L ‘chaim  To Life!
There are some people who really
care about you!
Some people feel
THAT A SATISFYING,
WORTHWHILE LIFE CONSISTS OF:
A good education
Close friends
A good marriage and healthy children
Success in a business or profession
Helping those in need
Involvement with Israel and the Jewish community
These are important
. . . . .
yet we all know people who have or do
these things but who aren't satisfied.
Why?
Because there is something even more important than all these,
the Holy Scriptures* tell us five vital facts we need to know.
*All
quotations from the Tanakh, both English and Hebrew, are taken from the
Jewish Bible.
1
God is the source of
a satisfying, worthwhile life
You make me know the path of life; in your presence is
unbounded joy,
in
your right hand eternal delight.
Tehillah/Psalm
16.11
This kind of life is the result of a close relationship with
God.
But
you, Isra'el, my servant; Ya'akov/Jacob,
whom I have chosen,
speaks of a
personal relationship
which can be as intimate as the one between Abraham and God:
descendants of Avraham/Abraham
my friend… Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 41:8
DEEP DOWN, JUST ABOUT EVERYONE
WANTS A LIFE AND RELATIONSHIP LIKE THIS.
AS
A JEWISH SCIENTIST PUT IT:
"The
Jewish nature and soul needs to know God. This is its purpose on
earth. Our souls are looking for God and we are trying to know God."
Why, then, aren't most people
experiencing this life and relationship?
2
Man has separated
himself from God.
GOD'S CHARACTER IS THE STANDARD BY WHICH MAN IS TO LIVE.
Speak to the entire community of Isra'el;
tell them,
'You people are to
be holy because I, ADONAI your God, am holy Vayikra/Leviticus
19:2
Anytime
man deviates from God's holiness, he violates God's standard,
and this is called sin. Obviously, then, all of us have sinned.
For
there isn't a righteous person on earth who does [only] good and never sins.
Kohelet/Ecclesiastes 7:20
Since
God is holy and just, He will not establish a personal relationship with
anyone until his sin is dealt with because He cannot allow sin in His
presence.
Your eyes are too pure to see evil, you cannot countenance
oppression.
So why do you
countenance traitors? Why are you silent when evil people swallow
up
those more righteous than they? Havakuk/Habakkuk
1:13
Because sin is a violation of His standard and character, God
must judge man's sin and reject it.
This is why sin causes spiritual death and results in separation from God .
Rather, each will die for his own sin; every
one who eats sour grapes,
his
own teeth will be set on edge. Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 31:30
Rather, it is your own crimes that separate you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he doesn't hear. Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 59:2
As long as
sin separates us from God, we can't enjoy the life
and relationship God wants us to have.
But
can't man solve the problem
by living properly, by prayer, repentance and good deeds!
No, man cannot remove the sin barrier by his own effort.
Don't bring your servant to trial, since in your sight no one
alive
would
be considered righteous. Tehillah/Psalm
143:2 (cf. Ezekiel 33:13)
Human effort is not
adequate because, in God's sight,
All of us are like someone unclean,
all our righteous deeds like menstrual rags;
we
wither, all of us, like leaves; and our misdeeds blow us away like the wind.
 Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 64:5(6)
Human effort is not adequate
because man cannot do enough to solve the problem.
No one can ever redeem his brother
or give God a ransom for him,
because the price for him is too high
(leave the idea completely alone!)
Tehillah/Psalm 49:8-9(7-8)
But,
then how can this problem of spiritual death and separation from God be solved?
GOD MUST TAKE THE
INITIATIVE;
HE MUST PROVIDE THE SOLUTION.
But God will redeem me from Sh'ol's control,
because
he will receive me. (Selah) Tehillah/Psalm 49:16(15)
3
The sin barrier can
be removed by believing
God's
Word (faith) and by having the blood of the atonement.
Abraham was
an example of how the sin barrier can be removed.
He
believed in ADONAI, and he credited it to him as righteousness. B’resheet/Genesis
15:6
We must
follow the same pattern.
A person whose desire rests on you you preserve in perfect
peace, because he trusts in you.
Trust
in ADONAI forever, because in Yah ADONAI, is a Rock of Ages.
Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 26:3-4 (cf. Havakuk/Habakkuk
2:4)
But Moses
said that one more thing is essential, the blood of the atonement.
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given
it to you on the altar
to
make atonement for yourselves; for it is the blood that makes atonement
because of the life.
Vayikra/Leviticus
17:11 (cf. Vayikra/Leviticus 10:17;4:35)
But why would God want man to go through the awful procedure
of killing an animal?
When
the offerer saw the sacrifice suffering and
bleeding for the sins which he had committed,
he was impressed with the awfulness of sin and the penalty of death
(Yechezk’l/Ezekiel 18:4, 20) the sinner
deserved.
THE SACRIFICE SHOWED HIM GOD'S:
* HOLINESS because of His hatred of all evil,
* JUSTICE because He does not leave
sin unpunished,
* MERCY because of His readiness to
pardon the truly repentant
and believing by providing a substitute
for him.
THE ANIMAL SACRIFICE THUS PROVIDED THE BLOOD OF
ATONEMENT AND WAS AN ACT OF FAITH ACCEPTABLE TO GOD.
But
without priesthood and without a temple, there can be no
sacrifices. How can we have the blood of atonement today?
4
God has provided the
blood of the atonement for today.
We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his
own way;
yet
ADONAI laid on him the guilt of all of us. Or: and in fellowship with him  Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 53.6
After forcible arrest and sentencing, he was taken away;
and none of his generation protested his being cut off from
the land of the living
for
the crimes of my people, who deserved the punishment themselves.
 Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 53:8
Therefore I will assign him a share with the great,
he will divide the
spoil with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death
and being counted
among the sinners, while actually bearing the sin of many
and interceding for the offenders
 Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 53:12
IN THE PROLOGUE TO Yesha’yahu/ISAIAH 53 (Yesha’yahu/ISAIAH 52:13-15)
THE AUTHOR IDENTIFIES THE "HE" OF THESE PASSAGES.
He is described as God's servant who
will be exalted. In other parts
of his work, Yesha’yahu/Isaiah
equates this servant of God with Messiah. e.g. Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 42:1
God's
provision of the blood of atonement through the Messiah follows
the same principles God set
up in the sacrifice system.
SIN-OFFERING:
Atonement
for a man by means of a sacrifice.
PESACH:
Atonement
for a family by means of a sacrifice.
YOM KIPPUR:
Atonement
for a nation by means of a sacrifice.
MESSIAH:
Atonement
for all by means of a sacrifice.
As we have seen, under the sacrifice system
personal faith was necessary along with
the blood of atonement. So also faith is necessary with the sacrifice of
Messiah.
He should be the object of our faith today.
But how can we know
who Messiah is?
God made sure we could
recognize Messiah by certain specific identifying marks.
These are described by the prophets of Israel.
His ancestry was from the
family of David Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah
23:5-6)
The city of his birth was Bethlehem. Mikhah/Micah
5:1
He had a supernatural nature. Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah
23:5-6 Mikhah/Micah
5:1 Yesha’yahu/Isaiah
9:5-6
The manner of his execution was crucifixion. Tehillah/Psalm 22:14-17
He rose from the
dead.
Tehillah/Psalm 16:10
Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 53:10
The time of his coming was before the destruction
of Herod's Temple in 70 CE. Dani’el/Daniel
9:26
Do you have any idea if anyone has
fulfilled these prophecies, or has even come close?
HISTORY TELLS US THAT JESUS OF
NAZARETH
FULFILLED THESE AND MANY OTHER PROPHECIES.
There are at
least 48 specific prophecies concerning Messiah which Jesus fulfilled.
The probability that one person could fulfill all 48 prophecies is 1 out of
10 with 157 zeros after it!
During
his lifetime many people called him Messiah ("Christ" is the Greek
translation)
and believed in him.
Mattityahu/Matthew 16:16 Yochanan/John 1:45-51 Acts 6:7
Many people since that time, both Jews and Gentiles,
have had their sins forgiven
and have gained a personal relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob through Messiah
Jesus. Through him one becomes a completed person; e.g., a Jewish person
becomes a completed Jew.
Since the blood of atonement has been provided
through Messiah Jesus, there is only one thing left for you to do.
5
You must by faith
receive Messiah Jesus into your life
in order to have a personal relationship with God and a satisfying,
worthwhile life.
But to as many as did receive him, to those who put their
trust in his person and power,
he
gave the right to become children of God, Yochanan/John 1:12.
Receiving
Messiah Jesus involves a moral decision to turn to God's way
and from your own, to trust Messiah Jesus to forgive your sins and bring you
into a right relationship with God.
When
you receive Messiah Jesus by faith (trusting what he has done for you),
he comes into your life and gives you the power to live a satisfying,
worth-while life.
 Yeshua says
Here, I'm standing at the door, knocking. If someone hears my
voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with
me. Revelation 3:20
Some people think that receiving Messiah Jesus by faith means
you are no longer Jewish.
THAT'S NOT TRUE. AS Yeshua/JESUS PUT IT:
Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the
Prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to complete… Mattityahu/Matthew
5:17
THE APOSTLE Sha’ul/PAUL
FELT THE SAME WAY
This is why I have asked to see you and speak with you,
for it is because of the hope of Isra'el
that I have this chain around me (in jail).
Acts 28:20
 Are you still here?
Don't let anything hold
you back-
why not invite Messiah Jesus to give you a right relationship with God right
now?
Remember,
God is the source of a worthwhile life.
Your sin has separated you from God.
God's provision through Messiah Yeshua/Jesus is the solution to the sin
barrier.
The only thing God asks you to do is to trust Messiah Jesus to forgive your
sins and give you a right relationship with God.
YOU
can receive Messiah Yeshua/Jesus by faith
right now through prayer.
Prayer is talking to God and is a good way to express your
faith.
You
may want to use this prayer to express your decision to trust Messiah Jesus.
Messiah
Jesus, I admit that I have sinned. I believe that you have provided
the blood of atonement for me. I receive you as my Messiah. Thank you for
forgiving my sins and coming into my life as you promised.
Messiah Yeshua/Jesus
always keeps his promises.
DID
YOU RECEIVE HIM BY FAITH JUST NOW?
DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?
It
means that the following promises are now true in your life:
Messiah
Yeshua/Jesus came into your life, and he's there
permanently.
Revelation
3:20 Messianic
Jews/Hebrews 13:5
All your sins are forgiven.
Colossians 2:13
You have a brand new relationship with God -
you're his child!
Yochanan/John 1:12
You've become a completely new person inside,
and you've got a great new life!
2 Corinthians 5:17 1
Yochanan/John 5:11-13
You've been set free from yourself to help
others. Yochanan/John 8:31-35 Galatians 5:13
So, what now?
CONTINUE TO TRUST MESSIAH JESUS.
The way you
began is the way to keep going Colossians 2-6 Messianic
Jews/Hebrews 11:6
If you keep trusting
him, you'll grow in your new relationship.
Here are a few
suggestions:
Let him communicate to you, read his
words 1 Kefa/Peter
2:2
Talk to him about everything
Philippians 4:6-7
1 Kefa/Peter 5:7
Get together with others who have received him Messianic Jews/Hebrew 10:24-25
Tell other people about him
Acts 1:8
Remember to be tactful and kind.
Then
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you
from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. I will give you a new
heart and put a new spirit inside you; I will take the stony heart out of
your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit inside you and
cause you to live by my laws, respect my rulings and obey them.
Yechezk’el/Ezekiel 36:25-27
Don't
forget, keep trusting him!
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