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PREPARING AND PREPARED (Part 2 of 4) A WAY PREPARED (Amplified--unless otherwise specified) Like John the Baptist, we are called to be way preparers. Of John's life and mission, the loosened tongue of Zacharias, his father, prophesied: "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people" {Luke 1:76-77 KJV}. Following his wilderness training, John "... went into all the country round about ... preaching a baptism of repentance (... of hearty amending of ... ways)" {Luke 3:3}, "... The voice of one crying ... Prepare the way of the Lord; make His beaten paths straight" {Luke 3:4}. Of himself, the Baptist testified, "... I am not the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah; but I have (only) been sent before Him -- in advance of Him, as His appointed forerunner, His messenger, His announcer" {John 3:28}. As John the Baptist was sent to proclaim and prepare the way back to God, so Jesus was sent to provide that way. Through His substitutionary death at the cross, He became the way whereby man might be reconciled unto God. "Jesus said ... I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me" {John 14:6}. "... Christ said, as he came into the world, 'O God, the blood of bulls and goats cannot satisfy you, so you have made ready this body of mine for me to lay as a sacrifice upon your altar'" {Heb. 10:5 TLB}. By this sacrifice of Himself, He prepared the way, giving us "... full freedom and confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies ... By this fresh (new) and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain [veil of the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh" {Heb. 10:19-20}. At Calvary, when Jesus "... gave up His Spirit ... at once the curtain of the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom..." {Matt. 27:50-51}. How layered in meaning the words "... a body hast thou prepared me" {Heb. 10:5 KJV}. Prepared by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. upon a virgin's womb, the Lamb of God "... that was slain [in sacrifice] from the foundation of the world" {Rev. 13:8} entered the world that He might become the repairer of the breach between God and man. Told by the angel Gabriel that she was to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary yielded her will, and therefore, her own body, to the purposes of God: "Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to what you have said" {Luke 1:38}. Today, the Father still calls for those who will yield their wills, and, therefore, their bodies, to His Will and Purposes: "... to make a decisive dedication of your bodies ... as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God..." {Rom. 12:1}. Having come to us, the Son of God now desires to live through the Church, His Body, that others may behold the glory He has prepared to pour through all who will offer themselves as vessels of His Life. As proclaimers of God's Word and preparers of His Way, we choose daily to what degree we will allow the Life of the Son to be birthed through us. Still searching for those who will help prepare the way for His Soon Return, the Lord continues to ask, "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" {Is. 6:8}. Though partially fulfilled through John the Baptist, Malachi's prophecy awaits a final culmination: "BEHOLD, I send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, the Messiah, Whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple: the Messenger or Angel of the covenant Whom you desire, behold, He shall come, says the Lord of hosts" {Malachi 3:1}. To all who will hear, the call goes out: "Prepare ... the way of the Lord -- clear away the obstacles -- make straight and smooth ... a highway for our God!" {Is. 40:3}
- Ruth French
February 1996 Newsletter | Battle for the Mind | The Harvest Pastor's Journal February 1995 | The Debts People Owe | Preparing and Prepared part 2 of 4 Revised: June 25, 2008. |
Biblical Counseling for Leaders
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