In What Way Did Jesus Die for Sins? (Q&A)

See the Q&A Series here

Q. In what way did Jesus die for our sins and what did his death change.  People were quite sinful before He came and they have certainly been sinful since His death. 

A. Thank you for this question. The concept of payment for sins requires a basic understanding of spiritual matters from God’s angle. In sum, Jesus saves us from God’s stated, eternal penalty of sin, namely, eternal separation from Him, forever experiencing the same penalty/punishment satan and his demons will receive. In doing so, and as we mature in our walk with Him, He effectively saves/keeps us from many of the present consequences of sin.

Mankind was created on the heels of a rebellion in Heaven during which Lucifer (a very high level and powerful angel who coveted God’s Throne), and 1/3 of the holy angels exercised their choice to disobey. The rebels lost the fight, were cast out of Heaven, and fell to Earth. Lucifer became satan, and his cohorts became devils and demons. They, as well as all the holy angels, are immortal beings.

Go, through Jesus The Lord, subsequently created humans so They could to enjoy close spiritual relationships with us, and for men to exercise delegated lordship over Earth, less satan and his crew would take control. Prior to sin, Adam and Eve enjoyed a close relationship with The Lord in The Garden of Eden, a perfect place for perfect humans. The plan was for us to procreate, fill the planet, and enjoy eternal life in fellowship with The Lord. (Some teachers believe this idea was to be expanded across the universe.)

When Adam sinned, everything changed. He had disobeyed. in doing so, just like satan and other angels, he had rebelled against God, Who had warned Adam, "On the day you sin, you shall die." Adam sinned, but did not die physically on that exact day. He did die spiritually that day, and his body began the protracted physical death process. Physically, Adam died at 930 years old, in the 'day' he sinned if 'day' is regarded as a millennium. * Thus, Adam’s sin ushered into Earth God’s penalties of sin, namely:

(a) immediate spiritual death (i.e., eternal separation from God Who is holy and perfect); 

(b) eventual physical death through the processes of atrophy, disease and even various forms of God’s direct judgments; and 

(c ) final judgment and sentence to eternal death in a real, physical, immortal body in the lake of fire.

Another major consequence of Adam’s choice to disobey (i.e., to sin) was that it effectively transferred to satan full lordship over our planet. He became the god in and of our world, according to The Bible. All of Adam and Eve’s seed (all humans) would thus have what God calls a sinful nature upon conception and birth. Adam’s entire blood line would be sin-stained, and therefore, we would remain out of fellowship with God forever, unless......

God exercised His plan, through Jesus, The Lord God, to redeem/save mankind, and to eternally punish the rebellious angels. In Genesis 3:15, Jesus (pre-incarnate) promised to send a Redeemer (Himself!) to accomplish both of these objectives. Jesus Christ is our ‘Kinsman Redeemer’ -- God represented in human form, Who came to pay, on our behalf, God’s high price for sin, i.e., physical death (shedding of blood, loss of life), and eternal spiritual death (separation from God forever). He Who is perfect, righteous, innocent, and never did anything to deserve any form of death, experienced (tasted) both spiritual and physical death on our behalf. Because of this, God imputes (accounts) Jesus’ sufferings, to true Christ-believers who embrace Him as their substitute sacrifice, and who live to learn and follow His commandments and Kingdom principles during our lives. 

Jesus’ death also began the process of destroying satan’s kingdom on Earth. When God raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus both physically and spiritually ’conquered death’. In His resurrection, He forever took from satan what The Bible calls ‘the power of the second (eternal, spiritual) death’, namely the ability, through instigating us to sin, to cause humans to receive the same, eternal judgment that is upon him and angels who joined in his rebellion in Heaven.

Meanwhile, devils’ evil actually serves a purpose for Heaven. Their continuing presence on Earth effectively gives humans a real CHOICE, whether to serve satan’s wicked impulses, or to serve God’s righteous impulses. God gave to all angels and to us a free will. Without a free will, we would be like robots, only doing what He programmed us to do. Without the presence of real choice, there is no free will. Strangely, evil also serves other important purposes: When we resist and reject evil in favor of ways that are righteous, (1) we are strengthened in our faith, (2) God is glorified, and (3) we will be rewarded! (See: ‘Why Evil?’)

God determined and promises all humans who serve satan will similarly share in his eternal punishment - cast into the anguish of hell, in a resurrected physical, immortal body. He similarly determined and promises only we humans who embrace and serve God by faith in His Word (i.e., without physically seeing Him, Who is Spirit) will He allow into His Heaven to have blissful, eternal fellowship with Him in a resurrected, physical, immortal body. Thus, all/ALL humans will live forever. Both Heaven and the lake of fire will be on a brand, new Earth The Lord promises to create. (See: Earth's Next Versions (Series))

To activate His plan of salvation, God selected Abram (who became Abraham) to be the human seed through whom mankind's Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus Christ, would come as a human being. He further narrowed the seed to Jacob (renamed Israel), Abraham’s grandson, whose lineage became the Jews or Hebrews. To this lineage (ancient Israel), God first extended His plan of salvation, namely, Jesus as their Messiah, their Kinsman Redeemer. Jews rejected Jesus as such because they only understood a very narrow part of God’s much broader plan of redemption. Pre-knowing this rejection, God used it to extend His Grace, His offer of salvation to ALL humans, including you and me, not just to the Jews. This was Heaven's plan since before creation! He also agreed to extend Grace to a future remnant of Jews, who at that time, will embrace Him as their Messiah. This will be during His long-promised Millennial (thousand-year) Reign as global King on Earth. Thankfully, many Jews today so embrace Him as The Messiah.

In this current age, God’s plan of salvation involves:

1. Recognizing and admitting (vocalizing) to Him our sinful nature; and repenting, asking for His forgiveness

2. Embracing/accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, recognizing and confessing His sacrificial death was substitutionary, on our behalf

3. Asking for His Spirit (His nature) to be born into our spirit (heart)

4. Thanking God for hearing and answering this, our prayer of salvation

5. Beginning the processes of (a) learning His Heart and  Mind through Bible reading, study, meditation, and practice; and (b) fellowshipping with like-minded Christ believers. The Bible is one book, comprised of 66 sub-books. They chronicle illustrative events that help to convey Heaven's perspectives on all key aspects of human life. His Spirit inspired and prompted the writers to write what they wrote. Thus, as we read and meditate on their writings today, His Spirit is present to catalyze in our spirit the core messages He intends us to receive and to live by. This makes The Bible 'a living book'.

With these steps, we become ‘Christians’ (Christ believers and followers/disciples), and are spiritually re-born as a babe into The Kingdom of God on Earth. As we practice #5, we grow and mature spiritually, learning to recognize and reject devilish temptations to remain spiritual babes, or to back-slide into sinfulness. We regularly repent as God’s Spirit reveals to us where we may have sinned (missed His growth targets for us), and He graciously forgives, restores, and encourages us to continue to grow, just like we do with our children. If we fail to be attentive and to repent, He gradually increases the pressure, called chastisement, to get our attention for positive change and development. As we grow and mature, we should consciously sin less and less, and be more attuned to what God calls righteousness. As we do, we become more equipped and prone to share our faith, and increase our usefulness in His Kingdom on Earth. Many problems ensue for us, our families, our society, our nation, and the world, writ large, when we don’t. (See: ‘If My People……Don’t!’)

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* See: 2 Peter 3:8 and Psalm 90:4

Christians and Slavery (Q&A)

See the Q&A Series here

Q. How have God-fearing Christians accepted God’s two principal commandments (to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourself), yet managed to embrace, and even die to retain slavery.
How does the Holy Bible ignore the evil of slavery, and in many cases appears to normalize it?

A. Thanks for these potent questions that many Christians may have no doubt stubbed their toes on.

Racism, casteism and tribalism are deep traits that have plagued the human race since time immemorial. From these, no people group is immune, not even Christians. Creation testifies of God’s apparent love of diversity in every area of existence. Devils thus target diversity among humans to catalyze prideful divisiveness. Failing to renew our souls (mind, will, emotions, intellect, imagination) to the principles of The Kingdom of God, as expressed in The Bible, Christians fall easy prey to devilish manipulations, and into every kind of sin, including various forms of prideful racism.

Some slavery in ancient times was likely indentured servitude, voluntary submission to work off significant debts, equivalent to share cropping practiced in America’s post-slavery days.

At every level of life, human history is the story of conquests and subjugation of the vanquished. Subjugation takes many forms in life, including various forms of slavery, many of which still exist today across the world. God-fearing victors may have embraced their victories as God’s blessing, and therefore, His approval to subjugate the vanquished. In fact, as His judgments on Israel and Judah, God allowed ancient Jews to be conquered by sinful nations (Assyria and Babylon) that made them slaves. Daniel, who rose to very prominent positions the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Persian Empires, became a slave in Babylon as a teen. The Bible reveals God allowed many other prideful, un-repentant nations to be similarly conquered or destroyed.

With this insight, the U.S. Constitution, written by reportedly God-fearing men, was not written with America’s slaves or disenfranchised Indians in mind. The framers’ definition of ‘men and people’ principally focused on people who looked like them. Moreover, European settlers across the Americas reportedly embraced teachings in The Bible with a ‘manifest destiny’ perspective that suggested Heaven ordained and sanctioned the conquest, slaughter and enslavement of Indians, Africans, Mexicans, and anybody else who did not look like them. As we see in America and throughout the world today, such roots of prideful divisiveness remain alive and are very fruitful.

Rebellion, which manifests as disobedience, is baked into human DNA. It’s the same for Christians. We are not yet perfected, but are forgiven, and are being forgiven as we regularly repent when we fall short of God’s expectations. He gives Grace for a time, but if there is no change, He promises to chastise us to produce His intended change. When we refuse to change our ways, He will eventually judge us, whether during our life, or in the end.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Paul reveals a key precursor of the end of this age, namely a great falling away of previously faithful Christ followers. In His letter to the Church at Laodicea, dictated to Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos circa 95 AD, Jesus promises to ‘vomit out of His mouth’ fake, inauthentic, lukewarm believers. While this may have occurred all throughout the church age, it seems reasonable that satan ‘knows his time is short’, and thus he would increasingly ramp-up efforts to deceive and tempt believers who remain weak and easy prey. I address the relevance of this prophecy to our world today in this series, Laodicean Lackadaisicalness. From this, it is apparent everything and everyone labeled as ‘Christian’, is not necessarily so from God’s viewpoint.

Here is an insightful article this weighty topic: Does The Bible Condone Slavery?, by Bible scholar and teacher, Ravi Zacharias.

The Seat of Wickedness (Part 3)

See the series here

All human governments with significant international influence have (a) a headquarters, a seat, in its home nation, (b) regional seats across its nation, and (c) strategically placed ambassadorial seats across the world. They also tend to beautify their national seats, and some even move their seats of governance to a new location.

In establishing his global governance system, The Bible reveals satan effectively:

1. Locked-down the heavenlies around Earth, in  and above the atmosphere;

2. Assigned his ranks of demons over territories; and

3. Established his governing seat on Earth.

Conquering rulers have done something equivalent throughout human history. In organizing His Millennial Reign, Jesus also promises to do exactly the same thing. satan has demons assigned over territories, high above Earth’s atmosphere, he apparently either mimics or directly opposes what he knows of Heaven’s governance and systems. And though he is a spirit, he apparently has a geographic headquarters on Earth, just as God has a demonstrably preferred plot of land. I believe the land of Shinar offered an excellent, strategic location for satan’s post-flood headquarters on Earth. The prominence of this land is informative in human history, in Jewish history, and in the Old Testament. Within this land, Babylon and Ur have been particularly significant. (See Part 2)

As noted, most national governments work to beautify their seats of governance. Thus, it is interesting that God, through Isaiah, uniquely refers to Babylon as, ‘the beauty of kingdoms [nations], and of the Chaldees’ [Babylonians’] excellency…’ This city reportedly was awesome in beauty! ¹ Moreover, Babylon, whether as a physical city or a figurative/spiritual reference, figures very prominently in the eschatological Book of Revelation. This book mysteriously outlines the ‘behind-the-scenes’ spiritual dimension of many unfilled physical events predicted in the Old and New Testaments. ² Yet in spite of the above, Jesus, in His post-incarnate vision with The Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos, specifically refers to Pergamum (in north western Turkey) as being ‘where satan dwells’. ³ Imagine that!

Human governments are well known for moving their seats of governance – their capitals. Such moves are highly strategic and costly, whether related to drastic climate changes (as in Indonesia currently), or shifting population and economic development needs (as in Nigeria), or a host of other reasons. If/if satan’s governance system was at one point based in the land of Shinar, e.g., in Babylon, Jesus may have signaled to John that it had since moved. If so, why to Pergamum? And might there have been other, similar moves?

I imagine the answers to these questions are found in satan’s revealed modus operandi, namely:

1. Follow the growth and development of humans, to target and pridefully puff-up would-be and elected national leaders; and

2. Counteract whatever he perceives as The Lord's plans.

Having a governance seat of wickedness in Shinar might have been highly useful as the post-flood human population grew from there, and especially as The Lord allowed Babylon to flourish, and for King Nebuchadnezzar to become ‘king of the whole then world’. The Book of Daniel chronicles the heights of this king’s pride, which attracted God’s extremely unique humiliation. ⁴

But later, satan’s seat of wickedness may well have tracked with the rise and fall of powerful and influential nations, particularly the global and regional hegemon nations he would have learned about from Daniel’s interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s incredible statue dream. ⁵ However, in time, something extremely significant happened later that I imagine could have triggered a geographic shift to Pergamum.

What happened??

God revealed to Apostle Paul His long-hidden mystery – a post-crucifixion strategy to develop a global church! With the untiring work of Paul, seven pivotal churches took root across Asia minor (modern day Turkey). From there, churches would grow across the entire world! The Church at Pergamum was the northernmost of the seven churches, situated near the northwestern coast of Asia Minor. Voila! I imagine Pergamum may have been a highly strategic perch from which satan could thwart God’s plan. From Asia minor, churches spread rapidly across the world. Ahhh, but empires grew far less rapidly than the spread of churches! With that, a strategic general would likely revert to targeting and puffing-up rulers of empires as the best means to maximize influence on the rapidly growing human race! The Roman Empire is estimated to have been the longest lasting government, lasting well over five centuries.

In a world with no current empires, might there be a seat of wickedness or iniquity today, whether geographical or spiritual? In a real sense, there are many satanic seats of wickedness, principally within the heart/spirit of anyone and any institution who/that intentionally and regularly practices gross iniquity, i.e., sinful wickedness.

There is obviously much we don’t know about this concept, and especially its significance across our world today. For example, imagine with me what might be the geographic seat of wickedness for …the predicted final anti-Christ.

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¹ See: Isaiah 13:19. It is also interesting how The Lord, through Isaiah, while in spirit is addressing the King of Babylon in 14:12-14, briefly addresses Lucifer (who became satan), recognizing him as the prideful personality motivating the King of Babylon.

² See: Revelation 2:12-17 and also chapters 14–19

³ Also called as Pergamos and Pergamon, and is not to be confused with a small city, Pergamos, on the Isle of Cyprus.

⁴ See: Daniel 4 and 5

⁵ See: Daniel 2. I imagine satan and his imps learned of this global hegemon strategy when or after Daniel explained it to King Nebuchadnezzar. The nations predicted in this dream were Babylon, Medo-Persia and Persia, Greece, Rome and today’s remnant nations of the Roman Empire, and finally the Millennial Reign of Christ. Uniquely, the short regime of the final anti-Christ is omitted in this sequence.

Tribulation Age Precursors: Have You Noticed?? (Poem)

Across the world…

Have you noticed… lawlessness is abounding,

By folk both in and out of power?

Jesus said with such our world would be filling,

When ‘righteous salt’ loses its savor.

Have you noticed… t’ward judgments
the world is careening?

Earth’s heating up, some ‘Christians’ are cooling down?

Among Christ-believers, false prophets are deceiving.

Love is waxing cold, as lawlessness abounds.

Have you noticed… strong-man governments are increasing?

Voters growing more comfortable with such regimes,

Hastening days when nations, by intrigue, will be ceding,

Their powers to one man who will drive satanic themes. ¹

Have you noticed… the arms race is speeding-up?

One day, our reliance on nuclear weapons will be wrecked.

Nukes can’t fight God when His tribulation ramps-up,

And from His nuclear-type event,

our weapons won’t protect. ²

Have you noticed… toward God folk are increasingly cold?

Yet most folk are now hot to the climate alarm.

As Earth heats up, here’s something more pivotal to behold:

God’s more concerned with heat loss that’s...

Christians-lukewarm. ³

Have you noticed… Jesus says believe

what we cannot see. ⁴

So many folk say, ‘ I can’t believe what I’m seeing!’

From believing anything, devils seek to set us free.

They’ve won cause now …seeing is no longer believing!

Across our land…

Have you noticed… to the massive homeless perplexity?

We seem to respond somewhat sluggishly.

Yet to those we jail, we’re quick to give, with longevity,

Room, board, clothes and health care, generously! ⁵

Have you noticed… it’s ‘the other folk’ we blame,

When by hellish darts our lives and nation are ablaze?

How blissfully convenient others we frame,

When our sins at home and abroad we ignore …or praise.

Have you noticed… in churches across our land,

The programs, not prayer, are accentuated?

But praying in The Spirit is often banned, ⁶

And the ‘social gospel’ is articulated.

Have you noticed… the ole fashioned
‘sweet hour of prayer’,

Is relegated to a hymn, un-sung,

Rather than a personal practice that we nurture?

Thus, Heaven’s ‘HELP!!!’ bell is now hardly rung.

Have you noticed… frivolity has trumped fervency,

In the things to which we diligently apply faith,

Things to help us live our lives much more comfortably,

While across our land, virtues diminish and decay?

Have you noticed… our run-away craze
for gadgets and perks,

For the latest gizmos, phones, tablets and hotspots,

For connectivity to communication networks,

Yet declining desires to be …‘Heaven’s hotspots’? ⁷

Have you noticed… we all seem to like,

A decisive president?

Beware fruits from decisions seed-like:

A divisive precedence.

What we all refuse to confess and own,

Friends, frenemies and our enemies alike have noticed.

Our hypocrisy, to them God has shown.

So…

When will we start noticing what God in us has witnessed??

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¹ See: Revelation 13

² See: Zechariah 14:12-13

³ These things says [Jesus] The Amen, The Faithful and True Witness, The Beginning of the creation of God: ‘I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.’ See: Revelation 3:14-23

⁴ See: Habakkuk 4:2, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38

⁵ What must this signal to those who are homeless??

⁶  ‘But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirt…’ (Jude 20) After the Covid pandemic, many churches across the world have reportedly closed - yet another phase of the deepening apostasy Apostle Paul twice predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2, and 1 Timothy 1. 

⁷ See: Luke 18:1 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. See also: Two Prayer Challenges (Poem)

Iron and Clay Won’t Mix (Poem)

And in the days of these governments, the God of heaven

will set up a government which shall never be destroyed;

and His government shall not be left to other people.

It shall break in pieces and consume all these governments,

and it shall stand forever.

(Daniel 2:44)

From its beauty and inexhaustible supply,

Out of God’s Eden we were cast, waving goodbye,

Wearing skins of animals that He killed,

The first blood of any kind that was spilled.

Dethroned as lord over our planet,

Now from dirt and clay we must profit.

To sin on Earth we had given birth.

My, my, how we then diminished our worth.

From scratching Earth’s dirt and clay,

We have now come a long way.

Planetary resources we did exploit,

And in every skill, we have become adroit.

As our populations began to swell,

Governing soon became a living hell.

Thus, we tried many governance systems,

And found therein many failing symptoms.

Today, democracy is the most preferred approach,

Transparent accountability beyond reproach.

But problems ensue in the body politic,

Just because iron and clay will simply never mix.

History records struggles between the strong and weak,

A few strong folks ruling over those whose lives are bleak.

As the weak grow in numbers and frustrations,

Societies then face many rebellions.

In days gone by, mighty rulers did thrive.

Governments of the rich learned to connive.

By socialist systems some were replaced,

For dignity of lives that were debased.

Across the world democracy now rules,

Equipped with all modern governing tools.

Add to this - wealth that capitalism fuels,

Now to become well-off, everybody drools.

Though our governance systems project optimistically,

They can only take us to where we were originally --

Seeds of growing inequities of opportunity,

Fruits of the hopeless who resist living obsequiously.

No matter modern governance tricks,

Iron and clay will simply never mix,

Not between nations, or among their cliques.

This is the lesson history depicts.

Remnants of the Roman Empire, are we in ‘the west’,

God’s predicted mix of iron and clay;

to mix we’re stressed!

In the days of our governments, long ago He promised,

His government that, by an evil one, would be prefaced. ¹

Stresses between and within all western nations,

Are ‘sign posts’ to an evil regime; its beacons.

It will be replaced by God’s governing dictations,

Enforced by His true saints with …immortal distinctions. ²

A mighty ruler Jesus Christ shall be,

Head of God’s promised global monarchy.

It, too, shall be a mix of iron and clay, ³

And will also face rebellion one day! ⁴

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¹ See: Revelation 13, Daniel 2, Ezekiel 38, and Zechariah 14

² Jesus’ millennial iron rod rule

³ Immortals, from the first resurrection, ruling over mortals who will survive the tribulation, and those who will be born during The Millennial Reign

⁴ See: Revelation 20 re. the final rebellion of humans against God. See also: The Goshen Effect (Series), especially Part 5