Monthly Archives: December 2015

Handcrafted By The Master

Bible Study, , ,

HANDCRAFTED BY THE MASTER

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2: 8-10).

What a different picture from the one Paul painted in the previous verses! We are no longer dead and stinking but alive to God and objects of His grace and favour. How sad that religion drives many branches of so-called Christianity. What do I mean by “religion”? Religion flourishes by rules and ritual. Religion is a “do-it-yourself” attempt to reach God or to satisfy the perceived demands of a god.

Even believers in Jesus often erroneously believe that their response to what God has done for them is to “work for God”. But God’s word tells a very different story. God sent His Son into the world to rescue us from the plight sin put us in, not for our sake but for His sake. He wanted a family of sons and daughters bound to Him by love, not a group of slaves bound to Him by fear.

He did everything necessary to bring us back to His original plan because of His mercy. We did nothing to deserve His grace and we can do nothing to earn it. He did it for Himself so that the minions who rebelled against Him would be confronted with the truth – God is love.

Humans find it difficult to accept a free gift so great that it transfers us out of the devil’s clutches and places us in the hands and under the care of a gracious Father. We would rather attempt to repay God for His kindness in some futile way which does not impress God at all. God is not a tit-for-tat God like the gods of the heathen. If you do this for Him, He will do that for you. Everything He did to save us from self-destruction, He did for Himself, and He gives is to us as a free gift of His grace.

But that does not mean that we simply take everything and give nothing back. As sons and daughters of God, there is a response He requires of us, but it is not a response of repaying our debt. It is the response of the children of God who adore their Father and serve Him out of love and gratitude.

A study of the gospels will reveal that there are five characteristics of a true son which Jesus mirrored in His life on earth.

  1. A son loves his father

A religious leader once asked Jesus, “Which is the greatest commandment?” to which Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” Love for God is the atmosphere in which a son of daughter lives.

  1. A son trusts his father

If there is no trust between a father and his child, he then lives like a slave in fear. Love and trust are the bases of the other three characteristics of a son or daughter.

  1. A son submits to his father

Jesus is the perfect model of a submissive son. Even when He faced His greatest battle in the Garden of Gethsemane, He submitted to the Father’s will, and not with gritted teeth but with love and trust.

  1. A son obeys the father

A son does not grudgingly obey or give in to the father under compulsion. Obedience is the hallmark of love. Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love me, you will do what I command you.”

  1. A son serves his father

This is not the service of a servant but the service of partnership, doing the Father’s will with Him to fulfil the Father’s greater purpose of establishing His kingdom on earth.

The good works of which Paul speaks are not random acts of kindness because we feel sorry for people in need. They are the integrated actions of God’s people which reveal His character to an ungodly world. When we live in harmony and fellowship with the Father, He will reveal His will to us and enable us to carry out His plans in partnership with Him to bring a wayward family back to Himself.

Whatever it involves in the way of acts of compassion and kindness towards others, God wants to reveal Himself through us so that those who have been deceived by the devil into hating God, will see Him in us and turn to Him in faith.

Paul said that we are God’s masterpiece, handcrafted by Him to carry out His will on earth by doing what He planned for us to do long before we were born.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

For more details, check my website:

http://luellaannettecampbell.com/

Have you read my blogs on www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com ?

Dead And Stinking!

Bible Study, , ,

DEAD AND STINKING!

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit which is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were all by nature objects of wrath (Eph. 2: 1-3).

Have you ever smelt the stench of rotting flesh? It is not pleasant, to say the least. If dead flesh smells bad, what do you suppose a dead spirit smells like to the Father? From God’s point of view, we were dead in our sinful nature and lifestyle – dead to Him because our sin created a chasm between Him and us and left us lifeless and alone.

What a gloomy picture of the people in the world who have nothing to do with God and are therefore nothing more than empty shells with no real life in them! Paul vividly describes all of us in our state of alienation from God – selfish, ungodly, and living only to gratify every craving and desire with no thought for the way our lives and behaviour affect others.

The world of entertainment and what it dishes up, including the filth that Hollywood spews out and everything that flows from the mass media – scandal, violence, illicit sex, crime and every form of unsavoury behaviour – is the diet we feed on, and then we wonder why the world is so bad. Sin is like a snowball. The more sin we feed on, the more sine we practice.

Paul makes not excuse for anyone. Whoever we are, if we are not in “Christ”, we are all in the same boat. It’s just the degree that varies. Even the most respectable of people are separated from by God by their sin.

Unfortunately for us, unlike the belief system of some religions, God does not weigh our sin and our good deeds in the balance. We were infected with a sin nature from our conception, which we inherited from Adam and which makes us dead to God before we took our first breath. No one has to teach a child to sin. It is as spontaneous as breathing. Even if we teach him to live a moral and upright life, the nature within him pulls him towards sin. No one can see the sins of the spirit – greed, selfishness, lust, jealousy, resentment, bitterness – and the list goes on, but they are there in all of us.

Paul calls us all “objects of wrath”. How can we be under the wrath of God? How fair is that when we were born in sin? Unfortunately, we had no choice in the matter because we are all descendants of Adam. As the representative man, he chose to defy God’s instruction and brought condemnation on the whole human race. But not only that. Every time we do what is natural to us, we confirm our own status under God’s wrath. God must punish sin because it is a violation of His holiness.

But, because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages, He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2: 4-7).

Out it comes in a rush! It’s almost as though Paul enjoyed painting as gloomy a picture as He could about our sinful state so that he could pour out in lavish language, the magnitude of what God has done for us in His Son. How sad that many so-called preachers of the gospel miss it altogether. They present Jesus as the cure for all ills. They preach a message and issue an invitation that makes it sound as though we do God a favour by “accepting Jesus as our personal Saviour”.

God was not obliged to do anything for us. His wrath falls on us because we are responsible for everything we have said and done.  We can blame whoever we like but, in the end, whatever we do and however we live is our choice. We decide how we will respond to whatever life dishes up for us.

God stepped in with a masterful plan to rescue us from our plight, and it had nothing to do with us. In fact, He didn’t even do it because He felt sorry for us. He did it to put His glory on display. It was His opportunity to reveal His true nature to the devil and his minions who are at war with God. He sent His own Son as a substitute for man, to take the rap for what we have done in rebellion against Him so that we can go free. No more debt. No more guilt. No more barrier between Him and us.

He made it possible for us to have life, to forgive our sin, change our hearts and embrace us a His beloved sons and daughters. Who in their right mind would not respond in love to someone who did that for us?

It’s all about Him from beginning to end. God does not beg us to accept His offer. He graciously extends it to us, but the response is ours. We can come home to Him and live under His authority and in His family, or we can remain in our dead and stinking state. He will not choose for us.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

For more details, check my website:

http://luellaannettecampbell.com/

Have you read my blogs on www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com ?

 

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Apologetics, , , ,

WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?

INTRODUCTION

Some have accused us, the leaders of Ebenezer, of not believing in the incarnation because we don’t celebrate Christmas. That could not be further from the truth. There are many reasons for our not practising or promoting the Christmas myth but it is not my intention to preach against the celebration of Christmas today.

I want to tell you the much bigger story. Let’s begin with a visit to Caesarea Philippi. Jesus took His disciples to the “red-light” district in Israel. In the environment of pagan worship, He asked His disciples the question, “Who do you say that I am?”

With divine insight, Peter responded: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” He may not have fully understood the implications, but let’s examine his answer:

  1. JESUS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Who was Jesus before His birth in Bethlehem?

He was Creator

Gen. 1: 1 – In the beginning God . . . and God said, “Let there be light.”

John 1: 1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1: 4; 9 – In Him was life, and that life was the light of men . . . the true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

John 1: 14 – The word became flesh and made His among us  . . .

Col. 1: 16 – For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by Him and for Him.

Heb. 1: 1-2 – In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.

 

He was active in the world

It was the second person of the Trinity who was active in the Old Testament. Jesus proved it by the references to Himself in His debates with the Pharisees.

Abraham – Gen. 22: 10-12 – Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Here am I,’ he replied. ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ He said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.’

Moses – Ex. 3:13-14 – Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of our fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask, ‘What is His name?’ Then what shall I tell them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites, I AM has sent me to you.’”

John 8: 56-58 – ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’ ‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ the Jews said to Him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I AM!’

Isaiah – Isaiah 6: 1 – In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted and the train of His robe filled the temple.

John 12: 17 – Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him. This was to fulfil the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so that they can neither see with their eyes, not understand with their hearts, nor turn – and I would heal them.’ Isaiah said this, because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him.

  1. JESUS IN PROPHECY – the prophetic fingerprint

The Protevangellion – Gen. 3: 15 – And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

His birth

  1. Bethlehem – His birthplace

Mic. 5: 1 – But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.

  1. Born of a virgin

Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

  1. Born to rule

Isaiah 9: 6 – For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing it and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

Filled with the Spirit

Isaiah 11: 1-3 – A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord – and He will delight in the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah 61: 1-3 – The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all who mourn, and to provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

His perfect life of compassion and mercy

Isaiah 42: 1-4 – Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on Him and He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smouldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness He will bring forth justice; He will not falter or be discouraged till He established justice on earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.

 

The Suffering Servant

  1. Disfigured

Isaiah 52: 13-15 – See, my servant will act wisely; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at Him – His appearance was so disfigured beyond that on any man and His form marred beyond any human likeness – so will He sprinkle many nations and kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

  1. Our substitute

Isaiah 53: 5 – But He was pieced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.

  1. His resurrection

Psalm 16: 8-11 – I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasure at your right hand.

  1. His second coming

Psalm 2: 6-9 – ‘I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron sceptre; you will dash them to pieces like pottery. Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

The three autumn feasts of the Lord picture the return and reign of Jesus.

 

 

  1. JESUS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT – the prophetic fingerprint matched

 

  1. His birth

Luke 2: 4- 7 – So Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Bethlehem the town of David because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

  1. Born of a virgin

Luke 1: 26-27 – In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

  1. Born to rule

Matt. 2: 1-2 – After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Filled with the Spirit

Matt. 3: 16 – As soon as Jesus was baptised, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’

Luke 4:  14; 16- 19 – Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole country. . . He went to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue as was His custom. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

 

His perfect life of compassion and mercy

Matt. 11: 2-6 – When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask Him, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’ Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you see and hear. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall way because of me.’

The Suffering Servant

  1. Disfigured

John 19: 1-2a – Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head.

  1. Our substitute

Luke 22: 14-19 – When the hour came, Jesus and His apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfilment in the kingdom of God. After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, ‘Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not dink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And He took the bread, gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’

  1. His resurrection

Acts 2: 24-28 – But God raised Him from the dead because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. David said this about Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also live in hope, because you will not let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you fill me with joy in your presence.’ . . . God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact.

  1. His second coming

Acts 1: 10-11 – They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going when, suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way as you have seen Him go into heaven.’

  1. JESUS IN GLORY

Exalted

Eph. 1: 19-21 – That power is like the working of His mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come.

Acts 2: 33; 36 – Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the Promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. . . Therefore, let all Israel be assured that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Glorified

2 Cor. 3: 18 – Now we all, with unveiled faces, all reflect (contemplate) the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Reigning

1 Cor. 15: 25-26 – For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Worshipped

Rev. 4: 11-14 – Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:

‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

and honour and glory and praise!’

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them, singing:

‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be praise and honour and glory and power for ever and ever!’

The four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshipped.

CONCLUSION   

My dear friends, this is the Bible’s revelation of Jesus – not a pathetic picture of a helpless baby lying in an animal feed trough, surrounded by curious cattle, sheep and goats, whose birthday is erroneously celebrated on the day when the sun-god was supposed to have been reborn. He is the mighty God, who was before all time, who stepped into time for a season and who rules over His universe with wisdom, power and justice. He will return to destroy all His enemies and to set up Him kingdom on earth forever.

He did not come to earth to make all your problems go away and to wait on you. He came to re-establish God’s reign on earth and to take His rightful place as Lord in the hearts of men and women.

We have only one fitting response to this glorious Jesus – not to accept Him as our personal Saviour, but to repent – to return to the truth of God’s Word – and to confess that Jesus is Lord.

Rom. 10: 9 – If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord!’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

For more details, check my website:

http://luellaannettecampbell.com/

Have you read my blogs on www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com ?

 

The Highly Exalted Christ

Bible Study, , , , ,

THE HIGHLY EXALTED CHRIST

That power is like the working of His mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way (Eph. 1: 19b-23).

Jesus could go no lower than death. Death is the fate of the sinner; the body consigned to the dust from where it came and the soul consigned to eternal destruction, separated from God and never able to access Him again.

But it was impossible for death to hold Jesus because He had no sin of His own for which He had to pay. He suffered physical death and separation from the Father for the debt of the world, not for His own and, when the Father accepted the payment for sin’s debt, death could no longer hold Him captive.

It must have been the Father’s greatest moment when the Holy Spirit breathed life into Jesus again. He breathed life into the clay form of the first man, and that took power. But the power God used to raise Christ from the dead was the greater power because He lifted Him from the grave to the highest place in heaven and on earth. During His earthly life, Jesus was harassed by the devil who had the power to lure Him into independence from the Father and disobedience to His will. Jesus never succumbed to the devil’s temptations, but He willingly handed Himself over to death in obedience to the Father.

The Holy Spirit was there, in the tomb, waiting for the moment when He could release the life of God into Jesus’ physical body once again. Not only did He raise Jesus from death to life; He also raised Him from humiliation to exaltation. Jesus took His place at the right hand of the Father, carrying the position of all authority over every power that still claimed authority on earth. Every demonic being is subject to Him.

To be under His feet is a symbolic picture of the supreme power and authority Jesus has in the universe. In ancient times, a victorious king would put his foot on the neck of the vanquished ruler as a sign that he had conquered him (Josh. 10:24). Jesus has His feet on the necks of the devil and every demonic being under him. He has conquered them, and they are doomed. And He has His feet on the neck of death, the last enemy against us.

Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection, the guarantee that He will gather the harvest of men and women who have believed in Him and raise them up to share the glory of His resurrection with Him.

The Father also gave Jesus authority to rule the church. On one occasion a would-be disciple asked permission to follow Him. He wanted to be a part of the band of men who would accompany Him, night and day, year in and year out to learn from Him so that he could be like Him. Jesus declined his request with these words:

Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head (Matt. 8: 20).

As western-thinking people, we translate this statement to mean that Jesus was poor; He had no home and He could not, therefore, take on any more followers. Wrong!

Hebrew people would ask, “What do foxes do in dens; what do birds do in nests?” Dens and nests are used for reproduction. Jesus was talking about reproducing Himself in the world. He was the head, but He did not yet have a body on which to lay His head in order to reproduce Himself through it. Only after His death and resurrection, through the power of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, was the church born.

Now He had a body, and the Father appointed Him to be head of this body, so that the church, under His authority, could be His representative on earth, reproducing Him in the lives of those who believe in Him.

Some spiritual leaders think that the church belongs to them. They treat the members as though they own them. They mistakenly believe that it is their job to build the church. But Jesus gave His disciples a mandate, and it was not to build His church. He informed them that He would build His church (Matt. 16:18). Their task was to make disciples (Matt 28: 19-20). They would be the living stones out of which He would build His church (1 Peter 2: 4-5).

We must beware of ministers, pastors and priests who lord it over the laity, who claim absolute authority over them and who bind people to themselves. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. The shepherd’s job is to care for the sheep under the authority of the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5: 1-4), not to own or control them.

Jesus is the head, and when the body and the head are fused together and functioning as one, He is complete.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

For more details, check my website:

http://luellaannettecampbell.com/

Have you read my blogs on www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com ?

 

 

The Legend Of Ishtar And The Pagan Celebration Of Easter

Christian life, , ,

THE LEGEND OF ISHTAR AND THE PAGAN CELEBRATION OF EASTER

Christians around the world celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus during a season called “Easter”. But why do we call it “Easter” when Jesus fulfilled the Jewish feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits, which the Jews celebrated for eight days between Nisan 14 and 21? Jesus Himself instituted the “Lord’s Supper” during the Feast of Passover when He gave His disciples the symbols of unleavened bread and wine as a reminder of His death.

 

How do we and, incidentally, the world around us, celebrate this season?

 

We hold a sunrise service; some hold a feast which includes eating ham; we give our children Easter eggs, either coloured or chocolate eggs, and we tell them stories about the Easter bunny who brings the eggs.

Firstly, how do we reconcile the dates of Good Friday and Easter Sunday with Jesus’ words?

A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12: 39-40).

Was Jesus either lying or exaggerating when He said, “Three days and three nights”? If He were crucified on Friday, buried before sunset on Friday afternoon, and resurrected on Sunday before sunrise, even by Jewish reckoning He could not have been in the grave for three days and three nights.

Scripture teaches there were TWO Sabbaths between the time when Jesus entered the tomb and the moment his resurrection took place! This is the KEY to understanding the correct sequence of events of what happened to Jesus our Savior! . .

Every Passover lamb was chosen from the flock on the 10th day of Nisan, scrutinized for three days for blemishes and sacrificed on Nisan 14. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Sunday, Nisan 10, was on public display for three days and was sacrificed on Wednesday, Nisan 14 (Ex. 12: 3-8).

“After Tuesday sunset in 30 A.D. (when the Biblical day ended) Jesus partook of his last meal with his twelve disciples (Luke 22:14-15, etc.). Jesus’ crucifixion occurs between noon (9 am – Mk. 15:25) and 3 pm Wednesday. He dies at 3 pm. According to the Bible, work was allowed in order to prepare for the NEXT day, a high Holy Sabbath where no work was permitted (Lev. 23:5-7), called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This Holy time began at Wednesday sunset. Jesus was very quickly taken from the cross after his death as there were only a few short hours before God’s annual Feast day began. . .

 

“The Bible states that after the annual Sabbath, known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, had ended (on sunset Thursday), three women went to buy spices for Jesus’ body (Mark 16:1). After buying spices, the women spent the rest of Friday preparing them. When the weekly Sabbath started at sunset Friday, the women rested (Luke 23:56). After resting, two of the women, Mary Magdalene, and another Mary, go to observe Jesus’ tomb late on the weekly Sabbath . . .

 

“The resurrection of Jesus from the dead took place at sunset Saturday, April 8, 30 A.D., which is seventy-two hours after he died and placed in the heart of the earth (i.e. tomb). This fulfilled the sign of Jonah the prophet he gave in Matthew 12:38-40 and PROVED He was the TRUE Messiah to the Jews! The Bible simply does not teach Jesus was either crucified on a Friday or resurrected on a Sunday morning. Our Savior was dead and buried in the earth a full three days and three nights, proving for all ages that he was and is the Messiah.

 

http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/was-jesus-in-the-grave-for-three-days-and-nights.html – retrieved December 2015.

 

Why is do we celebrate “Easter”? From where do the strange customs come which have nothing to do with Jesus or His death and resurrection?

 

In the first three centuries CE, the early church celebrated the death of Jesus as the fulfillment of Passover. Constantine, however, declared Christianity the state religion and opened the door to pagans by disconnecting Jesus and His message from its Jewish roots. He “Christianized” pagan worship through the celebration of pagan festivals; by changing the names of pagan idols to the names of “saints” and by incorporating pagan symbols into the festivals of the church.

 

From the 4th century, Christians were not the only ones who celebrated Easter. The self-proclaimed moon-goddess, Semiramis, both mother, and wife of Nimrod, Noah’s great grandson (Gen. 10: 8-10), was known by the name Ishtar (Easter). After the death of her illegitimate son, Tammuz, who was killed by a boar while out hunting, Semiramis deified him. She called him the only begotten son of the sun-god, Baal, and herself, Ishtar, the moon-goddess.

 

Semiramis was the wife of Cush, Noah’s grandson. They had a son, Nimrod, meaning “rebel”. After his father’s death, Nimrod married his mother, Semiramis and became a powerful ruler, building cities and initiating the building of the tower of Babel to defy Yahweh who had destroyed the earth with a flood.

 

Nimrod became a god-man to the people and Semiramis, his mother, and wife became the powerful Queen of ancient Babylon. She gave herself the title, “Queen of Heaven”.

Nimrod’s brother, Set, was jealous of Nimrod’s power (Nimrod was also called Osiris in Egypt) and he killed him by luring him into a gold box which he fastened down and threw into the River Nile. Isis (another name for Semiramis/Ishtar), searched for his body and found it in the river. Set stole the body, cut it into fourteen pieces, so the legend goes, and sent the pieces all over Nimrod’s kingdom. The only piece she could not find was his reproductive organ. She claimed that Nimrod could not come back to life without it, so he ascended to the sun and became the sun-god, Baal.

Semiramis also claimed that Baal would be present in the earth in the form of a flame when used in worship with lamps and candles. After Tammuz’ death, she told the people that Tammuz was now ascended to his father, Baal and that the two of them would be with the worshippers in the sacred candle or lamp flame as Father, Son, and Spirit.

 

Semiramis claimed that she was miraculously conceived and that she came down from heaven in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River. She became known as Ishtar and her egg was called, “Ishtar’s egg”. This was supposed to have happened at the time of the first full moon after the spring equinox (in the northern hemisphere). The date of Easter is calculated by this reckoning and does not coincide with the Jewish Passover.

After Nimrod’s death, Semiramis bore an illegitimate child whom she claimed was conceived by Baal through his rays. Her son was called Tammuz.  Tammuz was fond of rabbits and they became sacred because people believed him to be the son of the sun-god Baal/Nimrod. Rabbits and eggs are symbols of fertility in this ancient false religion, but they were incorporated into the symbols of the Christian festival of Easter.

Tammuz was killed by a wild boar while he was out hunting. Semiramus said that some of his blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree which grew into a new tree overnight. The evergreen tree was made sacred by the blood of Tammuz. The fir tree is a central feature of our Christmas celebrations.

She also proclaimed a forty-day time of sorrow before the anniversary of Tammuz’ death. During these forty days, the worshippers were to eat no meat. They were to meditate on the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz and to make the sign of a T over their hearts as they worshiped.

These forty days of so-called “Lent” have nothing to do with Jesus’ fast in the wilderness. They are a time of mourning for Tammuz. In Ezekiel’s vision of the temple in Jerusalem. God showed him what the women were doing.

Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz. He said to me, ‘Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.’ (Ezek. 8: 14).

On the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox every year, they were to hold a celebration feast, to eat ham because Tammuz was killed by a boar and sacred cakes with a T or cross on the top. On that Sunday, they were to celebrate “Ishtar’s day” with rabbits and eggs.

Can my readers now see how much pagan myth and legend is associated with the symbols and practices of the Easter celebration? We are actually worshipping Baal, the sun-god, Semiramis, the Queen of Heaven, and Tammuz whose resurrection to his father, Baal, was commemorated on Ishtar Sunday, as an unholy trinity when we do these things. This false religion has spread around the world and has taken many forms, but we find its roots in the lies that wicked Semiramis fabricated and passed on, in her so-called “Babylonian Mystery religions”, to the rebellious people of her day. In the Bible, “Babylon” became the symbol of these blasphemous practices.

What did God have to say about these practices in the first century of the early church, which some of His people had already incorporated into the worship of Jesus? Through the writing of the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation, God expressed His abhorrence for any association with what these people were doing. Yet, today, Christian leaders not only vehemently defend the traditions and practices of Christmas and Easter, but they also actively promote them as “an opportunity to preach the gospel.” What happened to the other 360 days of the year?

John saw the overthrow and judgment of Babylon in his vision.

After this, I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted:

‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean detestable animal. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.’

Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘Come out from her, my people,’ so that you will not share her sins so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God remembered her crimes (Rev. 18: 1-5).

Oh people of God, why do you defend and persist in doing what God hates? Why risk the judgment that will be poured out on “Babylon” because you stubbornly protect the right to celebrate Easter with all its vile traditions?

Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you,’ and ‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’ Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God (2 Cor. 6: 17-18; 7: 1).  

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

For more details, check my website:

http://luellaannettecampbell.com/

Have you read my blogs on www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com ?