Seeing reality past the shadows

Col 2:16-17 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”

Dear CBC Family,

This weekend we are going to continue to look at the “feasts of God”. The study of the feasts is so important in order to understand why so many things, that seem odd to some people, are recoded for us in the New Testament.

We will look at the two other fall feasts which are the Day of Atonement and Trumpets. While many seem to try and use these to support their eschatology the truth is that they are about Jesus and not the end of the world.

It is very important to remember the things we covered last week so as to avoid confusion. The points to remember are:

• The feasts belong to God. He calls them “My Feasts”.
• There is no special, or secret, blessings in observing them today that isn’t already a reality in for someone in Christ.
• You don’t observe the feasts by observing the feasts. You observe the feasts by clinging to Christ.
• Neither Paul not Peter nor John kept the feasts after coming to Christ. Paul did go to Jerusalem during some of them but it wasn’t to observe them but rather to try and win the Jews to salvation. Paul says why he attended the feasts which wasn’t because he was Jewish. 1 Cor 9:19 “To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ.”
• Another very significant fact is the New Testament does not use the phrase “the God of Israel” at all. Paul instead says “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is because the Old Covenant is over and His children now include every nation, tribe and tongue.
• All distinctions between Jews and Gentiles are removed in Christ.

Join us as we look and see what Jesus has done for His own. The feasts, and all the Old Testament, are simply a shadow. The reality of everything is found in Christ. Perhaps the simplest way to avoid all confusion is to remember the words of Jesus: “the whole of the book is written of me.” This means we must take a Christo-centric (Jesus centered) hermeneutic (way to interpret scripture) not a Jewish one. This is the way the entire New Testament is written.

All who love the Lord Jesus as they are the true descendants promised to Abraham. Read Galatians 3 and establish these things in your soul.

Blessings,

Pastor Scott