Greetings Friends. Let me begin this post by apologizing for a slight disruption to my website due to a hacking issue which has now been resolved by our external web hosting providers. Once again please accept my apology for any inconvenience this may have caused you in any way. Our site is safe and secure to navigate twenty four hours a day and seven days a week. May you always find enlightenment, encouragement, peace, and God’s grace whenever you enter our space and visit with us.

In this issue I am presenting an excerpt from a previous issue that’s relevant for this time just to get the ball rolling, so to speak. It speaks of the subject of peace.  

In Ancient Israel, the people may bring a “peace offering” before the Lord. It was voluntary but full of ritual and meaning. The priest would go through the rigmarole of preparing the offering with the offerer. What was acted out during this sacrifice foretells what the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus would bring in God’s activity with humans. The “peace offering” was also called the “saving offering.” (Keil-Delitzsch Commentary) The animal sacrifice was cut up in portions to be shared by the three parties: God, the priesthood, and the offerer. God’s portion was the fat, considered the best portion of the animal. This was placed on top of the already burning sacrifice. The priest received a specific portion for himself and his family, and the offerer received the remainder.

The burning of the offering on the altar is considered a “sweet aroma” as God consuming a meal and is satisfied. So this sharing of meal between the three parties shows all is at peace and in restful communion. (Lev.3:1-5; 7:11-18) Peace is also signified by “thankfulness” because all parties are filled, contented, assured, and accepted. This is Jesus’ ongoing work as High Priest of making peace between man and God our Father. Recall, no Israelite could offer this or any other of the 5 sacrifices of his own choosing or method, he has no choice but to engage the priesthood (Jesus).

God, foretelling the work He will do through His Son, said, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remember your sins no more. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you” (Isa.43:25; 44:22). Paul, speaking of Jesus’ High Priestly role in heaven, said, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Rom.8:1, 34).

Another aspect of the “peace offering” is that when offered as “thanksgiving” it must be consumed the same day. The rationale seems obvious, this is a ‘completed’ and shared communion meal of thanksgiving, assurance, joy and peace, with God (the Father), the Priest (Jesus), and the Offerer (with Spirit residing in the believer). As you sit with your family for meal this Christmas, reflect on the emblem of the “peace offering” and invite God to be present with you and your loved ones. God has made peace with you and your family through Jesus. This is the essence of Christmas.

May I wish you and your family peace and joy this Christmas season! Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life”** as a  Bulamanriver.*  Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang,  

* Bulamanriver” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website http://bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my book.

** Triune Life: means a life lived according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life man lives in himself. It means God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and walks in you. Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/8036

All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise.