Yes, You Can Ministry

Our Ego/His Blood

“…Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks better than the blood of Abel.”-Hebrews 12:24

God set up His covenant with Adam; He placed Adam in paradise where everything that Adam could want or need was at his fingertips. There was only one rule that Adam had to obey, and that was that he could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But, Adam was a man, and like most people because of his arrogance did not like to be told what to do. He and Eve were tricked by the serpent, and they ate from the tree that God said not to eat from. As punishment God kicked them from the garden, and their direct line to God, that they once had, was broken.

Despite the rebellion of Adam and Eve God provided for their needs. He clothed them, and even provided a family for them as Eve gave birth to two sons, Cain and Abel. Most of us know the story of how Cain slew Abel. The blood of Abel that was shed after Cain killed him spoke to God from the ground, and it was a witness against him. Because of Cain’s egotism that caused him to murder his brother when his offering was more acceptable to the Lord Cain was banished from the land. Call it egotism, pride, arrogance, whatever when we begin to think too highly of ourselves it is an immediate departure from God. That is why the writer of Proverbs reminds us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.” – Proverbs 16:18 It is that same blood of Abel that is a constant reminder to God of how flawed man is, and it is because of our arrogance that we continue to be separated from God.

Despite mans’ continued failure to reestablish their once cherished relationship with God it was impossible for them to do that. For millennium God tried to help man by sending His prophets to speak to their hearts, and bring them back into a right relationship with Him. But because God demands perfection, man was simply unable to reach the levels that God required apart from total reliance on Him. So after all the years of prophesying in the Old Testament, God sent His Son, Jesus, to bring a new Covenant by which God would no longer see the imperfections of man, but after we acknowledge our full dependence on Him; God sees the perfect image of His Son.

Just as the blood of Abel spoke to God as a witness against Cain’s egotism it is the blood of Jesus that is a witness of our humility.

The story of the Pharisee and the tax-collector found in Luke 18 is the perfect example of how God despises arrogance. Jesus said that the Pharisee was so confident before God that he did not acknowledge any of his faults whereas the tax-collector knew that he was a sinner, and publicly confessed them before God. Jesus said that the sinner was justified before God, but the Pharisee was condemned.  

Father, I thank You for covering my sins with the Blood of Your Son, and I admit that I have fallen short; but I ask that You help me to remain strong in those areas. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The image above can be found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kros/1457796428/