Category: God: The Father, the Son Jesus Christ, & the Holy Ghost

God’s Family #7

Friday, February 7, 2014

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 KJV).

How enjoyable it is to fellowship with other members of God’s family!

In the future, we, the Church the Body of Christ will accomplish God’s will for the heavenly places: “And [God] hath raised us up [ascended] together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (verses 6,7). God already considers us Christians as though we were in heaven now!

Why are we Christians still on earth? Why did God not take us to heaven the moment we trusted Christ? Until this the Dispensation of Grace closes, a portion of the Body of Christ must remain on earth in order to evangelize, to teach the lost world the Gospel of God’s Grace, and then, after unbelievers are saved, to see them mature in sound Bible doctrine. When no one else wants to trust Jesus Christ alone as personal Saviour, the Body of Christ will be completed, and the Christians remaining on earth will be taken up into the air, to meet the Lord Jesus Christ and to reunite with their brothers and sisters in Christ (now resurrected bodily) (1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

When all members of the Church the Body of Christ are assembled in heaven, Ephesians 1:22,23 explains: “And [God] hath put all things [the governments of heaven] under his [Jesus Christ’s] feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” All the offices of heaven’s government that Satan and his angels have polluted, will be purged (Revelation 12:7-12), and we will be installed in those positions of government (cf. Colossians 1:16-20)!

Via us, God will fill all of heaven with the life of His Son, Jesus Christ, and it will truly be a family enterprise, one that will literally transcend the endless ages to come!

NOTE: A companion (albeit, advanced) devotionals arc is “in the works,” and should be published soon! Stay tuned!

God’s Family #6

Thursday, February 6, 2014

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 KJV).

How enjoyable it is to fellowship with other members of God’s family!

The Bible’s first verse says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). God needs a body of individuals to execute His will in both realms (originally, these agencies were angels and mankind, respectively). When Lucifer/Satan polluted heaven with sin, and when Adam joined Satan and corrupted earth with sin, God began His two-fold plan to restore heaven and earth to Himself. Most of the Scriptures discuss God creating the nation Israel to function as His earthly people, but what about His restoration of the heavenly places? God kept His plan for heaven secret until the Apostle Paul’s ministry (Ephesians 3:1-11).

God already had the nation Israel’s believing remnant as His people, but that was just part of His will. Why is God forming the Church the Body of Christ? God the Holy Spirit through Paul wrote in today’s Scripture and its context: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (verses 19-22).

Now, God has revealed His secret will—heaven’s restoration (Ephesians 1:9,10). In Paul’s epistles alone, Romans through Philemon, we learn that God is currently creating a body that will fulfill His will in heaven (as Israel will fulfill His will in earth; note Matthew 6:10). God is forming the Body of Christ to be His dwelling-place, a body through which His life is to be lived now and forever (Ephesians 2:21,22)! Just as Jesus Christ will live His life in and through Israel on earth (Jeremiah 31:33,34; Matthew chapters 5-7; John 1:12; 2 Peter 1:3,4; et cetera), our grand reunion with our deceased brothers and sisters in Christ in heaven is just the beginning of God’s will for heaven….

God’s Family #5

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 KJV).

How enjoyable it is to fellowship with other members of God’s family!

Prior to our Dispensation of Grace, and previous to our trusting Paul’s Gospel—Christ’s finished crosswork as sufficient payment for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3,4)—we were “strangers and foreigners” from God’s nation Israel, His covenants, His purpose and His plan (today’s Scripture; cf. verses 11,12). “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (verse 13). “For through him [Jesus Christ] we both [Jew and Gentile] have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (verse 18). According to Ephesians 3:15, God has the “whole family in heaven and earth,” a family that encompasses the Church the Body of Christ (heaven) and believing Israel (earth), all of whom are the children of God the Father (Galatians 3:26).

Now, as God’s children, we can, by faith in His Word to us, cooperate with Him in accomplishing His will (which is delineated in His Word to us, Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon). When we realize that the Church the Body of Christ is God’s vessel on earth while the Dispensation of Grace operates, and then remember that it becomes His vessel in the heavenly places when this dispensation closes (Ephesians 2:6,7), we understand that we will be reunited with our brothers and sisters in Christ who have died, to continue God’s work up there by ruling and reigning with Him (Ephesians 1:20-23; 2 Timothy 2:10-13; 2 Timothy 4:18)!

Moreover, the context of today’s Scripture says that God is building a “holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (verses 21,22). God wants to fill us with His life now, and in the heavenly places, it will still be His life (albeit without our sinful flesh in the way, and the context will be the whole universe, not just earth like today!). Just imagine a local church assembly free from all doctrinal error and all sin. It will be the greatest family reunion ever….

God’s Family #2

Sunday, February 2, 2014

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 KJV).

How enjoyable it is to fellowship with other members of God’s family!

Recently, I ministered to a dear Christian brother via phone, a man who enjoyed our blog. Little did either of us know, in just a few days (yesterday), he would lose his battle with cancer. His absence genders sadness, yet joy fills our hearts because we know that he is free from his pain and suffering, and finally at peace. He saw his Lord Jesus Christ!

More recently, I ministered to a dear Christian brother who, some months ago, lost his wife of 55 years to prolonged illness. This brother and I, still saddened by her passing, nevertheless rejoiced in that she too is free from her pain and suffering, and finally at peace as well. She saw her Lord Jesus Christ!

The Bible likens Christians of this the Dispensation of Grace unto a body, what it calls “the Church the Body of Christ.” Just as our physical bodies are made of many body parts, the Body of Christ has many members. Both bodies function as one because their members are so intricately connected. Thus, when one Christian cries, we should cry with him or her. When one member rejoices, we should rejoice with him or her. This is what family does.

“That there should be no schism [division] in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Corinthians 12:25-27).

As biological brothers and sisters look after one another, so should members of the Body of Christ. Even in the grimmest of circumstances, meeting with and conversing with like-minded believers in Christ is very encouraging and refreshing. While we can no longer converse or fellowship with those Christians who have passed on, we anticipate the great day when we fellowship with them again….

-IN MEMORIAM-
Mr. G. F.

God’s Family #1

Saturday, February 1, 2014

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 KJV).

How enjoyable it is to fellowship with other members of God’s family!

Recently, I met an out-of-state individual who was distributing Gospel tracts on my university’s campus. Although we had never met before, and there was a considerable age difference between us, this Christian brother and I had such wonderful fellowship around the King James Bible rightly divided. It was very edifying for both of us, so I was sorely disappointed that I could not stay longer. Beloved, this is exactly how Christian fellowship should be, since the same Holy Spirit indwells us both.

The Bible says, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). As in any family, we should be especially kind to and caring for fellow saints (our spiritual siblings). Unfortunately, as in any family, there is petty bickering, immaturity, sibling rivalry, and even more serious issues in the Body of Christ, so this fellowship can be greatly hindered or even impossible.

In the context of today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul is reminding us that, when God was dealing with the nation Israel, we Gentiles were “without Christ… without God in the world” (verses 11,12). As lost people headed for eternal hellfire, we were “of [our] father the devil” (John 8:44), we “walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), and we were under “the power of darkness” (Colossians 1:13).

That all changed when the Dispensation of Grace began and when we realized our lost estate. We decided to trust exclusively in Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork as sufficient payment for our sins. The day we were saved unto eternal life, God became our Father (Galatians 3:26), and other people who had trusted Christ prior, whether living or deceased, became our spiritual brothers and sisters (today’s Scripture; cf. Ephesians 3:15).

Saints, let us remember to get to know each other now, because we, as God’s family, are living together, both now and forever….

A Holy Nation #12

Friday, January 31, 2014

“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45 KJV).

Today’s Scripture summarizes a book most burdensome to many.

Rather than futilely attempting to obey legalistic Bible passages (such as today’s Scripture), we rest in God’s grace. Israel could no more become God’s people in her own strength, than we can in ours. “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). The Old Covenant was harsh, but the New Covenant will save Israel via God’s grace. Christ’s shed blood, which will instate the New Covenant at His Second Coming (Acts 3:19), will cleanse Israel’s sins and make her righteous before God (Jesus’ shed blood can be our means for salvation unto eternal life, although apart from any covenants).

JEHOVAH was the laughingstock of the nations when they saw “His” people Israel living just as bad—if not worse—than they did (Romans 2:17-24). Yet, the Gentiles will again see an amazing sight in Israel. Messiah Jesus will return to the nation that so hated Him, betrayed Him, and even crucified Him, He will purge it of unbelievers, and He will ratify that New Covenant with His own blood that they shed, pay off the Old Covenant sin debt, save Israel’s believing remnant, and make it His holy nation (Hebrews 10:1-39).

Isaiah 64:6,9 quote Israel’s believing remnant’s submission to JEHOVAH’S righteousness: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away… O LORD… Behold, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.” Isaiah 60:1-3 is Israel’s kingdom hope: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

Rest assured, JEHOVAH will make Israel a “holy nation.” 🙂

A Holy Nation #11

Thursday, January 30, 2014

“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45 KJV).

Today’s Scripture summarizes a book most burdensome to many.

When resurrected and ascended Jesus Christ returns to earth (His Second Coming), to Israel, the people who killed Him 2,000 years ago, He will forgive them and make them a “holy nation,” a nation they could never be in their own strength (today’s Scripture).

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

Hebrews 8:13 affirms, “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

We read of Israel’s future in 1 Peter 2:9,10: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

Israel will then be a “holy nation,” not because of her obedience, but only because of JEHOVAH’S grace….

A Holy Nation #10

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45 KJV).

Today’s Scripture summarizes a book most burdensome to many.

Contrary to religious tradition, the Mosaic Law is not the sinner’s friend. God the Holy Spirit Himself called the Mosaic Law system: “a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1; cf. Acts 15:10), “the ministration of death” (2 Corinthians 3:7), “weak and beggarly” (Galatians 4:9), “the ministration of condemnation” (2 Corinthians 3:9), and “weak through [our] flesh” (Romans 8:3). “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written [Deuteronomy 27:26], Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God…” (Galatians 3:10,11a). JEHOVAH knew that Israel could never keep the Mosaic Law: why did He ever make that agreement with them?

Scripture could not be plainer: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty become God. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19,20).“Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made… But before faith came, we [Israel] were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Galatians 3:19,23-25).

By giving the Law, God proved to the entire world—not just Israel—that no sinner will ever measure up to His righteousness. He showed Israel they could not become His people in their own strength: they needed Him to make them holy. Only by His power and grace would they become a “holy nation….”

A Holy Nation #9

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45 KJV).

Today’s Scripture summarizes a book most burdensome to many.

When JEHOVAH God first proposed the Mosaic Covenant, Israel declared, “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:8). After that Covenant of Law was delivered and before it was ratified, Israel again affirmed, “All the words which the LORD hath said will we do,” and “All the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient” (Exodus 24:3,7). After the 40-year wilderness wanderings (due to Israel’s disobedience), the new generation of Israelites echoed, “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us” (Deuteronomy 6:25).

The Israelites, like any descendants of Adam (sinners), wrongly believed they could actually do everything that God commanded them, that they could actually be separate from the pagan Gentiles around them. They believed they could be righteous—that they could have a right standing before God—by keeping hundreds upon hundreds of divine laws. Even today, millions of souls in “Christian” churches and groups have “revived” this legalistic system—a system that God has already deemed a failure because man is naturally unrighteous. Religion (even the Mosaic Law) merely reforms the outward activity (behavior), not the inward nature (the root of the behavior). Man’s nature must change if he is to keep God’s laws.

As the centuries passed, Israel’s corrupt religious leaders polluted God’s pure Law system first given through Moses, by inserting their (manmade) rules and regulations. Eventually, it did not involve honoring JEHOVAH and having faith in Him (His original intention): it became a monotonous system of religious busyness that made people appear godly (and yet, God was not in their hearts). This was the vain system that Jesus condemned in His day (Matthew 23:1-36, Mark 7:1-23, et cetera). Israel used the Law, not as a means for proving God’s righteousness, but for demonstrating their self-righteousness (the Pharisees, for example).

Let us learn the lesson that Israel will one day learn….

A Holy Nation #8

Monday, January 27, 2014

“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45 KJV).

Today’s Scripture summarizes a book most burdensome to many.

When Jesus’ corpse was removed from Calvary’s cruel cross and entombed, Satan had never been happier. Israel, God’s people, had not only broken God’s Covenant of Law, but now they had murdered God’s Messiah, and with King Jesus dead, Israel was still his. The devil had executed his “wise” plan—he had trapped God yet again (or so he thought!). Thankfully, “[God] taketh the wise in their own craftiness” (Job 5:13; 1 Corinthians 3:19). God had His own plans—the triune Godhead had pre-planned Jesus’ death (Acts 2:23; Acts 3:18)!

Colossians 1:20 explains, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” Through Jesus’ shed blood, the governments of heaven and earth that Satan polluted, will one day be “reconciled” to God. Christ’s death was not God’s defeat, but rather Satan’s (Colossians 2:14,15). Satan was horrified to learn from Paul’s ministry that he had participated in his own downfall!

Israel broke the Old Covenant, but JEHOVAH made provisions (Calvary’s finished crosswork facilitates Israel’s deliverance from Satan). Firstly, Christ’s shed blood will pay off the sin debt of the Old Covenant (1 Peter 1:18,19; 1 Peter 2:24). Secondly, it will allow JEHOVAH to ratify a whole new contract with Israel—one predicated upon His faithfulness, not hers!!

Indeed, Israel will become God’s earthly people forever, but not today. Our Dispensation of Grace must first run its course. God must first complete the Church the Body of Christ. Paul reminds us, “…That blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved… for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Romans 11:25-27).

Rather than sinful Israel struggling to fulfill God’s laws (today’s Scripture), He will fulfill them in and through her, and He Himself will make her a “holy nation….”