Tonight we are going to talk about Jesus the
Christ; why Jesus, throughout history there have been stories of gods and the
gods who mate with humans and have children who do amazing things as half
god/half human. There are creation stories and there are flood stories as well
as so-called resurrection stories, so why should we believe that Jesus is true
God and true man? How is it that out of all of the stories that are told we
should believe that Jesus is the true story? This is what we are going to talk about
in this series. At this particular time we are not going to compare the other
stories with this one, that will happen in due time, but for this particular
series we are going with the idea that Jesus is the true story because it is
this understanding that must be known at first for the salvation of our very
soul.
If we are to understand; Why Jesus? We must
start with the creation for He was there from the beginning. Now in starting
at creation we are not going to discuss the creation in any great
detail that will be a topic for later discussion and also while going through
the history leading up to Jesus the Christ we are only going to skim because
again the topic is not history in detail but Jesus the Christ, yet even in this
skimming we may not even get to Jesus Himself in this first show.
In going to Genesis we first see;
1 In
the beginning God created heaven, and earth. 2 And the earth
was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit
of God moved over the waters. 3 And God said: Be light made.
And light was made. 9 God also said; Let the waters that are
under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land
appear. And it was so done. The story continues with other verses
regarding animals and fish and vegetation and in all of these we see these
words; and God said.
Looking at these few verses we see Almighty God
being revealed in a couple of different ways. First we see that God created
heaven and earth, this is Almighty God the Father; Creator of all that is seen
and unseen. After this we see that the earth was void and empty and that there
was darkness upon the face of the deep, but notice what is written next; the spirit of
God moved over the waters.
The spirit of God is called out
separately, moving separately and yet not separated from God, so understand as
the spirit of God this spirit is God. God’s
spirit does not think separately from God because it is His spirit sent out
from Him to do His work, there is one mind; God’s mind and the spirit performs
a specific job as an entity unto itself in a manner of speaking but yet is not
separate from God because it is His spirit. Now this is important in true
Christian understanding, we are not going to get into a discussion of creation
itself because that would be an entire talk in and of itself but we need to
understand some fundamentals of the creation to understand why we need Jesus
the Christ and that there is none other in the creation who can do what he has
done and still does for us.
I am going to do my best to speak about this in
very basic and simple terms for those who may have never heard. I am not a
brilliant theologian but a very simple man myself but in this I must be careful
because in centuries past when these ideas were first being vocalized, some
stepped into heresy by trying to explain simply, this of course was not
intentional but in the path of understanding and discussion one can without
realizing add to or take away from this understanding. I do not wish to do this
but yet I do wish to help those who have never heard to understand as simply as
I can.
So far we have seen that in the beginning; God
created and we have seen that the spirit, distinctly called out
separately from God Himself moved over the waters and yet as His spirit it is
also God. What else do we see in these very same verses that we have called
out? 3 And God said: Be light made. And light was made. 9 God
also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into
one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done.
When God speaks things happen. God’s word is an
active force, it accomplishes things, creation happened because God spoke and
His word accomplished what was spoken. God created through His word and being
His word it is also God, it acts as God directs, it acts as an entity unto
itself but yet is not truly separate from God because it is God as His word
acting on God’s behalf. As it is with the spirit so it is also with the word;
each one is acting on and within the will of God, one mind but each having a
separate function so to speak in performing the will of God without separate
thought, only separate function in performing the one will.
Again, this understanding is very important in
true Christianity and the concept and reason will unfold as the story of
humanity and salvation unfolds. So why is it important for humanity
to understand God, (in as much as we can), the spirit of God and the word of
God? Let’s go now to man himself, his creation and the downfall which is why
this understanding is important.
Genesis chapter 1: 27 And God
created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and
female he created them.
What does it mean to be created in the image of
God? Well we can say that God does not have a physical body in the flesh as we
do so it is not our flesh that is in the image of God but it is in our spirit.
Man was created in communion with God; Genesis 3: 8 And when
they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air,
Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the
trees of paradise. 9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to
him: Where art thou? 10 And he said: I heard thy voice in
paradise; and I was afraid.
So man was in communion with God in the
beginning, out of all of the creatures created on earth man alone is created in
the image of God; man’s soul has intellect and wisdom, we are in a sense a
reflection of God on the earth, containing elements of God in which two of them
I have just mentioned. Another element of God which our Creator gave to us is
eternal life, man was not created to die and so in this sense we actually do
not know if the flesh of man was as it is now or was it originally as it will
be at the resurrection, a new flesh which may be the old flesh of creation.
Eternal life, this is for man whether for the
good or for the bad it is eternal. In another way that man is in a sense a
reflection of God is that we had a job to do; Genesis 1: 28 And
God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue
it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all
living creatures that move upon the earth. So while in communion with God and
as a reflection of God on earth (which really we are a reflection of Jesus the
Christ as we will see later and Jesus the Christ is the only true reflection of
God, so really we reflect the reflection so to speak), we were to be caretakers
of this earth, have dominion over it and to subdue it, not just dominion over
the earth itself but of all things created on the earth and the only way that
we can do this properly is to be in communion with God and doing His will in
all things.
So this being in God’s image and His
reflection on earth and having this job to do is a very basic understanding of
creation, what happened? Why are we not in communion with God and acting on His
behalf in being caretakers of this world and in being His reflection? Let’s
continue the story;
In Genesis 2: 16 we find this
command from God to Adam; And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of
paradise thou shalt eat: 17 But of the tree of knowledge of
good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it,
thou shalt die the death.
In this Adam had the one thing that he could not
do in all of Paradise, this was his limitation and his testing of obedience
because in being created in God’s image, Adam had freewill, man was not to live
by instinct alone but by intelligence, wisdom, and freewill. Man could listen
and obey or choose to ignore and disobey. He had the freedom to choose with
understanding and logical thought, with full knowledge of the choice. What
happened?
Let’s look at Genesis 3: 1 Now
the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord
God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you that you
should not eat of every tree of paradise? 2 And the woman
answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat: 3 But
of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded
us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we
die. 4 And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not
die the death. 5 For God doth know that in what day soever you
shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing
good and evil.
In these verses we see truth and a lie mixed
together, Eve said that they were commanded not to eat the fruit of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil nor could they even touch it or
they would die. We did not read where it is said not to touch, Eve has added a
touch of her own. The next lie; the serpent said that they would not die. This
was in direct contradiction to what they were told by God. Then he gave her a
truth that their eyes would be opened and that they would be as God knowing
good and evil. He also neglected to speak on the effects of knowing evil.
6 And
the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and
delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
to her husband, who did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were
opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig
leaves, and made themselves aprons.
These next two verses we have already seen; 8 And
when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon
air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the
trees of paradise. 9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to
him: Where art thou? 10 And he said: I heard thy voice in
paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. 11 And
he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast
eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? 12 And
Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the
tree, and I did eat.
So, the sin has begun along with passing the
buck, Adam immediately blames his wife for his own sin, Adam alone was
responsible for his sin, no one forced him to eat what he knew not to eat. It
doesn’t matter what someone else has done, we alone are responsible for what we
do unless it happens through some way of force against our wishes.
13 And the Lord God said to
the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me,
and I did eat.
Yes, again we have the passing the buck, Eve
knew full well that she was not to eat, the fruit wasn’t shoved down her throat
either, she willingly partook of the eating through lust of the eye, she saw
that it was good to eat and delightful to behold and gave in to the lust.
14 And
the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art
cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou
go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. 15 I
will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: it
shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for his heel.
In these two verses we have punishment and
prophesy, the serpent is punished for his part in the deed, even though he did
not force anyone but only tempted; the tempter is as cursed as the one who
gives in to the temptation. We also see the promise of the war that will
take place between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, there
will be war between the two, the serpent is prophesied to come out on the
losing end, he will get the heel of the woman’s seed but it is his head that
will be crushed.
16 To
the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in
sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband’s
power, and he shall have dominion over thee.
Now we have pain and suffering entering into the
picture, obviously this was not part of creation and never meant to be but
became so through disobedience, we also see now that one is to have dominion
over the other because of this sin and turning from the commandment of God.
17 And
to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldst not eat, cursed
is the earth in thy work: with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the
days of thy life. 18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth
to thee, and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth. 19 In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth out of
which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt
return.
Wow, the man is truly cursed, because Adam
listened to his wife rather than to God, the whole earth is now cursed, all of
his work will be toil and hard labor, nothing will come easy now, sweat and
hard work is his fate, thorns and thistles will come forth, or in other words,
there will be obstacles in his way for his entire life even unto this day.
20 And
Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the
living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife
garments of skins, and clothed them.
Even now, from the very beginning of the sin and
the cursing of mankind, God is already working on the plan of recovery. The
first physical death, an animal, occurred at the hands of God. The skins were
used for clothing for Adam and Eve, a new covering to hide their nakedness and
shame, the very beginnings of the plan of salvation wherein through Jesus the
Christ and His voluntary sacrifice we will receive a new covering to cover our
sin and our shame; the blood of Jesus.
22 And
he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now
therefore lest perhaps he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life,
and eat, and live for ever. 23 And the Lord God sent him out
of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken. 24 And
he cast out Adam: and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a
flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
This is the beginning of man’s life through
turmoil, kicked out of Paradise, subjected to hard labor for life, living on a
corrupted earth and with a corrupted nature in man, no longer in communion with
God and for the moment no way back to Paradise.
In spite of this our Father, our Creator still
had a way back for us, through the history of man there have been those very
few who somehow still walked with God in spite of the sinful world in which
they lived; why just a chosen few? Because the rest of the world was living in
sin and chasing after false gods. So who were these chosen?
In the fifth chapter of Genesis we read about
Enoch; And Henoch walked with God: and
lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and
daughters. And all the days of
Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And he walked with
God, and was seen no more: because God took him.
In the sixth chapter of Genesis we read; But Noe found grace before the Lord. In
the twelfth chapter of Genesis we read; And
the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and
out of thy father' s house, and come into the land which I shall shew
thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and
magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.
In the fourteenth chapter of Genesis we come
across a name; Melchisedech, But Melchisedech the king of Salem, bringing forth bread
and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God.
Almighty God still had a high
priest on the earth in the man Melchisedech. We see several others; we have
Isaac and Jacob through Abraham because of the promise. Now keep in mind that
these people that have been mentioned as being chosen by God lived before the
Law of Moses was written, how is it that they could have been living correctly
before the law?
I’m going to tell you that
the law has always existed in the heart, the law was not new to mankind, these
were those people who still lived according to God’s law written in the heart,
there was a bloodline from Adam to Noah and from Noah all of the way to Jesus
the Christ that remembered God when the rest of the world did not. And then we have
Moses, In Exodus chapter 3
we see: And when the Lord saw that he went forward to see,
he called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said: Moses, Moses. And he answered:
Here I am.
Now isn't that the
way we should all be answering the call? Here I am Lord, how is it that I may
serve you? This should be our response when we are called, how may I serve
you? In spite of that Moses still argued against his call yet eventually went
on to do God’s will. Moses led his people out of captivity and became the law
giver, if you have ever read the whole law you will know that it was quite
extensive basically about impossible to live up to but then the law was never
meant to bring someone to salvation; just take a quick look ahead in the book
written to the Hebrews chapter 7 verses 16 - 19 Who is made not according to
the law of a carnal commandment, but according to the power of an indissoluble
life: For he testifies: Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order
of Melchisedech. There is indeed a setting aside of the former
commandment, because of the weakness and unprofitableness thereof: (For
the law brought nothing to perfection,) but a bringing in of a better hope, by
which we draw nigh to God.
This is the end of part 1.
In Christ,
Monk Michael
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