Kingdom Ready

Click here to listen to The Sacrifice of the Son of God as delivered by Alex Hall, Apr 27, 2008 in Atlanta Georgia. Commentary by John Obelenus

In the introduction Alex brings up a good point about assumptions and how they guide how we assimilate information into our pre-existing belief structure.

Next he brings a strong counterpoint to the common belief that Jesus had to be God to die for our sins. Based on a survey of the New Testament, it is in fact Jesus’ humanity that was a necessity for forgiveness, not any divinity.

Isaiah 7:14-16
14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15  Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16  For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

Matthew 1:23
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Of all the titles attributed to him this was Jesus’ favourite. By that I mean it was the one most commonly used by Jesus himself.  In the gospels Jesus is recorded as calling himself the Son of Man 84 times and the Son of God only 6 times. That is exactly 14 times as often (the number 7, the symbol of completion, times 2!).

The Bible is God’s way of revealing himself to us. The best way to gain a proper understanding of the meaning of any term used in the Bible is to study how it is used there, using scripture to interpret scripture. Paul called this process ‘comparing spiritual things with spiritual’.  Jesus himself derived his identity from the Old Testament scriptures. Check it. There is nothing he claimed about himself which had not been written before in the Law and the Prophets.

It is not just the glory, but also the character, love, mercy, power, message and self-expression of God- are all revealed to man by Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

That is why the scripture states about Jesus:

Hebrews 1:3
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

1 Timothy 6:16
Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Jesus himself stated:

John 5:37
And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

Note:
In the Old Testament those who are described as having ‘seen’ God had in fact seen the ‘Angel of Yahweh’. God himself declared:’Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live’ (Exodus 33:20).

Nowhere in scripture does Jesus claim to have existed as a ‘personal hypostases’, ‘spirit being’ or any other form before he was born. Instead he makes several statements which people take to mean that he is implying such. This interpretation is the result of people superimposing their own pre existent theological beliefs upon the New Testament. To get to the real meaning we need to understand the idioms of speech current among the Jewish people of Jesus’ time. This is best done by using scripture to interpret scripture.  Remember, Jesus was a Jew and he ministered to people who were of a Jewish mindset.

A proper understanding of the meaning of the term ‘Christ’ gives insight into both the nature and work of Jesus as well as his relationship to God the Father.  First off it’s important to know that Christ is not Jesus’ surname. It is a title.  In order to convey this, it is better to interpose the definite article and call him ‘Jesus the Christ’.  This is the way believing Hebrew-speakers describe him: “Y’shua haMashiach” (Ha is the Hebrew definite article, the word for ‘the’).

To say Jesus is the Christ is like saying Jesus the King, Jesus the Judge or Jesus the Prophet.  It describes his office or position.  So what does the title mean?  Literally translated it means ‘The Anointed One’

…continued from earlier post.  Jesus cried out ‘It is finished!’ His work was done. His suffering was over. The onus was now on the Father to fulfil his promise and raise his Son to life again. Meanwhile, Jesus went to hell and took the keys to death and hell from the devil

In the box below is the following scriptural account of when and how this took place:

That’s right. There is no scriptural backing for this myth. Jesus was given the keys to release the dead from the place where the dead are stored, but it was his Father that gave them to him, certainly not the devil!

…continued from previous post 

The issue at stake here touches on what has always been one of humanity’s most profound concerns:

What happens when we die?

There are many different beliefs about what death is. From the purely physical definition- the cessation of vital signs and the decomposition of the body- to the Pagan concepts of becoming an angel or living on in a disembodied ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’ form.

There are many different beliefs about what death is. From the purely physical definition- the cessation of vital signs and the decomposition of the body- to the Pagan concepts of becoming an angel or living on in a disembodied ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’ form.

…continued from previous post–The account runs as follows:

Matthew 16:15-17 & 21
“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven…From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”