Focus of Christian message, What should it be?

Attending Christian church services through the years , one cannot but be ingrained into our consciousness, the reality of God, his attributes of omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence. Along with these are his grace and love for his awesome creation…humans.

So great is this love (John 3:16) that God the Father gave up his future only begotten “Son” man-Jesus. This Son is the YHVH ELOHIM in the Old Testament (the Logos/Word Creator in John 1:1), who took off his divine spirit-composition and powers to incarnate into a human being, as “man-Christ Jesus“.Although human, he was still categorized and confirmed, like us, as “god” in Ps. 82:6 and Jn.10:34. See also “What is God”.

Being flesh-composed at incarnation, he was subjected to death for humanity to be reconciled to the Father(Romans 5:10). Jesus’ death was substitutionary for humanity’s eternal or second and irreversible death which is a penalty for Adam’s sin (representing the whole mankind) from the garden of Eden.

Being human and flesh-bodied as Jesus was, we can die the first death, being matter-composed, a reversible death. Without resurrection from this, this death would have been eternal. But, it was “appointed for man to die“, being mortal and flesh-composed and will be resurrected. While Jesus died the first death having “mortal body” and acknowledged by the Father as “eternal/irreversible death” for Adam and mankind, he did not experience eternal death because this man-Jesus was resurrected into a spirit-body (and so shall we) as promised by the Father; this to prove the future resurrection towards eternal life for humans (I Cor. 15:1-58). Without resurrection, Jesus could still be dead, as we would, and the promise of the Father was for nought. 

But, this is not all. After resurrection, Jesus had to go to the Father. Otherwise, a most important gift and “power-tool” (the Holy Spirit) to empower us would not be received by him, to then be given subsequently to us (John 16:7, a “spirit-baptism“).

The Father can only give this as promised to YHVH/Logos who became his Son, before being given to us. We need this Holy Spirit of power to be “baptized into us” by Jesus (John 1:33), because “the flesh is weak“. Even if the spirit of man is willing (Matt. 26:41), we need to be empowered by the “immersion/baptism of the Holy Spirit” in us to overcome evil and be “one” with the Son and the Father, as members of the God-Kingdom. This Spirit will then “bear fruits” in us and will be reflected in “good works” (Gal. 5:22-23).

This work of the Holy Spirit is crucial for us to develop into “children of God“, the attainment of which will manifest at resurrection as a change in a “twinkling of an eye” from mortal flesh to immortal spirit-bodies. (I Cor. 15:52-56.). This same Holy Spirit dwelling in Jesus at river Jordan (Matt. 3:16), developed him to be “Son (begotten child) of God”(Rom.1:4), by resurrection from the dead, “firstborn of many brethren”(Rom. 8:29), firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18), the first of the firstfruits (Ezek. 44:30 ESV), the wavesheaf offering ( Lev 23:10-14). Similarly, this Holy Spirit “in-dwelling in us” will have to bear fruits, as it did to man-Jesus, to develop us into “children of God”, one with Jesus and with the Father, as members of the God-kingdom.

Therefore, Christians should focus, on this gift of the Holy Spirit given by the Father because this is a basic ingredient needed in the “ongoing creation” of and for us to be in the Kingdom of God. This “kingdom” is more than a “government“. It is about a “family of God”, a “new creation”(2Cor. 5:17), that was never done before until Christ. Prior to this, all that was created were angels, inanimate objects (planets and universe) as well as living creation like plants, animals and humans, all matter-composed and not spirit-composed, except angels. But, when Adam was created in the garden of Eden, he was only a type of “human” that would come in the future. The anti-type , the “2nd Adam“, was this man-Jesus, to start this “new creation”, the “children of God”. Man-Christ Jesus was the human template with the “spirit of man“, which is the temple for the Holy Spirit to be baptized and dwell into; see I Cor. 3:16-17: 6:19-20; 2Cor 6:16-17; Acts 7:48-51, Acts 17:24-25.

Like other humans, the man-Jesus has the “spirit of man”(the breath of life”) which came directly from the Creator. Growth and development occurred in Jesus’ life from birth, childhood and through adulthood. But at the river Jordan, his “spirit/breath-of-life” was then “Holy Spirit-baptized” as infused by the Father. It was at that time that he was empowered and thence miracles happened, not before.

Even as a child, Jesus did not have the power of the Holy Spirit until adulthood. This power was given to him only after coming out of water baptism at river Jordan (Lu.3:22). The same Holy Spirit empowered him to overcome evil, especially the temptations of Satan (Matthew 4:1-11) in the wilderness. Similarly, this was the power that Jesus used to decide whether to follow “his will” or not (Lu.22:42). The apostles (John 20:22)and others received this “spirit-baptism” on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-31).

In the same manner, we receive this Holy Spirit to take the path of Jesus and follow, not the pull of our flesh, but follow His example. And when we do, we will be on our way towards becoming “children of God”. 

This is the great commission: to preach this good news of coming creation of the God-kingdom, through spirit-baptism in the name of the Father and the Son.

God bless 🙏😇👍

Original post: March 29, 2016,

Hyperlink post; 1/22/2021

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