The Kingdom of God!
Chapter 109
The Great Apostle Paul said in 2 Cor. 5:14
"For the love of Christ constrains us;
because we judge that if one died for all, then all were dead!"
Paul also said in Rom. 6:6-11, (NIV)
"Or don't you know that all of us who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore
buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new
life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will
certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.
For we
know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin
might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because
anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we
believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die
again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin
once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God."
This could not be talking about our physical
body because we are still alive! It is talking about spirit! When Jesus died
His spirit went into what was then called paradise. He even went into hell and
preached to those who had died and gone there! Peter said in 3:19-22, (NIV)
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the
righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the
body but made alive in the Spirit. After
being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits;to
those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of
Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and
this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also, not the removal of dirt
from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand with
angels, authorities and powers in submission to him."
When Adam sinned, he and all
of his generation died spiritually to God. Death meaning to be separated
from God spiritually! All of his generation had to be
born again in order to be spiritually connected to God. There had to be a
sacrifice for the sin of Adam in order to reconnect
mankind with God. That sacrifice required that a man had to live perfect before
God and to give his life as a sacrifice for all men! Jesus fulfilled this
requirement and freely gave His life on the cross. It was prophesied in Isaiah
7:14, (NIV)
"Therefore the Lord
himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and will call him Immanuel."
Jesus was both a human and a living Spirit
with no sin. However, He was under a restraint from His Father that He could
not use His power as the Son of God until He fulfilled the mission that God had
given Him. He said In Luke 12:49-50, (NIV)
"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and
how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint
I am under until it is completed!"
He also said in John 5:18-19,
"For this reason, they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the
Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal
with God. Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by
himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the
Father does the Son also does."
In God's sight we died with Jesus on that
cross and just as Jesus was raised from the dead, we also were raised from the
dead with Him. However, God does not require us to die on a cross to be reunited
with Him. Peter gave the answer to those who asked him what they should do in
Acts 2:37-39, (NIV)
"Therefore, let all Israel be assured of
this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah" When the people heard this, they were cut to
the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we
do?" Peter replied, "Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The
promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off,for all whom
the Lord our God will call."
Paul explains this in 1 Pet. 3:18-21,
(KJV)
"For Christ also suffered once for sins,
the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death
in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and
made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits" to those who were disobedient long
ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being
built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water and this water symbolizes
baptism that now saves you also,not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear
conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ!
The Apostle Paul said in Rom. 10:8-10, (NIV)
"The word is near you; it is in your mouth
and in your heart, that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If
you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that
you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your
faith and are saved."
When we hear the good news that Jesus paid
the price for our sins and has made a way for us to be once again united with
His Father and we believe in our hearts that news and confess with our mouths
that Jesus is indeed Lord we are born again by His Spirit. When we believe
something and confess it with our mouth, we can then walk by faith based on the
promises of God.
On the political front Written by Sidney
Powel last week:
Today in Federal Court, Attorney General Ken
Paxton and the American people scored a huge victory regarding censorship and
banning of individuals based on their viewpoint. The Gateway Pundit is
also involved in a free speech lawsuit of their own in Missouri v. Biden.
This victory from AG Paxton will certainly help TGP's case moving forward.
The case before the US Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit was regarding House Bill 20, which "generally prohibits
large social media platforms from censoring people based on the viewpoint of
its speaker." Judge Andrew S. Oldham opined that while "the
platforms urge us to hold that the statute is facially unconstitutional and
hence cannot be applied to anyone at any time under any circumstances,"..."today,
we reject the idea that corporations have a freewheeling First Amendment right
to censor what people say."
This opinion could have massive implications
both in the social media sphere, and beyond, such as the NFL players banned
from wearing a Thin Blue Line Flag on their helmet after 5 police officers were
killed in Dallas, TX in 2016. Florida, last year, passed a similar bill
that would stop social media platforms from de-platforming individuals,
especially those in the media and candidates for political office. The
bill was ultimately stopped from being implemented by Judge Robert Hinkle of
the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. End
Quote