The Plan Fulfilled

When people ask how I came to the conclusions I share in What If The Cross Changed Everything?, it was simply by approaching it as if I were a first century believer in Christ, and refusing to add 21st century speculative interpretation to it.  Of course, in doing so, that placed most all of the events (even the yet-to-come ones) in today's rear view mirror.   

Revelation 1:3 & 19 Jesus told John to write what he had seen, what he was currently experiencing, and what was to come.  It has been my experience that the most prolific expounders, currently in vogue, have allotted little to no space in their interpretations for what was (before Christ) and what is (at the time of the writing) and what was to soon take place.   

This oversight has led to speculations beyond comprehension. It has also completely violated the warning that was issued at the end of Revelation. In chapter 22 verses 18 & 19 we are clearly warned  to not add to or take parts away from what was written on that scroll. It was, like any legal document, to be unaltered.  Can you think of a single book from the Bible that has been added to and speculated on more than this one?  Weird huh?

History changing, life altering events took place in the courtroom of Heaven. They're described in Hebrews 9. Jesus offered his blood for our eternal redemption at the Throne of God. But the current myopic interpretations of John's Revelation of Jesus Christ has resulted in a fulfillment of its expressed warning: increased plagues and decreased life.  So maybe, today's  followers of Christ need to heed the warning. Stop adding speculation and current event interpretations to a prophecy that specifically warns against it - and stop taking away (or ignoring) all that was accomplished through the life, death, burial and resurrection of The Lord.    

Ok, got that off my chest - let's explore a few more ways God implemented the enemy-head-crushing plan to redeem His kids.

How was God going to:

 A)  Measure and qualify those who were true patriots of God's Nation? 

 B)  Accomplish this in a way that the enemy could not sabotage the outcome?

 C)  Flawlessly satisfy the demands spelled out in the law of sin and death within the confines of a human body?

Questions  A&B

144,000 was the number needed; 12,000 from 12 separate tribes.  But how had God determined these people were qualified to be counted among His Nation's patriots?  A standard of measure had to be adopted.  Hence, the law of Moses, which demanded participation in celebrations, feasts, and sacrifices as well as adherence to the 10 commandments.  None of which could make people righteous, but the enemy and the people participating in them didn't realize that.  They labored under the assumption that adherence to the laws would actually make them righteous.   

Question C

The promises contained in every new covenant God made with His creation brought the enemy-head-crushing-savior-of-the-world closer to reality.  But there were so many demands to be met that the experts of the Law were sure it was going to take more than one person to fulfill.  A lion and a lamb? From the tribe of Judah but also a priest?  From Bethlehem and Egypt?  The experts were torn, some said that Messiah would be one man others said no, it would require two.  That's why John the Baptizer sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the one (and only) or should they be keeping their eyes out for a second. Matthew 11:3

With so many variables it would seem impossible for one man to meet all the requirements. One that seemed particularly impossible was that Messiah would need to be a Priest, which, according to what God had said, needed to be a Levite and come from the line of Aaron (Moses' brother).  How was Jesus going to pull this off?

No surprise to the Creator of the plan - a.k.a. The One Who Goes Before To Make Provision. And that provision was laid out nearly 1,500 years earlier, and recorded in Numbers 6.  Anyone (male or female) who wanted to yield themselves completely for God's purposes (including Temple service) could do so, for a limited period of time.  They had to enter into the arrangement voluntarily,  abide by specific requirements and restrictions, and conclude their time of service with a sacrificial offering.

This little 'loop-hole' was how Jesus, from the tribe of Judah, was going to legally accomplish the duties of the High Priest from the tribe of Levi. Something that was genetically impossible. What were the requirements and restrictions the vow required?  No haircuts or consumption of grapes in any form.  No raisins, no juice, no wine. How do we know this was the route the Lord took?    Matthew, Mark, and Luke all recorded it. 

I am writing this on Maundy Thursday.   1,985 years ago today Jesus publicly announced at the last supper, before being arrested, his voluntary invoking of the Nazarite vow.

"But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Jesus in Matthew 26:29

He voluntarily gave himself in service to God for a period of time and would commemorate the ending of that time with his earth-shaking sacrifice. 

In Hebrews 2:14 we learn that through His death He destroyed Satan (the one who had power of death).  By the way, there is no cosmic battle raging between God and Satan.  Any battles are in the hearts and minds of humanity.  And Hebrews 9:12 & 14 we learn that with His blood He redeemed us eternally ... and purged our consciences from the idea that dead works could be used in serving a Living God. 

The Cross changed everything!  It's high time we started believing it.  He's Alive! 

Redemption's Ratio

There's a lot to unpack before we celebrate the Lord's resurrection this coming Sunday. I'll only hit a few highlights, so if, by blog's end, your interest is piqued you can dive deeper into these ideas in What If The Cross Changed Everything?

The principles that were to be found at the Tree of Life were kicked to the curb when the unfortunate choice established the course for all humanity.  The planet's inhabitants would govern and be governed by the principles found at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Principles that came to be known as the law of sin and death. And God's pre-ordained plan began to take root.

We're going to explore answers to a few questions the next couple of days. 

How could God:
   1.  Re-insert Himself into the creation He had commissioned with authority and dominion in the Earth?
  2.   Secure the redemption of all humanity?

Question #1  Covenants

God will not (contrary to some folks' thinking) force His will on anyone. Doing so would violate the Laws of Love.  Here is where faith and promises a.k.a. covenants come in.  

Adam and Eve witnessed the declaration of that promise when God said to Satan:

"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."  Genesis 3:14 & 15

An ensuing result of that promise is learned in verse 16.  Sorrow will accompany conception. Why?  Because Satan would be targeting human offspring from that moment on, in his attempt to destroy the promised seed before it had a chance to take a breath.  But in spite of the potential heart-break, women were going to willingly bring new lives into the Earth.

I am fairly certain Cain had heard the story, and fancied himself to be the promised enemy head crusher.  But his delusion resulted in the crushing of his brother's head instead.  Hindsight being what it is, we now know that the authentic enemy head-crusher wouldn't come on the scene for another 4,000 years.  

Question #2 A sinless man AND a dedicated nation

This is where Abraham and Sarah come in. God needed a person who would give not only himself, but would entrust his posterity to God's plan. Genesis 18:19

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. 

What was He going to do with a nation? Use it to bless all the other nations of the world. Genesis 22:18

Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.  

How could one nation bless all others?  

Deuteronomy 32:8 & 9
When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel) is the lot of his inheritance.

Now this nation wasn't simply made up of the offspring of of Abraham.  No! They had to walk in the laws of God.  Jacob (a.k.a. Israel) had 12 sons. And God had to have 12,000 from every one of those son's tribes who were proven to have only ever served The Lord God, never had they worshiped a god of the enemy.   144,000.   This took 2,000 years to complete but John records in Revelation chapter 7 verses 1-8 the day in Heaven's court when the count was made and the required number fulfilled.   

In verse 9 we see this happening:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

How many righteous are needed to protect the unrighteous? 

I don't know where to find the Heavenly statute but we get a glimpse of it in Genesis 18:32 I like to call it Redemption's Ratio... When God said if there were 10 righteous the entire doomed region would have been spared.  

Ten righteous would have bought more time for the unrighteous of the "5 cities of the plains" including Sodom and Gomorrah to have righted their ways.  Which begs the question, how much time was bought by the 144,000 righteous members of God's nation?  It appears to be the means by which God formed a legal loop-hole to rescue those who died before Christ's sacrifice.  

That is the purpose of mercy.  To extend time before a final, irreversible judgment is made.  I know this might sound far fetched, but I believe we have a mind blowingly brilliant God Who loves, loves, loves His kids.

We'll look at some answer ideas for a few more questions  in the near future.

Large Plants & Middle East Real Estate

We know God's intention was to redeem humanity, but we really have no idea how difficult that will be.  Go ahead, read the account again and again, and each time you can see another facet of the plan. Dirt, air, promises, and faith. 

found this image online at baddom24.blogspot.com

Most are familiar with the death warning attached to joining oneself to the knowledge of good and evil, illustrating God's desire that His creation choose to honor and serve Him as an act of free-will. But there is so much more packed in a few verses.

 Couple things to look at. Apparently the specifics of God's request were not communicated accurately. God told Adam to not eat (become one with) the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil (judgment)...  Genesis 2: 9, 16, 17

And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil...And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

But that's not what Eve told Satan in Genesis 3:2, 3:

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

What?  Wait a minute.  Who said anything about touching?  And hello, news flash! There were two trees in the middle of God's garden;  life AND the knowledge of good and evil (judgment).   Talk about getting lost in translation!

I think Adam, in an attempt to protect Eve beefed up the warning (cuz God so needs our help).  Don't eat it, better yet, don't even touch it.... no, in fact don't go anywhere near it - steer clear of the tree that'll kill you - too bad the tree of life is right next door, but better safe than sorry. Tell you what, I'm making a new and better law; stay away from the middle of the garden. (Artistic license being liberally applied here)

And like every other time we think God needs our help, things got all messed up.

Another disturbing issue, definitions of death and life. 

Genesis 3:4, 5, 
 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

Seemed plausible.  Here was a creature that, by Eve's estimation, appeared to be alive.  It was breathing, speaking, and reasoning. Lesson to be learned: without an accurate definition of life, death is unrecognizable as well.  

Jesus cleared up the confusion in John 17:3
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

Life eternal is found in knowing God. If that isn't clear, we substitute knowing God with knowing good and evil and then we can be duped into thinking life is nothing more than having a body that continues to breathe.  

Point #3

Genesis 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Hold the phone.  What did God say about trees? They are good to look at and good for food.  They are not avenues for attaining wisdom.  

Proverbs 2:6
For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. 

By now I hope you realize that 'trees' are more than large plants,  Trees represent any number of intellectual, creative, fascinating, spiritual, physical, or economic pursuits. None of which are fountains of life or actual wisdom.  You have probably figured out that God's garden is in the hearts of humanity, not just a piece of Middle East Real Estate. 

By now I hope you recognize areas in your own life where you have a grip on something, maybe it's a profession, maybe it's a hobby, maybe it's an intellectual understanding or academic accomplishment. Go ahead. You can touch it, but don't be deceived into thinking it is adequate for defining you or being a life-source. 

By know I hope you know that Life is knowing God.  Once that issue is settled, all the other stuff is just stuff.  Not life-giving stuff.  Not wisdom-giving stuff.  Not purpose-for-existence stuff.  Not this-is-who-I-am stuff.  Not I-will-be-less-than-who-God-created-me-to-be-if-I don't-have-it stuff.  Stuff given richly for you to enjoy (I Tim. 6:17) not to judge the value of your life by.

Here we are, 6,000 years removed from that life altering, history defining event, and we find ourselves fighting the same battle. Only our 'tree' might look like a relationship, or a college degree, or a bank account, or a church membership, or a grudge, or a political platform, or a .....  But God remains the only true source of life, purpose, and wisdom.  Oh, did I mention that the Cross is what makes it possible for mankind to once again have access to the 'tree' that is Life?  Yep, That was the prize The Father had His heart set on and the Son recovered.  That is the prize we are tempted to diminish, overlook, or over complicate. I'm His. He's mine. That's it. What if The Cross Changed Everything?




  

Magnanimous Planner & A Magnificent Plan

Of course, we know that the ransom demands came as no surprise to God.  John writes in Revelation 13:8 that the Lamb (Jesus Christ) was slain from the foundation (establishment) of the world.

Standing here in 2018, we know that Jesus redeemed us, but I suspect the enemy would have seen no value in human beings  apart from what they could do in furthering his agenda.  They are, in his estimation, nothing more than the disposable vessels that carry the treasure he's obsessed with obtaining.

When I imagine Satan demanding the blood of a sinless man it becomes immediately apparent that humanity isn't what the enemy is most interested in.  Humans are so easily duped having proven themselves - throughout history - to be weak, powerless, and therefore worthless. Besides, if  God could actually deliver a sinless human being, there was a world full of these propagating expendables  just waiting to be deceived and incarcerated. Think about it, even if it was about liberating the enslaved and imprisoned, it wouldn't take but a generation to fill the emptied coffers.

Which begs the question; what if Satan thought he was negotiating the terms of redeeming the planet and not its inhabitants?  I can easily imagine Satan thinking God would be wanting to regain control of Planet Earth. Real Estate, that's a prize worth fighting for.  We see this throughout history - wars fought over dirt.  Also, this idea isn't too far fetched when we look at what he used in tempting Jesus: food to eat, power to wield  and kingdoms to rule.  Doesn't appear that the redemption of human souls made his list of temptations worth offering.

When it was declared that nothing less than the blood of a sinless man would satisfy a criminal's demand, God already had the plan and set about implementing it.   I don't think humanity's accuser had any idea what game he was playing.  Pride does that.  It's so focused on overestimating self, that others are automatically underestimated.

Psalm 24 is a great read and it starts off by establishing that the earth and what fills it belongs to the Lord. The word 'earth' as used by David was as encompassing as our usage of it today; as big as the planet or as small as a speck of dirt... Dirt! When God decided to create a race of humans specifically for the  purpose of tilling the ground (Genesis 2:5) whose life-force was the breath of God Himself (Genesis 2:7) what did He use?  Dirt. Thus insuring from before the very outset that humans could be counted among the Lord's sole possessions.  Colossians 1:26-27

Like the song says,  Your love is extravagant! 

He has no intention of leaving his children at the mercy of a cruel, merciless, captor. He has a plan so magnificent and magnanimous that 2000 years later we are still trying to grasp the magnitude of it.

Stay tuned... the Cross Changed Everything!

What God Can Do With A Pile O' Dirt!

Continuing on the theme of the Lord's legal accomplishments...

"We don't know who discovered water, but we know it wasn't a fish."  Marshal McLuhan

Every year our state's elected legislators head to the capitol to write the laws that govern our lives, most of which the governed population are ignorant of, until we find ourselves in violation of or stonewalled by in some way.  We then have several choices: conform our actions to fall within the stipulations of the law, abandon our plan, or ignore the law believing it either: a)doesn't apply to us or b) hope to not get caught violating it.  None of which have any effect on the law itself.  Laws effect me, I don't effect them.  (I do appreciate living in a nation where I have the right to affect the law, but that's another blog.)

Going back to the garden we have the law (do not consume the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) and the consequences of its violation (in the day that you consume of it, you will surely die).  We all know the story.  Or do we?

"In an obscure, unspectacular moment of time, humans chose to live a life governed by what appealed to their physical senses and reasoning abilities. By rejecting the truths of Life governed by Love and embracing the dichotomous concepts of an existence governed by good/evil, right/wrong, punish/pay the world quickly descended into fear and death—an existence ruled by the laws of sin and death.

After hi-jacking the authority that God had delegated to humanity, the evil, dictatorial ruler of that miserable, lifeless existence was certain he had all of humanity locked up tight in his ‘iron clad’ penal system.

Thank God (literally) for the ‘dust-clad’ design He had up His sleeve; those few ambiguous loopholes set the stage for the implementation of His magnificent plan."  What If The Cross Changed Everything?  

Make no mistake.  The enemy never intended to lose his grip on the lives of God's image bearers. So when it came to negotiating the terms of redemption it's safe to assume pride convinced him that  he'd crafted a scheme inaccessible even to the Creator of the universe.

What was God left with to design a plan for humanity's redemption? Dirt, air, promises, and faith.
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Who Establishes The Terms Of Redemption?

Christ's Legal Accomplishments

If you've read my book, What If The Cross Changed Everything?, you know that my take on John's Revelation of Jesus is quite a departure from the eschatological explanations currently in vogue.

The interpretation I offer focuses on Jesus and his accomplishments made on our behalf. He was, in fact, a stickler for the law.  We read in Matthew 5:17 where he declared his intent and purpose at his first recorded public meeting, "I came, not to destroy the law but to fulfill it". And the last words he spoke before surrendering his spirit was to proclaim, "It is finished".  

What law was he talking about? What 'it' was he referring to?

Romans 10:4 tells us that He was the end of the law for righteousness. Sounds like this is the law we need to focus on.

The law for righteousness doesn't mean we are now guilt and sin free, squeaky clean and chaste as the driven snow.  I suspect this misunderstanding of 'being made righteous' has led to many disqualifying themselves from walking with God.

Reason enough to drill down on this concept.

To be made righteous means that things have been put to rights; back the way they were.  To be righteous means the way it was originally intended.  For human beings to be made righteous means we have been reunited with our Creator.  Making that a reality is what the cross was all about.

Prison at Castillo San Cristobal Fort in San Juan Puerto Rico
Yes, it really is as small as it looks.

Who established the terms of redemption?  For decades I credited God with that, but- just like everything else I thought I believed - decided to scrutinize this belief as well. Thankfully doing so didn't require too many brain cells to upend.

In any hostage, extortion, or incarceration situation who sets the terms of redemption?  Not the one against whom the demands are being made! Not the imprisoned. It's always the extortioner who makes the demands.  In the case of humanity's entrapment and captivity to the warden of the law of sin and death, the terms of our release were set by the captor.  The Bible records for us the 4,000 years it took (working in the earth and through human beings) to secure the demands made for our ransom.

Having this perspective completely revolutionizes the way one reads the Bible.  It means that God is not, as some mistakenly believe, a blood-thirsty, iron-fisted, narcissistic egomaniac undeserving of worship and service.  Nope.  Instead we see Him as any earthly father of an abducted, tortured child.

Stay tuned - my goal, between now and April 1, is to explore the magnificent ways Christ fulfilled the demands of our ransom.  It just might make the upcoming celebration of His resurrection more palpable than it is already.

 I would like to offer the readers of this blog series a PDF version of What If The Cross Changed Everything?  Click  to access your free gift.