The
Image of God
A little book, author unknown
If you have questions about whether or not God really exists, how the earth and humans came about, how the universe works, what is salvation, who is the person Jesus, who can be saved, how Christians are to be (and sometimes aren't), etc. - I encourage you to read through this. This is easy to read and understand. Even if you read a little bit at a time or browse the table of contents, I promise you will be enlightened! Blessings, Kim
Table of Contents
1 The Bible is not
intended to be the source of the knowledge of the existence of God, nature is,
so that no one has an excuse. We are told in the Bible that there is
sufficient evidence, present and apparent in the things that have been made, for
every person of a mature, sound mind to perceive that there is a creator
God. We are also told that in light of the evidence, only a fool could
say, in his heart, there is no God (Romans 1:18-22, Ps. 14:1-5).
2
While Science, studying nature and the physical world, is the means by which all
responsible people are expected to perceive the existence of God, revelation
from God is required for those who do perceive His being, to know who He is, why
He has made all things, what provision He has for them to be and do that which
fulfills His purpose for them, and the consequences of their responses to His
provision and revelation. The Bible is then, for those who believe, the
source of knowledge of the nature, plan and purpose of God, to which they must
relate their lives. For those who do not believe, it is foolishness.
3 The purpose of this book is to provide a brief, simple statement of the message of the Bible, to which everything in the Bible and everything in life can be related.
"Truth relates all things in logical confirmation of itself."
II. The Persons Essential to the Message of the Bible
God (The Corporate God)
1 The Bible reveals to us that there are two
realms of being and beings - material and immaterial. The material
(visible, physical, finite) things can be perceived, identified, and described
by the composition of their common elemental materials. The immaterial
(invisible, spirit, infinite) things have no material characteristics by which
they can be perceived, identified or described. The existence and presence
of the spirit can be perceived only by the influence it exerts on the material.
2
Scientists tell us that there are three (See II. 20 also) interacting forces,
which can be identified by their effect on matter, that are responsible for all
elemental structure, composition, movement, and order in the universe.
Scientists believe that there is one primary, unified force in which the three
forces subsist, but they have been unable to confirm its existence.
3
The Bible reveals that there is one primary, unified force - God, who gives
elemental structure, composition, movement, and order to all things in the
universe. The unified force, or corporate God, subsists in three distinct,
interacting forces which, though possessing individually and equally the
identity, nature and attributes of the corporate God, are related and
subordinated as the father, an only son and a separate, unique, unifying spirit
by and with whom they all share one mind and will.
It also
reveals that the material order derives its elemental structure and composition
from the interaction of these three forces, nothing more.
4 God the Father is, in state of being, spirit,
as such, no man has ever seen Him. Only Spirit can discern spirit and
understand the things of the spirit (John 1:18, John 5:37-39, John 6:46, 1 Cor.
2:11-14).
5 God
the Father is characterized in the Bible as:
a. Spirit, who must be worshipped in spirit (only by those who have access
to Him through the Spirit) and in truth (only in the manner that He has
provided) (John 4:23, 24.)
b. Love - it is His nature and the motivation for all of His
activities. It is
therefore the basis of His trustworthiness (1 John 4:12-14.)
c. Being identifiable in the Son (John 14:7-9.)
6 The
Father send forth His Word, personified in the Son, to reveal the nature and the
will of God to men; to do so, it was necessary for the Son to take on material
form, with which they could identify and communicate. He also sent His
Holy Spirit to enable men to perceive the spirit identity and authority of the
Son and to enable them to understand the spirit nature of the Father which the
Son came to reveal (1 John 4:12-14.)
The Bible then is the work of the
Holy Spirit of God by which we may know the whole plan and purpose of God for
man, which is also personified in the Son.
7 He is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15.)
8 The
only way that the nature of the immaterial God could be correctly perceived by
man, in the material realm or being, was by God creating a trustworthy material
likeness of His corporate, spirit being. That image was manifested by the
Son, the person of God in and through whom He would reveal Himself fully to man
(John 14:7-10.)
9 God,
after whose likeness man was made, who walked and talked with Adam, Eve, Cain,
Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, etc., was the Son, in the material likeness of God and
man.
10
Before entering the material realm of man, through woman, to identify with both
man and God in His messianic role, He also appeared to men and communicated with
them in His immaterial state or Shekinah glory (a supernaturally intense
radiance, light, or fire, often veiled by a cloud, smoke, or bush) to make His
presence and will known. He also appeared in these states after His
ascension to Saul on the Damascus road.
11 The
Son is characterized in the Bible as:
a. God
b. The Word of God
c. The image of the living God
d. The life
e. The light of men
f. The one in whom all things subsist
g. The revealer of God
h. The covenant maker
i. The holder together of all things
j. The purposeful mover of all things
k. The source of the being of all things
l. Having complete trust in the Father
m. Being obedient to the Father
n. Having existed before He came to dwell among men
o. Doing all things that authenticate Him as the revealer of God by the
power of the Holy Spirit of God
p. As an only Son is to the Father
q. The Way, the Truth, and the Life
r. The only way to the Father
s. Personifying the will of God for man
t. The personification of love (unselfish, sacrificial)
u. The agent of creation
v. The redeemer
w. The Savior
x. One with the Father
y. Being equal with the Father
z. The way of access to the abundant life.
12 We are told that only spirit can know spirit;
and that no one can know the things of God except the Spirit of God that is in
Him (1 Cor. 2:10-16.) Then only one who has the Spirit of God in him can
know the things of God. The Son, who has the Spirit of God in Him and is
both God and man, having the full measure of the natures of both, is the only
one who could affect communication between the two.
When Jesus
ascended, he asked the Father to send His Spirit to dwell in His disciples as He
had in Jesus, to give them direct access to the mind of God, which they formerly
had only though Jesus.
13 The
will of the Spirit is accomplished by entering into composition with the
material and moving it in purposeful function. The purpose of the Holy
Spirit in such activity is to:
a. Reveal by instruction in principle, and by demonstration of power, the
worthiness of Jesus to be recognized as God and King.
b. Enable men to know, be, and do that which fulfills God's plan and
purpose for them.
c. Be the channel of communication with God for men
d. Identify good and evil to man
e. Convict man of guilt for sin
f. Identify Christ as the means of redemption from sin
g. Baptize the repentant into Christ by identifying them with Him in a
common spirit nature, His own
14 The
Holy Spirit is characterized in the Bible as:
a. God
b. The source of power for Jesus' messianic work
c. The enabling power for men to do the work of Jesus commissioned
them to do in His name
d. Judge and executioner of the motives of men
e. The means of unity and fellowship among believers (the bond of a
common spirit.)
f. As a person, not just an influence
15 Man is the composite of the two states of being:
a. The material, having been composed by God in His own likeness
from the elemental material of which the earth is composed.
b. The immaterial, having life breathed into the inert, material body
by God, so that he became a living soul (KIV) or being (RSV) or
person (LB.) The soul, then, is the whole person, consisting of body
and spirit, integrated into a corporate identity.
16 The body
cannot exist without the spirit (it decomposes when the spirit leaves the
union); the spirit cannot execute it's will without the body, nor have a
presence in the world.
17 Man is
characterized in the Bible as:
a. Having been created very good, in the likeness of God the Son
b. Originally acceptable for fellowship with God, in that likeness
c. Originally having been given dominion over the material creation
subject only to God
d. Having a free, sovereign will
e. Fallen (subsequently separated from God.)
f. Flesh, generated by fallen man in his own likeness
18 God made, through and for the Son, three
orders of spirit, (invisible, immaterial) beings:
a. Angels, who serve as His messengers and agents, to communicate
and execute His plan, purpose, will, and judgment.
b. Seraphim, the heralds of God, who go before Him proclaiming
His person and glory.
c. Cherubim, the watchers and guardians over the person and the
things of God. Cherubim are the highest order of spirit creatures,
over which Satan was anointed ruler by God (Ezek. 28:14.)
19
These spirit servants of God, all of whom are sometimes called angels, are able
to assume various material life forms, including that of man, to effectively
accomplish their missions among men. They are all generated by God; they
do not marry or reproduce their kind (Matt. 22:30); they have free wills by
which they choose devotion and service to God or Satan; and, they are held
accountable in eternity for their choice, as men are.
20 In addition to the three forces described in
II.1, which function in concert as one, to affect elemental structure,
composition, and orderly interaction of all things in the universe, scientists
have also discovered and identified, by their influence on matter, the existence
of lesser forces which function in opposition to the forces of order to affect
dissolution or decay of elemental structure, decomposition of matter and
resistance to the orderly interaction of things in the universe.
21 The
Bible reveals that the forces of chaos are controlled and directed by a spirit
creature, Satan, who in pursuing his own ambition of power and influence in the
universe, also serves the purpose of testing the integrity of all things in the
material and immaterial creation, as to their faithfulness to serve the function
for which they were created by God. For each of the three positive forces,
or persons of the God-head, there is to be found a militant, opposing ,
anti-force. It is consistent in the testing process.
The methods of the Satanic forces are
subtle, insidious, and deceptive, but they are effective in creating disharmony
and destruction.
22 Satan
is characterized in the Bible as:
a. The anointed cherub
b. A spirit creature
c. The most subtle of all creatures
d. A rebellious spirit
e. The spirit of selfish ambition
f. The spirit of self-determination
g. The source of temptation, instruction, and resources for men to
be independent of God and exalt themselves.
h. The deceiver
i. The destroyer
j. The ruler of this world
k. Aspiring to be like the most High God
Faith -
Complete Trust
(Webster's New World Dictionary, Second Edition)
1 The plan and purpose of God, for all people, all things, all events, and
all circumstances of the past, present, and the future, is the preparation of a
people for His eternal Kingdom through the Son.
2 The central figure in the plan, in the preparation process, and in the
Kingdom, the first and the highest order of its beings, the standard and
prototype for the Kingdom people, is the King (Christ, the Son.)
3
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation"
(Col. 1:15, 16.)
4
"He is before all things" (Col. 1:17.)
5
"In Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible... all things were created through Him and for Him... in Him all
things hold together" (Col. 1:16-17) RSV
6 God
spoke, sent forth His Word, and created, in order, the support system for His
Kingdom people, and, finally, the first Kingdom people.
7 When
God made man in His own likeness and breathed His own eternal life into him, man
was equipped with potential to be like God, the Son. The only thing in
question was his likeness in character to the Son, which could be judged only
after instruction and testing.
8 God
instructed man in His plan, purpose, and provision for him:
a. To dwell in the garden of God
b. To be fruitful and multiply (generate other Kingdom people)
c. To have dominion over all the earth, which he was to subdue
and cultivate to serve his needs
d. To trust that God had provided all that they needed for the
most abundant life possible, without need or excuse to supplement
His (good) provision with any other (evil.)
e. That they would forfeit life with Him, in His garden, in the day
that
they chose to avail themselves of good and evil.
9 The
standard required by God for His Kingdom people was complete trust in His
all-sufficient provisions for their highest good; their trust is to be
manifested in obedience to His will for them.
10 God
did not fore-ordain nor force the poeple that He had made for His Kingdom to
accept His plan and purpose for them. He made alternatives available and
gave them a free, sovereign will to make choices as they perceived their highest
interests to be served.
11 For
man, with a free will, to choose to be subject to the will of God exclusively,
forever, requires knowledge of, and experience with , the unfailing
trustworthiness of God to provide for his highest good in every circumstance and
the insufficiency of any other alternative to do so.
12
Since character is revealed in what man chooses to do when there is no
obligation or compulsion, God permits man to make such free-will choices.
He also permits Satan to lead man to question whether his highest good is being
served in God's purpose and provision; and, to present as the highest
conceivable alternative, the prospect of being sovereign himself (like God.)
13
Satan tempted Eve to enhance her knowledge, wisdom, and position by
experimenting with the forbidden fruit which God had made, and declared to be
good, but denied them (Gen. 3:5, John 1:3.) Satan also questioned the
motive and sincerity of God, implying that they could not put their complete
trust in His purpose and provision for them. Satan suggested to the woman
that, although they were made in God's image, they were not like God, because
His forbidding them anything demonstrated His superiority. He also
suggested that they could not equate themselves with God unless they
demonstrated their sovereignty.
14
Satan, here and hereafter throughout the Bible, is seen as aspiring to the role
of "king maker" (Like God the Father,) providing the opportunities and
encouragement for men to exalt themselves by misappropriating the good things of
God.
To Top
15 The
striving of the Spirit of God with man was to make him see himself as having the
potential to be like Christ and to lead Him into Christ-likeness and consequent
acceptability of God's Kingdom.
16
Although the Holly Spirit provides the guidance and resources for man to do
God's will and Satan provides the guidance and resources for him to do his own
independent will, there is no contest between God and Satan for control of man
because there is no equality of spirit power. Satan's power and activity
are subject to the limitation and control of God as it suits His purpose in
sifting out a people for His Kingdom. There is only the free, sovereign
will of man that can decide the issue; it is a matter of how man perceives his
best interest, guided by his knowledge of the alternatives and their
consequences.
17 Man
chose to defy the will of God. "And the Lord God said, behold, the
man is become as one of us (exercising his won sovereign will,) (in order) to
know good and evil; and now (knowing evil and put forth his hand, and take of
the tree of life, and eat and live forever; therefore the Lord God sent him
forth from the garden... and He placed... cherubims,... to keep the way of the
tree of life." (Gen. 3:22-24 KJV, parenthetical comments by this
writer.)
18 God
had made all things in the material creations subject to the will of man; and,
although God intended that man be subject to the will of God alone, He permitted
man to be sovereign in that choice also.
Adam demonstrated that he could not manage the responsibility of ruling over all
of the material order when he could not rule over himself, could not accept
authority himself.
Adam and Eve forfeited the abundant life that God had provided for them in His
Garden and the relationship that they had enjoyed with Him there, by choosing
not to be subject to Him.
With self-will came self-consciousness. They now became aware that they
were no longer presentable to God. They tried to make themselves
presentable but, realizing that they could not, hid themselves from His
presence.
After confronting them and the serpent with their betrayal of trust, God cursed
them (withdrew the unmerited position, provision, and peace with which He had
formerly favored them.)
God provided for the man and his wife clothing of the skins of animals, which
served to cover their exposed condition, which in their new self-consciousness,
they perceived to be unpresentable to Him. The covering that He provided
also served to identify them with the lower order of creatures among which they
must now dwell and contend for survival, not to restore identity and position
with God as before.
God exhiled them from his Garden to provide for themselves their own work and
establish their own Kingdom of people , whom they would generate in their own
kind and likeness.
19 In
the world outside the garden of God, man and woman faced new threats to their
peaceful enjoyment of life:
a. Toil and sweat, to extract from the earth the substance which, before
being cursed on their account, it had given forth freely.
b. The stress of distinguishing between good and evil for themselves.
c. Mortality, death and corruption for their bodies, cut off from
the
tree of life.
d. Pain and suffering in child-bearing and rearing.
20 The
fruit that Adam and Eve produced was a mixture of good (Abel) and evil
(Cain.) The good fruit was cut off from reproducing by the evil, and the
evil proliferated. Adam then became the father of a son in his own
likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. It is significant that Adam
was originally identified with the image and likeness of God, but his progeny
now identified with his own present image and likeness, without reference to
God.
21 God
demonstrates many times in the Bible, beginning with the experience of Adam and
Eve, that apart from Him, parents cannot provide adequate leadership for their
families.
22
Satan's tactics to disarm God's curse, of his destruction, to be carried out
through the woman's seed, so corrupted the God-likeness of the descendents of
the man and woman that He had made, that God destroyed them, preserving only one
man, Noah, and his family as a faithful remnant, to begin anew the development
of his plan for man.
Noah and his children, though declared by God to be the best of man, soon
demonstrated their familiarity with evil as well; as they repopulated the earth,
mankind again became predominately evil.
23 Out
of Noah's descendants, through Shem, God called a man, Abram, to generate a
people to be His witness in the world. The Bible does not say that God was
dealing with them exclusively, but that they through His dealings with them
God's will and way for all people could be correctly perceived.
24 Out
of the descendants of Abram, God separated the family of Jacob (Israel) for His
witness-people and isolated them in Egypt for four hundred years, to generate a
nation of people who He would ultimately bring to dwell in the land that He had
promised Abram. When they and the land were prepared, He brought them, by
unparalleled demonstrations of His presence and power, to their place of
service.
25 God gave
His poeple at Mt. Sinai, on their journey to the promised land, a system of law
by which they were to relate themselves to Him and to His other creatures, in
order to be His Holy people, identified with His holy name.
The principles of the system of law are reiterated, illustrated, and reinforced
in all of God's dealings with all people throughout the Bible. To make the
principles of the law understandable and relative to all people, even those
without the benefit of the training and tradition of the Israelites, the Son
revealed that the one simple underlying principle, in which all of the law is
fulfilled, is unselfish love, which is exemplified in the life and death of the
Son.
26 The
whole purpose of the work of God in giving man the law is missed when he dwells
on keeping individual commandments, and grades himself on how many of them he
has kept.
Man is disturbed to learn, from God's word, that if he breaks one, even the
least of these laws, he is guilty of all. This is because he will have, in
breaking any, exhibited a willful disposition of this spirit that is contrary to
the standard that God has set in the nature of the Son/King.
To Top
27
Jesus taught in Matthew 5:21-48 that sin begins with a disposition of the spirit
of man, which is ultimately manifested in the act of the body.
Although both spirit and body are involved in the gratification of willful
desire and the trauma of its consequences, the defilement of the spirit and the
body is dealt with separately in the restoring the broken relationship with God.
28 God
made a provision, in the Levitical system of justice (the Law,) that when His
people recognized that they fell short of His standard, they could come in
repentance, bringing a sacrificial animal as specified by God, ceremonially
transfer their defiled spririt identity to it, take it's life, put its body
bearing their unclean spirit into the fire and begin life anew, with an
innocent, clean spirit.
29 The
Levitical sacrifices were not a complete provision for the restoration of their
relationship with God, because they were not thereafter given free access and
personal fellowship with God as before sin separated them in Adam. It was
the means of their restoring access to blessing through an intercessor, but not
direct and personal access.
30 The
crucifixion is the means, pictured in the Levitical sacrifices, whereby the
unclean spirit of man is exorcised and replace with a new spirit which has not
known sin, Jesus' own Holy Spirit.
When we identify with Jesus, He takes our unclean spirits on himself, to die in
a death befitting our sin, not His. We received His unblemished Spirit and
begin new lives. His spirit, thereafter, lives in our bodies. Paul
said, in Galatians, 4:4, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no
longer I who live, but Chirst who lives in me and the life I now live in the
flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Him self for
me."
31 We
have, by the Spirit in us, access to God through prayer, but not to His
presence, until the defiled body also dies for the sin and is
"changed" to a likeness to His resurrection body, which will be
acceptable in the presence of God (suitable to identify us with Christ.)
32
Jesus said, "I came that you might have life and that you might have it
more abundantly."
They had been without the life that only He could provide since Adam and Eve
forfeited it, they could not regain the abundant life that God intended for them
until He came and complete His redemptive work.
33 As
the Bible message unfolds, three things became increasingly clear: first,
the unfailing trustworthiness of the King to provide freely for all the needs of
those who will trust and obey Him as God and King; second, the inevitable
failure of men to be consistent in their trust and obedience to Him as King;
third, the necessity that the Kings' provisions include a way of redemption and
reconciliation for men, in spite of their weakness and failure, if they come
seeking forgiveness.
34
Man's sin was not a frustrating development to the plan of God. He knew
that man could not keep the law perfectly; He therefore made redemption from sin
the primary function of the Son in the structuring of their plan.
35
Redemption is not a means of accommodation for a man's failure to live up to
God's expectation of him. Man was given a free will and the opportunities
to experience the consequences of self reliance and reliance on others for
direction and provision. Man can only be settled in the decision to put
his complete trust in God by learning through experience that God is the only
one worthy of trust.
36 The
Bible reveals to us, in Satan's dialogue with Jesus during his temptation, that
Satan has the resources at his disposal to satisfy the vain, prideful needs of
man in dramatic fashion, but he cannot satisfy all of man's needs. His
insufficiency to do so leaves man without a resource, because God will not
provide for man only in those areas that Satan cannot.
When man learns this essential lesson, sees his past folly, and is ready to
trust in God exclusively to provide for his needs, then he is prepared for
Kingdom membership. Redemption through Jesus is the way.
37 The
complete trust that God requires of us includes trusting Him to redeem us when
our weakness allows temptation to overtake us.
38
Trust is based on experience. That is why redemption is the essential
element in the plan of God and He who provides it is the focus.
To Top
39 We
are not here to achieve perfection and worthiness for election to His
Kingdom. The basis is His perfection and worthiness, with which we must
trust Him, through His Spirit, to identify us.
40 God
provided the means for man to be judged acceptable (like the Son) by the work of
the Son on man's behalf, because man could not attain to the standard of the Son
by his own efforts.
God set the standard so high as to humble all men; and, the access to redemption
from their failure so humble that no one would have an excuse.
41 No
one is excluded or disqualified from election to the Kingdom because of
circumstances beyond his control, only by his own free-will choice.
42 When
we die, body and spirit are separated, the spirits of believers go, immediately,
to be with Him to await the completion of the preparation process for
others. The spirits of unbelievers go to Hades to wait the final judgment.
43 We
are told in the Bible that men had identity and purpose in the plan of God prior
to physical birth. We are also told that we will have continuous life
after the death of our material bodies. Then our essential being is in the
spirit, which is immaterial and immortal.
The spirit can exist independently of the body, but the body cannot exist
independently of the spirit. When the spirit leaves the material life
form, it decomposes into elemental materiall. Jesus will recompose our
bodies, in likeness to His, and reunite our sprits with them for life in the
Kingdom.
44
Before He ascended, Jesus said that He would ask the Father and that He would
send another instructor, in Jesus' name, to indwell in believers.
The Spirit came in the name (identity) of Jesus.
He (Jesus) ascended... so that He might fill all things (Eph. 4:10,) so that He
might multiply His redeeming works among men by working in and through all those
who surrender control of their lives to His Spirit.
45
Jesus identified, in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5"3-11,) the characteristics of
those who would be blessed with election to His Kingdom.
The Beatitudes do not identify types of elect people, nor are they
qualifications on an achievement test for election. They are all
manifestation of the one disposition.
a. "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." (Matt. 5:3.) Those
who recognize that their own spiritual resources are inadequate to live
consistently, according to the standard that God has set for His Kingdom people.
b. "Blessed are they who mourn..." (Matt. 5:4.) Those who
are sorrowful for the sin-guilt that separates them from God.
c. "Blessed are the meek..." (Matt. 5:5.) Those willing to
humble themselves, seek His forgiveness, and be subject to Him.
d. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness..." (Matt. 5:6.) Those whose longing for acceptance for
His Kingdom is greater than the highest priorities of this life.
e. "Blessed are the merciful..." (Matt. 5:7.) Those who
share the forgiveness and compassion of God with others.
f. "Blessed are the pure in heart..." (Matt. 5:8.) Those
whose motives are unselfish.
g. "Blessed are the peace makers..." (Matt. 5:9.) Those
who share the way of reconciliation with God, in Jesus, with others who are
alienated from Him by sin.
h. "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness
sake..." (Matt. 5:10.) Those who are willing to identify with Him at
the expense of abuse from the world; it is the measure of trust that He requires
as their witness.
f. "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter
all kinds of evil against you on my account..." (Matt. 5:11.) Those
who do not fear the contempt of the worldly for being identified with
Jesus. Is is the folly and shame of the worldly.
Like the Old Testament Law, to have been remiss in one is to have failed in all,
because it will have revealed a spirit not altogether surrendered to the will of
God.
46 The
likeness of the King (Christ) is the standard illustrated throughout the Bible
for all people of all stations:
a. For Kings, and all other whom He has positioned to be shepherds over
His sheep in any respect, the standard is likeness to His own Kingship, which
includes trust and obedience to God, and concern for the welfare of His sheep
above his own:
b. For subject, His sheep, the standard is absolute trust in, and
obedience to, the shepherd, who provides for all of their needs.
47
"The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all might come to
redemption" (2 Pet. 3:9.) God's plan is sufficient, and His resources
adequate, to accomplish His will. All who perish will do so because of
their defiance of God's will for them.
Christ died once for all -- all sin of all men of all time, that all might come,
through Him, to receive redemption (Rom. 6:9-11.) There are no
circumstances outside the control of God, which can thwart the plan and purpose
of God for those for whom He paid so great a price.
Those who lived and died before the work of Christ was accomplished in His
substitutionary death on the cross were given a system of temporary,
substitutionary, sacrifices of animals by which they were kept, in life and in
death, until Christ made His once for all eternal sacrifice, following which, He
claimed all of those who had trust God to provide for them, and took them with
Him.
All those who have died since the crucifixion, after having come to know and
trust Him for their redemption, go, in spirit, immediately upon death, to be
with Jesus in the spirit realm.
This present age will end with Jesus gathering up the bodies of those who are in
Him in spirit and then calling up, in body and spirit, those who have committed
their trust to Him, and are still living. They will not see death, but
will be changed to a likeness to His own resurrection body, to equip them for
life in the realm where Jesus will take them.
When all believers, whom God has promised to spare the time of tribulation, have
been caught up, a period of intense signs of the wrath of God on those who have
willfully refused to accept His provision for their redemption will begin.
It will begin with Satan raising up a counterfeit "King of Peace" who
will be indwelt by Satan and therefore possess powers to deceive many, including
Israel and even some of those who will have formerly professed identity with
Jesus, that he alone can bring peace and prosperity to the world.
So that those who remain on the earth, both those who have not come to know of
the provision of God for their salvation and those who know but have willfully
rejected or procrastinated over His provision, will have the opportunity to
accept during this time, God will imbue 144,000 Jews, positioned throughout all
the nations, with knowledge of the true King and they will make Him known to
every living person. A great multitude will choose to be identified with
Him at that time. The seed of Satan (the anti-christ) will decree death
for them.
All of those who die during the seven year period of tribulation, after
accepting the message of the coming of the true King, will go to be with Christ
to await the end of the period.
The period of tribulation will end with the militant rejectors under the
leadership of Satan's seed, the anti-christ, attempting to annihilate the Jews
to prevent them from calling the true Christ to come, as they must to fulfill
the messianic prophecy.
He will come, in response to their call, defeat the false christ and his
followers and condemn him and the false prophet (the counterfeit Holy Spirit) to
eternal punishment in the lake of fire.
The King will then establish a resurrection Kingdom of the earth, composed of
the justified (those declared innocent by God in all ages.)
He will reign over the whole earth from Jerusalem for a thousand years of final
probation before the final judgment and the beginning of the eternal Kingdom.
During the thousand year reign of Christ, all will have an opportunity to see
the character of the King and His eternal Kingdom clearly, to experience life
there for a thousand years, and to make a final free-will choice whether to be
subject to Him forever.
Those who reject or recant subjection to His sovereignty, will be exiled to
establish their own Kingdoms or to subject themselves to those whom they
perceive to serve their interests best. These are the "multitude
without number," of the Kingdoms of the earth, who at the end of the
period, will join Satan in surrounding the saints, in the Kingdom of Christ, to
dispose Him and destroy His subjects.
Christ will deliver His people, by single-handedly subduing Satan and his
followers, judging their rebellion and sentencing them to eternal punishment.
Satan will have been bound during the thousand years of probation so that no one
will have an excuse of having been influenced by him in their free-will choice
and fate. He will be loosed at the end to lead the rebellion.
48 With
the end of the final period of probation, the earth, with which will have
existed under the curse of God on the sin of the first man and woman, will have
served its purpose as the place of probation, and will pass away.
A new, unblemished earth will take its place, the eternal Kingdom of God will be
established upon it, where He will dwell among His people and reign over them as
the corporate God and King forever.
Acceptability
1 Election, and predestination for heaven, the eternal Kingdom of God, is possible only for those who have come to see themselves as they really are, as Job did, finally, after much protesting of his own goodness. He confessed to God that though he had heard about God, it was not until he, personally, saw God as He is, that Job could see himself as he was. Having done so, he despised himself and repented in humility (Job 42:5,6.)
2 The Law of God identifies the attitudes that God requires those who are identified with His name to have toward Him and their fellow men. It is exemplified in unselfish, unfailing love.
3 Even after genuinely receiving the Spirit of Christ in us, we can, and do, fall back into old habits and response patterns, but we will then have a discerning, convicting spirit through whom we can recognize our offenses, claim the forgiveness that He had already provided, and find supernatural power to overcome our weakness.
4 Believers are not ones who simply believe that God exists; they are ones
who believe that God can, and will, do what He had promised in His word, because
of their own experience or the dependable testimony of others.
5 Jesus said that He was in believers and they in
Him, since He also said that He was in the Father and the Father in Him; so are
believers related to the Father and the Spirit also.
6 The believer's reason for being resides in the
purpose of his maker; the unbeliever's, in his assumed role in the struggle to
perpetuate and improve the conditions set in motion by an accident in nature.
7 All peoples' names are written in the "Book of Life," from the beginning, because the plan of God, from the beginning, was for Jesus to provide eternal life in the Kingdom for all people; but, each person must claim the benefit of His work on his behalf. All who willfully reject His work will, at the end of their allotted probation period, have their names blotted out of the "Book of Life." (Rev. 3:5.)
8 After reading the rest of the Bible, we can see that when God said, in
Gen. 2:26, "let us make man in our image," that equipping man in the
likeness of God was only the beginning of a life-long process, which does not
produce positive results until we choose to cooperate.
9 Christ-likeness, the intent of God for man, is
characterized in Christ's willingness to subordinate His will to that of the
Father, though sovereign Himself, so that the plan of God for the redemption of
man could be accomplished through Him. This is the work that He now does
through all who are willing to subordinate their sovereign wills to His.
10 Christ-likeness is made freely available to us
by forsaking whatever we are presently making of ourselves and asking God to
make us like His Son.
11 God has made obvious distinctions between the races and between the
sexes to accomplish His good purposes and their mutual benefit.
Satan has made these distinctions the
subjects of rivalry, contempt and exploitation to accomplish his own purposes in
their alienation.
The only solution to the conflict is
to focus on undoing the work of Satan rather than the work of God.
12 Conflicts in family relationship result from
individuals wanting to assert their sovereignty over themselves or others.
The only way that these conflicts can be avoided or resolved is to surrender our
stubborn wills to God in prayer. It is the only way that every ones best
interests can be realized. The same is true for conflicts in any other
activity of life.
13 The near-term consequences of sin are:
* The loss of identity with (likeness to) Christ; and
* Loss of Spirit power in our lives and work.
The long-term consequences of sin are:
* Guilt for the spirit to suffer; and
* Corruption for the body to suffer.
14 The trial and suffering that attend sin-guilt
are the driving force to seek His relief. The need for His rescue must be
acute, beyond our resources or those of any other but God.
15 We cannot always, by repenting of our
willfulness, reverse the flow, or even check the momentum, of the circumstances
that we have set in motion.
16 When, after surrendering ourselves to the control of the Spirit, we re-assume control, the work that results is not of God; it is therefore not acceptable to be identified with His name, will not receive His blessing and enablment, unless we repent of our self-will and ask Him to resume control before we bring it to ruin.
17 Either God created man, or man created himself and God. The
creator is due our worship. God said in Judges 10:14... "Go and cry
to the gods whom you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your
distress."
18 God planned and provided for the continuous
subsistence of mankind. As mankind has multiplied and spread over the
earth, moving away from or exhausting some resources, God has equipped and
prepared certain extraordinary men to "discover" ever greater and more
diverse resources to be developed to satisfy the needs of all abundantly.
Is is ironic that, instead of recognizing and proclaiming His incredible
provision, they claim the glory for themselves, even assigning their name to
"their discoveries" and exploiting those things that God has provided
for their selfish gain, even to the point of denying access to God's providence
to many in need.
19 The Bible states the principles of good and evil and relates the
experiences of other people as they made their choices between the two and lived
out the consequences. It is a trustworthy guide for making our decisions
and confirming our experiences.
20 We would have to know everything, every
possible alternative and every possible consequence of every combination of
circumstances and be able to control every factor, in order to be assured of
deciding what serves our best interest in any situation.
Only the one who planned and controls
all things qualifies as a trustworthy guide.
21 The soul is the personal, individual being,
which is generated and conditioned by heritage and experience; these predispose
our response to every circumstance of our lives and determine our will in any
matter. Our wills then move our bodies to satisfy our perceived need or
desire.
The "spirit of man" is not
personal and individual. It is our common, corporate consciousness and
conscience about how our individual interests are related, morally and
ethically, to those of all people and things with which we coexist.
Selfish (soulish) interests are almost always primary; unselfish concerns and
considerations are secondary or non-existent.
The Spirit of God is the
consciousness and conscience by which God gives direction to one who is
committed to knowing and doing His will. Such a person is characterized by
unselfish love.
22 Life on earth is the time and place that God has provided for the
generation, instruction, probation, redemption, election, and predestination of
a people for His eternal Kingdom.
23 Jesus taught in parables (situations from
everyday life to which His hearers could relate) what the Kingdom of God will be
like. We can be sure that the circumstances of our lives are also intended
to teach us to desire the more excellent way of love and trust which
characterized the Kingdom of God.
24 We must get the whole of life in perspective
in order to understand what is going on in our lives at any given time and the
purpose being served in the events.
Everyone has eternal life; the brief
portion of it which we live on this earth is a period of probation wherein we
are offered moral choices that will determine where and how we will live, in the
after effect of our choices, for the reminder of our lives here and in eternity
beyond.
25 Only one with a free, sovereign will could be held accountable for his
acts.
26 Man, having been given a free will, is always
in control of his life. He was made sovereign, in the sense that God
provided that no one can overrule the will of man, and that He, God, would not.
The Law simply tells man where his
sovereignty impinges on the sovereignty of God and other men.
27 Perceiving God and acknowledging His existence does not make one Godly,
not even worshipping God; it is being like God that makes one Godly.
He has shown us, in His Son, what He
is like, and He has provided the way for us to be progressively conformed to His
likeness if we choose.
28 God made everything. He pronounced everything very good, to serve the purpose for which He made it. When these same things are used to serve any other purpose, they are evil. When they are used to serve the purpose of both God and any other (good and evil,) they are altogether evil, because He is a jealous God, requiring the exclusive devotion of the things that He had made, to His purpose.
29 As the Son reveals the nature and purpose of the Father to man, so the
Spirit reveals the nature and purpose of the Son.
30 We have been given the capacity to know and
understand the provision of God for our salvation through the ministry of the
Holy spirit, but we must have the truth communicated to us by another person who
has the Spirit and knows the truth. We only have the capacity for
discernment of the truth, not the knowledge; someone must share that with us in
an act of love.
31 We are admonished by God to be filled with
(give exclusive control of our lives to) the Spirit; to not grieve the Spirit
(cause Him the sorrow of separation over sin;) and, to not quench (put out the
power, light, or fire of) the Spirit. All of these are acts of our will
for which God holds us accountable.
32 When we give control of ourselves and our
resources to the Spirit for God's utilization, He conforms us and our work to
the likeness of Christ, so that all may perceive Christ clearly in the activity
that occurs.
We may, by seeking or accepting any
of the glory for ourselves, quench the flow of the power and negate the effects
of the service. Our glory is to be derived only from our being identified
with Him and His work.
33 Only the work of God that we allow Him do to
in and through us, no work of our own, is acceptable to be identified with His
name. God says this is trust, because if men could please God by their own
devising and efforts, then they would have reason to exalt themselves above
other man in the favor of God; it would be their work not that of Jesus which
would be the standard of election.
Our role is to be unencumbered,
waiting, submissive, and responsive to His leading and use.
34 A gift of the Spirit is an extraordinary
capacity to channel God's love and blessings to others in need.
35 We will be gifted with the power to do
whatever God calls us to do, in Jesus' name.
36 God does not bestow gifts of power on us to be
used as we discern need, not even in His name. It is He, God, who responds
to prayer, in fact anticipates it, and prepares and positions all of the
resources necessary to repoins in dramatic fashion.
37 God does not give people gifts of power to
assure them of their holiness, or to allow them to demonstrate their holiness to
others; the gifts are for service only.
38 Talents or aptitudes are the equipping of God
for a peculiar service. The training and cultivation of our talents is the
process of preparation for service. God positions us so as to bring us
into contact with those who have obvious needs that we can then satisfy.
39 Jesus received an anointing of the Spirit at
His Baptism, when the time came for Him to be identified with His messianic role
and ministry, in full measure, as His role required.
The disciples, at Pentecost, received
the Spirit power, in measure as they required, to render the specific service
for which they were called and anointed. They received power in such
manner as to leave no doubt, in them or others, of the presence of Jesus, in the
Spirit, continuing His work.
40 Choosing to act contrary to our professed identity is hypocrisy; being unable to act according to our professed identity is weakness.
41 Israel s characterized in the Bible as the wife of God, through whom He
would bring His Son into the world.
The church is characterized as the
bride of His Son, through whom He would produce many children (grandchildren
for the Father.)
Those of us who have grandchildren
can best understand God's love for us.
42 The Israelites, who were chosen by God to be the instrument of His
blessing to the whole world, could only be so by being the people through whom He
provided the blood sacrifice, by which the remission of sin and the
reconciliation with God for all people, of all time, would be affected.
The Israelites received revelation
and instruction from God in the means of reconciliation by the substitutionary
death for sin in the blood sacrifices and had them verified, in practice, in all
of their generations. Their witness to the world, as God's chosen people,
was the blessing and protection of God that they received in response to their
trust and obedience in making the sacrifices and glorifying Him as God.
When the time came for God to make
the blessing of the reconciling work available to all people, through them, as
He had promised, He provided, through them, a once for all blood sacrifice in
His Son. The greatest injustice in history is the vilification that the
Israelites have received from those for whom they made reconciliation available
as the priestly people of God. Theirs should be the highest honor.
God has assured them in the prophesy that all of this would take place,
including their vilification, but He also assured them of His greatest ultimate
blessings for their role. Jesus did not come to establish His earthy
Kingdom in Israel at that time, but to accomplish the work by which all people
might qualify for His eventual Kingdom. The Kingdom will be established
when all who will, have appropriated His sacrifice on their behalf. As the
sowing of the seed of His redemptive work began with them, in great power, so it
will bend with them, in great power.
43 Satan was made ruler over the spirit realm of creation,
responsible and accountable only to God.
Man was made ruler over the material
realm of creation, responsible and accountable only to God.
Both chose to use the resources that
God put in their stewardship to exalt themselves and challenge the authority,
sovereignty, and position of God.
They were both exiled to create their
own Kingdoms, together.
44 Self-preservation, self-interest, and self-gratification dominate our
motives, attitudes, actions, and relationship until we reach the maturity of
seeing that our purpose for being cannot be in self-exaltation at the expense of
others. It is only then that we can see ourselves in proper relationship
to others and to God, because until then, others and God exist to be exploited
to serve our needs or desires, It is this perspective which leads
to antagonism toward the people and things which we perceive to be responsible
for our frustrated desires, and toward God, because he is the source of the
guilt and condemnation that is the consequence of a self-centered existence.
45 In the incredible provision of God, we can each have
individuality as a
result of our unique patterns of heredity and experience, but also have a
universal kingship of sharing in one life. "In Him we live, move, and
have our being" (Acts 17:18.)
46 Life, in Christ is the common denominator of all things in the
universe.
47 All things have the measure of the spirit of life in them as necessary
to serve the purpose for which they exist, some only in sufficiency to sustain
composition (".... in Him all things hold together." Col. 1:17,) some
in the full measure of being identified with Christ.
Love
48 True love always seeks the highest good for the
loved as its highest
priority, even above it's own good.
Selfish love always reserves the
highest good for one's self and rationalizes exploiting others in doing so.
49 Counterfeit love, in all of it's guises, is an abomination to God.
50 God's wrath centers on the violation of the principle of unselfish
love.
51 The love that God requires that we have
for Him is manifested in complete trust in Him to guide and provide for us in
the way of our best interest, always.
The love that He requires that we
have for others, is to have equal concern for their best interests also.
God assures us that our own interests will not be served less; on the contrary,
the highest interests of each will be served when the needs of all are being
met.
52 God is Love. When we are filled with the
Spirit, we are filled with love. In such a circumstance we cannot sin,
because sin is never an act of love but of gratifying selfish desire.
Manifestation of God
53 The references, throughout the Bible, to the
features of the body of God are not metaphorical. Jesus is the image of
the invisible God. He is, in all respects, the faithful, material
manifestation of the immaterial God (1 Cor. 15:44b.)
54 In Old Testament times, before God the Son came
and took flesh to dwell among men and be identified with them, God showed
Himself to be apart from men, intervening in their circumstances to accomplish
His purpose. Now, people ask why God does not intervene in the
circumstances of the people of today. Their premise is that He doesn't
exist, doesn't care, or is dead.
The truth is stated in the New
Testament that He is present, and working, in the bodies of people (individually
and corporately) who have come to know and trust Him to control their lives and
circumstances. Those who do not know Him personally, are given ample
evidence of His presence and work in the lives of those who have chosen to be
identified with Him.
55 Christ would not have come, in flesh, to be the eternal King of
prophesy unless the preparation of the eternal Kingdom people had been
completed.
So, He did not come to establish His Kingdom at that time, but to do the work
that He did, so that they might prepare themselves for the Kingdom yet to come.
56 God's plan was made for all people and was sufficient
to provide for all, but it did not depend on all for success.
57 God's requirement of us, as His Kingdom people, is to trust Him to
provide for our needs. Prayer is not to inform God of our needs; He is
omniscient (all knowing;) He knows our needs before we ask. Then why
pray? Jesus prayed, and taught His disciples to do so. He said that
we must ask, and ask rightly, if we were to receive, so:
a. Prayer is our affirmation to God of our trust in Him to provide for us
in every circumstance that we commit to His control.
b. Prayer is only as effective for us as it can be when we commit every
circumstance of our lives into His control at the moment of our awareness of its
existence, not as the last resort.
c. We cannot trust in our own ability to handle any circumstance of our
lives, or anyone else to do so, without having first submitted it to God in
prayer.
d. Too often we attack a problem situation with our own perception,
experience, knowledge, and wisdom and only turn to God in the matter in
desperation, after we have exhausted our own resources. We ask God to
"help us" like we are almost sufficient, and would be, if we just had
a little help from God; if He did "help" us, then we would be in a
position to take most of the credit and glory, because God only gave us a little
help. God doesn't play those games.
e. God will not do anything for us which is not also in the best interest
of all other affected.
f. He will not undo our mistakes. He will not spare us the shame of
our failures at self-direction and self-sufficiency. He will rescue us, if
we haven't gone too far, and give us opportunities to benefit ourselves and
others from our folly, if we, and they, turn to Him in trust, in time.
g. We must remember, in praying, that the one standard of God in all our
relationship and activities is unselfish love.
h. There is fatal error in thinking that God made us to be, and expects us
to be, self-sufficient, that He only helps those who help themselves, or that it
is wrong to call on God when we can do something ourselves. God does not
want to be identified with the failures that we are destined to make of things
if we are going to retain control and ask for His help to accomplish our own
needs.
i. It is a mistake to think that choosing to turn the matter over to God
pleases Him so that He immediately responds to take care of our need. In
reality, as long as we are patronizing God and Satan, calling on God only when
desperate for His help, we can forget about His being pleased and eager to
respond to our summons. God requires the surrender of our self-will, that
we make a choice to consistently trust and depend on Him in all circumstances,
not just to opt for Him in some situations where we perceive Him to be the best
alternative.
j. When we make plans without God's direction and then pray for His
blessings on our plans, we relegate God to the role of a resource of insurance
for our own willful direction.
k. Satan is shown in the Bible to be so capable of counterfeiting God's
provisions and so subtle and deceptive about selling his alternatives to our
needs, that we are thrown into confusion, insecurity, and anxiety about every
decision we make. Our only hope of peace in making and living with a
decision is to trust in God completely for direction, through prayer.
58 If we only teach our children to pause and ask God
about every decision, and then do whatever they feel confident that God would
approve, our trust in them and in God will soar.
59 When I pray, I try to have writing materials with me,
in order to write down every matter that I turn over to God. Then I try to
write down every thought and every incident that occurs, that relates to each
matter, following prayer. The answer always comes. It is not always
immediately apparent, because it is seldom what I am expecting. I am
always astounded at the unmistakable, unquestionable truth of the answer when it
comes, so that there is no doubt that God has responded to my prayer and trust,
and I usually have it in writing.
Once I have identified the answer I
let Him develop it fully for me by the same process.
60 We must see all of the experiences and circumstances of our lives as
the work of God trying to reach and prepare us, or someone else through us, for
His Kingdom.
61 God will dramatically demonstrate His trust worthiness
and love to those who demonstrate a readiness to respond in trust and obedience.
62 The only price God demands for unreserved provision is unreserved reliance.
63 God has provided the means for us to be like Christ, the King; if we
settle for less, we sell our birthright cheaply, to our eternal sorrow.
64 God made man a corporate being in His own
likeness. As God subsists in two persons bound together by and with a
unifying Spirit, into a corporate identity, a compound being of one heart, mind
and will, so He made man, male and female, in a duality of persons who, only in
becoming one flesh, bound together by the Spirit of God, in heart, mind, and
will, could fulfill God's purpose for those called to serve in His plan, to
generate His Kingdom people.
In the instance of the first man, God
made the two persons from one flesh. In the instance of all since, God has
made one flesh from two persons. God has, since the first man and woman,
given them a free-will choice rather than a pre-committed union in which to find,
and relate to, the one who is to be a compliment to their own person, becoming
one flesh and reproducing out of the union, fruit which bears their combined
natures.
The functional responsibilities of each
of the persons to the union differ from one union to another, depending on on how
they relate and correlate the individual aptitudes with which God has equipped
them, to affect the objectives of the whole. As in all matters, if we
choose a mate on the basis of our worldly standards and wisdom, instead of
seeking and following God's will, we have little chance of accomplishing God's
purpose for us in the union, or even having a viable union.
Not all unions have the purpose of
reproducing. Many struggle against this, to subvert God's intend, to the
sorrow of all involved, because He has not equipped or prepared them for this
service. Those have their purpose in God's plan to produce by the union of
their gifts, fruit for His Kingdom, which to be fully developed, cannot be
distracted by the process of child bearing and raising. They sell their
individual and corporate birthright short by diverting their time and energy in
those vain pursuits.
There are also men and women who were
not intended to mate; they are complete for their service in exclusive union
with God. Their purpose is fulfilled in exclusive devotion of their time
and energies to God's mission for their lives.
They are given no desire for the
opposite sex; like Paul and Jesus their roles can only be acted out in corporate
union and identity with the name of God. Those who have accepted this as
their role, in joy of that high provilege, are legendary in their achievements.
Many, rejecting their role and lot, give developed, or even exclusive, devotion
to others of their own kind and calling in relationship that frustrates fruit
bearing or profitable work for God on the part of both.
God will not share the devotion of
the sanctified people with others; it is unfaithfulness (adultery) to loving
provision and exaltation of God, and a defilement of His purpose for their being.
Paul said that he wished that all man
could be as he then was, exclusively devoted to God, but, if they were going to
divide their devotion with flesh, then they should marry, but not seek
gratification with their own kind, or with the lower animals; these are a
greater defilement of God's purpose for their being.
65 Each person and thing exists for a purpose in the plan of God;
therefore, each is given the measure of spirit and material resources necessary
to be profitable for God.
The abundance of our lives will be in
proportion to the profit we produce for God with the resources that He makes
available to us. The greater our boldness to produce a profit for Him, the
greater the resources he gives us.
Jesus' parable of the talents
confirms this.
66 No one can qualify or disqualify another for membership in the Kingdom
of God.
Each person may, by the exercise of
his own sovereign will, qualify or disqualify himself at any time.
The only thing that can qualify one
is personally appropriating the redemptive work of Jesus; the only ting that can
disqualify one is rejecting it or recanting it.
Questions and Answers
67 There is contention between religions throughout the
world, and even among the denominations of Christianity, about who will be the
elect of God for His eternal Kingdom. Some of the questions that
Christians must be able to answer for themselves and others are:
a. Are only Christians saved?
b. Did Jesus die on the cross to affect the redemption of all people?
c. Are Christians responsible and accountable for leading all people to
salvation?
d. Are those whom they fail to reach going to be condemned?
e. Will Christians hear the guilt for those who are condemned because of
not having heard the plan of salvation?
f. Is there an "elect" people who have been the chosen of God
from the formation of His plan?
g. Are the rest condemned and without hope?
h. Does God have a provision for all people to eventually hear of His
provision for their salvation and have a chance to appropriate it, or will some
never have a chance?
i. What about religious people from other faiths who believe that there is
a God, live to please Him by whatever light they have, but have never been
exposed to the plan of salvation in Jesus - are they to be condemned?
j. What about children who die before making a mature decision?
k. What about the incompetent who die?
God has said and demonstrated that He
loves all, that He desires that all be redeemed, that He extends the invitation
to all who will come, and that His plan and power a