The Beautiful Letdown - Part 5

In Part 4 we looked at what is to be "Born Again" and how this was the Work of Jesus on the Cross.
We also looked at Revelation 21 at the "New Jerusalem" and what it symbolically represents.

In this Part we look at:

• The Lake of Fire in Revelation, 
• All the Separation parables Jesus told and when it took place
• When was "It Finished"

here we go:

Rev 19:20
Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone

Ok, so we know that Revelation is revealed using signs (Semaino)as this is what the very first verse of Revelation tells us (that is often mistranslated or overlooked)
Lets quickly look at other Fire symbols used in Scripture:

Mathew 3:10-12"(John the Baptist speaking about Jesus)
And even now the axe 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.
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier that I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Very clearly from this we see that John believed this was about to take place.
He says Jesus will Baptise them with fire. 
Baptisms in those days usually took place in bodies of water: rivers, streams..... lakes!
He also says that Jesus will be doing some separating. He says the Wheat and the Chaff will be separated and the chaff burned up.

As we understand this, John was talking about the Day of Judgement. From Johns wording he seemed to believe that this was about to happen. "Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees..."

Mathew 13:37-43
He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed the is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all the things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" - this means there is something more to what has been plainly stated.
Did you notice how similar this sounds to what John spoke about?
Q: When would this take place?
A: At the end of this age. Which, when Jesus said it was "That" age that he was currently in.
The pattern is the same: there is a separation of the good from the bad, the wheat from the tears, the fruit trees from the bad trees, the sheep from the goats etc.

Lets quickly look at when the end of that age was: (This was covered in Part 3 more extensively)
In Mat 24:3 the disciples ask Jesus, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and the end of the age?"
In Jesus response he says that the sun will be darkened, and the moon will turn blood red. then He says "Now when you see these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
Then he continues to say, "Truly, I say to you, THIS GENERATION will not pass away until these things take place. Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Then Peter Quotes Joel in Acts 2 talking about a new day ("The last days") he speaks about Blood, and FIRE, that the Moon turned to blood (symbolic of Jesus on the cross), the Sun turns to darkness, signs on the earth below (earthquake,), on that Great and Glorious day  - All these happened on the Day Jesus was crucified!!!

Compare now: Rev 6:12-13
I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth....
(very interesting!! - again, Remember the book of revelation is about Jesus. It's about what was Already accomplished. Rev 6 is describing the events surrounding the Cross. Its the Disclosure regarding the Savior of the World. Not some future cataclysmic event).

(stick with me here...)

Luke 12:49-51
I came to cast fire on the earth, and how i wish it was already kindled?
But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how i am straightened till it be accomplished! Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:

Yet again Jesus is taking about Fire and Division.
He says here that the reason he was there was to bring fire upon the earth and he wished it was already burning, but it wasnt yet. He said that He still needed to go through a Baptism and he is determined that He will accomplish it (and He did. By the time he said "It is Finished" he had accomplished all he was sent to do).

You have to agree that it sounds like Jesus is saying that this Fire and Baptism was about to happen at that time?
He says he is determined (Straightened) to accomplish this. (NIV put it like this: "...Great is my distress until this is accomplished".)

Q: By the Time Jesus says the words, "It is Finished" had he accomplish bringing Fire on the earth, and did He accomplish going through a Baptism?
A: Yes. He did. 

So lets clarify:
Traditional Churchianity says that despite what Jesus went through, there is still another Judgement to come. (mostly based on a futuristic interpretation of Revelation and some bad translation by translators with this self same futuristic view)
When is/was the Judgement of the World?
What did Jesus say?

John 12: 23-33
But Jesus answered them saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but it it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for (all the coming ages). If anyone serves me, let him follow me; and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him my Father will honor. "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?" 
But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name."
Then a voice came from heaven saying, " I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."
Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. others said, "An angel has spoken to him."
Jesus answered and said, "this voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." This he said signifying by what death he would die.

Q: When did Jesus say that the Judgement of the world was going to happen?
A: "Now" - which is "Back then" to us here in this present day.
Q: How/when would this Judgement of the world happen?
A: The word would be Judged IN HIM. He said that ALL men would be drawn (Gr: Dragged) to himself when he was on the cross.

(Side note: he also said, "Now the ruler of this world will be cast out"
Compare: Rev 12:9 "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan....")

Also note that God said he (Jesus) will be glorified.
*Remember, as mentioned above in John 13, Jesus said that at the end of THAT age, he would send out his angles and they would gather out of his kingdom all the things that offend.... those that practice lawlessness... and they would be cast into the fire, then the righteousness will shine forth like the sun...

Mathew 25:31-34,
When the Son of Man comes in Glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the  throne of His glory. ALL the Nations will be gathered before him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. then the King will say to those on His right hand. Come, you are blessed of My father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world:
Then he will also say to those on the left hand, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the (age-during) fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

Notice that this happens when Christ comes in His Glory.
He will separate the sheep from the goats, just like the wheat from the tares, the good from the bad and He will burn up the bad side and grant (Age-during) life to the good side.

This is the same division he said that he came to bring... along with Fire that would burn it all up.
All of these separations Jesus spoke about are clearly the Judgement of All mankind (as mentioned plainly in this passage, "All Nations gathered before him")
Remember just before he went to the Cross - as mentioned earlier - that Jesus said, "NOW is the hour here for the Judgement of the world." (again, "now" being back then for us reading it 2000 years later).

So, if the judgement of the world happened at the cross, then who was it that was burned up in the fires of judgement?

Rev21:8
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolators, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Quick important  side note: In 1st Adam we ALL died - this was the 1st death of mankind.
On the cross, in Christ,  we ALL Died (old self) again... Paul says, "We have concluded that if One died for ALL then ALL Died" - This is the 2nd Death of mankind. Just as we had no choice to be included into First Adams death, in the exact same way we ALL had no choice to be included into Last Adams death - When he was lifted up he drew ( greek: dragged) ALL men to Himself.

Romans 11:32 tells us plainly that God has counted EVERYONE in UNBELIEF, that he could have MERCY on EVERYONE.

Jesus' death symbolized the death of Everyone! The Fire that Jesus came to bring was the consuming of the sins of the world. Romans 6 tells us that we were ALL Baptized into His Death.
Jesus said he came to bring Division and Fire. 
When we ("all the nations", "all men") were Baptized into Him on the Cross, a separation took place: Sheep from Goat, Wheat from Tare, Good tree from Bad tree, Good fish from Bad fish, Chaff from wheat etc...
The Sin that separated us from God was REMOVED!! (Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has he REMOVED our transgressions from us)

The separating parables are NOT some additional future event, but rather are symbolic of the separation of us from our transgressions.
We were all baptized in the baptism of Fire that Jesus said he came to bring in a symbolic Lake of Fire. Baptism was always symbolic of a releasing of the OLD and arising as the NEW.


Paul writes that the Old has gone and behold ALL THINGS are made new - 2 Cor 5
John writes in Rev 21 (Just after the Lake of Fire), he sees a NEW earth and a New heaven for the old ones had passed away and God says, 'Now is the dwelling place of God with man"(Christ in you the Hope of Glory! - This is NOW, not in some confusing future).
I will wipe away every tear (the Comforter is with us NOW). I am making all things NEW.
"I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more" - Thank Jesus for the Lake of Fire at the Cross that obliterated everything that caused us to feel separated from God and to forget that God is for us and not against us!



It IS Finished In Revelation 21:6 - After the Lake of Fire, John records God as saying: "It is Finished" 
Remember, Jesus only did and said what the Father was doing and saying?
That's why ON THE CROSS Jesus said, "It is Finished" The Separation of us from our sins in the Symbolic Lake of Fire had by that time Already Happened!!  
The Book of Revelation is ALL ABOUT THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS!! - Good News!!

Q: Why is it important to know that?
A: So that we can understand that IT IS FINISHED. God is with us NOW, He lives in us!!!
We can feed off His comfort when we need to. 
We can feed it to others as he leads.

We can gladly forget about the horrific theory of another future Judgement and a literal Lake of Fire where God was going to throw people into "forever". What a abysmal view of God and the finished work of Cross!!!



Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Much Love!

the Beautiful Letdown - Part 4

Recap:
In Part 3 we looked at the New Heavens and the the New earth being symbolic of the New Covenant.
This happened when Jesus was crucified and resurrected. His death also ended the Law.

In Rev 21 John records God saying, "Now is the dwelling place of God with Man,...I am making all things NEW"
Jesus said also in john, " My Fathers house has many rooms..."
Meaning that Gods dwelling place is IN us - all His People.
"the mystery of the Gospel has been hidden for ages and Generations but has now been made clear, that is: Christ IN YOU, the hope of Glory" Col 1.

God announcing in Rev 21 regarding Him now being with Man is a Declaration of the New Covenant and that the Old Order of things had passed away and now ALL things are made New.
Paul says the same thing in 2 Cor 5: " The OLD has gone, Behold, ALL THINGS ARE MADE NEW"
The Writer of Hebrews also quotes writing regarding the NEW COVENANT from the Old Testament in HEB 13: "I will never leave you nor Forsake you.."

Again, the implication of all this is that GOD IS WITH US NOW!
However, If we still have a future tense view of the Book of Revelation, this would make no sense as God only says, "Now is the dwelling of God with man" at the end of Revelation. This Implies that HE is NOT currently with us. - This is NOT GOOD NEWS!

In This Part we will look at:

•  Being BORN Again
• the significance of the Golden City being called the "NEW Jerusalem"

Lets have a look at this:

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 

Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 

Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; (Also remember Jesus' words that when he was lifted up, he would "drag" ALL MEN to himself)

Col 1:20  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. 

Did you catch that?:  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;
Q: If all fullness dwelled in him, What would happen if He died?
A: All things would Die too, right?


That's exactly how Paul puts in in Corinthians: 2Co 5:14  For the love of Christ compels us, having concluded this: that if One died for all, then all died; 

When He Died, All things died too - the Old earth and Old Heaven, The Law and the OLD covenant, ALL of mankind...

BUT, when he Rose again, so too was Everything made NEW again.

When HE Died, ALL OF CREATION symbolically died with Him. When HE Rose again ALL OF CREATION was BORN AGAIN!!

In John 3 when Jesus tells Nicodemus that he cannot enter the kingdom unless he is "BORN AGAIN".

Nowhere in scripture is anyone told how to get "born again". 

Jesus did not tell Nicodemus how to do this because it was not something Nicodemus had to do. It was something that Jesus would do through His Death and Resurrection.

Think about it: What hand did you play in your natural Birth? 

Did you have to make a choice in order to get Born the first time around?

Of course not! It had nothing to do with you. 

In the same way the Death of your Old Adamic nature and your Being co-crucified, co-burred and co-raised with Jesus at the Ressurection unto Newness of Life had absolutely NOTHING to do with you! But Everything to do with Him! (your believing the Gospel didnt create or change the fact that you were Crucified WITH Christ back when Christ was Crucified. rather, your belief in the Good News merely allowed you to actively participate in your New Life now, in this age.) 

That's why HE is called the author of Salvation and the Savior of the WORLD. This is NOT of yourself lest any man boast!

We have already shown that the the Dwelling Place of God is us. He lives in us. We are His Dwelling Place.

John records that the Dwelling Place of God (in Revelation 21) is now called the NEW Jerusalem. Why?

What Happened at the Cross that caused God to call his dwelling place "NEW"?

In the Old Testament when God was addressing His people he would say, for example:

Isaiha 52:1  Awake! Awake! Put on your strength, Zion; put on your beautiful robes, O Jerusalem, the holy city. For never again shall uncircumcised and unclean ones come to you. 

God is not talking to a literal City ie: the streets and buildings... He is speaking symbolically to the People of that City.

The NEW Jerusalem in Revelation 21 is a reference to ALL of Man, not just the Jews.

In the OLD Testament the Jews only were known as "Gods people". But that Old order of things has become obsolete. On the Cross Jesus made ALL THINGS NEW and he has Reconciled "ALL THINGS" to Himself.

Romans 11 explains that through the Cross the Gentiles are now also apart of Gods Kingdom/Covenant.

The Good News announcement right from the beginning by the Angels, on the night of Jesus' birth was one of Peace and Joy to ALL MEN.

So in Revelation 21 John sees this unfolding as he sees the accomplishments of the Cross unfolding and after he sees the OLD heaven and earth pass away,  he hears the announcement of "ALL THINGS have been made NEW".  He then gets shown the Bride of the Lamb - The NEW JERUSALEM. The Bride and the Groom are now in UNION. They are ONE. there is no longer any separation between God and the object of His affection - US (Mankind, not just believers)
Paul also talks about this in Ephesians 5 when he uses that analogy of a husband and a wife being joined together in marriage and the two become ONE.

In this part we have looked at 

• We were all BORN AGAIN when Christ made ALL THINGS NEW at his Resurrection.
• We have seen that the NEW Jerusalem is ALL OF MANKIND and not a Litteral City and not just made up of the Jews. It is the dwelling place of God. He lives in us... NOW.

In the next Part we will look at how the dreaded "Lake of Fire" in Revelations 20 factors into THE FINISHED WORK and is NOT a future tense event. It Really is Finished!

Click here for Part 5  

  

The beautiful Wrath of God

The traditional understanding of The wrath of God is a huge stumbling block to believers all around the world. Because, when you boil it down to its essence, it essentially means that God is going to judge sin ...... again! (which obviously creates doubt as to the finality of Jesus work: Was it really   "finished?")

So, what do we do?
1) Well, we could just avoid all the texts that seem to refer to another future judgement and coming wrath from God
2) We could make up some stuff about "truth being in tension".. So, we can tell people, "Yes! it is finished.... BUT, well... it also is not completely finished yet - and then revert back to response No.1
3)  We could just become more comfortable with having a schizophrenic god and make sure our gospel stays very "reformed". (You don't need to ask any real questions because your reformed theological suitcase was neatly packed for you over the last 400 hundreds so you never have to ruffle through it again.)
4) Lets start with who God is.

Scripture tells us that God loves the whole world (all people), and that nothing could ever separate mankind from His love - not even death!!(despite popular "christian" teaching)
But even further to the idea of Gods unconditional love for man is the reason this is so..... Because God IS Love! (1John 4:8)

Just as it is the nature of birds to sing, and dogs to bark, so too is it the nature of God to Love. Its who He is. Everything that He does is love flavored. He can do nothing that does not have love as its motive!

So, looking at "wrath" in scripture, when we start with who God is instead of our inherited traditions, bad bible translations and myths about "hell", we will reach a far different conclusion than what is mostly understood about Gods wrath. We will in actual fact reach a conclusion that God is for us and not against us.

These days if some Christians were asked to define or describe to what "wrath" is, they would probably say something like.... "It is fierce anger", or in a religious context, "Its how God will act towards sinners at the end of time when he displays his anger at them - ultimately expressed by allowing them to burn in a place called hell, forever and ever.... that's God expressing his wrath"

Well, that is what we have been led to believe about what wrath is by Tradition. However, what does the word that's been translated as "wrath" in our English bibles actually mean?

The Greek word used for Wrath is "Orge'"  - it is defined as any expression of intense emotion or Desire
In fact this self same word, "Orge" (wrath) is where we get our English word, "Orgy" from as well as "Orgasm"  - yes that's right!
Continuing: The root of "Orge" is defined as "straining or reaching out in an intense or violent way for the object of one's desire. (In Gods case - thats mankind!!)

(side note: Some brothers - including me -  have historically misunderstood Gods wrath. They love to quote John 3:36 "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them." - I wrote specifically on this verse a few years back: click here to read: Gods Wrath on unbelievers)

Q: So, from the modern traditional view of Gods wrath, when will God "pour our his wrath"
A: (from a modern traditional stand-point) At the end of time - when there will be YET ANOTHER JUDGEMENT. God will then Judge the world again and pour out his wrath on sinners...
(this common view is based on a very confusing view of the Revelation, which hopefully ill write about in a post soon: Update: its here)

Well, here's a thought. Scripture actually tells us what Gods "wrath" being poured out looks like, and that it also seems to be happening now - in this age as well:

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel (Good News): for it is the power of God unto salvation (Understand Sozo: the Zoe life of God in and through you - NOT an 'in' or 'out' of heaven issue.) to everyone that believeth (Read, "Trusts the Good News" ); to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Rom 1:17  For therein is *revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith. (the Good News *uncovers the reality of your position of Right Standing with God. We can participate in that Freedom when we Believe/Trust that its true)

Rom 1:18  For (Therefore) the wrath (intense Agape Love desire) of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness; 

(His Desire is to see Man - the object of his affection -  free from that which harms him. The goal of his wrath is to SEPARATE man from the things that prevent him from seeing who God truely is - His Lover.)

What does His wrath look like? How is this outworked? 
Paul continues:

Rom 1:24  Because of this, God gave them up (read: "entrusted" them to) to impurity in the lusts of their hearts, their bodies to be dishonored among themselves,

Rom 1:26  Because of this, God gave them up (read: "entrusted" them to) to dishonorable passions, for even their females changed the natural use to that contrary to nature.

Gods wrath, his intense love and desire for them, causes Him to "entrust them over" to encounter the consequences of sin and ultimately reach the conclusion on their own - that He is the True Love. The True Life.

In Fact, Jesus himself gives us this exact same scenario when He was explaining what God is like: 
In Luke 15 Jesus tells a parable of a son who wanted his inheritance early from his father. He didn't want to stay in His fathers house. 
So, what did his loving Father do? 
He gave him what he wanted... he entrusted him over to worldly riches and his selfish desires so that he would reach the end of himself and realize his Fathers Goodness.
Q: Did the Father's love and desire for his son diminish towards his son at any stage?
A: Nope, in fact the Fathers desire to have his son back with him remained relentless as evidenced by his continuous searching for him - "even while he was a long way off, his Father saw him" Luke15:20

This is what Gods wrath does! It remains on those who do not believe (which is to Trust the Good news). His INTENSE Love for them (his wrath) will graciously allow them to reach the end of themselves, then when they turn around, there is - running towards them with arms wide open and kisses of unconditional forgiveness!


How perverted has modern western churchianity  made this beautiful parable that Jesus told?
To the unbeliever churchianity says, "Repent!! Come to the Father and then He will be Good to you" (This is Crazy!! ... and NOT THE GOOD NEWS, this is religious crap!)

Scripture tells us that it is His Goodness that comes first and then repentance:
"..do you despise the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the GOODNESS of God leads you to repentance"
(It certainly seems as if most modern believers today actually DO despise Gods goodness towards ALL men.....)


Continuing: So Gods wrath - His intense Desire and love for mankind -  will often allow unbelievers to reach the end of themselves. Remember, God is Love.....Love is patient, Love is kind, ......does not dishonour others, is not self seeking, Love keeps no record of wrongs. 

(In fact God has made an oath to remember mans sins no more - Isaiah 43:25, Hebrew 8:12, Hebrews 10:17)

 Gods wrath is LOVE flavored because God is love.

All instances in Scripture of seemingly future "wrath"and "judgement" MUST be seen through the lenses of the *FINISHED work of Jesus and the Nature of God.

There can be no future judgement that in anyway dishonors the judgement that Jesus endured. 
*On the Cross, when Jesus said "it is finished" he wasn't talking about the wine he was offered on the sponge!! 
He was talking about completing what he was sent to do. He uses the word "Tetelestai" which means that nothing further can be added to the work. It is absolutely complete. As a master painter would stand back after painting a masterpiece and say, "It is finished". Not one additional brush stroke needs to be added. The work is perfect.

Now, with "Tetelestai" in mind: 

1) Remember that just before Jesus went to the cross he said, "Now is the hour of the Judgement of the world..." 
Q: So, is there another judgement of the world to come? 
A: No, the judgement of the world is Tetelestai) * Of course this raises questions about "future Jugement"in Revelation. Once again, i will go through the book of Revelation soon, and point out how its all about Jesus and what was ALREADY accomplished through him. (UPDATE: its here)

2) John, "Behold! the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" 
Q: Did the Lamb of God TAKE AWAY the sin OF THE WORLD? 
A: Yes.
Q: Is there still sin that separates Man from God?
A: NO! The worlds sin has been taken away. It is Tetelestai  - "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed or sin from us". - Ps 103:12)



So, will God really pour out His anger on unbelievers (as commonly understood), or will he pursue the very last one because he sees the intense value in all his creation?

Lets continue:
In Luke 15, while talking about the prodigal son, he also tells of a Shepard who had 100 sheep and one goes astray. He relentlessly tracks it down until he finds it and brings it back home. The parable ends with a party over the found sheep and Jesus says that in just the same way there is great joy over one sinner who "changes his mind!" (repents)
Q: What made the one stray sheep (sinner) change his mind (repent)?
A: The goodness of God.
Scripture says, "we ALL like sheep have gone astray, each has turned to his own way..." Isa 53:6
and then that text in Isaiah carry's on to say that he will not count our sin against us....

Then immediately after this  - same sitting - Jesus tells a parable of a lady who looses a valuable coin and how she relentlessly searches for it until she finds it. The point Jesus was making is that this is what God is like!
Then again he says there is much rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who changes his mind (repents).
Again,  here Jesus is comparing the lost coin to a lost sinner. And the owner searches and searches until it is found. This is what God is like.
He has WRATH towards the lost sheep, lost coin, lost son.
His Wrath is his Intense love and desire to see ALL the sheep in one flock, All the valuable coins together again, All the lost sons come home again. He is NOT angry at the lost object. He loves them and he Saves them!
Q: What causes them to be saved?
A: The relentless Goodness of God
In fact Jesus actually said that the very reason He came was to seek and save (sozo) the lost!!
Q: Did Jesus accomplish all he came to do?
A: Yes. He even said, Father i have accomplished all you sent me to do (John17:4).
So when he said "It is Finished", it really was finished.
If he said that He came to seek and save the lost, then it is Finished/complete.
If, like John said, he is the Lamb of God that takes away the Sin OF THE World, then, it is Finished!!

Is God counting sin against man still OR has Sin been removed as far as the east is from the west?
 
So, is God's wrath to punish sinners OR is it to rescue them from the detrimental effects of living as a sinner so instead they can live in the freedom he always intended?
If sin has been removed by God himself and he "remembers it no more", then having "wrath"(as wrongly interpreted) against unbelievers is the height of hippocracy. - LOL!!, unless you make up some stuff about truth being in tension....
It IS finished.... already. The Good News of this reality, when we trust (believe/have faith) it causes us to partake in His freedom.

But Andrew!! People have to make a decision to follow God  (who, by the way, scripture calls "The Great Shepard")
Well, that's not what Jesus himself explained as mentioned above. He said the Shepard (God) went looking for the one who chose NOT to follow him (unbeliever).... and found it and brought it home to be with the rest of the followers.
LOL - i can hear some already... Am i saying now that nobody need follow Jesus because he is just going to save everybody anyway?
I am saying that according to scripture some will choose Him in this age as they hear the GOOD NEWS and some wont hear the Good News in this age (Or perhaps they will hear but have too much baggage or indoctrinated minds about who God REALLY is and reject him out of ignorance).
The Great Shepard will bring in every last one! This we can be assured of.

We don't need to try to force a decision out of them by fear-mongering. If people believe and  "choose" to follow God out of fear of torment (bad interpretation of wrath) then its NOT the Gospel they have believed - and it is NOT freedom they are living in, it IS BONDAGE.
Friends, we MUST see that the Gospel message is one of LOVE, not Fear. There is NO fear in love.

Paul quotes Isaiah 65:1 in Rom 10:20 when he says that Isaiah said BOLDLY about God, "I will be found by those who were NOT looking for me and i will reveal myself to those who DID NOT ask for me".
It seems to me that God loves people more than our modern western fickle "gospel" will allow for.
We want "WRATH" (bad def.) and judgement on unbelievers and so we have developed - over time - a doctrine to make room for this.
Meanwhile, God desires MERCY over Judgement.
(Remember when the disciples wanted to call down fire on the unbelieving Samaritans.... and Jesus rebuked them saying they are of the wrong spirit?)

So to conclude: Gods wrath upon people is a Good thing!! - It's His full commitment to see them free from the ravages of sin - and be fully who they were made to be. (God will continue to reveal the riches of his Grace to us through Christ Jesus in ALL the AGES TO COME (Eph 2).
God will continue to have his wrath rest on unbelievers until they finally see who He really is, that God is LOVE. Trust/Faith works through LOVE.

We really need to toss the vile doctrine of  Gods Wrath involving punishment and torment of unbelievers!!
Perfect love casts out all fear because fear has to do with torment - 1 john 4:18



Thanks for reading. It is for freedom that you have been set free, so do not go back under a yoke of slavery again. God is GOOD. God is LOVE. It IS Finished.



PS: I am fully aware that for some reading this, the playing field (or lenses through which you read this) may not be even and you may have hundreds of questions.
1) If you believe in the modern western traditional of "hell" where God throws people into fire for all eternity this blog post will make no sense to you.
2) If you are unaware that the word "eternity" and "forever" are not actually in the original language of scripture, but rather the word "aeon" refers to an age - a space of time with a starting and ending point, then this post might not make any sense to you. read here
3) If you believe that God only loves Christians, then this post might not make sense to you.
4) If you believe that the book of Revelation is a future tense event and not the revelation of Jesus and what he accomplished, then this might not make sense to you. read here

The Lake of Fire - Part1

Hey Fellas

Q: is the Lake of Fire literal or figurative?

Well, what scriptures mention the lake of fire?
What book do we read about the Lake of Fire in?

A: Revelation.

Before we look at the Lake of Fire Texts we therefore HAVE TO have in our minds the correct context of Revelation.

Lets have a quick look at the very first few verses of Revelation.
Most people overlook this based on some very fanciful teachings and sensationalist preaching about the end times - All of which deny the FINISHED work.... The Good News.

Here we go:
Revelation 1:1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants - things which  must shortly take place. And He sent and SIGNIFIED it by His angel to His servant John

A Few things:
The word " Revelation" (greek: apokalupsis) means "disclosure" - means "to reveal something that has not been realized".

So, this book is the full "Disclosure" OF JESUS (as it says " The Revelation OF JESUS"), the revealing of something about Jesus that we did not know before...
Then it says that GOD gave Him (Jesus) this revelation/knowledge/disclosure so that he could tell/show his disciples. (Ok? - thats pretty straight forward?)

So, Jesus was given this info by the Father to share with his disciples regarding "- things which  must shortly take place."
Now, we CANNOT miss the context of this here. If we do we will read "Thing that must shortly take place" as in meaning in our time now... like something that is still going to happen in the future.
BUT, that's NOT what it says.
The Disclosure that Father gave Jesus to share with his Disciples was of thing that were SHORTLY TO TAKE PLACE THEN... at THAT TIME!
It was these same things... This SAME revelation, that God sent and Angel to John to share. It says that the Angel SIGNIFIED this revelation to John.
Signified Greek = "Semaino" means to make known by signs/symbolism.

Q: So in Jesus day, what events were soon to take place that Jesus told his disciples about?
A: The cross

Q: How is this revelation now being revealed to John?
A: It is being Signified by signs and symbols.

Q: Are signs and symbols literal or do they represent something else?
A: they represent something else. They are not literal, but symbolic.

Who's Faith Saves you??

Hey guys, this is probably my shortest blog-post to date.
John and Andre' speak a bit about the hot topic of Faith.

Enjoy
(click on the link below)




Who's Faith saves you??


Big Love to you all!
Andrew

Is Salvation all up to God?

• The other day I was asked the question:

  
  

  "Are you saying that our salvation is all up to God ?"

  
  
• 
  Of course, in answering there are a few things to consider like: What did he understand by the term "salvation"?
  Did he, like most, understand it to be a heaven or "hell" issue, or did he understand it as the expression of God's zoe'life in and through a person? 

  
  

  In any event, my answer is, "Ultimately yes!"
  
  
  
  Here's what I believe (and am happy for anyone to believe differently)
  I believe that as by the offence of one (first Adam) judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one (Jesus) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (Rom 5:18) 
  I believe that a persons trust in this Good News will cause salvation to manifest in and through them now (in this age) click link to read>>.how ''eternity'' got into our English bibles
  I believe that God will continue in the ages to come, reveal the richness of his grace to us in Christ Jesus.(Eph 2)
  I believe that grace and faith are not of ourselves, but a gift from God (Eph 2).
  I believe that every knee will bow and every tongue confess the lordship of Jesus.(Phil 2, Rom 4,)
  I believe that all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the lord.(Psalm 22)
  I believe that its God will that all be saved.(1 Tim, 2 Pet)
  I believe that God has consigned all in unbelief that he may have mercy on all.(Rom 11)
  I believe that his mercy is age-during (Psalm 136, Rom 9, 11)
  I believe that God in Christ reconciled the the world to himself, not counting our sin against us and his Resurrection was proof of our justification.(2 Corinthians, Rom 4)
  I believe that when Christ was raised up on the cross he drew all men to himself (and we were co-crucified with Him. We were buried with him and were resurrected with him, seated with him.).(John 12, Rom 6, Col 3, Eph 2)
  Jesus said that I didn't choose him but rather that He chose me, (John 15) and since we had no choice in the matter of our justification and our sins no longer being held against us since none of us were born yet, I have to conclude that my Salvation was up to him who has the power to save, and not me. 
  And even if I am faithless, He remains faithful.(2 Tim)
  
  

  Hope this stirs you to begin to at least question why we believe what what we believe. 

  Many have wrongly assumed that what is traditionally taught as the current mainstream  western Gospel is what Jesus taught his disciples. Actually, many doctrines that we have embraced as "gospel truth" in today's western church culture are not more than a few hundred years old. and some even only decades old.
  
  I encourage you to ask as many questions as you can to those who teach you - not to try and catch anybody out - but because the Scripture encourages us to do this and commends those who question what they are being taught - they are called Wise and Noble (Berians).

  
  

  Peace