ACCEPTABLE TO GOD

March 22, 1998 am MF Blume

Matt 3:13-17 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Ephe 1:3-7 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove.
God's voice said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
He called Jesus His "Beloved" Son.

He was acceptable to God.
Pleasing to God.
He was "beloved."

There is only one way to be acceptable to God.

We must be "IN" Jesus Christ.
Christ alone is acceptable to the Father.
Paul said God made us accepted "IN THE BELOVED"
This means we are accepted IN JESUS, since He is the beloved.

Colo 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:

We are translated into the KINGDOM of HIS "DEAR" (beloved) SON.
Taken from darkness into the Kingdom because we are now accepted.

When we are accepted in the BELOVED, then we, too, experience the Holy Ghost descending upon us.

But the term TRANSLATED into the Kingdom of this DEAR Son, shows us a TRANSFER, MOVING from one place to another.

ATONEMENT RITUAL:

To further explain the implications of Christ's acceptance, and our acceptance IN HIM, let us delve into the atonement work of the High Priest in Old Testament times.

The following explains one element of the HIgh Priest's robe which tells us much!

Exod 28:33-35 And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not.

Bells had TONGUES inside them that hit the bell and caused it to ring out a sound that the High Priest was moving around.

When the High Priest entered the Holiest, if the sacrifice was unacceptable he would be killed and the bells would not ring. Since they could not go into the Holiest to see if he was struck dead or if he was accepted was by hearing the tongues of the bells ring as the Priest moved.

His sound was heard.
He did not die since the sacrifice was accepted.
So he still moved about.
If he was alive and all was well, then the sound let them know.

The first account of entering the Holiest presence of God was with Moses. Moses went in with the blood of the atonement and the fire fell and consumed the sacrifice.

Levi 9:23-24 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: [which] when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

This shows us a very important picture.
We cannot enter God's presence because of sin.
Fire would slay us.
But if a sacrifice is offered to take our sins, then the fire could fall on it and we could enter!
Moses entered because the sins were taken from him and placed on the sacrifice so the fire would fall on it and not him.

But look what happened to others.

Levi 10:1-2 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

Instead of fire falling on the sacrifice, the fire fell on the people, killing them!

Since Nadab and Abihu did not offer an acceptable sacrifice, the fire fell on them directly.
It did not fall on the sacrifice instead of them because their sins were not removed from them.

Thank God for Jesus' acceptable sacrifice.
We can enter God's presence and not die because our sins were removed.

The last time they seen Jesus go was as follows.

Luke 24:49-51 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

HEAVEN was the reality of the foreshadowing of the Old Testament HOLIEST OF HOLIES. This next verse proves that:

Hebr 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Bells were on the Priest's robe ringing out if he was accepted by the blood and not slain like Nadab and Abihu.
"Wait while I go into the Holiest."
The Father was in the Holiest.
Did He make it?
Was He successful?
Would the Promise come?
Notice He said He went to see that the PROMISE was sent to the people.
That would only happen if He was accepted.

How could they know He was accepted?
Heaven was a place far away in the Spirit.

The Day of Pentecost became the answer!

The tongues in the golden bell rang out for all to hear!

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Peter stood up and connected the speaking with tongues as the evidence that Jesus was ALIVE.
How did Peter know Jesus was accepted?
Peter saw Jesus leave to enter and could not see Him in the Holiest any more than the people could see inside the Holiest of Moses' day.

Acts 2:31-33 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

THEY HEARD TONGUES!!!
He knew Jesus was by the right hand and exalted because the tongues rang out!
All was fine up in the Holiest of Holies!
Jesus is alive and He was accepted!
The Lord went to the Father so that He would send the Comforter to us. The dove.

The dove, as in the case of Jesus' baptism, only comes to those who are ACCEPTED.
So tongues ring out and the dove comes!
Same Holy Ghost experience.

Fact is that they were accepted IN THE BELOVED.

In the BELOVED SON, in whom God was well pleased.
Jesus went to prepare a place for us.
It all hinged on whether He would be accepted as a sacrifice for us or not.
God would accept or reject the Blood.

As the people spoke in tongues, the indication was that the High Priest was alive, just as the tongues of the bells rang out to let the people know the High Priest was accepted and therefore alive.

Gene 8:11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth [was] an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

Noah KNEW something when he saw the dove return with an olive leaf, as the people KNEW the High Priest was accepted.

The only way we can be accepted is for us to have truly been cleansed of our sins.

Our sins made us unacceptable to God.
So when the Holy Ghost came, the dove, on the day of Pentecost, the people knew that their sins were truly removed and they were transferred from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the DEAR, BELOVED, Son.

He went to prepare a place for us.

We were too unholy and sinful to be able to enter there.
Like Adam locked out of the Garden of Eden, we were locked out of the Kingdom.
But the entrance of Jesus into the Holiest of Heaven was for the offering of blood to make us acceptable to God so that we could enter that Kingdom.
We were translated into the Kingdom of his DEAR son.

Another reference to BELLS includes the thought of holiness. On the bells would be HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

Zech 14:20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

When we speak in tongues as we are filled with the Spirit, we are sounding out a note that we are accepted in the beloved. We are made holy by Jesus.

The High Priest entered the Holiest and when the sacrifice was accepted by God, fire came down from Heaven and burned it up.

FIRE OF ACCEPTANCE.
Bible speaks of the HOLY GHOST AND FIRE.
The blood was accepted!

Noah saw the dove come and realized the waters were gone from the earth.

The judgment against sin was over.
The work was done.
Flood waters were judgment of God against the sin of the world.
It washed away all the sin.
So when the waters were gone, the work was done.
And when Noah saw the Dove, he knew the work was done.

Song 2:9-13 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over [and] gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines [with] the tender grape give a [good] smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Noah knew the waters were abated from off the earth when he saw the dove at his window.
And the dove had a leaf in its mouth telling Noah that the flowers and trees were on the earth again.

Then, in Song Of Solomon, the woman (1:15) replies...

Song 2:14 O my dove, [that art] in the clefts of the rock, in the secret [places] of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet [is] thy voice, and thy countenance [is] comely.

As the dove came to Noah's window, it told him a message that the rains were gone. The judgment was over. Sins were washed away. The work was done and it was successful.

God so loved the world, but He could be with mankind due to sin. By now that sin is removed, God can be with us! He says, COME AWAY! COME WITH ME! ALL IS WELL! Come into the HOLIEST!

We are accepted IN THE BELOVED.
Jesus is alive and the blood was acceptable.
Our sins can be removed if we only believe.
Jesus was approved of God at His baptism.
And we are baptized with Him into His death by being baptized in His name, and then we are approved too!

IMPORTANT:

Not many understand the concept of being "in Christ". It is a vital understanding we must make sure we all know.

Getting IN CHRIST is a way of saying that we must realize He sacrificed Himself and presented His blood in order to redeem us and make a way to God for us. And when we truly believe that and live a life based upon the belief that all this is true, we are said to be "IN CHRIST."

Live a life BASED upon that truth. STAY in Christ.

If it is true that Jesus was accepted and payment for my sins was made, then I do not have to worry about my past sins, and I can dismiss the thoughts that say the opposite of that truth! Paul was persuaded that nothing could separate him from the Love of Christ because he lived a life based upon the truth that Jesus' blood actually did make him acceptable.