A New Spiritual Identity | Worship, the Sacrifices, and the Priesthood

SPEAKER 02 : 0:01

When the Lord redeemed mankind through the blood of the Lamb, He once again clothed man in the attributes that had been lost at the fall. Father God, we bless you today. We pray, Father God, for an anointing on your word. Father, you said that it’s through the foolishness of preaching that people are saved. And so, Father, we ask you that you’ll bring us to yourself today and establish us, Father, in the identities that you’ve given us in Messiah Yeshua through our study, Father, of the garb of the high priest. As we begin our journey today, we’re going to go all the way back to the very beginning, to the book of Bereshit, which means beginnings, the book of Genesis. Beloved, in the book of Genesis, chapter number 1, verse 27, we read this. God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. This is talking, beloved, about our original state before the fall. God created us in his own image. And we also read concerning man’s original state before the fall in Genesis chapter 2, verse 25, that the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Now, what we find is, as we continue reading through the scriptures, we find that immediately after man fell, immediately after Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that tree that the Lord had warned them not to eat, saying to them, the day that you eat of that tree, you shall surely die. And beloved, what we find is exactly what God said would happen, happened to them. They ate of the tree and immediately after eating of the tree, The scripture says they suddenly realized, listen now, they were naked. Remember, we just got done reading that originally in Genesis 1, verse 27, they were created in God’s image. Genesis 2, 25, they were both naked and not ashamed. But immediately after the fall, suddenly they realized they’re naked. But remember, they were naked before the fall too, but suddenly they felt naked. Listen to the book of Genesis now, chapter 3, verse 7. they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. So let’s put it together once again. Created in God’s image, they’re naked and yet not ashamed, not conscious of their nakedness. Immediately after the fall, beloved, the scripture says they realized they were naked. Suddenly they felt ashamed. Suddenly, beloved, they experienced clothing in the spirit being removed from them. You see, this is what was going on. Before the fall, Adam and Eve, beloved, were wearing the clothing of the Spirit of God over their flesh. They were not flesh conscious. They were spirit conscious. Their flesh is not what was defining them. Their spirit identity was what was defining them. This is why they were both naked and yet not ashamed because they didn’t feel naked because they had the clothing of God’s Holy Spirit on them. But as soon as they ate of the tree, what happened, beloved, is exactly what Yahweh said would happen. The Lord removed his eternal life from them. He removed his Holy Spirit from them. So no longer do they have a spirit conscious mindset. Suddenly now they had a flesh conscious mindset because the spirit was gone. Now, considering that, I want to take a step back to the beginning today, and let’s talk about the fact that they were created in God’s image. When the scripture says that they were created in God’s image, remember we read that, book of Genesis chapter 1, God created man in his own image, male and female. He created them. Have you ever thought about what it means to be created in the image of God? Most of us have heard that before, that God created us in his own image. But for many of us, those words, they haven’t really impacted us. Have you ever thought, what does it mean to actually be created in God’s image? Well, we’ve heard, for example, that God thinks and God feels and God has a will. And as human beings, we can think, we can feel, we can love, we have a will. And all those things are true. But I want to talk, beloved, about being created in the image of God today in a way that perhaps you haven’t considered before. So to understand what that means, we have to ask ourself, what is God’s image? What are the attributes of God? Because whatever the attributes of God are, whatever His image is, the Bible says, man, you and I were originally created in that same image. That’s a pretty lofty thought. So let’s think about God’s attributes and understand how that relates to us as human beings that have been created in His image. The first thing we want to ask ourself is, what is God’s most primary characteristic? In other words, if there’s one characteristic that defines God more than anything else, what would that be? Well, beloved, the trait of God’s image that is higher than all other of his attributes, beloved, is, listen now, the quality of holiness, right? We read in the book of Revelation chapter 4, verse 8, that when John sees into the heavens and he sees the Lord on the throne, he sees these divine beings around the throne praising God. And he says that these divine beings don’t stop crying out day and night. Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, holy, holy, holy. We find that the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible tells us the same thing in Isaiah chapter six, when Isaiah has a vision of the Lord and he sees the Lord high and lifted up, exalted on the throne. And what does Isaiah say in Isaiah six? He sees the holy beings around the throne of the Lord, praising him day and night. They’re saying, listen, holy, holy. Holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. So the most distinguishing characteristic of our God, beloved, is the characteristic of His holiness. It means He’s utterly unique, utterly set apart, utterly different. And God has created man in His own image, unlike, beloved, anything else He’s created. God is above all, holy, and you and I have been created in His image, beloved. Listen now, utterly and completely, wonderfully unique. Remember, David said, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Beloved, when you understand this message, who you are as one that’s been created in God’s image, let me tell you, beloved, that will cause you to think something of yourself. It will give you a holy and a sacred self-respect. What else do we learn as we consider that we’ve been created in God’s image? What are some of His other characteristics that have been bestowed upon man? Well, beloved, when we think of the Lord, we think of glory. We think of glory, the Hebrew word kavod, the weight, hallelujah, of His glory. And what this means is if God is eminent in glory and He’s created man in His own image, what does that say, beloved? That He’s created you and I, beloved, for glory. And so I’m going to be reading now from the book of Exodus, chapter number 15, verse 11. In Exodus, chapter 15, verse 11, what we find is that God had just supernaturally parted the Red Sea and delivered the Israelites from Egypt. So we’re going to see, beloved, that God is preeminent in glory. And you and I that have been created in His image, beloved, have also been created, beloved, with glory. When Adam and Eve were in the garden there before the fall, They felt the holiness of God on them. They were clothed with it. They felt the glory of God on them. They were clothed with it. They weren’t flesh conscious, but rather they were conscious of the holiness of God on them. They were conscious of the glory of God on them. Not of their flesh, beloved, but of God because they were created in his image.

SPEAKER 01 : 8:30

You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider, and he’ll be right back. And I want to share with you that in the rush of everyday life, sometimes it’s a challenge to connect with God. And that’s why Rabbi Schneider launched a one-minute audio devotional that’s here to help you. You can start each morning with a powerful message. I believe it’ll give you spiritual insight and strength for your day ahead. Just search for A Minute with Rabbi on your favorite podcasting platform or or visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Did you know that the shofar is a biblical instrument that’s used to announce God’s presence? And we would love to send you one when you become a new monthly partner. It’s a special thank you gift that’s been handcrafted in Israel. To join us and receive your shofar, visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Thank you for partnering with us each and every month. Your support, it helps us continue to share the gospel worldwide. And now… Back to Rabbi Schneider.

SPEAKER 02 : 9:36

I want to talk about one more attribute of the Lord, beloved, that Adam and Eve were clothed with before the fall, before God removed His spirit and they realized they were naked and suddenly without God’s spirit, all they were was flesh and they became flesh conscious. One of the attributes of God that we don’t often think about or don’t think about enough, many of us, beloved, is God’s beauty. You know, we think a lot about the power of God. We think that God is all-powerful. And we think of God as all-knowing, omniscient. We think of the power attributes of God. But sometimes, beloved, we don’t think enough about His beauty. Be it the Bible tells us, beloved, in the book of Romans, Chapter number one, this about God. Hear the word of God. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but hallelujah, the word of the Lord abides forever. We’re thinking now about who God is, his qualities. And so I’m reading now Romans chapter number one, beginning in verse number 19. The scripture says, that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. Now listen to this. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, in other words, you can know who God is even though He’s invisible. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, listen, being understood through what has been made. So what Paul is telling us here, beloved, is that we can know who God is when we look in the creation. In other words, when we look up into space and it goes on forever, we realize God is infinite. And when we look at creation, what else can we know about God? Well, you think about what you see oftentimes. If the sun is shining, you see a beautiful blue sky. If you’re in a summer climate or places in the country or the world where it’s always green, you see green on the trees. Oceans, rivers, beloved, beautiful plant life, flowers, blues, purples, yellows, oranges, greens. You see beautiful animals, butterflies, and God’s beauty, beloved, is seen all through his creation. So once again, remember what God told us in the book of Romans. We can know who he is by looking at what he’s made. So one of the things that it sticks out just so powerfully when we look at what God has made is we realize, beloved, that God must be so beautiful if he can make such a beautiful creation with the mountains, beloved, and the waterfalls. He must be such incredibly gorgeous, beautiful. He is. And beloved, this was also part of the clothing that Adam and Eve were wearing in the garden before the fall. And so once again, we’re looking at the fact that God is holy. He’s set apart, completely unique. We look to the fact that He’s just clothed in glory. And also, beloved, that he’s the beautiful, hallelujah, the beautiful God. Bless the name of the Lord. David said in Psalm number 27, verse 4, regarding God’s beauty, these words. One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze, listen now, on the beauty of of the Lord. So these three primary attributes, holiness, glory, and beauty. Now, here’s what you’re going to see. When the Lord redeemed mankind through the blood of the Lamb, He once again clothed man in the attributes that had been lost at the fall. Adam and Eve, when they fell, no longer do they feel glory. No longer do they feel holiness. No longer do they feel beauty. Those garments of the Lord, those spirit garments had been removed. But when the Lord redeemed man through the blood of the lamb, first with the blood of the ancient Passover lamb, he redeemed Israel and said in Exodus 19, 6, that through the blood of the lamb, Israel had been redeemed to the Lord and he had made them, listen now, a kingdom of priests. And then we know the scripture tells us in the book of Revelation, as well as in the book of Peter, that we that have come into a relationship with the true Lamb of God, Yeshua HaMashiach, are now, the Bible says, priests unto our God. And through being redeemed, beloved, by the blood of the Lamb, listen now, and being brought into this priesthood relationship, once again, God, beloved, listen now, has given us back the clothes of holiness, glory and beauty, and we’re going to see that now, you deem, beloved ones, as we study the garments, hallelujah, of the high priest. So, I’m going to be going now to the book of Exodus as we begin today. Exodus chapter number 28, as we begin now our study of the garb of the high priest, and we realize that God has restored unto those that have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, spiritual garments, beloved, of holiness, glory, and beauty. Hear the word of God. You shall make holy garments for Aaron and your brother for glory and for beauty. Hallelujah. So once again, holiness, glory and beauty have come back upon the priest of the Lord, clothed again in spirit. Now, what did Jesus say to his disciples in the book of Luke? In Luke chapter number 24, verse 49, beloved, Yeshua said to his disciples, I want you to go wait in Jerusalem. I’m going to send you the promise of the Spirit. And what did Jesus say? Listen now, and he will clothe you with power from on high. He clothes us, beloved, once again, listen now, with garments of holiness, glory, and beauty from on high from heaven. So I want to consider now each one of these individual garments. We’re going to go through them together. It’s going to really help you, beloved, identify who you are in the Lord, and it’s going to help you, beloved, to walk in a way that’s worthy of your calling. The first thing that I want to talk about, beloved, is the fact that, once again, God has given you these garments. These garments are holy. You know what that means to you? It means that God has set you apart. These were garments that everybody in Israel wasn’t wearing, these beloved. Only the priest was wearing this. This particular one, only the high priest. But listen. The pagans weren’t wearing these priestly garments. The Amorites, the Hittites, the Jesubites, they weren’t wearing the priestly garments. Only, beloved, the priest was wearing the garments. That’s why they’re holy, because they’re set apart. And what this means is, beloved, that God has marked you, beloved, to be set apart. As a priest, you’ve been marked, listen now, to be unique. That’s what holiness means, to be unique and different from the people around you. See, not only were these garments holy, not only were they set apart, but they were also garments, beloved, of glory and beauty. Here’s the issue. If you’re not willing to be different, if you’re not willing to be set apart, then you’re not going to experience the glory and the beauty that go along with these garments. But too many of God’s people, beloved, are not willing, listen now, to take on the garment of holiness. They’re not willing to be unique. They’re not willing to be set apart. They just want to kind of like fit into everybody. They’re one way when they’re worshiping in church, but then when they go back into their workforce, when they go back into their unsaved family, when they go back into talking with their neighbors, no one would even know that they’re different. No one knows that they’re a believer. No one knows that they’re a passionate lover of Jesus because they’re not willing to wear, beloved, the holy garments. They’re not willing to be different. But listen, if we’re willing to take on the yoke of the garments and to be different, and to act different and to be set apart, God is going to begin to pour more of his Holy Spirit upon us and the clothing is going to increase because God gives the Holy Spirit, beloved, to those that obey him. Jesus said to one of the churches in Revelation, you’re poor and naked. I advise you to buy for me garments of white. How do we buy these garments from the Lord? By being obedient to him. You’ve been marked, beloved, for holiness. The priest’s garments are described as holy garments. You are a priest. You’re a holy nation, the scripture says in First Peter, and a royal priesthood. Revelation chapter one, Jesus says he’s purchased us by his own blood to be priests. God’s given you a holy garment. He wants to clothe you in power with the spirit. But you need to be willing to be different and be his. You see, Jesus said in the Gospel of John, if you were of the world, the world would love you. But because you’re not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Jesus said, a servant’s not greater than his master. Beloved, we have to be willing to be like Jesus that was rejected. And if you’re willing to witness for Jesus, to let people know that you love him, to let your light shine before men, to be a priest, beloved, The power of the Holy Spirit is going to come upon you. You’re going to be clothed with holiness, beloved, glory and beauty when you fulfill your call to be a priest. Let’s be willing, beloved, to be holy. Let’s be willing to be unique. Let’s be willing to be different. We’re called out to be different. We’re aliens and pilgrims on this earth. I want to challenge you today. Take a stand for Jesus. Wherever you go, take a stand, be different, be holy, be a priest, and you will be blessed. You know why the Lord asks you and I to tithe? Because when you and I tithe, we open up our hearts to Him, and in so doing, we’re able to receive in an experiential way His love. You see, when we don’t trust God with our finances, what we’re unconsciously doing is agreeing with fear. That’s why most people don’t honor God with their finances, at least significantly. They might tip God, but they don’t really tithe, which is the precedent of the entire Bible, all the new. Why? Because they’re afraid to. They think if I tithe, then I’m going to fall on my face and I can’t really trust God. I want to encourage you, beloved, and I want to encourage myself. Let’s choose faith, not faith. fear. God told us, if you honor me with the first fruit of your wealth, your barn is going to be full. David said, I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. I want to encourage those of you today that love God. Listen, take that next step. If you haven’t already, honor the Lord and trust him with your finances. Be a giver. Jesus said it will come back to you pressed down, good measure and running over into your lap.

SPEAKER 01 : 20:52

Thank you, Rabbi Schneider. And friends, you can join this incredible mission by supporting Discovering the Jewish Jesus with the gift of any amount. Call us at 800-777-7835 or give online. Just visit us at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And As a token of our appreciation for your generosity, we wanna send you Rabbi Schneider’s latest newsletter and his exclusive teaching booklet. Each issue has a devotional and I believe you’ll be blessed by it. And then for those listeners who become a new monthly partner, we’ll send you a special thank you gift, an authentic handcrafted shofar that’s made in Israel. And this instrument, it’s used in scripture as a physical symbol to usher in the presence of God. And we hope that it reminds you that your giving enables us to do the same, to usher in the presence of God. through radio, television, podcast, YouTube, and so many platforms where people are consuming Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Your monthly partnership, it really makes a difference. So if you’d like to partner with us today, visit us online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com Or you can even give by text message. Just type the keyword GIVE to the phone number 88777. And now, here’s Rabbi to share God’s special and sacred blessing with us. I pray that you’re touched and blessed as Rabbi prays these words over you. Rabbi?

SPEAKER 03 : 22:35

The words from the Aaronic Blessing in the book of Numbers chapter 6, verses 22 through 27 say, helps us to realize how good God is to you and I personally. So receive his blessing into your life, and then beloved one, go bless somebody else in Jesus’ name today.

SPEAKER 04 : 22:53

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yissa Yahweh penavei lecha ve’asem lecha. Shalom.

SPEAKER 03 : 23:43

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. God bless you and shalom.

SPEAKER 01 : 24:02

This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus, and I’m Dustin Roberts. Be sure to come back next week when Rabbi Schneider reveals why we are called to be priests. That’s Monday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.