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235 - THE MAN JESUS
THE BIRTH OF JESUS: The Lord Jesus was born not on December 25, 1 A.D. because of several reasons: December is wintertime in Palestine area and of course, the sheep and shepherds cannot be in the open field at nighttime as mentioned in the Bible narrative. The newly born child would freeze to death if wrapped only with thin cloth. The census all-over the Roman Empire was implemented 40 days after the Emperor Tiberius decreed it when he visited
It was the Bishop of Rome (the fox) who officially proclaimed in 354 A.D. that Christmas be celebrated on such day.
THE PERFECT MAN: Jesus Christ must become true humanity because of 4 reasons that no other person can fulfill. He became a genuine humanity in order to be the Savior of the human race, to die on the cross of Calvary and to be mediator between God and man. He became a genuine man to become our great High Priest forever and to rule as the Son of David during the millennial kingdom.
He had to become a man in order to take our place (of condemnation before God). It was man (Adam) who sinned; therefore, it must be man who must pay the penalty of sin. For until a Man can stand in the presence of God, no man can stand in the presence of God.
He had to be a Man because it is impossible for the deity to die. It is impossible for deity to suffer spiritual death (that is to become sinful before God). It is impossible for the deity to be separated from God and from His essence.
While Jesus was on the cross, God the Father poured out all His wrath against sin on Him who has no sin. God the father poured His wrath on Him while His humanity was separated from God that is while He was spiritually death.
The acceptance of Christ as a Man meant the acceptance of His sacrifice. The acceptance of His sacrifice meant the acceptance of all those who seek entrance into the presence of the Father through Jesus Christ [Ephesians 2:8-9, Hebrews 1:13, Psalm 110:1, 1 Peter 3:22].
Christ as the SECOND ADAM has no Adamic original sin without the old sinful nature (AOS & OSN), He is the unique begotten Son of God and the unique God-Man- perfectly impeccable. Because of Jesus the justice of God is freed to bless man. Jesus is the only Person born spiritually alive and by His own volition chose to die for man. He is the only Man equal with God. He is the only Man equal with man, and the only man accepted and approved by God.
It is impossible to produce a biography of Jesus Christ due to very limited materials provided by the writers of the Gospels. As believers, we cannot accept the non-Christian and pseudo-Christians materials. All the Gnostic and extra-canonical materials are misleading and heretical.
Jesus Christ is the only unique Person in the entire universe for several reasons: He was born spiritual alive and became spiritually death only for 3 hours while hanging on the cross.
He was born without the old sinful nature and He died by His own will. He was tempted more than all the men and women in this world but He ascended to heaven without committing a single sin. His death on the cross (His spiritual death) gives eternal life to those who comes to Him by faith in Christ alone.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
236 - JESUS OF NAZARETH
JESUS as the proper name and Christ as the official, name of our Lord: to distinguish him from others who possessed the same name. He is spoken of as "Jesus of Nazareth" (John 18:7), and "Jesus the son of Joseph" (John 6:42). This is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshuaƒz, which was originally Hoshea (Numbers 13:8, 16), but changed by Moses into Jehoshua (Num. 13:16; 1 Chronicles. 7:27), or Joshuaƒ| After the Exile it assumed the form Joshuaƒz whence the Greek form Jesus. It was given to our Lord to denote the object of his mission, to save (Matthew 1:21).
The life of Jesus on earth may be divided into two great periods,
1. That of His private life, till he was about thirty years of age; and 2. That of His public life, which lasted about three years
In the "fullness of time" He was born at Bethlehem, in the reign of the emperor Augustus, of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter (Matthew 1:1; Luke 3:23; comp. John 7:42
The expression ¡§Jesus the Christ¡¨ is a combination of a name, "Jesus" (of Nazareth), and the title "Messiah" (Hebrew) or "Christ" (Greek), which means, "anointed." In Acts 5:42, where we read of "preaching Jesus the Christ," this combination of the name and the title is still apparent. As time progressed, however, the title became so closely associated with the name that the combination soon was transformed to a confessional name, Jesus Christ. The appropriateness of this title for Jesus was such that even Jewish Christian writers quickly referred to Jesus Christ rather than Jesus the Christ (Matthew 1:1; Romans 1:7; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:1; I Peter 1:1).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
237 - THE ONLY BEGOTTEN
The Greek word monogenes occurs 9 times in the New Testament- the second half of the word is not derived from gennao, ¡¥to beget¡¨," but is an adjectival form derived from genos, "origin, race,¡¨monogenes, therefore, could be rendered "one of a kind." The translation "only" will suffice for the references in Luke and Hebrews.
In the Pauline writings, the term idios huiosƒw clearly stated the reality of monogenes (Rom. 8:32). Since the apostle Paul used "beloved" ƒv(agapetos) of the Son, some have concluded that the two words agapetos and monogenes are equivalent in force.
Though the translation "only" is lexically sound for Johnnanine passages, since in all strictness "only begotten" would require monogennetosƒz the old rendering "only begotten" is not entirely without justification when the context in John 1:14 is considered.
The verb genesthaiƒnoccurs at the end of 1:13 ("born of God") and ginesthai ƒnin 1:14; these words ultimately go back to the same root as the second half of monogenes. Especially important is 1 John 5:18, where the second "born of God" must refer to Christ according to the superior Greek text.
. The Sonship in John is linked to preexistence (17:5, 24, and the many references to the Son as sent of the Father).
In its significance monogenes relates to several areas: (1) being or nature (uniquely God's Son), (2) the revelation of God to man (John 1:18), and (3) salvation through the Son (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9). "The adjective 'only begotten' conveys the idea, not of derivation and subordination, but of uniqueness and consubstantiality: Jesus is all that God is, and He alone is this".
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
238 - JESUS AS LORD
The phrase "Jesus is Lord" is probably the earliest of the Christian confessions and worked its way into the various acts of Christian worship. In what may well reflect a baptismal liturgy Paul writes, "If you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' ... you will be saved" (Rom. 10:9). Similarly, in the confessional or creedal formula in Phil. 2:11 every tongue shall confess, "Jesus Christ is Lord." Furthermore, only by the Holy Spirit can one say, "Jesus is Lord" (I Cor. 12:3).
It is important to note that it is Jesus as the risen and exalted one who is Lord, that is, the believing community in virtue of His exaltation to the right hand of God confesses the lordship of Jesus. In his Pentecost sermon Peter declares that Jesus whom they crucified God has raised and exalted to his right hand; and the whole house of Israel must know assuredly that God by this exaltation has made Him Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).
According to Paul, Jesus as Lord is declared Son of God with power through His resurrection from the dead. This must not be taken to mean that lordship is not to be ascribed to the earthly ministry of Jesus but to reinforce the point that the significance of the title in the life of the church is linked to His exaltation. To underscore this, Psalm 110:1 was drawn on heavily (Matthew 22:44; 26:64, Acts 2:34-35; Hebrews 1:3).
In the Palestinian community "Lord" was most commonly linked with Yahweh and became a regular circumlocution for the divine name in the public reading of the Scriptures. In the Greek Old Testament it is a translation of the Hebrew term "Adonaiƒzƒp a designation for Yahweh. Furthermoreƒz the use Maranatha ("Our Lord, come" or "Our Lord is coming") in I Cor. 16:22 suggests an early Palestinian origin. It is suggested, therefore, that when Jesus is called Lord, it is affirming his oneness with God.
They Jews have argued that the title, which makes Jesus equal with God, could not have arisen in the monotheism of Palestine, and that Jesus was first worshiped in these Hellenistic Christian communities. Though the debate is exceedingly complex, the former explanation is probably to be preferred. The recognition by even the enemies of Jesus that He acted and spoke with the authority of the OT Lord is not to be dismissed.
As the title for the exalted one, "Lord" has special reference to the present work of Christ as over against His former work on earth or His future work. The life of the community is lived under Jesus' lordship (Rom. 14:8). The baptism, or gift, of the Spirit is the act of the risen Lord that creates and extends the church. Through the Spirit the lordship of Jesus is exercised so that even the work of the Spirit is to be seen as the work of the risen Lord.
Having ascended on high He has given the church its spiritual leadership for the equipping of the saints and the perfecting of His body (Ephesians 4:11). The diversity of gifts and the variety of services are the singular activity of the Lord (I Cor. 12:4-5). The empowerment of the church is also expressed in the head-body imagery employed by Paul so that the head sustains the body and keeps it on course in the fulfilling of the divine plan (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18; 2:10). In the church the risen Lord thereby continues His own ministry begun in the incarnation.
Prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and intercession are carried on in the church by virtue of the presence of the Lord at the right hand of the Father (Rom. 8:34). The church rejoices in the Lord (Rom. 5:11; Phil. 3:1; 4:4). All the promises of the present meaning of ministry and witness are rooted in the lordship of Jesus. The promise of spiritual victory and the certain, present reality of the love of God flow from His presence at the right hand of God (Rom. 8:34-39)
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
239 - LORD OF LORDS
The whole of the created order also comes under the lordship of Jesus. He is the sovereign firstborn over all creation, for it was created through Him and is sustained by Him (Col. 1: 15-16; Heb. 1:3). The structure of the text of Colossians 1:15-20 shows that Jesus has the same relationship over the created order that He has over His new creation, the church. Only so do we perceive meaning in both the world and creation. So it is the purpose of God to bring all things to their fulfillment in Him (Ephesians 1:10). In the Old Testament, He is known as the LORD of Lords (Adonai ha Adonim ¡V Deut. 10:17).
The Lordship of Jesus over history is carried out through the Church and its proclamation. By virtue of His lordship the church is free to live in the world as servant. Being free from the necessity of power and achievement, for the victory is sealed, the church functions in terms of faithfulness and obedience, knowing that it is God who gives the increase (I Corinthians 3:6) and that the conquest of death as the last enemy is a certainty in the light of the victory of Christ (I Corinthians 15:25-26).
The gift of freedom is that by which the church bears witness to His lordship. The cross is taken up daily. The same is to be said of the weakness of the church. In Revelation the beast is allowed to make war against the saints and to conquer them (Rev. 13:7), but the final chapter reverses the script. The foolishness of the Church also bears witness to the lordship of Jesus, since it is by paradox that the Church prospers. Paul's testimony regarding Himself is true for the church: When it is weak, then it is strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).
The consequence of the church's reflection on the lordship of Jesus was to establish, in spite of the threat it might have posed to monotheistic commitments, the oneness of Jesus with God. He was incorporated into the singularity of God. So a title whose basic thrust is to assert Jesus' present power and authority in the church and in the world leads the church to recognize that the authority is the direct, not mediated, authority of God Himself. Jesus as Lord speaks not only of His work but of His person also, a fact made clear by the way the various NT writers use the OT. Thus we see the prominence of the "name" of Jesus ((Philippians 2:9-10; Acts 2:38). During his earthly ministry His lordship is obscured for the sake of redemptive work, but after His resurrection He is declared openly to be what He always has been, one with God in power and Person.
MESSIAH: (Greek: huios tou anthropou; Aramaic: bar nasa; Hebrew: Ben Adam). This Christological title appears 69 times in the Synoptic Gospels and 13 times in John and meets the most demanding tests of authenticity because of its original use by Jesus. There is no evidence of a well-defined Son of man Christology in Judaism before the time of Jesus.
Since nothing in Judaism corresponds precisely to the nuances of meaning Jesus gives to the term, and as the early Church makes no use of it in its own theology, attempts by radical critics to discount Jesus' originality in applying the title to Himself run counter to the fact that it satisfies especially well their own criterion of dissimilarity as the basic test of authentic sayings of Jesus.
Rejection of the title in any of its three shades of meaning may thus be seen to rest on pre-suppositional, not exegetical, grounds, since no other title used by Jesus so clearly attests His messianic self-consciousness; while numerous religious contemporary and humanistic viewpoint of interpretation begin with the a priori assumption that the church, not Jesus, is responsible for a His Christology.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
240 - THE SON OF MAN
The first intentional use of Son of man by Jesus functions as a substitute for His personal pronoun "I," and as such conveys extraordinary claims of authority on His part, quite different from its ordinary and simple reference to "man" in the psalms and as a form of address in Ezekiel. As Jesus uses the title in Mark 2:10, He claims the authority to forgive sins, indicating that He is consciously and creatively investing the title with deep spiritual meaning, tantamount to sharing the prerogatives of God.
Similarly His use of the title in the grain-field episode of Mark 2:28 indicates his authority over the sacred Sabbathƒz another claim of correlativity with God. The explicitly redemptive character of His ministry is evidenced by His personal claim that "the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 8:20; 11:19; 12:32), which indicates His servant-hood.
The second sounds His familiar theme of open table fellowship with outcasts, and the third concludes a powerful passage on His binding of Satan and a warning about "the unforgivable sin" against the Holy Spirit, by whose power Jesus is invading the demonic kingdom, another personal claim to correlativity with God. Matthew sayings are two in number (13:3; 11:13) and imply respectively that is, He is the Lord of the harvest), and that He knows who He is.
For since the Christology is so high and Jesus so aware of His equality with God, radical redaction criticism must be completely reassessed as to the originality of Jesus and the creativity of the early Church if these sayings are accepted as genuine.
Son of Man as Prophecy - This is equally true of the second group of Son of man sayings in which Jesus prophesies of His future suffering. If the first group is accepted as authentic, the second follows coherently. If on a priori grounds the first is rejected, then the second group will be rejected as "prophecies" of the church created after the fact. Of the eleven passages in this category, eight are in Mark (8:31; 9:12, 31; 10:33; 14:21, 41) and all disclose Jesus' messianic awareness that He is to suffer as a ransom for many. In considerable detail Jesus foretells His betrayal, condemnation, death, and resurrection.
The temptation of the naturalistic critic will be to explain these prophecies as church created, but only if the reality of biblical prophecy and the incarnation are discounted. On the assumption that the evangelist is giving an authentic account of Jesus' prophecies; a coherent picture of His personal awareness of His redemptive mission and His authority as the true Prophet of God [Deut. 18:15-22].
The third group appears to be more enigmatic in the sense that Jesus refers to the Son of man in the third person. A number of more radical interpreters take this to mean that Jesus was referring to another than Himself, and since the sayings, interpreted in this fashion, would not suggest His messianic self-consciousness, they are willing to allow the possibility of authenticity. There are nineteen of these sayings, all of which portray the Son of man as a glorified divine being, whereas in the first two groupings Jesus generally speaks of Himself in terms of humility and suffering.
It is important to note that, the Son of man, who is given everlasting dominion and glory and kingdom by the Ancient of Days. Jesus consciously personifies the Son of man, and as He draws His disciples about Him and empowers them to participate in His redemptive reign He allows them to share in the corporate Son of man as saints of the Most High, and in His reign as He as king inaugurates the kingdom of God. Son of man and kingdom of God appear to be nearly interchangeable in both individual and corporate senses.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
241 - THEOPHANY
The Angel of the Lord or the Angel of God or the Angel of Jehovah, which is the Old Testament Theophanic Mediator or what we called Christophany, which ƒnis the visible physical appearance of the Second Person of the Godhead who assumed the human form.
The Angel of the Lord is a distinct personal Self-manifestation of God, Who is called the Incarnate Logos [Judges 2:1]. The Angel of the Lord is unique and distinct from God yet introduced Himself as the Deity. He had the same specific personality of angels but superior in rank and distinguishable from angels in general.
The Angel of The Lord spoke with divine authority as though He was God Himself [John 1:1-14], unlike the angels who are under divine authority. He had the authority to forgive sins [Exodus 23:31], and had direct authority to execute divine order. He is the Guardian Angel of the chosen nation Israel [Isaiah 63:7].
The Angel of the Lord did not appear on earth while Jesus was in the flesh, the one who appeared before the shepherds was probably the archangel Gabriel, referred to only as the ¡§angel of the Lord¡¨ by the writer of Luke [Luke 2:9].
The public appearance of the Angel of the Lord made a turning point in human history. He was there in the founding of the chosen race; He was there in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, in the founding of the Theocratic government in Mt. Sinai, in leading the Hebrews into settlement the Promise Land and in the founding of Solomon¡¦s temple.
The Angel of the Lord supported Elijah in preserving monotheism by destroying the 450 prophets of Baal and the 600 prophets of Asherah. During the Babylonian captivity the Angel of the Lord protected the children of Israel.
The Angel of the Lord helped and encouraged Hagar [Genesis 16:7, 21:17] during her ordeal. He stopped the sacrifice of Abraham and prior to this, visited and warned Abraham [Genesis 18:1-, 22:11-15]. He assisted Eliezer in searching in searching for a wife for his son Isaac [Genesis 24:7, 40]. He gave instruction to Jacob [Genesis 31:11-15], He appeared to Moses and later delivered to him the 10 Commandments [Exodus 3:6-10]. The Angel of the Lord led and served as the Commander of the Israelite army [Joshua 5:14, 6:2] and as the King of the chosen nation for many years [1 Samuel 8:7].
Note: Angels are always spoken of the masculine gender-there is no feminine form of the word. Angels appeared to believers prior to the completion of the canon of the Bible but ceased after the completion of the Canon. Angels appeared to men and women of God, never to kids.
Angels appeared to people in human forms but without wings. The Bible recorded the appearance of angels in form of adults male not in appearance of little children.
Angels appeared to some Old Testament saints but no one had actually seen a cherubim or seraphim and except in dreams or vision. Only 2 Old Testament characters had these kinds of vision.
The Bible called the ƒnƒnTheophanic ƒnChrist as the Angel of the Lord, and that term is exclusively used for the Lord Jesus. The Bible uses the term angel for angel, the term cherubim for cherubim, and seraphim for seraphim. The Angel of the Lord is not just an angel, not a seraph and not a cherub. He was the pre-incarnate Christ.
The term ¡§Angel of the Lord¡¨ was a language of accommodation for man to understand the spiritual matter.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
242 - THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST
The perfect humanity of Christ advanced through all stages of spiritual growth, reaching spiritual maturity at the early age of twelve years old [Luke 2:40].
His attainment of spiritual self-esteem characterized by virtue personal love toward God and its attainment of spiritual autonomy characterized by virtue impersonal love toward all men [Luke 2:52].
The humanity of Christ signified His positive volition to the plan of God the Father submitting to the baptism of John. His immersion symbolized His obedience to the plan of the Father for His first coming. Plans of grace that no one but the infinite and perfect impeccability of Jesus Christ could execute.
Christ¡¦s declaration of His submission to God¡¦s will elicited the strongest possible attestation of our Lord¡¦s spiritual maturity [Matthew 3:17, John 1:14]. As true humanity, Christ had utilized the divine sphere fulfilled the pattern of spiritual growth.
At the outset of His public ministry, He was immediately taken into the desert, to face His evidence testing [Matthew 4:1-15]. The humanity of Christ was tested severely all throughout His ministerial days. The account recorded in Matthew chapter 4 is only partial of His daily testing.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
243 - FACTS BEFORE HIS BIRTH
It is impossible to produce a biography of the Lord Jesus Christ due to very limited materials provided by the writers of the Scripture. We cannot accept the non-canonical materials and materials from extra-Biblical sources.
Numerous prophecies from Genesis to Malachi are related to His birth as true humanity [Isaiah 9:1-2]. The appearance of an angel first to Mary [Luke 1:26-38], and then to Joseph [Matthew 1:18-25] concerned about the first coming of the Lord Jesus. His predecessors were also mentioned [Isaiah 40:3-5, 9-10, Matthew 3:1-3, Mark 1:2-3, Luke 7:24-27].
THIRTY YEARS IN NAZARETH
Although this lasted for 30 years, yet the material is confined only to the birth stories and one brief incident when Jesus was about twelve years old [Luke 2:41-52]
The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are composed of 89 chapters with a total of 3744 verses. However, only eleven (11) verses are related to His 30 years in Nazareth. Compare to 8 chapters or over 1800 verses related to His last 10 days before His death.
His home life in Nazareth for 30 years has little relevance to our spiritual life because of their negative volition and open rejection of the Messiah and the Word of God.
The people of Nazareth called Him nothing but the ¡§carpenter¡¨ or the ¡§son of the carpenter¡¨ is an obvious indication of their hardness of the heart (hardening of the kardiaƒw [Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3].
The mystery of the hidden years also reveals the reality that any believer has the same potential for maximum for spiritual maturity in any given situation or circumstances.
The real issue about the hidden years is not what He did or what He did not do, but WHO AND WHAT HE IS inside the cosmos diabolicus. ƒ|ƒnThat is, how He maintained His perfect impeccability in their midst of sinful men.
The real issue about the virgin birth is not the virginity of Mary but the birth of the Son of God into perfect humanity (without old sinful nature and Adamic original sin) the real issue is the kenosis. ƒnƒnƒn
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
244 - THE KENOSIS
KENOSIS: ƒvƒwƒnfrom the Greek verb kenoo ƒnƒnmeaning to deprive oneself of a rightful function, to debase oneself. It explains how the supreme God of the universe condescended to become a man and suffer the humiliation of the cross [Philippians 2:6-8].
THE 2 STATES OF CHRIST:
The state of His humiliation: having taken the form of a servant, having become in the likeness of men [Philippians 2:7]
The state of His preincarnate ƒ{eternal state, as being in the form of God, equal with God [Philippians 2:6]
The truth expressed here concerning His pre-incarnate state is that He had to be equal with God in order to have the form of God. He could not be God the Son without being God.
He who showed us the ƒvmorpheƒnƒ{ the form of God or the essence of God, had to be equal with God. Prior to His incarnation He was in the form of God- He was in essence of God, and after His incarnation, in spite of His voluntary humiliation, He was still in the form of essence of God.
But in spite of His essence as a Deity, He took upon Himself the true essence of a servant ¡V the form of a man. How could the sovereign, infinite, perfect and immutable God become a servant yet remains God?
The answer is not speculation but history ¡Vthe historical life of Christ in the hypostatic union on earth. God has resolved the issues. The answer to this question reveals the dynamics of Christ integrity.
To become a servant, Christ had to veil His preincarnate glory and power [John 17:5]. All throughout His life on earth (during His Hypostatic union) Christ refused to use or exercise the attributes of His Deity apart from the mission given to Him by the Father [Revelation 13:8]. Satan tempted His humanity to use His divine Deity for His own benefits.
As a perfect Deity, Christ remained perfect omniscience, but as a true humanity, He was born ignorant (He was not bon with Bible doctrine implanted in His soul) but He learned Bible doctrine, little by little, precept by precept [Isaiah 28:10] from the early age.
As God, Christ remained omnipotent, existing equally in heaven and on earth [John 13:13], while as a Man; He endured primitive technology and all the discomfort of His day. As Deity His omnipotence held together the universe, maintaining and sustaining it, including all the needs of all His children around the world [Colossians 1:17].
During His Incarnation, Jesus Christ did not exercise His divine attributes to benefit or glorify Himself. Instead, the Father¡¦s design of the divine attribute ƒnassigned to God, the Holy Spirit the mission of sustaining and glorifying Christ (John 8:56, 16:14).
Divine power system or dynapshere explains kenosis because humility does not stand all alone in the divine system but the foundation of all other viruses and by what Christ voluntarily chose to do, not just what He voluntarily chose to restrict [Philippians 2:5-8].
Kenosis is the most dramatic demonstration of objective divine love of the Members of the Godhead for one another.
Since the divine dynasphere met the absolute standards of God the Son in the eternity past, we can place our confidence in the divine dynasphere ƒnas our Christian way of life. From His omniscience in eternity past, Christ knew every detail of the divine dynasphere ƒnƒ{its tremendous divine dynamics that is identical to his own.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
245 - IMPECCABILITY
ƒnOur Lord¡¦s complete and uninterrupted reliance on the divine dynasphere is manifested is manifested in the sinless perfection of His life- His freedom from free categories of sin.
Christ remained free from all three categories of sin, namely the old sinful nature, the Adamic original sin, and personal sin. The virginal conception of Christ enabled Him to enter the human race free from the inherent sin nature that corrupted every person born into the world [Romans 3:23, 1 Corinthians 15:22]. Therefore, there was no home to which Adamic ƒnoriginal sin could be imputed.
He faced life having to contend only with avoiding personal sins. He remained unblemished and spotless- free from personal sins [1 Peter 1:19]. Were He a sinner, He would be condemned. He would have to bear the punishment for His own sins and would be unqualified to substitute for mankind. Only someone not under condemnation can take the place of the condemned.
Christ is not able to sin [non posseƒn peccare] refers to His Deity. God cannot tolerate sin or any imperfection; He cannot be tempted to sin. No sin appeals to Him, and He never tempts us to commit sins [James 1:13]. The phrase ¡§Christ is not able to sin¡¨ (posse non peccareƒn) refers to His perfect humanity, which possess the ability to resist sin [Hebrew 4:15].
For 33 years, the humanity of Christ remained inside the plan, purpose and will of God (the divine dynasphere), the perfect environment of virtue love complexes. Although Christ was tempted in every way that we are, He never violated kenosis but consistently relied on the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit ¡V He remained in the power system, He remained impeccable all throughout His humanity [1 John 3:5].
The divine dynasphere ƒnempowered Him to reach the cross fully qualified to bear the sins of the human race. God the Father provided all the support necessary for Christ to accomplish that mission. God does the same for us ¡Vso that we can finish our mission that is to glorify Christ in time.
THE DEITY OF CHRIST: Cannot be tempted and cannot sin.
THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST: Can be tempted and can sin.
THE GOD¡VMAN: Cannot sin (Not able to sin) and cannot be tempted (able not to sin)- that is, impeccability.
Sovereignty is divine volition, absolute free will in the eternal and infinite essence of God. Each person of the Godhead is sovereign ¡Vsubject to no one, dependent on no one, answerable to no one.
The pleasure of God the Father was to author a plan to reconcile fallen man to Him ¡Vthe pleasure of the Son was to execute His plan of grace [John 8:29].
God the Son did not cease to be sovereign when He decided to obey the authority of the Father. The sovereignty of the Son aggressively upheld, seconded, and affirmed the sovereignty of the Father.
Kenosis was an offensive not defensive divine strategy, aimed ultimate victory in the angelic conflict. Christ accepted the challenge to wield the most powerful weapon ever designed the divine dynasphere.
Therefore, the omniscience of Christ knew from eternity past every detail of the divine dynasphere and its dynamic power and resources. Since, the divine dynasphere ƒnmet the absolute standards of God the Son, we can place our confidence in the will, plan and purpose of God.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
246 - THE LAMB OF GOD
Twice in the NT Jesus is called the Lamb of God, and on each occasion by John the Baptist (John 1:29, 35). The word amnos (ƒnlamb) is found also in Acts 8:32; 1 Peter 1:19; and in the Greek version of Isaiah 53:7. These last references suggest Isaiah 53 as the immediate context for John's declaration concerning Christ, the Messiah, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The Lamb of Isaiah 53 was identified with the Messiah as the servant of God. This identity of Jesus as Messiah with the Lamb of God was certain for His disciples with Bible doctrine (John 1:20, 23, 29).
The use of the genitive of possession, the Lamb of God, specifically relates Christ to God in the act of sin bearing. He is at once the sacrificial victim presented to God and the victim provided by God. In this relationship he bears the world's sin, removes it by taking it on Himself. As in Isaiah 53 he bears "on Himself alone the iniquity of us all," by being "led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before his sheerer is dumb."
. The two figures, that of Isaiah 53:7 and that of Exodus 12, consequently coalesce in the designation. They are not contradictory but complementary. "All the utterances of the New Testament regarding the Lamb of God are derived from this prophecy (Isaiah 53:7), in which the dumb type of the Passover now finds a tongue".
All the ideas surrounding the figure of the lamb built up through the progressive revelation of the OT may indeed go into the concept as it occurs in the NT. In Genesis there is the necessity of the lamb, Abel brought the firstlings of his flock (Hebrew 9:22); in Exodus, the efficacy of the lamb, the blood sprinkled door posts (Revelation 7:14; 1 Peter 1:12); in Leviticus, the purity of the lamb, without blemish (1 Peter 1:19); in Isaiah, the personality of the lamb, "He," the lamb, as the servant of the Lord (John 1:29; Rev. 5:12-13). Nowhere, therefore, does the figure merely suggest "the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:1); it always carries with it a sacrificial sense (Revelation 5:6, 12; 13:8).
In the book of Revelation the unqualified designation lamb (arnion)ƒw occurs eight times in symbolic reference to Christ and unites the two ideas of redemption and kingship. On one side are such statements as a Lamb which has been slain (5:6, 12); those "who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (7:14); "they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony" (12:11); "they which are written in the Lamb's book of life" (21:27).
The stress here falls upon the redeeming work of Christ as the Lamb of God. On the other side, connected with the title is the idea of sovereignty. It is the Lamb that was slain that has power to take the book and loose its seals (5:6-7); there is reference to the wrath of the Lamb (6:16); and the Lamb is seen in the midst of the throne (7:17); the throne in heaven is the throne of God and the Lamb (22:1, 3); the wicked make war against the Lamb but the Lamb is victorious (17:14). In the general term "lamb", then, two ideas unite: victorious power and vicarious suffering. At the heart of God's sovereignty there is sacrificial love.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
247 - THE INCARNATE CHRIST:
Incarnation from Latin in and caro ƒnmeaning stem and carn, meaning flesh. In the context of Christian theology, the act whereby the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, without ceasing to be what He is, God the Son, took into union with Himself what He before that act did not possess, a human nature, "and so [He] was and continues to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person, forever. Like many other theological terms, this term can be misleading. It might suggest that the eternal Logos by the act of incarnation was confined to the human body of Jesus of Nazareth. The implication of such a construction of the result of the incarnation is that God the Son, kenotically "emptying" Himself, divested himself of his attribute of being always and everywhere immediately present in his universe.
But to hold such a view is tantamount to contending that He who ¡§enfleshed¡¨ Himself as Jesus of Nazareth, while doubtless more than man, is not quite God. Divine attributes are not, however, characteristics separate and distinct from God's essence that He can set aside when he desires. To the contrary, it is precisely the sum total of God's attributes that constitutes the essence of His deity and expresses His divine glory.
Jesus, during the days of His flesh, claimed omnipresence for Himself in Matthew 18:20 and 28:20 declared that Jesus Christ possessed "two natures without confusion, without change, without division, without separation, the distinctiveness of the natures being by no means removed because of the union, but the properties of each nature being preserved. The doctrine, thus clarified, means that in the incarnation the divine Logos, while in the body of Jesus and personally united to it, is also beyond the bounds of the human nature He assumed. Scripture support for this doctrine is replete [John 1:14; Romans 1:3; 8:3; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:7-8; I Timothy 3:16; I John 4:2; 2 John 7, also Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 1:21-22; I Peter 3:18; 4:1).
It is very important, in light of what has just been said, to underscore that in the incarnation the divine Logos did not take into union with Himself a human person; otherwise, he would have been two persons.
The Scriptures will not tolerate such a view. Never does Jesus Christ, when referring to Himself, say "we" or "us" or "our"; He always uses "I" or "me" or "my." What the divine Logos, who was already and eternally a person, did do, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, was to take into union with Himself a human nature with the result that Jesus Christ was one person with a divine nature (i.e., a complex of divine attributes) and a human nature (i.e., a complex of human attributes).
This is not to say that the human nature of Christ is impersonal. The human nature of Christ was not for a moment impersonal. The Logos assumed that nature into personal subsistence with Himself. The human nature has its personal existence in the person of the Logos. It is in-personal rather than impersonal. The Son of God did not become personal by incarnation. He became incarnate but there was no suspension of His divine self-identity.
The Effecting Means of the Incarnation: according to Scripture, whereby the incarnation came about is the virginal conception (a more accurate description than virgin birth) of the Son of God by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:16, 18, 20, 23, 25; Luke 1:27, 34-35; 2:5; 3:23; Galatians 4:4). Due to the interpenetration of the Persons within the Godhead (John 14:20; 17:21-23; Hebrew 9:14), the Holy Spirit, by means of the virginal conception, insured the divine personality of the God-man without creating at the same time a new human personality.
If Christ had been generated by man, He would have been a human person, included in the covenant of works, and as such would have shared the common guilt of mankind. But now that His subject, His ego, His person, is not out of Adam, He is not in the covenant of works and is free from the guilt of sin. And being free from the guilt of sin, His human nature could also be kept free, both before and after His birth, from the pollution of sin.
Representations of the Incarnate Person: Because Jesus Christ is the God-man (one person who took human nature into union with His divine nature in the one divine person), the Scriptures can predicate of His person whatever can be predicated of either nature. In fact, can be predicated of either nature. Also, the person of Christ may be designated in terms of one nature while what is predicated of Him so designated is true by virtue of His union with the other nature.
1. The person, and not a nature, is the subject of the statement when what is predicated of Christ is true by virtue of all that belongs to his person as essentially divine and assertively human; that is, redeemer; prophet, priest, and king.
2. The person, and not a nature, is the subject of the statement when what is predicated of Him, designated in terms of what He is as human, is true by virtue of His divine nature.
In Romans 9:5 Christ is designated according to His human nature ("Christ according to the flesh"), while what is predicated of Him is true because of His divine nature ("God over all, blessed forever"). The Scriptures do not confuse or inter-mingle the two natures. It is the person of Christ who is always the subject of the scriptural assertions about him.
3. The person, and not a nature, is the subject of the statement, when what is predicated of Him, designated in terms of what He is as divine, is true by virtue of His human nature.
In I Corinthians 2:8 Christ is designated according to His divine nature ("the Lord of glory"), while what is predicated of Him is true because of His human nature (man "crucified" Him). Again, there is no confusion here of the divine and human natures of Christ. It is not the divine nature as such which is crucified; it is the divine person, because He is also human, who is crucified.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
248 - HYPOSTASIS
The word is a transliteration of the Greek hypostasis, "substance," "nature," "essence" (from hyphistasthai, "stand under," "subsist," which is from two Greek words that means "under," andƒz "cause to stand"), and denotes a real personal subsistence or person. In philosophy it signifies the underlying or essential part of anything, as distinguished from attributes that may vary.
It developed theologically as the term to describe any one of the three real and distinct subsistence in the one undivided essence of God and especially the one unified personality of Christ the Son in His two natures: human and divine
The classic Chalcedonian definition of God, one essence in three hypostases , was unfortunately translated into Latin as "one substance [Gr. hypostasis] in three persons" (una substantia, tres personae). This not only confused threefold substance with the one ousia (Latin essentia, "essence"), but the Latin word persona ("face" or "mask") is very different from the Greek hypostasis.
Bible translators tried unsuccessfully to resolve the conflict by defining hypostasis as synonymous with the very different word persona. Although much confusion still reigns, orthodoxy has generally held to the one substance of God, known in the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God is ¡§One in essence, three in Hypostasis¡¨ is quite different from ¡§One in essence, three in persons¡¨. Hypostasis emphasizes the equality of the Godhead- eternal, infinite and absolute but different in functions.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
249 - PREEXISTENCE OF CHRIST
The preincarnate existence of Christ may be only a simple, contemplative inference backwards from the spiritual glory of the present Christ, certainly its clearest expression is found in later writing reflecting upon the messianic assessment of Christ in the primitive Christian community (Acts 2:22-23; 10:38). Yet preexistence is at least implied in words of Jesus Himself: "The son of man came"; the owner of the vineyard "had still ... a beloved son: finally the Father sent Him." It is explicit in sayings attributed to Jesus in John's Gospel: "I came down from heaven"; "The glory I had with thee before the world was."
Jewish scholars attributed "ideal" preexistence to things (law, temple) and persons (Adam, Moses) deeply reverenced, echoed perhaps in Paul's calling Christ "last Adam ... from heaven." Greek thinking, reflected in Philo, was familiar with preexistence of souls. But it is unnecessary to find here more than a source of usable terms. The idea that the Son of God, eternally preexisting in glory with the Father, moved by love became incarnate was too central to Christian faith to depend upon coincidences of language for its basis.
Paul appeals for generosity because Christ, "though rich became poor." He pleads that converts live as sons because "God sent forth his son"; argues for self-effacement from the fact that Christ, being in the form of God, "emptied Himself"; contends, against the Gnostics' pleroma ƒnfilling the gulf between God and creation, that "all things were created in, through, and for Christ ... who is before all things.
As "Lord from heaven" Christ provides the pattern of our resurrected humanity; as He first descended, so He has ascended, the measure of His triumph and assurance of ours (2 Corinthians 8:9; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:5-6; Col. 1:15-16; Ephesians 4:8-9). For such practical, pastoral exhortations one does not argue from fringe speculations, but only from familiar, accepted, foundation truths.
John's Gospel and Epistle, assuming that Christ came from God and went to God (John 13:3), emphasize His being sent by the Father on divine mission, expressing divine love (John 3:16; I John 4:9-10), a revelation of the unseen Father by one belonging "in the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18), a divine Word, present when God spoke at creation and now again conveying meaning and power to the world (John 1).
For John as for Paul, mankind's salvation derives not from any human initiative but from the coming of the eternal Son into time. That is the crucial truth here at issue.
The implications of preexistence are a concern of subsequent Christian thought. Does it impair the manhood of Jesus? Why the delay in Christ's arrival? Does preexistence imply continuity of memory between the eternal Son and Jesus? But the fact of preexistence is not questioned, except where Christ's deity and divine mission are wholly denied.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
250 - STATES OF JESUS CHRIST
The states of the Lord Jesus Christ refer to the different relationships He had to God's law for mankind, to the possession of authority, and to receiving honor for Himself.
Generally two states (humiliation and exaltation) are distinguished. Thus, the doctrine of the twofold state of Christ is the teaching that Christ experienced first the state of humiliation, then the state of exaltation. Within each of these states five aspects may be distinguished.
THE HUMILIATION OF CHRIST
There are five aspects under the humiliation of Christ:
5. Victorious Proclamation
The incarnation, or Christ's taking to Himself a human nature, was itself a step of humiliation. He gave up the honor and glory that belonged to Him in heaven (John 17:5). He also gave up His right to exercise divine authority for His own benefit and the right to enjoy his Lordship over all things in heaven and on earth (2 Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 2:6-7; Hebrews 2:9). Thus He gave up the status of ruler and took on the status of a servant. Furthermore, He subjected Himself to the demands of living under the law (Galatians 4:4), thus making it necessary for Him to obey perfectly the OT laws that God had commanded of His people (John 8:46; Matthew 3:15).
He took on Himself the obligation to obey God perfectly as a man, as our representative, in order to earn salvation for us through a record of perfect lifelong obedience (Romans 5:18-19). This he had to do in the strength of His human nature, without miraculous assistance from His divine powers (Matthew 4:3-4).
It was a true human nature, which the Son of God took to Himself. It was not merely a human body, but also a human mind (which learned as we learn, Luke 2:52), and a human soul (which could be troubled as we are troubled, John 12:27; 13:21). Thus, Jesus was fully man, made like us "in every respect" (Hebrew 2:17). He had to be fully man in order to become the sacrifice that was offered for man's sins: if He was not fully man, we could not have been saved.
Nevertheless, the human nature of Christ was not subject to sin (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 4:15; I John 3:5). Thus, His human nature was like Adam's human nature before the fall.
Yet Jesus did not give up any of His divine attributes or become less fully God when he took on a human nature. He remained fully God (John 1:1, 14; Col. 1:19; 2:9), omnipotent (Matthew 8:26-27; Isaiah 9:6), omniscient (John 2:25; 6:64; 16:30; 21:17), eternal (8:58), and incapable of dying (2:19; 10:17-18). However, these attributes were veiled, not generally manifested during Jesus' earthly ministry (Matthew 13:55-56), and never used for His own benefit or to make the path of obedience easier for Him (4:1-11).
Thus, Jesus remained fully God and became fully man as well. It is sometimes said, "while remaining what He was, he became what He was not." (It should be remembered that it is God's Son, the second Person of the Trinity, who became man.
God the Father did not become man, nor did the Holy Spirit: Matthew 3:16-17; John 1:1; 3:16; Galatians 4:4). It is the most amazing fact in all history that one who was eternal and infinite God should take to Himself the lowly nature of a man and should then continue to exist for all eternity as fully God and fully man as well, united in one person.
It is important to insist that even while existing in these two natures, Jesus Christ remained one Divine Person. His human nature was not an independent person by itself (capable, e.g., of talking to the divine nature or acting in opposition to it). In a manner that surpasses our understanding, the human and divine natures of Christ were integrated into one Person, and He remains as both God and man, and yet one Person, forever.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
251 - THE SUFFERING OF CHRIST
The suffering of the Lord Jesus lasted throughout His whole life, though they culminated in His trial and death on the cross. He experienced the ordinary sufferings of living in a fallen world. He was weary (John 4:6), thirsty (19:28), hungry (Matthew 4:2), sorrowful (John 11:35), and lonely (Matthew 26:56). He felt great grief at human sin and its terrible effects (Matt. 23:37; Mark 3:5; 8:12; John 11:33-35, 38).
He endured human opposition and intense hatred against Himself (Luke 11:53-54; John 15:18, 24-25). He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).
Moreover, He "learned obedience through what He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8); that is, His moral strength and ability to resist temptation increased with the successful meeting of each more difficult temptation, especially those connected with hardship and suffering. He experienced the sufferings of enduring great temptations without yielding (Matthew 4:l.-11; Luke 11: 53-54; 22:28; Hebrew 2:18; 4:15; I Peter 2:21-23), especially in the Garden of Gethsemane just prior to His death (Matthew 26:37-38; Hebrew 5:7; 12:3-4).
Here it must be remembered that one who does not yield to temptation most fully feels its force, just as someone who successfully holds a heavy weight overhead feels its force much more than someone who drops it at once.
His humiliation increased in intensity at the time of His trial and death. Physical sufferings connected with crucifixion were terrible, as were the mocking and shame connected with such a death. But even worse were the sufferings in spirit that Jesus experienced when God the Father put on Him the guilt of our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; I Peter 2:22; Isaiah 53:6). The Father turned away His face, so that Jesus was left alone with the blackness of sin and guilt upon Him (Matthew 27:46). Then, as Jesus fulfilled the role of propitiatory sacrifice (Romans 3:25; I John 2:2; 4:10), He bore the fury of the intense wrath of God against sin, and bore it to the end.
The penalty for sin was the spiritual death of Christ (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23). It was necessary that Jesus Himself die to bear our penalty. His death was not similar to ours. His human spirit and soul was separated from His body and passed into the presence of the Father in heaven (Luke 23:43, 46).
Thus, He experienced a death that is like the one we, as believers will experience if we die in this present age. The knowledge that Jesus has gone through death before us should remove from us the fear of physical death (I Corinthians 15:55-57; Hebrews 2:14-15).
It is not correct to say that Jesus' divine nature died, or could die, if "die" implies a cessation of activity, a cessation of consciousness, or a diminution of power (John 2:19; 10:17-18). Yet by virtue of union with Jesus' human nature, His divine nature experienced what it was like to go through spiritual death. Whether the divine nature was ever itself the object of divine wrath against sin is not explicitly stated in Scripture.
Jesus' body was laid in a tomb (Matthew 27:59-60), and He continued under the state of physical death for a time. Thus, Jesus' humiliation was complete in that He suffered all the punishment and shame due to fallen mankind as a result of Adam¡¦s original sin.
It does not seem correct to say that Jesus descended into hell, at least not according to any sense in which that phrase can be understood today, apart from spiritual meanings which may be assigned to the doctrine of victorious proclamation.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
252 - THE EXALTATION OF CHRISTThere are four aspects of Christ¡¦s exaltation:
The resurrection was the transition point into Jesus' state of exaltation. It was the Person of Christ that was exalted, not just His human nature, but the focus of this activity of exaltation was the change in His human nature to a new, much more glorious state.
The resurrection was not just a restoration to life, but the beginning of a new, better kind of life, a resurrection life (Romans 6:9-10). After the resurrection, Jesus still had a physical body that could be touched and held (Matthew 28:9; John 20:17, 27), could break bread (Luke 24:30), prepare breakfast (John 21:12-13), and eat (Luke 24:42-43). It was a body of "flesh and bones," for Jesus said, A spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have.
Yet this physical body of Jesus was no longer subject to weakness, sickness, aging, or death. It was imperishable and glorious and powerful (I Corinthians 15:42-44; the term "spiritual" here means not "nonmaterial" but "conformed to the character of the Holy Spirit"). It is possible that John 20:19 implies that Jesus had the ability to enter a locked room miraculously. It is clear, however, that since Jesus was the "first-fruits" of the resurrection, we will be like Him when we are raised from the dead (I Corinthians 15:20, 23, 49; Philippians 3:21; I John 3:2).
The resurrection demonstrated the approval of God the Father and His satisfaction with Christ's work of redemption (Isaiah 53:11; Philippians 2:8-9). Now Christ was exalted to a new status with respect to the law as well: He was no longer under the law in the sense of being obligated to obey the OT as our representative, for His work of obedience in our place was complete (Romans 5:18-19).
The resurrection also was the initiation of a new relationship with God the Father, for Jesus was exalted to the role of messianic "Son" with new power and authority which were not His before as God-man (Matthew 28:18; Acts 13:33; Romans 1:4; Heb. 1:5).
Forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3), Jesus ascended up to heaven and entered more fully into the privileges of His state of exaltation. The NT clearly presents Jesus' ascension as a bodily ascension and therefore as ascension to a place (Luke 24:51; John 14:1-3; 16:28; 17:11; Acts 1:9-11), though it is a place ordinarily hidden from our physical eyes (Acts 7:55-56; 2 Kings 6:17). Thus, Jesus retained His human nature when He returned to heaven and will retain it forever (Hebrews 13:8). However, Jesus' human nature is now worthy of worship by all creation, unlike our human nature.
When Jesus ascended into heaven He received glory, honor, and authority that were not His before as God-man (Acts 2:33, 36; Philippians 2:9-11; I Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:3-4; 2:9), especially the authority to pour out the Holy Spirit on the Church in greater fullness and power than before (Acts 1:8; 2:33).
After Jesus ascended into heaven He also began His high priestly work of representing us before God the Father (Hebrews 9:24) and of interceding for us before God (7:25; Romans 8:34).
A further state in the exaltation of Christ was His sitting down at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Acts 2:33; Ephesians 1:20-22; Hebrews 1:3). This action shows both the completion of Christ's work of redemption and His reception of new authority as God-man to reign over the universe.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
253 - ONE IN HYPOSTASIS
The term is designated as One God in three Persons. It is not a biblical term, "however the term Trinity" has been found a convenient designation for the one God self-revealed in Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It signifies that within the one essence of the Godhead we have to distinguish three "hypostasis" who are neither three gods on the one side, nor three parts or modes of God on the other, but coequally and coeternally God.
The main contribution of the OT to the doctrine is to emphasize the unity of God. God is not Himself a plurality, nor is He one among many others. He is single and unique: "The Lord our God is one Lord" (Duet. 6:4), and He demands the exclusion of all pretended rivals (Deut. 5:7).
Yet even in the OT we have clear intimations of the Trinity. The frequent mention of the Spirit of God (Genesis 1:2) may be noted, as also, perhaps, the angel of the Lord in Exodus 23:23. Again, the plural in Genesis 1:26 and 11:7 is to be noted, as also the plural form of the divine name and the nature of the divine appearance to Abraham in Genesis 18. (See appendix A)
The importance of the term Trinity (Psalm 33:6), and especially the wisdom, of God (Proverbs 8:12) is a further pointer, and in a mysterious verse like Isaiah 48:16.
In the New Testament there is no explicit and brief statement of the doctrine of the Trinity but the evidence is overwhelming. God is still preached as the one God (Galatians 3:20). Yet Jesus proclaims His own deity (John 8:58) and evokes and accepts the faith and worship of His disciples (Matthew 16:16; John 20:28). As the Son or Logos, He can thus be equated with God (John 1:1) and associated with the Father, that is, in the Pauline salutations (I Corinthians 1:3). But the Spirit or Comforter is also brought into the same interrelationship (John 14-16).
It is not surprising, therefore, that while we have no dogmatic statement, there are clear references to the three Persons of the Godhead in the NT. All three are mentioned at the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:16-17). The disciples are to baptize in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). The developed Pauline blessing includes the grace of the Son, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). Reference is made to the election of the Father, the sanctification of the Spirit, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:2) in relation to the salvation of believers. .
In the fully developed doctrine of the Trinity, insisting that there is only One essence or substance of God safeguards the unity of God. Yet the deity of Jesus Christ is fully asserted against those who would think of him as merely adapted to divine Sonship, or preexistent, but in the last resort created. The individuality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is also preserved against the notion that these are only modes of God for the various purposes of dealing with man in creation or salvation. GOD IS ONE, yet in Himself and from all eternity He is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the triune God.
Rationalist objections to the Trinity break down on the fact that they insist on interpreting the Creator in terms of the creature, i.e., the unity of God in terms of mathematical unity. More scientifically, the Christian learns to know God from God Himself as He has acted for us and attested His action in Holy Scripture. He is not surprised if an element of mystery remains which defies ultimate analysis or understanding, for He is only man and God is God. But in the divine work as recorded in the Bible the one God is self-revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and therefore in true faith he must "acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity."
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
254 - SEATED IN GLORY
Christians presently share in this session of Jesus at God's right hand (Ephesians 2:6) largely in terms of sharing in spiritual authority over demonic forces (6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-4) and power to gain increasing victory over sin (Romans 6:11-14).
In this exalted state of reigning at God's right hand, Christ will reign until the end of the age, when all His enemies will be conquered (I Cor. 15:24-25).
When Jesus Christ returns to the earth in glory, His exaltation will be complete, and He will receive all the glory that is due to Him as the God-man who has purchased our redemption and is worthy of eternal and infinite honor. Jesus Christ will some day return to the earth to reign in triumph (Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7), publicly and finally to defeat all His enemies (2Thessalonians 1:7-8; Revelation 19:11-21), and to sit as judge of all the earth (Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 22:12).
Then His kingdom will be established forever, and, exalted with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15; 22:3-5).
In the state of humiliation, Christ is called by God the Father as the ¡§SON OF MY SORROW¡¨ in reference from the point of His Incarnation to His burial.
In the state of exaltation, Christ is called by God the Father as the ¡§SON OF MY RIGHTHAND¡¨, in reference from the point of His resurrection to his Second Coming.
On the Cross of Calvary; (refers to Christ¡¦s spiritual death), the phrase ¡¥to lift up (hupsoo), literally means ¡§the lifting up of Christ in His crucifixion¡¨ (John 3:14, 8:28, 12:32-34), illustratively of the serpent brass that symbolized Christ who bear the sin of the human race
In heaven, the phrase ¡§to exalt highly¡¨ ƒvhuperrupsoo) is used of Christ, the literal and metaphorical of the exaltation of Christ by God the Father [Philippians 2:9, Acts 2:23. 5:31].
The Resurrection of Christ-is the first notable stage of exaltation in which the divine power was manifested in raising ƒvanastasis) the dead body of Christ [Acts 2:32, Romans 1:4].
The Ascension of Christ ¡V is where we see a perfecting process of the glory inaugurated by the resurrection. By His resurrection, Jesus Christ, as the God-Man inaugurated a new form of relationship with saints, where He also prepared the ultimate union of the Church Age believers with Him [John 14:2].
In His Session at the right hand of God [Psalm 110:1, Matthew 22:44, Acts 2:33-36] Christ exercise His Kingly rulership over His people, He sends the Holy Spirit to His own people [John 14:26, 16:7] and He pursues the ministry of intercession [Hebrews 7:25, 9:24, Romans 8:34, I John 2:1].
At His Second Coming, Jesus Christ as the Ascended Lord will return and fight for the Remnant of Israel, He will raise all the dead believers of the Old Testament and all the martyrs of the Great Tribulation. Then, He will judge Satan and his fallen demons. Christ will fulfill His union with the Church Age believers as the Heavenly Bridegroom. Finally, He will inaugurate His one thousand years reign ¡V the millennial kingdom.
At the end of a thousand years, He will judge all the unbelievers of every dispensation at the Great White throne Judgment.
The perfect God-Man is the Maintainer, Sustainer and the Establisher of every saint sojourning in the satanic world.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
255 - THE POSITIVE VOLITION OF CHRIST
The first 30 years of Christ in His perfect humanity were called ¡§the hidden years¡¨ because they were spent behind a small carpentry shop in a very insignificant place of the Roman Empire.
The mystery of the hidden years reveals the reality that believer has the same potential for maximum growth and advancement toward spiritual maturity regardless of our life situation, environment, or condition in life or circumstances.
The positive volition of the believer has nothing to do with the geographical location or condition. Positive volition is a state of the soul and does not affect our condition, or mood, our physical place or situation. Nothing can penetrate our volition except our negative mental attitude toward Christ or His Word.
The short Gospel narrative (compose of 11 verses only) concerning the 30 years of Jesus Christ on earth reveals several things.
First, In the home of Joseph, the usual Jewish practices and traditions were observed carefully and sincerely. The perfect humanity of Christ was able to obey the all the Law of Moses.
Secondly, Joseph had trained his children (especially the male) in the OT Scripture analysis¡¦s and interpretation.
Thirdly, The spiritual wisdom and spiritual maturity of the humanity of Christ at the age of twelve (12) years old was already at the maximum level.
Fourthly, The Lord Jesus Christ possessed His divine consciousness¡¦ of a divine mission, which His family did not understand or and believe.
The humanity of the Jesus Christ was a member of the poor Jewish family circle. He was just a poor child who dwells in a very poor community.
The real issue about the hidden years is not what He did or what He did not do, but WHO AND WHAT HE IS inside the cosmos diabolicusƒ| The real issue about the virgin birth is not the virginity of Mary but the virginal conception or the birth of Jesus who has no original sin or Adamic original sins.
In the strength of the Divine dynasphere ƒzƒnthe freewill volition of the Lord Jesus is ABLE NOT TO SIN. He was able to resist all the real and brilliantly subtle temptation. He overcomes all the pressures and pains in this world. Christ applied the power of the Divine system to resist the genius of Satanic.
The sphere of God is made available to Church Age believers by means of divine resources. The sphere is far more powerful than Satan¡¦s entire cosmic diabolicus was protected and sustained but never sheltered from satanic scheming.
Because we are not sheltered from the direct attack of Satan, that is why we need our positive volition toward God and His Word Jesus Christ demonstrated to us how to live in the cosmic system by the power of God. He shows us how to live in a dirty and totally polluted environment (in spiritual aspects).
The Lord demonstrated to us, how to live our Christian live apart from self-made pains and miseries through bad and wrong decisions. He shows us what could be gained and accomplished by total reliance on the grace and power of God. The Lord shows us how to pass the trials and suffering of life by through positive volition.
By our decisions to obey God mandates, we obey and follow our Lord in the divine dynasphere ƒzƒnwhere after the most grueling testing; there we can still find power to spare. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
256 - THE SUPERIOR HIGH PRIEST
The Lord Jesus Christ is superior to angelic hosts, superior to Moses and Abraham, superior to the Law, because, He is the only perfect High Priest.
Jesus Christ is the only Great High Priest who has passed through the heavens [Hebrews 4:14], the Apostle (apostolos) and High Priest (archiereus) of our confession (the conviction from the Bible doctrine resident in the kardiaƒw. He is the merciful and faithful High Priest [Hebrews 2:17] and the only High Priest over the house of God [Hebrews 10:21].
The character of His Priesthood: Superior, eternal, perfect, very powerful, a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek [Hebrews 5:6-10].
His commission is from God the Father He is called by God not to glorify Himself but to do the will of God [Hebrews 5:4-5].
His preparation for Priesthood is through by becoming a Man and offered Himself as a Sacrifice (Hebrews 2:17, 10:5].
His Sacrifice is an acceptable sacrifice, which obtained eternal redemption for all members of the human race ¡Vwho will believe in Christ [Hebrews 8:3, 9:12,14, 27-28, 10:4-12].
His Sanctuary is in heaven, a perfect Tabernacle not in this world, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, who appear in the presence of God for us [Hebrews 4:14, 8:2-4, 9:11-12, 10:12, 19].
His Ministry is Extraordinary:
He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted (that is tested by undeserved sufferings) [Hebrews 2:18].
He sympathizes with our weaknesses (trials by suffering for blessings) [Hebrews 4:15]. He saved the believers for eternity and he makes intercession for the regenerated [Hebrews 7:25]. He is the Mediator of a new Covenant- for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first Covenant [Hebrews 9:15].
He is the Mediator of a better Covenant enacted on a better Promise [Hebrews 8:6]. He is now in heaven- appearing in the presence of God for us [Hebrews 9:24].
The Effects of His Priesthood
He delivers the regenerated from the fear of death and from the power of death [Hebrews 2:14-15]. Believers now have the access to the throne of grace through Christ [4:16]. His sacrifice is once and for all [9:16]. He imputed His indestructible eternal life to every born again believers [7:16, 25]. He cleanses our conscience from the human good works or dead works [9:14]. He will never mention sin or demand penalty or accountability for our sins when He returned [9:28].
Believers now have the capacity for hope of blessing in time and hope for blessing in eternity as an anchor of the soul [6:19-20]. Christ is totally dependable being our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. His one time offering sanctified all believers and our sins and lawless deeds He will remember no more [10:15-17].
He is now the Author and Perfecter of our faith [12:2-3] and we can function as Royal Ambassador by His grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit [13:13-16].
God had promised that the Messianic King would also be a Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek [Psalm 110:4]. Such a promise indicates the imperfection of the old Aaronic order of priesthood Jesus Christ perfectly fulfills this promise.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
257 - THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST
Angels were created superior to the human race, yet in the realm of Christ¡¦s humanity, He is far superior to angels by means of His ascension and session at the right hand of the Father [Hebrews 1:4]. In His glorified body He has obtained or inherited a better name, supremacy of character over angels, because God the Father exalted Him.
Jesus Christ is superior in His relationship with the Father. The term ¡§son and father¡¨ are words of relationship in the human race and used as language of accommodation in Hebrews 1:5a, while they do not give adequate expression of relationship between the First Person and the Second Person of the Trinity-they do not give us some idea. It established the fact for us that there is a relationship between God the Father and God the Son.
Jesus Christ is superior in His Second Advent: The phrase ¡§When He bringeth ¡¨ƒnrefers to His Second Coming [Hebrews 1:6, Psalm 97:7]. The Greek term indicates ¡¥someone brought back into something¡¨, hence, Christ is brought back into the world by the Father.
There are three points connected with the term ¡¥first begotten or first born¡¨:
God the Father commands all the elect angels to worship Christ at the Second Advent. All fallen angels will be removed from the earth and Satan bound and the angelic conflict will be suspended.
Jesus Christ is superior in His ministry to angels because He is Ruler forever while the elect angels are servants forever [Hebrews 1:7-8, Psalm 104:4, 45:6]. In His humanity, Christ is a Scepter of Righteousness, which refers to His impeccability and to His ministry of righteousness.
God the Father addressed the Second Person of the Trinity as Deity after He became flesh and He is called God.
Jesus Christ is superior in His appointment since He always chose the righteous plan of God during His humanity. He voluntarily restricted the use of His own divine power but depended entirely upon the power of the Holy Spirit. He set His focus on the plan of God-even to the plan of the Cross- [Hebrews 1:9].
No one among the members of the human race in all time was ever indwelt and filled with the Holy Spirit, as was Jesus Christ. Christ was the first Person that was completely controlled by the Spirit at all times.
Jesus Christ is superior to angels because He is the Creator. All that you can see and all that you cannot see came into existence by the Lord Jesus Christ ¡Vit was His hands that created the universe and sustain everything that is in it [Hebrews 1:10, Isaiah 44:24, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, Psalm 102:25].
Jesus Christ is superior to angels in His character. All human being are imperfectly temporal, always changing-often for the worst [Psalm 102:26, Hebrews 1:11]. But the Lord Jesus Christ is the only eternal, perfect and absolute human being that ever live and will ever live in all the earth [Psalm 90:2, Malachi 3:6].
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
258 - THE +VOLITION & HAPPINESS OF CHRIST
God is a God of order, not of confusion or disorganization, not legalism but orderliness. Since He is God of order, He provided divine protocol, which establishes the correct procedure to use under the plan and system of God. The imperfect believers must learn how to use the perfect protocol of God. No one can break the protocol of God without breaking himself. No one can counterfeit the protocol of God.
Every believer must learn how to obey the system God has established. The protocol is something you cannot counterfeit ¡Vsince the divine protocol cannot accept anything less than His very own perfection.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the first and the only Man who was indwelt and filled with the Holy Spirit from the time He was born until the time He was ascended to heaven. He is the only Person who live and the last one to live completely by the divine protocol of God. He followed the divine protocol completely and accurately.
Christ was tested in every angels and details of His humanity. He prove the power of God and His positive volition are indeed very essentials to spiritual advancement. Christ was tested in every angle and details but was victorious even without using His Deity to influence His human needs.
The humanity of Christ did not encounter any self-induced misery or self-made suffering because He did not live outside the divine plan of God ¡V not even for one second. Temptation that leads to sin is possible only outside the will, plan and purpose of God. [James 1:12-15], whenever the believer welcome the dictatorship of the old sinful nature and therefore, the Holy Spirit is not in control of the soul of the believer, but the old sinful nature is.
Jesus Christ used His free will-volition to follow the Protocol plan of God. Free volition causes deserved sufferings under the law of volitional responsibility, but the existence of free will strips away every man made excuses for self-made misery. The believer¡¦s own negative volition is the only hindrance to spiritual growth and advancement under the Protocol plan of God.
There was no time in the life of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union when He has negative volition or when He was in the state of carnality. He was 100% spiritual all throughout His life as perfect Man.
The Lord Jesus Christ encountered every category of undeserved suffering and every category of testing possible to any human being. He faced every trial we encounter in our daily life [Hebrews 4:16, 1 Corinthians 10:13]. He did not rebuke His suffering or testing and driving it away, but overcome them all through the resources and power of the Holy Spirit.
The happiness of Christ in His humanity was the perfect happiness of God, not the happiness of man based on pleasures, leisure and treasures of the cosmic system. There was never a time when Christ became unhappy or lonely because of poverty, crisis, disaster, persecution, insults, and abuses from every direction.
Spiritual happiness is a state of the soul and not just emotional outburst. Genuine happiness is not external manifestation based on material aspects or factors. Materialism cannot provide true happiness it has nothing to do with abundance or with the absence of materials. The twin of materialism is extreme unhappiness caused by the things of the world.
The humanity of Christ was perfectly happy in poverty, persecution, rejection, mockery and insults, crisis and disaster, denial and injustice, betrayal and pains of all kinds.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
259 - THE DEATH OF CHRIST
Redemption, a compound Greek word (antilutron) ƒwƒzƒnmeaning ¡§the substitution¡¨ of money for a slave in order to set him free, translated as ransom. Cognate words are lutrones meaning redeemer or deliverer, lutrosis meaning redemption, lutrooƒz to release for a ransom and exagorazo to redeem from slave market in order to ser free.
Redemption therefore, is the saving work of Christ on the cross whereby all members of the human race are bought from the slave market of sin in which they were born spiritually dead. By the effect of redemption, men are delivered to the freedom of God¡¦s grace. Redemption is realized when a person is born spiritually by faith alone in Christ alone.
Jesus Christ as the only perfect member of the human race is the only qualified Redeemer [Hebrews 1:3] by His virginal conception [1 Timothy 3:16] and by His impeccability in the Hypostatic union [John 8:46, 19:4, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15 and 7:26-28].
Jesus Christ exhibits positive volition all throughout His Incarnation. The redemptive work of Christ was an act of His own free will [Luke 22:42] and He was obedient to the Father¡¦s plan of grace [Romans 5:19 Philippians 2:8].
The Blood of Christ was the ransom money or the purchase price of redemption [Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14]. It is the coin of the realm of heaven by which the purchase was made [1 Peter 1:18-19]. It depicts by representative analogy the saving work of Christ on the cross, that is His spiritual death ¡Vby which He was judged for all the sins of the entire humanity [2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24].
The soul of the believer is redeemed in salvation [Job 19:25-36]. Redemption is related to the mediator-ship of Christ [1 Timothy 2:5-6, Hebrews 9:14-15. Redemption of the soul leads to redemption of the body in resurrection and glorification [Ephesians 1:14]. Redemption of the body is the ultimate status of the believer as member of the Royal family of God [Romans 8:23].
Redemption of the soul is the basis for justification [Romans 8:34], the basis for three stages of sanctification [Ephesians 5:25-27], the basis for eternal inheritance of the saints in Christ [Hebrews 9:15] and the basis for strategic victory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the angelic conflict [Colossians 2:14-15, Hebrews 2:14-15].
Ransom ƒv(lutron- a means of loosing) was used in the OT as: ransom for a life [Exodus 21:30], purchase money for a slave [Lev. 19:20], purchase money for a piece of land or ransom money for a prisoner [Lev. 25:24, Isaiah 45:13].
RANSOM FOR MANY used by the NT for Christ, which means; the expiatory sacrifice of Christ under God¡¦s judgment upon sin of all men. This is an OT illustration and not a literal ransom [Matthew 20:28, 1 Timothy 2:6].
The beneficiaries are those who accept God¡¦s conditions and methods. The effects is provisionary universal, while the character of the sacrifice is vicarious ¡Vwe cannot in any way, disassociated His expiatory death from His character.
If we press for details of certain OT illustration beyond the actual statement of NT doctrines, them it becomes conjectural, that is, conclusion reached by guessing.
If we press the expression to become literal when it is out of the character of Christ, then we are making an assumption contrary to His essence and character.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
260 - UNLIMITED ATONEMENT
Unlimited atonement is the efficacious work of Christ on the cross on behalf of mankind. As a noun, it means reconciliation after enmity or controversy and includes satisfaction or reparation made for wrong or injury. As a verb, it has several related meaning such as ¡§to make up for errors, to be in accordance, to make reparation.¡¨ In the OT, the meaning of atonement is related to the Hebrew verb kaphar ƒzƒnmeaning ¡§to recover, to pass over.¡¨
During the OT times, animal sacrifices were used ¡§to cover¡¨ the sins, which represented the propitiation of God the Father by the judgment of Christ who covered our sins By His spiritual death on the Cross [Psalm 103:3, John 1:29] and thereby established reconciliation between man and God [Colossians 1:20-21].
Atonement in the OT refers to the use of animal sacrifice to represent the saving work of Christ. Animal sacrifices could not truly atone for sins. The concepts of OT and NT are brought together in Romans 3:23-26.
Atonement is unlimited because when Christ was judged on the cross-for sin ¡VHe paid for the sins of the entire human race and not just for the elect [Romans 5:6, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 1 Timothy 2:6, 4:10, Titus 2:1, 1 John 2:2, Hebrews 2:9]. Christ did not die only for the believers, that is, limited atonement.
Unlimited atonement eliminates sin from unbeliever¡¦s indictment at the Last Judgment, because Christ died as a substitute for all and was judged for all sins of the human race. At the cross of Jesus, God the Father rejected all the dead works of all men since Christ is the perfect atonement. Human good will be part of the unbeliever¡¦s indictment at the Last Judgment [Revelation 20:12-15].
Since all the sins of all men were judged at the Cross-, under the Law of double jeopardy they cannot be mentioned at the Last Judgment. Unlimited atonement covers sin only and not unbelief. The unbeliever in indicted at the Last Judgment because he did not believe in Christ while on earth [John 3:18, 36].
The Great White Throne Judgment (GWT) is the venue of the Last Judgment for all unbelievers of all generation to the Lake of Fire [Revelation 20:11-15]. Sins will never be an issue and will not be mentioned at the GWT. Every sin has already been judged at the Cross [1 Peter 2:24] and since Christ is the Judge of the GWT, He cannot mention that which He already paid for ¡Vthe reason for which He judged by God the Father [John 5:22, Revelation 20:11].
At GWT scene, there will be two sets of books. One is the Book of Life, which includes the names of every person who has believed in Christ. The second book, composed of two volumes, is the book of human good works of all unbelievers- from which their condemnation is solely based [Revelation 20:12].
No amount of human good works can atone for sin of any person. The justice of God cannot accept anything less than God¡¦s own perfection and righteousness. Sinful man cannot in any manner pay for his imperfection and unrighteousness.
Christ is not a debtor (opheiletes), that is, one who owes something to another. Debt (opheilema), here is metaphorically applied- because it demands an act of expiation and thus payment by way of punishment.
Death came through sin [Romans 5:12], which is rebellion against God-which involves forfeiting of the life. The separation from God caused by forfeiting of the life could be removed only by a sacrifice by which the victim and the one making the offering has became identified.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
261 - THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
The Day of Atonement: (Yom Kippur) was a day of humiliation. The sense of guilt was to be deepened to its utmost intensity in the national mind; it was a day when the Israelites were conscious of their sins before God. It was the time for the High Priest to enter the Holy of Holies.
The Day of Atonement speaks of the Lord's gracious concern both to deal fully with His people's sins and to make them fully aware that they stand before Him, accepted and covered in respect of all iniquity, transgression, and sin (Leviticus 16:21).
The Day of Atonement (Lev. 16) centered on the high priestly ritual of the two goats (7-10, 15-17, 20-22). One goat is specified as a "sin offering" (9, 15). The priest would follow the rules of Leviticus 4, except that now he sprinkles the blood within the veil (4:15). This was a concealed act (4:17), observed only by the priest. But the Lord would have His people know, by personal experience, what had thus taken place secretly. He therefore appointed a public ceremony (4:20), which publicized what had been affected by the blood upon the mercy seat. The public ritual stresses, first, the truth of substitution.
The laying on of hands (4:21; 1:4; 3:2; 4:4) expresses the transference of sin from the guilty to the innocent, so that the latter actually becomes a "sin-bearer" (4:22; Isaiah 53:4, 6, 11-12). Secondly, atonement finally and irreversibly puts sin away: the sin-bearer goes, never to return, to the wilderness (vs. 10), a solitary (or "cut-off") land (vs. 22). In this connection the goat is said to be for "azazelƒp (verses 8, 10, 26), a word which, unused elsewhere, may mean a goat driven ƒnoff (combining ƒÕƒêƒz "goat," with ƒuazalƒz "to go away"), or a precipice (symbolic of a remote, menacing place). Or it may be the name of a supposed desert demon, signifying not an offering to such a demon but the banishing of sin to the place of total separation from the Lord.
The two sacrifices required a young bull (16:6) and one of the two goats. The bull was sacrifice in the brass altar and serve as offering for himself. The blood of the bull represented the spiritual death of Christ on the cross, collected in a large basin and passed the huge curtain into the Holy of Holies. Then, the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the bull on the altar [Romans 3:23].
MERCY SEAT means kapporeth Hebrew Colossians and the Greek hilasterion meaning propitiation refer to the wooden box called the Ark of the Covenant ¡Vwhich is the picture of the humanity of Christ. The gold refers to his deity. The wood and gold ¡Vpicture the uniqueness¡¦ of the God-Man- Jesus Christ.
The Ark of the Covenant contains three items: 1) the pot of Manna- a sign for the Israel¡¦s rejection of divine provision ¡Vthe Bread from heaven. 2) The tablets of the law ¡Va sign for Israel¡¦s violation of the Mosaic Law or rejection of God¡¦s plans related to the Levitical order. 3) Aaron¡¦s Rod that budded- a sign for Israel¡¦s violation and rejection of the authority of the Levitical ƒnpriesthoodƒ|
Jesus Christ entered the real Holy of Holies in heaven and fulfilled what the blood of animals cannot do [Hebrews 9:24, 10:4] for He not required of any special offering for His own behalf. He offered a sacrifice to pay the sin of all men and by entering the Holy of Holies; He conquered sin, spiritual death and physical death [Hebrews 9:12, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57]. Christ won the first strategic victory over Satan [Hebrews 2:14-15].
Christ has redeemed man, reconciled man to God and destroyed all the barriers that blocked man from God and fulfilled the requirements of the Laws. Christ now is the only barrier between God and man.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
262 - THE SHEDDING OF THE BLOOD
The shedding of the blood (in the language of the Scripture) involves the taking and giving of the life of Christ. In His sacrifice, Christ endured the divine judgment due to man¡¦s sin, by this, the believer become identified with Him in His deathless life through His resurrection.
Christ¡¦s spiritual death on the Cross-is suffering of payment. God the Father has forsaken Christ for three (3) hours in order to impute all sins of all men on Christ [Psalm 22:1-8, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34].His groaning (sheagan) ƒwƒnclearly indicates that Christ was screaming from the pains of judgment not from the pains of physical torture, insults or mockery.
The phrase ¡§But I am a worm¡¨ of Psalm 22:6 refers to Christ. Worms (tolaath) refers to very rare and expensive worms whose blood was gathered for making crimson dye of the ancient world. Only the robes of powerful kings were stained with this valuable pigment
The Blood of Christ refers to His spiritual death, the most valuable Blood the most rare of them all (since He is the only human without old sinful nature and Adamic ƒnoriginal sin) and the most noble of them all, (being the Son of God). His Blood spread His Royalty to every member of the Royal Family of God. Whereby, the slave (the unbelievers) has become children of the Master- this is the royalty by the grace of God through their personal faith in Christ.
The Blood of Christ depicts and set forth the meaning of the saving work of Christ on the Cross-through four (4) vital doctrines:
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
263 - ANALOGY OF ANIMAL BLOOD
The blood is the seat of animal life [Leviticus 17:10-14] and in the OT shadow worship; the blood of animals was used to represent redemption, the saving work of Christ on the cross. From the garments of the animal skin [Genesis 3:21] to Levitical ƒnoffering [Lev. 1:1-5:10], animal blood was used to represent the figurative blood of Christ.
While the animal blood was real and literal, it does not represent the literal blood of Christ shed on the Cross- because Christ did not die by bleeding to death. The animal blood represents the spiritual death of Christ on the cross [Colossians 1:20, Hebrews 10:19, 13:20, 1 Peter 1:2].
In real analogy, the physical death of the animal would be compared to the physical death of Christ. Animal sacrifice is a representative analogy in which the physical death of the animal on the altar represents the spiritual death of Christ ¡Vthe two deaths of Christ on the cross of Calvary.
THE BLOOD OF ANIMAL SACRIFICES WAS A SHADOW POINTING TO THE REALITY OF THE CROSS [Hebrews 9:12-24].
The Blood of Christ in expiation is the basis for rebound. The true meaning of the blood of Christ set forth in the direction for doctrines of Soteriology in threefold setting:
1. Redemption ¡V inward 2. Reconciliation ¡V manward 3. Propitiation ¡VGodward
God the Father solves the problem of sin by redemption through sending the Mediator between God and man. So by, redemption the Lord Jesus Christ reconciles man and propitiates God. The Blood of Christ is analogous to Redemption, Reconciliation and Propitiation.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
263 - THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
In the Tabernacle and later in the Temple ritual of animal sacrifices, the blood of animals was caught by the priest in a basin, and then sprinkled seven times on the altar; that of the Passover on the doorposts and lintels of the houses (Exodus 12; Leviticus 4:5-7; 16:14-19). At the giving of the law (Exodus 24:8) the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled on the people as well as on the altar, and thus the people were consecrated to God, or entered into covenant with Him, hence the blood of the covenant (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:19, 20; 10:29; 13:20).
EXPIATION
Human quilt is expiated when it is executed with punishment falling on a substitute. Expiation is made for our sins when they are punished not in us but in another person who consents to stand in our room. It is that by which reconciliation is effected. Sin is said, "covered" by vicarious satisfaction.
The cover or lid of the ark is termed in the Greek OT as hilasterionƒz that which covered or shut out the claims and demands of the law against the sins of God's people, whereby he became "propitious" to them. The idea of vicarious expiation runs through the whole Old Testament system of sacrifices. Expiation therefore is the aspect of Christ¡¦s work on the cross that cancelled the debt for the penalty of sin. The penalty of sin is spiritual death.
REDEMPTION
The purchases back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom. The Greek word so rendered is apolutrosis, a word occurring nine times in Scripture, and always with the idea of a ransom or price paid, that is, redemption by a lutron (see Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). There are instances in the Greek Version of the Old Testament of the use of lutron in man's relation to man (Leviticus 19:20; 25:51; Exodus 21:30; Numbers 35: 31, 32; Isaiah 45:13; Proverbs 6:35), and in the same sense of man's relation to God (Num. 3:49; 18:15).
There are many passages in the New Testament which represent Christ's sufferings under the idea of a ransom or price, and the result thereby secured is a purchase or redemption (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; Galatians 3:13; 4:4, 5; Ephesians 1: 7; Colossians 1:14; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 9:12; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19; Revelation 5:9).
The debt against us is not viewed as simply cancelled, but is fully paid. Christ's blood or life, which he surrendered for them, is the "ransom" by which the deliverance of His people from the servitude of sin and from its penal consequences is secured. It is the plain doctrine of Scripture that "Christ saves us neither by the mere exercise of power, nor by His doctrine, nor by His example, nor by the moral influence which He exerted, nor by any subjective influence on His people, whether natural or mystical, but as a satisfaction to divine justice, as an expiation for sin, and as a ransom from the curse and authority of the law, thus reconciling us to God by making it consistent with his perfection to exercise mercy toward sinners".
JUSTIFICATION
A forensic term, opposed to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which He pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, that is, as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified.
It is the act of a Righteous and Perfect Judge and not of a sovereign ruler. In Christ, the demands of the Laws were fulfilled in the strictest sense; therefore a believer is justified.
Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness that perfectly and forever satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 4:6-8). The sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited to the believer is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith is called a "condition," not because it possesses any merit, but only because it is the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or apprehends Christ and His righteousness (Romans 1:17; 3:25, 26; 4:20, 22; Philippians 3: 8-11; Galatians 2:16).
The act of faith, which thus secures our justification, secures also at the same time our sanctification; and thus the doctrine of justification by faith does not lead to licentiousness (Romans 6:2-7). Divine good works, while not the ground, are the certain consequence of justification (Romans 6:14; 7:6)
SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man (Romans 6:13; 2 Cor. 4:6; Col. 3:10; 1 John 4:7; 1 Cor. 6:19). It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work (1 Cor. 6: 11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13).
Faith is instrumental in securing sanctification, inasmuch as it;
(1.) Secures union to Christ (Galatians 2:20),
(2.) Brings the believer into living contact with the truth, whereby he is led to yield obedience "to the commands, trembling at the threatening, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come."
Perfect sanctification is not attainable in this life (1 Kings 8:46; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8). See Paul's account of himself in Romans 7:14-25; Philippians 3:12-14; and 1 Tim. 1:15; also the confessions of David (Psalms 19:12, 13; 51), of Moses (90:8), of Job (42:5, 6), and of Daniel (9:3-20).
"The more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing, self abhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes, and the more closely he clings to Christ. The moral imperfections, which cling to him, he feels to be sins, which he laments and strives to overcome. Believers find that their life is a constant warfare, and they need to take the kingdom of heaven by storm, and watch while they pray.
They are always subject to the constant chastisement of their Father's loving hand, which can only be designed to correct their imperfections and to confirm their graces. And it has been notoriously the fact that the best Christians have been those who have been the least prone to claim the attainment of perfection for themselves.
RECONCILIATION
Reconciliation is a change from enmity to friendship. It is mutual, meaning to say, it is a change wrought in both parties who have been at enmity.
Romans 5:10 refers not to any change in our disposition toward God, but to God Himself, as the party reconciled. Romans 5:11 teach the same truth. From God we have received "the reconciliation" that is, He has conferred on us the token of his friendship.
So also 2 Corinthians 5: 18, 19 speak of a reconciliation originating with God, and consisting in the removal of His merited wrath. In Ephesians 2: 16 it is clear that the apostle does not refer to the winning back of the sinner in love and loyalty to God, but to the restoration of God's forfeited favor. His justice being satisfied, so that He can, in consistency with His own nature, be favourable toward sinners, affects this.
Justice demands the punishment of sinners. The death of Christ satisfies justice, and so reconciles God to us. This reconciliation makes God our friend, and enables Him to pardon and save us.
PROPITIATION
Propitiation is that by which God is rendered propitious, that is, by which it becomes consistent with His character and divine government to pardon and bless the sinner. The propitiation does not procure His love or make Him loving; it only renders it consistent for Him to exercise His love towards sinners.
In Romans 3:25 and Hebrews 9:5 the Greek word hilasterion ƒnis used. It is the word employed by the translators in Exodus 25:17 and elsewhere as the equivalent for the Hebrew kapporeth ƒw which means "covering," and is used of the lid of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:21; 30:6).
The Greek word hilasterion ƒndenotes not only the mercy seat or lid of the ark, but also propitiation or reconciliation by His blood; On the great Day of Atonement the high priest carried the blood of the sacrifice he offered for all the people within the veil and sprinkled with it the "mercy-seat," and so made propitiation.
In 1 John 2:2; 4:10, Christ is called the "propitiation for our sins." Here a different Greek word used (hilasmos)ƒwƒ| Christ is "the propitiation," because by His becoming our substitute and assuming our obligations He expiated our guilt, covered it, by the vicarious punishment which He endured. (Compare Hebrews 2:17, where the expression "make reconciliation" of the Old English. is more correctly.
ATONEMENT.
In the Old Testament it is of frequent occurrence. The meaning of the word is simply atƒ{-one-ment, that is, the state of being at one or being reconciled, so that atonement is reconciliation. Thus it is used to denote the effect, which flows from the death of Christ.
But the word is also used to denote that by which this reconciliation is brought about, viz., the death of Christ itself; and when so used it means satisfaction, and in this sense to make an atonement for one is to make satisfaction for his offences (Exodus 32:30; Leviticus 4:26; 5:16; Numbers 6:11), and, as regards the person, to reconcile, to propitiate God in His behalf.
By the atonement of Christ we generally mean His work by which He expiated our sins. But in Scripture usage the word denotes the reconciliation itself, and not the means by which it become in effects.
When speaking of Christ's saving work, the word "satisfaction," the word used by the theologians of the Reformation, is to be preferred to the word "atonement." Christ's satisfaction is all He did in the room and in behalf of sinners to satisfy the demands of the law and justice of God.
Christ's work consisted of suffering and obedience, and these were vicarious, and they were not merely for our benefit, but were in our stead, as the suffering and obedience of our vicar, or substitute. Our guilt is expiated by the punishment that our vicar bore, and thus God is rendered propitious, that is, it is now consistent with His justice to manifest His love to transgressors.
Expiation has been made for sin, i.e., it is covered. The means by which it is covered is vicarious satisfaction, and the result of its being covered is atonement or reconciliation. To make atonement is to do that by virtue of which alienation ceases and reconciliation is brought about.
Christ's work of mediator-ship and sufferings are the ground or efficient cause of reconciliation with God. They rectify the disturbed relations between God and man, taking away the obstacles interposed by sin to their fellowship and concord. The reconciliation is mutual, meaning to say, it is not only that of sinners toward God, but also and pre-eminently that of God toward sinners, effected by the sin-offering He Himself provided, so that consistently with the other attributes of His character His love might flow forth in all its fullness of blessing to men.
The primary idea presented to us in different forms throughout the Scripture is that the spiritual death of Christ is a satisfaction of infinite worth rendered to the law and justice of God, and accepted by in room of the very penalty man had incurred. It must also be constantly kept in mind that the atonement is not the cause but the consequence of God's love to guilty men (John 3:16; Romans 3:24, 25; Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:9; 4:9).
The atonement may also be regarded as necessary, not in an absolute but in a relative sense, that is, if man is to be saved, there is no other way than this which God has devised and carried out (Exodus 34:7; Josh. 24:19; Ps. 5:4; 7:11; Nahum 1:2, 6; Romans 3:5). This is God's plan, clearly revealed; and if that is enough for us to know.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
The Day of Atonement was a great annual day of humiliation and expiation for the sins of the nation, "the fast" (Acts 27:9), and the only one commanded in the Law of Moses. The mode of its observance is described in Leviticus 16:3-10; 23:26-32; and Numbers 29:7-11. It was kept on the tenth day of the month Tisriƒz five days before the feast of Tabernacles, and lasted from sunset to sunset.
The Day of Atonement speaks of the Lord's gracious concern both to deal fully with his people's sins and to make them fully aware that they stand before Him, accepted and covered in respect of all iniquity, transgression, and sin (Leviticus 16:21).
The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) centered on the high priestly ritual of the two goats (7-10, 15-17, 20-22). One goat is specified as a "sin offering" (9, 15). The priest would follow the rules of Leviticus 4, except that now He sprinkles the blood within the veil (15).
This was a concealed act (17), observed only by the priest. But the Lord would have His people know, by personal experience, what had thus taken place secretly. He therefore appointed a public ceremony, which publicized what had been effected by the blood upon the mercy seat. The public ritual stresses, first, the truth of substitution. The laying on of hands (21; 1:4; 3:2; 4:4) expresses the transference of sin from the guilty to the innocent, so that the latter actually becomes a "sin-bearer" (22; Isaiah 53:4, 6, 11-12).
Secondly, atonement finally and irreversibly puts sin away: the sin-bearer goes, never to return, to the wilderness (10), a solitary ("cut-off") land (22). In this connection the goat is said to be for "azazel" (8, 10, 26), a word, which, unused elsewhere, may mean a goat given off (combining"goat," with ƒuazalƒz "to go away"), or a precipice (symbolic of a remote, menacing place). Or it may be the name of a supposed desert demon, signifying not an offering to such a demon but the banishing of sin to the place of total separation from the Lord.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
264 - JESUS CHRIST DIED TWICE
Adam was created spiritually alive and through his negative volition became spiritually dead. Adamic sin is imputed to all human being after Adam ¡Vbecoming spiritually dead at the point of physical birth.
Jesus Christ is the only person ever born spiritually alive and through His volition deliberately chose to go to the Cross-to die spiritually and physically [Genesis 2:17].
The perfect God-Man had to pay the penalty or wages of sin (that is spiritual death) to free the human race from the slave market of sin. The term ¡§to die¡¨ occurs twice, literally translated ¡§dying you will die.¡¨ It¡¦s an idiom that indicates the intensity of death, the wages of sin- not the physical death but the spiritual death [Romans 3:23, 5:12, 6:23]. Our physical death is the eventual result of spiritual death. We did not earn the wages of sin but Adam earned it for us.
The sin of Adam is imputed to all human being that is why, all men did spiritually at the point of physical birth. All the personal sins of all men are imputed in Christ at the cross. Christ died spiritually on the cross for three (3) hours in order to purchase our salvation. He was spiritually death from 12:00 Noon to 3:00 PM ¡Vthough he had no sin of his own but was judged for our sins [2 Corinthians 5:21].
His physical death is necessary for His own resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 20-23]. Christ was physically alive while being judged for our sins repeatedly screaming the words ¡§My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?¡¨ In the original text, it is not a question mark but an exclamation mark.
His groaning was not for physical, emotional or psychological pains but for spiritual suffering- He bore the sins of all men of the entire human history.
When His spiritual death is completed, He shouted ¡§Telelestai ƒnmeaning ¡§it is finished.¡¨ (In the past with the results that goes forever [John 19:30]. Christ was still speaking after salvation was completed.
He was very much alive physically when He announced the completion of His legacy- the salvation of men. Christ physical death has nothing to do with the payment for sins of men. He was the only person who died twice on a tree.
o Christ physical birth was unique: without the seed of Adam o Christ humanity was unique: without sin and not able to sin o Christ spiritual death was unique: It saves men souls o His physical death was unique: It guarantees our resurrection
Christ is the only Person ever authorized to dismiss His own life when His mission was finish. By an act of His volition, His soul and human spirit left His body ¡Vdying physically [Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37]. Our physical death is the consequence of our spiritual death the result of Adamic ƒnoriginal sin. Christ¡¦s physical death was the completion of salvation, related to resurrection and glorification rather than the means for atonement for sins.
Our spiritual death is something we did not chose but passed to us through Adam. Christ¡¦s spiritual death was His own choosing and decision ¡V in order to save us.
For salvation He died the spiritual death for our resurrection He died the physical death for 3 days and 3 nights. Salvation is the redemption of the soul while resurrection is the redemption of the body. Christ died the spiritual death for our redemption and the physical death for our resurrection.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
265 - CHRIST DID NOT BLEED TO DEATH
In Genesis 2:17, the verb ¡§to die¡¨ (muth) literally means ¡§dying you will die.¡¨ In Colossians 1:22 the term used for death in Greek is thanatos in its singular form, meaning it refers to spiritual death of Christ not to His physical death.
The NT uses nekros for physical death never thanotosƒ| whenever the resurrection is mentioned, it is from nekros and never from thanatos ƒ|ƒnƒnIn Colossians 2:12, the word for death is in plural form referring to Christ¡¦s spiritual and physical deaths. (See the appendix for 7 categories of death)
In Isaiah 53:9a, death is in plural form (meweth ƒwƒnreferring to Christ¡¦s spiritual and physical deaths. Animal¡¥s blood illustrates the spiritual event that took place during Christ¡¦s 3 hours death on the cross. The Blood of Christ is synonym for the spiritual death of Christ not for physical death. The Blood of Christ is the means of expiation that is paying the penalty for sin.
When the Lord made the announcement of His finished work of salvation ¡VHe physically died but no blood was shed [John 19:30].
John 19:32-33 spoke about they called in Latin as ¡§crurifragium¡¨ which is the process of breaking the legs of the crucified person. Shattering the leg bones with a heavy mallet, but it was not necessary because Christ was already death.
John 19:34 ¡Vspoke about ¡§blood and water¡¨ (hudor), ƒwƒzƒnƒnthe grayish yellow fluid that separates from the clot in the coagulation of blood, it is better known as blood clots and serum.
If someone dies from excessive loss of blood, clots and serum do not form. The blood simply exists the body as whole red blood the same form that you see if you cut your finger. External bleeding was not the cause of His death. The sight of blood clots and serum is medical proof not only that Jesus Christ was physically dead but the fact that He did not bleed to death.
The blood of Christ does not refer to his physical, because He did shed blood to death.
His spiritual death is for the payment of sins of the human race and is called the blood of Christ. It¡¦s a representative analogy, which described His spiritual death not his physical death. ¡§For without the shedding of blood the spiritual death of Christ there is no forgiveness of sin [Hebrews 9:22b].
In the OT Israel the blood of the animals was literal but the forgiveness was symbolic. At the cross the blood was symbolic but the forgiveness was literal. In the Lord¡¦s Supper the blood is symbolic not literal. The wine is not turned into blood ¡Vwe are not cannibals.
Since Christ has a perfect body His blood continues sufficient vitamin K and coagulation factor to cause the coagulation almost immediately.
The term ¡§side¡¨ in John 19:34 (Zechariah 12:10) refers to the chest cavity. Water (hudor) refers to blood and serum means 4 things: 1. Christ did not bleed to death 2. Christ died before they killed Him 3. Christ dismissed His own soul and human spirit at His volition [Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37 and Luke 23:46] 4. The blood of Christ was symbolic and His judgment on the cross was literal [Hebrews 9:22, 10:1-4, 10].
The expression blood of Christ is a figure speech referring to Christ¡¦s spiritual death not physical death. The soul is immaterial and the spiritual aspect of the human being it has no blood. If the blood of Christ refers to His physical death, then it must be literal blood not symbolic.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
267 - JESUS FROM NAZARETH
Jesus was born in Bethlehem (the house of bread), a city in the tribe of Judah, also called Ephrath in Genesis 48:7 or Ephratah ƒnin Micah 5:2 of which the inhabitants were called the Ephrathitesƒnƒn [Ruth 1:2, 1 Samuel 17:12].
In this place David was born and spent his early days as a shepherd. It was the setting for the narrative of Ruth and the place where the Lord was born of a woman.
Jerusalem is where the Bread from heaven or the Bread of Life came down from heaven. But Jesus Christ came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene [Matthew 2:23].
Jesus means Savior from the Hebrew Joshua, which means Jehovah, is salvation. Christ means Anointed, the Greek equivalent of Messiah. Jesus is His human name while Christ is His official title. Immanuel describes WHO HE IS, translated as God with us.
During His Hypostatic Union- to call Him as ¡§Jesus of Nazareth¡¨ was acceptable for the Gentiles but an insult for the Jews. They considered it as a reproach to Jewish people [Acts 24:5]. Pilate insulted the Jews when He wrote ¡§Jesus of Nazareth-king of the Jews¡¨, that is why, the Jews were asking Pilate to change it [John 19:21].
Christ indeed is a King and for the Jews- a crucified and rejected King. The title came from Pilate¡¦s sarcastic insult that was very much disliked by the Jews.
Bethlehem was first mentioned in Genesis 35:16-20, where Rachel-the wife of Jacob died by giving birth to Ben-oni (son of my sorrow) whom Jacob renamed Benjamin. Benjamin (son of my righteous hand). Both names refer to Jesus Christ [Isaiah 53:3 & Hebrews 1:3]. It refers to Christ humiliation and exaltation.
Jacob saw Bethlehem as a place of death ¡Vbut the birth of Christ made it the place of life. The SON OF MT SORROW would one day become SON OF MY RIGHT HAND and it. Bethlehem is no longer a place of burial (the place where the beloved of Jacob was buried) but a place of life ¡Vwhere Jesus Christ the Life giver was born.
Today, Bethlehem is nothing but a religious commercialized area and it remains very idolatrous as it was in the ancient times. There is nothing spiritual about the place.
The perfect humanity of Christ was never affected by insults or mockery of Pilate, Herod, Caiaphas or Annas ƒnbecause true dignity and honor are never external.
Genuine honor and integrity is not material in nature but spiritual. People who are wearing their dignity and integrity in their neckties or badge are very miserable.
People whose pride is attached to their family, race, culture, bloodline, royalty, power or wealth are easily insulted by such names calling. Christians with Bible doctrine in their souls are seldom affected by such insults. Nothing can hurt the dignity and integrity of Christ living within the believer with epignosis.
Jesus Christ was untouchable and solid since His perfect humanity stands in the Truth of the Word. Nothing in this world or anything else can demoralized Him or downgrade His values or viewpoints.
No amount of rejection and denial moved His to defocus His concentration from the will of the Father. Satan gave the full force of his devious scheming but Christ remained focused on His objective to do the will of God. Insults will not hurt a person unless he deserves it. Christ suffered from every type of people testing all throughout His life on earth.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
268 - THE ILLEGAL TRIALS OF CHRIST
There are 12 points of illegality related to the trials of Jesus Christ under the Jewish Council (Sanhedrin) led by Annas and Caiaphas.
Jesus was arrested at nighttime. Taking steps in criminal proceeding after the sunset was expressed clearly prohibited by the Mosaic Law and by the Sanhedrin.
Jesus arrest was conducted through a bribed traitor ¡Va contradiction and violation of the Mosaic Law [Exodus 23:8].
The arresting party included some members of the Sanhedrin ¡Va clear violation of their own code of conduct.
The trial inside the Temple took place before the sunset sacrifice ¡Va violation of the Mosaic Law. Trials for criminal cases were conducted in the outer court not in the inner court of the Temple.
The requirements for 2 honest citizens as witnesses were ignored and by-passed [Deuteronomy 17:6].
The verdict was released in less than 12 hours. The Sanhedrin Rule of Courts provided that crimes punishable by capital punishment cannot its verdict given in the same of hearing. This provision was prevention for hasty and bias decision of the court.
The Lord Jesus Christ was tried under the secret court assembled by Annas and Caiaphas in unholy hours of evening. The Mosaic Law orders that such trials be opened to public during daytime.
The Sanhedrin originated those charges against Christ. The members of the Temple court were entitled to conduct investigation and not to originate or create cases against the accused. There was no investigation by the Sanhedrin.
Perjurers cannot serve as witnesses in the Temple court. The hire witnesses against the Lord were known as perjurers [Matthew 26:59-60].
The function of the Jewish crowd was not merely to try the case but to depend the accused or prisoner who was presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court.
The Levitical ƒncode of conduct for priests prohibited the rending of clothes or garments while inside the Temple [Leviticus 21:10].
The members of the Sanhedrin voted simultaneously in contravention of their faith in the Law [Matthew 26:66]. The young members must vote first then the elders to avoid the anomalies of political influence or partisan voting.
The witnesses against Christ were not sworn in and were never in any way, cross-examined by the court or by the people.
The Mosaic Law by its strict and forceful implementation was par excellent compare to our legal systems. In the Mosaic Law and court order, the silence of the accused does not means the admission of guilt but a witness to the truth of innocence.
For that reason, the Lord Jesus Christ did not depend Himself with arguments of facts but with argument of silence.
The Jewish religious officials wanted to kill the Lord Jesus, but His lack of cooperation to make them popular and more powerful destroyed their poise and pseudo-dignity. They lose the argument and lose the case as well. Their so-called success in hanging the Lord have proven the corruption of the human system no matter how good it might looks like in the eyes of men. There is no justice in the world controlled and manipulated by the Devil.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
269 - GOLGOTHA
Golgotha ƒnis the Aramaic name of a place near Jerusalem where Christ was crucified the name appears only 3 times in the NT. The Aramaic word is the same as the Hebrew term that essentially means ¡¥head or skull.¡¨ Luke used the Greek not the Sematic term Kranium ƒnƒvfrom where we get the English word cranium). It was translated Calvary from the Latin calvariaƒn [Luke 23:33].
The Golgotha was very near Jerusalem, not within the City wall but not far [John 19:20, Hebrews 13:12]. The road leading to Calvary is a well-traveled road ¡Vthe Romans were busy crucifying the enemies of the state [Mark 15:21]. From the City, it was clearly visible from a distance [Mark 15:40 Luke 23:49]. This has led many to think of it as a hill, but nowhere in the Scripture is that so stated.
Numerous places around Jerusalem have been suggested as the site of Calvary none is serious contender for the actual spot of the crucifixion and burial of Christ.
Enterprising religious businessmen have invented their own place of Calvary- and so; Jerusalem today has more than a dozen version of Golgotha depending on which tourist agency one is traveling. Constantine commissioned Bishop Marcarius to find Golgotha and the tomb of Jesus more than 300 years after His death. Several Bishops also came up with their own version of Golgotha. Some even claimed that they found the cross from which Christ was crucified. The result was obvious, numerous Golgotha and numerous cross.
The Romans deliberately obscured many so-called holy places for financial reason. The SPQR removed any landmarks and obscured important religious site for the Jews and even building their own pagan temples after abolishing them.
The lack of legal documents and official ancient map made it impossible to locate the actual place of Christ¡¦s crucifixion and burial. The places of crucifixion (just anywhere among the busy roads) and the tombs of the criminals were not important to the Romans- so they did not have any records. The Romans avoid such recording for their own protection.
The Romans did not believe in the God of the Hebrews slaves and Jewish fanatics- so they paid no attention to such places.
Visiting such commercialized religious sites will not enrich our faith or knowledge of Bible doctrine or our relationship with Christ. Jerusalem and its vicinity have nothing to do with our spirituality. Visiting such places is simply waste of money and energy.
There is no such thing as holy place in the cosmos diabolicus (ƒnƒvdevil¡¦s world). We grow in our Christian faith by continuous intake of Bible doctrine not by visiting beautiful but expensive religious sites.
The Roman Catholics also created multi-level legends concerning the cross of Jesus, His burial place, His place of last supper with the apostles, the clothed used to wrapped his body and many more.
The religious fakers are good inventors of such legends but nothing is correct and faithful to God¡¦s Word. The foolish and the ignorant are satisfied with the legends but the wise will search for the Truth, the reality. We cannot be satisfied with the foolish and humanistic viewpoint.
Golgotha is just another killing field of the SPQR -there was and there is nothing important about it. We can change the venue, the time and day of Christ¡¦s crucifixion and it will not affect His redemptive work or His substitution for us.
The Golgotha and the Mary of the apostates and unbelieving are nothing but tools of deception. It is inviting people to reject and ignore the Truth. Biblical facts are facts of truth ¡Vreject it and you reject the truth.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
270 - THE SON OF GOD
Huios tou theou is a title and a means of expressing a relationship, especially of Jesus, which can be indicated in other ways. As a title it was relatively rare, especially in Hellenistic and Jewish circles but popular among Christian. The use of the phrase of Jesus the Son of God however, can be explained only in light of a Jewish background and peculiarly inside the Christian faith.
In the OT-the use of the phrase referred to several things like celestial beings (Job 1:6; 2:1; Psalms 29:1; 89:6) and Israel (Deuteronomy 14:1; Hosea 1:10) can collectively be called sons of God, Israel's unique relationship with God enabled it to be referred to in the singular as God's firstborn son (Exodus 4:22) or simply as his son (Exodus 4:23; Jeremiah 31:20; Hosea 11:1). The phrase indicates a symbolic relationship of God's referring to Himself as Israel's father (Jeremiah 31:9; Malachi 1:6) and Israel to God as Father (Isaiah 63:16; 64:8; Jeremiah 3:4).
In Psalm 2:7 God is quoted at the coronation of the king as saying, "You are my son; today I have begotten you." David's descendants in particular are given divine approval in Psalm 89:26-27, where God called the Davidic king "firstborn" and had the king refer to him as "my Father." This special filial relationship for David's dynasty goes back ultimately to 2 Samuel 7:14.
Nathaniel who had had no prior contact with Jesus, had as his initial reaction to Him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel" (1:49). Martha's confession of Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world" (11:27), seems to reflect some type of messianic expectation.
Jesus preferred to refer to Himself as the Son of man, there is sufficient evidence that His identity as Son of God goes back ultimately to His own assertions.
This is especially true of John, but instances of it are also found in the Synoptic. When the high priest asked Jesus, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" He answered, "I am," and then proceeded to refer to Himself as the Son of man (Mark 14:61-62).
Earlier He had identified God as the Father of the Son of man (Mark 8:38), and in Matthew He referred to God as "my Father" (7:21; 10:32-33; 20:23; 26:29, 53). In a passage reminiscent of John, Jesus strongly expressed His filial relationship with God (Matthew 11:25-27, Luke 10:21-22) and implied it in His parable of the wicked tenants (Mark 12:6). Even as a boy of twelve Jesus recognized that God was his Father (Luke 2:49)
At the heart of Jesus' identity in John is His stated divine Sonship. In John 10:36 He admitted saying, "I am the Son of God." Frequently He referred to God as "my Father" (5:17; 6:40; 8:54; 10:18; 15:15). Such assertions as "I and the Father are one" (10:30) and "the Father is in Me and I am in the Father" (38) show that Jesus conceived of His divine Sonship as unique and unparallel.
At both Jesus' baptism and transfiguration, God the Father Himself identified Jesus as His Son in statements reminiscent of Psalm 2:7 (Mark 1:11; 9:35). Before Jesus' birth Gabriel appeared to Mary and identified the child as the "Son of the Most High" and "Son of God" (Luke 1:32, 35).
At His temptation the devil twice challenged Jesus with the words, "If you are the Son of God" (Matthew 4:-5, Luke 4:3, 9). During Jesus' ministry unclean spirits or demons directly asserted His divine Sonship (Mark 3:11, Luke 4:41; Mark 5:7). At the beginning of Jesus' ministry John the Baptist testified, "This one is the Son of God" (John 1:34) and at the cross, the centurion exclaimed, "Truly, this was [the] son of God" (Mark 15:39, Matthew 27:54).
The development of Jesus' divine Sonship in the NT came principally from his disciples. During his ministry they did this as a group (Matt. 14:33) and as individuals: Peter (16:16), Nathaniel (John 1:49), and Martha (11:27). Saul of Tarsus' initial preaching in Damascus emphasized this point (Acts 9:20). Jesus' divine Sonship occupies an important position in the Pauline and Johannine epistles and in Hebrews.
In the Pauline, "Lord" and "Christ" are the more frequently used Christological titles, but "His Son" or "Son of God" appears in most of his Paul¡¦s epistles, especially in contexts dealing with eschatology, Jesus' messianic rule, and salvation.
The Johannine epistles represent a special case, where Jesus' divine sonship was constantly asserted as a corrective to the Docetic ƒnheresy. The Hebrews writer applied OT messianic texts to Jesus as God's Son, but more importantly, Jesus' sonship is at the heart of his argument that Jesus was superior to angels, Moses, and the Levitical priests.
The key to understanding what NT writers meant by the title "Son of God" is found in the contexts in which the title occurs. Heading the list are those passages, which connect Jesus' divine Sonship with His royal office as Messiah. Jesus did this Himself in response to the high priest's question (Mark 14:61-62), as God had earlier done at His baptism and transfiguration, using the language of Psalm 2:7. Paul (Acts 13:33) and the Hebrews writer (1:5; 5:5) also applied this verse to Jesus, as He did (2 Samuel 7:14).
Gabriel told Mary that her son not only would be called God's Son but also would reign on David's throne (Luke 1:32-33). Later in Luke the demons' recognition of Jesus as Son of God was associated with their knowledge that He was the Messiah (4:41). The connection of the two occurs three times in the Gospel of John (1:49; 11:27; 20:31), as it does in Paul's letters (Romans 1:3-4; I Corinthians 15:28; Colossians 1:13). It surfaced in Peter's confession (Matthew 16:16) and in Luke's summary of Saul's initial Damascus preaching (Acts 9:20, 22).
While Son of God and Messiah are connected in the Gospel of John, the major theological point brought out by Jesus' divine Sonship is His own divinity. Other themes underscored in the NT by this relationship include salvation (John and Paul) and Jesus' high priesthood (Hebrews). The question of at what point the Son actually became God's Son is not addressed in the NT so much as the points at which He was designated Son.
These are in connection with His birth (Luke 1:32, 35), baptism (Mark 1:11), transfiguration (Mark 9:7), resurrection (Romans 1:4; Acts 13:33), and Second Coming (I Thessalonians 1:10). Hence, there is no formal adoption of Christology as implied by His divine Sonship; rather, numerous passages present the Son as clearly preexistent (Galatians 4:4; Romans 8:3; Colossians 1:13-17).
The believing Israelites in the OT were sons of God, so are disciples of Jesus in the NT, although Jesus is Son in a unique sense (John 3:16, 18; I John 4:9). Jesus Himself used this phrase of His followers (Matthew 5:9, 45), but it is in Pauline that the doctrine became most fully developed. Here it is a part of Paul's doctrine of adoption (Galatians 4:1-7; Romans 8:14-17), which has a pagan Roman, background, rather than Jewish, because the practice of levirate marriage in ancient Judaism neutralized the social dynamic for adoption. Faith is the vehicle for this adoption (Galatians 3:26), and the outcome is that the adopted sons of God become his heirs along with Christ and thus address Him as "Abba, Father," as Jesus did in the garden (Mark 14:36).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
271 - THE MIRACLES OF GOD
Miracle is an event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God, operating without the use of means capable of being discerned by the senses, and designed to authenticate the divine commission of a servant and the truth of his message (John 2:18; Matthew 12:38) in the pre-Canon period. It is an occurrence at once above nature and above man. It shows the intervention of a power that is not limited by the laws either of matter or of mind, a power interrupting the fixed laws that govern their movements, a supernatural power.
"The suspension or violation of the laws of nature involved in miracles is nothing more than is constantly taking place around us. One force counteracts another: vital force keeps the chemical laws of matter in abeyance; and muscular force can control the action of physical force. When a man raises a weight from the ground, the law of gravity is neither suspended nor violated, but counteracted by a stronger force. The same is true as to the walking of Christ on the water and the swimming of iron at the command of the prophet.
The simple and grand truth that the universe is not under the exclusive control of physical forces, but that everywhere and always there is above, separate from and superior to all else, an infinite personal will, not superseding, but directing and controlling all physical causes, acting with or without them." God ordinarily effects his purpose through the agency of second causes; but he has the power also of effecting his purpose immediately and without the intervention of second causes, that is, of invading the fixed order, and thus of working miracles.
Thus we affirm the possibility of miracles, the possibility of a higher hand intervening to control or reverse nature's ordinary movements. In the New Testament these four Greek words are principally used to designate miracles:
(1.) Semeion, a "sign", that is, an evidence of a divine commission; an attestation of a divine message (Matthew 12:38, 39; 16:1, 4; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16; 23:8; John 2:11, 18, 23; Acts 6:8); a token of the presence and working of God; the seal of a higher power
(2.) Terata: "wonders;" wonder-causing events; portents; producing astonishment in the beholder (Acts 2:19).
(3.) Dunameis, "might works;" works of superhuman power (Acts 2:22; Romans 15:19; 2 Thessalonians 2:9); of a new and higher power.
(4.) Erga, "works;" the works of Him who is "wonderful in working" (John 5: 20, 36).
In the pre-Canon era, miracles are seals of a divine mission. The sacred writers appealed to them as proofs that they were messengers of God. Our Lord also appealed to miracles as a conclusive proof of His divine mission (John 5:20, 36; 10:25, 38). Thus, being out of the common course of nature and beyond the power of man, they are fitted to convey the impression of the presence and power of God.
Where miracles are there certainly God is. The man, therefore, who works a miracle, affords thereby clear proof that he comes with the authority of God; they are his credentials that he is God's messenger. The teacher points to these credentials, and they are a proof that he speaks with the authority of God.."
The credibility of miracles is established by the evidence of the senses on the part of those who are witnesses of them, and to all others by the testimony of such witnesses. The witnesses were competent, and their testimony is trustworthy.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
272 - THE PURPOSE OF MIRACLES
Miracles, it is said, are contrary to experience. Of course they are contrary to our experience, but that does not prove that they were contrary to the experience of those who witnessed them. We believe a thousand facts, both of history and of science, that are contrary to our experience, but we believe them on the ground of competent testimony.
An atheist or a pantheist must, as a matter of course, deny the possibility of miracles; but to one who believes in a personal God, who in His wisdom may see fit to interfere with the ordinary processes of nature, miracles are not impossible, nor are they incredible.
What we human considered miracles of God are in reality not supernatural to God they are normal and standard actions of God.
Unlike the modern world, the ancient world was not suspicious of miracles. They were regarded as a normal, if somewhat extraordinary, part of life. Ancient people typically believed not only that supernatural powers existed, but also that they intervened in human affairs. Miracles, then, did not present a problem to the early Christians as they attempted to explain and relate their faith to the culture around them.
In understanding miracles it is important to bear in mind that the biblical concept of a miracle is that of an event which runs counter to the observed processes of nature. The word "observed" is particularly important here. Our knowledge of nature is a limited knowledge. Clearly there may be higher laws, which remain unknown to man.
In any case, miracles are not correctly conceived of as irrational disruptions of the pattern of nature, but as only the known part of that pattern. This understanding of the biblical conception may well erode some of contemporary man's objections to miracles. It is purely a corrective to the erroneous view that miracles are complete violations of nature.
Biblical miracles have a clear objective: they are intended to bring the glory and love of God into bold relief. They are intended, among other things, to draw man's attention away from the mundane events of everyday life and direct it toward the mighty acts of God.
In the context of the OT, miracles are viewed as the direct intervention of God in human affairs, and they are unquestionably linked to His redemptive activity on behalf of man. They help to demonstrate that biblical religion is not concerned with abstract theories about God's power, but with actual historical manifestations and experiences of that power. The most significant miracle of the OT is God's action on behalf of the Hebrews in opening up the Red Sea as they escaped the Egyptians.
This miracle is the centerpiece of Hebrew history and of OT religion. It is a demonstration of God's power and love in action. And this action became the theme of much of the Hebrew religion and literature, which came after it. It was the Hebrew view that man does not know the being of God so much as he knows the acts of God. God is therefore known as he acts on man's behalf, and the miracle at the Red Sea is the paradigm of God's acting.
This emphasis on miracles as the redemptive activity of God is continued in the NT, where they are a part of the proclamation of the good news that God has acted ultimately on man's behalf in the coming of Jesus Christ into history. Miracles are a manifestation of the power that God will use to restore all of creation on its proper order, to restore the image of God in man to its full expression, and to destroy death. Again we see the theme of biblical religion as centered not on theory but on action.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
273 - MIRACLES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
The central miracle of the NT, indeed of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures, is the resurrection of Christ. Every book in the NT Canon claims proclaims or assumes the resurrection of Christ on the third day after His crucifixion. It is discussed thoroughly in each Gospel and is declared by Paul in I Corinthians 15 to be the keystone of Christian faith. The reference to it in I Corinthians is much earlier (in date) than those of the Gospels.
When the ancient acceptance of miracles is considered along with the wholly depressing circumstances surrounding the ending of Jesus' mission on the day He was crucified, it can be seen that the best evidence for the resurrection is the existence, energy, and growth of the early Church itself. After the crucifixion the apostles were utterly defeated persons, and their movement was sputtering to a humiliating stop. They were completely without hope after watching Jesus die as a criminal.
Yet within a few weeks these same men were boldly proclaiming Christ's resurrection to the very people who had brought about the condemnation of Christ. They were preaching that Jesus was the risen Lord to any and to all. And these apostles were normal, rational, sane men. Individually and corporately they had undergone a dramatic change after the crucifixion, from depressed, insecure, and despairing men to confident and bold preachers. Surely it is reasonable, on almost any criterion of reasonableness, to consider that witnessing the risen Christ was what brought about this dramatic change.
It should also be noted that one of the earliest acts of Christian worship was the breaking of bread with its attendant symbolism of Christ's broken body. This phenomenon would be unexplainable without the knowledge of the risen Christ, unless, that is, one wishes to dismiss the early apostles as irrational masochists, which they clearly were not.
It should be clear then that the central miracle of NT religion is the resurrection of Christ. Without this miracle the early church would not have come into being, and we who live in the twentieth century would no doubt never have heard of the other NT miracles. Indeed, we would probably never have heard of Jesus of Nazareth, who would have been forgotten along with hundreds of other obscure preachers and miracle workers who wandered about the ancient Middle East.
The Gospels teach that the significance of all the miracles of Christ is that they are the prophesied works of the Messiah. The miracles are signs rather than merely wonderful works. They are, however, signs only to those who have the spiritual discernment to recognize them as such. Without the enlightenment that accompanies Christian commitment they are only "wonders," or wonderful works, and their true theological significance cannot be recognized.
Belief in the biblical miracles has always been a central feature of Christian faith, and this remains the case in the twentieth century. Christian faith is informed by the revelation of God to man in Scripture and in the mighty acts recorded there. Christian faith is not to be conformed to the culture around it but is intended to be a transforming influence in the midst of its cultural milieu. The continuing work of the church in the world may itself be viewed as evidence for the truth of the biblical concept of miracle. Certainly the Christian's experience of God as Redeemer and Sustainer is the experience of miracle. It renders the posture of skepticism untenable.
We do not need miracles for 3 reasons: First the gift is history, Secondly the functions of the prophets and miracles workers is over, and thirdly, the Bible is already complete.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
274 - WHAT IS SIN?
SIN is "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God" (1 John 3:4; Romans 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Romans 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is "not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates His law with penalties. The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is: o Intrinsically vile and polluting, and o That it justly deserves punishment, and calls down the righteous wrath of God.
Hence sin carries with it two inalienable characters,
The moral character of a man's actions is determined by the moral state of his heart. The disposition to sin, or the habit of the soul that leads to the sinful act is itself also sin (Romans 6:12-17; Galatians 5:17; James 1:14, 15).
The origin of sin is a mystery, and must forever remain such to us. It is plain that for some reason God has permitted sin to enter this world, and that is all we know. His permitting it, however, in no way makes God the author of sin.
Adam's sin (Gen. 3:1-6) consisted in his yielding to the assaults of temptation and eating the forbidden fruit. It involved in it,
o The sin of unbelief, virtually making God a liar; and o The guilt of disobedience to a positive command
By this sin Adam became an apostate from God, a rebel in arms against his Creator. He lost the favor of God and communion with Him; his whole nature became depraved, and he incurred the penalty involved in the covenant of works.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
275 - ORIGINAL SIN refers only to the sin of Adam, committed when he was without sin and without old sinful nature. Our first parents being the root of all mankind, the guilt of their sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature were conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation." Adam the federal head and representative of all his posterity- constituted Adam as he was also their natural head, and therefore when he fell ¡Vall men fell with him (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22-45). His probation was their probation, and his fall their fall.
Because of Adam's first sin all his posterity came into the world in a state of sin and condemnation, that is,
"Original sin" is frequently and improperly used to denote the moral corruption of our whole nature inherited by all men from Adam. Only Adam committed original sin because he sinned when he was without old sin nature. This inherited moral corruption consists in:
It is called "sin" (Rom. 6:12, 14, 17; 7:5-17), the "flesh" (Gal. 5:17, 24), "lust" (James 1:14, 15), the "body of sin" (Rom. 6:6), "ignorance," "blindness of heart," "alienation from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
276 - THE OLD SIN NATURE OF MAN
The old sin nature influences and depraves the whole man, and its tendency is still downward to deeper and deeper corruption, there remaining no recuperative element in the soul.
The presence of OSN (old sinful nature) leads to total depravity. It is also universally inheriting by all the natural descendants of Adam (Romans 3:10-23; 5:12-21; 8:7)- The doctrine of original sin is proved:
The original sin of Adam cost so much ¡V the contamination of the entire human race. Sin always costs more than it pays.
The Biblical Understanding of Sin
In the biblical perspective, sin is not only act of wrongdoing but also a state of alienation from God. For the great prophets of Israel, sin is much more than the violation of a taboo or the transgression of an external ordinance. It signifies the rupture of a personal relationship with God, a betrayal of the trust He places in us. We become most aware of our sinfulness in the presence of the Holy God (Isaiah 6:5; Psalm 51:1-9; Luke 5:8).
Sinful acts have their origin in a corrupt heart (Gen. 6:5; Isaiah 29:13; Jeremiah 17:9). For Paul, sin (ƒvharmatia) is not just a conscious transgression of the law but a debilitating ongoing state of enmity with God. In Paul's theology, sin almost becomes personalized. It can be thought of as a malignant, personal power that holds humanity in its grasp.
The biblical witness also affirms that sin is universal. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Paul declares (Romans 3:23). "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). "Who can say, 'I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin'?" (Proverbs 20:9). "They have all gone astray," the psalmist complains, "They are all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not one" (Psalm 14:3). Man is born into the world with the strikes of Adam with him.
Adam¡¦s original sin (AOS) is imputed at the moment of birth. The first personal sin was committed by Adam at the Garden of Eden and became Adam¡¦s personal sin, which is imputed or officially charged to entire members of the human race. The sin of one man became the sin of all men. In this life, we stand or fall with Adam (Romans 5:19).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
277 - THE HARDENING OF THE SOUL
The OSN is the source of temptation to personal sin and human volition is the cause of personal sin. Personal sin is disobedience to God and His expressed will for us.
HARDNESS OF THE HEARTƒw which is closely related to unbelief (Mark 16:14; Romans 2:5), likewise belongs to the essence of sin. It means refusing to repent and believe in the promises of God (Psalm 95:8; Hebrews 3:8, 15; 4:7). It connotes both stubborn unwillingness to open our life to the grace of God (2 Chronicles 36:13; Ephesians 4:18) and its corollary insensitivity to the needs of our neighbor (Deuteronomy 15:7; Ephesians 4:19).
Whereas the essence of sin is unbelief or hardness of heart, the chief manifestations of sin are pride, sensuality, and fear. Other significant aspects of sin are self-pity, selfishness, jealousy, and greed.
The effects of sin are moral and spiritual bondage, guilt, death, and hell. James explained: "Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death" (1:14-15). In Paul's view, "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23, I Cor. 15:56 that is spiritual death or separation from God.
According to Pauline theology, the law is not simply a check on sin but an actual instigator of sin. So perverse is the human heart that the very prohibitions of the law that were intended to deter sin serve instead to arouse sinful desire (Romans 7:7-8).
Biblical faith also confesses that sin is inherent in the human condition. We are not simply born into a sinful world, but we are born with a propensity toward sin. As the psalmist says, "The wicked go astray from the womb, they err from their birth, speaking lies" (Psalms 58:3, 51:5).
CONVICTION OF SIN: The biblical teaching revolving chiefly around the concept of "conviction" does not cover all shades of meaning of elenchoƒ| The word sometimes entails the ideas of "exposing" and "correcting" in addition to that of "proving wrong" or "showing the guilt of."
A sinless person cannot be the object of this conviction (John 8:46; I Peter 2:22). The world can, however, notably for its disbelief in Christ (John 16:8-9). A sinning member of the Christian community can be an object of conviction, too (Matthew 18:15 and also Ephesians 5:11). Similarly a whole congregation may be reproved (I Timothy 5:20; 2 Timothy 3:16; Titus 1:9, 13; 2:15; James 2:9; Revelation 3:19).
The conviction of sin originates with the hypostasis of the Godhead: the Father (Hebrews 12:5), the Son (Jude 15; Revelation 3:19), and the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11). It is mediated through Christian witnesses, especially preachers, as they spread and implement the word of God (Matthew 18:15; John 16:7, 8; Ephesians 5:11, 13; I Timothy 5:20; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9, 13; 2:15). Their witness intensifies the convicting work already present through the Mosaic Law (James 2:9) and self-revelation to the conscience resulting from illumination by Christ's first advent (John 3:20).
The outcome of this convicting work varies. In one sense, it is always effective because the object invariably receives divine illumination to see issues clearly (John 16:7-8). In another sense, it is only relatively effective because the object may respond with repentance (Matthew 18:15; I Corinthians 14:24) or rejection (Luke 3:19). What conviction does is to make clear the dire results if the guilty party persists in his wrongdoing. Without conviction he remains a victim of satanic blindness (2 Corinthians 4:4). Once convicted, he must respond with a choice to rebound or to ignore the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
278 - THE ENSLAVEMENT TO SINS
The core of sin is unbelief. This has firm biblical support: in Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve trust the word of the serpent over the word of God; in the Gospels where Jesus Christ is rejected by the leaders of the Jews; in Acts 7 where Stephen is martyred at the hands of an unruly crowd; in John 20:24-25 where Thomas arrogantly dismisses the resurrection of Jesus.
Man is born into this world with three strikes against him; First, Adam¡¦s original sin (AOS) is imputed to every member of the human race at the point of physical birth. The personal sin committed by Adam at the Garden of Eden, which became AOS. God imputed AOS to every person born into this world because Adam represented the human race ¡Vand we stand and fall with him.
Through physical birth, we inherit a sin nature, which Adam passed on genetically to all mankind [Genesis 3:6-8, Psalm 51:5]. The OSN is passed to all members of the human race through the natural procreation.
Because the OSN is the source of temptation to personal sin and human volition is the cause of personal sin therefore, we shall remain enslave to sin while we are in our mortal bodies.
Personal sin is disobedience to God and to His expressed will ¡Vtherefore, any mental, verbal, and overt action or reaction contrary to the character and standards of God falls under the category of personal sin. Sin is always directed against God, even though they may involve wrongdoing against oneself or others [Psalm 51:4]. There is three serious strike against men: Adam¡¦s original sin (AOS), the old sin nature (OSN) and the personal sin.
SYNONYMS OF PERSONAL SINS:
The religious Jews were enslaved to three things that represent sin and one whole system of slavery: They were enslaved to their own corruption of the Mosaic Law ¡Va system of legalism and salvation by human works.
They were enslaved to a religious system ¡Va union of Judaism and government ¡V a lethal combination of dogma and politics. They were enslaved to the Roman Empire Judea stood in the shadow of the Roman Eagle.
As members of the human race, they were enslaved to the world cosmic system. As individual, each was slave to his spiritual and personal sin.
As slave, no member of the human race has the right or capacity to buy his freedom from the slave market. Only a freeman has the right and power to redeem a slave.
Jesus Christ came to redeem man from the slave market with His precious blood- that is His spiritual death on the Cross. He paid it in full- no sin was left out; nothing was forgotten or left behind. All the sins of all men of all time were the reason why Jesus died for us, that is to redeem us. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
279 - RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
Resurrection (anastasis) ƒwƒnƒ{the rising up and restoration of a deceased person to life in body and soul to eternal life and glorified life
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fist in the entire human history [1 Timothy 6:16]. Other reported cases were resuscitated. (Resuscitation is the restoration of an individual to his mortal body, but subsequently to die again, like in the case of Lazarus [John 11:43, 12:10] and the resuscitation of some selected OT saints while Jesus was crucified [Matthew 27:50-53].
Resurrection provides the deceased an immortal body, so that never again will he die [1 Corinthians 15:54]. To understand, the nature of Jesus¡¦ resurrected body, apostle Paul explained our future glorified bodies:
First. It will be raised in an imperishable body, from perishable mortal ƒv(phatharta) to Eternal body (thneta) [1 Corinthians 15:42]. Eternal body is a body designed and equipped to serve the Lord throughout the eternity future.
Secondly. It will be raised in glory [1 Cor. 15:43], from mere garbage of the flesh and blood to a glorious eternal body. That eternal body will be the reflection of the infinite perfection of God¡¦s handiwork. The glorious body is free from OSN, without AOS and without capacity for personal sins.
Thirdly. The eternal and glorious body will be raised by the omnipotent power of God a body more powerful than spiritual death and physical death and a body more powerful than sin [1 Corinthians 15:43].
Fourth. It will be raised in spiritual body with a new perfect nature with 100% positive volition toward God and His Word [1 Corinthians 15:45]. The resurrected body is a powerful body designed to do the will of God at all time in all the space and beyond. It will be a body without any hint for disobeying God.
The spiritual body is not for this world but designed for eternal fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ [1 Thessalonians 4:17]. The immortal body is like that of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man forever. The resurrection body is capable of seeing Jesus Christ just as He is [1 John 3:2].
It is entirely difficult to have a clear concept of the resurrected body, since we have only mortal knowledge of our temporal bodies. And since the Lord Jesus Christ entered the world in supernatural and dramatic entrance He deserved also a supernatural and dramatic exit- the Ascension. He was the first to have resurrected body, both Enoch and Elijah did not die, therefore, they have no resurrection experienced.
There are seven categories of death and there are seven categories of resurrection as well. (Please see the Appendix)
The reality that Jesus Christ died and afterward rose from the dead is both the central doctrine of Christian theology and the major fact in a defense of its teachings. It is the witness of the NT that the resurrection of Jesus is the pivotal point of Christian doctrine and practices. Paul reports an early creed in I Cor. 15:3ff. Which both includes the resurrection as an integral part of the gospel and reports several eyewitness appearances
Then Paul relates the importance of this event, for if Jesus did not literally rise from the dead, then the entire Christian faith is fallacious (vs. 14) and ineffective (vs. 17). Additionally, preaching is valueless (vs. 14), Christian testimony is false (vs. 15), no sins have been forgiven (vs. 17), and believers have perished without any Christian hope (vs. 18). The conclusion is that, apart from this event, Christians are the most miserable of all people (vs. 19).
Paul even states that without the resurrection we should "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (vs. 32). If Jesus was not raised, believers have no hope of resurrection themselves and may as well turn to hedonistic philosophies of life. He thereby strongly implies that it is this event that separates Christianity from other philosophies.
Paul teaches the centrality of the resurrection in other passages as well. In (Romans 1:3-4) he recites a brief Christology and asserts that Jesus was shown to be the Son of God, Christ, and Lord by His resurrection (Romans 14:9). This event also provides salvation (Romans 10:9-10) and ensures the resurrection of believers (I Corinthians 15:20; 2 Corinthians 4:14; I Thessalonians 4:14).
Luke's writings relate several instances where the resurrection provided the basis for the Christian proclamation. Jesus taught that His death and resurrection was a central message of the OT (Luke 24:25-27). Peter held that the miracles, which Jesus performed, and His resurrection in particular, were the chief indications that God approved of His teachings (Acts 2:22-32). Paul's teaching frequently utilized the resurrection as the basis of the gospel message (Acts 13:29-39; 17:30-31).
Other NT writings share the same hope. Jesus utilized His resurrection as the sign vindicating the authority of His teachings (Matthew 12:38-40). This event both ensures the believer's salvation (I Peter 1:3) and provides the means by which Jesus serves as the believer's High Priest (Hebrews 7:23-25).
Even such a brief survey indicates the centrality of the resurrection for the NT writers. Clearly, early believers such as Paul realized that this event provided the central claim of Christianity. With it the Christian message of eternal life is secure, resting on the reality of Jesus' victory over death. Without it the Christian message is reduced to that of one of man's philosophies.
For many scholars today who accept the literal resurrection of Jesus, the emphasis has shifted to stress Paul's concept of the "spiritual body" (I Corinthians 15:35-50), endeavoring to do justice to both elements. Thus, Jesus was raised in a real body, which had new, spiritual qualities. .
Resurrection is dispensational and a historical facts, although arguments for the resurrection have traditionally been based on two very weak lines of support. First, naturalistic theories have failed to explain away this event, chiefly because each is disproved by the known historical facts. The Bible is superior to any historical records for the fact that most historians are fabricator and liars. .
Second, historical evidences for the resurrection are often cited, such as the eyewitness testimony for Jesus' appearances, the transformed lives of the disciples, the empty tomb, the inability of the Jewish leaders to disprove these claims, and the conversion of skeptics such as Paul and James, the brother of Jesus. When combined with the absence of naturalistic alternative theories these evidences are quite impressive.
. One crucial center of attention has been I Corinthians 15:3-4, where Paul records material which he had "received" from others and then "delivered" to his listeners. It is agreed by virtually all-contemporary theologians that this material contains an ancient creed that is actually much earlier than the book in which it is recorded.
The resurrection of Christ is under fire not only from the atheists but also from the so-called Christians. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
280 - THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHRIST¡¦S RESURRECTION .
Not only can the historical resurrection be established on the basis of witnesses, but also the additional advantage of these facts is that virtually all scholars admit them as knowable history. Since such a minimum number of facts is adequate to historically establish the literal resurrection as the best explanation for the data, this event therefore should not be rejected even by those critics who disbelieve the reliability of Scripture. Their questions on other issues do not disprove this basic conclusion, which can be established by critical and historical procedures.
Especially when viewed in conjunction with the eyewitness evidence from the early Church, we have a strong twofold apologetic for the historicity of Jesus' resurrection. This contemporary approach also complements the more traditional apologetic summarized earlier, all of which combine to historically demonstrate the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead.
As Paul asserted in I Corinthians 15:12-20, the resurrection is the center of the Christian faith and teaching. This event signals the approval of Christ' teachings (Acts 2:22-23) and thus continues to provide a basis for Christian belief today. It guarantees the reality of eternal life for all who trust the gospel (I Corinthians 15:1-4, 20).
All the synoptic Gospels recorded the finding of the empty tombs and the heavenly Messengers and John added the details of the neatly folded grave image clothes [John 20:1-8].
The NT recorded 14 cases of appearances of Christ to more than 500 people after His resurrection. Matthew recorded the Galilean appearances and Luke the Jerusalem appearances.
The resurrection in glory is the most wonderful manifestation of the power of God ¡VWho raised Him from the dead. The believer is assured that the same power is at work at him.
By His resurrection, Christ was designated Son of God in power [Romans 1:4]. The Jews condemned Him because He claimed to be the Son of God and equal with God [Luke 22:70-71]. By raising Him from the dead, God the Father gave undeniable evidence that Jesus indeed is the Son of God.
Christ¡¦s resurrection was the beginning of His exaltation as Lord and Christ, God¡¦s anointed King, Prophet and High Priest Forever on the heavenly throne [Acts 2:29-36, Philippians 2:9-11].
In Christ¡¦s resurrection, the believer has the divine guarantee of his justification before God. The ground for these fundamental blessings is to be found in Christ¡¦s atoning death [Romans 5: 10, 17-19], but without the resurrection that dead would have had no atoning power. The Cross-without resurrection would mean that God has not been satisfied by Jesus redemptive work.
When Christ was raised, the believers whom He represented in His spiritual death and in His resurrection were raised with Him [Colossians 3:1]. Jesus Christ¡¦s resurrection in a glorious, immortal, powerful, and spiritual body guarantees the believer¡¦s future resurrection in a similar manner and power [1 Corinthians 15:47-, Philippians 3:21 and 1 John 3:2].
The reality of His resurrection is far greater in importance than His death [Romans 8:32-33]. Christ died the spiritual death for our redemption and He died the physical death for our resurrection, therefore, Christ is the Cause and Source of resurrection. Salvation is the redemption of the soul and resurrection is the redemption of the body. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
281 - EVIDENCES OF CHRIST¡¦S RESURRECTION
The four Gospels account of women finding the empty tomb and the Messenger of God [Matthew 28:6, Luke 24:1-5,24] and John added the details of neatly folded grave clothes [John 20:1-8]. Let me use their own allegation to refute their own claims:
The recorded appearance of Christ after His resurrection before His ascension:
To Mary Magdalene [john 20:11-17] To other women [Matthew 28:9-11] To Peter [Luke 24:34] To disciples on the way to Emmaus [Mark 16:12-13] To the 10 apostles [Mark 16:14] To the 11 apostles [John 20:26-29] To the 7 apostles [John 20:26-29] To the 500 hundred people [1 Cor. 15:6] To James ¡Vthe Lord¡¦s brother [1 Cor. 15:7] To the 11 apostles on a mountain [Matthew 28:16-20] To the apostles and disciples on His Ascension on Mt. Olives [Acts 1:3-] To Stephen at his martyrdom [Acts 7:55] To Paul at Damascus [Acts 9:3-6] To Paul in Arabia [Galatians 1:12, 17] To Paul in the Temple [acts 22:17-22] To Paul in prison in Caesarea [Acts 23:11-] To John in Patmos (Revelation 1:2-20)
The obvious lies of the oppositionists: Christ was betrayed, arrested, and judged in chain of falsification and fabrication.
The enemies of the Cross-invented the story of the stolen corpse in order to justified their accusation that the believers invented the story of resurrection. The presences of SPQR soldiers guarding the tomb refuted such lies.
The High Priest and the religious leaders bribed the guards to spread the rumors that His disciples took His corpse [Matthew 28:11-15].
It was unthinkable for soldiers to remain asleep and not to wake up with lot of activities and noise from alleged thieves while moving the stone cover.
It was illogical for soldiers to sleep while in mission of guarding the tomb and allowed the corpse to be taken away but half-dozen men.
It was ridiculous for the disciples to remove the corpse covering and run away with a naked corpse leaving behind the cloth [John 20:1-10].
The theory that the women went to the wrong tomb mislead by darkness is ridiculous if not hilarious since it was not the like our public cementery. The women were familiar with the exact location of the tomb since they help in embalming the corpse.
The women went to the tomb when the sun is already raising therefore darkness, was never a problem [Mark 15:47, Luke 23:55].
Mary Magdalene cannot make the same mistake twice. John and Peter cannot make the same mistake twice.
The theory that Jesus did not die but fainted and revived inside the tomb is ridiculous:
The Romans soldiers did not break His leg because He was already dead ¡Vthat is to make sure that the crucified is really dead [John 19:32-33].
Jesus¡¦ death was officially verified and ascertained by SPQR centurion who issued the death certificate ¡V[Mark 15:44-45]. The soldier pierced His side with a spear reaching His heart- if He was alive that would kill Him. The SPRQ soldiers are trained to kill their victim.
The allegation and assumption of men cannot cancel the validity and truthfulness of the Scripture.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
282 - THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRIST
As the only Unique Person of the universe, His spiritual and physical death accomplished two important purposes. His spiritual death was not because of His negative volition toward God or toward His Word. His physical death was not because of His old sinful nature, which He does not possess.
When Jesus died physically, His soul was neither abandoned to Hades nor His body suffered decay, because God raised Him up [Acts 2:25-36]. The resurrected glorified body is not designed to enjoy the carnal pleasures and leisure of the cosmos diabolicus ƒnas claims by some cults [Matthew 22:28-32, Mark 12:23-27].
The Hypostatic Union of Christ culminated with His resurrection. He entered the world supernaturally through virginal conception and He departed supernaturally through resurrection and ascension [Revelation 1:5].
The Royal Family of God or the Church Age believers will end with the rapture and resurrection of its members into heaven [1 Corinthians 15:23]. The Great Tribulation will conclude with the Second Coming and the resurrection of the OT saints and Tribulation martyrs [Job 19:25-26]. The Millennium kingdom will culminate with the resurrection of all unbelievers for Great White Throne judgment [Revelation 20:7-10].
Resurrection will provide the believers with glorified bodies suited and designed for their eternal fellowship with God. Resurrection will also provide the unbelievers damnable bodies suited and designed for eternal separation with God in the Lake of Fire.
Christ died the spiritual death for our redemption, and He died the physical death for our resurrection although Jesus Christ was not supposed to die physically.
CHRIST DIED PRAYING: The prayer life of Christ is an eloquent testimony that He renounced independent exercise of His divine powers and prerogative. His achievements were preceded and followed by prayer, every pressure or ordinary routine was a call for Him to pray [Luke 23:46].
His prayer revealed a filial Spirit ¡VHis eternal love and the glory of the Father as His consuming passion [John 17:4]. His prayer was lavish with thanksgiving and sincere gratitude [Luke 10:21]. His prayer was communion with God rather than personal petition and supplication [John 17:5]. His prayer composed of supplication for positive volition and advancement of His saints, or for salvation of the heirs of the kingdom.
His prayer involved no confession of personal sin [1 Peter 2:22]. He asked the Father¡¦s righteous judgment for the rebellious and reversionists all His prayers were invariably answered positively [John 11:42].
Christ became human to rescue man from eternal death ¡Vand by the grace of God, Christ tasted spiritual death for every man [Hebrews 2:9]. He lived as a man and undeservedly suffered in the world ¡V and died with His life as ransom for man [1 John 2:6, Hebrews 9:26]. He rose from the dead- proving His victory over death and revealing His power to provide eternal life [Romans 6:8-11, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22].
Christ is now in heaven preparing eternal home for the regenerated people [john 14:1-2] interceding for His children [Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25]. He is now defending the believers against Satan accusation ¡V He is the Advocate and the High Priest of the saints in heaven [Hebrews 5:9-10, Rev.12: 10]. He controls human history in favor of the believers in the world- providing logistical blessings necessary for their physical existence and all the resources for spiritual advancement. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
283 - THE SPIRITUAL BODY
Spiritual body (soma pneumatikon): The resurrected spiritual body in contrast to the physical body (soma psychikon), which is subject to sin and death (I Corinthian 15:44). Paul's teaching, like that of Christ, (1) stands in contrast to the denial of the afterlife by the Sadducees (Matthew 22:23-33; Acts 23:6-8), and (2) contrasts with the Greek notion of the bare immortality of the soul, separated from the tomb of the body.
On analogy of God's revelation in nature, where the sown seed dies and rises to something that bears identity with the seed but is immeasurably different, Paul describes the resurrection of the dead. For Paul, again as with Jesus in His resurrected state, the person is conceived as a gestalt unity of body-spirit, not as a soul separated from the body. The whole person is lifted to a new level of existence, from the fallen and death-prone body-soul of Adam to the imperishable body-spirit of life in Christ (I Cor. 15:35-50).
Jesus in his resurrection appearances embodies the new imperishable existence, and though not of flesh and blood of the old order, or limited by physical parameters of that order (John 20:19-20), nevertheless has identifiable characteristics of flesh and bones, hands, and side, and can partake of food (Luke 24:36-43). This mysterious and "logically odd" language of the apostolic witness is not contradictory but complementary, as Jesus, John, Luke, Paul, and the other NT witnesses convey the divinely revealed fact that the new existence is like, yet different from, the old, on analogy of the identity and difference between the seed and the full grain.
Soma pneumatikon is Paul's way of saying that the believer's personal identity, as a body-spirit unity will be raised to a new life like that of Christ Himself.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
284 - THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST
Jesus ascended into heaven on the fortieth day after His resurrection (Acts 1:3, 9), and the subsequent period of waiting for the descent of the Holy Spirit appears to have lasted the ten days until Pentecost (Acts 2:1).
That act of the God-man by which He brought to an end His post-resurrection appearances to His disciples, was finally parted from them as to His physical presence, and passed into the other world, to remain there until His second advent (Acts 3:21)
Luke describes this event in a unique term in Luke 24:51 and more fully in Acts 1:9. Even if the words "and he was carried up into heaven" are not part of the true text in Luke 24:51, we have good reason for saying, in the light of Luke's clear and unambiguous words in his second treatise, that the doubtful words in Luke 24:51 express what was in his mind. In accordance with the oral testimony of the apostles, he carries on his story of the life of Jesus as far as "the day that he was taken up" (Acts 1:22).
According to the Gospel of John- our Lord referred on three occasions to His ascending into heaven (John 3:13; 6:62; 20:17). Paul speaks of Christ ascending far above all heavens in order to permeate the whole universe with His presence and power (Ephesians 4:10). Such phrases as "received up in glory" (I Timothy 3:16), "gone into heavens" (I Peter 3:22), and "passed through the heavens" (Hebrews 4:14) refer to the same event. Paul exhorts the Colossian believers to "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1), and the numerous references in the NT to the session at the right hand of God presuppose the ascension.
In Eph. 1:20 and following verses, Paul passes directly from the resurrection to the exaltation of Christ to the place of supreme power and authority in the universe. In passages like Romans 8:34 and Colossians 3:1 the session might seem to be thought of as the immediate result of the rising from the dead, thus leaving no room, as some have argued, for the ascension as a distinct event; but it is difficult to see that there is any force in any argument derived from Paul's silence in such passages when in Ephesians 4:10 he states so emphatically his belief in the ascension.
Our Lord's post-resurrection appearances had, no doubt, shown that He belonged already to the upper world of light and glory; but with the ascension His fleeting visits to His disciples from that world came to an end, and the heavens received Him from their sight. Yet, through the indwelling Holy Spirit they were to come nearer to Him than ever before, and He was to be with them forever (John 14:16-18).
To object to the account of the ascension of Christ into heaven as implying a childish and outmoded view of the universe is, more or less, solemn trifling. The change which Christ revealed by the ascension was not a change of place, but a change of state, not local but spiritual, on the other hand we are not unscientific when we think of the land where "the king in all His glory without a veil is seen" as the upper world of light and glory, high above us as good is above evil and blessedness above misery.
The exalted Lord in heaven is our Advocate in the presence of His Father (Romans 8:34; I John 2:1; Hebrews 7:25). As our High Priest He offered on the cross the one perfect and final sacrifice for sins forever (Hebrews 10:12), and now, having sat down at the right hand of God, He has entered on His priestly ministry in heaven. As our King-Priest He communicates, through the Holy Spirit, to all believers the gifts and blessings that He died to win for them. "Christ's intercession in heaven," is a kind and powerful remembrance of His people, and of all their concerns, managed with state and majesty; not as a suppliant at the footstool, but as a crowned prince on the throne, at the right hand of the Father.
We have our place in heaven, said: The scum of the earth is on the throne of the majesty on high. We have "a sure pledge that He, as our Head, will also take us, His members, up to Himself. He sends us His Spirit, as the earnest of the promised inheritance.
The Holy Spirit was not given, in the fullness of His gracious working in the souls of men, until Jesus was glorified (John 7:39). "Being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens" (Acts 2:33-34).
Thus was it demonstrated to the universe that, the Risen Lord lives in heavenly communion with His and our Father, and that He takes an active part in the working of the power as well as of the grace of God in this world.
The Ascended Lord is with us in the struggle here (Mark 16:19-20), and we know that He has gone to heaven our entrance to secure, and our abode prepare (John 14:2;Heb. 6:20). Ascension is the visible departure of Christ into heaven, in order to receive His heavenly exaltation ¡Vwhere the Ascended Christ received His place of pre-incarnate power at the right hand of God. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
285 - THE NECESSITY OF ASCENSION
The body and the nature of the Risen lord could not be subject to human Laws ¡Vit cannot permanently abide here in the world of corruption. Christ dramatic and supernatural entrance to the world also demands dramatic and supernatural exit.
The ascension and exaltation of Christ were essential to complete the Redemptive work (His spiritual death) of Christ. His Work was not yet finished when He rose from the grave.
He had not presented the Blood of the Atonement in the presence of the Father, nor had He yet been given His place at the right hand of the Father as the Giver of all spiritual gifts, specially the gift of the Holy Spirit.
It was further necessary in order that Christ might become an ideal object of worship for the entire human race. The nature of the Risen Lord resurrected body necessitated such event. Such body must exit or depart not by mortal dissolution but by glorification. The only Unique Personality and holy life of our Lord demanded a remarkable exit.
His redemptive work required such a consummation. His Ascension was a complete and final demonstration that His atonement had forever solved the problem created by man¡¦s sin and rebellion.
The nature of Christ¡¦s resurrection body necessitated a glorious departure from the cosmos diabolicus ƒnand not by dissolution. The Unique Personality and perfect life of Christ demanded a remarkable exit on earth.
The Redemptive work of Christ required such consummation-totally solving the problem of sin forever. The gift of the Holy Spirit was dependent on His glorification [John 7:39, 14:2, 19].
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ASCENSION The Ascension of Christ explained His disappearance from the tomb. It was the culminating assurance that the work He did had been completed to the entire satisfaction of the Father. It was also a divine vindication of His claims to Deity.
It was His divine inauguration into His heavenly Priesthood. As our High Priest in heaven [Hebrews 2:17-18], Christ is fully capable to succor, to sympathize [Hebrews 4:15] and able to save [7:15].
Christ intercedes for us, as our High Priest [John 17:24] forever. His mode of intercession as High Priest is not vocal but personal and perpetuity [Hebrews 7:25]
How could our imperfect and insincere prayer be acceptable to our perfect God? Christ our perfect High Priest receives our imperfect and unacceptable prayer and mingles them with the incense of His merits and perfection.
The Ascended Christ entered heaven as a Forerunner [Hebrews 6:20]. He has gone to prepare a place for His people [Hebrews 9:21-24]. He is now appearing before the heavenly Court in our behalf [Hebrews 9:24] and awaiting His universal dominion [Hebrews 10:12-13].
The ascension and exaltation of Christ assures us of a free and confident admittance into the presence of God [Hebrews 4:14-16]. The ascension of Christ assures our hope of immortality [2 Corinthians 5:1-8].
To say that Mary (the impostor) ascended and exalted into heaven is not only blasphemy but also desecration to God. The Bible did not mentioned anything about her ascension and exaltation ¡Vand she is not perfect but contaminated with OSN and AOS. Christ is God Who became a Man while their Mary is an imperfect human to whom her worshippers attached deity of the true God. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
286 - IN REMEMBRANCE OF CHRIST
Christ went up to heaven in the entireness of His perfect well-known visible Person. His ascension is intended to convince the foes of the cross that they need not expect Him to appear again until the rapture.
1 Corinthians 11:20, the so called ¡§the Lord's table" (10:21), "communion," "cup of blessing" (10:16), and "breaking of bread" (Acts 2:42). The account of the institution of this ordinance is given in Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:19, 20, and 1 Corinthians 11: 24-26. The writer of the Gospel of John did not mention it. It was designed:
(1.) To commemorate the death of Christ: "This do in remembrance of Me."
(2.) To signify, seal, and apply to believers all the benefits of the new covenant. In this ordinance Christ ratifies His promises to His people, and they on their part solemnly consecrate themselves in knowing Him through diligent and progressive study of Bible doctrine.
(3.) To be a badge of the Christian profession of faith and oneness with Christ,
(4.) To indicate and to promote the communion of believers with Christ,
(5.) To represent the mutual communion of believers with each other- the elements used to represent Christ's body and blood are bread and table wine. The kind of bread, whether leavened or unleavened, is not specified. Christ used unleavened bread simply because it was at that moment on the paschal table. Table wine was used because it was part of their regular meal (Matthew 26:26-29).
Believers "feed" on Christ's body and blood, not with the mouth in any manner, but by the soul alone, and by faith, which is the mouth or hand of the soul. This they do in the power of the Holy Spirit. This "feeding" on Christ, however, takes place not in the Lord's Supper alone, but whenever faith in Him is exercised (that is, whenever the believer is in communion with God or inside the divine dynasphere.ƒnƒ|
This is a permanent ordinance in the Church of Christ, and is to be observed "till He come" again (during the entire duration of the Church Age).
The center stage of the institution of the Lord¡¦s Supper is the spiritual death of Christ and His resurrection. Resurrection therefore is one of the cardinal facts and doctrines of the gospel. If Christ were not raised, our faith is vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). The whole of the New Testament revelation rests on this as nothing but a historical fact.
In His own discourses, also, our Lord clearly intimates his resurrection (Matthew 20:19; Mark 9:9; 14:28; Luke 18:33; John 2:19-22).
The evangelists give circumstantial accounts of the facts connected with that event, and the apostles, also, in their public teaching largely insist upon it. The resurrection is spoken of as the act:
o Of God the Father (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:24; 3:15; Romans 8:11; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12; Hebrews 13:20); o Of Christ Himself (John 2:19; 10:18); o Of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 3:18)
The resurrection is a public testimony of Christ's release from His undertaking as Surety, and an Evidence of the Father's acceptance of His work of redemption. It is a victory over death and the grave for all His followers.
The importance of Christ's resurrection will be seen when we consider that if He rose the gospel is true, and if He rose not it is false. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
287 - RESURRECTION AND WORSHIP
His resurrection from the dead makes it manifest that His sacrifice was accepted. Our justification was secured by His obedience to the death, and therefore He was raised from the dead (Romans 4:25).
His resurrection is a proof that He made a full atonement for our sins, that His sacrifice was accepted as a satisfaction to divine justice, and His blood a ransom for sinners. It is also a pledge and an earnest of the resurrection of all believers (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:47-49; Philippians 3:21; 1 John 3:2). As He lives, they shall live also.
It proved Him to be the Son of God, inasmuch as it authenticated all His claims (John 2:19; 10:17). "If Christ did not rise, the whole scheme of redemption is a failure, and all the predictions and anticipations of its glorious results for time and for eternity, for men and for angels of every rank and order, are proved to be hearsay. 'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.' Therefore the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation.
The kingdom of darkness has been overthrown, Satan has fallen as lightning from heaven, and the triumph of truth over error, of good over evil, of happiness over misery is forever secured.
With reference to the report which the Roman soldiers were bribed (Matthew 28:12-14) to circulate gossip concerning Christ's resurrection, ¡§His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we slept," John 20:1-10.
The grave-clothes in which Christ had been buried were found in very good order, which serves for an evidence that His body was not 'stolen away while men slept.' Robbers of tombs have been known to take away 'the clothes' and leave the body; but none ever took away 'the body' and left the clothes, especially when they were 'fine linen' and new (Mark 15:46).
Any one would rather choose to carry a dead body in its clothes than naked. Or if they that were supposed to have stolen it would have left the grave-clothes behind, yet it cannot be supposed they would find leisure to 'fold up the linen.
WORSHIP is from the old English word that means "worthship", denoting the worthiness of an individual to receive special honor in accordance with that worth. The principal biblical terms, the Hebrew saha and the Greek proskyneo, emphasize the act of prostration, the doing of obeisance. This may be done out of regard for the dignity of personality and influenced somewhat by custom (Genesis 18:2), or may be based on family relationship (Genesis 49:8).
On a higher plane the same terms are used of divine honors rendered to a deity, whether to the gods of the nation (Exodus 20:5) or to the one true and living God who reveals Himself in Scripture and in His Son (Exodus 24:1).
The tutelage of Israel in the wilderness laid great stress on the sinfulness of idolatrous worship and its dire consequences (Deuteronomy 8:19). No injury to God compares with the denial of His uniqueness and the transfer to another of the recognition due to Him. In this light must be understood His references to Himself as a jealous God (Exodus 20:5).
Perversion of worship is seen in Satan's avid effort to secure for him what belongs properly to God alone (Matthew 4:9), as well as in the blasphemous figure of the beast (Revelation 13:4). Undue deference paid to men verges at times on worship and is resisted by the godly (Acts 10:25- 26). Barnabas and Paul protested the attempt to worship them at Lystra based on the impression that they were gods who had come down to men (Acts 14:11-14). Loyal angels refuse veneration (Revelation 22:9). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
289 - DEPRAVITY AND SALVATION IN ASCENDED CHRIST
It is useful to distinguish between a broad and a restricted meaning of worship as applied to God. In general He may be honored with prayer and praise and the bringing of sacrificial gifts (I Sam. 1:3).
This cultic worship is especially appropriate in the house of God (Psalm 138:2) and when it is carried on with a desire to be clothed in his holiness (Psalm 29:2). In a still broader sense the service, which issues from worship and derived there from its inspiration may be included (Matthew 4:10).
In the narrower sense worship is pure adoration, the lifting up of the redeemed spirit toward God in contemplation of His holy perfection. Matthew distinguishes between the presentation of gifts by the magi to the Christ child and their worship of Him (Matthew 2:11).
Jesus made an epochal statement on this subject (John 4:24). To worship God in spirit involves a contrast with worship in the letter, in the legalistic encumbrance so characteristic of the Jew; to worship Him in truth contrasts with the Samaritan and all other worship, which is false to a greater or lesser extent.
Our Lord made possible a more intelligent worship of God by revealing the Father in His own Person. As the incarnate Son, He Himself is deserving of the same veneration (John 9:38; 20:28; Hebrew 1:6; Revelation 5:6-14).
290 - TOTAL DEPRAVITY: A proper definition of total depravity should not focus primarily on the questions of sinfulness vs. goodness or ability vs. inability, but on fallen man's relation to a holy God. Because of the effects of the fall, that original relationship of fellowship with God was broken and man's entire nature was polluted. As a result no one can do anything, even good things that can gain salvation merit in God's sight.
Therefore, we may concisely define total depravity as the unmeritorious ness of man before God because of the corruption of original sin. The concept of total depravity does not mean (1) that depraved people cannot or do not perform actions that are good in either man's or God's sight. But no such action can gain favor with God for salvation.
Neither does it mean (2) that fallen man has no conscience which judges between good and evil for him. But that conscience has been affected by the fall so that it cannot be a safe and reliable guide. Neither does it mean (3) that people indulge in every form of sin or in any sin to the greatest extent possible.
Positively total depravity means that the corruption has extended to all aspects of man's nature, to his entire being; and total depravity means that because of that corruption there is nothing man can do to merit saving grace favor with God.
The Bible teaches this concept of total depravity in many places. The Lord recognized good people (Matthew 22:10), yet He labeled His own disciples as evil men (Matthew 7:11). The mind is affected (Romans 1:28; Ephesians 4:18), the conscience is unclean (Hebrews 9:14), the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), and by nature mankind is subject to wrath (Ephesians 2:3). God sent the flood as a judgment on mankind's depravity (Genesis 6:5). Depravity, according to the Lord, is in the inner being and is the root of evil actions (Mark 7:20-23).
Evil in the soul of man is compose of the guilt of original sin, and the loss of freedom of the will, and which affirms involvement in the sin of Adam only to the extent of giving mankind a tendency toward sin and not a sinful nature. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
291 - MEDIATORSHIP AND RECAPITULATION OF CHRIST
The implications of depravity are especially crucial in relation to salvation. Man has no ability to save himself. He can do well and make choices, but he cannot regenerate himself (John 1:13). Unless the Holy Spirit enlightens an individual he will remain in darkness (I Cor. 2:14).
RECAPITULATION: From the Greek anakephalaiosis Christ symbolically retraced the steps of Adam and humanity, Christ comprehended or brought to a head in Himself the whole of humanity, an interpretation which better accords with the meaning of Ephesians 1:10.
The parallels between Adam and Christ: Adam was made of virgin soil, was tempted by Satan, and brought sin and death into the world through disobedience at the tree. Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, resisted temptation by Satan, and overcame sin by obedience to death on the cross Christ passed through all ages of life, infant, child, youth, and old man, in order to sanctify all who are born again to God through Him.
He became what we are in order to make us what He is. As a result of His life, death, and resurrection all that was lost in Adam is regained in Christ. The human race was given a new start, and saved humanity is gathered together as one in Christ.
Christ also summed up and completed in Himself the revelation of God. The doctrine of recapitulation was important in the context of the Gnostic controversy because it secured the reality of the incarnation, the unity of mankind, and the certainty of redemption.
Christ took the role of a Mediator is to bring reconciliation between two parties. The biblical concept of mediation is to bring sinful man to reconciliation with a holy God, a major concern of the Scriptures.
The word "mediator" ƒvmesitesƒw is used only once in the OT Greek version Job 9:33, where it is translated "daysmanƒzƒp "umpire," or "someone to arbitrate": "He is not man like me that I might answer Him, that we might confront each other in court.
If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God's rod from me, so that His terror would frighten me no more" (Job 9:32-34).
Mediation in the OT is seen in the function of the offices of prophet and priest. The prophet was a man who spoke for God to man by way of revelation, instruction, and warning (Exodus 4:10- 16; Amos 3:8; Jeremiah 1:7, 17). The priest was a man who spoke for man to God by way of intercession and sacrifices (Deuteronomy 33:10; Hebrew 5:1). These offices complemented each other as mediators between God and man.
In the NT "mediator" is used six times. Twice it is used in connection with Moses as being the mediator of the law (Galatians 3:19-20). The word is used three times in Hebrews, where Jesus is shown to be the mediator of a new or better covenant (8:6; 9:15; 12:24).
After discussing the superiority of the new covenant over the old Covenant, the author of Hebrews states that with the inauguration of the new covenant there needed to be a new Mediator, who is identified as Christ (8:6).
Christ as the mediator sacrificed His life in order to inaugurate the new covenant and thereby reconciled man to God. A central verse in the mediatorial ƒnwork of Christ is I Timothy 2:5. Paul states: "This is good and acceptable before God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom in behalf of all men, the testimony borne in these times" (I Timothy 2:3-6). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
THE NEW MEDIATOR AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Again there is death in connection with mediation. Beyond the passages, which explicitly use the terminology, the NT is replete with examples of Christ being Mediator. He represented God to man as a prophet.
Jesus Christ as the Mediator fulfilled the prophetic office as prophesied by Moses (Deut. 18:15-18)- was seen by Philip (John 1:45), Peter (Acts 3:22-23) Stephen (Acts 7:37), the Jewish people who heard Christ (Matthew |
