Dear Reader, Please read Introduction
before reading Chapter One.
Titus 2:14, "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
Luke 1:17, "And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient
to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
Ephesians 1:5, "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. "
It is obvious from these passages as to why God created man. Man was created
for the glory of God. He was created for the praise of God. He was created
in order that the great heart of God, Who is love, would have a special
object of His care and recipient of His love. God does not want us basically
to save us from Hell, though that is one reason. He does not want us mainly
to give us Heaven, though that is another reason. He does not want us mainly
to give us joy and peace, but that is certainly another reason. God mainly
wants us for Himself, that we may praise Him, adore Him, magnify Him, fellowship
with Him and become the object of His great love. This is why we are commanded
to do everything we do to the glory of God. I Corinthians 10:31, "Whether
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of
God."
One might then ask, "Isn't it wrong to want to receive glory for yourself?"
Yes, it IS wrong for man to desire glory, for man does not deserve glory.
It is not the desire for glory that is wrong; it is the desire for undeserved
glory that is wrong. Hence, it is not wrong for God to want glory for Himself,
for He is deserving of glory.
Then why isn't that the reason that God appeals to us to be saved? Why
doesn't He come to man and say, "I want to be glorified. Would you trust
Me as your Saviour and receive Me as your God because I will get more glory
if you do?" The simple answer is that few would be saved through those
incentives. So God comes to us, offers us peace, joy, Heaven and salvation
from Hell if we will receive Him. When we do receive Him, He then gives
us the Holy Spirit Who leads us to desire to praise God, glorify God, to
fellowship with Him and to be the object and recipient of His great heart
of love.
Now if God does not have us, He is jealous of whatever takes us from
Him. This is the basis of separation. God wants the Christian to be separate
from everything that would take away the purpose of God's creation and
redemption of man. If God doesn't have all of us, He is jealous of what
takes us from Himself. Exodus 20:5, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate Me. " Exodus 34:14, "For thou shalt worship
no other god: for the Lord, Whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." Deuteronomy
4:24, "For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." Deuteronomy
5:9, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I
the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate
Me." Zechariah 1:14, "So the angel that communed with me said unto me,
Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem
and for Zion with a great jealousy." Zechariah 8:2, "Thus saith the Lord
of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous
for her with great fury. " In these and other passages in the Bible we
find that God is a jealous God. At one place, He is named Jealous. We find
in these passages that He is jealous of His people. He is jealous for Jerusalem.
He is jealous for Zion. This means that since God made us for Himself and
redeemed us for Himself, He wants us for Himself and desires that we be
separate from anything that detracts from His praise, from His glory and
from His fellowship with His special creation.
This is the reason God is jealous of and wants us to be separate from
liberal theologians and those professing Christians who do not believe
the verbal inspiration of the Bible, the virgin birth, the perfect life
of Christ, His deity, His vicarious death, His bodily resurrection, His
ascension into Heaven and His second coming to earth. When God's people
fellowship with such doubters, there is a good chance that some seeds of
doubt will be lodged in their hearts. God wants to be praised. Anything
that takes away the deity of Christ could be a barrier between the praise
and glory that God should receive from us. He does not want us to associate
with those who doubt His honesty, His deity and His integrity. Because
of this, He tells us to separate from such people. II Corinthians 6:14-17,
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light
with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath
he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of
God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said,
I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."
You will notice that we are to separate from unbelievers, from darkness,
from Belial, from the unclean. God is not just being "picky"; He wants
us for Himself. He wants the purpose for His creating us and redeeming
us to be fulfilled. Therefore, since this would be hindered by our fellowship
with those things mentioned in the above passage, He wants us separate
from them.
A Christian in bad health cannot praise the Lord as much as a Christian
in good health. This is why He wants us to separate ourselves from things
that would impair our health, thereby limiting our ability to praise Him,
honor Him and glorify Him as we should. God does not tell us to separate
ourselves from unclean things such as strong drink, narcotics (which would
include tobacco and alcohol), etc. just because He wants to restrain us
from a few of His pet peeves; rather, He knows that if we partake of these
things, we will limit our physical and mental ability to fulfill the purpose
for our creation and redemption.
Since man can praise his God better with a sound mind than with one
that is weakened and deadened, He tells us to separate ourselves from those
things that would limit our mental ability to give Him the honor, glory
and praise that He wants and deserves from us.
"But," says someone, "jealousy is wrong, isn't it?" Certainly jealousy
for man is a dangerous thing, but it is not wrong for God. God has a perfect
right to our praise, our glory and our honor, and so the attribute of jealousy
is certainly justifiable for God.
God wants us especially for Himself. Lamentations 3:24, "The Lord is
my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him."
In the time of the patriarchs, the firstborn belonged to God. Later,
God turned to a tribe. Instead of the firstborn being set apart for God's
service, the tribe of Levi was chosen. Numbers 3:12, "And I, behold, I
have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all
the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore
the Levites shall be Mine." The Levites were chosen because of their separation
after the "golden calf' sin. Exodus 32:26-28, "Then Moses stood in the
gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto
me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And
he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his
sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp,
and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every
man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of
Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men."
The Levites were divided into three groups-the Gershonites, the Merarites
and the Kohathites. Basically, the Gershonites were given the responsibility
of transporting the tent and the hangings of the tabernacle as the Jews
traveled from place to place. The Merarites were given the responsibility
of transporting the bars, the boards and the pillars. The Kohathites were
given the responsibility of transporting the furniture. The tribe of Levi
had replaced the firstborn of the patriarchal days, as those given to God
especially for His service.
When the Israelites got to the land of Canaan, the tribe of Levi was
given no inheritance. Numbers 18:20, "And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou
shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part
among them; I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel."
Deuteronomy 10:8, 9, "At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi,
to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to
minister unto Him, and to bless in His name, unto this day. Wherefore Levi
hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance,
according as the Lord thy God promised him." Deuteronomy 18:1, 2, "The
priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor
inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made
by fire, and His inheritance. Therefore shall they have no inheritance
among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance, as He hath said unto
them." Ezekiel 44:27, 28, "And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary,
unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his
sinoffering, saith the Lord God. And it shall be unto them for an inheritance:
I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel:
I am their possession." God told them that He was to be their inheritance.
He was their portion. In other words, God wanted to be all that they needed.
Today all believers have access to the priesthood. God is our portion.
He wants to be all that we need. He wants us to Himself. He wants our praise,
our glory, our honor, our adoration, our devotion and our worship, just
as He wanted to be all that was needed by the Levites.
However, this is not all that God wanted. He not only wanted to be their
inheritance and for Him to be their portion, but He wanted for the Levites
to be His portion. Deuteronomy 32:9, "For the Lord's portion is His people;
Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. " Not only was He all that they needed,
but they were all that He needed. He wanted them separated to Himself so
that they could find their all in Him and He could find His all in them.
Today, through salvation, all believers have access to the priesthood.
I Corinthians 2:5, 9, "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of
men, but in the power of God. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which
God hath prepared for them that love Him. "God wants us to find our all
in Him, and He wants to find His all in us.
In summary, God made us for Himself. He redeemed us for Himself, and
He is jealous of anything that takes us from Him. So He has made "off limits"
for us anything or any person that would hinder the purpose for our creation
and salvation. He did not just arbitrarily sit down and make a list of
things from which He wanted us to be separated, but rather, He listed those
things that would hinder the very purpose for His creation and redemption
of His people. Any personal pleasures that would detract from our purpose
of being, any contact with people who would hinder God's purpose for us,
or any endeavor that would damage our union with Christ for Whom we were
made are out of bounds. He made you for Himself He wants you for Himself,
and He wants you to separate yourself from anything or anybody that would
keep Him from being your portion and keep you from being His.
