God is Jesus - (Part 7) Jesus In You

I had intended on completing the series of  'God Is Jesus' with the 6 parts, but it was incomplete, so Jesus is having me complete it.  I am glad He is.  A lot of what you will hear, again, will be unconventional like the previous parts, but like I always say, "If I can't show it, don't believe it."  I cannot emphasize enough the importance of taking the time to stop and ask yourself, "What does that mean?"

The title of Part 7 is "Jesus In You", because of what the Apostle Paul wrote in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians in Chapter 13, verse 5;

                Test yourselves to see if you are the faith; examine yourselves!  Or do you not
                recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you -- unless indeed you
                fail the test? (Literally it was written ,"Unless indeed you are unapproved."

If you notice, Paul puts an exclamation point after saying, "Examine yourselves!"  Then Paul asks the question intending the hearer to answer the question for themselves,  "Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?"  Paul goes on to insinuate that you know that you are of the faith and are approved when you realize that Jesus Christ is in you.  So, "What does that mean?"  Do we fly by that, or do we seek to realize exactly what that means?  Most believers should believe that by faith they are  born of above and filled with the Spirit of God.  These are a few verses that declare this.

Jesus stated in the Gospel of John, 3rd Chapter, verses 3,5 and 6;

               (3)"Truly, truly,  I say to you, unless one is born again (of above), he cannot see
               the kingdom of God."(5) Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (our
               body) and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.(6) That which is
               born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit."

It says, "That which is born of Spirit is spirit."  When Spirit is capitalized it always refers to the Spirit of God.  So that which is born of the Spirit of God is spirit.

Peter in his 1st letter in his 1st Chapter, verses 3 and 6, tells us how it is that we are born again of the Spirit, when Peter reveals this;

               (3)"Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His
               great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection
               of Jesus Christ from the dead."
    
               (6) for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable (from man) but
               imperishable, that is, from the living and abiding word of God."

We know that when it says, "from the living and abiding word of God", that Peter is referring to Jesus, from what John wrote in his Gospel in the 1st Chapter, verses 1 and 14;

               (1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
               God."

               (14) "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
               glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

So the Word was God and the Word became flesh.  The flesh is Jesus, meaning God existed in part as Jesus.  So we have been born again by the living abiding word of God.  You are born again from and of Jesus.

We know that Jesus waked the earth as a man, so how it possible that Jesus could dwell in us?  We read earlier that it is from Jesus resurrection that we are born again.  So we have to look there to see how it translates that we who are men and mortal beings could now be born again of the Spirit of God and become immortal, having eternal life with Jesus in us. 

One of the clearest truth of this was written by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans.  In the 6th
Chapter, verses 3 - 11;

               (3) "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
               have been baptized into His death?(4) Therefore we have been buried with Him through
               baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory
               of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.(5) For if we become united
               with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of
               His resurrection,(6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our
               body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
               (7) for he who died is freed from sin.(8) Now if we have died with Christ, we believe
               that we shall also live with Him,(9) knowing that Christ, having been raised from
               dead, is never to die again; death is no longer master over Him.(10) For the death
               that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
               (11) Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

When we believe this truth, we have been baptized into Jesus and we are raised with Jesus with the power that raised Jesus from the dead.  Paul reveals this in his letter to the Romans in his 8th Chapter,
verses 9 -11;

                (9) "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit; if indeed the Spirit of God
                dwells in you.  But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong
                to Him.(10) And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the
                spirit is alive because of righteousness.(11) But if the Spirit of Him who raised
                Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will
                also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you."

We see here something that sounds a little conflicting when it says, "if Christ is in you" and then, "if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you" and then.  This only makes sense if God is Jesus.  It says that the Spirit of God dwells in you, Christ is in you, and His Spirit indwells us.

Lets confuse it a little more.  Lets look at what Paul wrote in his 1st letter to the Corinthians in the 6th Chapter, verse 19;

                "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,
                 whom you have from God , and that you are not of your own."

When we read all these verses can we just move on and come to understand that though they sound conflicting they are not, if we understand that God is Jesus, and the Spirit of God that dwells in us is Jesus.  Also, since the Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and Jesus is in us, then God is Jesus as I tried to show in this 7 part blog entitled "God Is Jesus".

Is there anywhere else in scripture that shows that God as Jesus dwells in us, of course there is or I would not have asked the question.  This was revealed right after Jesus stated this in the gospel of John in Chapter 14, verse 9, responding to Philip's request for Jesus to show him the Father;

                "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have come not to know Me, Philip?
                 He who has seen Me has seen the Father; How do you say, 'Show me the Father'? 

To understand Jesus in us, we need to read what the apostle John wrote in the 14th chapter of his gospel, verses 16 and 17;

                 (16)"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you give you another Helper,
                 that He may be with you forever;(17) that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world
                 cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him
                 because He abides with you and will be in you."

So, in these two verses, Jesus is revealing a few things.  He is saying that the Father, is sending a Helper.  It is capitalized so the Helper is God, who will be with us forever.  The Helper is the Spirit of truth.  We know that Jesus, in John's gospel Chapter 14, verse 6, stated this;

                 "I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me."

Jesus is the Spirit of truth.  Jesus tells the disciples that they know Him because He is with them, talking about Himself and will abide in them.  So in these verses, Jesus is revealing to His disciples that he will come to dwell in them as the Spirit of truth, the Helper.

In verse 18, Jesus tells His disciples this;

                  (18)"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

In other words, Jesus is telling His disciples that He will come to them and He will not leave them  Fatherless as orphans, but He will be their Father."

In verses 19 and 20, Jesus says this;

                   (19) After a little while the world will behold me no more; but you will behold
                   Me; because I live, you shall live also.(20) In that day you shall know that I am
                   in My Father and you in Me, and I in you."

What Jesus is revealing here, is that He was going away and because He will go to be with the Father, all those who put themselves in Him by choosing what Jesus did for them on the cross to forgive their sin, will now be born of the Spirit of God with Jesus now indwelling them in the presence of His Holy Spirit.

Jesus stated this in the Gospel of John's 16th Chapter, verse 7;

                   "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go
                   away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you."

If Jesus is not the Helper, then why would Jesus have to go away for the Helper to be sent?  Jesus ascended into heaven with all glory.  Flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God.  So, Jesus after He ascended was Spirit.  Being He is a part of the Father, who is the Holy Spirit by which Jesus was conceived, they exist as one.  I wrote about that in earlier blogs.  This One, "For the Lord our God is One", has chose to be called by the name which is above all, the name of Jesus (Yeshua), The Lord Our Salvation.

Jesus goes on to say in John Chapter 14, verses 21 and 23;

                   (21)"He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and
                   he who loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and I will
                   disclose Myself to him.(23) If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My
                   Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode in with him."

What Jesus is revealing here is that this One, the Father (the Holy Spirit) and the risen glorified body of the Father (Jesus) will come and dwell in all who love Him.

In verse 26, Jesus reveals this;

                   (26)"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He
                   will teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."

If  you notice here that it says that the Father will send the Helper and what we read in Chapter 16, verse 7, that Jesus said that Jesus would send the Helper.  This is either a contradiction or Jesus and the Father are One and the same.

Jesus said this in 28;

                   (28)" You heard that I said to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved
                   Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater
                   than I."

Jesus is saying that they should rejoice, because when He goes to the Father, He can now return as the Helper in the souls of all who would believe.  Jesus could not do this while He was still here as the Holy Spirit's body.  For there is just one mediator between God and man and that is Jesus, the body of the Holy spirit.  We can only address the Holy Spirit of God through that part of the Holy Spirit that is Jesus, the risen Lamb.

In concluding, I will leave you with this from the gospel of Matthew Chapter28, verses 18-20;

                   (18)"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given
                   to Me in heaven and on earth.(19) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
                   baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son, and the Holy Spirit,
                   (20) teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you
                   always, even to the end of the age.'"

If Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, that would mean that God would have no authority unless they are One and the same.  Jesus said He will be with us, even until the end of the age.  He is with us as the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who fills our souls, Jesus Christ in us.

Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Did they misunderstand Him or were they being defiant when they did baptize.  Maybe they understood what He meant, for all throughout the book of acts of the apostles, they all baptized in the name of Jesus.  They were either being disobedient or understood that the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit is Jesus and that God is Jesus.

Acts Chapter 2, verse 38;

                   "And Peter said to them, 'Repent as be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ  for the
                   the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"

Acts Chapter 4, verse 12;

                    "And there is salvation in no one else (talking about Jesus from verse 10); for there
                    is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must
                    be saved."

Acts Chapter8, verse 12;

                    "But when they believed Philip preaching the good news of the kingdom of God
                     and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike."

Acts Chapter 10, verse 48;

                     "And he (Peter) ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ......."

Acts Chapter 19, verse 5;

                      "And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."

And finally I leave you this out of the book of Acts, Chapter 20, verse 28;

                      "Be on you guard for yourselves and all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit
                       has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased
                       with His own blood."

As profound and revealing as this is, this verse is the verse that Jesus placed in an obscure part of scripture, fulfilling the encouragement to seek and you shall find.  This verse reveals that the Holy Spirit purchased with His own blood the church(His body).  This reveals that Jesus was the Holy Spirit's body here on the earth Who shed His very own blood to save man and offer them eternal life.

God is Jesus.  Let Jesus' name be exalted in all the earth.

May Jesus' Grace and peace be with all who hear and may the eyes of the blind be opened.

                 

God Is Jesus (Part 6) What Did Jesus Reveal About Himself

In the Old Testament and New Testament writings before Jesus was born, the Lord God revealed who He was.  He said that He was the only God, the only Lord and the only Savior.  The Lord God revealed who he was and who He would become.  He said that he would become flesh.  He said that when He would come into the world that He would be born to a virgin.  He said that He would be Immanuel, meaning, 'God With Us'.  He said that He, as this child who would be born to us, would be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  He said that He, the only Savior, would come through Mary and told her to name Him Jesus (Yeshua) the Lord Our Salvation.  Did God when He was here as Jesus reveal who He was?

One of the very last words that Jesus spoke in the last book of the Bible, in the Book of Revelations, was spoken by God to the house of Jacob, in the book of Isaiah.  Isaiah wrote this in his 48th Chapter, in verses 12 and 18;

             (12)" Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first and,
             I am also the last. (13) Surely My hand founded the earth.  And My right hand spread
             out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together."

When we look at what Jesus spoke in the last Chapter of Revelation, we see Him revealing the same thing about Himself that God spoke in Isaiah.  Jesus claims to be the first and the last, when He says this in Revelation Chapter 22, verses 12 and 13;

             (12)" Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man
             according to what he has done.(13) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last,
             the beginning and the end." 

Jesus is either God or He is making a false claim.  If we go back one Chapter to Revelation Chapter 21, we see Jesus telling the overcomers that He is God and not just God, but a Father, in verses 6-7;

              (6)" And He said to me, 'It is done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning
              and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life
              without cost.(7) He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God
              and He will be My son.

Jesus did not say here that He was a Father, but He did say that the overcomers would be His sons.
If there is any questions as to if this was Jesus speaking in these passages, we have to make a simple deduction.  The One who was talking in Chapter 22, verse 13, said that He was, "the Alpha and the
Omega, the first and the last.'  The Alpha and the Omega is the one who said in Chapter 21, verse 7, that He will their God and they His sons.  If we go to the first Chapter of Revelation, verse 8, we see this;

             " 'I am the Alpha and the Omega', says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and is to
             come, the Almighty'."

So we know that the Alpha and the Omega is the first and the last.  We saw where God in Isaiah said that He was the first and the last.  We see this again if we look at what Jesus said in the 1st Chapter of Revelation in verses 17-18;

              (17)" ................'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last.(18) and the living One;
              and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and
              Hades'."

And again in Revelation Chapter 2, verse 8;

              "................'The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this':"

So we see what Jesus spoke here through the apostle John after His resurrection and ascension, but did Jesus ever claim to be the Father while He walked the earth.  To if this ever occurred we have to look at the first recorded scripture that would begin to point to Jesus being the Father.  We have to note that when Jesus was here, he did not go around saying, "I am the Christ", "I am God", "I am the Father".  He wanted His disciples to come to that conclusion who He was by what He did and what He proclaimed apart from just coming right out and saying it.  Jesus first hint, that He was God and Father, was given during an exchange He had with a group of Jews who had questioned Him as to who He was.  We find this in the gospel of John, in the 10th Chapter, in verses 24-33;

              (24)"The Jews therefore gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, 'How long
              will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ tell us plainly.' (25) Jesus answered
              them, 'I told you, and you do not believe; the works I do in my Father's name, these
              bear witness of Me.(26) But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep.(27)
              My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;(28) and I give eternal
              life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.
              (29) My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one shall snatch
              them out of the Father's hand.(30) I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE.' (31) The Jews
              took up stones again to stone Him.(32) Jesus answered them, 'I showed you many
              good works from the Father, for which of them are you stoning Me?'(33) The Jews
              answered Him, 'For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because
              You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God'."

The Jews understood what He was saying to them and for Jesus making the claim He and the Father are One, they wanted to stone Him to death.  They understood that He was telling them that He was God.  Also, when Jesus said that no one will snatch his sheep out of His hand and then saying that no one will snatch His sheep out of His Father's hand, He was saying that it was His hand and the Father's hand.  It was the same hand.  When Jesus said the works I do in my Father's name, what was the Father's name?  Of course doing the works as Jesus, Jesus is the name that the works are being done in.  God chose to be called Jesus.

We can look at these verses and say Jesus did or didn't claim to be the Father here.  Although, the Jews knew He was making this claim.  Right after Jesus had told His disciples that He was going away and where He was going they could not follow, but that they could follow later,  He comforted them and revealed to them who He was, with these words He spoke in John's gospel, Chapter 14, verses 1-9;

              (1)" 'Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.(2) In My
              Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for
              I go to prepare a place for you.(3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
              again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.(4) And you
              know the way where I am going.'(5) Thomas said to Him, 'Lord, we do not know
              where you are going, how do we know the way?'(6) Jesus said to him, 'I am the way,
              and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. (7) If you had
              known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and
              have seen Him.'(8) Philip said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for
              us.'(9) Jesus said to him, 'Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to
              know Me, Philip? HE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER; how do you
              say, "Show me the Father?' "

The key to Jesus claim to being the Father is even greater than Him saying, "he who has seen Me has seen the Father.  The key is in verse 7, "If you had known Me, you would have know My Father also;".  Now because of what Jesus said in verse 7 and says next, He has now revealed to them that He is the Father and from now on they will know Him that way and will look at Him knowing that to be so.  Jesus completes verse 7 telling them, 'from now on you know Him and have seen Him.

What I have written is not my opinion.  It is what is written.  I have always said that if I cannot show you then do not believe me.  If I have shown you, then it is your choice to either believe or not.  The one great thing about Jesus is that He will always reveal who He is to people who really seek to know Him.

May Jesus peace and grace and His revealing of Himself be with you.

God is Jesus (Part 5) God Chose His Name To Be Jesus

The God of the universe chose to be called Jesus (Yeshua).  Yeshua in Hebrew means, The Lord Our Salvation.  We saw that when the angel of the Lord instructed Joseph as to what  name the baby that Mary would deliver should be called, Joseph was told this in the 1st Chapter of Matthew's gospel, in verses 20 and 21;

             (20)"Joseph, son od David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which
             has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. (21) And she will bear a Son; and you
             shall call His name Jesus (Yeshua), for it is He who will save His people from their sins."

The One who saves is of course a Savior.  This was pointed out in the gospel of Luke in his 2nd Chapter, verses 10 and 11, when the angel of the Lord spoke this to the shepherds in the field;

              (10) "And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news
              of a great joy which shall be for ALL the people;(11) for today in the city of David
              there will there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

So Jesus (Yeshua) is The Lord Our Salvation.  When we go back to the writings of the prophet Isaiah, we see this written in his 45 Chapter, in verses 5 and 6;

              (5)"I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God, I will gird you
              though you have not known Me;(6) That men may know from the rising to the setting
              of the sun that there is no one besides Me.  I am the Lord and there is no other."

So if the God of Israel is speaking this trough Isaiah that there is only One Lord and there is no other, then how can Jesus be Lord unless they are one and the same?  In verse 15 it says this;

             "...............................O God of Israel, Savior!"

So if the God of Israel is Savior, then how can Jesus be Savior unless they are one and the same?  For there is just one Savior.  Isaiah writes this latter is the same Chapter 45, in verses 20-23;

             (20) "Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations;
             They have no knowledge, who carry around their wooden idol, and pray to a God
             who cannot save.(21) Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult
             together.  who has announced this from old?  Who has long since declared it?  Is it
             not I the Lord?  And there is no other God beside Me, a righteous God and a Savior;
             There is none except Me. (22) Turn to Me and be saved, ALL the ends of the earth:
             For I am God and there is no other.(23) I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone
             forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee
             will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance."

So what the only God is saying is that He is the only Lord and the only Savior and there is no other.
If God says this and therefore it must be true, then Jesus cannot be Lord and Savior unless they are one and the same.  This means that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the great I Am, became flesh in the person of Jesus, who is Lord and Savior.  God is Jesus.  Are there writings in the new testament that are in agreement to this?  Or course there is or I would not have asked the question.  It is actually one of most revealing passages in the new testament as to who Jesus really is.  This was written by the apostle Paul, who remember was a former Pharisee well aware of Isaiah's writings, in his letter written to the Philippians in the 2nd Chapter, verses 1-11;

             (1)"If therefore there is any encouragement in the Messiah, if there is any consolation
             of love, if there is any fellowship in the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,(2) make
             my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit,
             intent on one purpose.(3) Do nothing out of selfishness or empty deceit, but with
             humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself;
             (4) do not merely look out for your own interests, but also for the interests of others.
             (5) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in the Messiah Jesus,(6) who,
             although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be
             grasped,(7) but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in
             the likeness of men.(8) And being found in the appearance as a man, He humble Himself
             by becoming obedient to the point of death, on a cross.(9) Therefore also God highly
             exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,(10) that at
             the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and
             under the earth,(11) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus the Messiah is Lord,
             to the glory of God the Father."

So we saw earlier in Isaiah's writings that to the only God, Lord and Savior will every knee bow to and swear allegiance to.  We just read here in Paul's writings that to the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.  There is only one Lord.  Jesus is a name above all names because it is the name that God chose for Himself.  When all will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord, they are acknowledging that Jesus is Lord of all, which will in turn by giving Jesus glory will also give the Holy Spirit of God, who is the Father, glory.  For they are one and the same.  The Lord Our God is One.

May Jesus' grace, understanding and peace be with you.

God Is Jesus (Part 4) The Savior

As we looked at the Christmas story we saw that the Holy Spirit is the One who Fathered Jesus, making Him the Father.  So we have to question the idea that the Father and the Holy Spirit are two separate entities.  I fathered three children, that doesn't make me two people.  If the Holy Spirit is not the Father, then who is the Father.  So of course the Holy Spirit is the Father.  God is a Spirit.  God of course is Holy.  "God became flesh and dwelt among us."  Does that mean that God was no longer a Spirit?  Of course not.  God at the time when Jesus was walking upon the earth was existing as both Spirit and the man Jesus.  My last blog I made the statement that Jesus was a 100% God and He was.  The substance that fertilized the egg in Mary was the 100% essence of the Holy Spirit.  You can look at it as Gods very own DNA if He had a DNA.  Jesus became the 100% extension of the Holy Spirit as a man.  At this time the Holy Spirit was existing as the Spirit and man.  The Holy Spirit was both Father and Son.  We as humans want to put this on our level and look at it as we would our own sons.  We father our sons and we know that they are not us but they are separate beings.  The difference is that the seed that we fertilized the egg with was not us, but a seed with a totally different make up than ours.  Plus our seed gives birth to a child with a sin nature because we all come from the seed of the Adam.  Jesus didn't, He came into the world from the seed of God Himself.  Therefore, He existed as the sinless man.  The only man ever to be born into this world not having a sin nature.  This is how God Himself would become the perfect and flawless Lamb that would be sacrificed for the forgiveness of the sin of man.  Jesus would be the Savior of the world for all who would call upon His name.

To understand this Savior and see the correlation between God as Savior and Jesus as Savior, we will look at scripture from both the Old testament and the New testament that will either show this as being the truth or one is a lie.  We continue with the Christmas story and this time we will look at what was stated at the birth of Jesus that will bring forth the statement that will later show that Jesus is God. 

We saw in the words of the prophet Isaiah that the child Immanuel would be born to the house of David and that the son born, who will be called Eternal Father, will govern on the throne of David forever.  As we see that Mary and Joseph had to travel to their city of birth for a censes, they returned home to Bethlehem.  Bethlehem was the city that David had been born in.  As we continue the Christmas story as written by Luke, we see this in Luke's gospel in the 2nd Chapter, verses 7-14;

              "(7) And she (Mary) gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths,
              and laid Him in a manger (feeding trough), because there was no room at the inn."

Just a little side note while we are reading this.  There are two things here that are very profound.  The first is the fact that Jesus was born in an animal stable.  Most people wonder why the Son of God would be born in a stable instead of a place with a more comforting and clean environment.  The answer is easy.  Where could their be a more perfect place for the Lamb of God to be born than an animal stable.  The next thing to notice is that the Child is laid in a feeding trough.  If is perfect because Jesus later told His disciples this, as recorded in the gospel of John in his 6th Chapter, in verses 53- 58;

              "(53) Jesus therefore said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh
              of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.(54) He who
              eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last
              day.(55) For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.(56) He who eats my
              flesh and drinks my blood abides in Me, and I in him.(57) As the living Father sent
              Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of
              Me.(58) This is the true bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate,
              and died, he who eats this bread will never die.'"

The bread that the fathers ate was the manna that came down out of heaven as the Israelites wandered through the desert for the forty years.  That manna was a shadow of the Living Bread that would come out of heaven and be the food for eternal life.  Many of Jesus followers at that time fell away from Him because they thought that He was actually talking about His own body.  So Jesus had to tell those who remained this in John's 6th Chapter, verses 61-63;

              "(61) But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, 'Does
              this cause you to stumble?(62) What then if you should behold the Son of Man
              ascending where He was before?(63) It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh prophets
              nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.'"

Remember, that when Jesus was in the wilderness fasting for forty days, Satan tempted Jesus with food and Jesus told him, " Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."  So the Word (God)became flesh (Jesus) and what Jesus was telling them is that the words that proceed from His mouth and the things that He had spoken and will speak, is real food.
He was telling them that His words are spirit and give life.  Jesus words are the food for the spiritual man, the New Creation, that come into existence through His death, burial, and resurrection.  Jesus' words give life to those who are dead in their sin.  This comes by receiving the words of truth that lead to eternal life.  At the last supper and Passover Feast, Jesus told His disciples that the bread that He was breaking was His body that will broken for them.  He told them to do that in remembrance of  Him and what he did for them, to be their Savior.  Then Jesus poured the wine and told them that the cup represents His blood that is poured out for them to establish a new covenant.   The new covenant that will be established for all, through the pouring out of God's very own blood, for the forgiveness of the sins of all who would call on Jesus to be their Savior.  Jesus shed blood is the very blood that will defeat death.  This will cause death to have to Passover those who choose Jesus which allows them to have eternal life

I hope you enjoyed that side note.  I write where Jesus takes me.  Now , getting back to the Christmas story in Luke.  We see this back in Chapter 2, starting in verse 8;

              "(8) And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields,
              and keeping watch over their flocks by night.(9) And the angel of the Lord suddenly
              stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were
              terribly frightened.(10) And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I
              bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people;(11) for today
              in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
              (12) And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and
              lying in a manger."(13) And suddenly there appeared with the angels a multitude
              of the heavenly hosts praising God, and saying,(14) "Glory to God in the highest,
              And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

Notice it does not say "peace on earth".  This is one of the most misquoted scriptures in the who Bible and that being for Satan's future deception.  It says, " peace among men with whom He is pleased".  There is only one way to please God and that is to receive what He did in Jesus to be your Savior.  Then Jesus becomes you Prince of Peace. 

You also see in this passage, that what is born, is a Savior and the Lord.  This is what we will look at in Isaiah's writings that will show us that Jesus is the Only God.  These are the words that God declared in the Old Testament before Jesus was born.  We will look at some verses I Isaiah's 43th Chapter;

               "(3) For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior."

The God of Israel is declaring that is He the Lord and Savior.  If there is only one Lord and One Savior, then God is foretelling what He will do as Jesus.

               "(11) I, even I, am the Lord; and there is no savior besides Me.(12) It is I who
               declared and saved and proclaimed, and there is no strange god among you; so you
               are my witnesses,  declares the Lord , and I am God. (13) even from eternity I am He;
               And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?"

If this is the only Savior then how can Jesus be the Savior unless they are the same.

               "(15) I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.

In Revelations, Jesus is the King of Kings.  If this God is not foretelling what He would do as Jesus, then how could Jesus be King over this King.

               "(25) I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; and
               I will not remember your sins."

God is foretelling what He would do as Jesus when He sheds His own blood..

This was big bite because Jesus lead were I was not intending on going.  So we will digest this and continue in my next blog.

Jesus' grace, peace and understanding be with you.


      

God Is Jesus (Part 3) Jesus The Father

We tend to overlook things we do not understand and move beyond it.  We then try to categorize what we do not understand into what we believe to be a rational way of thinking.  What does Isaiah's writings mean when he wrote that the Child that will be born to us will be called Mighty God and Everlasting Father.  Do we drive by the sign that says "Stop and Ponder", or just roll by and proceed towards something we understand.  Being we might not understand what that means, do we just grab onto what someone interprets that for us.  The Bible says that God's ways are not man's ways.  We always try to understand the things of God in human terms.  To be able to understand how Jesus could be the Father, we have to look at it in God's terms.

Isaiah wrote in his 7th Chapter, in verses 17;

               "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child
               and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."

Immanuel means, "God with us".  So we know that the sign from God will be a son that will be born to a virgin that will be God with us.  This child will be God.  We start to think, "How could this be possible, for we know that God is a Spirit?"  We don't understand, so do we just drive by the statement, or do we search to understand how this could be possible.  Why a virgin and how is that possible.?  How could a virgin be with a child?  If we ask those things, we are trying to rationalize in human terms.  What about in God's reality?  To begin to understand this, we have to look at what is written about the virgin girl, Mary, and what she was told.  We often just look at this as just the Christmas Story, but in this story are the keys of understanding how Jesus is God.

First we are going to look at what Mary was told.  This was recorded in Luke's gospel in the 1st Chapter, verses 26-38;

               "(26) Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in
               Galilee, called Nazareth, (27) to a virgin engaged to a man whose name is Joseph,
               of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name is Mary. (28) And coming in,
               he said to her, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." (29) But she was greatly
               troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be.
               (30) And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor
               with God. (31) "And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and
               you shall name Him Jesus. (32) He will be great, and will be called the son of the
               Most High; and the Lord God will give Him throne of His father David; (33) and
               He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end."
               (34) And Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be since I am a virgin?' (35) And
               the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
               power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy
               offspring shall be called the Son of God. (36) And behold, even your relative
               Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now
               in her sixth month. (37) for nothing is impossible with God.' (38) And Mary said,
               'Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.' And
               the angel departed from her."

There are a few things to point out from this passage of scripture.  We read earlier, in the gospel of John, that God would become flesh.  This is how He was going to do it.  He was going to come into this world through the virgin woman, Mary.  The reason why God had to come into this world through a virgin, was because it had to be a Holy place.  Mary's womb would prove to be a Holy place because not only was Mary a virgin, but she was a woman who accepted the atonement for the forgiveness of her sins during the Passover and the sacrifice that was made in the Holy of Holies.  The Holy of Holies was beyond the veil, in the temple in Jerusalem, that separated God from man.  Mary's womb would become that holy place where God could dwell.  A virgin has a veil that is broken when a man comes into her.  Mary's veil was not broken.  It was still unbroken when Jesus was conceived.  In Mary's womb would be the very presence of God that would form to be a child.

We look at things on human terms and we know that from a man comes a seed that enters the egg of a woman and from that point is bought forth a child.  Even we know now that every human being has a different DNA.  No two humans have the same DNA makeup.  Every seed of man has its own DNA makeup.  When we hear that Jesus was the Son of God, we most likely look at it relative to human terms.  We tend to look at is God having a Son that has a different DNA as His.  This absolutely is not the case.  It said that Holy Spirit would come upon Mary and the power of the Most High would overshadow her.  Now I am about to turn conventional wisdom on its head.  I will ask this question and the answer is obvious but overlooked.  If Jesus was conceived when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, then who is the Father?  Of course the answer is the Holy Spirit.  So it is logical to assume that the One who caused the conception would be the Father.  Therefore, we have the Holy Spirit being the One who Fathered Jesus.  I didn't say it.  It is what is written.

So if the Holy Spirit is the One who caused Jesus to be conceived, then what was the seed that caused the conception, since God is a Spirit.  I'll answer it.  It was the very Spirit of God that fertilized, as you might say, the egg in Mary's womb.  It was the very essence of God Almighty Himself.  It was a essence of the Holy Spirit that makes up who God is, that was planted into Mary and grew to be a Child that was 100% God as a human being.  God became flesh.  Immanuel, God with us.  The Mighty God and the full extension of the Holy Spirit.

If we look at what Matthew wrote in his gospel about the birth of Jesus from Joseph's experience, we see that it confirms what we just learn.  Matthew wrote this in his 1st Chapter, verses  18-25;

              "(18) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.  When His mother Mary had been
              betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with a child by
              the Holy Spirit. (19) And Joseph her husband, being found a righteous man, and not
              wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly. (20) But when he had
              considered this, the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David,
              do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her
              is of the Holy Spirit.(21) And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus,
              for it is He who will save His people from their sins."(22) Now all this took place that
              what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,(23)
              "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name
              Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us."(24) And Joseph arose from his
              sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife,(25)
              and kept her as a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus."

Again, we see that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Both Joseph and Mary were instructed to name the child Jesus, which means, 'The Lord our Salvation.'  This is why Joseph was instructed by God Himself to call the child Jesus, because He would save His people from their sins.  This is why He is called Savior.  God Himself would come into this world in the form of a man, to be the very sacrifice that would be offered up for the forgiveness of the sins of all who would desire to be His people.  God chose for Himself this name, which we will see is a name above all names.  Also, we see at the end this passage, that Joseph kept Mary as a virgin until she gave birth to Jesus.  The womb of Mary remained the Holy of Holies until Jesus came forth in his birth and tore down the veil in the virgin that separated God from man.  God was now with man, Immanuel.

Small pieces and still some good things to see.

May Jesus peace, grace and understanding be with you.


             

                          

God Is Jesus (Part 2) God's Earthly Visit

The prophet Isaiah wrote something revealing in his 7th Chapter when he wrote this in verse 14;

               Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign.  Behold a virgin will be with child
               and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."

Immanuel means, 'God with us".  What does that mean?  It is hard for man to see how another man can be God.  At the time of Isaiah, the people understood God as being a Spirit, and that is what He was.  He was known as the Holy Spirit.  The high priest, once a year, was the only person who could go within the veil in the temple, into the place referred to as the Holy of Holies, to make the sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.  It was referred to the Holy of Holies, because the Spirit of the Living God would enter into the place beyond the veil once a year to accept the sacrifice.  It was the Holy Spirit of God.

The apostle John wrote this in his gospel, when telling of Jesus conversation with the Samaritan at the well of Jacob as to where the proper place of worshiping God was.  In Chapter 4, verses 23 and 24, John wrote this;

                "(23) But an hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers shall worship the
                Father in spirit and truth;  for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
                (24) God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

God is spirit, so when it says that a son will be born to the virgin and she will call His name Immanuel, God with us, How is that possible and what does that mean?

If we look at the beginning of John's gospel in the first Chapter, we start to see piece of how this is possible,  when John writes this in verses 1-3;

               "(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
               God.(2) He was in the beginning with God.(3) All things came into being by Him, and
               apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

It says that the Word was God.  Everything was created by God.  In Genesis, it says that God spoke and what He called into being, came into being by His Word.  John continues in verse 14 with this;

               "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory
               as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

When it says that the Word became flesh, it is saying that God became flesh.  What does that mean and how?  We know that John is referring to Jesus, when it says that the Word became flesh and He was the only begotten of the Father, But how is that possible?  If the word is God, then who is the Father and how?

We will soon see who, but for now I want to stay in the first Chapter of John to cover the whole reason for God becoming flesh, in the person of Jesus.  John wrote this in verses 10-13;

               "(10) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did
               not know Him.(11) He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive
               Him. (12) But as many received Him, to them He gave the power to become children
               of God, even to those who believe in His name,(13) who were born not of blood, nor
               of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Previous blogs covered how a person must first be born of the flesh and then born again of the spirit, to enter into the kingdom of God.  Being born of the spirit occurs when a person receives Jesus unto eternal life, through His death on the cross for the forgiveness of sin,  through His burial burying the old nature in the grave, and Jesus resurrection that causes us to be raised with the glory and Spirit that raised Him from the dead.  A person is now born of God and becomes His children. 

So God came to the earth for the purpose of creating a new creation that He would refer to as His children, the saints.  Those who would receive Jesus and what He did for them.  We will cover, in Part 3, how it is that God who is a spirit, could become a man.  Again, I am doing this in small parts so that it will not be overwhelming.

Jesus peace and grace be with you.

God is Jesus (Part 1) Jesus Is God

Many people have many views as to who Jesus was or is.  Some say that Jesus was a good prophet who came and went.  For Jesus to be a good prophet, everything He spoke had to be true.  If He spoke things that were not true, then He would have to be considered to be a false prophet.  Jesus said this in the Gospel of John, in his 14th Chapter, verse 6;

              "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me."

If that statement is true, then Jesus is more than just a good prophet.  If the statement is false, then Jesus is a false prophet.  Many ask, "What about all the other religions of the world and what they believe, what happens to them?  First we have to be intellectually honest and admit that if there is more than one truth, then there is no truth.  1+1= 2 or 1+2=2.  One is truth and one is not.

Jesus did not come to invalidate the religions of the world.  Almost everyone in most religions of the world believe that there is a God and acknowledge so.  Jesus came to let the world know that He is the God that they seek to know.  He is not a statue, an idea, a theory, or a concept of do's and don'ts to earn your way to heaven.  Jesus is the Living God of the Universe and He came to earth to show how much, the God that everyone seeks to know, loves them.  So much so, that He would humble Himself and take on the form of man, so that He Himself could be the once and for all sacrifice that would change a human beings sin nature into one that could have a second birth in the Spirit, that would allow anyone who wants it, the chance to be one with the Creator of the universe, and joint heirs in His wealth.  The whole purpose for the earth and His coming here, was so He could create a New Creation.  One that would choose Him.  Without doing it the way He did, all He could do is speak into existence new beings that had no choice in their coming into being, just like the angels.  We know what happened to a third of the angels.  They rebelled because they did not appreciate the character of God.  The New Creation will be a part of the character of God, for they will be one with Him.

Before Jesus returns,  this word will go out into all the world.  Everyone will hear this message.  Everyone will get a chance to receive Jesus unto eternal life or reject Him leading to eternal death.  There are no religions in heaven,  just reality.  The earth and the physical world are temporary.  The spiritual world is eternal.  Jesus came to be the Door to eternal realm.

In this section of blogs about, "Jesus is God",  I am going to show in the Old Testament and New Testament where it reveals that Jesus is God.  When Jesus was here, He never said, "Hey fellas, I am God.  Jesus never spoke that to a human being.  Jesus wanted each person to come to know that He was God by asking Him to come and live in their hearts by the presence of His Spirit.  When a person accepts what Jesus did for them on the cross and ask Him into their heart, then they know that Jesus is their Savior.  Then as we read His word, that He left us, and put the scriptures together that reveal who He is, we will find that He is not only God, but a Father also.

I am going to do this section of blogs on, "Jesus is God", in small parts.  I do not want to cover so much that the reader becomes overwhelmed.  I want to present this truth in an understandable way.  If I cannot show it, do not believe it.

The very first thing I want to show, is something that I read for many years.  I saw it on many Christmas cards and never saw it.  I read it and never heard it.  Just like many things in scripture, we read it and what we don't understand, we just keep reading.  I reached a point in my walk with Jesus and reading His word, that I would not be satisfied with the traditional wisdom of theologians and church doctrines if they did not line up with what He spoke through His word.  For me I use a phrase that you will hear repeated a lot in these blogs and it is simply this, "What does that mean?" 

The first thing I am going to leave with the reader to ponder, is a well known section of Scripture that was written by the prophet Isaiah in his 9th Chapter, verse 6;

                 "For a child will be born to us, and a son will be given to us; And the government
                 will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor,
                 Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."

You would think that this would be enough to settle it in the minds of the saints that Jesus is the child and the son that was given and that He is the Mighty God and Eternal Father.  With human rationalizing it does not make sense.  This is where I come in.  I hope to make sense as to how this is possible.

All we have to know is Jesus as Savior to be saved.  Jesus has laid down a function for His body which is His bride, the church.  This is what has motivated me to do what I do in trying to equip the saints as Jesus desires.  The apostle Paul wrote this in his letter to the Ephesians, in Chapter 4, verses 11-16;

                 (11)" And He, Jesus, gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as
                 evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,(12) for the equipping of the saints
                 for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;(13) until we attain
                 to the unity of the faith, AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD,
                 TO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE WHICH BELONGS TO THE
                 FULLNESS OF CHRIST;(14) As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed
                 here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the
                 trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;(15) but speaking the truth in
                 love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ,
                 (16) from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every
                 joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the
                 growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."

Jesus peace be with you all.

Revelation Chapter 22 (Part 2) - Jesus' Closing Words

These are the closing words in the book of Revelation.  Jesus says some revealing things in these closing words.  He gives some interesting perspective on what the saints focus should be on, when they see these things, that are written in this book, start to occur.  John was instructed on how to handle the things that were revealed to him that he recorded in this book.  In verses 10 and 11, John was given these instructions;

                (10)"And he said to me, 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book,
                for the time is near.(11) Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and let the
                one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice
                righteousness; and let the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.'"

Around the 3rd century A.D., the Counsel of Laodicea was the group church leaders that gathered to determine which books of scripture should be included in what we know now as the Bible.  They were determining which scriptures, that they could agree on for sure, had been inspired by God.  It is hard to read the book of Revelation and not know for sure that it is the inspired words of God.  A man would never be able to come up with such things that are written in it.  They were probably thinking that such writings would keep people away from the truth. In actuality, it is probably responsible for leading more people to a truer and enduring and trusting faith in Jesus, than any other book in the Bible. The Council of Laodicea left the book of Revelation out of the first groups of books that they had decided should make up the Bible.  Obviously they had made a grave era.  Jesus wanted the book of Revelation to definitely be included in the Bible.  By the time the next year came around they all had realized that they had made a mistake and revised the Bible to include the book of Revelation.  Jesus must have worked on the hearts of all of them during that year, impressing on them the mistake they had made and how important it was that the book of Revelation be included even above all the other books. 

The book of Revelation is Jesus' very own Revelation.  It was very important to Him that the church would know what would take place right before His return so that they would not be caught off guard.  This way the church would be able to prepare to respond to all of it as Jesus would instruct them.  It would prepare them to not even love there own lives over the truth of the gospel and their testimony of Jesus, even to the point of death.

Paul is instructed to let the wrong do wrong and the righteous do right.  What is revealed here is the perspective that Jesus wants us to have on what is important.  Jesus doesn't want us to be caught up on what people are doing wrong.  It does no good to try to make people do what is right, for if they do what is right apart from Jesus, then it is in vain.  For the righteous to do what is right would mean that they are telling people the truth of Jesus.  It is Jesus that makes the change in a person that will lead them to do what is right.  Apart from Jesus we are all the same.  The only difference between me and someone who still remains in sin, is the blood of Jesus.

In verses 12 and 13, Jesus reveals this;

               (12)"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every
               man according to what he has done.(13) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first
               and the last, the beginning and the end."

When Jesus says that He coming quickly, He is saying that when you see the things written is this book happening, then you know His return is near.  His reward that He will render according to what a man has done is the new resurrected body that believers will receive at the resurrection.  What a man has done means,  did they accept Jesus or refuse Him.  No more no less.

Again Jesus is revealing that He is God when He says that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.  If we look at what the prophet Isaiah wrote in his 44th Chapter, verse 6;

               "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and the Redeemer, the Lord of host;
               'I am the first and the last, and there is no God besides Me.'

John continues Revelation Chapter 22 with this in verses 14-17;

               (14)"Blessed are those who wash their robes (in the blood of the Lamb), that they
               may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
               (15) Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the
               murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

The ones who washed their robes are obviously the saints.  The ones on the outside are obviously the ones who chose not to choose Jesus for eternal life.  Instead they chose opt out for eternal death.  The dogs are probably those who mocked the truth and persecuted the saints.  The sorcerers are those who kept people drugged up whether illegal or legal drugs, causing them to have a tuff time discerning the difference between truth and reality from deception.  Although before Jesus returns He will make every effort to make sure everyone understands the consequences of not choosing Him.  The immoral are the ones who chose not to do what they knew was right and fell away from the truth.  The murderers killed the saints.  The idolaters chose to worship the beasts and receive his mark.  The ones who loved and practiced lies, loved Satan, for Satan is the father of lies.

               (16)"'I Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches.  I am
               the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.'(17) And the Spirit
               and the bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say , 'Come.'  And let the one
               who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take from the water of life without cost."

The thing here to not is that the Spirit (Jesus) and the bride (the church, His body) says "Come."
Then the person who hears and heeds the message and comes, can now also say, "Come", because they became a part of Jesus body by heeding to what they heard.  The water of life is free.  There is no cost.  Jesus paid the price on the cross and offers the free gift of eternal life.  This is why He is the Redeemer. 

As we complete the book of Revelation, the closing verses are the reason why I took what I wrote in this study of Revelation very seriously.  I tried to be as accurate as I could be and when I wasn't sure, I said so.  I hope all that I have written is approved by the author, Jesus.

              (18) I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone
              adds to them, God shall add to Him he the plagues which are written in this book;
              (19) and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall
              take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in
              this book.

Maybe that had an influence on the Council of Laodicea.  They where going to leave out all the words.

              (20)"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes I am coming quickly.'  Amen.  Come
              Lord Jesus.(21) The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.  Amen."

Like I have stated before, a few of my next blogs will show that Jesus is the Living God of the universe.  If I can't show it, don't believe it.

I hope this has been helpful to the reader.
Jesus peace be with you.

Revelation Chapter 22- Jesus' Final Word To His Bond-Servants

Chapter 22 is the final chapter of the Book of Revelation.  My desire has been to give as clear a picture as possible to the things that had been recorded in this book.  It is not something that I took lightly and we will see why as we finish this chapter.  There is a lot of insight in this final chapter, along with some instruction that will be helpful to note.  John starts this chapter continuing with writing what he was seeing pertaining to the New Jerusalem.  John starts off with this in verse 1-2;

               (1)"And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the
               throne of God and of the Lamb,(2) in the middle of its street.  And on either side of 
               the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every
               month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

Again we see that the throne of heaven is the throne of God and the Lamb.  A throne can only be occupied by one king.  As I wrote earlier, I am going to show in future blogs, from scripture in the Old and New Testaments, that Jesus is God.  From the throne comes forth the water of life.  This is the water of life that Jesus said that He could give to the Samaritan women who was at Jacob's well as written by John in his gospel in his 4th Chapter, verses 7-14;

               (7)" There came a women of Samaria to draw water.  Jesus said to her, 'Give Me a
               drink.'(8) For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.(9) The Samaritan
               women therefore said to Him, 'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink
               since I am a Samaritan woman?' (For Jews have no dealing with Samaritans.)
               (10) Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who
               it is who says to you, "Give Me a drink," you would have asked Him, and He would
               have given you living water.'(11) She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw
               with and the well is deep; where then do you get that living water?(12) You are not
               greater that our father Jacob, are You, who gave us this well, and drank of it himself,
               and his sons, and his cattle?" (13) Jesus answered and said to her, 'Everyone who
               drinks of this well will thirst again;(14) but whoever drinks of the water that I shall
               give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a
               well of water springing up to eternal life.'

This water of life that gives eternal life is the very Spirit of the Living God.  Like I wrote in my last blog about Jesus relationship with the church, where Paul wrote this in his letter to the Ephesians Chapter 5, verse 26;

               "that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the
               word."

John began his gospel with this in verse 1;

                "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
                was God."

And then in verse 4 John continued;

                 "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
                 glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

Getting back to the Samaritan woman in 4th Chapter of John's gospel, in verses 20-26, we start with her asking Jesus this;

                  (20)"Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem
                  is the place to worship."

Something to note here is the fact that there were two different groups of thought among the descendants of Jacob as to where it is that they should worship God.  The Jews believed that the place of worship was in the temple in Jerusalem.  Whereas, the Samaritans who where also descendants of Jacob chose to worship God on the mountain where Jacob's well was.  This is why the Jews looked down on the Samaritans as a second class citizen, viewing them as law breakers to Jewish traditions.  This visit to Jacob's well was not an unintentional turn of events for Jesus.  He purposely went up there to meet with this woman to tell her what He told her so that His message could get to the rest of the Samaritans.  He was not there to defend the practice of the Jews over theirs, but to present what was really going to become the true form of worship.  Jesus reveals this to her in verses 20-26;

                  (21)"Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in
                  this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father.(22) You worship
                  that which you do not know, we worship that which we know, for salvation is
                  from the Jews.

Jesus was referring to Himself, for He had to come into the world through the linage of Jacob that offered sacrifice once a year for the forgiveness of sin.  For this was a foreshadow of what Jesus would do Himself by offering up his own life as the final sacrifice for sin on the cross.  This is why God would kill those who were motivated by Satan to destroy Israel.  When Jesus would come into the world, He had to come in through a woman who understood that she needed to be cleansed once a year for the forgiveness of sin.  This is what allowed Jesus to come into the world through Mary who understood this and practiced this.  The preservation of Israel had to be there so that Mary could be there.

Jesus tells the Samaritan woman what true worship will be in verses 23 and 24;

                  (23)"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship
                  the Father in Spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
                  (24) God is spirit, and those who worship Him shall worship Him must worship
                  in spirit and truth."

God is a Spirit and God is the Word.  It is The Word of God, through the presentation of the truth of the gospel, which is, the Word became flesh in the form of Jesus and gave Himself as the everlasting sacrifice that would allow anyone who would choose to receive Jesus, in the form of His Spirit the Living Water, into their souls, to become eternal beings with eternal life instead of death.  It is Jesus Spirit as living water that satisfies the soul of man, for it is for this purpose that the soul was created.  Therefore, when a person drinks of this water, they will never thirst.  For the thirst of the soul is finally satisfied.

Jesus revealed something very important to the Samaritan woman that is important to note.  It is nice that places are built for people to congregate and fellowship together.  Though, it is important to note that to be able to even worship God, you must have His Spirit living in you.  A person must be connected to God to be able to worship Him, for it is with our new existence in the Spirit that allows us to be in the presence of God.  The second way we worship God is in truth.  The early church was not interested in building places to worship.  Instead, they would meet together in one of their homes to search the scriptures to see what was true.  They understood what Jesus had taught them that it was not enough to just worship God, but you had to do it in the Spirit one receives through the new birth and in truth. This means that it was important to know what the truth is so that you could really worship God by speaking the truth in love.  There is only one truth.  If there is a multiple of truths then there is no truth.

This is what Jesus told Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, about a new existence.
It is found in John's gospel in Chapter 4, verses 3-6;

                 (3)"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom
                 of God.(4) Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old?  He
                 cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?'(5) Jesus
                 answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
                 cannot enter into the kingdom of God.(6) That which is born of flesh is flesh, that
                 which is born of Spirit is spirit.

When Jesus says born of flesh, He is referring to the bodies that we come into the world with through our mother's womb.  When Jesus says born of the Spirit, He is referring to what happens in a persons soul when they ask Jesus to come into their soul and be their God.  This was only made possible through Jesus death, burial, and resurrection.  When a person receives what Jesus did for them on the cross, they become part of Jesus body.  Putting themselves on the cross with Him, they die with Jesus and put to death their sin nature, they are buried with Him, and in Jesus' resurrection, they are raised with Him into the newness of life with the power and Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.  This is what it means to have a second birth, you become a new creation where your soul is now filled with the Spirit of the Living God.

When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple in Jerusalem, that separated man from the place called the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God would show up once a year during the Passover feast, when the offering for the forgiveness of sins took place, was split in two.  This was because, where before the cross, it was impossible for man to enter into God's presence, now man was able, through the blood shed by Jesus, to enter into God's presence forever.

Jesus put it this simple in the book of Revelation, when He said this in the letter to church in Laodicea, in Chapter 3, verse 20;

                 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the
                 door,  I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me."

You can look at it this way,  before Jesus died on the cross the doors to mans hearts were locked on the outside, preventing them from entering into God's presence.  When Jesus died on the cross, He unlocked every lock on everyone's hearts door.  All they would have to do now to enter into God's presence, was to just open the door from the inside and let Jesus in.  There is no knob on the outside of the heart, for Jesus would never force Himself in.

Jesus reveals something to the Samaritan woman that He had not yet declared to anyone, when she responded to His remarks with this in verses 25 and 26;

                 (25)"The woman said to Him, 'I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called
                 Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.'(26) Jesus said to
                 her, 'I who speech to you am He.'

Continuing in Revelation Chapter 22, John sees this in verses 3-6;

                 (3)"And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb
                 shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him;(4) and they shall see His face,
                 and His name shall be on their foreheads.(5) And there shall no longer be any night;
                 and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, for the
                 Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever.(6) And he said
                 to me, 'These words are faithful and true'; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the
                 prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly
                 take place."

They are referred to as bond-servant for two reasons.

First, because they were purchased with the blood of the Lamb, Jesus.  As we read in Revelation Chapter 5, verses 9 and 10;

                  (9)"And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy art Thou to take the book, and
                  break its seals; for thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood
                  men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.(10) And Thou hast
                  made them to be a kingdom of priest to our God; and they will reign upon the
                  earth."

Second, the bond-servants are the believers who chose to receive the truth and allow Jesus, through the presence of His Spirit, to come into their souls and create in them a new being that would live forever.  Whereas they were once isolated from the presence of God because of sin, they are now, through their new birth, joined together to Him in one Spirit.  So bond-servant means that they have been bound together with Jesus and having their new glorified resurrected bodies, they will rule with Jesus and be called His servants.  When it says that they will not need any light because the Lord God shall illumine them, it is revealing that they will exist as light, through the light of God.

Picture glowing beings that are radiating light.  It is not just saying that God is their light, but also saying that because they are born of God, they are part of the illuminating light of God.  It is also reinforcing the fact that the book of Revelation is revealing to the saints the things that will take place as the things that are foretold in this book begin to happen. This way they can prepare and will not be caught off guard.

In verse 7 Jesus says this to His Saints;

                "And behold, I am coming quickly.  Blessed is he who heeds the words of the
                prophecy of this book."

When Jesus says that He is coming quickly, Jesus is letting them know that when they see the things written in this book start to happen, they should know that His return is near.  Then when He says that if you heed the words of this book, you will be blessed, to heed means to act on.  Much of the instruction in the book of Revelation is to remain faithful to the end, even to the point of death and your reward will await you.

Also, to stand firm in the faith.  The saints through this period of time will overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus, and their testimony of Jesus.  Even in death they are still overcomers over Satan, for their reward is eternal.  Most of the instructions in the book of Revelation are found in the letters to the seven churches, for they are intended for all believers.

                 (8)"And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.  And when I heard
                 and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these
                 things.(9) And he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and
                 of your brethren the prophets and those who heed the words of this book; worship
                 God."

May Jesus Spirit open our eyes to the revealing of His truth.

Jesus peace to you.