Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "god-man"
Mount of Transwhat? – Part 1
Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him [Matthew 17:1-3].
In Matthew 17 Jesus took His three closest disciples with Him up an unspecified mountain. While they were there Jesus was transfigured. This is why that location is known as the Mount of Transfiguration.
Today as we walk down the sidewalk, we don’t often hear the kiddies playing while the parents converse about the topic of transfiguration. Be real now. When was the last time the topic came up at a church eat or a ballgame in the park? Just as I thought. Been a while!
But the topic carries the utmost theological significance, so it really should be a popular topic on the web and in the cafés and at the dinner table and on the sidewalks. Today we will initiate a discussion of the topic of transfiguration.
So what does the word transfiguration mean? Matthew 17 is a good place to begin vetting the word. Here are the vital parts to transfiguration:
• His face shone like the sun
• His garments became as white as light
• Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him
Yes, that last point is vital to a correct understanding of the concept behind the word transfiguration. Here’s why. In prior posts we’ve expatiated on the two natures of Jesus Christ. He is both God and man. He is fully God and fully man simultaneously.
He has always been the Son of God, existing with and being equal to God through all eternity. At approximately 3 B.C. He willingly was conceived in the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, in order to take upon Himself real and full humanity, a human body of like nature as all of ours, the sin nature excepted.
Nine months later he was born with a real human body and spent his twenty years growing into Jewish manhood. Thenceforth from 3 B.C. onward through all eternity He is fully God and fully man. In this way He is capable of bringing sinful man back into right relationship with the thrice holy God.
Now consider the transfiguration, dear friends. Jesus—remember, fully God and fully man simultaneously—ascended this mountain with Peter and James and John. Each day the three disciples walked with and talked with and beheld with their eyes Jesus the man, Jesus in human flesh. Suddenly they saw Him radiate the brightness of the sun. Even His clothing glowed pure white. Ergo, they caught a glimpse of Jesus’ deity, Jesus the Son of God.
The tabernacle built at Mt. Sinai housed the Shekinah cloud of glory. The Shekinah was perched atop the mercy seat inside the Holy of holies compartment of the tabernacle. The Shekinah appeared as a gigantic mushroom CLOUD during the daytime, but it resembled a pillar of FIRE during the nighttime. God is light, bright light, very bright light—no, even brighter than that! In the appearance of the Shekinah, God dwelt inside the tabernacle in the midst of the camp of Israel and shone out of it as the brightest of lights. The tabernacle was a tent structure.
Jesus’ human body served as the tent, the tabernacle in which God dwelt among men while He walked the earth back in the day. His flesh served as the tent fabric. Atop the mountain Jesus the Divine shone ever so brightly, like the Shekinah did from inside the tabernacle. By this picture story Jesus revealed to His three closest disciples both His humanity and His divinity simultaneously.
We will continue with this topic in our next post. For now why not join me for some quiet time with the Lord Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
In Matthew 17 Jesus took His three closest disciples with Him up an unspecified mountain. While they were there Jesus was transfigured. This is why that location is known as the Mount of Transfiguration.
Today as we walk down the sidewalk, we don’t often hear the kiddies playing while the parents converse about the topic of transfiguration. Be real now. When was the last time the topic came up at a church eat or a ballgame in the park? Just as I thought. Been a while!
But the topic carries the utmost theological significance, so it really should be a popular topic on the web and in the cafés and at the dinner table and on the sidewalks. Today we will initiate a discussion of the topic of transfiguration.
So what does the word transfiguration mean? Matthew 17 is a good place to begin vetting the word. Here are the vital parts to transfiguration:
• His face shone like the sun
• His garments became as white as light
• Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him
Yes, that last point is vital to a correct understanding of the concept behind the word transfiguration. Here’s why. In prior posts we’ve expatiated on the two natures of Jesus Christ. He is both God and man. He is fully God and fully man simultaneously.
He has always been the Son of God, existing with and being equal to God through all eternity. At approximately 3 B.C. He willingly was conceived in the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, in order to take upon Himself real and full humanity, a human body of like nature as all of ours, the sin nature excepted.
Nine months later he was born with a real human body and spent his twenty years growing into Jewish manhood. Thenceforth from 3 B.C. onward through all eternity He is fully God and fully man. In this way He is capable of bringing sinful man back into right relationship with the thrice holy God.
Now consider the transfiguration, dear friends. Jesus—remember, fully God and fully man simultaneously—ascended this mountain with Peter and James and John. Each day the three disciples walked with and talked with and beheld with their eyes Jesus the man, Jesus in human flesh. Suddenly they saw Him radiate the brightness of the sun. Even His clothing glowed pure white. Ergo, they caught a glimpse of Jesus’ deity, Jesus the Son of God.
The tabernacle built at Mt. Sinai housed the Shekinah cloud of glory. The Shekinah was perched atop the mercy seat inside the Holy of holies compartment of the tabernacle. The Shekinah appeared as a gigantic mushroom CLOUD during the daytime, but it resembled a pillar of FIRE during the nighttime. God is light, bright light, very bright light—no, even brighter than that! In the appearance of the Shekinah, God dwelt inside the tabernacle in the midst of the camp of Israel and shone out of it as the brightest of lights. The tabernacle was a tent structure.
Jesus’ human body served as the tent, the tabernacle in which God dwelt among men while He walked the earth back in the day. His flesh served as the tent fabric. Atop the mountain Jesus the Divine shone ever so brightly, like the Shekinah did from inside the tabernacle. By this picture story Jesus revealed to His three closest disciples both His humanity and His divinity simultaneously.
We will continue with this topic in our next post. For now why not join me for some quiet time with the Lord Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Mount of Transwhat? – Part 2
Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him [Matthew 17:1-3].
This is the deepest of theological instruction, my friends. The message of 1 John is that anyone who denies that Jesus has come in the flesh does not belong to Jesus. 1 John also preaches that anyone who denies the Son does not belong to Jesus. Jesus in the flesh bespeaks Him being truly and fully human. Jesus the Son of God bespeaks Him being truly and fully God.
In other words we cannot dismiss or reject the two natures of Jesus and receive Him as our Savior. If we deny His Person, whatever we are believing in is not the true Jesus. Both natures are necessary for our salvation, so we must receive the real Jesus in His fullness. Let us be very clear about this doctrine. It is indispensable to the Christian faith, to the faith of any true Christian regardless of denominational bent or bias.
Oh, but what about the third point, you know, Moses and Elijah appearing and speaking with Jesus? It’s like this. Moses was the Lord’s prophet to bring the Law to Israel. Elijah was the Lord’s prophet to bring Israel back to the Law. Israel had fallen into pagan idolatry and then added Baal worship to her pantheon of gods. Elijah at God’s behest went to war against the false gods, in order to bring the Israelites back to the worship of the one true God, the Lord (aka Yahweh).
The eternal Son of God took upon true human flesh and bore the name Jesus, in order to bring grace to the Israelites, and through them to the Gentiles too. Grace triumphs over Law any day of the week, dear friends. Moses the man and Elijah the man could not save anybody, just as the Law never could. Jesus the God-man can and does save anyone who will call upon Him. Still, it’s not by Law He does this but by grace.
When Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus, it revealed the truth of the resurrection and life after death. After all, they were still alive and talking with Jesus centuries after they left this earth! Moses did die physically, but he still lives in eternity. Elijah was raptured to heaven and never did die physically, and he is still alive in eternity.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 the Holy Spirit taught about what will transpire at the rapture of the Church. The Christians who have already died will rise first—Moses served as a type of this group. After them the Christians who are still alive physically will follow them—Elijah served as a type of this group. But where will we all go? To meet the Lord in the air, that’s where! And guess what the Lord will look like then? Well, He will be the resurrected Christ, so His body will shine like the sun and His clothing will glow pure white.
So what does this remind you of? Hmm. That’s a toughie. Let’s see… No, that isn’t it. Maybe… Nah, not that either. Oh, I got it! It’s the antitype of the transfiguration. Moses represented the dead Christians and Elijah the living Christians. Jesus represented, well, the living, resurrected Lord God because He is the living God.
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die [John 11:25-26]. Jesus classified the believers as those who died and those who still lived. This is in accord with 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17—there is Jesus, and there are the believers who have died at the time Jesus returns in the clouds, and there are the believers who are still alive at the time Jesus returns in the clouds.
Now keep that context in mind, as we return to the secene on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus ascended a high mountain, which symbolized Him as being high above the earth, aka in the clouds. Jesus is the resurrection. Moses and Elijah came to Him as he was “in the clouds”, and they symbolized the dead in Christ and those in Christ who are still alive. Jesus’ transfiguration was a picture story which revealed the truth of the rapture. This is Biblical typology, dear friends. It employs visible, physical realities to teach invisible spiritual truths.
All hail, King Jesus! May we all bow before you and acclaim you as our personal Lord and Savior. Be Lord of my life, I pray. Amen.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
This is the deepest of theological instruction, my friends. The message of 1 John is that anyone who denies that Jesus has come in the flesh does not belong to Jesus. 1 John also preaches that anyone who denies the Son does not belong to Jesus. Jesus in the flesh bespeaks Him being truly and fully human. Jesus the Son of God bespeaks Him being truly and fully God.
In other words we cannot dismiss or reject the two natures of Jesus and receive Him as our Savior. If we deny His Person, whatever we are believing in is not the true Jesus. Both natures are necessary for our salvation, so we must receive the real Jesus in His fullness. Let us be very clear about this doctrine. It is indispensable to the Christian faith, to the faith of any true Christian regardless of denominational bent or bias.
Oh, but what about the third point, you know, Moses and Elijah appearing and speaking with Jesus? It’s like this. Moses was the Lord’s prophet to bring the Law to Israel. Elijah was the Lord’s prophet to bring Israel back to the Law. Israel had fallen into pagan idolatry and then added Baal worship to her pantheon of gods. Elijah at God’s behest went to war against the false gods, in order to bring the Israelites back to the worship of the one true God, the Lord (aka Yahweh).
The eternal Son of God took upon true human flesh and bore the name Jesus, in order to bring grace to the Israelites, and through them to the Gentiles too. Grace triumphs over Law any day of the week, dear friends. Moses the man and Elijah the man could not save anybody, just as the Law never could. Jesus the God-man can and does save anyone who will call upon Him. Still, it’s not by Law He does this but by grace.
When Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus, it revealed the truth of the resurrection and life after death. After all, they were still alive and talking with Jesus centuries after they left this earth! Moses did die physically, but he still lives in eternity. Elijah was raptured to heaven and never did die physically, and he is still alive in eternity.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 the Holy Spirit taught about what will transpire at the rapture of the Church. The Christians who have already died will rise first—Moses served as a type of this group. After them the Christians who are still alive physically will follow them—Elijah served as a type of this group. But where will we all go? To meet the Lord in the air, that’s where! And guess what the Lord will look like then? Well, He will be the resurrected Christ, so His body will shine like the sun and His clothing will glow pure white.
So what does this remind you of? Hmm. That’s a toughie. Let’s see… No, that isn’t it. Maybe… Nah, not that either. Oh, I got it! It’s the antitype of the transfiguration. Moses represented the dead Christians and Elijah the living Christians. Jesus represented, well, the living, resurrected Lord God because He is the living God.
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die [John 11:25-26]. Jesus classified the believers as those who died and those who still lived. This is in accord with 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17—there is Jesus, and there are the believers who have died at the time Jesus returns in the clouds, and there are the believers who are still alive at the time Jesus returns in the clouds.
Now keep that context in mind, as we return to the secene on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus ascended a high mountain, which symbolized Him as being high above the earth, aka in the clouds. Jesus is the resurrection. Moses and Elijah came to Him as he was “in the clouds”, and they symbolized the dead in Christ and those in Christ who are still alive. Jesus’ transfiguration was a picture story which revealed the truth of the rapture. This is Biblical typology, dear friends. It employs visible, physical realities to teach invisible spiritual truths.
All hail, King Jesus! May we all bow before you and acclaim you as our personal Lord and Savior. Be Lord of my life, I pray. Amen.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Jacob’s Ladder and a Carpenter
Jesus answered and said to (Nathanael), “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” [John 1:50-51]
Jacob was the son of Isaac. He had an older twin brother named Esau—older, that is, by a matter of jinutes, and that’s quicker than a minute. Esau was a jovial sort of gregarious guy, like a modern-day jock whom everybody likes. Trouble was, Esau couldn’t care less about the things of God. He despised God’s covenant, demonstrating himself to be a godless man.
Esau was the natural firstborn, which entitled him to the birthright (i.e., headship of the family after Isaac died) and the blessing (i.e., the double portion, or twice amount of family wealth the other son(s) received as their inheritance. Here’s the thing: the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, which was handed down to Isaac by the Lord’s sovereign choice. Then the Lord decided to continue the Abrahamic Covenant through Jacob and his lineage, rather than through Esau.
So the Lord considered Jacob to hold the position of firstborn. This family, you see, was not the normal everyday run-of-the-mill family. In the natural world the son born first was entitled to the rights of the firstborn. In the world of covenant the Lord doesn’t follow the natural order. He changes things around to show that no one belongs to Him by natural birth. We must be born again.
Anyway, Esau decided to kill Jacob because he didn’t like Jacob receiving the rights of the firstborn. So Isaac dispatched Jacob far away to Uncle Laban’s house to stay awhile. On the first night of his trip to Uncle Laban’s, Jacob stopped at Bethel to sleep along the road. Here’s what happened when he went to sleep:
He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it [Genesis 28:12].
There we have the description of Jacob’s Ladder. Let’s fast forward now to circa 27 A.D. and pick up the story about Jacob’s Ladder in the hands of a Carpenter from Nazareth. Oh, by the way, the Carpenter’s name was Jesus. We began this study with a quote from Carpenter Jesus about Jacob’s Ladder. But there was one significant difference between the Genesis account and Jesus’ telling of the story. Did you catch it?
Jacob’s Ladder was an actual ladder which connected heaven and earth. On Jacob’s Ladder the angels went back and forth between heaven and earth. But that’s not what Jesus told us, is it? No, it’s not. According to Jesus the angels did not go back and forth between heaven and earth on a ladder. They did so on the Son of Man. Carpenter Jesus is the Son of Man. He is Jacob’s Ladder.
The eternal Son of God took upon human flesh, sinless to be sure but nonetheless real humanity. He did so approximately 3 B.C. as the God-man Jesus Christ. The purpose for Him doing so was to reunite sinful man with a thrice holy God. God created man without sin and in fellowship with Him, but man sinned and lost his relationship with the Lord. In order to bring man back to God, the penalty for man’s sins first had to be paid, and then man needed to have a new nature which wanted to be in relationship with the Lord, a nature which no longer wanted to sin.
The eternal Son of God became man in order to pay the penalty for man’s sins by dying on the cross. He rose again out of death the third day in order to provide man with a new resurrection nature, God’s own nature within man. This provision is available to any person who will take the Word of God at face value and ask Him for it (Biblical faith).
Yes, the God-man Jesus Christ, Carpenter Jesus, is the antitype of Jacob’s Ladder (the type). He reunites God and man in Himself. Isn’t that glorious? The Lord be praised! Let’s go to Him now and receive the blessings of His presence, shall we? We’ll have a grand old time.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Jacob was the son of Isaac. He had an older twin brother named Esau—older, that is, by a matter of jinutes, and that’s quicker than a minute. Esau was a jovial sort of gregarious guy, like a modern-day jock whom everybody likes. Trouble was, Esau couldn’t care less about the things of God. He despised God’s covenant, demonstrating himself to be a godless man.
Esau was the natural firstborn, which entitled him to the birthright (i.e., headship of the family after Isaac died) and the blessing (i.e., the double portion, or twice amount of family wealth the other son(s) received as their inheritance. Here’s the thing: the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, which was handed down to Isaac by the Lord’s sovereign choice. Then the Lord decided to continue the Abrahamic Covenant through Jacob and his lineage, rather than through Esau.
So the Lord considered Jacob to hold the position of firstborn. This family, you see, was not the normal everyday run-of-the-mill family. In the natural world the son born first was entitled to the rights of the firstborn. In the world of covenant the Lord doesn’t follow the natural order. He changes things around to show that no one belongs to Him by natural birth. We must be born again.
Anyway, Esau decided to kill Jacob because he didn’t like Jacob receiving the rights of the firstborn. So Isaac dispatched Jacob far away to Uncle Laban’s house to stay awhile. On the first night of his trip to Uncle Laban’s, Jacob stopped at Bethel to sleep along the road. Here’s what happened when he went to sleep:
He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it [Genesis 28:12].
There we have the description of Jacob’s Ladder. Let’s fast forward now to circa 27 A.D. and pick up the story about Jacob’s Ladder in the hands of a Carpenter from Nazareth. Oh, by the way, the Carpenter’s name was Jesus. We began this study with a quote from Carpenter Jesus about Jacob’s Ladder. But there was one significant difference between the Genesis account and Jesus’ telling of the story. Did you catch it?
Jacob’s Ladder was an actual ladder which connected heaven and earth. On Jacob’s Ladder the angels went back and forth between heaven and earth. But that’s not what Jesus told us, is it? No, it’s not. According to Jesus the angels did not go back and forth between heaven and earth on a ladder. They did so on the Son of Man. Carpenter Jesus is the Son of Man. He is Jacob’s Ladder.
The eternal Son of God took upon human flesh, sinless to be sure but nonetheless real humanity. He did so approximately 3 B.C. as the God-man Jesus Christ. The purpose for Him doing so was to reunite sinful man with a thrice holy God. God created man without sin and in fellowship with Him, but man sinned and lost his relationship with the Lord. In order to bring man back to God, the penalty for man’s sins first had to be paid, and then man needed to have a new nature which wanted to be in relationship with the Lord, a nature which no longer wanted to sin.
The eternal Son of God became man in order to pay the penalty for man’s sins by dying on the cross. He rose again out of death the third day in order to provide man with a new resurrection nature, God’s own nature within man. This provision is available to any person who will take the Word of God at face value and ask Him for it (Biblical faith).
Yes, the God-man Jesus Christ, Carpenter Jesus, is the antitype of Jacob’s Ladder (the type). He reunites God and man in Himself. Isn’t that glorious? The Lord be praised! Let’s go to Him now and receive the blessings of His presence, shall we? We’ll have a grand old time.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Gnosis, Moses, or Gospel? – Part 1
If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees?...These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence [Colossians 2:20, 23].
When I was a boy I played games with the other kids. During school recess we played ball outside. After school we played soldiers with toy guns, or Zorro with sticks for swords. We were serious, mind you. We gave it our best effort at fighting the war or jabbing with the stick sword. But we weren’t really soldiers or Zorro. Nor were we NBA or NFL or MLB stars.
There is a point to this glance in the rear view mirror of life, dear friends. Reality is, well, real. Good intentions and sincerity doth not reality make. If I’m not Zorro, try and try as I might, all the swords in the world won’t make it so, not matter how sincere I might be about it. Fact of the matter is, the more sincere I am about being Zorro, the more self-delusional I demonstrate myself to be. And that’s not a good thing!
We folks in the churches are sincere, very sincere, no, even more sincere than that! We have good intentions too, let me tell you. But you know, all is to no avail in being right with God, if good intentions and sincerity are our guiding light. It is like playing church, just as surely as I sincerely played Zorro with a stick sword back in the day.
In the 1st Century A.D. there was this spiritual movement afoot in the Roman Empire. It seems to have been strongest in the area of what is now Turkey. The city of Colosse was located there. At the time this area was known as Asia, a part of the Roman Empire.
Anyway, this spiritual movement wore the epithet “Gnosticism”. I won’t bore you with a detailed explanation of its tenets. For our purposes in this study, suffice it to say that the Gnosticism believed matter was fundamentally evil, while pure spirit alone was good or holy.
In the context of Christianity this denounced the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christianity’s fundamental tenet is that the Son of God took upon true humanity circa 3 B.C. The Son of God is by definition God, and God is spirit. True humanity is by definition flesh, which is matter. Ergo, Jesus is the God-man, both God and man simultaneously.
Such a tenet goes counter to the tenets of Gnosticism because matter (which is good) cannot mix with spirit (which is bad). Accordingly Gnostics denied that Jesus is both God and man.
Some said Jesus wasn’t really a man at all, but as the Son of God He simply took on the appearance of a man. Others claimed Jesus wasn’t really God but only some angel-being distantly removed from God. This angel-being possessed Jesus for a while and performed the miracles. When Jesus went to the cross, the angel-being left Jesus, who was really only a man.
Oh, but we’re out of time already. Shucks. I am really having fun. Oh, well. We’ll return to this subject tomorrow. For today let’s enjoy time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
When I was a boy I played games with the other kids. During school recess we played ball outside. After school we played soldiers with toy guns, or Zorro with sticks for swords. We were serious, mind you. We gave it our best effort at fighting the war or jabbing with the stick sword. But we weren’t really soldiers or Zorro. Nor were we NBA or NFL or MLB stars.
There is a point to this glance in the rear view mirror of life, dear friends. Reality is, well, real. Good intentions and sincerity doth not reality make. If I’m not Zorro, try and try as I might, all the swords in the world won’t make it so, not matter how sincere I might be about it. Fact of the matter is, the more sincere I am about being Zorro, the more self-delusional I demonstrate myself to be. And that’s not a good thing!
We folks in the churches are sincere, very sincere, no, even more sincere than that! We have good intentions too, let me tell you. But you know, all is to no avail in being right with God, if good intentions and sincerity are our guiding light. It is like playing church, just as surely as I sincerely played Zorro with a stick sword back in the day.
In the 1st Century A.D. there was this spiritual movement afoot in the Roman Empire. It seems to have been strongest in the area of what is now Turkey. The city of Colosse was located there. At the time this area was known as Asia, a part of the Roman Empire.
Anyway, this spiritual movement wore the epithet “Gnosticism”. I won’t bore you with a detailed explanation of its tenets. For our purposes in this study, suffice it to say that the Gnosticism believed matter was fundamentally evil, while pure spirit alone was good or holy.
In the context of Christianity this denounced the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christianity’s fundamental tenet is that the Son of God took upon true humanity circa 3 B.C. The Son of God is by definition God, and God is spirit. True humanity is by definition flesh, which is matter. Ergo, Jesus is the God-man, both God and man simultaneously.
Such a tenet goes counter to the tenets of Gnosticism because matter (which is good) cannot mix with spirit (which is bad). Accordingly Gnostics denied that Jesus is both God and man.
Some said Jesus wasn’t really a man at all, but as the Son of God He simply took on the appearance of a man. Others claimed Jesus wasn’t really God but only some angel-being distantly removed from God. This angel-being possessed Jesus for a while and performed the miracles. When Jesus went to the cross, the angel-being left Jesus, who was really only a man.
Oh, but we’re out of time already. Shucks. I am really having fun. Oh, well. We’ll return to this subject tomorrow. For today let’s enjoy time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Gnosis, Moses, or Gospel? – Part 2
If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees?...These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence [Colossians 2:20, 23].
The Christians of the city of Colosse were surrounded by a belief system known as “Gnosticism”. Gnosticism’s tenets included belief that matter is inherently evil, while only spirit is good. This tenet perforce rejects the Gospel of Jesus Christ because Jesus is the God-man, both God (spirit) and man (matter) in one Person.
Once the Gospel of Jesus Christ is eliminated from consideration, all that’s left is some form of religion. The difference between religion and the Gospel is that religion promotes good works in order to be saved, while the Gospel insists on the grace of God as the only way to be saved.
The word “grace” means that God did the works on man’s behalf, and man is to believe God’s Word about this and by faith accept God’s free offer of salvation. God’s grace comes via the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was why the Son of God took upon true humanity in the first place, viz., in order to die to pay the penalty for man’s sins and be able to offer man this paid-in-full blessing free of charge (i.e., grace).
Whereas Gnosticism denied that Jesus is the God-man, they rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This left them with religion, some rules and regulations which their devotees were obligated to obey in order to be good and holy and acceptable to God. Gnosticism was rampant in the Roman Empire’s Asia (i.e., Turkey or Asia Minor of today). Colosse was located there. Ergo, Colosse was infested with Gnostics.
When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Christians of Colosse (i.e., the Colossians), it was to address the system of works which the Gnostics promoted, so the Colossian Christians wouldn’t fall into the quagmire of gnostic beliefs. Evidently they were doing so and Paul wanted to steer them straight with regard to the Gospel.
Paul lumped the entire gnostic set of beliefs into one bag and labeled it “the elementary principles of the world”. It could not be otherwise. In the Bible the phrase “the world” is employed to refer to peoples and nations in opposition to God. The world stands in stark contrast to God and His Word. The world shakes the fist at God and says, “We won’t have this man to rule over us!” Jesus the Son of God is the man the world refuses to submit to.
Hence “the elementary principles of the world” by definition have nothing to do with God’s grace. This leaves the world’s people with only religion, and religion always promotes a set of good works to follow. The specific good works, the specific rules and regulations to obey, depends on which religion one belongs to.
Before going any further, permit me to note that the name Gnosticism comes from the Greek word “gnosis”, which means “knowledge”. Also, there was not just one set of beliefs with Gnosticism. Several schools of thought made up Gnosticism.
We will conclude this study on the morrow. We still have time to meet with Jesus before bed however. Let’s do so, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The Christians of the city of Colosse were surrounded by a belief system known as “Gnosticism”. Gnosticism’s tenets included belief that matter is inherently evil, while only spirit is good. This tenet perforce rejects the Gospel of Jesus Christ because Jesus is the God-man, both God (spirit) and man (matter) in one Person.
Once the Gospel of Jesus Christ is eliminated from consideration, all that’s left is some form of religion. The difference between religion and the Gospel is that religion promotes good works in order to be saved, while the Gospel insists on the grace of God as the only way to be saved.
The word “grace” means that God did the works on man’s behalf, and man is to believe God’s Word about this and by faith accept God’s free offer of salvation. God’s grace comes via the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was why the Son of God took upon true humanity in the first place, viz., in order to die to pay the penalty for man’s sins and be able to offer man this paid-in-full blessing free of charge (i.e., grace).
Whereas Gnosticism denied that Jesus is the God-man, they rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This left them with religion, some rules and regulations which their devotees were obligated to obey in order to be good and holy and acceptable to God. Gnosticism was rampant in the Roman Empire’s Asia (i.e., Turkey or Asia Minor of today). Colosse was located there. Ergo, Colosse was infested with Gnostics.
When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Christians of Colosse (i.e., the Colossians), it was to address the system of works which the Gnostics promoted, so the Colossian Christians wouldn’t fall into the quagmire of gnostic beliefs. Evidently they were doing so and Paul wanted to steer them straight with regard to the Gospel.
Paul lumped the entire gnostic set of beliefs into one bag and labeled it “the elementary principles of the world”. It could not be otherwise. In the Bible the phrase “the world” is employed to refer to peoples and nations in opposition to God. The world stands in stark contrast to God and His Word. The world shakes the fist at God and says, “We won’t have this man to rule over us!” Jesus the Son of God is the man the world refuses to submit to.
Hence “the elementary principles of the world” by definition have nothing to do with God’s grace. This leaves the world’s people with only religion, and religion always promotes a set of good works to follow. The specific good works, the specific rules and regulations to obey, depends on which religion one belongs to.
Before going any further, permit me to note that the name Gnosticism comes from the Greek word “gnosis”, which means “knowledge”. Also, there was not just one set of beliefs with Gnosticism. Several schools of thought made up Gnosticism.
We will conclude this study on the morrow. We still have time to meet with Jesus before bed however. Let’s do so, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Gnosis, Moses, or Gospel? – Part 3
If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees?...These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence [Colossians 2:20, 23].
Listen to how Paul in our text for this study depicted the world religious systems known as Gnosticism.
1. self-made religion
2. self-abasement
3. severe treatment of the body
I ask you, does that not sound like monks in a monastery? Indeed it does! Once man rejects God’s Word, all he has left vis-à-vis spiritual understanding is “religion”. Religion is any collection of beliefs about how to know God and relate to Him.
By definition any religion is “self-made”, aka man-made. Only God knows God. Man can only know and relate to God based on God’s Word. In His Word God instructs man about Himself and eternity and His requirements. Once man rejects this instruction, all he has left is his own imagination. Religion by definition is “self-made” or “man-made”.
In order to feel that he is basically “good”, man via his religion abases himself. The monks in a monastery hide from the wicked world behind walls of seclusion. They flagellate themselves to beat the wicked flesh into submission and make themselves behave according to the rules and regulations of their man-made religion. As Paul noted, this is “self-abasement” and “severe treatment of the body”.
Trouble is, it is nothing more than “will worship”. Man of his own will determined these rules and regulations. God didn’t. Ergo, by means of religion man worships his own will, not God. Man’s rgood works don’t satisfy God in any way. They only serve to convince man that he really isn’t so bad after all, and so God must be pleased with him.
The result of religion is that man becomes convinced God is pleased with him, while all along God most definitely is not! Hence religion serves to stupefy man, so that he never goes to God to get right with Him. Getting right with God requires the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not religion. It requires God’s grace, not man’s good works.
Listen to Paul’s summation of Gnosticism specifically, and of religious good works in general:
• have…the appearance of wisdom
• are of no value against fleshly indulgence
See, the trouble with monkery in a monastery is that the evils of the world stem from the sin in man. Hide as we might behind monastery walls, we cannot escape ourselves. We might keep the rest of the world out, but we are still inside and sin in us is present.
Sin inside man is his natural condition, his nature. Flogging the outer body does nothing to the inner man…except stupefy him into thinking he is now okay with God since he whipped his poor aching flesh! Such self-styled good works “have the appearance of wisdom”, you see, but they “are of no value against fleshly indulgence”.
Do you get it? How much gnostic blood runs through our veins today? How much of church attendance is composed of “the appearance of wisdom”, while the sin nature (“fleshly indulgence”) runs amuck in our lives. Not to worry though, since we have been stupefied by our self-made religious rites into thinking all is well with God!
Nay, nay, kind Christians. Let us flee religion and betake ourselves to the true City of Refuge, aka the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way to the Father. Religion is always a false route to take to God.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Listen to how Paul in our text for this study depicted the world religious systems known as Gnosticism.
1. self-made religion
2. self-abasement
3. severe treatment of the body
I ask you, does that not sound like monks in a monastery? Indeed it does! Once man rejects God’s Word, all he has left vis-à-vis spiritual understanding is “religion”. Religion is any collection of beliefs about how to know God and relate to Him.
By definition any religion is “self-made”, aka man-made. Only God knows God. Man can only know and relate to God based on God’s Word. In His Word God instructs man about Himself and eternity and His requirements. Once man rejects this instruction, all he has left is his own imagination. Religion by definition is “self-made” or “man-made”.
In order to feel that he is basically “good”, man via his religion abases himself. The monks in a monastery hide from the wicked world behind walls of seclusion. They flagellate themselves to beat the wicked flesh into submission and make themselves behave according to the rules and regulations of their man-made religion. As Paul noted, this is “self-abasement” and “severe treatment of the body”.
Trouble is, it is nothing more than “will worship”. Man of his own will determined these rules and regulations. God didn’t. Ergo, by means of religion man worships his own will, not God. Man’s rgood works don’t satisfy God in any way. They only serve to convince man that he really isn’t so bad after all, and so God must be pleased with him.
The result of religion is that man becomes convinced God is pleased with him, while all along God most definitely is not! Hence religion serves to stupefy man, so that he never goes to God to get right with Him. Getting right with God requires the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not religion. It requires God’s grace, not man’s good works.
Listen to Paul’s summation of Gnosticism specifically, and of religious good works in general:
• have…the appearance of wisdom
• are of no value against fleshly indulgence
See, the trouble with monkery in a monastery is that the evils of the world stem from the sin in man. Hide as we might behind monastery walls, we cannot escape ourselves. We might keep the rest of the world out, but we are still inside and sin in us is present.
Sin inside man is his natural condition, his nature. Flogging the outer body does nothing to the inner man…except stupefy him into thinking he is now okay with God since he whipped his poor aching flesh! Such self-styled good works “have the appearance of wisdom”, you see, but they “are of no value against fleshly indulgence”.
Do you get it? How much gnostic blood runs through our veins today? How much of church attendance is composed of “the appearance of wisdom”, while the sin nature (“fleshly indulgence”) runs amuck in our lives. Not to worry though, since we have been stupefied by our self-made religious rites into thinking all is well with God!
Nay, nay, kind Christians. Let us flee religion and betake ourselves to the true City of Refuge, aka the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way to the Father. Religion is always a false route to take to God.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Curtain of Eternity – Part 1
(God) who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel [2 Timothy 1:9-10].
What is the difference between time and eternity? That is the question I pose to you today. Any takers? Raise your hand high now. I wouldn’t want to miss any volunteers.
Didn’t think so. The question is a bit difficult for our finite minds to grasp, wouldn’t you agree? What do we have on which to base our estimation of eternity? The usual understanding is that time comes to an end but eternity goes on forever. You think?
Such an understanding of eternity is faulty through and through, dear friends, if for no other reason than the concept defines eternity in terms of time. If anything, it should be reversed. We would better define a glass of water in terms of the ocean, than the ocean in terms of a glass of water!
We might express the first concept by the phrase “eternal time”, an oxymoron par excellence if ever there was one. It is the stuff which makes up stuff and nonsense! On the other hand the phrase “timeless eternity” has a good deal of sense to it. Eternity is timeless, eternity is not time unlimited. We cannot define eternity in terms of time.
And therein lies the unresolved dilemma we puny humans have, when it comes time to understanding God and the things of eternity. We are creatures of time, space, and matter. We were created to exist in time, and we have always existed in time. Indeed until the day we pass from time into eternity, we haven’t a clue as to what it entails.
In 1 Timothy 1 the Apostle Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to intimate the duality which exists between time and eternity. It is an unfathomable mystery of the Bible, but it nonetheless exists. The Holy Spirit is God. He exists in eternity. He created it! He understands it, so He can explain it.
The trouble isn’t whether or not the Holy Spirit can explain eternity. The trouble lies in man’s inability to understand eternity. Accordingly the Spirit didn’t waste time explaining what we cannot understand. He took a different approach. He simply noted how it exists apart from time, that it is not dependent on time in any sense, and yet it still rules over time.
Let’s assay the Spirit’s expression of this duality in our text for today. First we need to identify the duality itself, and then we can sift through the goodies and see what we discover. So here’s how the Holy Spirit expressed the duality between time and eternity:
1. which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity
2. but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus
Wow! I’m already floored! We had best pause and catch our breath before proceeding any further. We are on holy ground, so we need to spend some time in the presence of Jesus before taking another step.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
What is the difference between time and eternity? That is the question I pose to you today. Any takers? Raise your hand high now. I wouldn’t want to miss any volunteers.
Didn’t think so. The question is a bit difficult for our finite minds to grasp, wouldn’t you agree? What do we have on which to base our estimation of eternity? The usual understanding is that time comes to an end but eternity goes on forever. You think?
Such an understanding of eternity is faulty through and through, dear friends, if for no other reason than the concept defines eternity in terms of time. If anything, it should be reversed. We would better define a glass of water in terms of the ocean, than the ocean in terms of a glass of water!
We might express the first concept by the phrase “eternal time”, an oxymoron par excellence if ever there was one. It is the stuff which makes up stuff and nonsense! On the other hand the phrase “timeless eternity” has a good deal of sense to it. Eternity is timeless, eternity is not time unlimited. We cannot define eternity in terms of time.
And therein lies the unresolved dilemma we puny humans have, when it comes time to understanding God and the things of eternity. We are creatures of time, space, and matter. We were created to exist in time, and we have always existed in time. Indeed until the day we pass from time into eternity, we haven’t a clue as to what it entails.
In 1 Timothy 1 the Apostle Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to intimate the duality which exists between time and eternity. It is an unfathomable mystery of the Bible, but it nonetheless exists. The Holy Spirit is God. He exists in eternity. He created it! He understands it, so He can explain it.
The trouble isn’t whether or not the Holy Spirit can explain eternity. The trouble lies in man’s inability to understand eternity. Accordingly the Spirit didn’t waste time explaining what we cannot understand. He took a different approach. He simply noted how it exists apart from time, that it is not dependent on time in any sense, and yet it still rules over time.
Let’s assay the Spirit’s expression of this duality in our text for today. First we need to identify the duality itself, and then we can sift through the goodies and see what we discover. So here’s how the Holy Spirit expressed the duality between time and eternity:
1. which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity
2. but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus
Wow! I’m already floored! We had best pause and catch our breath before proceeding any further. We are on holy ground, so we need to spend some time in the presence of Jesus before taking another step.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Curtain of Eternity – Part 2
(God) who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel [2 Timothy 1:9-10].
So here’s how the Holy Spirit expressed the duality between time and eternity:
1. which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity
2. but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus
The operative phrases in those two points are these: “from all eternity” vs. “now has been revealed”.
If we would rightly understand the duality expressed by those two points, we must needs recall Rule #1 for Bible study: “a text without a context is a pretext”. Okay, so what is the context in which those two points occur? Let’s mull it over a bit and see what we come up with.
The duality occurs within the framework of two things God did for us Christians:
1. God saved us
2. God called us
God’s call to us came as “a holy calling”. Huh? What does that mean? Well, the word “holy” means that the Christian is set apart to God for His own good purposes. We are both saved from sin and called to live in submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That makes God’s call to be “a holy calling”.
In other words God didn’t merely save us from the penalty of our sins which is death, eternal separation from Him in the Lake of Fire. If God saved us that way and left it at that, we would revert right back to sinning again and be in the same boat from which He saved us.
God saved us out of sin and into newness of life. He not only got rid of the sin but He also replaced it with a new nature which doesn’t sin. That would be the Holy Spirit living within us, and I can promise you the Holy Spirit doesn’t sin!
Thus our salvation comes with a calling attached. We are called to no longer live to please ourselves and make our decisions based on what we think and what pleases us. Instead we are to learn what the will of God is by reading His Word daily and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach it to us. We are then to respond to what He teaches us by obeying what we learn, by putting it into practice in our lives.
Romans 12:2 refers to this as no longer being conformed to the world, but instead being transformed by the renewing of our minds. In plain talk we stop getting our thinking from the evening news and the movies and folks on the street: we instead get our thinking from the Bible as the Holy Spirit reveals its truths to us.
I hear the dinner bell. So we’d best stop now before mom gets mad. Let’s go to chowing down on this concept of being transformed by the renewing of our minds. The best place to do so is at the feet of Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
So here’s how the Holy Spirit expressed the duality between time and eternity:
1. which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity
2. but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus
The operative phrases in those two points are these: “from all eternity” vs. “now has been revealed”.
If we would rightly understand the duality expressed by those two points, we must needs recall Rule #1 for Bible study: “a text without a context is a pretext”. Okay, so what is the context in which those two points occur? Let’s mull it over a bit and see what we come up with.
The duality occurs within the framework of two things God did for us Christians:
1. God saved us
2. God called us
God’s call to us came as “a holy calling”. Huh? What does that mean? Well, the word “holy” means that the Christian is set apart to God for His own good purposes. We are both saved from sin and called to live in submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That makes God’s call to be “a holy calling”.
In other words God didn’t merely save us from the penalty of our sins which is death, eternal separation from Him in the Lake of Fire. If God saved us that way and left it at that, we would revert right back to sinning again and be in the same boat from which He saved us.
God saved us out of sin and into newness of life. He not only got rid of the sin but He also replaced it with a new nature which doesn’t sin. That would be the Holy Spirit living within us, and I can promise you the Holy Spirit doesn’t sin!
Thus our salvation comes with a calling attached. We are called to no longer live to please ourselves and make our decisions based on what we think and what pleases us. Instead we are to learn what the will of God is by reading His Word daily and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach it to us. We are then to respond to what He teaches us by obeying what we learn, by putting it into practice in our lives.
Romans 12:2 refers to this as no longer being conformed to the world, but instead being transformed by the renewing of our minds. In plain talk we stop getting our thinking from the evening news and the movies and folks on the street: we instead get our thinking from the Bible as the Holy Spirit reveals its truths to us.
I hear the dinner bell. So we’d best stop now before mom gets mad. Let’s go to chowing down on this concept of being transformed by the renewing of our minds. The best place to do so is at the feet of Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Curtain of Eternity – Part 3
(God) who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel [2 Timothy 1:9-10].
God saves us out of sin and He also calls us to a life of holiness. To do so we stop following the words of man and commence to following the Word of God. We then put shoe leather to the Word of God as He teaches it to us. The more we do so the more we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
When we put into practice what we learn, our spiritual muscles are exercised and we grow strong spiritually. The old sin nature lurking inside grows weaker and the new nature of the Spirit grows stronger. Then we are more consistent in our daily living, such that we and others see the Holy Spirit living the new life that is in us out to the world. Jesus walks the earth in human form still, only now He does so in His Body, the Church.
This is indeed a “calling”, and this calling is assuredly “holy”. The concept of “holy” contrasts with the concept of “sin”. God is holy and man is sinful. When we live for God in the power of the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God, then we are no longer living in sin. We are then living holy lives. We are fulfilling His “holy calling”, and this is His purpose in saving us.
That is the context for understanding the duality expressed between time and eternity in 2 Timothy 1, dear friends. God both saved us and called us with a holy calling. Yet He did so not on the basis of “our works”. In other words God didn’t decide who He will save and call based on man. We didn’t earn it by doing anything, i.e., “works”.
Nor did God save us and call us with a holy calling according to anything meriting that we deserve it. In other words not only was it not on the basis of anything we did, but it also was not on the basis of who we are. God did so according to His own purpose and grace. The concept of “grace” means that God’s salvation and calling are granted freely based upon Himself, not upon man. We receive it as a free gift, not as deserving it because of who we are.
The text continues in this vein by noting how God’s grace came to us in the Person of Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son. The way it came to us was by means of the cross and the empty tomb. The text expresses this by the words “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”. Jesus did so at the cross and empty tomb.
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus had no sin because He is God, therefore Jesus didn’t earn death as His wages. Notwithstanding this, Jesus did die on the cross. Since His death wasn’t as payment for His own sins, it was payment for the sins of the world. The cross is how Jesus abolished death. He died man’s death.
Praise the Lord Jesus! I sure am glad He died for me. I’m even gladder that He lives for me. I’m save because He died for me. I live a holy calling because He lives for me. Think I’ll spend a while musing on these notions.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
God saves us out of sin and He also calls us to a life of holiness. To do so we stop following the words of man and commence to following the Word of God. We then put shoe leather to the Word of God as He teaches it to us. The more we do so the more we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
When we put into practice what we learn, our spiritual muscles are exercised and we grow strong spiritually. The old sin nature lurking inside grows weaker and the new nature of the Spirit grows stronger. Then we are more consistent in our daily living, such that we and others see the Holy Spirit living the new life that is in us out to the world. Jesus walks the earth in human form still, only now He does so in His Body, the Church.
This is indeed a “calling”, and this calling is assuredly “holy”. The concept of “holy” contrasts with the concept of “sin”. God is holy and man is sinful. When we live for God in the power of the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God, then we are no longer living in sin. We are then living holy lives. We are fulfilling His “holy calling”, and this is His purpose in saving us.
That is the context for understanding the duality expressed between time and eternity in 2 Timothy 1, dear friends. God both saved us and called us with a holy calling. Yet He did so not on the basis of “our works”. In other words God didn’t decide who He will save and call based on man. We didn’t earn it by doing anything, i.e., “works”.
Nor did God save us and call us with a holy calling according to anything meriting that we deserve it. In other words not only was it not on the basis of anything we did, but it also was not on the basis of who we are. God did so according to His own purpose and grace. The concept of “grace” means that God’s salvation and calling are granted freely based upon Himself, not upon man. We receive it as a free gift, not as deserving it because of who we are.
The text continues in this vein by noting how God’s grace came to us in the Person of Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son. The way it came to us was by means of the cross and the empty tomb. The text expresses this by the words “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”. Jesus did so at the cross and empty tomb.
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus had no sin because He is God, therefore Jesus didn’t earn death as His wages. Notwithstanding this, Jesus did die on the cross. Since His death wasn’t as payment for His own sins, it was payment for the sins of the world. The cross is how Jesus abolished death. He died man’s death.
Praise the Lord Jesus! I sure am glad He died for me. I’m even gladder that He lives for me. I’m save because He died for me. I live a holy calling because He lives for me. Think I’ll spend a while musing on these notions.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Curtain of Eternity – Part 4
(God) who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel [2 Timothy 1:9-10].
Jesus saved us and called us with a holy calling. Hallelujah! This is spelled c-r-o-s-s and e-m-p-t-y--t-o-m-b.
The cross was where the penalty for my sins was paid, where I was saved from sin and death. The empty tomb demonstrated this to be true. Death could not hold Jesus because He had no sin, and death comes as the wages of sin. Having died bearing the sins of all mankind, Jesus rose out of death with the bill for all those sins marked “Paid in Full!” Now the new resurrection life of Jesus is available to whoever will receive it.
The cross paid the penalty for sins. This is salvation. We are “saved” from sin. The empty tomb extends the benefits of the cross to include “a holy calling”. We are saved from sin for the purpose of living a holy life. To live a holy life requires power and ability within us which is not corrupted by sin. That is the definition of a new, holy nature.
That completes our diagnosis of the context for the duality between time and eternity, as presented in 2 Timothy 1. In that context we are able to rightly grasp what the Holy Spirit reveals to us by this duality. So let’s begin by repeating the duality, so that we have it fresh on our minds:
1. which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity
2. but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus
The word in point #1, “which”, refers to God’s salvation and holy calling combined. Remember, God never merely saved anyone. He saves for a purpose, and His purpose is that every person he saves stop living for sin and thenceforth live in the power of the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God. That is the definition of “a holy calling”.
Ergo, the duality has to do with God’s salvation and calling as they are joined together in holy matrimony for all eternity, beginning from the moment a person is saved. God didn’t plan His salvation and calling of each Christian at the moment he was born, nor even at the instant he was conceived, neither from the first thought mom and dad had of conceiving a baby together.
No, indeed! God’s plan to save me and call me with a holy calling occurred in eternity, dear friends! And the same applies to His plan for you guys and gals too. Eternity isn’t dependent on time, you see. We puny creatures of time had no existence until we were conceived and then born, but God’s plan for us existed even before time began! Explain that one to me, I dare you!
Still, eternal plans for creatures of time and space and matter don’t go very far, unless time actually exists along with those creatures. This brings in point #2 of the duality we are vetting from 2 Timothy 1. In order to fulfill the eternal plan of God, God needed to enter time as a creature of time.
Hold that thought. It is much too steep for us to wander into it willy-nilly at this late hour. We will explore that terrain on the morrow. Enjoy time with the Lord Jesus now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Jesus saved us and called us with a holy calling. Hallelujah! This is spelled c-r-o-s-s and e-m-p-t-y--t-o-m-b.
The cross was where the penalty for my sins was paid, where I was saved from sin and death. The empty tomb demonstrated this to be true. Death could not hold Jesus because He had no sin, and death comes as the wages of sin. Having died bearing the sins of all mankind, Jesus rose out of death with the bill for all those sins marked “Paid in Full!” Now the new resurrection life of Jesus is available to whoever will receive it.
The cross paid the penalty for sins. This is salvation. We are “saved” from sin. The empty tomb extends the benefits of the cross to include “a holy calling”. We are saved from sin for the purpose of living a holy life. To live a holy life requires power and ability within us which is not corrupted by sin. That is the definition of a new, holy nature.
That completes our diagnosis of the context for the duality between time and eternity, as presented in 2 Timothy 1. In that context we are able to rightly grasp what the Holy Spirit reveals to us by this duality. So let’s begin by repeating the duality, so that we have it fresh on our minds:
1. which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity
2. but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus
The word in point #1, “which”, refers to God’s salvation and holy calling combined. Remember, God never merely saved anyone. He saves for a purpose, and His purpose is that every person he saves stop living for sin and thenceforth live in the power of the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God. That is the definition of “a holy calling”.
Ergo, the duality has to do with God’s salvation and calling as they are joined together in holy matrimony for all eternity, beginning from the moment a person is saved. God didn’t plan His salvation and calling of each Christian at the moment he was born, nor even at the instant he was conceived, neither from the first thought mom and dad had of conceiving a baby together.
No, indeed! God’s plan to save me and call me with a holy calling occurred in eternity, dear friends! And the same applies to His plan for you guys and gals too. Eternity isn’t dependent on time, you see. We puny creatures of time had no existence until we were conceived and then born, but God’s plan for us existed even before time began! Explain that one to me, I dare you!
Still, eternal plans for creatures of time and space and matter don’t go very far, unless time actually exists along with those creatures. This brings in point #2 of the duality we are vetting from 2 Timothy 1. In order to fulfill the eternal plan of God, God needed to enter time as a creature of time.
Hold that thought. It is much too steep for us to wander into it willy-nilly at this late hour. We will explore that terrain on the morrow. Enjoy time with the Lord Jesus now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
