Hi Nick
Jesus Christ is a whole lot more than the humble carpenter from Nazareth, Who was born of a virgin and died on a cross. JESUS CHRIST IS EVERYTHING! Everything that ever was is, or shall be is found in Christ! He is the very CREATOR, SUSTAINER, AND ALMIGHTY GOD OF THE UNIVERSE. God the Father has never directly made Himself known to humanity. It was Jesus Christ Who came to reveal the Father to mankind.
God the Father,
“Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed HEIR OF ALL THINGS, by whom also He MADE THE WORLDS; Who being the BRIGHTNESS OF HIS GLORY, and the EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON, and upholds ALL THINGS BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:2-3).
“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of HIS DEAR SON: In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD, the firstborn of every creature: For by Him were ALL THINGS CREATED, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM [Jesus Christ], AND FOR HIM [Jesus Christ]:
And He is BEFORE ALL THINGS, and by Him, ALL THINGS CONSIST. And He is the HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH: Who is the beginning, the firstborn form the dead, that in ALL THINGS HE MIGHT HAVE THE PREEMINENCE. For it pleased the Father that IN HIM SHOULD ALL FULLNESS DWELL. And having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to RECONCILE ALL UNTO HIMSELF; by Him, I say, whether in earth or in heaven” (Col. 1:12:20).
“I am Alpha and Omega, the BEGINNING and the ENDING, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, THE ALMIGHTY” (Rev. 1:8).
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM: and without Him was not anything made that was made. IN HIM WAS LIFE; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-3).
“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham WAS, I AM” (John 8:58). “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shall thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me to you” (Ex. 3:14).
Jesus Christ was the GOD of the Old Testament! Jesus Christ was JEHOVAH! Moses SAW and HEARD Jehovah, yet John tells us that,
“No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, HE HAS DECLARED HIM” (John 1:18).
And this,
“And the Father Himself, which hath sent me, has born witness of Me. Ye have neither HEARD HIS VOICE at any time NOR SEEN HIS SHAPE”
(John 5:37).
“For the Father judges no man, but has committed ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON” (John 5:22).
“And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH” (Matt. 28:18).
“Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST” (I Cor. 10:1-4).
And contrary to popular Christian tradition, Jesus did NOT say that He would build His church upon Peter. “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [Greek, petros, a piece of detached stone or rock], and upon THIS ROCK` [Greek, petra {a different kind of rock}, a mass of rock that cannot be moved as in Matt. 7:24 and 27:60, which is distinct from petros which is a smaller detached rock that can be moved] will I built MY CHURCH; and the gates of the unseen [hades] shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). Jesus named Simon, “Cephas”(Peter is the Greek translation of Cephas which is Chaldee):
“And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, He said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone” (John 1:42),
that is, a smaller detached stone or rock in contrast to Himself Who is a huge unmovable mass of foundational BEDROCK. See Luke 6:48. The Church of the Living God is built upon Christ, not Peter! And so it is upon this SPIRITUAL, unmovable, foundational, bedrock of Jesus Christ that we are to be built into a new spiritual creation.
TAKE HEED HOW YOU BUILD
Constructing a building is a process that requires time and activity. Since God likens the building of His spiritual temple to the assembling of a physical building, then this process, likewise, requires time and activity. Time and activity are what we call living our lives. Now then, when does judgment begin at the building of this house of God? Answer:
“For the time IS COME that judgment must begin at the house of God…”
(I Peter 4:17).
And so it clearly has already begun with the Apostles and New Testament Church nearly two thousand years ago. And it is still going on in the Church of God today, in every believer’s life, as he lives his life.
Therefore, Paul warns:
“But let every man take heed HOW he builds [his building’] thereupon”
(I Cor. 3:10).
And so judgment is upon the building of God’s house as each individual believer is framed and fitted for the calling that God has for each individual. This judgment began in the days of the Apostles after the resurrection of our Lord. It continued generation after generation down through the age until today when it yet continues. And it will continue still further until the entire harvest of firstfruits is completed. Remember we already learned that if we would judge ourselves now, Paul said we would not be condemned with the world later (I Cor. 11:32).
It is while we are living and building that our works are being tried and judged BY FIRE according to HOW we are building. What fire? God’s fire. God’s “CONSUMING [spiritual] FIRE” (Heb. 12:29)! God is SPIRIT and likewise, His fire is SPIRIT. I have never heard a minister or teacher preach on the good and beneficial side of God’s FIRE. Fire is usually portrayed as bringing about pain, evil, and destruction. Since God is GOOD (Luke 18:19), and God is SPIRIT (John 4:24), and God is INVISIBLE (Col. 1:15), why does the church teach the world that God as a CONSUMING FIRE (Heb. 12:29) is visible and not invisible, literal and not spiritual, and bad rather than good?
“For other foundation, can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones [valuable traits of Godly spiritual character] wood, hay, stubble [carnal traits of no value]; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because IT SHALL BE REVEALED BY FIRE; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is”
Every thought, every word, and every deed that proceeds out of the heart and mind of man is his “WORKS.” And every thought, every word, and every deed of man will come into the judgment of Almighty God’s “CONSUMING FIRE.” Notice that it is both our things of great value: “gold, silver, precious stones,” and our things of no value: “wood, hay, stubble” that are tried in the fire, God’s Consuming Fire. Every person possesses the knowledge, therefore, every person is a combination of both good and evil (for knowledge can only be a combination of both good and evil knowledge).
EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE
Everything in the universe is a contrast with or to something else in the universe. Nothing can be known about anything without contrasting it with other things. You cannot think a thought nor can you perform a deed without a working knowledge of these contrasting factors. If I should say that a box is big, you could not have any conception of what I am saying unless you also know what it is for something to be small. Something is only smooth in contrast to it being rough. Up is only up in relation to down. Without the contrasting relationship between two opposites “up” could just as easily be “down.” And all big boxes might be perceived as small were it not for the fact that there would be no concept of small without knowledge of big.
Therefore, in the physical universe, all things are what they are by contrast and relativity. Very hot stars are only very hot relative to cooler stars. If there were no knowledge of cooler stars, there could also be no hot stars. Things are either hard or soft or harder or softer (but harder or softer than WHAT?-always, something else). Things are light or dark (or somewhere in between, (but the in between can also only be known by gradations of relativity as well). Things are heavy or light, sharp or dull, big or small, tall or short, strong or weak, hot or cold, left or right, north or south, in or out, new or old, beginning or end, fast or slow, fat or skinny, straight or crooked, up or down, high or low, moving or still, positive or negative, visible or invisible, etc. You get the idea. Now then, this same law of knowledge pertains to inanimate things and things of a spiritual nature as well. Again it is only by understanding one thing relative to another or one thing contrasted with another that enables us to intelligently communicate and live our lives. Let’s look at a few of these: happy or sad, giving or stingy, build or destroy, kind or cruel, energetic or lazy, haughty or humble, intelligent or stupid, wise or foolish, right or wrong, true or false, good or evil, righteous or wicked, love or hate, life or death, temporary or eternal.
Having a working knowledge of these relative and contrasting terms and concepts is absolutely essential in living our lives. We must all come to know and to experience both good and evil. The universal teaching that God “never intended” for man to eat of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” is as false and unscriptural as anything could ever be. It was both essential and paramount that man should eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge of both good and evil is an attribute of God Himself. If we are to be the “sons of God,” we too must partake of this quality of God’s nature. How could man ever be fully made into the very image of His Creator God if he did not possess even the basic fundamental attributes of his Creator and Father?
Let me make one thing clear at this point, lest my detractors think they have discovered a major flaw in my teaching. “Evil” is not good nor is it eternal. Nonetheless, a “knowledge of evil” is good and is eternal. All evil will take its place in the lake of fire, but knowledge of evil is eternal just as sure our God, Who possesses knowledge of evil, is eternal.
And so man’s life consists of a combination of both good and evil thoughts, words, and deeds. The most saintly of men have had their flaws and the most evil of men have possessed at least a few qualities of good. I am sure that even Adolph Hitler loved his mother and was kind to his dog. But loving your mother and being kind to your dog will not get you into the kingdom of God. And let me be quick to add that hating your mother and being cruel to your dog will not eternally keep you out of the kingdom of God either.
Oh that the church could have the faith to believe that God Almighty is able to accomplish His will for humanity:
“For this is GOOD [not evil] and acceptable [but NOTHING SHORT OF THIS IS ACCEPTABLE] in the sight of God our Saviour; Who WILL have ALL MEN TO BE SAVED, and to come to the knowledge [both the good knowledge and the evil knowledge] of THE TRUTH” (I Tim. 2:3-4).
“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation [so here is another statement that is ‘worthy’ and ‘acceptable’ in the sight of God]. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God Who is the Saviour of ALL MEN [and nothing short of ‘all men’ IS worthy or acceptable to God], specially [specially does not mean ‘exclusively’] of those that believe” (I Tim. 4:10).
THE SAVIOUR OF ALL MEN,