We are not of those who cling to a lie but to the T RUTH of every WORD OF THE LORD .
The main problem, as I see it, is as old as time….who is “we”? Who is “us” and who is “them”?
@David in NJ What is “the truth” when “we” are all quoting scripture?
It’s all in the interpretation and satan knows how to create confusion.…6000 years of successful experience…are you a match?
Going back to the beginning of Christianity, what do we find?
Jesus presents himself to John B at the Jordan River for baptism, but he meets with a confused John who knows that his baptism is not for Jesus because it was an outward sign of repentance for sins committed against God’s Law Covenant….John knew that Jesus was sinless. But Jesus insists for ‘just this one time’ so that God’s will can take place.
Why did Jesus insist on his baptism?
What did it mean and what kind of baptism was necessary for Christians after that time?
Baptism was not practiced by Jews under their law…..this was something new, not like the Mikva (ritual washing) but a whole new concept…..a procedure that was figuratively picturing then end of one kind of life, and the beginning of another. John’s baptism was to prepare right hearted ones to accept their Messiah, but it didn’t wash away sins. So those who accepted Christ had to be baptized again as his disciple…..baptism in the name of Jesus Christ was the beginning of a new life, and a new way to serve the God of the Hebrew Bible.
Jesus presented himself to signal the beginning of his role as Messiah, and after he emerged from the water, God’s voice was heard approving of his actions, and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in a visible way so that people saw it In the form of a dove. Jesus the man, became Jesus the Christ. (anointed one)
So what “truths” did Jesus teach that fought with the things taught by the religious leaders of the day?
It had been several hundred years since God had sent a prophet to his people because he knew that they were incorrigible. He sent his son as the last prophet to his wayward nation, and the last opportunity for natural Jews to become partakers of the all that was originally offered to them……but God did not send his son to the self-righteous religious leaders in Israel…..he sent him to ”the lost sheep”….those whom the religious leaders did not consider worthy of their time and attention. These lost sheep were lost only because their shepherds were too busy looking after themselves to care about those who had difficult lives.
Jesus showed that every lost lamb was precious.
So what situation existed back then that shows us where we are right now? What are the “types and shadows” that Paul spoke about?
The accepted form of worship that had been grossly adulterated over hundreds of years and under the background of rebellion and disobedience by the descendants of Abraham, to whom God made his promise to bless all nations, was to change when Christ offered up his life, fulfilling the old covenant and introducing the new one, foretold by Jeremiah.
So now there was a new way to worship….one that did not involve the physical Temple, but would now introduce the grand spiritual Temple in heaven…
Paul wrote….
“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.“ (Eph 2:18-21 ESV)
What do you notice in that statement?
Who are “fellow citizens WITH the saints”? These are also “members of God’s household”. The saints and Jesus Christ form the foundations of a whole structure that was destined to become “a holy temple in the Lord”….”a dwelling place for God by the spirit.”
So we have two groups here……we have “the saints” (“chosen ones”, “holy ones”, “elect”…whatever you want to call them) along with those who are fellow citizens in the household of God.
The saints will rule with Christ in his heavenly kingdom whilst the other members of God’s household serve his interests, not in heaven but on earth, where God created us to live forever in the first place.
God’s purpose for the human race did not change because Adam sinned and threw us all under the bus….God organized a way to redeem us and to eradicate the sin that was born in us, sending his precious son to offer his life for ours….this is what the Kingdom is for…..it is the means to accomplish God’s original purpose for the human race, and to return us back to what we were supposed to have in the beginning.…sinless everlasting life In paradise.
Those ruling with Christ in heaven will assist him in bringing sinful mankind back into reconciliation with Yahweh. (Rev 20:6) It will take a thousand years to undo the damage that satan and the first humans inflicted, but in the end, God’s will is “done on earth as it is in heaven”….just as Jesus said.
It is with background that satan has tried very hard to hide the truth in thousands of different sects and denominations for those who profess to care about Jesus Christ….for the rest of humanity who want to worship their ancestral gods….well, that is their choice.
But the truth is hiding like a diamond in a pile of broken glass….how does one find that diamond? On our own it is impossible, but God is having his truth proclaimed throughout the world as “the good news of the Kingdom” being preached “in the entire inhabited earth” (Matt 24:14) so that when a willing and receptive heart is found, God himself will “draw” that one and invite them to become a member of his family, some of whom are invited to heaven….but the majority of whom will live the most wonderful life on an earth free of all evil, never to even remember it again.
“For look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be called to mind,
Nor will they come up into the heart“. (Isa 65:17)
The “new earth” is a new earthly society of redeemed humanity, ruled from “heaven” (God’s Kingdom) by the ones chosen by God for that role. (Rev 20:6)
We are all on either the right road or the wrong one…..but only God knows who are being “drawn” by him (John 6:44, 65) and whom he leaves as deceived pawns of the devil.…Jesus himself indicates that “few” are on the right road. (Matt 7:13-14) and that “many” will offer their excuses to the appointed judge, who will reject them with the words “I never knew you” (Matt 7:21-23)……none of us would want to hear that stinging rejection from the mouth of the one whom we profess to serve…..but the majority will…..what do the majority believe?
Food for thought….