Broken, Burnt and Prepared as Food for You

“For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.” ‭‭(Romans‬ ‭7:18‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

If left to ourselves, mankind would be only doing evil because nothing good dwells in our sinful flesh.
The only reason why unbelievers are capable of doing good is due to God’s intervention in so many ways.

Let’s examine the morbid accounts of mankind’s depravity in the Bible. When God included these stories in His word, it’s not for senseless horror—it’s to give a factual record as well as to show mankind’s wickedness when they reject God’s authority in their lives.

Man is capable of chopping up spouses, just like how this Levite dismembered his concubine into twelve pieces:

“When he had come into his house, he took a knife, and cut up his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Israel.” ‭‭(Judges‬ ‭19:29‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

Man is capable of child sacrifice, like how the people of Israel sacrificed their firstborn children to Moloch.
A couple would place their child onto the open hands of the heated statue of a bull-headed man and watch as their shrieking child burned and rolled into the hole in the statue’s abdomen.
They did this for the promise of financial blessing for them and their future children.

“For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them to be devoured.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭23:37‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

In desperate times, such as post-war, even mothers would kill, cook and eat their own children:

“The king said to her, “What is your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”” ‭‭(2 Kings‬ ‭6:28-29‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

In contrast to mankind’s ability to break, burn and eat their family members for selfish purposes, Jesus did the opposite for us.

Jesus allowed His future bride (the body of Christ redeemed out of mankind) to rip the flesh off His body when He was flogged by the Roman soldiers.
He did this so that we could be made whole—every part of our body perfectly integrated and whole.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.” ‭‭(Isaiah‬ ‭53:5‬ ‭WEB‬)

Jesus allowed His children (since as God He is our Everlasting Father—Isaiah 9:6) to offer Him up as a sacrifice to be burnt by God’s fiery wrath against sin, so that we would be made rich in Him—always provided for, suffering no lack.
The flaming judgment that Jesus endured in His body is depicted by the fire that fell from Heaven when Elijah prayed, and also in the burnt offerings that Israel offered under the Law:

“Then Yahweh’s fire fell, and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” ‭‭(1 Kings‬ ‭18:38‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

When we first placed our faith in Jesus, we ate of Him the Bread of Life and received eternal life.
Jesus gave His flesh and blood for us, the children of God, to eat in the form of the Lord’s Supper, so that we could remember His sacrifice at the cross as well as receive an impartation of His life and health.

“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven—not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”” ‭‭(John‬ ‭6:48-58‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

While man did the extreme evil, Jesus our God did the extreme good.
Man devoured his loved ones for self-preservation, whereas Jesus allowed Himself to be devoured to give eternal life, provision and health to those who would become children of God.
These benefits of Jesus’ finished work at the cross are beautifully articulate in the following prayer:

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers.” (‭‭3 John‬ ‭1:2‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

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#Jesus #Grace

唱聖詩真係咁powerful？其實特別的唔係因為首歌或唱的人。睇吓高博士點講。

唱聖詩的能力 - 高銘謙

歷代志與撒母耳及列王紀不同，因為它對音樂非常重視，並且描述利未記歌頌者作為唱頌的主要群體，他們都是聖殿供職的詩班，主要唱的歌詞是：「祂本為善，祂的慈愛永遠長存。」(代上十六34、41，代下五13，七3、6，二十21) 他們其中一首的聖詩以Hallelujah作結束(代上十六36)，表明他們對耶和華那拯救的作為的誇耀與讚美。

利未歌頌者在約沙法面對三國聯軍的戰事中，他們被安排成為軍隊的先鋒，在敵人面前唱出「祂本為善，祂的慈愛永遠長存。」(代下二十21) 所以有某些人認為這是唱聖詩的能力，能戰勝仇敵。然而，若果我們明白歷代志，我們便知道情況不是這樣，唱聖詩本身沒有甚麼奇異的能力，經文所說明的戰爭得勝並不是因為歌聲，也不是因為聖詩所帶來的心理舒緩反應。那到底為何在聖詩唱出時，約沙法便得到拯救呢？

關鍵就是聖詩歌詞中的「慈愛」。「慈愛」一字應該在盟約的場景中來理解，指出神按照祂所應許的，忠誠地履行神應許的條件，這種神的忠誠、信實以及對盟約的委身，便是「慈愛」的意思。這樣，利未歌頌者唱出神的「慈愛」永遠長存，就是要說明神所承諾的事一定會成就。到底在歷代志中，有那一個應許最重要？答案是歷代志下七章14節：

「這稱為我名下的子民，若是自卑、禱告，尋求我的面，轉離他們的惡行，我必從天上垂聽，赦免他們的罪，醫治他們的地。 」(代下七14)

約沙法之所以能得勝，因為祂合乎了歷代志下七章14節的應許，他自卑、禱告及尋求神(代下二十3~6)，並且就他所犯的罪進行悔改，以致神便會按照神自己的應許赦免他及醫治他，而其中一個赦免他的方式，就是為他打敗三國的聯軍，以致約沙法的國家穩定下來。利未歌頌者唱出「祂本為善，祂的慈愛永遠長存。」(代下二十21) 就是要為世人宣告神赦罪的應許與恩典，這聖詩的能力不是來自音樂的美妙及其心理的舒緩，而是來自神以祂的大能與信實確保赦罪的恩典。

故此，利未歌頌者唱聖詩，就是唱出赦免與醫治的應許，寬恕與包容的信息，讓世人能在聖詩中，心靈因神的應許帶來感化，從而放下仇恨，承認自己是罪人，並在神的寬恕與赦免下，得到拯救。

(歡迎全文網上轉貼)

More Reading:
My PhD thesis: https://www.bloomsbury.com/…/the-levite-singers-in-chronic…/
這書說明利未歌頌者之穩定性的角色，就是按照神而來的赦罪應許所確立。

📷: 赖竹山
I've found that my body is still subconsciously nervous before doing Tv recordings or concerts. Symptoms: not sleeping well, mild indigestion,throat tightness etc. And these things usually all gone the after the sessions are over. 😓. I've had plenty of experience this few years so I don't understand why adrenaline or cortisol still affects me more than I like. We had a good session on Tuesday but I feel like I was far from 100% . But thankfully, the Lord keeps me reminding me that one should be in pursuit of excellence and not 'perfection'. There is no perfect music or worship. Just worshipping in spirit and in truth with all of ourselves. #morningmusings #allinadayswork #levite #heavenworshippers #throwbackthursday #tbt