Month: July 2020

347. Sons of God

Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

God promises that we are the sons of the living God. Our sins have caused us to be called “Not My People,” as we forfeited the right to be God’s people. We have left Him. Thus God told Hosea to name his son “Not My People.” But things would change; because of God’s love things would be reversed. We are transferred from no people into sons of God. Christ did this for us and fulfilled the promise. He made us sons, we who were nobody, nowhere, no God, no people, far off, separated from God and Life. Through Christ God made us His people, and not just His people but also His sons, a part of a close family.

Our relationship with the Lord God could not be described in closer, more intimate, terms. We are as close as marriage and family. We are described as sons of God, brothers of Christ, sheep of the Shepherd, branches of the vine, citizens of the kingdom, or the Bride of Christ. The closest relationship we can imagine is what our relationship with the Lord is like, but actually it is closer, for God is perfect love. Yes, we are and we will ever be sons of the living God.

Nothing in earth exactly matches parents’ love for their children. In its purest form it is total and unconditional. This relationship helps us understand our Father’s relationship with us. He is the Prodigal’s Father to us. He loves to rejoice with us and watch us grow. This will always be true, even if we do not return God’s love.

Once we have our own child we have taken on a huge responsibility. In the same way, when the Father adopts us as His sons and daughters, He takes on a huge responsibility: to take care of us, provide, protect, preserve us, and look out for our best interests all the time. The story goes: “Dad, will you do this for me?” “Why?” “Because I’m your daughter.” How true! Why will God be so good to us? Because we are sons of the living God.

346. Purified and Made White

Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

We who believe in Jesus Christ are the many; and we are the wise who understand. The power of the Spirit has brought us to faith in Jesus and given us the wisdom to understand the meaning of the death of Christ and His words and promises. Many also hear the Gospel but it is not mixed with faith; therefore, they do not understand. Thus unbelievers remain wicked. 

But for us who believe in Jesus, we understand, for we are wise. Wisdom is faith in Christ. “The fear (faith) of the Lord (Jesus) is the beginning of wisdom.” It is the Word of God that makes us wise to understand. “The sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. [I Timothy 3:15].” The Holy Spirit uses the Scriptures to make us wise. And wisdom is faith in Christ, and so we are saved eternally. God is gracious to open our eyes to see and understand. He uses the Writings to make us see. This is all by grace; no credit to us. God gets the credit for our wisdom.

The promise is that these wise believers who understand Christ will be purified and made white. “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Can you imagine? There are no impurities in us; we are perfectly white without spot or stain, wrinkle or blemish. We keep dirtying ourselves by sin, of course, but the blood of Christ continually flows like a shower to continually purify. We don’t look pure, white and holy to the eyes of the world, for they do not see the blood washing over us, inside and out. What matters, however, is what God sees when He looks on the heart. He sees purity, and He is pleased.

It is not so easy to believe such total purity, however. Therefore, the Lord must try us, like in a furnace of affliction. Through the experiences of life the Holy Spirit uses the heat to purify our faith.. We are already pure and white by even a little faith. But since we have such little faith it must still become purer faith, that is, to purely and 100% believe that Jesus Christ is everything. God uses (He does not generate) the afflictions of life to grind us smooth and to refine our faith. We are purified and white. Faith sees what Jesus has done. And we rejoice in the promise.

345. Shine like Sky and Stars

Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

This is a promise for those that are wise. The wise are those who believe in Christ and have received Jesus as their Savior. These are the ones who awake to everlasting life in the resurrection. They will shine as the brightness of the sky. Every one of us experienced the brightness of a sunny day at midday. The sky (firmament) seems to shimmer and glow with a brilliance that warms body and soul. Even a bright, sunny day in winter refreshes the spirit. This physical experience that we are familiar with is used to reveal to us what we look like in the spiritual world: We shine! Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others, so that they may give glory to your Father.” This actually happens, although we seldom see it working.

We have the light in us, and it shines naturally. However, we usually do the unthinkable: we hide it under a basket. Unrepented sin is a darkness that clouds the brightness of the light, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. One thing we can do to “let it shine” is repent and believe the gospel. We can’t do that often enough. We do not shine the light; we let it shine. There is a difference. Focus on Jesus and let Him do the shining. A practical gimmick to help us do this is to “thank God always for everything.”

These are the people who turn many to righteousness. Again, we do not see this happen too often, but we believe the promise: we do turn many to the Lord and His righteousness. They will shine like the stars forever and ever. We shine like stars in this world, if only we could see what God is seeing. We don’t see the lights, the halos, and the auras that God can see. So He tells us what He sees. And this shining like stars will go on forever into eternity. Then we, too, will see the lights shining from one another reflecting the glory of God. Each saved person is in the image of God, and God is light. Believe the promise: you are shining like the brightness of a sunny day and like the stars that beautify the dark night. This is present fact, and the promise is that this shining will go on forever and ever.

344. Many Shall Awake

Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

The bodies of all people that ever lived on earth shall awake from sleep, that is, there is a resurrection of the body for everyone. The sleep referred to here is a sleep of the body, not of the soul. The general resurrection of the body includes all people, everyone, believers and unbelievers alike. Then they will stand in the Judgment before the Great White Throne, and there receive their eternal destiny. The Lord will say to some: “Come…inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” He will say to others: “Depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” The believers separated on the right will awake to everlasting life. The unbelievers on the left will awake to shame and everlasting contempt.

There is a vast difference between everlasting “life” and everlasting “contempt.”Those in shame and contempt continue to exist as persons, but they will suffer miserably forever. Those in life will enjoy the blessings of a full and rich life in the Presence of God forever. Some are in pain, suffering and death forever as the just punishment for infinite Sin. Some are in health, comfort and real life forever as the just reward for the infinite Son taking the substitutionary punishment of Sin upon Himself. This vast difference in eternal destiny can never be exaggerated enough. The pleasures of heaven and the pains of hell are far beyond any experience on earth. That is why this promise is so meaningful and powerful.

“Whoever believes in Him has eternal life.” “Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” When we are given this promise and we believe it our life is changed forever. There is nothing else in life like passing from death to life, from hell to heaven. We must not downplay or sell short either eternal destiny. When we take it just the way the Lord tells us it will be, we will love God all the more. And every time we hear the Message we love Him more; and, by the way, we love others, too.

343. Kingdom, Dominion, Greatness

Daniel 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

“For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.” So we pray and so we believe. This means God’s kingdom is the only one that will last, and if we are in His kingdom we also will last. If you think about it, life doesn’t make any sense at all if it will end and that’s all there is. Life, real life, was never meant to be that way. Life was created to regenerate, renew, refresh, and continue growing and getting more interesting and vigorous without any thought of ending. “Eternal” life is the only life that can be called life. An eternal kingdom is the only true reality. Nothing else matters; nothing else lives; no other kingdom always exists. Life is not “that’s all there is.”

And life is not lived well, even for a short time, if it is not subject to and obedient to the One True Lord God of Creation. When God alone is allowed to rule and have His way everything in and around us will be perfect, wonderful, enjoyable, peaceful, prosperous, beautiful, refreshing, and enriching.This kind of kingdom, with it dominion and greatness, will be given to the people of the saints. So Jesus proclaimed: “The kingdom of God is at hand; the kingdom of God is within you.” And so Jesus finished the task of retaking the kingdom for God and for the saints. One peek at the end of history shows the perfect fulfillment of the promise. Once we call to conscious memory what it was once like in Adam before our Fall, we will never want to return to the sin-cursed world of death ever again,

The kingdom is real, the kingdom is forever, and the kingdom is now. We may turn our eyes from the present troubles of this world and enter the eternal kingdom within by repentance and faith in the Gospel. What Jesus did for us is present, it is real, it is now, and it is forever. The kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom is given to us. Hallelujah!

342. Judgment Given to Saints

Daniel 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

In addition to possessing the kingdom and ruling with Christ in the heavenly places, both now and hereafter, the believers also receive from the Father God the wisdom, ability and authority to judge. Thrones are set up and the saints will sit on the thrones. Revelation 20:4: “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed.”

Why are we given judgment? What will we judge? Why is such authority given to human beings? How is this a good promise? How do we reign with Christ in the heavenly places? Judgment raises questions. Jesus gives the oft-quoted command: “Judge not!” Yet we will be given judgment. Think about it: we sinful human beings will be so redeemed and changed that we will be given authority to judge sin, death, the devil, and all evil. God judges, of course, and we do not have the right to judge people, Never. But we do have the right and authority to judge evil: this is sin, that is sin, I shouldn’t do this or that, I make distinctions between right and wrong (according to the Word of God), and so on, We must learn to judge the sin and love the sinner. We have to account a word or deed as evil, while at the same time regarding the person as redeemed, forgiven and loved. We don’t have the supernatural wisdom or ability to do this, but the Holy Spirit does. We aren’t smart enough to use God’s Standard to judge all things. For this reason we need to know and believe the revealed Word and be taught by the Spirit. We use the Law to violently club the sin, and we use the Gospel to tenderly caress the sinner,

Presently, we use the authority to judge and repent of the sin in our own lives. We do not judge other people, but allow the Word to convict others of their sin. In eternity, we sit on thrones to judge all sin and evil, for we will have the wisdom to judge righteously. We will forever guard against any kind of sin, evil or rebellion to enter Paradise; and we will succeed. We shall all exercise the authority and dominion that was given to Adam. After the Fall we are too stupid and selfish to judge rightly. After salvation, sanity begins to return to our minds and we are able with God’s help make better decisions. And after Judgment Day we will be entrusted with ruling, judging, guarding and keeping, for we shall be perfected in the Image of God once again.

341. Possess the Kingdom

Daniel 7:18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

The saints are all the believers in Jesus Christ; we have been declared saintly, or holy, by the death and resurrection of Christ. The kingdom that Jesus took back from the Evil Empire has been given to the saints. He gives the kingdom and the believers take it. He gives by grace and we take it by faith. We are justified by grace, through faith, on account of Christ. When we are born anew we enter the kingdom; we are born of water and the Spirit. This is the gift of God; God gives. And more: the Holy Spirit creates the faith in the inward spirit to take (believe) it.

In the experience of the OT people of God, God gave them the Promised Land but under Joshua they still had to go in and possess it. They mostly conquered the Land, but not completely; pockets of evil still remained. These became thorns in the side and temptations to idolatry under the judges and the kings. The people of God could never shake spiritual adultery and idolatry until the judgments of Exile. After they lost everything, they remembered the Lord and His Word and Promises. And they still had the Kingdom. But not until Jesus came and preached the Kingdom of God did the people of God begin to realize that the kingdom was spiritual and invisible in the hearts of Jesus’ followers. Many did not receive Jesus or His Kingdom because they could not see it with physical eyes. Therefore, they did not possess it.

This giving by free grace and taking, or possessing, by faith presents a theological issue for us to grapple with: How does one possess what is given? God gives the Kingdom, but we must still possess it. It seems to say that grace is on God’s side, but faith is on our side. He gives and we take. If we don’t take, we don’t have. So how do we possess? The truth is that faith is a gift also, Faith is God’s working. He creates, produces and grows the faith. It appears like we are doing the possessing, but it is actually the Lord who does it. He grants faith in the Gospel. God gives the Kingdom and He also gives the faith to possess it. Who really gets the credit for the Conquest of the Land? The Lord, or Joshua? God gets all the credit, but Joshua and the elders get the blame for not completing the job.

We have possessed the Kingdom, and we have it forever and ever. We have eternal life. One problem we have, however, is that we don’t always use, or exercise, or enjoy the promises and blessings of the Kingdom we have been given. Everyone faces one obstacle: we think we must do something, we have to do it ourselves, we make a decision, we make the effort, we do the good works, we show kindness, and we love. It takes faith to admit that everything good in our life God does; and everything bad in our life we do. Oh, how we need this promise of possession.

340. Everlasting Dominion

Daniel 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

The Ancient of Days gave dominion and glory and a kingdom to the One like the Son of Man. This Person has everlasting dominion over all people and nations and languages. His Kingdom will not pass away nor be destroyed, ever. Jesus of Nazareth wrested dominion away from Sin and the Devil by His death on the cross. Jesus took absolute dominion over Death and destroyed it by His resurrection from the tomb. Jesus, the Son of Man, declared, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Paul asserts in I Corinthians 15:24: “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” The promise is that That Day will come. The resurrection of Christ guarantees it. Death will take us, because of Sin; Life will be given to us, because of Christ.

The dominion of the Son of Man is universal, total, all encompassing, and absolutely nothing is left outside of His control. The dominion of the Son of Man is everlasting, will never pass away, and can never be destroyed. Thank God, we are included in that Kingdom by faith in Jesus. This promise is for us. Believers are a part of the eternal dominion of the kingdom. It would be a good idea to enter that kingdom now for it is the one that will win in the end. And when the End comes that will not be the end. Life comes with the Son of Man. Life enters our dead bodies when we believe in Him. Life is with us now and never leaves, ever. So we thank and praise Jesus; we worship Jesus alone, “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

339. A Forever Kingdom

Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

In this dream interpretation of Daniel a rock breaks up all earthly kingdoms and it grows into a mountain as a great kingdom that will never be destroyed and will last forever. The rock is Christ and the mountain is the kingdom of God. The promise came true when Jesus entered the world and, without violence or force, destroyed all worldly kingdoms and this Kingdom of God is established for eternity.

Jesus announced the Kingdom when He appeared publicly and began His Ministry. Those who believed Jesus followed Him and became a part of the New Eternal Kingdom of God, which destroys all other kingdoms. The promise comes true in the hearts of Christians. They have entered the Kingdom and the kingdom is within them. It is a strength and an encouragement for us when we remember this promise, that it has happened in Christ, is happening within the hearts of believers in Christ, and will be seen and experienced by all Christians in eternity at the Last Day.

The climax of history and of the Bible promise is summed up in Revelation 11:15: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” The beautiful and awesome description of the End of Time is promised for all believers as a wonderful event to look forward to and enjoy forever without end. We enjoy it now, but by faith, not by experience. And the present spiritual kingdom of God reigning in our hearts is obscured, befogged, and attacked by the kingdom of the world all the time. We yearn for the Day when we shall break free. And it will come. Meanwhile, we walk by faith, taking courage and comfort from the present truth of a spiritual kingdom in which we live, and walk, and have our true existence. No one else knows or sees, and we ourselves do not see it most of the time, but it is still true that the eternal spiritual kingdom of God is presently ruling our hearts and lives for good. We may not always see the good, but we do see Jesus. And He is always good. Thus it is necessary to believe this promise in order to enjoy a blessed life in the midst of sin, evil, chaos, destruction and death all around us. When Jesus comes to earth again He will forever remove all darkness and we will enjoy the blessed eternal light of God in the Eternal State.

338. River of Life

Ezekiel 47:9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.

The awesome image in this figurative picture includes a promise of life. God promises life, over and over, eternal life that all believers receive. This promised life is represented here by a river that flows from the temple. The temple is magnificently pictured in these last chapters of Ezekiel. The temple is the representation of the living, active, brilliant and glorious presence of God. This Glorious Presence is revealed in Revelation 21-22 as we enter the Eternal State in the New Heavens and the New Earth to live forever with God in perfect love, peace, and joy.

God Himself is the source of the river, as the Lord is indeed the source of life, eternal life that is really living. Sin entered the world through us humans and cut us off from The Life, and thereby Death entered. And we have been squeezed, pressured, frightened, afflicted, and robbed by Death ever since. Death and the Second Death is our necessary and unavoidable fate, unless God should intervene and give us Life. Which He Did!

In God’s Creation there was, and still is, no such thing as Death. Every living thing would just keep on living, including the fish. There was no such thing as sickness, pain, injury and weakness in body, emotions or mind. The “river” and the “tree” heal everything and renew life constantly, and we are continually young, healthy and strong. Everything is healed and everything lives. “Every thing shall live whither the river cometh.” This is our promise from Jesus and our promise is guaranteed because of Jesus. The River of Life heals viruses, broken bones, broken hearts, and stupid minds immediately.

This kind of life will be ours in real, eternal physical living One Day. But it is also ours today in real, spiritual living. Jesus puts it this way in John 7:38: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture [Ezekiel] has said, ‘Out of his heart [KJV, “belly,” Greek, “bowels”] will flow rivers of living water.” This He said of the Spirit. The Spirit is the Life; the Spirit is the river of life. We have such awesome power in us, and it flows out of us. We have such a river that heals and gives life. However, we also have that other power in us, Sin, that gives death. So we avail ourselves of the forgiveness of sins as often as possible.