Mercy and truth have met together
Righteousness and peace
Have kissed each other in Jesus in Jesus
In Jesus thy Lamb that was slain
Truth shall spring out of the earth
And righteousness shall look down from heaven
In Jesus in Jesus
In Jesus the Lamb that was slain
The fact that Adam used his God given ability of choice to choose the way of self and the devil as opposed to choosing the way of the spirit authenticates the truth that the flesh (self) profits nothing John 6:63. Had he chosen the law of the spirit of life (faith in God) the law of sin and death could have had no chance! But God, Who is omniscient, had made a provision for man (all humans) through the obedience and sacrifice of The Lamb.
Jesus had the ability and the chance the first Adam had to choose self, the way of the devil or the way of the Spirit and He proved to both principalities and man that God can be chosen over self and the devil. Praise God! Therefore, he opened the door by which man’s original destiny should be actualized.
So whoever chooses or eats and drinks Christ (the Bread and drink from heaven), is automatically exercising that glorious privilege the first Adam had but failed to use. The first tree in the midst of the garden was not to be eaten but the Lamb of God hung on the cross (Christ), must be eaten for anyone to have His Spirit and enter into a life of communion with God.
God, being the Alpha and Omega KNOWS AND SEES all who will choose Christ (the way of the Spirit) over the devil and self even before they are born. Since the way of the devil and clay (self) is destined to destruction, all who choose it gain destruction and hell. But, all who choose the way of the Spirit are destined to victory and eternal living with the Almighty God. Man is now able to choose Christ because of the grace of His sacrifice—which, the bible tells us is made available for all men but only those who accept or choose to believe it enjoy its core purpose Titus 2:11, 1 John 2:2, John 10:10
Predestination therefore, is on the basis of God’s foreknowledge, which is based on the slain Lamb and the free gift of choice God blessed man with. Man’s use of his God given will to choose Christ glorifies God more as opposed to the idea that He is scared that man will reject Him forever and as such, He made some to be robots as to get them to compulsorily love and serve Him. If this assertion is right, He would have created man as a robot from the beginning and, man wouldn’t have got the chance to choose to disobey Him. Jesus proved this interpretation is wrong! The glorious song will be sung one day by multitudes that chose God over the devil and self. Indeed, Jesus is the first-born among many brethren not conscripts Rom 8:29.
It is true we’re forcefully rescued from the kingdom of darkness but, that is not without our using our gift of choice from God to believe (that is accept) His gift of salvation John 1:16, Rom 10:13. This is the reason no human is born again from their mother’s womb though God can decide to reveal His plan for an unborn soul ahead of time. While Jeremiah’s destiny was revealed before he was born, that of Saul (Paul) was only revealed after he was born Jer 1:5, Gal 1:15. God has a destiny for everyone!
Someone may ask if Saul asked or exercised his free will before Christ saved him in a dramatic incident. My answer is yes. Saul responded to the voice and grace of God (Christ) that appeared to him though he had the choice to be stiff necked like Caiaphas the High Priest Matt 26:64, Heb 4:7. Salvation is not initiated by man but man needs to respond when God draws John 6:44. Christ visits the world today even in more dramatic ways yet some people don’t respond to Him—they choose not to. How many people has God saved in plane and car crashes and yet they pretend they don’t understand that God is inviting them to accept Christ. How many people have arranged to meet up with a friend only to hear the person has passed away prior to their meeting. Yet, they refuse to be alerted that they need Christ the Saviour since, they too will pass on someday.
If you’re reading this post and you’ve not responded to Jesus Christ, think of how many times you have heard the gospel in many different ways in your heart with or without a physical person speaking to you—that is the voice of the Holy Spirit, please respond and believe in Christ, as it is not too late.
No one needs to get frigid when we talk about exercising the will as if to say it negates Eph 2:8-9 because it doesn’t in any way! No one can boast of using his or her will to achieve salvation because if God did not create man with the ability or nature of will and if Christ did not die and resurrect, the case of using it wouldn’t arise 1 Cor 4:7, Philippians 2:12-13. Even believers are called upon to use the gifts of the spirit and not to leave it dormant as some people do 2 Tim 1:6. It’s in the same way; those without Christ are persuaded by the gospel to use their God-given faith and will to believe in Christ Jesus. Heb 11:6 says, without faith we can’t believe or come to God and see Him for who He is—the One Who rewards those who worship Him! Even those who come to Him can’t function in His gift(s) in their lives without keeping faith in Him.
So, no Israelite will be saved because they are Israelites according to the flesh—no gentile will be saved by keeping ordinances but all, whether Jew or Gentile, who hear the gospel and believe in Jesus Christ will be saved. Every human has faith and the ability to exercise it. It’s a gift of God to man. It distinguishes man from the beast of the field. The inability of man to have faith towards God caused by Adam’s fall has been restored to man through Christ’s sacrifice made before man fell. This is the reason some people in the Old Testament were able to serve God by faith. His atonement is not limited. In other words, it’s for the benefit of the whole world but only those who choose it enjoy its full benefits.
For clarity, I am saying that one benefit of CHRIST’S ATONEMENT is the restoration of the ability for man to choose God and the other is salvation that results from actually making the choice. No one who has faith toward God will be damned. Faith toward God translates man into His spiritual house and opens up the privilege of joining His great house on the earth where, through teaching, reproofing, correcting and training in righteousness, the Treasure in the jar of clay is let out by the breaking of the jar and the treasure of Gold and Silver (redemption) begins to overlay the wood (soul) Rom 12:1-2. This principle and privilege will be open till God chooses to bring it to a close at such a time He has set.
God intervenes to harden men’s heart ONLY after He has sent warnings upon warnings. We can see this principle running through the whole scriptures Prov 29:1.
So Rom 9:29, is not telling us that God has made some people to be dishonorable and some honorable but according to His sovereignty and will, He has destined clay for dishonourable use while His Spirit in man is destined for a glorious end.
The story of Esau and Jacob like other biblical stories depicts for us spiritual things with physical realities which, eventually, manifested as was seen with Esau’s choice. Also, Jacob amplifies Eph 2:8-9 and Rom 12:2, which tell us that those who choose God receive His life in them and gradually shed the fleshly nature and increasingly put on gold (Christ) the silver of redemption Gal 3:27, Lev 5:15-16. The power to persevere through to maturity is a blessing from God as we submit (yield our will) to abide in Him James 4:7. It’s the attraction of love relationship John 14:15, 2 Cor 8:24.
Interpreting predestination as God creating some people to be destroyed and some for salvation is absolutely defective irrespective of theological camp. Every soul that comes into this world is from the first Adam who was ab initio predestined for salvation. God has never created new people except those who make a choice to believe in Christ Jesus the Lord of all salvation and are learning obedience from Him Acts 4:12, 2 Cor 5:17, Gal 6:15, Eph 2:10.
The first man God created had faith because he had the image of God. Because of his sin, the image was distorted. Nevertheless, he was still a creature of God who needed regeneration. All humans descended from Adam. To this end, Acts 2:21 states, “But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” 1 Tim 4:10.
For clarity and by way of definition, everywhere I have mentioned humans in this article, I mean beings that descended from Adam and Eve and as such, have mortal bodies; flesh, blood and bone Rom 9:11.
Finally, to treat predestination from the point of the fall of man rather than before man’s creation is misleading. Forgetting that God created only one man whom He destined for salvation has lead to a great misunderstanding of this doctrine; a doctrine that should cause all souls to rejoice in God’s love for them.
God’s principles have been in motion before man was created. God has already shown mercy and poured out His blessing (Christ) Proverbs 10:22 and blessings 1 Tim 6:17 to mankind.
The Holy Spirit is within the bride of Christ saying, “come” and the bride is hearing it and echoing it—Whoever is thirsty, “come!” and drink of the water of life freely Rev 22:17. This is the gospel message the body of Christ is preaching to the world. Hopefully that is your message.
All humans are destined for salvation. I plead with you to receive Christ Jesus if you’ve not done so and you’ll receive the free gift of regeneration (salvation) John 3:16.
Maranatha!
God does not just do loving things, He is Love. Out of His love, He freely and willingly created man in His own image and likeness though being fully aware that man will fall. Because He is love, the alpha and omniscient, He does not offer mankind a gift He knows they can’t receive. This is why from the foundation of the earth, He prepared the Lamb and sacrificed Himself so that in His appointed time, He’ll make public spectacle of His enemy at the cross on behalf of man. So, God’s nature in man is a gift.
Man through lack of faith in God fell. But God had a first-hand plan to restore man by offering him His sacrificial gift.
One of the strongest characteristics of a gift is that it can be rejected. Every gift that cannot be rejected is anything but a gift. In which case, we must find another name for it.
Salvation is an eternal gift from God to man. It’s a gift that has an eternal value which must be received by man to enjoy eternity. It’s not an afterthought gift—it was prepared by God from the foundation of the world, sealed and presented to mankind at His appointed time in Christ.
God is not just the source of faith, He is the Faith
God being the faith, exhibited faith in man irrespective of knowing that man will abuse the gift of free will He gave to him to use the way he chooses. He was teaching man by example what it means to have faith in Him.
The Foundation
God’s original intention is for man to fellowship with Him by faith as exhibited by His relationship in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. And, that His intention has not changed. After man fell, because of His love for man, He gave him a school master (the law) to constantly remind man of Him and consistently show them that they will never enjoy Him again except they return to Him by faith.
Rom 7:14 tells us that the law is spiritual while man had become carnal (faithless) as a result of the fall. So, the law always shows man that he is weak and needs a savior. God created man as a being of faith and will, but also gave man the law knowing that its burden will eventually drive man to exercise that faith to seek for a saviour. It remains the truth that man fell because he used his will to place his faith in the devil (self-gratification). This is actually the crime man committed against God. To have used the blessed privilege God gave him of free will to reject and hurt God—an eternal crime that needed eternal remedy.
Manifestation of the Remedy
It is God’s character to always give a foretaste. So right from Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel and the prophets, He started indicating to the devil that he is in big mess because man will once again, in a scale that beats the devil’s imagination, would freely, willingly and joyfully choose Him (God) their creator over him (Satan). Therefore, Heb 11:26 associated those people of faith in the Old Testament with Christ even before He was manifested.
His appointed Time
God’s grace that rested on the men of faith in the Old Testament exploded on the earth as a result of the death and resurrection of Christ (the physical manifestation of what took place from the foundation of the earth 1 Pet 1:20, 1 Cor 2:7, 2 Tim 1:9, Titus 1:2), which was what the people of faith in the dispensation of the law tapped into but has now appeared to all mankind—born and unborn. It’s made available even for the unborn because Adam’s fall made man’s DNA totally depraved. Nevertheless, we must remember that God did not create man originally depraved. Man’s salvation is not found within man but within the sacrifice God had already prepared outside of man. This sacrifice is however only accessed by faith. How wise God is!
God who created man knew that man will remain a being of faith as He created him in spite of falling. Man can only lose this privilege after death. This is why we’re to accept Christ’s sacrifice while we’re still living. So, without Christ’s sacrifice no one could have been saved not even those who kept a great deal of the laws of God in the Old Testament. It’s on this platform I will discuss the topic of predestination below.
My greatest intention here is to inspire believers to pray, study and converse with the Holy Spirit on this topic and arrive at least on a conviction rather than just swallow what is popular or convenient. I will borrow from those who are wiser than me to say, understanding this doctrine is not a prerequisite for salvation nevertheless; I believe it does affect our walk and service to the Lord Rev 3:8. Everyone who is in Christ must recognize that the devil cannot force them against their will to deny Christ.
There are very few Christian doctrines in which, even renowned teachers of the scripture quote more names of saints who are not mentioned in the bible in order to authenticate it as much as in the teaching of foreknowledge, Predestination, election and calling.
At this point, let me mention that every calling of God is based on election and election is based on predestination which is based on His foreknowledge 2 Tim 2:19, “The Lord knows those who are his,”. God calls every human being!
What is His foreknowledge based on?
Difficult questions like this makes predestination one of those tough Christian doctrines many believers fear to study closely. So, it’s been left to theologians and even many theologians have not painstakingly and prayerfully sought God’s answer but have taken the position of being content to accept what past reputable servants of God laid down. While, we’re encouraged to behave like the Bereans regarding most teachings, this one seems to be an exception, but such position in my opinion is resorting to tradition which does not encourage conviction Rom 14:23, 5.
The difficulty of the doctrine is made even more difficult because it is usually expounded in such an academic fashion. I believe it’s done so as to conceal what is actually being said which is, in its finality, that some people are destined for salvation and consequently others are not. Its ripple effect means some people are for honourable use and others for dishonourable and as such, they can be dispensed of by God to hell and eventually to the lake of fire. Any attempt to hold a different view to this not too correct perspective is usually met with vehement resistance and viewed as disrespect to faithful servants of God whose works have been a huge blessing to the body of Christ. Such view gives credence to a laisser-faire attitude to spiritual discipline.
The silent punch in the doctrine that God elected only some for salvation and not others, in the main, paints God as originator of evil though it’s quickly cushion with Rom 9:10-29, who are you to question the maker—He is entitled to do whatever He likes. They call it sovereignty but, that is misinterpreting the beautiful sovereignty of God which, protect and favours man whom He has made for His own good not bad pleasure.
While Romans 9:10-29 portrays the unprofitable state of all mankind and God’s vehemence against evil and His determination to rescue man, Rom 9:30-33, points man to God’s solution. The answer to man’s predicament is faith in the prepared sacrifice of His Lamb. Jew or gentile, whoever humbles him or herself to acknowledge their filthiness in spite of their pretentious law keeping and look to the Stone in Zion will be saved Luke 18:1-14, John 4:7-25, Matt 15:21-28, John 6:37.
Scripture meditation and Conviction
I believe foreknowledge is on the basis of the sacrifice of the Lamb which avails for all who He brings into the world. No human comes into existence without God’s permission Gen 30:2, Deut 28:11, Ps 127:3. No human is destined to hell by God 2 Pet 3:9. All humans without exception are destined to salvation. The basis of my believe is this, God created only one human—the man Adam and everyone else came from him. The original plan for man who Adam represented is for salvation. This is God’s sovereign will for man—though, He willingly placed in man to choose Him or Satan. However, as a loving Father, He did not fail to instruct man on the right path Gen 2:15-17.
Examining predestination from the time of man’s fall rather than before the fall, leads to error in its interpretation. The fact that the bible tells us that God’s Lamb was sacrificed from the foundation of the world, gives us a clear picture that God knew that man was going to fall. Nevertheless, He chose to create man not as a robot but a living soul with the ability to make free choice. It is important to note that man’s free will is a gift resulting from God’s nature of faith embedded in man. Man’s fall did not make him the creation of the devil. Devil created nobody. The nature of the devil got infused into man. Man becametotally depraved but that didn’t change God.
Because God is omniscient, Alpha and Love, His plan for man did not change. And His sacrifice stirred by His love for man opened a window of escape for man. That window made it possible for man to once again put their faith in God their creator. And men through all ages have being taking advantage of faith’s open door to return to God.
It’s not forced because God knows better that forced love is no love Mark 8:34, Rev22:17. We as humans know that when we’re loved without coercion is better than when we’re loved because we have forced it even if it is done subtly. When people love us for what they can gain for themselves rather than loving for the sake of love it repulses us. Loving for the sake of love is what creates true relationship and intimacy. God knows this truth far better than we humans! And, this is the truth of intimacy He seeks with man.
God in creating man put this His nature in man (Adam) and Eve. They kept using His nature in them to love and fellowship with Him until the devil came and contested their loyalty to God just as he does today with everyone who is in Christ. At this point, God could have turned them to robots so that they’ll not exercise the gift of free choice He gave them but He did not because He had made a provision for man’s escape. It is extremely crucial that we note that He made a way of escape without changing His original intent to see man love Him as a loving father by the use of the gift of choice He gave man in Christ. How are you using yours?! John 14:15.
On the earth, man is the only thing that has life and the Spirit of God in itself. Other things have life—for existence e.g., the plants and animals. God did not breathe into them to give them life like He did with man whom He created in His own image. So, Oxygen in man is not the Spirit of God in man.
All the time they were in the garden and kept their eyes and expectation on God’s usual evening visit, obeyed and served Him, His Gold and Silver overlaid or clothed their souls so they were not naked. And their clay or body remained an agent or a vehicle to express the Gold and as a result enjoyed health.
Unfortunately, after man had lived for a while in the garden of Eden loving God by not eating from the tree as commanded by God, the first opportunity they had to show that they indeed prefer Him to self and Satan, they failed by obeying the enemy, consequently showing contempt toward God their creator. Without reference to God, man got into communion with the devil and learnt how to please self and obey Satan. Their choice instilled a fallen nature to all mankind.
However, man was still destined to salvation because of God’s love for man. Man made of clay served as a jar containing the Spirit of God which is the Gold buried in the earth. The result is that man lost the Gold in him, the Gold that is honourable, eternal and the hope for eternal bliss with God. Man became, so to speak, a beast living for itself and for the one who ruined his destiny (Satan).
We will continue our meditation on “Predestination” in the next post
Maranatha!
It’s over 2,000 years since God came to the earth
bodily to make His important purchase of the “souls” of men. The soul of man is the most important thing in the earth though it is darken, wrinkled and totally depraved —its preciousness cannot be valued by mortals. But, the fact that God was willing to pay the price with His own blood should speak volumes to all of mankind.
Since the time the blood of Christ dropped on the earth at the cross of Calvary, every soul coming into this evil world has been paid for. So, why are the souls of men still in the market place for purchase? Is your soul still in the market for sale? How much are you willing to sell it for? Who will you sell it to? The soul can be lost, it can be stolen—every soul that comes into this world can accept the price already paid for it or chose to illegally sell it for a lesser price. The reason any one will sell their soul for a lesser price is the blindfold of the devil which he achieves by appealing to the selfishness in the soul. The soul love to abuse the beautiful gift and privilege of choice from God. It will rather satisfy itself than submit to its maker but any soul that reject the price of Christ blood and illegally sell God’s rightful property will face the penalty of being put away in the prison of hell and eventually to the lake of fire for all eternity Ps 24:1, Titus 2:11, Luke 9:25.
Once Jesus had paid the price for the foundation of the church by spilling His blood, He went down to hell to preach and save all who entered this world before He came—to those who would believe in His atonement because, no soul had been saved before His sacrifice not even those who kept a great deal of God’s law Eph 4:9, 1 Pet 3:19, 4:6.
This mission
of preaching the gospel to the souls who are still in the market place will remain the most important assignment God has for those who receive Christ Jesus as their Savior and Lord. This commission produces the greatest miracle of regeneration ever known to man. It’s far superior to the miracle of the Sun standing still, the red sea parting, the poor becoming rich and the dead coming back to life.
The wise counsel I was given many years back is this, “Don’t plan to execute the commission, just know His presence daily and follow His word as it resonates in your heart and do as His voice says. You don’t need a table and a secretary–just use you together with others who have His commission at the place you find yourself”. If you do this, you’re fulfilling destiny not that you’ll fulfill destiny because, to fulfill destiny, is to know Christ and walk with Him”.
“To fulfill destiny is to know Christ and walk with Him” Selah.
Maranatha!
The doctrine that Jesus Christ is God like other doctrines of the Christian faith has been contested and debated through the centuries. It is wise to show from the scriptures that it’s not only accurate but worthy of full acceptance. God took it upon Himself right from the book of Genesis to make it so obvious such that, it doesn’t need debating.
In Gen 1:26, we read, “let us make man …”– God brought about creation by His Word through His Power John 1:3, Isa 45:18. He set-out in Genesis to give man the truth that there will come a time His Word will be made manifest to us John1:1, 14 and 10. We should not look down on Him (His Word) because it is for the sake of our sin and sins that He humbled himself Phil 2:8, Matt 1:23, John 3:16. Also, He made it clear that His Power will come to reside in us— and we should not grieve Him (Wonderful counselor) Eph 4:30, John 16:13. So, let us humble ourselves like God has done in coming to us as Immanuel and as the mighty rushing wind Acts 2:2 and believe in Jesus, the Christ as the Son of the living God that we might be redeemed.
The truth that Christ Jesus is the almighty God is one of the most obvious doctrines of the scripture though it’s one of the most difficult teachings of the bible which have hardly settled in the hearts of many who profess Christianity Isa 9:6.
In Eph 2:20, Paul the Apostle establishes a certain truth that guides every matter of doctrine for the church. In view of that, I have quoted John the Apostle and Prophet Isaiah in order to firmly affirm this big truth that Jesus Christ was God before He came to the earth and remained as God while on earth and still God after His resurrection.
In John 1:1 and 14, John the Apostle accentuated what Prophet Isaiah prophesied Isa 9:6, ” to us a child is born, to us a Son is given” we notice that this same son that is given to us, is the same child that is born to us. Isaiah proceeded to tell us that the government (rule) shall be upon His shoulder (power). Then, he unravels the mystery of who Jesus really is by listing His names to us.
Close look at Isaiah 9:6
For to us a Child is born: A Child is a Seed which is the Word. Mary was told, you shall conceive (receive a Seed) and give birth to It as a Son.
A Son is given to us: Meaning the Son will be sacrificed for us (mankind).
The government will rest on His shoulder: The rule of the kingdom He establishes through His sacrifice will be by His Power.
And He will be called: The phrase “will be or shall be”, is indicative of the fact that we (man) will come to know Him progressively (not necessarily sequentially) by these names.
His Names:-
*Wonderful Counselor: His resurrection name which was manifested on the day of Pentecost.
*Mighty God: Meaning Lord of lords or hosts Psalm 50:1, 89:8, Jer 32:18
*Everlasting Father: To understand this name properly, we need to understand that the word father is the name of God. Everlasting or eternal is added to distinguish Him from man who He has given the privilege to bear the same name of responsibility with Him as a reminder to act lovingly like Him Isa 63:16, 2 Thess 2:16
*Prince of Peace: Peter the Apostle tell us in Acts 10:36, that the Word sent to us, that is Jesus, is the one who alone brings peace through the preaching of the word by which, all can get peace or reconciliation because He is the Lord of all (John 14:27 NLT, Rom 14:17).
The doctrine about trinity (one God in three persons 1x1x1=1) does not need any flip flopping. To answer the question if Jesus Christ is God emphatically beyond any shadow of doubt, one needs a personal revelation of Jesus Christ from God.
Jesus’ comment on Peter’s reply to His question about Who He was in Matt 16:13-17 is the key to a blessed and faithful understanding of who Christ really is. As is customarily with Jesus, He asked the disciples a general question and as they gave Him answers of what the people thought of Him, He switched His attention on what they themselves (His disciples) thought of who He was. What you and I believe about who Christ is, is more important than speculation of what others believe.
The importance of His question and its answer reveals to us the true identity of Jesus Christ in a way that is astonishing.
The people’s Perceptive
The people’s perception of Jesus is remarkable and shows the mysterious personality of Christ. The three people they associated Him with are Prophets (John the Baptist, Elijah and Jeremiah). Historical antecedents (also from the Torah) armed the people with the understanding that God gives them the prophets to save the people from destruction and the wrath of God and more importantly, to show them God’s way. The words save associated with the work of the Prophets always dealt with salvation from their physical problems even when it was caused by spiritual factors. Given this truth, their perception of Jesus was not wrong and it was proved by blessings (healing, provision of bread and fish etc) which they and their forefathers were used to. Remember manna in Exodus 16, Num 21:8-9, Mark 6:40-42 Matt 4:24. But, the revelation they had of Jesus was grossly limited and as such it did not bring about salvation (regeneration) to their souls.
The sense in which they used the word “save” in Luke 23:35, is what they were used to seeing with their Prophets– powerful people who called fire from heaven and saved themselves and others from problems. The fact that they did not have the revelation of Him as the Son of God made them fail to see that Christ is The Prophet not one of the prophets . As a result, they were blinded and could not understand and receive the type of “save-salvation” He came to give. In their minds, the God of Israel is Holy and does not have a wife and consequently, can’t have a Son. Though the Torah they read was full of prophecies of God’s coming Son Jer 23:5-6, Isaiah 7:14, unlike Simeon Luke 2:25-35, they did not understand it just like the Ethiopian eunuch Acts 8:30-31. They were not bothered about the redemption of their souls— their main concern as many of us today is the physical salvation from earthly troubles which seemed far more important than the rebirth of their spirit and renewal of their minds Rom 12:1-2.
In the light of these overly earthly concerns, Jesus’ posed another question which applies to us today than ever, “For what can a man give in return for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37. The answer to this important question is this, the soul! We must give Him our soul to save our soul and this is what it means to accept or believe in Jesus. He gave His life and demands no less from us!
Jesus by claiming to be the Son of God and inviting man to believe or accept Him is invariably asking to be worshipped and worship, demands the giving of one’s heart, soul and body. This has a huge implication given that only God can demand our lives (worship) since he alone created life and gave us life! Nothing else can demand our worship and stand justified— not the devil, angles or man because only God should be worshipped! Only Him— singular! Isa 45:22.
Peter’s Revelation
Peter’s answer “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” solved the puzzle of who Jesus is, with this answer, Jesus pronounced Peter as blessed (consecrated). Peter’s answer and consecration (being set apart) did not come about because of his cleverness and much study of the Torah, zeal or devotion rather, it was God’s sovereign act of revealing to him who Jesus really was. This is interesting–the revelation of Jesus comes from God and it sets people’s heart apart for God John 6:65, 3:16. Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven”.
Jesus’ reply to Peter’s answer to His question is pivotal to dealing with all conversations about who Jesus really is— trying to conceive anyone by philosophizing without cognizance to, “but my father who is in heaven” part of Jesus’ reply to Peter will be a waste of time and giving room for unprofitable disputations which leads to quarrel and ungodliness.
Before the birth of Jesus, an angle of God announced to Mary, “you shall bear a Son and His name shall be called Jesus— which Isaiah revealed as Immanuel (meaning God with us) and He shall save His people from their sins” Matt 1:21-23. The word “us and His people” refers not just to Israel as a nation but mankind Luke 2:28-32. God’s salvation, in the sense of redemption (the saving of the soul) is not done by any other means but only by Himself Ps 98:1. Therefore, the name or person by whom God saves the soul of man is God Acts 4:11-12. God ordained preachers know they can’t give salvation to anyone— God does the saving through the preacher’s planting or watering of His Holy word 1 Cor 3:7.
Peter’s understanding of Jesus as the Christ, the son of the living God is different from the understanding many of us have today. Like Philip, we may still be asking,” Show us the father” but Jesus’ answer will be no different to the one He gave to Philip John 14:8-9.
God only reveals Jesus as God to the people who accept Jesus as His Son. The understanding of the mystery of Jesus Christ as God is not a prerequisite for salvation because receiving Him as God’s Son is accepting Him as the one by whom all things were created. All who truly are gifted with salvation in Christ Jesus are also gifted with the revelation that He is God. Like Philip, we’ll all eventually comprehend it!
The early church did not struggle with this truth. Thomas called out to Jesus after His resurrection, “my Lord and my God” while the church gathered and neither Jesus nor the Apostles rebuked or corrected Him because they understood he was right in his theology. Also, as they were deeply hated and severely persecuted by their own people, they came to the understanding that; their acceptance of Jesus as the Son of God is equivalent to saying He is God even though it was considered blasphemy in their religion John 5:18, Matt 26:63-65. Many professing Christians today do not know this truth but, the Israelites did and even the Muslims know this truth which is the reason they do not want to believe He is the Son of God John 5:18.
So, proving that Jesus is the Christ tantamount to proving He is God. To believe in God is to believe in One God who is the Saviour of all men. To ever believe in one God is to believe in Christ Jesus John 6:44 because God draws man only to Himself.
Matt 17:1-8, is crucial in proving that Jesus is the Son of God! This same revelation was given to John the Baptist at river Jordan at Jesus’ Baptism to fulfill all righteousness. God consistently bore witness to Jesus as His Son and calls on all people, race and religion to believe in Him as His Son John 20:31, 1 John 3:23 . Anyone who does believe is automatically accepting Him as God because the Son of God is God. The Son of God is the Gospel which is, the power of God and the Power of God, is the Holy Spirit Rom 1:16, Luke 24:49.
The scripture tells us that God is bringing many sons to glory by the means of His Power and that Jesus Christ is the first Son among many brethren. Man was made by God to be god over His earth. We are aware that satan is still usurping but this will last only but for a short time from God’s perspective! Ps 90:4, 2 Pet 3:8. The first resurrected Son of God has overthrown him Rev 12:10. He is now God over him in this present age or world and for all ages to come as it was in the beginning. The interesting news is that the First Son among many brethren is bringing His bride (the church) to proclaim and display the truth that He has restored man (the sons of God) to the original intent of God to whom be praise, honor and glory for all eternity Eph 3:10. Amen.
We must understand that at the end, the word “first” takes its proper place as God’s title Isa 44:6 and God will be first (Head) among His sons Col 1:18. This is the reason God spilled His blood in order to make us part of Himself (the body of Christ). This gives us an insight why God vehemently calls His children to participate in His divine nature and inherit His kingdom which He has freely made available, but only His sons will inherit it Titus 2:11-14, 2 Peter 1:3-4, Rev 2:17.
The truth that Jesus, the Christ, Son of the living God is God— our God is not negotiable. He is our blessed hope!
Maranatha!