Legislating Immortality – Fearful New World – Purity 612
Purity 612 12/27/2021 Purity 612 Podcast
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the sun blazing through an ice covered forest comes to
us from yours truly as I took a canine friend for a walk down Waite Road in
Easton NY yesterday afternoon and had the presence of mind to bring my phone to
capture some scenes along the way on what was a sunny and pleasant Boxing Day.
It's Monday again. So it’s back to life and back to reality for most of
us as the Christmas holiday is over and it’s time to make the donuts again as
we return to work today. For many of us
that will mean having to secure our face coverings as we will be subtly forced
to comply with mask mandates that are designed to stop the spread of the flu
and common cold… I mean the deadly viruses Covid-19, and its hosts of variants.
I know there was a Delta variant that the news tried to terrify us with a few
months ago and now we apparently on Omnicron.
Assuming Covid 19 was Alpha, I guess Beta, and Gamma must have been
pretty lame and likewise Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Mu, Nu and Xi must have been relatively harmless as they
didn’t make the news. To be honest, I
don’t watch the news so they could have.
I would apologize for my ignorance in regards to current events but
there doesn’t seem to be a very large concern with the truth in general so I choose
to not subscribe to a media stream that may knowingly or unknowingly be propagating
a fraud or a false narrative.
The idea of mandatory vaccines that don’t prevent the disease they are
designed to prevent and the wearing of masks that likewise will not prevent the
spread of the same disease shows us that we are not content with the truth as
we are with feeding the culture of fear as the objects of concern shift to a
new supposed menace every few weeks to keep the measures of control in place
and to keep a steady stream of income into the pockets of the pharmaceutical
companies and the industries that profit on keeping the pandemic alive.
With the abandonment of Afghanistan the war on global terrorism was lost
or is over, instead those in charge are declaring a war on disease as cold and
flu season has begun and the response is to reinstitute mask mandates and to
demand that a round of “vaccine booster” shots be given.
New Hampshire’s state motto is “live free or die” and I think I choose
that option rather than to get a “booster” of a shot with questionable
ingredients and limited effectiveness. And
as for the masks, unless you are in a Hazmat suit we are all vulnerable to the spread of diseases.
So I will take every opportunity to gain permission to remove my mask,
as the vast majority of us – either don’t believe the hype, feel secure with
our own immunity systems, or know that there is a sovereign God who chooses
when each one of us will be called into eternity in spite our personal efforts
to stay alive at all costs.
The inconsistencies of our attitudes regarding society’s concerns over
the sanctity of life and compassion highlight the madness of our age and the
heights of hypocrisy that would have even the most carnal of sinners in a Christian
house of prayer balk and point a retaliatory finger of accusation towards all
the hypocrites outside of the church.
The lifestyles and attitudes that are perverse and contribute to the spread
STD’s, the continuation of addiction, and encourage the termination of life in
the womb as well as the elderly are “deemed” an expression of our liberty and
are beyond reproach. But the decision to
refuse medical treatments and forced codes of dress, because that’s all it is, are
villainized as ignorant, uncompassionate, and dangerous.
The powers that be have stirred the pot of fear and enough of the
populace is scarred enough to agree with just about anything to avoid death, or
chastisement.
I fear the opinion of God more men and I know my life is secured in
Christ so I don’t fear death. My
assurance is as absolute as you can get. I know God has purposes for us that go
beyond eternity and I know that God will be faithful to those who put their
faith in His Son.
We don’t know when we are going to die but those who put their faith in
Jesus don’t have to worry about a disease or some other sudden calamity that
will usher us into eternity. The grim
reaper isn’t so grim for the Christian. We
have the assurance of everlasting life.
When Covid-19 dropped in 2020 and the uncertainty and fear was at its
zenith, essential workers had to make the decision to stay at home with the
masses or to just go on and live. In the early days, there was no PPE to be
found and as we know, the vast majority of it is less than 100% effective,
proving that the proliferation of a “hope so” faith, that something was better
than nothing, would be the soup du jour for all of 2020. And that dish of “hope
so faith” that was more superstition than science is still being served up and
forced fed to us in 2021. Essential
workers were, and still are at risk and vast majority of them lived and still
live.
But a new season for the flu is upon us and we now supposedly can track
every new variant of disease and will demand that people keep their “hope so
faith” alive, creating new fear evangelists that push a new “booster gospel” as
the original vaccines weren’t the scientific messiah that we were hoping
for.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want anyone
to get sick and die. Life is precious
and we should take measures to protect it and let it thrive by making good
choices.
But regardless of boosters, your disinfectants, and your governmental
pressures to comply, death will not be stopped.
Death is God’s means for taking people into eternity. No one dies early according the God’s
timetable. Regardless of what the coroner
puts down as the cause of death, the ultimate truth is that God reclaimed the
life that he created and the only hope for our lives is to make peace with the
God who made us.
We can’t prevent physical death. But we can experience a thriving life
of peace, love, and joy will on earth and prevent spiritual death by putting
our faith in Jesus Christ.
I would love to put laws in effect to make Christianity the state religion
and have everyone pledge allegiance and their souls to Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior. But God doesn’t want forced love
and obedience. He invites us all to
choose life and life everlasting through faith in Jesus Christ but that is an
invitation that we all must individually choose to accept and reject.
You can’t legislate immortality. But I can “hope so” that more people
will seek the Lord and find life everlasting in Jesus and have the assurance of
a “know so” faith in the One sent to save us.
So as we go towards the end of this year, I encourage us to be
compassionate with one another and obey the mandates, when necessary.
As much as our freedom is being restricted we still have the freedom to
speak and instead of proliferating the “hope so” gospel of masks and vaccines,
let’s remind people of the “know so” faith and assurance of life everlasting
that comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.
If we are living separated from God, we really should expect his
protection.
The harsh lesson of life that the world teaches us is that we will all
die one day and nothing will prevent that.
But God tells us of life beyond this world, and His word repeatedly
tells us that He is sovereign and that we are to not fear.
So fight power of fear and take responsibility for the life you
have. Putting your trust in man and
science is a “hope so” faith that offers nothing but a steady stream of fear
and panic.
Putting your faith in Jesus Christ gives you the assurance of eternal
life and the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, patience, and self-control .
So as you head out for work today put on the protection that will save
you: faith in Jesus Christ. This world needs to know that God is real and cares
about us. This world needs the hope of the light that outshines the darkness
and the fear. This world needs Jesus and it needs someone to deliver the
message of His truth.
So keep walking and talking with God. Walk in the Spirit of peace and
love and assure those who are afraid that there is safety in Christ alone.
Today’s Bible verse
comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
Jeremiah 31:35 (NLT2)
35 It is the LORD who provides the sun to light the
day and the moon and stars to light the night, and who stirs the sea into roaring
waves. His name is the LORD of
Heaven’s Armies, and this is what he says:
Today’s verse is as provided
by “The NLT Bible Promise Book for
Men” as an answer for the contemplation for “When you wish you could see Jesus
at work in the world today”.
The idea from the authors of The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men
is that “Jesus’ work in the world today is evidenced by the continuous miracle
of God’s creation. God provides the sun
to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night every day, and He also
is the one who stirs the seas.
In my short stint as teacher in jail ministry, I developed a
quick apologetic for the existence of God in which I presented the three evidence
for God as:
1.
God’s creation – Existence itself points to the God who made all
things.
2.
Our Consciences – God wrote His law upon our hearts – we all know
when we have done wrong
3.
Transformed Lives – Some people who have made Jesus their Lord and
Savior were one way before coming to Christ and afterwards were set free of the
former lives that were defined by sin. Their changed lives are evidence of His power
and His reality.
So the evidence for God is all around us. And the really great news about that is we as
Christians are a part of that evidence and we get to present ourselves to the unbelieving
world to prove that God is real and active in this world.
Yes, we can point to the rising sun each day as proof that God
is at work in the world today but if we are growing in our relationship with
God, we can also point to ourselves and reflect on the work that He has done
and is continuing to do in us.
So open your eyes to see the goodness of God and Him actively
working but also know that your contemplation of Him and the things of God are
evidence that He is already working in you.
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org
where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors
to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue to share from Dr. Neil Anderson’s
. “Restored: Experience Life with Jesus”. Today, we begin sharing from Chapter
1.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase Dr. Neil Anderson’s books for your own private
study and to support his work.
CHAPTER ONE
REDEMPTION HISTORY
We have learned
from history that most people haven’t learned much from history. Those who
don’t learn are doomed to repeat the same failures over and over again. Those
who have learned the truth from their forefathers know that history is
His-story of unfolding grace and love for all humanity. In order to understand
what His plan is for you, we need to start at the beginning of human history.
THE CREATION
“In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth,”5 are the first words in the
Bible. God is a Spirit and is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His
wisdom, power and holiness. He existed when the physical world was just an
idea. There was a beginning in time when He
created all physical matter and all living creatures. Then God created
Adam in His image, and together with Eve they were to rule over the birds of
the sky, the beasts of the field, and the fish of the sea.6 They had
dominion over the rest of creation and were to be fruitful in order to multiply
and fill the earth. They were physically alive, which means their souls were in
union with their bodies. They were spiritually alive; therefore their souls
were in union with God. Because they were created in the image of God, they
could think, feel, and make choices, unlike all the other creatures that are
physically alive, which function by divine instinct.
Adam and Eve were
safe, secure, and significant. They had a sense of belonging to God and to each
other. They were naked and unashamed because they had nothing to hide and
therefore no need to cover up. Adam and Eve were welcomed to eat from the Tree
of Life and live forever by remaining in union with God.
Prior to the
creation of humanity, a magnificent angel named Lucifer rebelled against the Creator God and fell from
heaven, taking a third of the angels with him. Lucifer means light bearer, but
he no longer reflected the glory of God. He became Satan, or the devil, and ruled
over his brood of fallen angels, known in the Bible as demons. Jealous for the
significant position Adam and Eve were given, Satan tempted Eve to eat the
forbidden fruit. She in turn persuaded Adam to do so, and together they sinned
by rebelling against God.
THE FALL
The consequences
were immediate. Adam and Eve died spiritually. Sin had separated them from God.
Their souls were no longer in union with their Heavenly Father. They remained
physically alive, but physical death would be a consequence of their sin as
well.
Adam and Eve were
left to make a name for themselves and to find their purpose and meaning in
life independent of their Heavenly Father. They had to rely on their own
strength and resources because the life of God was no longer within them. They
were like cars without gas and struggled to find purpose and meaning in life in
their natural state, which is still true to this day for those who don’t have a
relationship with God.
Every car has a
battery that provides a spark of life, so the natural person tries to find
their purpose in the beauty of the car, or the comfort of the seats, or the
sound of the stereo, or the lights, or the noise of the horn, but that is not
what the car was created for. The purpose of automobiles is to supply
transportation. Without gas they may look, sound, smell, and feel good, but
they cannot fulfill their purpose for which they were created, and neither can
we unless we have the life of Christ within us.
As a consequence
of the fall, every natural descendant of Adam and Eve is born physically alive,
but spiritually dead.7 In addition, the whole world was affected by
their rebellion, and all creation is groaning and looking forward to a day of
redemption.8 That day is coming because God immediately cursed the
devil and promised that a descendent of Eve would bring forth a Savior that
would crush the head of Satan.9
God’s plan was to
first show all humanity their need for a Savior. He revealed our need by
instituting a sacrificial system to show us that somebody had to pay the
penalty for our sins, and through Moses God gave us a moral law to govern our
behavior. However, no animal sacrifice could give us spiritual life, and nobody
could live according to the law. So He sent prophets encouraging His people to
live righteously according to the laws of God. These prophets also revealed
God’s word to us and recorded the history of God’s redemptive plan. There are 39
books in the Old Testament that record the history of creation and the fall of
Adam and Eve. They reveal humanity’s futile attempts to find purpose and
meaning in life and live independently of God.
God called Abraham
out of the Land of Ur, which is the land of present day Iraq, and into the
promised land of Israel. With Abraham, God made an unconditional covenant,
promising that through him and his descendants all the nations of the earth
would be blessed. The Messiah would come from one of His descendants. Through
the prophet Moses, God made a conditional covenant of law, promising to bless
those who kept it, but none could. For centuries God’s chosen people tried
unsuccessfully to live under the law, which proved to be a taskmaster that was intended
by God to lead us to Christ,10 the promised Messiah.
THE GOSPEL
When it looked
like there was no hope for humanity, and when the time was just right, God sent
Jesus His Son. Jesus was supernaturally born of the Virgin Mary and, like Adam,
was born both physically and spiritually alive. Jesus is the pre-existent Word
of God who became flesh and dwelt amongst us. Jesus is co-equal with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, and together they make up the One true God. While on this
earth Jesus remained fully God, but He was also fully human. No person can
become God, but God can and did manifest Himself in human form. Jesus came for
three primary reasons.
First, He came to
give us an example to follow in His steps. Jesus showed us how a spiritually
alive person could live a righteous life. He did so by demonstrating a life
totally dependent upon His Heavenly Father.11 All temptation is an
attempt to get us to live our lives independently of God. Jesus was tempted in
all ways, but unlike Adam, He never sinned. His sinless perfection was what
made Jesus the only possible sacrifice for our sins. No other animal or human
sacrifice could accomplish that.
Sin had separated
all humanity from God, and the wages of sin is death.12 So Jesus
went to the cross to die for our sins in order that we may be forgiven.
According to the Old Testament Law, there is no forgiveness without the
shedding of blood.13 In dying
and shedding His blood, Jesus removed the enmity that existed between God and all
humanity. “He [God the Father] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on
our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God.”14 However,
knowing that our sins are forgiven is not enough.
Second, Jesus came
not only to die on the cross for our
sins, but also to be resurrected in order that we may have new eternal, i.e. spiritual, life in
Christ. That means our souls are again
in union with God. What Adam and `Eve lost in the fall was life, and what Jesus
came to give us was life.15
“Jesus is the bread of life.”16 He is “the way, the truth and the
life.”17 He is the only path back to God. “And there is salvation in no one
else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by
which we must be saved.18 “Jesus is the truth and if you know the
truth, the truth will set you free.”19 Jesus said, “I am the
resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live [spiritually] even
if he dies [physically], and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never
die [spiritually]. 20
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