Weekly Pursuit – Week 5 of August
Verse:
Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to announce the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away in release those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of jubilee.”
Heb. 12:16 “Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one meal gave up his own birthright.”
Excerpts:
What happened to us in our fallen life? We lost our birthright, sold ourselves into captivity, and became slaves. We lost everything, including our birthright and our status…. A person who has not lost anything would not look forward to the year of jubilee. In fact, to such a one, the jubilee might be a suffering. But the one who has lost everything, including his land and himself, would surely look forward to the year of jubilee. When the year of jubilee came, he would rejoice at being released and recovering the right to his portion of the land. (Life-study of Luke, msg. 12)
Christ’s death has released us from sin and from Satan. According to Hebrews 2:14, Christ destroyed Satan through His death. If He had not destroyed Satan, how could He release us from Satan’s usurping hand? …Our release from bondage is absolutely due to the all-inclusive death of Christ, a death that has released us from sin and Satan.
It is only through the resurrection of Christ that our right to the enjoyment of God is recovered. When we believe in the all-inclusive, victorious death of Christ, we are released from sin, Satan, and ourselves. When we remain and live in the resurrection of Christ, we have the recovery of the right to enjoy God. This is the jubilee. Christ with His death and resurrection has brought in the jubilee. (msg. 21)
Reuben lost [the birthright] by indulging in defilement. The birthright was shifted from Reuben to Joseph, who fled from that kind of defilement (39:7-12). God is just. He took the birthright from the one who indulged in defilement and gave it to the one who fled from it. (Although the birthright was shifted from Reuben to Joseph, Joseph received only the double portion of the land. He did not receive the priesthood or the kingship. Rather, Levi received the priesthood and Judah, the kingship.)
No fornicator will enter into the millennial kingdom to have the fullest enjoyment of Christ and to be a priest of God and a king with Christ (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5). Only the overcomers will share this enjoyment, be God’s priests, and be the co-kings of Christ. Take heed: defilement may cause you to lose your birthright. (Life-study of Genesis, msg. 96)
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
