Fundamenten van het Geloof 5: De mens, geschapen naar Gods beeld en als Zijn gelijkenis

Posted on 2019/05/01 by Christadelphians

De mens, geschapen naar Gods beeld en als Zijn gelijkenis

De mens is voortdurend op zoek naar zijn identiteit:

‘Wie zijn wij en waar komen wij vandaan?’.

Voor wie niet gelooft in de Schepper is dit een nooit eindigende zoektocht. Maar in plaats van het wetenschappelijk bewijs voor onze oorsprong in de natuurwereld te zoeken, zou onderzoek naar de plaats van de mens, te midden van alle andere wezens, tot een ander resultaat kunnen leiden. Want het valt niet te ontkennen dat de mens uniek is in de natuurwereld.

De Bijbel vertelt dat wij hier niet toevallig zijn, als het product van een langzame ontwikkeling uit andere, primitievere wezens, maar dat God de mens naar Zijn plan heeft gemaakt:

“En God zei: Laat Ons mensen maken naar ons beeld, als onze gelijkenis, opdat zij heersen over de vissen in de zee en over het gevogelte aan de hemel en over het vee en over de gehele aarde en over al het kruipende gedierte dat op de aardbodem kruipt. En God schiep de mens naar zijn beeld; naar Gods beeld schiep Hij hem; man en vrouw schiep Hij hen”. (Genesis 1:26; vergelijk 9:6)

Dat dit geen primitief idee is, uit een ver verleden, toont het geloof van Jezus en de apostelen. Zij geloofden dat God verantwoordelijk is voor alle leven en dat alle mensen zijn voortgekomen uit dit eerste mensenpaar (Matth. 19:4; 1 Kor. 11 :7; Jac. 3:9). Maar wat wordt er bedoeld met:

‘naar ons beeld, als onze gelijkenis’?

De mens heeft in bepaalde opzichten een gelijkenis met zijn Schepper. Met de schepping van de mens heeft God iets van Zichzelf ‘gereproduceerd’ en er moet iets van God in de mens te herkennen zijn. Wanneer deze later zelf nageslacht voortbrengt, legt hij op zijn beurt zijn eigenschappen daarin; het zijn afdrukken van zijn wezen:

“Adam … verwekte (een zoon) naar zijn gelijkenis, als zijn beeld”. (Genesis 5:3)

Hiermee worden echter niet meer het beeld en gelijkenis van God bedoeld, maar de mens zoals Adam geworden is: zondig in het vlees, zodat hij de heerlijkheid van God niet in zich draagt. Wanneer dit voor altijd was voortgegaan, zou Gods scheppingswerk een hopeloze mislukking zijn. God zei echter dat het goed was wat Hij had geschapen. In zijn alwetendheid moet Hij gezien hebben dat er uiteindelijk wel mensen met de heerlijkheid van zijn beeld en gelijkenis zouden zijn:

“Want allen hebben gezondigd en derven (lopen mis) de heerlijkheid van God”.

“… juist om de rijkdom van zijn heerlijkheid bekend te maken over de voorwerpen van ontferming, die Hij tot heerlijkheid heeft voorbereid”. (Romeinen 9:23)

“Wij dan … hebben vrede met God door onze Here Jezus Christus, door wie wij ook de toegang hebben verkregen tot deze genade, waarin wij staan, en roemen in de hoop op de heerlijkheid van God”. (Romeinen 5:1-2)

Het natuurlijke nageslacht van Adam kan Gods heerlijkheid niet weerspiegelen. Dit is een voortdurend vraagpunt van gelovigen aan God. David vroeg zich in een Psalm af welke verklaring er is voor die hoge plaats van de mens in Gods onmetelijke heelal, en de schrijver van de brief aan de Hebreeën wijst op de vervulling van Gods plan met ons in Christus Jezus:

“Wat is de mens, dat U aan hem denkt, en het mensenkind, dat U naar hem omziet? Toch hebt U hem bijna goddelijk gemaakt, en hem met heerlijkheid en luister gekroond”. (Psalm 8:4-9)

“… maar wij zien Jezus … met heerlijkheid en eer gekroond”. (Hebreeën 2:6-9)

In de persoon van Jezus heeft God uit de mensheid een nieuwe mens verwekt, die deze heerlijkheid van God wel draagt en weerspiegelt. De apostelen getuigen in de evangelieverslagen en brieven van wat zij hebben gezien en ervaren van deze ‘zoon des mensen’, de mens bij uitnemendheid:

“Wij hebben zijn heerlijkheid aanschouwd, een heerlijkheid als van de eniggeborene van de Vader, vol van genade en waarheid”. (Johannes 1:14)

“Deze de afstraling van zijn heerlijkheid, en de afdruk van zijn wezen”(Hebreeën 1:3)

Zij hebben twee kanten van hem gezien: zijn gestalte als dienstknecht, die volmaakt de wil van God deed, en zijn verheerlijkte gestalte toen zij met hem op de berg waren (Luc. 9:29; 2 Petr. 1:16). Zijn verheerlijking was een voorproef van wat hij zou ontvangen, wanneer hij de wil van zijn Vader tot het laatst zou doen. Hierin is hij het voorbeeld voor wie in hem gelooft:

“Laat die gezindheid bij u zijn, welke ook in Christus Jezus was, die in de gestalte van God zijnde, het God gelijk zijn niet als een roof heeft geacht, maar de gestalte van een dienstknecht heeft aangenomen … heeft Hij zich vernederd en is gehoorzaam geworden tot de dood, ja tot de kruisdood. Daarom heeft God Hem ook uitermate verhoogd” (Filippenzen 2:5-9; vergelijk Romeinen 8:5-7).

Door verbondenheid met Christus Jezus, en in hun leven dezelfde gezindheid te tonen als hij, kunnen ook andere mensen deel krijgen aan dezelfde natuur en dezelfde heerlijkheid weerspiegelen als hij:

“Want het voegde Hem…dat Hij, om vele zonen tot heerlijkheid te brengen, de Leidsman van hun behoudenis door lijden zou volmaken”. (Hebreeën 2:10)

“Daartoe heeft Hij u ook door ons evangelie geroepen tot het verkrijgen van de heerlijkheid van onze Here Jezus Christus”. (2 Thess. 2:14; 1 Thess. 2:12;vergelijk 2 Timotheüs 2:10)

“En wij allen, die … de heerlijkheid van de Here weerspiegelen, veranderen naar hetzelfde beeld van heerlijkheid tot heerlijkheid …”. (2 Korintiërs 3:18)

Wanneer dit werkelijkheid is geworden, zal Gods doel met de schepping zijn bereikt. Dan zijn de mensen als Zijn zonen, dragen zij Zijn beeld en zal de aarde van Zijn heerlijkheid vol worden:

“En gelijk wij het beeld van de stoffelijke (Adam) gedragen hebben, zo zullen wij het beeld van de hemelse (Christus) dragen”. (1 Korintiërs 15:49)

“… met reikhalzend verlangen wacht de schepping op het openbaar worden van de zonen van God … maar ook wij zelf…zuchten bij onszelf in de verwachting van het zoonschap… Want die Hij tevoren gekend heeft, heeft Hij ook tevoren bestemd tot gelijkvormigheid aan het beeld van zijn Zoon, opdat Hij de eerstgeborene zou zijn onder vele broederen”. (Romeinen 8:19-30)

“Ik zal hem een God zijn en hij zal Mij een zoon zijn”. (Openbaring 21:7)

“Geliefden, nu zijn wij kinderen van God, en het is nog niet geopenbaard wat wij zijn zullen; maar wij weten, dat, als Hij (Christus) zal geopenbaard zijn, wij Hem gelijk zullen wezen …”. (1 Johannes 3:2)

Psalm 8 en de heerlijkheid van de mens in Christus Jezus

De aandacht van gelovigen richt zich op Gods doel met de schepping van de mens, zoals geopenbaard in het boek Genesis (1:26). Koning David schreef in Psalm 8 een overdenking hiervan. Hij zag de heerlijkheid van de Hemelkoning (verzen 1-4), die de mens schiep om zijn onderkoning op aarde te zijn (vergelijk Genesis 41:40) en te regeren over alle wezens daarop (verzen 4-9). Omdat het hier om Adam ging, heeft David waarschijnlijk in eerste instantie een specifieke mens op het oog. In Psalm 21:6 beschouwt hij zijn eigen unieke positie als koning op Gods troon op aarde. In Psalm 72 spreekt hij over zijn zoon Salomo. Maar beide waren zij niet de eeuwige koning die God beloofde (zie 2 Samuël 7:11-29; Psalm 21:5 en 72:17). Genesis 1 en Psalm 8 vormen dan ook het begin van een rode draad in de openbaring van Gods doel met de mens, die ons leidt tot het Nieuwe Testament en de daarin geopenbaarde vervulling in Christus Jezus (Luc. 10:22; Ef. 1:21-22; 1 Kor. 15:25-27; Hebr. 1:1-4en 2:5-9; Kolos. 1:15-17) en doorgaat in allen die geloven (Hebr. 2:10; Rom. 8:17).

Vraag ter overdenking:

Hoe kunt u worden tot een nieuwe mens, naar het beeld van Christus?

Voorgaande

Al-Fatiha [De Opening] Surah 1: 4-7 Barmhartige Heer van de Schepping om ons de juiste weg te tonen

Fundamenten van het Geloof: De lankmoedigheid van God

Fundamenten van het Geloof 2: De levende en waarachtige God

Fundamenten van geloof 3: De Persoonlijkheid van God

Fundamenten van het Geloof 4: Engelen. Gods volmaakte dienaren

Aansluitende lectuur

Fundamenten van het Geloof 4: Engelen. Gods volmaakte dienaren

Posted on 2019/03/03 by Christadelphians

Gelooft u het getuigenis van God, zijn Zoon en zijn dienaren?

Engelen. Gods volmaakte dienaren

Wie het antwoord zoekt op de vraag

‘wie of wat zijn engelen?’

merkt al snel dat de Bijbel weinig tot niets vertelt over hun natuur en bestaanswijze. De reden is dat het in de Bijbel gaat om de verhouding tussen God en mensen. En juist in verband daarmee vinden we een belangrijke uitspraak, die ons helpt bij het begrijpen van de rol die zij spelen in Gods werk:

“Zijn zij niet allen dienende geesten, die uitgezonden worden ten dienste van hen, die het heil zullen beërven?”. (Hebr. 1: 14; vergelijk 1:7 en Psalm 103:20)

Ondanks dat deze woorden niet bedoeld waren om de natuur van engelen te beschrijven, leren we dat zij ‘geesten’ zijn. Paulus schreef dat er ‘natuurlijke lichamen’ zijn (van vlees en bloed, zoals wij nu zijn) en ‘geestelijke lichamen’. Mensen die overgaan van natuurlijk naar geestelijk leven worden ‘uit de hemel’ of ‘hemelsen’ genoemd, in tegenstelling tot wie ‘uit de aarde’, ‘stoffelijk’, zijn. Dat ‘natuurlijke lichaam’ kan het eeuwige leven niet binnengaan, omdat het aardsgezind, ongeestelijk is. Alleen het volmaakte en onvergankelijke (zoals engelen) kan in Gods nabijheid verblijven (1 Kor. 15:35-50).

“35 Maar, zal iemand vragen, hoe verrijzen de doden? Met wat voor lichaam?
36 Een dwaze vraag!
Ook wat gij zelf zaait moet eerst sterven voor het tot leven komt, 37 en wat gij zaait is slechts een graankorrel of iets dergelijks, en heeft nog niet de vorm die het zal krijgen. 38 God geeft er een lichaam aan zoals Hij dat gewild heeft, en wel aan elk zaad zijn eigen lichaam. 39 Ook is niet alle vlees hetzelfde, er is verschil tussen het vlees van mensen en dat van dieren en dat van vogels en van vissen.

40 En er zijn hemelse lichamen en aardse lichamen, maar de glans der hemelse is anders dan die van de aardse.
41 De luister van de zon is anders dan die van de maan, en die van de sterren is weer anders; zelfs de ene ster verschilt van de andere in schittering. 42 Zo is het ook met de opstanding van de doden; wat gezaaid wordt in vergankelijkheid, verrijst in onvergankelijkheid; 43 wat gezaaid wordt in geringheid en zwakte, verrijst in heerlijkheid en kracht. 44 Een natuurlijk lichaam wordt gezaaid, een geestelijk lichaam verrijst. Zoals er een natuurlijk lichaam bestaat, bestaat er ook een geestelijk lichaam. 45 In deze zin staat er geschreven: De eerste mens, Adam, werd een levens wezen. De laatste Adam werd een levendmakende Geest. 46 Maar het geestelijke komt niet het eerst; het natuurlijke gaat vooraf, daarna komt het geestelijke. 47 De eerste mens, uit de aarde genomen, is aards; de tweede is uit de hemel. 48 Zoals die eerste mens van aarde zijn alle aardse mensen, zoals de hemelse mens zullen alle hemelsen zijn. 49 En gelijk wij het beeld van de aardse hebben gedragen, zo zullen wij ook het beeld dragen van de hemelse mens. 50 Ik bedoel dit, broeders: vlees en bloed kunnen niet delen in het koninkrijk van God en het vergankelijke heeft geen aandeel in de onvergankelijkheid.” (1Co 15:35-50 WV78)

Dit komt overeen met wat Jezus zei:

“Voorwaar, voorwaar, Ik zeg u, tenzij iemand geboren wordt uit water en Geest, kan hij het Koninkrijk van God niet binnen gaan. Wat uit het vlees geboren is, is vlees, en wat uit de Geest geboren is, is geest”. (Johannes 3:5-6)

“Maar wie waardig gekeurd zijn deel te verkrijgen aan die eeuw en aan de opstanding uit de doden, huwen niet en worden niet ten huwelijk genomen. Want zij kunnen niet meer sterven; immers, zij zijn aan de engelen gelijk en zij zijn kinderen van God, omdat zij kinderen van de opstanding zijn”. (Luc. 20:35-36)

Hieruit leiden wij af dat zij volmaakt en onsterfelijk zijn en dat wij, als wij eeuwig leven ontvangen, een volmaakt ‘hemels lichaam’ zullen hebben,en in die zin aan hen gelijk zullen zijn. De schrijver van de brief aan de Hebreeën herinnert, door Psalm 8 te citeren, aan het hoge doel van God met de schepping van de mens en de vervulling daarvan in Christus Jezus:

“Want niet aan engelen heeft Hij de toekomende wereld, waarvan wij spreken, onderworpen. Maar iemand heeft ergens betuigd, zeggende: Wat is de mens, dat U hem gedenkt, of de mensenzoon, dat U naar hem omziet? U hebt hem voor een korte tijd beneden de engelen gesteld, met heerlijkheid en eer hebt u hem gekroond … wij zien Jezus, die voor een korte tijd beneden de engelen gesteld was vanwege het lijden van de dood … met heerlijkheid gekroond” (Hebreeën 2:5-9).

Gelooft u het getuigenis van God, zijn Zoon en zijn dienaren?

Christus Jezus is de eerste van allen die behoren tot de geestelijke schepping, meer geworden dan de engelen:

“Tot wie van de engelen heeft Hij ooit gezegd: Mijn Zoon bent U … Zet U aan mijn rechterhand…”. (Hebreeën 1:5 en 13)

“Jezus Christus, die aan de rechterhand van God is, naar de hemel gegaan,terwijl engelen en machten en krachten Hem onderworpen zijn”. (1 Petrus3:21-22)

“En Hem moeten alle engelen van God huldigen”. (Hebreeën 1:6)

De Nazareense leermeester Jezus zei dat de engelen voortdurend het aangezicht zien van God (Mattheüs 18:10). In Openbaring 5:11-13 zien we hen dan ook rondde troon van God in de hemel, in lofprijzing tot Hem en zijn Zoon.

“11 En terwijl ik keek, hoorde ik de stem van talloze engelen rondom de troon en de dieren en de oudsten; en hun getal was tienduizenden tienduizenden en duizenden duizendtallen; 12 en zij riepen luid:

‘Waardig is het Lam dat geslacht werd, te ontvangen de macht en de rijkdom, de wijsheid en de kracht, en eer en heerlijkheid en lof.’

13 En elk schepsel in de hemel en op de aarde en onder de aarde en in de zee, het ganse heelal hoorde ik roepen:

‘Aan Hem die gezeten is op de troon en aan het Lam zij de lof en de eer en de roem en de kracht in de eeuwen der eeuwen!’” (Opb 5:11-13 WV78)

Wij mensen kunnen Gods aangezicht niet zien vanwege onze onreinheid door de zonde (Exodus 33:20). Dat engelen dat wel kunnen, houdt in dat zij zonder zonde zijn en dus volmaakt (vergelijk dit met Christus Jezus in Hebreeën 7:26).

“ Zulk een hogepriester hadden wij ook nodig: een die heilig is, schuldeloos, onbesmet, afgescheiden van de zondaars, hoog verheven boven de hemelen;” (Heb 7:26 WV78)

Vervulling van Gods belofte

God zendt engelen uit als zijn betrouwbare dienaren ten behoeve van mensen. Zij doen voor Hem vele taken in verband met de voltooiing van zijn scheppingswerk en zijn heilswerk ten behoeve van mensen. Het uitzenden van zijn Geest kan daarom ook betrekking hebben op het zenden van een engel, in wie God zijn macht en kracht legde:

“Toen riepen wij tot de Here, en Hij hoorde onze stem, zond een engel en leidde ons uit Egypte”. (Numeri 20:16)

“In al hun benauwdheid was ook Hij (God) benauwd, en de Engel van zijn aangezicht heeft hen gered”. (Jesaja 63:9)

“… u, die de wet ontvangen hebt op beschikking van engelen”. (Hand. 7:53)

“Ik ben Gabriël, die voor Gods aangezicht sta, en ik ben gekomen om tot u (Maria) te spreken en deze blijmare te verkondigen”. (Lucas 1:18-29)

Een voorbeeld van het uitzenden van engelen ten dienste van hen die het heil zullen beërven, vinden we in het leven van de Heer Jezus. Na de verzoeking in de woestijn dienden engelen hem (Mattheüs 4:11). Maar al eerder in zijn leven waren zij werkzaam om te zorgen dat hem niets overkwam, voordat de bestemde tijd was gekomen (Mattheüs 2:13). Dit zijn vervullingen van Gods beloften in Psalm 91:

“Aan zijn engelen zal Hij opdracht geven aangaande U, en op handen zullen zij u dragen, opdat U uw voet niet aan een steen stoot”. (Mattheüs 4:6; Lucas 4:10; Psalm 91:11-12)

Maar ook anderen hebben de vervulling van Gods belofte van bijstand ervaren, door de nabijheid van engelen, op momenten dat er menselijkerwijs gesproken geen redding meer mogelijk was:

“De engel van de Here legert Zich rondom wie Hem vrezen, en redt hen”. (Psalm 34:8)

“… zij die bij ons zijn, zijn talrijker dan zij, die bij hen zijn … en zie, de berg was vol vurige paarden en wagens rondom Elisa”. (2 Kon. 6:15-17)

“Maar een engel van de Here opende ’s nachts de deuren van de gevangenis en leidde hen naar buiten…”. (Hand. 5:19; vergelijk 12:7 en Daniël 6:23)

Soms moeten zij destructief werk doen, om de vervulling van Gods plan voortgang te kunnen laten vinden. Want wanneer God dit niet zou doen, zouden zijn kinderen ten onder gaan door het geweld van hun vijanden. De tijd van Noach laat dit duidelijk zien. Zij redden gelovigen uit de macht van de ongelovigen of straffen ongehoorzamen.

“Hij zond tegen hen zijn brandende toorn, verbolgenheid en angstwekkende gramschap, een schare van verderfengelen” (Psalm 78:49; vergelijk 1 Kron. 21:12 en 15; 2 Sam. 24:16-17).

Het werk van de engelen zal in ieder geval doorgaan tot de wederkomst van Christus Jezus uit de hemel. Hij heeft hen van God tot zijn beschikking gekregen om hem te helpen Gods wil uit te voeren, zoals mensen wakker roepen uit hun doodsslaap:

“…bij de openbaring van de Here Jezus van de hemel met de engelen van zijn kracht”. (2 Thessalonicenzen 1:7)

“En Hij zal zijn engelen uitzenden met luid bazuingeschal en zij zullen zijn uitverkorenen verzamelen uit de vier windstreken, van het ene uiterste van de hemelen tot het andere”. (Mattheüs 24:31)

“De Zoon des mensen zal zijn engelen uitzenden en zij zullen uit zijn Koninkrijk verzamelen al wat tot zonde verleidt”. (Mattheüs 13:41)

Hun werk ten behoeve van het heil van mensen zal waarschijnlijk in grote lijnen ten einde zijn gekomen, wanneer het Koninkrijk van God op aarde is gekomen. Want dan zullen er mensen zijn die volmaakt en onsterfelijk zijn geworden als de engelen, en dus op dezelfde wijze werk voor Christus kunnen doen als de engelen voor God.

Vraag ter overdenking:

Denkt u dat het mogelijk is dat engelen hebben gezondigd?

Voorgaande

Fundamenten van het Geloof: De lankmoedigheid van God

Fundamenten van het Geloof 2: De levende en waarachtige God

Fundamenten van geloof 3: De Persoonlijkheid van God

The Question is this…

Posted on 2015/08/19 by Guestspeaker

Many may be saying there is no god or gods at all and that it is all a fabrication of the human mind.

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Those who find that somehow something has to be behind this universe and all the things that can be found around us. but how many know Who is the Mastermind behind it all?

.

How many are really knowing the Divine Creator and how many are willing to open their mind to this Eternal Spirit Who cannot be seen by man or they would fall death?

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The unseen, the untouchable, is so difficult to comprehend.

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The God of order Who created everything, has done it with and out of love. It is His goodness which transcends our understanding we think it is impossible that there can be such a Goodness existing.
Absolute completeness is so difficult to understand for our little human mind. Our brain is so incomplete, it seems, that the idea of such Perfect Being looks impossible.

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Though there was a time man had no fear and no problems and everything seemed all right. But it was too nice to be true and man doubted its Creator.

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Man came to separate and to see separation between the Creator, man, animal and plant and wanted more than he had received. This greed made him blind.

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After the first Adam failed god had to create a second Adam. That sent one from God came unto the earth to show the world the true hand of the Master-worker. God gave his only begotten son as a good shepherd to guide us and to show us the only one Way to God. In his way we should come to walk.

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When willing to go that Way we shall notice that God shall be the first one to go with us. when we are willing to open our eyes and ears, we shall see and hear God, who shall receive us as His children.

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There are plentiful reasons to get to know God and not to hesitate longer.

*

rich? or poor? > matters not your station in life

matters > certain about your future destiny

fail to listen and heed, destiny = same as fools whose shepherd is death + separation from the Almighty God

if you listen, heed and accept the Living Word > destiny in eternal space of the Kingdom of God

+ will be guided on your journey by the Good Shepherd

*

Are you Jew? Are you Gentile? Are you male? Are you female? Are you slave or free? In this present world we make distinctions but “there is no partiality with God.” [Romans 2:11] Those who hear his voice and follow, to them the promise is this:

Rom 8:14 MKJV For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

++

Find additional reading:

Others that hinder the message

This is an amazing thing

+++

Supplementary readings:

The Fear Of The Lord

Hearing God’s Voice | Almighty God’s Utterance “God Is Sovereign over the Destiny of All Mankind”

Affirmation of God: I find the comfort of God in quietness.

The answers in your soul

Only God Can Judge Me

Straight Outta “Love”

Richard Corriere’s “In Their Own Words.” John Kasich On God’s Unconditional Love

The Severity Of Vain Glory

Only the lonely…

“Listening Heart”

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd

Jesus as the Shepherd (emptycrosscommunity)

Jesus as the Shepherd (betsybeadhead)

The Unsurpassable Value of the One

Leaving Jesus In the Bedroom

Rivers of Living Water

Sheep and being led by the Spirit (part two)

Pieces of Grace

+++

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Reflective Moment ‘God Is Sovereign’

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SonShine's Journal -

Let me ask you; Do you know God? Let me tell you about my God because He can be your God too! He is “great and certainly worthy of praise,” He is the defender of both the rich and the poor, the weak and the strong, the young and the old. You may have heard about his mighty deeds, but have you seen them? Observe His fingerprint of lovingkindness upon the lives of those he calls his own. It is because of this that we are to “go and tell” that the next generation may also know and be known as children of the Almighty God.

Are you rich? Are you poor? It matters not your station in life. What matters is that you are certain about your future destiny. If you fail to listen and heed, your destiny will be the same as fools whose shepherd is death and…

View original post 150 more words

Marriage of Jesus 10 Old and New Covenant

Posted on 2014/06/10 by Marcus Ampe

Divinity Hall, Harvard Divinity School, view from Divinity Avenue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Harvard Divinity School Professor Karen King agrees that the fragment, written in Coptic, she analysed,

“does not, however, provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married, nor does it prove that he was not married. The earliest reliable historical tradition is completely silent on that. So we’re in the same position we were before it was found. We don’t know if he was married or not.”

In the previous postings I mentioned already that when we look at the accounts of Jesus’ life in the Bible and the many non-religious writings of the early centuries, there is no mention of his marital status, while the accounts do mention Jesus’ mother, father and siblings.

Darrell Bock, a senior research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminar said:

“There’s no indication we have that Jesus was married. One could say the text is silent on Jesus’ marital status because there was nothing to say.”

Bock agreed with the notion that the text fragment shared similarities with the Gnostic Gospels and said the text could be referring to a gnostic rite of marriage but

“it’s a small text with very little context. We don’t know what’s wrapped around it to know what it’s saying.”

King writes:

“the importance of the ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’ lies in supplying a new voice within the diverse chorus of early Christian traditions about Jesus that documents that some Christians depicted Jesus as married.”

In “Marriage of Jesus 8 Wife of Yahweh” and “Marriage of Jesus 9 Reason for a new marriage” I pointed out to the Wife of God, indicating the Book of books speaks about God being married to Israel, but this being spiritually talking about the relationship of Jehovah God with His Chosen People, Israel, or the Israelites, the religious Jews. From the Old Testament text we can understand that Jehovah God cast Israel off as a wife, and that it was impossible for Him to marry her as a “virgin” (Jeremiah 3:1-18; Ezekiel 16; Hosea 2; 3:1-5). We can see what faithless Israel has done and find God giving her the notice or her certificate of divorce and having sent her away because of all her adulteries.

“She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.” (Jeremiah 3:8 ESV)

“Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him…” (Photo credit: -Reji)

God had made a promise to Abraham, that his seed would multiply and God would make a people for Him out of his descendants. God always keeps to His promises. One of them, at the beginning of human history,just after the foundation of the earth, was also that He would provide a solution for the sin the first man and woman (the 1° Adam and Eve) committed. There He indicated already His special relationship with the human beings, and planned for a son to whom He would give the throne to restore the paradise and bring to fulfilment the clean and safe Kingdom of God (the 2° Adam).

” And [Psa. 102:25-27 says “Thou, Yahweh/Adonay/Jehovah”], “Lord, in the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hand. (11) They will be destroyed, but you will remain. And they [i.e., the heavens and earth] will all wear out like an article of clothing. (12) And you will fold them up like a robe, and they will be changed like an article of clothing. But you will stay the same and your years will never end.” (13) But which one of the angels did God ever say [this] about [Psa. 110:1], “You should sit at my right side until I put your enemies [in full subjection] beneath your feet?”” (Heb 1:10-13 AUV)

“So [then], we [Christians] should pay closer attention to the things we have heard, so that we do not drift away from [believing and practicing] them. (2) For if the message spoken through angels proved to be binding [Note: This is a reference to the Law of Moses. See Acts 7:53; Gal. 3:19], and every violation [of it] and disobedience [to it] received a just penalty, (3) how will we escape [punishment] if we neglect such a great salvation? [For it was] first announced [to people] by the Lord and then confirmed to us [i.e., the writer and other Christians] by those who heard Him [i.e., the original apostles]. (4) God also testified, along with those people, by [giving them] both signs and wonders and various miracles, and by [supernatural] gifts distributed [to them] by the Holy Spirit, as He desired. (5) For God did not place the coming inhabited world [Note: “The coming inhabited world” here probably refers to the present Christian age. It was viewed as “coming” from the perspective of Old Testament times], under the control of angels [and] that is the world we are talking about.” (Heb 2:1-5 AUV)

With regards to which of the angelic messengers “emissaries”, none where invited tocome to sit next to God, but His son Jeshua (Jesus Christ), who was first lower than the angels (remember God is, was and always shall be the Most High) was placed higher after his resurrection and invited to come to sit at the right hand of God to become a mediator between God and man. In case Jesus was God he could not be sitting next to himself nor take on the duty of mediator or intermediary. His position as arbitrator for man and woman would be of no value either when he would have been God and the end judge of it all. The third party has to be someone other than the principals who are involved in a transaction. In the Bible is also written that he would hand over the Kingdom of God to his Father. In case he himself is the same person as the Father there is no use nor any possibility to hand over the Kingdom to himself.

But in the text in front of us we hear about the world to come: the New World. The angels are ministering spirits, servants, with no royal dignity; having a subordinate role of serving God. God’s concern is not with angels, but with us, and He accordingly sends those angels or messengers of God, to bring help to those who will inherit salvation.

“And if children, then also lawfully-allotted ones, lawfully-allotted ones surely of God, moreover, lawfully-allotted-with the Anointed One, if- we -wholly suffer-with Him, in order that, we may also be given splendor-with Him.” (Romans 8:17 AS )

In the Old Times God shared His passion with His people, who kept stubborn and did not want to recognise the Promised One, the Christos, or Christ the Messiah. God placed Jesus in a higher position than His angels and by doing this God’s glory becomes Christ’s glory and finally, in measure, our glory also, because in him, Jesus Christ, we can be saved and become part of the Body of Christ. The apostle Paul brings some ‘with’ words in his 8° letter to the Romans (8:1-39), that testify of what we are and what we do jointly with Christ. There it is said the Anointed One should be from-within us, being lawfully-allotted ones, joint-heirs with the Anointed, even when we ourselves still dare to groan inside ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the ransom of our body, we may find not such an adoption, becoming children of God, but also finding the redemption of the body we still have here on earth. (In this world.)

God did not spare His own son Jeshua, but delivered him up for us all. (Romans 8:32) This Jesus is raised up, and is actually at the right hand of God, and makes intercession for us. (Romans 8:34) In the Old World the angels were in charge.

” Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, And see the reward of the wicked. (9) For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation; (10) There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. (11) For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. (12) They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:8-12 ASV)

But now God choose a cornerstone in His son, to whom angels already came to minister him in his lifetime (Matthew 4:11; cp Matthew 26:53)

” You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, (8) putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. (9) But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:7-9 ESV)

We all share in flesh and blood, the same as the son of God Jesus Christ partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the evil, the adversary of God. For ages God’s People where thrown through and fro and often did not make a proper choice. Because of His great dissatisfaction god was not inclined any more to keep the bond of His ‘marriage’ with them alone. Too many times the Israelites were ill-disposed to their Creator. They often behaved unlawful and that hurtled the Most High in such a way that He allowed His son to provide a New Covenant, to deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (Hebrews 2:15).

God renewed His bond or covenant with His son and with the Spiritual Israel, which had to become the Church of God, the Body of Christ where the Nazarene Jeshua (Jesus) would be the cornerstone, to bring the lovers of God close to Him and to put down the adversaries or hostile ones, their necks under his foot.

Besides the heavenly Bride, the transfigured, translated, and risen Church, reigning over the earth with Christ, there is also the earthly bride, Israel, in the flesh, never yet divorced, though for a time separated, from her divine husband, who shall then be reunited to the Lord and be mother Church of the millennial earth, Christianized through her. Note, we ought, as Scripture does, restrict the language drawn from marriage—love to the Bride, the Church as a whole; not use it as individuals in our relation to Christ, as Rome does in the case of her nuns.” { All the Women of the Bible » Chapter 4. Symbolic and Representative Bible Women » The Bride, The Lamb’s Wife}

In his teaching period Jesus explained that some people may prefer to stay single “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:12). We should understand that by choosing celibacy to have more time to devote to proclaiming and living out God’s kingdom. They would find earthly responsibilities, such as those that go with marriage and parenting, a hindrance to their kingdom calling. This is similar to the situation of the disciples who were called away from their professions (fishermen, tax collectors, etc.) in order to follow Jesus with singular purpose. As I mentioned earlier such people consider themselves as married to Christ. They have taken Christ as their “bride“, like Jesus preferred to stay single and be the spouse or “wife of God“.

We always should remember that the Old Testament uses a lot of metaphors, and marriage is such one of them. Early Christians also used such metaphors to describe the relationship between celibate believers and Christ. Nuptial imagery is commonly used to describe salvation and heaven in the New Testament; and later Christian martyrs are sometimes called or portrayed as brides of Christ.

In the most difficult book of the bible, the apostle John describes in his vision the marriage scene in which the Bridegroom makes His Bride His wife. The ones who accept Christ as the son of God and their saviour may be glad and rejoice, and give honour now to him they wanted to follow and God raised out of the dead. He, the Lamb of God has now been taken up in heaven where the marriage of the Lamb took place. The ‘new’ wife of God or the wife for us in heaven has made herself ready in the presence of the one who is presented in fine linen, clean and white, like so many women their wedding dress. For the fine linen is the righteousness of saints, the ones who are set-apart from the world. The followers of Christ may become part of the new Israel, the new chosen people of God, though they might have been gentiles, they are now called righteous and also sons and daughters of God. We should know that blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, Jesus Messiah. We all better listen to the true sayings of God. We best remember what He has done for us and whom He provided for us and how we should worship that only One True God,the Father of Jesus, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; (8) it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. (9) And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (10) Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:7-10 ESV )

A woman, of course, only becomes a wife on the completion of her marriage to the man to whom she has been engaged or espoused. In this age of Grace, the church is the affianced Bride of Christ. At the marriage of the Lamb, she becomes His wedded wife (Ephesians 5:22, 23; 2 Corinthians 11:2). { All the Women of the Bible » Chapter 4. Symbolic and Representative Bible Women » The Bride, The Lamb’s Wife}

The “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife,” a papyrus written in Coptic and containing text that refers to Jesus being married, is looking more and more like it is not authentic, research is revealing.

Conclusion

Professor King has devoted much of her scholarly career to making a case that the early church falsely constructed an orthodox understanding of Jesus that minimized the role of women. Back in 2003 she released The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle, in which she argued that at least some ancient texts pointed to Mary Magdalene as an apostle. In 2012 she told the writer for Smithsonian: “You’re talking to someone who’s trying to integrate a whole set of ‘heretical’ literature into the standard history.” {It’s Back — The “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” and the State of Modern Scholarship}

King saying

“it does not make sense that a forger with poor Coptic and scribal skills could also manage to acquire the right kind of papyrus and ink, and leave no ink out of place at the microscopic level.”

in her judgment may be right that “such a combination of bumbling and sophistication seems extremely unlikely” and that the world has a genuine old manuscript. But this does not mean it is a worthy “gospel” fragment or a sacred text.

King said.

“Is Jesus talking about a real wife, or the church, or a sister-wife? Who is the Mary—his mother, his wife, or some other Mary entirely?”

As I tried to explain in these 10 chapters is that we might understand it that when we would like to translate it with “wife” we should understand it to be a “woman” or female person in the bond of covenant-ship of being a pupil or follower of Christ.

What also might be important is that certain conservative ideas about the role of women in church herewith would be contradicted. If the papyrus fragment reflects religious writing copied from earlier texts, perhaps ones in the fourth century, it would speak to early Christian concerns about the role of the family in the early Church, which famously called upon its adherents to put aside family and civic loyalties, King suggests.

“This is not evidence that Jesus was married. We don’t know,”

Professor King originally interpreted the document as a debate about celibacy and had said:

“But early Christians were extremely interested in questions about whether they should be married or be celibate.”

Last month she added:

‘Now when I come back and read the fragment, it seems the major issue being talked about was that Jesus was affirming that wives and mothers can be his disciples,’ she said in an interview earlier this week.

The Harvard Divinity School writes:

If ancient, this tiny, damaged fragment provides tantalizing glimpses into issues about family, discipleship, and marriage that concerned ancient Christians. The main topic of the dialogue between Jesus and his disciples is one that deeply concerned early Christians, who were asked to put loyalty to Jesus before their natal families, as the New Testament gospels show. Christians were talking about themselves as a family, with God the Father, his son Jesus, and members as brothers and sisters. The particular focus in the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife, however, is on women: his mother, Mary, his wife, and a female disciple. The disciples discuss whether Mary is worthy, and Jesus states that “she can be my disciple.” These signs indicate some controversy over whether women who are sexually active (mothers and wives) can be disciples of Jesus. Other early Christian writings defend marriage and reproduction against fellow Christians who think virginity and celibacy are required for all, or who argue that “women are not worthy of life.”

This gospel fragment provides a reason to reconsider what we thought we knew by asking what role claims about Jesus’ marital status played historically in early Christian controversies over marriage, celibacy, and family. The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife makes it possible to say that some early Christians believed that Jesus was married. This conclusion potentially has significant implications for the history of ancient Christian attitudes toward marriage, sexuality, and reproduction.

I agree with professor King that the papyrus may show that there were early Christians for whom …

“sexual union in marriage could be an imitation of God’s creativity and it could be spiritually proper and appropriate.”

For her the so-called ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’ may have been thrown out

“because the ideas it contained flowed so strongly against the ascetic currents of the tides in which Christian practices and understandings of marriage and sexual intercourse were surging.”

This representation of Jesus as a man with earthly passions and needs has not survived in the doctrines of the established churches, which emphasise celibacy and asceticism as a spiritual ideal. We as Christians should remember how Jesus preached equality between man and how we all had to love each other becoming one, united. Men and women equally united in the lord Christ Jesus, having the bride Jesus, him married to spiritual Israel, the Church.

The John papyrus fragment (right) comes from the same anonymous owner as the Gospel of Jesus’s wife and has the same line breaks as a papyrus transcribed in 1924 (shown on left). The papyrus and Gospel of Jesus’s Wife have similar ink and writing styles, suggesting the latter is a fake.

Find in this series:

Marriage of Jesus 1 Mary, John, Judas, Thomas and Brown

Marriage of Jesus 2 Standard writings about Jesus

Marriage of Jesus 3 Listening women

Marriage of Jesus 4 Place of the woman

Marriage of Jesus 5 Papyrus fragment in Egyptian Coptic

Marriage of Jesus 6 Jesus said to them “My wife”

Marriage of Jesus 7 Impaled

Marriage of Jesus 8 Wife of Yahweh

Marriage of Jesus 9 Reason for a new marriage

Marriage of Jesus 10 Old and New Covenant

To be continued with:

The Bride New Jerusalem

Additional reading:

Please find also of interest:

The ‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ is Still as Big a Mystery as Ever
Given that King announced the discovery at a professional conference and immediately made preliminary test results and high-resolution photographs available to the world, it is difficult to know what she could have done differently. Certainly a more somber title—something in Latin perhaps—would have conveyed more nuance and garnered less attention, but getting attention for the discovery and the field was King’s aim. It used to be the case that papyrus discoveries were routinely announced on the front pages of the Times of London, but things have changed. It’s tough out there when you’re not a Kardashian, and a catchy title and clear message can go a long way. It’s rare for scholars to pass up the opportunity to reach a broader audience when the opportunity presents itself, even if that means giving up some precision.

It’s Back — The “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” and the State of Modern Scholarship

Last week, the Harvard Theological Review released a much-delayed series of articles on the fragment. After a series of investigations undertaken by diverse scholars, the general judgment claimed by Professor King is that the fragment probably is not a forgery — or at least that it dates back to ancient times. The analysis suggested that the fragment dated from about four centuries later than Professor King had first suggested. This would place the fragment, if authentic, in the context of eighth-century Egypt — hundreds of years after the New Testament was written and completed.

The language used by the national media in reporting the story this time reveals the lack of confidence now placed in the fragment. The Boston Globe reported that the tests “have turned up no evidence of modern forgery,” but the reporter had to acknowledge that at least one of the scholars writing in the Harvard Theological Review insisted that the fragment is not only a forgery, but an amateurish effort. The New York Times ran a story that featured a headline announcing that the fragment “is more likely ancient than fake.” Note the uncertainty evident even in the headline.

“The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife? When Sensationalism Masquerades as Scholarship,”
One British newspaper notes that the claims about a married Jesus seem more worthy of fans of Dan Brown’s fictional work, The Da Vinci Code, than “real-life Harvard professors.” If the fragment is authenticated, the existence of this little document will be of interest to historians of the era, but it is insanity to make the claims now running through the media.

“No Evidence of Modern Forgery in Ancient Text Mentioning Jesus’s Wife,”
Specialists said, hypothetically, that a highly skilled modern forger could have obtained the right kind of ink and meticulously applied it to a blank piece of ancient papyrus.

Determining the age of the ink using conventional testing methods would destroy the tiny document, roughly the size of a business card. Groundbreaking work by Columbia University researchers may soon uncover a way to date the ink without harming the fragment, which would offer a more definitive verdict about its authenticity.

‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ likely isn’t a modern forgery, scientists claim
The Vatican has previously said that the document is most likely a modern forgery, but scientists from Columbia University, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say their analysis strongly suggests that it is indeed part of an ancient manuscript and that it wasn’t edited or tampered with. The researchers used micro-Raman and infrared spectroscopy to analyze the composition of the ink, looking for clues as to whether it may have been applied after the original document was damaged.
“There is absolutely no evidence for that,” Timothy Swager, an MIT chemistry professor who worked on the project, tells the New York Times. “It would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible.” The researchers dated the fragment to between the sixth and ninth century AD, noting that it bears a strong resemblance to other texts from that era.

The ‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ Is Real: What Now?
As with all scholarly work on the ancient world, it seems impossible to ever fully resolve disputes over the text and its interpretations. This isn’t the last word on the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife, but it is a fragment of understanding about how early Christians saw their savior.

No Forgery Evidence Seen in “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” Papyrus
One report in the journal, by epigrapher Leo Depuydt of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, claims grammatical errors dog the text and concludes, “The author of this analysis has not the slightest doubt that the document is a forgery, and not a very good one at that.”

Overall, he suggests that the papyrus was forged from a copy of the ancient Gospel of Thomas text, discovered less than a century ago in Egypt.

King refutes those criticisms in a response in the journal, arguing that the grammar errors are misinterpretations by Depuydt. She also argues that writings similar to the Gospel of Thomas were then prevalent in the eastern Mediterranean, so words from that gospel would not necessarily be a sign of forgery.
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In the journal reports, a chemistry team led by MIT’s Joseph Azzarelli concluded that the age of the papyrus scrap matches that of a verified Gospel of John papyrus from antiquity. The team relied on microspectroscopy of the papyrus, which found the fragment only slightly less oxidized—aged by exposure to air—than the verified gospel.

Likewise, Columbia University’s James Yardley and Alexis Hagadorn looked at the pigments in the ink on the fragment. They found it similar to “lamp black” ink used on other ancient texts.

‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’: Doubts Raised About Ancient Text
In an effort to confirm the origins of the papyrus and discover its history, Live Science went searching for more information about Laukamp and his descendents, business partners or friends.

Our findings indicate that Laukamp was a co-owner of the now-defunct ACMB-American Corporation for Milling and Boreworks in Venice, Fla. Documents filed in Sarasota County, Fla., show that Laukamp was based in Germany at the time of his death in 2002 and that a man named René Ernest was named as the representative of his estate in Sarasota County. [Proof of Jesus Christ? 7 Pieces of Evidence Debated]

In an exchange of emails in German, Ernest said that Laukamp did not collect antiquities, did not own this papyrus and, in fact, was living in West Berlin in 1963, so he couldn’t have crossed the Berlin Wall into Potsdam. Laukamp, he said, was a toolmaker and had no interest in old things. In fact, Ernest was astonished to hear that Laukamp’s name had been linked to this papyrus.

Is the ‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ a fake after all? Fresh doubts cast over ancient papyrus that suggested Jesus was married after another in the collection with the Same handwriting is proved to be a forgery
Fresh questions over the authenticity of the ‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ papyrus have been raised after a text from the same collection written in the same handwriting was proved to be a fake, experts say.
Debate over the fragment’s authenticity is set to continue as some will no doubt question these latest findings.
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Additional tests showed that the ink’s chemical composition is consistent with other inks used by the ancient Egyptians, while microscopic imaging found no suspicious ink pooling that critics of the papyrus said was evidence of the ink being applied in more recent times.

At the same time, other papyri from the collection were tested for means of comparison. One of those was a fragment from the canonical Gospel’ of John written in a rare ancient dialect of Coptic known as Lycopolitan. A Lycopolitan version of John, which was first published in 1924, is now available online.
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Many people over the centuries have tried to work out a ‘bloodline’ for possible descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

Many historians agree that there is no historical, biblical, archaeological or genetic evidence to support the idea.

New clues cast doubt on ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’

Once we started carbon-dating papyrus, forgers started using authentically ancient papyrus. Once we discovered how to identify ancient ink by its chemical composition, forgers started creating precisely the same ink.

Like steroids in sports, it’s safe to assume that the best bad guys are always one step ahead of the science.

And yet, the dating of the papyrus and ink did shift the burden back on to the doubters. And just this past week, they seem to have discovered something as close to proof as we can really expect in cases like this.
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Add to this the fact that the carbon dating of the John papyrus puts it in the seventh to ninth centuries, but Lycopolitan died out as a language sometime before the sixth century. No one wrote anything in Lycopolitan in the period in which this text would have to be dated.
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This forgery was detected not through lab analysis but through good old-fashioned humanities-based detective work. This was Sherlock Holmes, not “CSI.”

‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ Looks More and More Like a Fake

Just recently, Christian Askeland, a research associate with the Institut für Septuaginta-und biblische Textforschung in Wuppertal Germany, revealed new information that casts further doubt on the papyrus’ authenticity. His work is set to be published in the journal Tyndale Bulletin and is currently posted on a blog.

Askeland analyzed a second papyrus that, according to documents published in the Harvard Theological Review, was also purchased by the anonymous owner from Laukamp. It was presented to Harvard as a papyrus believed to be genuine.

This second papyrus, which has writing on two sides, includes text from the Gospel of John — and is a fake, writes Askeland, its lines being copied from a papyrus published in 1924. In addition, the researcher notes this papyrus has similar handwriting and ink to the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife, making it likely that the Jesus’s wife papyrus is also fake. [Proof of Jesus Christ? 7 Pieces of Evidence Debated]

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Centuries-Old Document Stirs Up Jesus Marriage Debate (fox8.com)
A newly revealed, centuries-old papyrus fragment suggests that some early Christians might have believed Jesus was married. The fragment, written in Coptic, a language used by Egyptian Christians, says in part, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …”Harvard Divinity School Professor Karen King announced the findings of the 1 1/2- by 3-inch honey-colored fragment on Tuesday in Rome at the International Association for Coptic Studies.
‘Gospel Of Jesus’ Wife’ Papyrus Is Ancient, Not Fake, Experts Say (huffingtonpost.com)
“The main topic of the fragment is to affirm that women who are mothers and wives can be disciples of Jesus — a topic that was hotly debated in early Christianity as celibate virginity increasingly became highly valued,” King, whose specialties include Coptic literature, Gnosticism and women in the Bible, said in a statement Thursday. “This gospel fragment provides a reason to reconsider what we thought we knew by asking what the role claims of Jesus’ marital status played historically in early Christian controversies over marriage, celibacy, and family.”The legible lines on the front of the artifact seem to form a broken conversation between Jesus and his disciples. The fourth line of the text says, “Jesus said to them, my wife.” Line 5 says “… she will be able to be my disciple,” while the line before the “wife” quote has Jesus saying “Mary is worthy of it” and line 7 says, “As for me, I dwell with her in order to …”
The Great Debate: Death and Taxes Matthew 22:15-33 (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
Jesus has boldly claimed authority as Israel’s Messiah by His triumphal entry, His cleansing of the temple, and His possession of the temple for His teaching and healing ministry (Matthew 21:1-17). It is while Jesus is ministering in the temple that His adversaries, the religious elite of Jerusalem choose to challenge Him publicly, demanding that He declare the source of His authority for all He has been doing (Matthew 21:23).
did jesus kill himself (or, maybe, have himself killed)? (unsettledchristianity.com)
Famously, some liberal theologians suggest Jesus only submitted to the cross after his example was wasted on the folk. Or, some suggest he was the first martyr. Neither of this, I think, does justice to what I am going to propose in my new dissertation. If we allow for the moment that devotio means, in its simplest form, “self-sacrifice,” then we can allow for an exploration of suicide as a form of devotio even if the proper term is not used.
The revelation of Jesus that John saw and heard (correctunderstandingofshinchonji.wordpress.com)
The revelation that John saw, heard, and recorded is the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rv 1:1). Anyone who learns this revelation of Jesus is not learning from mere men; he is learning from Jesus and the angels coming in his name (Jn 14:26; Rv 10). This revelation contains prophecies and their fulfillment (Jn 14:29; Rv 21:6). The prophecies record the events of betrayal, destruction, and salvation (2Thes 2:1-3). The fulfillment of Revelation includes battles and the handling down of judgment (Rv 13; Rv 12). Revelation describes the war between God and the devil, and the battle between God’s promised pastor and the pastors of the devil (Rv 12).
Psalm 2 (The coming reign of Jesus on Earth) (disciplesofhope.wordpress.com)
the scenario of Psalm 2:2 shows that the rulers of the earth are aware not just of God but also about Christ his anointed One. It means that the around that time (which will soon come) most people will have the Gospel preached to them as a witness. So there will be some rulers who will try to go against the Gospel teachings.
The Bible backs same-sex couples: Point by point, why conservatives are wrong (salon.com)
If the essence of marriage involves a covenant-keeping relationship of mutual self-giving, then two men or two women can fulfill that purpose as well as a man and a woman can. But is lifelong commitment between two adults sufficient for realizing a Christian basis for marriage? Or is there something unique about heterosexual relationships that prevents same-sex couples from truly illustrating Christ’s love for the church?
The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife ~ A Rogueclassicist Perspective (rogueclassicism.com)
We also saw some things from the Smithsonian, which may have added some gravitas to the story:
- The Inside Story of a Controversial New Text About Jesus (Smithsonian Magazine … very lengthy and interesting)
- What is the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife? (Video … different Gospels brought up)
… and it became apparent that this was connected to a documentary on the subject which was funded by the Smithsonian and which will appear on the Smithsonian Channel later this month.

Marriage of Jesus 1 Mary, John, Judas, Thomas and Brown

Posted on 2014/05/14 by Marcus Ampe

Talking about marriage the last few years there has often been much controversy if Jesus loved some one other person, a woman (Mary Magdalene/Miriam of Magdala) or a man (John the evangelist) or was even married.

Many organisations, like ours receive several questions about Jesus his marital status. Some may think that it was born of the popularity of Dan Brown’s controversial novel, The Da Vinci Code, but already before that novel was published we got many questions about that issue. Every now and then it comes up again. The Thomas and Judas gospels brought a big amount of letters in our mailbox, followed by the Da Vinci Code and now by the finding of the Jesus ‘ papyrus. Last year the screening on the Flemish National Geographic channel the Gospels of Judas and Mary once more brought tongues loose about those women round Jesus.

Brooklyn Museum – Mary Magdalene at the Feet of Jesus – James Tissot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In 1896 in Egypt the Gospel of Mary (or the Gospel of Mary Magdalene) a Gnostic version of New Testament events alleged to have taken place, particularly in association with Mary Magdalene, was found. We should be aware that it is probably written in the fifth century and includes three additional works: 1) the Apocryphon of John, 2) the Sophia of Jesus Christ, and 3) the Acts of Peter. These writings were published in Coptic. But there have also been found two additional manuscripts of the Gospel of Mary which are in Greek and date two centuries earlier. Portions of the text in the Gospel of Mary are incomplete.

The Da Vinci Code (which is fiction, so people should remember it is not reality) advocates the thesis that Jesus was in fact married to the woman we know as Mary Magdalene. It even goes so far to tell the reader that they had a child together, and that this “truth” was covered up by the church for self-serving reasons. At one point, to an online religious website Beliefnet survey, 19% of respondents said they believe that Mary Magdalene was in fact Jesus’ wife.

English: Image of the Last Page of the Coptic ...

Image of the Last Page of the Coptic Manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas. The title “peuaggelion pkata Thomas” is at the end. Courtesy of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate University. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 114 sayings written in the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, discovered in the Nag Hammadi collection of documents in Egypt in 1945, known as the Gnostic gospels, brings:

“hidden words that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down.” {Gospel of Thomas}

Because Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas uses words like ‘couch’ or ‘bed’, saying a.o.:

“Two will rest on a couch. One will die, one will live.”

There are persons who prefer “bed” to “couch” in the translation, like used in a later section in that the same Coptic text. Those who translate couch to “bed” in Salome’s speech, give her words a sexual aspect since she is a woman, and Jesus a man, yet nothing else in the dialogue implies any sexual element.

Salome asked Christ:

“Who are you, man, that as if you come from unity, you climbed on my couch and ate off my table?”

Marvin Meyer notes that the Coptic is literally “as from one,” but translates it as “as if you are from someone”. Bentley Layton has “like a stranger” as an emendation and notes that it literally means “As for one” Thomas Lambdin leaves it as an ellipsis.

You can question if we have to interpret the Coptic ‘OGA’, literally “one”, to mean unity, as it does in, for instance logion 22, and in other places, where it is used in the “two into one” motif. This fits well with the emendations in the rest of the dialog.

Jesus said to her:

“I am the one who lives from unity. I received that which is my father’s.”

“from that which is integrated. I was given some of the things of my father.” (Layton)

“I am the one who comes from what is whole” (Meyer)

“I am he who exists from the undivided.” (Lambdin)

In the four canonic gospels clearly we can hear Jesus speaking of the unity he has with his Father, with his followers and the unity we do have to have with him, with his followers, and with his Father. There too is indicated we all have to be ‘one’ and have to be “made whole” or have to be “integrated”or “unified”. The union Jesus is talking about has nothing to do with sexual unity or physical oneness between man and wife or between two people in general.

Also in the Gospel of Thomas we can find it is not exactly Salome or the ‘woman’speaking as “woman” or “wife” but as “student” (‘Maqhthes’) as opposed to the other pupils closer to Jesus the ‘disciples‘ and the chosen or selected pupils, the ‘apostles‘. (In many Aramic translations therefore there are clearly different words used to indicate what sort of pupil it is.)

Gospel of Mary, discovered in 1896. P. Oxyrhynchus L 3525, Papyrology Room, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When people got to read the Gospel of Mary and find in the second part the Sophia of Jesus Christ (3° Century):

Then Son of Man consented with Sophia, his consort, and revealed a great androgynous Light. His masculine name is designated ‘Savior, Begetter of All things’. His feminine name is designated ‘Sophia, All-Begettress’. Some call her ‘Pistis’ (faith). {Eugnostos the Blessed, from chapter III & V from the Nag Hammadi Library}

Some may interpret that also as having the 2° Adam (Christ Jesus) his consort or partner, being his wife Sophia, and making him having even more than one wife, or to have somebody who begot everything from him, or who could generate everything. This making a clear allusion to an other god or goddess in union with the other god (Jesus).

When you consider that the contents suggest Mary Magdalene as the alleged author, it is strange the real Mary of Magdalen, the one from Magdala or Mary Magdalene, would consider herself as a sort of goddess. But here too the writer tells us that she will proclaim to us hidden teachings from Jesus that Peter and the other disciples did not remember (Gospel of Mary 5:7). Lots of research is done on this document also coming to the conclusion that it is clearly not authored by Mary nor that its message would be consistent with the New Testament’s writings. Mysterious statements about God, good and evil, and the afterlife regularly contradict or add additional material than in the New Testament existing narratives.

In these books we may find the underlying false teachings which the Church loved to agree with the Roman rulers to coincide with the Roman and Greek Gods.

Texts like in a vision to John, Jesus saying:

“John, why doubt? Why be afraid? Don’t you know this image? Be not afraid. I am with you (plural) always. I am the Father, The Mother, The Son, I am the incorruptible Purity. {Prologue to the Teaching of the Savior,The Revelation of the Mysteries Hidden in Silence [Those Things that He Taught to John, His Disciple] from The Secret Book of John (The Apocryphon of John), Translated by Stevan Davies}

would like to insinuate that Jesus declares to be the God of the universe. A woman touch may be added:

His self-aware thought (ennoia) came into being. Appearing to him in the effulgence of his light. She stood before him.
…
[This, the first Thought, is the Spirit’s image]
She is the universal womb She is before everything She is: Mother-Father First Man Holy Spirit Thrice Male Thrice Powerful Thrice Named {The Secret Book of John (The Apocryphon of John)}

and Jesus is presented as an androgynous eternal realm, first to arise among the invisible realms.

But when they would look at other places, an other light might be shed again, where it is remembered that the True God can not be seen:

The One cannot be seen For no one can envision it The One is eternal, For it exists forever, The One is inconceivable For no one can comprehend it The One is indescribable For no one can put any words to it.

Most English translations of the Gospel of Thomas in use today were published in the period 1987-1998. Q-Thomas Reader, Kloppenborg, Meyer, Patterson, Steinhauser (1990) and The Gospel of Thomas and Jesus, Patterson, 1993 don’t contain the words ‘man’ or ‘men’ – in spite of the fact that the Coptic word for ‘man’ (rwme) occurs 35 times in the text! That word is instead translated usually as ‘person’, sometimes ‘human being’, etc., but never as ‘man’ or ‘men’. In contrast, the M-P family never translates the Coptic word for ‘woman’ as ‘person’. There is a linguistic rationale sometimes given that the Coptic word rwme corresponds to Greek anthropos, which is said to be gender-neutral, as opposed to anhr/andros, which designates a male.

Mike Grondin says:

The claimed correspondence simply isn’t true, however. Rwme was used to translate both anthropos and anhr/andros in Coptic translations of the Greek NT. Evidently, then, the word rwme included both meanings. Nor can we tell which Greek word lay behind each instance of rwme in the Greek version, for only one instance is extant; in all other cases, we’re guessing. Furthermore, even if everything this rationale assumes were true, it still doesn’t follow that ‘man’ should disappear from Thomas. It hasn’t, after all, disappeared from the Scholar’s Version of the canonical gospels, and even in several parallels to Thomas sayings where the Greek has anthropos, SV has ‘man’ instead of Meyer-Patterson’s ‘person’.{No Man’s Land: The Meyer-Patterson Family of Thomas Translations}

The John papyrus fragment (right) comes from the same anonymous owner as the Gospel of Jesus’s wife and has the same line breaks as a papyrus transcribed in 1924 (shown on left). The papyrus and Gospel of Jesus’s Wife have similar ink and writing styles, suggesting the latter is a fake.

To be continued:

Marriage of Jesus 2 Standard writings about Jesus

Marriage of Jesus 3 Listening women

Marriage of Jesus 4 Place of the woman

Marriage of Jesus 5 Papyrus fragment in Egyptian Coptic

Marriage of Jesus 6 Jesus said to them “My wife”

Marriage of Jesus 7 Impaled

Marriage of Jesus 8 Wife of Yahweh

Marriage of Jesus 9 Reason for a new marriage

Marriage of Jesus 10 Old and New Covenant

Please do find:

In Dutch:

+++

The Top Six Alternate Gospels and Scriptures (glitternight.com)
Everyone but the most sheltered Christians have known for centuries about the alternate, or apocryphal gospels. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were the four canonical or “official” gospels that were accepted by the mainstream church but there were dozens of other gospels with wildly varying versions of the story of Jesus.
+
Since the Gospel of Mary has gotten so much attention following the success of Dan Brown’s writings and their screen adaptations I decided to throw a spotlight on the neglected woman named Thecla instead. Thecla supposedly became a follower of the man called “Saint” Paul after hearing him speak in Iconium. In this book Paul is depicted as an advocate of refraining from all sex, even when married, which points to the probable Gnostic origins of The Acts of Thecla.
+
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas – I like to refer to this enjoyable book as “The Young Jesus Christ Chronicles”. This banned gospel deals with the infancy and childhood years of Jesus in much greater detail than any of the other gospels, official or otherwise.
+
not be confused with The Coptic Gospel of Thomas, which consists of 114 (yes, Rosicrucian conspiracy kooks, 114) sayings attributed to Jesus.
The Forbidden Gospel of Mary Magdalene (humansarefree.com)
For 1,500 years, Mary Magdalene was portrayed, in art and theology, as a prostitute whose life was transformed by Jesus’ forgiveness. This notion, based on Luke 7:38, was the result of an erroneous sermon preached in 591 by Pope Gregory the Great.
+
The stain of immorality attached to the figure of Mary Magdalene averted attention away from the significant role she plays in the unfolding of Christ’s teachings. The importance of Mary is especially apparent in Gnostic texts – some among the earliest accounts of Jesus’ ministry – which have been largely suppressed and ignored by Church authorities.
+
The Gnostics honoured equally the feminine and masculine aspects of nature, and Prof. Pagels argues Christian Gnostic women enjoyed a far greater degree of social and ecclesiastical equality than their orthodox sisters.
In the Resurrection Mary Magdalene Was the First Person to See Jesus (vineandbranchworldministries.com)
Jesus did not rise and then march into the Temple to confront the religious leaders or Caiaphas; he did not dash to the Praetorium to say to Pilate, “I told you so!”; he did not go stand in the center of Jerusalem to impress the crowd. Instead, Jesus revealed himself only to believers. The first person to see him was a woman who had been healed and forgiven and who tearfully stayed at the cross and followed his body to the tomb. As Jesus demonstrated throughout his life, he responded to those who waited attentively and faithfully. Jesus dissolved the perplexities of the disciples. He dried their tears. He dispelled their doubts. Jesus knows how similar we are to his original disciples, and he does not overpower us either. Even though our faithfulness wavers, Jesus faithfully stays with us.
The Gospel of Judas Revealed (newdawnmagazine.com)
The story of how the Gospel of Judas arrived in the Western world is a fascinating tale. Like many of the so-called Gnostic Gospels, it somehow travelled out of Egypt and arrived in the US with a large price tag. Unlike many manuscripts which vanish sight unseen, luck or providence if you like brought this manuscript not only to light but finally to restoration and publication. In the words of Professor Elaine Pagels, “the discovery of the Gospel of Judas is astonishing.”
+
The publication of the Gospel of Judas undertaken by National Geographic is unlikely to disturb the mainstream Christian church. In a recent interview, Monsignor Walter Brandmuller, president of the Vatican’s Committee for Historical Science, called it “a product of religious fantasy,” and went on to say, “There is no campaign, no movement for the rehabilitation of (Judas) the traitor of Jesus.”
‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ Looks More and More Like a Fake (nbcnews.com)
The “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife,” a papyrus written in Coptic and containing text that refers to Jesus being married, is looking more and more like it is not authentic, research is revealing.
+

Documents provided by the anonymous owner published in an essay by King recently in Harvard Theological Review say that the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife was purchased from Hans-Ulrich Laukamp in 1999 and he, in turn, obtained it in Potsdam, in what was East Germany, in 1963.

Vaderschap ingesteld verbondschap door de Schepper

Posted on 2014/05/02 by Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten

Inleiding

Enkele maanden geleden hebben wij hier in de Engelse artikelen het moederschap en vaderschap onder de loep gehouden.

Doorheen de geschiedenis is de rol en het begrip van “vaderschap” erg veranderd. zelfs in de patriarchale culturen is men op een bepaald ogenblik gekomen tot het aanschouwen van het vaderschap als een minimale rol en als de zwakste persoon van het gezin en degene die niet echt nodig is.

Op 28 juni 1993 , stelde TIME magazine in een artikel over Vaderschap de vraag: “Waar zijn al de Vaders ? ” tot op vandaag zijn er massa’s kinderen die die vraag nog steeds stellen in hun leven.

Oorsprong van het Vaderschap

In het aller begin van de mensheid, na dat God een man (Adam) en en vrouw (Eva) had geschapen, verzocht de Schepper hen zich te vermenigvuldigen, wat betekende dat zij kinderen moesten krijgen. Zoals zij voor de natuur en de gehele Schepping van God zorg moesten dragen zouden zij ook zorg moeten gaan dragen over hun kinderen of hun nageslacht. Ook al zouden al die zorgen voor hen zelf en het nageslacht niet altijd makkelijk zijn, want de zwangerschap op zich zou al niet altijd zo makkelijk verlopen. Man en vrouw zouden inspanningen moet leveren om alles goed te doen verlopen.

16 Tot de vrouw zei hij: „Ik zal de smart van uw zwangerschap+ zeer doen toenemen;* met barensweeën zult gij kinderen voortbrengen,+ en uw sterke begeerte zal naar uw man uitgaan, en hij zal over u heersen.”+

17 En tot A̱dam zei hij: „Omdat gij naar de stem van uw vrouw hebt geluisterd en van de boom zijt gaan eten waaromtrent ik u geboden had:+ ’Gij moogt daarvan niet eten’, is de aardbodem om uwentwil vervloekt.+ Met smart zult gij de opbrengst ervan eten al de dagen van uw leven.+ 18 En doorns en distels zal hij u voortbrengen,+ en gij moet de plantengroei van het veld eten. 19 In het zweet van uw aangezicht zult gij brood eten, totdat gij tot de aardbodem terugkeert, want daaruit werdt gij genomen.+ Want stof zijt gij en tot stof zult gij terugkeren.”+

20 Hierna gaf A̱dam zijn vrouw de naam E̱va,*+ omdat zij de moeder moest worden van een ieder die leeft.+ (Genesis 3:16-20)

De Vrouw – This is Eva (Photo credit: Stuck in Customs)

Aldus kunnen wij Eva als onze aartsmoeder aanschouwen. De eerste Adam (want later zou God een nieuwe of tweede Adam voorzien) werd de eerste vader op deze aarde.

4 A̱dam nu had gemeenschap met E̱va, zijn vrouw, en zij werd zwanger.+ Mettertijd baarde zij Ka̱ïn*+ en zei: „Ik heb met de hulp van Jehovah een man voortgebracht.”*+2 Later baarde zij wederom, [namelijk] zijn broer A̱bel.+ (Genesis 4:1-2)

Daarop volgden nog ander kinderen en die kinderen kregen op hun beurt ook weer kinderen.

17 Naderhand had Ka̱ïn gemeenschap met zijn vrouw+ en zij werd zwanger en baarde He̱noch. Daarna ging hij een stad bouwen en noemde de naam van de stad naar de naam van zijn zoon He̱noch.+18 Later werd aan He̱noch I̱rad geboren. En I̱rad werd de vader van Mehu̱jaël, en Mehu̱jaël werd de vader van Methu̱saël, en Methu̱saël werd de vader van La̱mech. (Genesis 4:17-18)

De Schepper volgde het gebeuren en hielp hier en daar voor het voorzien van kinderen.

10 Toen zei Jehovah’s engel tot haar: „Ik zal uw zaad zeer vermenigvuldigen,+ zodat het wegens het grote aantal niet geteld zal worden.”+ (Genesis 16:10)

17 Toen A̱bram nu negenennegentig jaar oud was, verscheen Jehovah aan A̱bram en zei tot hem:+ „Ik ben God de Almachtige.*+ Wandel voor mijn aangezicht en betoon u onberispelijk.+2 En ik wil mijn verbond geven tussen mij en u,+ opdat ik u zeer, zeer moge vermenigvuldigen.”+ (Genesis 17:1-2)

20 Maar wat I̱smaël betreft, ik heb u gehoord. Zie! Ik wil hem zegenen en wil hem vruchtbaar maken en wil hem zeer, zeer vermenigvuldigen.+ Hij zal stellig twaalf oversten* voortbrengen, en ik wil hem tot een grote natie doen worden.+ (Genesis 17:20)

13 En wat de zoon van de slavin+ betreft, ik zal ook hem tot een natie maken, omdat hij uw nakomeling is.”+ (Genesis 21:13)

4 ’En ik wil uw zaad vermenigvuldigen als de sterren aan de hemel en ik wil aan uw zaad al deze landen geven;+ en door bemiddeling van uw zaad zullen alle natiën der aarde zich stellig zegenen’,*+5 ten gevolge van het feit dat A̱braham naar mijn stem heeft geluisterd* en zijn plichten jegens mij, mijn geboden, mijn inzettingen en mijn wetten steeds in acht heeft genomen.” (Genesis 26:4-5)

17 ik u voorzeker zal zegenen en uw zaad voorzeker zal vermenigvuldigen als de sterren aan de hemel en als de zandkorrels die aan de zeeoever zijn;+ en uw zaad zal de poort* van zijn vijanden in bezit nemen.+ (Genesis 22:17)

10 Jehovah, UW God, heeft U vermenigvuldigd en ziet, GIJ zijt heden zo talrijk als de sterren aan de hemel.+ (Deuteronomium 1:10)

Maker ook Vader

Als Maker van de eerste mensen, Adam en Eva, was God hun Schepper maar ook de Vader van de gehele schepping. Hierdoor konden Adam en Eva hun maker ook Vader noemen. Zij hadden alles is hun bereik, gekregen van God de Vader.

Belangrijk ingestelde overeenkomst

Uit meerdere Bijbelteksten kunnen wij opmaken dat het vaderschap eigenlijk iets bijzonders is dat ook door God ingesteld is geworden. In verscheidene gevallen was het de Schepper Jehovah God die ook zei dat Hij deze of gene (zoals Abraham ) had gekozen. Vaderschap is een roeping, niet zomaar een baan . Het is een roeping, omdat Jehovah zei dat Hij Abraham had gekozen zodat de uitgezochte of uitverkorene zijn kinderen zou afdwingen. Het vaderschap kan aldus aanschouwd worden als een roeping die komt van de Aller Hoogste van alle werkgevers. Het is vastgesteld door God om Zijn goddelijke doeleinden te bereiken. de aarde zou bevolkt worden door mens en dier in een omgeving van aarde met begroeiing en met watervlakten. Deze roeping die ook aan Abraham werd toegekend, wordt genoemd in de Schrift een “convenant” of “Verbond” genoemd.

Meestal wordt een formele, plechtige en bindende overeenkomst of belangrijke afspraak, een “Convenant” genoemd. Hieruit zouden wij mogen besluiten dat de overeenkomst met Abraham ook door God als een belangrijke overeenkomst werd aanschouwd. Voor Hem was het een Verbond met een waarde die de verdere gemeenschap zou moeten herkennen. In het 17de hoofdstuk van Genesis is dit convenant vastgelegd in de eerste 4 verzen waarbij ons ook de gezegende leeftijd van de Aartsvader kenbaar wordt gemaakt. Op 99 jarige leeftijd verscheen God Abraham en gaf hem te kennen dat Hij God de Almachtige was die voor alles kon zorgen en met hem bereid was een verbond aan te gaan. Tussen Jehovah, de Almachtige God en Abraham stelde Hij dat Abraham “zeer zal vermenigvuldigen”. Hierop toonde Abraham zich dankbaar en getuigde dat wat hem betrof, zijn verbond ook met God was en dat Deze de Vader van vele volken zou worden.

17 Toen A̱bram nu negenennegentig jaar oud was, verscheen Jehovah aan A̱bram en zei tot hem:+ „Ik ben God de Almachtige.*+ Wandel voor mijn aangezicht en betoon u onberispelijk.+ 2 En ik wil mijn verbond geven tussen mij en u,+ opdat ik u zeer, zeer moge vermenigvuldigen.”+

3 Hierop viel A̱bram op zijn aangezicht,+ en God* sprak verder met hem en zei: 4 „Wat mij betreft, zie! mijn verbond is met u,+ en gij zult stellig een vader van een menigte natiën worden.+ 5 En uw naam zal niet meer A̱bram* worden genoemd, en uw naam moet A̱braham* worden, want tot een vader van een menigte natiën wil ik u maken. 6 En ik wil u zeer, zeer vruchtbaar maken en wil u tot natiën doen worden, en koningen zullen uit u voortkomen.+

7 En ik wil mijn verbond gestand doen tussen mij en u+ en uw zaad na u overeenkomstig hun geslachten, als een verbond tot onbepaalde tijd,+ om mij aan u en aan uw zaad na u als God* te doen kennen.+ 8 En ik wil aan u en aan uw zaad na u het land van uw inwonende vreemdelingschap geven,+ ja, het gehele land Ka̱naän, als een bezit tot onbepaalde tijd; en ik zal mij stellig aan hen als God doen kennen.”+

9 En God zei verder tot A̱braham: „Wat u aangaat, gij dient mijn verbond te houden, gij en uw zaad na u, overeenkomstig hun geslachten.+ (Genesis 17:1-9)

Vaderschap en gezin. – Minister President Beel in huiselijke kring, met vrouw en kinderen in huiskamer. 2 juli 1946. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

God riep vaderschap tot een verbond en maakte het daardoor ook tot een bindende overeenkomst. Toch is vaderschap meer dan alleen dat. Vele vaders kijken soms alsof het gewoon dat is: ‘Een bindende overeenkomst’, en dat daarmee de kous af is. Maar velen vergeten dat vaderschap meer inhoud dan enkel en alleen de tittel. De bindende overeenkomst is meer dan een wettelijke bepaling. Het is een benaming voor iets dat een zeer grote lading dekt en veel verantwoordelijkheid eist.

De laatste jaren zijn ouders wel meer geconfronteerd met het legale van dat vaderschap en moederschap. doordat het ouderschap zeer lichtzinnig is opgenomen, de laatste jaren, heeft men veel ouders die elkaar de rug hebben toegekeerd en de kinderen de dupe lieten worden van hun echtscheidingsverhaal. In vele gevallen was de eerste hoofdbekommernis van die mensen niet het wel en wee van hun kinderen, maar was hun eigen vrijheid de voornaamste bekommernis. als eerste vraag bij het uit elkaar gaan, kwam meestal de gedachte eerst op “Wat zal de rechter me aan doen?” Later komt bij velen de vraag op “Wat is mijn juridische verantwoordelijkheid?” en vervolgens “Wie zal de kinderen krijgen?” of “Wie zal er voor de kinderen zorgen?” ” Hoeveel moet ik betalen?”

Veel te laat, worden zij dan wakker geschud om ernstig over de verantwoordelijkheid betreft de kinderen na te denken. Maar toch ontgaat velen dan nog de ‘conventuele’ verantwoordelijkheid.

Vaderschap gaat over de generationele overdracht van de mandaten (eis, bepalingen, rechten) ingesteld door het Allerhoogste orgaan in het Universum, namelijk de Maker van dit alles, Jehovah God.

In een convenant wordt er vooropgesteld dat er partijen zijn die over gaan om met elkaar een verbond te sluiten in wederzijdse overeenstemming. In dat ‘Verbond’ wil men dingen vaststellen of bestatigen. Men wil er dingen in bevestigen die duurzaam zijn en voor meerdere generaties kunnen duurzaam zijn. Dus in vaderschap, is het een beslissing voor de man om niet enkel een vader te zijn en is het niet alleen een besluit met betrekking tot zijn kinderen. Vaderschap kan trouwens enkel maar ontstaan bij een overeenkomst met een ander die voor de komst van kinderen kan zorgen. Dat kan een moeder zijn, maar ook tot adoptie overgaande ouders, of tegenwoordig meer en meer opnemende ouderrollen inhouden, als voedstervader. In alle gevallen van het kind tot zich nemen en erkennen als kind van zich, kan men het zich vader(papa) laten noemen en geeft men het kind iets mee dat van generatie op generatie zal over gaan.

Het ‘Vaderschap’ is een roeping waarbij men de verantwoordelijkheid draagt over het desbetreffende kind, maar ook over de generatie waarin het zal leven. Want datgene wat men het kind zal mee geven zal het verder mee dragen in haar cultuur en mee geven aan haar volgende generaties.

Father and son (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Velen zijn vergeten dat vaderschap eigenlijk een opdracht is van God. Mogen wij daarom nog even herinneren aan het begin van dit artikel en aan het begin van de mensheid. In de tuin van Eden vertelde God Adam en Eva vruchtbaar te zijn en zich te vermenigvuldigen. De reden was om het beeld van God te repliceren door de geschiedenis heen, zodat de vader een dergelijk beeld van God in hun kinderen kon zien, waarbij die kinderen het huis van hun eigen ouders zouden uitgaan om weer een nieuw thuis te creëren, een microwereld in het grote geheel, waarop God zou kunnen besluiten of het goed was of in het slechte geval, dat het niet goed was.

In het scheppingsverhaal zien wij telkens dat God het geschapene bekeek en dan Zijn mening er over uitsprak. Hij zag dat het goed was, vooraleer over te gaan tot iets nieuws te scheppen. Wij mogen er van overtuigd zijn dat Zijn Scheppingsverhaal nog niet ten einde is gekomen. Uit de geschiedenis leren wij wel dat God er voor gezorgd heeft dat er een Nieuwe Schepping verwezenlijkt werd, met de komst van de 2° Adam. Met die man heeft God een Nieuw Verbond gemaakt, en vallen wij onder deze nieuwe regeling die wij al of niet ter harte kunnen nemen.

Wij zouden er daarom beter aan doen ook mee te helpen om het beeld van God over heel de wereld te verspreiden en er voor te zorgen dat ons nageslacht kennis heeft van de Aller Hoogste en Allergrootste Maker van alle dingen, de Almachtige God aan wie alle eer en glorie toe behoort. Hiij is het die iedereen glorie geeft maar ook glorie terug verlangt. Kinderen, als deel van hun ouders, en de ouders zullen steeds moeten beseffen aan wie zij zich moeten onderwerpen en er getuigen.

9 Ja, de stem van Jehovah doet de hinden ineenkrimpen van weeën+ En ontbloot de wouden.*+ En in zijn tempel zegt een ieder: „Glorie!”+ (Psalmen 29:9)

5 Daarom bestaat er een dwingende reden voor* dat GIJ in onderworpenheid zijt, niet alleen vanwege die gramschap, maar ook vanwege [UW] geweten.+ 6 Want daarom betaalt GIJ ook belastingen; want zij zijn Gods openbare dienaren,*+ die juist dit doel voortdurend dienen.* 7 Geeft* aan allen wat hun toekomt: aan hem die [vraagt om] de belasting, de belasting;+ aan hem die [vraagt om] de schatting, de schatting; aan hem die [vraagt om] vrees, die vrees;+ aan hem die [vraagt om] eer, die eer.+ (Romeinen13: 5-7)

20 Voorts sprak God al deze woorden* en zei:+

2 „Ik ben Jehovah, uw God,*+ die u uit het land Egy̱pte heb geleid, uit het slavenhuis.+ 3 Gij moogt geen andere goden*+ tegen mijn persoon in* hebben.

4 Gij moogt u geen gesneden beeld maken, noch enige gedaante gelijkend op iets wat in de hemel boven of wat op de aarde beneden of wat in de wateren onder de aarde is.+ 5 Gij moogt u voor die niet buigen, noch u ertoe laten bewegen ze te dienen,*+ want ik, Jehovah, uw God, ben een God die exclusieve toewijding eist,*+ die straf voor de dwaling van vaders brengt over zonen,* over het derde geslacht en over het vierde geslacht,* wanneer het hen betreft die mij haten,+ 6 maar die liefderijke goedheid* betracht jegens het duizendste geslacht* wanneer het hen betreft die mij liefhebben en mijn geboden onderhouden.*+

7 Gij moogt de naam van Jehovah, uw God, niet op onwaardige wijze* opnemen,*+ want Jehovah zal niet ongestraft laten wie zijn naam op onwaardige wijze opneemt.+ (Exodus 20:1-7)

God hoort de Allerhoogste Vader en Koning te zijn van al de kinderen en al de ouders (Psalm 47:7) en Hij hoort de sterkste Vader te zijn voor allen (Jesaja 9:6)

In het beeld van God zijn wij geschapen en hebben wij de mogelijkheid gekregen om kinderen voort te brengen. Hiertoe heeft God ons het ‘Vaderschap’ gegeven. De Schepper heeft hiervoor voor begeleiding gezorgd door Zijn Woord ter beschikking te stellen van iedereen. Hij heeft ook kenbaar gemaakt dat wij zelf onze eigen verantwoordelijkheid moeten dragen en voor onze gezinnen moeten zorgen. Wij zelf moeten ook onze kinderen begeleiding en kennis doen vergaren. Wij moeten er op toe zien dat ook onze kinderen voldoende kansen krijgen om te slagen.

We kunnen niet kiezen voor onze kinderen, we kunnen het niet verbergen voor negatieve ervaringen of de pijn die dit tijdperk tot hen en anderen kan brengen. Wij kunnen er wel voor zorgen ervoor dat, wij net als onze hemelse Vader, we toegewijd zijn om hen te instrueren, te begeleiden en hen te beschermen.

De meeste mannen denken dat de rol van een vader of moeder gewoon is voor het creëren van een kind met een vrouw. Het maken van kinderen is eenvoudig. Vandaag doen er zelfs velen dat zonder zich een man of een vrouw in de echt genomen te hebben. er zijn er zelfs bij die kinderen maken zonder uit te gaan van enig liefdes aspect, maar gewoon voor het genot van de seks. Vele mensen vandaag hebben zich verlaagd tot de zelfde voortplantingsfuncties van andere zoogdieren.

Wij moeten er op toe zien dat de mens zijn edele positie mag behouden en waardig is. een kind moet meer zijn dan het gevolg van een seksuele handeling. Ook moet dat wezen dat ter aarde komt ook zelf verhoogd worden. Juist het verhogen van een kind, is het lastige deel .

In feite, heeft vaderschap veel meer te maken met banden van het hart, dan met de biologische banden. Banden die zijn gemaakt van die onbreekbare verbinding gevormd door de liefde .

Vaderschap is liefdevol toezien op een kind, biologisch of niet, met een liefde die hen het gevoel geeft dat ze altijd worden gehoord en nooit genegeerd. De vader moet een toeverlaat en mentor zijn. Hij moet het kind het gevoel mee geven dat het belangrijk is. Ook moet hij er voor zorgen dat oren altijd klaar staan om te horen wat het kind te zeggen heeft. Maar ook moet hij er voor zorgen dat het kind zal leren luisteren naar de ouders maar ook naar hen die mede instaan voor de opvoeding, zoals leerkrachten en leermeesters. De ouder moet de belangrijkste schakel zijn in het leerproces van het kind.

Estafette loop

In het volgende hoofdstuk: “Vaderschap complex en uniek verschijnsel” gaan wij verder kijken hoe veel mensen niet meer geïnteresseerd zijn in het hebben van kinderen en neer kijken op degenen die de tijd nemen om een aantal kinderen te hebben. Hierbij willen wij op het belang wijzen van kinderen die de toekomstige generatie vertegenwoordigen maar ook mee zullen moeten helpen om de voorgaande te dragen. Als wij naar het snel industrieel en financieel opkomende China kijken, zien wij dat de vroegere één kind politiek ernstige gevolgen heeft op de last van de huidige populatie. Zonder kinderen is er geen voortzetting van het volk. Met te weinig kinderen zullen er niet genoeg werkende mensen in staat zijn om te zorgen voor de mensen die niet meer kunnen werken.

Ook zullen wij kijken hoe belangrijk respect, eer, en ondersteuning wel zijn voor degenen die willen zorgen voor de volgende generatie. Vaderschap en moederschap mogen nu erg onder druk staan, maar wij moeten er voor zorgen dat deze spoedig een opwaardering zullen krijgen.

Deze generatie moet inzien dat indien ouderschap niet naar waarde wordt geschat er weldegelijk problemen kunnen rijzen. De convenanten moeten worden doorgegeven ! Het woord dat wordt gebruikt vandaag is erfenis. Het atletische woord voor dat covenant is het passeren van het stokje voor de estafette loop. wij moeten allemaal onze loop kunnen beëindigen op een goede wijze. Iedereen die ter wereld komt zal zijn of haar doel moeten bereiken.

In deze race die elke mens moet lopen, maakt het niet uit hoe snel je bent, maar hoe nauwkeurig je het stokje kan door geven! In het verbond, wordt het stokje doorgegeven naar beneden.

Het convenant kan een belofte van goede dingen inhouden of het kan een vloek van slechte dingen over brengen. Dit naargelang de keuze van de ouders. In het vaderschap is er geen grijs gebied. U zult iets doorgeven aan je kinderen of je wilt of niet .

Misschien moeten meer mensen eens denken over de waarschuwing die de eerste Vader heeft mee gegeven aan de mensheid. die maker waarschuwde om op te letten aan wie wij eer wensen te geven. Wij moeten niet zo maar gaan buigen voor iedereen, ook niet onze kinderen. Ook moeten wij onze kinderen niet meer gaan dienen dan nodig. Wij moeten hen tot voorbeeld zijn en wij moeten er voor zorgen dat zij de juiste dingen leren. De verkeerde dingen die wij hen aanleren, zullen hun gevolgen ook bij hen hebben. De Allereerste Vader zal steeds blijven toekijken op Zijn Schepping en zal steeds een ijverige god zijn. Wij mogen er zelfs van overtuigd zijn dat de God der goden er op toe zal zien dat eenieder zijn portie zal krijgen. daarbij hoort ook het straffen van de kinderen voor de zonden van de vaderen, de derde en vierde generatie van hen die Hem haten. Voor hen die God liefhebben en getrouw zijn heeft de Maker ook de belofte dat Hij hen zal naderen en helpen. Hen die Hem zoeken zal Hij tegemoet komen.En de getrouwen zal Hij ook trouw tonen tot in duizend geslachten van hen die Hem en Zijn geboden liefhebben.

Van bijzonder belang in onze tijd is uitleg van de term ” Vader “, dat is onder de loep genomen door feministische theologen als een schadelijke metafoor die het gevolg is van een patriarchale kerk structuur en cultuur Gregory’s .

De naam ” Vader ” , zei Gregory , leidt ons tot nadenken ( 1 ) een Wezen dat de bron en oorzaak van al en ( 2 ) het feit dat dit Wezen heeft een relatie met een ander -een kan alleen maar ” Vader ” als er is een kind betrokken . Zo is de menselijke term ” Vader ” leidt tot een natuurlijk te denken aan een ander lid van de Drie-eenheid , meer dan wordt gesuggereerd door een term als ” Schepper ” of ” Maker” overwegen . Door te bellen naar God ” Vader ” , Gregory notities , begrijpt men dat er bij God een kind van alle eeuwigheid , een tweede persoon die regeert met hem , gelijk en eeuwig met hem.

” Vader ” impliceert ook de initiatiefnemer van een generatie , degene die het leven verwekt in plaats van het bedenken het. en brengt het tot bloei in de geboorte . Dit is de wijze van bestaan , de weg van de oorsprong en wezen , van de Eerste Persoon van de Drie-eenheid . Hij handelt in trinitarische leven in een modus van het bestaan verwant aan dat van een vader in het aardse rijk. Voor de tijd , binnen het mysterie van de Heilige Drievuldigheid , God gegenereerd een andere persoon, de Zoon , als menselijke vaders genereren zaad.

Nergens Gregory , suggereren dat dit ” Vader ” is een mannelijk wezen : ” Het is duidelijk dat deze metafoor bevat een diepere betekenis dan voor de hand liggende ” , merkt hij op . De diepere betekenis , is te vinden in een passage van Paulus aan de Efeziërs :

We vaak voor lief nemen dat een persoon met een eigen identiteit heeft van nature een overeenkomstige specifieke rol en verantwoordelijkheid uit te voeren . Er is echter vaak weinig in beide rol of verantwoordelijkheid zijn natuurlijke … beiden iets meer dan sociale constructies .

In de negentiende eeuw , vaderschap aangetrokken tot het leveren van religieuze kader van het gezin , de leiding van de familie en toonaangevende gebeden. De vader was ook de familie kostwinner en eventueel beroepsonderwijs leraar van zijn zoon , alleen voor met zijn kinderen zichzelf nadat ze waren niet meer peuters . De moeder was de belangrijkste ouder vooral omdat de taak van de vader in de industriële revolutie bracht hem vaak te reizen .

Tijdens het begin van de twintigste eeuw , vaderschap werd nog meer betrokken bij kinderen met vaders verwacht steeds meer thuis te zijn en weg van de pub of cafe dat niet enige zoon zijn over- bemoederd in steeds gay! Vaders werden verwacht om hun kinderen te leren , neem ze uit en de band met hen van zelfs jonge leeftijd . Interessant is dat de ‘natuurlijke’ wens van vaders dicht bij hun kinderen te zijn maar eigenlijk ontstaan in de twintigste eeuw . Voor die tijd was het ‘natuurlijk’ voor vaders op armlengte te blijven van hun jonge , pre – volwassen kinderen .

Tegen het einde van de twintigste eeuw , vaderschap gemuteerd nog maar eens. De ‘ verzorgende vader nu co – ouders zijn kinderen ongeacht het geslacht . Niet elke vader keurt deze betekenis van het vaderschap . Sommige vaders graag zien dat hun kinderen alleen in het weekend – als dat . Toch heeft vaderschap veranderd met vaders meestal besteedt veel meer tijd met hun kinderen dan ze deden in de negentiende eeuw . Vaderschap Vandaag leunt nog steeds op haar economische rol , maar omvat inmiddels traditionele moederschap verantwoordelijkheden met betrekking tot de kinderen . Dit is natuurlijk deels een reactie op de groei van het verkeer en de werkgelegenheid van vrouwen de vrouwen .

Kortom , de vroegmoderne vader was er nauwelijks .

Daarentegen moet de laatmoderne vader worden betrokken . Dat is nogal een dramatische ommekeer voor een belangrijke identiteit in een beperkt geografisch en historisch kader.

Aanvullende lectuur:

+++

Fatherhood (therockpreacher.wordpress.com)
Fatherhood is about yielding to our Creator for guidance for our families to position our children to succeed.
What Is Fatherhood? (husbandofahomeschoolingmom.com)
Have you ever just stopped and wondered “What is fatherhood?” In today’s media the father has become the joke of most television shows, the weakest person of the family and the one who is not really needed. Back on June 28, 1993, TIME magazine published an article on Fatherhood. It asked the question “Where are all the Fathers?” That question still rings today in the life of many kids.
The Art of Fatherhood (ethanmichaelcarter.com)
Most men think that being a father or dad is simply about creating a child with a woman.Creating children is easy. Raising them correctly, is the tricky part.In fact, fatherhood has nothing to do with biological ties and everything to do with ties of the heart. Ties that are created from that unbreakable connection formed by love.
Divine Fatherhood (insightscoop.typepad.com)
Of particular interest in our own day is Gregory’s explanation of the term “Father”, which is under scrutiny by feminist theologians as a harmful metaphor that resulted from a patriarchal church structure and culture.The name “Father”, said Gregory, leads us to contemplate (1) a Being who is the source and cause of all and (2) the fact that this Being has a relationship with another person–one can only be “Father” if there is a child involved. Thus, the human term “Father” leads one naturally to think of another member of the Trinity, to contemplate more than is suggested by a term such as “Creator” or “Maker”. By calling God “Father”, Gregory notes, one understands that there exists with God a Child from all eternity, a second Person who rules with him, is equal and eternal with him.”Father” also connotes the initiator of a generation, the one who begets life rather than conceiving it. and bringing it to fruition in birth. This is the mode of existence, the way of origin and being, of the First Person of the Trinity. He acts in trinitarian life in a mode of existence akin to that of a father in the earthly realm. Before time, within the mystery of the Holy Trinity, God generated another Person, the Son, as human fathers generate seed.

Mutating Fatherhood (saqib.co)
We often take for granted that a person with a specific identity has a naturally corresponding specific role and responsibility to perform. There is though often very little in either role or responsibility being natural… both being little more than social constructs.In the nineteenth century, fatherhood gravitated to delivering the family’s religious framework, directing the family and leading prayers.
+During the early twentieth century, fatherhood became even more involved with children with fathers expected increasingly to be at home
+
Fathers were expected to teach their kids, take them out and bond with them from even a young age.
+By the end of the twentieth century, fatherhood mutated yet again. The ‘nurturing father’ now co-parents his kids irrespective of gender.
+
Today’s fatherhood still leans on its economic role but now includes traditional motherhood responsibilities with respect to children.
Fatherhood ~ What Are You Passing? (husbandofahomeschoolingmom.com)
What Are You Passing? Now there is a question to ask on the day after Halloween! But what I am asking goes deeper. What are you passing to your kids? What are you passing to your grandkids?
Do Men Need More Rights on ‘Forced Fatherhood’? (newser.com)
With Father’s Day near comes a debate about “forced fatherhood.” The phrase refers to guys who get turned into fathers against their will through unplanned pregnancies, explains Laurie Shrage in the New York Times. Men in this situation “have few choices,” she writes. It’s ultimately the woman’s call on whether to have the baby, but her decision could saddle the man with years of child support even though he had no intention of becoming a dad. It’s time we gave men more “reproductive autonomy” by providing them with more options, writes Shrage. For example, maybe he contributes only to the medical expenses related to the pregnancy and birth, and the couple goes their separate ways.
Fatherhood is… (loveinshallah.com)
Photographer Sabrina Thompson‘s “Social Series: Fatherhood is…” project promotes positive images of black fathers. The campaign reached some 28 thousand people in its first six days.
fatherhood (quotiddly.wordpress.com)
Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.
Fatherhood (busal13.wordpress.com)
Two men and three women. It is said that a woman cannot raise a man.

3 Reasons the Resurrection Matters

Posted on 2014/04/18 by Guestspeaker

The resurrection of Jesus (alongside his crucifixion) is by the majority of Christians the central historical event in the Christian faith. You could say that

Without the resurrection there would be no Christianity.

The Jewish fighter against the first followers of Christ, after some time changed his mind and wrote to the Corinthian community:

“If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

The Resurrection of Christ (Kinnaird Resurrection) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lots of people came to the faith because of the tremendous stories they heard and because they came to believe that resurrection of Christ Jesus was not a joke or a fairy tale. Many do not stand still what importance such an act of coming of the dead, by a man really means. Those trinitarian (believing in a three godhead) Christians who take Jesus to be God nullify his death, because the God of gods can not die, and make a farce of this man, who only wanted to follow the will of his Father and not of himself.

“41 And he was parted from them about a stone’s cast; and he kneeled down and prayed, 42 saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:41-42 ASV)

We should understand that Jesus did not pray to himself, but to a much Higher Being, to Whom he would go later.

“28 and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who hath given [them] unto me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:28-29 ASV)

“Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28 ASV)

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.” (John 14:12 ASV)

“Now I know that Jehovah is greater than all gods; yea, in the thing wherein they dealt proudly against them.” (Exodus 18:11 ASV)

Several Christians say they believe in the resurrection and are convinced that after dying a violent death on a Roman cross on a Friday afternoon in 30 A.D., Jesus of Nazareth came back to life and emerged from the tomb on Sunday morning. Those days are not correct, but are not the subject of what we want to bring forward today.

Jesus, as a devote Jew celebrated the Passover or the liberation of God’s People. On the 14th of Nisan, the first month of the Judaic year, he with his closest friends installed a New Covenant, between his Father and those who wanted to come close to God . The Jews had got their opportunity to be the most praised people of God, but now others could also come into the House of God, thanks to what Jesus accomplished.

He was a man of flesh and blood who could be tempted. His heavenly Father is a Spirit and has no flesh, blood or bones. God also can not be tempted and can not sin. Jesus himself never had claimed to be God and always had spoken with respect of his Father in heaven, without Him he could do nothing. Him always referring to his Father made the Pharisees willing to get rid of him.

“17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work. 18 For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner.” (John 5:17-19 ASV)

“21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father. 22 Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24 ASV)

That he was not a spirit he would proof to his disciples after he was taken our of the dead, after having resided for three days in hell. (In case many Christians could count well, they would not take Good Friday as a day Jesus died and Sunday being the day he stood up from the dead, because than he would not have been three days death.)

Lamentation at the Tomb, 15th century. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We may already be happy those Christians say Jesus was put unto death, put in a grave (sheol = the hell) and was resurrected. They should come to see it was not Jesus who came from himself out of the grave, but that it was his Father Whom took him from the dead. This is important, because when Jesus is a man of flesh and blood, who can get up from being death, this makes it also possible for us. In case Jesus is God that does not proof anything for a humble human being, who can sin and probably did more than one sin in his or her life. When we know how severely God punished the first human beings and did not make an end straight ahead to this distorted situation and broken relation, we should wonder what the use would be in case God Himself would come to earth to play a man and to do as if He could be tempted and as if He could die. You might wonder why such a charade would have any use and why God than waited such a long time to come to this earth to play the role of Messiah.

From historical writing we got to know what happened in the past with the people who claim to be God His People. We also got to know about the Nazarene Jew Jeshua who did many miracles and who claimed to be the son of God, but never said he himself was God.

His resurrection is not easy to believe. But if it is true, it is the most pivotal event in human history. Much has been written in defense of Jesus’ resurrection, according to Brian G. Hedges, Lead Pastor for Fulkerson Park Baptist Church and the author of Christ Formed in You: The Power of the Gospel for Personal Change, Licensed to Kill: A Field Manual for Mortifying Sin, and Active Spirituality: Grace and Effort in the Christian Life, the most thorough and convincing book being N. T. Wright’s massive 800-page volume, The Resurrection of the Son of God. (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Volume 3) (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2003)

What is unquestionable is that the first generation of Jesus’ followers did believe he had risen, and were convinced that everything had changed as a result.

Consider just three of the ways the New Testament highlights the significance of the resurrection.

1. Jesus’ resurrection means that his sacrificial death on the cross was sufficient, and therefore our sins can be forgiven.

Paul emphasizes this in 1 Corinthians 15, reminding us that

“Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (vv. 3-4).

Then, in verse 17, he argues that

“if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”

In other words, Paul saw a direct connection between the resurrection of Jesus and the sufficiency of his death to atone for our sins. When Jesus rose again on the third day, it was the public announcement that God was fully satisfied with the sacrificial death of his son Jeshua. In his resurrection, Jesus was vindicated (1 Timothy 3:16). But in his vindication, we are vindicated too. That’s why Paul says in Romans 4 that Jesus

“was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

2. Jesus’ resurrection means that death is defeated once and for all.

As Peter proclaimed on the Day of Pentecost,

“God raised [Jesus] from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24).

The distinctive English image, with Christ stepping on a soldier, in a 14th century Nottingham alabaster relief (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We are told that ‘Death‘ lost its grip on Jesus! Death could never have had a grip on God. But every man, though being created in the image of God, would, because of the sin of the first man, be in submission to death.

When Jesus was a man of flesh and blood and not a spirit, like his Father, this all makes sense. By the Father taking His son out of death and even by taking him to sit on his right site, to become a mediator between God and man, we have the assurance Jesus can mean something to us. He is not only our solicitor or privileged intercessor by the Most High, he is also an example to what can happen also to us.

The resurrection means that Jesus not only defeated death for himself, but that he defeated it for us. He died and rose as a new representative for humanity, as the Second Adam.

“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,”

writes Paul,

“the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).

It is in that way that Jesus his disciple John looks at the genesis of the New World of Christ, where Jesus is that begin for all of us, the alpha, but also the end, the omega.

After the default Adam, we have a remake Adam to which we can refer; In him we find a new harddisk to start anew, fresh under his guidance, with his software.

His resurrection guarantees ours.

Perhaps no one has said this more eloquently than C. S. Lewis. In his 1947 book Miracles, Lewis wrote:

“The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits,’ the ‘pioneer of life.’ He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. This is the beginning of the New Creation: a new chapter in cosmic history has been opened.”

The empty tomb assures us that sickness and suffering, death and disease will not have the final word.

This should be both personal and powerfully hope giving to all of us.

3. Jesus’ resurrection means that the material world matters.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, when the apostles said that Jesus rose again, they meant that his physical body came back to life. The risen Jesus wasn’t a phantom or ghost, but a breakfast-eating, flesh-and-bone, human being (see Luke 24:36-43 and John 21:10-14).

As the Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist John Updike once said,

Make no mistake: if He rose at all

it was as His body;

if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules

reknit, the amino acids rekindle,

the Church will fall.

When Jesus’ came out of the tomb in a physical body, it was God’s definitive stamp of approval on the creation project with all of its materiality. The resurrection shows us that matter matters. And this is why the early Christians looked to the future with confidence that the created order itself would be redeemed (see Romans 8:18-25).

Though we wait for the full consummation of new creation, the Scriptures also teach that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is already working within us (Ephesians 1:19-20). The resurrection, you see, not only assures of God’s forgiveness and comforts us in suffering as we anticipate the final reversal of death, disease, and decay; it also motivates and empowers us to push back the tide of suffering and evil in the present world, through word and deed, in mercy and in justice, all in Jesus’ name.

(Having taken in mind words from Brian G. Hedges,Lead Pastor for Fulkerson Park Baptist Church and the author of Christ Formed in You: The Power of the Gospel for Personal Change, Licensed to Kill: A Field Manual for Mortifying Sin, and Active Spirituality: Grace and Effort in the Christian Life. Brian and his wife Holly have four children and live in South Bend, Indiana. Brian also blogs at www.brianghedges.comand you can follow him on Twitter @brianghedges.)

End Notes

N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Volume 3) (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2003).

The Greek word for “justification” (dikaiosin) in Romans 4:25 is closely related to the word “vindicated” (edikaiothe) in 1 Timothy 3:16.

C. S. Lewis, Miracles (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1947) 236–237.

John Updike, “Seven Stanzas of Easter,” in Telephone Poles and Other Poems (Random House, 2013).

Preceding articles:

Entrance of a king to question our position #1 Coming in the Name of the Lord

Entrance of a king to question our position #2 Who do we want to see and to be

Seeing or not seeing and willingness to find God

Additional reading:

+++

Can you question the Resurrection and still be a Christian? (religionnews.com)
Did Jesus literally rise from the dead in a bodily resurrection, as many traditionalist and conservative Christians believe? Or was his rising a symbolic one, a restoration of his spirit of love and compassion to the world, as members of some more liberal brands of Christianity hold?As Easter approaches, many Christians struggle with how to understand the Resurrection. How literally must one take the Gospel story of Jesus’ triumph to be called a Christian? Can one understand the Resurrection as a metaphor — perhaps not even believe it happened at all — and still claim to be a follower of Christ?
Resurrection – for ME? (aworldontheedge.com)
Resurrection is defined in the dictionary as the act of causing something that had ended or been forgotten or lost to exist again, to be used again, etc.We come into this world innocent, and nothing can change that we’re made in the image and likeness of God. Part of each one of us is spiritual, like it or not. And it is that spirituality that draws us to God.
The Resurrection is Believable (burrissblog.wordpress.com)
Opponents of Christianity and skeptical minds have always questioned the resurrection, just as they question many other teachings of Christianity. Such skeptics are more common in contemporary America, but they have always been around. What is surprising is that more and more Christians are stating their skepticism about the resurrection.
+
1. Something dramatic happened that changed the disciples from a hiding, defeated group to a group willing to die for their faith in Jesus. They were devastated when Jesus was killed. Did they just decide to reinterpret His death or did they see Him alive again?2. If Jesus’ dead body was in a tomb near Jerusalem, why didn’t His opponents simply bring out the dead body when His disciples started preaching that He was alive?
The Significance of the Resurrection (spyghana.com)
The embalmed remains of Lenin lie in a crystal casket in a tomb in Red Square in Moscow. On the casket it says: “He was the greatest leader of all peoples, of all countries, of all times. He was the [savior] of the world!”All is in the past tense for Lenin. How forward-looking, by contrast, are the triumphant words of Christ: “I am He that [lives] . . . I am alive forevermore.”
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What judge would listen to you in a court of law, if you said that while you were asleep your neighbor came into your house and stole your TV set? Who knows what goes on when he/she is asleep? A testimony like this would be ridiculed in a court of law. Besides, the guards would have lost their heads if they told the Roman governor, Pilate that they were asleep at their post and the disciples came and stole the body. Furthermore, we are faced with a psychological and ethical impossibility. Stealing the body of Jesus was something totally foreign to the disciples and all that we know of them. It would mean that they were perpetrators of a deliberate lie, which was responsible for the deception and the ultimate death of thousands of people.Each of the disciples faced the test of possible torture and martyrdom for his statements and beliefs. People will die for what they believe to be true, though it may actually be false. They do not, however, die for what they know is a lie. If anything is clear from the Gospels and the Book of Acts, it is that the apostles were sincere. They may have been deceived, if you like, but they were not deceivers. Hypocrites and martyrs are not made of the same stuff.
The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ Is The Greatest Single Event In Human History (fggam.org)
Do you realize that Jesus never corrected, withdrew, or amended any statement He ever made? I wish I could say that! Jesus Christ never apologized for anything He ever did or said. Jesus Christ never sought advice from anyone, never had to ask for forgiveness. Jesus Christ doesn’t have any strong points. For Him to have strong points, He would have to have weak points.
Three Implications of the Empty Tomb (mainthings.wordpress.com)
Paul says, if the King is risen and if the King is enthroned than nothing done for Him is meaningless. It is His triumph and not our fruitfulness that determines these realities.
Because of Easter, We Are Overcomers (chronicillnesspaindevotionals.wordpress.com)
As I think about the power that God exerted to raise Christ from the dead, my human mind can’t fully comprehend what that entailed. But I do know that no other power is so great, and as a Christian, that power now lives in me.
The Resurrection of Jesus is not optional (gracedigest.com)
Notice that there are three key parts to the gospel Paul preached. 1. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. 2. He was buried. 3. He as was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. This is important! If you take away the resurrection component you have nothing! Try sitting on a stool with two legs! Just so, a gospel without the resurrection of Jesus is no gospel (good news) at all! Paul went to great lengths to assure his readers that indeed Christ did rise from death.
Is Jesus’ Resurrection the Best Explanation of the Evidence? (jkw00d.wordpress.com)
1. Historical claims are strong when supported by multiple, independent sources.
2. Historical claims which are also attested to by enemies are more likely to be authentic since enemies are unsympathetic, and often hostile, witnesses.
3. Historical claims which include embarrassing admissions reflect honest reporting rather than creative storytelling.
4. Historical claims are strong when supported by eyewitness testimony.
5. Historical claims which are supported by early testimony are more reliable and less likely to be the result of legendary development.+
  Some skeptics argue that Jesus may have been crucified but He did not actually die. Instead, He lost consciousness (swooned) and merely appeared to be dead only to later be revived in the cool, damp tomb in which He was laid. After reviving He made His way out of the tomb and presented Himself to His disciples as the “resurrected” Messiah. Thus the Christian religion begins.
The Doctrine Without Which Holy Week Is Not Good News (derekzrishmawy.com)
Unless I am united to Christ, all of his obedience to the covenant, or righteousness, is not mine–I am left to stand on my own false works before the judge of all the earth. Unless I am united with Christ, then his sin-bearing death is not mine, and I am left to give an account for all my wicked sins. Unless I am united with Christ, I am not part of the crop of which Christ is the first-fruits, and I can only reap the death that sin leads to and have no life through the Spirit.

People Seeking for God 7 The Lord and lords

Posted on 2014/03/10 by Christadelphians

With purpose in the previous article People Seeking for God 6 Strategy we used a few times the words LORD and Lord. We can ask if everybody could clearly know about whom we where talking. When people read certain New Testaments in their language they can find often written ‘Lord’ or ‘lord’, but for sure it is not clear about whom it is been talking. Several people also use the title “Lord” to indicate God, but at the same time they use is it also to denote Jesus Christ (‘hail Zeus the Anointed”), whose name is really Jeshua in full Jehosjhua or Jehosjoea (“Salvation or Help from Jehovah”).

John Tenniel’s “Our New ‘First Lord’ at Sea” for the 13 October 1877 issue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Though the Most High Elohim is certainly the Master or owner of everything it may be very confusing to only keep calling Him”Lord”. In the Bible or Holy Scriptures we do find several times that there is somebody speaking who says about Himself He is the “Sovereign Lord Jehovah“. The “Sovran” or sovrin or supreme ruler or head and lord (lörd) master or feudal superior, the proprietor or owner and a dominant person. It could be a titled nobleman, a duke marquess, earl, viscount or baron, a peer. But than we face the other lord also, who could be by courtesy the son of a duke or marquis, or the eldest son of an earl.

Today many do take it when they speak about the ‘lord’, they mean Jesus but also God. so by always saying Lord they do not see the difference any-more about which lord is been spoken, either the Father or the son. In this instance also a special son, namely, the eldest of the New Covenant. Because after God had created the first Adam, that first son revolted against his Father, the Divine Creator, and God promised He would take care that an other son would come onto the earth to bring Salvation to all the descendants of the first Adam. The Divine Creator created an other human being to be the first of God His New Creation. That second and last Adam became as such the oldest son of the “Lord of the New Creation“. The second Adam as oldest son could as such be called “Lord” and was going to be called also “Lord of lords” by many, the master of many people who would be master of others or would be a ‘bishop’, a member of the House of Lords, a judge of the Court of Session and would be appointed by his Father in heaven as a mediator between God and man but also as the High Judge of this world, placed above all human judges this world would produce.

Title page of Parables (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This second Adam as such would not be a lordling (a little lord) but the lordship appointed by the Most High Lord of the Universe. With his lord-ship that second Adam, would receive a state or condition of being a lord receiving the territory of a lord by his heavenly Father, Jehovah God.

People would come to speak about the Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Supper, having for the first speaking about the prayer Jesus gave to his followers to talk to his Father, Who also should be “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9-13). When talking about the Lord’s table people would speak about the communion table, where holy communion took and takes place, remembering Jesus Christ who took the bread, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying tit was the sign of the New Covenant. It is used for the table where people gather around to remember the one lord who gave his flesh, blood and his whole soul (his whole being) only willing to do the wish of his heavenly Father and not his will. (Luke 22:42).

This second Adam told all those around him, he did not come into this world to do his will, but to do the will of his Father, who is must more mightier than him, and without Him he could do nothing. We should not look to do just the will of this lord Jesus, but should seek to do the Will of the Father of Jesus (John 5:30). Jesus recognised Who was the Only One Rightful Lord or Master of everything. Without this Master of the Universe Jesus could do nothing. He was only a creation of that Divine Creator who was given the possibility to handle in the name of the Most High Elohim, “Lord of Lords”. He might have been the only begotten son of God, but in case God did not gave him the power he was just nothing or like anybody else.

Joh 5:19-32 The Scriptures 1998+ (19) Therefore יהושע {Jeshua} responded and said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son is able to do none at all by Himself, but only that which He sees the Father doing, because whatever He does, the Son also likewise does. (20) “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all that He Himself does. And greater works than these He is going to show Him, in order that you marvel. (21) “For as the Father raises the dead and makes alive, even so the Son makes alive whom He wishes. (22) “For the Father judges no one, but has given all the judgment to the Son, (23) that all should value the Son even as they value the Father. He who does not value the Son does not value the Father who sent Him. (24) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me possesses everlasting life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (25) “Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of Elohim. And those having heard shall live. (26) “For as the Father possesses life in Himself, so He gave also to the Son to possess life in Himself, (27) and He has given Him authority also to do judgment, because He is the Son of Aḏam. (28) “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the tombs shall hear His voice, (29) and shall come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have practised evil matters, to a resurrection of judgment. (30) “Of Myself I am unable to do any matter. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own desire, but the desire of the Father who sent Me. (31) “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. (32) “There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.

Jesus could only become lord or judge by the allowance of his Father in heaven, to Whom he came to sit at His right hand to judge the living and the dead. Already early in time it was said Jehovah would raise up judges (Judges 2:16) but knowing that a man of flesh and blood would be the best person to know what is in the heart of an other person of flesh and blood, god has given the power to judge to His only begotten son, Jeshua (Jesus Christ). In that son people should be able to come to see Who God really was. Nobody would be able to bring an excuse because God had given His Word to the World in the Holy Writings brought into many different manuscripts by many men of the world who offered themselves to be men of God. The many promises made in hat Word became reality by the birth of that man Christ Jesus, and as such the Word became flesh (John 1:1-5)

Yah Chanan (John 1:1-3): In the beginning the Word having been and the Word having been unto God and God having been the Word he having been, in the beginning, unto God all through his hand became: and without him not even one being whatever became. (Aramaic New Covenant; ANCJ Released: 1996 Contents: New Testament Source Used: Exegeses Bibles (1996) Location: Tyndale House, Cambridge, United Kingdom)

It was the Most High Lord, Allah, the God or “Lord of heaven and earth“, Who took care that His Word could be brought to many, and that the world would come to understand the Word He provided. Jesus came to explain the Words of his Father, and made many things clear, which lots of people did not understand from the Hebrew Scriptures.

In this man Jesus people got to see an important person and as such called him also ‘sir’ or ‘lord’, which we would do when we encounter a man by which we do have no relation or whom we want to give esteem. As such we should consider the title ‘lord’ given to Jeshua a title of respect or courtesy. Some wrongly consider it a title giving proof of the godhead or divinity of Jesus. But would they consider the lords of this world also than to be the God, though several of them may be called gods as well. Already in Scripture we do find such lords also receiving a title of being a ‘god’ but that did not make them The God. Many love to bring John 1:1 to say Jesus was God because they would love to see it that way. But the phrase gives us to understand that the writer wanted to have his book written like the Genesis of the Hebrew Scriptures, but now the Genesis of the New Covenant or the “New Testament” (hence the name of the assembly of the Greek books).

“In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and a god was the Word.” (Emphatic Diaglott – interlineary side)

Many want to take the Word like Wisdom, which where personified in the writings to be really a person, but it was a description by which word was masculine and wisdom feminine, but not having like so many think a man god and a woman god, and therefore speaking of Elohim or the “Mighty Ones”, in the plural so more than one person. They forget that for higher persons always the Pluralis Majestatis was used. A singular person speaking with the term “we” but only appointing to himself as the higher placed one.

There where also may people in the world who tried to get people away from God and they did everything to obscure the Name of God and to confuse people. In the previous century, from the 1960ies onward they tried to erase the name of God from the Bible itself. Several new translations replaced the Name of God with the word Lord. At first they still used LORD and Lord, so that people still could see the difference between The God and the lord Jesus. Though for the trinitarians it was more useful to have not such distinction and to have people just to read ‘lord’ so that they could not see any more the difference between the Lord God and the Lord Jesus.

Those looking for God and wanting to get to know God better, their quest was made more difficult. But if they still tried to listen what was rally written in the Books they still could find the Only One God. It would have not been so easy when they could have found the Name of the One God, wherever it was originally written. Bbut God protected His Word and everywhere in the world could have been found proper translations where the Name of God was till placed there where the Tetragammaton (according to the syllables) or the Name of God was really originally written.

We may be pleased to see a tendency of change, coming back into the world, more people finding it important again to use Bibles with the Name of God where it was in the original writings. Several Restored Names, Holy Name Bible or Sacred Names Bible and Hebrew Roots Bible translations could see the light around the turn of the previous century.

To our shame lovers of God have to agree that in lots of the modern Bible translations including the later King James Bible versions, that our Heavenly Father’s personal name Jehovah/Yahweh has been taken out and replaced with titles and even names of pagan deities more than 10,000 times.
Literal translations were not much liked and lots of people were encouraged by their churches to read paraphrased Bile translations. Not many where eager to take a Bible translation close to the original language that was written thousands of years ago – the Bible as it was! The Old Testament from the original Hebrew manuscripts and the New Testament from the original Aramaic and Greek texts.

We should take it at heart that the Divine Creator wanted us to know Him and come into close realtionship with Him, having all the world for the many generations knowing His Name.

Exo 3:13-15 The Scriptures 1998+ (13) And Mosheh said to Elohim, “See, when I come to the children of Yisra’ĕl and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His Name?’ what shall I say to them?” (14) And Elohim said to Mosheh, “I am that which I am.”1 And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Yisra’ĕll, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” Footnote: 1The Heḇrew text reads: ’eyeh ’asher ’eyeh, the word ’eyeh being derived from hayah which means to be, to exist, but the Aramaic text here in v. 14 reads: ayah ashar ayah. This is not His Name, but it is an explanation that leads up to the revelation of His Name in v. 15, namely: יהוה {Jehovah}. (15) And Elohim said further to Mosheh, “Thus you are to say to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘יהוה {Jehovvah} Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Aḇraham, the Elohim of Yitsḥaq, and the Elohim of Yaʽaqob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance to all generations.’

Looking at Exodus 20:7 concerning the use of the Divine Creator His Name, we should be warned not to make His Name worthless: “Lo tisah et Shem YHVH Eloheicha l’shav.”

Exo 20:7 The Scriptures 1998+ (7) “You do not bring1 the Name of יהוה {Jehovah} your Elohim to naught, for יהוה {Jehovah} does not leave the one unpunished who brings His Name to naught. {Footnote: 1Or lift up, or take}.

By withholding the proclamation of His Name, we may well be guilty of “making His Name worthless.” Those who just use ‘Lord” do they not use lightly the name of the Adonai? Will Allah, the God of heaven and earth not leave those unpunished who uses His name lightly. Therefore it is important that we also show the outside world our relationship we do want to have with the Creator of heaven and earth.

In older American movies you might find children calling their father “sir”, but would you when you really love your father call him “sir” or “lord? Would you not speak to him by using the words “Father” and using His name when he himself asked you to call him by his name? God explained Who He was and is, and Who He wants to be know by the Whole world, and How important He does find it to have His name be hallowed. When we do know that our Father wants His Name to be praised and to be considered holy or set apart, would we than not place His Name apart and make it special?

By calling God “Lord” we are not making Him very special and do not use His Name but only a title, which also can be used by other people. The Name of God can not be used by other people in the same way. It is so special, so sacred, we also should give it an extra place and have others to know it.

The Torah and Tanach or Tanakh (‘Old’ Testament) clearly records how Hebraic Patriarchs and Prophets actually proclaimed and pronounced the Sacred Name as a Testimony to non-Jews and non-believers and how His followers will come to know His Name and call upon Him, using this Name!

When you keep using the title “LORD” or “Lord” you keep refraining from using the Sacred Name of God. by not using the name of the God of Adam, the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, who was also the God of Jesus and the God of the apostles, you do not show the love for the Father of Christ, nor the love for the son of the Father who taught his followers the importance of the Name of God and learned them to pray that the Name of God shall be placed separate or be made holy.

As followers of Christ it is our task to do what Jesus demanded and to have the Name of his Father resound all over the world. We should go out into the world and get that Name sound everywhere where we can. We should not be afraid to use that Name, though it frightens a lot of people and lots of people shall let us know they do not like to hear that Name “Jehovah”. But we should not fear those human people but should more fear that “Jehovah” Himself, Who is the Most Mighty Lord over all lords.

Let us therefore be careful looking sincerely about whom is spoken and using the right person spoken of.

For example let us see in Acts 2 whose name we should call on.

Acts 2: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD,( Jehovah Joel 2:31,32 ) shall be saved.

Acts 2: 39 or the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD,( Jehovah Joel 2:32 ) our God shall call.

“And thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”(Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luk 10:27 )

Let us declare the love of God by using His Name not in vain but with respect and holiness.

The substitution of the Names of יהוה (YHWH = Jehovah) and יהושע (Yehushua = Jeshua) by the names of the pagan deities of the nations has brought immeasurable harm. Such names as Lord, God, Jesus (hail Zeus), and Christ in no way represent the meaning of the Name revealed by the Most High to Moses and the ancient Hebrew leaders. By employing these names the people unknowingly turn the worship of יהוה (YHWH = Jehovah) into that of idols and actually ascribe the benevolent characteristics of the Mighty One of Israel to the pagan deities (Hosea 2:8).

When we are looking for God, seeking Him with an honest heart, we shall be able to find Him easier by using a Bible translation which uses His Name there where God has given His Name in His Word.

We should at all times use the proper titles and proper name of the God of gods, the “El-Shaddai”, “Eternal” or “Everliving One”, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.

Preceding articles:

Corruption in our translations !

Finding God amid all the religious externals

Seeing or not seeing and willingness to find God

People Seeking for God 1 Looking for answers

People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations

People Seeking for God 3 Laws and directions

People Seeking for God 4 Biblical terms

People Seeking for God 5 Bread of life

People Seeking for God 6 Strategy

Note:

For those who swear that only the King James Bible is the right translation they should consider very well wich version they are using and which version they think is the good translation. Most of those who claim we should only use the King James version do themselves not use the original King James version where Jehovah is used and a ‘v’ is presented by a ‘u’, plus using very old language. They very often use a later more ‘contemporary’ version where God His name is taken away and replaced with ‘Lord’

Please do find The Divine Name Jehovah Restored 6972 Times in the divine Name King James Bible.

The Divine Name King James Bible is

the unrevised 1769 edition of the Authorized King James Version
with the wonderful restoration of God’s personal and unique name Jehovah in over 6970 rightful places.

We also would like to remind people that there is no singular organisation which has the sole right to use the Name of God.

It is a misconception that JWs have a monopoly on the name Jehovah. The Sacred Name Bible Movement is not affiliated with Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Please also do find to read:

Additional reading:

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Who is God? (richlewis3.wordpress.com)
El Shaddai means God Almighty, God of the mountains.
Sabbath Lord… (beardedhac.wordpress.com)
Open our eyes to see You more clearly, open our minds to know You more deeply and open our spirits to worship You more sincerely.
When Fear comes Knocking (tricklesoftruth.wordpress.com)
Where Rabshakeh and the king of Assyria failed was in counting the Lord God as like unto the gods of wood and stone.
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There are times when we are faced with similar circumstances in our lives. We face giants and situations that are far greater than we are in the natural. They blaspheme or mock our God and expect that we should bow to them. Our very lives or livelihood may be at stake. What will we do? Will we bow in fear to the enemies’ demands or will we throw ourselves before the Lord and plead our case before Him as Hezekiah did?
“The God of Of Salvation, The Lord Of Death” (settledinheaven.wordpress.com)
The God that we can call our own, is “the God of salvation” or, in other words, He is “the Mighty One that controls the deliverance of His people.” Here, once again we can see a physical and spiritual aspect to this text…
Carissimi; Today’s Mass: Monday Lent I (frjeromeosjv.wordpress.com)
O almighty and eternal God, who hast dominion over both the living and the dead, and hast mercy on all whom Thou forekowest shall be Thine by faith and good works : we humbly beseech Thee that all for whom we have resolved to make supplication whether the present world still holds them in the flesh or the world to come has already received them out of the body, may, through the intercession of all Thy saints, obtain of Thy goodness and clemency pardon for all their sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever.
In the article Holding Fast the Name of Jesus (jlue.wordpress.com) we can clearly see how easily the persons are mixed with each other when a person uses a bible translation with omitting the name of God, having it replaced with ‘Lord’.
It is also not because salvation comes by a man that it means that that man is the Most High God. the text of the New testament speaks about calling on the Name of God and not on the name of Jesus:
Rom 10:13 ToY+ Whoever calls on YHVH’s name will Live!
SIH’s Think On These Things: Ephesians 3:17a (settledinheaven.wordpress.com)
Many times, the alignment of the believer’s desires to the will of God is an ongoing process. As the believer grows in faith and knowledge of the Word, they find their heart (desires) gradually becoming more aligned with God’s will (1 Peter 2:1-3, Colossians 1:9-10)
A laborer for the LORD. (eunasp.wordpress.com)
We are each blessed with a gift we could share with others, like singing, praying for others, preaching, evangelizing, acting, leadership….the gifts are many. There are people we could approach and strike up a conversation with and tell them about God and others are not so open to listening. Silently praying comes in handy in such a situation.
Lord (bloomlotus.wordpress.com)
We are in awe of your blessings and your magic threads you tug and tie among us. We are striving, God, to make you proud and to grow into the best versions of ourselves for you.
Praise The Lord (phillipbrande.wordpress.com)
When I was lost He found me, Before I needed Him, before I was enslaved, before I took my first breath, He provided a way of salvation, a way of freedom through His Son Jesus.
Devotional 05.02.2014 (thelifeofastrangercalledme.wordpress.com)
Jehovah, God of Heaven and Earth, Creator of the entire world, He alone is God! His powers are so great “very great, exceeding great; so great that it cannot be said, nor even conceived how great they are, what a display of wisdom, power, and goodness is in them; they are wonderful beyond expression and conception;

Seeing or not seeing and willingness to find God

Posted on 2014/01/21 by Christadelphians

Nearly 2 000 years ago

Nearly two thousand years ago a man preaching in the desert saw his cousin coming near. John the Baptist, perhaps not knowing so much about his cousin, understood how he came unto earth and what his position was.

English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ

John the Baptist baptizing Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John seeing Jesus coming toward him yelled out

“Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the one who comes after me but is really ahead of me.’

(Jesus was born or came into existence after John the Baptist, but had his function already planned by God long before John the Baptist, Isaiah, Isaac and Abraham.) John the Baptist knew that his task was been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer.

” (29) On the next day Yoḥanan saw יהושע {Jehsua} coming toward him, and said, “See, the Lamb of Elohim who takes away the sin of the world!{1} {Footnote: 1Mt. 1:21, Titus 2:14, 1 John 3:5 & 8.} (30) “This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has become before me, for He was before me.’ {1 Footnote: 1See v. 15.} (31) “And I did not know Him, but that He might be revealed to Yisra’ĕl, therefore I came immersing in water.” ” (John 1:29-31 The Scriptures 1998+)

Jesus was placed by God in the womb of Miriam (Mary/Maria) to come on earth as the fulfilment of the Word of God spoken in the garden of Eden, providing Adam and Eve a solution for what they had done.

Baptism with water and spirit

At that time in the river Jordan God Himself led His Voice be heard to all who stood around John the Baptist baptising Jesus. And the Voice made known that it was the son of God who stood there in the water. Still two thousand years later many do not want to accept that it was the “son of God” who stood there to start his official adult life of witnessing for God.

Jan Brueghel the Elder, John the Baptist preaching (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John had come to baptise with water, giving the people a good bath and scrubbing sins from their life so they could get a fresh start with God. John clinched his witness that he watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him, and that The One who authorized him to baptise with water told him, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptise with the Holy Spirit.’ As many prophets before him, Jesus was a man who was willing to give himself in the hands of the Creator God, who had told mankind that he was His son.

” (16) And having been immersed, יהושע {Jehsua} went up immediately from the water, and see, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of Elohim descending like a dove and coming upon Him, (17) and see, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I did delight.”” (Matthew 3:16-17 The Scriptures 1998+)

God’s Passover Lamb to be seen

The people could see the one who John the Baptist called “God’s Passover Lamb.” There were two disciples of John who heard him and went after Jesus. Jesus looked over his shoulder and said to them, “What are you after?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher“), “where are you staying?” He replied, “Come along and see for yourself.” They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day but also got to see what Jesus could mean for them. They believed they had found the “Messiah” (that is, “Christ“). (John 1:29-42) From that day onwards they kept their eyes on Jesus, and got to know more on the relation of Jesus and his Father the Only One True. they also came to understand that this rabbi could be the send one of God by whom they, and we, can come closer to God, the author and finisher of our faith. In Jesus they could find and can we find peace, forgiveness, rest, grace. They where willing to see what had happened and were going to see more incomprehensible thing the three years afterwards.

Second Adam also of flesh and blood

There may be many gods in the world, but there is only One True God Divine Creator, and That God is not comparable to any human being except to His son. God is Spirit (John 4:24) but His sons are human beings. His first son and daughter where the first Adam and Eve. But those first creations turned against their Creator. At that time, in the beginning of Creation, the Creator took care that a solution for their sin was given to the world. God was prepared to make a second Adam, who would bring salvation and as such would be called the “Christ” or “Messiah“. In him people could once again see that all people are created in the image of God. Though all children which came after the first Adam received the deficiencies from their forefathers. Being created straight ahead from the Source of Life, Jehovah God, the second Adam, would receive the opportunity to prove human kind that a human being could follow the Will of the Most High, and could stay pure and un-blamed.

Not able to be seen

God can not be seen by man or he would die, but Jesus could be seen by many. Jesus like any other man could be tempted, though God can not be tempted nor sin. Jesus could sin but did not.

” (20) But He said, “You are unable to see My face, for no man does see Me and live.”” (Exodus 33:20 The Scriptures 1998+)

” (18) No one has ever seen Elohim.1 The only brought-forth Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He did declare.2 Footnotes: 1See 5:37, 6:46, 1 John 4:12. 2The pre-existent Son declared, and was the One who appeared to men.” (John 1:18 The Scriptures 1998+)

” (24) “Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him need to worship in spirit and truth.”” (John 4:24 The Scriptures 1998+)

Revelation to be seen

What we can see is what God reveals to the world and let us to be seen. Jesus declared his Father and made Him clear for all to understand what He want from us and How He thinks and works. Jesus was prepared to listen to the Voice of his Father, his God and the God of Abraham, making this voice know all over the world.

” (24) and said, ‘See, יהוה {Jehovah} our Elohim has shown us His esteem and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. Today we have seen that Elohim speaks with man – and he lives!” (Deuteronomy 5:24 The Scriptures 1998+)

Flesh blood and bones, human and ghost or spirit

At the river Jordan people could see that God was in their midst and declared Jesus to be His son. Ghost has no flesh, blood nor bones, but Jesus had this all. That Jesus was no spirit, even not after he had died he proved to his disciples when he came under their midst and showed his wounds.

” (30) And it came to be, when He sat at the table with them, having taken the bread, He blessed, and having broken, He was giving it to them. (31) And their eyes were opened and they recognised Him. And He disappeared from their sight. (32) And they said to each other, “Was not our heart burning within us as He was speaking to us on the way, and as He was opening the Scriptures to us?” (33) And rising up that same hour they returned to Yerushalayim, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, (34) saying, “The Master was truly raised, and has appeared to Shim?on!” (35) And they related what took place on the way, and how He was recognised by them in the breaking of the bread. (36) And as they were saying this, יהושע {Jehsua} Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” (37) And being startled and frightened, they thought they had seen a spirit. (38) And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? (39) “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” (40) And saying this, He showed them His hands and His feet. (41) And while they were still not believing for joy, and marvelling, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” (42) And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. (43) And taking it He ate in their presence. (44) And He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all have to be filled that were written in the Torah of Mosheh and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” (45) Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, (46) and said to them, “Thus it has been written, and so it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise again from the dead the third day, (47) and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all nations, beginning at Yerushalayim. (48) “And you are witnesses of these matters. (49) “And see, I am sending the Promise of My Father upon you, but you are to remain in the city of Yerushalayim until you are clothed with power from on high.” (50) And He led them out as far as Bĕyth Anyah, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. (51) And it came to be, while He was blessing them, that He was parted from them and was taken up into the heaven. (52) And they, having bowed down to Him, returned to Yerushalayim with great joy, (53) and were continually in the Set-apart Place praising and blessing Elohim. Amĕn.” (Luke 24:30-53 The Scriptures 1998+)

Those who have not seen the son of the Non-seen

After Jesus had died the apostles had seen him again. We never have seen him but we should believe those who have seen him and those who like us can not see God but did see the son of God, יהושע {Jehsua} Jesus, the one who is the Immanuel and Messiah. We also can get the Ghost God being part of us like it was being part of Christ. By letting Him enter ourselves we shall become transformed, but we shall never become God, like Jesus also was not God. We do have to become like Christ like Jesus was like God united one in spirit. Putting on the armour of Christ and the armour of God did not make the people in the old times God nor shall it make us to become Christ nor God.

After and of the flesh and dwelling within

In the world we can see many people who are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh. We who believe in Christ Jesus, to be the Saviour should be after the Spirit, do mind the things of the Spirit. Jesus did also things of the Spirit like we should do. He also told us to become worthy children of God, having God enter our hearts and to put away our carnally mind because that is death. We are assured that to be spiritually minded is life and peace; because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, because it cannot be. Jesus learned his followers that they who are in the flesh cannot please God. He also told many parables so people could easily understand what it mean to be in Christ or to be in God, to be with God, to be for God and to do the Will of God. Those who want to do like Christ, not his or their own will, but the Will of God, can receive the Holy Spirit and as such be not in the flesh, but in the spirit if the Spirit of God truly dwells within you. Jesus had the Spirit of God dwelling in him. We should have the Spirit of God dwelling in us likewise. This dwelling of the Spirit though shall not make us, like it did not with Christ, make us the God eternal. We shall stay man of flesh and blood like Jesus was a man of flesh and blood. We also shall not escape the penalty of the garden of Eden. Jesus also did not escape that death spoken out by His Father. Jesus really died whilst God can not die. It is only by accepting that Jesus was really a man of flesh and blood who really died,that we can give respectful notice to what Jesus really did; he gave his life for the sins of many, as a ransom. Those who take Jesus to God, who can not die, make a farce of his suffering and his death.

Having spirit of Christ

Now if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. And if Christ is within you, the body is dead because of sin: but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead dwells within you, so He Who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also quicken our mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells within us. But therefore we do have to accept Jesus his anointment and offer as Lamb of God. We clearly have to see and understand the relationship between the Father and son, who now sits at the right hand of his Father to be a mediator between God and man.

Living in spirit

Those who have faith in the actions Jesus undertook and believe he was a messenger of the Most High are not indebted to the flesh to live after the flesh. For if we live after the flesh, we will die in flesh and totality: but if we, through the Spirit, subdue the deeds of the body, we shall live this life in spirit. It does not mean we shall not feel any pain, or we shall not have to face difficulties and temptations. Like Jesus encountered many difficulties and temptations, we also shall have to face them and the natural death. But allowing the Spirit to enter in our hearts we may count on it that He shall enable us to endure whatever we need to endure. Those who are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God, for they have not received the spirit of bondage, to be in fear again; but they have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby they can cry onto God like Christ called on his Father: “Abba“, “Avon”, “Father“, “our Father“. And this Spirit bears witness to our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ; so that if we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified with him.

” (5) For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the matters of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the matters of the Spirit. (6) For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace. (7) Because the mind of the flesh is enmity towards Elohim, for it does not subject itself1 to the Torah of Elohim2, neither indeed is it able, Footnotes: 1Or does not obey. 2John 15:5, 1 John 4:4, 1 John 3:9, 1 John 5:18. (8) and those who are in the flesh are unable to please Elohim. (9) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Messiah, this one is not His. (10) And if Messiah is in you, the body is truly dead on account of sin, but the Spirit is life on account of righteousness. (11) And if the Spirit of Him who raised יהושע {Jehsua} from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Messiah from the dead shall also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit dwelling in you. (12) So then, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. (13) For if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live. (14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of Elohim, these are sons of Elohim. (15) For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of Elohim, (17) and if children, also heirs – truly heirs of Elohim, and co-heirs with Messiah, if indeed we suffer with Him, in order that we also be exalted together.” (Romans 8:5-17 The Scriptures 1998+)

Presenting our body to allow God to enter in us, doing His Will

By the mercies of God we should present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, by means of reasonable service. Though we can not see Christ nor God, we should put faith in him who gave his soul (=his full being) to his Father who is also our Father to Whom we should pray. Jesus lived in this world but was not of this world, so we also should not imitate the way of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, becoming as brothers and sisters in Christ, that you may discern what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God. As Christ also did not want to do his will, we also should only want to do God His Will.

” (10) let Your reign come, let Your desire be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10 The Scriptures 1998+)

” (41) And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and falling on His knees He was praying, (42) saying, “Father, if it be Your counsel, remove this cup from Me. Yet not My desire, but let Yours be done.”” (Luke 22:41-42 The Scriptures 1998+)

” (34) יהושע {Jehsua} said to them, “My food is to do the desire of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.” (John 4:34 The Scriptures 1998+)

” (30) “Of Myself I am unable to do any matter. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own desire, but the desire of the Father who sent Me.” (John 5:30 The Scriptures 1998+)

” (38) “Because I have come down out of the heaven, not to do My own desire, but the desire of Him who sent Me.” (John 6:38 The Scriptures 1998+)

” (7) “Then I said, ‘See, I come – in the roll of the book it has been written concerning Me – to do Your desire, O Elohim.’ ” (8) Saying above, “Slaughter and meal offering, and burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor delighted in,” which are offered according to the Torah, (9) then He said, “See, I come to do Your desire, O Elohim.” He takes away the first to establish the second. (10) By that desire we have been set apart through the offering of the body of יהושע {Jehsua} Messiah once for all.” (Heb 10:7-10 The Scriptures 1998+)

To see and understand the sending of the son of God

We should see and understand the sending of the son of God, Jesus Christ, because we can see what is written about him in the Book of books. We should see the desire this man had and we should see the desires of his Father the Divine Creator God Who does not like to have pleasure in, sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings, and sacrifices for sin’ (offerings regularly made under the Law). That God, whom Jesus considered to be his Father and our Father was willing to take the offering of this Nazarene Jew as the token of reconciliation. Because Jesus wanted and succeeded into doing the will of his Father the former sacrifices were set aside to be replaced by the latter, the offer of the son Jeshua, Jesus the Christ or Messiah. And it is in the fulfilment of the will of God that we have been purified by the sacrifice, once and for all, of the body of Jesus Christ.

See things and scrutinize everything

We should see all things and search them. We should come to see what is given to the apostles and followers of Jesus Christ, to all of us who are willing to follow the teachings of the rabbi Jesus, not to think of ourselves beyond what we ought to think; but to think soberly, every man according to the measure of faith which God has distributed to him. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same function, So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Being in the body of Christ shall not make us Christ nor god or God. but being in the body of Christ we will be entrusted with many special gifts, differing according to the grace that is given to us; some have the gift of prophecy, according to the measure of faith, some have the gift of ministration, in his ministry; and some of teaching, in his teaching.

” (1) I call upon you, therefore, brothers, through the compassion of Elohim, to present your bodies a living offering – set-apart, well-pleasing to Elohim – your reasonable worship. (2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim. (3) For I say, through the favour which has been given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he should think, but to think soberly, as Elohim has given to each a measure of belief. (4) For as we have many members in one body, but all members do not have the same function, (5) so we, the many, are one body in Messiah, and members each one of one another. (6) Now having different gifts, according to the favour which was given to us, let us use them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of belief; (7) if serving, in the serving; or he who is teaching, in the teaching; (8) or he who encourages, in the encouragement; or he who is sharing, in sincerity; he who is leading, in diligence; he who shows compassion, joyously.” (Romans 12:1-8 The Scriptures 1998+)

A body with blood and a spirit without blood

We should come to learn to see that Body of Christ so that we can see the preparedness of others also willing to see the gift of God, His Grace and acceptance of the offer of His son Jesus Christ.

” (16) to be a servant of יהושע {Jehsua} Messiah to the gentiles, with the priestly duty of bringing the Good News of Elohim, so that the offering of the gentiles becomes acceptable, set apart by the Set-apart Spirit.” (Romans 15:16 The Scriptures 1998+)

The world should get to see those who are willing to see the Most High in their minds, according to the Spirit or Force of God. By willing to open our mind to God’s Force, the Holy Spirit shall be willing to enter in our soul (=our being) and will strengthen us in our faith in Christ, the son of God, making us partakers of his offering, being cleansed by his blood (the Blood of Christ).

Knowing that a Spirit has no blood, we are aware that it was really a man of blood and flesh and bones, who did not have his bones broken, but had his blood flown out of his body.

” (28) After this, יהושע {Jehsua}, knowing that all had been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be accomplished, said, “I thirst!” (29) A bowl of sour wine stood there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and held it to His mouth. (30) So when יהושע {Jehsua} took the sour wine He said, “It has been accomplished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (31) Therefore, since it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the stake on the Sabbath – for that Sabbath was a high one – the Yehuḏim asked Pilate to have their legs broken, and that they be taken away. (32) Therefore the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was impaled with Him, (33) but when they came to יהושע {Jehsua} and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. (34) But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and instantly blood and water came out. (35) And he who has seen has witnessed, and his witness is true. And he knows that he is speaking the truth, in order that you might believe. (36) For this took place in order for the Scripture to be filled: “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” (37) And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”” (John 19:28-37 The Scriptures 1998+)

Acceptance step in the good direction

Let us look on him whom they pierced and believe who he was and what he did. By accepting Christ we are one step in the good direction to find God. Once we want to accept Jesus as the son of God who offered himself for our sins, we can continue on that path he prepared for us. Listening to the parables he told we can come to understand the way his Father thinks and handles.

God had poured out on the house of David the fulfilment of His Word that His Word could become reality and could come into the flesh (figuratively and in the person of His son Jesus Christ), and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication so that those who are willing to see and believe will look at him whom other humans have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10, John 1:1)

To be able to find God we first have to open our mind and to be prepared to allow God His Spirit to enter in us. It is God Who calls, but we should allow Him to call us and be prepared to hear His Voice.

Preceding article: Finding God amid all the religious externals

Next: People Seeking for God

Please also do find to read:

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Additional reading:

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Preparing the Way (graceofourlord.com)
God, he tells them, can raise up children of Abraham from the stones present around them. In other words, it is not enough – God is not so impressed with their pedigree.
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Although baptism in some form did exist before John the Baptist received his calling from God, it was not a baptism of repentance, nor was it for the forgiveness of sins. There was no real forgiveness of sins under the Law of Moses because, as Paul said, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:1-4). There was washing for purification, as first implemented with Aaron and his sons (Exodus 29:4, Leviticus 16:23-24), and for remedy of defilement (Numbers 19). And at some point (though not Biblically required), baptism (immersion in water) was added to circumcision as a requirement for Gentile proselytes to be converted to Judaism.
He may be made known to Israel (twocatholicfriends.wordpress.com)
Each of the prophets who came before Christ came to fulfill a particular mission, they pointed to the coming of the messiah. Isaiah’s prophecy of the restoration of israel and salvation reaching the end of the earth links his time and that of John the baptist’s by its fulfillment because it was John the baptist who showed this light of God which would reach the end of the earth to the world. First, with his disciples, whom he fashioned their waiting for the messiah. He did not know who the messiah was, but God revealed it to him by the outpouring of the Holy spirit by the baptism of our Lord which we celebrated last sunday; this he used to testify to the crowd of the sonship of Jesus.
Jesus and John the Baptist (larrycourson.wordpress.com)
In Matthew 13 and 14 Jesus is rejected by the people of Nazareth where he grew up as no one special. They said he was just one of them.
John 1:29-42 – 19th January 2014 (rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com)
John the Baptist expected his listeners to recall pictures from the Old Testament; the lamb provided by God for Abraham to slaughter, the lamb of Isaiah 53, led to the slaughter for the sins of God’s people; the Passover Lamb from Exodus. The word “lamb,” for John’s listeners connected strongly with words like “sin” or “atonement” – the way in which we can be reconciled with God despite our wrongdoing.
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Lamb of God, Baptiser with the Spirit, Son of God, Messiah – John, the Gospel writer’s names for Jesus. John wants us to carry these names with us as we read his Gospel. It is as though he says to us, “You will only understand my message fully if you realise that this is what I want to show you. Here is the one who by his life and death fulfils these roles and in doing so brings hope.” As we read the Gospels let’s use these names to inform our reading and to help us understand for ourselves just who Jesus is: Lamb of God, Baptiser with the Spirit, Son of God, Messiah.
Engaging the Gospel – John 1:29-34 (ubiquelucet.wordpress.com)
By proclaiming Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” St. John the Baptist identifies him as the fulfillment of Scripture.

He “reveals that Jesus is at the same time the suffering Servant [prophesied by Isaiah] who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb, the symbol of Israel’s redemption at the first Passover” (Catechism paragraph 608).

Moreover, the Spirit’s coming upon Jesus is an explicit mark of the Messiah.
God Demands a Response to Jesus (barrierbreakingenterprises.com)
The fact of the matter is some of us are just too cautious about changing when clearly the time for change has come. We procrastinate just because procrastination is what we do. But when you meet Jesus, Jesus calls for action, immediate, swift, decisive action. Either you love him or you don’t but you can’t just sit around and think about it. This morning Jesus is looking for radical disciples, those who will throw caution to the wind and follow him with their whole hearts.
The Passover Lamb (james1948.wordpress.com)
When it was time for God to deliver the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, He established a way for the people to always memorialize their deliverance by instituting the Lord’s Passover. Each household was to shed the blood of a lamb that was without blemish and paint the blood on the doorposts of the home. Then, the lamb was to be roasted and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs by everyone in the home, as they stood, ready to evacuate Egypt. That night, God preserved the firstborn of every home who had observed the Passover and delivered the Israelites from bondage.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover. He became what the Passover represented, God’s salvation through the shed blood of an innocent Lamb.
The Truth Through John Part 2 (soulfulcuriosity.wordpress.com)
God is very detailed…everything has a purpose…more than we will ever know this side of heaven.

Does studying God’s word bring you Joy? I sure hope it does.
Sunday Devotional: John 1:6-8 (journeythereandbackagain.wordpress.com)
Here we see John (the disciple) talk about John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a forerunner to Jesus. He was one who was sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus’ earthly ministry. That was his calling. He was to be a witness. He was to point others to the light (Jesus).
Pastor Karl’s Challenge (brentwoodbiblechurch.wordpress.com)
We must not think of Jesus, however, as the offspring of God the Father. Because according to Galatians 4:4, when the Father sent Jesus into the world, He already was the Son of God. The Father sent forth His Son! If He already was the Son of God, then He did not become the Son of God through conception and birth. Rather, the Son of God became a true human being in the conception.

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De mens, geschapen naar Gods beeld en als Zijn gelijkenis

Psalm 8 en de heerlijkheid van de mens in Christus Jezus

Aansluitende lectuur

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Gelooft u het getuigenis van God, zijn Zoon en zijn dienaren?

Engelen. Gods volmaakte dienaren

Gelooft u het getuigenis van God, zijn Zoon en zijn dienaren?

Vervulling van Gods belofte

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Conclusion

Find in this series:

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Inleiding

Oorsprong van het Vaderschap

Maker ook Vader

Belangrijk ingestelde overeenkomst

Estafette loop

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Nearly 2 000 years ago

Baptism with water and spirit

God’s Passover Lamb to be seen

Second Adam also of flesh and blood

Not able to be seen

Revelation to be seen

Flesh blood and bones, human and ghost or spirit

Those who have not seen the son of the Non-seen

After and of the flesh and dwelling within

Having spirit of Christ

Living in spirit

Presenting our body to allow God to enter in us, doing His Will

To see and understand the sending of the son of God

See things and scrutinize everything

A body with blood and a spirit without blood

Acceptance step in the good direction

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