MATTHEW 5:6
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
I remember years ago when I first read this verse and how it stirred something in me. It was a promise that I felt applied to me somehow. Years later I realized that at the moment I read that scripture God had begun to fulfill it to me. I was hungering for something I knew nothing about, and what I had just read was food that God had provided for me along the way.
God had a goal He was working towards, the same goal He has for you, to become one with you. But He didn’t start there at being one with us, no, but He brought us there in the end, when His Word is fully manifested. But along the way He was teaching and building in us a perfect character.
This pulling and receiving runs through the whole Bible. A hunger and thirst for God and God providing for that hunger and thirst. Israel hungering to be free from Egyptian rule and God providing a Moses. The sick hungering to be well and God providing healing. The lost desiring to not be lost and God providing the Savior.
Jehovah Jireh, God will provide. He is true to His Word, of this I am a witness.
The scripture also tells us that God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
HEBREWS 13:8
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.
With those two thoughts in mind,
God will provide and
God is always the same,
Let’s consider in the message what appears to be God doing something two ways but turns out to be just God bringing us to His One Way.
65-1128M GOD’S.ONLY.PROVIDED.PLACE.OF.WORSHIP
76 Now, the word Deuteronomy, the word itself means “two laws,” the word Deuteronomy. And God has two laws. The two laws: one of them is disobedience to the Word, and die; and the other one is obedience to the Word, and live. That’s the two laws, and Deuteronomy means those two laws. They have both been absolutely displayed to us in the Scripture. One of them is death, the other one is Life; Life and death. God deals only in Life, Satan only in death. And these was displayed to the world publicly, openly before every eye, and there’s no excuse for it. One of them was, displayed on Mount Sinai when the law was given, which condemned the whole human race to death; the other one was give on Mount Calvary, that brought the whole human race to Life, when the penalty was paid in Jesus Christ. The two laws of Deuteronomy was fulfilled in these two, great things.
77 I want you to notice again, there was also two covenants give. One covenant was given to Adam, which was on conditions, like law: “If you will not touch this, then you will live; but if you touch this, you will die.” That was a law. Then there was another law given to Abraham, which was by grace, unconditionally: “I have saved you and your seed after you.” Amen! That is a type of Calvary, not the type of Adam covenant, it’s a Abrahamic covenant.
78 But now we hear Him say there is only one place where He will meet man to worship. You heard it right here in the text. We’ll refer to it, back, in a few minutes.
And God has two laws. The two laws: one of them is disobedience to the Word, and die; and the other one is obedience to the Word, and live.
One of them is death, the other one is Life; Life and death.
One of them was, displayed on Mount Sinai when the law was given, which condemned the whole human race to death; the other one was give on Mount Calvary, that brought the whole human race to Life, when the penalty was paid in Jesus Christ. The two laws of Deuteronomy was fulfilled in these two, great things.
One covenant was given to Adam, which was on conditions, like law: “If you will not touch this, then you will live; but if you touch this, you will die.” That was a law. Then there was another law given to Abraham, which was by grace, unconditionally
We find here what “looks like” God doing something two ways.
In the garden He set Life and death before Adam and Eve. They had to choose to be obedient or choose to be disobedient.
But to Abraham He told him that HE had already done it.
He set up the Garden of Eden under a law, NOT UNDER GRACE.
He set up the Garden of Eden on the shoulders of Adam but told Abraham HE had already done it for him.
The law was death and grace was life.
65-0427 DOES.GOD.CHANGE.HIS.MIND
49 But, you see, God, the great Spirit, the Father, in Him was attributes, and these things that you see displayed now is just His attributes being displayed. He dwelt alone, He was not even God; God was an object of worship. He was the Great Eternal One. And in Him was attributes, such as to be Father, to be Saviour, to be Healer. And now, how could He first… He had to be Father, because it proves He was Father, but He dwells alone. He alone is immortal. And, now, but His attributes has to be displayed.
50 Now, to be a Saviour, there has to be something lost. And God cannot purposely lose anything and then redeem it. It wouldn’t be becoming to His holiness and His great judgment. But He put man on free moral agency, knowing that man would fall.
51 And He showed here, in the beginning, that His perfect will was to create man out of the dust of the earth. But, you see, He permitted sex to be brought in. He never did intend children to be born by sex, but it was permitted, which soon will fade away.
Here we see God placing Adam in a position He knew Adam could not keep.
Just as he mentioned in the previous quote that the law He gave Israel condemned the whole human race to death.
Why would God give Israel a law to keep if they couldn’t keep it? Remember, if they could not keep it, it condemned man to death. Why would He give them a law when His Word, being eternal, says the only place He will meet man is in Christ? Furthermore, why give Adam claims to eternal life on conditions and give claims to eternal life to Abraham unconditionally?
Was He doing things two different ways?
NO, He was bringing His one way, Jesus Christ, on the scene. The entire Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ.
SO, we also see why He did it. Something had to be lost for God to show forth Himself. He could not make a lost man, man had to lose himself. If man did not corrupt himself or lose himself then what will he be guilty of on judgment day? But how can God hold all man guilty for what Adam done? He wouldn’t and He doesn’t. Men are guilty today of rejecting what God did for them, to bring them out of what Adam done. Jesus Christ is what God did for the human race. The whole human race from Adam down to now is accountable for accepting or not accepting what God done for them on Calvary.
Think of it. God had already made Adam acceptable in Christ before the fall every came. He just hadn’t brought it to pass yet.
Do you see what God was doing? He gave Adam a law Adam couldn’t keep in order to bring Grace that Adam would accept. He started with the Adam covenant to bring the Abrahamic covenant. The “I Will” covenant. The “I AM” covenant. The “I already have” covenant. The eternal covenant.
SO, God did not change. Grace was always His way and Grace was His way when He created man in the Garden of Eden. He was just revealing Grace the whole time. Grace, the one way God had to bring man into full expression. Grace… Jesus Christ!
Jesus Christ, THE ONLY PLACE THAT GOD WAS EVER GOING TO MEET MAN! THE PLACE THAT HE PREPARED AND HE DREW MEN TOO!
102-2 EPHESIAN.CHURCH.AGE – CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.3
Now that we have come this far, let me try to crystallize your thinking on this subject so you can see the necessity of our going into the ‘serpent seed doctrine’ as I have. We start with the fact that there were TWO trees in the midst of the garden. The Tree of Life was Jesus. The other tree is definitely Satan because of what came forth of the fruit of that tree. Now then, we know that both of those trees had a relationship to man or they would never have been placed there. They must have had a part in the sovereign plan and purpose of God in their relationship to mankind and to Himself or we could never impute omniscience unto God. This is all true so far, is it not? Now the Word most definitely sets forth that from BEFORE the foundation of the earth the purpose of God was to share His Eternal Life with man.
Ephesians 1:4-11,
“According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace;
Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him:
In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”
Revelation 13:8,
“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (Satan) whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
But that Life could not, and would not, be shared in any other way than through the way of “God manifest in the flesh.” This was a part of His eternal and predestinated purpose. This plan was to be to the praise of the glory of His grace. It was the plan of Redemption. It was the plan of Salvation. Now listen closely. “God being a Saviour, it was necessary that He predestinate a man who would require salvation in order to give Himself reason and purpose of being.” That is one hundred percent correct and multitudes of Scripture bear it out as does the very pointed verse of Romans 11:36,
“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are ALL THINGS: to Whom be GLORY for ever. Amen.”
Man could not directly come and partake of that Tree of Life in the midst of the garden. That Eternal Life of the Tree had to become flesh first. But before God could raise and save a sinner, He had to have a sinner to raise and save. Man had to fall. The fall which would be caused by Satan, had to have flesh to make fall. Satan had to come through flesh also. But Satan could not come through human flesh to make the fall as would Christ come in human flesh to restore the fallen.
BEFORE the foundation of the earth God had ordained and purposed one way to share eternal life with man and that was made very clear by what came to pass. What God brought to pass down through history, despite Satan’s every effort to stop it.
It was NOT the LAW. It was GRACE.
He did not share eternal life under the LAW and also share it under GRACE. Grace alone was the way
And notice what the prophet told us;
Man could not directly come and partake of that Tree of Life in the midst of the garden. That Eternal Life of the Tree had to become flesh first.
The Eternal Life of the Tree could not be partaken of until it became flesh in Jesus Christ which was also the fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham, THE PROMISED SON. Calvary was the fulfillment.
Notice one last thing before we wrap up this first part.
Adam fell by his own choosing, but Satan is the one that caused the fall. Adam did not go out looking to sin. But Adam did sin when he made the choice to turn loose of the Word and that polluted the WHOLE human race, himself included. He turned loose of the Word.
But once the Word has a hold on you, you cannot turn loose.