Wednesday, January 28, 2009

CALLING AND PREDESTINATION

In my early years as a Christian, I had heard sermons by various preachers teaching us that predestination and free will are actually two sides of the same coin. God being omnipotent and omniscient knows exactly what you plan and choose to do and therefore, 'predestined' what your future will be. I know of many of my contemporaries who had gone into full-time ministries after having 'heard the call of God for their lives'. What exactly it is, according to them, is a question of 'faith' .But is this what the Bible actually teaches about the subjects? Let's take an exploratory tour of what the Scriptures say about the subjects of calling and predestination to search out the truth!

The Lord Jesus said in John 6:44, 'No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.' A simple explanation is that no one can fully understand God' s truth unless God"s Spirit calls or draws the person to His truth. It is God who does the adding to His Church (Acts 2:47), just as He has set the members, each one of them, in the body (of Christ) just as He pleased (1 Cor 12:18).

Many evangelists had quoted 2 Cor 6:2, 'Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation' to bring in the harvest imminently. The quote from Isaiah 49:8 by the Apostle Paul should be accurately translated as : 'In AN acceptable time I have heard You, and in A day of salvation I have helped You.' In both the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, there is no definite term 'the' contain therein. If it is the only time for salvation in Paul's time (the first century), then all of us are doomed! Basically, the verse is saying God has answered the prayer and brought help in a time of salvation for the repentant sinners at all times, even after Christ Second Coming when He will come 'to restore the earth' (Isaiah 49:8).

Personally, I have grappled with the verses in Matthew 13:10-11 as to why the Lord Jesus spoke in parables instead of direct statements to His disciples. When His disciples asked why He spoke to them in parables, He answered, 'Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (God), but to them (the masses) it has not been given.' But now I understand why God reveals His truth to some and not to others. Simply because some are called in this Church Age and others are not now called. However, those who are called have to accept the calling by obedience to follow Christ (by implication to renounce the world) in order to become the 'chosen ones' (Matthew 20:16; 22:14). Sadly, many in this Laodicean Era will not response to the call.

Many Christians are just believing IN Jesus Christ. This is not enough, for even the demons believe in Jesus Christ and trembled. Believing in Jesus is simply believing Who He is - the Son of the living God. We have to BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST, not just about the person of Christ. To believe Christ is to believe ALL His teachings including His message of the gospel of the Kingdom of God which God the Father sent Him to deliver as the Good News for mankind when God will establish His rule on earth to end all wars, injustices and sufferings! Until then, we must believe all of God's promises...simply put, LIVING BY FAITH (God's coming Kingdom of law and righteousness) and not by sight (Satan's world of lawlessness)!

Some may wonder, is it fair for God to call some and not others in this Church Age? Although we do not know and cannot question how God the Father select those destined to become sons of God, we do know He is fair and just. Those who are called and accepted the invitation through obedience to His will will form the Church of the Firstborn (Hebrews 12:23). They will be the Bride of Christ to rule in God's headquarters for the Millennial Age and throughout eternity. They are currently being judged (1 Peter 4:17) to qualify (or disqualify) for these honored positions in the Kingdom of God. Though the rewards are great, but so are the responsibilities. Hence character training to Christ-likeness is the key. Those who are being given the truth and yet renege will be severely judged and punished (Luke 12:47-48), some may even lose their eternal salvation. For much has been given, much will be expected of them. This is especially so for those who are leaders of His flock and teachers of His Word.

The rest of humanity who have either being blinded spiritually, deceived or who have never heard the gospel before in all the ages will be raised in the second resurrection (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15) on the Last Great Day (John 7:37). They will come before the Great White Throne of God to face judgment (Rev 20:11), not eternal condemnation as many theologians believed. That is why the Lord Jesus warned in Matthew 11:21-24 that those from Tyre, Sidon and Sodom who had repented on the Day of Judgment had they seen His miracles, they would have better hope than those who had seen but rejected His works and words! That will be the time when most of humanity (all the multiple billions who had ever lived) will learn of the truth of God and be saved, starting with Israel (Romans 11:26) as prophesied in Isaiah 66:8. Those who rejected the truth then will have no excuse. They will be annihilated in the Lake of Fire (Malachi 4:1). The prophecy in Zechariah 13:8-9 are for those saved during the Great Tribulation. The resurrected sons of God in the First Resurrection will be there to teach and train the billions of people in the great harvest (Jude 14-15;Rev 5:10).

Those who will learn of God's truth in the Millennial Age and repented will eventually qualify as children of God (and not as sons) in the Kingdom of God. They will have lower positions and glory than those who are sons of God since they will undergo lesser trials and tribulations as Satan and his demons would have been bound by then (Rev 20:3). God had predestined who to be saved in which age - the Firstfruits as sons of God in this church age (Eph 1: 9 to 14 - those who FIRST trusted in Christ, verse 12), some during the Great Tribulation and the rest during the Millennial Age.

Speaking of this later harvests, the Apostle Paul states in Romans 11:31-31, 'Even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.' The prophet Micah in the book that bears his name wrote in 4:2, 'Many nations shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.' Similarly in Isaiah 11:9-11 and 66:15-16, 18-19 show of a time when all the nations of the earth will seek Christ and worship Him as their God and King! By then, even the wild beast will stop their aggressive ways and be tamed (Isaiah 11:6-8). What a glorious world that will be!

Let's not be disheartened of all those who died without ever hearing the gospel. They are not all heading to 'the eternal flame of hell fire' as many church ministers would have you believed. All these are folklores from novels used by evangelists in the past centuries to frighten 'men unto repentance', albeit with good intentions. For the Bible says the wages of sin is death, not eternal life in hell fire. Incidentally, the term 'hell' is nothing more than the 'grave'. Man are evil, but not our Loving Eternal Heavenly Father. The worst scenario for man is annihilation in the Lake of Fire for those who rejected God's truth after having been taught and revealed to them. They will become dusts and ashes as God put them out of their misery!

Friday, January 16, 2009

THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD

Throughout the history of mankind, people and nations from all over the world are plagued by evil and problems that very often can be traced to the issue 0f government - whether it is a family dispute, an organisational mismanagement, a church split or political corruption , greed or manipulation. Due to lobbying of rights group for freedom and democracy, government of all affiliations are finding it harder to govern now than ever before. This is made worse because of corruption and abuse of power by people in authority. But all these are going to change when Christ return to intervene directly in the affairs of man. His Government will be just and righteous with the law of God fully implemented in all strata of society with the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, Spirit of counsel and might and the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord be upon Him (Isaiah 11:2).

Like a huge jigsaw puzzle, much of biblical prophecies are coded that most bible students cannot make sense of it. Proverbs 25:2 reads, 'It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings (sons of God) is to search out a matter'. For example, consider the following verses in the Scriptures; Psalm 82:1 and 6 , 'God stands in the congregation of the mighty, He judges among the gods.' ; I said, 'You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High'. This ties in with Micah 4:5 which reads, 'For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever'. The Lord Jesus Christ affirms these in John 10;34 when He answered the Jews, "Is it not written in your law, I said, 'You are gods'. The meaning of all these become clear when you understand the God Family Vision stated in my previous blog. All the firstborn sons of God will be in the First Resurrection to be born again as spirit God-like beings. In Micah 4:5, these born again saints will rule over the human beings who survived the Great Tribulation (two-and-half year) and the Day of the Lord (last one year). These saints who qualified to rule as king-priest under King Jesus will teach humans the real truth throughout the Millennial Kingdom and the 'earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea' (Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14).

The Government of God is central to the gospel of the Kingdom of God. It is God's government that had been taken away at the Garden of Eden. That is the primary reason for all the crisis of this world - the upside down world must be put right side up! God's primary purpose in creating man on earth is to reproduce HIMSELF in man to form the God Family with His nature and character to rule and reign the earth and the whole of the universe! Jesus Christ first advent is to proclaim His Father's message, qualify Himself to rule and called out a church from Satan's world so that upon His Second Coming He will restore the Government of God back to the Father with the Family (sons of God) assisting Him!

Satan does not want the Christians of this world to understand the truth and be led by Christ. He is fighting tooth and nail to deceive the church of this Laodicean Era and blinded them spiritually with his ministers (Rev 3:17) so as to remain on the throne as god of this world. The churches of this world are outside of Christ's Government (outer court -Rev 11:2) and are therefore powerless to overcome the forces of darkness. Little wonder that many theologians and ministers of the Word are still sucking on the milk doctrine and not knowing what is happening to their flock!

Many ignorant church menbers and ministers simply assume that because of their 'long and faithful service' in the church membership roll, they are 'heaven bound' for eternity. Many will be shocked when they awake from the second resurrection (towards the end of the Millennial Age) into human beings from where they last left off (before their physical death) to find that they are being misled! What a tragedy that will be.

The Apostle Peter states in Acts 3:19-21 that Christ is now in heaven awaiting 'the times of restoration of all things'. His return will not only restore the Government of the Church, but the Government of the whole wide world. Christ will be KING over all the nations. Under Him will be the resurrected David (Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 37:24-25). According to Christ, His twelve disciples will be ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel under David (Matthew 19:28). Those who qualify for the First Resurrection will inherit the Kingdom of God which God had will for them (Ephesians 1:3-4,9-11,17-22). The patriarchs and matriarchs of Old like Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah ,Jacob and Rachel together with Noah, Job, Daniel and many others will be there (Matthew 8:11; Hebrews chapter 11). Make no mistake, all in the Church of God today are in final training and final exams to qualify for the positions in the Kingdom of God (Luke 19:12-27; 1Peter 4:17; Rev 3:21).

One of Satan's main goal is to destroy the Government of God (John 10:10). This is because the Government of God exists in this age to accomplish the Work of God through His Church - primarily to preach the gospel of the Kingdom and to warn the nations of Israel and the Laodicean church of the coming Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. Christ has to be leading the Work of God as the Head of the Church in order for this to be effective. God's Government serves those who obey God's law. If one has not learn to submit to His authority in the age, one cannot inherit the Kingdom of God in the age to come. Luke 22:28-30 tells us that Christ's servants will sit with the Father as a Family to eat and drink at His table in His Kingdom. The Apostle Paul warns us in Colossians 2:18-19 'to hold fast to the Head (Christ) ' or else our reward is at stake!

The Government of God is a Family affair. Hence, they ought to be united to be one as the Father and the Son are One (John 10:30). If one church is to prophesy (Amos 3:7-8) and another does not want to prophesy (Amos 2:11-12), there is division and disunity (Amos 3:3). Anyway, the command in these last days is to prophesy again (Rev 10:11). We must love God and His people enough to carry on the Work of God by making known His meassage and warning to this dying world which will soon experience the cataclysmic events like never before!
God's Government is based on His law. The Kingdom of God has it's law, territory (earth) and subjects (human beings who survived the Great Tribulation). Christ is the King of all kings (the resurrected born again saints who are sons of God). The demons know that if they can destroy God's Government, they can destroy God's Work in this age. That is why Paul warned the Laodiceans in Colossians to hold fast to Christ who is the Head of the Church. Satan attacks the Church by attacking first the leadership - representing the Government. If he can deceive the leader, the flock is fair game to his scheme of things.

God's Word prophesied that He will restore the spiritual and physical family upon those who repent and turn to Christ to lead them (Malachi 4:5-6). Mr Herbert Armstrong of the Philadelphian Era came as the Elijah to restore God's truth back to the Church before the Second Coming of Christ just like John the Baptist did for His first advent (Matthew 17: 11-13). The window of opportunity is open and is up to us to response positively to His leadership and Government in obedience to His will. The ironical thing is that the gospel of the Kingdom of God is about the good news of God's Family administering God's Government in the wonderful world to come, with Christ as the Head. The world who preach 'another gospel' is putting Christ as the gospel message and reject His Headship! No wonder the Laodicean church of this last era and the world are in deep crisis!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

GOD'S ROYAL FAMILY VISION

Jesus Christ came two millennia ago as a Prophet to declare God the Father and the Father's message of the coming Kingdom of God (God's Family Government) to be established on earth. This was prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15 , "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren Him you shall hear." A prophet's role is as a messenger to declare a message(s) for someone higher than himself, and never to declare about himself. The Church is to hear the MESSAGE that Jesus Christ came to declare. He proclaimed the message of the Kingdom of God immediately after He overcame Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:17). Modern Christianity is so confused that the Messenger became the message. They proclaimed about the person of Jesus Christ but ignore the message of Christ. No wonder, many Christians are spiritually blind and deceived with little or no clue what the real truth is all about!

In John 1:1 it reads,"In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God." The Apostle John - one of the sons of thunder (Mark 3:17) - gave a thunderous introduction about the person of Jesus Christ before His incarnation. Jesus Christ was known as the WORD, the Spokesman (derived from the Greek word 'Logos') for the God Family. That was why He came to bring the message of the Kingdom of God from the Father and to declare the Father's Royal Family Vision for mankind. Which means that only those who qualified as 'sons of God' when they are born again into spirit beings upon resurrection will be in God's Family to rule as 'kings' under Jesus Christ as the King of kings. They form the Royal Family of God to rule and reign in God's Government! These chosen ones have a primary role in the headquarter of God's Government as the 'Royal Priesthood' (1 Peter 2:9).

John 1:1 precedes Genesis 1:1 in chronological terms because the WORD and God the Father exist before there were angels, creation and the beginning of the ages (Ephesians 3:9). When Lucifer (later known as Satan) rebelled against God's Government, the earth and probably some other planets around were left in a trail of destruction (Genesis 1:2)! God as the Master Creator (God's profession is to create things that no man can accomplished like the stars and galaxies) created the universe intended for the angels to develop and beautify it. However, after Lucifer with one-third of the angels fell, God created man as spirit beings in His likeness (the God kind) to expand His Family and extend His Government over all of His creation (Genesis 1:26-27). When Adam and Eve fell, the second Adam in the person of Jesus Christ, becomes the incarnate Son of God to save mankind from eternal death (John 316; Acts 4:12). A member of the Godhead (the WORD) had to die for God the Father's Royal Family Vision to be made possible! If only the Church truly grasp and understand this awesome truth, countless millions of lives will be transformed. Hebrews chapter 1 tells us that no angels were offered the privilege to become the sons of the Almighty God; and Satan was fuming mad. Hence, his scheme of deceptions to deceive the world (Revelation 12:9).

How did Jesus stay sinless? He obeyed the Father in every aspects of His Work and life. Similarly, we must obeyed God's law and commandments through His Son Jesus Christ, including the message of the Kingdom of God which came from God the Father as Head of the God Family! In 1 John 1:1, the Apostle John again mentions the Word of Life, who was Jesus Christ before His incarnation. The early Christians had heard and seen what Jesus had done, yet they rebelled against His teachings. It seems that these warnings are once again suited for our times of this lukewarm Laodicean era. Proverbs 29:18 rightly warns, 'Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.' (KJV).

While Genesis 1:1 is about physical creation, John 1:1 is about spiritual creation. God wants us to have this same mindset as Christ had (Philippians 2:5) when He walked the road to calvary. To be in God's Royal Family, we must have the spiritual qualities ( Christ-likeness , gifts and fruits of the Spirit) to become the Bride of Christ. Then we can qualify to be His 'helpmeet' to rule and reign with Him at His throne. Marriage and physical family is God's channel to expand His Royal Family and Government ('Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end' - Isaiah 9:7).
That is why when a newborn was birthed into a family, there is much rejoicing because a potential God-like being has come onboard.

The prophet Amos prophesied about God's spiritual family, which is applicable to the church in these last days . God raised up ministers and prophets to teach and prophesy, but some refused to prohesy (Amos 2:11-12). Hence, there are divisions within the Church when some of the ministers refused to do as God instructed (Amos 3:3). The result is punishment from God (3:2), as the renegades will be disciplined through refiner's fire for these 'sons of Levi' (Malachi 3:3). For those whom God called (John 6:44; 1 Corinthians 12:18), He expects them to do His Work - one of which is to prophesy about His plan and vision for mankind (Rev 10:11). Simply put, this is God's will for our lives, but most Christians searched for God's will in the wrong places and directions. God's true Church is the wife of Christ who fully understands the truth. She submits to the Husband Jesus Christ. One of the works of Christ's Spirit is to teach the Church God's Family Government - there is God the Father, Husband (Jesus Christ), wife (Bride of Christ who are the firstfruits) and children (born after the firstfruits had been gathered). As true disciples of Christ we must learn to honor God the Father (Malachi 1:6-7) who is the Head of the God Family by helping to proclaim His message of the Kingdom of God (more urgently so in these last days -Matthew 24:14) just like Jesus and the early Apostles did. The Father and Son theme is mentioned in John 17 and Hebrews 1. God's plan is to rewards all His sons, by letting them eventually rule the universe!

Sadly, the Laodicean church today refused to prophesy God's Word and rebelled against His Family Government. This was prophesied in the parable of the Minas in Luke 19:27, Revelation 3:14-20, Amos 2:12 and in the book of Malachi. Those who proclaim God's Royal Family Government shall be protected against disasters (Malachi 3:16-17). Are you among those who will obey His will? Stop searching, there is no higher calling in the whole of the universe. But you must response positively in order to be chosen. For many are called (prompting from the Spirit of Christ - Rev 3:20) but few are chosen (Matthew 20:16b; 22:14) to be in God's Family Government Headquarter!