Monthly Archives: August 2015

What does it mean, The LORD our God is one LORD?

by fact-s.net

This concept is the “Shema Doctrine, based on “echad” in Deut. 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:”

The English word “Lord” comes from the Hebrew word “YHVH” and the word “God” from “Elohim” (0430 Strong concordance). The other English translations referring specifically to YHVH is Adonai or El Shaddai. By the way, there is no upper case in the original.

This uni-plural Hebrew word “elohim” means”multiplicity of powers”, plurality of powers or majesty, the most supreme of all powers”, otherwise Supreme God, the epitome of all. Contextually, “above all gods” in Ps 95:3; 96:4; 97:9; 135:5; I Chron.16:25. The possessive words “us” and ” our” in Genesis 1, were not in the original Hebrew but translated as such for “grammatical consistency”.

Moreover, “elohim” is a common or generic term, not a proper noun nor a specific term for a particular being. It occurs more than 2500 times in the Hebrew Bible, with meanings ranging from “gods” in a general sense (as in Exodus 12:12, where it describes “the gods of Egypt”), to specific gods (e.g., 1 Kings 11:33, where it describes Chemosh “the god of Moab”, or the frequent references to Yahweh (Jehovah) as the “elohim” of Israel), to demons, seraphim, and other supernatural beings, to the spirits of the dead brought up at the behest of King Saul in 1 Samuel 28:13, and even to kings and prophets (e.g., Exodus 4:16).The KJV has “elohim” translated as “judges” in Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8; and twice in Exodus 22:9.
These are “other gods”albeit “false gods” that definitely must not be worshipped as that would be tantamount to idolatry.

To be specific, this Elohim was further identified as the one and only “YHVH” (Yahweh) translated as “Lord” in Genesis 2; i.e., “YHVH ELOHIM” or “Lord God”. This is the Creator God referred to also in John 1 as LOGOS, who incarnated to man-Jesus, Yeshua or YHVH ELOHIM and was called “God” (John 1:1; 20:28; Titus 2:13), the “same yesterday, today and forever”(Heb.13:8). “YHVH ELOHIM” is the specific and proper name of the one true God of Israel. Much like “Smith” is generic or common name, but the proper name is the one and only “John Smith”. YHVH ELOHIM” is above all “gods”(Ps 95:3; 96:4;97:9;135:5; Ex. 15:11; IChr. 16:25)

Another name that is specific to the person is the Hebrew word “Adon” (singular) Adown, or “Adonim” (plural), Adonai. This is translated into English as “Lord” in the OT (Ex.34:23), the God of Israel. There was no attempt to duplicate this Hebrew in the NT.

In the New Testament, however, the English word “God” comes from the Greek word “Theos” and in general refers to the Father. Whereas, the English word “Lord” comes from the Greek word “kyrios”, and refers specifically to Jesus. Notice that Hebrew word “YHVH” and Greek word “Kyrios” are both translated into English word “Lord”, referring to Jesus, who is also Logos or Word in John 1.

A definitive separation and distinctiveness of these words can be proven in:
I Cor 8:6 “But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given”.
I Tim. 2:5″There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Messiah Yeshua” .
Ps. 2:7:”You are my son; today I have become your father”. Not yesterday or tomorrow but “today”, “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matt.3:17;Mk.1:11).
John 5:37 “And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form”.

Jesus himself said that no one has seen nor heard the Father referred to in the New Testament. Conversely, all the time from Genesis on, the specific “elohim” had to be YHVH ELOHIM, the LOGOS according to John, who incarnated to man-Jesus (anthropos-Jesus to Paul), the Messiah Passover.

In short, “The Lord is one” refers only to YHVH ELOHIM not the FATHER of Jesus and of us all.

Absent from the body but present with The Lord?

by fact-s.net

In the 2 Cor. 5:6-8, it says, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

There is no doubt that “being absent in the body” refers to our death. At which time, the “breath of life”(spirit of man”) leaves the body and goes back to the Creator (Eccl. 12:7; 3:20-21); this is “being present with The Lord”. The body is then buried (goes to hades/hell) where it decays and rots, as in,””For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;” (ACTS 13:36,NKJV). Also, read:

ECCLESIASTES 9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. (NIV)

ECCLESIASTES 9:10 …., for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. (NIV)

PSALM 146:4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. (NASU)y and

PSALM 115:17 The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence; (NASU)

Notice that the “spirit of man/ breath of life” that goes back to the Creator is not a conscious component of man. It carries all the memory, education, character, distinctiveness, uniqueness of that particular person. But apart from the body, it is not alive and not functional.

As an analogy to a computer, the body is like the hardware with all components but not a “living person” until the “breath of life” was “breathe into his nostrils”. Body/dust of the ground/flesh + breath of life/spirit of man= living soul/person ( Gen.2:7). When these 2 components of man separate, life ends and the body is not functional, dead. Much like a computer, the memory and identity of that particular person can be stored in a “thumb drive” which we can put in our pocket. But, when inserted into another computer, it can manifest itself will all that it has stored in memory. Similarly, when our “breath of life/spirit of man that goes at death to the Creator, is given another body, albeit spiritual , both these components make up the person to become alive again.

But, to extend the original question, “do all breath of life (of the righteous and the wicked) follow the same route to go to the Creator”?.

Notice,”For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead”. (Eccl. 9:1-3). Again, “there is one event unto all, righteous or wicked”suggesting that all go to the same process at death, that the “breath of life” goes back to the Creator.Yes, it appears from Ecclesiastes that the “breath of life”, whether from good or evil person, goes back to the Creator at death.

But, the “breath of life” of the “firstfruits” at Jesus’ return will be given an “immortal body” and will live with him forever (Rev.20:4; I Cor.15:52). On the other hand, the “breath of life” of others who died and not part of the “firstfruits”, will be resurrected after the Millenium, as in, “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.(Rev.20:5).
The “second resurrection” will be a fulfillment of the prophecy regarding the “dry bones”, as in: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’’ (Ezek. 37:5-6 and read also 1-17).
Surprisingly, even Job will have a flesh-body as other Israelites (and Gentiles), as in “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!(Job 19:25-27).
Of these people, some will go towards resurrection to life and others to judgment (John 5:29) of eternal death, after they were given their only and last chance to choose.
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Why pray when God already knows and “changeth not”?

by fact-s.net

Yes, why pray, is a very important question. For any difficult question like this one is, it is always helpful to recollect about the life of man-Jesus (anthropos-Jesus).

No question that many verses in the Bible proved that Jesus, the Creator God in Genesis and the Logos in the gospel according to John, prayed. In fact, he even prayed the whole night, as in, “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12).

Still, it begs the question, why pray?

This brings me to how you and I communicate. We use our physical senses of sight, hearing, feeling, gesturing, etc…albeit “material methods” of communicating. Without communication, how else can we understand each other? How can we learn or be guided by each other? Yet, this is a way to communicate with the “material world”.

How about the “spiritual realm”? Can we communicate with the “spirit” using “material or physical tools” like eyes, ears, etc? How could we be “on line” in a physical sense as in World Wide Web, unless we access the internet to learn, email, etc.? Similarly, the spirit-God, cannot be accessed except through spiritual means or venue. This is why we need to “pray”. It is a vehicle to communicate spiritually to a “Spirit-Being”.

Regarding, why pray when we “cannot change God’s mind”? Actually, God can “change or modify” his will, but within his limits of perfect judgment. Didn’t he delay the destruction of Nineveh, “haggled” with Abraham as to how many “just people” needed to save Sodom & Gomorrah? How about Adam in the garden of Eden? He did not like Adam to eat the fruit of knowledge of good and evil and he could have “forced” Adam to follow. Yet, He did not because His perfect judgment allows Adam to “freely choose”.

Remember, God said, “…not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more”(Jer. 31:32-34; Heb. 8:10)

Yes, the promised Holy Spirit by the Father to the Son, who sacrificed his life for remission of sins and subsequently for us to receive the Holy Spirit (John 16:7), is now available for in-dwelling and writing the “laws into our fleshly tables of our heart and mind” to empower us. The Holy Spirit working with the “spirit of man”(the “breath of life”), to nurture, guide, teach, direct, suggest, empower, seal us. Ultimately, prayer helps us develop the character through the Holy Spirit to be “one” with God in “wisdom”.

Jesus, the Firstborn?

by fact-s.net

This question extends itself to the very essence of the gospel of the “kingdom of God”.

To begin with, where does “firstborn” (prototokos) start? From “all creation” in Genesis at Logos time or specifically “from the dead”, man-Jesus time ?

Undoubtedly, according to the understanding of Paul, “firstborn of all creation” means, Jesus is “the firstborn (prototokos) from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.”(Col. 1:18). Jesus is the Creator in Genesis and the Logos in the gospel according to John. Obviously, the Creator pre-existed before any that was created and therefore this quote does not address the question as to whether the Creator himself was created before he created others. The context in Colossians does not refer to the beginning of creation in Genesis at Logos/Creator time, but specifically relates only to being “firstborn from the dead”, during the early Christian era.

How then could a Creator be “firstborn from the dead”? This means that the Creator/Logos has to die first before becoming “firstborn from creation”; how could the spirit-composed Creator die? Also, this has similarity to the question of Nicodemus regarding humans being “born again”, as in:

“Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”(John 3:4-6).

Likewise, notice the similarity of the dilemma in the narrative about the rich young man in Matt. 19:23-25. “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?”

Being firstborn from the dead, born again and for a rich man to be in the “kingdom of heaven”, any other way, appear impossible. But, notice how Jesus responded,”And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”(Matt. 19:26).

As proof that Creator God will die, Jesus said, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven”,John 3:13) confirming that the Creator was in heaven and has come down from heaven as man-Jesus, by incarnation.

Notice the requisites of being the code word “firstborn”:
1. Has to die
2. Has to be a spirit

As of now, only Jesus completed these requisites. Being spirit-composed as Creator/Logos, , he could not die. As prophesied , he incarnated into man-Jesus and being flesh, he was killed as “Passover Lamb” on Nisan 14. Subsequently, he resurrected “in three days and three nights”, and as spirit-composed, went to “tartaros” (hell) to proclaim his resurrection to the evil angels(I Pet.3:18-20; Jude 6-7; 2 Pet 2:4-5). He was then seen by many humans (as spirit-beings can show themselves as humasn, Genesis 18) before he finally went back to the Father and “seated at the right hand”. Indeed, Jesus is the “firstborn” from the dead, to “have first place in everything”.

For us, we are prophesied to follow Jesus the “the first of the firstfruits” at “his coming” ( I Cor. 15:20-23) to “meet him in the air” (I Thes.4:17) and set foot on the Mt. Olives (Zech. 14:1-4;Acts 1:7).

There should be no second-guessing about what the Father and Jesus planned to do from before the beginning of Genesis’ creation. The Potter will re-shape his clay (Jer. 18) and God will be “mindful” of us (Ps. 8:4-6; Heb. 2:6-18). A “new creation” is in the process where the Holy Spirit dwells in us to guide and nurture us to be “one” with Jesus and by extension “one” with the Father. “Old things have passed away (2 Cor. 5:17), our old self will be regenerated into a new creature. We will then become “sons of God”, higher than spirit-angels, spirit-composed like Jesus, the head of the body/church, the first of the firstfruits, the wave-sheaf offering, the “firstborn from the dead”. All in the “kingdom of God”, not in angelic species, not a human kingdom, animal-kingdom nor plant-kingdom. This is the destiny of humans given as a gift by the grace of God.