December 21st - I Have Redeemed You

“I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you." (Isaiah 44:22)

Too often religious people will not entertain new thoughts for fear they may be true. The salvation of all is one of those thoughts that religious people fear. But if we trust God then we should not fear entertaining new thoughts - and we should be seeking to learn the truth of the Scripture and reject the dogma of men. 

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

"for this is ideal and welcome in the sight of our Saviour, God, Who wills that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all..." (1 Timothy 2:3-6)

"Faithful is the saying and worthy of all welcome (for for this are we toiling and being reproached), that we rely on the living God, Who is the Saviour of all mankind, especially of believers. These things be charging and teaching." (1 Timothy 4:9-11)

Humanity just cannot stop seeking and following the religion of the gods of their own making - stop it! 

The true God has spoken...

"For the saving grace of God made its advent to all humanity, training us that, disowning irreverence and worldly desires, we should be living sanely and justly and devoutly in the current eon, anticipating that happy expectation, even the advent of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who gives Himself for us, that He should be redeeming us from all lawlessness and be cleansing for Himself a people to be about Him, zealous for ideal acts. Speak of these things..." (Titus 2:11-15)

December 20th - Flesh and Blood is Out

“Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (1 Corinthians 15:50)

ALL people who have ever lived are “flesh and blood” in this age, and there is “none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). None of us inherit the Kingdom of God in our natural body of “flesh and blood”. We must obtain a new spiritual body in order to enter and see the Kingdom of God.

“The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual…and just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man." 

(1 Corinthians15:42-49)

This flesh and blood body will be changed into a spiritual immortal body.  Only then will there not be murderers, thieves, etc. That new body will be without sin like that of our Lord Jesus.

"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." (Philippians 3:20-21)

If the Scripture is true, all sinners are treated by God with Grace (unmerited favor). And all human bodies will be "transformed" from sinful flesh and blood bodies into a "spiritual body" of sinless "glory".

"For God has consigned everyone to disobedience so that He may have mercy on everyone. O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?” “Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?” For out of Him and through Him and returning into Him is all. To Him be the glory forever! Amen." (Romans 11:32-36)

December 19th - The Bad News and the Good News

The bad news…

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."(Romans 3:23)

“They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good…there is none righteous, not even one.”  (Psalm 53:1 and Romans 3:10)

"The wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a)

"…the dead know not anything …" (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

"… there is no work, or device, or knowledge, or wisdom in the grave where you are going" (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

"The dead praise not the LORD…" (Psalm 115:17).

"In death there is no remembrance of You: In the grave who shall give You thanks?" (Psalm 6:4-5).

The good news…

"I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more…" (Jeremiah 31:34)

"As in Adam all die, even so, in Christ, all shall be made alive"  (1 Corinthians 15:22)

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone." (Titus 2:11)

"...the free gift of God is eternal life..." (Romans 6:23b)

“…the dead will be raised imperishable…then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:50-54)

"...by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…."  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

“...there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all.."(1 Timothy 2:5) 

"...we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things." (1 Timothy 4:10-11)

September 18th - The New Covenant

The New Covenant, as I see it:

Jesus said: "...For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." (Luke 22:17-20)

There are two covenants with humanity in God's plan for us. The first covenant was with the nation of Israel which required the twelve tribes to be obedient to the Law given them through Moses after being freed from slavey in Egypt. Israel broke that covenant and it was replaced with a new covenant sealed with the blood of Christ Jesus shed on the cross. In that New ovenant God has forgiven the wickedness of Israel and will not remember their sins.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the PEOPLE OF ISRAEL and with the PEOPLE OF JUDAH. It will not be like the covenant I made with THEIR ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because THEY broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the PEOPLE OF ISRAEL after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on THEIR hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

And, Paul tells us that all nations are part of that new covenant, and that God chose Paul, and those who believe the good news, to share the good news (gospel) of that new covenant to ALL the nations.

"Wherefore, remember that once you, the nations in flesh -- who are termed 'Uncircumcision' by those termed 'Circumcision,' in flesh, made by hands --that you were, in that era, apart from Christ, being alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and guests of the promise covenants, having no expectation, and without God in the world. Yet now, in Christ Jesus, you, who once are far off, are become near by the blood of Christ. For He is our Peace, Who makes both one, and razes the central wall of the barrier (the enmity in His flesh), nullifying the law of precepts in decrees, that He should be creating the two, in Himself, into one new humanity, making peace; and should be reconciling both in one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in it." (Ephesians 2:11-16)

"And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:6)

Under the new covenant sealed with the blood of Jesus, God has promised to save ALL people of ALL nations out of death, and raise us ALL to immortal life as the final demonstration of His love, grace, mercy, and wisdom. This plan of God was shown to the apostle Paul by Jesus after His resurrection, and Paul was the first to tell the whole world about it in his letters found in the Bible - the New Testament (Covenant).

"...to me, less than the least of all saints, was granted this grace: to bring the evangel (good news) of the untraceable riches of Christ to the nations, and to enlighten ALL as to what is the administration of the secret, which has been concealed from the eons in God, Who creates all, that now may be made known to the sovereignties and the authorities among the celestials, through the ecclesia, the multifarious wisdom of God..." (Ephesians 3:3-10)

God offered the final sacrifice of the Old Coventant, His Son Jesus, and His Son's blood ushered in the New Covenant promising the redeemption of all humanity - by His unmerited favor - His GRACE!

"For the saving grace of God made its advent to all humanity, training us that, disowning irreverence and worldly desires, we should be living sanely and justly and devoutly in the current eon, anticipating that happy expectation, even the advent of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who gives Himself for us, that He should be redeeming us from all lawlessness and be cleansing for Himself a people to be about Him, zealous for ideal acts." (Titus 2:11-15)

"...when the kindness and fondness for humanity of our Saviour, God, made its advent, not for works which are wrought in righteousness which we do, but according to His mercy, He saves us, through the bath of renascence and renewal of holy spirit, which He pours out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Saviour, that, being justified in that One's grace, we may be becoming enjoyers, in expectation, of the allotment of everlasting life." (Titus 3:4-7)

December 17th - Tell People of he Grace of God

"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the gospel of the wonderful grace of God." (Acts 20:24)

Paul looked at his career as one from the Lord Jesus to be "telling others the gospel of the wonderful grace of God." 

I think if I do not tell my family and friends of the grace of God my life will not amount to much.

"Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. He has given each one of us grace through the generosity of Christ." (Ephesians 4:2-7)

December 16th - Let Use Reason Together

"Come now, and let us reason (decide the matter) together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

God has decided that our sins were to be cleansed. Jesus cleansed us with His own blood. Jesus is the light shinning in a dark world.

"...if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)

To be honest, I only dimly see the beauty, wisdom, and glory of God in this world most of the time. And I do not see it in the words of men, but in the sunrise and the sunset ...

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 1:1-4)

The beauty of creation allows me to make the decision (reason) that although the sins of the world are  "as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow". God declares this cleansing from sin from the beginning of creation. 

"I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish. I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it." (Isaiah 46:9-11)

Most of the time the best decision I can make is to do is nothing, just trust God until His plan is accomplished.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Be in awe of the LORD and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones. Honor the LORD from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His rebuke, for whom the LORD loves He disciplines, as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights. (Proverbs 3:5-12)

Because God decided the end from the very beginning, I can entrust me and my family to Him, knowing we will be delivered from this present wicked age into a New Heaven and New Earth.

"Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." (Galatians 1:3-5)

"And I perceived a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth pass away, and the sea is no more...And I hear a loud voice out of the throne saying, "Lo! the tabernacle of God is with mankind, and He will be tabernacling with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them. And He will be brushing away every tear from their eyes. And death will be no more, nor mourning, nor clamor, nor misery; they will be no more, for the former things passed away." And He Who is sitting on the throne said, "Lo! New am I making all!" (Revelation 21:1-4)

December 15th - Prolepsis

Prolepsis is a figure of speech in which a future promise is represented as if presently existing or accomplished. It is used often in Scripture.

"For the love of Christ is constraining us, judging this, that, if One died for the sake of all, consequently all died. And He died for the sake of all that those who are living should by no means still be living to themselves, but to the One dying and being roused for their sakes." (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

"For you died, and your life is hid together with Christ in God. Whenever Christ, our Life, should be manifested, then you also shall be manifested together with Him in glory." (Colossians 3:3-4)

That Christ Jesus died for the sake of all is a historical fact, however, the phrase "consequently all died" is prolepsis, a figure of speech in which humanity is considered to have died when Jesus "died for the sake of all". The result is that our "life" after death is now "hid together with Christ in God".

"So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new! Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to Himself through Christ, and is giving us the dispensation of the conciliation, how that God was in Christ, conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them, and placing in us the word of the conciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)

That humanity will have "life" after death, totally reconciled To God, is a future event so certain that it is spoken of as if this world has already "become new" . We share this future reconciliation with the world as the "ambassadors" of Christ. 

"For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be made alive...For Christ, then, are we ambassadors, as of God entreating through us. We are beseeching for Christ's sake, "Be conciliated to God!" For the One not knowing sin, He makes to be a sin offering for our sakes that we may be becoming God's righteousness in Him." (1 Corinthians 15:22; 2 Corinthians 5:20-21)

God is at peace with humanity and wants people to be at peace with Him - not be terrified about what He might do to us after death. God is not angry with humanity for its sin because the blood of Christ His Son was shed "for our sakes".

"God is commending this love of His to us, seeing that, while we are still sinners, Christ died for our sakes." ..."and through Him to reconcile all to Him (making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him, whether those on the earth or those in the heavins." (Romans 5:8; Colossians 1:20)

Humanity is saved, justified and reconciled to God now - proleptically speaking. Yet it will be manifested in the a future age.

"Not that I already obtained, or am already perfected. Yet I am pursuing, if I may be grasping also that for which I was grasped also by Christ Jesus. Brethren, not as yet am I reckoning myself to have grasped, yet one thing -- forgetting, indeed, those things which are behind, yet stretching out to those in front -- toward the goal am I pursuing for the prize of God's calling above in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

I can speak of my salvation and justification as if it has already occurred because the very Word of God says it will happen. And that is good enough for me and I find peace with God - not yet perfect, just at peace with the promises of God.