Jesus Christ

Adam and me…

/ grace country pastor / Leave a comment

I got to thinking the other day about how things must have been for Adam in the garden.  How simple God made life for man.  God gave to Adam the entire physical creation with carte blanche to dress and keep it as he saw fit.  As God created Adam in His image (Gen 1:27), Adam could, in his turn, make the garden into what he saw fit.  All things displaying the Glory of Creator God. Of course we know God presented Adam with but a single rule and that Adam broke said rule.

I was thinking about this in comparison to the seeming endless complexity of life as it appears in this “modern age”.  Endless numbers of tech gadgets, sports ball games, careers, movies, the ever present TV always there to distract us.  It’s rare that people go out into nature any longer to sit quietly and simply allow it to “declare the glory of God” to them.  When was the last time you watched several hummingbirds at a feeder or butterflies feeding at wildflowers?  Simply amazing!  (Do any of us saved look at one another that way… do we see, in amazement, the glory of Christ in one another (Col 1:26-27)?  Ouch.)  Add the myriad religions to the mix, hundreds of so called “Christian” denominations alone and it’s a wonder indeed to consider Adams most basic human situation.

Death itself was not an issue for our greatest grandfather.  He was presented the ability never to experience its final grip.  The tree of life was in the garden along with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and Adam could have chosen to eat freely of it as God had provided, rather than submitting to his own self will and eating from the tree he believed would make him wise like God.

Yet, with all that said, I don’t think he and I had it all that different.  With all the noise and confusion of today’s world constantly bearing down on each and every one of us, in comparison to the seeming simplicity of Adam’s situation, we each have a remarkably similar choice to make.  Let’s explore…!

What choice exactly did Adam have in front of him?  God placed two very important trees in the garden with Adam.  One would provide knowledge that Adam clearly did not possess, the knowledge of good and evil and the other, life in eternal fellowship with his Creator (and, by default, the knowledge that would bring).  Notice that the one contained BOTH the knowledge of good AND evil.  One tree… knowledge of both aspects of human thought and action.  That tree also brought death itself into the world.  Knowledge of good and evil then equates to sin and death. Yikes…

Clearly, throughout the Bible, God instructs people to “do good”, to be fruitful unto “good works”; why then was the knowledge of “good” paired on the same tree and “forbidden” along with the knowledge of evil?  Did God somehow not want Adam to “know good” that he might “do good” and not evil?  It is easy to understand how and why God would not want Adam to know evil but a far less oft asked question is why God did not want Adam to know “good” as well.

Unless of course you and I are not understanding clearly what God means by “good and evil” which is the far more likely case.  Is it possible that what you and I commonly consider to be “good and evil” are only so because of our particular and individual (read, selfish) human perspectives?  After all, isn’t it so that “Christians = good” and “Muslims = bad” from one perspective; AND that “Muslims = good” and “Christians = bad” from another?  (I’m speaking here hypothetically of course.)

Another question… how did Adam benefit from obtaining the knowledge of good and evil?  Is knowledge, even knowledge of “good”, such a beneficial thing when death was the inevitable and spoken result?

Romans 3:12…  “They are all gone out of the way, they are all together become unprofitable: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

Romans 3:23…  “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Romans 6:23…  “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Perhaps the answer is found, as it usually is, in our own arrogant selves, thinking we know more, in this case about the nature of good and evil, than we actually do.

Isaiah 55:9…  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

In Adams very basic, very good (Gen 1:31) situation, God simply wanted Adams trust placed in Himself rather than in Adams “self”.  It was never about what Adam did or did not “do” as, had Adam NOT eaten from the tree of knowledge, sin and death (the curse) would NOT have come into the world and Adam would have retained his innocence.  His actions, without the effect of sin on them, would have been inherently PURE.  (I deliberately hesitate to use the word “good” right there.)  Adam instead chose to listen to the counsel of his deceived wife (and thus the great deceiver) eventually placing more trust in himself than in the God who created him.  Adam chose worldly knowledge over heavenly (Godly) knowledge, falling for the prideful temptation that he would be “like” the “gods” (Gen 3:1-5).  A lot of good such worldly wisdom has gotten mankind, no?

1 Corinthians 1:19-20…  “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?”

Yes, He has.  Just read His book rightly divided and you will understand that such is abundantly accurate!

So, taking a step back, what then might Adam, living simply in the “very good” garden of Eden, and me (we) have in common?  What is the take away here?

It is that we both (all of us) face the same simple choice Adam faced.  There was no “law” then as that was given thousands of years later to the nation Israel.  Each and every human being born since Christ revealed the dispensation of grace to Paul (thus removing the curse of the law (Gal 3:10-13) from humanities midst) shares in the identical choice Adam faced.  If the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was “worldly” or “human” knowledge, then the tree of life was heavenly or Godly knowledge. The tree of worldly knowledge brought death into the world, the tree of life (had Adam eaten of it) would have brought eternal life and Godly knowledge.  A man today is in the same position.  He can either choose himself as Adam did (mans default position – we are in Adams image – Gen 5:3) following his own conscience, doing whatever he wishes and face certain death, or he can choose God, not in the form of a tree but in the form of the person of Christ and live eternally with his Creator.

Swapping pronouns, I can either trust in me or I can trust in Thee.  As God simply asked for Adams voluntary trust (choose life or death) He asks the same of me today.  Christ is the tree of life; I am the tree of worldly knowledge.  My choice is THAT simple!  God did not ask Adam to “do” a thing.  He simply placed two trees in the garden and gave him a choice.  In today’s world, God does not ask a man to “do” a thing; indeed, “works” for salvation are forbidden (Rom 4:1-5)!  He asks that we choose life by choosing Christ.  That by grace through faith in Christ’s Work alone we, by choice, alter our default position as that choice is available to every man (Titus 2:11).  Christ fulfilled the curse of the law.  He paid its ultimate price.  Sin and the law are not the issue today as it was (and will be yet again) for Israel.  Thus the mystery revealed to Paul.  He sent His Son to “do” it all and asks only that we trust in Him and not ourselves.  Adam’s choice was the same.  God or self.

Ephesians 1:13…  “In whom ye also TRUSTED, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”

God gave Adam a single warning…

Genesis 2:16-17…  “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

In those words is the essence of free will.  May the doctrine of Calvinism be forever damned.  Of EVERY tree of the garden could Adam FREELY eat.  God gave him ample warning NOT to eat of the one, but certainly did not prevent Adam from so doing.  As sin had not yet come into existence, so too has God dealt with sin for us today.  Today, where sin abounds, grace that much more abounds (Rom 5:20).  Thank God sin is not our issue!  God, having made Christ to BE sin for us (2 Cor 5:19-21) has put the sin issue completely aside, as if it never even existed, just as in the garden, so that a mans sole decision need only be to eat of the tree of life (Christ)… or not.  The issue is so stunningly simple yet it is buried under an avalanche of worldly religious confusion and outright deception.

God gives us the same simple warning He gave Adam… choose one tree or the other, choose life or choose death.

1 Cor 15:22…  “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

If a man is found in Adam’s likeness (by choosing himself and his own “good” works for salvation) he will die.  If the same man is found in Christ’s likeness (by believing the gospel of his salvation – 1 Cor 15:1-4) he will live as Adam would have IF Adam had chosen the tree of life… eternally with his Creator as the Creator originally intended.

King Solomon had the sum of worldly wisdom and knowledge and used it for both good and evil during his life.  (Justin Johnson just completed an amazing verse by verse study of the book of Ecclesiastes that I highly recommend listening to.)  How does Solomon conclude all the teachings he would convey to his own son; what did he ultimately learn from the totality of worldly wisdom?

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14…  “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”

“Follow the law.”  Best to trust God, in Solomon’s case by following the law, and not yourself.  Solomon however had no idea what God was going to do with the Apostle Paul.  It was a mystery not yet revealed, he couldn’t have.  All the worldly wisdom extant plus the wealth and power to wield it and Solomon could only conclude that the law must be followed.  The law which can only condemn and ultimately kill.  Vanity indeed Solomon…

1 Corinthians 15:56…  “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.”

Romans 3:20…  “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Romans 8:2…  “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

The wisest man to have ever lived had zero heavenly knowledge of what God in Christ was going to do for mankind.  How much more has God given us in the totality of His Word?  How much more able are we to know of heavenly things than Solomon was?  How thankful ought we to be that God sent Paul, the Apostle of grace and peace, with the message that would change us from the image of Adam we are born into, back into the image of Christ as was originally intended.  Adam was free to choose.  We are free to choose.  Eternal life is a free gift!

Romans 5:18-19…  “Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

Adam knew, likely very suddenly, that a perfect and eternal life awaited him and all creation IF he had only chosen God over self.  Prideful human nature stepped in though and instead Adam and Eve stood naked and ashamed before their Holy Creator.  So too do we stand naked before Him when we study His book and IT READS US…

Hebrews 4:12-13…  “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

A perfect and eternal life awaits the man who makes the correct choice today.  Let not pride get in the way.  Become a (little “s”) son of God, as God someday will change this world back into its intended perfected form.  All of creation will once again be made perfect and it is Gods desire that we join Him in eternity!

Romans 8:18-23…  “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

Our very bodies will be redeemed (exchanged) for eternal bodies as Adam would have had; as God originally intended.  The risen and glorified Christ today IS the tree of life presented to us as it was to our greatest grandfather, Adam.  Christ gives the Adam in us a second chance to choose life!  The garden shall return… universal!  Adam the first begotten man, Christ the second.  The saved are His body on earth and forever.

We might be “earthy” now, physically “in Adam”, but we too will be physically “heavenly” in the future.  The saved “in Christ” will be physically changed.  Hopefully soon!

1 Cor 15:45-53…  “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.  The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

God gave Adam the same simple choice He gives us today.  One tree or the other; life or death.  No strings attached (we’re too stupid for strings…)

May the Adam in us all choose wisely.

2 Corinthians 11:3…  “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

Next Post:  “Left Behind… now what?“

A new creature, part 2.

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This new creature we have been made in Christ was a complete and total mystery, an unknown entity, until the Apostle Paul.  Up until Paul, and through the first half of Paul’s ministry, God was dealing with mankind in terms of the separation between Jew and Gentile.

Deuteronomy 7:6… “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”

After the nation Israel failed to come to terms with their Redeemer, God set them aside.

Acts 28:28… “Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.”

Paul went to both the Jew and to the Gentile/Greek (non-Jew) with the gospel of Christ and, I believe, this is where the confusion begins as to whether or not Peter and Paul preached the same gospel message, which we have demonstrated they could not have been.

Romans 1:16… “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

If the Kingdom gospel was for the nation Israel (as is clear) why did Paul go to them (first even) with the new “gospel of Christ” (free grace/zero works) that the risen and glorified Lord Jesus Christ gave to him specifically for the Gentiles?

Romans 11:13… “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:”

Let’s take a look back in Matthew 12 to get an idea.  Most professing Christians have heard of the “unpardonable sin”.  What was it exactly?

Matthew 12:31-32… “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.  And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”

The one thing that was unpardonable to the nation Israel then was blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.  Commit this sin and you were not going into “thy Kingdom come”.  Israel rejected and thus blasphemed God the Father by way of their rejecting the prophets He sent specifically to the nation.  This was forgivable.  They rejected and ultimately blasphemed His Son in Christ at the cross.  This too was forgivable.  They rejected and thus blasphemed the Holy Ghost during and after Pentecost as only a relative few heeded the message of repentance Peter preached in Acts 2 and 3.  Paul himself as well was a blasphemer…

1 Timothy 1:13… “Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.”

This was unforgivable.  Few in the nation Israel then could have hoped to attain everlasting life in the Kingdom as only a few successfully recognized their prophesied Messiah when He arrived among them.  Only relative few were baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Paul did not recognize his Messiah.  God was justified to sent His wrath upon the world right then and there at the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7.

Long before this time, at the tower of Babel in Genesis 11, the “Gentile” nations (those nations Abram was called out of) were concluded in unbelief.  Now His nation Israel had come to their “third strike” if you will and rejected the giving of God’s Holy Spirit, the new covenant, that the Law would be written in their hearts (Jer 31:31, Heb 8), that they would be able to walk worthy of their calling.  In short… Israel (and the rest of the world) was up a creek without a paddle, all concluded in unbelief.

Romans 11:32… “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all.”

Since these could not have been saved into the Kingdom program, God, in infinite and longsuffering mercy; NOT YET wanting to pour His Just Wrath out upon the world, saved the Apostle Paul, giving not only His nation Israel but the whole world a new possibility at salvation.  Something the world had never before seen nor experienced.  Absolutely free grace with zero effort required or accepted.

Ephesians 2:8-9… “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Mankind’s very essence is to boast in what he has done.  We ARE prideful creatures by nature.  God will have none of it.  I heard brother Steve Atwood say just the other day that if salvation required the wiggling of our little finger just slightly, we would boast in eternity just how amazingly well we wiggled our little fingers… and he is right.  It is only the Divine Activity of God Himself could save such prideful creatures as we; humbling us in the process.

This zero effort/free grace dispensation produces the heretofore unprophesied new creature and offers all men, Jew or Gentile, salvation completely apart from inherent “Jew-ness” or “Gentile-ness”.  The new creature is neither Jew nor Gentile and, as a matter of fact, neither male or female!

Galatians 3:28… “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

What once were Jews and Gentiles are now NEITHER as God is not recognizing His chosen nation Israel at this moment in time.  They are NO LONGER His people in this dispensation.

Romans 9:25-26… “As he saith also in Osee (Hosea 1:9-10), I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.  And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.”

God NOW recognizes the new creature and the new creature alone.  But in this, for the past 2,000 years, He is giving (Israel and the Gentiles) ALL MEN EQUALLY yet another chance at redemption before His just wrath is poured out on a most deserving world.

The new creature is an individual man saved by the gospel of grace (he becomes a new creature) AND it is a body of believers as well.

It is in the epistles of Paul alone that we find mention of “the church – the body of Christ”, of which Christ is the Head.  While there are many “churches” mentioned in the Bible, they are not all the same church.  The Jerusalem church was in the Temple Beautiful (Acts 3)… the wandering Jews belonged to the “church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38), for example.  Men were first called “Christians” at the church in Antioch (Acts 11:26) which was NOT a temple.  This church, the body of Christ (an assembly of believers, a church is not a building) is made up of ALL believers saved by the gospel of Christ in this dispensation of free grace.  It expresses itself in local areas via individual “churches” of which Grace Country Bible Church is but one.

The church – the body of Christ is made up of NEITHER Jew nor Greek, male nor female…  No man today is lifted up above another man for any reason whatsoever, as God has concluded ALL men equally in unbelief.  The above verse in Deuteronomy (7:6) has been made temporarily void by the verses in Hosea (1:9-10).

1 Corinthians 12:13… “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

The reason saints in time past (Jews AND the Gentiles who blessed them) could NOT acknowledge the “unsearchable” riches of Christ, is because these riches were not prophesied in scripture.  One could not search the scriptures in time past to find out about what God is doing today because God kept it secret. Paul writes:

Romans 11:33… “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgements, and His ways past finding out!”

Ephesians 3:8… “Unto me, who am less than the least of all the saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;”

While Christ’s birth, death and resurrection WAS prophesied, the fullness of the riches of His death, burial and resurrection was completely unknown.  A Jew and a Gentile in time past could indeed search the scriptures to learn what they had to do to be saved: the Jew was to believe on Christ his prophesied Messiah risen from the dead, and the Gentile was to somehow bless the Jew (Gen 12:3, Mat 25:31-46… notice carefully these did not understand how they made it into the Kingdom!).

The unprophesied new creature (NOT Jew and NOT Gentile) has only to believe that Christ died for his sin nature and rose again for his justification, and eternal salvation is his!  The only place in scripture a man can learn this, is in the epistles of Paul.  The new creature (believers today) was therefore hidden in God since the foundation of the world and a part of the mystery given unto the apostle Paul alone (therefore Peter could NOT have spoken of it), and of which Paul was the first.

1 Timothy 1:16… “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me FIRST Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting.”

What believers are today therefore, is not only NOT found in what is called the Old Testament section of the Bible, we are NOT found in Matthew, Mark, Luke John or the first half of Acts, as these are all books of the Law or the “old testament”.  Nor is this new creature, the church the body of Christ found in the Hebrew epistles of Peter, James and John, as God is once again dealing with the Jew and the Gentile in these “New Testament” books.  Where we see the distinction existing between Jew and Gentile we do not see the unprophesied new creature.

Right division therefore, is NOT dividing between the old and new testament sections of the Bible, it is NOT dividing between Christ and not Christ, IT IS dividing between that which God kept secret versus what God prophesied throughout time.  It is dividing between Israel and their relationship to the Gentile nations, and the NOT Jew / NOT Gentile “body of Christ” being formed today to eventually take up residence in the heavenly places with God.

Where we see, even in Paul’s epistles, the distinction between Jew and Gentile, we must “rightly divide”.  Romans chapters 9, 10 and 11 are NOT about the church the body of Christ.  These are about the condition of Israel today, and their dealings with the Gentiles in time past, and in the ages to come, when God will once again be dealing with the Jew and the Gentile.

I have one last issue to tackle with the new creature in the next post: “The new creature, part 3.“

God created the heaven AND the earth…

/ grace country pastor / 3 Comments

Okay… logical exercise today (and pardon the length of this post).  IF satan tempted Eve in the garden, we THEN must conclude that satan was in a fallen state prior to that event.  If satan was on Gods “good side” at that moment, he would not have encouraged the worlds first two human beings to disobey the God who created them and forfeit their perfect and eternal existence.  If satan was in a fallen state, then his abode in heaven was also therefore in a fallen state… it was made imperfect by the prideful iniquity found within him (Ezekiel 28) and the legion of angels who left their first estate to follow him (Jude 1:6).  As God cursed the earth due to Adam’s sin, so too is heaven cursed by satans.  If heaven was not cursed there would be no need for war there (Rev 12:7).  All existence; the physical which we are able to perceive in these terrestrial bodies (1 Cor 15:40), and the angelic (celestial) which we cannot; are therefore spoiled by sin and are thus in need of redemption if they are to ever be made perfect again, as God declares in Ephesians 1:10…

“That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”

There is therefore a future dispensation wherein all things will be gathered together in the perfection that is Christ Jesus.  Nearly 90% of our King James Bible tells the tale of this earths redemption (along with its inhabitants) through Gods dealing with the nation Israel.  “Thy Kingdom Come” is the prayer heard throughout the encampments of Christ and the twelve (Mat 6:10).  “Thy Kingdom Come” is the (seriously misplaced) prayer heard throughout myriad churches around the world on Sunday mornings.  The tale of the nation Israel from Genesis to Revelation is the implementation of earths redemption.  As Israel is future redeemed, so too will be the Gentile nations who bless Israel (Gen 12:3) and so too will the land be made like unto Eden once again (Isaiah 35).  But not yet…

Question…  heaven too is fallen, so how will heaven be redeemed?  Prophesy says absolutely nothing about this and there is a precious good reason why.  In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul is explaining to these believers that he did not come to them with mans worldly wisdom or “smooth talking”, but in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and the power of God Himself.  It is Gods own words of wisdom he delivers unto them… Paul is aware that he is writing Holy Writ!  He is preaching Christ crucified and the totality (prophesied and unprophesied) of what that means to these believers.  And herein lies the mystery we teach once again…

1 Cor 2:7-8… “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

The hidden (mysterious/secret) wisdom God ordained unto “our” glory.  Ours, not Israel’s.  This mystery is then something that, had the princes of this world understood, they would not have crucified the Lord Jesus Christ.  The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished everything it was prophesied to accomplish PLUS something that was a mystery or a secret kept hidden in God Himself and therefore NOT heretofore revealed to man nor angel in scripture.  If God wanted to keep a secret, that secret will be kept!  Paul writes in…

Romans 16:25-27… “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, BUT NOW is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.”

Paul is revealing something brand new about the crucifixion; information now given to man (and angel, as we will see) that was kept secret since the world began.  The coming of Christ was not kept secret since the world began, His coming, death and resurrection was prophesied since the world began (Acts 3:20-21).  The redemption of earth was prophesied since the world began… indeed it is the story of prophesy itself.  The redemption of heaven was not however.  The church – the body of Christ is the instrument that God will use to “set heaven right” as He will use Israel to set the earth right.  This is magnificent, profound and not taught in denominational churches at all.  Mention it, as a matter of fact, and you will find it is taboo.  It is however what the Bible demonstrates.

The very plan of satan, to kill the Lord Jesus Christ, was the very method by which the God of Glory destroyed him completely.  Now that is Wisdom!  satan thought he had won the battle on Calvary and become like the Most High (Isaiah 14); yet it was his ultimate defeat.  satan knew Christ would resurrect (this was prophesied) but had no idea his dominion (heaven) would be made ultimately clean BY A NEW CREATURE (something the world had not yet seen) – the body of Christ where there is neither Jew nor Gentile!

2 Cor 5:17…”Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Gal 6:15…”For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

It is believers today, the new creature; neither Jew nor Greek, bond or free, male or female (Gal 3:28); that will take up the places made void by satan and those fallen angels which followed him.  Paul writes to the same Corinthian believers…

1 Cor 6:3… “Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?”  As the twelve will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes in “Thy Kingdom Come” (Mat 19:28), believers today will “sit” in heaven and “judge” angels.  wow, Wow and WOW!!!

The reason there are two gospels to two groups of people is because there are two realms that require redemption in Christ.  One group is assigned to earthly things (Israel) and the other group (us), to heavenly.  Paul is therefore the Apostle to heavens redemption and thus the Apostle sent for us, whom we should follow, if we as believers are to be inside the Will of God.

There is a very, very profound problem with the teachings of today’s churches… they are teaching the wrong gospel.

Colossians 3:1-3… “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

Amen!

Next Post – “Deceived…“

Two Gospels???

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Yes.  Two gospels.  At least, I’ll be talking about two in this post.  There are more then two in our Bibles.  Noah’s gospel (good news) was “build a big boat and thou shall be saved“; please pardon my paraphrase.  I have been dancing around this concept by saying that Paul and the twelve were not, could not, have been preaching the same things.  Lets examine three verses of scripture in order to nail this down securely.

Galatians 2:7-9… “But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.”  Cephas is Peter, by the way.

If we allow the words to say what they mean and mean what they say, there are two distinct gospel messages contained within these verses.  How different is the circumcision from the uncircumcision?  The Jews were Gods chosen people and everyone else was not.  That’s about as different as people can be.  Is Ted’s dog the same as not Ted’s dog?  Of course not.  There was a specific gospel message “of” each; as Ted’s dog is specific to Ted.  Things that are different cannot possibly be the same.

I know… you have never heard of such a thing.  That’s okay; just because a thing is not popularly known does not preclude it from being true.  It is also not your fault for not knowing this.  This simple and most basic Bible truth is not taught in denominational churches, as the implications are more than profound.  This simple truth is the absolute key to Bible understanding.

Denominational churches (not understanding nor acknowledging the mystery kept secret since the world began) teach that Peter and Paul preached the same thing “to” two different groups of people.  Check these verses in any other “bible” you may have in your possession.  Nearly every one (and all “modern” translations, er, perversions) reduce the specific intent Paul (the Holy Spirit) had for writing these verses, and combined them into one single “kingdom” gospel message preached unto two groups of people; as if both groups are to follow the same instruction from God.  The King James maintains Paul’s literal meaning, and that is: 1) a specific gospel (good news) message was given to him that he could give to the uncircumcision (the heathen), and 2) a specific gospel (good news) message was given to Peter and the twelve that they could give to the circumcision (the Jews).

Both gospel messages were delivered to each man (Peter and Paul) by Jesus Christ.  To Peter, during Christ’s earthly ministry to Israel (see Matt, Mark, Luke and John); and to Paul during Christ’s current Heavenly exile (due to His friends (Israels) rejection, as He is currently seated at His fathers right hand in Heaven, till His enemies are made His footstool – Heb 10:12-13) on the road to Damascus in Acts 9 and expounded upon in Gal 1:11-12.

“But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Emmanuel (Christ with us) on earth for His earthly ambassadors, Israel, to bring in “thy Kingdom come ON EARTH as it is in heaven” (read those words carefully again); and the Risen and Glorified Lord Jesus Christ for His Heavenly ambassadors, the church – the body of Christ; you and me, today’s believers.  Our hope is in Heaven.  The Jews hope is Heaven come to earth.

These verses in Galatians also say something else quite extraordinary.  If the “great commission” was given unto the twelve in Matt, Mark, Luke and Acts, that they should go unto all the world preaching the Kingdom, why did Peter and the twelve just agree with Paul to confine their ministry to the circumcision (the Jews) alone?  They must have recognized something very profound.  That grace given unto Paul must be remarkable and powerful if it prevented them from fulfilling that which Christ commanded them.

There is no denying the existence of these two distinct messages if we believe the Bible as we say we do.  The words on the page say what they say.  In the next post we will examine some of the specifics as to what makes the two messages different to hopefully help flesh out the WHY of all this.  Why did God have two separate messages for these two groups of people?  Would it not have been far more simple to have only one?  As appetizing food for thought, look at Genesis 1:1…

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.”  A question… how many things did God create in the beginning?  Two!  Interesting, no?  Coincidence???  Not at all.

Next Post – “God created the heaven AND the earth…“

Christ, not sent for me?

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The first advent of Jesus Christ was prophesied since the very beginning of time… since before Israel was on the scene.  In Genesis 3:15 God speaking to satan says… “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

The Bible, thereafter, states clearly that the prophesied Christ was sent specifically to the nation Israel that the nation Israel would be Gods Holy Light to the rest of the world.  The entire “old testament” (and much of the new) is of and about the nation Israel.

Speaking to the Jewish leaders in John 5:39 Christ proclaims… “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”  Moses prophesies to the twelve tribes in Deuteronomy 18:15… “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall harken;”  The Jewish leaders did not recognize their prophesied Messiah who was the end (or fulfillment) of the Law that they were trying to pridefully keep by their own abilities, but could not.

Romans 10:4… “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe.”  Paul here is recounting that all Israel had to do was to believe that Christ was the prophesied Messiah come to the nation, and the righteousness of God would be imputed judicially unto them.  Read verses 1-5 for full context.  Who exactly does Paul say that Christ was?

Romans 15:8… “Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:”  The circumcision are the Jews.  Who does Jesus Christ Himself say that He came for?

Speaking to the twelve regarding the woman of Canaan He says, in Mat 15:24… “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Who does Jesus lay down His life for?  John 15:13-14… “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”

These verses make abundantly clear that Jesus Christ came specifically for the nation Israel; and not only that, but only to those in the nation who would do whatsoever He commanded!  That is a mighty big IF in that verse!  Not many did what He commanded.  During His time on earth He was still commanding that the Law be followed; moreover, He magnified the Law greatly in the sermon on the mount by saying that not only must men physically conform to the Law, but our very thoughts as well must conform to the ideal of the Law.  Is this even honestly remotely possible for a man today?  The answer is no, it is not at all possible.  By setting the bar so impossibly high, God was saying to His people simply that they required Himself if they wanted to be righteous.  They, like most men throughout history, choose themselves over God.

Clearly then, Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry to Israel, did not have we Gentiles in mind, except that we would be blessed by His chosen nation Israel.  That is their stated purpose.  Speaking to the same woman of Canaan Jesus exclaims in Mat 15:26… “But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.”  Sweet, kind and mild Jesus just called you a dog!  Ah, but you say: “Christ in the next verse blesses the woman He just called a dog, so He did come for her!”  The only reason He blessed her is because she recognizes her place in the grand scheme of things; as a subordinate to those above her, the nation Israel.  She (a lowly Gentile) recognizes the Lord that Israel failed to recognize, and answers in verse 27… “And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table.”  She realizes that Israel is to be something very special and accepts her place under them.  The faith she was required to demonstrate to receive a blessing from God (Gen 12:3… “I will bless them that bless thee…”) was sure.

Christ came and died (initially – at least what we know by way of prophesy) for the nation Israel and Israel alone; and only those in the nation who would faithfully keep His commandments.  It is only later when Saul is saved on the road to Damascus in Acts 9 that we learn fully what the death of the Savior of all mankind actually accomplished.  The implications of this are stunningly profound and will be examined in the next post.

Next Post – If not Christ (John 3:16), then who?

What mystery?

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Our header reads:  “We teach Jesus Christ according to the mystery kept secret since the world began and revealed to the Apostle Paul.”  The vast majority of you will say: “huh, what mystery?”

Consider these articles a formal invitation from me to you to find out: “what mystery?”, as the vast majority of professing Christians have heard of no such thing.  Follow these postings from one to the next and see for yourself where they lead.  Each will have a link at the bottom to the next.  Please feel free to politely comment and question.  You will receive a reply.  Keep a King James Bible open and test everything you read here against exactly “what” the Bible says, “where” it says it, and “to whom” it is speaking.  I do not ask that you believe a single thing that I write, as I am convinced the Bible alone is Truth in this world.  I believe that understanding “the mystery” is the key to understanding the Bible.

Romans 3:4(a)… “let God be true, but every man a liar;”

Did God the Father keep a secret from His creation?  IF we believe the words on the pages of our King James Bible (and we do) it seems that He has indeed kept something to Himself.  Examine Romans 16:25…

“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,”

There it is.  A mystery God kept secret from the beginning of time, until the time He chose to make that mystery known by revelation.  Paul is writing this epistle to the Roman believers in and around the Acts 20 time period.  Next verse, 16:26…

“BUT NOW is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:”

Is God choosing this time period (very early in the first century AD) to make known this mystery (whatever it is) and is He revealing it directly to the Apostle Paul?  Paul is calling this information “my gospel” after all and that might be taken as boastful to say the least.  What else does Paul have to say about this gospel he calls his own?  Explaining the “end” of the law “charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: (1 Tim 1:5)” and to whom the law was directed (the lawless, etc…), to his dear friend Timothy (1 Tim 1:11) Paul claims “ownership” once again; “According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed unto my trust.”  Did not Jesus Christ Himself commit the gospel unto Peter and the twelve well before Paul was even on the scene?  Speaking to the twelve about the signs and times of the end of the world He exclaims (Mat 24:14)… “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”  This is the same gospel message Jesus was teaching in Matthew 4:23 as He had the twelve gathered around Him.  It is therefore the very gospel message He commissioned the twelve to preach in Mark 16:15… “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”  Clearly, Jesus is speaking of the gospel of the kingdom.

How then does Paul dare to call this gospel his own?  What an ego!?!  This is mysterious… and a seeming conundrum.  Of course, as “actual” Bible believers (we actually believe the words on the page and do not simply believe what we want to believe, or have been taught in denominational churches about the Bible) this would cause one to question the claim that the very Word of God, perfect and without error, inspired and preserved throughout human history, is what we claim it is (and we do make such claim) or is even available to mankind in this 21’st century sans “original manuscripts”.

In trying to determine exactly what this “Pauline” mystery is, let us in the next post examine more closely the nation Israel, why God “chose” them and what Gods plan for His chosen people was from the beginning of time… that which was “spoken” since the beginning of the world.

Acts 3:21… “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”

Hmmm… something hidden AND something spoken; both since the beginning of the world.  To quote C.R. Stam: “Things that are different cannot be the same.”

Next Post – “Why Israel?“