BEING MASTER RETURNERS

CHARLES RAZZELL SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

A LOOK AT YOM KIPPUR

REPENTANCE — ATONEMENT — LIFESTYLEREDEEMED LIVING

DAY OF ATONEMENTTODAY IS YOM KIPPUR

• Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the holiest day of the Jewish high holidays. • God provided Atonement following from 10 days of repentance (teshuvah,

Hebrew: תשובה, literally "return") • Observant Jews are expected to go through 10 days of

• penitence, • introspection • charitable giving

• “May you be inscribed in the book of life.”

(SERIOUS BUSINESS)WHAT JEWS DO ON THIS DAY

• Kol Nidre chanted before sunset on the eve of Yom Kippur (renouncing “all vows”, in the past year and the year to come)

• A 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer

• Most of the day is spent in synagogue services.

(SERIOUS BUSINESS)REGULATIONS FOR OBSERVANCE OF YOM KIPPUR

1. No eating and drinking

2. No wearing of leather shoes

3. No bathing or washing

4. No anointing oneself with perfumes or lotions

5. No marital relations

• Total abstention from food and drink as well as keeping the other traditions begins at sundown, and ends after nightfall the following day.

תשובה

TESHUVAH = TURNING BACK TO GOD, IS A VERB (NOT JUST MENTAL ASSENT)

• Teshuvah = a practical turning away from evil and back to God.

• If repentance is seen as merely “changing you thinking,” you may never make that eighteen inch journey from your head to your heart.

(CHANGING THE CHANNEL)EXAMPLE OF A PRACTICAL “RETURN” FROM MY OWN LIFE

תשובהTESHUVAH = TURNING BACK TO GOD, IS A VERB

• Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. (Isaiah 55:6,7)

• Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. (Matt 3:8)

• Mere mental assent doesn’t cut it!

GOD’S LOVE; OUR RESPONSE

• And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Heb. 11:6)

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— https://jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/issues-v07-n03/teshuvah-repentance-in-the-right-direction/

THE ESSENCE OF TESHUVAH, ACCORDING TO THE INSIGHT WE RECEIVE FROM JESUS, IS IN THE PRODIGAL SON’S STATEMENT: ‘ I WILL GET UP AND GO TO MY FATHER.’ SIN AT ITS ROOT IS OUR ALIENATION FROM GOD. WE CANNOT BY SELF-REFORMATION, REPAIR THE DAMAGE THAT

SIN HAS WROUGHT TO THE DEPTHS OF OUR BEING. BUT TRUE TESHUVAH TURNS US AWAY FROM SELF AND TOWARD THE HOLY ONE.

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— https://jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/issues-v07-n03/teshuvah-repentance-in-the-right-direction/

THE BIBLE SAYS THAT IF WE WILL RECEIVE JESUS, HE WILL COME AND LIVE HIS LIFE IN US AND THROUGH US. THE ONE WHO WAS SINLESS

BECAME OUR KIPPUR (ATONEMENT) SO THAT WE MIGHT SHARE IN HIS LIFE AND DRAW STRENGTH FROM HIM.

WE MUST LEARN TO SAY WITH THE “BAAL-TESHUVAH” (LIT. MASTER OF REPENTANCE) OF JESUS’ PARABLE, “ I WILL ARISE AND GO TO MY

FATHER.”

OUR ATONEMENT / KIPPUR

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2 Corinthians 5:21

OUR ATONEMENT / KIPPUR

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining[b] eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:6-14)

The Blood of Christ

EMPOWERED TO SUBMIT, IN LOVE!CHRISTIAN REPENTANCE LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING

• Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

CAN’T DO THIS WITHOUT DEPENDING ON HIS LIFE IN YOU…THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE

• Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. (Romans: 12:9-13)

CAN’T DO THIS WITHOUT DEPENDING ON HIS LIFE IN YOU…THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE

• Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. (Romans: 12:14-16)

TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON HIM!NOT SELF-POWERED

• I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)

• The trick in life is to keep coming back to him — to become an “master returner”

WHAT TO DO WITH THIS MESSAGE

• Realize that there is no such thing as casual repentance and atonement.

• It has always been at the very core of how God deals with his people.

WHAT TO DO WITH THIS MESSAGE

• Realize that repentance is more than regret; it is a return to the Lord and His ways; it is practical and visible! • The power to truly repent only comes from Christ in you; a transforming work you can’t possibly do for yourself.

WHAT TO DO WITH THIS MESSAGE

• It starts when we say, “I will rise and go to my Father.” • It continues when keep returning (shuv, ׁשּוב) to Him for “more love, more power, more of you in my life.”

• Become a Baal teshuvah — a master of (habitually) returning to God.