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Christianity was supposed to be about becoming like Jesus. | |
We went in the wrong direction. |
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Christian Pioneer - eBook for Cell Phone Everything you Know is Wrong |
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| Outline of the Bible For those unfamiliar Thy word is truth (John 17:17) Aside from the creation story in the first part of the first book of the bible, Genesis, The “Old Testament” is a history of the nation of Israel and how they repeatedly failed to be the nation of priests God wanted to use to bring the knowledge of him to the whole world. The “new testament” (second part of the bible) is two stories. The first four books, called the gospels, are about Jesus and his offer of the promised earthly kingdom to the nation of Israel. The books of Hebrews through Revelation are various writers to those of Israel in the hope and expectation that the nation would repent and receive Jesus as their king. The second story was a sort of parallel activity by the Apostle Paul to bring the gospel of salvation to non-Jews. This is recorded in the books of Romans through Philemon. Interestingly the bible is the only book that has made prophecies about the future, many of which have already come true. One event still pending is the removal of Christians bringing a return to God working through a restored nation of Israel. This transition will be brutal as described in the book of Revelation. One might take a look at the bible especially if one is growing in an appreciation of truth. ----------------------------------------- Another way of looking at the Bible is to see in it a record of God's plans; Plan "F"? God created heaven and earth perfect. This was plan “A” When Satan’s pride led him to rebel against God and take a third of the angles with him, God had plan “B”. When Adam and Eve sinned, plan “C” went into effect. However, just a few generations after Adam and Eve people became so wicked (amplified by angelic interference) that the world was destroyed with a flood and only eight people were saved. This brought us to plan “D”. However, with the Tower of Babble, it was apparent that a more direct means of getting people to know about their creation, God, and the need for faith a plan “E” was needed. The nation of Israel was supposed to be a nation of priests who would bring the knowledge of God to the whole world. God put an awful lot of work into plan “E”. The Old Testament of the bible is almost all about What Israel was supposed to do, promises to Israel about the future, and a continual record of their disregard for God. Sending Jesus as the promised Messiah was the culmination of the plan of God to offer a way back to eternal life that was lost by Adam and Eve. Since Israel did not accept the kingdom offered by Jesus at his ministry to the nation, dramatic circumstances will be brought on earth such that a faithful remnant of Israel will be persuaded to received the kingdom. However, this cataclysmic event will not happen until after plan “F” has run its course. The nation of Israel was supposed to receive the gospel of the kingdom and her king, Jesus, and subsequently bring the knowledge of God to the world. This knowledge instead was spread by those through the gospel of the grace of God introduced by Paul who was called to be an apostle to the gentiles. This might be called plan “F”. When the full number of the gentiles come in, plan “G” would be established where Jesus returns to earth and rules as king from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. These various plans are not the result of God not having control (being all knowing he knew that we would fall short), but of his allowing humans and angles to have free will. The angels were created all at once and with knowledge. They made their choice all at once. Humans are born sequentially and in ignorance. As a result, God endures the evils that result from bad choices until he can harvest a “crop” of those that surrender to his will. Some call these “plans” covenants or dispensations. However, these names can be misleading. The world “plan” can also be misleading. It does convey that God is in charge, however, it fails to convey that they might better be called opportunities. Each of these “plans” demonstrate that no matter what the circumstances, most people will ultimately reject God and seek to go their own way. God structured our redemption to be based on faith (trust). Trust is given to that which is true. Israel would keep their laws when they trusted God as a demonstration of faith. Today with plan “F” those who trust in Jesus and his payment on the cross for our sins are regenerated unto the eternal life that is in Christ, can have the Holy Spirit make them better people, and have access to the wisdom of God.. Rom 11:12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? |
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Information about Christianity and the Christian life. |
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