OPPORTUNITY: DOES IT KNOCK ONLY ONCE? [3]
(…continues from part two…)
3) Ask yourself why God blessed the first Adamic family, knowing fully well they would disappoint Him. Was it not a second chance opportunity He was offering them? To get born again is nothing short of being offered the second chance. The Author of salvation would be stepping into our world, therefore, God must of divine necessity bless them. The blessing makes it possible for opportunity to knock at the doors of the heart of believers once again. The blessing of the first parents of mankind produced the good children of Adam, culminating in the birth of Noah. It brought forth father Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and the eventual nation of Israel.
“Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it:” (Genesis 1:28),
From Israel it is revealed, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” [Micah 5:2]. The One of biblical expectation, from the days of Adam is the Emmanuel, the Son of the living God, the Word, Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Second Member of the Godhead, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty, Jesus Christ. Involvement of Jesus will, if you believe, move opportunity to knock at your service again and again. That does not mean that one should take any opportunity for granted, though.
God showed mankind how to achieve another opportunity
That God gives us more than a second chance is a Scriptural truism. Every hour, day or eventuality up to the millionth and more is the second chance. A second chance to get it right. Before they committed any sin, the LORD God blessed them. Why? So that nothing could serve as a reversal of the bestowal of Divine blessedness. To the angelic beings of the empyreal order, it is a case of, ‘sin once and you lose your estate’. Not so regarding Adam to whom is the decoration of the eternality of the ‘image’ of God. God did not absolve Adam of the disobedient sin. He was punished. But Adam was also given a second chance to live in his estate of God’s child.
Cain shunned God’s sacrificial second opportunity
God showed the family of Adam how to get back on to the spiritual alignment with the Creator, when He slaughtered the sacrificial crouching animals of forgiveness. When Cain committed the unruly sacrificial blunder, he rejected God’s forgiveness; probably bent on riding on the prideful horse of Liberalism slant of God’s protocol. Genesis 4:7 “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him”. The Hebrew for ‘sin’ is chaṭṭâ’th (khat-taw-aw’): ‘sinful, sin offering’. ‘Lieth’ is râbats (raw-bats’): ‘to crouch (on all four legs folded, like a recumbent animal).’ Theological Liberalism and Reformation are antichristian. How can anyone reform God’s protocol or liberalise the Christian mind from the known and received Scriptural facticity? Cain had been brainwashed by the philosophy of Satanism, hence, his rejection of the propitiating blood of Christ to come. He became the first Antichrist. It was, ergo, very easy for him to perpetrate the first murderous sinfulness. Cain disdained the providential second chance.
Samson got another opportunity
Samson misused his second chance – he had every opportunity to ask God to spare his life and to be restored as the Judge of Israel. Jonah got a second chance to preach in Nineveh. Even though he found himself inside the gargantuan jail of aquatic hopelessness, Jonah found an opportunity to plead for forgiveness. Jonah was not only forgiven he was restored to his vatic office. Peter, with curses, denied his Lord. He was restored to his apostleship when he came back – ready to serve – to the risen Saviour.
Why does the Lord Jesus stand at the door of our hearts, knocking and expecting an opening of the door in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” The LORD God allows opportunity to knock over and over again. Only the ones who refuse or reject to heed His knocking fail to achieve success. Amen!
Praying the sinner’s prayer as it is contained in Romans 10:8-10 is the prayer of salvation that gets one born again. This settles the spiritual quarrel man has with God. To get born again, say this prayer, with all your heart:
Dear heavenly FATHER, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died for my sins. I believe that You raised Jesus Christ from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Today, I receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and my Saviour and I give God all the glory. Amen.
(Concluded)
Read part 2. Click.
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