Compelling Love

In a recent article, writer Jack Kinsella summarizes the Gospel as follows (slightly paraphrased):

“God, who is eternal, stepped out of eternity and into space and time in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. Jesus Christ, knowing our inability to save ourselves, lived a life acceptable to God in our place. Having no sin debt of His own, He then suffered the penalty due for sin on our behalf. Having paid our sin debt for us, He declared, “it is finished” and sat down at the Father’s right Hand.”(http://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2011/08/emperor-jack-first.html)

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus, Yeshua, confirmed a new covenant with the people of God, as described in Jeremiah 31:

Jeremiah 31 (NKJV)
“…33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul also writes of this new covenant of the Spirit, and of the true liberty of those who are led by the Spirit:

2 Corinthians 3 (NKJV)
4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers [servants] of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

In Ezekiel 11, Yahweh declares he will give his people one heart and put a new spirit in them, “that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them”:

Ezekiel 11 (NKJV)
17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ 18 And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. 19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

In Luke 22, after his last Passover with the disciples, Jesus took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”

Luke 22 (NKJV)
14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”

In 1 Corinthians 11 (NKJV), Paul encourages believers when breaking bread together to do so in remembrance of Jesus, Yeshua who gave his life for us, establishing the new covenant in his blood.

1 Corinthians 11 (NKJV)
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Hebrews 9 describes the supreme effectiveness of Christ’s sacrifice for all who believe in him, establishing the new covenant in his blood:

Hebrews 9 (NKJV)
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul describes our worthy response to this supreme sacrifice of Jesus, Yeshua establishing the new covenant:

2 Corinthians 5 (NKJV)
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 8/29/2011

By Marla Krause, 9/11/2011
If you were studying the mystery of the Biblical ark, the question that invariably confronts people to ask is, “Where is it?”  And this is an excellent question.  The answer if found in increments: a portion here, and a portion there.  And in each increment a little more light is shown upon the answer.  Why is this important to us?  The times that we are living in seem to fit what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24:

Matthew 24:37-39 (NKJV)
³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Now eating and marrying might not seem ungodly, but the low moral standards underlying this eating and marrying was so great a corruption that the world was about to go through an immense upheaval:

Genesis 6:5 (NKJV)
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

God has a plan for His people to come through critical times.  It was God who chose an ark.  This originated with Him.  It was an ark that carried Noah and his family from the old world as they knew it into a new world.  God did NOT perform a creative miracle suddenly causing an ark to appear.  No. God gave to the man in right relationship with Him this plan to save his family.  This was a partnership between God and Noah based upon each trusting the other.  The Bible says that “Noah was a just man”, “And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.”

Genesis 6:8-9 (NKJV)
⁸ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
⁹ This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.

Genesis 7:5 (NKJV)
And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him.

It was by faith that Noah and his family prepared and built the ark.  How much faith?

Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV)
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

He built a great boat on dry land, a ridiculous sight, and the topic of mocking, finger pointing and jokes.  He predicted a deluge of rain that had never been seen before.  That’s right.  It had never rained.  He preached 120 years and failed to win a single convert.  Who could have believed the old man with his bizarre ideas?  I don’t know how long you’ve been living where you are now, but day in and day out, year in and year out, 120 years of daily building a flat-bottomed, rectangular, three storied boat on the desert sand because you believed God said to, does require amazing faith and commitment.  Peter writes of “the longsuffering of God waiting in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared.”  Ezekiel says that they could not deliver the unrighteous, but only their own souls.  And God Himself shut the door.

1 Peter 3:20 (NKJV)
who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

Ezekiel 14:14
Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 14: 20 (NKJV)
even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

Genesis 7:16 (NKJV)
So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

There was only one door into and out of the side of the ark.  Christ Jesus is the only door to the Father’s house, opened up from a pierced wound in His side.  All who call upon His name and receive Him may come to Him.

God made a covenant with Noah:

Genesis 9:11-17 (NKJV)
¹¹ Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
¹² And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: ¹³ I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. ¹⁴ It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; ¹⁵ and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Now you might think it strange when I tell you that the word “ark” comes from Egypt.  But then it’s not so strange if you remember that Moses’ own life was saved by an ark.  It was an ark that safely carried Moses down the river to Pharaoh’s daughter.  She adopted Moses, and he was brought up by Pharaoh’s house, the best of Egypt in that day.  Following his upbringing and emancipation from Egypt when the children of Israel miraculously crossed through the Red Sea, it was Moses who called these arks by the name “ark”.  But what had worked for Noah and his family, and for the baby Moses no longer would work for generations after him.  So the ark appears in a new form with only a hint of its earlier pattern.  Now it is a rectangular box made of gopher wood and covered with gold.  The lid was called the Mercy Seat upon which stood two cherubim with outstretched wings.

The box holds precious tokens from the past.  What are they?  When the Lord brought the children of Israel to the foot of Mt. Sinai, He gave them a betrothal agreement.  It was a spiritual marriage contract with the King of Heaven.  It was the bride’s instructions, also called Torah, and it included the Ten Commandments:

1 John 2:3-5 (NKJV)
³ Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

And this is what was placed in the ark:

Deuteronomy 31:24-29 (NKJV)
²⁴ So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, ²⁵ that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying: ²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you; ²⁷ for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD, then how much more after my death? ²⁸ Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”

Another precious token placed in the Ark of the Covenant was Aaron’s rod, the one the Lord chose from all the others:

Numbers 17:1-10 (NKJV)
¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. ³ And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house. ⁴ Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. ⁵ And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you.”
⁶ So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. ⁷ And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.
⁸ Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.
¹⁰ And the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.”

And one more token was placed in the Ark of the Covenant: a pot of manna reminding His people of how He, and He alone supernaturally fed their fathers in the desert wilderness for 40 years:

Exodus 16:32-34 (NKJV)
³² Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.” ³⁴ As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

After the building of the tabernacle had been completed, the ark was placed within it:

Exodus 40:18-21 (NKJV)
¹⁸ So Moses raised up the tabernacle, fastened its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars, and raised up its pillars. ¹⁹ And he spread out the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, as the LORD had commanded Moses. ²⁰ He took the Testimony and put it into the ark, inserted the poles through the rings of the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark. ²¹ And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung up the veil of the covering, and partitioned off the ark of the Testimony, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Exodus 40:34-38 (NKJV)
³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁶ Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. ³⁷ But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. ³⁸ For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

The ark was carried by Levite priests into battle and into resting places:

Numbers 10:33-35 (NKJV)
³³ So they departed from the mountain of the LORD on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. ³⁴ And the cloud of the LORD was above them by day when they went out from the camp.
³⁵ So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said:
“Rise up, O LORD!
Let Your enemies be scattered,
And let those who hate You flee before You.”

The ark insured God’s people of their safety.  As they carried the ark it led them safely from one place to another.  And when they camped, the ark resided in the center of the camp.  Besides the ark, God’s manifest Presence dwelled among them as a perpetual cloud by day and a fire by night.  When the cloud moved, the people pulled up their tent stakes and moved with it:

Exodus 13:21-22 (NKJV)
²¹ And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. ²² He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

Joshua 3:6 (NKJV)
Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.”  So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

Joshua 3:14 (NKJV)
So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,

Joshua 4:7-11 (NKJV)
⁷ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”
⁸ And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. ⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.
¹⁰ So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over. ¹¹ Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.

Joshua 4:16-18 (NKJV)
¹⁶ “Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁷ Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸ And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before.

David brought the ark to Zion, but it was Solomon who brought the ark into the temple:

2 Samuel 6:12 (NKJV)
… So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness.

1 Kings 8:1-11 (NKJV)
¹ Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the City of David, which is Zion. ² Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ So all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. ⁴ Then they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. ⁶ Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ⁸ The poles extended so that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ⁹ Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
¹⁰ And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, ¹¹ so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

During the siege of the Babylonians, when the temple was destroyed and the Israelites were carried off to Babylon, the ark became lost from sight.  The ark bearing the precious tokens from God is sometimes called the Ark of the Lord, the Ark of God, and the Ark of God’s Strength.

In fact, it was Solomon who had prayed this:

2 Chronicles 6:40-42 (NKJV)
⁴⁰ Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place.
⁴¹ “Now therefore,
Arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
Let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation,
And let Your saints rejoice in goodness.
⁴² “O LORD God, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed;
Remember the mercies of Your servant David.”

 Christ Jesus, Son of God contained the fullness of God’s Word, more than the Ten Commandments.  He contained the Rod of Authority, more than Aaron’s rod.  And He supernaturally fed thousands of people on two different occasions, the customary food at that time, not manna.  Greater even than feeding their bodies, He gave them living words:

John 6:63 (NKJV)
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

 Jesus’ own body did rise again.  Christ did take His resurrection body up with Him and presented himself at the throne of God.  And this is where we see the ark reappear in its final resting place with God on His throne.

 Revelation 11:19 (NKJV)
Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

Henry Morris in his book, The Revelation Record, on page 211, comments on this verse:

     “Men Through the centuries have been almost as intrigued with the search for the ark of the covenant as they have with the search for Noah’s ark.  The ark was not in the restoration temple, nor the temple of Herod, nor in the tribulation temple.  Neither is there any mention of it even in the millennial temple described in Ezekiel 40-48.  People have rumored it is preserved somewhere in a cave in Ethiopia, or in the Arabian desert, or somewhere else.
“But there is no mystery as to where it is.  God showed John, when He revealed to him the Apocalypse, that it was safely stored in the heavenly temple.  No doubt the two tables of the Ten Commandments are there as well.  If God could translate Enoch and Elijah to heaven, and if the resurrected Christ could ascend to heaven, He would be quite able to have an angel remove the ark from Jerusalem before Nebuchadnezzar’s armies sacked the temple, and then have him carry it safely to the true tabernacle in the New Jerusalem under construction in heaven.”

Marla Krause, 9/11/2011

By Marla Krause

The Lord is coming with a fan in His hand. John the Baptist, the forerunner, declared it, and then Luke and Matthew both wrote it. The very word “fan” brings to one’s mind a picture of someone stirring the air rapidly enough that you would feel a cool breeze. All of us, on some hot summer day or evening, have used a fan to cool ourselves.

But that’s not the Biblical definition of a fan. In the Bible the word “fan” refers to a winnowing instrument. Wow! What a difference! Vine’s “Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words” tells us that a fan is “a winnowing shovel or fan with which grain is thrown against the wind, in order to separate [it from] the chaff.

And while this is true in agriculture, it also has a deeper meaning. It is used in the Bible to bring a picture into our minds of a process God uses which separates nations and individual souls toward their destinations. People and nations are given choices, and how each one chooses will determine their destinations. Those who choose to go with Christ will go in one direction, and those who do not so chose will go in another direction.

Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Every person is responsible for their own response to Jesus Christ; and also are nations. “… by His own blood He entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” (Hebrews 9:12b)

Remember that in the garden there were choices to be made. The choices for Adam and Eve were between which tree was good to eat and which tree was not. The voice of the world manifested through a serpent tempting them to eat from the wrong tree, and this brought DIS-ease and death into the world. Mankind continues to fall for this temptation every day. Disease is rampant (“our outward man perishes”) and sooner or later all will die. Every soul entering into the world since Adam is born into this fallen nature.

So, from the beginning were two voices: God’s Voice and the serpent’s voice. There were two ways: the way of God, or the way of the world.  And, there were two trees. One tree brought light and revelatory knowledge being in relationship with God, and the other tree brought experiential carnal knowledge learned by making wrong choices.  This, the Bible calls “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. We all know this pattern having tasted of it.

Christ came to recover that which was lost and to “renew the inward man day by day”.

2 Corinthians 4:16 (NKJV)
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

And now we are living in the days spoken of by the prophets. Their prophecies are rapidly coming to pass. God sent His Word through the prophets who spoke of the day when the Holy One of Israel would come and separate those who followed one way from those who followed another way. Let’s look at what Isaiah said.

Isaiah 41:4-20 (NIV)
4 Who has done this and carried it through,
calling forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the LORD—with the first of them and with the last—I am he.”
5 The islands have seen it and fear; the ends of the earth tremble.
They approach and come forward; 6 they help each other and say to their companions, “Be strong!” 7 The metalworker encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smoothes with the hammer spurs on the one who strikes the anvil. One says of the welding, “It is good.” The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.
8 “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, 9 I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11 “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. 12 Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.
13 For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear; I will help you. 14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. 16 You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 “The poor and needy search for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.
19 I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, 20 so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

This passage is saying that Israel will be a sharp instrument in God’s hand which threshes the nations. These enemy nations are pictured here as mountains and hills, proud and powerful, but they get threshed, fanned, winnowed. Israel is to grind them to nothing (“bring them to naught”).  And, like a fan that separates grain from the chaff and the wind carrying away the chaff, so will judgment be executed through Israel.

Malachi 4:1-6 (NKJV)
1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.  And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the LORD of hosts, “that will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.  3 You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” says the LORD of hosts.  4 “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.  5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

The first coming and the second coming here are connected together. John the Baptist came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Luke 1:17), but John testified that he was not Elijah (John 1:21). However, Elijah would still come again before the great and notable day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5). Christ, the Messiah, would be and still is God’s only provision for Jews and Gentiles to escape the curse. He became a curse for us by hanging upon a tree. He is “the Lord of our Righteousness”.

Let’s read one more prophecy about the “latter days”. Here is one from the prophet Micah:

Micah 4:1-3 (NKJV)
1 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it.
2 Many nations shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.

A steady stream of “people flow into” Jerusalem. Those who have visited and returned report how they have been changed, how God’s presence is there, and how the atmosphere feels peaceful. God sends His Word ahead and His prophets speak of it, and then He brings it to pass.

Matthew and Luke wrote that the Lord is coming with a fan in His Hand.

Matthew 3:10-12 (NKJV)
10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew Henry says that Christ sits as a Refiner. He writes,

The visible Church is Christ’s floor. The temple, a type of the church, was built upon a threshing floor. On this floor there is a mixture of wheat and chaff. True believers are as wheat, hypocrites are as chaff; these are now mixed, good and bad, under the same external profession. There is a day coming when the floor shall be purged, and the wheat and chaff shall be separated.  But it is the day of the last judgment that will be the great winnowing, distinguishing day, when saints and sinners shall be parted forever. Heaven is the garner into which Jesus Christ will shortly garner all His wheat, and not a grain of it shall be lost; and there is no chaff among them. They are not only gathered into the barn, but into the garner where they are thoroughly purified.

Jesus himself taught his disciples about this in a parable.

Matthew 13:24-30 (NKJV)
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Jesus taught them again:

Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV)
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’  45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’  46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

J. Dwight Pentecost explains it this way:

When Christ comes the second time, He will be enthroned in heavenly glory. He will sit on David’s throne (2 Samuel 7:16 and Luke 1:32-33).  While on David’s throne, Christ will not only rule over Israel but will rule over the Gentiles as well.  But since no unsaved person can enter His millennial kingdom, it will be necessary to separate the saved from the unsaved in the Gentile nations.

We cannot enter by our own righteousness because we have none. We can enter only by the Lord our Righteousness.  So in the words of Paul for us to likewise pray,

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua Messiah. Amen. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

Marla Krause, 10/8/2011

A long standing problem for those who believe in a straightforward and literal reading of Genesis chapter 1 is explaining how we are able to see light from stars billions of light years away, or the evidence of long radioactive processes in rocks. Gorman Gray’s book, “The Age of the Universe: What are the Biblical Limits?” provides a key to resolving this issue, well worth consideration by all who are interested in this subject. See http://www.ageoftheuniverse.com for a sample of this book. The following is a synopsis of this significant contribution toward resolving this perennial issue.

The biosphere, everything relating to life on earth, was created during the six days beginning with the onset of light on the dark surface of the ocean inaugurating day one. By a literal and straightforward reading of the Bible, we indeed determine that these events beginning in Genesis 1:3 took place about 6,000 years ago. However, what is often overlooked is that based on a literal and straightforward reading of verse 1, the stars, planets, moons and other stellar bodies were created prior to the events of the biosphere creation week. The Hebrew word translated “heaven” or “heavens” in verse 1 consistently includes the stellar bodies that populate the universe, and not just empty space, and the word translated “earth” simply means this planet earth. The words translated “empty and void” in verse 2 can also be rendered desolate and uninhabitable. Verse 2 also speaks of a hovering or brooding of the Spirit over the dark surface of the “deep” (consistently translated “ocean” elsewhere) with no light getting through. Verses 1 and 2 do not specify the length of time during which these events occurred; therefore from the text we cannot know the age of the universe or of the mineral earth. All we can definitely say is that from the onset of light on the surface of the ocean inaugurating earth’s first day in verse 3 until the present time is about 6,000 years.

The main sticking point in this straightforward and literal interpretation is regarding verse 16, “Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.” The verb translated “made” is frequently translated “did” and sometimes as “brought forth” or “established”. In the context of the text, Gorman Gray observes, “Just as God made light on the ocean surface (day one) by thinning the cloud of thick darkness, so He “made” the stars on day four for signs, seasons, days and years by necessarily clearing the skies to transparency.” ( “The Age of the Universe: What are the Biblical Limits?”, page 27) Gorman has strong backing from Hebrew experts in this interpretation, and has dealt honestly and convincingly with all the arguments that have been raised against it.

The upshot of this view (if scripturally correct as I believe it is), is that whether or not the young universe models proposed by Russell Humphreys, John Hartnett, Barry Setterfield and others hold up over time, the Bible has no issue with whatever time scientists choose to assign for the age of the universe or of the mineral earth. There is no longer any problem explaining how we are able to see light from stars billions of light years away, or the evidence of long radioactive processes in rocks. Even without the aid of the complex models constructed by the aforementioned physicists, it is evident that the period of time between the creation of those distant stars, the creation of the earth, and the clearing of the skies to transparency on day four of the biosphere creation week could easily have been the exact time needed for light to arrive from the most distant stars, and for any radioactive processes to transpire in the oldest rocks.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 12/23/2011

A friend recently asked, “How can life on earth have begun only six thousand years ago considering that bones of saber-toothed cats, dog-faced bears, 30-foot ground sloths, and Colombian mammoths (among many others) that have been carbon-dated to hundreds of thousands of years ago? The science involved in this is every bit as accurate as the sciences that launch missiles, put a man on the moon, and built a telescope that can detect another earth-like planet that is hundreds of light years away.”

The assignment of dates to fossils is not based on empirical science like that which is used to launch missiles, put men on the moon, or build space probes that send back images from the farthest reaches of space. Carbon dating, for example, is based on a number of non-testable assumptions regarding the constancy of various conditions over a large number of years. For example, Mike Riddle writes, “It is assumed that the ratio of 14C to 12C in the atmosphere has always been the same as it is today (1 to 1 trillion). If this assumption is true, then the AMS 14C dating method is valid up to about 80,000 years. Beyond this number, the instruments scientists use would not be able to detect enough remaining 14C to be useful in age estimates. This is a critical assumption in the dating process. If this assumption is not true, then the method will give incorrect dates. What could cause this ratio to change? If the production rate of 14C in the atmosphere is not equal to the removal rate (mostly through decay), this ratio will change.” For fuller understanding, see his article: Doesn’t Carbon-14 Dating Disprove the Bible? (http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/does-c14-disprove-the-bible)

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 12/29/2011

Verse 1 of Genesis tells us that, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” In Verse 16, we learn that he made the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day. What was the source of the light for days 1 through 3? Also, if each “day” represents a long period of time as some maintain, how did the plants created on day 3 survive without the sun?

The phrase, “heaven and earth” in verse 1 includes the stellar universe and the basic planet earth based on a literal and straightforward reading of the Hebrew. The view that the sun was not created until the fourth day is based on a popular misunderstanding of the context of verse 16. The Hebrew word, “asah”, translated as “made” in verse 16 has a wide semantic range, as evidenced by its being translated to English in 74 different ways in the King James Version. Gorman Gray writes, “All seventy-four translations are needed to cover the nuances and contexts represented by this word; that is our point. A translator has to make the proper choice according to each context, and no translator can claim to be infallible. The choice remains an option and is open to review by anyone who grasps the context.” The Age of the Universe: What are the Biblical Limits?”, p.48 (Website: http://www.ageoftheuniverse.com/Welcome.html). A better translation of “asah” in this verse would be “brought forth” based on the context (of the stellar heaven already having being created in verse 1 before light first broke through the darkness upon the surface of the ocean). Most likely, the thick watery atmosphere was thinned to let diffused light come through on the first day, and on the fourth day the atmosphere was further thinned to become transparent allowing the sun, moon and stars to be seen.

As for the days in Genesis 1 representing long periods of time, there is no linguistic justification for interpreting the word “day” (Hebrew: “yom”) in Genesis 1 as anything but an ordinary 24-hour day. This is emphasized by the use of the words, “evening and morning”, and “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. “And the evening and the morning were the first [second, third…] day.”

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 12/29/2011

The question, “Where did Cain (or Seth) find a wife/” is an easy one to answer – he and the other sons of Adam and Eve chose wives from among the daughters.  Marriage between a brother and sister was not unhealthy or banned until many centuries later when the human genome was so significantly degraded due to the accumulation of small mutations caused by radioactive hits that marriages between close relatives became prone to unhealthy offspring.  This also relates to the decline in the human life span that occurred after the flood, possibly due to removal of protective watery layers in the upper atmosphere at that time.  John Sanford’s book, Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome  provides details of scientific studies regarding the decline of the human genome, and how this relates to the declining human life span. Medical technology and good nutrition can extend the life span in wealthier nations; however, each generation starts with a worse set of genes than the last.  A fuller answer to this question may be found in the following article: Cain’s Wife – Who was She?.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 12/29/2011

By Marla Krause

The day Jesus died there were three crosses on Calvary.  Was this simply by chance?  Or, was some hidden meaning included in there being three crosses and not just one?  Every detail in the life of Jesus has importance.  Let us ask, who occupied those other two crosses?  Thieves we are told: one repented and the other was unrepentant.   What meaning is hidden in these three crosses?  And more importantly for us, what does this reveal for our own lives?

Well, a cross in the most general way speaks of a crossing.  The cross represents a crossing over from one side to another.  It was only a couple of centuries ago that it was a big deal to board a ship and cross the ocean from one land to another.  But what is most common to us today is a street crossing.  When the light turns green we may cross over to the other side.  We must wait on the one side for the approved light to show us permission to safely cross the intersection.

Back in history the Bible records important crossings over to the other side.  The children of Israel crossed over the Red Sea to the other side, leaving Egypt behind them.  And later, they made a second crossing over to the other side, this time of the Jordan River.  When the spring rains had swollen the river a mile wide, they miraculously crossed over.

These were God ordained crossings which changed their lives forever.  These journeys of the children of Israel point to set patterns which are common to all of us who follow Jesus.  What does their journeying have to do with our walk with God?  And what does it have to do with the three crosses on Calvary?

The thief on the cross next to Jesus that was unrepentant represents the people who crossed the Red Sea with Moses who were basically unrepentant people.  They had no Bible.  They had no Book of the Law.  They had no Law.  They were lawless unrepentant people in God’s eyes, but God had promised His Word to their forefathers to bring them out from the bondage of the world, Egypt, and to a new land.

Even today, God is calling people out of the world system according to His Words of Promise.  This is His Way – then, and now.

The only thing the children of Israel had agreed to do was to follow Moses out of Egypt, and that one agreement was the beginning of their repentances.  For us, when we agreed to follow Jesus, this was only the beginning of our repentances.  In God’s eyes, up until that moment, we were as unrepentant as were they.  Our first repentance was to come to Jesus.  Their first repentance was to follow Moses.

Now, for those who have received Jesus into their lives, the Holy Spirit moves in and begins making their hearts to be His home.  He begins to shift their priorities around to suit Himself.  What used to be important to the soul now diminishes and the Holy Spirit highlights His priorities, and transformation begins to take on a new form.  “He must increase, but I must decrease,” John the Baptist declared (John 3:30).  This new form will reflect the “image of the Creator” (Colossians 3:10).  And, as His image is forming in the heart, something of His likeness shines through and is seen by others.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

For every change the Holy Spirit brings about, the soul must bow to His Ownership and His Authority.  If the soul doesn’t bow, then circumstances will arise that makes it very uncomfortable for the soul until the will of the soul gives way to God’s will.  If the lesson is learned, the Spirit overcomes the will of the flesh as Light overcomes darkness, and the soul moves on with God.  But if the soul is not willing, it must go around this mountain again.  Some souls have very deep ruts from going around the same old mountain of circumstances so many times.

The children of Israel spent forty years in the desert.  However long it may take, when the soul bows, the circumstances fall away.  Only then, the soul won’t have to go around that mountain again.  The soul is set free of them forever.  For every value, for every priority that the soul held on to so dearly, the Holy Spirit will deal with it until the soul gives in to the Heavenly Father’s values and makes His values its priorities.  This process, in one word, is called repentance.

It seems that the children of Israel who crossed over the Red Sea remained an unrepentant people.  God calls them stiff-necked, stubborn, rebellious, murmurers and complainers, and they died in the desert wilderness. (Deut. 9:13, Num. 14:29)  They stopped short of the Promises of God.

Do not stop short of following Jesus.  Go all the way. The psalmist writes:

“Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.”  (Psalm 106:24-25)

 Later Paul warns,

“Don’t complain, as some of them complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.” (1 Cor. 10:10)

And the Book of Hebrews warns us again:

“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition [destruction]; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” (Hebrews 10:38-39, 2:3-4)

And John warns us:

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15-16)

Paul writes:

“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:8)

The thief on the cross next to Jesus that had repented represents the next generation, the desert babies, the ones born in the desert who were different from their parents.  They grew up observing the Law and didn’t murmur for Egypt like their parents.  They had no previous experience of living in Egypt, so they had no longing to draw back.  All they knew was desert life.  This generation was trained up for crossing over the Jordan River.  They were the submitted, surrendered, disciplined group who went on with God.  And God led them into a new land.

“Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven,”  (Deuteronomy 9:1)

“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them.” (Deuteronomy 7:1-2)

These “-ites” speak of issues to the believer.  When God calls a soul to be separated from the world and to follow Him, the Holy Spirit reveals strongholds in his fallen flesh.  These are often are tied to demonic influences and must be overcome by spiritual warfare as will later be described by Paul who taught us how to fight the good fight of faith.

Then in chapter 20 the Lord gives them rules for going to war:

“When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it.  And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you.   Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it.  And when the LORD your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword.” (Deuteronomy 20:10-13)

This generation of Israelites trained up to follow the Lord of Hosts into battle shows us the courage of Joshua.  They represent the warrior-bride of Christ engaging in spiritual warfare.  But, how are we to do this?  Paul says,

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NKJV)

There was a physical warfare and now here is a spiritual warfare.  There was a sense knowledge through our physical senses from the world and there is a revelation knowledge through our human spirit from the Holy Spirit speaking, the Voice of the Lord to us.

“But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-14)

We learn from Paul that

“we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  (Ephesians 6:12)

We become co-partners with Christ.  Jesus said,

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,  and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  (Matthew 16:19)

He has given us authority and so we receive His Authority and say, “In the name of Jesus I take dominion and subdue the evil thing.”

Sometimes

“we do not know what we should pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  And He that searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)

We overcome the world by faith.  (1 John 5:4)  We walk by faith.  These are the ones willing to follow God by faith.  These are the ones prepared to follow God into unknown realms.

“The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” (Daniel 11:32)

Now, Jesus’ cross no man can bear.  So God sent His Son to bear what no man could bear.  Christ hangs in-between the thief who repented and the thief who did not.   Jesus Christ was the only way then, and is the only way now.  “Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John the Baptist had announced.  (John 1:29)

Some tried to get a special position with Him:

“Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, “What do you wish?”  She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.”  But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”  They said to Him, “We are able.”  So He said to them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.” (Matthew 20:20-23)

Peter was ready to follow Jesus to the cross but ended up denying Him three times.  Even Jesus Himself prayed,

“O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39)

It would seem to be too much to bear “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”  However, His acceptable sacrifice opened up “a new and living way.”

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,” (Hebrews 10:19-20)

For us to come closer to Jesus’ cross, we apply His words to our lives.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:12,14-15)

“… love one another as I have loved you…” (John 13:34)

“The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.” (Luke 6:40)

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24)

“… Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

“… He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Luke 14:35)

“For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.  Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (John 13:15-17)

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)

To be called to be a servant of the Most High God: there is no higher calling than this.  Paul exhorts us:

“that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;  strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.  He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,” (Colossians 1:10-13)

Marla Krause, 1/1/2012

(The Bible verses in this study are from the New King James Version and the King James Version.)

From the molecule to the macrocosm and everywhere in between the evidence of God’s amazing creativity is seen.  David writes in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” Paul writes that for this reason, no one has an excuse for not believing in God.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.  (Romans  1:20)

Abraham Lincoln once remarked that he could understand how people could be agnostics if they only looked at their immediate surroundings, but he did not comprehend how anyone viewing the starry heavens on a clear night could help but believe in God.

Pastor Francis Chan, author of the book, “Crazy Love”, recommends that before opening your mouth to pray, take a moment to remember that you are about to speak to the One who created the heaven and the earth, who loves His people with an everlasting love.  He numbered the stars and gave them each a name.  He created you, and if your heart is turned toward Him, you can be sure that he knows you, and your name is written on the palm of His hand.  In Isaiah 49, God speaks of his love for Israel:

Isaiah 49 (NKJV)
14 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.”

The most amazing and wonderful thing is that God is inviting us to be in an ever growing personal relationship with Him.  Jesus, Yeshua, encouraged us to pray in this way:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  (Matthew 7:7-8)

Jesus, Yeshua, made this eternal relationship with God possible by laying down his own life to open the doors of heaven to us:

 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
(John 3:16)

By keeping our eyes on the Lord and trusting in Him to lead and sustain us, we will be victorious in the challenges we face and eternally fruitful in our lives.  Joseph’s triumph in the midst of continual adversity is a wonderful example of overcoming faith.  His jealous brothers sold him into slavery, but he kept his eyes on the Lord, eventually rising to be second in command under the Pharaoh of Egypt.  After the death of Jacob his father, his brothers came to plead for mercy.  He told them:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)

Paul is another person who kept his eyes on the Lord and continually won the victory by walking in His love.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

… in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)

Paul and Silas praised God after being beaten and their feet fastened into stocks in the cold inner cell of the prison.  God responded by setting them free and saving the jailer and his whole family.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.  At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.  The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.  But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”  The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.  He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved—you and your household.”  Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.  At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.  The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. (Acts 16:25-34)

Victory is certain for those who believe in the Savior God has sent and live in a deep and humble partnership with him, walking in his love.  This is Yeshua’s invitation to every believer to enter into that kind of personal and intimate friendship with him:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

God loves each of his children with an everlasting love.  He calls us to look to Him in the midst of every challenge we face.  If we trust and obey Him we will be fruitful and victorious.  Jesus, Yeshua promises we will be with him in glory, and we will share the love of the Father and of the Son forever.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 2/10/2012

Pastor Caleb Klinge declared in his sermon, April 8, 2012:

Jesus stepped out of eternity into time and died
so that we could step out of time into eternal life.

Paul writes about this in Philippians 2:

⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:5-11 NASB)

The essence of His sacrifice for us is proclaimed in these two verses:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
(John 3:16 NKJV)

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
(2 Cor. 5:21 NASB)

Jesus described his mission predicting his resurrection in John chapter 10:

¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. ¹⁸ No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
(John 10:17-18 NASB)

In the next chapter, Jesus proclaims and demonstrates that he is “the resurrection and the life”, by raising Lazarus from the dead.

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”  (John 11:25-27 NASB)

As Paul explains in 1 Thessalonians 4, when the risen Lord returns he will first raise the believers who have died: “he who believes in Me will live even if he dies”.  After that, believers who are living will be transformed and will meet him in the air: “everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

This is the account of Jesus’ resurrection in John chapter 20:

¹ Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. ² So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” ³ So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; ⁵ and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. ⁶ And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. ⁹ For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰ So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

¹¹ But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; ¹² and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. ¹³ And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
(John 20:1-18 NASB)

This encounter with the risen Lord was the inspiration for C. Austin Miles’ hymn, “In the Garden”.  Pastor Caleb Klinge comments on this passage:

Just as Jesus called Mary Magdalene by name, he calls you by name!  The resurrection pierces through the blinding power of broken dreams.  Don’t live with a mindset of defeat during the day of victory.  We live on the other side of the cross.  Jesus is risen from the dead.  His blood paid for the eternal life of all who believe, for your life and mine.  You are precious to God.

Jesus had explained to the disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NKJV)   Those who abide in Christ also are overcomers by His power, as Paul declares: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 8:1 NASB)  He adds, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”  (Romans 8:37 NKJV)

If our hearts are given to Him, we will rebound from failure or loss as described in Proverbs 24: “For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity.”  (Prov. 24:16 NASB)

Those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved:

¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for “whoever will call on the name of the LORD will be saved.”  (Romans 10:12-13 NASB)

He makes all things new, here and now and for all eternity.  Let him come and make all things new for you today!

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
(2 Cor. 5:17 NKJV)

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 4/13/2012