Having followed closely the nine month birth process of our grandson Ethan, Paul who was born December 23, 2010, impressed upon me again the incredible miracle it is to bring new life into the world.
However, the process of new life did not just begin nine month ago, rather than it began three years ago, when my son David attended the annual Feast of Tabernacles in Schluchsee Germany. There he met a young lady - Sabrina, and there the Miracle of New Life had its actual beginning. This encounter of two people, male and female, let to an engagement one year later, and to marriage the following year in November of 2009. What was the driving force that made it happen? It was love! Love was the driving force that overcame a multitude of obstacles and brought two people together who then had the capacity to bring new life into existence.
Yes, bringing new life into existence is a miracle, a gift from God, in whose image man was made. God created only one human being – Adam. From Adam God made Eve. Adam and Eve were given the capacity to reproduce themselves through procreation resulting in their children Cain and Abel, and their progeny, down to you and me, and to our grandson Ethan.
This process of procreation, which results in new physical life, is the corner stone of the human family, driven by love, resulting in an ever expanding humanity (now appr. 6.9 billion). Where will it end and what is the purpose of it all? From the biblical record we learn that the physical is but the beginning, the example and precursor of that which is to come – the spiritual.
The physical is temporary, the spiritual is eternal. The physical is sinful, the spiritual is sinless. The purpose of human life is to progress from the physical to the spiritual. Male and female, human love, the process of physical procreation, the ever expanding human family, where all created to teach us godly love, the process of spiritual procreation for the ever expanding Family of God.
And so we learn that God who is our perfect example, chose for Himself a wife, the slave nation Israel, and entered into a marriage covenant with her. 1500 years later God chose the Israelite woman Mary to carry and give birth to His first born son whom He named Jesus. It is a spiritual love story, beyond our full comprehension. The excitement and joy our son and his wife experienced, having produced new life – their firstborn son Ethan, is something all parents share when bringing new life into existence. God Almighty is no exception. Proudly He proclaimed: “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” Yes, Jesus was born as the son of man for a specific purpose, to atone for the sins of the world, but He was also born as our example to show us the way of how to become a child of God, of how to become a spirit God being after the image of our Father via a resurrection from the dead.
Let us not diminish the miracle of NEW life, whether the first born of man or the first born of God with the mythological Roman Catholic, Trinitarian teaching of existence before birth. Let us live and experience the gift of love not only physically, but in its full spiritual dimension when the marriage of the lamb to His bride, the Church of God, will find its climax in perfect godly love for all eternity.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Who is my brother – my sister, in Christ?
In order to answer the question: Who are my brothers and sisters in Christ? We need to define who a Christian is. As a beginning point, the most fundamental answer is that a Christian is a believer and follower in Jesus Christ. To be more specific and especially to be biblical, a Christian is one who has received the gift of the Holy Spirit from God. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
When we consider the world as a whole, we find that there are an estimated 2.1 billion people in the world who profess to be Christians. That represents approximately 1/3 of the total world population. That means upfront that about 2/3 of the world population are my fellow human beings, but are not my brothers and sisters in Christ. Unfortunately, from this point forward it gets more complicated for among the other 1/3 “Christians” of the world population there is little to no agreement as to who is a TRUE Christian and who is a FALSE Christian.
It was the disciples of Jesus Christ who were first called “Christians” in Antioch. So, a true disciple is a follower and imitator of Jesus Christ, such as were the apostles. What makes a Christian a false Christian is to accept and believe in a false Christ.
The Bible is replete with warnings about the coming of false apostles and false brethren who are followers of false Christ’s. “For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”
In the gospel of Matthew is the Parable of the Wheat (true Christians) and the Tares (false Christians). Where do tares come from? Jesus said: “An enemy (Satan) has done this.” When His servants asked if they should gather the weed (false Christians), Jesus said: “No; lest in gathering the weeds (false Christians) you root up the wheat (true Christians) along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds (false Christians) first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the weed (true Christians) into my barn.”
From this parable we can see that in the world are true Christians, and false Christians and Jesus said to let them grow up together for at harvest time (at the resurrection) He will separate them according to His perfect judgment. In the mean time does this mean that I should have spiritual fellowship with both, true and false Christians? Yes and no. I believe that it is our responsibility to judge and identify obvious false Christian beliefs, but it is not our responsibility to forcedly separate professed Christians who have different beliefs.
The problem is that true Christians, who have repented of sin, who have been baptized, laid hands on, and have received God’s Holy Spirit, do not come with a sign that lets everybody know that they are true Christians. So, how can I know who my true, spiritual brothers and sisters are? Somehow I must make a judgment about 2.1 billion people who claim to be Christians, but who are not all true Christians. Personally, as a minimum, I look for three fundamental beliefs of a Christian for the purpose of spiritual fellowship:
• A belief that there is a God. Not any God; but the God of the Bible; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth.
• A belief that Jesus is the only (so) begotten and first born Son of God who lived, suffered and died for us 2000 years ago. Who, after three days and three nights in the grave was resurrected by His Father from the dead, and ascended into heaven from where He will return as King of kings and Lord of lords.
• A true Christian must be a law abiding Christian. Jesus said: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” It is the fourth commandment, the test commandment that tells me if you love Jesus. Remembering and keeping the Sabbath, the seventh day holy, is a visible sign that separates true from false Christians. With the weekly Sabbath also come the annual Sabbaths of Lev. 23. God’s plan of salvation cannot be known and understood apart from an acknowledgement and keeping of the annual holy days.
It is my estimate that these three points will reduce the 2.1 billion people who claim to be Christians by at least 90%. The balance I consider to be true spiritual brothers and sisters, even though many differences of fully understanding God and Jesus Christ continue to exist. It is my belief that no human being has a complete understanding of the Spirit Beings, God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ – the Word of God – the Bible. Therefore, we must always keep the door open to grow in grace and knowledge. Yes, a basic line of separation must be drawn, but beyond that we must apply the benefit of doubt in our dealings with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
What is the cause of division? In most cases it is not that someone denounces Jesus Christ and would therefore no longer be a Christian. No, Satan’s attacks are primarily on professed Christians, and his greatest weapons are tradition, pride and organizational considerations that are the cause of unnecessary and unjustified division.
Ironically, in the final analysis, we all fall short of perfect righteous conduct and complete understanding, making us totally dependent on the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty of our shortcomings that the law and God demand. Thank you Father; thank you Lord Jesus; thank you God; for your love that surpasses all human understanding.
When we consider the world as a whole, we find that there are an estimated 2.1 billion people in the world who profess to be Christians. That represents approximately 1/3 of the total world population. That means upfront that about 2/3 of the world population are my fellow human beings, but are not my brothers and sisters in Christ. Unfortunately, from this point forward it gets more complicated for among the other 1/3 “Christians” of the world population there is little to no agreement as to who is a TRUE Christian and who is a FALSE Christian.
It was the disciples of Jesus Christ who were first called “Christians” in Antioch. So, a true disciple is a follower and imitator of Jesus Christ, such as were the apostles. What makes a Christian a false Christian is to accept and believe in a false Christ.
The Bible is replete with warnings about the coming of false apostles and false brethren who are followers of false Christ’s. “For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”
In the gospel of Matthew is the Parable of the Wheat (true Christians) and the Tares (false Christians). Where do tares come from? Jesus said: “An enemy (Satan) has done this.” When His servants asked if they should gather the weed (false Christians), Jesus said: “No; lest in gathering the weeds (false Christians) you root up the wheat (true Christians) along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds (false Christians) first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the weed (true Christians) into my barn.”
From this parable we can see that in the world are true Christians, and false Christians and Jesus said to let them grow up together for at harvest time (at the resurrection) He will separate them according to His perfect judgment. In the mean time does this mean that I should have spiritual fellowship with both, true and false Christians? Yes and no. I believe that it is our responsibility to judge and identify obvious false Christian beliefs, but it is not our responsibility to forcedly separate professed Christians who have different beliefs.
The problem is that true Christians, who have repented of sin, who have been baptized, laid hands on, and have received God’s Holy Spirit, do not come with a sign that lets everybody know that they are true Christians. So, how can I know who my true, spiritual brothers and sisters are? Somehow I must make a judgment about 2.1 billion people who claim to be Christians, but who are not all true Christians. Personally, as a minimum, I look for three fundamental beliefs of a Christian for the purpose of spiritual fellowship:
• A belief that there is a God. Not any God; but the God of the Bible; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth.
• A belief that Jesus is the only (so) begotten and first born Son of God who lived, suffered and died for us 2000 years ago. Who, after three days and three nights in the grave was resurrected by His Father from the dead, and ascended into heaven from where He will return as King of kings and Lord of lords.
• A true Christian must be a law abiding Christian. Jesus said: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” It is the fourth commandment, the test commandment that tells me if you love Jesus. Remembering and keeping the Sabbath, the seventh day holy, is a visible sign that separates true from false Christians. With the weekly Sabbath also come the annual Sabbaths of Lev. 23. God’s plan of salvation cannot be known and understood apart from an acknowledgement and keeping of the annual holy days.
It is my estimate that these three points will reduce the 2.1 billion people who claim to be Christians by at least 90%. The balance I consider to be true spiritual brothers and sisters, even though many differences of fully understanding God and Jesus Christ continue to exist. It is my belief that no human being has a complete understanding of the Spirit Beings, God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ – the Word of God – the Bible. Therefore, we must always keep the door open to grow in grace and knowledge. Yes, a basic line of separation must be drawn, but beyond that we must apply the benefit of doubt in our dealings with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
What is the cause of division? In most cases it is not that someone denounces Jesus Christ and would therefore no longer be a Christian. No, Satan’s attacks are primarily on professed Christians, and his greatest weapons are tradition, pride and organizational considerations that are the cause of unnecessary and unjustified division.
Ironically, in the final analysis, we all fall short of perfect righteous conduct and complete understanding, making us totally dependent on the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty of our shortcomings that the law and God demand. Thank you Father; thank you Lord Jesus; thank you God; for your love that surpasses all human understanding.
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