Word Count: 833

Contact Jerry Ousley

Mountains and Men

by Jerry Ousley  
7/22/2011 / Christian Living

About the only mountain climbing I've ever done was to walk the trail up to the observatory in the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. Jeremy was a teenager and Megan about to turn into a teenager when we went. They were both full of energy and practically ran up the inclined road to the top. Deb and I both pushed along but thank the good Lord; the park had the wisdom to carefully place benches along the way. We used those benches; let me tell you we used them well.

By the time we got to the top we were out of breath and worn out. I was certainly glad that the trip back to the car was all downhill! But even then we stopped and rested a couple of times.

In the Book of Galatians 4:22-26 Paul wrote about a mountain comparing it to the bondage man is under without Christ. It says, "For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all." There are a few mountains we need to examine today. The first is the mountain of the law Mount Sinai. God came down from Heaven and rested atop this desert mountain. As the Israeli people camped at the foot Moses climbed to the summit amidst the smoke, fire and lightening. There God gave him the law. However, the law was not what man needed. God gave the law as a measuring stick for the holiness of man. The promise to Israel was that if they fulfilled the law, if they kept it, then they would prosper. They were even told that they would see a time when there would be no poor in the land and they would be completely free from their enemies. The only time they came close to this was under the reign of Solomon. But even Moses, the lawgiver, sinned. There was an incident when the people of Israel needed water. Instead of trusting God they murmured and complained. God told Moses to speak to the rock, but out of anger Moses struck the rock with his rod. Because of this one little sin he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land but could only view it from a close mountain. Israel proved that no one can completely fulfill the law. Sinai represents the mountain of bondage.

Jesus was a mountain man too. In fact He spent a lot of time on mountains. He gave the famous "Sermon on the Mount" as found in Matthew 5 from a mountain. In this sermon He taught the people just how difficult the law really was to fulfill. He defined several of the laws showing how tough they really were.

He was transfigured on a mountain. We read about that incident in Matthew 17. Taking with Him only Peter, James and John, they witnessed His transformation into His full glory and as He stood there radiating in that glory both Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking with Him. We are not told what that conversation was about but it has been rightly taught, I believe, that these two men represented the law and the prophets. Their teaching under the inspiration of God was about keeping the law. Jesus came to fulfill both the law and the prophets.

Then there was the Mount of Olives. Jesus had visited there often but in Matthew 26 we read about His great agonizing prayer just before facing the cross. Here Jesus won the greatest part of that battle by surrendering Himself to God; "Not My will, but Yours be done "

He was taken from there, tried before the Sanhedrin, taken to Pilate, then to Herod and back to Pilate where He was beaten and crucified. He died a horrible death in our place on another mountain Golgotha the place of the skull also called Calvary and He became the sacrifice to free us from the law, sin and death.

Finally again on the Mount of Olives, we read in Acts 1 about His ascension. He completed the work and went to His Father. There is one final mountain that of Mount Zion The New Jerusalem. That is our goal. We can make it because this impossible mountain to reach because of the law, sin and death, was paved with a road straight to the top by Jesus Christ. Accept Him today and start your journey up this mountain. The way is made and we can scale it hand in hand with Jesus.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! Click here and TRUST JESUS NOW

Read more articles by Jerry Ousley

Like reading Christian Articles? Check out some more options. Read articles in Main Site Articles, Most Read Articles or our highly acclaimed Challenge Articles. Read Great New Release Christian Books for FREE in our Free Reads for Reviews Program. Or enter a keyword for a topic in the search box to search our articles.

Enter comments below. Due to spam, all hyperlinks posted in the comments are now immediately disabled by our system.

Please type the following word below:

Not readable? Change text.

The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

Hire a Christian Writer, Christian Writer Wanted, Christian Writer Needed, Christian Content Needed, Find a Christian Editor, Hire a Christian Editor, Christian Editor, Find a Christian Writer