Quote:
Originally Posted by NW Pastor
Many traditions have great usefulness and accomplish the purposes of Christ and the church.
We all have traditions to which we adhere that have value. They are handed down by families, churches, political systems, etc...and have served us very well. Traditions can stablize us and provide a sense of connectedness and accountability to something bigger than ourselves.
So, can we really throw out all traditions? The problem is making our traditions God's. They ceace to derive their purpose from their effectivenss and become fixtures of society, family, or the church long after the reason for existance is past.
Knowing which man-made traditions to alter and when is tricky.
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When Moses put a brass serpent on a pole, it had a very valid purpose. But that purpose ended when they left the wilderness. Later in Hezekiah's day we find them burning incence to it. He destroyed it calling it "Nehusten" just a piece of brass. Brass represents "flesh". When traditions no longer serve their God intended purpose, they become just a work of the flesh.
The message of the brass serpent was pointing to Jesus. In fact everything in the OT and the gospels pointed to Jesus and the work of redemption that He did. Now that the real flesh has been lifted up on a pole, all those types and shadows no longer have validity.
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