, he wrote the Mishneh Torah, which is a commentary on the Mishnah, which is a commentary on the scriptures, so the Mishneh Torah is sort of a commentary on a commentary. It's one of the most authoritative writings in all of Judaism. Now let me tell you what's so interesting about the Mishneh Torah written by Rambam. In the original version of his writings, Rambam clearly said—and remember, this is a chief rabbi, the most highly revered theologian in Jewish history besides Moses himself—that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the Messianic prophecies and that Jesus, Yeshua, was the suffering Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. The ancient Jews called the suffering Messiah Mashiach ben Yosef, and they called the reigning Messiah Mashiach ben David. And Rambam, that great rabbi, recognized the Messianship of Jesus Christ. But if you go down to your local bookstore tomorrow and you order a copy of the Mishneh Torah, you can read it from cover to cover and the references to Jesus Christ as the suffering Messiah are gone. Over the centuries, the rabbis have edited those references out, or censored would actually be a better word. They've censored the Mishneh Torah to remove all references to Jesus of Nazareth as Mashiach ben Yosef, the suffering Messiah. Why? Because to the rabbis, the preaching of the cross is foolishness. And to the Jews, it's a stumbling block. Isn't it interesting, in light of the fact that the Jews have never understood the cross and never accepted the gospel of the cross, that when Abraham needed assurance, God pointed him to Calvary? God pointed Abraham, the father of the Jews, to the cross. Well, we're not done with this yet, but we'll continue on the next program since we're out of time for today.
Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. Now, let me tell you about our special offer. It's the compact disc which includes all of the programs in this current series of studies on the Christian's greatest discovery. Of course, the discovery we're talking about is the truth of the believer's security. When we understand that salvation depends on Christ and his merits rather than on ourselves and our merits, then we've taken the first step toward walking in true freedom. It's unfortunate that so many of us don't fully appreciate our security in Christ. We get bogged down in our spiritual lives because we never know from one minute to the next how we stand with God. That's why this teaching is so important. We need to know that our standing before God doesn't fluctuate depending on how well we perform. All of our sins—past, present, and future—have been forgiven through the shed blood of the Messiah. His righteousness has been imputed to us. So we can know that we're saved. And that's what this series is all about. The title once again is "The Christian's Greatest Discovery." And it's yours for a gift of just six dollars or more to Messianic Perspectives. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, PO Box 345, San Antonio, Texas, 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. This is Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series on the Christian's greatest discovery, right here on Messianic Perspectives.
Guest (Female): Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the free-will contributions of our listeners in this area.