Is Jesus God? (Poem, Epilogue)

See the series here

The bodily fullness of The Godhead in 'The God Thread'

Many attempts to empty The Godhead of Jesus were dared,

Because throughout history, some didn’t see Him in The God thread.

By revelation of The Holy Spirit, Paul has declared,

Jesus is the bodily fullness of The Divine Godhead’. ¹

From Adam-to-Abraham-to-Israel-to-the Church,

His presence and personality are evidenced throughout,

With a clear, consistent command that no one can pervert:

‘Multiply and fill all the Earth!’ That is what He’s all about. ²

Reverberating in the annals of human history,

Folks who received this command and those related to it,

Had clear, personal knowledge of Him as ‘Lord’, intimately.

Thus, as they multiplied, folks’ knowledge of Him would be lit!

But as our knowledge of Him as The Lord would wane,

He programmed special …episodic interventions,

To ensure our knowledge of Him would be regained,

Also to dispel all …denying contradictions. ³

During each of His interventions, so unique,

He underscored what He had revealed previously,

Then gave more insights into His awesome mystique,

To contradict lies spread about Him heinously.

The biggest lies were those that denied His deity,

To demote Him, The Lord Creator, to …just a man,

And to seed strange new beliefs that would spread, fruitfully.

They started in ‘the East’, then spread across every land. ⁴

His next planned, strategic intervention,

Will dispel every dark and devilish lie about Him!

For a thousand years, with no opposition,

Knowing Jesus as God, all the Earth will regain its vim!

This promise is accentuated,

In three unique predictions in prophecy,

That the Earth will be satiated,

With knowledge of Him, of and with His Glory. ⁵

To all would-be gods, and deniers of Jesus’ deity,

He emphatically says:

‘Present your case. Bring forth your strong reasons. Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together. Indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing; he [whoever] who chooses [believes in] you is an abomination.’ (Isaiah 41:21 - 24)

‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees The Father do; for whatever He does, The Son also does in like manner. For The Father loves The Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as The Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so The Son gives life to whom He will. For The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to The Son, that all should honor The Son just as they honor The Father. He who does not honor The Son does not honor The Father who sent Him. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of The Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as The Father has life in Himself, so He has granted The Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is The Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of The Father who sent Me. (John 5:19 - 30) 

>NB: What He considers as ‘good’ begins with

deep-seated belief in Him to be

all He declares Himself to be, nothing less.<

Friends, may there be no doubt - Jesus as Paul declares,

The fullness of The Godhead, in human body form.

That you and others come to this knowledge is my prayer.

Alas, that’s work only The Holy Spirit performs. ⁶

NB: Counterfeits (religions and prophets) can only follow that which is first real and TRUE!

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¹ See: Colossians 2:9

² First given to Adam/Eve, this command was reiterated to Noah’s family after the global flood. Subsequent versions of it were given to Abraham and his descendants, and finally to Christ’s disciples and Paul through whom the nascent Christian church would be seeded, then multiplied across all the Earth. How’s that for multi-millennial consistency?!

³ Across The Old Testament, Jesus’ appeared in both pre-incarnate forms and in the many storied miracles depicted therein. Across the New Testament, He first appeared as the incarnate Son of Man, born of the virgin, Mary. Later He appeared in post-incarnate forms to Paul and John, and in the many miracles the apostles performed. He concluded His appearance to John with a clear ‘copyright’ on things revealed, plus a stern warning to anyone who would dare modify His and Heaven’s final, authoritative revelation of Him, His deity, and His closing chapter plans for humanity. See: Is Jesus God? (Part 5). His next appearance will be as The Lord God, to put a shocking end to the Armageddon War at the end of the great tribulation (Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19), then serve as King of/over the entire world for thousand years (His long-promised Millennial Reign). He will replace ALL human governments at all levels, with the support of His resurrected, immortal saints from across the four previous ages of humanity. So much of this blog delves into the details of this glorious time on Earth.

⁴ Following the flood, humans migrated to, and settled in the East, in the plain of Shinar, in modern-day Iraq. From there, they spread across the region, then beyond. See: Genesis 11:1-9, and also Zechariah 5 for a fascinating end-times prophecy about this land.

⁵ See: Numbers: 14:21, Isaiah: 11:9 and Habakkuk 2:14. This refers to the glorious Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ with all His saints from across the ages, discussed at length from various perspectives throughout this blog. It will start with the end of the 7-year tribulation period, and His incredible ending of the Armageddon War as depicted in Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19. Via salvation in Christ and abiding in Him, I’ve got my ticket to be there. Do you? Here’s the first step: Prayer of Salvation (Poem).

⁶ …No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by The Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3)

More Amazing than Grace (Poem)

See the Grace series here

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound… 

Pray tell, what exactly is the sound of God’s Grace?

Where, when and how can it be found? 

Is there something more amazing to take its place??

If there’s one thing for which we humans have a strong penchant,

It’s for systems, devices and plans to measure results.

In every aspect of life, keeping score is dominant.

It’s strongest when things we are measuring are difficult.

 

Since Grace is God’s first and longest strategic objective, ¹

In all His dealings with the human race,

Then of ‘Grace-results’, let’s take some time to be reflective,

Of the results that we to Him showcase.

God’s main purpose of Grace is captured in this phrase:

Don’t you know the goodness of God leads us to repentance?

Thus He patiently waits for ‘repentance displays’.

For His second, short objective, He shows great reluctance.

Because to us Grace is protracted, judgment is delayed.

Yet between these two objectives, there’s a very strong link:

For Grace from Him received, our results to Him are displayed,

And they will either smell like perfume, or to Him …they stink.

Guess what? He’s not the only one gaging our Grace-results.

Within us, He’s implanted a means, so personal,

And key performance indicators that we can consult,

To perceive our results from His Grace, so merciful.

It’s our conscience that’s designed to do this job, critical,

With innate indicators of moral right and wrong.

Together they keep us on pathways that are placable, ²

And help ensure Grace extended to us is prolonged.

When by degrading culture our conscience has been seared,

And our results indicators of right and wrong have flipped,

In Heaven, our Grace-results are no longer revered,

In The Lord’s timing, judgments against us will be un-zipped! ³

Here’s an important point many may not perceive,

And never, ever would they write or sing songs about:

Even in judgments, much more Grace we can receive!

When Grace fails to do its job, judgments with Grace roll out!

If to that strong pair we respond without pretense,

With repentance and a turn from our sinful ways,

Then judgments may be shortened or made less intense.

That’s when we’ll come to know Grace that judgment portrays.

Given all the ways we display human sinful nature,

Under the protective cover of long-term Grace we knew,

Why only sing of Grace when by judgments we are pressured?!

Ahhhhh....

Short, intense judgments achieve results that long-term Grace wooed!!!

What conclusions do you draw from this Grace overview?

Will you sing Amazing Grace when you get …the judgment blues??

To me this suggests judgments that with Grace are imbued,

Must be more amazing than long-term Grace …we all abuse.

Since The Lord conducts His Grace-result surveys,

On persons, families, societies and nations,

It behooves us to stay on righteous pathways,

And hopefully avoid those awful …judgment gremlins.

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¹ See: Jeremiah 9:23-24

² Placable - easily calmed; gentle, forgiving

³ God has delegated to Jesus, The Lord, all human-related judgments: The Father (God Almighty) judges no one, but has committed all judgment to The Son (Jesus Christ), that all men should honor The Son, just as they honor The Father. He who does not honor The Son does not honor The Father who sent Him. (John 5:22-23)

Is Jesus God? (Part 5)

See the series here

 

Q. What to believe when ‘post-Jesus prophets’ make different claims? 

A. Let’s ponder the insights from this statement:

And I (John) fell at his (the angel’s) feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.’ (Revelation 19:9-10)

Here is a clear, repeated Bible principle that Father God, Himself, applies:

Let every key word be established in the mouth of 2-3 witnesses.

(Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15, Matthew 18:16,

2 Corinthians 13:1, 1 Timothy 5:19, Hebrews 10:28)

Don’t imagine for a second He would not apply this key principle to the matter of confirming what we should believe following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into Heaven. So how did He apply this principle in reference to the above question?

First, Shortly after He ascended to Heaven, Jesus strategically gave special revelatory/prophetic insights to Paul, the apostle, confirming from many perspectives that He is The Lord God and Messiah in bodily form. Jesus authorized, inspired and empowered Paul to write and preach about many of these insights, and prohibited him from writing about others. (Wouldn’t we like to know!) 

Second, Jesus personally confirmed and also significantly expanded those insights to John, the disciple and apostle, and told John to write those revelations in a book. John thus wrote The Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last book in The Bible. A careful comparison of Paul's writings with what John wrote reveals (1) broad agreement on the basics of what Jesus, Himself, revealed in His incarnate form; (2) a wide range of similarities on other matters; and (3) no substantive contradictions. 

As with all aspects of life on Earth, there is first a spiritual dimension that seeds and later impacts and influences the physical dimension. Physical developments on Earth are essentially the fruits of spiritual seeds planted earlier. Some Old Testament books give glimpses into the physical dimension of end-time prophetic events. The Book of Revelation essentially pulls the curtain back to add behind-the scenes mostly glimpses of the spiritual dimension of these events. Taken together, we have a corporate perspective of what Father God intends, and wants us to perceive.

It is absolutely fascinating how Jesus, in wrapping up John’s prophetic tour of Heaven, gives us both a physical and spiritual picture of Him personally sealing revelations given to John. He does this in a manner that (a) certifies and protects His message to humanity, and (b) protects His future faithful believers from devilish deceptions that would surely come to challenge His revelations. He accomplishes this with an exceptionally stern warning that is akin to His copyright protection: 

For I (Jesus) testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this book." (Revelation 22:18-19)

Thus, He affirms The Book of Revelation is His final revelation  - the final Word from Heaven on all things discussed therein, period! All so-called ‘revelations’ and religions that came or will come after these assertions, therefore, seriously violate His copyright, and activate the stated warnings therein! Caveat, spiritually-speaking!!!

A word to the spiritually wise: Since the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy, what spirit, pray tell, motivated/will motivate all past and future post-Jesus prophets to write utterly contradictory, so-called revelations from God, especially those concerning Jesus, Himself???

NB: Counterfeits (religions and prophets) can only follow that which is real and TRUE!

See the epilogue

Is Jesus God? (Part 4)

See the series here

Q. What if God killed Jesus for making Himself God’s equal?

     satan tried to beat God, and lost. Was Jesus his sequel?’

    Why should Jesus be the focus? Many died before He came!

A. Please, let’s take a few moments to think about these 7 clear, bold and consistent messages of The Bible concerning Jesus.

1. He is The Lord God, through Whom and for Whom The Spirit of God created ALL things, and Whom Father God Himself, calls ‘God’. (Hebrews 1:2,8, John 1:3, Ephesians 3:9) In a conversation with Abraham, He rhetorically asked, ‘ Is anything too hard for The Lord?’ (Genesis 18:14) He declared to Jeremiah, ‘Behold, I am The Lord, The God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?’ (Jeremiah 32:27) Absolutely nothing is impossible to Him.

2. He is the physical person with Whom Adam and Eve spent quality time in Eden before they sinned. They physically heard Him walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from Him. (Genesis 3:8) If He was an invisible spirit, how could they hide from a spirit or hear Him walking?

3. In the ensuing dialog with Adam, Eve and the serpent (possessed by satan), He pronounced judgments on each one. The judgment pronounced on the serpent was two-fold – initially referring to the physical serpent, and subsequently referring to the spirit who possessed and manipulated the serpent. This pattern is clearly repeated in Ezekiel 28 that initially refers to the King of Tyre, and subsequently refers to Lucifer, who became satan. It is also inferred in Isaiah 14 that refers to the King of Babylon and Lucifer; and is also reflective in many Bible verses in which God initially speaks to or about a mortal man, and in the same discourse references him as an immortal being (e.g., as in Haggai 2:23). The judgment on satan included a veiled reference to Jesus’ own death: ‘…and you shall bruise His (i.e. My) heel.’

4. The Passover lamb spiritually points to Jesus, The Messiah, Who John, moved by The Holy Spirit, called The (sacrificial) Lamb of (Father) God. (John 1:29, 36) The purpose of His sacrifice was not because of anything Jesus did wrong, but because of our sinful nature. How generous is that? Ponder these references to ‘The Lamb’ in Revelation, stated in a way that affirm the equivalence between Father God and Jesus:

--But I saw no temple in it, for The Lord God Almighty and The Lamb are its (single) temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for The Glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its (illuminating) light. (Revelation 21:22-23)

--And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the Throne (shared/singular!) of God and of The Lamb. And there shall be no more curse, but the (shared/singular!) Throne of God and of The Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. (Revelation 22:1, 3) NB: Strategically and purposefully, the plural pronouns, they're and them, are not used. 

5. Jesus boldly asserted:

My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. (John 10:17-18)

In doing so, He was fulfilling His own veiled statement to satan in Eden. (Genesis 3:15)  

6. Since Father God created all things through and for Jesus, this confirms Jesus created Lucifer as well as all other angels, including those who, like satan, became demons when they elected to rebel. As The Creator, Jesus is in no way satan’s equal or sequel. Rather than rebelling, as Lucifer did, He willingly obeyed The Father, even to the point of planting Himself as  an embryo in Mary’s womb, a baby, and a man, and a corpse. He died as our sin substitute, and was raised from the dead to signify that ALL human beings who die will likewise be raised in an IM-mortal body to spend eternity in one of two places - in Heaven with Him, or in the eternal lake of fire that burns with sulfur, both of which are on a brand new Earth Jesus promised to Isaiah (some 700 years before He became a human) that He was then creating. (See: Earth 5.0 The Final Version)

7. Heaven revealed to Paul that, ‘Jesus, Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.’ (Philippians 2:6) Father God was in no way diminished by anything Jesus ever did or said, whether in his pre-incarnate, incarnate, or post-incarnate state.

Conclusion

From Genesis 1-to-Revelation 22, Jesus is undoubtedly revealed as the core/central figure, both in Heaven and across Father God’s entire physical creation, including Earth. He is revealed as Creator, Counselor, Christ (Redeeming Savior/Sacrificial Lamb), Mediator, Conqueror, Ultimate Judge, Earth's pending millennial King, and lastly as The Lord, sitting on The Throne of God for all eternity. Reaching any other conclusion can only be based on a totally different book other than The Bible. While The Bible is quintessentially a spiritual book that conveys God’s multi-millennial, strategic plan for mankind, even a casual reading of it with a strictly carnal mindset could hardly miss this conclusion. His Spirit, Hand, presence and righteous character are consistently evidenced across its pages. And since He carefully and meticulously INSPIRED its writing by His Spirit, it literally is ...'The Mind of Christ', revealed to mankind. There literally or figuratively is NO OTHER matching or equivalent resource on Earth, period!

The assertion that ‘…many people died before He came, therefore Jesus should not be our focus’, reveals a narrow focus on Jesus’ 33-year life as a mortal man. It denies the overwhelming abundance of evidence of his pre- and post-incarnate existence. The Bible reveals all who died before Christ, but in faith toward God, were reserved in Paradise, the upper region of hades, reserved for what would happen as depicted in Ephesians 4:8 -10. Jesus gave to Paul a clear, behind the scenes understanding of what happened AFTER Jesus died: He preached His Gospel to those in Paradise. Then He led them into Heaven. En route, Matthew 27:52 affirms they were resurrected as immortal beings and, presumably, then raptured into Heaven (the promised new Earth, per Isaiah 66.) This confirms there is no getting into Heaven apart from faith in The Gospel of Jesus as Christ. Jesus very emphatically and iteratively declared Himself to be 'The' Door or Way to God and to Heaven. 

In the only recording of Jesus publicly reading from what we call The Old Testament, He purposefully searched for, then read this passage: 

The Spirit of The Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach The Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (Isaiah 61:1-2)

While we typically regard ‘recovery of sight to the blind’ as referring to healing physical blindness, a major ministry of Jesus was healing people from their spiritual blindness. Many embraced this healing, but many more did not. About the latter group, Paul later wrote:

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age (satan) has blinded, who do not believe, lest the Light of The Gospel of The Glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine on them. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

NB: Counterfeits (religions and prophets) can only follow that which is first real and TRUE!

Look at Me ...Then (Poem)

(Imagine a non-racial me …if you can 😇)

To folks with a bright smile and/or personality,

We may be attracted, thinking they may be affable.

Is that spiritual or …human carnality?

By persona or façades, many folks are bedazzled.

But what if a person’s brightness was indeed genuine,

And not just a façade, intended to deceive?

To such a bright person, would you be willing to align?

But how could you tell for sure, and not just …perceive?

Our attraction to brightness and light may well be intrinsic,

Something innate, from our Creator, Who Himself is Light,

Something that is eroded when at sin, we are prolific.

When to His Light we are attracted, that is His delight.

But wait! For us He has a better, higher objective,

Than to be attracted to, and then walk in His Light.

So for our sin problem, He’s taken measures corrective,

And when we comply, in two ways, we’ll become Light!

First, in a world that by sin is darkened, spiritually,

As His redeemed, Earth-bound citizens of Heaven,

Our lifestyles are transformed to be His light, significantly.

In ways mostly unseen, we become His beacons. ¹

Second, He has eternal plans that blow our minds,

So He’s given us some hints, tips and clues to ponder.

Connecting them like puzzle pieces, this I find:

As Light, we’ll glow and shine in the glorious yonder!

Here are the clues I have found. Tell me what you will conclude:

First is after talking with God at length, Moses’ face glowed.

Ezekiel wrote ...with Glory Light, the ground was imbued.

In God’s presence, even on the ground, Glory was bestowed! ²

Second are two confirming clues from an angel and Jesus,

That in the resurrection, saints will shine like galactic stars!

Third is the manner in which Jesus, Himself, was transfigured.

Fourth are confirming descriptions of Jesus in two …memoirs. ³

Fifth, John affirms, when we see Him, we will be …LIKE Him!

So looking into a mirror that’s ‘futuristic’,

I perceive me as I then shall be, His paradigm.

I need no gadgets or devices holographic. ⁴

In deep, quiet times of meditation,

That’s when God’s promises to us who’ve been made righteous,

Transform to …prophetic precognition,

Thanks to the saving Grace of Jesus Christ, wondrous. 

This saving Grace to you He has extended,

When from the grave Christ was raised, ergo, 

You too can glow …mortality transcended!

So please tell me …do you wanna glow?

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¹ This transformation occurs when we repent of our sins, accept God’s forgiveness, and abide in Christ until the end. See: Prayer of Salvation (Poem)

² See: Exodus 34:29-35 and Ezekiel 43:2. See also: Angelic glory in Luke 2:8-14 and Revelation 18:1 

³ See: Daniel 12:3, Matthew 13:43 and 17:2, and especially Ezekiel 1:27 and Revelation 4:3

⁴ Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He (Jesus) is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2) Imagine that. In some ways, Jesus is our …prototype! After all, we were ‘created in His image’, but due to sin, Adam and Eve lost their glow, and so did we. But we now have an opportunity to …get it back!