Epaggelia

When God announced “Let Us make man” He was revealing his nature, as being plural. The image of God in humanity is spiritual not physical, because God is Spirit, (Jn. 4:24), and His Spirit was over the waters in the creation, 1:2. The plurality of God was active in making us. Unlike worldly kings making many distinctions between themselves and their subjects. A monarch is removed from the rank of the people by princes of royal blood, dukes, earls, barons, viscounts, baronets, knights, esquires; and all kinds of outward appearances, especially on public occasions, as to impress people with their own distance;  All this may be necessary and even useful, where the ruling is human. But in bold contrast with this is the conduct of the supreme Sovereign — God. The King of kings formed His first earthly subjects with affinities between them and Himself most near and intimate.

But our humanity is diseased with sin we commit, and Christ came to give each person the choice to heal this diseased image. Paul tells us that the “new man,” .. is “created after God” — i.e., after the likeness of God — “in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). In another passage he says that we are “renewed in knowledge, after the image of Him that created him” (Colossians 3:10). Knowledge not speculative but practical, holiness not relative but real; knowledge illuminating the mind, holiness governing the heart — the make up, in the apostle’s view, that “image of God” in which He declares that He created us. There are three ways in which we can see our spirituality as emulating God’s spiritual nature.

Firstly, We humans have the POWER to choose. This is different than any other part of God’s creation. God chose to create, mandate, execute and pardon. We as humans, can choose to serve evil or good. Joshua 24:15 states that ultimate choice was made public in ancient Israel. Today in Christ we are asked by the gospel to choose whether or not we will ‘save ourselves from a perverted generation…receive his word…and devote ourselves” Acts 2:40-42.
Secondly, We have the power to make a promise, once we have chosen to confess Christ as our Lord, The promise to repent, and live a life of faithfulness is essential, if we are truly going to change and grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. This is made clear in 1st Corinthians 9:27 & Galatians 5:16-18. This helps us cooperate with God in CREATING the change needed in us to help restore His IMAGE.
Thirdly, we as humans have the power to submit to the Lordship of Christ’s Spirit and walk with him, in order to grow the fruit of His Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23. This helps us OWN the change that God makes in us. The nature of God can be seen in these three spiritual attributes, the power to make a choice, the power to create change in repenting, and the power to make a promise and grow. We also see three very often used titles for God’s name in these attributes.
Elohim – God, usually used in the context of CREATOR, Gen. 1.
Jehovah – I AM, used in the context of His all POWERFUL self-existence, Ex. 3:14
Adonai – Lord, usually used in the context of OWNERSHIP, Ex. 34:23
Genesis 34:23 is one of the rare verses that has all three of these titles for God. Where He claims the creation, existence and ownership of Israel being exclusively His, and therefore mandates worship. This love is human, but when we direct our love to Christ, his wisdom helps us emulate a divine love and thereby grows the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness & self-control. Initially our humanity was given dominion over the rest of God’s creation all around & outside us. Why shouldn’t we exercise dominion over God’s creation WITHIN our self? Read 2nd Corinthians 10:3-7.

God planted a Garden & made trees grow, and rivers flow. He called it Eden and for centuries the prophets would remember it’s glory, (Ezk 28:13, Ezk 31:8-9, Joel 2:3) At least for a few generations after Adam, people lived in it, 2nd Kings 19:21 and even in Ezekiel’s day, it’s region was still known, Ezk. 27:23. But physically it fades in glory and the memory of scribes after Ezekiel make no mention of Eden. The Holy Spirit seems to erase it from history. Which is in harmony with the changing demise of our planet’s nature. Even in today’s world, no matter how many efforts are put into conservation, many things change for the worse. But this remains permanent, God’s purposeful plan for our original state of fellowship with Him. His determined & successful work to redeem His children into an eternal utopia and intimate fellowship. To do this, God’s son would be sacrificed near a garden, John 19:41. He has paradise with the tree of life awaiting His children, Rev. 2:7. Within the City of God, a river flows and His children are given the right to eat from the tree of life, Rev. 22:2-14.  When God created Eden, he knew that Adam’s sin would ruin it’s glory, so He planned & purposed Christ to help us be restored to His original gift of creation in a new heaven & earth. Paul spoke of creation groaning for the culmination of Christ’s glory in us, Romans 8:18-22.

It is interesting to note that God named the garden, it’s rivers and the two trees, but He let Adam name the animals. Giving Adam a view of his dominion stretching beyond Eden, over the animals that would roam beyond it’s borders. God sets borders in earth from the beginning to the end of the earth’s existence, Acts 17:26, and to this day establishes governments which do His will, Romans 13:1. Indeed today, they still move borders and re-name cities, history may be written by man, but God still motivates & works within His-Story. Therefore we should respect Government and try our best to obey authorities, praying for them and reminding them of Christ’s Lordship in the Church. The effect of governing authorities upon the spreading of the gospel is obvious throughout history, both biblically and in secular history. Why? Because the prince of this world is determined to destroy the truth, Ephesians 2:2-3, and God in Jesus Christ rules over the victory of His Kingdom’s message. Our responsibility as Christian citizens is to prayerfully promote responsible dominion over the earth God created for our use and control. Waste is not godly, Jesus showed us concern for this in John 6:12. If our government sees we are environmentally responsible and care for the earth, they may have more appeal toward our message of moral restraint. Nevertheless, if only for the sake of our own conscience and respect for God’s creation, we ought to treat the world we live in with care & refrain from it’s abuse & unnecessary pollution. This kind  of lifestyle can improve the reputation of a Christian’s name from the world’s perspective. Remember, it is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

From Genesis 3:15 to Revelation 22:10-20, prophecy fills a major part of the Bible. Most of prophecy directly or indirectly refers to the Jewish Messiah/God’s Christ for the entire human race across the globe. Every individual is given hope in the fulfilled promises of a faithful God, when we each personally accept true living faith in Jesus as Christ & Lord. The power of purification (1st John 3:3) and the power of a living hope (1st Peter 1:3) are both found satisfying in Christ by every person that allows The Faith to grow in our body, soul & mind. Do you believe in the prophetic promise of God to provide inner purity & power to live pure? Read about the purpose of prophetic scripture in Romans 15:4 to enrich your faith in the truth.

As we reflect on the purpose of a prophet, we see it is two-fold. Firstly to speak on behalf of God or via God, as Enoch & Noah did and secondly, to pray and/or intercede for other people as Abraham & Samuel did, Gen. 20:17 & 1st Sam. 23. By this we discover the purpose of our intercession, a life-giving God working through his prophetic word in Jesus the great prophet, John 6:14 & Acts 7:37. The ability to spread the gospel and help other people to accept it by faith is seen as we read Acts 6:4, see this in action by the Apostles. We also see prayer as a necessity of preparation by the Apostles to help God establish the Church with the gospel in Acts 1:4-14, 2:1-6. A great prophecy fulfilled from the promise of God,  Jeremiah 31:31-34.

The Bible itself is a huge book of promises. From the promise of victory of God within humanity (Gen. 3:15) via the seed of the woman, to the promised victory of Christ and all those within Him to triumph over sin & death (Rev. 22:13-19). The seed of the Kingdom was prophesied and fulfilled in Christ. Is the seed of the Kingdom within you?

If we are spiritually located and growing in Christ as the Great Prophet that came into the world, we are obliged to prophesy in the sense of enacting our royal priesthood with intercessory prayer like Abraham & Samuel, as well as pointing people to the truth of Christ’s coming in the future to judge everyone according to His word, John 12:48. Read Matthew 13:38 & Mark 4:26 to see Christ’s direction in this need of ours.

One of the strangest statements here is that God “separated the light from the darkness” v4. The light is obviously divine, because the stars, sun & planets are not made until the fourth day. Separating divine light from darkness results in defining the first day, so God designed time as we know it, and then made the universe to fit time. In v18 the phrase is used again, but in the context of physical light, placed in certain areas, this causes the separation from darkness simply by distance. But the mystery around light before stars are illuminated, leaves us to conclude that it is a spiritual light, as in 1Jn. 1:5. In the New Testament we have 3 miraculous events with light. First, the miraculous star over Bethlehem during Christ’s nativity. Secondly, the transfiguration of Jesus before his sacrifice. Thirdly, the Lord’s glory blinding the sinner Saul after he ascended. There is no physical light that fits the description each passage gives. In the new Jerusalem, God’s light comes from the Lamb replacing any need for the sun or moon, Rev. 21:22-23.

Genesis spans more years (appx 2,300) than any other book in the Bible, from before Adam’s day to the days of Joseph. The repetitive word ‘begat’ is the theme throughout Genesis, the origin of a family into a nation is reminding us of how successful God is, in bringing life into the world against all the odds of so much sin & death. The story of relationships here shows us that God wants to relate to his creation, especially us, being made in His image. Although God created all things good and was pleased, we abused our God given power to choose and used our freedom to sin, destroying our relationship with God, each other and also damaging the physical world. However, God’s grace was shared with humanity, He did not forsake us and leave us in sinful rebellion and the corruption of sin. Instead, God promised to act directly to solve the human predicament of sin & death, by announcing the coming of the Promised One, (Gen. 3:15). God began his plan of restoration and redemption by choosing the family of Abraham to start over afresh. He made a covenant with Abraham and relates to His family many blessings, proving to them His promises of life are being fulfilled in the face of death spreading to all of us, Romans 5:12

God gave Moses reflection on history and revelation on the future. His law was decreed in writing with blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Most Jewish theologians and scholars of Scripture put the date of writing at between 1440 through 1400 BC. One of the highlights of Genesis is when God calls Abraham to leave his home of Ur (in ancient Iraq) to travel to the land of Canaan. God makes clear to Abraham that He is the designer of a planned promise (covenant) wherein Abraham should fulfill by walking in faith, Gen. 12:1. Archaeological remains from Ur prove the city’s prominent importance, as with many cities of our ancient world, Ur was a center for many idols including their main god being the moon deity. Abraham was approached by God with a background of a lunar god in Iraq, and Moses was approached by God with a background of a solar god in Egypt, so it is not a mystery as to why God used both types of calendars in establishing the Hebrew nation. The middle-east languages and religions of today are rooted in Genesis, are you?

The word prophecy conjures up all kinds of weird visions of the future, and scary destruction from the past, since the Bible’s prophets forewarned the Jews about Jerusalem’s destruction, and to this day it is in turmoil. But the word prophecy itself is quite simple. In the Hebrew there are four words used for prophecy.

1. Nebaw (prophet – a speaker via God)
2. Nebooaw (speaking as God’s mouthpiece)
3. Nawbee (making a prediction)
4. Raah (a Seer as in receiving & explaining visions from God)

Abraham is the first person God titles as prophet, Gen. 20:7. But of course the simplest meaning of the word is seen in Enoch & Noah, who lived before Abraham. Enoch (Gen. 5:22-24) walked so closely with God that God took him up into Heaven without experiencing death just to be closer to Him. Enoch’s life was full of God’s will, his family and friends around him would have been blessed to see & hear what God’s nature & will and word was for them. (Jude v13-15) Enoch spoke & lived for God so much, that Jude the Lord’s brother accepted his words were two fold in purpose. The fact of double prophecy in one prophetic occasion is obvious sometimes. For example, see Isaiah 22:22, where he is clearly pointing to Eliakim son of Hilkiah, but it is also used by John to point to Jesus in Revelation 3:7. This happens quite often from the Old Testament into the New. Enoch’s prophetic words of judgment pointed towards the death of sinners in the flood and also the eternal punishment of sinners in our future. Which is a fine introduction to what a Christian should be, walking with God closer and closer in our daily life, 2nd Corinthians 6:16, warning people that Jesus is coming again.

Noah was certainly a prophet in the task of building the Ark. His life’s work foretold the coming destruction, that is certainly a form of prophecy. His work is exemplified in Peter’s teaching for Christians. 1st Peter 3:20-21. The Ark representing the body of Christ, and the flood-waters representing the faithful act of baptism is making Noah a predictive preacher in his work of prophesying how God would save the world in the future. A time is coming, when only faithful children of God in the body of Christ (Ark) will be saved from the coming destructive judgment.

Abraham’s work of prophecy is rooted in the news God gave Abimelech. When we read Genesis 20, it is comforting to see how Abraham’s prayer is part of God’s work to help Abimelech restore the ability of his family to have babies, giving life. Prophets spoke for God, and they were also very effective with their prayers as seen in Abraham, Elijah and also Jeremiah, see how Jeremiah clarifies this in Jer. 27:18. Samuel the prophet even goes as far as to say that it was a sin for him to neglect to pray for people, 1st Sam. 12:19-23. Today, Christians are mandated by the High Priestly job of Christ to intercede for the world, we are prophetically royal priests, 1st Peter 2:9. So from the beginning to the end of the Bible, prophets are used by God in their prayers. Do you believe that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy and that you as a Christian are an active part of God’s work? Read Revelation 19:10. Never forget that God called Miriam the sister of Moses a prophetess, Exodus 15:20-21, in the context of her song for what God had done, not will do.

Many people call the traditional titled prayer in Matthew 6, The Lord’s Prayer, but the fact is, Jesus never actually prayed this prayer, he said the prayer. Praying and talking are two different things. When Jesus said the words of Mt. 6:9-13, he was teaching us how to ask God for what we need, not what we want. The peculiar fact about this model prayer for us, is that no where does it contain a single word of thanksgiving. There is not a word of gratitude in it, because it is all about what we need to ask for, or should I say, beg for! It is kind of like God’s list for His agenda when we need to have a meeting with Him, this is what He wants us to make supplications and requests for. Jesus says we must address Him, the God of the Universe as “Father”, more precisely, a holy and righteous father, see how Jesus does this in John 17:11 & 25. Here is my numbered explanation of the 5 items on God’s agenda for us.

1. “May Your Name be Honored”, we really need to express our desire for God’s authoritative name to be respected in our life and in the world. Or else, (Rom 1:28) just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.

2. May, “Your Kingdom Come…” Express your desire for God’s reign over your heart to be shown, and that God’s reign over the hearts of people yet to believe and obey his reign, will take place. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7. The rule of God is the Kingdom, and Christ’s rule came & was established in Jerusalem by the Apostles, Col. 1:13. However, the Kingdom did not come into the hearts of the worldly people that persecuted Christians letting Christ rule over their hearts.

3. “Give us our daily…”, Express our dependence upon Him for our daily needs, not next weeks desires. If your supervisor wants next week’s work schedule finished and submitted to him by a certain deadline, do it & do it right, as best as  you can, but don’t worry about your supervisor rejecting it. Mat 6:34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

4. Please, “Forgive us…” We must ask God for the ability to be forgiving of others who have sinned against us, so that we ourselves can be forgiven when we sin against God. Eph 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

5. “Deliver us…”, Ask for mercy from testing trials (NRSV & BBE), and that God will help us stay away from the Devil himself. Many versions of the Bible use the word “temptation” but the original Greek word in most manuscripts of the original text actually uses a word for temptation that really is precisely meaning a “test or trial under duress”, The fact is God tempts no one,  James 1:13. But yes He can lead us into situations that are very painful, if we are not aware of His desire to stay on the straight & narrow path of righteousness in this life. Jesus himself was led into the desert to be tested and tried to see if the Devil could make him do what was wrong and it was painful, Mat. 4:1-10. But Jesus does not want us, to be led into that kind of deliberate test of our ability to do what is right. He knows God loves us and will protect us from ignorantly entering into bad situations, so ask the Father to keep you on the straight & narrow, and when it feels like your life is out of control and the Devil meets you on the straight and narrow to beat you up and throw you in the ditch half dead, make sure your asking God to deliver you from the Evil One. He answers these kinds of prayers! Do you believe this?

What God reveals through Paul in 1st Corinthians 15 is a new revelation to an ancient faith, and for us today, it is the most supreme hope offered by any religion. For centuries humanity had only an imagination’s view of the afterlife. Egyptians were famous for their hopeful aspirations of living a life of luxury and victory in conquest after this physical life, but until Jesus came, no one offered visible proof. So many Jews discarded all the fanciful pictures of Egyptians living in sumptuous splendor after death. Jews and still today many Christians accept the myth that anything physical is too bad or sinful to live past the grave. But God in Christ revealed the reality. Remember when God brought physical life into creation, he pronounced it ‘good’, Genesis 1:31. When Paul writes by God’s Spirit about the afterlife, he promises more than just a spiritual existence, he promises a spiritual body. This is a revelation to ancient thought. In comparison to modern thought of nirvana, reincarnation or celestial unity, the idea of a unique spiritual body is superior. During the past 2000 years, no idea is more appealing, nor has any other idea been given more evidenced hope, than the bodily resurrection of Christ Jesus. The declaration of divinity in Christ was proven by the historical & eye-witnessed fact of his bodily resurrection, Romans 1:4. The bodily resurrection of Christ was unique and Paul taught it as being the firstfruit of all resurrections, meaning it was the superior and holy one. The thought of being a firstfruit is originally found in Leviticus 23:9-12, showing sacrificed grain after the harvest was waved over the sacrificed lamb before the Temple, showing to all Israel that only the best was offered and publicly certified as holy.  This act holds the original thought of Christ’s resurrection being the firstfruit (choice/best/elect) of every person’s resurrection, John 5:28-29 & 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17.

The promise of a super-natural spiritual body for faithful Christians is clear, 1st John 3:2. Paul makes clear, “flesh and blood can not inherit the Kingdom, (1st Cor. 15:50) while at the same time clarifying that we will have a body, which is spiritual, permanent, powerful & incorruptible. At the sound of the last trumpet, we will be changed from a weak & corruptible body into an incorruptible body, eternal mass. Our present body is temporary, not sinful, yearning for permanence. What this temporary flesh desires is evil, but sin is not committed by us, until we use the evil desire in the wrong way. For example, our fleshly mind wants to enjoy pornography, the desire is not sin, but the actual looking with the intent to lust is indeed sinful, ie. adultery! Paul thought whatever was temporary wasn’t real, Read 2 Corinthians 4:18 “while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Read also, Colossians 2:17.

Our body to come will in some miraculous sense be conformed to Christ’s resurrected body, see Philippians 3:21. Paul is convinced humans have a desire to be clothed, 2nd Corinthians 5:4, eternally. Peter confirmed that truth with miracles in performing his act of resurrecting Dorcas. Peter wrote “Therefore since all these things will be dissolved, what kind of people ought we to be in holy conduct and godliness (2nd Peter 3:11).  This body we have now is indeed beautiful and we are all made in the image of God, male & female, but the glory we have now is fading. Paul points us to the future greater glory. Read 2nd Corinthians 3:11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. The dissolute destruction of this wondrous flesh is something Paul boasts in, as we read 1st Corinthians 15, Paul borrows from Isaiah 25:8 & Hosea 13:14 in order to mock death & the grave. Sin & death had met their match in the love & life of Christ. Paul thought nothing spiritually significant happened to humanities’ fleshly state between Adam’s death & Christ’s resurrection! Through the centuries, Paul could not have even imagined the evolution of humanity, instead, he knew only of our dissolute demise until the resurrection of Christ turned everything upside down. Do you believe this?