Receiving Grace to Bury the Carnal Nature by Relating with God through the Lord’s Feast of Unleavened Bread
TRUTH AND PURPOSE
The Feast of Unleavened Bread provides an amazing picture of God’s plan of redemption and restoration. How so? The Messiah’s burial took place immediately after being crucified. However, something crucial and powerful was going on during the three days His body lay in the tomb. Ephesians 4:7-11 discusses how He descended (into hell), then ascended to lead “captivity captive.”
RELEVANCE
After His burial, His spirit, therefore, descended into hell where he battled with the devil. He led the forces of darkness which had held mankind into captivity into their own captivity. In addition, as Revelation 1:18 records, He took the keys of hell and death, meaning Satan’s authority, away from him. He, therefore, stripped Satan’s authority from him!
So as Scripture says, “He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.” (Colossians 2:14-15 NLT)
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, therefore, reveals how God reversed things! Satan had won a position of spiritual authority over mankind. This was due to Adam and Eve’s disobedience. They believed the lie of the serpent (the devil personified) and disobeyed God’s command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, his forces of darkness were given authority to keep people in bondage and spiritually dead in sin.
Through His death, burial and resurrection, however, the Lord won back that authority! He provided for freedom and authority over sin and death. You activate this grace by receiving the pour of His love and victory. That gives you victory over the power of sin. You then affirm and enforce His victory by accepting His grace. By faith, therefore, you bury the old carnal nature and its fruit. What fruit? This includes the mistakes of the past, shame, fear of failure, etc. So by His grace you walk in the new life of the Spirit!
Truly, He has promised us this new overcoming life by receiving His resurrected life. The victim mentality, however, also must be crucified. It must be buried to receive His new resurrection life.
Believers, therefore, benefit from His authority over the power of sin and death. Those who have not put their faith and trust in the Lord have not appropriated His authority over the devil. As a result, they are under the jurisdiction of the powers of darkness. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, however, provides a real visual aid. It reveals God’s greater plan to redeem your life and bring true freedom and restoration.
REFLECT AND RELATE
Do you fully understand how the Lord defeated the devil and made a way of escape from the bondage of hell for you?
Have you placed your total faith and trust in the Lord to deliver you from the powers of sin?
Have you fully received His exchange for your sins and attempts to justify yourself?
Are there things in your life—attitudes, ways, habits, values, material possessions—you may need to “bury” and put behind you so you can receive God’s grace and advance forward?
REFERENCES
Colossians 2:8-23; Romans 8:2
NEXT STEPS
Vertical movement: As you affirm in your heart the truth of the need to bury the old carnal nature, the Holy Spirit draws you deeper, providing more enlightenment. You see the value of totally immersing yourself in His grace. So you receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This helps you become aware of the reality of the outward sign of this conviction by participating in water baptism, or immersion. You then continue to walk in His greater grace– His light and truth and strength– by faith.
Horizontal movement: The more you receive the grace of the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment, the more you posture yourself to receive the amazing grace of the Lord’s resurrection life. You then experience greater measures of His glory!
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