Ever since the first century Apostles died, the church of Jesus Christ has been under constant attack with many false doctrine and half truth about what the true Gospel is all about. Not only that, even the true identity of the person of Christ has been masked to project Him as someone He is not!
For those who have been following my blog posts will know, the true Gospel is about the kingdom of God and Christ the Savior is the means to inherit the kingdom of God - the end destiny for mankind. Jesus Christ was sent by God the Father not only to save mankind from condemnation of death - the death penalty due to sin - but also to proclaim the true Gospel of the kingdom which God the Father sent Him to proclaim. The kingdom of God has yet to come and that is why Christ told all His true disciples to pray to God the Father, 'Thy kingdom come' - Matthew6:10. Many were deceived thinking that the kingdom of God is the church of this age. If that is true, then why would Christ told His disciples that it is not for them to know the time and season why asked when the kingdom of God would be restored - barely fifty days hence to Pentecost when the church would be founded just before His ascension to heaven! (Acts 1:6-8). It simply just doesn't make sense.
Besides, Christ said in Matthew 8:11 that 'many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (God)'. If the kingdom of heaven (God) is the church of the here and now as many proclaim, then where on earth are the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? In the closing words of the parable of the sower, the Lord Jesus Christ also told His disciples recorded in Matthew 13:43 that 'the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father'. If the kingdom of God is the church of the here and now, who among the saints have shine forth so brightly? Have they done so, the world would not have face so much trouble and conflicts! No, my friends, the kingdom of God is NOT yet here but will be installed when Christ returns to earth to reign with His saints (Daniel 7:13,14,18,21,22,27; Rev 11:15) for a thousand years to restore all that had been lost to the great deceiver!
Over one billion folks the world over who proclaim to be followers of Christ worship on a Sunday. But the Bible states categorically that the Sabbath is on the seventh day of the week which falls on Saturday. The power that be of the Roman Empire then had changed the time of worship to that of Sunday which is the first day of the week. The fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy (Exodus 20:8) has been most ignored as the world's system maintain Sunday to be the public holiday. But Sunday was originally kept by pagan worshippers of the sun god! This is one of many idolatrious practices that have infiltrated the church.
Then there are Christmas and Easter holidays which have nothing to do with Christ as the Savior was not born on December 25th and was not resurrected on Sunday, but on a Saturday! The easter egg is a symbol of fertility used in the worship of an ancient fertility goddess Ishtar, aka Ashtoreth as was known in Israel during biblical times. It was idolatry condemned as an abomination to the Lord! The original word 'Pascha' is the Greek equivalent for Passover and not Easter. The word Easter in Acts 12:4 in the KJV has been mistranslated. Millions if not billions of people celebrate Christmas and Easter annually without a proper understanding of the significance. The irony is that such festivals are not even mentioned in Scriptures let alone commanded to observe, but churches ignore the celebration of holy days like the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles which were observed by Christ and the early Apostles.
As disciples of Christ, we are commanded to worship God as instructed in Scriptures (Deut 12: 32) and not in any manner we like for man's ways are not His ways (Isaiah 55:8). No wonder that man-made religious systems have so blinded man that they cannot see Christ's true Gospel of the kingdom of God which He was sent by God the Father to proclaim as the Good News - the hope for all mankind, especially the poor and oppressed - when all wrongs and injustices will be put right. That will be the time when this upside down world will be put rightside up - the time of restitution of all things during the millennial reign of Christ - perhaps even the earth will be tilted straight up with extreme climate and freak weather patterns resigned to history.
Some may say that celebrating Christmas and Easter are a remembrance of Christ and honoring Him. But there is no command in Scriptures to celebrate Christmas and Christ was not born in December - probably in September or October. Together with Santa Claus, these celebrations compromise with paganistic worship practices.Though they are meant to be fun and good for the merchants and the economy, they have nothing to do with Christ and God's plan for mankind. By adopting the method of pagan idolatry and tagging them as part of Christian worship is a direct violation of the First Commandment - 'You shall have no other gods before me' (Exodus 20:3). If they have to be celebrated, they should not be roped in as part of church worship.
Throughout the centuries, man has stolen Christ true identity and given Him a complete makeover - without His approval. He was often portrayed as the long-haired guy with a halo on His head. But in the Hellenistic Greek culture of His days, man had short cropped hair as seen on statues, busts and carvings of that period. Though Christ was a Nazarite, He was not under a Nazarite vow which would forbid drinking wine or touching a dead body - both of which he partook while on earth. His short hair enabled Him to escape from the religious leaders with ease by merging with the crowd of men who have short crops!
To be sure of one's salvation as a born again immortal spirit being (sons of God) in God's divine family, one has to understand these truths, believe and obey them. Only by understanding the truth and practising them will set them free. All those who are not called and predestined to be sons of God will have to wait for the second resurrection to take place towards the end of the millennial age, judge by Christ and be taught the truth by the resurrected saints who form the royal priesthood. When truly repented and forgiven by the blood of Christ, they will be born again as immortal spirit beings (children of God) in the kingdom of God.
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