To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date sent: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 18:25:58 -0500
Subject: HF042 - The Needlework of God
Hebraics,
This is Bible Study HF042 - The Needlework of God.
There are mysteries to the Christian life that can only be
understood with the heart. This is what David meant, when he said,
"Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well." And
this is likely what Paul had in mind, when he said, "Work out your
salvation with fear & trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, both
to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Psalm 139:14; Philippians
2:12 respectively.)
If you put Paul and David together, you hear some of the mysteries
of the faith walk. First: God has a plan for each believer that was
ordained from the foundation of the world. This plan takes in our
final destination and placement in God's eternal kingdom. Second:
The Holy Spirit is always in the background of our life to see that
God's plan is being fulfilled. We are being 'led' even when we aren't
conscious of it. Third: The free will that God gave us is made part of
God's plan. Our will works within perimeters of God's purpose for us.
I need to point out upfront, that this study will call for more
questions that it provides answers. But that makes for good
dialogue. As a beginning place, let's listen to David. The sweet
Psalmist of Israel said:
"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your
presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in
sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I
dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me,
and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness
will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night.' Even the
darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You
wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very
well." (Psalm 139:7-14)
The Scriptures teach that our purpose and calling in life was
recorded in God's book before we were ever born. The statement
most often used for this predetermined plan of God is, "From the
foundation of the world." That statement is used ten times in the
new covenant writings. The reason it is so predominate in the New
Testament is because much of God's redemptive work was hidden
from the eyes of past generations. But now they are revealed in
Christ.
The apostle says in one place, "Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may
know the things freely given to us by God." (1 Corinthians 2:12)
In another place Paul says, "For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so
that we would walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) David says much
the same; "And in Your book were written the days that were
ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." (Psalm
139:16)
To say we can understand this with our minds is an overstatement.
But it is something we can take to heart. Just about every believer
that I have ever talked with has shared the same testimony
concerning their childhood. The testimony is that when they did
come to the Lord, it was as though they knew Him from childhood.
Why is this? It is because God knew them before they were born.
This fact means the Lord was present in their live even before the
salvation experience took place.
The Lord said of Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew
you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed
you a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5) The word for "knew"
is 'yada' in Hebrew. It carries the idea of experiencing a person, or to
be acquainted with someone. God was saying that He knew and experienced
Jeremiah before Jeremiah existed. And so, even as a child Jeremiah was
conscious of God in His life. We are much the same.
But we can carry this a little further. Two of the several signs that a
person truly belongs to the Lord is, first, their love for Jesus Christ.
But secondly it is this innate feeling of the heart that we are really not
of this world. The apostle explains it this way; "But may it never be that
I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14)
The NLT says it this way, "Because of that cross, my interest in
this world died long ago, and the world's interest in me is long
dead." It is this 'other worldliness' that serves to remind the believer
of his or her divine destiny. Jesus Himself told the disciples, "If you
were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not
of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world
hates you." (John 15:19)
The foundation for a strong faith walk is to understand that God has a
plan for your life. And this is why it is so important to live a yielded
life to the Lord. But there is another plus. No believer has to go around
seeking out God's plan. The Holy Spirit works God's plan. The Lord Himself
makes all the arrangements beforehand to see that we are able to flow in
God's plan for us.
The idea of God working His plan in us is very Hebraic. While the
Greek world's thinking was in circular reasoning, that is, everything
revolves in a circle, the Hebrews thought otherwise. The ancients believed
that life was a straight line. It had a beginning and an ending, and most
of all, life had a purpose and a goal. The ancients taught that all God's
people share in a divine destiny, and that we are foreigners in this
world. This kind of thinking carries throughout our entire Bible.
In Hebrews it says, "All these (Old Testament believers) died in
faith ... having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on
the earth. ... But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a
heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He
has prepared a city for them." (Cf. Hebrews 11:13-16)
And so we come to circumstances and situations in life. How did
we come to be where we are at this moment? Did not God ordain
our pathway to bring about certain desired results. Even when
Satan tempts us to take things in our own hands, the Lord ordains
circumstances to divert us. But he can also take the most
adverse situation and cause it to work together for our good.
In our congregation we have an elderly lady that we call Sister
Oma. (Oma is German for grandmother.) Oma was in the Nazi
labor camps twice. She managed to escape on one occasion by
using a Red Cross uniform. But after the War, Oma decided there
could be no God. She became atheist, and raised her children to
be atheist. In the meantime one of her daughters marries an
American G.I.
And so Oma moved with her daughter and son-in-law to the States.
Looking back, Sister Oma can now recognize there was an
Unseen Hand guiding her to her proper path. In all this it seems the Lord
was not pleased with her being an atheist. It was my good pleasure to
baptize her, and her daughter, and her grandchildren. They are all
faithful believers. Oma is such a joy. And her grandson married my
daughter.
So we come back to the needlework of God. The Lord does His
greatest work in the hearts of His children. And everything that
happens in the life of a believer has a purpose in preparing us for
that which is to come. But now to the crucial question. What is
God's purpose for my life? The answer is that you don't really need
to know everything ahead of time.
God's purpose is that you come to Jesus with a full heart of faith
and rest your faith with Him forever. When you do that you are on
the journey of God's purpose for you. Jesus Himself is the author
and the finisher of your faith. But there is a key. You don't have to
worry about finding God's will in your life. You are His will. And God
works His own will in your life.
One of the most beautiful Scriptures that explains this is found in
the closing of the book of Hebrews. It says, "Now the God of
peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the
sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our
Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us
that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom
be the
glory forever and ever. Amen." (Hebrews 13:20,21)
David gives us more to think about. He said, "You have searched
me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and
my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold O Lord, You
know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your
hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too
high, I cannot attain to it." (Psalm 139:1-6)
There is much to be said on the issue of God's needlework. Feel
free to share your thoughts.
Shalom in Christ,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.ChristianChallenge.org
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace
of God; that no root of bitterness springing up
causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)