Thank you Israel for giving us;

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

1.      The Son of  King David.

Mathew  1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Mt 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

Mt 9:27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.

Mt 12:23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?

Mt 15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

Mt 20:30 And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

Mt 20:31 And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

Mt 21:9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

Mt 21:15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,

2.  The promised Seed of Abraham.

Mathew  1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

 Ga 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

3. The Forerunner to Messenger of the Covenant (Elijah)

Mal 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.

                Note: The Messenger had to be a descendant of the Levites the priestly clan of Israel

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 

Lu 1:5/17  There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.  And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.   And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.  And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,  According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.0  And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.  And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.   And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.  But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.   And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.  For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.  And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.  And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Mt 3:3/5  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the w ay of the Lord, make his paths straight.  And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,

Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Mt 17:10/12 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias(Elijah)  is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

Note: Only a Levite Priest could anoint the King

Mat:3:13/17 ¶  Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

 Ex 30:30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

1Sa 15:1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

1Sa 16:3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.

1Sa 16:12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he (King David) was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

Note: When Saul lost the Kingdom, David the Son Of Jesse from the tribe of Judah replaced him as the King of Israel.  Herod the Great obtained the throne by Roman permission, he was an ( Idumean  (Edomite))the descendant of Esau who lost the Birth right to Jacob.  (REF: Josephus)

 Mal 1:2/5 I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,  I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever. And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.

 1Ch 5:1/2 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)

 4. The Messiah of  Daniel

Da 9:24/24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.    Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

Mr 1:24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

Lu 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Joh 1:41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

Joh 4:25/26 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

 5.  The New Covenant.

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Da 9:24/24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up` the vision and prophecy

Jer31:31/34  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:   Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:   But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying,  Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: nor I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

 Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

 Luke 22:19/20  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament (Covenant) in my blood, which is shed for you.

 6. The Perfect Atonement

 Heb 10:11/18  And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.   For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.   Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.   Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

7.  Access to the Throne of God

Heb 12:22/28 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,   To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:   Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.   And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:   For our God is a consuming fire.

8. Melchizedek our Great High Priest

Luke 1:34/36  Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?   And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.   And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

Zacharias wife was Elizabeth and her cousin was Mary the mother of Jesus. The blood relationship reveals that Mary was a descendant of the Levites the priests of Israel who were not allowed to take strange wives.

Ezr 10:10/11 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.  Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.

Christ’s human lineage is combination of a Royal King and Priest.

Heb 5:6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Ps 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek

Heb 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Psalm 110:1/7 ¶  «A Psalm of David.» The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.   The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.  Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauty of holiness; as the dew which falls from the womb of the morning, thus shall those who are thine be born unto thee.  The LORD has sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.  The Lord at thy right hand shall smite the kings in the day of his wrath.   He shall judge among the Gentiles; he shall fill their places with dead bodies; he shall wound the head over much of the earth.  He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore he shall lift up his head.

Hebrews 7:1/14 ¶  For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;   To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;  Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.  Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.  And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:  But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.  And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.  And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.  And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.  For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him. ¶

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 

For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.  And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.  For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.   For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.  And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:  (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)  By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better covenant.

9.  The Scriptures,  The words  of  the God of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob.

Joh 13:18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.

Joh 19:28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

Ro 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Ga 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

Ga 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

10.  Eternal Salvation, Eternal Security, Eternal Life.

Mt 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

 Joh 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Joh 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

Ac 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

Ro 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

11. The Resurrection

Joh 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

Mt 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Joh 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Ge 26:4 And I will make thy seed (Christ) to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed (Christ) all these countries; and in thy seed(Christ) shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Ga 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Ga 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Ga 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

2Ti 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:

Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

12.          The Twelve disciples.

Mt 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Ro 10: 15/18  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!   But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?   So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

Ro 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; (Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles)

Summary:

Ro 11:24/33 For if thou(the nations of the world) wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree(Israel): how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?   For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.   And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.   As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.   For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. ¶  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

 May the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob open the eyes of those who read this, open their understanding that Jesus  of Nazareth, the Son of Abraham and King  David is enthroned over all the nations of the world including  modern day Israel , in the Heaven of Heavens. Amen.

Php  4:8/14 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.  But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.   I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.  Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.

Many today use this verse in the heading as a mantra for their wellbeing. As if nothing is impossible for them to accomplish, during their personal daily activities.  As soon as you mention that they may suffer for being a follower of Christ they will flee.

2Co 6:5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;

2Co 11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

2Co 11:24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

It was the strength of Christ that enabled Paul the Apostle to suffer for the Gospel of Christ. Yet modern day preachers spend much of their time tickling the ears of their followers with fabled riches as a reward for their endeavours.  Some reserve tribulation only for those who are left behind in the imaginary dispensational imminent rapture.  They spend vast amounts of the money collected from the gullible in easing their own lifestyles. Many have bought luxury Jets, to fly their entourage from one destination to another.  They make merchandise of the Gospel, by selling promotional items, sermons and other trivia to their listeners and viewers, some even claim to be able to change the weather so that they are not inconvenienced on a Sunday morning service.

Ac 27:7 And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone;

Yet when we read the account of Pauls shipwreck in the book of acts we don’t find him trying to interfere with the weather for his own liking.

Of course we can strain the scripture and preach the ease and comfort that the modern day pew warmers like to hear.

Mt 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

 The gospels and the history of the infant church reveal the cost of following Christ; rejection, persecution, martyrdom, imprisonment etc.

 1Pe 4:12/14 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:   But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

Today many honorary doctorates are handed out to preachers who have no theological degrees. It has become a fad to hand these out to whoever wants to purchase them.  I was offered one once and I declined as I considered myself unqualified to bear the title.

We forget that our God is not the author of confusion and that we will have to give an account to him.

 Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Many things today are blamed upon an imaginary omnipresent devil, whereas the real problem lies within ourselves, as we love ease and comfort, and as soon as we face adversity we blame the devil.

Motivational preaching in itself is needed to encourage people to persevere against all the opposition they may encounter in their walk with Christ. Society itself would collapse if everyone lived in ease and comfort.  Our station on this planet is to serve others; we need the rich and the poor to survive. We may look down on the man who collects the garbage for a living, yet without him our cities would be filled with stench and disease.

 Ga 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Jas 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

Giving is something a Christian does naturally, but giving is not limited to the collection plate. Giving care to someone in need is of greater worth. Give of your time, give of your knowledge, give of your assistance, give of the help you can provide, give of your strength, give of your service and duty.

Endeavour to protect the environment for the generations to come, for all other life forms on this planet are needed to sustain them.

Follow this up with your love of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit and the sons and daughters of all humanity.

Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

1Jo 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

First, God may be called the living God because he is the source of all life. Only God has life in himself (John 5:26) and only God can give life to others. After creating the heavens and the earth and all things in them, God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures . . . So God created . . . every living thing that moves” (Genesis 1:20, 21). “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). God not only gives life, he is the means by which all life is sustained (Genesis 2:7; Psalm 66:9; Acts 17:25).

Second God seems sometimes to have been called the “living God” because he is perceived to be the true God who is alive in contrast to false gods of idolatry (Acts 14:15; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:9) which are dead (Psalms 115:3-8; 135:15-18; Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 10:8-10, 14). Elijah caused Israel to acknowledge the true God when he challenged the priests of Ba’al to produce sacrificial fire from heaven. When they could not, Elijah prayed to God and fire fell from heaven to consume his sacrifice (1 Kings 17-18).

Third, to speak about the “living God” is to talk about a God of power. Although idol worshippers may attribute power to their gods, the Bible indicates that only “the living God” has power. “The living God . . . made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them” (Acts 14:15). The power of God was recognized by the Persian king Darius after Daniel was not eaten by lions. He therefore made a decree “that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions” (Daniel 6:25-27). When the Israelites were about to go into the land of Canaan, Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites . . .” (Joshua 3:10). In the Bible, the consistent portrait of the living God is that he is the true and powerful God.

The living God speaks. The worlds were framed by the word of God (Genesis 1; Hebrews 11:1). Many times God spoke directly to individuals, as to Adam (Genesis 2:16-17), to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), to Moses (Exodus 3:4ff) etc. When the Ten Commandments were given, people “heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire” (Deuteronomy 5:22, 26). Sometimes God spoke through dreams (Genesis 28:11-16; Matthew 1:19-24) or visions (Ezekiel 8:3ff; Daniel 4:1-18; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4). God spoke in previous times through the prophets, but now speaks to us through his Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). When Jesus was baptized – and again when he was transfigured – God spoke, saying “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5; 2 Peter 1:16-21). Jesus Christ, who declares God (John 1:18) is acknowledged as the “Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16; John 6:69). By the word of God we will be judged (Hebrews 4:12, 13; see also John 12:47-48).

The living God listens. He heard the prayer of Hannah, who vowed that if God would give her a son, she would give him to the Lord. God granted her request (1 Samuel 1:11-28). God heard the prayer of Solomon who desired an understanding heart that he might rule righteously, God not only granted him wisdom, but also riches (1 Kings 3:5-14). God heard the prayer of Hezekiah requesting that the reproach of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, might be overcome. God assured Hezekiah that Sennacherib’s army would be turned back from destroying Jerusalem. And they were (2 Kings 19:15-36; Isaiah 37:15-37).

The living God often takes the initiative, as he did in making man in his own image (Genesis 1:27) and designating requirements for Adam and Eve to live in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:28-30; 2:16-17). God initiated a call to Abram to leave Ur of Chaldee to receive an inheritance in another place (Genesis 12:1-3; Acts 7:3-4; Hebrews 11:8). At a burning bush, God commissioned Moses to go to Egypt to bring the Israelites from that country (Exodus 3:4-22). At Mt. Sinai, God gave a law through Moses to guide the newly formed Israelite nation (Exodus 19:1-40:38; John 1:17). When the Israelite nation was in the Promised Land, God chose David to become king over his people (1 Samuel 16:1-13; 2 Samuel 12:7). God selected prophets to call the people back to him (Jeremiah 7:21-25; Zechariah 1:1-6). In the New Testament, God sent his Son into the world to redeem humanity (John 3:17; 1 John 4:10; Revelation 5:9). God called the Apostle Paul to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; 22:21).

The living God reacts toward people to reward and to punish. Because Noah was faithful, he found grace with God (Genesis 6:8). Therefore he and his household were spared when the world was destroyed by a universal flood (Genesis 6-8; Hebrews 11:7). Because Joshua and Caleb believed that God would give the Israelites the Promised Land, their lives were spared while all other Israelites were condemned to perish (Numbers 14:36-38; Deuteronomy 2:14-16).

 The living God reacts not only to reward righteousness, but also to punish evil. When Cain killed his brother Abel, God withheld the earth’s productivity from him, thus making Cain a fugitive and a vagabond (Genesis 3:12-14). When “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,” God brought a universal flood upon the earth (Genesis 6:5). When the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah became excessively wicked, God reacted by raining down fire and brimstone upon them (Genesis 19:20-25; Jude 7). “God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7) “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

 The “living God” is “the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:10). Through Christ, both Jews and Gentiles may become “sons of the living God” (Romans 9:26; Hosea 1:10). Through the blood of Christ, our consciences may be cleansed “from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14). Believers in Christ have “the seal of the living God” (Revelation 7:2; 1 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30), are called to “serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9), and are commanded “not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).

The living God dwells in his temple, the church (2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Timothy 3:15), which is also described as “the city of the living God” (Hebrews 12:22). How wonderful it is to serve the true, powerful, and living God! Even so, brethren should beware “lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12). May we be like the Psalmist who declared, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:2). “My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84:2).

Copyright ©, May, 2005, by Robert L. Waggoner. Permission is granted to copy and distribute this document for non-profit educational purposes if reproduced in full without additions or deletions.

Today many self styled prophets and end times preachers with fancy charts and books for sale . that lead many astray. One of them on the world wide television network (TBN) recently claimed that Jesus was not the Jewish Messiah, and was promoting one of his recent books, that he claimed had the proof of his claim. Christians are very gullible for they often get lead astray by claims of this nature. They often trust every word they hear as if they were hypnotised.

Modern Day Christian cults provide a group identity for lonely people that goes with the emotional hype of the entertainment provided by the stage show preachers and the musicians that prepare the setting. Traditional protestant denominations often lose some of their flock to the modern day evangelist’s art of swaying their mindsets. Soon they are exposed to miraculous claims of a breakthrough into a life of ease and comfort with lots of cash by funding the evangelist or pastors visions of a modern day auditorium or some other project.

Sometimes even the leadership of a growing cult are unaware of what they have become involved in, as they are indoctrinated by the cults bible school teachers who provide unsound material to them. It becomes very difficult to sway their opinions once they have been indoctrinated. There are many today who have left a growing cult after some or other bad experience.

Attached is one example of this in an adobe pdf format. LYING FOR GOD

Here is another common problem you may encounter. 2005_davis_stephen_left_behind

 Dating And Interpreting The Contents of  the Gospels and The Apocalypse (Revelation)

Second, overlooking its original author and audience. In a quest for “relevance,” commentators of the historicist and futurist schools seem to forget that John addressed Revelation to real, historical churches (Rev. 1:4, 11) about pressing and dire problems that he and they faced in the first century (Rev. 1:9 and chapters 2-3). In doing so a most fundamental rule of hermeneutics is breached. Two hermeneutics texts may be cited to illustrate the importance of this principle 

Berkhof’s helpful study, Principles of Biblical Interpretation, teaches that hermeneutics “is properly accomplished only by the readers’transposing themselves into the time and spirit of the author.”

Mickelsen’s widely used Interpreting the Bible notes: “Simply stated,the task of interpreters of the bible is to find out the meaning of a statement (command, question) for the author and for the first hearers or readers, and thereupon to transmit that meaning to modernreaders.”

Needless to say, removing the setting of the book twenty or more centuries into the future is not conducive to a correct apprehension of its interpretation.

Third, misconstrual of its original intent. Revelation has two fundamental purposes relative to ‘its original hearers. In the first place, it was designed to steel the first century Church against the gathering storm of persecution, which was reaching an unnerving crescendo of theretofore unknown proportions and intensity. A new and major feature of that persecution- was the entrance of imperial Rome onto the scene. The first historical persecution of the Church by imperial Rome was by Nero Caesar from A.D. 64 to A.D. 68.

In the second place, it was to brace the Church for a major and fimdamental re-orientation in the course of redemptive history, are-orientation necessitating the destruction of Jerusalem (the center not only of Old Covenant Israel, but of Apostolic Christianity [cp.Acts 1 :8; 2: lK; 15:2] and the Temple [cp. Matt. 24:1-34 with Rev.11]).

This matter of intent necessitates a corollary hermeneutical principle to that in point 2 above: “One of the basic principles of sound interpretation is that a later interpreter must find out what the author of an earlier writing was trying to convey to those who first read his words.”GG Both the recognition of the parties (author and recipients of the letter) and the purpose of a written document are essential tothe proper grasp of the message. BeckWith has well-stated the matter:

“For the understanding of the Revelation of John it is essential to put one’s self as far as possible, into the world of its author and of those to whom it was first addressed. Its meaning must be sought for in the light thrown upon it by the condition and circumstances of its readers,by the author’s inspired purpose, and those current beliefs and traditions that . . . influenced the fashion which his visions themselves took.”.

Below is a link to the source of the excerpt  above.

http://www.entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/a_pdfs/kgbj.pdf

Another link below to the reference

1987_chilton_days-of-vengeance

 Luke 15:11/32 ¶ And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me”. And he divided unto them his living.

It is interesting to note that at the younger sons prompting the father gave both sons their allotted inheritance

And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

The younger son here learns one of the lessons of life ,the loss of his independence. Namely I can do it all by myself in my own strength.

And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

The result of the younger sons immaturity is a life of servitude and the loss of his status in the eyes of his fellows.

And when he came to himself, he said, “How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants:”

He now reflects upon his former status, and is humbled by his own immature decisions. And makes a decision that he would rather be a servant in his Fathers household , instead of being treated like a dog under a foreign master.,living on scraps.

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

His return and the discovery how much love his Father reveals humbles him some more., his independent nature is completely shattered, the arrogance is lost completely in his Fathers embrace.

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

This unexpected response to his return, brings out all the emotions, in tears now he understands fully the folly of thinking he could go it alone.through life.

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.

Expecting to be disowned, the child discovers what redemption entails. Expecting judgement he receives exactly the opposite, grace and mercy. In his mind he was prepared to become a servant without any authority, yet he receives the unimaginable.A restoration of sonship. A fully empowered Son of God in his Fathers presence, clothed with the kingly garments of righteousness in his fathers sight , and the seal of newly found authority in his fathers kingdom. He can now issue decrees and seal them with the kings ring on his finger. His feet are shod with the gospel of  his Father’s Grace and Mercy. Whatever the restored son decides will be fulfilled by the servants of his Fathers Kingdom.

And they began to be merry.

A royal banquet takes place as the Younger Son is restored to throne room and seated at the Fathers right hand.

Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked “what these things meant”.? And he said unto him, “Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.”And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, “Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.”

The Legalistic brother’s angry response, who had disowned his own brother ,reveals his shocked discovery of the grace and mercy extended by his father to one he decided was dead in trespass and sin.

And he said unto him, “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”

This son of works who spent his time in the fathers fields had to discover on his return that he to should be ruling and reigning at the right hand of Father. He is reminded of his allotted inheritance by the Father , that he too has authority over the Kingdom,for dominion over all the Fathers rights are shared by the enthroned Sons and Daughters of God.

Fear mongering is often found today in Christan circles, fear of a one world Religion, fear of the Illuminati, fear of the secret socities and the supposed power they hold over the common man. Fear of a modernised electronic banking system using implanted silicon chips in their clients. These fears extend to being left behind when the imminent rapture finally arives and the great tribulation of the dispensational quacks leaves them at the mercy of a global antichrist’s meglomania. The latest is the 2012 scenario based upon a supposed translation of an ancient mayan stone calendar. Some Christians spend their lives on studying cults, prophecies,secret socities as a claim to knowing their common enemies.

My question to them is “Why dont you find out who you are first“?

Ephesians 1:18/19 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us–ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

The Apostle Paul wants your mind to be renewed into grasping  your postion in Christ and the Authority and  Power you hold in the victory of Christ.

4 ¶ Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

The first point he wants to establish in the readers mind is that God Absolutely Loves you.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The second point Paul wants you to grasp is the power you wield:

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

The Third Point is whre you should be operating From;

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

The Book of Revelation is laid out in exactly the same manner, First the letters to the seven churches followed by John the Apostle being Caught up into the Throne Room Of God.

Re 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches

Re 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter

Paul wants us to occupy our position in Christ , In that we were raised up with Christ and endured with the power of God.
!. Christ is sitting in The Throne Room of God with your Spirit alongside him.
2. You Should be exercising your Authority from and in the Throne Room.

Mt 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Christs assertion of his Authority is that it extends to him , firstly from Heaven, secondly it is exercised and demonstrated on earth.

Paul insists that we put on Christ.    Ro 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,

Paul wrote these letters after Christ’s Ascension into Heaven, It is the Risen, Ascended, Enthroned and  Glorified Christ that you should be clothing yourself with.

1Co 12:12  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Today we have a New Song of Eternal Victory and Glory  to Sing :

I am sitting in the Glory ,sitting in the Glory, sitting in the Glory of the Lord

I am singing in the Glory, singing in the Glory .Singing in the Glory of the Lord

I am Standing in the Glory, Standing in the Glory, Standing in the Glory of the Lord

I am Living in the Glory ,Living in the Glory, Living in the Glory of the Lord

Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

ABSOLUTE SURRENDER

“And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that I have” (1 Ki. 20:1-4).

What Ben Hadad asked was absolute surrender; and what Ahab gave was what was asked of him–absolute surrender. I want to use these words: “My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have,” as the words of absolute surrender with which every child of God ought to yield himself to his Father. We have heard it before, but we need to hear it very definitely–the condition of God’s blessing is absolute surrender of all into His hands. Praise God! If our hearts are willing for that, there is no end to what God will do for us, and to the blessing God will bestow.

Absolute surrender–let me tell you where I got those words. I used them myself often, and you have heard them numberless times. But in Scotland once I was in a company where we were talking about the condition of Christ’s Church, and what the great need of the Church and of believers is; and there was in our company a godly worker who has much to do in training workers, and I asked him what he would say was the great need of the Church, and the message that ought to be preached. He answered very quietly and simply and determinedly:

“Absolute surrender to God is the one thing.”

The words struck me as never before. And that man began to tell how, in the workers with whom he had to deal, he finds that if they are sound on that point, even though they be backward, they are willing to be taught and helped, and they always improve; whereas others who are not sound there very often go back and leave the work. The condition for obtaining God’s full blessing is absolute surrender to Him.

And now, I desire by God’s grace to give to you this message–that your God in Heaven answers the prayers which you have offered for blessing on yourselves and for blessing on those around you by this one demand: Are you willing to surrender yourselves absolutely into His hands? What is our answer to be? God knows there are hundreds of hearts who have said it, and there are hundreds more who long to say it but hardly dare to do so. And there are hearts who have said it, but who have yet miserably failed, and who feel themselves condemned because they did not find the secret of the power to live that life. May God have a word for all!

Let me say, first of all, that God claims it from us.

God Expects Your Surrender

Yes, it has its foundation in the very nature of God. God cannot do otherwise. Who is God? He is the Fountain of life, the only Source of existence and power and goodness, and throughout the universe there is nothing good but what God works. God has created the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the flowers, and the trees, and the grass; and are they not all absolutely surrendered to God? Do they not allow God to work in them just what He pleases? When God clothes the lily with its beauty, is it not yielded up, surrendered, given over to God as He works in its beauty? And God’s redeemed children, oh, can you think that God can work His work if there is only half or a part of them surrendered? God cannot do it. God is life, and love, and blessing, and power, and infinite beauty, and God delights to communicate Himself to every child who is prepared to receive Him; but ah! this one lack of absolute surrender is just the thing that hinders God. And now He comes, and as God, He claims it.

You know in daily life what absolute surrender is. You know that everything has to be given up to its special, definite object and service. I have a pen in my pocket, and that pen is absolutely surrendered to the one work of writing, and that pen must be absolutely surrendered to my hand if I am to write properly with it. If another holds it partly, I cannot write properly. This coat is absolutely given up to me to, cover my body. This building is entirely given up to religious services. And now, do you expect that in your immortal being, in the divine nature that you have received by regeneration, God can work His work, every day and every hour, unless you are entirely given up to Him? God cannot. The Temple of Solomon was absolutely surrendered to God when it was dedicated to Him. And every one of us is a temple of God, in which God will dwell and work mightily on one condition–absolute surrender to Him. God claims it, God is worthy of it, and without it God cannot work His blessed work in us. God not only claims it, but God will work it Himself.

God Accomplishes Your Surrender

I am sure there is many a heart that says: “Ah, but that absolute surrender implies so much!” Someone says: “Oh, I have passed through so much trial and suffering, and there is so much of the self-life still remaining, and I dare not face the entire giving of it up, because I know it will cause so much trouble and agony.”

Alas! alas! that God’s children have such thoughts of Him, such cruel thoughts. Oh, I come to you with a message, fearful and anxious one. God does not ask you to give the perfect surrender in your strength, or by the power of your will; God is willing to work it in you. Do we not read: “It is God that worketh in us, both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13)? And that is what we should seek for–to go on our faces before God, until our hearts learn to believe that the everlasting God Himself will come in to turn out what is wrong, to conquer what is evil, and to work what is well-pleasing in His blessed sight. God Himself will work it in you.

Look at the men in the Old Testament, like Abraham. Do you think it was by accident that God found that man, the father of the faithful and the Friend of God, and that it was Abraham himself, apart from God, who had such faith and such obedience and such devotion? You know it is not so. God raised him up and prepared him as an instrument for His glory.

Did not God say to Pharaoh: “For this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power” (Ex. 9:16)?

And if God said that of him, will not God say it far more of every child of His?

Oh, I want to encourage you, and I want you to cast away every fear. Come with that feeble desire; and if there is the fear which says: “Oh, my desire is not strong enough, I am not willing for everything that may come, I do not feel bold enough to say I can conquer everything” I pray you, learn to know and trust your God now. Say: “My God, I am willing that Thou shouldst make me willing.” If there is anything holding you back, or any sacrifice you are afraid of making, come to God now, and prove how gracious your God is, and be not afraid that He will command from you what He will not bestow.

God comes and offers to work this absolute surrender in you. All these searchings and hungerings and longings that are in your heart, I tell you they are the drawings of the divine magnet, Christ Jesus. He lived a life of absolute surrender, He has possession of you; He is living in your heart by His Holy Spirit. You have hindered and hindered Him terribly, but He desires to help you to get hold of Him entirely. And He comes and draws you now by His message and words. Will you not come and trust God to work in you that absolute surrender to Himself? Yes, blessed be God, He can do it, and He will do it. God not only claims it and works it, but God accepts it when we bring it to Him.

Excerpt from  ABSOLUTE SURRENDER  and Other Addresses by Andrew Murray (1828-1917)

The Link Below is to the Complete article in Adobe Pdf  format

Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray

Yet not so ancient as those precious things which are the delight of our souls. Let us for a moment recount them, telling them over as misers count their gold. The sovereign choice of the Father, by which He elected us unto eternal life, or ever the earth was, is a matter of vast antiquity, since no date can be conceived for it by the mind of man. We were chosen from before the foundations of the world. Everlasting love went with the choice, for it was not a bare act of divine will by which we were set apart, but the divine affections were concerned. The Father loved us in and from the beginning. Here is a theme for daily contemplation. The eternal purpose to redeem us from our foreseen ruin, to cleanse and sanctify us, and at last to glorify us, was of infinite antiquity, and runs side by side with immutable love and absolute sovereignty. The covenant is always described as being everlasting, and Jesus, the second party in it, had His goings forth of old; He struck hands in sacred suretyship long ere the first of the stars began to shine, and it was in Him that the elect were ordained unto eternal life. Thus in the divine purpose a most blessed covenant union was established between the Son of God and His elect people, which will remain as the foundation of their safety when time shall be no more. Is it not well to be conversant with these ancient things? Is it not shameful that they should be so much neglected and even rejected by the bulk of professors? If they knew more of their own sin, would they not be more ready to adore distinguishing grace? Let us both admire and adore tonight, as we sing-

“A monument of grace,
A sinner saved by blood;
The streams of love I trace
Up to the Fountain, God;
And in His sacred bosom see
Eternal thoughts of Love to me.”

Today Modern Christianity exalts the decisions of  humanity as the font of salvation. So few have any understanding of  providence and election. Yet the scriptures cannot be understood and comprehended without it.  The quote above by Charles Haddon Spurgeon is foreign to the modern mimdset. Without this understanding christianity is demoted to the status of another religion.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day 

It would pay the reader to ponder over these words of the LORD CHRIST.

For the ancient source of our salvation is the decision of the Father to draw us to Christ , thereby revealing his eternal love of us.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

Some may think that God in his foreknowledge of our merits was the primary reason for his making the choice.

Ro 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 

Our Salvation had nothing to do with our merits (or works) as the Apostle Paul declares.

It is all of Grace and Grace alone.

Ro 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works(Merit), then is it no more grace: otherwise work(Merit) is no more work(merit).

Grace is the very cause of our efforts to exalt Christ.

Every other religion is based upon the merit of the devotee, wheras true christianity is based upon God working through us and in us , by the Grace and mercy he has bestowed upon us.

Human religous rituals are unable to change the hearts of humanity. There is no human formula that leads to salvation, if there was then Christ did not need to lay down his life to redeem us.

Ro 5:6/11 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

We are not a Christian because our parents were Christians, and we have followed their example by regularly attending a church.

We are Christians if we have been born of the Spirit of God.

1Jo 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

To sum up God knows us and we know God.

2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity

Christian theology has tended to focus on the birth and the death of Jesus,
and in so doing has defaulted in explaining the significance of the resurrection.

©2001 by James A. Fowler. All rights reserved.
You are free to download this article provided it remains intact without alteration.
You are also free to transmit this article and quote this article
provided that proper citation of authorship is included.

A CALL FOR RESURRECTION THEOLOGY

The church throughout the centuries has often failed to recognize the significance of the resurrection of Jesus. Despite the fact that the Easter celebration has been regarded as the culmination of the Christian year of worship, the full meaning of the resurrection has often been undeveloped or diluted in Christian teaching and preaching. Christian theology has emphasized numerous legitimate Biblical themes, but has seldom made the resurrection the focal point or fulcrum on which all other Christian subjects depend. Roman Catholic theologian, Claude Geffré, laments,

“As strange as it may seem, the resurrection of Christ, which sums up all of Christianity, has still not been the object of any exhaustive reflection within dogmatic theology. The remark has often been made that the theology manuals devote little space to the resurrection compared to the long elaborations dealing with the divinity of Christ or with his redeeming mission. And even today, rare are the theologians who choose the resurrection of Christ as the organizing principle of Christology.” 1

Because of this neglect and the common misemphases of Christian theology, I am compelled to write this article and to make “a call for resurrection theology.”

Historical emphases of Christian religion

As we evaluate Christian thought through the centuries, we note that different segments of the church have tended to emphasize different historical events in the life of Jesus. The two primary events thus emphasized are the birth of Jesus and the death of Jesus.

Roman Catholic theology has tended to emphasize the birth of Jesus in the theology of the incarnation. Emphasis is placed on Mary, the birth mother of Jesus, and upon the virgin birth of Jesus. This is not to say that Roman Catholic theology has neglected the death of Jesus in crucifixion, as is obviated by the crucifix symbol that is found in all Catholic churches and in many Catholic homes, but the primary emphasis to explain Jesus as the God-man has seemingly been on the incarnational birth of Jesus.

Protestant theology, on the other hand, has for almost five hundred years tended to emphasize the death of Jesus in crucifixion, focusing on the cross and the sacrificial blood of Jesus. The Reformation emphasis was on the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ as an expiatory action that propitiated God’s judgment on man and reconciles sinners to God so that they may be declared justified.

Australian author, Robert D. Brinsmead, comments that, “It is well known that Catholicism made the Incarnation central to its theology, while Protestantism made the atonement of the cross the central thing.”2 The Scottish preacher and New Testament scholar, James S. Stewart, wrote similarly, “Protestant theology, concentrating on the atoning sacrifice of the cross, has not always done justice to the apostolic emphasis on the risen life.”3 Stewart followed up by noting that, “Protestant theology, in some of its phases, has unconsciously altered the apostolic accent by almost isolating the cross, and failing to see Calvary with the Resurrection light breaking behind it.”4

It is important to understand that the objective, historical events of incarnation and crucifixion, the birth and the death of the historical, physical Christ, were remedial measures enacted by God to remedy the problem of man’s sin; to provide the solution to the fall of humanity into sin in Adam.

If the incarnation and crucifixion were the only historical acts of God on man’s behalf, then the gospel would cease to be “good news”. If the gospel narrative was only that “Jesus was born. Jesus died. God said to man: ‘There is the remedy! I came. I fixed the problem. Now you are fixed. The slate is wiped clean. Now, go and do a better job next time.’” That is not good news! That is damnable doctrine. That is tragic teaching!

The incarnation and crucifixion alone serve only to condemn man all the more. The story would go like this: “A man came who was God-man. He did not share the spiritual depravity of the rest of mankind. He did not develop the “flesh” patterning of selfish desires like other men. He lived life as God intended, allowing God in him to manifest His desire and character at every moment in time for thirty-three years. He was the perfect man! He did not deserve to die, but He was put to death unjustly. In dying undeservedly, He died in our place, as our substitute, and paid the price of death to satisfy God’s justice, and forgive mankind of their sins.” Is that the whole of the story? If so, He lived and died perfectly which we cannot do. If the incarnation and crucifixion were the whole of the story, then we would have been better off without Him! Why? Because He could live and die as He did; we cannot. And the fact that He did only condemns us all the more by His matchless example, for we do not have what it takes to live like that.

Only in the resurrection do we have the message that God has given us the provision of His life in order that we might be man as God intended man to be; in order that the resurrection life of the risen Lord Jesus might become the essence of spiritual life in the Christian; in order that we might live by His life and the expression of His character. The resurrection is the positive provision of life in Christ Jesus, around which all other theological topics must be oriented.

As Walter Kunneth concludes,

“The raising of the Christ is the act of God, whose significance is not to be compared with with any event before or after. It is the primal datum of theology, from which there can be no abstracting, and the normative presupposition for every valid dogmatic judgment and for the meaningful construction of a Christian theology. Thus the resurrection of Jesus becomes the Archimedean point for theology. All theological statements are oriented in one way or another toward this focal point. There is no Christian knowledge of God which does not acquire its ultimate fullness and depth from a revelation of God in the Risen One.” 5

Christian theology, in both its Catholic and Protestant forms, has failed to recognize the resurrection as the central feature of its theology, and has often thereby abdicated and defaulted in explaining the significance of the resurrection of Jesus.

Emphases of resurrection in Christian religion.

When Christian religion has attempted to address the resurrection in its theological considerations, it has done so in a way that continues to short-change the significance of the resurrection. The resurrection in Christian theology has been relegated to apologetic arguments of historicity, defense of Jesus’ deity, and futuristic expectations of bodily resurrection.

Christian religion has emphasized the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus, employing a variety of sources to document, authenticate, and validate the historical resurrection of Jesus. Apologists like Frank Morison (Who Moved the Stone?6) and Josh McDowell (The Resurrection Factor 7) have sought to provide Christians with historical “proofs” for the resurrection of Jesus.

Having “proven” the historical veracity of the resurrection by their chronological and logical evidences, Christian religion has then emphasized that the resurrection of Jesus was a supernatural miracle that verifies the divinity or deity of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus has been used as a tool for apologetic defense, as a leverage to authorize and “prove” Christ’s divinity and the church’s teaching.

As Robert D. Brinsmead explains, “The so-called ‘historical proofs’ of the resurrection have been marshalled, not to explore the meaning of the mystery itself, but to validate the church’s claims about the divinity of Jesus, the authority of the church, and its possession of an exclusive and absolute truth.”8 Claude Geffré likewise comments that,

“since the end of the nineteenth century the resurrection of Christ has become the favorite object of Christian apologetics. It was a matter of establishing the historicity of the resurrection in order to furnish a proof for the divinity of Christ and thereby accredit his message and its legitimacy. And when apologetics had defended the historical character of the miracle of the resurrection, it seemed dogmatic theology had no more to say about the mystery of the resurrection.” 9

On the basis of the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection and the theological establishment of His deity, Christian religion has proceeded to emphasize that the primary theological import of the historical resurrection of Jesus is to validate the assurance of the eventual resurrection of Christians’ bodies in the future. The historical, physical resurrection of Jesus is used as the foundational basis for authenticating the expected bodily resurrection of the Christian after death.

Is this not the argument that Paul uses in I Corinthians 15 in the “Resurrection chapter”? Yes it is, but this is not the entirety of what Paul had to say about the subject of resurrection. Though it is the most extended passage that he seems to have written on the subject, it is not the predominant or primary emphasis that Paul makes concerning the resurrection. The historical sitz im leben context of I Corinthians was that the Corinthians were so enamored with their present “spirituality” that they were eschewing or denying anything beyond the present. To counter this triumphalistic diminishment of hope, and to correct Hellenic concepts that deprecated embodiment, Paul ties the bodily resurrection of Jesus with the expected bodily resurrection of Christians.

In so doing, Paul does not necessarily imply that the resurrected physical body of Jesus is prototypical of the resurrected body of the Christian after death. The physicality of the resurrected body is not the issue Paul was addressing.

Secondly, it must be noted that the predominance of Paul’s references to the resurrection of Jesus do not relate to the future bodily resurrection of Christians. Paul’s primary inference from the resurrection of Jesus is that anyone who is receptive in faith to the living Lord Jesus can be spiritually raised to newness of life (cf. Rom. 6:4,5) by the resurrection life of the living Jesus. Paul emphasized the present availability of life in Christ, and avoided lapsing back into the Jewish framework of theology that he had espoused in the past.

Jewish theology was always a theology of future expectation. As can be noted throughout the Old Testament (the old covenant literature), the Jewish people were always looking for fulfillment in the future; the prophetic promise of that which was yet to come. Regrettably, Christian theology has often fallen prey to just such future expectations in a reversion to a Jewish paradigm of theological expectations.

New covenant Christian theology, as expressed in the New Testament, emphasizes that God’s promises and man’s expectations are realized in Jesus Christ. Christian theology looks back to the “finished work” of Jesus Christ (cf. John 17:4; 19:30). Christians are “complete in Christ” (Col. 3:10). Christian theology is a realized theology (cf. I Cor 3:21-23; II Pet. 1:3). The emphasis is not on “it is coming,” but on “it is done!” for the whole of God’s intent is in the risen and living Lord Jesus.

The emphases of Christian religion on resurrection have traditionally been on proving the historical accuracy of Jesus’ resurrection in order to authenticate His divinity, which in turn has been used to convince and assure Christians of an eventual bodily resurrection after physical death.

If Christian theology does not get beyond the cradle and the cross, the birth and the death of Jesus, then all we have to offer is a static history lesson with no contemporary consequence. If Christian theology does not get beyond apologetic defense for what “was”, and longing expectation for what “will be,” then it becomes an irrelevancy of temporalized “bookends” that fails to address what “is” and “should be” presently.

H.A. Williams explains that,

“Resurrection, at least in Western Christendom, has invariably been described as belonging to another time and place. The typical emphasis has been upon the past and future ­ a past and future with which our connection can only be theoretical… So, for example, a book about the resurrection is naturally assumed to be a discussion either about what can be held to have happened in the environs of Jerusalem and Galilee on the third day after Jesus was crucified or about what can be held to be in store for us after our own death.
When resurrection is considered in terms of past and future, it is robbed of its impact on the present. That is why for most of the time resurrection means little to us. It is remote and isolated.”
It is a neat trick…this banishing of resurrection to past and future. It saves us from a lot of reality and delivers us from a great deal of fear. It has, in short, the advantage of safeguarding us from life.”10

What a tragedy that the Christian religion has itself blockaded people from life in Christ by projecting the implications of the resurrection to an historical event of the past or to an anticipated expectation of the future. These are not the predominant emphases of resurrection in the new covenant literature of the New Testament as we shall proceed to note.

Present Dynamic of Life emphasis in Resurrection Theology

This is a call for a Resurrection Theology that emphasizes the present dynamic of life in the risen and living Lord Jesus. Such Resurrection theology will be a restoration of Biblical theology as previewed in the literature of the Old Testament and explained by the New Testament writers.

Everything in the old covenant (Old Testament) was but a pictorial prefiguring of what God was going to do in the resurrection of His Son, Jesus.

The resurrection was a replay of the Genesis account of “coming into being”, for the resurrection of the “last Adam” (I Cor. 15:45) allows for God’s breathing “the spirit of life” (cf. Gen. 2:7) into man again that he might once again become a spiritually alive soul. Mankind is re-genesised in spiritual regeneration, becoming a “new creature” (II Cor. 5:17) as part of a “new creation” (Gal. 6:15).

Resurrection is likewise the basis for the spiritual reportrayal of the Exodus story, bringing mankind out of the land of slavery into the promised land. Christ’s coming out of the grave can be seen to correspond to Moses and his people coming out of Egypt, wherein the resurrection becomes the liberating exodus of salvation history.

It is by the resurrection that we have the spiritual restructuring of the Torah as detailed in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The external codification of Law becomes an internal dynamic of “the law written in our hearts” (Jere. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; 10:16). Christ becomes “the end of the Law” (Rom. 10:4) as its completion and fulfillment, for the living Lord Jesus expresses the character of God in man as the Law required. The behavioral performance commitments of “we will do it”(Exod. 19:8; 24:3,7), are transformed by the dynamic provision of Christ’s resurrection life whereby “He will bring it to pass” (I Thess. 5:24).

The history of Israel becomes His-story as the resurrected Jesus establishes the Davidic Kingdom (Acts 13:34) of divine intent. Those in Christ become the “chosen race”, the “people of God” (I Peter 2:9,10), the spiritual Israel of God (Gal. 6:16; Rom. 9:6).

The resurrection is a transformation of the psalms and songs of God, as those participating in the resurrection sing a “new song”, singing “spiritual songs in their hearts to God” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).

All of the prophetic promises of God for His people are affirmed by the “Yes” and “Amen” (II Cor. 1:20) of God’s completed action in the resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

The entire Old Testament, (old covenant) was but a preliminary blueprint that pictorially pointed to the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Christ wraps up the physical prefiguring of the old covenant, and is the culminating and continuing action of God that makes all things new in the eternal new covenant.

The new covenant (New Testament) literature is obviously more directly focused on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, for the resurrection is the dynamic reality that is the essence of the new covenant.

All four gospel narratives (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) culminate and climax with the account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. But even prior to the historical enactment of His physical resurrection, Jesus had revealed that His resurrection would have an extended and eternal impact. He declared to Martha, “I AM the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). To the Jews in the temple, Jesus foretold that the temple of His body would be destroyed, but raised in three days” (John 6:19-22), indicating that by His resurrection the new center of worship would be in Him. Later He told the Jews that He would “raise men up in the last day” (John 6:39-44), the finalization of the new covenant.

Luke’s account of the progressive advance of the early church in The Acts of the Apostles reveals that the kerygma, the preached message, of the apostles was centered in the resurrection of Jesus. Peter declares in the first sermon of the church that “God raised Him up, …because it was impossible for Him to be held in death’s power” (Acts 2:24), and “this Jesus God raised up, to which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32). In Peter’s second sermon he proclaimed that “God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning everyone from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:26, cf.15). The resurrection was the message, the theology, of the early church (cf. Acts 4:10,33; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30,34), as they were “preaching Jesus and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18).

The Apostle Paul, having met the risen Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-8; 22:6-11; 26:12-19), had no concept of a gospel apart from the dynamic implications of the resurrected Jesus who had become his life (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:21; Col. 3:4). In his brief recitation of the foundational historical events of the gospel, Paul explains that “Christ died for our sins, …was buried, …and was raised on the third day” (I Cor. 15:1-4), but whereas the verbs “died” and “buried” were Greek aorist tenses of the past, his verb choice for Jesus “having been raised” was the Greek perfect tense that conveys a past event with present consequences. The resurrection of Jesus was never mere history in the thinking of Paul; it was always the present dynamic life and power of the risen Lord within him.

To the Romans Paul noted that Jesus was “declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead,” being now “the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1:4). Jesus became, by His resurrection, the “life-giving Spirit” (I Cor. 15:45), the “Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2), the “Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9) who invests His resurrection life in those individuals receptive to such by faith, and without which “they are none of His” (Rom. 8:9). “The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,” Paul asserts, and “He who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you” (Rom. 8:11).

Paul wanted Christians to understand that they had been subjectively and spiritually “united with Christ in His resurrection” (Rom. 6:5) and “raised to walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4) in the mastery of death (Rom. 6:9). Based on our being “raised up with Christ” (Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:12; 3:1), Paul was desirous that Christians know “the surpassing greatness of the power” (Eph. 1:19) that is functioning with us as Christians, the very “working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead” (Eph. 1:20). This is the “power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:10) that Paul continually longed to know and experience in a deeper way.

The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews refers to “the better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35) that is in Christ alone, whereby “the God of peace who raised up…Jesus our Lord, equips us in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ” (Heb. 13:20,21).

Consistent with the other New Testament writers, Peter posits the resurrection as the prerequisite and personal reality of Christ’s life received in spiritual regeneration, when we are “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (I Peter 1:3). This is the basis on which we are “saved…through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 3:21).

When the Apostle John refers to “passing out of death into life” (John 5:24; I John 3:14), it is the resurrection reality that is foundational to his thought, implemented “because He has given us of His Spirit” (I John 4:13).

Everything in the New Testament, the entirety of Christian preaching and theology, is predicated on the Resurrection of Jesus and the continuing dynamic of His life in those who receive Him by faith. That great Scottish preacher, James S. Stewart, expressed it so eloquently when he wrote,

“The resurrection was indeed the very core of the apostolic kerygma. …It was the theme of every Christian sermon; it was the master-motive of every act of Christian evangelism; and not one line of the New Testament was written ­ not one sentence, whether of Gospels, Epistles, Acts or Apocalypse, was penned apart from the conviction that He of whom these things were being written had conquered death and was alive for ever.
“Never did the apostles make the mistake, all too common today, of regarding the Resurrection as a mere epilogue to the Gospel, an addendum to the scheme of salvation, a providential afterthought of God, a codicil to the divine last will and testament. This is to falsify disastrously the whole emphasis of the Bible. Not as an appendix to the faith was the Resurrection ever preached in the apostolic Church. The one and only God the apostles worshipped was the God of the Resurrection. The one and only Gospel they were commissioned to preach was the overpowering, magnificent good news of the Resurrection.” 11

Can the emphasis be made any more evident than it is made throughout the New Testament that the Resurrection of Jesus is not just an historical event of yesteryear or just an anticipation of embodiment in the future, but is the essence of the vital restoration of humanity in the present? The misemphases in modern Christian religion necessitates a call for Resurrection Theology that returns to the Biblical emphasis.

We cannot do better than to allow the Scottish preacher to continue to drive home his point:

“It is immensely significant that those first Christians never preached the resurrection simply as Jesus’ escape from the grave, the reanimation of One who had died, the return of the Master to His friends. The always proclaimed it as the living God in omnipotent action. 12

“This is the conviction that makes the New Testament…the most exciting and the most relevant book in the world. The power that was strong enough to get Jesus out of the grave, and thus to set going the whole Christian movement across the centuries, mighty enough to shatter and confound the hideous demonic alliance of evil, creative enough to smite death with resurrection ­ this power is in action still. 13

“…preaching the Resurrection means telling men that the identical divine energy which at the first took Christ out of the grave is available still ­ available not only at journey’s end to save them in the hour of death, but available here and now to cause them to live.
It is an awful catastrophe for the Church when the proclamation of such a Gospel grows ­ pity us ­ dull and listless and mechanical. …the same power which on that day shattered death is now given us for life ­ to vitalize the most depressed and disillusioned and defeated son of man into a resurrected personality and a conquering soul.” 14

“How was it that a little group of men in an upper room ­ ordinary, fallible, blundering men ­ became the nucleus of a movement that was to turn the world upside down? This was the Church’s hidden secret. It was not that they were commanding personalities; most of them were not. It was not that they had official backing, impressive credentials, or illustrious patronage: of all that they had less than nothing. It was this ­ that the unearthly power which at the first had brought creation into being, which now at the last had inaugurated a new creation in the Resurrection of Christ, had laid hold upon them and refashioned their lives as with a second birth.” 15

“it is no mere interest in immortality which explains the apostolic concentration on the Resurrection. It was not as a dramatic verification of personal survival that they preached Christ risen from the dead. They were not really concerned with proofs and theories of survival as such.

“It was the shattering of history by a creative act of God Almighty. God was doing something comparable only with what He had done at the first creation. This was the beginning of a new era for the universe, the decisive turning-point for the human race. …In the resurrection the new age had arrived, and this stupendous miracle signified the storming of history and the transforming of the world.”16

“The Resurrection was evidence that there had now appeared, in the midst of time, life of a new dimension and the baptism of eternity. The heralds of the Resurrection were not merely preaching it as a fact: they were living in it as in a new country. They had received a Kingdom which could not be shaken.”17

Preach on Dr. Stewart! The impact of the resurrection cannot be overstated or overrated. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is THE most stupendous act of God’s grace. It is the focal point of all human history. It is the transforming reality in light of which everything else must be interpreted. All meaningful human existence must be interpreted by the earth-shattering, death-defeating, history-defining reality of Jesus’ Resurrection.

Christianity is not a message of merely what “has been” (past) and “will be” (future); it is the message of what “is”, the vital dynamic of the resurrected “I AM” of God who restores the whole of creation. The Resurrection facilitates and is the personal dynamic of the restoration of humanity whereby God functions once again in man by the presence of His own divine life in the Christian.

Christian theology is not simply an ideological and epistemological construct concerning events and doctrines. The personal resurrection-presence of the living Lord Jesus is intrinsic to His teaching. They cannot be detached. Apart from His resurrection there is no validity to His teaching. This is why Thomas F. Torrance writes, “What Jesus Christ is in His resurrection, He is in Himself. The very life of Jesus is the content of the resurrection.” 18

Conclusion

Resurrection theology is necessarily Resurrection-living, the living manifestation of the life and character of the risen Lord Jesus in Christian behavior. As such, this is also a call for Resurrection-community, whereby the church functions as the Body of Christ by the interpersonal interaction of people living by the Resurrection-life of Jesus, loving one another and seeking the other’s highest good.

The Resurrection is the basis of everything that can legitimately be called “Christian.” It is only by the indwelling activity of the risen Lord Jesus that the dynamic life of Christ continues to effect Christianity.

Apart from the Resurrection there is no Christianity. Apart from the Resurrection there is no gospel. Apart from the Resurrection there is no spiritual life. Apart from the Resurrection there is no salvation. Apart from the Resurrection there is no righteousness, holiness or godliness. Apart from the Resurrection there is no Christian living. Apart from the Resurrection there is no hope. It is imperative that we articulate and proclaim Resurrection Theology.

FOOTNOTES

1 Geffré, Claude, A New Age in Theology. New York: Paulist Press. 1974. pg. 1.
2 Brinsmead, Robert D., Verdict Essay 1E, “The Resurrection”, April, 1999. pg. 20.
3 Stewart, James S., A Man in Christ: The Vital Elements of St. Paul’s Religion. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House. pg. 135.
4 Ibid., pg. 136.
5 Kunneth, Walter, The Theology of the Resurrection. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1965. pg. 294.
6 Morison, Frank, Who Moved the Stone? London: Faber and Faber Limited. 1930.
7 McDowell, Josh, The Resurrection Factor. San Bernardino: Here’s Life Publishers. 1981.
8 Brinsmead, Robert D., op. cit., pg. 2.
9 Geffré, Claude, op. cit., pg. 1
10 Williams, H. A., True Resurrection. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1972. pgs 4,5.
11 Stewart, James S., A Faith to Proclaim. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1953. pgs. 104,105.
12 Stewart, James S. King For Ever. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pg. 142.
13 Ibid., pg. 143.
14 Stewart, James S., A Faith to Proclaim. pg. 126.
15 Ibid., pg. 127.
16 Ibid., pg. 106,107
17 Ibid., pg. 109.
18 Torrance, Thomas F., Space, Time and Resurrection. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1976

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A call for resurrection theology