The
American
Wisdom Series
In
order to fully understand the the Word of God one must be familiar with
the 3 World Ages (II Pet. 3) and the overall plan of salvation.
First
heaven and first earth
2 Peter
3:5-7
For this they
willingly are ignorant of, that by the Word of God the heavens were of
old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
This was of old, in the beginning, before Adam, before
the flood of Noah.
Those who don't believe it are
willingly
ignorant, according to Peter!
[6]
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
And the earth became without
form, and void, "tohu va bohu".
It perished!
But isn't this passage talking
about the flood of Noah?No, it is not.
The flood of Noah belongs to the next verse,
the heaven and earth age which are NOW, the age of flesh
man.
Noah's flood occurred about 2348 B.C.
Second
heaven and second earth
2 Peter
3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are
kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men.
And there will yet be another heaven and earth age,
the third and final one.
Third
heaven and third earth
2 Peter
3:13
Nevertheless
we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness.
So Peter declares that there are
three
heaven and earth ages:
1) The
world that then was, which perished, Verse
5
2)
the heaven and earth which is now, Verse
7 and
3) the
new heaven and new earth age to come. Verse
13 We
are going to read some of the most quoted verses in all the Bible. And
you know what? Most people who read
them believe they say something which they don't. Ironically, what
they believe one of them says is actually a true statement, though that
verse doesn't actually speak of it. The second one is in direct conflict
with one of the traditional beliefs of mainstream Christianity, but in
full accord with the rest of the scriptures.
Before
we begin, let's think about the magnitude of what was just said, and in
doing so consider an excerpt from one of the great Christian scholars of
all time, E.W. Bullinger, from his book titled, "How to Enjoy the Bible",
American Christian Press, Knoxville, OH.
"If any think they know all, or that they have exhausted the Divine Word;
or that what they set out to learn is only to be in addition to
what they already know, instead of sometimes substitution for it, then
we shall be of little service to them: and they need not follow us any
further.
When we come to ask ourselves, and say, "Where did I learn this?" it is
astonishing to find how much we have imbibed from man, and from tradition;
and not directly and for ourselves, from the Word of God.
All that we have learned from our youth up must be tested and proved by
the Word of God. Where we find it is true we must learn it over again,
from God. And where it will not stand the test of His Word we must
be not only content, but thankful to give it up; and receive Divine
revelation in the place of man's imagination. ("How to Enjoy the Bible",
E. W. Bullinger, pg.6)
We read
at the beginning of the Gospel of John about the Light that came into the world
of darkness, a world that had been destroyed and made tohu va bohu
(Gen 1:2) because of the rebellion of Satan and his drawing away from God
one third of His sons (Rev. 12:4). God held judgment for Satan at that
time and sentenced him to "perish", but suspended the judgment of the rest
of His sons until the plan to "salvage" [save] them and bring them back
to Him is completed. The actual perishing of all that are wicked, including
Satan, will occur at the lake of fire following the Final Judgment of the
rest of the sons of God. And so it is written they will be either sentenced
to "perish" or receive eternal life.
There
is, however, one exception. There were 7,000 sons of God who came to earth
in the days of Noah and took to wife the daughters of Adam.
You can read about them in the 6th chapter of Genesis. The
union between these "fallen
angels", who Jude records as having left their
first estate, i.e. their abode in heaven, and the daughters of Adam produced
giants, who roamed the earth, the evidence of which can easily be found.
So
pervasive were these supernatural beings, angels, that all of Adams descendents
except 8, Noah and his family, had corrupted their bloodline.
You see, the Messiah would be born through the seed of Adam and Eve and
it came down to only 8 people who were left on the planet through which
God's Word could be fulfilled. So God brought about the flood of Noah to
destroy these giants.
American Wisdom Series Note: left on the planet (That is a controversal statement. I for one believe, in that part of the world, would be more accurate.) But we won't get into my reason here and now. I'll just say, "the reason is explained at another location on this web site",
Well, here's a hint This
is only my speculation but, I do not believe the Noah's flood was
worldwide. I believe it only covered the middle east where the angels
mated with eighth day man, i.e. the Adamic people who Christ was to be
born through. What I'm saying is, I don't believe the races were aboard
the ark. I believe they were in another part of the earth. I don't
believe God had any reason to destroy 1000 plus years of 6th day man's
replenishing of the earth, as God had told him to do since Satan's goal
was to disrupt the seed line of eighth day Adam. Why, I ask myself,
would God want to destroy the races?
Understand
then that these fallen angels were not born of woman, i.e.flesh and blood women. They
did not enter into the womb of woman, the bag of water, and become born
of water, which is to say born in the flesh. They
came directly to earth, bypassing the decree that all the sons of God should
leave their first estate in heaven, in their turn, and spend some time in the flesh. For it is given unto all the sons
of God to die once [the first death, i.e. the shadow of real death, which is of the flesh] and then the
judgment will occur which will determine whether or not they will die the
"second death", which is the real death, the death of their souls. Hebrews
9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"
Yes,
we were all with God before we came to earth to be placed in the embryo
at conception, at our appointed time for the journey. To be born in the
flesh is to be born innocent without any prior knowledge of the world that
then was (II Pet. 3) and therefore with the opportunity to choose to love
God or follow after Satan.
And
once we die, or are changed instantly back into our spiritual bodies if
we happen to be alive in the flesh at the second advent (I Cor. 50:51),
we return to the Father from whence we came.
Eccles.
12:6
Or ever the silver cord be loosed,
or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,
or the wheel broken at the cistern.
These
are Hebrew expressions which have somewhat lost their "punch" in English,
but they mean to die, just like we would say "Kick the Bucket".
[7]
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall
return unto God who gave it.
Cremated,
buried, blown apart or vaporized by a nuclear bomb, it doesn't matter.
When you are through with the flesh body, you are through with it forever.
For as Paul documents in I Cor. 15 there are two bodies, one is of flesh
and one is of spirit. So when you die in the
flesh you are raised, shall we even say born, into your spiritual body.
1 Cor.
15:44
It is sown a natural body; it is raised
a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
He
goes on to say that unless you are in your spiritual body, you cannot enter
into the kingdom of God.
1 Cor.
15:50
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption.
This same
Paul would also make it crystal clear in 1 Thes. 4:13-17 that the dead
are not sleeping in graves but rather they are with Jesus NOW! So when
He returns they will come with Him. You can
read those verses for yourself.
Now
in John we read:
John 3:1 There
was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came
to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except
God be with him.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (KJV)
Now,
remember the excerpt from "How to Enjoy the the Bible" that we just read?
Most of Christianity believes that in this next verse Jesus is merely telling
Nicodemus that a person must be "begotten" by the Holy Spirit, else he
cannot be saved. But is that really what He
is saying?
Of
course, flesh and blood cannot see the kingdom of God so you must first
be born back into your celestial bodies when this flesh and blood life
ends and we are no longer in our terrestrial bodies.
Look
up the Greek word for "again". It is anothen, Strong's #509, and
it means from above which is how it is most often translated. Dr.
Moffat's translation of the Bible has it so:
John
3:3 Jesus replied, Truly, truly I tell you,
no one can see God's Realm unless he is born from above. (Moffat)
You must
first come down from heaven and be born of woman, in the sack of water.
However,
either way you look at it, the next verse shows that Nicodemus is thinking
about another birth.
[4]
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Nicodemus
was a smart man and he understood what "born" means, but he couldn't get
his mind off the flesh and it is obvious by his reply that he didn't understand
about the spiritual body (which Paul so simply explained to us).
[5]
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Unless
you come down and be born of woman, and then go into, be born, into your
spiritual body, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Got
it? First of water, of flesh, and then of
spirit. The fallen angels did not do this
and so as it is written in Rev. 11, they shall perish at Christ's return
at the 7th Trump.
And
again, we've already documented that flesh and blood cannot enter into
the kingdom. You must be born of woman first
and then be born in the spirit.
Note:
This is not talking about being begotten by the Holy Spirit. Of course
you must be begotten by the Holy Spirit to be saved. Some like to call
that begettal being "born again". Call it
what you like but that is not what is being discussed here.
As
Paul said "There is a natural body
(terrestrial),
and there is a spiritual body (celestial)."
So
when you are born in the flesh body you are flesh and when you die and
are born into your spiritual body you are spirit.
Let's continue with Christ's
explanation to Nicodemus:
John
3:6
That which is born of the flesh is
flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
If you've
followed along to this point then this verse is really quite simple, though
tradition struggles with it and the next few verses.
[7]
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Do you
marvel at the Words of Christ?
Here's Dr. Moffat's translation of this
verse:
[7]
Do not wonder at me telling you, "You must all be born from above."
There's
no need to wonder. The next verse gives us some further detail about those
who are born of the spirit:
John
3:8
The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
This verse
is a "no-brainer". Those who are in their
spiritual bodies are not visible to those of us who are in the flesh, in
this dimension. They are just like the wind,
you cannot see them. So you can tell me you
are "born again", and I will certainly understand that you are begotten
of God and have received the Holy Spirit, but if I can see you, then you
have not gotten to this point yet! And=
you
haven't literally entered into the kingdom of God because you are still
flesh and blood!
I'll pinch you and prove
it!
[9]
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
Yeah,
how can these things be? Good question!
[10]
Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest
not these things?
Uh oh,
Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel and he didn't know about these things?
You
know what? We can say the same of many Christian
ministers today, they do not know these things?
I'm not bashing them. Many of them mean well, but the traditions of men
have overridden the Word of God and have made it of non effect.
Now
before Jesus puts the finishing touch on this precious knowledge He's giving
to Nicodemus, and so to you and me, here's one more excerpt from "How to
Enjoy the Bible":
"The
cloud that now rests over its [God Word] intelligent study arises from
the fact that it is with us to-day as with the Jews of old - "The Word
of God has been made of none effect by the traditions of men" (Mat. 15:1-9).
Hence
it is that on some of the most important questions... we are, still, in
what the great Lord Bacon calls "a desert". He alludes to those "deserts"
in history, where discovery or research comes to a stand-still, and we
get schoolmen instead of philosophers; and clerics instead of discoverers.
The
Reformation came as an oasis after one of these deserts. Men were sent
from the stagnant pools of tradition to the fountain-head of truth. But
within two or three generations the Church entered the desert again; Creeds,
Confessions, and Catechisms took the place of the open Bible; the inductive
method of study was abandoned, and today it is scarcely understood." ("How
to Enjoy the Bible", E.W. Bullinger, pg. xv.)
[11]
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify
that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
[12]
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe,
if I tell you of heavenly things?
If you
can't believe the literal things, how can you believe that which is spiritual?
Now
get this next verse.
John
3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down
from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
So no
man [son of God]
has ascended [or entered into]
heaven [the kingdom] except
he that came down from heaven [and was born
of water]. Even Jesus Christ Himself, the
Son of the Living God came down from heaven and was born of water!!
IT'S THE GOOD NEWS!
Did
you use your eyes to see and understand what Jesus just taught?
If
not go back to John
3:3 and
go over it again!
You
need to understand this!
Next,
Jesus will tell us "WHY" He came down, even as required of all the sons
of God, to dwell in the flesh, to tabernacle among men.
It's
the most precious and important thing you'll ever read!
So
far in Chapter three we learned that just as all the children of God must
come down and dwell in the flesh, so did the Son of man, the Word of God,
who was from the beginning with God, for He was God (Jn. 1:1).
And
there was a very special reason why the Son of God went through that
process of being born in the flesh. We read
aboutit in the opening chapter of this Gospel.
It was to be the Lamb of God, the sacrificial Lamb Who would pay the price
and atone for the sins of the world.
And
just how difficult do you suppose it is to accept that sacrifice and be
"saved" from death and receive eternal life?
Well,
Jesus is about to give to us an example, a type set forth, of the Simple
Salvation Message which will then be expressed in one famous verse in John
3:16. He draws the analogy to the serpent in the wilderness.
John
3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of man be lifted up:
You should
go back to Numbers and read the whole account of what happened. (We
are expected by our Lord to know these scriptures.) The
Children of Israel were murmuring and complaining and speaking against
God, Who had provided for their safety and nourishment with numerous miracles
in the wilderness. So much for the thought that seeing a miracle will give
you the faith to keep you on track for the rest of your life. These folks
saw multiple miracles!
So
God sent a bunch of fiery serpents to the ungrateful Children of Israel
to bite them!
Ouch!
Numbers
21:6
And the LORD sent fiery serpents among
the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Assuming
that you know a little bit about the Bible you should be able to draw the
analogy to that old serpent, the devil, Satan.
If you get bitten by him you will surely die!
So
here we see in the wilderness [the world],
that unless something is done to "save" the people, they will surely die.
And there's no doubt about it, they were dying!
Numbers
21:7
Therefore the people came to Moses,
and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against
thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses
prayed for the people.
The sinners
make their plea for salvation from the fiery serpents. (Isn't it wonderful
that today we have the Gospel Armor (Eph. 6) to protect us from the fiery
darts of the serpent?)
[8]
And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon
a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when
he looketh upon it, shall live.
ALL
THEY HAD TO DO was to look to the serpent on the pole and LIVE!
Note:
Don't try to make any more out of this than the lesson Christ is teaching
here in John. God could have put a frog or
a door knob on the pole as the savior of the people.
But the point is HE HIMSELF would become the One on the pole [cross] Who
would ultimately be the SAVIOR.
And all we have to do is look upon Him and believe!
Let's
continue in John now that we have filled in some of the details between
John 3:14 and 3:15.
John
3:15 That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
eternal life.
Seems
simple enough, doesn't it?
And
now for the most quoted verse in all the Bible which will explain WHY Jesus
Chirst became the sacrificial Lamb.
[16]
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
It is
Because God Loves His Children so much!
Yes,
He loves you and me and all His precious children and desires so much in
His heart that they would all turn to Him and love Him. And He showed forth
His love by allowing His only begotten Son to be placed on the cross
[by guess who?... the serpent], and
as it was in the wilderness, all we have to do is BELIEVE in HIM and receive
ETERNAL life.
It
doesn't get any better than that! There is no greater love!
So
the question is, "What must a person do to receive eternal life?" John
3:16 says it all.
Now
for a couple of notes on this verse:
1.)
The word "everlasting" in John 3:16 is the same word as "eternal" in the
prior verse (15) and should be rendered as such, i.e. "eternal life" not
"everlasting life". There is a difference in the Greek between "eternal"
and "everlasting". "Eternal" means "from the beginning", even continuous
for ever and ever from the creation of your very soul in the first earth
age.
2.)
If you recall earlier we mentioned that one of the well known and often
quoted verses we would be covering is misunderstood and conflicts with
a main "tradition of men", which is an unscriptural doctrine of Christianity,
of which there are many! And that verse happens to be John 3:16.
You
see, the opposite of Eternal Life is Eternal Death.
And the word "perish" in John 3:16 means just that, to cease existing,
which is for ever and ever. Traditionalists
teach that our Father is going to torture His unrepentant children in an
everlasting burning hell fire, when He Himself said that hideous thought
NEVER even crossed His mind.
It's
amazing how that we have laws that protect even dumb animals from being
tortured and yet we will allow someone who claims to be a representative
of Christ and teach the love of God, tell us that our Father is going to
torture His children for ever and ever. Don't
allow it! Stick to and believe the Word of God.
Even
the very fate of Satan, whose name by the way is also the "son of perdition",
which means the "son who will perish", is well documented in Ezekiel 28.
Read
the entire chapter of how iniquity was found in this once beautiful son
of God and how he will ultimately be "destroyed" and cease to exist. We
pick it up in verse 18, speaking about Satan:
Ezekiel
28:18
Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries
by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick;
therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour
thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all
them that behold thee.
God is
a consuming fire as Hebrews 12:29 shows: "For our God is a consuming fire."
[19]
All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou
shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be
any more.
Note: That
is what eternal death is. "never
shalt thou be any more." Yes, you perish!
When
Satan, whose name is also death [because he's
as good as dead having been sentenced by God already] is
cast into the lake of fire, he will cease
to exist, perish, along with everyone else who is cast in with him.
That is why the lake of fire is called the second death. It
kills, destroys, the soul!
Rev.
20:14
And death and hell were cast into
the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev. 21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Can your
soul be killed, i.e. DESTROYED?
Yes
it can.
Here are the very words of Jesus Christ:
Matthew 10:28
And fear not
them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
The first
death is the death of your flesh. (Which Psalms
23 calls "the shadow of death") The
second death is the killing of, the destruction of, the perishing of your
soul. Only God can do that, because
He is a consuming fire.
So
the question is, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" Do you know Him? John
has already gone to great lengths to document that
He is the Word of God.
Then
I've got great news! You will be raised to
immortal status at Christ's second coming and therefore
the second death doesn't even apply to you!
Rev.
20:6
Blessed and holy is he that hath part
in the first resurrection: on such the second death
hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years.
Is
He good to us, or what?
"For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
So
you see, it was because of the love our Father has for His children that
Christ was sent from above to dwell in the flesh, to pay the price once
and for all for the sins of the world.
Now
we are going to be given a little more detail and learn the status of those
who choose not to believe in Jesus Christ, but rather prefer darkness.
John
3:17
For God sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
The word
"condemn" is often translated "judge". Remember,
Jesus came to pay the price as the Lamb of God, not to hold judgment which
has been postponed until after the Millennium.
Again, the reason Jesus was sent so that the world, through Him and through
Him only, might be saved. There is no other way, as the next verse declares.
[18]
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.
We just
read that if you believe in Him then you will be in the "first resurrection",
the first raising to eternal life, and therefore the "second death" does
not apply to you. In other words you will
not be judged at the great white throne judgment.
You
are exempt, having already received eternal life.
And
since the only way to receive eternal life, and therefore not ultimately
PERISH, is to believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, and
since we have all broken the laws of God which condemn us as sinners, then
"he that believeth not" is in Big Trouble, for he is as good as dead already.
Yet
it is so simple to receive eternal life. Just
as the serpents bit the children of Israel in the wilderness, and the deadly
venom was injected into their bodies ready to kill them, all they had to
do was look to the serpent on the pole and live.
And now that Jesus has paid the price, all
we need to do is look to the son of God and believe in Him and receive
Eternal Life!
But
if
you choose not to believe in Jesus Christ,
you are a dead man (or woman).
[19]
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Christ
is the Light and Satan is the darkness, and even though it is hard to imagine,
the rest of the verse speaks for itself.
[20]
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved.
Now here
is a verse that could easily refer to the current political climate.
People
always try to hide their evil deeds and keep the truth, the light, from
exposing them. Even the thief comes in darkness, which can easily
be the ignorance of those victims who are being robbed even in the broad
daylight (I speak of the hidden dynasty of
the economy). Too bad they won't come to the
Light, which is Jesus Christ, which is the Word of God and be reproved.
If they just believed in Him they could receive eternal life. Then they
could be doers of the Word!
John
3:21
But he that doeth truth cometh to
the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in
God.
And let
it shine, baby!
Matthew
5:16
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven.
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
This
"American
Wisdom Series"
pamphlet
is
Published
by:
Rhine
Publishing Co.
#1600 Have I [we] been deceived? ----- Jonah's Submarine!??
Three
Earth Ages
#5008
About the "Sermon on the Mount"?
#2237
Our Father created the races on the sixth
day and He BLESSED them, not cursed
them, and He pronounced them VERY GOOD and He loves them all dearly!