10 Days of Awe:  Meditating on the Atonement of Jesus Christ

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

The ten days between Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are called The Days of Awe.  During those ten days, religious Jews spend time in repentance believing that if they confess all their sins, their names will be written in the Book of Life for another year. 

Because Jesus suffered and died, was buried and rose again, the price of the believer’s atonement has been paid in full.  When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life for all eternity. Revelation 20:15 (NKJV) 

Our God is an awesome God.  Let’s spend time each day during The Days of Awe, mediating on the atoning work of the Cross.

1, The death of Jesus on the cross allows us to enter into a new covenant relationship with God.  Our covenant in Jesus is greater than the covenant God made with Adam because the Holy Spirit indwells us and empowers us.   Because of God's new covenant with us, we can come boldly to the throne of grace.  (Hebrews 10: 19-23)

2.  Sin broke the covenant that the Lord had made with Adam and allowed unrighteousness, despair, disease and death to enter in.  When Adam ate the fruit of the tree of worldly wisdom and knowledge, he entered into a covenant with satan. In the Old Testament economy, when two parties entered into a covenant, they exchanged possessions.  Adam ceded his dominion of the earth in that covenant and received all that the enemy had.  Nothing of which was good.  Good things come from God. (James 1:17)

3.  Because God is holy, His holiness prevents Him from coming into covenant with anything unholy.   His holiness within us should prevent us from doing the same thing.  We are not to be unequally yoked. (2 Corinthians 6:14)

This evening is also the weekly sabbath.  In addition, it is also a sabbath Shuva.  This special sabbath occurs on the sabbath during the 10 days of awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  

The Hebrew word Shuva means "returning". It shares a Hebrew root with the word teshuvah, which is typically translated as "repentance". The connection between the two words makes sense, as returning and repentance are closely linked. Teshuvah literally means "return," as if turning back to something that has been strayed from or looked away from. In other words, turning back to where you once were. Have we turned 

away from our first love? If so, is a time for Shuva, for returning.

4.  God is also love.  He created us out of His love.  It is His nature to desire relationship with His creation.  Sin separates us from HIs love.  The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Romans 6:23) Jesus paid the wage of sin for us.  His atoning death allows us to enter into God's covenant.  When we accept His atonement, nothing in creation can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.  (Romans 8:38-39)

5.Jesus received our guilt and sin upon Himself. (Isaiah 53:4-6) It was our sin that sent Jesus to the Cross. When I think about this, I am overcome with His love, not only as a part of mankind, but for me as an individual.

6.  Jesus is the only acceptable sacrifice for sin.  In the covenant God made in Christ, His life is given in the place of our death and eternal separation from God; His righteousness is given in exchange for our sin. (John 3:16) (John 14:6)

7.  Jesus' blood had to be shed because our eternal life is in the sacrifice of His blood.. (Leviticus 17:11)  His blood sacrifice sanctifies our lives.

8.  We must understand fully what we have received in our salvation.  Not only have we been saved from the wages of sin, but we also have received the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), healing both physically and emotionally (Isaiah 53:4-6), and a plan and purpose for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11).

9.  Jesus' resurrection is the most significant event in history.  Jesus' resurrection signifies Father God's acceptance of His sacrifice.  He is the first fruits of those who are raised from the dead.  (1 Corinthians 15:20)  Because He lives, we, too, shall live. (John 14:19)

10.  Jesus is coming again to receive us unto Himself.  He is the Bridegroom eagerly awaiting the time when He will receive His bride.  

 New Beginning:  Rosh Hashanah

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts” (Leviticus 23:1-2).

 

The Feasts (Appointed Times) of the Lord comprise God’s Prophetic Calendar.  Each of the feasts declare a prophetic picture of the ministry of our Lord Jesus. We are currently entering into the appointed times for Fall Feasts.

The first of the Fall Feasts is Rosh Hashanah.  Rosh Hashanah literally means "the head of the year.”  The Feast begins on the evening of the first new moon after the fall equinox and lasts for 2 days.  This year, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Wednesday October 2 and ends at sundown on Friday October 4.

   

The name "Rosh Hashanah" is not used in the Bible. The Bible refers to the holiday as Yom Ha-Zikkaron (the day of remembrance) or Yom Teruah (the day of the sounding of the shofar).

The Lord commanded Moses, “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation" (Leviticus 23:24).

Rosh Hashanah celebrates new beginnings in the Lord starting with God’s creation of the universe. Tradition states that Rosh Hashanah marks the sixth day of creation, when the LORD created Adam and Eve.

Rosh Hashanah also recalls the story of Isaac's near-sacrifice when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son as an offering.  Abraham obeyed God's command, built an altar, and prepared to sacrifice Isaac, but at the very last minute he was stopped by the Angel of the LORD. The Angel pointed out a ram caught by its horns in a nearby bush and told Abraham to sacrifice it in place of Isaac. The trumpet of God, the shofar (the ram’s horn), commemorates that event.

The account is a clear picture of the sacrifice of the Son of God by the Father.

The Lord continued speaking to Moses, "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation" (Leviticus 23:24).

The ram's horn (shofar) should be blown on Rosh Hashanah to remind believers of the sacrifice provided by the LORD Himself—Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Every time the shofar is blown, it is a reminder that God keeps His promises.  

On Rosh Hashanah, we Christians have an opportunity to celebrate our salvation through the atoning work of Calvary. Though we have no righteousness in ourselves, He has imputed unto us His righteousness.   

Romans 3:23:  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.“

Romans 6:23a:  "...The wages of sin is death..."

We all face physical death, which is a result of sin.  But a worse death is the spiritual death that separates us from God and will last for all eternity.  

Romans 6:23:   "...But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Salvation is a free gift from God to us.  We can't earn this gift.  We must reach out and receive it.

Romans 5:8:  "God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.“

When Jesus died on the cross He paid sin's penalty. He bought us out of the slavery of sin and death! The only condition is that we believe in Him and what He has done for us.  Then we are joined with Him, and our life is in Him.  He did all this because He loves us and gave Himself for us!

God’s love poured out in Jesus on the cross is our only hope to have forgiveness and change.  His love bought us out of our slavery to sin.  His sacrifice is what saves us.. 

Romans 10:9,10:  "...If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

Our Rosh Hashanah is the result of our being born again into the family of God. The Feasts of the Lord are all about Jesus.

Shana Tovah!! (Happy New Year!)

 A life hack:

1Timothy 2:1:3: First of all, then, I exhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

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 Serving the King from the Field

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Ecclesiastes 5:9: The profit of the land is for all; the King himself is served from the field.

The Hebrew month of Elul begins at sunset this evening, September 2. Elul is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the religious year. It is a time of repentance in preparation for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

During the month of Elul, it is customary to blow the shofar every morning except of the Sabbath from the first day of Elul until the day before Rosh Hashanah. The blasts are meant to awaken our spirits and inspire us to begin the soul- searching which will prepare us for the High Holy Days. Elul is seen as a time to search one's heart and draw close to God in preparation for the coming Day of Judgement, Rosh Hashanah, and Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

To Christians, the Fall Holy Days picture the second coming of Christ. The month of Elul represents our journey to maturity in our Lord, to preparing ourselves to be the Bride of Christ in preparation for His return.

Revelation 19: 6-8. “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

The Hebrew word "Elul" can be understood to be an acronym for the phrase – "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" (Song of Solomon 6:3).

The King is in the field where He is accessible to us. He is near us. We can serve Him in loving relationship from the field.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us in life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season.