Even at the Doors blog » God’s judgment

Darkness and Deliverance: The first Passover, the first Easter, the Second Coming

James Jackson — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 07:36:45 +0000

(Good Friday - April 22, 2011) God has revealed His purposes and His will for Creation in the Bible. The reason He created the universe and humankind is stated in the Book of Revelation: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." (Revelation 4:11) We were created because it was God's pleasurable will to create us in His image and to fellowship with Him. That God has a plan for the universe and humankind is revealed by Him through the prophet Isaiah: "9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." (Isaiah 46:9-10) The plan begins with Adam and Eve in Genesis and ends (or begins again) with eternity in Revelation. Because He gave His human creations free will in relating to Him and because humans chose sin over God's ways, His plan included corrective measures. Knowing that humans would disobey Him and turn from Him, there are three great deliverances that God ordained for humankind from before the foundation of the earth. Two of these have already occurred and the third is yet in the future. Each of these deliverances has a common aspect to them. The darkness of God's judgment preceded the light which radiated from each of these redemptive acts... Related posts:

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The Kinsman-Redeemer and the Avenger of Blood

James Jackson — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 08:59:29 +0000

(March 13, 2011) In certain segments of the modern Church there is a misunderstanding and sometimes a denial of the biblical revelation of God's nature. Some of those segments believe that traditional evangelicalism is ineffective or at least falls short in meeting the needs of the modern world. I suppose a case could be made that this is true of every generation since the Church's formation two thousand years ago. It is true that Christians should be living the gospel of Jesus Christ and not just preaching it. The Books of James and 1 John among others talk about showing your faith to others by helping those in physical need as well as spiritual need. The problem as I see it is that experience, sentimentality, and relativity triumph over the truth of God's word within areas of the modern Church. We love our neighbors by not offending them with the truth about complete salvation in Jesus Christ. If they are of a different religion, who are we to tell them their beliefs are wrong? Why not worship and pray together with them regardless of their religions? And certainly we have to stress only the love of God and never His judgment of sin or sinners! Of course the Bible reveals God's love for His human creations. He loved the world so much that He sent His Son to die for it. He wants His love to spread throughout the world among His human creations and makes it clear that this is accomplished by His children loving one another, "34 A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:34-35) (Incidentally, disagreeing with someone is not necessarily unloving them). I could quote hundreds if not thousands of scriptures which speak of God's love. However, that isn't the problem within these segments of the modern Church. They apparently overwhelm their listeners with the subject of love and tolerance. It seems though that they neglect to talk very much, if at all, about the consequences of sin and a sinful lifestyle nor of a righteous God who is unable to tolerate sin in His Holy Presence (Hebrews 12:29). The purpose of this post is to illustrate two aspects of the nature of God... Related posts:

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As it was in the days of Noah and Lot…

James Jackson — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:53:41 +0000

(June 20, 2010) 22 And He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 "They will say to you, 'Look there! Look here!' Do not go away, and do not run after them. 24 "For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25 "But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 "And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 "It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; 29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 "It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed." (Luke 17:22-30) Jesus declared that the days leading up to His coming will be like it was in the days of Noah and Lot. It seems He was telling the disciples they would not see His coming but that when it does happen it will come unexpectedly. The apostle Paul echoes this statement in his letter to the Christians at Thessaloniki, "2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (I Thessalonians 5:2-3) However, this does not seem to harmonize with what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24... Related posts:

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