Instructions

I saw it happening again the other day – someone declaring on Facebook that the Bible is a Book about law and order and if we do not follow, if you do not obey…you can fill in the blanks.

Yes, I did reply and I did change the wording on their statement and they “like” it.

It is important to observe that our instructions, that we receive from God, are addressed expressly to those of us who feel the need and made the decision to follow God on our own account.

We can not come to this place of worship because our parents were Christians or because we always attended church.  It’s not like in Egypt where your birth certificate indicates whether you are “C” for Christian – because you cannot be a Christian until you make the decision to follow Christ yourself.  It is not something that you are born into.  As a side note, the Muslim world doesn’t get this because Islam is so tied into their politics.  When you are sharing your faith with someone who has an Islamic faith, share this point with them – its worth the clarification.

Back to my point, the act of following Christ or the decision of following Christ is a voluntary act of us, the worshipper.  This is where the how, why, when, where, what part of the method of doing it was in every point defined by the law and grace – the instructions.

So the presenting of ourselves is in fact a symbol of the free will submitting ourself to obtaining instruction from the law and grace of the Lord.  Instructions are extremely necessary, practical and valuable for Christian life and worship.

May I go so far to say that the idea of instructions, is to follow them, and that the voluntary decision to follow them is a “covering” for us, a protection over us.  Similar to the ark of Noah “covered” with a “covering” (pitch). The slab of gold on the Ark of the Covenant is not a “mercy seat” but a cover, a symbol of the firmament over the earth. The Day of Atonement is the Day of Covering, when the Ark-cover is covered with blood and the High Priest receives his clothing back again. “Make atonement” means “cover.” All of these covers relate to the firmament-cover over the world, the clothing put on Adam and Eve after they sinned, and the clothing of the High Priest, to mention but a few. Such coverings before God obviously relate to propitiation, cleansing, atonement, and the like, but the fundamental idea is that of covering, of being rightly clothed before God. The Christian, understanding that we must be hidden in Christ, clothed by Him, before we dare to approach God, will have no trouble grasping the deep significance of such coverings that come about through instructions.

On a lighter note, and to show you what following instructions can look like – check this out – http://youtu.be/Dq-BLpKwL0c

 

 

 

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