INTRODUCTION: We are living in days of great expectation.
Even the very air seems to be holding
its breath as all creation anticipates an imminent outpouring of God to
set us free
from our captivity. Indeed, in this day, we are much like the children of
Israel
who had been sent into
Babylonian captivity for seventy years and, like Daniel, we have been
searching for
God's way out of our imprisonment to a flesh nature. It was in response to
Daniel's
persistent beseeching that the angel Gabriel appeared to give God's directive
concerning
Israel's release from its bondage. Even today, these thousands of years later,
we can
find in this reply to Daniel an application for us as well.
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to
finish
the transgression and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for
iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and
prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." (Daniel 9:24)
We notice it says, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy
holy city to finish the transgression." That is an important reality for us
to understand. Ever since Jesus Christ, transgression is finished, and sin
is no
longer the issue. Moreover, the conduct of men's ways is not the issue.
The verse goes on to say, "...to make an end of sins, and to make
reconciliation for
iniquity, and to bring everlasting righteousness..." In other words, Jesus
Christ's
death, burial, and resurrection was a turning point to the whole span of time.
He is
the end of an old world and the beginning of a new one. He is the third heaven
and
the third earth. He is the beginning of a new world and a brand new race of
people.
It happened just as it was prophesied; there came a spiritual One unlike anyone
who
had ever walked upon the face of the earth. He came in insignificance and in
obscurity,
and He taught things no man had ever taught before.
Then He went away; but He sent
the Holy Spirit to bring us remembrance of all things and to lead us into all
truth.
The scriptures clearly indicate the coming of another man. This coming of
another man
has been made to seem like it is only going to be wrapped up in Jesus. The
coming of
this other man has been called the second coming of Christ, the return of the
Lord,
and so on, but the scriptures show us that the reason he went away and sent
the
Comforter was that, through joining with the Lord, we could become a part of
the
appearing of that man.
* To order your copy of "Anoint the Most Holy"
by Peter Demetris simply E-mail:
pastorpeterd@comcast.net
return
