Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The Foreshadowing - Job Part 3


    "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed (turned from) evil" (Job 1:1).

    The book of Job begins with the affirmation of a man who had clearly experienced the redeeming and holy effect of God's grace.  Only thereby could the things said about Job be true.

    "The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy mercy, O LORD, endureth forever: forsake not the works of Thine own hands" (Psalm 138:8).
    "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright" (Psalm 19:13).
    "Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrews 12:28).
    "Turn us, O God of our salvation" (Psalm 85:4).

    Note that the qualities of perfection (completion), uprightness, fear of God, and flight from evil result not from the work of man, but of the Lord.  Job, therefore, responded to the light of God (the origin of which in Job's life we do not know), received the grace of God, and experienced the transforming power of God.  He did not make himself into what he was, but rather was redeemed from sin by the grace which alone changes human hearts and lives.  "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).

   Another man lived such a life, albeit with substantive differences.  The Lord Jesus needed no redemption from sin, never once succumbing to temptation throughout His entire lifetime (Hebrews 4:15).  Thus, He required no grace in the sense of forgiveness or salvation from the guilt and power of sin.  He did, however, experience His Father's grace as it related to the life He lived.  "The grace of God was upon Him" (Luke 2:40).  By this, Luke meant that the Lord Jesus lived His earthly lifetime not by His own power and devices, but rather by the Father's enabling.  The Gospel of John records this truth of God the Son becoming man in order to fully live as man in dependence and submission to His Father.

   "Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise… I live by the Father"  (John 5:19; John 6:57).

   Job's God-enabled devotion directs our attention forward in history to the Christ who would live in the same faith and faithfulness, albeit exponentially amplified.  Job was the godliest man of his generation, as empowered by the grace of God (Job 1:8).  The Lord Jesus was the godliest man of all time and of every generation, again, as empowered by the grace of God.  Both men call us to trust our Heavenly Father, and to the expectation that genuine faith results in genuine faithfulness.  This was Job's experience of a life lived by the presence and power of God, and this was the experience of our blessed Lord as well.

"The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works."
(John 14:10)

Weekly Memory Verse
   But this man, because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.
(Hebrews 7:24-25)

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