Categories
Hope Jesus Christ

The End

What is THE END of “the world”? The letter “D.” But we CAN know about our future.

1 Corinthians 15:22,23:
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s AT HIS COMING.

Christ is risen from death unto eternal life in a new spiritual body. We will someday receive a new spiritual body “fashioned like unto his glorious body” [Philippians 3:21]. Until then, we live for the Lord the best we can in this soul-based earthly body. Now what about “the end”?

1 Corinthians 15:24-28:
Then cometh THE END, when he [THE LORD JESUS] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he [THE LORD JESUS] shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
For he [THE LORD JESUS] must reign, till he [THE LORD JESUS] hath put all enemies under his [THE LORD JESUS’] feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
For he [GOD, OUR FATHER] hath put all things under his [THE LORD JESUS’] feet. But when he [GOD, OUR FATHER] saith all things are put under him [THE LORD JESUS], it is manifest that he [GOD, OUR FATHER] is excepted, which did put all things under him [THE LORD JESUS].
And when all things shall be subdued unto him [THE LORD JESUS] , then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [GOD, OUR FATHER] that put all things under him [THE LORD JESUS], that God may be all in all.

There a many pronouns here that are clear in the context. Here is what we know about the end:

1. Our Lord Jesus will deliver the kingdom to God, his Father.
2. Jesus will, with the Father’s authority and power, put “all things” under his feet. Psalms 110:1 prophecies that “The LORD [Hebrew Jehovah, meaning God] said unto my Lord [Hebrew adon, meaning the Messiah], Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
3. Jesus will destroy death, the final enemy, bringing eternal life as a reality to those who accept him.
4. God has given Jesus FULL LORDSHIP OVER ALL, and put everything under His Son’s feet.
5. Of course, God is excepted. HE is the One Who put all under Christ’s feet.
6. Jesus will subdue all things under himself.
7. Jesus will subject himself to his Father, Who put all things under His beloved Son.
8. God will be all in all. Revelation 7:10 says: “And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to OUR GOD which sitteth upon the throne, and unto THE LAMB.” The Father is enthroned above all. And our Savior, the Lamb, sits upon the throne of rulership and power with him.

Amen. I love you.

Categories
God's Power Hope

Not the End

I clearly remember 58 years ago today. It was a Thursday night and I was upstairs in my parents’ bedroom. Everyone else watched another TV show downstairs, and I was up watching my favorite “Ironside” with Raymond Burr, which started at 7 p.m. It was interrupted by a news bulletin. Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot in Memphis, Tennessee.

Categories
Hope

What Happens When People Die?

Today a friend asked me a good question. “Gene, do you believe that humans that do not have Jesus as Lord will suffer eternally in flames?” That is a common belief among some Christians.

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Jesus Christ

Savior, Messiah, and Lord

God loves to make us whole. He wants our bodies healthy, our minds clear and alert, our spiritual understanding enlightened. He is our Savior and sent His Son to be our savior. That is what “Jesus” means in Hebrew: Jehovah saves. The title Jehovah is used many times in the Bible and shows God’s willingness to help us. In the Bible, God also uses the title Elohim to show that He is able (as Creator) to meet our every need. He is both willing and able to care for us.

Categories
God's Word

Scope

One reason there is division and misunderstanding in the church is that some Bible readers do not understand scope. God calls Himself the Holy Spirit, and He spoke by His spirit that He gave to the prophets so they could write the scriptures (II Peter 1:20,21). This included the Apostle Paul (II Peter 3:15,16). If, over thousands of years, our Father gave His Word to people to make up the Bible, then it all must agree within itself. And it does.

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Psalms

Psalms in Poetic Form: PSALM 108

Click here to read PSALM 108 in poetic form.

Background

Psalm 108 is in the Deuteronomy Book of the Psalms (Psalms 107-150). These 44 Psalms, like the Book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, show God’s Word as the source of salvation, deliverance, and healing. This would be fully carried out in the life of the coming Messiah, the living Word, Jesus Christ. Psalm 108 declares the Messiah as God’s promised lawgiver from David’s line in Judah.

Categories
Body of Christ

The Cowgirl’s New Home

There once was a cowgirl, who lived life by this world,
She needed to know her good Lord,
She cried out for freedom—grace and mercy,
She’d need ‘em—to stand with His love in accord.

Categories
Psalms

Psalms in Poetic Form: Psalm 53

jesus cross
A possible view from the cross at Calvary.

Click here to read PSALM 53 in poetic form.

Background

This Psalm has the title “Maschil,” which means instruction. It was used for public teaching and shows the victory God gives through His Messiah.

Categories
Holy Spirit

Baptism

waterfall

As an infant, I was baptized with water at the baptismal font in our church. I remember nothing of this, but my parents did it in hopes of bringing some spiritual cleansing to me. Yet, in reality, I never received God’s gift of holy spirit until years later, when I carried out the Father’s simple instructions in the Book of Romans.

Categories
Psalms

Psalms in Poetic Form: Psalm 37

IMG_20180318_160726432

Click here to read PSALM 37 in poetic form.

Background

Just as Psalm 23 showed that we can trust in the Lord as our shepherd, this Psalm shows that we can trust in, delight in, commit to, and rest in the Lord despite the evil of those around us (verses 3-7).