TRUE RICHES IN AN SINSICK WORLD

No one on earth can place you as a pastor, overseer, or evangelist in the called-out Assembly of God.

In this world a man/woman may be given a diploma by a seminary, ordained by a bishop, or commissioned by a denomination; but the apostle Paul reveals that the only source of any true calling to serve the called-out ones of God comes from the Messiah Jesus:

1 Timothy 1:12-14: I THANK THE MESSIAH JESUS WHO HAS GIVEN ME STRENGTH BECAUSE HE JUDGED ME FAITHFUL, APPOINTING ME TO HIS SERVICE, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I RECEIVED MERCY because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, BUT THE GRACE OF OUR LORD WAS EXCEEDING ABUNDANT WITH THE FAITH AND LOVE THAT ARE IN THE MESSIAH JESUS.

What does Paul mean here when he says Jesus enabled him and counted him faithful? Think back to the apostle’s conversion. Three days after that event, the Messiah placed Paul in his service, specifically a service that would involve a lot of suffering.

Note: A servant of the Messiah named Ananias was told by him to go to Paul who had been blinded on the road to Damascus and give him a message:

Acts 9:13-16: Then Ananias answered, lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on your name. But the lord [Jesus] said unto him, Go your way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

Note how Paul explains how people should regard one who has been placed in the service of the Messiah Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:1-2: This is how one should regard us, as servants of the Messiah and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

Paul is telling us Jesus gave him an opportunity to serve as his steward. He also knew that his God and Father Yehovah would enable him to carry out the commission He had given him to do, that He would be with him every step of the way.

Notice a verse that applies to all those who have been called out of this world to have a place in the body of the Messiah Jesus and to do whatever he has commanded us to do:

1 Peter 5:10: But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by the Messiah Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle [you].

Because of all our God and Father has done on our behalf a transition is taking place in all of our lives as we strive to become more like His son Jesus. The truth is that we become like whatever occupies our minds. Our character is influenced and impacted by whatever is held in our hearts.

Matthew 15:18: But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart,

So out of the heart, the mouth speaks!

I thank my God Yehovah for everyone who chews on and digests and inculcates in his heart/mind the spirit-filled word of God. Such servants have fixed their eyes on what is pure and holy. They keep their hearts fixed on God's anointed one Jesus, seeking to live out their lives revealing him to others. God's Holy Spirit is at work in all His holy ones [saints], continually enabling them to become more like His son Jesus.

All the disciples of the lord Jesus should be ready for the hard, explosive sufferings that are soon coming. If they are not preparing for what is coming they will fail to hold fast to the awesome future that is theirs in the Messiah Jesus. When the hard times come, they simply won’t make it.

Notice the warning Jesus gives in the following verses:

Matthew 25:1-13: Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five foolish. The foolish took their lamps but took none oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom tarried long, all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh: go out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there will not be enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came: and they that were ready, went in with him to the wedding, and the gate was shut. Afterward came also the other [foolish] virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered, and said, Verily I say unto you, I don't know you.

Here is Paul’s final word on the matter:

2 Corinthians 5:17-21; 6:3-10:

Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah he is a new creation. The old [man] has passed away; behold, the new [man] has come. All this is from God, who through the Messiah [who became for all mankind a sin-offering sacrifice] reconciled us to Himself [Yehovah God] and gave us a service of reconciliation; that is, in the Messiah God has reconciled the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 

Therefore, we are ambassadors for the Messiah, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of the Messiah, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God [in the Messiah Jesus].

We then, as workers together with him [the Messiah], beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain. For he says, I have heard you in the acceptable time, in the day of salvation I have I given assistance to you: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Give no offense in anything, that the ministry is not blamed:  But in all things prove ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

What an amazing example has been set before us! May our God and Father Yehovah give the enabling power to walk with the same attitude of heart and mind in serving Him and His son Jesus. As we do so we will experience the true riches that will be ours in a sin-sick world!

AFTER WE ARE BAPTIZED WE GO ON TO PERFECTION

At baptism, we “laid aside” the old way of life, the old self, like an old shirt that we throw away, and we “put on” a new shirt, i.e. enter into newness of life, as new creations in the Messiah Jesus.

God who knows us perfectly who knows our weakness and frailties, remembering that we are dust, begins His work in us from that point [baptism] on. His Spirit continually works tirelessly in us, to bring us to a Messiah-like perfection. He works in us so that we “may grow up in all things into him (the Messiah)” (Ephesians.4:15)

Perfection means that we become more like the lord Jesus in all we think, say, and do!

Isaiah 61:10: I will greatly rejoice in Yehovah, and my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, and covered me with the robe of righteousness: he has decked me like a bridegroom and as a bride her jewels.

Romans 13:12,14: The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light……. put on the lord Jesus the Messiah, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

Ephesians 4:21-24: If so be that you have heard him [Jesus], and have been instructed by him, as the truth is in Jesus, you cast off, concerning the conduct of time past, that old man, which is corrupt through deceivable lusts, and are renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which from God is created unto righteousness, and true holiness.

Colossians 3:8-17: But now put away even all these things, wrath, anger, maliciousness, cursed speaking, filthy speaking, out of your mouth. Do not lie to one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his works, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him, where is neither Grecian nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, free:

For, the Messiah is all, and in all [those that are his]. Now therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved, put on the bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering: Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man has a quarrel to another: even as the Messiah forgave, even so you should do also.

And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, because you have been called into one body, therefore be thankful. Let the word of Messiah dwell in you plentifully in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing yourselves, in Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord [Yehovah].

And whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

What we are and what we do cannot be separated in the Messiah. I behave like a son of God because I am a son of God. By God’s grace, we have a position in the Messiah as slaves, bought and paid for by his shed blood, which position is inseparable from functioning spiritually. In fact, our position in the Messiah; requires us to function spiritually.

1 John 4:12-15: If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.

Matthew 12: 46-50: While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, your mother and your brothers stand without, desiring to speak with you. But he answered and said unto him that told him, who is my mother? And who are my brothers? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, behold my mother and my brothers! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Brothers and sisters, we are living in the last days before the end of this age. Now for all men is the day of salvation, now is the time to live according to our calling in the Messiah Jesus. Remember that whatever our God and Father Yehovah calls upon us to do, He will always provide to us the means, the enabling power of His Spirit, and strength and courage to obey Him!

Notice: Zechariah 4:6: Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says Yehovah of hosts.

These words apply to all those who are in the Messiah Jesus today. Whatever we do we know that it is not by our power or might, but by the enabling power of the Spirit of Yehovah our God and Father! Let us always rely on Him for everything in our lives!

A NEW CREATION IN THE MESSIAH

What does it mean to be a new creation in the son of the living God? How is becoming a new creation in the lord Jesus possible? Does it mean that I have become spiritually new in my inner self? Does becoming a new creation change my way of thinking. Do I experience an inner power that I didn’t have before? Why doesn’t God make me a new creation directly at baptism, instead of becoming a new creation in His son? I am sure that these questions have been asked by anyone who first hears or reads the words “becoming a new creation in the Messiah”.

As always we need to ask ourselves, “what says the scripture?”

Let’s start with baptism. Why it is necessary to be baptized and what are we told to do before we are baptized?

Listen to what Peter says to the multitude of Jews who had come to celebrate Pentecost at Jerusalem, fifty days after the leaders of Israel had by wicked purpose caused their Messiah to be crucified [according to the Plan of God He had set out beforehand]:

Acts 2:22-42: "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know; this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

For David says concerning him, "’ I saw the lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to grave, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being, therefore, a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah, that he would not be abandoned to the grave, nor his flesh experience corruption.

This Jesus God resurrected, and of that we all are witnesses. Being, therefore, exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he [Jesus] has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. [read Acts 2:1-11]

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, "’The Lord [adonai] said to my lord [adoni], "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."’ [Psalm 110:1]

Let all the houses of Israel, therefore, know for certain that God has made him both lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For, the promise is for you, and for your children, and for all who are far away, FOR EVERYONE WHOM THE LORD [YEHOVAH] OUR GOD CALLS TO HIMSELF."

And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort those, saying, "Save your selves from this crooked generation."

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

So we see that those who were baptized in order to save themselves from a crooked generation were those whose hearts had been convicted by the words which Peter had spoken to them. They received Peter’s words and acted upon those words and were baptized.

The words Peter spoke at that time apply today just as it did then. We are now living and are a part of a crooked generation! If we want to be delivered from this crooked generation we will realize that we need to die to self and enter into the waters of baptism.

What happens when we enter into the waters of baptism?

Romans 6:3-4: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into the Messiah Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death [death of self], in order that, just as the Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

What an amazing revelation! When we are baptized we are buried with the Messiah Jesus by baptism unto death, the death of self and just as JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD BY THE GLORY OF THE FATHER [YEHOVAH], that when we come up out of the waters of baptism we too might walk in newness of life, as new creations in the Messiah. Amazing Grace! We walk into the waters of baptism as unregenerate persons and come out of the waters of baptism as regenerate, new creations in the Messiah Jesus to walk in newness of life.

What do we do after baptism?

What did the Jews do who acted on the word of Peter? They repented, turned from their old self to become a new self a new creation in the Messiah Jesus by obeying the command to repent and be baptized.

Then what did they do?

Acts 2:42: …. they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Those who were baptized became totally committed to living out their lives according to the teaching of the apostles in fellowship with one another, in the breaking of bread and prayers. So we observe the beginning of the lives of those who have been regenerated and are as a result progressively moving forward in the newness of life.

Acts 2:44, 46-47: …. all that believed were together, and had all things common; and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according to as any man had need [loving their neighbors as themselves]. …… And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord [Yehovah] added to them day by day those that were saved.

Having become new creations in the Messiah we now walk in newness of life, enabled to do so by the spirit of God, knowing that we can do nothing of ourselves. We now can walk as those who have become totally committed to walking in faith obedience to our God and Father Yehovah, obeying the words He gave to His son to give for us to carry out in our lives. As those who have become disciples of the one whom God has made lord and Messiah we walk in the footsteps of him who became a sin-offering sacrifice in order that we could be reconciled to his God and his Father, our God, and our Father, Yehvovah!

Romans 5:10: For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life;

Notice this important revelation:

2 Corinthians 5:17-21: Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. The old [self] has passed away; behold, the new [self] has come. ALL THIS IS FROM GOD [YEHVOVAH] , who through the Messiah reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Messiah God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for the Messiah, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of the Messiah, be reconciled to God. For our sake He [Yehovah] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him [Jesus the Messiah] we might become the righteousness of God.

What an amazing revelation! It is telling those who have accepted Jesus as the one whom God has sent and are baptized become new creations in him and have been reconciled to God, and as a result, God has entrusted them a ministry of reconciliation! He has made them ambassadors for the Messiah. He makes His appeal through them to all mankind to be reconciled to Him realizing that He made His son become a sin-offering sacrifice who knew no sin, that all who accepts the message of reconciliation might become the righteousness of God and act in accordance of that righteousness!

What is man?

Job 7:17: What is man, that thou should magnify him, And that you should set your mind upon him,

Psalm 25:12: What man is he that fears Yehovah? He shall He instruct in the way that he shall choose.

Psalm 144:3: Yehovah, what is man, that you take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that you make account of him?

Hebrew 2:6: and one in a certain place did testify fully, saying, ‘What is a man that you are mindful of him, or a son of man, that you look after him?

Micah 6:8: He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does Yehovah require of you, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 16:24: Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross [die to self], and follow me.

May Yehovah open our eyes to see [understand] spiritually, and allow His spirit-filled words to breath into us so we can inculcate them into our minds and hearts. May we never forget that we have been bought with a price, the precious blood of the Messiah Jesus and as a result, we are his slaves;  bondservants and in him have become slaves of righteousness, as new creations in him!

THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

It is undeniable that from the beginning the Christian faith proclaims itself to be the revelation of the word of God [Yehovah]. God’s revelation through His word is a message that can clearly be understood by all men and women. William Tyndale said he wanted to translate the word of God into English so that even a plow-boy could understand it. He was burned at the stake for doing just that!

In the words of Romans 10:17:

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word – the message announced by - the Messiah.”

The word God gave to His son to give to us. It is by intelligently receiving the word God gave to His son that we receive the life of Jesus [John 6:32-35]

Jesus, therefore, said unto them, truly, truly, I say unto you, It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life unto the world. They said therefore unto him, lord - sir, evermore give us this bread. Jesus said unto them. I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall not hunger, and he that believes [has faith] on me shall never thirst.

In the key parable of the sower and the seed Jesus makes intelligent reception of the Kingdom of God the key in order to be saved, receive salvation.

Notice:

Matthew 13:18-19: "Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears THE WORD OF THE KINGDOM and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

Luke 8:11-12: Now the parable is this: The seed is THE WORD OF GOD. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then THE DEVIL COMES AND TAKES AWAY THE WORD FROM THEIR HEARTS, SO THAT THEY MAY NOT BELIEVE AND BE SAVED.

To believe the revealed message of Yehovah - God that He gave to His son Jesus to give to the apostles is to receive the Spirit of Yehovah - God.

Therefore, to believe that Yehovah, is the God revealed in the scriptures guides us to believe all the words He spoke through the prophets, and through His son Jesus.

Notice:

Zechariah 7:12: Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Yehovah of hosts had sent by His Spirit by the former prophets: therefore there came great wrath from Yehovah of hosts.

Hebrews 1:1-3: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, because of whom also He [God] created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature….

Now we come to understand the simplicity of what is required for those who believe in the Messiah Jesus. Those who believe are to be guided by His creed that is outlined in Mark 12:28-32:

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: Yehovah [the Lord] our God, Yehovah [the Lord] is one. And you shall love Yehovah [the Lord] your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these."

And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that Yehovah [He] is one, and there is no other besides Him. And to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

Before we can love God with all our being and our neighbors as ourselves we need to go into the waters of baptism as being crucified to this world in the lord Jesus and experience coming out of the water in newness of life, as new creations in the Messiah Jesus.

Romas 6:3: ….all we who were baptized into the Messiah Jesus were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:6: knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin;

Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with the Messiah. It is no longer I who live, but the Messiah who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loves me and gave himself for me.

Now if we have died to self and through baptism been baptized unto Jesus death we now have to strive to be totally committed to our God and Father Yehovah and live by the creed of His son Jesus, His anointed one. We can only do that as we are filled by the Spirit of God after we have been baptized. It is only then that we can live out the creed of Jesus in our lives, enabled to do so by the power of the living God Yehovah who has placed the Spirit of Jesus in us.

2 Corinthians 5:17: …., if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new [newness of life] has come.

Galatians 6:15: For in the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision is not of use for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

As new creations in the Messiah Jesus, we are to be totally committed to keeping all the words his God and his Father Yehovah gave to him to give to us.

Notice this warning Jesus gives to us in order to keep us on the narrow path that leads to life.

Matthew 12:30: Who that is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

May we always be those who gather with Jesus all those whom God is calling out from among the nations, exercising the faith He has give us to do so. [Romans 16:25-26]

Remember that all that we have, has been given to us by our God and Father Yehovah.

GOD'S FOREKNOWLEDGE ACCORDING TO HIS SOVEREIGNTY

There is only one safeguard against error, and that is to be established in the faith and that, there has to be prayerful and diligent study and a receiving with meekness the engrafted word of Yehovah - God.

When we study the foreknowledge of Yehovah we need to remember His sovereignty over all that He has created for His own pleasure.

Scripture affirms that Yehovah has singled out ones to be recipients of His distinguishing favors, and therefore He determined to grant unto them the gift of faith. [Acts 13:48: And when the Gentiles heard it, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained unto eternal life, believed; Romans 12:3: God has dealt to each man a measure of faith.]

Notice God’s sovereignty it is His election that is the cause and our believing in the Messiah is the effect.

Before going any further we need to realize how the scriptures define God’s foreknowledge. First, we know that the word “foreknowledge” does not occur in the Old Testament, but the word “know” occurs there frequently. When the term “know” is used in connection with Yehovah, it often signifies to regard with favor, denoting not mere cognition but affection for the object in view. “I know you by name” [Exodus 33:17]. “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you [Jeremiah 1:5]. In the same manner the word “know” is used in the New Testament in the same sense as in the Old Testament. “The Lord [Yehovah] knows those that are His” [2 Timothy 2:19].

In the New Testament, the word “foreknowledge” is never used in connection with events or actions; instead, it always has reference to persons. It is persons Yehovah is said to “foreknow,” not the actions of those persons.

Prooftexts:

1. Acts 2:22-23: You men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know: him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Note in vs. 23: Paul is not speaking of God’s foreknowledge of the act of crucifixion, but of the person crucified: Him [the Messiah] being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.

2. Romans 8:29-30: For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He marked out beforehand [predestined] He also called, and those whom He called He also justified [declared not guilty], and those whom He justified [declared not guilty] He also glorified.

Note the pronoun that is used here: It is not “what” He did foreknow, but “whom” He did foreknow! It is not the surrendering of their will, nor the believing of their hearts, but the persons themselves, that are here mentioned.

3. Romans 11:2: God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.

Once more the plain reference is to persons and to persons only.

4. 1 Peter 1:1-2: Peter, an apostle of Jesus the Messiah, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus the Messiah:

Who are the “elect” according to the foreknowledge of God? The previous verse tells us: “scattered strangers” i.e. the Diaspora, the believing Jews. And, here too we see that the reference is to persons, and not their foreseen acts.

Now we understand that the word “foreknowledge” when used of God’s foreknowledge always refers to persons, foreknowing persons.

Notice: In the first two passages quoted above [1&2] show plainly and teach implicitly that God’s foreknowledge is not causative, and what lies behind it and that precedes His foreknowledge is His own sovereign decree.

“The Messiah was delivered by the [1] determined counsel and [2] foreknowledge of God” [Acts 2:23].

His counsel or decree was the ground of His foreknowledge.

When we look back at Romans 8:29, that verse opens with “for”, which tells us to look back to what immediately precedes. What does the previous word say? Vs. 28: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Thus God’s foreknowledge is based on His purpose or decree.

Psalm 2:7: I will declare the decree: Yehovah has said unto me, you are my Son; this day have I begotten you.

Psalm 148:6: He has also established them forever and ever: He has made a decree which shall not pass away.

Isaiah 28:22: Now, therefore, be you, not scoffers, lest your bonds are made strong; for a decree of destruction have I heard from the Lord, Yehovah of hosts, upon the whole earth.

Jeremiah 5:22: Do you not fear me? Says Yehovah: will you not tremble at my presence, who has placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.

God foreknows what will be because He has decreed that it shall be. God marked out beforehand those whom He foreknew. (i.e. loved and elected) Christians are people who have believed through grace.

Acts 18:27-28: … when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

Once more: In Romans 11:5, we read “a remnant according to the election of grace.” Plainly election itself is of grace, and grace is unmerited favor.

If anyone is a true believer, a true disciple of the Messiah Jesus he is so because God chose him in the Messiah before the foundation of the world.

Ephesians 1:4-6: Paul, an apostle of Jesus the Messiah by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in the Messiah Jesus: Grace is to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the lord Jesus the Messiah. Blessed be the God and Father of our lord Jesus the Messiah, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in the Messiah:

According as He has chosen us in him [Jesus] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him [Yehovah] in love: Having predestinated [marked us out beforehand] us unto the adoption of children [sons by the spirit of adoption] because of Jesus the Messiah to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the beloved.

All believers, disciples of the Messiah Jesus have believed “through grace” (Act 18:17), and that, because your election was of “grace” (Romans 11:5).

Last but not least Jesus says:

John 6:44: No man can come to me, except the Father who sent me draw him: and I will raise him up in the last day.

John 6:63-65: It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you that believe not. (For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was that should betray him.) And he said, for this cause have I said unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it be given unto him of the Father.

All believers, disciples of the lord Messiah were drawn to him by the spirit of the only true God Yehovah. If God does not draw someone to come to His son Jesus they will not come!

So we see all these things that we have been discussing are of God and nothing of us.

Notice:

Nothing sustains our annihilation but the will and sustaining power of Yehovah. Not one of us can sustain ourselves for a single moment. We are entirely dependent on our Creator for every breath we draw. We rejoice with what the Psalmist says: You hold our being in life [Psalm 66:9]. The realization of this truth ought to make us realize our own nothingness in the presence of Yehovah in whom “We live, and move and have our being” [Acts 17:28]

Yehovah is a rock upon which we can stand and hold fast while everything around us is being torn away, changing rapidly, where moral decline is rapidly bringing us to the way mankind was acting before the flood, and before Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. [2 Peter 2: all]

HOW DO PEOPLE OBSERVE JESUS’ PRESENCE IN HIS DISCIPLES?

In Acts 3, we find Peter and John going to the temple to worship. Just outside the temple gate sat a beggar who had been crippled from birth [A multitude of people would have walked past this crippled man over the years he sat begging as they walked past him to go into the Temple] Peter told him to stand and walk in the name of Jesus, and the man was healed!

When Peter and John saw crowds gathering to marvel at the miracle, they began preaching the Messiah. Thousands were saved. While Peter and John were preaching, the synagogue rulers asked the disciples, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” (Acts 4:7).

Peter was emboldened by the power of God’s Spirit and told them, “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus the Messiah of Nazareth, whom you have crucified, whom God raised again from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you, whole. This is the stone cast aside by you builders which is become the head of the corner [Jesus had told this to the elders while he was alive]. Neither is there salvation in any other: for among men, there is given no other name under heaven, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:10–12).

The rulers sat stunned. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

What was the mark that distinguished Peter and John? It was the presence, the shining forth of the image of Jesus from within. They had grown in maturity into the Messiah’s own likeness, becoming more like Jesus, as all his disciples should do!

Those who spend time with Jesus cannot get enough of him. Their hearts are continually filled with a desire to know their master better and draw close to him. Paul states, “…unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of the Messiah.” (Ephesians 4:7). What is this measure [which means a limited amount]? It means we have all received a limited amount of the saving knowledge of the Messiah, and that saving knowledge is ongoing to the end of one’s life.

For some, this is all they think they need They want just enough of Jesus to escape judgment or to feel forgiven, or to keep a good reputation and to endure an hour of their church each Sunday. Such people are in “maintenance mode”, and are deceived, thinking they are believers when they are not. Such people are disciples of the Messiah Jesus in name only

It is only those who are totally committed to obeying the words Yehovah - God gave to His son to give to us that are true disciples of the lord Messiah Jesus. The true disciples of the Messiah will reflect his image in their lives and actions; obeying his creed to love God, heart, and mind, and the strength of their being, and to love their neighbors as themselves. They realize that they can only do that as they are enabled by the Spirit of God, knowing that whatever God gives them to do; He will provide the power for them to do it!

God has given the disciples of the Messiah spiritual gifts not to maintain their lives as they are! He wants them to be filled up with the Spirit of the Messiah, become like him and to walk as he walked and to speak out as he spoke out to all men/women, bringing the good news message of the soon-coming Kingdom of God.

This is crucial because deceivers, false teachers in the church will try to rob the disciples of the lord Messiah of their faith. However, If the disciples of the Messiah Jesus are rooted in him and maturing in him, no deceptive deceivers doctrine – teaching will ever sway them or lead them away from a deep and abiding faith in the lord Jesus.

The only way for disciples to grow into maturity in the Messiah is by growing in the grace and knowledge of the Messiah, enabled by God's Spirit, and by practically applying those things to become more like Jesus so that unbelievers will be able to see the Messiah Jesus in them!

In the lord Messiah, we are new creations [2 Corinthians 5:17; children of light [Ephesians 5:8]; sons of God [Galatians 3:26]; ambassadors [2 Corinthians 5:20]; friends of Jesus [John 15:15]; a temple - a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit [1 Corinthians 6:19]; living stones being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood [1 Peter 2:5]; a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his (Jesus) own possession [1 Peter 5:9]; the righteousness of God [2 Corinthians 5:21] servants – slaves of righteousness [Romans 6:18] God’s people [1 Peter 5:10]; priests [Revelation 5:10] slaves bought by the blood of the Messiah [1 Corinthians 6:20]

In all of these things that the disciples are in the Messiah Jesus the one most important one to remember is that all disciples are bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus and as such are his slaves. Since he did all things as an agent of his God and Father what he did for us was as if God his Father were doing it. So as a result we are slaves of our God and Father Yehovah! It is in that humble position that we go about doing God’s will in our lives.

Being a slave of Yehovah and of the lord Messiah ought to fill us with confidence knowing that as they are our masters, they will always provide for us with all we have need of physically, and spiritually!

It never ceases to amaze me how wonderfully God has worked everything out so that it is all of Him and nothing of us. Whatever we have has come from His hand, and we are to exercise stewardship over what He has given us! A slave owns nothing but to give loyalty and obedience to his master, who in our case is Yehovah our God and Father. His will is our will and all of this plays out when we are a reflection of His son the lord Messiah to all those we come in contact with! They see and feel his presence in us!

WE HAVE BEEN PRESERVED FOR A PURPOSE

Joseph had dreams that showed he would be used mightily by his God Yehovah, but that vision seemed like a pipe dream after his jealous brothers sold him into slavery. The following years of Joseph’s life were filled with hardship and injustice. Just when Joseph seemed to get back on his feet, he was falsely accused of attempted rape and sent to prison. Finally, after years of turmoil, test and trial, through a series of amazing interventions by Yehovah in Joseph's life,  he ended up second in command over the land of Egypt.

Beloved, that’s how God works; He was preparing a man to save a remnant. Indeed, in every generation, Yehovah raises up a 'Joseph Company."’ He allows these devoted servants to go through years of trouble and trials to prove and strengthen their faith. 

What does this mean? Scripture says, He [Yehovah sent a man before them, [even] Joseph, [who] was sold as a slave: whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that His word came: the word of Yehovah tried him. The king [Pharoah] sent and loosed him; [even] the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: To bind his princes at his pleasure and teach his senators wisdom. (Psalm 105:17–22).

Joseph told his brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 45:7–8).

What an incredible revelation was given by Joseph. Now, what is the lesson from this historic event that applies to Yehovah’s people today? It is this: Our God and Father Yehovah has preserved us in the past [intervening in ways that we didn't even realize that He was doing so], and He will preserve us in our way ahead. Most important of all, He has preserved us because He has a purpose for us. He has laid out a path to follow and a work to perform that only a man/woman who is totally committed to obeying Him will be able to accomplish, enabled by His Spirit to do so!

The "Joseph Company" are godly men and women whom Yehovah has called out from among the nations. They don’t seek fame or fortune. All they want is to be totally committed to fulfilling the calling God has placed on them, knowing Yehovah has promised their work would be rewarded. How? When they take their place as glorified men and women in the Theocratic Government that Jesus will set up when Yehovah sends him down to take his place on the throne of David at Zion. May that day soon come!

This is not a time for timidity. It’s a time when every disciple of the lord Jesus to be willing to endure great hardship as they step forward to send forth the good news of the coming Kingdom/ Kingship of God to all people. The captain of our salvation Jesus is calling us to stand up and engage in the work he has given us to do with absolute trust that he and our God and Father Yehovah will be with us every step of the way!

HOW DO PEOPLE REFLECT THE IMAGE OF GOD?

Genesis 1:26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

Genesis 1:27: And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 9:6: Whosoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: For in the image of God He made man. [If you kill a man/woman made in the image of God, then God considers that as a direct attack on Himself]

1 Corinthians 11:7: For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God:

Notice Yehovah - God says that a man/woman is the image and glory of God.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4: And even if our gospel is covered by a veil, it is covered in them that perish: in whom the god of this world [Satan, the Adversary] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God, should not be understood by them.

Colossians 1:15: [Jesus] who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

Note: 1 John 4:17: Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. [we are as Jesus is made in the image and glory of God – 1 Corinthians 11:7.

Now we come to an important part of this discussion: What and how are human beings, made to be in the image and glory of God?

The answer: God has given us the ability to reason, think, as He does, the ability to create as He does, and the ability to be able to express all the emotions that we do, as He does. We as human beings are limited in all that our Creator God has given to us as the image and glory of Himself.

When we sin against God what happens?

God, Himself suffers profoundly even though He does not sin. He suffers because of our sins, but that is so only because of His love for us. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by which you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).

The more you love a person, the more you suffer. We can now better understand Isaiah 63:9 which speaks of Yehovah God in relation to Israel: “In all their afflictions He was afflicted … in His love and in His mercy He redeemed them.” Significantly, the next verse (v.10) says, “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit,” which is precisely what Ephesians 4:30, just quoted, cautions against.

Psalm 95:10-11: Forty years long was I [Yehvovah] grieved with that generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, And they have not known my ways: Wherefore I swore in my wrath - anger, that they should not enter into my rest – the Promised land. [We grieve and get angry, having the same emotions that God has, with a huge difference; all He does, He does with love coupled with righteousness]

Psalm 33:11: The counsel of Yehovah stands fast for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations.

Psalm 92:5: How great are your works, O Yehovah! Your thoughts are very deep.

However, He says “that His thoughts are not our thoughts; His ways are not our ways”[Isaiah 55:8-9]. Why? For the imagination – the thoughts of a man’s heart are evil from his youth!

Note: Genesis 8:21: And Yehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Yehovah said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake, for that the imagination [thoughts] of man’s heart is evil from his youth;

So all humanity has been made in the image and glory of Yehovah able to think, create, have a multitude of emotions, and all the things that humans can do as human beings, and in doing so they are a reflection of their Creator God.

Notice what Yehovah says when the people built the tower of Babel:

Genesis 11:5-6: And Yehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men were building. And Yehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be held back from them, which they purpose to do. [God knew that he had created man with the intelligence to do whatever their heart led them to do]

So we see understand that mankind was created in the image and glory of God. Obviously, mankind has not lived up to or has appreciated that glorious privilege. Mankind totally lacks any appreciation for what God wanted man/woman to be when He created them in His image. Mankind was created to bring glory to Yehovah  - God.

We who are living in this end-time have the opportunity to do just that. All those who accept the one Yehovah has sent, and accept him as the lord Messiah will walk in obedience to the words his God gave to him to give to us!

The first of those words is to repent and be baptized in the name of the lord [Jesus]. This means that you are willing to die to self when you enter the water and this you will come out of the water in newness of life a new creation in Jesus, bought and paid for by his shed blood. Then after you are baptized and have done so with a totally committed heart willing to obey the words of Jesus you will relieve the power of God’s indwelling presence when He places the Spirit of Jesus in you. In obeying the words of Jesus you will now go forth preaching and publishing the good news of the soon-coming kingdom of God.

For a complete understanding of how to go about doing that you can read the following books by Eric Chang:

Totally Committed 

The Only Perfect Man

Becoming a New Person, volumes 1&2

The Only True God

The Only Perfect Man

Also, books written by Anthony Buzzard: https://focusonthekingdom.org/books/

One God, the Father, One Man Messiah Translation, New Testament with Commentary

The Amazing Aims and Claims of Jesus, What You Didn’t Learn in Church

The Coming Kingdom of the Messiah, A Solution to the Riddle of the New Testament

Our Fathers Who Aren’t in Heaven, The forgotten Christianity of Jesus the Jew

A book by Greg Deuble:

They Never Told Me This in Church, A Call to Read the Bible with New Eyes

A book by Jeff Deuble:

Christ Before Creeds 

These books will give you a deep understanding of what the scriptures disclose about God, Jesus, The New Covenant, The Kingdom/Kingship of God and so much more.

They will reveal to you that the end result of God creating man in His own image and glory; that they would eventually become immortal glorified men/women in the New Age that is coming when Yehovah – God will come down from His place in the heavenly places and dwell with those glorified men and women who will enjoy the new heaven and new earth, a new order of things that Yehovah will create for them. If you want to have a place in the glorious ending read the books and as you are reading them act upon what they are revealing for you to do according to the will of Yehovah – God!

Most of these books that I have mentioned can be purchased on Amazon, or on Anthony Buzzard's website: https://focusonthekingdom.org/books/.

BEING MADE PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERING

1 Peter 4:1: Forasmuch then as the Messiah suffered in the flesh, arm you yourselves also be of the same mind; for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased to sin;

1 Peter 5:10: And the God of all grace, who called you unto His eternal glory in the Messiah, after that you have suffered a little while, shall himself perfect, establish, strengthen you.

Hebrew 2:10: For it became Him [Yehovah], for who are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author [Jesus] of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Note: We also are made perfect through suffering, even as the lord Jesus was made perfect through suffering! [He has set us an example of how to endure suffering and persecution in this world which will allow us to become more like him. Perfection according to the biblical definition is to become more like the lord Jesus, we do so by following in his footsteps obeying his word]

Hebrews 5:8: though he [Jesus] was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. [The disciples of the Messiah Jesus will also learn obedience by the things that they suffer]

1 Peter 2:21: For hereunto were you called: because the Messiah also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps:

We are made perfect [become more like the Messiah Jesus] by the things that cause us to suffer for his name.

2 Timothy 3:12: Yes, and all that would live godly in the Messiah Jesus shall suffer persecution [suffering that will make us to become perfect, to become more like the lord Jesus!

1 Corinthians 10:13: There no temptation [trial] has come upon you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond that you are able to bare; but will with the temptation [trial] provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Philippians 1:27-29: Only let your way of life be worthy of the gospel of the Messiah: …..stand fast in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the gospel; and in nothing be afraid because of the adversaries: which is for them an evident token of destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God; because to you it has been granted on behalf of the Messiah, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer on his behalf:

2 Timothy 1:8: … suffer hardship because of the gospel according to the power of God;

So we understand that whatever trial, persecution or hardship comes our way that we are to stand fast and rely on our God and Father to deliver us. If Yehovah allows us to die in the faith as we hold fast, we will be guaranteed a place in the Theocratic Government that Jesus will establish when he take his place on the throne of David at Zion. We will fill the position he gives us as glorified immortal men/women and co-rule with him for 1,000 years!

Brothers and sisters this age is quickly drawing to a close. We are very near to the time of the end of this age! Since that is the reality that we all face we need to be prepared to undergo all kinds of hardship, persecution, and tribulation. As Paul says, "all who live godly in the Messiah Jesus will suffer persecution. We need to be prepared physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually for what is coming and the only way we will be able to stand is to be empowered by the indwelling Spirit of God!

WHO IS JESUS?

A brief summary:

John 1:17-18:17-18: For the law [Torah – God’s instructions] were given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus the Messiah. No man has seen God [Yehovah] at any time; the uniquely begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.

How did Jesus declare the Father [Yehovah]?

Hebrews 1:1-5: God, who in many ways and in many manners, in time past spoke unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, because of whom [God’s anointed one] indeed He [Yehovah] made the ages; who [Jesus] reflected the brightness [outshining] of His [Yehovah’s] glory and the exact reflection of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when he had by himself borne our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance [promise made to Abraham that his “seed” would receive] obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels did He say at any time, you are my Son, this day have I begotten you.

John 1:29: John saw Jesus coming toward him the next day and said: “Look, this is the Lamb of God [Yehovah] who takes away the sins of the world.”

John 3:16-17: For God [Yehovah] so loved the world, that He gave His uniquely begotten Son, in order that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have age upon age lasting life. For God, did not send the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.

John 5:22-24: For the Father [Yehovah] does not judge any man/woman, but has committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who has sent him. Truly, truly, I say unto you, he that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent me, has age upon age lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but has passed from death unto life [spiritual life now and age upon age lasting life when we are resurrected].

John 3:35-36: The Father [Yehovah] loves the Son, and has put all things into his hand. He that believes on the Son has age upon age lasting life: but he that does not believe on the Son shall not experience age upon age lasting life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

John 5:24-26: Truly, truly, I say unto you, he that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent me, will have age upon age lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life [spiritual life]. Truly, truly, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

Note these very important in John verses 27-29: For as the Father [Yehovah] has life in Himself; and He has given to the Son to have life in himself; And has also given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man.

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all who are in the graves shall hear his [Jesus] voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [age upon age lasting life as glorified men and women]….

John 6:40: And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone who sees the Son [spiritually], and believes on him, will have age upon age lasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. [Yehovah has given that ability and authority to His son Jesus]

Wow! Do we understand that our God and Father [Yehovah] has given our elder brother Jesus to have life in himself and the authority to execute judgment as His agent? Also, we see in John 6:40 that Jesus has the power [because he has life in himself] to resurrect us at the last day [when he returns in the clouds and we rise up to meet him in the air!

Now that I have mentioned that Jesus was and is God’s [Yehovah’s] Agent, I should give you a definition of what that means:

Now according to the Jewish Law of Agency, the agent fully represents the one on whose behalf they are acting, so that the two are identified in a sense as one and the same person.

The Jewish Law of Agency is expressed by these words: “a person’s agent is regarded as the person himself.” And that is why Jesus told the Pharisees, “I and the Father are one”.

Note: John 12:44-45, 50: Whoever believes in me does not only believe in me but also in the One who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the One who sent me… I know that what He commands results in age upon age lasting life. Whatever I say is what the Father told me to say.”

Now the question that we as disciples of the lord Messiah should ask ourselves is when we go forth preaching and publishing the good news message Yehovah our God gave to Jesus to give to us; are we acting as his agents? The answer is yes!

Notice: 2 Corinthians 5:20: Now then we are ambassadors for the Messiah, as though God [Yehovah] did beseech you by us: we pray you in the Messiah’s stead, be you reconciled to God.

Here Paul is saying that we as ambassadors of the Messiah are also acting on behalf of our God in beseeching people to be reconciled to God! So when we are acting as one’s who have been sent forth as ambassadors of the Messiah Jesus we are also acting not only as his agents; but also as agents of his Father and our Father Yehovah.

So that being said do we truly realize that when we speak forth the good news (gospel) message that our God Yehovah gave to Jesus to be preached to the world, we are acting as agents of the lord Jesus, so that what we say, is as if he were saying it, according to the Jewish Law of Agency! What a grave responsibility to the bondservants of Yehovah to speak the truth!

Now we all know that we cannot act as the agents of the lord Messiah properly without being enabled to do so by the indwelling power of the Spirit of our God and Father and of the lord Jesus in us.

We need to draw upon the indwelling power of our God [Yehovah] and our Messiah Jesus to carry out what they have commissioned us to do.

Note: John 14:20: At that day you shall know that I am in my Father and you in me, and I in you. That day began on the day of Pentecost for all Jesus disciples, for all that are in him to this day!

Note: John 14:23: If a man loves me, he/she will keep my words: and my Father will love him/her, and we will come unto him/her, and make our dwelling place in him/her.

What an awesome responsibility has been given to us to act as the agents of our God and Father Yehovah and the lord Messiah Jesus

Now, these words that Paul spoke have deep meaning for us now:

1 Thessalonians 2:12: … that you would walk worthy of God, who has called you unto His kingdom and glory.

1Corinthians 3:16, 17: Do you not know that you are a sanctuary of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? …. for the sanctuary of God is holy, and such are you.

1 Corinthians 6:19: Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit that is in you, which you have from God? And you are not your own [indeed, we are bought and paid for by the blood of the lord Jesus];

2 Corinthians 6:16: And what agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols [things the people of the world lust after]? For we are a sanctuary of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk-in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Who is Jesus? He is the one who has given us all that we have need of to enter into age upon age lasting when His God and Father Yehovah sends him down to take his place on the throne of David at Zion! He voluntarily became a sin offering sacrifice completely committed to doing his Father’s will.

Notice: When the men came to take Jesus to the High Priest what Jesus says: Matthew 26: 51-54: And behold, one of them [Peter] that were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear. Then Jesus said unto him, Put up your sword into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you not think that I can beseech my Father, and He shall even now send me more than twelve legions of angels? [to deliver him from the crowd who came to take him, prisoner]

Note: verse 54: How then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? [What was taking place was according to the plan of God that began with Genesis 3:15, and was being carried out at this time, i.e. “he [Satan] shall bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:15: I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other. I will make your descendants [Satan’s] and her descendant hostile toward each other. He will crush your head [at the White Throne Judgment, when Satan is cast into the lake of fire and destroyed], and you [Satan] will bruise his heel [cause him to be crucified].”

Who was Jesus? He was the second man created by His God and Father Yehovah in the womb of Mary. He was the one who carried out the commission Yehovah gave to him to fulfill, and in doing so he preached the message of the good news of the coming kingdom of God and relayed to the people all the words God gave to him to give to them to hear and obey!

Note: [Isaiah 61:1-2] Luke 4:18-20: The Spirit of the Lord [Yehovah] is upon me because He anointed me to preach good news to the poor: He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives [from the bondage of sin], and recovering of sight to the blind [giving them a spiritual understanding of God’s word], To set at liberty them that are bruised [to physically heal those who were sick], to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord [Yehovah] [When Yehovah will establish His Kingdom on this earth]. And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, today has this scripture been fulfilled in your ears.

The lord Messiah Jesus by his sin-offering sacrifice has made it possible for us to become new creations in him when we die to self and enter in the waters of baptism and come out in newness of life!

Romans 6:4: We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as the Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

2 Corinthians 5:17: Wherefore if any man/woman is in the Messiah, he/she is a new creation: the old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.

To be new creations in the Messiah Jesus means that we are members of the New Humanity that our God and Father has had in mind for men/woman since Adam’s rebellion! The New Humanity will enter into the new age to come that will take place after the White Throne Judgment when all those who are a part of the New Humanity. Wo are now new creations in the Messiah will enter into the new age which will consist of a new heavens and a new [renewed] earth. Only those who are immortal glorified men and women will be allowed to enter.

Note: 1 Corinthians 15:42, 50, 53-54: So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 50 Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Note what Jesus has made us to be now:

1 Peter 2:9: But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may show forth the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

How are we a holy nation?

Romans 11:7-27: Israel has not obtained that which he seeks for; but the election [those who committed their lives to Yehovah and lived according to His will, kept His word] has obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God has given them [Israel] the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see [understand spiritual things], and ears that they should not hear [understand the revelation of Yehovah]; unto this day). And David said, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and recompense unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back always.

I say then, Have they [Israel] stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?

For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches be broken off, and you [non-Jews], being a wild olive tree, are grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree [a type of Israel]; Boast not against the branches. But if you boast, you bear not the root, but the root you [referring to the olive tree – Israel]. You will say the branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.

Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also not spare you.

Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God [Yehovah]: on them which fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, IF you continue in His goodness: otherwise you also shalt be cut off.

And they [Israel] also, if they abide not in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into the good olive tree [Israel]: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

Ephesians 2:1-22: And you has He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our condict in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with the Messiah, and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in the Messiah Jesus: That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us because of the Messiah Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God [Yehovah]: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are His [Yehovah’s] workmanship, created in the Messiah Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. Wherefore remember, that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcised by those who are called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time you were without the Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God [Yehovah] in the world:

But now in the Messiah Jesus, you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of the Messiah. For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of two one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the stake, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both [Jew and Gentile] have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints [holy ones of Israel], and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus the Messiah himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto an holy sanctuary in the lord: In whom you also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.

Revelations 5: 6-10: And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Angels [Spirits] of God, sent forth into all the earth. And he came, and he takes it out of the right hand of Him [Yehovah] that sat on the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sing a new song, saying:

Worthy are you to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for you were slain, and did purchase unto God with your blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and made them be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth.

As John’s gospel message says in chapter 20: 30-31: And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God [Yehovah]; and that believing you might have life through his name. Amen.

Finally, the Lord Jesus has made it possible for us to enter into the Holy of Holies, where God's throne of grace is located when we pray to our Father Yehovah.

Notice: The High Priest of Israel could only enter the Holy of Holies (inner sanctum) once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, to burn incense and sprinkle sacrificial animals blood to expiate his own sins and those of the people.

Notice: Hebrews 4:16: Let us, therefore, draw near with openness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help [us] in time of need.

What an amazing privilege to be able to come before our God and Father in prayer presenting our thanksgiving and love for Him and making requests for His help in time of need. We are not limited to once a year, but can enter the throne of grace anytime we pray! Yehovah desire that His saint - holy ones draw near to Him and communicate with Him as their God and Father. What an amazing privilege we have been given as the slaves of god, the sons of God, and the priests of God. Amazing Grace indeed!

In my own small way, my hope is that what I have written and quoted from God’s word will lead you to have life in the name of the lord Messiah Jesus.