30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 20 9-18 THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE 10 Luke 20 13-14 The church has a far greater reason to deliver results
📖 Luke 20:9-18
26Feb2021 - *The church has a far greater reason to deliver results* - _Luke 20:9-18_ - THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE 10_ - Bible reading: _Ephesians 1:20-23_
_Luke 20:13-14 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.' (14) But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'_
We have been considering the extent of consequences that our sin and rebellion against God, has caused.
Firstly, sin caused us to die. _Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—_
This death that happened to us is the total death of man. We have been alienated from God, who is the source of life, we have been alienated within ourselves, we are alienated from one another and we are also alienated from the environment. Man, surely died. It is from this death that we need to be brought back to life, which Jesus did for us on the cross.
The second consequence of our sin is that we are now the arbitrators of good and evil. Satan deceived man into vacating God from the throne of his heart, saying, “he would become like God, knowing good and evil”. _Genesis 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."_
We are now deciding what is good and evil but each of us has his own standards of measurement of good and evil. We are therefore in a state of conflict and chaos.
The third consequence of our sin is what we have been considering since yesterday.
We were the ones, legally sanctioned by God, to govern and rule over God’s vineyard, but when we sinned, we became victims and vassals of the devil, to do his will.
We also handed over our legal status or creation rights to the devil. The devil was so confidant of his deceptively acquired position that he had the arrogance to tell the Owner that he had all the authority to do as he pleases and the Owner must bow before him in worship to regain His ownership over the vineyard.
Friends, I trust you are you able to see the extent of our sin and its ramifications? This is the BAD NEWS and this is the reason for the GOOD NEWS.
Nevertheless, on the cross, this entire predicament was turned around. The Lord defeated satan on the cross and took back the rule and authority that was given to man.
_Colossians 2:14-15 having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross. (15) And when he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross. (ISV)_
Jesus took the charges and their obligations that was against us, on Himself. He took them all away by nailing them to the cross. Having dealt with our charges and their obligations, Jesus has reinstated us back to have authority over all of His creation.
_Ephesians 3:9-11 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; (10) *to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places*, (11) according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,_
God’s eternal plan was worked out by Christ on the cross. Having paid and settling in full, the charges of our sin and its obligations, the Lord has now made it possible for us, the church (those who have received by faith what Jesus has done for us on the cross) to be the revelation of the manifold wisdom of God to the powers of darkness, who have been vanquished by Jesus on the cross.
_Ephesians 1:20-23 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, (21) far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (22) And He put all things under His feet, and *gave Him to be head over all things to the church, (23) which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all*._
The church is the fullness of Christ, revealing and demonstrating the work of Christ. Contemplate the way God turned around a lost cause into a winning one, through Christ. We are now reinstated, with full rights and privileges, to execute the task of the vine-growers.
Israel failed as the first vine-growers, but the church, which has understood all that happened with Israel, and which has been reinstated by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross, to be God’s restored vine-growers, can she go the way of Israel?
God is gracious toward us, the church. We have, to a large extent, limited our understanding of the grace of God, to our personal salvation from our life of sin, but we are not considering that by the grace as God, God is giving us more time to deliver His expectations of us as His restored vine growers.
*Thought to ponder*
```Judgement will be more severe on the church.```