Part I
Understanding God's Plan of Universal Reconciliation for All
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Part I Understanding God's Plan of Universal Reconciliation for All |
CHAPTER 4 THE SEVEN FOUNDATIONAL BIBLICAL TRUTHS
The seven foundational biblical truths are: 1. The truth of God Let us now consider each of these truths in turn. 1. THE TRUTH OF GOD The foundational truth of the Bible is that God (Father God) is One and He is the only true God. There is no other God like Father God. It is also a foundational truth of the Bible that the Son, Jesus Christ, is the one and only true Son of God. There is no other Son of God like Jesus Christ (John 17:3, John 1:18). Father God and the Son make a Family, not a Trinity. Traditional Christianity believes that God is a Trinity consisting of three co-equal persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but it then illogically and confusingly maintains that these three God Persons are still one and the same single Person of God. The word ‘Trinity’ is not in the Bible. There is only one verse, 1 John 5:7, which appears to support the Trinity doctrine, however, this verse does not appear in any of the original Greek Manuscripts of the Bible. In fact, Jerome added this verse to Scripture in the Latin Vulgate in the fifth century to support the false doctrine of the Trinity. A Roman Catholic ‘Saint’, Tertullian (circa 155-230 A.D.), was one of the first to believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. Therefore, it was through the Roman Catholic Church that belief in a Trinity was embraced by traditional Christianity. We have no doubt that the doctrine of the Trinity, just like the doctrine of hell, is a man-invented unbiblical doctrine. The truth of the Bible is that there is One Divine, Holy God Family consisting of Father and Son. Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of Father God. He is a separate and distinct Person from God the Father, just like any human son is a separate and distinct person from his human father. The Holy Spirit is not a Person, as erroneously taught in the doctrine of the Trinity. The Bible says that God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient (all-powerful, all-present and all-knowing) by the power and presence of His Spirit. In the Bible, God’s Spirit is often likened to wind, water, fire and light. The Holy Spirit, which is the spiritual presence and power of God, emanates from God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ to fill the whole universe. The Person of Father God is presently seated on His throne in heaven, His dwelling place, located somewhere in the universe. The risen Jesus Christ, His Son, is presently seated at the right hand of Father God in heaven until Jesus returns to earth at His Second Coming. Nowhere in the Bible does it say or imply that the Holy Spirit is also seated in heaven next to the Son, because the Holy Spirit is not a Person. Father God created everything in heaven and everything on earth by His Son, Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, depending upon the translation and the language, the Holy Spirit is referred to in all three genders, male, female and neuter. When the Bible says that the Holy Spirit guides us, it is Father God Himself through His Son who is guiding us. When the Holy Spirit comforts us, it is Father God through His Son who is comforting us. When we grieve the Holy Spirit, we are grieving both Father God and His Son Jesus. When we become believers in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, then Father God and Jesus Christ come to dwell in us through the spiritual presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit. Both Father God and Jesus Christ abundantly confirm the truth of the Family of God many times in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. J ohn 17:1 -3 This scripture clearly says that Father God is the only true God and Jesus Christ is His Son. Father and Son make a family, not a Trinity. Father God is the only true God and since Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, it follows that Jesus Christ is the only true Son of God. Please note that in this same scripture, Christ says that our eternal life depends on us knowing the truth of Father and Son, the truth of God’s Family. Nowhere in the Bible has Christ claimed to be co-equal with His Father, as erroneously believed by Trinitarian theology. In fact, far from it, Christ goes out of His way to confirm that His Father is greater than Him. John 14:28 Jesus Christ came down to earth from heaven to do the will of His Father (John 6:38). He is a Servant of God the Father (Acts 3:13). He is the only begotten Son of His Father (John 1:18). He is always subject to His Father (1 Corinthians 15:28). The Head of Christ is Father God (1 Corinthians 11:3). It is completely unbiblical to believe that Father and Son are two co-equal Persons of a Triune God. The truth that God (the Father) is one, and that there is no other God like Father God is the foundational truth of the Bible as clearly stated in both the Old and the New Testaments (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 45:5, 1 Corinthians 8:5-6). Jews rightfully believe in Monotheism. Traditional Christianity, though it claims to believe in Monotheism, actually believes in Polytheism of three co-equal Gods of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. However, both Jews and traditional Christianity have failed to understand and appreciate the important biblical truth of God being one united divine family of Father and Son. 1 John 5:11-13 Do you believe in the name of the Son of God? Most Christians are deceived into believing that the Son is co-equal to His Father. Please note again this very important truth that our eternal life (our salvation) depends upon us knowing and accepting that God is a family of Father and Son. Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of Father God. The Only Begotten Son of God John 3:16 John 3:16 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible, but most Christians do not actually believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God as they believe in the Trinity. How can Jesus Christ be the only begotten Son of Father God if Jesus and His Father are effectively, in a most confusing way, the same Person of one triune God, as taught in Trinitarian theology? The Greek word for ‘only begotten’ is monogenēs, and it is very important to understand the significance of this Holy Spirit inspired Greek word. This word is used only nine times in the original Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament. In five of these nine occasions, it is used to emphasise the truth that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, in John 1:14, 18, John 3:16, 18 and 1 John 4:9. Three times, in Luke 7:12, 8:42 and 9:38, it is used to refer to the one and only begotten child of a Jewish family. One time, in Hebrews 11:17, it used to refer to Isaac as the only begotten son of Abraham. Monogenēs is a compound word of mono meaning only, and genesis meaning birth. So, this inspired Greek word clearly affirms that Jesus Christ is the one and only begotten Son of Father God, and that He is definitely neither a created son of God, nor a Trinitarian son of God. It is also very significant that monogenēs is used in the Bible to refer to Isaac as the only begotten son of Abraham. Hebrews 11:17 -18 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten (monogenēs) son, 18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called.” We know that Abraham had other sons besides Isaac, but Isaac was the one and only son that God had promised to Abraham through his wife Sarah. The Bible says that Isaac was born ‘according to the Spirit’, unlike Ishmael who was born ‘according to the flesh’ (Galatians 4:29). It was through Isaac that God would fulfil His covenant promise to Abraham. This Abrahamic covenant promise is to bless (save) all Israel and all of the nations of the world through the Seed of Abraham, who is Jesus Christ Himself, the Saviour of the world. Therefore, in Abraham and Isaac, we are given a picture of Father God and Jesus Christ. Abraham begot his only promised son Isaac, whom Abraham was willing to sacrifice at God’s command. Father God begot His only Son Jesus Christ, whom He sent into the world to be sacrificed on the cross for the salvation of the whole world. Just like Isaac was the only begotten (monogenēs) son of his father Abraham, Jesus Christ is the only begotten (monogenēs) Son of His Father God. Just like Isaac had a beginning, Jesus Christ had a beginning. There was a magnificent event in past eternity when Father God begot His Son. Yes, Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God had a beginning when Father God birthed Him. The only way that Father God could have begotten His Son was by Father God always having carried the Seed of His Son in His very own Body up until giving birth to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is referred to as the Seed in Genesis 3:15 and in Galatians 3:16. Jesus Christ, as the Seed, did not have a beginning because Father God has no beginning, but Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God did have a beginning, in past eternity. The Bible says that Abraham begot (birthed) Isaac, but Abraham needed his wife, Sarah, to birth Isaac. However, regarding Pre-Incarnate Jesus Christ, Father God did not need a wife to beget (birth) His Son. This is because God is Spirit, and here, we are speaking of the spiritual birth of the Pre-Incarnate Son of God, and not His physical birth. Jesus Christ is Spirit just like His Father God (John 4:24), and both of them are divine, uncreated, immortal, holy and spiritual, yet they are separate and unequal Persons of the one God Family. Let us believe the truth of the Bible that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. When we do this, it removes all of the contradiction and confusion caused by the doctrine of the Trinity. Father God created Adam and Eve in His own image, which shows us that Father God has both male and female characteristics. The Spiritual birth of Pre-Incarnate Jesus Christ happened in past eternity, before the physical birth of Incarnate Jesus Christ, which happened about 2000 years ago through the Virgin Mary. Many Christians misunderstand scriptures that refer to Jesus Christ as ‘the only begotten (monogenēs) Son of God’ to mean that they are referring to the birth of the physical Incarnate Son, when Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Yes, Jesus became the Son of Man through His virgin birth, but the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ already existed as the Pre-Incarnate Son of God before His virgin birth, and before the world began. 1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. This scripture clearly confirms that Jesus Christ was already the only begotten Son of God when Father God sent Him into the world, i.e., before Christ’s virgin birth. John 17:1, 5 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. Please note that Jesus prayed that His Father would glorify Him with the same glory, which He had with His Father before the world was. In His Incarnate existence, Jesus Christ was fully the Son of God as well as being fully the Son of Man. However, it was the glory of His Pre-Incarnate existence as the only begotten Son of God that Jesus was speaking about in this prayer, and looking forward to having this glory restored by His Father. Most Bible versions correctly translate monogenēs to mean ‘the only begotten Son of God’. However, some modern Translations like the NIV and the RSV have mistranslated this important Greek word monogenēs to mean, ‘the one and only Son’ without referring to the fact that Jesus Christ is the one and only begotten Son of God. This mistranslation contradicts the Word of God because the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is not ‘the one and only’ Son of God as there are many other sons of God referred to in the Bible (Romans 8:15, Ephesians 1:5, Job 1:6). The truth of the Bible is that Jesus Christ is the one and only begotten Son of God, and that Father God begot (birthed) Him before the foundation of the world. All of the other sons of God referred to in the Bible are created sons of Father God and they are not begotten sons. The Bible speaks of three different occasions when Jesus Christ is referred to as the firstborn. Firstly, Jesus Christ is the firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15); secondly, He is the firstborn of Mary (Matthew 1:25); and thirdly, He is the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18). In His incarnate existence as the Son of Man, Jesus Christ became the firstborn of Mary, and He became the firstborn from the dead as the first Person to be resurrected from the dead and ascend to heaven. However, it is very important to understand that it is the Pre-Incarnate Christ, as the only begotten Son of God, who is the firstborn over all creation. Jesus Christ is absolutely not the first created over all creation, as falsely believed by Jehovah Witnesses. Colossians 1:15 This scripture confirms that Jesus Christ is the firstborn over all creation. Father God begot (birthed) His Son Jesus Christ at some point in past eternity, before time and the ages began, which was before God had created anything. In fact, it was through Jesus Christ that Father God created absolutely everything in the universe. Jesus Christ is absolutely not the first created over all creation, as falsely believed by Jehovah Witnesses. Let us now look at the scripture John 1:1-2, which is mistakenly used to defend the doctrine of the Trinity. John 1:1-2 In this scripture, the Greek word Theos meaning God, denotes Father God, and the Greek word Logos meaning the Word, denotes the Son, Jesus Christ. The Greek word Theos appears over 1300 times in the New Testament, and it almost always refers to Father God. There are only a few times when Theos also refers to the Son as in this scripture, when it says, ‘and the Word was God (Theos)’. In these few times when the Bible says that Jesus Christ is God (Theos), as in John 1:1 above, it is because Jesus has the same family name as His Father and He is of the same substance as His Father. In both the Old and the New Testaments, the Hebrew and Greek words that mean God refer to Father God in most cases because Father God is the Head of the God Family, and the focus of our worship. In the few cases where the Bible refers to the Son of God as God, it is because God is also a family name representing either or both members of the God Family. Let us demonstrate this truth by giving a specific example from the very first verse of the Bible. Genesis 1:1 Who created the heavens and the earth? 1. God created the heavens and the earth. 2. Father God created the heavens and the earth. 3. The Son, Jesus Christ created the heavens and the earth. 4. The family of Father and Son created the heavens and the earth. 5. Father God created the heavens and the earth through His Son. All of the five answers given above are biblically true and do not contradict each other or cause any confusion when we understand that the name of God, Elohim, is also a family name representing either or both members of the God family, Father and Son. In a human family of father and son with the family name of Smith, we have no problem in understanding that Smith the father and Smith the son, although they are both Smiths, are in fact two separate people in the one Smith family. In a similar way, God the Father and God the Son are two separate Persons in the one God Family. John 1:1-2 above says that Jesus Christ, as the Word, has been with the Father from the beginning. Which beginning is this scripture referring to? Of course, it is the beginning of the Pre-Incarnate Son of God when Father God birthed His one and only begotten Son in past eternity. The God Family of Father and Son is absolutely unique because there is no one like Father God and there is no one like the Son of God (Isaiah 45:5). The one family of Father God and His Son Jesus Christ is an uncreated, eternal, immortal, self-existent, spiritual, holy and divine family. Christ has always existed with the Father from eternity, first as the Seed and then as the only begotten Son of the Father. It is very important to understand the biblical truth that Father God and the Son are not co-equal members of the Family of God. Father God is of higher rank and authority, and has greater knowledge and power than the Son. Christ Himself confirms this several times in the New Testament by saying that He is always subject to His Father, that His Father is greater than Him and that He does not know everything His Father knows. However, of course, Christ is similar to His Father in many ways. Like His Father, Christ is also uncreated, divine, holy, spiritual and immortal. We know that Jesus Christ willingly and temporarily gave up His immortality when He humbled Himself to be born as a mortal man. As a Man, Christ did not see equality with His Father’s immortality as something He needed to grasp. This was because He knew that His death on the cross would be central to God’s wonderful Plan to save and reconcile the whole world (Philippians 2:5-8), and He knew that He would be the first one to be resurrected as the firstborn from the dead. Following His resurrection, when Christ ascended to be with His Father, Jesus received back His glorified immortal body, which He had before His incarnation. Though Jesus became fully Man when He was born as a Man, He always remained fully God, but as God the Son, and never as God the Father. We have already shown in Colossians 1:15 that Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. Let us consider one more scripture, which further confirms this truth that Jesus Christ was born as the Son of God before the world was created. Proverbs 8:22-30 This scripture speaks about the Wisdom of God. However, it is actually speaking about Jesus Christ Himself because Christ is the Wisdom of God as described by Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:24. Please note that Jesus Christ was brought forth or birthed before any of God’s creation, and He was beside Father God as a Master Craftsman when God created all things through Him (Colossians 1:15-18, John 1:3-5). The New Testament refers to Jesus Christ as the Son of God at least 50 times. Father God Himself audibly proclaimed from heaven, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Father and Son make a family, not a Trinity. Apostle Paul clearly understood that God is a Family of Father and Son. Ephesians 3:14-15 The truth that there is a God Family of Father and Son is also stated in the Old Testament. For example, consider the verses below. Psalm 110:1 This scripture says that the Lord (Adon in Hebrew), meaning the Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Lord (YHVH in Hebrew), meaning God the Father. The New Testament quotes this Old Testament verse several times confirming that it is Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of God the Father (Luke 20:42-43, Ephesians 1:20, Colossians 3:1). Proverbs 30:4 This Old Testament scripture, once again confirms that God is One Almighty Creator Family of Father and Son. The question asked in this scripture, ‘What is His name, and what is His Son’s name?’ is of course, referring to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Psalm 2:7 This is another clear Old Testament scripture confirming that God is a family of Father and Son, and that there was a ‘time’ in past eternity when Father God begot His Son. The Bible emphasises the importance of this verse by also quoting it several times in the New Testament. Deuteronomy 6:4 This is a key scripture recited by Jews in their Shema prayer to confirm their belief in one God. When we examine in detail the inspired construction of this scripture, we see that it also reveals that God is one united family of Father and Son. The inspired Hebrew word Elohim is the first name for God found in the Bible, and it is used over 2500 times throughout the Old Testament. Elohim comes from the Hebrew root word el meaning ‘strength’ or ‘power’. Elohim always has the characteristic of being plural in form, yet it always carries a singular verb as in the verse above. Likewise, the word family is always plural in form and always carries a singular verb. Therefore, Elohim points us to the truth that the one God of the Jews is the Head of the God family. Also, please note that the inspired Hebrew word used in this scripture for one is echad and not yachid, which would have been the correct Hebrew word to use if this scripture meant one single God Person without any family connotation. We have seen that the Bible abundantly confirms that God is a Family of Father and Son, and this is why the inspired Hebrew word in this scripture is echad, and not yachid. In the Old Testament Hebrew Scripture, echad is used to mean, ‘unity achieved when two or more members come together to act as one body’. For example, in Exodus 26:6 the various parts of the Tabernacle are to be constructed so that ‘it shall be one (echad) tabernacle,’ and Ezekiel 37:17 speaks of two ‘sticks’ (representing two groups of divided Israelites) being reunited into one: ‘Then join them one (echad) to another (echad) for yourself into one (echad) stick, and they will become one (echad) in your hand.’ When the Bible says in Deuteronomy 6:4 above that the Lord our God is One (echad) Lord, the Bible is also saying that God is One united family of Father and Son. It is important to understand that Father God has remained an invisible member of the one Almighty Creator God Family. Colossians 1:15-16 This scripture reveals two very important aspects of the God Family. Firstly, Father God created absolutely all things, visible and invisible, living and non-living things, through His Son Jesus Christ. Secondly, the Son Jesus Christ is the image of His invisible Father. When the Bible says, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Genesis 1:1), it means that in the beginning, Father God created the heavens and the earth through His Son Jesus Christ. When the Bible says, ‘Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’ (Genesis 1:26), it was the Son Jesus Christ who obeyed His Father’s command to make man in the image of, to look like, the Persons of the God Family, Father and Son. The truth that Father God has remained invisible to men is emphasised in several places in the Bible. Of course, the only Person who sees Father God is His only begotten Son Jesus Christ who came to earth to declare His invisible Father. John 1:18 1 Timothy 6:15-16 (NIV) Please note that this verse is referring to Father God who lives in unapproachable light, and no one has seen or can see Him, and He alone has always been immortal. Yes, no man, in the Old Testament times or the New Testament times, dead or alive, has ever seen Father God, because no man has ascended to heaven, God’s dwelling place (John 3:13). The only Person who has ever seen Father God is His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. The belief that Christians go straight to heaven after death is another heresy of traditional Christianity, which we answer in detail in Chapter 23. When Philip asked Jesus, ‘Lord, show us the Father’, Jesus replied, ‘He who has seen Me has seen the Father’ (John 14:8-9). We see Father God through His Son Jesus Christ who is the express image of His Father. Hebrews 1:3 It will only be at the creation of the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth when Father God comes down to this refined and cleansed earth to dwell with all men that we will see Him face to face (Revelation 21:3, 22:4). The Bible describes several visible manifestations of God in the Old Testament. How do we understand them? These were all visible manifestations of invisible Father God through His Pre-Incarnate Son. Genesis 12:7 says that the Lord appeared to Abraham; Genesis 14:18-20 says that Melchizedek, the King of Peace, the Priest of God Most High blessed Abraham; Genesis 18:1-33 says that one day, Abraham and Sarah entertained two angels and God Himself; Genesis 32:22-30 says that Jacob wrestled with God; Exodus 3:2 says that God as ‘the Angel of the Lord’ appeared to Moses in a flame of fire in the form of a burning bush; Deuteronomy 31:14-15 says that God appeared to Moses and Joshua in a pillar of cloud. When God rescued the children of Israel from their slavery in Egypt and lead them through the Red Sea, God went before them visibly in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire. Exodus 13:21 Since Scripture is clear that no man has seen or can see Father God, then all of the visible manifestations of God described in the Old Testament are, in fact, those of the Pre-Incarnate Son representing His invisible Father God. Apostle Paul was inspired to write that it was indeed the Son, Jesus Christ, who followed the children of Israel. 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 It is always through His only begotten Son that invisible Father God manifests Himself visibly to men. The word ‘theophany’ means ‘a visible manifestation of God’. Jesus Christ has always been the Theophany of His invisible Father God, in both the Old and the New Testaments. Religious, self-righteous Jewish leaders orchestrated the crucifixion of Jesus Christ because He claimed to be the Son of God, and for them, this was a blasphemy of the highest order. They failed to understand that the one God of the Jews has a Son, the only begotten Son, and that God is a Family of Father and Son. Sadly, this is also true for traditional Christianity, for both Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Jews, it fails to understand that the one God of the Bible is also the God Family of Father and Son. The false doctrine of the Trinity has blinded traditional Christianity from believing the truth of the God Family. The Truth of God Summarised It is vital to know the truth of God because our salvation and eternal life depends on us knowing the truth of God. So what is the truth of God? God is a Family of Father and Son. The Father is the only true God and the Son Jesus Christ is the only begotten true Son of God (Ephesians 4:14-15, John 17:1-3, John 3:16-18). Father God created absolutely everything in the universe through His Son (Colossians 1:15-16). No one has seen Father God except His only begotten Son Jesus Christ who came to declare His Father (John 1:18). No one can come to Father God except through His Son, because Jesus Christ is the only Way to the Father (John 14:6). God sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world, and He is indeed the Saviour of the whole world (1 John 2:2, John 4:42). Father God will reconcile to Himself, absolutely all things on earth and all things in heaven through His Son Jesus Christ, having made peace through Christ’s blood shed on the cross (Colossians 1:19-20). God’s Grand Family Plan The glorious truth about the Family of God is that Father God has a Grand Plan to enlarge and expand His Family to bring ‘many sons to glory’ (Hebrews 2:10). In the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth, God’s one united family will consist of Father God as the Head of the family, His Son Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18), all of humanity as the adopted sons of God (Romans 8:15, Ephesians 1:5) and all angels as the created sons of God (Job 38:7). Ultimately, in God’s time and His order, Father God through His Son will make sure that all without exception will come to understand and believe in the truth of God and His Grand Family Plan. It is far better for you to understand, believe and grasp this glorious truth of God now, because God has promised a tremendous special blessing to those who believe this before they die. This book, God’s Plan for All, explains and gives details of how Jesus Christ is working out and fulfilling His Father’s Grand Family Plan, in seven biblical ages. 2. THE TRUTH OF CREATION Genesis 1:1 Colossians 1:15-16 The Family of God of Father and Son, is the One Almighty Creator Family. When Father God created the universe with the earth through His Son Jesus Christ, this marked the beginning of time, the beginning of the ages. Father God through Jesus Christ began the ages and He will end the ages with the fulfilment of God’s Grand Family Plan, which is to enlarge the God Family to include as ‘sons of God’ all of humanity and all of the angels. It is important to understand that Father God is working out His Plan in ages to enlarge His family through His Son Jesus Christ. The Bible is a book about the ages and refers to seven distinct ages. Father God through Jesus Christ is the Beginning and the End of the Ages. All that is written from Genesis to Revelation is related to one or more of these ages. Everything that God has done, is doing and will do, must be understood in the context of these ages because God has a specific purpose for each age. Full details of this are given in the next chapter, Chapter 5, The Seven Ages in God’s Plan for All. All of the angels sang together and shouted for joy over the creation of the earth (Job 38:4-7). Therefore, it is evident that the angels were created before the heavens and the earth. Also, it is clear that God must have created the earth in such a beautiful state for the angels to rejoice with singing and shouting for joy. Man is the pinnacle of God’s creation. God created man in His own image for a family relationship with Him (Genesis 1:27). Angels were created to be ministering spirits (Hebrews 1:14). God created the plant and animal kingdoms to bless men and for men to have a caring dominion over them. The Bible supports Old Earth Creationism, also known as ‘The Gap Theory’. This is the belief that God created the earth many millions of years ago, as opposed to Young Earth Creationism, the belief that God created the earth only approximately six thousand years ago. We reject Young Earth Creationism because we have found it to be biblically untrue, illogical, scientifically nonsensical, and furthermore it cannot be supported by earth’s geology and fossil record. There are certain other beliefs in an Old Earth like Theistic Evolution, which tries to harmonise the false theory of Evolution into the Genesis creation account. As we reject Young Earth Creationism, we also completely reject Theistic Evolution as unbiblical. In Chapter 24, The Pre-Adamic Age, the Age of Angels, we give detailed answers to why Old Earth Creationism is biblical, scientifically valid and clearly supported by earth’s geology and fossil record. 3. THE TRUTH OF SIN AND GOD’S JUDGEMENTS Sin is transgression or disobedience of God’s Law and, above all, sin is unbelief in the true Gospel that Father God through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ is the Saviour of all men, the Saviour of the world (1 John 3:4, 1 John 3:6-9, 1 John 2:2, 1 Timothy 9-11, John 4:42). Sin first entered the world through Satan and his followers, the fallen angels, during the First Age, the Pre-Adamic Age. Satan and a third of the angels sinned and were thrown down to earth with cataclysmic consequences for the earth, which were the complete upheaval of the earth’s surface and death and destruction of all Pre-Adamic plant and animal life. Satan and his fallen angels are confined to this earth and chained in spiritual darkness until their final judgement in the Lake of Fire. God renewed the surface of the earth in six literal 24-hour days with the creation/recreation of plant and animal life, and then proceeded to create man in His own image. Sin then entered the human world because Eve and Adam sinned when they ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, when tempted and deceived by Satan who was already there as a fallen sinful angel. As a result of man’s original sin, death entered the human world and every descendant of Adam and Eve, with the exception of Jesus Christ, is born with a sinful fallen nature. God has complete foreknowledge of everything that happens in His creation; therefore, the sins of angels and the sins of men do not take Him by surprise. This is all within God’s Plan, which includes both separation and reconciliation; separation because of sin, and reconciliation because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for the sins of the whole world. Sin brings judgement, suffering, death, destruction and separation from God. God takes full and complete responsibility for the existence of sin and evil, as God is the creator of all things (Isaiah 45:7). Since God created Adam and Eve with freewill, which became marred and in bondage to Satan when they sinned, we are all accountable for our sins being descendants of Adam and Eve. Our accountability for our sins brings God’s judgement on us for the greater purpose of receiving His salvation and reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Without God’s judgement, we would not understand good from evil, light from darkness and the righteousness of God from the unrighteousness of sinful fallen men and angels. Full details are given in Chapter 25, Understanding Evil and Suffering. Here is an important truth. All of God’s judgements are corrective, no matter how horrific they may appear from man’s perspective. All of God’s judgements flow out of His love because God is love and He loves the whole world (1 John 4:16, John 3:16). God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). The subject of sin and God’s judgement is a profound subject, which is not understood by traditional Christianity because of the false doctrine of hell. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God punishes an unbeliever or even Satan forever. Christians must understand that belief in eternal torture in hell is a pagan belief, which was embraced and christianised by Roman Catholicism, and incorporated through mistranslations into Scripture, in the early years of the history of Christianity. Chapters 15-19 give complete and comprehensive answers to why, when and how the doctrine of hell crept into Christianity. God hates sin, but He still loves the sinners as He sent His Son to die for us when we were still sinners (Romans 5:6-8). God’s judgements are designed to bring humility, repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, which leads to righteousness, reconciliation and salvation. God’s loving and righteous judgement of all sinners will ensure that all people, in God’s time and in His order, will repent and accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, by God-given faith. Chapters 12 and 13, The Lake of Fire Judgement Age – Part 1 and Part 2 give a full explanation of God’s loving and refining judgement of all unbelievers and all fallen angels. 4. THE TRUTH OF CHRIST’S SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS The cross of Christ is absolutely central to Father God’s Plan for the reconciliation of all things in heaven and all things on earth to Himself. Colossians 1:19-20 The way of the cross is the only way through which our Holy and Righteous God makes peace with sinful fallen men and sinful fallen angels. The cross of Christ has infinite power to transform all people from unrighteousness to God’s Righteousness and to reconcile all things in the universe, including Satan and his fallen angels, making peace with God. This is why Apostle Paul said that he was determined not to know anything except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). When God created angels and men, He knew that unrighteousness would enter His creation and that angels and men would sin. He worked out a plan to solve the problem of their unrighteousness, even before the creation of the heavens and the earth. The Plan God formulated was for the universal reconciliation of all things, without exception. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice not only for the sins of believers, but also for the sins of the whole world. The sins of the whole world include the sins of all unbelievers and all fallen angels, as the key scripture Colossians 1:15-20 clearly says. A detailed commentary on this scripture is given in Chapter 3, Universal Reconciliation Scriptures – The Riches of Christ. All of God’s creation, without exception, will be reconciled through the blood of the cross. This is the only way by which the full purpose of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ will ultimately be completely fulfilled, in God’s time and in His order. Anything less than the full reconciliation of all things would be tantamount to defeat and failure of what Jesus Christ accomplished through His sacrifice on the cross. This is why the traditional doctrine of hell is such a stench in the nostrils of God. God is the Saviour of all men (1 Timothy 4:10). He is absolutely not a torturer of people in hell or an annihilator of them either, as unfortunately believed by most Christians. 5. THE TRUTH OF ISRAEL The Bible speaks about three groups of people. These are the Israelites (the Jews), the Gentiles (the nations) and God’s Elect (Believers, the Bride of Christ). These three groups of people are separate and distinct and should not be confused with each other. It is important to understand that God has kept the Israelites a separate and distinct people from the Gentiles, racially through the descendants of Abraham from the line of Isaac and Jacob, and religiously through the Mosaic Law. God changed the name of Jacob to Israel, and as a result, all of Jacob’s descendents took the collective nation name of Israel. The Bible also uses the name ‘Israel’ for the land of the Israelites. Scripture says again and again, hundreds of times, that God is the God of Israel, and the Holy One of Israel. The word Israel is mentioned over 2500 times in the Bible. We all need to grasp the tremendous importance of Israel in God’s Plan for All, and why and how God is using Israel to demonstrate His justice and His righteousness through the Seed of Abraham who is Jesus Christ Himself (Galatians 3:16). Full details on this important subject are given in Chapters 6 and 7, God’s Purpose for Israel – Part 1 and Part 2. 6. THE TRUTH OF GOD’S ELECT, THE BRIDE OF CHRIST The Bible says that many are called but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). These few who are called and then chosen are God’s Elect, true believers, chosen from Israel and the Gentile nations for a special purpose and a special salvation. The Elect who are the Bride of Christ will be resurrected as the Firstfruits at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The glorious purpose of the Firstfruits, the Bride of Christ, is to bear more fruits of the Great Harvest. The union of the Bride of Christ with Jesus Christ will bear multiple billions of spiritual children born into the Kingdom of God. These spiritual children are none other than the rest of humanity who will rise in the Second Resurrection and ultimately all people, without any exceptions, will enter into the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth. We allocate a full chapter, Chapter 9, The Truth of God’s Elect – The Bride of Christ, to deal with this little understood and much misunderstood subject of Election. 7. THE TRUTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD The Bible speaks of the Kingdom of God coming in two phases. There is the first phase of the Millennial Kingdom of God, and later the second phase of the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth. However, there is the Lake of Fire Judgement Age separating the Millennial Kingdom of God and the Eternal Kingdom of God. Many Christians are unaware of these two phases of the Kingdom of God. Let us now prove, from Scripture, that there are indeed two phases of the Kingdom of God. It is important to understand that when Jesus Christ talked about the Kingdom of God, He was talking about a future literal Kingdom of God, which will come into existence on this earth. He did not talk about or promote a hazy idea of an ethereal kingdom in ‘heaven’ somewhere in the universe or a kingdom set up in the hearts of men. The Bible is very clear about this and it is unfortunate that many Christians do not understand this core message of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ instructed His followers to pray for the coming of a literal Kingdom of God, to be established on this earth. Matthew 6:9-10 Jesus Christ will return to this earth immediately after a prophesied time called ‘the Great Tribulation’. The Bible says that the time of the Great Tribulation will be absolutely horrific and unprecedented. We cover this subject in Chapter 10, The Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ must firstly consume and destroy all of man’s ungodly worldly kingdoms before He establishes His Millennial Kingdom on this earth. Daniel 2:44 The point we must understand is that Jesus is returning to this earth and He is returning to set up God’s Kingdom on this earth, first the Millennial Kingdom and then, later on, the Eternal Kingdom of God. Revelation 11:15 Notice that the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of Father God and His Son, Jesus Christ. The coming Millennial Kingdom of God was so central in the mind of Jesus that He even preached about it when He appeared to His disciples during the forty-day period between His resurrection and His ascension. Acts 1:3 This is why the disciples wondered whether He would restore the Kingdom of Israel when He appeared to them during the period of forty days following His resurrection. Jesus spoke of the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel as prophesied by the prophets in the Old Testament. Acts 1:6-7 Notice that Jesus agreed with His disciples that He would one day restore the Kingdom of Israel. However, Jesus said that the time for the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel lay in the future at an appointed time only known to the Father. It will be the time when Jesus Christ returns to this earth to establish God’s Millennial Kingdom. Luke 1:32-33 Please note that the Greek word aion in verse 33 above, which is translated as ‘forever’ here in the NKJV, is a time-related word. In this context, its strict literal meaning is an age or ages as we explain in Chapter 17. The reign of Jesus Christ over Israel (the house of Jacob), when He sits on the throne of David in the Millennial Age, will not last forever. It will last for an age of one thousand years only. The Millennial Kingdom of God will be followed later on by the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth. So, as well as the Millennial Kingdom of God, the scripture above refers to the Eternal Kingdom of God when it says 'of His Kingdom there will be no end'. Revelation 20:4 Yes, there will be the Millennial Kingdom of God when the resurrected Elect, the Bride of Christ, will reign with Christ for a thousand years. They will reign over all of the fleshly people who survive the Great Tribulation to enter the Millennial Age, and their descendants born during this thousand-year period. Jesus Christ will return to earth to restore the Kingdom of Israel, the throne of David, in God’s Millennial Kingdom. At the end of the thousand-year Millennial Age of the Kingdom of God, the earth will be thrown into a new age when Satan is released from his prison of the bottomless pit. This new age will be the Sixth Age of the Lake of Fire judgement. This is when all resurrected unbelievers and Satan, along with his fallen angels, will be judged in the Lake of Fire, and ultimately all will be reconciled to God. The Lake of Fire Judgement Age will be followed by the Eternal Seventh Age of the Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth. Isaiah 65:17-18 It will only be at the creation of the New Heaven and the New Earth that God’s Grand Family Plan will be fully accomplished. This is when Father God Himself comes down from His current dwelling place in heaven, located somewhere in the universe, to this renewed earth with its renewed heaven (earth's atmosphere) to dwell with men forever. Revelation 21:1-6 We have clearly shown from Scripture that the Bible speaks of the Kingdom of God coming in two phases. The first phase is the Millennial Kingdom of God, and the second phase is the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth. What about the scripture Luke 17:20-21, which some have interpreted to say that the Kingdom of God is entirely spiritual, something that is set up in our hearts only? Let us now examine this scripture in detail. Luke 17:20-21 Please note that Jesus Christ was speaking to the unbelieving, self-righteous Pharisees, so He did not mean that the Kingdom of God was within or in the hearts of these unbelieving Pharisees. The Greek word entos translated to mean ‘within’ in a few versions of the Bible should be translated as ‘in the midst of’ you, or ‘among’ you, as correctly translated in the Revised Standard Version. What Jesus Christ said to these unbelieving Pharisees was that the only way to enter into the future Kingdom of God was to believe in Him, who was standing in the midst of them, and who was the very personification of the future coming Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God has not come to earth yet. The Millennial Kingdom will be established on earth at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and the Eternal Kingdom will be established on earth following God’s Lake of Fire Judgement Age. There are a number of prophesied significant events that will happen relating to these two phases of God’s Kingdom being established on earth. We list below these prophesied events in their chronological order. 1. The true Gospel of the Kingdom of God will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations before Jesus Christ returns. 2. The Great Tribulation will be the most horrific unprecedented time of God’s global judgement, just prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It will be followed immediately by massively cataclysmic events, of shaking of the heavens, the sun being darkened, meteorites falling onto earth, a huge earthquake and mountains being flattened, at the actual return of Jesus Christ. 3. Satan will be bound by an angel and put in prison ‘in a bottomless pit’ at the return of Jesus Christ to prevent him from deceiving the nations during the Millennial Kingdom. 4. The First Resurrection, described in the Bible as a better resurrection, occurs when all true believers, God’s Elect, will rise to meet the returning Jesus Christ in the air. 5. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to this earth occurs, which is the most glorious event prophesied in many scriptures. 6. The Millennial Age of the Kingdom of God begins on earth. This will be the wonderful thousand-year age when Jesus Christ, with His Bride, will rule and reign over the fleshly survivors of the Great Tribulation and their descendants. 7. Satan is released from his prison at the end of the thousand-year Millennial Age of the Kingdom of God. 8. The Second Resurrection of the rest of humanity also takes place at the end of the thousand-year Millennial Age of the Kingdom of God. 9. The Lake of Fire Judgement Age for the judgement of all unbelievers and all fallen angels begins and continues until Father God has reconciled all things in heaven and all things on earth to Himself having made peace through Christ’s blood shed on the cross. 10. The Eternal Age of the Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth begins. This is when God will wipe away every tear; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things will have passed away. God the Father Himself will descend from His present dwelling place in heaven to this earth and dwell with men forever, and be all in all. We describe these ten prophesied events in detail with supporting relevant scriptures in Chapters 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. |
Part II Complete and Comprehensive Answers to Why, When, & How the Doctrine of Hell crept into Christianity Part III Additional Important Information for Understanding God's Plan for All |
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God's Plan for All |
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