Quotes:
"We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God." - St. Francis De Sales
"Only God can fully satisfy the hungry heart of man." - Hugh Black
“God doesn't owe us anything - yet in His grace, He still gives us good things.” - Billy Graham
“Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life; and without the Way there is no going; and without the Truth there is no knowing; and without the Life there is no living." –Sam Fulkerson quoting Thomas Kempis
"To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; to seek him, the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement." - Raphael Simon
"To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love." - Thomas A Kempis
Hebrews 10:1; Galatians 3:24-25
God, in His great wisdom gave Old Covenant as a shadow of the New Covenant.
Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”
Shadows – Types – Antitypes – Figures - Schoolmaster.
I think we all understand how “shadows” work… First the thing that the cast the shadow, then the shadow that is cast.
For example: a physical tree would cast a shadow, and therefore the shadow would be a vague reference to the tree that cast it.
So then the “shadow” in our text is identified as the Old Testament Covenant (Law); meaning that it is a vague reference of something much greater.
Hebrews 7:19 “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.”
Hebrews 8:6 “...He [Jesus] is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”
Let’s look at some examples of types and antitypes:
(An antitype would be the answer or that is to say, the counterpart of the type.)
1Peter 3:20-21 “Who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 ΒΆ The like figure [antitype in NKJV] whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”
So the type is: souls being saved by water.
The antitype is: souls being saved by baptism.
Romans 5:14 “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure [type in NKJV] of him that was to come.”
In our text the shadow (LAW) was displayed first then the real covenant (GRACE) second.
The same thing happens here in Romans 5:14: The first Adam was a figure/type of the last Adam (Christ).
I Corinthians 15:46 “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.”
We know that they who were under the Law (served that which was a copy and a shadow of the) real and the true which we call the New. (see Hebrews 8:5).
Jeremiah writes about this new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-33 “31- Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32- Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33- But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
This is a FAITH covenant, rooted and grounded with Abraham.
That is why the Bible says in Romans 4:16:
“…it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,”
The Old Law Passed away:
Hebrews 8:13 “…A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
Therefore “Mercy Rejoiceth Against Judgment” –James 2:13.
Right off-off-the-bat in the Word of God we are told that human beings are created in God’s own image!
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
The Hebrew word for image is “tselem”[sail-in] which is derived from a the Hebrew word, “tzel” [sail], meaning “shadow.”
God created man as an image/shadow of Himself.
Also consider that the Hebrew name “Bezaleel”(bets-al-ale) literally, means “in the shadow of God”.
That is pretty cool if you remember who he was; He was man appointed by God to craft the Tabernacle and its furnishings in Exodus chapter 31.
So all of that was to get to a place where I could say this:
*We are shadow puppets and God is the puppet master.
(Tell about the shadows puppeteer.)
God made us – therefore – He knows what’s best for us.
That is why He gave us His Word.
His Word saves us.
How do we know this?
“For the Bible tells us so.”
John 1:1, 14 “1- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14- And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Release the reins of your life and let Jesus direct your paths.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
II Corinthians 13:4 “For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.”
Allow God to orchestrate the affairs of your life and be blessed, mightily blessed!
Note that God is not a puppet-master in the sense that pulls all your strings 24/7/365;
Rather-
Think of it as Him being the master harpist who will, as you allow, pluck and play your soul-strings, resulting in a beautiful melody of life.
Just as David’s harp drove away the evil from Saul’s heart, so the melodious melody of righteousness will drive all the darkness far from yours.
Let God be the MASTER of your Life!
And remember/never forget:
“Through the clouds of midnight, this bright promise shone: 'I will never leave thee, never leave thee alone.'" - Anonymous
