THE BIBLICAL HOPE

In the Bible there is one God, one people of God and one hope for all of God's people - eternal life in the coming age of the kingdom of God. Though this hope was foretold and foreshadowed in the pages of the OT, it comes clearly into focus through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus THE Messiah. As a result of these events the Messiah has "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10). Therefore, the hope of God's – Yehovah’s new covenant people is no longer seen "from a distance" as in OT times (Hebrews 11:13) but is now centered on the clear and simple truth of the Messiah's own glorious resurrection and his future second coming for his people. At that time all believers - whether dead or alive - will be resurrected and transformed so as to be with the Messiah in the glory of God's kingdom (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corossians 15:50-54). This glorious "parousia" of the Messiah will also bring about the "universal restoration of all things" - as "foretold by all the prophets" (Acts 3:17-26) - so that even "creation itself will be delivered from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God - Yehovah" (Romans 8:19-21). In short, the hope of the followers of the lord Messiah Jesus for the future is now centered on the final fulfillment of God's – Yehovah’s foreordained plan "to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even the Messiah" (Ephesians 1:10).

In the NT this hope can be summarized in a single phrase: "The Messiah Jesus our hope" (I Timothy 1:1). This truth is the result of the incorporation of each believer, by way of the Spirit, into the one body of the Messiah (I Corinthians 12:13). Because of this incorporation "in the Messiah" the assembly of the body of the Messiah is now bound up in all of the Messiah's accomplishments - past, present and future. This can be seen quite clearly in many of Paul's Letters. Look, for example, at his Letters to the Ephesians and Colossians:

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with the Messiah ... And God raised us up with the Messiah and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in the Messiah Jesus. In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in the Messiah Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-7).

Since, then, you have been raised with the Messiah, set your hearts on things above, where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God - Yehovah. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4).

Here we have explicitly stated the simplicity of the life of the followers of the lord Messiah Jesus. The Messiah is our "life". For Paul and the other new covenant believers it was impossible to think of their lives - either in the present or in the future - apart from the Messiah. The life, death and resurrection of the Messiah, together with his pouring out of the Spirit on Pentecost, had forever changed the believers' perspective on history. In the cross and in the resurrection the decisive events of history have already taken place. In the Messiah, God - Yehovah has accomplished victory for mankind over the forces of sin, death and Satan forever. As a result, the life of every believer is now bound up in their existence "in the Messiah."

Because of this Paul's entire life was focused on the Messiah - whether in this life or in the life to come:

I have been crucified with the Messiah and I no longer live. But the Messiah lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

For to me, to live is the Messiah and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with the Messiah, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

The Messiah Jesus was Paul's "life." Paul's whole existence - both in the present and in the future - was determined by this single overwhelming truth. It was "in the Messiah" that he had been redeemed and now, by way of the Spirit, the Messiah lived "in him." Since even now Paul's life was "hidden with the Messiah in God - Yehovah," he knew that when the Messiah appeared, he also would "appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:3-4).

Here we have explicitly stated the simplicity of the life of the followers of the lord Messiah Jesus . The Messiah is our "life". For Paul and the other new covenant believers it was impossible to think of their lives - either in the present or in the future - apart from the Messiah. The life, death and resurrection of the Messiah, together with his pouring out the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, had forever changed the believers' in the lord Messiah Jesus perspective on history. In the cross and in the resurrection the decisive events of history have already taken place. In the Messiah, God - Yehovah has accomplished victory for mankind over the forces of sin, death and Satan forever. As a result, the life of every believer is now bound up in their existence "in the Messiah."

Because of this Paul's entire life was focused on the Messiah - whether in this life or in the life to come:

I have been crucified with the Messiah and I no longer live. But the Messiah lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

For to me, to live is the Messiah and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with the Messiah, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

The Messiah Jesus was Paul's "life." Paul's whole existence - both in the present and in the future - was determined by this single overwhelming truth. It was "in the Messiah" that he had been redeemed and now, by way of the Spirit, the Messiah lived "in him." Since even now Paul's life was "hidden with the Messiah in God," he knew that when the Messiah appeared, he also would "appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:3-4).

It is often thought that Paul's words "depart and be with the Messiah" indicate that Paul expected to go to heaven immediately after his death and to live consciously there "with the Messiah." What Paul means by this is that if he died, the time that went by until Jesus comes means nothing to a person who is dead, 2,000 years can pass and the dead don’t know how much time has passed. So for Paul he knew that when he died it would seem like a split second when he would experiencing rising from the dead to be with the lord Messiah Jesus. In Philippians it is the resurrection and the Messiah's return that Paul longed for (Philippians 3:10-21). This can be seen in I Corinthians and I Thessalonians where he clearly expresses his understanding of how believers will come to be "with the Messiah" forever:

For as in Adam all die, so in the Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: The Messiah, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him (I Corinthians 15:22-23).

According to the lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God - Yehovah, and the dead in the Messiah will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air. And so, we will be with the lord forever (I Thessalonians 4:15-17).

In these verses it is crystal clear that Paul believed that believers who died were "asleep in the Messiah" and would be "with the Messiah" when they were "awakened" and raised to be "with him" at his second coming. This fits both the OT and NT pattern of the state of the dead as well as the future resurrection (cp. Daniel 12:2-3, 13; Acts 24:14-16). Most likely, Paul's words "depart and be with the Messiah" simply indicate the degree to which the Messiah was indeed Paul's "life" and that for him the next stage of conscious life after his "departure" (2 Timothy 4:6) would be to be "with the Messiah in glory" - on the day of his appearing. Look at 2 Timothy 4:

In the Presence of God and of the Messiah Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word ...

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (II Tim. 4:1-8; cf. Heb. 9:27-28).

For Paul, the next stage after death, on the chronological timetable of God's plan, was to "appear with the Messiah in glory" - on "that day" of "his appearing and his kingdom." This was the simplicity of Paul's life and hope - may it be ours as well.

Written by Richie Temple Cary and edited and added on to by Bruce Lyon

P.S. When my brother was close to dying, he asked me what would happen to him when he died. He already knew the answer but wanted me to hear it again. I told him that the moment he died in the next split second he would experience rising up in the air to meet the lord Messiah Jesus in the clouds as a glorified immortal man. His cancer would be gone. While I was talking to him, he suddenly said, look Bruce there are 2 angels at the foot of my bed, do you see them. I said no, but I believe you do. A week later he died. I look forward to meeting him in the clouds when the lord Messiah Jesus returns.

THE JEWISH MESSIAH

 

Most Jews think that to believe in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah is to turn away from their Jewish faith. This could not be farther from the truth. The Jewish people for the most part (there are Messianic Jews) have rejected Jesus as the awaited Messiah. One might ask, why? One of the reasons that the Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah is that they are expecting a warrior king who will restore Israel to her former glory in the kingdom of God. Since Jesus obviously did not accomplish this, he must therefore not be the one. The problem with this view is only that it is out of sequence. Jesus will accomplish this at his Second Coming. The Messiah according to the Old Testament is first supposed to suffer and die for the atonement of the world’s sin. This is a necessity for entrance into the kingdom of God.

So, why then do the Jews not know this? This question will be addressed in the following pages.

I grew up thinking that the Jews as a people rejected Jesus as the Messiah. I do not believe that to be the case anymore. I think that the majority of the Jewish population in and around Jerusalem accepted him as the Messiah. It was mostly the Jewish religious hierarchy (the Sanhedrin) that rejected him, and even among them, many believed in him but were afraid to admit it publicly for fear of being thrown out of the synagogue.

John 12:42: "Nevertheless, many even among the authorities (Sanhedrin), believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not acknowledge it openly in order not to be expelled from the synagogue.

John 3:1-2: "Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him."

Matthew 8:19: "A scribe approached and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

John 19:38: "After this, Joseph of Arimathea, another member of the Sanhedrin) secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus... Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh."

Nicodemus came at night because he did not want to be seen with Jesus. But take a close look at Nicodemus’ statement, he says WE KNOW, this means that there were more members of the Sanhedrin that agreed with Nicodemus but were afraid of acknowledging it publicly for fear of being cast out of the synagogue. John 12:42 above confirms this.

THE SANHEDRIN

Before continuing any farther, an understanding of the Sanhedrin and the political structure in Judea will help to shed some light on this subject.

In the time of Jesus ministry, the Romans ruled Judea indirectly. That is, they allowed the Sanhedrin to rule Judea in day-to-day matters, but the Sanhedrin was of course accountable to the Romans (in Judea it was the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate).

The Sanhedrin was the Jewish high court in Jerusalem. It consisted of the high priest and others who had held the office of high priest (the office had become an appointed one under Roman rule). It also included members of the high priestly families, the heads of the tribes and families (aristocracy), and scribes (lawyers) and elders. The full membership consisted of seventy-two men, representing equally the three groups of priests, scribes, and elders. These men were members of the sects of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

The Sanhedrin was more than just a religious institution. It constituted the highest Jewish authority in Palestine. It was responsible for every part of daily life that had a religious aspect. This meant just about everything. It was as far ranged as from weddings to the enforcement of the Mosaic Law such as, do not kill, do not steal, etc. They provided law enforcement, collected their own taxes, and were in effect the controlling authority in Judea. The Roman government allowed the Sanhedrin a great measure of independence, granting it civil and administrative authority. It had officers at its disposal as well as the power of arrest and imprisonment. However, under the Roman rule the Sanhedrin in time lost the legal authority to execute the death penalty (as in the case of Jesus), unless they got the permission of the Roman governor (procurator).

Why did the Sanhedrin reject Jesus as the Messiah?

Imagine, if Jesus instead of coming in the first century, came today. If he started correcting the teachings of the Protestant and Catholic Churches, telling them that they have misunderstood what God - Yehovah has said. If he started preaching that the trinity is man made, and that it is not from God - Yehovah. That when you die you do not go to heaven, but instead wait for the resurrection of the dead and the kingdom of God. If he said that you should not pray to Mary or the saints. How do you think he would be treated today? Probably not much better.

The Sanhedrin was faced with similar problems. Jesus was in effect telling them that they had not understood God’s word the way God - Yehovah had intended it. They had replaced the word of God with their traditions.

Matthew 15:6: (speaking to the scribes and Pharisees) "You have nullified the word of God for the sake of your tradition."

Matthew 16:11-12: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that he was not telling them to beware of the leaven bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

Matthew 23:23: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity."

Jesus is basically telling the people that the Sanhedrin, the ruling authority, are hypocrites. And he is correct. The Sanhedrin wanted the people to follow their traditions that they themselves did not even keep. This is why Jesus refers to them as hypocrites in numerous verses.

Luke 11:46: "You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourself do not lift one finger to touch them."

As the people started to believe in the teachings of Jesus, they started to see the hypocrisy and corruption of the Sanhedrin. You must realize what this means politically. Please understand the magnitude of the situation. When Jesus challenges the Sanhedrin, he is not just challenging a bunch of priests, he is challenging the Jewish ruling authority of Judea. The Sanhedrin over time had become an institution that used Judaism as a means to control the population for its own benefit. They were afraid that if Jesus kept preaching about the coming of the kingdom of God, and of being the Messiah, that the Romans would come and take away their land and nation. In other words, if the Romans believed that there was an uprising in the making, they would probably come in and abolish the Sanhedrin and assume direct and full control in all matters in Judea, which after the uprising in AD 70 is exactly what they did.

John 11:47-53: "So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him (as Messiah) and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation. ..So from that day on they planned to kill him."

Why would the Romans come and take away the Jews land and nation if the Jews believed in Jesus as the Messiah? The reason is because of what the Messiah means to the Jews. The Messiah is supposed to restore Israel to its glory. Among other things, he is supposed to be a warrior king who establishes the kingdom of God on earth and represents God to the people. To the Romans, talk of restoring Israel to its former glory, a Jewish king, and a kingdom, all sounds like an insurrection against Rome. The Sanhedrin was unfortunately more concerned with the things of this world, than with the things of God.

John 8:23: Jesus speaking to the scribes and Pharisees:

"I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world."

 OTHER ADVERSARIES

Merchants and traders have always been the lifeline of a city. This is because they bring in a lot of the money that is then taxed by the government. Because of that relationship, this group has always been very influential in the affairs of government. We can still see that today as big business influences our government through lobbying and other means. An examination of what happened when Jesus entered the temple area will reveal another group of Jesus’ adversaries.

Matthew 21:12-13: "Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those engaged in selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. And said to them, "It is written:

My house shall be a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves."

The merchants and traders had turned the temple area into what we would call today, "an outdoor mall." Jesus rightfully reclaimed it for God. I can guarantee you that all the merchants and traders were furious with Jesus for overturning their tables and chasing them out of what they perceived to be their market area. They went straight to the local authorities, the Sanhedrin to complain and press charges. The Sanhedrin, which were no admirers of Jesus, now has the added pressure of the most influential and economically important section of the population. And they are most definitely asking for some kind of swift punishment. Probably death.

 Mark 11:18 states just that:

"The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way to put him to death."

The majority of the Jewish population in and around Jerusalem believed Jesus to be the Messiah. I have always asked myself, "How can the same people in Jerusalem who welcomed him in as the Messiah crucify him a few days later?" The answer is, they didn’t! The Sanhedrin and a very influential section of the population (the merchants and traders) did.

Mark 11:1-10: This is when Jesus enters Jerusalem a few days before his crucifixion. The people welcome him in as they would a king (which the Messiah is), by spreading their cloaks and leafy branches on the road. This was customary when receiving kings or victorious generals.

"Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out:

"Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!"

Luke 19:38: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest."

This to me does not sound like a crowd that wants to have him killed. On the contrary, they believed in him. They believed Jesus to be the promised Messiah.

Jesus was usually followed by large crowds who wanted to hear him speak and perform signs. In Mark 6:34 there is a crowd of five thousand. In Mark 8:1 there is a crowd of four thousand. Luke 21:38 says,

"And all the people would get up early each morning to listen to him in the temple area."

This is the primary reason that the Sanhedrin took so long to arrest him. They were afraid of the crowds reaction if they arrested him. Logic demands that if the majority of the people were against him, there would be no reason to fear the crowds. But that is not the case, the majority of the people were for him.

Luke 19:47-48: "The chief priests, the scribes and the leaders of the people, meanwhile were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words."

Mark 14:1-2: "So the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to arrest him by treachery and put him to death. They said, "not during the festival, for fear that there may be a riot among the people."

Mark 12:12: "They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they left him and went away."

Mark 14:11: "When they heard him (Judas) they were pleased and promised to pay him money. Then he looked for an opportunity to hand him over."

Notice that he needed an opportunity to hand him over.

Luke 13:17: "When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him."

His adversaries were humiliated (the Jewish religious leaders), but the crowd rejoiced.

Luke 22:6: "He (Judas) accepted their offer and sought a favorable opportunity to hand him over to them in the absence of a crowd."

According to John 18:3 the arrest of Jesus was done at night and away from the crowds in a garden (Gethsemane).

So, what about the crowd that called for him to be crucified? They were probably the same crowd that arrested him who were from the chief priests, the scribes, the elders and the leaders of the people (who were probably the merchants and traders).

Mark 14:43: "Accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs who had come from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders."

Luke 19:47: "The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile were seeking to put him to death..."

Mark 15:11: "But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead."

Matthew 27:20: "The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus."

Even after Jesus death and resurrection many Jews in Jerusalem were becoming disciples of the lord Messiah Jesus.

Acts 3:4: "But many of those who heard the word came to believe and the number of men grew to about five thousand."

Jews as well as followers of the Messiah Jesus have been led to believe that the Jews rejected Jesus. But that is not the proof that history offers us. History shows us that the Jewish population did believe in Jesus, but that he was opposed, persecuted, and finally crucified by the Sanhedrin and other leaders of the people.

SO WHY DONT THE JEWS TODAY BELIEVE JESUS TO BE THE MESSIAH?

After Jesus resurrection a lot of Jews did become disciples of the Messiah Jesus, The early church was comprised mostly of Jews at first, until the Apostles started taking the message to the Gentiles. But the Sanhedrin viciously persecuted any Jew who professed Jesus as the Messiah. If you accepted Jesus as the Messiah, you were thrown out of the synagogue, your family disowned you, you would lose your job, and any Jew who did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah considered you an outcast. You also faced imprisonment. Imprisoning Jewish disciples of the Messiah Jesus is what the Apostle Paul as a Pharisee was doing before his conversion. It was socially and economically devastating to declare Jesus as the Messiah. This social pressure turned away many Jews who had followed Jesus while he was alive and deterred a lot of Jews from becoming Jesus disciples. The Sanhedrin also lied about the resurrection of Jesus, saying that it had been a trick. They also claimed that the Messiah was supposed to usher in a New Kingdom, and that since Jesus had not, he could not be the Messiah. What they failed to see in the Scriptures is that first, the Messiah is supposed to suffer and die for the atonement of the world’s sin. I have always wondered how did they miss that? It is so clear. Here is a possible explanation.

The Jews throughout history have always been persecuted. To a Jew, it is not a question of, "if I will be persecuted," but when? You can skim history and see a trail of persecution, from the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Romans, Spanish, Germans, etc.

A reason for this is that they were chosen by God to bring salvation to the world. A lot of peoples and nations have harbored ill will toward the Jews because of this claim. But it is true.

After Christianity became popular, the Jews as a people were blamed for the crucifixion of Jesus, although I think we have shown that this is not the case. Also, anywhere the Jews have emigrated, they have always put God first and the nation second. The secular world is very nationalistic and places the state first. This has also been a cause for resentment toward the Jews. Because of this resentment I do not think that the world would have embraced a religion (no matter what kind of evidence it produced) had it come from the Jews. This is why I believe that it was God’s plan that the Jews as a nation reject Christianity. Because of the Jews rejection, Christianity was no longer a Jewish religion, and it became acceptable to the rest of the world.

I believe God hardened the Jews so that Christianity could reach the Gentile world. I cannot exactly define what "hardened" means. Whether God actually hardens their hearts or whether he confirms their already hardened condition is not certain. According to the New Testament, Israel as a nation will be saved when the full of the Gentiles comes in, until then, only a part will see the truth.

Romans 11:25-26: "I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not become wise in your own estimation: a hardening has come upon Israel in part, until the full number of the Gentiles comes in, and thus all Israel will be saved."

Romans 11:7: "What then? What Israel was seeking it did not attain, but the elect attained it; the rest were hardened, as it was written:

"God gave them a spirit of deep sleep, eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear, down to this very day." (Paul is quoting Isaiah 29:10)

John 12:36-40: "After he had said this, Jesus left and hid from them. Although he had performed so many signs in their presence they did not believe in him, in order that the word which Isaiah the prophet spoke might be fulfilled...

"He blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not see with their eyes and understand with their heart and be converted, and I would heal them." (Paul is quoting Isaiah 6:9-10)

Matthew 21:42: "Jesus said to them,"Did you ever read in the Scriptures:

The stone that the builders (Israel) rejected has become the cornerstone; (for the gentiles) By the Lord - Yehovah has this been done." (Matthew is quoting Psalms 118:22-23)

Luke 19:41-42: "As he drew near, he saw the city (Jerusalem) and wept over it, saying, "If you only knew what makes for peace, but for now it is hidden from your eyes."

Another great obstacle for the Jews is the mainstream Christian concept of God. The majority of Christianity believes in a God that is three in one, and one in three. It sounds like something out of a Musketeer movie. They claim that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is also a separate person in the Godhead. This unfortunately is not what Jesus, nor the Apostles believed or taught. This belief comes out of the influence of Greek philosophy such as Platonism, Neo-Platonism, Stoicism, and Gnosticism on the early Christian church in the first few centuries.

For an excellent article on the influence of Greek philosophy on the early Christian church, I would suggest looking up "Platonism" in the Encyclopedia Britannica under the subtitle "Platonism and its influence on the Early Christianity."

True followers of the lord Messiah Jesus believe in the oneness of God - Yehovah, and in His son Jesus, the Messiah of God’s kingdom (who is a man anointed by God), and the kingdom of God which is to begin upon the return of Jesus to take his place on the throne of David at Zion. When asked by a scribe, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied by quoting the Shema, Israels creed; "Hear, O Israel! The Lord (YHWH - YEHOVAH) our God, the Lord - Yehovah is one" (Mark 12:29). Jesus is in complete agreement with the Jewish belief in God.

I can imagine how it must look to a Jew. You can show him that Jesus is the Messiah Scripturally, and he might see the truth in it, but then you tell him that God is now three in one and one in three, and all your credibility is gone. If he did believe in Jesus, he will not anymore. Well, do not let this be a stumbling block anymore, because this is not a true Christian belief. It is a false teaching that has been perpetuated by Satan to mislead people away from the truth. Search for the truth, look to the Scriptures.

True Christianity is the continuation of the Jewish faith. The Old Testament gives us detailed evidence of who the Messiah is supposed to be. It is like the address on a letter. If as a Jew you would like to see Scriptural proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah, here it is. 

The Facts

Jesus fulfilled over 300 Jewish prophecies. We can only cover a few of the more important ones, but you can easily verify the rest. The evidence is incredible!

Isaiah 53 is the cornerstone of all Messianic prophecies. It clearly predicts the coming of the Messiah and how he must suffer and die for our sins. Some Jewish rabbis say that Isaiah is talking about the nation of Israel, but I invite you to read it and judge for yourself if he is referring to the nation of Israel or to a personal Messiah. Isaiah makes fifty-one references to a personal Messiah. Compare this chapter with Isaiah 54 in which he is speaking about Israel and see the difference. The reason Isaiah 53 is ignored in the haftarah reading in connection with the Pentateuchal lesson is because Isaiah 53 cannot be explained away. You can read it and not see the truth in it, just like Isaiah 6: 9-10 predicted, but it is there. Most Jews have never even read it. In order to make a well thought out decision, one has to read and come to terms with Isaiah 53.

Let’s now look at some prophecies which accurately pinpoint from which descendants the Messiah must come from, from what tribe, in what city he must be born, and the most specific prophecy of all tells us when the Messiah will die. You will get a much clearer picture if you read the whole passage, I will just list the main point.

Genesis 12:1-3: "All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you."

The Messiah will come from the lineage of Abraham. Jesus is from the line of Abraham. The communities will be blessed because the Messiah will provide atonement for sins. This is known as the Abrahamic Covenant.

Genesis 49:10: "The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs, while tribute is brought to him, and he receives the people’s homage."

The Messiah will come out of the tribe of Judah. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah.

Isaiah 9:6: "From David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains."

The Messiah must be a "Son of David," which Jesus is.

Isaiah 16:5: "A throne shall be set up in mercy, and on it shall sit in fidelity in David’s tent a judge upholding right and prompt to do justice."

The Messiah comes from the line of David. Jesus is from the line of David.

Isaiah 11:1: "But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The Spirit of YEHOVAH shall rest upon him."

The Messiah will be from the line of David. Jesse is the father of David. Jesus is a descendant of David.

Isaiah 11:10: "On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out."

The Messiah, a descendant of Jesse, will be a signal for all nations. Jesus is a descendant of Jesse, and there are followers of Jesus in all nations.

Micah 5:2: "But you Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from old" (ancient Davidic Dynasty).

The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

8). Daniel 9:24-26: "This prophecy predicts when the Messiah will die. Daniel says, "After the sixty-two sevens, the Anointed One will be cut off." This is a reference to the crucifixion of the Messiah (see Psalms 22:17-19). Here Daniel gives us a very specific prophecy. The Messiah must die 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. This decree was given March 14, 445 BC (see Nehemiah 2:1-In explanation of the "Seventy Weeks" of Daniel 9: 24-26: Seventy Weeks refers not to seventy weeks of days, but weeks of years, then seventy weeks equals seventy units of seven. It is a reference to the Jewish Sabbatical year. Once each seven years the land was to be left to rest for a year. Seventy weeks equals 70 times 7, which equals 490 years. Daniel 9:24-26 says there will be 7 weeks and 62 weeks from the time of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the time the Messiah will be cut off. That’s 69 weeks, which equals 483 years. Note: A Jewish year is 360 days, or 12 months of 30 days each; 483 years equals 173,880 days. Jesus entered Jerusalem on the week of his death on the tenth day of Nissan in Passion Week, which was April 6, 32 AD. The conclusion is that the 69 weeks

(483 years) started with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, March 14, 445 BC and ended the week that Jesus entered Jerusalem, April 6, 32 AD. It is incredible! You cannot be more specific than this. The only person that could fit this very specific prophecy is Jesus of Nazareth. The odds of one person just fulfilling eight of the 300 prophecies are 1 in 10 to the 17th power. That is, 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. What do you think the odds are in one person fulfilling all 300 prophecies as Jesus has done? The facts are there if one wants to see them.

The people of Israel did not reject Jesus as the Messiah, the Jewish power structure did for their own gain. Christianity is just the fulfillment of Judaism. By accepting Jesus as the Messiah, you will not be any less of a Jew, on the contrary, you will be in complete accordance with your own Scriptures.

Written by Juan Baixeras and edited and added on to by Bruce Lyon

GOD’S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM

 

The purpose of this study is to clarify what the kingdom of God is based on. People have claimed that the kingdom of God is the church (which one?), or that the kingdom of God is in your heart. These ideas will seem absurd when one understands what the concept of the kingdom of God is actually based on.

Pay special attention to keywords such as "promise" and "inheritance."

The concept starts with the promises that God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, Genesis 13:14-15 & Genesis 17:7-8. These promises are also made to Isaac (Genesis 26:4) and Jacob (Genesis 28:14) who are Abraham’s son and grandson. The three are also referred to as the patriarchs.

Genesis 12:3: "All the communities of the earth will find blessing in you."

This is a reference to the Messiah (Jesus). God - Yehovah promised Abraham that through his descendants would come someone through whom the world would be blessed (saved). Paul confirms this in Acts 3:25-26: "You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when He said to Abraham, in your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

For you first, God raised up His servant and sent him to bless you."

The second promise deals with the earth. The families that will be blessed are the families of the earth. And it is on this earth that the families will be blessed. God specifically promises Abraham the earth (or the land as it is sometimes referred to) as his inheritance.

Genesis 13:14-15: "Yehovah said to Abraham: Look about you, and from where you are, gaze to the north and south, east and west; all the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever."

Genesis 17:7-8: "I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession."

The Messiah came to confirm and proclaim the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the reason why Jesus came. Through his death our sins are forgiven (we are blessed), and through his reign as our king on earth (Jesus Second Coming), Abraham and his descendants (the resurrected in the Messiah) will inherit the earth as their permanent possession.

Romans 15:8: "For I say that the Messiah became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, to CONFIRM the promises to the patriarchs."

What promise? That Abraham and his descendants would inherit the world.

Romans 4:13: "It was not through the law that the PROMISE was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would INHERIT THE WORLD, but through the righteousness that comes through faith."

What did Jesus come to proclaim? The Kingdom of God.

Luke 4:43: "To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent."

As you can see, Jesus came to confirm the promises that God made to Abraham and to proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus is proclaiming what he came to confirm.

1 Corinthians 6:9: "Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God."

Abraham was promised that he would inherit the world. In the verse above it says that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God. The keyword is "inherit." To inherit the kingdom of God is to inherit the world. The kingdom of God is the world under the rule of God through His Messiah.

The kingdom of God = The promises that God made to the patriarchs.

Entrance into the kingdom of God is the Christian goal. This is the reward that God has promised the followers of the Messiah. Galatians 3:29:

"And if you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise."

What promise? That he would inherit the world.

Romans 4:13: "It was not through the law that the PROMISE was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would INHERIT THE WORLD, but through the righteousness that comes."

We are supposed to inherit the world along with Abraham. Because of our faith in the Messiah, we are considered descendants of Abraham and heirs to the same promise. With the Messiah as our king we will reign on earth. Revelation 20:4:

"They came to life and reigned with the Messiah a thousand years."

 Where will we reign with the Messiah? Revelation 5:10:

"You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will REIGN on EARTH.”

The Kingdom of God is the theme of the entire Bible. It started with the promises that God made to Abraham. Every prophet has had something to say on this topic. God through the prophets added more details until Jesus arrived to confirm and proclaim the kingdom of God, not only to the Jews, but also to the world (blessing, Genesis 12:3). Abraham and his descendants have never possessed the world. They all died in faith (Hebrews 11:13), this is why there will be a resurrection, so that God’s promises will be fulfilled. When will the resurrection happen? In the last day of this age, in the coming of the new age (inaugurated by Jesus return). This is when Abraham and his descendants will inherit the world.

Luke 20:35:"But those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead."

John 11:23-24: "Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise.’ Martha said to him, I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day."

Summary: The story of man started on the earth with Adam and Eve. They corrupted it by their disobedience to God. The message of the kingdom of God starts in Genesis and ends in Revelation. It is God’s plan of salvation for the human race by returning man and the earth to its original condition.

It is best summarized by the New American Bible pg. 15 & 24:

"The plan of salvation foretold by the sacred authors, recounted and explained by them, is found as the true word of God in the books of the Old Testament. The principal purpose to which the plan of the old covenant was directed was to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, the redeemer of all and of the messianic kingdom, to announce this coming by prophecy.”

Another important topic in prophetic preaching is messianism. God punishes infidelity to His covenant (partnership). Israel is humiliated for its sins. But at some future date God’s kingdom on earth will be restored. God’s vicegerent, His Messiah, anointed to royal dignity, will reign in that kingdom. You should pay attention to this messianic expectation in Hebrew literature. This is necessary to understand the literature of the New Testament, which sees the fulfillment of this messianic expectation in Jesus of Nazareth. In other words, the New Testament movement is the fulfillment of the Hebrew Bible. Jesus of Nazareth proclaims that he is the promised Messiah (anointed) king to come, to establish the kingdom (reign) of God, for which the Old Testament was yearning."

So why do people think that our reward is heaven? This idea came about through the influence of Greek philosophy upon the early church of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries. That being said there is absolutely nothing in the scriptures that says a believer’s reward is to go to heaven when he/she dies.

Once you understand what the kingdom of God is based on (the promises made to the patriarchs), then you will easily see the error in believing that the kingdom of God is the church, or that it is in your heart. This article is just a springboard. There are many more verses to study and much more to learn about Jesus most important teaching.

Written by Juan Baixeras and edited and added on to by Bruce Lyons

RECKONING SELF AS “DEAD UNTO SIN”

The only one who can reckon he/she is ‘dead indeed unto sin’ is the one who has been through identification with the death of Jesus. When he has been through that moral transformation, he will find he is enabled by the spirit of the Lord Messiah Jesus to live according to it; but if one tries the “reckoning” business without having gone through an identification with the death of Jesus, one shall find oneself deceived; there will be middle ground.

When I can say, “I am crucified with God’s – Yehovah's anointed one: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” (Galatians:2:20) a new page of consciousness opens before me; I find there is an enabling powers in me. I am now able to fulfill the commands of Yehovah and His Son Jesus, now able to do what I could not do before; I am free from the bondage of sin, and the old limitations, and the gateway to new age life has been opened to me because of the sin offering sacrifice of God’s anointed one, Jesus.

Galatians 5:1: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Romans 8:15: For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Notice:

Luke 11:13: If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him?

He says, “If you then, being evil.” Notice the significance? Why did he not say, “If we then, being evil?” He did not say it because he knew he was essentially different from them as the only perfect sinless man.

The speaker is the son of God; not just a man who is called Jesus, but the lord Messiah Jesus God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one who lived his entire life without sin. God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, the uniquely begotten son of God - Yehovah. He does not include himself in that “you”. But he does include the whole of mankind. “You being evil” means that we not only do evil things but that we are evil. Our natures are corrupt and evil, and those who are essentially corrupt and evil are not the children of God. That is why in the prayer to our Father we ask to be delivered from “evil”.

Jesus speaking to the religious leader of his day says:

Matthew 12:34: O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

The following applies to all of us.

Jeremiah 17: 9: The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can understand it?

My nature before baptism/regeneration was selfish, sensual, self-satisfied, prideful, all wrong and out of order, and as a result not totally committed to obedience to the lord Messiah Jesus God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one. That was my condition for almost 50 years all the while calling myself a Christian, committing perjury before men and God, and lying to others before God. As Jeremiah has stated in Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? The heart is capable of great self-delusion and deception.

Jesus said: “IF any man/woman will come after me” … the condition is that he/she must leave something behind. His/her right to himself/herself, die to self.

Our cross is the sign that we have denied our right to ourselves, died to self, and are committed to manifesting that we are no longer our own; we have given away forever our right to ourselves to the lord Messiah Jesus God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, who purchased me by the blood he shed when he presented himself to his God and Father Yehovah as a sin-offering sacrifice, allowing God – Yehovah to reconcile all humanity to Himself.

Unless the lord Messiah Jesus, God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one is the lodestar there is no benefit to any sacrifice on our part. The denial of self must have springs in a personal outflowing love for our lord Messiah Jesus which will show itself in obedience to his words. We are no longer our own; we are slaves who own nothing but exercise stewardship over what the lord Messiah Jesus gives to us physically and spiritually. We are to live out the lord Messiah Jesus in our lives as living in the world, but not of the world – with its attitudes and motivations that are heavily influenced the prince of the power of the air – Satan who deceives the whole world.

The cross is the gift of Jesus to his disciples, and it can only have one aspect: “I am not my own.” The whole attitude of life in following “THE WAY” is that I have given up my right to myself. I live like a crucified man in God’s anointed one. Jesus made it plain that these are the conditions for following him.

It is a slander to the cross of God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one Jesus to say we believe in him and then go about pleasing ourselves all the time, choosing our own way to live our lives, instead of living the way of Jesus, who is the way, the truth, the life, the light, etc.

Jesus said: “IF any man/woman come after me – follow me.” The word “IF” means, you don’t have to unless you decide to, but you won’t be of any account to him in this life unless you make that decision!”

Wherever the spirit of Jesus is still battling around this one point – my right to myself – and until that is deliberately given over by myself, to die to self, in recognition that Jesus is my lord, I will never have the relationship with him that he desires in his love for me to have!

Our cross – dying to self is something that comes only with a peculiar relationship of a disciple of Jesus, God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one; it is the evidence that we have denied our right to ourselves, died to self interests, and made a total faith commitment to following him as our lord and master, realizing that we have been bought and paid for by his shed blood and as such we are not our own, but are now his slaves. It is only in him that we can become the slaves of righteousness, doing what is right according to the will of his God and our God, his Father, and our Father Yehovah.

Do you know what the third commandment is? “You shall not take the name of Yehovah your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7) What does that mean? It is not only a question of swearing with your mouth; it is a question of swearing with how you live your life. If you are a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus, are you are taking Yehovah’s name in vain. The commandment says, “You shall not take the name of Yehovah your God in vain”, i.e., falsely or unworthily. If you take the name of the God in your life, and in your lips, and you then turn around and deny Him in your life, by your actions, you are guilty of perjury.

Nobody should take the name of Yehovah into their life experience or take the name of the lord Jesus upon themselves, who are not prepared to obey those words, the truth.

We must realize that we are always in the presence of God - Yehovah. Let us remember that everything in our lives and conversation is in His presence and may indeed be the thing which will determine what others will think of Him.

Notice:

Popular teaching tells me that my sins are forgiven even if I am still enslaved to sin and my sinful nature. My sins are forgiven even if, in reality, the debt of sin is piling up, so that every day I come back to God for forgiveness: “Lord, I’m sorry I failed you, yesterday, today, and probably tomorrow.” Is this the Christian life? Absolutely not!

Some professing followers of the lord Messiah Jesus want to forget about sin because it is tiring to ask for forgiveness again and again, apologizing to Yeovovah God day in and day out. Shouldn’t this come to an end? Isn’t God tired of listening to our endless apologies? In what way does our incessant asking for forgiveness differ from the need to offer sacrifices endlessly under the Law?

Sadly, many professing followers of the lord Messiah Jesus have never crossed over from the bondage to sin described in Romans 7 to the freedom from sin, available only in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one Jesus, described in Romans 8.

Sadly, many followers of the lord Messiah Jesus identify with the description in Romans 7 as correctly portraying their failed lives. Scripture, however, must not be interpreted according to our failures in such a way as to exonerate them. On the contrary, our failures must be examined in the light of Scripture, and our lives must be made to conform to what Scripture describes as being “a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus” or as being “in the Messiah”. That life should be one of victory not failure!

Notice a statement which the great George Muller once made about himself:

"There was a day when I died, utterly died, died to George Muller and his opinions, preferences, tastes and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame of even my brethren and friends; and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God."

The key to it all, as George Muller reminds us, is that we must die to ourselves – die to self. George Muller died to himself, to his opinions, his preferences, his likes and dislikes, his tastes, and his will. His one concern, his one idea, was to be approved by his God and Father Yehovah.

A man must be born from above and become a new creation in the Messiah Jesus before he can live like George Muller did. No man can die to himself except he has the spirit of the lord Messiah Jesus in him, and then that man who can say: `I live; yet not I, but God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one lives in me.'

That attitude of heart and mind is only possible for one who is regenerate and seeking to be renewed daily, who has received the spirit of the lord Messiah Jesus.

Examine yourself and your life, your ordinary work, the things you do, the contacts you have to make with people. Reflect for a moment upon the extent to which self comes into all that. It is an amazing and terrible discovery to note the extent to which self-interest and self-concern are involved, even in the preaching of the gospel.

Have we come to realize the extent to which the misery and the unhappiness and the failure and the trouble in our lives is due to one thing only, namely SELF?

Man, according to the Scriptures, was meant to live entirely for the glory of God - Yehovah. He was meant to love Yehovah with all his heart, with all his being, with all his mind, with all his strength, looking towards God – Yehovah, and seeking His honor and glory.

It is the self-centered nature in man which God condemns. It is that self-centered nature [the self-Ish nature] that is under the curse of God and the wrath of God. And as I understand the teaching of the Scriptures, holiness is deliverance from this self-centered life.

Jesus said: `I have come to do your will, 0 God,' and he was wholly dependent upon God - Yehovah for everything, for the words he spoke and for everything he did. The son of God humbled himself to that extent. He did not live for himself in any measure.

Paul says: `Let this mind be in you, which was also in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one Jesus.'

The cross of the lord Messiah Jesus is the supreme illustration, and the argument of the New Testament is this: if we say we believe in the lord Messiah Jesus and believe that he died for our sins, it means that our greatest desire should be to die to SELF and serve him in newness of life as one bought and paid for by his precious shed blood.

Jesus is the beginning of God’s – Yehovah’s New Creation, and he became a sin-offering sacrifice so that a new people might be formed, a new humanity, a new creation, and that a new kingdom would be set up, consisting of people like him. He is `the firstborn among many brethren', He is the pattern, God - Yehovah has set for us, says Paul to the Ephesians: `We are His workmanship, created in His anointed one Jesus.' We are `to be conformed to the image of His son'.

That is the life to which God - Yehovah calls us to have in the lord Messiah Jesus, His anointed one and He enables us to do so by the enabling power of His spirit and the enabling power of the spirit of the one who died for us, so that you and I might live it.

I have been saved = regeneration

I am being saved = renewal in mind and heart

I will be saved = the resurrection!

How do you become the son of your Father in heaven? By being utterly renewed, transformed! Paul says the same thing, as we have seen before in Romans 12:1-2, especially v. 2: “that you become transformed in the renewing of your mind”. Becoming a a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus is to become utterly changed.

Baptism is essential, but unless you are transformed, you are not saved.

The challenge is enormously high, but it is accomplishable only by the enabling power the spirit of God and of His son indwelling you.

The lord Messiah Jesus is saying, “I want you to move into this new land, a Promised Land.” See it? We come out of Egypt, what for? To stay in the wilderness like so many professed followers of the lord Messiah Jesus do? Not at all!

To enter into the new country, the new land, the atmosphere, the new area, the kingdom of God - the atmosphere of love. In there you will find all God’s – Yehovah’s promises, but only there.  So, we are moving out of the old way of life dedicated to SELF, out of the wilderness of this world, and into the land of Promise.

By faith, I have entered into the land of God’s – Yehovah’s promises. 

1 John 4:16 says: “So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him.”

God, as to His character, as to His nature, is love. And he who abides, that is, he who lives in love, who conducts his life in love lives in God and God lives in him. 

He who lives in love will find that he is living in God and God is living in him.

Remember: that only as new creations in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one will we experience the promises of God - His saving power, new age life, age upon age lasting life!

It must always be borne in mind that those who are saved are those who “have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

 And what is that purpose? It is stated in the very next sentence, “To be conformed to the likeness of His Son” (Romans:8.29).

Jesus says, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as Your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This is both a call and a command, so anyone who refuses to obey it is defiant, insisting that perfection is irrelevant to salvation.

He says you cannot be his disciple unless you die to SELF, and deny self which is how you take up your cross daily, and follow him in the newness of life. (Luke 9:23; 14:26-27).

The lord himself made it clear that “The gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it” (Matthew 7:14). That is precisely why salvation is by grace, but also in this sense: that without God’s empowering us, enabling us, by His Spirit, it would be impossible for us to live the new life to which He has called us. If our God asks us to do anything, He will always provide the enabling power of His spirit to accomplish what He has asked us to do.

Is God truly at the center of our lives, or are we still at the center? Are we still subtly running the show; or are we allowing the Spirit of God - Yehovah to guide us and direct us in the way we should go?

We start with regeneration because only that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, and therefore spiritual. We are made spiritually by becoming a new creation in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, Jesus, and not by any human works - efforts or zealousness, but by God’s – Yehovah’s work transforming us who are new creations in the lord Messiah Jesus. 

Zechariah: 4:6: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says Yehovah of hosts.

When we become spiritual, our new life will grow and develop, moving towards a definite goal: the fullness of the image and stature of God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one Jesus.

Paul’s life, heart, and thoughts are all centered upon God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, Jesus. That, according to Paul, is how those seeking perfect think. Spiritual or inner perfection is governed and motivated not by earthly and external things but by the lord Messiah Jesus, the One who sits at the right hand of the Father, who indwells us by his spirit. If we have been crucified with God’s anointed one, Jesus, we will no longer live according to our own self-centered lives, having died to self, but because God’s anointed one lives in us, we will no longer look at things from a human point of view, but with the “mind of God’s Yehovah’s anointed one, Jesus” (1 Corinthians 2:16), see things from his point of view. This way of living and looking at things is what constitutes the inner perfection that derives from the enabling indwelling Spirit of Jesus which provides us with a heart attitude centered on God.

God leads us, His children, at times when we are not fully aware of it. Often, we only realize it in hindsight. Who are the children of God? They are those who are led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14).

Holiness means to be separate and distinct from this world and its carnality. Paul exhorts us to move on to the attitude of heart that Jesus had and has (Philippians 2:5), which is the essence of perfection.

Biblical perfection means one’s heart is wholly centered on God - Yehovah. His/her whole life revolves around Yehovah, not on himself/herself. His/her heart and mind are focused on Him and His Kingdom as the goal of life.

We know that we are nowhere near the absolute perfection that we observe in the lord Messiah Jesus, who never failed in carrying of the will of God - Yehovah. This kind of perfection is unattainable at present, but it is what we ought to strive for until the end of our lives or this age.

“We know that when he appears, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Only then will we become fully like God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one Jesus.

The flesh obscures a vision of God at present and will continue to do so until the day we will be granted to see God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one face to face and become transformed into his perfect image and likeness.

We are waiting for the transformation of the body, “the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23).

Paul’s fervent aspiration is that “I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on…” (Philippians 3:12-12).

Here is an explicit link between absolute perfection and the resurrection from the dead.

So we understand that only spiritual perfection, concerns us in the present time as people who have become new persons, as “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17), in God’s anointed one Jesus.

We discover that pursuing perfection leads us to walk on the “narrow road” (Matthew 7:14) on which we are called to take up our cross [deny self completely] and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23. Anyone who declines to bear his cross [deny his/her self daily] will find that he will be unable to walk on the difficult road that leads to new age life and, consequently, cannot be the lord Jesus disciple. For so many, many years I declined!

Why is this so? Precisely because human nature with its earthly appetites, pursuits, and aspirations will oppose the call to spiritual perfection with tooth and claw because it sees its security and its interests being threatened. That is why when we become new persons in Jesus, it is absolutely necessary to settle the question of what exactly our attitude towards our earthly physical) life is going to be. Failing to do so is to court certain defeats right from the outset.

Are eternal things the main concern of our hearts? Do we look at our health, our occupation, and the like, through the eyes of a faithful steward who serves God - Yehovah as the center of our lives?

The life of a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus is very practical; it comes to grips with these concrete realities of everyday life. It is within the sphere of daily life that we come to experience the fact that perfection has to do with the enduring spiritual quality of our lives. That is what salvation is about.

Notice:

To have “little faith” really means a failure to realize the implications of salvation, and the position resulting from salvation. My trouble was because I did not realize to the full implications of the doctrine of salvation.

Ephesians 1: 18-19; 2:1,4-5:  ……. being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power… You He has made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins… God - Yehovah, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith he loved us…. Even when we were dead in sins, has made us alive together with His anointed one, (by grace you are saved;) and has raised us together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in His anointed one Jesus:

God's children are destined for glory. All the purposes and the promises of God are meant for us and designed concerning us; and the one thing we have to do is just to realize what God has told us about ourselves, as His children. A man then begins to apply the logic that argues: `If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God - Yehovah by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life' (Romans 5:10).

Whatever happens to us, “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered him up for us all, shall He not with him also freely give us all things?”

The vital thing is to see ourselves as His children

The children of God - Yehovah had their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world, and that according to the foreknowledge of God - Yehovah. There is nothing contingent about this. It was “before the foundation of the world” that we were elected (Ephesians 1:4-5). According to God’s – Yehovah’s foreknowledge He knew all those who would come believe His message of salvation and be totally committed to obeying His will in their lives.  His purposes are immutable and changeless, and they envisage our eternal destiny and nothing less. This is constantly expressed in various ways in the Scriptures. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God,” “separated unto God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one Jesus,” “sanctified, set apart by His Spirit.”

When people believe things like that, they can face life in this world in a very different way. That was the secret, once more, of the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11. They understood something about the immutable purposes of God, and, therefore, whether it was Abraham or Joseph or Moses, they all smiled at calamities. They just went on because God had told them to do so. After all, they knew that His purposes would surely come to pass.

God never contradicts Himself, and we must remember that He is always behind, beneath, and everywhere round about us:

“Underneath are the everlasting arms.”

When we come to know the love, God - Yehovah has for us and rest in it (1 John 4: 16) our whole lives will be different.

Ephesians 3:20: He that can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us'.

Romans 6:17: affirms that “you became obedient from the heart” to the teaching of God’s – Yehovah’s word, and as a result, you were set free from sin and became slaves of righteousness (v.18).

What does this mean? It means that obedience is the basic reality of the spiritual life because the hard reality is that everyone in this world, without any exception, is a slave. But there is good news: God - Yehovah has given every one of us the freedom to choose whose slave we will be, slaves don’t normally have such a choice. We can choose to give our allegiance to sin or to righteousness in the Messiah, to obey one or the other. This ultimately involves a choice between life and death.

What does obedience of heart mean? It means rather a conforming of our hearts to God’s – Yehovah’s heart. That is why Paul says, “Be imitators of God - Yehovah, as beloved children” (Ephesians 5:1).  “Be” is in the imperative mood; it is a command or exhortation. The call to imitate God is issued to all who are born anew, who are regenerate, and who have God - Yehovah as Father. Every true child of God will not only see it as an obligation to imitate his Father with his heart but also have it as his heart’s desire to do so.

In giving His Son: “God – Yehovah was in His anointed one reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Will we follow him in reconciling the world to God? In the call to imitate God, our life mission has been marked out for us. God, by His example, sets before us the scope and the standard of what we are called to imitate, to reproduce in our lives, to put into practice; and it leaves us breathless!  But His Holy Spirit (pneuma, the word also means “breath”) will sustain and strengthen us as we follow Him.

In John 14:6, Jesus says: “I am the way.” For that reason, in the book of Acts, the church or the followers of the lord Messiah Jesus are described as those “belonging to the Way” (Acts 9.2); while the gospel, of which the Messiah is the center, is called “the Way” (Acts 19:9,23; 24:14,22). The churches or people who live faithfully according to God’s – Yehovah’s word thereby embody “the Way” in their lives.

Disciples are followers of the Way. We must walk in the way and follow it. Salvation has to do with a total commitment to follow Jesus wherever he leads. This specifically means that our lives conform to his as our way of life. Jesus is the model, the pattern, the template, according to which the His Spirit daily fashions us so that we will finally be fully conformed to his image (Romans 8:29). God - Yehovah saved us, drawn us to a new birth, and made us new creations in His son precisely so that we may show forth His son’s life and bear His son’s likeness in all we say and do. But this requires that we faithfully follow him.

We are not saved simply by believing that Jesus died for us. He has indeed died for us, but equally important is that we die with the lord Jesus; for unless his death takes effect in me, it cannot be effective for me. To be saved and become a new creation – a member of the New Humanity is not merely a matter of an external transaction but of an inner transformation.

The Apostle declares, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is lord,’ and believe in your heart that God - Yehovah raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Here several other important things are stated as necessary for salvation:

(1) public confession of Jesus’ lordship,

(2) believe in your heart,

(3) believe in his resurrection by God’s – Yehovah’s power. 

These words won’t mean much to us unless we identify with him by following him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In other words, we “work out” (through following him) what God “works in” us (Philippians 2:12-13) through our union with the lord Messiah Jesus. In the process of salvation, the outworking must necessarily follow from his in-working.

What does this “in-working” mean in experiential terms? Does it not mean that God’s – Yehovah’s Spirit is transforming our “inner man” into the likeness of His anointed one in every way? What does our “out-working” of it mean? Does it not mean that we, on our part, conform all our thoughts and deeds to that likeness which God - Yehovah is working in us; which is exactly what “imitating God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one” means?

John epitomizes identification with the Messiah Jesus in these memorable words, “As he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

Three things are firmly linked together here:

1.   perfection (of love),

2.   salvation (confidence at the final judgment),

3.   and identification with God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one.

Peter uses the expression “follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Where the lord Messiah Jesus takes a step, there we put our foot; when he takes another step, we follow him in that footstep too. We are inseparably associated with him in everything he does, thus learning to become like him under the teaching and leadership of God’s Spirit.

A true disciple follows in the footsteps of the lord Messiah Jesus. What does Jesus require of his disciples but to imitate him? The lord bore his cross and says to us, “Come with me, go where I go, and do what I do; carry your cross as I carried mine, and thus you will be my disciple.” To follow him is to imitate him in everything but above all his attitude. “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

From the first day of our life as a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus, we are called to take up our cross daily [deny SELF] (Luke 9:23). The cross is the instrument of the death of our old person or ego, allowing us to follow the lord Messiah Jesus in newness of life, as a new creation, member of the New Humanity in him. The cross is the indispensable means by which God - Yehovah fashions us into His anointed one’s image. Being liberated from sin (justification) and being transformed into his image (i.e. renewed towards perfection) are what constitute the life of a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus, and this life is a great and wonderful experience.

It costs us nothing to believe, but it costs us everything to follow and to imitate him. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John:10:27).

If the Messiah Jesus is our Shepherd (lord and savior) and we are his sheep, the question is not whether the cost of following him is too high but, rather, “What is the cost of not following him?” It is a question of surviving or perishing, of life or death. We simply cannot afford not to follow him.

We were buried together with [gr. Syn] him through baptism into death, so that as God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united together with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified together with him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died together with God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, we believe that we shall also live together with him [in a bond of union and identification]. (Romans 6:4-8).

If we are united with him, how can we not follow him? If we are united with him, how can we not conform our lives to him? Those who are truly united with him will certainly imitate him (conform their lives to his).

Many profess to have been followers of the lord Messiah Jesus for a long time, yet have never experienced the reality of the new life in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one. They know they are still enslaved to the power of sin, to the self, to covetousness, to worldliness. Not having experienced the reality of the life of a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus, they finally realize that they are unregenerate. Why then are they still unregenerate? Beloved, it is because they have never died with him, have never died to self. They haven’t been united with him in his death and therefore cannot enter into the new life in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one.

Is this true of us as it was for the lord Messiah Jesus: “The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God - Yehovah.” “If we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” The word “likeness” here refers to our being made to imitate him in his death and resurrection.  Our old man was crucified with him; so now we are called to work out what God - Yehovah has worked in us; that “working out” is what imitating the Messiah means.

We thus arrive at the striking realization that salvation has to do with “imitating Jesus” from beginning to end. God - Yehovah our Father began that salvation process in us, and will complete it in us when He brings us to final perfection through the lord Messiah Jesus. Now we see why Jesus is called “the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

For our part, although we cannot die Jesus' death, we can die “in the likeness of his death”. What does that mean? Just as he died to sin (v.10), so we die to sin. In this way we share in the likeness of his death to sin; it is a death to sin like his.

The counterpart to “the likeness of his death” is “the likeness of his resurrection” (Romans 6:5). His resurrection is what makes the new life not just a possibility for us, but a reality in us. Dying with him is not an end in itself but the doorway into the new life in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one. In this new life, we are like God’s anointed one, in that the life we live we live to God - Yehovah (Romans 6:10).

Faith commitment that doesn’t respond in total obedience to the lord’s call is not a faith commitment that leads to new age life. If we die with God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, our lives won’t be the same. Our relationship with the world will change beyond recognition.

Believing by itself changes nothing. Following God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one will change everything. Identifying with God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one in his death and his life will turn your life upside-down. It will sever your link to the world. You will view the world with different eyes. To be “in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one” always refers to life, the new life in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, which will be brought to its full consummation at the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:22). God won’t finish His work in us until He has changed us so completely that we won’t recognize ourselves! If we have died with God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, we now live in him, and experience the power of the resurrection life as we “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

The true follower of the lord Messiah Jesus, the one who lives in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, is one who follows him and models himself on him, imitating his love, holiness, his mercifulness, his wisdom, his single-minded focus on his mission, and his communion with the Father. He patterns his whole life on the Messiah Jesus and follows in his footsteps from the first step to the last. That first step is to walk into the grave, into death, having been crucified with him.

The command to be perfect is a call to be like God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, to follow in his steps, and to identify with him in every aspect of our lives. It is a call to take up our cross [denial of self] and follow him daily (Luke 9:23) Day by day the cross [death to SELF] will transform our thinking. We are being made conformable to his death (Philippians 3:10). As a result, we experience his power and victory in our lives. We will follow the lord Jesus day by day, learning to think his thoughts, and going in the direction as his spirit leads us. We learn to do all things with the salvation of others in mind, for Jesus died not for himself but for others.

If we have not died with the Messiah Jesus, we cannot avoid being the center of our own thinking. But when we imitate him, he will be the center of our thinking. That is why we look to Jesus (Hebrews 12:2).

The purpose of looking to Jesus is to imitate him and the pattern of his life. As we progress towards perfection, our focus will move away from ourselves to God - Yehovah, the Father of the lord Messiah Jesus. If we are still the focus of our own lives, then we are still unregenerate. But if we focus on God - Yehovah in all things, remarkable things will take place in our lives. When we forget about ourselves and focus on the Messiah Jesus as the pattern of our lives, amazing things will happen; we will experience God’s – Yehovah’s work in us and through us to others. We now pursue a goal that transcends ourselves. If we follow Jesus' example, living for the sake of others, our lives will be focused.

It is in that focusing on him that we are being changed into his image by God’s – Yehovah’s power. Moreover, imitating Jesus keeps him in the center of our hearts and minds constantly.  “If any man is in God’s – Yehovah’s anointed one, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God’s salvation is not unconditional. It is conditioned on obedience to the truth.

Hebrews 5:9: being made perfect, he became the author of age upon age salvation unto all of them that obey him.