The Complete Jesus

The most important thing to remember when approaching the last sayings of Jesus on the cross is what He first taught, and in fact, what His entire ministry was about, the Coming of the Kingdom & the Parousia!

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Luke 23:34

For good exegesis of any particular passage of Scripture, one must first look at the immediate context, then the wider context! Much as it may seem so sometimes, Jesus, Paul & the apostles were not in the habit of saying random things at random moments. When Jesus spoke these words, the immediate context in Luke shows that the two thieves had just been placed, one on either side of Him, to be crucified in like manner as our Lord. Later in this passage, we see that Jesus Himself granted forgiveness to at least one of the thieves.

It is widely accepted, and no doubt true, to some extent, that when Jesus uttered the words of this prayer, He prayed for the forgiveness of His captors & murderers, the ignorant though zealous Jews, and the Romans, who, though wicked & evil men, were simply being politically savvy!

In Jesus' model prayer, which He taught His disciples to pray; He instructed them to pray for forgiveness 'for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us' ( Luke 11:4 ) Jesus, like Paul, no doubt had concern for His kinsmen according to the flesh; He would see them all saved, and so He prayed for their forgiveness.

In the wider context too, of the History of Israel, we should be reminded as well of the atrocities that Israel had committed throughout; not only had She many times committed spiritual adultery against Her God, but now, to top it all off, She had denied Her Messiah! This was simply a natural progression!

There still exists some controversy today over whom Jesus prayed for forgiveness; 'was He asking His Father to forgive everybody, or was He simply asking forgiveness for a certain few?' Much disagreement, especially in certain circles, comes when questions like, 'if Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of everyone involved, why were they not all saved?' are posed. 'Did the Father heed His Son's final prayer?'

In an earthly context, though we may forgive any evil committed against us, there is usually a price that must be paid, nonetheless. Take the example of a drunk driver who aimlessly kills another driver; though he may be forgiven by the family of the other driver, the penalty for the crime of murder, however more or less severe, is exacted by Law!

Though forgiven, Israel still bore the penalty, through the Christ, for Her sins! Though  the Thief on the Cross was forgiven, he was still crucified, and paid the extreme penalty for his sins! 

When Jesus prayed, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do', the immediate context demands that the sin of rejection of their Messiah be forgiven His People, but in the wider context of the History of Israel, it should be clear that the sins of His People as a whole, throughout their history, were in view here as well, for the rejection of their Messiah was simply the latest show of their ignorance of the Nature of God!

And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Luke 23:43

This subject as well is quite the air of controversy surrounding it! Was Jesus telling the Thief on the Cross that he would be with Jesus in Abraham's Bosom that day? Was He simply telling him that he would be joining Jesus on His trip into the nether regions (I Peter 3:18-20 ); or was Jesus telling him that He would rest that day in the arms of his Lord? 

Well, as with so many passages in Scripture that have been wrangled by would be expositors, and hopelessly mangled by others; to truly understand what Jesus meant, we must return to the original Paradise: yes, 'we've got to get ourselves back to the garden'!

Assumably, Genesis 3:8 tells us that our Heavenly Father used to walk with Adam & Eve 'in the cool of the day'. After they sinned, however, and were removed from the Presence of the Lord in the Garden, we do not hear, except for a select few, of the descendants of Adam ever walking with the Lord, that is, not till the Advent of Jesus who was the Christ! The Presence of God, except for special considerations, was removed from Man on the Land!

One of Jesus' most Precious Promises, and we get a foretaste of this in the Temple Imagery throughout the Scriptures, was that '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' ( John 14:23 ). It was this Promise of Presence that was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost by the Holy Spirit in the form of 'divided tongues, as of fire' ( Acts 2 )!

Just like Christmas, it's all about the Presence! Jesus was not telling the Thief on the Cross that he would be in limbo ( some might call it 'Purgatory' or even 'Hell' ) till He returned in Judgement to redeem His People from the power of the grave; He was telling him that He would forever be with his Lord!

When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own [ home ].

John 19: 26 & 27

John was traditionally the disciple whom Jesus loved! We will assume, for the time being, and for our purposes here, that John was indeed, 'the disciple whom He loved'. If John, though, 'why John?' And why would John, in his Record of the Gospel, find it necessary to relate, when no other Gospel-writer did, these words of Jesus? They must hold some significance, for, as we have seen, no passage of Scripture is without significance!

Maybe Jesus' words to the disciples in Matthew's Gospel ( 19:29 ), 'And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[k] or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life'! Could this, as so many passages in Scripture, have been purposely linked to the Resurrection? Jesus, in the beginning of this short passage, promised that 'in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel'! Could Jesus, as a dutiful eldest Son, have merely been holding to tradition and making sure that His mother ( Joseph may have passed on by this point ) would be taken care? 

We must remember too, that at the Voice of the Son of God ( Matthew 4:22, Mark 1:20 ), John and his brother James had left all to follow Him! ( their mother was not mentioned here, but we may safely assume that if they left their father, that they left their mother as well ) Was Jesus, in a metaphorical sense, replacing John's own mother? Mary, in this same metaphorical sense, was representative of a New & Reconstituted Israel, and in the greatest sense ( metaphorically as well- Revelation 12 ), the birth mother of the Church!

By telling John that Mary was now his mother, and His Mother that John was her now Son, I believe that Jesus was making reference to  the New Age, the Age in which Son-ship would not be rendered by physical, or natural, lineage, but by spiritual descent! Remember what Jesus replied when He was told that His family sought His Presence? Pointing to His disciples all around, He said, 'Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.' ( Matthew 12:49 & 50 ) 

After this, Jesus, knowing[e] that all things were now accomplished, 

that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, 'I thirst'!

John 19:28

This may seem the clearest saying of Jesus on the Cross! Thirst is the most natural and pressing need, more important, probably, than most think to our human biology. It would be very natural then, especially after all that Jesus had been through that Day, for Him to be thirsty, but as usual, there is more to this saying than might at first meet the eye!

Jesus told His audience, in His Sermon on the Mount, 'Blessed [ are ] those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled' ( Matthew 5:6 ). In John's own record of the Gospel, Jesus told the woman at the well 'Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst' ( John 4:13 &14a ) Was Jesus simply thirsty, or was this a reminder to His disciples of the thirst that He bore for them? He had taken upon Himself the sin of His People Israel, and bearing the penalty for their rebelliousness, experienced that 'thirst for righteousness'!

Just a note here; in the Gospel according to Matthew ( 27:34 ), we see some sort of drink being offered to Jesus, as we see Him being given in John's record. In Matthew's record, however, He refused, for whatever reason, to drink, and in John's, it is recorded  that He 'received the sour wine'. Varying traditions have said that this 'sour wine', or 'gall' was some sort of numbing agent meant to alleviate some of the pain, and that Jesus refused it because He wished for His mind to remain clear, or even that John's record and Matthew's do not coincide on this event, but, whatever the case may be, this was not just some random saying that John decided to record; it, as all of Jesus' words, had a Deeper Impact!

 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”[k]

Matthew 27:46

Quoting the first line of David's Psalm 22, the Son of Man cried out in agony to a Father who had left Him to die one of the most painful deaths imaginable! This is what the casual reader might gather, and this might actually be true, but it is only a part of the Story. Did the Father Forsake His Son? Might we glean a clue from the fact that His persecutors thought He was calling for Elijah?

Whether or not those who crucified Him simply misunderstood His words ( unlikely ) because they did not understand Aramaic ( many of them were Syrians, after all ) or because He was speaking through His pain, it is clear that He spoke these exact words in fulfillment of David's prophetic verse! As in many of the sayings of Jesus, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?' was uttered 'that the Scripture might be fulfilled'!

Just like 'I thirst' previously, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?' was meant to convey a deeper spiritual truth, one which not just anyone would be able to grasp! Clearly, His captors, both Jewish & Roman ( Syrian ) did not grasp this truth; they thought He was calling for Elijah! An interesting note concerning Elijah; do you remember what Malachi prophesied about Him? 'Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.' ( Malachi 4:5 ) They thought, if our English translators got it right, that Jesus was praying for that 'great and dreadful day of the Lord' right then! If He was truly the Son of God, so they must have reasoned at that point, then His Father would have appeared right then. Little did they know, the Time was at Hand ( Matthew 26:64 )!

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” 

And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

John 19:30

What exactly Jesus meant by the finality of these words has been a matter of some controversy, as well! Was He saying that the purpose for which He had appeared on this earth was fulfilled? Was He saying that His Father's Plan of Salvation was complete, that the rest was up to individual men? Now that it was finished, did that mean that all men everywhere would taste His great Salvation?

Matthew recorded that Joseph & Mary were to name the Child Jesus, for 'He will save His people from their sins' ( Matthew 1:21 ). Clearly, from a covenantal stand-point, 'His people' was Israel! The Purpose for which Jesus died on the cross was that He might redeem Israel from the Sin & the Death that She had incurred from Her harlotries & idolatries!The Purpose of His Advent, from beginning to End, from start to finish, was to bring Heaven & Earth together in One Body, that Body of which He had before prophesied ( also through David ( Psalm 40:6 ), 'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me'. There have been numerous theories offered as to why the two texts are at variance, but maybe the best I have seen is where Lightfoot wrote, 

'The words, 'a body has thou prepared for me', follow the Septuagint, in keeping with the usual preference of the author. The Hebrew text, however, literally reads, 'ears hast thou digged for me,' which apparently means that God has given man ears to hear that he might obey Him. The Septuagint translators dealt freely with the text by substituting the whole ('body') for the part ('ears'), resulting in the meaning that instead of God equipping man with ears, He made or prepared for man a body'.

Whatever the case may be, a Body was most definitely prepared for the Son of God, first an individual biological Body to walk the Land in, and then a corporate Spiritual Body ( I Corinthians 12:27 ) to dwell in, a New Temple, 'the temple of the Holy Spirit' ( I Corinthians 6:19 )!

With the words 'It is finished', Jesus declared that He had done what was necessary to accomplish the salvation of His people, He had made 'an end of[b] sins' and 'reconciliation for iniquity' ( Daniel 9:24 )!

And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, 

He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’”[n]

 Having said this, He breathed His last.

Luke 23:46

In this last recorded saying of Jesus on the Cross, we see Him in total concurrence with Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:7. This wisest of the kings of Israel wrote 'Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
and the spirit will return to God who gave it.' Many questions could be asked here of those who believe that Jesus still inhabits His individual, biological Body in some place 'up there', called 'Heaven'. Questions like
'If Jesus was God, why did His Spirit return to His Father ( God ) when His Body would be joining Him just over a month later?', and leading from this, 'why was it necessary for Jesus' Spirit to leave His Body?'

Here is where we might enter into the greatest matter of controversy! Was Jesus simply a 'Man of the Eschaton'? Is it possible that Jesus, as the Son of God, and God Himself, became the Son of Man in order to finalize the project He had begun in the Beginning ( Genesis )? Jesus said outright, at least once, that 'My Father is greater than I' ( John 14:28 ( 10:29 ). He prayed, in the Garden, 'O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was'. Paul wrote that 'He made Himself of no reputation', took 'the form of a bondservant', and came 'in the likeness of men'. Our Heavenly Father divested Himself of His Glory and became the Son of Man in order to orchestrate the Marriage of Heaven & Earth!

In all of this, we see a return to the Temple! Ezekiel 10:18, as well as other Scriptures, chronicles the departure of the Glory of the Lord. In a recent sermon it was pointed out that the Shekinah Glory, the Glory Cloud, is absent from the Temple from the time of Solomon onward, until the time of Christ and His New Temple, which we read about in Acts 2, with the 'divided tongues, as of fire'.

 The apostle John recorded Jesus as saying, in what may be the most comforting statement in Scripture, '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'. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Church at Colosse ( 3:4 ), wrote 'When Christ [ who is ] our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory'. Since He has appeared ( 1,934 years ago ), His People have become that Glory Cloud!

The Life & Ministry of Jesus may be summed up in these final words, for Jesus came to 'save His people from their sins' by forgiving there iniquity, He 'led captivity captive' ( Psalm 68:18 ( I Peter 3:18-20 ), He came that we might have Life, and that we may have it 'more abundantly' ( John 10:10 ( also refer to Psalm 68:5 & 6 & Matthew 12:49 & 50 ), He filled His People's 'thirst for righteousness' that they might 'never thirst' again, He tasted for His People very real separation from the Presence of God, 'And thus we shall always be with the Lord' ( I Thessalonians 4:17 ), He finished the Creation, or rather New Creation that He had begun in the Beginning ( Genesis ), and He became, as the apostle Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth ( I Corinthians 15:28 ) our 'all in all'!

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

Psalm 150:1

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise,[a] be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

I Timothy 1:17

Charles Haddon Shank

TRADITION!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday will mark the 1,980th time, ostensibly, since that first Blessed Event which most of the Christian world calls Easter! Some call it Resurrection Sunday, for it is the day Jesus rose from the grave those many years ago ( Hallelujah! ). Whether you call it Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday, our celebration of Jesus' Resurrection is traditional! For some Christians it's also one of several times in the year that they attend worship services, too!

This is not to say that traditions are ( necessarily ) a bad thing, although the over-commercialization ( as bad as Christmas ) and Easter Egg Hunts and such are not, I'm sure what the apostles envisioned! The Easter Egg Hunt, though, when you think about it, is actually kind of a decent picture of  a metaphorical search for Resurrection! The egg is a picture of birth ( although we tend to eat most of them ), and when they are hidden for the children to search for and find, it could almost be viewed as their search for the True Life of the World! The Easter Bunny, on the other hand, is merely a picture of natural life, chosen because of the prolificity of rabbits. However you choose to look at it though, theses are all symbols, pointing to something more or less great!

Life is a good thing; as long as life endures, there is hope for a better tomorrow! Lately, I have been involved in discussions about whether we, as believers holding to a fulfilled eschatology are taking away the Christians hope for the 'after-life'. My response, of course, was that this is the 'after-life'; we are in the Presence of our Heavenly Father, and according to Jesus ( John 14:23 ) we will never die! 'Is there life after ( physical ) death?' Of course; after our biological body ceases to function, we will continue on in the Presence of our Heavenly Father! Our Eternal Life, however, does not begin at the death of our biology, when our spirit departs from this physical body; it is a Present Reality!

Tradition! 

Scripture tells us that Jesus rose on the first day of the week ( Matthew 28:1-7 ), and so, ever after, Christians have celebrated on this Day, mostly in the hope of our, or more correctly 'their' future resurrection! Many celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus in a more general way, as a memorial, a Celebration of Life, but still with the underlying notion that because Jesus' physical Body was raised from the physically dead, so too will ours!

Whether or not one chooses to cling to this biblically disjointed hope or not, it is clear that He is alive forever more, and thus, so are we! The Resurrection of the Christ proved to a watching world that Death had, in effect, been defeated. To merely rise from the dead and ascend ( in the Spirit ) to His former Glory at the Right Hand of the Father would have proven nothing concrete to those who scoffed! As the case may be, the Truth of the Resurrect was hidden from the eyes of the majority, and many perished because of their disbelief!

That Blessed Hope!

For most Christians, the thought of 'Heaven when you die' means a blessed & eternal existence after we are free of the cumbersome & sin-laden when this physical body is no longer a concern; this is based, maybe, and however loosely, on the apostle Paul's words to the Church at Rome, 'O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?' ( Romans 7:24 ) Other statements of Paul's, such as 'flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God', seem almost to lend credence to the Gnostic notion that the apostle was looking forward to the demise of his physicality so he could 'depart and be with Christ' ( Philippians 1:23 ), for, as he said elsewhere, 'while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord' ( II Corinthians 5:6 ). We have seen though, in the historical and covenantal context in which Paul wrote, it was not individual biological bodies that he had in mind, but rather that Old Covenant 'Body of Death'!

As the Blessed Hope of the Christian is fulfilled in the Body of Christ, although most Christians, for whatever reason, feel the need to cling desperately to some sort of hope, we can have confidence in the fact that since we are 'raised with Christ' ( Colossians 3:1 ), we can now 'walk in newness of life' ( Romans 6:4 )! The only hope for tomorrow is that we will better do this!

Living in the Resurrection!

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:4

Jesus said ( Luke 20:34-36 ), concerning The Resurrection of the Body, 'The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But 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 anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.' It would seem that this would support the notion of such an 'after-life' as many like to speculate about, because if there will be no 'marrying and giving in marriage' ( Matthew 24:38 ) in the Resurrection ( thus, in 'Heaven'? ), then it would only make sense that He was not speaking of this physical existence!

However, as we have seen previously, it is abundantly clear that Jesus was referring to this physical existence, since, as the apostle Paul further stated in the continuing Ministry of the Gospel, 'Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.' ( Colossians 3:5 ) Because of the Fact of the Resurrection, Paul instructed them to forsake their earthly natural passions, and so walk in 'newness of life'. He did not encourage them to forsake this earth and seek some 'after-life' in 'Heaven'!

It is not by departing this life that we live in the Resurrection; it is by living that we live in the Resurrection!

In conclusion then, how should we now live? We should not live in the hope for a better life after this biology has been depleted; that's just jumping in with  those who claim that 'the body is a prison-house for the soul'! To live Resurrection Life is to live in the knowledge and abundance of Christ, it is to live in the 'liberty by which Christ has made us free' ( Galatians 5:1 ).

If we live in the hope for a better life in 'Heaven', not seeking to better our lives, and the lives of those around us, then we have 'counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing' ( Hebrews 10:29 ), for it was for this that Jesus died, not that we would someday have a better life in some ethereal ( or is that 'surreal' ? ) 'Heaven', but as He Himself said, 'I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly' ( John 10:10 )

It is in this Life ( John 11:25 ) that we must live if we are to have this Abundant Life!

If we have this Life, nothing else is necessary; if we do not have this Life now, nothing else will suffice, not even the death of our biological body!

Back to tradition; it is good to be reminded that the Christ defeated death, even if we only gather once a year in special remembrance of this Blessed Event! It is a far better thing, though, to live Resurrection Life, basking in the Glow of His Presence, which was made possible by that Resurrection! 

Let us live the Life we have been blessed with, and not seek to depart it to 'always be with the Lord'!

Glorying in the Presence, 
Charles Haddon Shank

A Glorified Body; the Gravity of Christ In Us

There is much focus of late, both the religious and so-called secular camps, on 'Heaven' & the 'After Life'!  'Is there life after death?' and what is 'Heaven really like?'; 'is there a 'heaven'?' are just of few of the questions being considered. The real question is, though, should we consider them at all!?

With so much of a focus on what happens to us when this physical body perishes, is it any wonder that the mission of the evangelical church seems to have simply become 'saving souls for the after-life', so that they can go to 'Heaven' instead of 'Hell' when they die!? If we are simply to save souls for some utopian after-life, why then does the apostle John, in the Revelation ( 22:2 ) say that 'The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.' If Salvation & Heaven are about some sort of neo-physical after-life, then why would God even worry about healing the nations? Isn't He going to just destroy everything anyway, like Peter warns in II Peter 3?

In a previous article on the subject of 'the Glorified Body'; we discussed what for the Church has become a stanchion for the doctrine of Resurrection. Because Jesus was raised up in His biological Body, so must we. The Son of God returned to biological existence ( for a while ) in the selfsame Body that was placed in the tomb, three significant days earlier!

Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Romans 8:30

The same Greek verb, 'doxazō' that Jesus uses in His prayer, 'And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.' ( John 17:5 ) is the same word that Paul used above to describe our Glorified Body! As we discussed in short previously, we would like to speculate that our individual human bodies will become super-human in their glorified state, but Scripture doesn't give us any such picture! I must admit, though, since our Heavenly Father dwells in His People, we have, in a sense, become supermen ( and women ), able to metaphorically leap tall buildings in a single bound!

We've explored previously, as well, and to some extent, what it really means when we say that Christ is 'in us'. We read, with our individualistic mindset, phrases like 'I can do all things through Christ[b] who strengthens me' ( Philippians 4:13 ) and turn them into political catchphrases, with God promising anything from what can be clearly gleaned from the immediate context to superhuman feats 'if you just believe'!

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which[d] is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27

I would seem that the apostle Paul taught that 'the Glorified Body' was one in which Christ dwelt! We know that Paul, as a good Jew, was a student of Scripture, and as the Hebrew Scriptures ( AKA, Old Testament ) were what he studied, he undoubtedly drew upon these Scriptures for ALL of his doctrine! The Tabernacle & Temple that were prevalent throughout these Scriptures were significant of the Presence of God, His Dwelling among His People. the Promise of the New Covenant, of course, was that 'I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.' ( Jeremiah 31:33 ) From of old, the Promise had always been 'I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.' ( Exodus 29:45 - compare John 14:23 ).

As we live in 'The Truth of the Resurrection', as 'sons of the resurrection' ( Luke 20:27-38 ), let us determine to Live Gloriously, being members individually of the Body of Christ, the New Temple in which our Heavenly Father now dwells for Eternity! Let us give up vain imaginings of what glories we may see once we are free of this biological body, and focus rather on the Glory which has been set before us, that of our Heavenly Father and the continuous expansion of His Glorious Kingdom, which has come 'On Earth as it is in Heaven'!

Gloriously,
Charles Haddon Shank

The After Life Too

Put simply, there IS no after-life! 

If we are alive forevermore, for eternity, can there be anything after this, can there be life after death if there is no more death?

Is it really that simple?

Most people, Christians especially, have gotten hung up on the misplaced, disjointed hope of 'Heaven when I die'. Several reasons for this are that Christians of all sorts have clung to the false hope of a biological resurrection of individual bodies. This plus the fact that they believe passages like I Corinthians 15 and Roman 6-8 speak of a day when the whole of ( biological ) creation will be delivered from the 'bondage of corruption' ( Romans 8:21 ).

Admittedly, it IS a pleasant thought: can you 'imagine' living without having to worry about the ravages & temptations of physical sin, no poisonous animals ( snakes, scorpions ) to worry about, no threat of wild animals tearing your flesh, and best of all, those with physical disabilities or deformities not having to deal with those difficulties & frustrations anymore; sounds heavenly, no?!

It also sounds escapist and downright irresponsible!

Now, before you get too bent out of shape, I'm not saying that to wish to be free of physical disabilities is irresponsible ( although........)! Personally, I like to think of all the things that I could do with my life if only I hadn't been 'saddled' with this responsibility, but I know that our Heavenly Father gave me this 'gift' for a reason, and it IS somewhat irresponsible to long for a 'normal' existence! In fact, if I were able to lead a 'normal' existence, I probably wouldn't be where I am today, much less doing what I do!

Does not Scripture promise us that 'They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain' ( Isaiah 11:9a ) and that 'they[b] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them' ( Mark 16:18 )? Did not Jesus say 'Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you' ( Luke 10:19 )?

Jesus said all these things and more, but when we single these passages out, and wrest them from their historical and covenantal contexts, we end up doing harm not only to ourselves, but to the Gospel itself! One only has to look at the schisms within Christianity and at the alarming rate at which not only teenagers, but adults as well are leaving the fold of orthodox Christianity in droves, to see how harmful this literalistic & individualistic hermeneutic is!

The Gnostics, Plato most famously, believed that the biological body was evil, 'a prison-house for the soul'. 'The material world is evil; it is only the spiritual which is truly good!' This kind of ideology sounds a lot like what we are hearing from most if not all corners of Christianity today! If we can only truly be redeemed or saved by departing from this biological body ( Ecclesiastes 12:7 ), then this is exactly what many Christians are saying! Granted, many of these will tell you that this will not occur until Jesus comes back and destroys ( biological ) death forever! That, however, is 'old news', and neither here nor there!

It IS a Simple Truth! Jesus told Martha 'whoever lives and believes in Me will never die' ( John 11:26a )! Even though we know that this was an eschatological statement aimed at Martha directly to comfort her over the physical demise of her brother, we can also glean Great Assurance from it as well, being confident that WE will never die! Though our biological bodies will, at some point, run down, and become fertilizer; we will not see corruption; our spirit perseveres in the Presence of our Heavenly Father. Maybe this was partially what David meant in Psalm 16, when he wrote, 'For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.'

No after-life, huh? Well, Heaven's gotta be better than this!

Looking at all the degradation around us & the evil that besets us, it's easy to think, 'well, Shirley, this can't be all there is!' ( see above ) Reading the newspaper headlines about bad things happening to good people, and watching and hearing about all the violence in the Middle East, one could almost believe all the bible prophecy pundits that exclaim 'the end is near!' I remember the apostle Peter saying something like that about 2,000 years ago ( I Peter 4:7 ); I believe we should trust his Inspiration rather than some nut-job whose Christianity is questionable, at best!

It might be argued, on the other hand, that we have an influence on our environment ( if we don't, then maybe we ARE dead while we live ), that whether positive or negative, we can influence society around us to a certain point! You probably have heard the saying that 'Life is what you make it'; well, to an extent, that's true! There are variables & uncertainties in this human existence, and it usually depends on how we face those uncertainties & variables that determines the effect they have on us & vice-versa!

The Presence of our Heavenly Father in His Kingdom is about as invariable as you can get! ( To Infinity ) That is an indisputable fact, and if one is willing to see it, One much in evidence! If that one is willing to see it, that one has accepted this Fact, and if they thus commune with their Heavenly Father & the Body of His Son, that one will enjoy the Blessings of Heaven! If, however, that one does not see & accept this Fact, and thus does not commune with their Heavenly Father and enjoy necessary communion with the Body of His Son, that rebellious one may feel like they are in 'Hell', much of the time!

So, the question 'is there life after ( biological ) death?' may be answered with a resounding 'YES!' The Life that we now Live in the Presence of our Heavenly Father will never end; our existence will continue on with Him after this biological construct perishes!

While many Christians like to engage in vain, escapist speculation about some future utopian dream called 'Heaven', and some capitalize to rather silly extremes by writing about their 'experiences': I believe that there is nothing better ( past, present or future ) than the Presence of our Heavenly Father, and to seek something else is nothing less than irresponsible escapism!

We can change our environment! Yes, it's going to take a long time ( relatively ), with hard work and perseverance; it's taken a long time for things to get to this point, and it will take a long time to get things back to where they should be! Some things will take longer than others to set to rights, and other things will more easily 'fall into place'; there are areas in which we can have more influence, some less, but if we persevere with the Strength in us, we WILL bring about that necessary Change!

Let's stop worrying about some 'after-life', and whether we'll go to some place called 'Heaven' when you die; let's live while we're alive!

Charles Haddon Shank

The Truth of the Resurrection

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:4

The nature and scope of the Resurrection is likely one of the most disputed facts in theology today! The question of what type of Body we will receive at the Resurrection is not a new one, either. In I Corinthians 15:35-49, the apostle Paul answers the question, 'How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?' by launching into a metaphorical and very natural explanation of how a body is resurrected, and how it appears once resurrected.

Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die'. One major problem in the Church today is the belief that one's biological body must die in order for it to be resurrected! This stems almost wholly from the belief that the Resurrection is about individual, biological bodies being raised from the physically dead!

To be in Christ is to partake in the Resurrection! The point of the Resurrection was that the dead Body of Israel might live to serve the Purpose for which She was born; to bring Heaven to Earth! The Purpose of the Resurrection is not to take individual, biological bodies from Earth to Heaven. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, 'Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as [ it is ] in heaven'. He Himself prayed, in the Garden of Gethsemane, 'I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.'The Purpose of Creation, as Re-Creation was always to bring Heaven to Earth; the Marriage of Heaven & Earth, you might say!

Many Christians today, it would seem, believe and teach that Salvation, not unlike Resurrection, is 'going to Heaven when you die'. This could not be further from the Truth! To begin with, both concepts are related in the context of a Corporate Body, that of Israel who had died a separational & covenantal death and needed to be redeemed in order to fulfill Her Purpose!  Furthermore, as we have seen the Purpose of both Salvation & Resurrection was to bring the Rule of Heaven to Earth, not to snatch Man from Earth to Heaven!

As Christians realize this Glorious Truth ( of the Resurrection ), I believe that we will see, more and more, the evidence of the Rule of Heaven throughout the Earth! This Rule, whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we accept it or not, is preeminent, but as we acknowledge and follow this Rule in our own lives, the Rule & Reign of Heaven will shine out through our Holy Lives, bringing Light, Resurrection & Life to the dark & dying world around us!

Since we partake in the Resurrection, then, let us Live as if we will never die; Death is defeated!

In Heaven, the Presence of God & Eternally Alive, 
Charles Haddon Shank

The Story of Israel; the Marriage of Heaven & Earth

Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father [ was ] an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. [ As for ] your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born.

And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. [ Your ] breasts were formed, 

your hair grew, but you [ were ] naked and bare. 

Ezekiel 16:3-7

As we read throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, Israel 'according to the flesh' was infamous for her rebellions harlotry! Though her God had proven time and time again that it was only through His strength that she could stand, she showed time and time again her weakness and the rebelliousness of her wicked heart!

In Ezekiel 16, God recounts, through the prophet, and in metaphorical language, how He had taken Israel from among the nations and made her holy unto Himself. Furthermore, we read in this account, in very graphic and suggestive language, how she turned from the safety of His wings and sought the lewd embraces of other gods. We need not read very far in Scripture, even during the Exodus from Egypt, how she spurned the blessings of His Presence and lusted after the sin of her own concupiscence!

From the Beginning, when 'God planted a garden eastward in Eden' ( Genesis 2:8 ), the man He had created strove with Him, forever testing his will against the Will of God! Several times throughout the History of His Creation, God caused great calamity to fall upon them because of their rebelliousness and wickedness, most notably in the Great Flood of Noah's day. Through the Divine Long-suffering, though, they were never totally destroyed; there was always a Remnant!

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Genesis 2:24 & 25

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:8

The History of Creation, and specifically, the History of Israel, is all about how God brought Heaven to Earth, first, in the form of a Garden planted ( Exodus 15:17-Amos 9:15 ), and then in the Tabernacle & Temple. Finally, at the Consummation of the Ages, He sent His Son to redeem & marry His People, and reveal Him ( and Them ) as His True Temple; this was the Reconstitution of Israel!

Our Heavenly Father formed His human creation in order that their union might be a picture of the union that He wished to experience with His People! In his letter to the Church at Ephesus ( Ephesians 5:31 ), Paul reasserted the words of God in Genesis 2:24, then explained, 'This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church'. The first marriage on record was not just the union of two souls; it was ( and is ) a picture of the Marriage of Heaven & Earth!

As the Offspring of this Marriage,
Charles Haddon Shank

The Likeness of His Resurrection ( How Shall We Then Live? )

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:4

Many today today who claim the Name will tell you that to partake in the likeness of His resurrection is to be restored, after biological death, as in Jesus' case, to biological life! If indeed, the likeness of His resurrection has reference to biology, then it is true that the Resurrection is yet future, we are not 'sons of the resurrection', and Jesus, Paul, and the apostles were mistaken concerning their expectations for Resurrection in the first century!

We, however, know that Jesus told Martha, when faced with her faithful ( but slightly misplaced ) hope, 'I am the Resurrection & the Life'! Martha, as a good & faithful Jew, had an eschatological hope that a Redeemer, a Messiah would appear at the end of all things, and raise His People from the grave. Jesus, not denying her hope, revealed to her that, not only was He the Messiah that she and Israel hoped for, He also embodied the Promised Resurrection!

One might ask the question, at this juncture, 'Then where are all the saints that were 'raised with Him' ( Matthew 27:52 ); where is Jesus Himself, if He was raised bodily?' Why is Lazarus not with us since Jesus told his sister that he would die no more ( forever )? 

Those who believe that 'Heaven' is out there, might tell you that Jesus inhabits that 'realm' ( in His biological body, no less ), and that He will come, sometime in the future ( however near or far ), bringing His saints with Him, wreaking judgement & destruction upon those who do evil, and rendering a Judgement of Blessing & Resurrection to Life upon those who do good! Lazarus, we may assume, would be among those saints.

If we are yet to be resurrected, we have no hope prior to physical death, for how can one be raised from the dead unless he ( or she ) IS dead?! Paul talked about a 'change' ( I Corinthians 15: 51 & 52 ) that 'we who are alive' at His Parousia would experience. That 'change' presumably includes an incorruptible ( biological? ) body, one in which we will inhabit eternity in the Presence of our Heavenly Father!

Paul takes a slightly different tack, however, than those Christians who look for ( and teach ) a future biological resurrection of individual bodies! In the passage above, from his letter to the Romans, he tells us, in what should be very plain language, 'Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts' ( because of the Resurrection ) He is speaking to individuals, yes, but only as they are part of 'the body politic'. Later in this same letter ( 12:1 ), he tells us, 'present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God'.

Paul was not speaking, first, of 'going to 'Heaven' when you die', nor, secondly, was he speaking of a future resurrection of biological bodies; he was instructing them how they should live because of the Resurrection! This was the 'change' that Paul wrote about, not of a renewed biological body, but of a renewed spirit within that body, and more importantly, the fulfillment of the prayer of David in Psalm 51, 'Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.'

Paul understood, as a true & faithful Israelite, and 'a Hebrew of the Hebrews' ( Philippians 3:5 ) that it was the Body of Israel that had died ( Matthew 24:28 ) and needed Resurrection; the history of Israel through the writings of the Law & the Prophets showed this deplorable fact quite well! Taken out of the context of the Story, or 'meta-narrative', one may well defend the position of a future & biological bodily resurrection, but taking Paul's writings as a whole in conjunction with the Story of Israel, it is plain to see that Paul taught, rather than a future, biological change, a change of heart, or a spiritual 'change' to the Body of Israel, and a move from 'Death to Life'!

How Shall We Then Live?

We, as the spiritual offspring of the 'Union of Heaven & Earth', as a dear friend stated the other day, should not, as some do, stand at the 'Wailing Wall', bemoaning the destruction of the Jewish temple and praying for its reconstitution; instead, we should live our lives in the realization that we ARE the Reconstituted Temple!

As Paul wrote to the Romans, we should present our bodies a living ( not dead ) sacrifice! He wrote to the Church at Colosse, 'If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.' Paul taught his 'congregation' that they had been raised, or resurrected; they had risen like a phoenix from the spiritual ash-heap of Israel! He taught them, not to look for a future resurrection of individual, biological bodies, but rather to accept the 'change' that had been made, and to live their Lives in thankfulness & praise for the Gift they had been given!

In the midst of his famous treatise on the Resurrection, Paul wrote 'Awake to righteousness, and do not sin' ( I Corinthians 15:34 ). The focus of the Resurrection was not receiving new biological bodies ( however tempting that might sound ); the point of the Resurrection was a 'changed' life, one lived in accordance with the Law of God, unlike Israel of old!

In the likeness of His Resurrection, let us live our Life in this Joyous Reality, seeking the advancement of His Kingdom, and rejoicing in His Blessings in our lives as we share these Joys with those around us!

Charles Haddon Shank

Deliver Us From Evil

'Deliver us from the evil one', like the rest of this model prayer, must be understood in both its original context, and within the greater context of what might be called 'The Meta-Narrative'.

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray these words, He knew that, first of all, their thoughts would immediately turn to those who would persecute them. Israel had a long and storied history of dealings with 'the evil one'. From the Fall of Adam & Eve in the Garden ( Genesis 3 ), and through the several 'falls' throughout Her history ( Noah, David, etc. ) up to the time of the Christ Himself, Jesus knew first-hand the temptations that they would have to deal with at the hands of 'the evil one'!

'Evil', as we have previously witnessed, is the polar opposite of 'good'. From a human standpoint, this often seems to be, or is treated as a relative truth. What is 'good' for one may be 'evil' to another and vice-versa; what may seem 'evil' to one, because our conscience has been cleansed by our Heavenly Father, is rendered 'good' to these. However, Truth, as we know, is absolute! One plus one will always equal two, two plus two will always equal four, etc., etc.

He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

In the human experience, many things will occur that seem 'evil' to us, and likewise, others will seem 'good' to us, but just because they seem so, they are not always so! As Micah, and every other true prophet of Israel saw, our Heavenly Father had defined to His People what was right, and just and good, whereas the opposite would be wrong, unjust, and evil!


In this life, we are presented, just as Israel of old, with many challenges & opportunities to do right or wrong, 'good' or 'evil'. There are those, just as in Israel's day, that will try try to convince us that 'good' & 'evil' are relative, but by the Presence of our Heavenly Father & His Word, and through the blessing of a cleansed conscience, we know by our very nature if what they offer is good, just, and right, or if it is evil, unjust, and wrong!

Daily Communion with our Heavenly Father & His People serves to strengthen within us the knowledge of 'good & evil'! We have the confidence, in knowing His Truth, to avoid the 'evil' and to choose the 'good', because the Hope of Israel is fulfilled in us! The Messiah of Israel delivered His People from the sin of Adam, and thus was fulfilled the prayer, 'deliver us from the evil one'!

As we live, day by day in the Blessed Reality of this Great Deliverance let us ever be thankful to our Heavenly Father, let us live in the Joy of His Presence, knowing that we have been freed to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God!

We have been delivered, as the Body of Christ, and we are delivered every day from the 'evil' that surrounds us! May we ever live in thankfulness as experience the fullness of His Mercy & Grace, and shed abroad His Truth & Love!

Let us praise,
Charles Haddon Shank

The People of the Presence: Heightened Consciousness & Answered Questions

'Do you believe there is terror in heaven? sin? sickness? answered questions? face to face interaction with God?'

This question was posed to me recently, and it's gotten me to thinking ( again )!

If 'Heaven', as I believe, is simply the Presence of God, then will we eventually get to the point where we will know everything that's knowable, understand everything that's understandable; will we eventually be free of sin & sickness, will there be the terror of death in 'Heaven'?

Starting with the last one first; no, there is no terror in biological death for the one who follows the heavenly pattern set for us by the Son of God, our Brother, Jesus who was the Christ, or Messiah of Israel! Secondly, as for the sin of Adam, yes, we have been freed from the sin & the death of Adam; we have, corporately, as the Body of Christ, been brought back into Blessed Communion with our Creator, our Heavenly Father!

Finally, to answer the question of whether unanswered questions will be satisfied in 'Heaven'; I believe that there are things knowable to God alone, and that it will always be that way! ( Some things should probably be left unanswered anyway ) Many questions, as knowledge increases are beginning to be answered through study in the area of fulfilled, realized, or covenant eschatology, for example, and we're just getting started!

Will we ever fully understand the Nature of God? What does it really mean that He is the Creator of all things; does that mean that He is the Author of Evil? To a point, we understand the Nature of God well enough to know the answer to the question of the Author of Evil, but as to the question of the Nature of God, and what it really means that He is the Creator of all things, I believe that it is entirely possible, and as we eternally commune with our Heavenly Father in this, His New Temple & Dwelling Place, that things will become clearer to us as His Presence increases our knowledge & understanding!

'Face to Face' with our Creator?! ( talk abut 'terror'-oh, wait, that was under that first covenant! ) Speaking of the Nature of God, has His Nature changed at all from what we read about in the Hebrew Scriptures? I would say no! Scripture tells us in various places of the immutability of our Heavenly Father, but many people who claim to be followers of the Heavenly Vision would say yes, that the God of Israel is not the kinder, gentler One that we read about in the pages of the Greek Scripture! The old God of Israel was a cruel & vindictive ( even petty ) God, but His Son came along in the New Testament and tamed the Savage Beast! However, we know that Scripture says ( Hebrews 12:29 ) that 'our God is a consuming fire'!

One might speculate, as I have in the past, that when our biological processes finally shut down and our physical body expires and returns to the dust, we will be purely spirit, and more clearly able to interact with our Heavenly Father, who is the Spirit. Whether this is plausible speculation or not, does not Scripture tell us in various Scriptures that we are 'a dwelling place of God in the Spirit' ( Ephesians 2:19-21 )? How about my favorite, John 14:23; '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'? If we are the Dwelling ( place ) of God in the Spirit, would you not think that as we share in communion with Him & with His Body, that we ARE 'Face to Face' with our Heavenly Father?!

As we dwell in His Presence ( as He in ours ), let us put aside speculation about some future 'Heaven', let us cease bludgeoning each other because this one believes that about some fabled after-life, the other believes that about this 'after-life', and yet another believes that there is no 'after-life'; this is all there is!

Let us focus instead on the Life we have been given, and cease lusting & longing after 'something better'! Is the grass greener on the other side of the fabled fence? Doubtful, and most probably not, unless our neighbor does a better job of keep his lawn water than we do!


We are Living in the Here & Now, and better yet, we have the Presence of God; what more could we ask for, what more could we want?! A Closer Communion with our Heavenly Father & with His People, His Temple, yes, but how do we do this?

Not by dying, but by Living!

In Communion,
Charles Haddon Shank

Men are Like Clouds

'Heaven is my home, I'll get there 'by and by'.

Till I get there, I'll be workin' towards that 'great gig in the sky'!

You've prob'ly heard these words before,

maybe even tried to guess the score;

But the score was written before time began,

and though many have guessed at it, no one can!

Men are like clouds, they're chock full of rain,

but try as they might, it's all done in vain!

The wind, as the Spirit, blows it's powerful gale,

and so we know that He will always prevail!

The Spirit, like the wind, blows where He will,

and like it or not, His purpose fulfill!

We always complain, when things go awry,

but all is done well, in 'the sweet bye and bye'!

Blown by the Spirit, men are but clouds,

and will they or won't they, His will always prevails!

Like it or not, we're blown by the Wind,

and ever we know it, He's always our friend!

The Scriptures will tell us that clouds signal judgment,

and that's universally true,

But when He cried 'It is finished', the judgment was passed;

Adam was dead, we're into the Blue!

Charles Haddon Shank

For the Beauty of the Skies

Scripture tells us 'the heavens declare';

For though we are but men, we shine forth His glory!

We often forget, as well, the natural creation,

in our dreary day to day;

The busyness of life often drives from our mind,

that we are not alone in our profession!

The skies above, the earth beneath

declare His praise as well!

Though in tongues they may not speak,

in tongues unknown His Love they prove!

We all witness to His Love,

And shine forth His Glory!

Charles Haddon Shank