The Thin Red Line (2)

For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross, through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.  Colossians 1:19-20  NASB

Before we get started today, I wanted to share this blog comment I made about how DIFFICULT yesterday’s edition was.  Indulge me, for a moment.

“Ah, the beauty and COMPLEXITY of it all. Atonement is certain. But HOW it occurs is a great mystery, perhaps one that we will never fully understand. What seems clear to me now is that atonement for sin, that act of grace by which God restores relationship with Himself, does not occur on the cross. I say this because I believe Scripture teaches us that Abraham’s restored relationship occurs by the same mechanics as mine – or Paul’s. Salvation is God’s gift. It is the same for Abraham and for me. There is no WORKS vs. GIFT (LAW vs. GRACE) dichotomy in Scripture. I find this amplified by Rev. 13:8 and 1 Pet. 1:18-20 and various other oblique passages indicating that the sacrifice of the Lamb occurred before the foundation of the world. If by atonement we mean “restoring right standing before the Father,” then it occurs in the heavenly Temple at the heavenly altar by a priest not of the Levitical order. In other words, SALVATION is God’s work done His way in His place.

I find that the commonly held Christian belief that atonement for SIN (capital S) occurs on the cross does not account for significant facts of Scripture, not only those mentioned above but also the fact that atonement in the Levitical system could be accomplished in a large number of ways not all of which required blood sacrifice or even death.

All of this means that when Yeshua points us to Numbers 21:9 as an explanation of what is happening on the cross, it is not about forgiveness (atonement). It is about something else, something so essential and so powerful that it took the death of the Son to show it to us.

I believe that the issue God settles on the cross is the fundamental question of life, that is, DEATH. After all, even if I am forgiven, the consequences of my prior disobedience still apply. GUILT is removed, but not the prior consequences. I STILL DIE! And, since sin has entered the world, all creation is affected by these consequences. Everything is tainted by DEATH. So, if God forgives me and restores my relationship with Him but I still suffer death, what was the point of it all? In order for God to show me that His offer of restoration also OVERCOMES THE CONSEQUENCES, I must see that death is NOT THE END.

Now, no power of earth, no kingdom, no king, not even Satan, can overcome this final fact of all existence. But God MUST if His creation is to be restored. This is why the death on the cross is not about MY sin problem. It is about THE SIN PROBLEM, the problem that affects everything created. God must overcome the final enemy, the one thing that Satan threatens all creation with, the one thing that every pagan kingdom threatens in order to gain ultimate compliance. And God uses the symbol of this power, the cross (the power of death in pagan hands) to demonstrate that HE and HE ALONE has the answer. Death isn’t the END!

Now, let’s continue.  Thanks.

Blood – If Morris is right and the idea of blood is about death, not life, then what about Paul’s emphasis on the blood of Christ?  Perhaps the place to start is with Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:19-20. It is important to read exactly what this verse says, and not to read into the verse something it does not say.  Notice the claim is not that men are reconciled to God through the death on the cross (for that is how we must understand “blood of His cross” after Morris).  While men are included in this claim, the scope of the claim is much larger.  All things, both on earth and in heaven, are reconciled.  This claim is patently false if it applies only to sinful men since there are no sinful men in heaven.  Paul has in mind something far greater with the term apokatallaxai.  The verb (apokatallasso) means “to make other than what it is, to alter, to change” and is often associated with monetary exchanges or substitutes.  There is a subtlety involved in the use of this term, for the New Testament does not suggest that God is the object of reconciliation as if He needs to be placated so as to divert His anger.  The Scriptures claim that God Himself brings about this change in relationship.  The object is “all things,” including sinful men, but so much more.  Paul makes it clear that this change is the purpose of God brought about in the death of Yeshua (Romans 5:10).  But if it applies to everything, then it must be about more than our sins.

Notice that the result of this death on the cross is peace, not forgiveness.  This makes perfect sense.  Heaven and earth were not at peace because the purposes of God have not been fulfilled since the original act of disobedience.  To bring peace to heaven and earth requires a reunion of God’s design, a reconstitution of the original perfect creation where the will of the Father is perfectly executed on earth as it is in heaven.  So while there is no doubt that God’s purposes are fulfilled in heaven, the very fact that the creation has fallen into disobedience means that peace did not prevail until, as Paul suggests, the death of the Son on the cross.  Ridderbos notes that Paul’s statement does not mean a restoration of “the right disposition (e.g., among the apostate spirits), but rather of the divine  government over all, through the fact, among other things, that the authority of the powers that have set themselves against God have been taken away and through Christ  they have been subjected to God.”[1]  What is at stake on the stake is not expiation for sin but the re-establishment of God’s authority!  Paul reiterates this claim in Romans 16:20.  “And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”  This is a statement about power, not about clemency.  To claim that Yeshua “is our peace” is to reiterate His claim that “all authority has been given to Me.”  “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups [Jews and Gentiles] into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity,  . . . and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.”[2]  If we translate the verse properly, we see that reconciliation removes the consequences of disobedience, and with these consequences removed, creation can return to its original design and purpose.

Ridderbos is generally correct when he says, “[T]he abrogation of this enmity through reconciliation is the same as being delivered from God’s wrath, being acquitted of sin and guilt,”[3] but he applies the verse only to the despicable condition of men, and the verse clearly implies far more than that.  “Peace on earth” is not simply a statement about forgiveness.  It is about restoration.

But this brings up another issue.  Yeshua died.  According to Paul, His blood on the cross brought peace.  But look around you.  Do you see God’s peace spread across the globe?  I certainly don’t.  Nevertheless, Paul says that this “peace” has been accomplished in Yeshua’s death.  The Greek is eirenopoiesas, the aorist, active participle of eirenopoieo, a combination of words meaning “to make peace.”  But the verb is a completed action (aorist).  According to Paul, it’s finished.  Peace has been secured.  How?

Paul can only have in mind the Hebrew idea of “first fruits.”  When the first of the harvest was offered to God, all the rest of the harvest was considered also sanctified.  The first represented the whole.  When Yeshua died, he overcame the final enemy, death itself.  Peace was secured for the first fruit in His resurrection.  As a result, all the rest, all those who follow Him, are guaranteed the same status, even though as yet we do not see it.  Paul’s view is eschatological.  He looks over the horizon to see the end result resident in the present reality.

Now, we might argue that “peace with God” implies forgiveness.  Yes, it does.  But don’t you see that the scope of the claim is so much bigger.  The entire cosmos is involved in this event.  It’s not just about forgiving your sins.  It’s about reordering the universe.  And it’s been accomplished.  We are just waiting to see how it arrives.

Topical Index:  blood, apokatallasso, reconcile, eirenopoieo, make peace, cross, Colossians 1:19-20

 

 


[1] Ridderbos, Paul, p. 184.

[2] Ephesians 2:14-16 NASB.  There are several translation assumptions based on replacement theology in the NASB rendition, not least of which is the deliberate addition of wording to make the verse read as if the enmity is “the Law of commandments contained in ordinances.”  These assumptions are unwarranted.  See my work on this verse at https://skipmoen.com/tag/ephesians-215/

[3] Ridderbos, Paul, p. 185.

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Michael C

Oh, Man!!!

By Skip, I think I’ve got it . . . or I’m beginning to actually think I’m understanding it. BUT, it’s late, I’m tired and need to go to bed. I need to think on this more in some heavy duty manner. However, in reading this installment and then going back to re-read part 1, I actually have begun to build a new perspective on the sin-death-blood-sacrifice-atonement-life issue that is the WHOLE enchilada in a nutshell. And if I am correct in understanding it, once viewed all inclusively, while complex, is really quite simple, quite straight forward and quite profound!

Again, I shall mull this for a while and then attempt my “say it back” version to see it it jibes with the aim of this particular TW offering.

Thanks, Skip. This has really added some depth, color, texture and dimension to my understanding of the whole ball of wax, so to speak.

Michael C

Didn’t mean “jibes”, rather “lines up with”
Sorry.

Ian Hodge

Summed up in the title of a fascinating book, “Paradise Restored.”

carl roberts

~ and to die is gain ~

to die is to live. ~ except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die..~

Death precedes life. It is in dying, that we truly live. We identify with Christ and in His death.
When He died, we died with Him- and when He rose from the dead, we also have been risen together with Him, seated together, in Heavenly places “in Christ.”

These two and no more are sufficient and strong: “in Christ”

If any man be “in Christ”.. any man, any woman, any boy – any girl- all are welcome to come to Him, who alone has the words of eternal life.

Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed is the Word of the LORD. He is the incarnated, crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended, interceding Prophet-Priest and (soon coming) King.

His words? ~ without Me, you can do nothing? ~

Time prevents me this early a.m.–more later if the clock will permit me..

~ and the blood of Jesus Christ, (God the Son) cleanses from all sin ~ Every blot, every blemish, every stain. Gone and forgotten by God. ~ And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more ~

~ and when I see the blood, (the blood of the slain lamb) I will pass over you ~

the promised Messiah has come- and He hung naked on a criminal’s cross for you. The execution stake, the tslav.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious!- is the flow, that makes me white as snow, no other fount I know- nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Is there more? SO MUCH MORE- but everything, everything starts at the foot of the cross and at Calvary. For Calvary covers it all, and friend, that is what an atonement is- a covering. Remember the coas of skins God gave to Adam and Eve? A foreshadowing of atonement. An animal was slain to provide these. Blood was spilled… more later..

jeanette

God Morning Carl!

I need to loop a little, LOL…..

I was born left handed. There didn’t seem to be a problem with that until I went to school. I remember the teacher saying something about left handed being taboo. So, I learned to use my right hand by rote and practice. Didn’t rewire my brain tho.

My sisters laugh about it all the time. Don’t ask me for directions. When they are in the car and I am driving, one of them will say “up arrow” or “down arrow” in appropriate time for me to get in the proper lane to make the turn.

One of my sisters told me recently that when I stand before the throne and get told to go to the left or right, I’ll go in the wrong direction. I made myself a little rhyme to help me with that. Just recently though it occurred to me when I’m standing there (no community present) and I get told which way to go, I’d better consider that I will probably be facing Him and I’d better ask – would that be Your right/left or my right/left, Sir? I’m sure I make my Father laugh sometimes. That’s why I’m glad Abraham was His friend and that Yeshua showed compassion. Those passages give me the warm fuzzies.

Your mission, should you decide to accept, is to read Acts 23:1-11 and compare that to what Yeshua said in Matthew 8:15.

Perhaps we can plead the Blood together until we get the proper facts about the Cross. I know that pleading the Blood works.

Oh! My mother-in-law told me recently “it’s too bad you didn’t stay in post-secondary. You have a great mind. School would have helped you learn to think.” (chirp…..chirp…..chirp)

Have a blessed day!

p.s. Did you know that the motto: “Always Be Prepared” is the Girl Scouts Motto? Yep. Saw that on my favorite game show, Jeopardy, then checked it out for myself.

jeanette

Matthew 8:5-13

jeanette

God Morning!

Michael, yesterday in your comments you gave me the answer to a question I had written on my short list to look further into during my morning devotion and reading! That’s why community is so important.

My question was this: Did my Lord and Savior, Yeshua, take the Nazirite vow? I couldn’t find reference – until you cited from what is written in Mark 14:25! Thank you Father for confirmation!! I’m going to do a happy dance for you all day!!

Here’s something for you to check out: What is the difference between the “trance” (as transliterated) that Peter had in his rooftop experience about “eating” and the “trance” that Saul experienced on the road to Damascus? But, God!

What about that football game? I couldn’t figure out why they stopped playing, half the lights stayed on and they could still see. My husband said it was the “bookies” in Vegas that caused the lights to go out so the 49ers could get the lead back. I said yeah, it the “bookies” all right. When my favorite team is not in the game I always cheer for the underdog.

Anyway, my morning reading was from Matthew 6:23-34, Yeshua telling us not to worry about things.

♪♪ Yah’s got it, oh yes he does ♪♪ His Word will not return unto Him void.

Shalom! (OMnipotent, OMniscient, OMnipresent, OMnibenevolent)

p.s.: haven’t read TW yet. Had to get this out of my heart. I may be back. Sorry for being so verbose. Skip, did you hug your ezer kenegdo for me yet? Didn’t get that email?

Rodney

There is a reason why the Torah portion traditionally taught during or around Pesach is Acharei Mot, and why, in the midst of all of the instructions to do with what is Holy and Profane, Clean and Unclean (including instructions on diet, worship and sexual activity), this portion begins with the instructions for the High Priest on Yom Kippur.

The fact that this is traditionally taught around the time of Pesach, in the northern Spring (southern Autumn/Fall) is no accident. Pesach and Yom Kippur are inextricably linked in Yeshua.

lori

I do not disagree with you regarding death being overcome at the cross; however, I do believe that death was defeated at the resurrection. Why does Scripture say that “He became sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”? Perhaps we cannot separate the two.

lori

I believe it all happened before the foundation of the earth. YHVH is not bound by time. He knows the end form the beginning. “before Abraham was, I am.” I believe it was all in his “mind” /plan and reality for Him before it ever played out in time and space into what we call reality. I do not believe the cross does not stand alone in this.

lori

I meant to say, I do not believe the cross stands alone in this.

jeanette

Hi Lori!

Good to “see” you again dear sister! I have noticed for quite a while now that discussion on the foundation of the earth has been an interesting topic. I would like to share a site with you. It is the appendixes to one of my favorite study resources, The Companion Bible. I use it a lot when I want to get a clearer picture from my other favorite Bible. The appendixes are not a stand alone guide, so unless you have the actual Bible you won’t get the FULL picture. It can take one whole day just to read one scripture and all the references and cross references with this one! I am not promoting it, but it is very helpful to me and your above comment lends itself to sharing this with you.

This is Appendix 146, “The Foundation of the World”. All of the appendixes are on the site, but again, they are NOT stand alone to the text.

http://www.therain.org/appendixes/app146.html

Shalom and good night!

John

Grace is not a new concept that originated in the New Testament, or with Abraham. Grace was introduced in Genesis chapter 6 verse 8. “But Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord”. As best I can tell Noah had done absolutly no works to merit God’s favor at this point in the scripture.

Gabe

Maybe, but I’ve also heard people say that Abraham didn’t DO anything to be called righteous — however, from the beginning he was willing to leave home, extended family, security, his family’s religion, ect – all in order to follow God’s command. That seems like quite a big action!

Karen

Good Morning. I haven’t responded before but am so glad for this topic and previous forays into the meaning of the cross. I am very “young” in the exploration of such things-“matters too great for me”, likely. You guys are intimidating. : )

While reading I wondered if this is what Paul is talking about in 1 Cor. 15? Seems to be right on topic. The symbolic first fruits of Yeshua’s death (as well as life for that matter-He came and demonstrated how we LIVE as well as die), “the first represented the whole”. The first Adam, the second Adam. And as the passage continues, pointing to the full restoration of all things presented unto God–“in a twinkling of the eye…” (eschatalogical).

The seamless continuance of the ways of God… which is the troubling area for me in terms of many of Christianity’s “answers”– it HAS to all work together. Studying the sacrifices and offerings made under Moses, atonement seems to be offered. The Psalmist rejoices that “all my sins are forgiven”? The question, from Christianity’s answer-“NOW we have forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus”, so how does that work together? The fear then encroaches, “what then with the crucifixion?!?! Our hearts bear witness to the truth of the Beautiful Redeemer and the life restored as the Ruach Ha Kodesh leads and illuminates and such joy! that my sins are not held against me. What then? While we cannot unwrap the full mystery of Ha-Shem, the Ineffable, Most Worthy- we can trust that He is One and His ways are One. And He beckons us, “Come”. We don’t have to be afraid of the question, “what then of the cross?”

I am so grateful for this conversation. As we all grow up into the fullness Ephesians 4:8-16, amazing! There is so much MORE life to live and understand.

Ruth

Was the stake/cross a pagan symbol in the day like the serpent was a pagan symbol in Egypt at the time of the exodus?

Michael C

Ok, I’m still tired but rested somewhat. Here’s my attempt to explain in my own words for my own understanding what these last two TW’s are saying:

Before Gen. 1:1 Elohim existed. All was however it was then. Elohim created the heavens and the earth and man and the rest. All was good, functioning as it should. Adam was the door, the first man to choose something other than God’s way – not good, not functioning as it should as it missed God’s perfect way, i.e. sin. The consequences of the sin was death, which wasn’t so before sin entered through Adam.

Death affected more than just man, death touched everything God created, even heaven in that God’s plan was now touched by death. God’s actions since then have been focused on fixing/restoring the original arrangement when death had no claim over man, earth and heaven. Restoration was the goal.

With sin’s introduction death now was the ultimate and final end for ever. It was irrevocable. Sin entered and man died. It was the rule and consequence of sin’s existence. Where sin is, death resides. Nothing can change that or conquer it apart from some action on God’s part.

God gives life back through his grace as a gift as man is doomed to death on his own standing mired in sin, death being it’s consequence. In order to change this ruling of death over man and its effect on everything else as well, God stepped in as a man and died like a man would die. However, since death only comes as a result of sin, it didn’t come to Yeshua because he had not sinned. Although Yeshua willingly died as man dies per the Father’s request. He experienced the consequences of sin which was death. But death had no hold over Yeshua because there was no sin in him requiring death. No sin, no power from death. Yeshua’s yielding to death was a voluntary offering to show that it could not hold him. Death had no authority over a real, tangible man that had no sin touching him. Yeshua was God incarnate, thus no sin and thus, no death. Had he even once sinned, Yeshua, too, would have been forever captive to death because of sin. Yeshua had no sin so death had absolutely no hold over him except that which Yeshua voluntarily allowed.

The body of Yeshua died, however, since there was no sin in his neshama, his ruach, his nephesh, death had no authority or hold on him and thus he lived, death had no sting to him. Death was now, for the first time, conquered completely and forever. Not singly just for me or just for you but for everything which death touched, that is, all that God created. Enmity, death’s control over everything it touched was now forever and totally conquered. Yeshua, who was anointed to do this feat conquered death by his sinless and death defying living, continued to live beyond the death of his body. Death no longer dominated after Yeshua’s power and ability to be untainted by the cause and pathway for death, that being sin, that is, anything not in total harmony with God’s character and purpose.

Yeshua’s sinless life made death null and void for the first time ever thus canceling out sin’s ability of inflicting death in all of creation. Peace is now present and evident due to Yeshua’s life, death and life beyond death, a feat never before or since done on one’s own power alone. Death’s previously ultimate power to keep separated all it touched from God is now, due to Yeshua’s life alone in conquering death’s ability to hold, is itself, now dead and unable to act as enmity between God and his creation.

Peace is now tangible and forever done because one conquered it as only Yeshua could have done, being without sin.

So, as sin and death entered in to creation through the one man, who happened to be Adam (it could have been you, me or whoever else was in the position of being first), life now through the one man Yeshuaput an end to death forever as power, control and life is restores through Yeshua as it was when God began creating the heavens, the earth and all that followed.

Paradise, where death is dead to us, is now restored.

This isn’t about forgiveness and grace. That was already done before Gen. 1:1, somehow, somewhere by God thus providing righteous standing to Abraham and all the others before Yeshua’s earthy, bodily arrival. This was about solving the death problem that sin brought. It was about one dying, Yeshua, in such a way so as to abolish the power of death that was ultimate since Adam up to Yeshua’s unique and all changing actions on the most hideous symbol of death, the cross, of his earthy time, that of the “all-powerful” Romans. Yeshua showed the cosmos definitively that death “ain’t nothing but a thang!” that was absolutely, totally and completely conquered and now rightly under God’s authority, period! Paradise restored through Yeshua.

Generally speaking, is that the whole enchilada?

Michael C

Hmm. I’ll have to get my strainer out and rethink that. My brain was straining and smoking on this already. But I’ll get there.
Thx.

jeanette

“It’s about reordering the universe. And it’s been accomplished. We are just waiting to see how it arrives.”

Perhaps you will consider this as you put the puzzle together. Ain’t puzzles fun? I just love ‘em! Yah is Soooooooooo good!
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
That’s from Revelation 22.

Now consider this (remember that Our Father works cyclodically):
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
That’s from Genesis 3.

Remember what you said, Skip, about how Hebraic thought views the passage of time. Sometimes you have to start from the end.

Now, was it Adam who told Eve or was Our Father who told Eve? I am reminded of that school exercise to teach us a lesson. I think it was called “telephone”. The teacher would line all 25+ of us up; whisper something in the first one in the line’s ear; they would whisper it to the next and so on. Then the last person in the line would speak out loud what was said. It was never the same thing.

That’s why I don’t get with the Oral sayings. I only focus on the few things Yeshua MIGHT have taught about relative to the beatitudes. Seems to my childlike mind that is what caused the problems anyway.

Why is it called the Law of Moses rather than the Law of God as given to Moses? I’ve still got more homework to do.

Anyway, there’s another verse in in Revelation to consider. I’m glad My Father didn’t entrust me with any secrets cause if it’s gonna… well, never mind. I remember what Jude said.

10:3-4 “And cried with a loud voice, as [when] a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.” “And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not”.

Now, what we gonna do? Hope it’s not too late to humble ourselves and pray and repent from our sins. I don’t know though, but I do know that I’m not gonna worry about it. My Father and Elder Brother got this. FEAR NOT (well, unless you need to.) Give me gentle strength Father. Remember, i’m just a girl. Ohhhhh….somebody in trouble..

Walking in the Sonshine,
me

jeanette

Please, stop the pilpul madness. Save the children. If this video is easy for you to watch, i’ll cry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQbGCNetzfs

Thomas Elsinger

We have all been trying, with these last two TWs, to organize certain events in a linear fashion. But aren’t we doing this from the perspective of time-bound creatures? God is eternal. What is time to Him? From the foundation of the world, is His plan as good as accomplished already? That Yeshua needed to die, in order to overcome death–was this not a physical display of what already had been, “from the foundation of the world,” accomplished according to God’s plan? If God thinks “it,” is “it” already done? But not from our perspective! We creatures, subject to decay and death, needed to see it as done.

Michael and Arnella Stanley

I don’t “need” to see (understand)  it in order for me to “see” it as done- I need it to be done in order for me to see (experience)  it.
While God certainly has powers beyond my puny imagination I’m not sure one of them is this ability you ascribe to Him-which goes beyond the ability to see the end from the beginning and borders, in my mind anyway, on the magical or mystical and ends up in “Neverland”.  If God (or we) can “live” in this fantasy universe why bother to create it? Isn’t this one of our greatest problems-dealing with reality?( maybe not, perhaps I’m projecting?)  Elohim goes to great lengths to destroy this myth by sending His own Son to physically die a cruel, painful death. Let us not forget reality- because it won’t forget or forgive us our fantasies. Just my 2 cents or  2 shekels. Michael 

carl roberts

A little bit of forethought and advanced planning goes a long way..

~ elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father..~ (1 Peter 1.2)

God goes way back. His Name (one of them) is Ancient of Days. Yes, there never was a “time” when God was not! He has no beginning and has no end. He is.

Has it ever occurred to you- nothing ever “occurs” to God? He does not have a “plan B” and when God says “let there be..”- there is. What God says, – goes.

But what about love? Love is totally voluntary and never forced. If love is ever forced it is not loved- this is why “sharia law” is totally anti-Christ, because Islam is a religion of force and of fear. Love me – nor I’ll remove your head with the sword. (let me know how that works out for you). No, love is never forced.

We had a ‘project’ early this morning.. a little reconnoitering , a little advance planning and preparation, and so far- everything is running smoothly..

Friends, “in the beginning…- God.” God thought of a plan. He planned His work, then He worked (and is working) His plan. His plan today is the same as it was “in the beginning..”- He is assembling,building and constructing a Bride. This is the chosen assembly- the ecclessia (in Greek) or the synagogue (in Hebrew). “Both” Jews and Gentiles are part of His plan. We will sit down together at the wedding feast of the Lamb. Will it be kosher? Friends, it will be party to end all parties and we have been invited. Who exactly, is invited? – (it is an “invitation only” event!). From the lips of our own LORD, He has said, “whosoever will” may come.
Well, that’s all well and good for those who have been born in the A.D., but what about the B.C. saints? Abraham, Moses, David- etc..? Are these invited also? And when did they receive their invitation? Christ was gone for three days.- Where did He go? He had some preaching to do and He had some keys to retrieve. Mission accomplished.
Friends, a “greater than Solomon” is here. What is His Name? Did you know the entire Bible, both “halves” revolve around (the) Christ? It does. The gospel according to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus- all the way through the Revelation.
~ and beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself ~ (Luke 24.27)
Who wrote the Book? the ONE whom we crucified. Who gives us life? The ONE whom we crucified? Who intercedes for us continuously before the Father? The ONE whom we crucified. And Who was raised from the dead for our justification? The ONE whom we crucified. What is His Name? Who is this King of glory?
What was the Messiah’s mission at Calvary- and did He accomplish (in full)- a complete, full, final total victory?
And He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, -how shall He not with Him, also freely give us all things? Great question, what might be the answer? – Yes. I’m speechless also.. And the answer is? ~ and my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus ~ (again and again and again) – What is His Name? His Name is God will provide!
Does He? Has He? Will He? This is the gospel (good news) of “Yes!” Yes, He has. Yes, He does, and Yes, He will. Did you know, were you aware?- every time an amen leaves your lips, you are saying (verily) “Yes, -it is so!” Amen.