The Gift pt 3 The Gift Procurer

13-02-2022

A Son Given

Isaiah 9:6 

⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

We have looked at and have witnessed the scriptures speaking to us relative to that which is identified in this short series as The Gift.

• We have seen God as the Gift Bearer, giving salvation to all who have believed on the name of Jesus Christ, the name of his son, for the salvation of their souls. None can come to the son lest the father draw him and whosever comes to the Son he will in no wise cast out. (Jn 6:37)

We have seen that God is not an Indian giver, he will not give salvation only to take it away.

• Last week we have seen that the gift God has given, is the Gift of the Holy Spirit. A wonderful joy and blessing, all who have the Spirit belong to the Lord, “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom 8:9)

We considered the Spirit of God next in this series because we have seen him as the Gift of God given to SEAL the recipient, the down payment, the “ernest of our inheritance until the redemption of that purchased possession”, which is you and I who have believed (Eph 1:14). 

It is in these messages that we came also to see that false teachers had come into the Church to take away our liberty in the Gospel, to take away our joy and lead us astray. We identified the mega cult, the only cult in existence that encapsulates them all, the cult of works.

Far too many Christians today, people who I believe are truly born again, also hold ultimately to a form of works to save them. But a Gift is not a gift if it is to work for, neither is it a gift if works retain it.

Now, this gift, this grace does not mean that the Christian sins with abandon, the Bible makes that absolutely clear; 

Romans 6:15–16 

15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 

There is provision respecting sin in the Christian, but those who sin with abandon do not belong to the Lord no matter how much they profess him. They are the servants of who they obey.    BUT THAT THE LAW CANNOT JUSTIFY A MAN IS EVIDENT.          Paul wrote; “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ… for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Gal 2:16)

In the next chapter Paul wrote; 

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.Galatians 3:10

In the very next verse he writes;

11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 

He Logically sumarises that “… if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (Gal 2:21)

Paul referred to the Galatians as “Foolish” and “bewitched” in Galatians 3:1. He culminates the argument in Galatians 5, where he states “For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. Gal 5:3-4

In the sister book to Galatians, Paul writes to the Hebrew Christians, who ALSO were returning to the works of the law to save them saying;

Hebrews 7:18–19 

¹⁸ For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. ¹⁹ For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. 

Christians have no excuse to think that the law could ever save them when so much is written specifically to deal with this question. 

Acts 15 is virtually ALL about this question, it was the very first multi-church gathering, all to discuss “certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved” Acts 15:1

Salvation is a gift of God through his grace; 

⁶ And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. 

Romans 11:6a 

And what was given was the precious blood of Christ.

Isaiah 9:6 

⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: …

A most wonderful portion of Holy writ, spoken of by Isaiah over seven hundred years before the coming of the Just One. 

Look to see him speak to it, as we read in Luke, so we read in Isaiah. Turn to;

Isaiah 7:10–14 

¹⁰ Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, ¹¹ Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. ¹² But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. ¹³ And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

This is the “Child born” and this is the “Son Given”.

There is testimony of him all through the Bible. 

They knew of him from days of old, they knew he’d come for they were told.

Turn back in your Bibles to a curious portion of the book of Proverbs;

Proverbs 30:4–6 

⁴ Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell? ⁵ Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. ⁶ Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

They knew a Son would come, they knew a Child would be born and that a son would be  given. 

In Daniel 3,

Even a pagan King identified him, even he could see past his anger, past his fury of those who would not bow their hearts to the Kings commands, he cast three into a fire burning seven times the heat required to destroy flesh and life, then he looks in, then he questions 

Daniel 3:23-25

 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. ²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

²⁵ He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

This is the ONLY place in the Old Testament where the Phrase “The Son of God” (S) is written, the Only place, and how fitting to see those trusting in the Lord, SAVED from the flames by the Son of God.

• So the prophets of old wrote of the Son of God, 
• The Pagan King had seen him,

 and when he came into the world Satan himself identified him with doubtful arguments but could not prevail.

Matthew 4:1–7 

¹ Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. ² And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. ³ And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. ⁴ But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. ⁵ Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. ⁷ Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Jesus confirming himself to be the Son of God, the Devil now also knows.

Now we come to the Crucifixion. 

The Devil now satisfied with the identity of the Son of God, the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born^[1], and so we see the Son nailed to the tree just, as we saw the serpent raised up in the wilderness^[2], so too we the Son of man now lifted up, and now the Pharisees also respond to his own claim to be the Son of God;

Matthew 27:43 

⁴³ He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 

The scene remains at the foot of the cross, the disciples are there, the mother is there, so too all who trusted him to be the Son of God, all witness here the Son is Given. The Gift is near being purchased for mankind, the gift is near to be procured.

Darkness covered the earth for three hours at this time, nothing so seen before. 

No eclipse had ever lasted so long, but light was taken from the earth, and at the ninth hour Jesus the son cried out to the father, “my God, my God why hast thou forsaken me”, but the Son must needs be given! He knew the Cup he would drink, though he prayed three times that another way might be found, nevertheless he was faithful, even to the death of the Cross.

The people watched and waited, as if they were looking for a savior for the Saviour. Jesus cried again and yielded up the Ghost.

• The heavy temple veil torn in two
• The earthquake shook the ground and rent the rocks.
• Graves opened and the old saints walked and witnessed of Christ

All this as the Given Son lingered on the Cross, his blood running down over and through the broken rocks.  

Matthew 27:54 

⁵⁴ Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. 

How many more witnesses do we need to show this was the Son of God?

HE BORE OUR SINS, JESUS IS THE SIN BEARER, JESUS WAS THAT SPOTLESS LAMB OF GOD that for centuries, year after year, decade after decade, century after century since the time of Moses, …, we could possibly even justify going back to the time of Adam…

only the spotless lamb could be slain as the just sacrifice required to procure the Gift of Salvation for sinners like you and I.

The prophets of Old proclaimed him.

The pagan king of kings witnessed him.

Satan failed to deny him

The pharisees recalling the claim of him

The romans confessing him.

BUT What say you?

What think ye of Christ….who’s son is he? (Matt 22:42)

A Reconciliation Offered

Do you remember what it feels like to be reconciled to a friend or a relative who did you wrong? Someone had to be sorry for their sin, no relationship can ever be broken without sin. God is the author of relationships, only sin can sever them. 

But reconciliation is ALWAYS possible when love and repentance meet.

Your relationship can be restored, RECONCILED, you are now free to enjoy each other’s company again.

Our sin cast an eternal separation between us and God…but a Son was Given to restore it. To Reconcile us to him again.

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 

¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. ¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

The passage begins with a tense, a past tense. All who are in Christ are now a “new creature”, a ‘new creation’, transformed. “old things are passed away; behold all things become new”.

This is to those who have received the gift, not to any other. 

It is the gift of reconciliation, a gift that has reconciled, repaired the broken relationship between us and God and you have believed it and in believing in Christ you now have life through his name.

And now we see that this same reconciliation has become in Paul a “ministry” a commitment of the “word of reconciliation”, and as such he has been sent into the world, we have been sent into the world to be ambassadors for Christ… you remember him? Christ? The Son Given?

The Church is the assembly of all who have believed the Gospel, all who have received the Son given.

These are they who now are seated in heavenly places, these are they who are sealed with that holy spirit of Promise. But not all who sit in the seats hearing the word of reconciliation have yet received the Son Given. 

He pleads in this passage, “we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God, ²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The Son was given to bear our sins in his flesh and so procure the Gift the Holy Spirit seals! Christ our sin bearer.

Isaiah 53:4–6 

⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

There are nineteen words in 1 John 5:12, perhaps these words say it more simply. 

There are times when long words like “reconciliation” are too difficult, but 1 John 5:12 gives the Gospel in only nineteen single syllable words, perhaps this is easier, perhaps these words might make it clearer, perhaps these words might give you life.

1 John 5:12 

¹² He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

There, right there is the Gospel in a nutshell.

There is a wonderful simplicity to the Gospel. God so loving the world that “he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life”. It’s simple!

Its actually never been complicated.

Salvation is a gift. The Son is given.

The Son Procures the Gift, the holy Spirit seals the Gift, the Father gives the gift.

As if doubling down on the simplicity of the verse we just read, John affirms its purpose in the next verse;   

1 John 5:13 

¹³ These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 

Do you know it….yet?

Tell me, how do you respond to such a gift?

How else but joyfully!

A Joy Received

Something happens when you receive the Son that is given, something incredible; at least is should be.

Zechariah 9:9 

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

This was who the people of Israel were looking forward to. This was their hope, this was their rejoicing, this was their Joy. O that they might have believed God, that they with us might rejoice in this wonderful salvation. That they might see Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith.

Zechariah 2:10 

¹⁰ Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. 

Notice the admonition to “Rejoice”, notice why; for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee This is Christ The LORD, this is the one Zechariah writes about in chapter 9, this is he who procures the Gift for all who will believe. 

Move forward five centuries

The day came when he would come, the One who would procure the gift, and all who know it rejoiced at the nearness of his coming. 

Elizabeth, aged in years and yet joyful that her son would be the prophet of the highest “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Lk 1:17).

And then came Mary to see her, and the joy overwhelmed them all

Luke 1:43–46 

Elizabeth says

⁴³ And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 

⁴⁶ And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, ⁴⁷ And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Now that is the response for all people. Mary rejoiced in her Saviour, (she knew herself in need of the Saviour), she rejoiced and how much the more when she would bare within her the Saviour of the world. 

What a privilege, and why should not all the world call her blessed?

But this joy would not be limited to the “inner circle”.  We discovered the truth of that with the record on the day of his birth, by the words of an angel;

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. (Lk 2:10)

When his time was near to departing, Jesus spoke to his disciples saying;

John 16:22 

²² And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

Incredible isn’t it, they had seen the risen Saviour, and they rejoiced. We have not seen him and yet we also rejoice. Jesus said to Thomas that the latter would be more blessed than the former.

We received the Gift of God with joy, having not seen him, and we have received it freely. 

An interesting consideration; Joy is never the response of those who work for wages, their pay is expected of them, for it is earnt, not so with a gift, only those who freely receive the Gift of God rejoice in it, but not so for those who feel they need to work for it.

Notice also the hint of how it is everlasting, “and your joy no man taketh from you”.

In the book of Acts chapter 8, we see the Ethiopian Eunuch hearing the gospel of Christ preached to him by Phillip from that wonderful passage in Isaiah.

He hears the word with all readiness of mind and knew in his heart the gospel was true, He was amazed at the clarity of it, for he had been seeking after God.

In verse 36 he asks respecting the hinderance of Baptism, and seeing that he believed the Gospel through his response in verse 37, Phillip baptizes him in verse 38, and now

Acts 8:39

³⁹ And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. 

“and your joy no man taketh from you”.

No, not when you receive the gift, nor when they try to take your joy from you;

In Acts chapter 5, The disciples of the Lord were found preaching him and were turned into the priests, thrown into prison, released by an angel, preached again the following morning, then taken again by the officers and brought before the council of priests, were rebuked by them, then they gave their defence, where threatened with death, then finally beaten and charged by the rulers of the people not to speak any more in the name of Jesus and let go, now this is how they felt on the matter;

Acts 5:41–42 

⁴¹ And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. ⁴² And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. 

“and your joy no man taketh from you”.

What joy is it that no man can take away from you?

Do you experience this joy? Is this a daily blessing for you? If not, why not?

‘The Son Given’ has procured the gift, there is no more for you to do but rejoice in it and live by it. Yes, there are seasons in our life that we might be in heaviness, but this should not take away our joy, for even those trials of faith are there for a reason;

Turn to;

1 Peter 1:6–8 

⁶ Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: ⁷ That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: ⁸ Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 

A Life Transformed

The Title of the camp from which this series is inspired, was A Transformed Life. It speaks to the changes of the life that now rejoices in the Gift of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Many testified to what it was that took them from darkness to light, and so we find evidence in the Bible for this transformation.

Ephesians 2:1–3 

¹ And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; ² Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: ³ Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

But no more!

This is speaking of the past tense of our lives, and many remember what our life was like. Those who turned to Christ in childhood should be the only ones that have limited recollections, those of us who turned to the Lord in later years should recall it as yesterday, confirming the testimony of these pages.

Paul wrote again

Ephesians 5:8 

⁸ For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Peter wrote saying; 

1 Peter 4:4-5

⁴ Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil ofyou: ⁵ Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. 

The transformation of our lives stem from The Gift.

Beloved, you have ETERNAL LIFE!

Think of it!

You have eternal life, and that life began the moment you believed the Gospel of Christ. The moment that happened, you went from death to life. Why? Because now you have the Son Given!

1 John 5:12 

¹² He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

The Gift of God, the Gift bearer, is that which he gives to all who believe the Gospel, Salvation.

The Gift of God, the Gift Sealer, is the Holy Spirit who secures our Salvation.

The Gift of God, The Gift procurer, is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now you know if you have received the Gift, the only question left to you is “how shall we then live till he comes”

Maranatha.

^[1] Rev 12:4

^[2] Jn 3:14