Heaven & Earth, Jew & Gentile

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

Genesis 2:4

The issue of how to correctly identify 'the heavens and the earth' of Scripture has been hashed & rehashed over the past decade or so & still, we are no closer to a uniform position on the subject! To the majority of Christians, most likely, the answer is simple, the phrase is referring to the literal heavens ( sky ) & the literal earth ( land/globe ) or terra firma. To others, maybe, the phrase refers, in some sense, to the ministers of the Temple & the average Israelite. This position has no doubt met with some opposition because it seems to relegate the history of Genesis to a mere metaphorical story about the foundation of the Temple!  'How could Adam have been an Israelite, much less a priest ( minister ) in the Temple since neither came on the scene till many generations later?' Questions like this are unavoidable!

The construction of Genesis 1 is too interesting to ignore! The chiastic structure of Genesis 1 has a beauty beyond words! Beginning with the earth ( Land ), the Author quickly moves from there to the heavens & back, separating the two, and dizzying the reader with his literary style, first bringing order to one & life to the other. Moving back & forth, He weaves the creation account that we all, to one degree or another, have become familiar with. Heaven & earth, Adam & animals; what are we to make of it all?

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Church at Galatia, wrote 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus' ( 3:28 ). John, in the Revelation, wrote 'there was no more sea' ( 21:1 ). He who had separated the waters from the Land in the beginning had removed the separating curtain, much as He, according to Paul, had removed the distinction between Jew & Greek, or Gentile. Israel was given the task, beginning with Adam's creation, of ministering the justice, mercy & love of the Creator to the rest of His Creation; because they failed to understand His purpose for this distinction, He took matters into His own Hands & removed that distinction!

Those with more knowledge & wisdom than this poor blogger have searched out the Temple Theme throughout the Genesis Creation account! These have found that the physical Temple in Jerusalem was so ordered to represent the Hebrew cosmological understanding of the heavens & earth. The tabernacle in the wilderness, along with its furniture & priests, were patterned after this understanding as well. The separation between the special people of the Creator God & the rest of His Creation was made for a Purpose! That Purpose was hidden throughout the Scriptures ( though glimpses were seen ) & finally revealed with the Advent of His Son, the Creator Himself in human form!

The Purpose for which the Creator God made a separation in His Created Order is not a simple one to discern! Some might say that the distinction was made so that those separated ones ( holy ) might keep themselves pure for the One who sought Union with them. Others might say that the distinction was made so that we could judge between those were consigned to heaven or hell ( it's difficult for us to understand the Hebrew concept-much different than ours ). Whatever the case may be, we understand that the distinction, or separation was made for the Purpose of the Eschaton, for the Revelation of the Son of God!

Genesis begins with the creation of 'the heavens and the earth'. The Author then points to the earth, bringing order & life to it as well as to the heavens! Both earth & heavens were given their own life & order, but they shared one life that inhabited both realms, the birds, or flying creatures! This may engender another post for another time, but it is interesting to note that the birds alone of all the creatures were given wings to fly in the heavens above as well as legs to traverse the earth beneath! Only after the creation of the animals did the Creator God form man in His image. As the Author moves His shuttle back & forth across the tapestry of this first part of Genesis, we may note His focus on the earth under the Rule of Heaven!

The Creator God, He who dwelt in the heavens according to Scripture came to earth in the form of His Prime Creation. With His Advent He brought Heaven to Earth, significantly removing the separating curtain & allowing His Creation to approach His Presence; in fact, He came to dwell in our midst! The New Heavens & New Earth which John saw in the Revelation referred to the resurrected Israel, or the Church in its infancy. We may quibble over whether the Church is the New Heavens & New Earth yet today or whether we are simply the generation of the New Heavens & New Earth, but what is clear is the fact that the Creator God has made His Dwelling with ( in ) His Creation!

Charles Haddon Shank



 

The End of the Law

For Christ  [ is ] the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Romans 10:4 

Simple, right?

Well, not really! There are a few factors involved here that most people don't usually think about when reading these words of Paul's. First, the context: the apostle was writing to a specific audience at a specific time in history. Previously, he wrote 'For they ( speaking of the Jews/Judaizers ) being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God'. He was reminding them, his first-century audience, that their Messiah was the Righteousness they sought; it was by accepting His Righteousness that they would be saved, not by works of the Law!

Secondly ( this follows right along ), Paul was not saying that the Law had been terminated ( though the Greek might lead one to believe thusly ), just that their reliance on it for righteousness had been terminated! Paul wrote elsewhere, 'Therefore the law was our tutor to [ bring us to ] Christ, that we might be justified by faith' ( Galatians 3:24 ). From this, we can see that the Purpose of the Law was to [ bring us to ] Christ; that is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Church in Rome, 'Christ  [ is ] the end of the law'! Not that the Law was terminated, that now they could be lawless, but that the Law had fulfilled its Purpose, that of pointing them to the Christ, or Messiah!

One might ask how the Law of Virginity ( Deuteronomy 22:13-21 ) is fulfilled in Jesus; this is a valid question! How could a loving God sentence a woman to death for not being a virgin when she married? Here again, we must allow for several different factors, most importantly context! Moses wrote this Law, at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to a people ( children ) who were to be pure, set apart & wholly unlike their neighbors around them. In our modern American culture, it has become almost a badge of honor & quite the norm in most societies to lose one's virginity BEFORE any vows are made! 'Testing the waters', so to speak, is almost looked at as the wisest course in this day & age, but in that culture & at that point in history, to lose one's virginity outside of marriage was not only a shameful matter, it could end in death!

This is not to say that such laws are no longer applicable to the people of God, for we are still to keep ourselves pure, holy & undefiled, even within the bonds of marriage! However, since we DO live in a different culture & especially since our Righteousness is found in the Creator God Himself ( not some Law written in Stone ), we cannot keep ourselves pure, holy & undefiled simply by following the Letter of the Law. By following the Spirit of the Law, as found in Jesus the Christ, we remain pure, holy & undefiled, even though our bodies have been ravaged! 

The Law of Virginity as found in Deuteronomy 22 does not require an American women to be a virgin when she marries! Nor does it require her to be stoned ( put to death ) if she is not; that Law was made for a certain ( special ) people at a certain time & for a certain purpose. That purpose, as we have seen, was to point them to the Righteousness of the Spirit, not the Letter. Fulfilled in Jesus the Christ, that Law, as the Law of Love, is also fulfilled in us who have sought our Righteousness in the Christ alone, in the Spirit!  

Though it may still in some sense have application for the People of God today, the Law no longer brings condemnation for the follower of Jesus the Christ ( Romans 8:1 )! The Virgin of Israel was kept pure, holy & undefiled, not by her adherence to & reliance on the Law, but by Him who was the End of the Law, its Purpose, its Goal! In the same way, we are kept pure, holy & undefiled, not by remaining virgins till we are married, but by finding our Righteousness, our Virginity in our Relationship with our Heavenly Father!

As we live today in the End of the Law, we should realize that though our righteousness does not come by the Law, the Law is our Heavenly Father's House Rules! If we willingly & thankfully follow those House Rules, things tend to go well for us! For example, if we remain a virgin until we become One with our Mate, things tend to go more smoothly, then if we have left a trail of broken hearts behind us before we 'settled down'. Though this is almost unavoidable in our day & age, even if we do succumb, we are not condemned for it by our Heavenly Father, though we may receive judgement for it at the hands of the injured parties!

The Law remains in effect! Though the Christ, or Messiah, was proven to be the End, or Goal of the Law & the Law was/is fulfilled in Him/us, the Law remains; it is still there! Though we are still judged by it ( we reap what we sow ), we are not condemned by the Letter of it. That Jewish Economy in the first century received their just judgement ( condemnation ) because they ( who should have known better ) rejected their Messiah! For them He was the End of the Law, the Culmination of Creation; He brought about the Marriage of Heaven & Earth. For us who live in the Fulfillment of that Blessed Reality, who constitute this New Heavens & New Earth; we now dwell in the Fulness of Him who is the Culmination, the Consummation of the Law!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Necessity & Importance of Belief

And this is His commandment:

 that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ
 and love one another,

 as He gave us^[e] commandment.

I John 3:23

In order to do, one must first believe..............SOMETHING!

That is an undeniable fact; in order for one to accomplish anything, that one must first make a judgement ( however quickly or rightly ) & THEN act upon that judgement, or belief! While some people act more or less like animals & act upon instinct, they’ve still made a judgement, even a split-second one, about how they're going to react to a given situation. Everyone believes something; that's a fact of life!

Some claim to be irreligious, but the fact of the matter is, to whatever extent, everyone is by nature religious! They may not act according to their stated belief, or they may not even do much in any way, but everyone believes something & if one does do nothing at all, that one believes they should do nothing. If one does not act according to their stated belief, then we can know they're acting according to their true belief!

Scripture tells us in quite a few different places that one must believe in order to be saved; this is not to say that belief is no longer necessary, but we must realize that these words were spoken to a certain audience at a certain point in time! The necessity was for those Jews in the first century to accept Jesus as their Messiah. The haunting question here could be, 'is it not still necessary for people to accept Jesus as their Messiah, their Savior?' In some sense, one might say that it is necessary for one to realize that Jesus was the Messiah & accept His Atonement, but the fact of the matter is, He was the Jewish Messiah, He came to atone for their sin ( s ) & it is only as we identify with them, as the Body of Christ that we partake in their salvation!

Belief is a funny thing; there is a right way of believing & a wrong way of believing! As we have seen, everyone believes something; those who ( truly ) believe wrongly usually do wrongly & those who ( truly ) believe rightly will most often act rightly. Such is not always the case though, when it comes to stated beliefs; some people say one thing & do almost the exact opposite! One might say they believe everything written concerning the Gospel of the Son of God & yet not practice the example He gave us. On the other hand, one might claim not to believe that Gospel ( or even be ignorant of it ) & yet live according to many of the principles we find in the Gospel!

While it is true that one must believe in order to act upon those beliefs, is it of absolute necessity for one to believe according to the accepted orthodoxy in order for one to act correctly? Pretty obviously not! On the other side of the coin, it is plain that just because one states their orthodoxy doesn't mean they act correctly. 

The problem that most people have with religion is not so much with religion itself, but with organized religion; a religion that says of itself that is the only correct way to believe & that if one doesn't profess its orthodox principles, that one is heretic & not on the highway to hell! Organized Religion usually teaches that their orthodox principles are the way, the truth & the life; if one doesn't adhere to their stated principles, that one is consigned to outer darkness, at least until they repent!

Thus, it is of utmost importance to believe, to truly believe what is right! In order to act rightly, one must first be able to make a right judgement. Again, in order to make a right judgement, one must have at least a basic knowledge of what IS right! With the In-dwelling Spirit & the Cleansed Conscience, one can make a right judgement even though that one may not have explored the intimacy & intricacy of one's faith, or belief! That one might understand that Jesus was/is the Son of God ( Very God of Very God ), but yet not aver the trinitarian principle of Father, Son & Holy Spirit! One may simply believe that Jesus, as the Son of God, God Himself, is One that we should emulate!

This is how we should then live; we should live religiously, according to our beliefs! We have seen that it is possible that even though one doesn't necessarily profess orthodoxy, they may act correctly. Then again, just because one does confess orthodox doctrine doesn't mean that one will practice it religiously! One may not have any certain stated belief ( religion ) & yet practice the principles that we find in the words of Jesus; 'just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise' ( Luke 6:31 ) & 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself' ( Leviticus 19:18 ). One might ask at this juncture whether it is even possible to love one's neighbor without first loving the Creator; good question: here's another, 'what does it mean to love God?'

Charles Haddon Shank

The Church's Purpose, the Church's Plight

For too long, just like her fore-runner Israel of Old, the Church has been comfortable in her idolatry & adultery! Adultery may seem too strong of a term & according to most evangelical Christians, blasphemy, but let's face it, with Her reliance on the Power of the State, the Church, institutionally speaking especially, is nearly as guilty as Israel of Old of spiritual adultery! The State has all but taken the place of the Creator God in the lives of many Christians; if we want to endeavor anything, even something our Lord commands, more often than not, the first place we seek permission & blessing is from the State. When the State commands us not to do something that our Lord commands most Christians will cry 'persecution' or either justify their failure to follow their Lord's command! On the other side of the coin, if the State commands us to do something that our Heavenly Father commands us not to, many Christians will just shrug their shoulders and chalk it up to the end times; 'Jesus is surely coming soon', they exult!

The Time for Reformation is ripe! In many places & to whatever extent, the New Reformation has begun. Many within the Church are beginning to seek other avenues, even taking some cues from those outside the Church because they seem to have more plausible answers than the Church has been able to provide! Blame it on feminism or whatever 'ism' you wish, what it all comes down to is the version of the Gospel, or Good News that the Church has been preaching, especially of late! When the Gospel of Jesus the Christ becomes nothing more then making sure one goes to 'Heaven'' when one dies, when it offers no solution to our earthly difficulties, it has become a dangerously weakened Gospel! Something has got to go & what needs to go is the sort of theology that Christianity has clung to for the past several hundred years!

Scripture clearly states that Jesus paid the price, that He took vengeance on His enemies & that He raised up His Body! Most Christians believe that He will ( must ) return again to save His People yet again & take vengeance ( again ) on His enemies; then He will raise His Body from the grave, or more succinctly, their graves. Here we come to one of the most insidious worms in the apple, 'individualism'! Individualism is of course, not a Scriptural notion; Scripture never tells us of an individual salvation or resurrection except as a picture of the corporate salvation & resurrection of the People of God, or Israel.

Like Israel of Old before Her, the Church ( who is Israel Renewed ) was given a job to do: that job was/is to propagate the Gospel of Jesus the Christ & to pour out streams of Living Water for the healing of the nations! The Church was designed to influence ( in a good way ) the Culture around Her, but instead, it's the other way around. The recent Supreme Court decision in favor of homosexual marriage licensing is simply the latest symptom. Another symptom that shows how the Church has failed to righteously affect the culture is the widespread acceptance of abortion! Just like the Church in Germany in the thirties & forties failed to stand up for what was right & stamp out what was wrong, the Church has failed to have any real effect on the cultural plague of infant murder!

As always, the best place to begin is the beginning! We who seek to foment the New Reformation, nay Revolution do not have all the answers, but we do know where to start! The Narrative, usually called the Bible or Scripture, is where one must begin to make any sense of History. The Creator God lowered Himself to first, redeem & second, to commune with His Creation. He first made a covenant with Israel of Old to be His Priests in that endeavor, then, when Israel failed in their Mission, He sent His own Son to be His Priest, to redeem Israel & to commune with His Creation! As the Body of His Son, the Church has been given the task of spreading that Good News, but She too will ultimately fail in Her mission if all she can offer is some future hope of 'Heaven'! If She continues to let the culture follow the lead of evil men & women rather than affecting the Culture around her with the Good News of Jesus the Christ, then She should not be surprised when She begins to feel the weight of the evils of the culture She neglected!

Viva la Revolucion!

The Church must repent of both her adultery & idolatry; She must stop relying on the Government of Mere Men to bolster Her economy & She must divorce Herself from the love of all that is not Her Creator! To accomplish this, there must needs be Reformation & the sooner the better!The New Reformation is happening as we speak; it may not be a sudden as the apostle Paul's experience on the road to Damascus & it may not be as emotionally charged as the 1st & 2nd Great Revivals, but it is happening nonetheless; it starts with the Story, for a correct understanding of the Story helps us to realize our true place in History & our true Status as the Church, the Israel of God & a Nation of Priests!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Name of God

Scripturally, the Creator/Author of Heaven & Earth is known as YHWH, or even more correctly, 'I AM'! There are many names that have been attributed to our Heavenly Father; 'Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace' ( Isaiah 9:6 ) is just one example. We realize that this list, in context, is referring to the Christ, or Scripturally, 'the Son of God' ( I John 5:20, et al ), but Jesus WAS 'God with us' ( Isaiah 7:10-14 ). To the Noble Savage, otherwise known as 'he American Indian', He was often called 'The Great Spirit'. Other cultures, though not what we would call Christian, know their Creator by any number of different names. The religion of Islam, for instance, calls the Creator God by the name of 'Allah', though their perception of Him ( the Creator God ) is often at odds with the Christian God!

Traditionally, because of our Christian Scriptures, we have called the Creator by the name 'God' ( sometimes 'Yahweh' ) & to be honest, this is not wrong, but is it correct? The Hebrew word translated 'God' in our Scriptures is 'elohim'; this simply means 'a mighty one, a ruler or judge'! When our Lord commanded the Children of Israel, through Moses, 'You shall have no other gods before Me' ( Exodus 20:3 ), He used the same Hebrew word to describe those false gods, those idols that would confront His Covenant People in the Promised Land!

When Moses asked the Creator God what he should tell the Children of Israel if they should ask who had sent him, his Lord said 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you' ( Exodus 3:14 ). This was the Name by which the Creator's Children were to know Him! Now, we must understand here as well that we are reading/interpreting this from our English translation of an ancient near eastern language. 'Hayah' is the Hebrew word used here & it simply means 'to be, to exist'. Traditionally, we have read it as 'The Preexistent One' ( or something to that effect ). Of all the many names that Scripture ascribes to our Heavenly Father, this is probably the most technically correct, but this name was revealed to the Hebrews, not to Americans; should we in the 21st century use that same Name, or even just use the rather ambiguous 'God'?

In this day & age, as in ancient times, our 'god' is whatever we worship, whether it be money, things, or whatever. For instance, the inscription on American money, both paper & coinage, 'In God we trust', could actually be interpreted in such a way that the very currency on which this phrase is imprinted it technically the 'God' or 'god' referred to! To be honest, when this phrase was first coined, doubtless those who coined it had in mind the Creator God, but since the term itself is so ambiguous, it could just as well mean 'in money ( or financial status ) we trust'!

Some might wonder if it is really all that important what we call our Lord, our Heavenly Father! Doesn't He still hear the prayers of His Children, whether they call Him 'God', Yahweh, 'Allah', or even refer to Him simply as 'The Great Spirit'? No doubt He does, but if we would be true in our speech & Scripturally correct, we should probably use the name Yahweh, or even refer to Him as IAM'! As fathers, though, don't we appreciate when our children call us 'dad', 'papa', or even 'father'?
It has become more popular, especially in the past 50 years, give or take, to call our earthly fathers by their first names & though this is not necessarily wrong, not all fathers appreciate this; to some, it would probably be seen as a sign of disrespect!

So again, does it really matter what terms we use when referring to the Creator God, our Heavenly Father? He is our God, our Ruler, our Judge & THE Mighty One, but not everyone acknowledges this! While this does not change the Absolute, it does make a difference in how we are perceived! We may say that we believe in God, but if we put more importance on other things than on following our Lord's commands & example, then those with which we have to do will note that our 'God' is truly not the Creator, but money, status, etc. If we call Him our Father, or even 'Yahweh' or some other Scriptural term, then they should realize that we serve the God of Israel!

Whatever terminology we use to describe our Heavenly Father ( 'God' is perfectly acceptable ), what is most important is that we follow His example! If a Muslim calls Him 'Allah' & follows the example that He gave us through Jesus the Christ, will he or she be justified through their deeds as well as a Christian? A Buddhist that follows in Jesus' footsteps should be accepted as well as an American Indian who worships 'The Great Spirit'!

What it comes down to is not what you call your god, but what you do with your god. How many Christians put so much emphasis on using the correct terminology to refer to the Creator God that they forget that it is by doing, by following His commands & example that we are judged? How many people that wouldn't necessarily be called Christians actually put His teachings into practice, even though they may not recognize Him as their Heavenly Father?

Charles Haddon Shank

Living Above it All; Kingdom Living in the Age of Aquarius

Many Christians are guilty of an almost Gnostic dualism! This pietistic notion is based in large part on the apostle Paul's admonition to the Colossian Church, to 'Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth'. A more careful study, though, of Paul's covenantal context, and grammar, will show that, as in the rest of his letters, Paul is referring to the elemental nature of the Old Covenant economy, and reminding his brethren not to seek to retain those things, but to realize, and grasp, or hold on to the Reality to which those things pointed!

If we have truly been raised to where Jesus is, metaphorically seated at the Right Hand of the Father, then why should we worry our pretty little heads about things that pertain to this life? Please do note that I am NOT saying that we should not concern ourselves with the things of earth! If it is true that 'Heaven came down & Glory filled my soul', if indeed the Marriage of Heaven & Earth has occurred ( John 14:23, et al ), then why are Christians living in fear, fear of what men may do?! Did not Jesus say things like 'do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul'??

Yes, the rest of His statement reads 'rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell ( gehenna )' ( Matthew 10:28 )! In context, Jesus was warning His disciples of the persecutions that would come & were already coming from the Jewish sector. He also spoke these words of comfort to His first-century disciples in reference to the coming destruction of their enemies & His! Although, according to the Revelation of Jesus the Christ, these words were fulfilled in the destruction of the Jewish Temple in AD70, along with the annihilation of many of those Enemies of the Cross, these words, at least the first half of Jesus' statement, stand as true today; we need not fear those who would destroy our biological body in this Age either!

Of this Age, Jesus said, 'those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die any more, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection' ( Luke 20:35 & 36 ) Clearly, Jesus was not speaking of biology here ( else we are not 'sons of the resurrection'! ). Since we cannot die, having attained that which the apostle Paul was seeking, we can truthfully assert that we are not our biological form! While we are currently housed within that form ( for good reason ), our biology may perish, but we, like Jesus said in other places ( John 11:26, ? ), cannot die anymore!

Of late, certain scholarship has asserted that, according to the heavenly portents, we are no longer in the Age of Pisces but have arrived in that long-awaited Age of Aquarius! This is by no means to say that we ( of the 21st century ) have recently arrived, for the Age of Pisces was past long ago! The Age of Pisces, of course, was that Age in which Jesus walked the earth & told His followers,'I will make you fishers of men'. In this Age, the one Jesus referred to when He mentioned 'that age' & that which those certain Scholars name 'The Age of Aquarius', we no longer fish for a living ( for there is 'no more sea' - Revelation 21:1 ); we ( corporately/collectively ) are The Water-Bearer; we broadcast The Water of Life to a dry & thirsty world ( John 4:14 )!

So what should we do with this newly discovered knowledge ( gnosis ); how shall we then live? There are those fellow Christians, a majority, in fact, who believe differently concerning the fulfilment of eschatology! This is not to say that just because Fulfilled Eschatology has not yet dawned on them that they have not entered this New Age ( the Age of Aquarius ), nor is it to say that they are knowingly following vain traditions, believing they must still 'save ( others ) with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh' ( Jude 1:23 )! With the fulfilment of eschatology was fulfilled the fire that Jude referred to; again, according to the Revelation ( 20:14), 'Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire'! While that 'Fire' still burns, we realize now that It has a purifying effect; rather than simply destroying the rebellious & unclean, Its Purpose is to cleanse!

It is not by 'the sword' that we broadcast this Gospel; it is not by force of arms that the Good News will be spread; the borders of the Kingdom of Heaven will never be expanded through needless wars & violence! It is not through dying, but by living that the Living Water flows! We are past acting like mere Beasts of the Earth, we are better than that! We have been given a new status; we are 'sons of the resurrection', sons of our Heavenly Father & 'equal to the angels': we cannot die, so why in hell do we act like we can?!

Though most Christians may not have come to the full realization of this glorious fact, Death is Defeated! Ever since the Christ died on the cross & rose again, what the apostle Paul calls 'the last enemy' has not been in existence. Biological death, the separation of body & spirit is painful, even for the Christian who realizes this glorious fact, but though we miss the physical presence of our loved one, we are comforted know that they are with us still!

Again, we, as the Body of Christ, are above all that; we do not fear the pain of biological death, for we know that is only a part of us, the external part of us that will eventually return to the dust, metaphorically speaking! No longer must we live in fear, as others do. Through the freedom with which the Christ has set us free, we can now live our lives to the fullest, not feverishly trying to 'save the perishing' but realizing that we carry within us the Water of Life, let us Live such a Life before all men that they will begin to thirst for that which flows from us!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Pilgrim's Progress; Paradigm Shift

John abruptly woke up one day! He wasn't sure he was ready to wake up, but wake up he did! All his friends had warned him ( numerous times ) about the dangers of getting out of bed, but on this particular morning, John just couldn't stay in bed any longer; he just felt that he had to roust himself out of bed & shake off the vestiges of slothful slumber that had taken hold of him. For one thing, his body was telling him that he could no longer find comfort between those silken sheets; he had to get out before he was totally overcome! Also, there was that still small voice that told him he must rise now, or go back to sheep!

On the other side of town lived a young man named Christopher. Christopher had already been awake for quite some time & had been speaking with John on lunch-break at their place of employment, Pilgrim Foods. Over the course of several years, as Christopher had shared with John the effects of being awake; although it usually made him very uncomfortable ( scared the hell out of him, in fact ), John couldn't help returning to those lunch-time meetings every day for those several years to learn about this freedom his friend had found!

Daphne, John's lovely wife ( she liked her mask though ), was not so sure about this 'waking up' thing; she felt very comfortable where she was & she did NOT feel bad about it! Her body was not telling her it was time to get out of bed, nor did she hear that still small voice that was urging her to wake from her slothful slumber. Her husband was learning though, that once you've woken up, it's hard to go back to sheep!

John & Daphne were approaching their 25 year wedding anniversary ( about as long as Christopher had walked this earth ) & had spent most of those years in wedded bliss! John had found in the past several years, however, that it was getting more & more difficult to open up to his beautiful wife. These strange new ideas that had been fomenting in his poor befuddled brain threatened to drive a wedge between him & his lovely bride!

One day, that momentous day in fact, that John decided to hit the ground running & shake off those vestiges of slumber; Daphne decided she would rather retain her relative comfort between the sheets & go back to sheep:  'make your own breakfast', she mumbled. John's first thought was to respond in kind & assert his just right as a husband, but instead he told her to enjoy her repose, and wake up when she was ready. He had a job to do!

When John got to work that day, he learned that Christopher had been 'let go' for proselytizing on the job ( even though it WAS on lunch-break )! Although John was rather disappointed, he decided that he had been awake long enough that he could carry on without Christopher. Christopher had done him a big favour, waking him out of his slumber like that, but having done his job, Christopher had decided it was time to move on & wake up the next one!

After a long but rewarding day at work ( his name was Juan ), John returned home to find Daphne still ensconced within the relative comfort of her slothful slumber! Being somewhat concerned to find his wife still sleeping, John gently woke his slumbering wife, asking in a still small voice if she was okay. Daphne's eyelids fluttered as she heard the voice of her lover &; it was then, as she really felt his presence for the first time in several years, that she decided it was time to wake up; she wouldn't go back to sheep!


Charles Haddon Shank

Jacob & the Potter's Ground

From the very beginning, Jacob had been a fighter! Born the younger twin, his life had been a fight from the start. He had even fought with his older brother ( by seconds ) as to who would would say 'hello, cruel world' first! Although his brother won out & arrived first, for the rest of his life, Jacob had to scratch & claw his way to the top. As he got older, things just seemed to escalate & even though his position had been made clear ( or so he thought ), his older brother who should by rights have willingly submitted to him, was about to wrest what was his by divine right!

Things were never easy for young Jacob; his brother had always been bigger, stronger, more readily suited for what had always been the more 'manly' pursuits. While Jacob had more of a 'green thumb', you might say & was more of a homebody, his brother on the other hand, was one of the mighty men of old & loved to hunt wild beasts of all sorts. Therefore, when his father had a hankering for a good roast, his brother was the natural choice!

Jacob was a good cook ( 'damn good' if you were to ask him ). One day, just after he had finished rustling up a stew that was 'to die for'; his brother, who had just come in from a long arduous day of hunting, asked Jacob for a bowel of his delicious stew. Jacob, seizing the opportunity, told his sibling that he could have some of his precious stew if he would relinquish his birthright ( very important in that day & age ). Since his brother was more concerned with filling his stomach with that delectable looking & smelling stew, Jacob became the proud owner of something that his people valued very highly, the status of firstborn!

The father of Jacob & his ( slightly older ) brother was dying! Even though Jacob had managed to wrest his brother's birthright from him ( or so he thought ), his father was obviously unaware of this important fact ( Jacob's brother seemed to have conveniently 'forgotten', too ) because he was about to confer the greatest blessing upon the wrong person! Jacob had to do something & quick! With a little help, he was able to pull the wool over his father's eyes & so recieved what should have been his from the beginning!

You can bet that the older brother was not pleased with his younger brother; in fact, when he heard that Jacob had supplanted him, he wanted to kill him! since their father was on his deathbed, the older brother decided to let him die in peace; after his father was dead, then he would kill Jacob! However, Jacob was blessed & escaped his brother's wrath by escaping to the land of his father's birth. While there, Jacob was himself deceived & had to work many long years for the woman of his dreams. In the fullness of time, though, he received the blessing that he had fought for all his life & returned to the land of his nativity.

On the road, Jacob met his brother. He had expected this & so had prepared a quite lavish gift to appease his brother ( or so he hoped )! His brother had amassed other mighty men besides himself & so justified Jacob's fear, but as it turned out, Jacob's brother was so genuinely happy to see his long-lost brother that he forgave him all! Jacob went on his way in one piece, having lost nothing.

An interesting thing had happened to Jacob the night before this reunion, though,a Man had met him, claiming to be a messenger from his Father! Whether through disbelief or because Jacob was a natural fighter, Jacob fought with this Man for a good while, through the night in fact & finally bested him! The Man, seeing that Jacob was besting him, renewed the blessing that he had received from his father, now his Father & transferred upon Jacob the title that he had long sought, that of the Firstborn!

Although Jacob had received many blessings despite his deceitfulness, he was also troubled for the rest of his life! He had two wives to deal with as a just reward for his own wrongdoing. He had unruly children although he was materially blessed through them. Through them, he finally inherited the Potter's Ground!


The Potter's Ground came at great cost to him & his sons though! They, like their father Jacob, had to fight their whole life through! The land of their inheritance lay open before them, but it was full of wild beasts, wild beasts that would as soon stomp them to death like so many grasshoppers then allow them to live in peace alongside them. Being natural fighters like their father, the sons of Jacob, now called by another name, were quick to root out the evil from the Land of their inheritance, although in doing so, spread their own brand of evil in its place!

The sons of Jacob, though they had their moments, were not unlike the wild beasts that they endeavoured to cleanse from the Potter's Ground; they had much the same ( or worse ) wicked wiles that those brutes had exhibited! In the midst of the genocide they had been commanded by their Father ( or so they thought ) to perpetrate, they had failed to fully cleanse the Land & so had become corrupt themselves! For the sake of the few, many were graciously spared the atrocities they themselves had perpetrated upon the original inhabitants of the Land!

In the Fullness of Time, when the wickedness of Jacob had come full circle, so to speak, it was time, once again & finally ( once for all ) for the Land to be cleansed! This time, the genocide was complete. Those who were given the orders to root out the evil from the Potter's Ground were successful, for at their head rode the very Man who had struggled with Jacob so many years before!

This Man was the Rightful Heir of the Potter's Ground, being the True Firstborn! As the Son of His Father, this Man, though He gave His Life ( willingly ) for that of His People, never was in doubt of His Status as the Firstborn; He knew that His Father had blessed Him with infinite blessing from the beginning!

Jacob was always a deceiver! Though he was blessed, his blessings were always darkened by the threat of cursing! He inherited the Land, but he failed to receive the Potter's Ground, except for a small remnant, who accepted it gladly, having looked for a better, that is, a heavenly country!

Charles Haddon Shank

Beyond Eschatology

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 

 And this we will^[a] do if God permits.

Hebrews 6:1-3 

Many of those who have latched onto the principle of past fulfillment have gone so far as to say that the Scriptures no longer are applicable. Since they have been fulfilled & were written for a specific purpose to those in the first century A.D. & prior, the theory is that they hold no relevance for us today. Some may actually be called 'antinomians', for they believe that Jesus did away with the whole Law ( not just the 613 Mosaic Codes ) at the Cross!

The whole of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, is concerned not so much with scientific facts, but with the Eschaton! The words 'Let there be Light' ( Genesis 1:3 ) are significant of this! The fact that Moses does not record the generation of the sun & moon until three days later hint very strongly that what is usually called the Creation Account is not so much about the formation of creation, but about something of a more spiritual nature, the creation, or revelation of Covenant, in the form of the Very Son of God, Jesus who was the Christ!

The Importance of Eschatology centers around this very basic fact! The Fact that the Revelation of the Son of God was & is the foundation of our Heavenly Father's Purpose makes eschatology one of the most important doctrines in Scripture, especially soteriologically speaking! Jesus told His first-century audience, 'salvation is of the Jews' ( John 4:22 ). If Scripture is not fulfilled, then neither is salvation: if salvation was fulfilled in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel ( Jews ), then so was Scripture!

One might ask the question, at this juncture, 'are not people still being saved today?', or, 'isn't there still a need for people to get 'saved?' Well, yes, there are still those who need to come to Christ, in other words, to realize that they are living in rebellion to their Creator, to repent of that rebellion & turn & pursue a blessed relationship with Him & His People! Salvation, though it was of and for the Jews ( Israel ), is being fulfilled today, though maybe not in quite the same sense, eschatologically speaking!

Fulfilled Eschatology reached its End in the Revelation of Jesus the Christ as the Son of God! Though Eschatology is thus fulfilled, the End is ( still ) Near! When the Creator brought
Eve to Adam ( as recorded in Genesis 1 & 2 ), He instituted the Marriage of Heaven & Earth, the Creator with His Creation. The Marriage, which extends beyond what we know as eschatology, continues for infinity; the Wedding, including its Feast ( Marriage Supper of the Lamb-Matthew 22:1-14, Revelation 19:9 & 17 ) has already occurred, as per Scripture, but in the greatest sense, is being fulfilled ( filled up ) in &; through His People! As the borders of His Kingdom expand & increase, as more & more every day realize the Salvation that was brought to the Creation, that Salvation is continually fulfilled!

The accusation might well be made, then, that those who believe all Scripture is fulfilled have lost sight of any relevance or application for our day & age! This is not true; we do not deny the Truth of passages such as II Timothy 3:16 & we acknowledge that though Eschatology came to its End, or Goal, the Scriptures are indeed relevant to our status today & are applicable to every area of Life! Understanding, though, that the Messiah of Israel was the Fulfillment of all Prophecy ( Luke 21:22 ) is of utmost importance, for so we have problems such as sabbatarianism, Creation Science, & such.

Simply because we would move Beyond Eschatology & its prerequisite 'repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment', this is not to say that the Scriptures ( even these doctrines ) are no longer relevant or applicable! As the writer to the Hebrews urged his readers to do though, we have moved beyond mere doctrine to the actuality of Truth in Living! No longer do we dwell on eschatology, for Eschatology is Fulfilled in the Son of God; in the greatest sense ( John 14:12 ) it is fulfilled in us, those who are the Body of Christ & Sons of God in our own right!

Charles Haddon Shank

A Hymn of Faith; II Timothy 2:11-13

Through His Death, we Live, through Endurance, we Reign;

As we own Him, He owns us & though we stumble, He bears us Upright!

He is faithful; He keeps His Word; He is our Father; He is our Constant!

The apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Ephesus, 'by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [ it is ] the gift of God'. Being one of the most favored passages on both sides of the equation, but in particular to the Calvinist, this short passage is also one of the most debated! The Calvinist likes to point out that faith is itself a gift of God, whereas the Arminian would most likely insist that it is salvation or grace which the Gift the apostle speaks of & that it is through OUR faith that it is given. Neither is wrong & in a sense, both are right!

'Faith', according to the writer of the Hebrews ( 11:1 ), 'is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen'. Scriptural faith had a Goal, an End; it was & is fulfilled by the Hope of the Eschaton, 'Christ in us, the hope of glory' ( Colossians 1:27 )! Now, we say Faith is Fulfilled, not that it is no more, but that it reached the Pinnacle of its Purpose in the Advent & Revelation of the Son of God. The Revelation of Jesus Christ was the End, or Goal of Eschatology; the Creator & Father of us all dwelling with His Creation was & is fulfilled in us ( John 14:23 )! One might say ( some claim this ) that though the Holy Spirit dwells within His People, the Son of God, Jesus, has yet to return & walk on this earth, but Jesus made it pretty that the Essence of the Creator dwells with us in Fulness when He said 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him'. It would no doubt be argued from both ends of the spectrum that though this may already be fulfilled in Spirit, it is not yet fulfilled in Truth!

There is no doubt that in order for one to believe something, especially something intangible, some amount of faith must be exercised! Most people find it fairly easy to believe in something tangible, something that can be witnessed by physical sense, either by touch or by sight. Many are willing to take someone else's word for it & have faith that person is being truthful in representing their experience. Others say, 'I won't believe it till I see it for myself ( seems to me that one of Jesus' own disciples said something to that effect )! For most people to believe something, especially a 2,000+ year old document, or scroll actually, it takes a fair amount of faith!

The apostle Paul also told his son ( in the Faith ) Timothy, 'All Scripture [ is ] given by inspiration of God, and [ is ] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness' ( II Timothy 3:16 ). How much Faith must it have taken for the original recipients of this letter, to say nothing of us, almost 2,000 years later, to believe what the Scriptures say about themselves? By Faith, we can look back at that document, or rather, those documents & say with the apostle, 'yes, this is the written revelation of the Word of God; everything it says about Him is true & faithful'! As Christians ( at least, for the most part ), we believe what Scripture says about itself, the Nature of the Creator & how we should then ( NOW ) live!

Eschatologically speaking, Faith did come to, or reach, its End, its Goal! It is still exercised ( as it MUST be ) & fulfilled in us, both we who are the Body of Christ & those who come to Faith ( so to speak ), but Scripturally speaking, our Faith has found its Resting Place! No longer do we wait for the Hope of Glory for which those first-century Christians looked: our Faith has come Home to us!

We Rest in Him; in Him we find a Constant, for even though we often doubt & lose our faith ( even just for an instant ), He remains Faithful, for He is Faith itself!

Charles Haddon Shank

Marriage, It's All There in Black & White

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.  Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

Genesis 2:21 & 22

 
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.^[e] This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5: 31 & 32 

'Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togethew today. Mawwiage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam within a dweam.'-The Impressive Clergyman

At its core, marriage can be defined as a joining ( together ), a ( blessed ) union. Scripturally & traditionally speaking, we have defined it as the union between a man & a woman. The Creator God brought Eve, not Steve, to Adam! Throughout Scripture, we see one after another example of marriages based on this model & in many cases in the Hebrew Scriptures, what we would call polygamy, though even these cases involved multiple wives, not multiple husbands; this should give us a clue that it was never about the physicality of the union, but as always, pointed to a deeper spiritual truth; that our Creator God could be Husband to His People, but that His People could only have One Husband, lest they slip into idolatry!

There can be no doubt that the marriage of a man to a woman is meant to model the Blessed Union between the Christ ( Jesus ) & His Church! Just as the Creator God brought Eve to Adam, so He prepared the Church as a Bride for His Son. Now, if we get too technical about things here, we might run into problems, problems like 'if Jesus is the Creator God, then is He married to the Church & Israel at the same time, or is He a divorcee who will at some point let the Church go & take Israel back? Either that or He is a polygamist Himself! Or, 'since the Church is made up of both male & female, does that make Him.....................you can probably see where we're headed with that one! Traditionally, though, the Church is called the Bride of Christ & the Body of Christ; She, corporately speaking, is united with the Creator God Himself!

Have you ever heard of a marriage of ideas? Put simply, such a case would be where two ideas, however seemingly similar or far apart just happen to mesh perfectly, to the enhancement of both ideas! In a similar way, two parts of say, a combustion engine are joined together to make a whole, moving part. Neither part, by itself, would be able to perform the required operation, but together, the whole produces the desired effect! Such, one might say, is the way of a man with a woman; neither, by itself, is able to bring forth, physically speaking, the desired fruit of marriage, but fit together in the manner in which the Creator God made them, they might bring forth abundant fruit!

A hot topic in today's news headlines is the SCOTUS ruling legalizing the issuing of licenses to same-sex or homosexual coupes in every state in the union, regardless of that state's particular laws. We must note that this is simply the granting of license to these couples, not the legalization of these types of unions. The granting of license ( permission ) is in fact, or should be anyway, a reminder that these types of unions are illegal! For a man to marry ( legally ) another man, or a woman another woman, permission must first be granted by the Ruling Authority. Thus, by extension, if the Federal Government can or must grant permission for two people of opposite sexes to be joined in holy matrimony, then by rights, they should be able to grant the same license to homosexual couples!

A man & a woman just fit together, as we have witnessed to in the past: the male species was given a certain sexual organ which merges perfectly with the female sexual organ! This operation, if allowed to take its most natural course & with certain considerations, mot often will result in the conception of a brand new human being. Such is not always the case & with the great leaps in technology that science has made of late, these methods are not even necessarily essential. It is possible now, through artificial insemination, for a woman to bring forth life without a man's sexual organ ever penetrating her's! According to some Science, a man may even become pregnant & bear fruit of his own loins!

'Can two people of the same sex be united together, then & bring forth fruit?' This is the question that we should ask ourselves before condemning homosexual marriage! When the Creator God said, in Leviticus 18:22, 'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It [ is ] an abomination', was He essentially voicing His condemnation of homosexuality, or was He speaking of a deeper spiritual truth, that of idolatry, the taking of another husband besides ( or in stead of ) Him? If a man were to rely on another man for that which the Creator God has made provision, could this not be called idolatry? In the same manner, a woman's reliance on another woman to provide for her rather than seeking the Creator God's own provision is idolatry as well!

The answer to the above question, to most Christians especially is obvious! The Creator God made them thus from the beginning ( male & female ). He established this union ( marriage ) in order that, as Scripture says ( Malachi 2:15 ), He might receive 'Godly offspring'. In the context of passages such as Matthew 21:33-44 & Mark 12:1-11, we understand that the fruit He looked for was not so much that of a physical nature, for Pharisaic Judaism had produced that well; the fruit that our Heavenly Father sought was the Fruits of the Spirit ( Galatians 5:22 & 23 ): He found no such fruit in Pharisaic Judaism!

Can two men or two women be united in the bonds of holy matrimony & show forth the Fruits of the Spirit? The answer to that question will be left up to the reader, but to this blogger, it is fairly obvious! Can a same sex couple model the Love of Christ for His Church? Yes! Do all homosexual couples exhibit the Fruit ( s ) of the Spirit? Pretty obviously not, but on the other hand, neither do most heterosexual couples, even many who call themselves Christian ( I was one )! In this day & age, the number of homosexual couples who do exhibit the Fruits of the Spirit that the apostle wrote about is probably not too far behind that of heterosexual couples!

With the Advent of concepts like Covenant Creation, we understand that the Creator God ( although He IS the Creator of all that we see & all that we don't see ) made them male & female, not so much for physical procreation, but for spiritual procreation!  He wanted His Physical Creation to exhibit the Fruits of the Spirit so that His Kingdom might expand, eventually encompassing His entire Creation. Because His People were so encumbered by physicality, by adultery & idolatry, our Heavenly Father Himself invested His own Creation by penetrating the veil & investing His own Seed in the Virgin of Israel!

Lest we lose sight of the Vision given us by the Creator of Heaven & Earth, the One who instituted their Marriage, let us concern ourselves with exhibiting the Fruit of the Spirit! Physically speaking, the fruit of the womb is the Lord's reward for faithfulness, but it is not the only fruit that we may bear.Marriage, according to most Christians, is black & white; it is ONLY the union of a man & a woman! Then again, on the other hand, or side of the coin, we are just emerging from the shadow of the puritannical idea that sexual intercourse was only for the purpose of procreation & never for pleasure!

Charles Haddon Shank

Children of God, Children of the Devil

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭12-13‬

In the Beginning, the Creator revealed Himself to His Creation in a form they did not expect! They looked for a Political Messiah, One who would save them from the ravages of Rome, but instead, they got a Spiritual Saviour, One who saved them from the ravages of Sin & Death, bringing the Creation back into Blessed Communion with their Creator. These then rejected their Messiah, handing Him over to those they wished to be saved from & watched while Rome crucified Him! There was a Remnant, however, a minority who believe in the Messiah & mourned His death; these were named The Children of God!

Those who stood idly by & scornfully watched Jesus die, those who sought for political salvation, were called by Jesus Himself, 'children of the devil': according to John ( 8:44 ), He told them 'You are of [ your ] father the devil'. Like the serpent of old, they were instigators in leading Israel to seek their own righteousness, an earthly, sensual & demonic wisdom. Rather than seeking first the Kingdom of their God & Father, they sought a political kingdom, one like the nations around them, one with a human king that they could see with their eyes & touch with their hands!

To rightly differentiate between the Children of God & the children of the devil, we must first understand what is meant, Scripturally speaking, when this phrase is used. Are we to understand it physically, in the sense that not all are children who are the creatures of God, or should we understand it spiritually, or metaphorically, like when Jesus told Nicodemus, 'you ( all-plural ) must be born again' ( John 3:7 )? Then again, we must understand that those 'children of the devil' were those who rejected Jesus, their Creator in the Flesh, as the Messiah & instead sought after their own righteousness ( through the Law ) & their own sort of wisdom!

The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where^[b] the beast and the false prophet [ are ]. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 20:10 

The language that Jesus used here is clearly metaphorical! In his penning of the Revelation, John relied pretty heavily on this literary tool to describe the downfall of these 'children of the devil', apostate Judaism. The question before us today is, 'if the devil was destroyed, cast into the lake of fire, then are there still 'children of the devil ( as opposed to Children of God ) among us?' To most Christians, even some of those who believe the devil was cast into the lake of fire, the answer is obvious; of course there are! Anyone who has not received His Son, Jesus the Christ, is not a Child of God, but rather a child of the devil!

We seem to run into a bit of a problem here, though; if the generation is counted in a physical sense, as in Jesus was speaking of their father Adam as the devil, then we cannot have any children of the devil still existent, because the first man Adam was done away with, replaced by Jesus, the Last  ( Man ) Adam. If, however, we are dealing with spiritual generation, those apostate Jews were 'children of the devil' because they were murderers like their father, Cain, the son of Adam! Spiritually speaking, they were descendants of Adam who had fallen into sin in the Garden & passed on his spiritual legacy of rebelliousness to his children. This would seem to be the most plausible explanation, except for the fact that we know that these Jews were descended physically from Adam, through Abraham! 

Now what?!

Well, one could say that, not only were the Jews descended physically from Adam, those who rejected the Wisdom of God, the Righteousness of Christ, also carried on the spiritual rebellion of Adam! Although, by virtue of birth, they were known as Children of God or Israel, by their fruits they were recognized as children of the devil because they carried on the spiritual heritage passed down by the first ( man ) Adam! 

In some sense, the answer is clear; children of the devil still exist today, not necessarily because their spiritual father is Adam, but because they have that spirit of rebellion! They are not, as some might suppose, driven by the devil that John saw cast into the lake of fire. It is pretty obvious, on the hand, that the same ( sort of ) spirit that worked in 'the sons of disobedience' ( Ephesians 2:2 ) is at work in many people today! When that spirit is overcome by the Spirit of Christ, then that one becomes a Child of God spiritually, as well as by physical generation!

In the Eschatology of Scripture, there was a Beginning & there was an End! That End ( Goal ) of course was Jesus the Christ, God in the Flesh, the Creator come down from Heaven to Earth to invest Himself in the midst of His Creation! He did this in several phases, the first of which was the Creation of Covenant, then in the fullness of time, He appeared in the Flesh to atone for the sins of His People & to defeat death. After His atoning Sacrifice, He returned to His Glory & left His Holy Spirit to comfort His People during the final death throes of the serpent. The Father sent His Son & Comforted His People by His Holy Spirit till the Eschaton had reached it's Goal!

Every human being who has ever lived has been, from a merely physical standpoint, a child of their Heavenly Father! Some may take exception to this, explaining that just because one is God's Creation doesn’t make that one a Child of God; fair enough, we may argue semantics all day, but really all we're going to get is a blue face & a dead horse! The undeniable fact is, though, as a justifiable Creation, they are in that sense a Child of God, not a child of the devil!

With the Marriage of Heaven & Earth, the End ( Goal ) of Eschatology, something changed, Death was Defeated! No more was there a separating curtain, a veil to hide the Creator from His Creation, no more was there a separation between Jew & Gentile for the Creation was all One in Christ, in the Creator Himself! 

As believers in Fulfilled, or Covenant Eschatology, should we continue this distinction between the Children of God & the children of the devil? Can we not see that the Creator of all is not willing that any of His Creation should perish? All are His children & though some of them, as we all were, are driven by a selfish spirit of rebellion, that spirit of rebellion may be driven from them by our witness & conversation. May we, as the spiritual Children of God, encourage those who have distanced themselves from their Heavenly Father to return to Him as the Prodigal Son in Luke's Gospel account ( Luke 15:1-31 )!

Charles Haddon Shank

A New Millenium: Transitions

The fact that we have been, since the first century, ushered into a new age, into the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father ( Colossians 1:13 )! This is more clear to some than to others, while to others it's just as clear that we are not there! The millenium that most Christians immediately think of when this term is mentioned is 'the thousand years' of Revelation; this metaphorical statement, which is simply a period of transition, is most often translated as a literal period of 1,000 years ( what we call a millenium, or ten periods of 100 years each ) However, this 'thousand years', which again is clear to some, but not clear to others, is simply a period of transition. Yet again, it is just as clear to others that it is meant to be understand as a literal period of ten centuries in which Jesus & His saints will reign on the earth!

The 'millenium' spoken of in the Revelation was a period of transition, a time in which the Kingdom of Heaven was transferred from Israel according to the Flesh to the Israel of God! The Renewal of the Covenant actually expanded the Covenant to include the entire good Creation, not just Israel according to the Flesh. The 'thousand years' is a metaphorical term found either directly or indirectly throughout Scripture that speaks of a time of transition or growth, from immaturity to maturity. So, in some sense, we today find ourselves in A New Millenium, a new period of transition! As we have seen & bear witness to, we have, since the first century, been transferred from the kingdom of man ( Adam ) into the Kingdom of God & Heaven ( Jesus ), from Death to Life!

The period of transition in which we find ourselves is one of shifting paradigms! This New Millenium is one in which we are beginning to realize the gravity of our situation, that in which we are truly & really a New Creation, we do not have to wait for our biological bodies to die before we can enjoy the Presence of God! We live in a Glorious Time of Transition in which the Kingdom of God & Heaven is being fully revealed ( fulfilled ) through us, through the lives of His People as we labor together with Him for the expansion of our borders!

The Church is in the midst of a theological tsunami! What has been taught for the millenia since the Son of God walked the earth is experiencing such a transition as has not been seen since the Reformation & possibly not since Jesus walked the earth, back in the first century! The Dynamic Duo of Covenant Theology & Covenant Creation ( Covenant Protology & Covenant Eschatology ) is currently blowing the roof off of theology as we have known it! The transition from a belief that the world is still waiting for redemption to realizing that we, the Body of Christ, the Church ARE the redemption it's been waiting for is not an easy one. In fact, to most Christians, that statement would probably be considered blasphemous!

The implications, to say nothing of the applications, of Covenant Theology are astounding! Beginning with Covenant Protology ( Covenant Creation ) & ending with Covenant Eschatology, the realization that the End ( Goal ) of Creation was the Investiture of the Presence of the Creator into His Creation is of infinite importance! There is no doubt in my mind that we will weather this storm, but the transition period in which we currently find ourselves will doubtless be a trial by fire for many! Theologically speaking, we have invested far too much for far to long in an ancient paradigm, so for many of us, the shift, however gradual, will not be a pleasant one!

This New Millenium, though unlike the one described in Scripture, is one of the Mind, in which beliefs are being challenged, doctrines threatened & paradigms are shifting, if not collapsing altogether! The next 'thousand years' is a period of transition, not from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light, but one in which the minds of those who still cling to the gods of this world are being opened to see the Revealed Light that is the Sons of God! We ARE the Sons of God, we ARE the Body of Christ & as Jesus said, we ARE the Light of the World!

As we labor in the midst of this Glorious Transition; as we witness the Baptism of Creation through the Spirit, let us remember that the world is always in transition; everyone is not at the same place in their journey! We live in the Kingdom of Light & while not all are willing to open their eyes to this glorious fact, through our witness, our conversation, so to speak, those around us may see this Light & bask in the Presence of Him who created it!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Greater Good: Self Defense in the Age of Aquarius

Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take [ it, ] and likewise a knapsack and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one."

Luke 22:36

 But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, 

for all who take the sword will perish^[a] by the sword."

Matthew 26:52

On both sides of the equation, there have been those who have employed these texts & others like them to bolster their argument either for or against the use of deadly force in defense of oneself or others. The right to self-defense is one that is & has been pretty much without question since the beginning of time! To defend one's own life & the lives of others, especially loved ones is a responsibility that has been given to every human being for centuries, or so has been an unwritten rule for ages past! The question might well be asked though, 'while we have been taught that we have the right to defend our lives against any & all who threaten our existence; in this new age, the one that Jesus named 'the age to come' ( Luke 18:30, 20:35 ), can our existence truly be threatened by those who, as Jesus again said, 'those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul'?'

At present, we are human beings, one might well say, although really, it could also be stated that we are spiritual beings have a human experience! For the time being, however, we are house in this biology, whatever shape or form that might take. We have been given hands & feet that we might use them for the Glory of the Creator & for the advancement of His Kingdom! While it is only natural to want to physically defend, with deadly force if necessary, our own biological lives & the lives with whom we are concerned, or entrusted, is it truly defensible by Scripture? Is it really necessary to take the biological life of another in order to preserve our own or those entrusted to our care?

Lest some get the wrong idea here & wonder if I'm advocating some kind of pacifist ideology, or saying that it's wrong to defend biological life; let me just say that our Life is not biological, it's revealed in the Life of the Messiah of Israel & yes, in a sense I AM advocating pacifism! This is not to say that we SHOULDN'T defend our biological lives or those of others, but Jesus did tell His disciples 'whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also' ( Matthew 5:39 ). Now granted, Jesus was addressing a very specific situation here, that of Israel in Exile, but do we not face, physically speaking, a very similar situation today? Most importantly, yes, we are in that Age of which Jesus spoke in the Gospel according to Luke ( 20:27-38 ), but since we ARE the Hands & Feet of our Heavenly Father, depending on the situation of course, we may be called to exchange our ( biological ) life for that of another, or vice-versa!

With our History of Violence as human beings, it's really no wonder that everybody wants to just annihilate their enemies ( I mean, really, where does the violence stop? )! Even if someone lawfully ( legally ) kills another, the friends & loved ones of the one that's killed are not normally going to take it sitting down, so to speak! Though it is doubtless a justifiable homicide ( isn't that what war is? ), certain others probably won't see it that way & so will seek revenge ( retaliation ), usually with more violence & so the vicious cycle continues; violence only begets more violence! Now sometimes, yes, it would seem that violence is the only real answer, especially to violence. However, what if Christians, knowing that their True Life is IN Christ, when faced with violence of any sort, were to offer no resistance to it, but simply Resting in their Blessed Assurance, suffered violence on their biological person or persons in order that the one who offered the violence might be encouraged to seek a more peaceable way of resolving their conflicts!

Again, I'm not saying hat we should all just go out & randomly offer our biology to whoever is willing to snuff out its existence, but I AM saying that violence is not the answer when it comes to preserving Life! Violence DID preserve, not only ours, but untold millions ( infinity ) of Lives, but that Life, although revealed in & through humanity, was True Life, Spiritual & Eternal ( Endless ). Jesus' death on the Cross brought that Life to the Ages & though many were saved from physical annihilation, many more, though their biological existence was snuffed out, inherited Eternity through the violence done to Him!

The Defense of Self & those our Heavenly Father has entrusted to our care IS a Scripturally defensible doctrine! We have the right, I believe, given by the Creator, to defend ourselves ( et al ) against those who threaten us with violence. However, just because we have that right, is it always the wisest course of action? Is it truly necessary? Sometimes, as we have seen, it seems that the best & only answer to violence is more violence, in fact, worldly wisdom tells us that violence IS the only way to answer certain kinds of violence! However, if we were to 'turn the other cheek', so to speak, when faced with violence, what do you think that would tell our attacker? Even if our attacker continued the violence against our person or persons ( 9 times out of 10? ), it would at least show them that, while we may value human life, the value of Spiritual Life is much greater!

Because of our History of Violence, even if we as Christians were to stop, on our part, all violence, we would probably not even notice a decline in violence at all; in fact, we would probably witness an immediate escalation! There is nothing wrong with Self Defense; in fact, as I said, I believe we're called to it by very virtue of our Stewardship, but though our biological bodies will perish, we as spiritual beings will never die; our Life, whatever that looks like outside biology, will persevere! Again, it's only natural to want to preserve biological life, at least for most of us, but we must remember that it is our Life in Christ that matters most & that needs no defense!

Charles Haddon Shank

Subversive Redemption

Society in general & American society in particular is on the decline! On the other hand, it could be argued, it's in better shape than it's ever been! A middle position might be that, in some sense, both of these are true! Society, it is true, has degraded from what it was years ago. With the advances in technology we have seen over the last century or less ( the internet, for instance ) & the ease of broadcasting & marketing, we are witness to the depths of degradation that humanity will fall to in order to satisfy their lusts! On the other hand, we bear witness as well, because of this same advancement in technology, to how far & how fast the Good News of the Creator's enduring Love for His Creation can spread from Sea to Shining Sea!

The Redemption Accomplished by the Messiah of Israel ( Jesus the Christ ) in the first century AD was complete; Jesus did everything that was necessary to bring the Creation back into Communion with the Creator! Though many Christians would differ ( in opinion ) as to the nature & scope of this Redemption, most would agree that it was finished ( like Jesus said ) at the Cross. One might say, in this regard, that redemption is akin to reconciliation; though all were reconciled, not all have reconciled themselves to that fact. In much the same sense, though humanity was redeemed from the sin &  death of Adam, not all have accepted that redemption or returned ( repented )!

Can it really be as simple as that, though; can one simply accept the Accomplished Redemption & claim it for their own? Did Jesus, as the Messiah of Israel, actually remove the restraints of sin & death for ALL His Creation, or just a certain portion? To repent & return is necessary, yes, to accept what the Creator has done, but it is fulfilled in & through His People, His Creation! As the Children of our Heavenly Father, having been Perfected in Love, we have been blessed with the enormous responsAbility of fulfilling that Accomplished Redemption! This is not to say that it's all up to us, though this may not be far from the mark; the Holy Spirit of the Living God, our Heavenly Father, works together with our spirit to work out this Redemption in the world around us!

How do we go about fulfilling this Redemption; can we ever hope to change the hearts & minds of those who, thus far, have not been willing to accept it? Well, honestly, the answer is 'YES'! Jesus Himself told His disciples , 'Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater [ works ] than these he will do, because I go to My Father.' To put it bluntly, 'WE HAVE THE POWER!' Like we saw above, as the Spirit ( of our Heavenly Father ) works together with our ( renewed ) spirit, we CAN fulfill this Accomplished Redemption & make it REAL, not only in our own lives, but the lives of those around us!

So, with that Fact established, why haven't WE accomplished this redemption; why aren't WE seeing its fulfillment in society around us?! Well, in the greatest sense, WE are! Just because WE see much of society that shows no sign of being redeemed ( much the opposite, in fact ), WE can be assured that great leaps are being made as we speak! The Spirit of the Living God, our Heavenly Father, IS at work in & through His People, accomplishing in actuality, the Redemption of Society. It is through the Spirit Within that we have the Strength to accomplish this Subversive Redemption.

As we labor together with our Heavenly Father then, let our Gospel be in Living out the Truth of the Gospel in our own lives, rather than just teaching & preaching the doctrines of men! This is not to say that ALL doctrines formulated by men are doctrines of demons, for many are Scripturally sound, but too often, when the focus is on teaching & preaching these set doctrines, the lives of those teaching & preaching don't measure up & so we have the mess that we now see in society at large!

We must be careful to teach & preach correct doctrine, but even more importantly, we must be careful to live out our doctrinal beliefs! We must teach & preach the Good News through our Living; that is True Religion! Much of the reason for the glorious mess we see all around us is a failure to practice this True Religion; oh, sure, it's easy to teach it & preach it, but when it comes to Living it, that ain't so easy; in fact, it's pretty damn hard!

However, let's just do it & Live Gloriously!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Search for Happiness

'What does happiness mean to you?'

Ask this question of a dozen different people & you'll likely get a 'baker's dozen' of different answers! The term can mean so many things to so many people, but the fact of the matter is, it's based on feelings & thus is a choice. Just like the artist formerly known as Cat Stephens once wrote, 'if you wanna be free, be free'. Bobby McFerrin is famous for his lyric, 'don't worry, be happy'. No matter what Life throws at us, we always have the choice of how to respond; we can respond in kind ( as the case may be ) or we can decide that, rather than simply respond to what 'happens' around us, we are going to let Life respond to us, to simply do what we will & leave it up to others to respond to us!

Many times in this glorious adventure we call Life, things just seem to 'happen' ( there ARE things beyond our control )! Whether it's to us personally, or to a friend or relative, certain things sometimes occur that make us question our Heavenly Father's promises! Whatever happens, we always have the choice as to how we're going to face each circumstance; if adverse, we can happily accept it as a chance to grow, to use it as a learning experience. When we are faced with a favorable circumstance, in other words, something we like, it is much easier to exhibit happiness about it!

In today's society, it seems that the way to be happy is to have, whether it's money or things! Most people think that a lover will make them happy ( opposite sex or same sex ). 'If I can just find the right person ( to complete me ), then I'll be happy'! How many times have you heard that or something similar? Often, when one finds that lover that they think is their 'soul-mate', they ARE happy for a time ( 'ecstasy' might be closer to the point ), but when either party's feelings change & one or the other ceases to perform their function, happiness seems to fly out the window; as quickly as it came, it disappears ( usually when this happens, the end is worse than the beginning )!

One of the lines in a movie I watched with friends the other day went something like this, 'it's not about the pursuit of happiness, it's about finding happiness in the pursuit'! To me, it sounded kind of like, 'life is a journey, not a destination'. Happiness is not something to be found, a goal to be pursued; happiness is a choice we make when faced with either adversity or advantage, with evil or good, hardship or ease. It is hard, yes, to be happy when a loved one dies or even when your only vehicle breaks down! It's difficult to enjoy certain things when you're missing a certain someone, or just don't have a certain someone to cling to!

However, as so many people are figuring out, if you can't BE happy on your own, if you can't decide to make lemonade with the metaphorical lemons Life throws at you, then you'll never BE happy, even though you acquire all that your little heart desires! Happiness, like life, is not a destination that we just automatically arrive at; it is the pursuit, or search for that which we desire, that which we long for! Happiness is that feeling of accomplishment or fulfillment that we get in the midst of doing. To most people, we can safely say, I believe, it is in doing for the benefit of other that we find happiness! There are those who seem to base their happiness on what others do for their benefit, but needless to say, if we base our happiness on what others do for us, we're probably facing a long & unhappy existence!

When our happiness depends on what we do, however, if our search leads us to do good to others, then happiness is within our grasp, so to speak! Although it is good to have money ( somebody's gotta pay the bills ), enough to keep a roof over our heads & food on the table or things ( electronics, automobiles or a bigger house ), when there is a lack of any of this, then our happiness tends to evaporate! When we base our happiness on having a lover, whether it's a husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, when that is gone ( trust me on this ) so is the 'happiness' Like any other feeling, happiness can change almost instantaneously!

Because our happiness is based on our feelings, only we can  make ourselves happy; like Bobby said, 'don't worry, be happy'! If we worry about how others treat us or about what Life throws our way, then we will find ourselves depending on the feelings of others or on circumstances to make us happy & when their feelings change or the circumstances hit a pothole, there goes our happiness! The only way to BE happy is to choose to be content, whatever your situation!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Evolution of the Common Law

When the Magna Carta was first introduced back in 1215, it was nothing new! Even prior to 1066, when the English Common Law was finally codified, the principles of freedom which shaped these documents were in circulation. The Magna Carta, or Great Charter, was first brought to King John of England as a list of complaints/demands from certain of his nobles in a bid to ease their 'suffering' at the hands of the Angevinian monarchy. Though such was the original case, the Magna Carta opened the sluice, so to speak, allowing for further interpretation & along with the preexistent Common Law, eventually formed the basis for the Constitution's Bill of Rights!

The Common Law as codified first in England was based, not upon monarchical decision or statute law, but upon the decision of the courts, what is often referred to as case law, that which was established by representatives of the common people! In opposition to common law, though somewhat its basis, statutory law is one set, not by precedent, but by legislation. The Law of the Land, though by its nature based on statutes established beforehand, in English society anyway, is ruled more by the Common Law, or precedential law established by the courts.

In this country, though we are still governed more or less by the principles of common law, thanks to the corruptive influence of its politics, statutory law has taken its place! The courts, in particular the Supreme Court, still establish precedent according to the common law, but, as their decisions are most often influenced by corrupt politics, their decisions most often favor the elite or those who can best line the pockets of the court! The Common Law, though still beneficial to the common man or woman, has become less & less precedential over the years, Rather, it has become more & more statutory in nature!

Along similar lines, when the Ten Commandments were handed down on Mount Sinai, they were in essence statutory law! Under the ordained system of judges, though, the decisions handed down in individual cases became the Law of the Land. Rather than being etched in stone, this became A Living Document, one that would evolve & expand according to individual needs & understandings! In much the same way, through our system of common law, what was originally determined by statute is now made more conformable to the common law & the needs of individual cases!

As we have noted, due to corruption in politics, what was once A Living Document ( the Constitution ) has become barely recognizable as such! What was based upon English Common Law has become mostly statutory, at best based on the individual cases of an elite, or whoever can afford their form of justice! Although we still are governed by a form of the Common Law in this nation, no longer is it based upon the English Common Law it once was! The statutes, though handed down by the Supreme Court, no longer benefit the common man & woman as they were designed to do; they are arranged ( politically ) for the benefit of those elite who can afford its 'justice'!

All is not lost; there is hope for the Common People! The One who laid down the Law in the Beginning has given us such A Living Document; not one etched in stone, so to speak, but one irrevocably etched into our hearts, minds & consciousness. The Creator of the Universe has set His Law in each of our hearts so that it can grow & expand with each of us on an individual or case level. It is only by returning to His Law that we can ever hope to again engage His Creation in a Common Law!

Because every individual is different ( thank God! ), we MUST have a Common Law to govern them by; we have seen previously how a Law etched in stone ( statutory ) worked! Due to the intricacies of human nature & our easy corruptibility, that sort of Law does not work very well for very long. With a Common Law, though, one based on individual case-matter, even with human corruptibility factored in, the Law is established on an individual basis, rather than an immovable statute which can only bring death!

Charles Haddon Shank