On the Road Again? ( Preterism or Covenant Eschatology? )

There is no doubt in my mind that the Fulfilled Eschatology aspect, at least, of what has come to be known as 'preterism' is both true to and honest with the Scriptures. As this belief becomes more wide-spread and mainstream ( yes, I said 'mainstream' ); it has become as widely varied in its many facets as say, dispensationalism. In fact, some opponents of preterism like to accuse preterists of being dispensational. I believe that this may be founded, and even have a firm foundation in the fact that many preterists have rejected, or are just plain ignorant of, the covenantal aspect of Scripture. Much baggage, I believe, still has a tenacious hold on many preterists, most notably, maybe, the notion that the two main covenants, the 'first', of which we read in Hebrews 8:7, and the 'new' Covenant, of whom we read in places like Jeremiah 31:31 ( Isaiah 42:6, 49:8 ), were different in their make-up, in that one was a covenant of works, whereas the other is a covenant of grace.


Grace has always been the primary aspect of the covenant!

This truth has always been, at the least, in the back of my mind. Recently though, it was brought fully to the fore-front, by comments like, 'even the Ten Commandments start with grace; 'I am the Lord your God who brought you out.........', and even by my own remembrance that God's very creation of 'Adam', or the covenant, was an act of grace, which remembrance was jogged by my friend's comment. The grace of God, if you honestly review Israel's history, even through the eyes of the ( Mosaic ) Law, was always active! Sure; you would be cut off from the children of Israel if you committed certain acts, but if you repented of your sin and offered the sacrifice that God required ( which was a figure of the the sacrifice of the Christ ), you would be forgiven. God, in His grace and mercy, provided even then, a way for men to return to His the blessings of the covenant! The writer to the Hebrews ( 9:12 ) wrote of this figure; 'Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption', and, as he wrote earlier ( 7:27 ), speaking of this same Jesus, 'who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself'. Not only was the grace of God present under the 'first covenant', the grace of God was prevalent; as long as there was a priest to offer up sacrifices; grace was shown to the children of Israel!

Some people, I know, have a problem with the terminology that we, as covenantal preterists use; for instance, the very term 'covenant' or 'covenantal' itself. There is a tendency, as with any doctrine where mere finite human beings are involved, for it ( whatever 'it' may be ) to become an 'ism': therein, I believe, lies much of the problem. We are inbred with an attitude of, 'if man has anything to do with it, it must be wrong, or corrupt, at the very least!' Another way it might be put is, 'we know that man is corruptible, so anything he espouses is suspect': in this way, the proverbial baby is thrown out with the bathwater. Because something has the propensity to be used, or understood, wrongly, we should just discard the whole idea. Several former preterists seem to have done this. Part of the problem, maybe the largest, as I see it, is that the truth of fulfilled eschatology has been approached apart from a good understanding of the covenant that God instituted, that God Himself maintains with His people.

I know that covenant eschatology is nothing new, but too often it stops there, with many rubbing their aching foreheads, saying 'What now?' This, even, is nothing new, for there are many out there, in one way or another, that have tried to provide the answer to this question. Some have done an admirable job, but others have gone off the deep end, saying that 'since all Scripture is fulfilled; we don't need it any longer, it's no longer applicable anyway, right?', even going so far as to say that Christ did away with the Law when He fulfilled it at the cross. Without the understanding that the Scriptures are a covenant document, and that we are a covenant people; it is easy to see where these people might have gotten those ideas.

There can be no doubt that Scripture does, in our modern translations ( 1611- ), anyway, speak of two main covenants; the writer of Hebrews terms the Mosaic Covenant ( given through Moses ) the 'first' ( covenant ), but you may note there, that the word covenant ( at least in the NKJV ) is italicized, and thus not in the original Greek, and likely somewhat ambiguous, so to speak. We have traditionally call this the Old Covenant, as opposed to the New. Is the iteration given through Moses, though, actually opposed to that which came through, and indeed, in the form of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus, who was the Christ?

Paul wrote, in Colossians 2:14 ( which many like to use in their defense ), that Jesus 'wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us'. Is this really to say that we no longer need to keep the Law? We can now worship other gods, we can murder, steal, covet ( even take ) our neighbor's wife? Of course not! Anyone with an ounce of sense would immediately say 'Why, that's just crazy: utterly ridiculous!' Some people just don't think these things out! The key word here, I believe, besides 'wiped' out', is 'against'. Jesus ( God ) took away that part that was 'against' us. Again, to clarify this statement, lest someone think that I am purporting that He did remove part of the Law, remember that the language of the Bible is somewhat ambiguous, what with the inserted words ( for clarification ). What, according to Scriptures like James 4, was 'against' us, or rather, them? James said 'You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet^[a] you do not have because you do not ask': that was, and still is, the problem! The Law was not the problem; rather, as the writer to the Hebrews explained ( 8:8 ), God found fault with His people! It was His people that were the problem! Paul, who persecuted the Church of God before he was 'startled' on the road to Damascus, recognized that 'the law [ is ] holy, and the commandment holy and just and good' ( Romans 7:12 ). Yes, you may say; the Law was/is contrary to us, therefore that must be what Jesus took away'! Well; Paul did say that  Jesus took away, 'wiped out' what was contrary to us, but what exactly did he say was contrary to us ( not to our fallen nature, but to our rebellious human nature )? Not the Law itself, but rather, 'the handwriting of requirements'. I return to this passage a good bit, and some might roll their eyes at me, but in Ezekiel 36:26, God promised His people that 'I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh', and later, in His promise of the New Covenant ( Jesus ), 'I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts'. Remember how the original Ten Commandments ( the Law ) were written with the hand of God on tablets of stone? Now God would remove the tablets of stone on which the Law was written, which was contrary to them, and instead, write the Law on their hearts, in their minds; no more was the Law as un-yielding as stone, now it was written on something pliable, something conformable!   But I digress.......

As I was saying; a good understanding of the Covenant, I believe, is what is lacking in many of those who oppose the glorious doctrine of fulfilled eschatology, whether they are futurists, as they have always been, or whether they have tasted the fruit of fulfillment and have fallen away!

I believe, as I have written in several articles and mentioned in discussion, that there is but one Covenant. There has been only ever, since the foundation of the world, one Covenant! Right away, some will likely say 'Whoah; stop right there!' The Bible is very clear that there were any number ( ranging up to 8 or so, I believe ), you might say, of covenants that YHWH made with certain men, in particular, Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc., all the way up to David.  What might be a better statement, and a truer one, is that YHWH renewed the covenant with each of these men. These renewals, as you might say, these covenants, all pointed toward the greater Covenant, the Covenant of Whom all these others were but types and shadows!

Some others will object to the idea of a seemingly one-side covenant. Well, I would reply, it's not really one-sided, and here, my friend, is where we might get into the whole Calvinism vs. Arminianism, Sovereignty of God vs. free-will battle. I have come to realize and understand that, though the One Covenant ( from the 'creation' of Adam ), though this covenant was instituted by God alone; it is not a one-sided thing! As under the 'first' covenant, that which the writer to the Hebrews, and other Gospel writers talked about, and which was instituted under Moses ( a type of Christ ); so under the New, which is fulfilled in Jesus the Christ, we are expected to live by His Law. Jesus told His disciples, which we are, in John 14:15, 'If you love Me, keep^[d] My commandments'. The Law has not been abrogated, the requirements, as some might suppose, were not even changed; in that sense then, it was the people of God that were changed, as Paul wrote, in I Corinthians 15:52. Lest some think I'm advocating some type of replacement theology here, the people of God were not exchanged for a different set of people; I believe that God's chosen people have always been the same people, so to speak, from both Jew and Gentile nations. The 'change' that I'm speaking of, and that Paul wrote of was a spiritual one, that of 'Christ in you, the hope of glory' (  Colossians 1:27 ). This was a future hope for them, but we have the presence of God, through Christ!

Some preterists, those who have seen the truth of fulfilled eschatology, but without a proper covenantal basis, have taken preterism to its extreme, either that, or turned their back on it, because it's not viewed as orthodox by those who should know ( sound familiar? )! Those without a proper understanding of the covenant have, as I described earlier, come up with presuppositions based on the idea that if all Scripture is fulfilled, then it should be done away with, it has no applicability for us. We no longer must obey the Law, because Jesus accomplished it all for us, and of course, 'wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us'. This, of course, is beyond ridiculous, as I've already explained, but this just goes to show where fulfillment without covenant can lead. We are the covenant people of God, we have always been the covenant people of God, and we will always be the covenant people of God!

Individualism

Let me explain a little bit here; I am not, by any means, saying that our individuality should go out the window since we, 'being many, are one body' ( although certain aspects of it should ). The marriage bond, at its basis, is identical to the covenant between us and God, for as God said in Genesis 2:24, 'they shall become one flesh'. Now we know that when a man and a woman are joined in marriage, they do not actually become one body, or one person. They are both individuals, one a male and one a female, with different ( and inter-locking ), but complimentary parts. But this is the analogy that Paul uses of Christ and the Church in Ephesians 5:32. Though we have become One with Christ, having joined Him in the spiritual marriage covenant, we are still individuals. We all have differing gifts, different parts, and when we work together as One Body, which we are, regardless, it is a beautiful thing; God is glorified, and we experience heaven on earth!

One aspect that I have noticed about this individualism, and maybe especially when it comes to those who espouse preterism, or fulfilled eschatology ( or those who used to ), is that there is a tendency to think, 'what does this mean for me?' ( sometimes to the point of, 'what can I get away with?' ), rather than, 'what does it mean for us?' As the covenant people of God; we now experience, and live with God on a daily basis! This could be a frightening, and at the very least is, a humbling fact! If we live according to His Law of Love, and not our own, things have a tendency to work in our favor, as we strive together, in communion with Him and His people, but when we live according to our own law of love ( feelings ), and individualistically ( 'no man is an island' ) strike out on our own; things tend to go the other way. When we live without, or outside of communion with the Body, what is supposed to work together often ends up not working at all, especially not the way it's supposed to!

There's no good 'ism' except a 'prism'!

Man, bu his very nature, corrupts that which he controls! This is a well-known fact! No matter how good his intentions, left to his own devices, man will always prove that 'power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely'! One has only to look the many examples we have, written down for us in the pages of Scripture, and in our own nations history to confirm the veracity of this statement!

You may have noticed that this 'ism' is attached to many doctrines and subjects today; there's, of course, two very notable ones, Calvinism and Arminianism: there's Lutheranism, Pentecostalism, Presbyterianism, Americanism, baptism ( woops, how'd that one get in there? ), creedalism, trinitarianism, and many other 'isms' which, while not necessarily wrong at their basis, have been corrupted by the influence of certain men! Even 'preterism' has not gotten away scot-free; some have begun to look at this doctrine as the end-all, and have become corrupted in their comfort! There are so many versions of 'preterism' out there today, that it has become almost as laughable and ridiculous as the very 'ism' it proposes to squelch; dispensationalism!

Most recent maybe, and close to my heart, is that of so-called baptismal preterists as opposed to so-called anti-baptismal preterists. One believes in the continuation of water baptism as a necessary entrance into the covenant, the other doesn't believe that this sign ( outward/inward ) is a necessary part of covenant-keeping, especially taking into account its eschatological nature! The disagreement here is not over whether to, or not to submit to the waters of judgment; the issue is over baptism itself! What is baptism? Can washing your body in water save you? It may seem, from prophetic passages like II Kings 5 that it can, but any serious student of Scripture should be able to see that these outward actions were only significant of the work of God in their hearts. These rituals pointed to the True, which came in the form of the Messiah of Israel!

'Isms', while not necessarily wrong in themselves, can be used wrongly, and can become dangerous to their adherents! If believers in Fulfilled, or Covenant Eschatology continue to inconsistently apply the principles of preterism, and thus create more 'isms' within 'isms', the focus will be taken off the Kingdom we are supposed to be advancing and onto our pet 'ism'! May this NEVER be!

Charles Haddon Shank

The ( fulfilled ) Hope of Glory

Do not let your heart be troubled. You trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places; if that were not the case, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:1-3 ( MR-INT ) 

If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling place with him.

John 14:23 ( MR-INT ) 

μονή ( monē ), unlike in many more traditional versions, is translated more correctly above as 'dwelling places', in fact, my favored translation ( NKJV ) has a note to this effect, although the translators still ( stubbornly ) rendered it 'mansions'!  Most interpretations of Jesus' words in the beginning of this passage ( ' I go and prepare a place for you' ) that I have heard are to the effect that Jesus has prepared a place for us in some remote 'place' ( 'Heaven' ), from which He will ( futurist ) come and take us to Himself. As we have 'already' seen, though, in several different articles, not only is the same Greek word translated differently by these translators in these two passages, but the dwelling that He went to prepare was us! The New Jerusalem Bible more correctly translates the first part of verse 3 as 'after I have gone and prepared you a place'. This does not necessarily mean, linguistically, that the place He went to prepare was us ( His People ) but, reading the rest of the chapter, especially, and leading up to verse 23, it is not a stretch to ascertain and affirm that that is what He referred to! The fact that there are many 'dwellings' in our Father's house speaks of the Body of Christ, of which there are many members!

The argument has been made before, based on the latter passage and like references, that God once again dwells with His people, indeed that they ( we ) are His New Temple. Here again, we run into the tendency toward individualism. Is it true that the Spirit of God dwells ( individually ) within each and every one of His people? I dare say that this is an accurate statement, but, when taking into account that many Christians say that God cannot dwell with sin; we run into a bit of a problem! We know that even the best of us 'lapses' every once in a while, so questions like 'does the Presence of God leave a Christian when/if he sins?' What a thought! Thinking like this might lead one to wonder if he is a Christian at all, or even if he must be 'born again' every time he makes a bad decision! You might also wonder if this is not much of the philosophical impetus behind the futurist paradigm.

If God dwells in us, why does it seem like He is so far away sometimes? I know that many Christians out there probably ask themselves ( and God ) this question at certain times during their lives! 'Individualism' has long fingers! Because God dwells in His people, when we distance ourselves, for whatever reason, from His people, in that sense then, we have distanced ourselves from God! This is not to say that this person has, in reality, been separated from the Presence of God, but in actuality, it is in the fellowship and communion of the family of God that we sensibly experience His Presence!

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27c

Reading our English Bible, it is easy to where this idea ( individualism ) might come from. Unless one reads Scriptures like this in the context of the covenantal nature of The Story, as well as keeping in mind the plural tense of the language used, the tendency ( not necessarily wrong ) is to apply these words to individual Christians. When we do this, we often gloss over the fact that Jesus said, for instance, in Luke's Gospel ( 17:21 ),  'The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’^[d] For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you'. These words were spoken to the Pharisees, so from an individualistic point of view, it almost sounds as if Jesus was telling those unbelieving Pharisees that they were vessels of His glorious Kingdom!

Christ is undoubtedly in Spirit, dwelling within His people, although His love is not always readily evident from their attitude and conversation! Paul wrote, in his letter to the Romans ( 8:30 ), 'Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified'. As we have discussed before, we sure don't 'feel', all the time, like we are 'Glorified Beings', but we must remember in this context also, that it is not individuals, though that may be discussed, so much as it is the people of God, as a whole, a corporate Body ( 'Corpus Christi' )that has been made glorious!

With the realization of 'Christ in you'; let us never forget that the apostle ( Paul ) also wrote, 'For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also [ is ] Christ' ( I Corinthians 12:12 ). Though we are 'members individually'; we must remember that we are not alone! James wrote, 'as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also'. With that necessary communion between the members of the Body of Christ, in covenant union, we will not thrive, and will not long survive!

We, as God's people, are glorious, and while we should show that glorification in our lives, we must keep in mind that is His Body, not individuals, that He has glorified! If/when we forget this, we'll go 'bonkers' trying to BE glorious!

Glorying in His Presence,
Charles Haddon Shank

 

Who Owns Marriage?

 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.

Ephesians 5:25

Signed into law by none other than Bill Clinton, on September 21st, 1996, The Defense of Marriage Act, put forth by Georgia Representative Bob Barr, was a bill, among other things maybe, to protect state's rights. Although it seems that Rep. Barr had good intentions in authoring this 'bill'; at the very out-set, he launched his plan based on a completely false assumption!

'In the beginning', God brought Eve ( not Steve ) to Adam. Although this point has been discussed before, sometimes to death, this is not the focus of this article, nor even of the Defense of Marriage Act. As the Creator of all, and especially of marriage, if anyone has authority over, or owns the institution of marriage, it would be God, you'd think, but most people, Christians even, seem to think that state and federal governments hold this authority. They do not have this authority!

If husbands would love their wives as Paul said, 'as Christ loved the Church', then we would see a lot less divorce. This would be a real defense of marriage act, and one that is Scriptural!

To read the implications, both financial and ethical, of the state or federal marriage license, is like reading a horrible comic strip! The state government of Montana made this statement regarding marriage; 'Marriage is a personal relationship between a man and a woman arising out of a civil contract to which the consent of the parties is essential. A marriage licensed, solemnized, and registered as provided in this chapter is valid in this state. A marriage may be contracted, maintained, invalidated, or dissolved only as provided by the law of this state.' To any real follower of Jesus Christ, this should sound very wrong! A marriage is 'a personal relationship between a man and a woman', yes, but it does not arise out of any civil or social contract, especially not for the Christian. For another thing; marriage, a true marriage, is not by contract, but by covenant!

To make matters even worse, here is an excerpt from a brochure put out by Montana's Human Resource Development on 'The Legal and Financial Implications of Marriage'; 'When you become one of the 13,000 Montanans who marry each year, you enter into a legal contract. There are three parties to that contract; you, your spouse, and the state of Montana'. ( For more information, go here ) Interestingly enough, this information, as far as I could tell, is no longer available ( scroll down to page 7 on 'Marriage & Families' ) to the public: does that tell you anything about its insidious nature?!

Marriage, especially for the believer in Christ, was instituted by God. Others may argue that it is a human institution, and thus, subject to human laws, but for the Christian, there should be no question as to Who has authority over marriage!

Marriage, never minding the modern dictionary definitions of the term, is the union, the making of one out of two individuals ( in a purely spiritual sense ), a covenant where an agreement is made between the two parties to live together as God intended, and to devote their lives to each other and to the Kingdom of God. The contractual nature of today's 'marriage' is akin to placing oneself under the law, again! The main reason, among others, that divorce is so prevalent, and easily obtained in today's society, even Christian society, sadly, is that it has been traditionally, or commonly viewed as a contract, rather than the covenant it is! 'If he/she doesn't keep his/her part of the bargain, then I'm not constrained to keep mine'; 'if he/she does such and such, I can, by rights, do this and that'! Does this sound like laying down your life for your wife?! No; it does not!

The best way to defend marriage is not by asking our state or federal government to pass a law to that effect; the best way to defend marriage, first of all, is to enter into it by covenant, and second, to love your spouse as Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for her! This is the only true defense of marriage act, and the only Scriptural one!

If Christian husbands and wives would hear and heed this most important fact ( mea culpa ); the Body of Christ itself ( or Herself ) would suffer much less harm, and Christianity would have a much greater impact on society! Let us all, no matter our past history, begin to do as Jesus ( the Christ ) did, live as He lived, and lay our lives down ( on a daily basis ) for the wife of our youth!

Amen, and Amen!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Temptations of Jesus

Is 'Satan' Real?

Not having researched this much lately, but having done so in the past, I can say, with some certainty, that there is quite a bit of information out there, on both ends of the spectrum, about whether or not our adversary is a real, though supernatural ( spirit ) being ! Having, as well, written a bit on the subject myself, I will simply refer my readers to a previous article that I wrote a few years ago.

As this is probably one of the most controversial passages in the Gospels when it comes to showing how the ( Scriptural ) adversary or tempter was simply either the first-century Judaizers or ones own ( adamic ) nature; the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, recorded in Matthew 4:1-11, and Mark 1:12 & 13, will be our primary focus in this study. You may find, as we have in the past, that most, if not all Scriptural references to this adversary are of a natural ( human ) one, and that when referring to a super-natural being, as has been pointed out, are God, or Yahweh Himself!

Comments have been made to this notion that implying that these famous passages refer to anything but a supernatural occurrence are akin to saying that Jesus was being tempted by His own ( human ) nature! Though this may not be out of the question ( a horrifying, not to mention heretical idea to most ); this is not the point of the Gospel's relation.

We must remember that, while we can glean certain universal truths from the Gospels, they were primarily about the Revelation of Jesus as the true King of Israel, and the Good News of the establishment of His Kingdom! One can ascertain from even a cursory study of the Hebrew ( Old Testament ) Scriptures, that every good king of Israel underwent, in different ways and at different times, a temptation, one which either strengthened or weakened his kingdom. This King was no different! But He was different! This King, unlike all the previous kings of Israel, was not just another Man; He was also the Son of God, and thus had the ability to withstand these temptations!

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 

 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts.

And the angels ministered to Him.

Mark 1:12 & 13

Matthew's account agrees with Mark's, but for some reason, Matthew goes into more detail. Most familiarly, this account is known as 'the temptation in the wilderness', although by Matthew's account, not every one of the three temptations takes place in the actual desolation of the wilderness. This should be noted as significant, as well as the symbolic period of Jesus' ( forced? ) fast. Keep in mind that God, through the prophet Hosea, said 'out of Egypt I called My son' ( Hosea 11:1b ( Matthew 2:15 ); remember that they too, were consigned to the wilderness for a symbolic, though no doubt actual period as well. As Israel was led by the Spirit through the wilderness for forty years, fed with Manna from heaven, so the Son of God was driven by the spirit, without bread or water, to undergo His temptation, as the true Israel of Hosea's prophecy. As the true King of Israel, Jesus underwent this temptation, just as every other king of Israel faced his own temptation. There is one noticeable difference, though, in the outcomes of these temptations, because Jesus was not just the Son of Man; He was the Son of God!

If you are at all familiar with my musings, you will remember, hopefully, that this word 'satan' in the Hebrew, simply means 'adversary'. It is the English translators who have assigned this name to some supernatural spirit-being that has set himself up against his Creator. About this creature, the apostle Paul wrote that  he 'transforms himself into an angel of light' ( II Corinthians 11:14 ). We must remember, even here though, that 'angel' simply means 'messenger'!

The 'adversary' that the first-century church faced was, first of all, the Jews, or Judaizers, those who opposed the truth that their history was significant of His story, and was simply meant, as Paul also wrote, as a tutor to [ bring them to ] Christ. To say that Matthew's account of the temptation in the wilderness is a metaphorically told ( not unheard of in Eastern literature ) history of the event is to most, almost blasphemous. 'The Bible even says that it was the 'devil', you might hear! Here's where a passing knowledge of the metaphorical and symbolic ( hyperbolic ) nature of the literature of the Ancient Near East comes in handy, as well. Even today, in our western culture, mere men are often referred to as 'devils' or 'demons'; much moreso, I believe, in Eastern cultures!

To use Matthew 4 and Mark 1 as proof of the existence of this supposed arch-enemy of God is to miss the whole point of the story! That Jesus was driven ( think Genesis 3 ) into the wilderness to endure His temptation ( which incidentally, follows almost exactly John's list in I John 2:16 ), should immediately remind us of how God led His beloved son, Israel, out of Egypt and through the wilderness prior to entering His promised land of rest. The temptations that Jesus overcame during His period of testing were not unlike the temptations to which the children of Israel succumbed to ( repeatedly ) during their wanderings.

Going out on a limb here; the point of the Gospel writer's references to 'satan', the 'devil', or 'demons' was not to prove the existence of some supernatural spirit-being, or even to acknowledge such an existence; it was to remind that 'generation' ( Matthew 24:34, et al. ) of their own history, how they had acted as 'satans', 'devils' and 'demons' throughout that history, and especially how they, in a much worse way than Peter ( Matthew 16:23 ), were the personification of the 'Satan' that they themselves feared!

Again; 'is 'satan' real?'

Yes and ( resoundingly ) 'NO'! As the ( corporate ) adversary of God's people, the Jews, those who didn't accept their Messiah, anyway, were destroyed in the first century, and their ascendancy was removed with the destruction of their Temple in 70AD. Are there still adversaries ( satans ) to the people of God? In actuality, we face many temptations ( James 4:1 ), although in reality, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, those temptations are not adversarial in the sense of those in the first century.

If you have ever read the deutero-canonical book of Tobit, you may see a glimpse of how steeped the Jewish and Near Eastern culture was in that kind of lore, and then, as I remember, reading all of the Greek mythologies ( which were often 'tall tales' based in reality, more or less ), you may begin to piece together an explanation of how we got our Bible, with its frightening pictures and stories of supernatural spirit-beings like devils and demons. Some of the stories that are related in the Scripture, the demons entering the herd of swine, for instance ( Matthew 8:28-34 ) may seem just as hard, or even harder to explain as anything but supernatural occurrences, but a basic knowledge of that sort of literature ( ANE ), together with the knowledge and understanding that much of what we read in our Bibles is based on a faulty or poor translation of the original tongues, it is not really that much of a stretch to assert these events as more or less natural and eschatological in nature.

In conclusion, then, when reading of 'the temptations of Jesus', whether you are tempted to believe that He was tested by His own humanity, that He was opposed by some Pharasaical Jews, or whether this was a supernatural event; to focus on any of these possibilities is, as we saw, to miss the whole point! We must not miss the point of this story if we are to understand THE Story, His Story! It is a story in which we take part, usually on a daily basis, and because of Jesus' Reversal of the Curse, we too overcome temptations, those adversaries that we face everyday!

Because we have become the New Temple, the Throne, and the Chariot of God, we have the Power!

Charles Haddon Shank

How to Live ( Resurrection Life! )

'The nerve!'

'You're telling us how to live!?'

The 'problem' is, most Christians don't believe that we are in the Resurrection. There should ( ideally ) be an immediate objection made to such a statement, such as, 'Jesus said 'I AM the Resurrection and the Life'; we are in Jesus, therefore, we ARE in the Resurrection, but don't hold your breath, or you may NEED a physical 'resurrection'!

While any Christian 'worth his salt' will readily acknowledge that he ( or she ) is 'a new creation', this phrase is usually spiritualized to say that it is only in the spiritual sense that we have been made new, much less, the entire creation being made new. 'The old things have passed away', sure, but that's just spiritually speaking. Until, Jesus comes back and burns up this first creation ( which God pronounced    'good', by the way! ). The creation will continue as it has since the beginning of time ( II Peter 3:4 ). Since 'the prince of the power of the air' currently rules this world, you might hear, all we can do is hunker down, and 'hold the fort' till Jesus comes back!

'Just look at the state of the nation', you might hear; if Jesus was actually reigning and ruling right now, there would be no more death or dying, tears or crying; pornography, reputedly the number one killer of marriages, would not exist, murder and rape would not even enter the minds of men and women, 'the wolf would lie down with the lamb', and all would be as it was in the beginning of creation, a perfect utopia!

As the world is now, and with evil existent, how can we truly be at peace, right? Sure, because of Jesus, we can have peace in our heart, but how can we 'be at peace' knowing that, at any given moment, some pervert might decide to settle his lustful eyes on our blue-eyed blond-haired teenage daughter? How can we 'be at peace' knowing that we, or a loved one could drop dead, at any given time, seemingly out of the blue? How can we truly rest, knowing that all sorts of evil daily seems to threaten our very existence?!

Well, the obvious answer, which any Christian could give you, is that 'the peace of God, which passes all understanding', rules in our hearts! A convenient answer and divinely true, but sadly, in the lives of many Christians, it seems to stop there! How many times have you heard people say, upon the 'passing' of an acquaintance, a friend, or a loved one, that 'he is finally at peace'! It does seem sometimes that the only way that we can actually be at peace is to leave this world, but the Christian should have a big problem with that! The problem is that we are promised peace, and even in the midst of trials and tribulations we can rest in our Peace, knowing that He accomplished His Purpose in entering our world; death is defeated, all things have been made made new, and we can rest in peace, now!

As always, we have a choice before us; we can 'hunker down' and wait for 'the peace that passes all understanding', or we can live in that Peace now, knowing that He fulfilled, and through His people, continually fulfills that Purpose! Having defeated 'him who had the power of death', and having received the nations for His inheritance and the ends of the earth for His possession ( Psalm 2 ), Jesus now rules this world through the in-dwelling ( John 14:23 ) of His people!

Let us live in that Peace, knowing that this IS 'Our Father's World', and that He does rule over the affairs of men, and through His chosen people, is spreading that peace throughout His inheritance!

Peace, my beloved  brethren!

Charles Haddon Shank

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God?

Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Psalm 51:1 & 2 

You might as well clap the irons on me now, and shut me away for good!

Listening to Keith Green's 'Create in Me a Clean Heart' this morning, which is based on Psalm 51, verses 10-12, I was moved to ask, as I have often in the recent past; 'is it fitting for a Christian to recite ( sing, pray ) those words, and other like Psalms and prayers?'

Okay, you may want to throw away the key, too!

Don't get me wrong; I love David's Psalms, and the way that Keith Green put this one ( or a small part of it anyway ) to music, although much could probably be written as to why his song only covers that short passage in the Psalm. But seriously; hasn't God already cleansed our hearts? Hasn't He already forgiven our sins? Hasn't He already renewed a right Spirit within us? Are we not a new creature, like Paul said ( I Corinthians 5:17 )? With the way that we Christians act sometimes; you might pause to wonder! Have we really been perfected, like we read in Hebrews 10:14? Are we really all that glorious, as Paul wrote in Romans 8::29? Again, it seems very doubtful, much of the time!

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us ( our } sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  

If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 

I John 1:8-10

This being somewhat familiar territory for me, and probably for my readers, I will not say too much here, except that we have been taught, as Christians, to repeat this 'mantra' on a daily basis, or at least in corporate worship every Sonday. Here again, though, we seem to run into similar problems! Has not God already cleansed us from all unrighteousness? Did He not once for all forgive our sins? Did not Christ on the cross, say 'it is finished'? ( One might ask here, for clarification; 'what was finished'? )

It's almost too clear that men, even, and maybe especially Christians still sin; it seems to be pretty obvious that 'they' have not been cleansed from all unrighteousness! One would even be hard-pressed to say that some Christians have a right Spirit within them! So how can we, as believers in fulfilled eschatology, say that all the words of God in this matter have been fulfilled, that we have a completed salvation?

In the 'formula' above, John says pretty clearly that if we claim that we don't sin anymore, we not only deceive ourselves, but we make God out to be a liar, right? Well, yes, of course; we still transgress the commandments of God, usually on a daily basis, and if we do not acknowledge that we have sinned, and repent of those transgressions, we have deceived ourselves and called God a liar! 

Focusing on verse 9; I believe that a very good case can be made, especially since this letter was not written to us ( audience relevance, remember? ), that this admonition was written, not so much for our sakes, as to bolster those in the first century who were striving to make the transition from Judaism or even heathenism to Christianity. This is not to say, as I hinted earlier, that these words are not for our instruction; they are!We must be careful though, to realize that, with our completed salvation came complete forgiveness, complete cleansing, and complete renewal of Spirit! 'Why', you might say, 'don't we act like it?'

Good question; 'Why DON'T we act like it?'

While many different reasons and answers might be given for this dilemma, when it comes right down to it, most Christians would have to say that it is because our salvation is not yet complete. Because Jesus has not come back, these Christians would say, and not having conquered sin and death by destroying him who has the power of both ( 'Satan' ); sin and death are still rampant in the world, which is not ruled by Him, but by the prince of the power of the air ( again, 'Satan' )! 

What a bunch of 'horse-hockey' ( nice way of saying 'bullshit' )!

Besides a faulty view of eschatology; I believe the blame for much of this false dilemma can be laid at the feet of 'individualism', the emotion that 'Jesus died for MY sins!', 'He paid the penalty for ME!', or even the famous 'Jesus loves YOU!' ( got those chains handy? ) Before I get mauled here; yes, Jesus DOES love you, yes, Jesus DID pay the penalty for my sins, and yes, He did die for my sin, but let's look at what the Gospel according to Matthew says about what He came to do. The last part of verse 21 of chapter 1 reads, 'He will save His people from their sins'. Sure, as individuals are part of His people ( now known as the Body of Christ ); Jesus did save individual people, but most importantly, He came to save US, His Bride, HIS people!

Again I ask; 'is it fitting for us as Christians, and especially as believers in fulfilled eschatology, to recite/pray the words of Psalm 51, I John 1:9, etc.? I believe that it is very fitting for us to ask our heavenly Father to 'Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties' ( Psalm 139:23 ), or to pray 'Cleanse me from secret [ faults ]', because, as expressed, that is something that needs to be done on a daily, even hourly basis, but it is not that we may be forgiven, or even may continue to be forgiven; it is because we HAVE BEEN forgiven!

We ARE individuals, and one might say this is where the 'heart of the matter' lies; because we are individuals, we each have a choice, every day, every hour, every minute, whether to do what we know is right, or whether to do what we know is wrong. In this world, especially from those who are outside the gates, there is much pressure, often, to do what we know is wrong, and when we 'cave in' to that pressure, which does happen, like it or not, as loving children of a Loving Father, we KNOW, as well, that we can 'go to Him' with the assurance that we ARE forgiven, and confess that trespass to Him, and accept ( realize ) His forgiveness!

Those nasty 'isms'!

This CANNOT be pointed out too much, though it sure seems like it; Jesus died for the sins of HIS PEOPLE! He came to save HIS PEOPLE from their sins! He accomplished that Purpose, once for all, when on the Cross, He uttered, in finality, 'it is finished'; He had done what He came for! Though in actuality, His ( first-century ) people had yet to be freed completely of the chains of sin and death ( Old Covenant Judaism - Revelation 21:6 ), in Reality, it was finished, the redemption was accomplished, His people WERE saved from the effects of the sin and the death of Adam, their first covenant ( federal ) head!

The Body of Christ, not those individuals within, is what has been perfected and glorified! Though we as individuals, being members of that Body, are thus partakers in that Perfection & Glorification, we ourselves, as is proven on a daily basis, are often seen as for from being either perfect or glorious! Not that we shouldn't live our lives, as far as is possible, in perfection and glory; we rest in the fact  that it is in Him that we ARE perfected and glorious, in His Body!

Individualism, as many other isms, is an idol, and one that needs to be cut down and removed, cast into the fire, so to speak! 

Because of this idea, we have fostered the belief, especially in American Christianity, can attain perfection. As human beings, we never will! There has only EVER been One perfect human, and He was that because He was also God! The thing we MUST understand, or we will never be able to live our lives, free from the chains of individualism, is that WE, as the Body of Christ ARE free of those 'chains', those 'chains' were never upon us! Through many well-intentioned means ( 'the road to 'hell' is paved with good intentions'? ), the American Christian has been convinced that he ( or she ) MUST attain that perfection, as an individual, or he ( or she ) cannot claim that Perfection that comes in Christ alone!

One of my beloved brethren puts it this way; 'we have been perfected in our imperfection': this is probably one of the most, if not THE most succinct statements regarding this matter! We ARE perfect in our imperfections, not as individuals, although some may beg to differ, but as members of the community of divinity, the Body of Christ!

As the Body of Christ, then, having been made 'perfect in our imperfections', let us strive, not for perfection, but to shine forth the Perfection that we have been given, that through our shining example, the children of God spread abroad may realize as well, and awake to the fact that they to, have been Called to Perfection!

Glorying in our Perfection,
Charles Haddon Shank

The Resurrection to the New Temple

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

Jesus-John11:25

 
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.

Jesus-John14:23 

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [ who is ] in you?

Whom you have from God, and you are not your own!

Paul-I Corinthians 6:19

First, a short rant-The problem I've always had with trinitarianism, besides the fact that there is no good ism but a prism, is that many trinitarians, because of the 'orthodox' doctrine of the Trinity, have inserted a great separation, whether they know it or not, whether they admit it or not, within the God-head! Now Paul also said ( Colossians 2:9 ), 'For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily'. Would that not tell you, in other words, that Jesus was the embodiment of God Himself?! One may accuse me of proof-texting here, but how else are we to read Paul's words? 

I am not denying the Scriptures by revealing this, because there IS plenty of available evidence that, during the period under which Israel was being tutored (  groomed? ), and especially the transition period between Jesus' Ascension and His return ( in the clouds ), there WAS somewhat of a separation ( Matthew 27:46 ( Psalm 22:1 ), or distinction of offices. In John 14:26, most famously, Jesus told His ( first-century ) disciples that, after He had ascended to Where He was before, He would send His Spirit to comfort them during their tribulations. He said numerous times, in other words, maybe, that 'My Father is greater than I' ( John 14:28, Luke 10:22, Luke 22:29, Matthew 26:53 ). Clearly, Jesus WAS a man, as He referred to Himself most often, 'the Son of Man' ( Matthew 10:23, Mark 8:38 ( 14:62 ), Luke 9:22 ( 26 ), John 5:19 ), so, during this period, there WAS a definite distinction to be made between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but NOW that we have His Presence ( dwelling with ( in ) us ); I believe that, post-Parousia, it is no longer necessary, and even useless to make that distinction!

Now that I've shocked most of my family & friends ( well, maybe I haven't! ); let us go on to better things!

As Jesus clearly said; He, being the Son of God, God Himself ( John 8:58 ) was the embodiment of the Resurrection, or the Resurrection made visible ( revealed ) to the eyes of those who sought a sign. The Scripture can't be much clearer in that respect; whoever believed in Him would never die, but would in turn, become a vessel for that 'living water' which He alone gives ( John 4:1-26 ).

Some may wonder if the Holy Spirit dwells individually within each one of His people, and while we may answer in the affirmative, this is somewhat beside the point! The greater and revealed mystery is this, that He has chosen to make His Home ( one could say, 'Their Home', if one wishes ) in the midst of His people ( Luke 17:21 ( ESV ) ( Deuteronomy 23:16. Hosea 11:9 ).

There are those, and this IS the accepted 'orthodox' position, I believe, that insist that Jesus still inhabits His ( individual ) physical Body, in 'Heaven', at the 'right hand' of the Father ( 'from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead' ), and while I can recite this phrase almost without 'compunction', I cannot abide by the 'orthodox' understatement of it! I believe that Jesus DOES inhabit His physical Body, but that Body is not an individual one, physically occupying a place on His Father's throne; it is what Paul refers to as 'His body, which is the church' ( Colossians 1:24 ).

We've 'been there, done that', but it seems like the problem just won't go away!

'Individualism', spiritually speaking, is probably about the wost kind of 'ism' out there, and 'a root of all [ kinds of ] evil'. There can be no argument that the Body of Christ, the Church that Paul spoke so highly of, is necessarily made up of individual Christians ( followers of Christ ), but I wonder if we often don't put too much of a focus on how we, as individuals, fit within that Body, than on the glorious fact that we, as a part of that Body, have been (corporately ) 'made perfect in love' ( I John 4:16-18 ( Hebrews 10:14 ). 'Individualism' is the culprit that insists that Jesus is yet a man, and must come again, in that form, to judge the living and the dead! 'Individualism' says that the Resurrection has not happened yet because men still die ( physically ), and their biological bodies 'return to their dust' from whence they came ( Psalm 104:29 )!

'Individualism' must die!

The Church, the ( corporate ) Body of Christ MUST realize that She IS One! Till the Church realizes that She is not ( just ) a group of individual persons, or even congregations placed on this earth to foment and spread the love of God to His 'children', She will continue to have, at most, a nominal, and in many cases, adverse effect, on the Kingdom of God on earth! Now, don't get me wrong; it IS God's Kingdom, and He rules omnipotently over all, but as 'those who are outside' ( I Thessalonians 4:12 ( Revelation 22:15 ) perceive it ( KoG ), the Church has done much to degrade it!

I do not say this, as some have accused me of, to slander the Bride of Christ, nor do I say things like this to lessen the guilt or culpability ( responsibility ) of 'those who are outside', but to alert Her, and yes, individuals within Her, of the Unity that we have in Christ, not because we share the same doctrines in uniformity, but because we share the same Lord and Father!

If the Resurrection has not yet occurred, although most will admit that there HAS been 'a' resurrection of sorts ( kinda like 'a' Coming, 'a' Parousia? ), then we ( the corporate Body of Christ ) cannot BE the New Temple, for the 'Lord of heaven and earth' will have nothing to do with a dead body, as typified in the Law of Moses ( Leviticus 21:11, Numbers 6:6, 19:11 ( Isaiah 26:19 ) Haggai 2:10-14 ), but rather, as Jesus explained to the 'hardhearted' Pharisees, 'He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living' ( Mark 12:27 ). If there remains a Resurrection of biological bodies, in the manner of our Lord's, then we wait for the fulfillment of His promise, and if we await the Resurrection, then we CANNOT be the Temple of the Holy Spirit, for we are a dead Body!

In the love of God and the Unity of the Spirit.
Let us reason together, Charles Haddon Shank

The Universal Priesthood of Man and the Expansion of the New Covenant

You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and [ how ] I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,
 then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth [ is ] Mine. 
 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
These [ are ]the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.
Exodus 19:6 

Israel was born to be God's Priest to the nations. I don't think anyone would argue against that. Some would say that Israel's purpose failed, and to a point we might agree, but God's Purpose never will! It is very arguable that Israel did keep God's Holy Covenant, especially in the context of what we call the Old Covenant Age, but in the light of certain Scriptures, prophecies like Isaiah 42:6 and 49:8, both of which speak of the Christ, the Redeemer of Israel, it is clear. that 'first' covenant ( Hebrews 8:7 ) was simply a picture, a foretaste, a shadow of better things to come! As Paul said, 'the law was our tutor [ to bring us ] to Christ'. 

 Permit me to follow a rabbit trail here; there are many out there who claim that the law was abolished, that it perished at the cross, and Scripture does say that that Jesus has 'taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross', while the writer to the Hebrews said ( of that first [ covenant ] ) that 'what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away'. Though the Mosaic Law did become obsolete for the people of God, and vanished away like the vapor it was, the Law that it foreshadowed was the True Law, the Royal Law of God, you could say, the Christ Himself! ( I know; we HAVE been down this road before, but it is very important that we stay on this Path! ) There are many, many Scriptures that could be cited here that plainly say that the law, and more precisely, the royal law is good, but that it only showed the rebellious and sinful nature of man, and magnified his transgression, made it clear, so to speak. The Psalms and Proverbs, for instance, are full of such references. Now; back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Old Covenant ( Hebraic ) Israel was, in the sense above, itself a picture, a foreshadow of the True Israel, the Israel of God ( yes; we've been down this road too, but it's setting some context, so please bear with me ). Clearly, when God declared through the prophecy of Hosea ( 11:1 ), 'out of Egypt I called My son', He spoke of the time to come when Joseph and Mary would bring the Child Jesus back from Egypt after having escaped to there from the hand of the new pharaoh, Herod, the false king of Israel. It should be abundantly clear, as well, that the Church, as the Body of Christ, is the ( made ) New Israel, being the New Temple of the Holy Spirit! All these shadows simply pointed toward the Shadow-maker. Think of it as the Sun casting a long shadow in front of a man on a journey; the closer he gets to his destination, the shorter the shadow appears, and finally disappears! The shadows of that first covenant have disappeared, and in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Destination ( John 11:26 ) has been made manifest!

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

I Corinthians 15:22

Paul made quite a universalistic statement when he wrote these words! Reading these words in the correct context, both historically and covenantally, we can clearly see that, just as the 'world' that God so loved in that famous passage in John 3, so the 'all' here does not speak ( primarily ) of every single human being, individually. Actually, even in this very phrase, it is clearly stated that, 'in Christ, all shall be made alive' ( sure, you can argue that I'm putting the apostrophe where there isn't one, but I'm just sayin............) The question before us, one of them anyway, is, 'who are the 'all' that died in ( the first ) Adam?' Is it not those same people who were made alive in Christ? Some would posit this supposed dilemma as saying that it was only Israel that was made alive..................and well, yes, that would be correct, only God's people were made alive and continue to be wakened from their slumber!

Bonus question; 'Who ARE God's people?'

Well, there you go; I've done it now! Here come all the comments about me being a universalist! I must admit that the whole idea is very attractive to me, but for now I will console myself ( and others? ) by giving myself the moniker of 'covenant universalist'' I really don't mind all the 'jabs', though some of them do kinda hurt: I have always said that I was 'saved' 2,000 years ago, for God's sake!

Here's THE question; 'Who are the people, or even 'children' of God?' The ready ( Scriptural ) answer, of course, is 'only those who are in Christ'! There are numerous Scriptures that can be shown as proof of this, most notably I John 3:10, 'In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor [ is ] he who does not love his brother.' Pretty clear statement, right? Those who do not practice righteousness are not ( children ) of God, right? Yes, we've been down this road, too! As I recall, it had something to do with the historical and covenantal context, but I could be wrong! Think 'children of Israel'!

Okay; another question: 'What does it take to be in Christ?' Maybe a better one would be, 'How do we know when one is in Christ?'' Well, the first thing to come to the lips of most Christians might be the Scriptural answer that Jesus Himself gave, 'You will know them by their fruits' ( Matthew 7:16 ). It is not, however, that our obedience causes us to be in Christ; it is rather the opposite, it is our being in Christ that causes ( enables ) us to bear fruit! So, we can without doubt say that if one shows signs of a disobedient and rebellious nature, there's a good chance that one is not in Christ, right? The first thing we must understand here, aside from the fact that we belong to the corporate Body of Christ, is that our being in Christ is a work of God; it is not of us! It is in God's good timing, not ours, that the evidence that one is in Christ, if ever, will manifest. We can look at a person who is obviously, or apparently living a life contrary to the orthodox doctrine found within the pages of Scripture, and say of that person that he or she is definitely not in Christ, nor in covenant with God, right?

Ready for the next question? 'What does it take to enter into covenant with ones Creator?' Yes; I know what a covenant is, it's a set of binding agreements, made by two or more parties ( in essence, though maybe different words ), not a uni-lateral statement of promises made by the Almighty Creator of the universe. Frankly; I'm about tired of hearing it, not because it's not true, but because it brings God down to our level, which is not fair, or right! This is where the Nature of God comes in: the Godhead is traditionally composed of three parties! I believe we've been down this road as well, so we won't go too far on this one! The Covenant, as has been discussed in previous articles by this author, and others as well ( A.W.Pink, for one ) was made between the Father and the Son, as is evidenced, for instance, in the fact that 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life'! This too, being an eschatological statement, maybe a better, and our next question should be, 'does one enter into covenant with his Creator, or now ( post-AD70, as some might say ) are we born into covenant with our Creator?' Well, now; if we say that the 'all' of I Corinthians 15:22 ( et al ) is only speaking of Old Covenant Israel, it seems we might have a problem on our hands! If only Old Covenant Israel, who died in Adam, was made alive in Christ, then where are we? We were never dead in Adam! If the 'all' is universally true ( mankind ), then we have another 'problem' on our hands, the other side of the coin, you might say!

I have a 'problem'; I am accused of being extra-biblical, and worse yet, I readily admit it! At this point, some would probably throw up their hands, or better yet, clasp them in prayer, thinking, 'this poor deluded fellow's really gone off the deep end now'! Yes, don't worry ( too much ); I still read my Bible, several different ones, in fact, I still talk to God, and look to the Revelation of His Word for inspiration and guidance, but we have the Word of God inscribed on our 'hearts', as we are inscribed on the palm of His 'hand'. Although we can and should still make application of many of the principles He has written down for us by His servants the prophets, we now have the Living Word within us, attached to the very core of our being!

Going 'extra-biblical' on you, so to speak, could we not safely, more or less, speculate then, that God, since the Revelation of Jesus as the Christ, and the New Covenant, has shown how He is in covenant with 'all' His creation, and desires, through His Son, and through us, to have a blessed and intimate relationship with them? As Israel, under that 'first' ( covenant ) was made a 'a kingdom of priests and a holy nation', so we now, according to I Peter 2:5, are 'a holy priesthood', and why priests? The context of Peter's words tell us; it is so that we may offer sacrifices of love, pleasing to His nostrils! We have been given a flag ( Law ) to follow, and that flag is the banner of love that we read about in the Song of Solomon 2:4, that the Beloved placed over His Lover! Being the New Temple of the Holy Spirit, we are to offer ourselves, as did the Son of God, as living sacrifices of love, sharing His love with 'all' His creatures. As the New Israel, and thus God's Priest to the nations, or 'world', we have a renewed mandate, to have the dominion, not in a physical sense, as Israel under that 'first' ( covenant ) did, in order to symbolically cleanse the Holy Land. Our renewed mandate is to have dominion in a spiritual way, thus spilling over into the physical, over 'all' His creation, to return it to a right relationship with Him! We know from Scriptures like II Peter 3:9 ( a truly eschatological statement ) that God is 'not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance'. Though this was an eschatological statement, and thus was fulfilled in the first century, is it not very applicable today? Can we not safely speculate here that God desires 'all' His creation, His 'children', so to speak, to repent from their wicked and rebellious ways and return to a right relationship with Him?

Returning, once again, to Paul's universalistic statement in I Corinthians 15; as in the passage from 11 Peter, it is an eschatological statement, but would it not be safe to assume the same here? Are the two 'all' statements in that passage speaking of the same group of people, or has the definition of 'all' necessarily expanded with the Parousia of the New Covenant? Can we not safely speculate that the 'all', just as they were God's covenant 'children' who died in Adam, has now been expanded to include His entire creation, 'all' of His 'children', 'all' of whom have been made alive in, or through the sacrifice of the Son of God, though many have not yet been awakened to that reality?

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, 

and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity 

[, that is, ] the law of commandments [ contained ] in ordinances,

 so as to create in Himself one new man [ from ] the two, [ thus ] making peace,  

and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross,

 thereby putting to death the enmity.  

And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.  

For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Ephesians 2: 14-18 

We cannot argue, nor should we, I believe, that 'all', having been reconciled with their Creator, are thus are 'in Christ', in the biblical sense, but I believe that the purpose of God in Jesus the Christ has been made plain, or revealed in its essence. It is the reconciliation of His creation to a right relationship with Himself, no more, no less. It is clear, from passages such as that above, that it is only 'through Him' that His Creation has been, and is being restored; as Jesus said, 'No one comes to the Father except through Me.' ( John 14:6b  ) As the Body of Christ on earth, the Revealed Son of God, through the Power of His Holy Spirit, and as His Priest to the ( expanded )  'world', we, in actuality, though not in Reality, are the ones who spread abroad the Gospel of that reconciliation, shining His Light into every 'heart', thus aiding in the restoration of the relationship that He so desires!

In conclusion; we have a job to do! As always, we have before us a choice as well; will we choose to continue the work of God in Jesus the Christ, or will we continue, as those errant 'children' did, under that 'first' ( covenant ), to take, rather than have dominion, the dominion that we have been given, as the New Priest of God?! The world, as Jesus spoke in eschatological parable to His followers, is 'white for harvest' ( John 4:35 )! In a sense, this is a different harvest than what Jesus referred to His first-century disciples, but in the greatest sense, it is one and the same! It is the New Harvest, the 'awakening of men' by the New Priest! We are all priests after a sort, and though we all have different ministries, gifts, and callings; one calling is common to 'all', to spread abroad the Love He has shone in our lives through the Son of His Love!

Will we do it?

Humbly, and with Love in my 'heart',

Charles Haddon Shank

The Empire of God Versus the American Empire

That this nation was founded on Christian principles is not only arguable, it is somewhat questionable! There is no doubt that certain of our founders were good Christians, as far as that went, and that the two most important ( traditionally anyway ) documents assembled to birth and govern this fledgling nation were influenced by Christianity, but the whole concept of America as a Christian nation is faulty, at the very least!

God, Guns, Guts, and Country

Most Americans are probably overly familiar with this phrase, or at least with one like it, such as, 'God, Guns, and Guts are what made America free'. Take note that the opposite is also becoming more and more true, 'Gutless, gunless, and God-less Americans are what is imprisoning America': more to the point, though; it is idolatrous, gun-less and gut-less Christians who will be the death of this nation!

American Christians seem to have gotten their religions mixed up, somewhat like the nation of Israel, in Daniel's prophecy ( Daniel 2 )  thought they would gain by mixing with Roman power, but only became more brittle, 'like iron mixed with clay'. We seem to have forgotten what Empire we belong to, and thus Whom we seve! In a very real sense, it was 'God, Guns and Guts' that made this country great, but anymore, it seems that most Americans, maybe even some Christians included, seem to have glossed over the fact that it was God Who gave greatness to this country, and have focused their worship and praise instead on man's part in the struggle, 'guns and guts'. This is not to detract from man's part in the struggle, but wrong empirical thought seems to have pervaded America in general, and American Christianity in particular!

Christians have forgotten Whom we serve and Whose Empire we are to be concerned with; we are not here to make this nation great, or even to live the American dream. Rather, we are here, in the greatness of God, to shine forth His goodness and mercy, to prove the greatness of His Love in His empirical Kingdom!  Jesus said that 'you cannot serve God and mammon', but American Christianity has been engaged in this idolatry for years. This saying could well be rephrased to say, 'you cannot serve God's Empire and the empire of man'. We cannot build the American Empire and the Empire of God!

This is not to say that one cannot be Christian and inhabit and even promote life in these United States, but we must keep in mind that, just as Jesus also said, 'seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you', we are not seek our own, or even the advancement of the American Empire: it is for the advancement of the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, His empirical City, that we are to seek, and to concern ourselves with.

As we go about our day to day business, let us remember always that, even though it is always wise to seek the peace of the nation or city, geographically speaking, in which God has graciously placed us, it is more importantly where we dwell spiritually, and what, or Whose end we serve that may make the difference in whether we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, or whether we idolatrously continue to adhere to Americanism!

Serving the True Emperor in His Empire,
Charles Haddon Shank

The Two Towers

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake [ them ] thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top [ is ] in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
Genesis 11:1-4

J.R.R. Tolkien reportedly and repeatedly made the claim that his most famous work, 'The Lord of the Rings' was not based on or biased by his study of Scripture, but it is not difficult to recognize its influence in this  fantastic work. Though this work has recently increased in popularity among the masses because of Peter Jackson's recent movies based on the book, it is eclipsed in importance by his less well-known and often laborious earlier history of the 'world' known as 'Middle Earth', 'The Simarillion'. In this work of art, Tolkien chronicles for us the the first several 'ages' of this fantastic 'world', from its conception and subsequent corruption, to the fullness of time when all would be set to rights again. Even after 'The Return of the King', though, Tolkien's 'world' still had its 'evils'; the 'Evil One' had been vanquished, but bad things still happened to good people, and vice-versa. Men still lost their mortal bodies to the ravages of time, and though it was in all respects better through the king's beneficent and benevolent rule, life was still life, and therefore no utopia and wrought with a degree of danger!

'The Silmarillion' gives us a most important background to 'The Lord of the Rings', though the latter very arguably stands on its own, and much as a passable knowledge and understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures is necessary to a right understanding of the Greek, or New Testament Scriptures, so Tolkien leads us into a better knowledge and understanding of the background of his more famous work!

The fabled Tower of Babel, much as the fantastic towers of Tolkien's Middle Earth, was built at the height of man's arrogance and self-sufficiency. This Tower, while built primarily, maybe, as a defense against the forces of Nature and Nature's God, was at the same time, and more importantly, the mighty cry from natural humanity that it could reach perfection, or 'Heaven', on its own strength, and by its own volition. Reading both the account in Genesis 11 and Tolkien's in 'The Silmarillion' and 'The Lord of the Rings', we can see how this may seem to have worked out for a time, but ultimately proved to be but vanity, though age-long vanity!

Most important to remember, as well, when reading Tolkien's writings and the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, is that these things are in the past. As for Tolkien, of course, it is easy to disregard his writings as pure fantasy, but as for the history we receive in the Scriptures, the message that we read is a lesson on how God has dealt with His errant covenant people in the past, and thus what we can expect in the present from the 'towers' we have erected against His beneficence, and what we might look forward to in the future should we continue to vaunt ourselves against Him!

J.R.R. Tolkien, as a good Roman Catholic, was avowedly a Christian, and as one can see from an informed and judicious reading of his tales, as we mentioned earlier, it is clear that they were influenced, to some extent, at least, by his reading and understanding of Scripture. His tale, though by no means a perfect representation of the history we read in the Scriptures, is, on its own, a fairly accurate, though fantastic and metaphorical account of our history. Our own history has been plagued by many evils, not unlike those of Middle Earth, and like the ultimate eschatological victory won by those hardy individuals in Tolkien's most famous tale, the victory won by the Christ in the first century and continued throughout by His brethren was an everlasting one and eternal in its finality!

In opposition to that first Tower, the people of God, as the New Temple, have become, through the power of the Holy Spirit, a 'tower' that serves the same purpose as was hoped for in that first Tower. As our bodies are 'the temple of the Holy Spirit', we are 'a tower whose top [ is ] in the heavens'; we have, as it were, reached heaven's joys! Through being 'scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth', we have, not ourselves, but through the power of the Son of God, made 'a name for ourselves', and become a Tower, not only in opposition to the 'towers' that men have set up, but a Tower to ensure that the people of God will never ( again ) fall out of touch with their Creator!

As the True Tower, then, as the New Temple; let us live our lives as the gateway to the joys of 'Heaven' ( the Presence of God' ) that we have become through the power of the Holy Spirit; let us be that shining 'Tower" that men ( and women ) may flee to when their man-made 'towers' crumble!

Only in the strength of the Holy Spirit, and because of the all-consuming sacrifice of 'The Finger of God', we are a 'tower of strength' to a world whose own 'towers' ( 9-11 ) have crumbled and continue to crumble!

The question is; 'how will we present that Tower, and hence, our Power, to a world full of crumbling idols?'

Charles Haddon Shank