Wednesday, January 27, 2010

THE SONS OF GOD

The conventional teaching in Christianity is that once a person receives Christ as his/her personal Lord and Savior, the believer then becomes a son or daughter of God. But a closer examination of Scriptures shows that this is not so. It is much more than that. If it were that simple, the bible should not be more than a few pages thick! In this blog, we will discuss who are the potential sons of God and how does a believer qualify as one.

It is God the Father who creates, designs and forms the spirit of man in every human being (Numbers 27:16).
Just as the spirit in man (1 Cor 2: 11-13) differentiates a human being from that of an animal, the Spirit of God indwelling in the mind of a convert differentiates him/her from that of a pre-believer. After repentance and water baptism, the believer will receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands of a spiritual leader. This connection of the Holy Spirit with the spirit in man is what makes a believer a child of God. At that point, the convert is begotten of God on his way to become a  son of God as the Holy Spirit works in cooperation with the human spirit in the mind of the convert (Romans 8:16). However, the convert is like a foetus in the womb of the mother (Gal 4:26), awaiting to be born. The 'mother' is the church who is responsible to feed the new believer the word of truth for the believer to grow into maturity as a son of God.

 A true Christian is one led by the Spirit of God, for they are the sons of God (Rom 8:14). To be led by God's Spirit is to be prompted and directed by the Holy Spirit in the disciple's daily life who is called to develop the spiritual character qualities of Christ-likeness (Rom 8:28-30). The disciple must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt 6:33), and righteousness is the character of Christ-likeness, for Christ will be called THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jeremiah 23:6) when He returns to establish the kingdom of God on earth.

The potential sons of God have yet to be born again, which will happen at the first resurrection (Rev 20:5)just before Christ returns at the sound of the last trumpet to set up the kingdom of God on earth (Rev 11:15). Once born again, they will become immortal spiritual God beings to be members of the Divine Family (1 Cor 15:54). For flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50) but only immortal spirit being can see, enter and inherit it. Just like the wind which can be felt but cannot be seen (John 3:8), the kingdom of God can only be seen and entered into by spirit beings, not human beings (John 3:3,5)! Potential sons of God are presently heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Christ being the firstborn from among the dead -Rom 8:29d) which after death, will be glorified - meaning, being resurrected from physical death (Rom 8:17). When the sons of God are perfected at resurrection, they will be like Christ (1 John 3:2), no longer able to sin (1 John 3:9).

Christ will bring the rewards of the individual sons of God with Him when He returns (Rev 22:12) - not daughters of God because there is no sex and mariage in the world of the spirit beings (Matthew 22:30). The rewards are given by God the Father who is in heaven, not that the rewards are presented in heaven.The rewards are determined by the Heavenly Father who is the Head of the Divine Family. Earthly marriage and family is a symbolism of God's plan for His own Divine Family. A type of rehearsal for the creation of His eternal Divine Family! Theologians, scientists and philosophers can search and research all their life but can never find the truth, unless the Spirit of God is working in them to reveal His marvellous divine plan for mankind.

 No wonder that 2 Timothy 3:7 states that men are always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. The Apostle Paul warns that those who do not love the truth will fall into deception and perish (2 Thess 2:10). Christ on the night before He was betrayed, prayed for His disciples before God the Father, 'Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.' (John 17:17). Truth can never be compromised, for it is the universal spiritual law set by God which cannot be broken. Christ told the Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' (John 8:31-32). That is what the Scriptures meant by righteousness - understanding and obeying the truth as taught by Christ. Details of which can be found in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapters 5 through 7. These teachings are for the sons of God to abide to overcome Satan, society and self. Once they overcome, they will qualify to be born again as sons of God to rule and reign with Christ, just as Christ overcame Satan in the wilderness and qualify to rule as King in His coming kingdom!

The Apostle Paul in his inspired writings from 1 Cor 15:45-49 states, 'The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam (Christ) became a life giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust (flesh and blood), and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man (composed of spirit after resurrection).'  Those who are called and chosen to become sons of God are those whom God is working in their lives. They are literally a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). Sadly, these are a small minority who will understand and obey, such 'little flock' (Luke 12:32) will ultimately inherit all that God has destined for them  in the kingdom of God. Make no mistake, only those who enter and inherit the kingdom of God have obtained salvation and have eternal life! Even the patriarchs and prophets of old are still waiting for the first resurrection when Christ returns (Hebrews 11:13).

Potential sons of God are called to take on the divine nature of their Parent (2 Peter 1:4), holy and righteous in character. To accomplish this, disciples basically have to overcome the pride of life and the lust of the eyes that is dominant in this world's value system. Without this understanding and discipline, it is an uphill task like going against the forces of gravity. Christ's sermon on the mount in Matthew chapters 5 through 7 is a series of teachings about the give way of life as compare to the get way of life that is practised by the people of this world. But there is hope. The Lord of Righteousness will return to change all that has gone out of sync with God's will for mankind. The Day of Lord will be time when God will supernaturally intervene in the affairs of mankind (Zachariah 14:1-5) to bring about permanent change for mankind and all the governments of this world!

The sons of God will see, enter and inherit the kingdom of God. But many wrongly assume that once they are 'saved, baptised and become a church member' they will so inherit it. In Mark 1:15, Christ preached, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.' Notice that at that point in time, the church has not even being formed. The church came about on the day of Pentecost which was fifty days after Christ ascended to heaven. It is a no brainer to know that Christ message about the kingdom of God cannot be referring to the church. What he was saying is that after overcoming Satan at the wilderness (Matthew 4:3-11), He is now qualified to be King of the coming kingdom of God - that is what He meant by 'the time is fulfilled'. Since the time of John the Baptist, the kingdom of God was being preached and everyone is pressing (striving) to enter it (Luke 16:16). The time to preach the kingdom of God and to qualify to enter it was then and still is now! Only born again resurrected spirit beings can see, enter (John 3:3-8) and inherit the kingdom of God with all the riches of God's inheritance and rewards for those who qualify!

One must accept God's terms to qualify for the kingdom. It is not automatic as many wrongly assume. Most churches failed to worship the Heavenly Father. One of Christ's main goals on His first advent was to reveal God the Father and His will for mankind. Sadly, most simply do not believe Him. The majority will wake up in the second resurrection to find that they have missed the most glorious time of history - the inauguration of Christ on the throne of His Millennial Reign, together with His resurrected saints as kings (Daniel 7:13, 14, 18), probably to different positions of key appointments in His kingdom. They will reign with Christ forever and ever into eternity!  The parable of the Minas in Luke 1912:27 clearly teaches the principle of rewards for those servants who will believe and obey what He teaches. For no one will be fit to rule and reign in the kingdom of God if they do not believe and obey in this lifetime. For those who are servants of God but refuse to submit to His governmental authority for the church, they will be severely punished ((Luke 19:26-27).

Every potential son of God will have his/her role in the church carve out by God (1 Cor 12: 18). They are not at liberty to do as they please. To do so would be like those rebellious servants in Christs' parables in Matthew 24 and Luke 19 who are 'doing their own things' and ultimately lose their rewards and be punished. They are not connected to the Head of the church, who is Christ. Only those who are found faithful and wise will ultimately made rulers over God's kingdom (Matthew 24:45). God's ultimate purpose for the resurrected spirit beings is to propagate His government over all His creation in the universe (Isaiah 9:7). Will you take step to believe and obey Him and be counted as a son of God? Your awesome potential is yet to be!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

For many years after I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, I always thought that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is synonymous with the Gospel about Christ. How wrong I had been. The bible stated categorically in Mark 1:14-15, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.' But what exactly is the gospel of the kingdom of God? He can't be talking about Himself since He has yet to die for the sins of the world then, and not even His close disciples knew!

Throughout the centuries, millions and perhaps billions of people were confused. Rather, I should say being blinded to the truth! Most thought that the kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven) is the universal church, many thought it is heaven and some presume it is the faith residing in the hearts and souls within you. Some are misled by the incorrect translation in Luke 17:21b which states that 'the kingdom of God is within you'. In truth, the correct translation should be 'the kingdom of God is in the midst of you'. This points to Christ as He is the divine Representative of the soon coming kingdom. Misguided preachers compounded the problems multifold.

Shortly after the passing of the first Apostles towards the close of the first century, there had been a conspiracy to deceive the masses about the true gospel. The gospel of the kingdom is about the coming kingdom of God which God the Father will send Christ at His Second Coming to establish a worldwide government to dethrone Satan who is the current king of this world (2 Cor 4:4). A kingdom will have four elements - King (Christ), territories (all nations of the earth), subjects (humans who survive the Great Tribulations and reconstituted humans from the second resurrection) and Laws (the ten commandments and laws of Christ). Without the Laws, there will be lawlessness leading to anarchy!

The gospel of the kingdom was what Christ came to preach at His first advent (Luke 4:43). The gospel of Jesus Christ is about the good news of the kingdom of God. He is the Prophet spoken of by Moses (Deut 18:15) and we are all told to hear Him - His message given by God the Father for mankind! Christ is the Messenger of the covenant (Malachi 3:1). Sadly, most so called Christians only believe in Him (even the demons do and trembled) but do not believe Him - His message and commandments! Many put their trust in the traditions and teachings of man whom they see, but lack the faith to believe the words and teachings of Christ whom they do not see.

Please don't get me wrong, we must all accept Christ as our personal Savior in order to find acceptance for the forgiveness of our sins in order to be born again as spirit being to see and enter the kingdom of God. But by preaching only Christ and ignoring His message is like accepting the means but forgetting the end! We need to proclaim both hand in hand. Christ is preached in conjunction with the gospel not apart from it! This is evident in Acts 8:12 when Philip preached 'the things concerning the kingdom of God AND the name of Jesus Christ ' to the Samaritans. Subsequently, those who heard the gospel were then baptized. Similarly, the Apostle Paul preached 'the kingdom of God AND teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence.' (Acts 28:31). These show that the gospel of the kingdom and Christ are clearly two separate matters but yet to be preached together!

Note that Christ sent out His twelve disciples and told them to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2).Whenever the gospel of the kingdom was preached, there is healing! Christ cannot be talking about Himself since He has yet to walk the road to calvary then. Make no mistake, it is the gospel of Christ. The gospel that Christ preached and not the gospel about Christ. Readers may ask how did all this confusion come about? The answer is both religious and political.

By the middle of the first century A.D. the mysteries of lawlessness is already at work  (2 Thess 2:7). Simon the Sorceror, aka Simon Magus was one of the founding fathers of heresy. Such heresy sought to twist the gospel . With the Jewish religious leaders under the patronage of the Roman authorities (kind of civil servants), they were afraid to proclaim the kingdom of God as the gospel lest it be misconstrued to challenge the Roman Empire and taken as subversives and be put to death. Obviously, these religious leaders were looking after their own interests at the expense of God's gospel message to mankind!

One must believe the gospel of the kingdom of God (the kingdom and kingdom of heaven are all used interchangeabley) to be saved. Because without seeing and entering the kingdom of God, no salvation can take place. All those who will be saved will be changed into spirit being at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). In the New testament, these words 'kingdom', kingdom of God' and 'kingdom of heaven' are used a total of 136 times.This is so important that the Apostle Paul issued a warning not to pervert the true gospel or else be accursed (Gal 1:6-9). Notice the good Apostle emphasised the gospel OF Christ and not the gospel about Christ (verse 7). The gospel of Christ is the gospel of the kingdom of God, with Christ as the means to fulfill the end salvation of it all.

As a Prophet sent by God, Christ came to proclaim hope to a hopeless world that one day He will return to govern the world to bring world peace, harmony, universal health, universal education and prosperity! The religious leaders including Christs' disciples thought that it will happen in His first advent. Everywhere He went, Christ spoke about the kingdom of God, many of them through parables. He sent His twelve disciples and later His seventy disciples to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God and also to heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2, 10:1,9). Make no mistake, the gospel of the kingdom is the goods news of the coming government of God to rule all the nations of the world - only then will every knee bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

The Apostle Peter preached the gospel of the kingdom, 'for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:11). And so did the Apostle James in James 2:5, 'Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?'  Notice that Paul in Acts 20:21& 25 preached about the kingdom of God to the Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. All these passages clearly show that Christ Himself and the early Apostles consistently preached the message of the kingdom of God.

But that is not all. The early prophets of the Old Testament also preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. This was revealed by the Apostle Peter in Acts 3: 21, 'the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.' - starting with the righteous men before the Flood, Enoch and Noah. Jude 14-15 tells us that Enoch prophesied that the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on all people. This is in clear reference to Christ millennial reign on earth after His Second Coming. Next came Noah - the preacher of righteousness - a reference to the time when God's Law will be instituted worldwide (2 Peter 2: 4-9) which can only happen during the millennial reign of Christ.

God promised Abraham that through him, all the families of the earth  shall be blessed (Geneses 12:3). In Galatians 3:8, we are told that the gospel was preached to Abraham (probably through Melchizedek) and that all the nations shall be blessed. It is a no brainer to understand that only when God's government is firmly established on earth can such prophecies be fulfilled! Then there was Moses, who preached the gospel in the wilderness about the coming Messiah and Prophet Jesus Christ Who will someday rule and judge the world as King of the earth (Deut 18:15, 18-19). King David proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom in many of his Psalms, 'For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations' (Psalms 22:28); 'For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth' (Psalms 37:9, 11, 18,22,29,34); 'Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For YOU shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth' (Psalms 67:4).

The prophet Isaiah stated clearly and succinctly in many of his prophecies about the government and coming kingdom of God on earth that will bring lasting peace, power and prosperity and that it will last forever (Isaiah 9:6-7). Even the nature of the animal kingdom will be changed during the coming kingdom (Isaiah 11: 6-9). Jeremiah 23:5-6 states, 'Behold, the days are coming, the Lord will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.'  The prophet Ezekiel wrote in Ezekiel 36:24-30 of the coming rule of God's government on earth to bring about restoration and forgiveness. Then there was prophet Daniel who stated in Daniel 2:44 about the coming kingdom that will stand forever and never be destroyed.

Let's get the Christian goal clear - it is to be born into the kingdom of God as a spirit being (sons of God for those in the first resurrection and children of God in the second) to rule under the Kingship and leadership of Christ on earth for a thousand years and then onto eternity. It is only through the Blood and forgiveness of Christ can this be made possible. With one trillion galaxies and quadrillions of stars in the universe, the tasks of restoration and rebuilding upon the creation of God is humongous. Satan and his demons will by then be banished into the blackness of darkness (Jude 13) to spend eternity in the far flung corner of the universe without light forever.But the sons and children of God will be equipped for the glorious tasks ahead!