“If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” Leviticus 26:3,4
In the Gospel of John, we find where the Lord Jesus said: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and manifest Myself to him.” (Jn. 14:21) If ever there was clear evidence of the extent of the salvation that Christ would have every believer to know it is this, that the God of the Old Testament, who declared Himself to be Almighty God, is the same as the Father, and Lord of the New Testament. The knowledge of God as such carries with it great potential to know Him, and to know the reality of Him, by the Spirit, dwelling in the heart. The promises associated with the commandments of the Old Testament, and those of the New Testament, are both patterns of God’s blessing. The measure of that blessing declared by Jesus in John’s gospel extend further than those written and expressed in Moses’ writings. Though the blessings of God promised to believers in the Old Testament were exceeding great in their scope, and application to the life, with no man truly rising to the height of knowing their fullest realization in his life, they were, and still are, part of the great pattern of God’s faithfulness, revealing to man that He is willing to reveal His glory to men in the physical world, but also, and most importantly, in the spiritual one. The call of God in the Old Testament was not just one to know His deliverance from slavery in Egypt, but the experience of an abundant life of plenty in a promised land. The call of Christ was one of greater magnitude. Paul declares it to be a comprehension, “…with all the saints, what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes understanding.” (Eph. 3:19,20) The extent of this blessing of knowing Christ which God would have every believer to know is revealed by Paul’s words, “…that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.” As in the Old Testament, when God gave His commandments to be obeyed, and faithfully adhered to, so also in the New Testament, there was the promise of His power and authority, this being revealed by His faithfulness to work, and to be to the believer all that He declared. The faithful God of the Old Testament, who commanded Abraham to “Walk before Me, and be perfect,” was the same One who gave to the nation of Israel through Moses the same charge. This thought continues through the prophetical writings, both of the major and minor prophets, unveiling to mankind God’s call to every man to walk before Him, obediently obeying, and expectantly trusting in His blessing. It is for this reason that the Psalmist would write: “…For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Ps. 84:11)
When Jesus began His ministry, having called the twelve disciples to follow Him, in the humility and lowliness of his manner, and yet in the power and authority of His words, he called them individually and personally in essence to walk before, and with God. The pattern of the promises of His day were basically the same as they are in our own, only the blessing is greater, for the knowledge of His ways is more complete. Those who would come by His ways will truly know Him, for, according to the promise of God, “…My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him,” (Jn. 14:23) faithfully revealing Himself. The singular call of God is for every man to follow Christ, and to truly know His manifested presence.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to believe. In Jesus’ name, Amen.