Glen Hartline

Ex 32:4

And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.

Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” -NKJV

    Israel’s desire was to worship God. They were not trying to form an idol and worship the gods they had known in Egypt, but desired to worship the One who had led them out of Egypt and out of bondage. They were doing things the only way they knew how, the way they had been taught. They created an image of God to worship and give them an idea of who He is. Unfortunately it was not a true representation. They had created false image that misrepresented God.

    Before we look at Israel with judgment, we need to put the stones down. The vast majority of those that profess to be Christians are doing the same thing Israel did thousands of years before. They may not have fashioned an idol with gold, but have attributed characteristics to God based on what they have been taught and what they think rather than what the Word of God says. Our traditional beliefs and mindsets are fine as long as they are consistent with who the Word of God says He is, and most of what is taught about God today is wrong. I call these areas of wrong theology, traditions, and mindsets that have been created by modern Christianity “Sacred Cows”.

    Now to grow strong we need meat to eat. So in order to grow strong, let us kill just a few “sacred cows” and eat steak!

1. God will not forgive our sins unless we confess them. Jesus entered into the holy place one time and sprinkled the alter with His blood. He does not enter in every time we confess a sin. (Hebrews 9:12) He paid the price, not only for the sins of those that receive Him, but the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2, Titus 2:11) Jesus paid the price once and for all so that God would be reconciled back to man. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) The price was paid and the old requirements of the law were fulfilled. We are no longer under the law but under grace, and under grace God does not impute sin unto man. (2 Corinthians 5:19, Romans 5:13, Hebrews 8:12, Hebrews 10:17) So, does that mean everyone is saved? Of course not, we must accept the payment for our sins, reconciling us back to God. God is already dealt with the issue of sin and reconciled Himself back to the world, but that doesn’t mean man has been reconciled back to God. God has forgiven sin, but have we received that payment? One drop of Jesus’ blood was sufficient to pay the price for every sin that was committed or will be committed. Sin is not an issue with God, but it will be with you if you continue in it. Even though sin doesn’t change God’s relationship towards you, it will change your relationship towards Him. It opens the door to satan, allowing him to destroy your life. Sin will bring self condemnation and the hardening of your heart towards God. God will not turn from you, but eventually you will turn from God. So confessing your sin and repenting doesn’t get God to forgive that sin, it does close the door to satan and keeps your own conscious from condemning you. This is really good news! You no longer have to be in bondage to guilt and condemnation! Satan is the one that stands condemned; you have been given eternal life!
   
   
   
2. Sometimes God doesn’t heal because He is teaching us a lesson. First of all, let me just make a personal statement. God is my father, He loves me, I am madly in love with Him, but I wouldn’t want a father that wants to watch me suffer or even die from a disease! Jesus bore the stripes on His body so that we would be healed. (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24, Matt. 8:17) The Bible says that when we confess Jesus as Lord we will be saved. The word saved is “sozo” and means to be completely whole, spiritually and physically. It includes healing as part of being whole. Just as Jesus paid the price for all sin, He also paid the price for all sickness, disease, and anything else that steals our happiness and joy in life. God does not use something to teach us a lesson that caused Him to send His Son to die. Satan is not God’s “messenger boy” he is God’s enemy. I don’t have time here to teach on healing or how to receive but I will say this. Twelve years ago the Lord clearly spoke these words to me. He said, “There is no difference between getting healed and getting saved. You receive your healing the same way you receive salvation.” Just as Jesus has already paid the price for your salvation, He has already healed you. You just have to believe and receive. Just as he doesn’t use sin to teach us a lesson, he doesn’t use sickness or disease.
   
   
   
3. If we don’t repent as a nation God will judge us like Sodom. First of all I realize most of this will sound repetitive, but then it should because it all goes back to Jesus. He did it all, it is all what He did plus nothing. It’s either grace without works or it’s not grace at all. (Romans 11:6) In Luke 2:8-14 we read where the angels are proclaiming Jesus’ birth. Then they praised God and proclaimed peace and goodwill toward men. Some versions say peace among men but this cannot be accurate. Jesus Himself said that He did not come to bring peace between men, but to bring variance between a man and his father, a daughter and her mother, and so on. (Matthew 10:34-36) He declared there will be an increase in wars toward the last days. (Matthew 24:6-8) So the angels couldn’t have been declaring peace among men. They were declaring peace from God to men. Since the law, God had been pouring out wrath and judgment against man’s sin. The angels were declaring that the time of judgment was ending and we were entering an age of peace between God and man. In John 12:28-33 Jesus clearly states that when He was lifted up, He would draw all judgment to Him. I realize that it says all men will be drawn to Him, but men is italicized. That means it wasn’t in the original and was put in by man to try to be grammatically correct. They had enough integrity to italicize it to let you know it had been added by man. If you take men out it reads that He will draw all unto Him. The subject of the previous sentence was about judgment, and that is what He was talking about. The next sentence it says that He said this signifying what death He should die. Jesus was saying that when He is lifted up, like the serpent on the pole, He would draw all judgment to Himself. Romans 8:1-4 it states that sin was condemned in Jesus’ flesh. The word condemned means judged. God poured out the judgment for all sin on Jesus. Jesus took all the judgment, not just some. God will not judge this or any nation for sin because it would say that what Jesus did wasn’t enough. He would be saying that we need to add to Jesus’ sacrifice. It’s either by grace or it’s by works of the law. It can’t be both.
   

Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all sin. God’s wrath and judgment against sin has been satisfied! (Isaiah 53:11) Nothing we do can take away or add to what Jesus has done. It is no longer a question of is He willing. The question now is, “what are you going to do with it?” You can believe and receive, walking in what He has provided; or doubt and do without. We can allow misconceptions of who He is and what He has done keep us in bondage or allow His true nature (TRUTH) set us, and those we come into contact with, free.