Bible Questions & Discussion PAGE 867

Because of the penalty of sin. Not His rather ours. To understand go back to the Garden. The first sin was not the eating of the forbidden fruit. That was the manifestation of the first sin which was that Adam and eve believed that God was a liar. The lie He was accused of was that they " shall not surely die". They did and were sentenced to death. Why were they kicked out of the garden? Not because of sin. That penalty is death. The second death which is To be un existed. Can you sneak up on God and take something from Him that He said you cannot have? Of course not. Gen 3:22 states that they were removed from the Garden of Eden BEFORE they eat of the tree of life and live Forever. BEFORE. And from the pulpits today were are taught that when we depart this existence we shall go to Heaven and live forever, or to he'll and live forever, BUT YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE. Jesus took on the sins of the entire world. He died the second death to pay the penalty in our stead. He took to the grave sin and death. When He raised from the DEAD He left behind sin and death and now brings us out of the grave of non existence. Now is mankind offered the gift of eternal life.

An understanding of the Son of Man has to come to us by revelation. In Matthew 16 Jesus asked the disciples an important question, namely, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" After that He asked the disciples this very question, and Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Notice that in these verses the designations, the Son of Man, Christ, and the Son of God, all refer to one and the same person. This informs us of the different aspects of Christ's being and His work. For example, just as a man can be a son, husband, father, grandfather, doctor, Christian and evangelist, so Jesus Christ is the Son of Man (the head of the corporate new humanity), Christ (the anointed One), and the only begotten Son of God. Our sonship is in the corporate Christ. Each of these titles refers to a different aspect of the work He was to accomplish, and now is accomplishing.

Now listen to Christ's reference to the source of that understanding. He said, "Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." This understanding did not come from Peter's mind; it came by revelation! Even so, the understanding of who the Son of Man is, has to come to us by revelation!

May The Good Lord Bless You

JC

Whenever Jesus spoke of Himself as the Son of Man, He did not use the Greek word ANER - that simply denotes an individual male; instead, He used the Greek ANTHROPOS, from which our English word anthropology is derived. It means humanity, and includes men, women and children. The Literal Concordant Translation uses the term, Son of Mankind. This helps us to understand that Jesus is talking about a corporate man whenever He refers to the Son of Mankind. This adds depth and meaning to everything He says in regard to His redemption and His coming again.

In the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus, Jesus said, "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: even the Son of Man." ( John 3:13) We know that Jesus did not come down from heaven as a physical man. In this statement Jesus made a distinction between Himself and Adam, the first man. Adam was formed of dust; he did not come down from heaven. God blew His breath into Adam's nostrils, and he became a living soul - he was not a life-giving spirit. As we have already explained, he was a mixture of the earthy and the divine; he was an earthy image of God, for in a spiritual image of God there can be no dust. Man is not a physical image of God, for God is Spirit, and therefore an image of God has to be a spiritual image. Adam differed from the animals God had created in that he could think logically, he was creative, and he could worship God! Animals are unable to do these things. Adam's identification was NOT with his Creator, for he rebelled against God. In Adam all die (literally, all are dying). Therefore a new humanity was needed: a humanity that would be in agreement with God instead of in opposition to Him; a humanity that did not have any earthiness in it.

An understanding of the Son of Man has to come to us by revelation. In Matthew 16 Jesus asked the disciples an important question, namely, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" After that He asked the disciples this very question, and

Although Jesus sometimes used the personal pronoun "I", at other times He called Himself the Son of Man. Why did Jesus NOT say, "I am going to be rejected, I am going to be crucified, I will rise again, I will come again?" The questions Jesus asked and the answers He gave, provide an insight into the spiritual realm and give us the answers to many of our questions.

In John 9 Jesus asked the man who had been healed of his blindness, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" The man replied with a question, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" Jesus answered, "You have both seen Him, and He is the One who is talking with you." Here Jesus clearly identifies Himself as being the Son of Man, yet we still wonder why He spoke of Himself in this way. There must be an important spiritual truth in this statement that needs to be revealed to us!

In determining who the Son of Man is, we have to take into consideration that in God's eyes there are only two men, namely, Adam and Christ. Adam is the old humanity; Christ is the new humanity. Everyone who has ever lived, and everyone who is presently living, and everyone who will live in the future, is either in Adam (the old humanity) or in Christ (the new humanity). Therefore we see that Adam is a corporate man, and that Christ is also a corporate man. Since Christ referred to Himself as the Son of Man, we realize that the Son of Man must be one with the corporate Christ. In Adam we only have an earthy image of God. Christ's human birth was necessary to produce a spiritual image of God in man. Jesus called Himself the Son of Man because He was manifested physically in a human body (born of a woman), and spiritually as the new humanity (the second man - and this man was born from above).

Whenever Jesus spoke of Himself as the Son of Man, He did not use the Greek word ANER - that simply denotes an individual male; instead, He used the Greek ANTHROPOS, from which our English word anthropology is derived. It means humanity, and inc

A thoughtful reading of the gospels makes us aware of the fact that Jesus called Himself the Son of Man whenever He talked about His ministry, the redemption He was about to accomplish, and His coming this is such a frequent occurrence, it is very important that we understand what Jesus meant by this designation.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man (Humanity or Mankind) when the scriptures say that He was born of a woman? How does this fit together? We are often puzzled when two statements seemingly don't fit together, but as we grow in spiritual knowledge we marvel at the wisdom of God, the unity of the scriptures, and the unity that is ours in the Spirit!

Our first image of God is in the earthy, natural sense. We can only get a true image of God in Christ. In the gospel of John, we find many instances where Jesus described His spiritual being by using the personal pronoun "I". He said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the lifeI am the door of the sheepI am the good shepherdI am the bread of lifeI am the resurrection and the lifeI am the true vineI am the light of the world. I am from above." ( Jn. 14:6; 10: 7; 10:11,14; 6:35; 11:25; 15;1; 8:12; 8:23) By saying, "I am," He introduced and emphasized the true essence of His being. He was not in the process of becoming - this is who He always has been and is and will be. These characteristics also describe the very essence of the being of God. Since God does not change, all these facets of His being are in perfection in Him. There cannot be any increase or decrease; there is no corruption in Him; His life always is, and it never changes. Since Christ's life was a perfect representation of God's invisible life, He is also called the Son of God.

Well Spoken Rich!

God bless you.

GiGi Thank you for your thoughts as all such always help with further understanding.

Best regards

Roy

Cissi

Thank you for your reply and yes most helpfull

Regards

Roy

do you believe that Jesus teachings started in 4 gospels and in acts? I have read the Bible finding no Christmas 25th for Jesus at all....I know world has refer to Luke as the Christmas Story all my life. Easter same but I have been studying sense 2008 but a deeper and diligently seeking and searching Holy Scriptures to pursue TRUTH! I am finding out because LORD GOD is teaching me His ways not men as God said their mere men I know you and understand and love and care more than anyone or things . I am a old Christian Woman as a Child of my Precious Father and Lord Jesus Christ as one ! im here studying and came across these comments so I am trying it out....im not a facebook or media I believe the cell phones have rob our children and people minds from GOD! A true real honest relationship....not even good at this I love my Bible living in God through Christ Jesus . sorry im not good at this i hope you can understand me. Its or time seek the kingdom of GOD and His righteousness first and riches and glory all in Jesus Christ Who Father has given me over to bare fruit and live in Him thru Spirit of TRUTH and LIFE is JESUS.......BIBLE < PRAYING> and our attitude and behavior is transformed life ....therefor those in Christ are in a new creation and all old is pass{oldself} and {newself} all in Christ as we die daily JESUS is our Master that owns us due to the Father has given us over to Jesus but some are still His......Jesus said nobody or nothing can snatch us out of Jesus Christ hand but my Father is greater and nobody or things can snatch us out of His hand.Amen....

what about paganism also about Easter and Christmas . Jesus was not born on 25th Dec and its not Easter but passover is Jesus Resurrection right? please respond. God Bless!

Hosea 14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

God will still love you and heal you even when you seem that he is far from you or you dont deserve it because you backslide. Lay hold unto his promises and his unmeasuarable love for us.

Recieve what he offers freely.

Dear Carolyn,

Are you saying that there are three things you leaned about creation? If so, what did you learn about creation?

If you are asking others what they learned about creation, please let us know so that we can reply better to your post.

God bless!

Hi Anointed vessel,

Yes, the power comes through the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name, Evil spirits are not something one who has not the Holy Spirit should deal with. They can do horrific mental and physical harm. We see in Matthew Jesus gave the power to the disciples against them. We also see in Acts 19:13-16 what can happen and even worse to those who are not strong in their faith and have not the Holy Spirit. Believe me, it is something you do not want to deal with.

God bless,

RLW

Hi Roy, Before the flood the diet was only fruit of the vine and herbs of the field. After the flood animal meat was allowed, but only clean animals, as the unclean animals feed off other animals (alive or dead) and can cause us to get diseases as a result. They lived hundreds of years before the flood and the Bible tells us that we are given up to 80 years for a life span (anything over is a plus, right?) At different stages of history that has been shorter or longer due to famines, disease, and war, but the Bible clearly states in Psalms 90:10 how long a lifespan for man. A Hebrew year was 360 days. Hope this helps, Cissi

Hi Steven, It is a simple process. Surrender your heart (life) to the Lord and ask Him to please enter your heart (through the Holy Spirit) and live and guide you to live the life that He created you to live. Give up your old way of life (things that He convicts your heart of that are not good for you)(say bad music and He will give you good music to listen to, Philippians 4:8 is the best guideline for new believers) and seek His will for your life by reading your Bible daily, praying and singing songs of praise and let Him lead you to a great group of believers that you can fellowship with on a regular basis. Just ask Him to help you do what is right every day and you will be following the path He has for you! Father, I ask you to especially be with Steven as He has chosen to follow you, I know it might not be easy for him, but I do know that you love Steven sooo much that you sent Jesus to take away his sin and have paid the price so that Steven can be free to live and make a wonderful difference in the world today! Amen Steven may the blessings of the Father and Jesus be upon you today. Welcome to the family, brother!

Hello Anointed vessel.

I believe that it is God alone who casts out demons. For believers, it is in Jesus' name that demons are cast out not by our efforts or personal faith. In Luke 1:1-2 Jesus gave his disciples power and authority to cast out demons and cure diseases when He sent out the 12 to preach the kingdom.

When Jesus sent out the 70 disciples in Luke 10 they returned to Jesus and rejoiced, saying. "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name". (verse 17). I suggest reading this chapter. In verse 19-20 Jesus gives the disciple the authority to trample the enemy, but goes on to say "Nevertheless do not rejoice in tis, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

It is certainly a praiseworthy event when someone is released from demonic control or healed from a disease because the person delivered has been set free and now enjoys relief and blessing from God. But Jesus says that it is more important and blessed to be heaven bound than to have this authority to cast out demons or heal the sick. The proclamation of the gospel and the reception of the gospel are higher things, but certainly relieving a person of demonic possession, influence, and oppression or healing someone who is ill are worthy things to do in Jesus' name. They bring glory to Him and also provide an avenue for the gospel to reach these people and for them to respond positively to it for their salvation.

Hi Paul, Jesus is in the OT. John 1:1-3 tells you He was the Word in the beginning with God and He was God and verse three says nothing was created without Him and Hebrews 1:10 clears that up well. Elohim is the plural in Genesis and they created them (Adam and Eve) in their image. But the best verse I like is 1 Corinthians 10:4 (which is about them moving around in the wilderness) and the Rock that led them was Christ. You can also know that it was He who led them by the pillar of fire and by cloud was Him also. It all points to that saving relationship that He put into place for all of this creation and it's inhabitants. Hope this helps. Cissi

Yes, Blancaster,

It seems that Lucifer was extremely splendid in appearance and musicality and wisdom. He let all of this "go to his head" and became proud, envious of God being better than himself, and coveted what was only God's to have (worship, pre-emminence, power, authority, rulership) He wanted to be top dog and thought he could attain it. He used his wisdom to seduce the other angels to follow hi rather than God. How long God allowed him to pursue this course before stripping him of his position, duties, and place in heaven is unkown. We do not know if God admonished him and urged him to repent or not. But obviously there was a period of time since he needed to convince other holy angels to forsake God and follow him. When God thought that Lucifer's time in heaven was up and his sin was beyond repair, He judged Lucifer and cast him to earth.

Whether this happened before or after the creation narrative of Genesis 1:3 and beyond is unknown.

Hi Ruth, my understanding is that anything that you spend most of your time and money on can be an idol. Let's face it praying to wood or stone will not answer your prayers. Neither will hours spent on FB and other media whether it is TV, your phone or Pinterest. The Father and Jesus want a personal relationship with you. Pray to them and talk to them through out your day. Go to Him first about all your worldly issues with your whole heart and you will see great things happen in your life. I am not saying the other things are bad, but if they are all you think about and do, they may have become an idol in your life. Remember Philippians 4:8 and not to put any wicked things before our eyes. As you spend time in your Bible, you will see exactly how He wants to be worshipped...in Spirit and in Truth. Hugs, Cissi

Well said, Rich.

Hello Roy,

Thank you for your testimony. I have been a believer all of my life and I am now 65. Last night I was thinking about my testimony being a boring one in comparison to others who lived many years in unbelief. I don't have knowledge nor experience of being far from God in rebellion and unbelief and then coming to faith. But as I thought more about this, I just have to admit that I have had a blessed life to be called to Jesus at so young of an age. I grew up in a believing home and was taught who Jesus was and what He did for my salvation as early as I can remember. I embraced this truth eagerly and believed in Jesus deeply as a child and this faith remained in me throughout my life. I am thankful for how God called me to Him. He spared me a lot of grief.

In response to your post, I just want to say that I do not think that God liked mankind less and less the more they sinned before the flood nor after. Our sin grieved Him and He hated our sins, but the Bible clearly tells us across the pages of Scripture, that God loves mankind and it never changes. Yet some will receive His salvation through His grace and mercy and believe in Jesus, and many more will reject Him. But He still loves each person He creates the same. The difference to us is that those who do not believe in Him will be recipients of His holy wrath in the judgment, spending eternity without Him, and those who believe will receive His favor in redemption and spend eternity with Him.

But God's love for mankind does not lesson because we sin. Our fellowship with Him is impaired when we sin, but that is our doing, a lack of love for Him on our part, not a reduction of love to us from Him on His part.

Hope this helps.

Hello, Montez

Glad to meet you.

Rich has given you a great reply. I urge you to heed what he has spoken.

The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. He remains in us regardless of whether we "feel" Him or "see" His working in our life. WE believe this by faith, not by our senses. But, as Rich said, there can be a number of reasons for this seemingly "dry" time. Going to the Word often with expectancy to learn from God will aid in bringing about the growth the Spirit is working in us as He continues to mature us and fill us with everything God has for us to receive.

Rich

Well said.

The Spirit is within every believer whether we 'feel" the spirit or not. We believe this on faith, not by sight or other senses.

And, yes, the spirit leads us through "dry, wilderness" times for the very reasons you mentioned. These times should drive us to His Word for "living water and food" to sustain and grow us up in Christ.

(Reposted under correct thread)

Congratulations on being a Christian long enough to not feel the Spirit. Read the Psalms and you will find that feeling that God has gone silent or stopped hearing us is not unusual for the saints. Psalm 13, Psalm 28. Psalm 44, Psalm 83, Psalm 109.

The Spirit's fruit of patience comes when we thirst and hunger for God, but must continue to sow to the Spirit in trust that at the proper time we will reap the fruits of joy and peace. There is always a span of time that must pass between sowing and reaping, when the Spirit is at work causing growth that is not exciting to watch or easy to see on a moment by moment basis. Sowing in tears and reaping in joy after a much longer span of time has passed than we like is often the life of godly Christians. Psalm 126:5-6

Of course, if the Spirit is convicting you of unrepented sin, confess it and repent. God sons all must learn from the unpleasantness of His discipline and chastisement, which shows that He loves us and does not want to see us condemned with the world. Those trained by it reap peace. Hebrews 12:5-11 and James 1:2-4

Without knowing anything about the length of time you have been a Christian, what life you came out of before becoming a Christian, or how much of the pure milk of the word you have tasted it is hard to know what you most need to hear. So I will let you consider what I have written first to see if you gain anything from this or want to provide a little more context for your post.

Chris m- Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

There is no end to the instructions you can get, 63 yrs ago I started reading 69 books and haven't found much time or need for others. Old testament I read some but to get real help its in the new testament. There is no harm in saying I don't know.

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Hey Rich,

Well said, we see how Israel was doing these same things, Jeremiah 7:18-20 and Jeremiah 44 and how God dealt with them. Israel was constantly tempted to learn the ways of the pagan nations around them and fell into that often. Paganism is still at work today and it is like leaven, it slowly corrupts from within. It started in Babel/Babylon, and we see it from Genesis to Revelation.

God bless,

RLW

Jesus always refered to himself as the son of man b/c of what he did at Calvary...Smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered then i will turn my hand to the lilttle ones...our 1st born our only son...Which is the H.G. that Child of Promise a baby Christ...Whosoever receiveth one such child in my name receiveth ME...Thus he is truly THE SON OF MAN. He is gona sow a seed in humanity making them fruitfull unto God...Thus there is a baby Christ in our future which is the result of the New Birth...thats y he always refered to himself as the SON OF MAN...That was the great Promise when God Almighty swore by himself that Christ wd be multiplied as the stars of heaven...Thus mankind is gonna be fruitful via that good seed of Christ resulting in the gift of the H.G...That Child of PROMISE......Thus he is truly the Son of MAN..that y Zech. is saying he is our 1st born our only son...Whosoever receiveth one such child in my name receive ME..Thus he is the SON OF MAN

....That Woman in Rev 12 is the best example of y he always refers to himself as the SON OF MAN, That Woman is humanity mankind that has birth a baby Christ..Thus her Child is the SON of MAN...MANKINDS FRUIT UNTO GOD via his seed the WORD.

Unless ya receive the Kingdom of God as a lil Child you will in no wise enter there in...The Child is our 1st born...our only Son

The only way the great Promise can be fulfiled is if makind brings forth fruit unto God via that good seed the words of the new covenant enabling mankind to birth a baby Christ....Thats y he loved that Son of MAN TITLE...Its simply the result of the NEW BIRTH...Thats y Isaiah 9 : 6 said unto us a Child is born,Unto us a Son is given...when he saw the kingdom coming..

Once ya understand that Christ is our 1st born ,our only Son Zech. 12 : 10 ...you will see y he always refers to himself as the Son of man...There is a baby Christ in our near future..which is the H.G. The multiplication of Christ...the Promise was our 1st born our only Son..

Hello Brenda. In this passage, three different men approach Jesus, no doubt they have been hearing His Words in past encounters with Jesus & sensing that they would like to be a part of His Ministry. My understanding of this is:

The first man (described as a scribe in Matthew 8:19) wanted to be a part of Jesus' team. But as was Jesus' Knowledge of people & the workings of their hearts, He spoke to the man that the life of discipleship can come with hardship & uncertainty. This ought to have been no problem to a faithful follower of Jesus, knowing that no hardship was too great to prevent service to the Master. But this man, as supposed, approached Jesus with a wrong heart, hoping for riches & recognition in Jesus' Kingdom. Jesus gave him a simple example that discipleship could mean not even an assurance of a roof over his head, let alone any other comfort or gain. The man turned away, maybe dejected that this life with Jesus was not what he expected.

The second man was a distant disciple of Jesus (i.e. not of the twelve disciples - Matthew 8:21). Jesus urged him to join them in their travels but he seemed to be happy to be a casual disciple without a commitment. So he excused himself by saying that he would follow Jesus after his father died & his responsibilities to him ceased. Jesus said that the message of the Kingdom was far more important, to leave his father & eventual burial arrangements to those who don't believe in Jesus or committed to Him.

And the third man gave a similar response to Jesus: that he wanted to follow Him but needed to say his farewells first. Again Jesus saw this man's heart & character; that he would be persuaded to remain at home for a longer time or even be persuaded not to be foolish & pursue such a life with no certainties. One who is committed to serve as a follower/believer ("putting the hand to the plough"), & then looks back (or, has second thoughts or easily distracted by others), is unfit for Kingdom life & service.

Christ is our mercy seat , only through him can we have access to God . No one else has the power to answer any of our prayers other than God Himself . We approach God through Christ .

Ty for me the biblical reference is not that important it is the thoughts and the logic behind the interpretation that is important.

I will throw another one at you and this is surely a "curved ball".. Here in Europe we are very closely watching the war in Ukraine and I see references to Mr Putin having amassed 190,000 troops on the borders of the Ukraine.

I then think about GOD leading the People of Israel, all 650,000 of then being solders (20-60 age group by census) amassed on the very limited borders of the Promised land as in Canaan and all within sight of the Cloud of God above the tabernacle- so lets say within a maximum on a front of 50 miles.

Now Mr Putin is reportedly already having logistics problems even with all the advantages of modern rapid deployment forces and mobility. Think about the problems that the leaders of the tribes of Israel had trying to fine - if nothing else simply firewood to cook food for 650,000 soldiers and also their dependents which surely amounted to at least another 4000,000 people. Think of the logistics of sanitation in a desert!

I away your comments with great interest.

Best regards Roy

PS for your information I am a very late awakening Christian having deviated from the path so much and so far for so long that I now wonder how I could ever have been to be allowed to come even close to understanding what it means to believe. I am 80 years old and it is only in the last 7 or 8 years that I have returned to somewhere that I should have been 70 years ago and was not. It took a very short sharp reminder that I need help and the only place that was able to provide that was a Christian church in Malaysia where I went as a deeply worried person to seek solace AND RECEIVED IT!

The challenges in insurmountable to man!