DailyRhema

Daily Rhema is a teaching ministry for Christians, centered on the finished work of Christ. It posts inspiring teachings and testimonies on weekdays. These short and systematic messages are suitable for personal devotion or Bible Study.

Monday, August 06, 2007

8.1 NEW SERIES – MOVING FROM MT. SINAI TO MT. ZION

Today we begin on a new series – an important and spiritually provocative one. If you would invest 15 minutes of your time to follow this series, it would result in an important paradigm shift. It could transform your life.

Growing up as a Christian was difficult. I was backslidden through my teenage years. The Christianity that I knew was so different from what the early Christians experienced in the book of Acts. They experienced God in a fresh and living relationship – with empowerment and results.

In fact, many denominations believed that the book of Acts was just a history book. Many theologians said that the days of miracles had ceased. The Church was mired in unbelief. Soon, I was also mired in unbelief. But I didn’t want a Christianity that was unreal.

It was many years later before I realized that the book of Acts did not have an ending. The Holy Spirit told me that we are still living in the book of Acts – the Church age & the dispensation of grace. I was all excited about that revelation. So why are we not experiencing God the way the disciples did in the book of Acts? Why are the churches of our day lacking in power when compared to the church in Acts?

You see, much of what we have believed to be Christianity is not really Christianity when you measure it against the plumb line of God’s word. Much of what we believe and practice today are actually from the Old Covenant. It was a harsh covenant that did not produce true results. But Christianity is not about the Old Covenant. It is about the New Covenant that Christ cut on the cross. The Church in Acts was established on the New Covenant through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

When we live under principles of the Old Covenant, we cannot experience the reality of Christ. We cannot experience His power. Christianity becomes a dry and powerless religion. When we live in the New Covenant, Christ becomes real in our daily lives. We experience the power of the Holy Spirit. We experience relationship.

There are two famous mountains in the Bible. One is Mt Sinai in Arabia where the Old Covenant was established. The other is Mt Zion in Jerusalem, where the temple was located, which symbolizes the New Covenant in Christ. These two mountains are very different. It was a terrifying experience at Mt. Sinai and sinful Israel had to keep a distance from God. But it was a beautiful experience at Mt. Zion – where believers are made righteous by the blood of Jesus. We are part of the family of heaven, and Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant.

(Hebrews 12:18-25)
For YOU HAVE NOT COME to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) But YOU HAVE COME TO MOUNT ZION and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to JESUS THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.


Today, are you living at the foot of Mt. Sinai? Do you see an angry God? Are you fearful of God? Do you find it hard to endure His commandments? Is your Christianity dry and burdensome? Do you feel a distance from God?

I have news for you. That is not Christianity. That is the Old Covenant. As Christians, you have not come to Mt. Sinai but you have come to Mt. Zion, the city of the living God. In this series, we will show you what is of Mt. Zion and what is of Mt. Sinai. It may challenge our traditional beliefs that are not in line with the Word. But those who can see the beauty of Mt. Zion will not want to remain at Mt. Sinai. This paradigm shift will bring us into the experience of the book of Acts.