Abraham and Righteousness and The Cross and Today

EXERT FROM: “ABRAHAM” by Jimmy Swaggart

“And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day” (Gen 18:1 KJV).

Jewish tradition claims that this visit by the Lord to Abraham was on the third day after the Rite of Circumcision had been performed and was for the purpose of healing him from the painful consequences of it. It was on this account, they think, that Abraham was resting at home instead of being with his herds in the field.

Of course, this is only an assumption, but the fact remains that the Lord did appear to the Patriarch, the consequences of which will be striking, to say the least.

At this particular time, two momentous events will transpire, the first being the announcement by the Lord of the conception by Sarah. In fact, I think one an say without fear of contradiction that this is one of the most momentous occasions in history.

From this beginning will come the Jewish people. They will give the world the Word of God and, in effect, will serve as the Womb of the Messiah, which will bring the Redeemer into the world, which is what this is all about.

All of this must be done in this manner because Angels could not redeem humanity, and even God, as God, wouldn’t redeem humanity in this fashion. God would have to become Man, and as the God – Man, Jesus Christ, would then redeem the lost sons of Adam’s fallen race.

Dominion had been given to Adam, which means that tremendous responsibility had been given to the first man (Gen 1:26 KJV; Ps 8: 1-9 KJV; Rom 5:12, 17-19 KJV; 1 Cor 15:45-47 KJV).

As well, in all of the doings, and I continue to speak of the Plan of Redemption being carried out, God would have to do things according to His Personal Nature. When many people think of God, they think of Him in an entirely wrong manner. They think that if God is All-powerful, and, in fact, He definitely is, then He can do anything.

While it is certainly true that He definitely can do anything, the facts are, He will not do anything against His Nature. So, to bring Redemption into this world, God would have to prepare a people who would evidence Faith in Him, even as He would reveal Himself to them, because He is a God of Faith (Heb 11: 1-3 KJV).

The end result of all of God’s Workings and Dealings with man is Righteousness; however, we have a problem here. Man thinks that he can perfect or concoct Righteousness by his own efforts, but, of course/that is impossible.

The Righteousness that God accepts, which is the Righteousness of God and, in fact, the only Righteousness He will accept, could only be brought about in a particular way.

As stated, ‘God would have to become Man, which He did, keep the Law perfectly, all on our behalf (Gal 4: 4-5 KJV), and then die on a Cross. This alone could satisfy the demands of the broken Law.

When we speak of the Law, we’re speaking of the Law of Moses, of which the moral aspects were centered in the Ten Commandments (Ex 20: 1-26 KJV).

Without the Cross, the Perfect Life of Christ would have availed us nothing. In fact, without the Cross, His Healings and Miracles, as stupendous as they were, would have availed nothing. Only the Cross could address the terrible problem of sin and all of its effects, which it did (Eph 2:13-18 KJV; Col. 2:10-15 KJV).

The greatest shame of this modern age is the modern church little knows or understands the tremendous significance of the Cross.

To most, the Cross is just incidental in their lives and living for God. In fact, whatever credence that the modern church gives the Cross in any regard, which is very little indeed, is centered up in the initial Salvation experience.

Thank God for that. However, the sadness is, not understanding at all the part the Cross plays in their ongoing Christian experience, most in the modern church try to “live” for the Lord in other ways. What do we mean by that?

As Salvation is “attained” by Faith in Christ and what He has done for us at the Cross, likewise, it is “maintained” by continued, exclusive Faith in the Cross, which is the way that we grow in Grace and the Knowledge of the Lord.

Having such little teaching in this regard, most Christians try to function outside of God’s Prescribed Order, which is always catastrophic simply because the Holy Spirit will not function in this capacity.

While He definitely will remain with us, He demands that we have Faith in Christ exclusively. This refers to what He did for us at the Cross, which will then guarantee His Function within our hearts and lives (Rom. 8: 1-2, 11 KJV).

The Lord works exclusively on the premise of Faith; however, it is always to be Faith in Christ and what Christ has done for us at the Cross. This Cross must ever be the Object of our Faith. The whole gist of Salvation is Christ Himself, but more particularly, it is what He has done

If we try to divorce Christ from the Cross, which most of the modern church does, we then have “another Jesus, “which is always of “another spirit, “which presents “another Gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4 KJV).

The reader needs to peruse these words very carefully. We’re speaking here of God’s Prescribed Order for a victorious life. To be sure, He only has one order, and man has none and, in fact, will never have any.

Therefore, the Appearance of the Lord to Abraham at this particular time would ultimately lead to these things that we have been addressing, which is the Salvation of humanity in every capacity.

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