Wednesday 30 March 2011

Our Lord’s Way really is Final Salvation - Luke 3:4-6

Note Form Points for Meditation;

Introduction: Main Aims

·         To illustrate the bigger picture showing the Original Sin contrasted to the Mission of Our Lord, to avoid the stark warning of Matthew 12:31-32;
·         To reveal God’s torment over his beloved creation implicit with His crucified Son, the Suffering servant (Lk 22:37, Is 52:13-53:12);
·         The role of the Virgin Mother in fulfilling her Son’s Mission;
·         God’s means (way) of cultivating the vine of the righteous from a severed state, first by law then by faith (Rom 3:28);
·         Visual logical evidence which proves Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven:

The Fall to Godless Aridity –The Lie and Destruction

·         Lucifer’s envy of the fruits of the love between God and man;
·         The pain to God’s heart of man’s continual betrayal, first in the Garden then with Cain;
·         The dominance of sin and wicked thoughts over man’s goodness without God’s loving protection;
·         Deceitfulness and brutality of Satan towards the righteous or goodness that comes from God;
·         Abel’s blood forms the seed of righteousness, the earth from where he cries from becomes a desert, as an shrine to God’s favour and departure (Gen4:11-14);
·         Cain’s repentance was shown mercy from God, then subsequently abused by his descendants (Gen 4:15); Is this why His wrath of total destruction was so unforgiving?
·         Today, the seed of Cain’s descendents flourishes in political ideologies such as fascism or communism, where assaults on God’s favour persists, in the form of targeting God’s people, the Jews or God’s House, the Church. In this context if through our baptism Heaven comes into our midst (Luk 17:21) then the violence mentioned by John (Mt 11:12-14) makes perfect sense;
·         The mission of the serpent or dragon is the pursuit of destruction, with weapons of stones, words, etc. Whereas the mission of Our Lord and Saviour is the pursuit of happiness with acts of charity to our neighbour; Possessing the empathy of the Samaritan compared to the adulteress’s  mob condemnation;

Servants Raised by Fruitful Grace – The Way to Righteousness

·         Noah and his family’s fiat to God’s will in building a Ark to house His Covenant;
·         The Ark, symbolically a vessel containing God Almighty through his Word, to save souls from the burden of sin;
·         Covenants with upright leaders, form agreements between God and man) used to institutionalise obedience among His people.
·         John the Baptist the prophet of the Most High, the Lord’s forerunner to prepare his way (Luk 1:76-77). Baptism cleanses souls of sins in preparation for the Holy Spirit.
·         Mary Immaculate the Ark of the New Covenant, the Mother of God, the Holy Mother Church, and refuge for Christ’s disciples (Rev 12:17), a vessel of protection and power of almighty God that brings the children God safely to pure land established by Christ and signalled by the Holy Spirit. In the way Noah finds dry land by a dove with an Olive branch (Gen 8:11).
·         The Virgin Mary’s as the women, whose offspring are symbolically Noah’s family tasked to populate the world with their fruit (Gen 9:19);
·         The passion and crucifixion of the Lord’s body and soul withstands all the physical, emotional and spiritual assaults of the devil. Jesus’ love consumes the dragons hate in order to offer His sufferings to God on the sceptre of the cross “Eli, Eli, lema sabacthani”;
·         God unites His Son’s pains with His own as He accepts Jesus’ soul with open arms, expressed with the words “Into your hands I commend my Spirit.
·         Jesus petitions to God on behalf of man’s weakness to sin “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”; Jesus establishes a way to transform this weakness into a strength against the wiles of the devil;
·         Jesus’ Blood and Water from his Heart brings to fruition Abel’s Blood’s call for mercy and John the Baptist purification, to form the Church
·         The resurrection appears to his disciples for 40 days before the Ascension of Jesus into heaven;
·         John the Evangelist says: “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Rev 1:17-18);

The Battle for Souls and Trials of the Heart – Our Lord the Mediator

·         During the 40 days of rain God sees the helplessness of man who “...did not know what they had done!” Then commences Covenants to guide mankind back to Himself. The last being the New Covenant with Jesus Christ;
·         Abel the first martyr of righteousness cries out to God in presumed despair, from the desert signalling the sprinkling of his blood (Gen 4:10-12); Abel’s cry represents the state of all the righteous in this spiritual; battle;
·         God  stops pruning (banishing) the vine from the Garden of  Eden, i.e. mankind and starts to cultivate its roots through Judaism to the gentiles, finally beginning to set the eternal fruit from Elizabeth’s womb and the start to God setting the seed that bears the fruit of eternal righteousness, His only begotten Son; 
·         Abel’s sprinkling of blood as the seed of righteousness in the desert, cannot fully grow the Israelites to the fullness of God’s favour; 
·         A Star over the (Num 24:17) appears over the desert to the Three Wise men. Signalling a sparkle in God’s eye that silent night full of promise when God would manifest Isaiah’s prophecies.  This glint in God’s eye appears like an expectant Father awaiting the delivery of the new heir to His Kingdom to be born in a major.
·         The Cries of bondage with the devil are replaced with the cries from the pangs of childbirth, in anguish for delivery to perfect holiness of God’s children (Rev 11:19-12:2);
·         Mary who represents the church resides in the wilderness to bring humanity back to God. Expressed as the Woman flees to the wilderness in Rev 12:6; 
·         Mary Immaculate forms the Ark of the Covenant as the angry dragon looks on for straying souls from the sandy shores. (Rev 12:17)

Main Purpose of this Overview is to demonstrates the Ways the New Testament brings to fruition Old Testament Covenants

·         Jesus’ Blood and Water supersedes John’s baptism and Abel’s blood;
·         The Virgin Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant supersedes Noah’s Ark in saving souls from the death of their sins (Lk 17:22-37);
·         John the Baptist is Elijah to come;
·         Jesus reunites as Mediator righteousness’ oneness with God, severed by Adam and Eve’s Original Sin;
·         Our relationship with God becomes omnipresent through Jesus’ ascension, the Church is the Ark from where we find Our Saviour and become one with Him in Holy Communion. Completely addressing God’s disconcerting questions of “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9) and “What have you done?” (Gen 3:13);