The purpose of all nails is to fasten pieces of material together. Variations in nail size and design make them suited for specific uses. Some of the most common types of nails are common nails, box nails, brad nails, finishing nails, drywall nails, flooring nails, framing nails, siding nails, roofing nails, masonry and concrete nails, and then you have specialty nails. Nail sizes have a specific classification that originated in England. Nails sizes were originally name for how much it would cost to buy 100 of a given size. For example, if 100 nails cost four pence, the nail size was termed "four penny nails." Today, this terminology corresponds with a nail's measurement from the head to the tip of the point. Nail length is still indicated by the letter "d," used to denote "penny."
A nail's "gauge" is a measurement of its diameter and is seen mostly on finishing nails. The higher the number, the thinner the nail is. Nails that are 6-inches and longer are often referred to as spikes. All types of nails consist of a head, shank, and point. Given the differences in size and coatings, there are thousands of varieties of nails.
My late husband Claude, was always telling me stories about when he was a little boy, him and his brother Tracey could build just about anything together. They spent a lot of time building wagons and other things to play with. Then there were times when they were not so focused and when hammering, they would miss the nail and hit their fingers. Memories!
You know nails are to some, is like food, they are very much needed in the society which we live in.
Back in the ancient time, nails were also a part of society. But in Scripture, we don't read about the people using nails to build with, but Scriptures make it plain that Jesus was "nailed to the cross." Praise God for all the things that Jesus did for us. What Jesus did for us, is that He not only was crucified on the cross, but we were freed from the clutches of Satan, although Satan thought that he had gained the victory, when Jesus died on the cross.
Paul, in his epistle to the Colossians goes to great depths to present Christ as the Preeminent. There was serious problems brewing in the church at Colossee. Paul had never visited Colossee and the Book of Colossians are writings from Paul while being in prison in Rome.
Someone had come to Colosse and started teaching an alluring but dangerous philosophy, ultimately known as Gnosticism. The false teachers had infiltrated the Colossian church. The problem was "syncretism," combining ideas from other philosophies and religions, such as paganism, strains of Judaism, and Greek thoughts, mixed with the Christian truth. The resulting heresy later became know as "gnosticism." This false teaching that was assigned to Christ was subordinate to the true Godhead.
There were several philosophies, teaching, heresies and etc., who would cast a shadow on Paul's message, as he went about spreading the Gospel. During Paul's time, in the early church days, the Christian church dealt with many heresies. Heresy in Christianity is a false doctrine. It is any message that replaces or distorts the gospel. They included, but not limited to, "docetism, Montanism, adoptionism, Sabellianism, Arianism, Pelagianism, and gnosticism" (britannica.com). The dominant philosophical traditions at that time were "Stoicism, Platonism, Epicureanism, Pyrrhonism, Hellenistic, and Academic Skepticism" (wikipedia.org). Hellenistic philosophy is reported in the New Testament in Acts 17:18, describing the Apostle Paul's discussions with the Epicureans and Stoics. They were the dominant philosophers in Greek culture.
In Colossians 1:9, Paul says, "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." Listen to me, adhering to just this verse with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding will serve as a warning to those who would seek to lure you into cults and false religion with perverted heresy.
Paul wanted the Colossians to know, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son" (Colossians 1:13). The door of salvation had been open to all of God's people, not just the Israelites. Therefore, by the work of the cross, all believers, "have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14). In verse 14, Paul relates the great plan of redemption which is represented with a streak of blood that flows from Genesis to Revelations, and that the ceremonial rituals and the ecclesiastic worship, pointed to the coming of Christ. His crucifixion was an act of grace, tearing down the wall of petition between God and man, and the races of people. In Paul's words, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinfful nature, God made you alive with Christ" (Acts 2:13).
Paul reminds us, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against you, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross" (Colossians 2:14). The word handwriting means something that was written by the hand. Probably the Mosaic law or the many ordinances or observations in religion. The problem here was that there were others who wanted to put these gentiles under the law, but the dispensation of law had past and now the dispensation of grace was for everyone. Under the Mosaic Law the Israelites' sins were laid bare and the sacrifices that were required of them only covered their sins. The law did not impart life, but death.
Paul clearly reminds us, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3). Why did Jesus do this? "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:4).
Please understand, Satan and his co-harts had attempted to trip up Jesus when He was in the flesh (after His baptism, while spending 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness), and at the cross. Satan finally thought that he had the victory, but it was not to be so. Let me give you the receipts, because Scripture says, "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Colossians 2:15). Genesis 3:15 makes it plain that there would be enmity, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel." So it was, and that battled raged on, but what seemed as defeat was a complete victory.
To further counter the heresy that was presented to these newly converts, from paganism to Christianity, Paul wrote, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days" (Colossians 2:16). Let me break this down for you. DO NOT let no man or woman enslave you by telling you what to wear, what to eat, where you should go and what you can do. When you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you were placed under His grace. Grace is freedom, but it is not a license to sin. Let me make this perfectly clear. Grace is an unmerited gift from God. Every gift you receive from God is grace. The point I am trying to make to you is, you are saved today, "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). There is nothing that you can say or do that will garner your salvation. Salvation is a gift, that is totally free and it can not be earned by works.
Crucifixion was invented by the Persians and it is quite the most painful death ever invented by mankind. It is a form of slow, painful suffering. Its punishment was reserved for slaves, foreigners, revolutionaries, and the vilest of criminals. Jesus was lying down on the ground when they nailed His hands or wrists and feet to the cross. By placing the nails in His wrist, the bones in the lower portion of the hand could support the weight of the arms and the body. The huge nail probably damaged the major nerve to the hand and if that happened it caused some agonizing pain. The guards then lifted Jesus' cross and as they did, His weight pulled down on His nailed wrist and feet, pulling from Psalm 22:14, "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels." Scripture tells us that Jesus spoke seven times while hanging on that cross and finally taking His last breathe he said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:24).
What you need to understand, when Jesus was being nailed to the cross, it was all about the victory, He was never going to be defeated. Satan thought that he had the Savior bound, but NOT so.
When Jesus was being nailed to the cross, they was only blotting out the handwriting and ordinances that was against us. Gentiles are not under the Law. The law was for the Israelites. We are under GRACE. That's victory!
When Jesus was being nailed to the cross, He defeated the sin of the flesh. Satan could no longer hold the debt of sin over God's people. Jesus met the righteous demand of the law. Another victory!
When Jesus was being nailed to the cross, the payment of our sin debt was paid in full. Every sin for every person. "He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken" (Isaiah 25:8). Praise the Lord! Another victory!
When Jesus offered His life for the sins of the world, by being nailed to the cross, the penalty demanded against our sins would first have to be paid. According to the Law of God, the penalty for sin is death. Jesus met all of the demands of God's law for the substitutionary death of the guilty. He offered His life in exchange for ours. By doing this, He successfully completed the plan of salvation for ALL people.
God loves us so much, He could not allow us to be lost. He makes it possible for any one who believes, to be save. He must love us greatly, to go through that horrible suffering. Can you imagine, Jesus leaving His throne in heaven and taking upon Himself our sins, thereby taking away God's wrath that was truly due us? I can't even imagine of what it must have been like for Jesus. He was Perfect. He was sinless. Can you imagine some the most sinful and vile acts people have done in their life? The murders, rapes, tortures, and brutality. You hear about it from your local and national news channels and you read about it from the printed media. Even then it is too horrible to believe that a human could do that to another human being. What did that look and feel like to Jesus, who was God in human form, to become SIN? No, you could never imagine! Thank you, Jesus!
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