DIVINE
ENCOUNTER (RENEWAL FELLOWSHIP)
P.
O.
BOX
3625
WARRI,
DELTA
STATE
,
NIGERIA
.
TOPIC:
THE SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS TEXT: 2TIM. 3:1
PART
3
DISCOVERING
THE DAY THAT WE ARE IN - DAY OF SALVATION
"And it shall come to pass IN THE LAST DAYS... I will pour out of my
Spirit upon all flesh..." Acts
2:17
"... 1 have heard thee in a time accepted and IN THE DAY OF SALVATION....
behold now is THE DAY OF SALVATION" 2Cor.6:2. " And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at THE LAST DAY" Jn.6:39.
Looking at the above passages, we can easily see that they are not speaking of
the same day. For we have the LAST DAYS - plural, the DAY OF SALVATION: and THE
LAST DAY, the last two days mentioned being singular. Now what accounts for the
difference? Firstly, in the previous article, we have been able to establish the
fact that `1N THE LAST DAYS' speaks of the period wherein the Gospel of the
Kingdom was preached side by side with Judaism until its eventual fall in AD 70.
That was the period of the days of the Son of Man, about 40 years, like it was
in the days of Noah (120 years). One thing I will want you to observe is that
the days we are dealing with is not one single 24 hours human Calendar day
rather, it is an era, season or period when certain plans and purposes of God
are to be carried out. That is why we could talk of "the day that the Lord
God made the earth and the heavens" Gen.2:4. This becomes plain as we
compare the words of the writer of the book of Hebrews "Wherefore, as the
Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye hear His voice, Harden not your heart, as in the
provocation, IN THE DAY of temptation in the wilderness. When-your fathers
tempted me, proved me and saw my works forty years". Wherefore I was
grieved with that generation..." Heb.3:7-10. Now think of it: the entire
forty years of wandering of the Israelites in the wilderness was a day in the
language of God. Can you see it? And this is what we mean.
SO
WHAT DO WE MEAN THEN "THE DAY OF SALVATION"
Again I quote "Here we are then, speaking for Christ, as though God
Himself were making His appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf. Let God
change you from enemies into His friends Christ was without sin, but for our
sake God made Him share our sin in order that in union with Him we might share
the righteousness of God. In our work together with God then, we beg you who
have received God's grace not to let it be wasted. Hear what God says:
"When the time came for me to show you favour, I heard you when the day
arrived for me to save you I helped you. Listen! This is the hour to receive
God's favour todav is the day to be saved!" 2Cor.5:20-21: 6:1-2 GNV. Lets
get the picture right. Firstly the above quoted passage is dealing with the
Ministry of Reconciliation, that we who were enemies of God in our minds through
the darkness that was in there (Eph.4:18, Rom.5:10) through sin and so enslaved
to King sin and death (Rom.5:21) be brought back to God again. Again realize
that 2Cor.6:2 is quoted from Isa.49:8 which was speaking of
Israel
's
final destiny as God restores them from the realm of captivity to other nations.
So we can say that this DAY OF SALVATION is THE DAY OF RECONCILIATION. While
this is not the place to deal with the subject of salvation, the word salvation
in both the Greek. and the Hebrew means, to rescue or safety, deliver, health,
salvation, save, saving. Something saved, deliverance, hence aid, victory,
prosperity, help and welfare. So the day of salvation is concerned with the
above processes involving three parties: the one rendering the help (God in
Christ), the one to be helped or rescued (Sons of men), and the one holding them
in bondage (King sin and death). For salvation to be effected, there is a
process involved called Redemption or to ransom. As the work of redemption is
carried out, one is said to being saved or is receiving salvation. The word
Redeemed `Lystroo' (to ransom) or `Agorazo' means `to go to market', `to
purchase' `specially to redeem' `buy' `redeem'. Now redemption cannot be
accomplished without a price. For you cannot go to the market to buy an article
without paying a price in return. Meaning that man was sold into slavery through
sin in Adam. Now the redemption or releasing can be from slavery (Lev.19:20;
Duet.7:8) or from other distressing, depressing or oppressive conditions
(2Sam.4:9; Ps.55:18) or from death and the grave (Job.33:28 Ps.49:15).
Often we find in the
scriptures how God redeemed the nation of
Israel
to Himself as a `personal property' from
Egypt
(Dt.9:26: Ps.78:42) and from Assyrian and Babylonian captivities many centuries
later. (Isa.35:10: 51:11; Jer.31:11-12. Zech.10:8-10). Please notice that all
these redemption were with a price. For Egypt, all the first born of the
Egyptians up to that of Pharaoh died in place of Israel as a nation being the
`first born' of God (Exo.4:21-23: 11:4-8, Jer.2:3). In the same vein we read
"... I am the Lord your God, your Savior the Holy one of Israel. I gave
Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba (to Cyrus) in exchange for your freedom, as your
ransom. Others died that you might live, I traded their lives for yours, because
you are precious to me and honored and I love you" Isa.43:1-4TLB.
Confirming the Scriptures that "the wicked shall be a ransom for the
righteous and the transgressor for the upright" Prov.21:18.
So you see, when we are talking of redemption, we are not just talking of
an ordinary purchasing or releasing but a redeeming or ransoming, deliverance
effected by payment of corresponding price. So what ought to be the
corresponding price of man in sin - bondage? The price of man's life should be
his blood. For the life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev.17:10-17) and so
animal (Heb.9:8-14, 10:2) or even human blood sacrifice on behalf of man cannot
bring man back to the realm of perfection as intended by God: for they were all
not only corrupt but less than the perfect life of God. For man in his glorious
state is the image and glory of God, (Gen.1:26-27 - 1Cor.11:7) but this was.
brought into the realm of corruption through Adam. Therefore the equivalent of
the glorious life of man has to be shed to be able to compensate for that life
of man. This then is the mystery of Christ taking on the human flesh
(Heb.2:9,14) that He might taste death for every man - the sons of Adam. So in
the words of Paul by the Spirit to the Church in Ephesus, he said "Take
heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with
His own blood" (Acts 20:28). And "...know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you ... ye are not your own? For ye are
bought with a price (the blood of Jesus) therefore glorify God in your body, and
in your spirit, which are God's" 1Cor.6:19-20. So when we talk of `Today is
the day of salvation' we are talking of the time God allows for the preaching of
the gospel (Acts
3:17
-21)
and the subsequent conversion of the Jews (Rm.11:5) and Gentiles (Rm.11:25,
Eph.2:12). You may ask but HOW LONG WILL THIS DAY BE? Firstly, my answer to you
is as long as you have your life. "If you pray to a Father who judges men
by their actions without the slightest favouritism, then you should spend the
time of your stay here on earth with reverent fear. For you must realize all the
time that you have been "ransomed" from the futile way of living
passed onto you by your father's traditions, not with some money payment of
transient value, but by the costly shedding of blood. The price was in fact the
lifeblood of Christ..." 1Pet.1:17-18 Philips. In the words of Paul
"since we know that today is the day of salvation ... We try to live in
such a way that no one will ever be offended or kept back from finding the Lord
by the way we act, so that no one can find fault with us and blame it on the
Lord. In fact, in everything we do, we try to show that we are true Ministers of
God. We Patiently endure suffering and hardship and trouble of every kind"
2Cor.6:1-4 TLB.
Looking at the above critically, one can conclude that "the day of
salvation' is the period in which the work of redemption is being carried out in
Christ until "...God shall be wholly and absolutely God"
(1Cor.15:26-28 Philips) or until ".. God may be everything to every
one" RSV. No more rebellion. "And since by His blood, He did all this
for us as sinners, since we who were His enemies ...were brought back to God by
the death of His Son. ...now that we are His friends, ...He is living within us!
Now we rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God - all because of what
our Lord Jesus Christ has done in dying for our sins - making us friends of
God" (Rom.5:9-11 TLB). - In this day of salvation.
To
be continued.
OGAGA O. DAVID
