The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Importance of Fruit, #5

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, (Ephesians 3:10—NIV)

Now Satan, the wicked angels, and the righteous angels, understood God's attitude toward the rebellion in Heaven. The Ten Commandments are a judgment against Satan. They are telling him and the other angels that God alone is supreme and there are to be no other gods as great as He.

All of the Ten Commandments have to do with our relationship with God and with other people. The world is destroying itself today because people are not rightly related to God or to one another.

Since the Jews had to obey the Ten Commandments in their fallen nature the results were not satisfactory, as God knew would happen. But God had made provision through animal sacrifice so the worshipers could have a sense of sins forgiven and restored fellowship with God.

Meanwhile God had found One who pleased Him totally, One who loved righteousness and hated wickedness. God decided to make Him the Vine, and through Him to teach angels and people how to behave so as to please God.

But first the chosen One had to become a sin-offering so God could be reconciled to His own creation. This Christ did, and His blood answers to all sin—to the sins of the whole world; to the sins of every person who will place his or her trust in Him.

Then God brought the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and established Him at His right hand for eternity, now possessing all authority in Heaven and upon earth.

The next step is to bring the eternal moral law of God to the attention of the nations of the earth.

The Jews were the custodians of the Law of Moses. The tablets of stone, the Covenant, were carried with them in the Ark of the Covenant. When they invaded Canaan they were bringing with them the holy Law, the Covenant. The Law was a judgment against the demon-gods of the people of Canaan.

Under the new covenant the eternal moral law of God is written on the mind and heart of the believer. Thus the believer becomes the covenant, the living revelation of the moral law of God. The believer becomes the law made flesh. Christ Himself is the Law who is formed in the disciple.

As soon as Christ has been formed in the Christians, which is the fruit the Father desires, the world will have a moral light by which to live. When no fruit is coming forth in the Christian, there is no moral light, no law by which people are to live. Then the Father perceives the branch is useless and He removes it from the Vine.

It appears God is emphasizing today that it is time for Christ to be formed in us to a much greater extent than ever before.

Notice the following:

Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn. (Matthew 13:30—NIV)

The idea is that the weeds cannot be removed from the wheat until both the weeds and the wheat come to maturity. This tells us that in the last days both wickedness and righteousness, Antichrist and Christ, will come to maturity in people.

To be continued.