We Must Be Circumcised

August 1, 2009 Message: Those who are apart of God's household whether born in (Jews), or bought in (Gentiles) have one prerequiste, "they must be circumcised" (Gen17:13 NIV). But as New Testament Christians, we know this is not a physical circumcision but a spiritual one (Rom 2:28-29). God chose in the Old Testament to define circumcision by making man vulnerable in a sensitive place...in the New Testament the same attributes are transfered to us. A man's foreskin (a fold of skin that covered his penis) was to be cut off, removed and exposed. This was done in private, it was done to the organ through which man physically reproduces and is fruitful, and the change physically is most definitely noticeable. The same goes for us in the New Testament as Christians, to be a descendent of Christ we must have these same attributes of this physical circumcision, if we are to be connected to Jesus. If not, we have broken the covenant with God (Gen 17:14). What is the spiritual reproductive organ of the New Testament? It's our heart, our heart must be circumcised. How is one saved? By believing in his heart and confess with your mouth (Rom 10:9-10). What defiles a man? That which is produced in the heart and comes out of his mouth (Mat 15:18). What is God concerned with in man? His heart for it steers man's actions, emotions, and thoughts (Luk 6:45, 8:15). Thus, our heart is what must be circumcised. We must privately expose ourselves to God, be made vulnerable. Removing quickly, genuinely, and permanently our connections, ways, agreements, with the world. The foreskin of our heart is exactly that. If we truly and completely separate ourselves from those ideas, beliefs, mindsets, lifestyles, opinions then we have been circumcised. But if we keep a few of them or partially separate from them we 1. are not circumcised, 2. are making the procedure more difficult and painful than need be, 3. are holding ourselves back from the promises of God's covenant for those who are circumcised. Let's be circumcised in our heart. Gather the excess skin or mindsets, opinions, ways, connections to the world in your heart and prepare them for a precise cut in your life. One that will allow show you as a descendent of Christ, a cut that will make you vulnerable for a period of time but that will forever signify your connection and devotion to God. For this is not a request, but a requirement..."we must be circumcised." Promise: Those who are circumcised of the heart have stepped into the everlasting covenant God made to Abraham, and they have done it only by the blood Christ bought them with when he died and bleed on the cross. Those circumcised are promised to be known and identified as children of God. A man who is truly circumcised doesn't have to try and explain himself, it's obvious once revealed. If our hearts are circumcised it will be obvious to everyone we share our hearts with if we've been circumcised or not. Commandment: Be circumcised, circumcise all those in your house, and all those in your ministry. If you have uncircumcised followers they must circumcise their hearts, separate themselves from the world and their old lives. This must be done so that God when he looks at your heart can identify you as one of his family. Those with uncircumcised hearts..."will be cut off" and "has broken my covenant' (Gen 17:14). Warning: Circumcision is a must. Christians do not have the option to be circumcised in their heart, God commands it. To not go through this procedure is a choice to not disconnect from the world and to connect to God. If being circumcised in our heart was an option there would be no punishment, but there is a punishment and therefore it most assuredly is a command. Partial obedience is disobedience, so let us make sure we take the time required to get our hearts circumcised. Personal Application: 1. Cut yourself off from your ways that are not like Christ. Anger, selfishness, anxiety, lack of confiedence, doubt and fear. None of those are generated in a relationship with Christ. Each of those are produced when far away from God and disconnected. 2.Be vulnerable, as must as possible, that way you're dependent upon God. Our circumcised heart needs to be cared for so that nothing abnormal would grow on it that shouldn't be there. 3. Use your circumcised heart, be fruitful and multiply, have spiritual babies by pouring our the love God pours into you. Share your faith, your relationship with God with as many people as possible in real everyday relationships and they too will be added to the family of God and they too will be circumcised.

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