Why is the Orthodox Church afraid to acknowledge that Christ ( God ) is actually 'in' Her, not just in a metaphorical ( mystical? ) way, but in Reality, and has cemented the Bond of Marriage with Her? Are we here simply to do the will of our Heavenly Father, or have we become One with Him that we might enjoy Him forever, like an old Married Couple? Are we here to simply reflect and symbolize His Glory, or are we here to be His Glory and shine it forth into every dark place?
Our lives should show forth His Glory, as the Psalmist wrote in his 19th Psalm, 'The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork'; yes, arguably, our clothing, demeanor, and even architecture should reflect this Divine Purpose, but just like the practice of Circumcision, Passover & the keeping of the Feasts ( and Sabbaths ) under that first ( covenant ), and Baptism & The Lord's Supper in the New Covenant, if these symbols simply reflect a dutiful observance, while inside, the observers are 'full of dead men's bones' ( 'Whitened Sepulchres'-Matthew 23:27 )!
Symbols are helpful; there is nothing intrinsically wrong with symbols! They help us to understand why a certain set of actions is required, or suggested. For instance, a school crossing sign tells us that school children often occupy a certain place at times, and the sign is painted yellow to make us understand that we should use extreme caution in proceeding into that space! Signs are very helpful in other areas as well, and can even save lives! Imagine that you are in a large unfamiliar city ( even a small one ), and you suddenly find yourself in a life or death situation, and need to find an ER or hospital quickly; following the blue hospital signs, one can usually be found fairly easily! Of less importance, but still very helpful, if one needs to find the airport in any given city, or even just to find the way back to the interstate, by following the signs, one can eventually find the way to their desired destination.
The Architecture of the Church, especially in centuries past, symbolizes very well the Beauty of Zion! David wrote again, in his 48th Psalm, 'Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, [ is ] Mount Zion [ on ] the sides of the north, the city of the great King'. The City that John described in Revelation 21 as, 'descending out of heaven from God' and 'having the glory of God' was/is beautiful indeed! This Beauty, though symbolized in John's use of metaphor, and evident still today in the actions of God's People, was never meant to remain as such, but always & only pointed to the Reality, which was 'Christ in you, the hope of glory', as the apostle Paul told the Church in Colosse.
Does one form of architecture better symbolize more clearly to a watching world, the Beauty of the Reality of the Marriage of Heaven & Earth? Does a certain type of clothing, as opposed to another, better represent or reflect the Reality of Christ in Us? It might seem so, and in fact there is nothing wrong with building or dressing symbolically, but is not this Reality better represented by a Life Lived in Communion with that Blessed Presence? Are we, as the People of God, not the Reality of which John wrote? The Author of Hebrews said as much when He wrote, 'But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than [ that of ] Abel'.
If we are focused on the Symbol rather than the Reality, we will, as did the pharasaical Jews, be found to have turned the Temple of the Living God into an idol, saying with them 'The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord [ are ] these'. Even His own disciples said, 'Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings [ are here! ]' ( Mark 13:1 )
This is much of the problem in today's Church; with futurism so rampant, the belief that Jesus did not return when & how He promised, and thus that the Marriage of Heaven & Earth has not yet taken place, the People of God, for the most part, are still living as though the Glorious Presence of God is only in some building, some structure that man has devised, rather than accepting the act that He did return when & how He promised, and now dwells as One with ( in ) His People, who are now 'leaves of the tree......for the healing of the nations' ( Revelation 22:2 ). As the True Temple of the Lord, we can much better present the Truth of the Reality to the 'world' around us by Living in the Blessedness of the Presence before them, than could ever be represented by some building, no matter how beautiful or glorious!
Let us determine to live such a Life before a watching 'world' that men & women everywhere will 'see' our good works and glorify our Heavenly Father; let us not rely on mere symbols to shine forth His Glory, but let our Love & Communion be the Evidence of the Reality!
Charles Haddon Shank
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
The Transparency of the Christian Life
A friend was just telling me about a sermon that she had heard this past Sunday. Her pastor preached on transparency, which, I believe you will agree, is a good thing, either way! Whether a person is transparently good or transparently bad, transparency is always a good thing!
Is it better for a person to be totally honest about their wickedness upfront, or for a person to look good on the outside, yet to be full of dead men's bones on the inside? Would you rather wait for a person to prove their wickedness at some point down the road, in which case pain will most like occur, or see their wickedness right off, and save yourself that pain?
On the other hand, wouldn't it be awesome if we could see right away if a person was who he or she said they were? If people could be trusted to act exactly as they claimed to believe, or practice what they preach, imagine the kind of life we would have! The world would be a better place, methinks, if people acted transparently: then we would know more precisely who we could and couldn't trust with our most precious possessions!
Covenant life should be transparent, not to the point that we have no privacy, but so that it is readily evident to those with whom we come in contact that we are who we say we are, and that we are good & trustworthy! Anyone with whom we have to do, should immediately be able to sense that there is undeniably something different about you, something which is good to the very core! If we make a claim to be something we're not, and later someone ( or everyone ) finds out who we really are, then how much harm have we done to the Reputation of the One that we claim to be?!
One might say that non-transparency is the spice of life, and in some instances they could be right! Sometimes it is a good thing to be pleasantly surprised, to not judge a book by its cover, and to find a diamond or a pearl of great price underneath a rough but sturdy exterior, like a rose that's almost hidden by the thorns! A person may be quite unpresentable on the outside, but the most genuinely loving & caring individual on the inside, and this is sometimes the case, but most often, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck; it is a duck!
On the other hand, though, the surprise is not so pleasant when the pleasantly refined & beautiful exterior reveals the monster inside! When the one that we trusted with our most precious possessions turns out to be truly unworthy of our trust, then depending on who & what all is involved, a veritable flood of pain comes crashing down, most often leaving behind an almost irreparable wreck!
Whether the person in question, then, turns out to be good or bad, pleasant or evil, it is a good thing to be able to tell right away if they are worth the investment. Sometimes, one whom we thought was a diamond turns out to be a mere lump of coal, or a rose turns out to be nothing but a thorn-bush. But then there are those who, though rough around the edges, and not much to look at, turn out to be the best friend or lover that we could ever wish!
Surprise is very often the spice of life, but sometimes it's more like bitter herbs to those who live by it! Better to live transparently as the People of God than to live dishonestly, knowing that you may inadvertently be causing a world of pain to those you claim to love best! If you truly love as you are loved, let the object of that love, as it were, see right through you, and if they still love you, do your utmost to keep that love!
To myself more than anyone,
Charles Haddon Shank
Is it better for a person to be totally honest about their wickedness upfront, or for a person to look good on the outside, yet to be full of dead men's bones on the inside? Would you rather wait for a person to prove their wickedness at some point down the road, in which case pain will most like occur, or see their wickedness right off, and save yourself that pain?
On the other hand, wouldn't it be awesome if we could see right away if a person was who he or she said they were? If people could be trusted to act exactly as they claimed to believe, or practice what they preach, imagine the kind of life we would have! The world would be a better place, methinks, if people acted transparently: then we would know more precisely who we could and couldn't trust with our most precious possessions!
Covenant life should be transparent, not to the point that we have no privacy, but so that it is readily evident to those with whom we come in contact that we are who we say we are, and that we are good & trustworthy! Anyone with whom we have to do, should immediately be able to sense that there is undeniably something different about you, something which is good to the very core! If we make a claim to be something we're not, and later someone ( or everyone ) finds out who we really are, then how much harm have we done to the Reputation of the One that we claim to be?!
One might say that non-transparency is the spice of life, and in some instances they could be right! Sometimes it is a good thing to be pleasantly surprised, to not judge a book by its cover, and to find a diamond or a pearl of great price underneath a rough but sturdy exterior, like a rose that's almost hidden by the thorns! A person may be quite unpresentable on the outside, but the most genuinely loving & caring individual on the inside, and this is sometimes the case, but most often, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck; it is a duck!
On the other hand, though, the surprise is not so pleasant when the pleasantly refined & beautiful exterior reveals the monster inside! When the one that we trusted with our most precious possessions turns out to be truly unworthy of our trust, then depending on who & what all is involved, a veritable flood of pain comes crashing down, most often leaving behind an almost irreparable wreck!
Whether the person in question, then, turns out to be good or bad, pleasant or evil, it is a good thing to be able to tell right away if they are worth the investment. Sometimes, one whom we thought was a diamond turns out to be a mere lump of coal, or a rose turns out to be nothing but a thorn-bush. But then there are those who, though rough around the edges, and not much to look at, turn out to be the best friend or lover that we could ever wish!
Surprise is very often the spice of life, but sometimes it's more like bitter herbs to those who live by it! Better to live transparently as the People of God than to live dishonestly, knowing that you may inadvertently be causing a world of pain to those you claim to love best! If you truly love as you are loved, let the object of that love, as it were, see right through you, and if they still love you, do your utmost to keep that love!
To myself more than anyone,
Charles Haddon Shank
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
A Present Reality
Are you an IBD? Do you hold the CBV or the IBV? Respectively, these terms stand for 'Immortal Body at Death ( can't forget IBN-Immortal Body Now ), Corporate Body View, and Individual Body View; but what do they really mean? There are probably more interpretations of these phrases than there are fingers on your hand or toes on your feet!
Let's start with the last one first ( 'the first shall be last', etc., right? )! The Individual Body View, especially as opposed to the Corporate Body View, should be fairly self-explanatory, right? Wrong! To understand what the hell this person is talking about, one must first be at least somewhat familiar with the Story. In particular, it is best to have a firm grasp on the Resurrection! ( I know; that's asking a lot, nowadays )
'The Resurrection', you say, 'isn't that where, at the end of time, everyone will be raised back to biological life, and the good people of the world will rise to Heaven, and the bad ones will descend into Hell?' That's likely, to one degree or another, what you grew up believing if you were brought up in a traditional church congregation ( I mean, even the movies teach you that! )!
Sorry to disappoint all you escapists out there, but that just isn't the Resurrection; NO, far from it!
The Resurrection, embodied in Jesus the Christ ( John 11:25 ), did not involve individual bodies being reanimated and rising up through the atmosphere. Yes, like the Gospel of Matthew records ( 27:51-53 ), individual bodies were raised from their tombs/graves after the biological reanimation of Jesus' physical body, but that may be a story for another day!
The Body of Israel had died! We see this throughout the Prophets, and Ezekiel 37 shows us the clearest picture of what the Resurrection looked like. It was not an individual, biological body being reanimated, although individual bodies were involved, as they are simply a part of the whole; it was a Corporate Body ( if you are wondering what 'corporate' means, find a dictionary! ), that of Israel who had died! The resurrection of Lazarus, as of those who appeared in the Holy City after Jesus' Resurrection, along with others as well, was simply a physical picture of a spiritual Reality!
Well, we've already discussed the Corporate Body View, but it could still bear some more clarification, no?
Corporately, or as a whole, a conglomeration, you might say, the Body of Israel who had died ( metaphorically ) needed New Life breathed into Her! We see this most clearly happen in Ezekiel 37, as was mentioned above. To get the clearest picture though, you should go back to Genesis 2:7!
The Individual Bodies within Israel were resurrected only as a part of the whole, the body politic, you might say! Although, as we read in Matthew 27:52, 'the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised', these bodies were raised for the same reason that Jesus' biological Body was raised, to show those weak in faith & slow in understanding that the death had indeed been defeated!
There are those even today, who still speculate that a Corporate Body Resurrection is in progress! Indeed, it is! Because both the Corporate Body of Christ & the Resurrection Himself exist for Eternity, this will always be the case! There IS a slight difference, however ( okay, maybe a little greater than 'slight' ); we today, are living IN the Resurrection, whereas those of Jesus' Day were looking forward to gaining entrance!
Is there a Resurrection to be looked forward to, after our biological bodies stop functioning and assume room temperature? It's a good thought, but as we've explored elsewhere, it is just that, a good thought, a pleasant speculation, if you will! This is where we come to the Immortal Body Now view!
The Immortal Body Now view is a bit harder to explain, and A LOT harder to believe!
Individualistic thinking has gotten the Church into a lot of trouble over the long ages, and especially since the second and third centuries AD! Understood correctly, from a corporate or covenantal view-point, this is the more correct of the various views at hand, but if not understood correctly, and from a non-covenantal and individualist viewpoint, it sounds like its proponents are saying that our individual biological bodies will never perish!
Jesus did say, as recorded in the Gospel according to John ( 11:26 ), that 'whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die'. Most, if not all Christian accept that Jesus was not speaking here of biological death, but others stubbornly hold on to the notion that Jesus was speaking of some future resurrection, because a more literal translation reads, 'and every one who is living and believing in me shall not die -- to the age' ( YLT ), or 'And every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever' ( Douay-Rheims 1899 ). However, in context, especially with what Jesus told Martha just prior to this, 'I am the resurrection and the life', that theory is quickly dissipated ( or should be )!
The Immortal Body that is now, is none other than the Body of Christ, the Church! The individuals within that Body, while their biological clocks will eventually run down ( happens to the best of us ), in this sense, because they are part of the Body, DO have the Immortal Body Now! Though we have been blessed with biology, in order that we might be God's Hands & God's Feet, we are, in Reality, One with our Heavenly Father, and One Spirit, as He is! Because we believe in Him & keep His Word, and are the Offspring of the Heavenly Marriage, we will never die; when our biological bodies cease to function and perish, then our spirits separate from our biology, but we remain in Close Communion with our Heavenly Father!
Though held by those ( primarily ) who hold to the principles of Fulfilled Eschatology, the Immortal Body at Death view is probably the most futuristic, and likely the most damaging of these proposals! I should point out that, in one form or another, this false belief is also the 'darling' of any self-respecting Futurist!
Immortal Body at Death, or IBD, is about as individualistic as it gets! This belief assumes, first of all, that the Body, or even individual that Jesus spoke of in John 11:25, as living forever, or at least not dying forever, was a biological one. It could not be more wrong! Jesus promised this Eternal Life in other Gospel passages, most famously John 3:16. The Promise of Eternal Life NEVER referred to individual, biological bodies; it ALWAYS referred to the Corporate Body of Israel, She who had died!
Throughout the pages of History, we can read how those who had died, as Adam did in the Garden ( 'in the day you eat.......you shall surely die' -Genesis 2:17 ), would one Day, in THEIR future, have New Life breathed into them. This was Israel, not according to the flesh, but 'the Israel of God' ( Galatians 6:16 ), not as individuals, but as a Corporate whole, who would be raised to New Life ( in Christ ) and would inherit the Promised Resurrection!
We too, as part of that Body, the Body of Christ/Israel, and Sons of God, are inheritors of the Resurrection, though we are born into it. There is a sense in which, even now, Individual Resurrections occur on a daily basis, as non-believers accept their position within God's Temple and exercise their responsibility to maintain a healthy Communion with His Body! Since we though, as believers in the 21st century, never belonged to that Dead Body know as Israel according to the Flesh, being 'sons of the resurrection' ( Luke 20:36 ), we 'merely' live in that Present Reality!
Another view, which has recently came to my attention, is the Energetic Body View, or EBV. Not having done any research into this view, and because this post is already in danger of becoming too lengthy, we will suffice to say that this Energetic Body may be summed up in the words of a famous Spaniard,
'I do not think it means what you think it means'!
Charles Haddon Shank
Let's start with the last one first ( 'the first shall be last', etc., right? )! The Individual Body View, especially as opposed to the Corporate Body View, should be fairly self-explanatory, right? Wrong! To understand what the hell this person is talking about, one must first be at least somewhat familiar with the Story. In particular, it is best to have a firm grasp on the Resurrection! ( I know; that's asking a lot, nowadays )
'The Resurrection', you say, 'isn't that where, at the end of time, everyone will be raised back to biological life, and the good people of the world will rise to Heaven, and the bad ones will descend into Hell?' That's likely, to one degree or another, what you grew up believing if you were brought up in a traditional church congregation ( I mean, even the movies teach you that! )!
Sorry to disappoint all you escapists out there, but that just isn't the Resurrection; NO, far from it!
The Resurrection, embodied in Jesus the Christ ( John 11:25 ), did not involve individual bodies being reanimated and rising up through the atmosphere. Yes, like the Gospel of Matthew records ( 27:51-53 ), individual bodies were raised from their tombs/graves after the biological reanimation of Jesus' physical body, but that may be a story for another day!
The Body of Israel had died! We see this throughout the Prophets, and Ezekiel 37 shows us the clearest picture of what the Resurrection looked like. It was not an individual, biological body being reanimated, although individual bodies were involved, as they are simply a part of the whole; it was a Corporate Body ( if you are wondering what 'corporate' means, find a dictionary! ), that of Israel who had died! The resurrection of Lazarus, as of those who appeared in the Holy City after Jesus' Resurrection, along with others as well, was simply a physical picture of a spiritual Reality!
Well, we've already discussed the Corporate Body View, but it could still bear some more clarification, no?
Corporately, or as a whole, a conglomeration, you might say, the Body of Israel who had died ( metaphorically ) needed New Life breathed into Her! We see this most clearly happen in Ezekiel 37, as was mentioned above. To get the clearest picture though, you should go back to Genesis 2:7!
The Individual Bodies within Israel were resurrected only as a part of the whole, the body politic, you might say! Although, as we read in Matthew 27:52, 'the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised', these bodies were raised for the same reason that Jesus' biological Body was raised, to show those weak in faith & slow in understanding that the death had indeed been defeated!
There are those even today, who still speculate that a Corporate Body Resurrection is in progress! Indeed, it is! Because both the Corporate Body of Christ & the Resurrection Himself exist for Eternity, this will always be the case! There IS a slight difference, however ( okay, maybe a little greater than 'slight' ); we today, are living IN the Resurrection, whereas those of Jesus' Day were looking forward to gaining entrance!
Is there a Resurrection to be looked forward to, after our biological bodies stop functioning and assume room temperature? It's a good thought, but as we've explored elsewhere, it is just that, a good thought, a pleasant speculation, if you will! This is where we come to the Immortal Body Now view!
The Immortal Body Now view is a bit harder to explain, and A LOT harder to believe!
Individualistic thinking has gotten the Church into a lot of trouble over the long ages, and especially since the second and third centuries AD! Understood correctly, from a corporate or covenantal view-point, this is the more correct of the various views at hand, but if not understood correctly, and from a non-covenantal and individualist viewpoint, it sounds like its proponents are saying that our individual biological bodies will never perish!
Jesus did say, as recorded in the Gospel according to John ( 11:26 ), that 'whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die'. Most, if not all Christian accept that Jesus was not speaking here of biological death, but others stubbornly hold on to the notion that Jesus was speaking of some future resurrection, because a more literal translation reads, 'and every one who is living and believing in me shall not die -- to the age' ( YLT ), or 'And every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever' ( Douay-Rheims 1899 ). However, in context, especially with what Jesus told Martha just prior to this, 'I am the resurrection and the life', that theory is quickly dissipated ( or should be )!
The Immortal Body that is now, is none other than the Body of Christ, the Church! The individuals within that Body, while their biological clocks will eventually run down ( happens to the best of us ), in this sense, because they are part of the Body, DO have the Immortal Body Now! Though we have been blessed with biology, in order that we might be God's Hands & God's Feet, we are, in Reality, One with our Heavenly Father, and One Spirit, as He is! Because we believe in Him & keep His Word, and are the Offspring of the Heavenly Marriage, we will never die; when our biological bodies cease to function and perish, then our spirits separate from our biology, but we remain in Close Communion with our Heavenly Father!
Though held by those ( primarily ) who hold to the principles of Fulfilled Eschatology, the Immortal Body at Death view is probably the most futuristic, and likely the most damaging of these proposals! I should point out that, in one form or another, this false belief is also the 'darling' of any self-respecting Futurist!
Immortal Body at Death, or IBD, is about as individualistic as it gets! This belief assumes, first of all, that the Body, or even individual that Jesus spoke of in John 11:25, as living forever, or at least not dying forever, was a biological one. It could not be more wrong! Jesus promised this Eternal Life in other Gospel passages, most famously John 3:16. The Promise of Eternal Life NEVER referred to individual, biological bodies; it ALWAYS referred to the Corporate Body of Israel, She who had died!
Throughout the pages of History, we can read how those who had died, as Adam did in the Garden ( 'in the day you eat.......you shall surely die' -Genesis 2:17 ), would one Day, in THEIR future, have New Life breathed into them. This was Israel, not according to the flesh, but 'the Israel of God' ( Galatians 6:16 ), not as individuals, but as a Corporate whole, who would be raised to New Life ( in Christ ) and would inherit the Promised Resurrection!
We too, as part of that Body, the Body of Christ/Israel, and Sons of God, are inheritors of the Resurrection, though we are born into it. There is a sense in which, even now, Individual Resurrections occur on a daily basis, as non-believers accept their position within God's Temple and exercise their responsibility to maintain a healthy Communion with His Body! Since we though, as believers in the 21st century, never belonged to that Dead Body know as Israel according to the Flesh, being 'sons of the resurrection' ( Luke 20:36 ), we 'merely' live in that Present Reality!
Another view, which has recently came to my attention, is the Energetic Body View, or EBV. Not having done any research into this view, and because this post is already in danger of becoming too lengthy, we will suffice to say that this Energetic Body may be summed up in the words of a famous Spaniard,
'I do not think it means what you think it means'!
Charles Haddon Shank
Monday, May 12, 2014
Jesus, Mary & Joseph! ( A Mother's Day Sermon )
The birth of our Lord was doubtless one of the greatest miracles
recorded in Scripture! For a young woman like Mary, who had never known a man,
to be found with child was not only miraculous, it was also rather dangerous in
her day and age! Her peers, not to mention the Jewish Sanhedrin, or leaders of
the day, might not have understood that she was impregnated through what today
might be call artificial insemination. Scripture tells us in Matthew 1:18 that
'before they came together ( speaking here of Joseph &
Mary ), she was found with child of the
Holy Spirit'. Now, without going into
the intricacies of how a normal child is conceived in the womb, it would
suffice to say that what was begotten of this Blessed Union was Immaculate
indeed!
The Birth of Jesus was the Reality of the Promise which was
introduced back in Genesis 3:15 ( quote ), the Seed of the Woman who would
crush the head of the serpent! As the Son of Man, He lived a Life for us to
follow, and as the Son of God, He gave us Life!
The Prophecy of Zechariah came in the midst of the Babylonian Captivity, and spoke of the Coming Glory of
Yahweh's Temple. We see this, in verse 12 of chapter 1; 'Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will You not
have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were
angry these seventy years?”' Reading through Zechariah's prophecy, we find several
mentions of a Coming 'BRANCH'.
Of 'My Servant', says Yahweh, 'From His
place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the Lord;
Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and
rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of
peace shall be between them both.' Again, in chapter 8, verse 3, we read, 'Thus says
the Lord: ‘I will
return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be
called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord
of hosts, the Holy Mountain.' Yet again, and
finally, in verses 7 through 10 of the same chapter, 'Behold, I will save My people from the land of the
east and from the land of the west;
I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem. They shall be My people and I will be their God, in truth and
righteousness’, and so, 'Let your hands be
strong, you who have been hearing in these days these words by the mouth of the
prophets, who spoke in the day the
foundation was laid for the house of the Lord of hosts, that the temple might be
built. For before these days
there were no wages for man nor any hire for beast; no peace from the enemy for
whoever went out or came in; for I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor'!
The Promise of the Presence was a Hope that Israel had clung to
since Her conception! She had struggled with Her innate desires for millennia
and had finally come to birth; the Time of the Promised Messiah had finally
come, when She would be freed from Her bondage and would finally, once and for
all, play Host to the Spirit of Yahweh! She would be the Temple 'made without hands' ( Daniel 2:45, John 2:19 )!
As we come to the time when all things would be fulfilled, we find
a young woman of the House of Israel, promised in a betrothal contract, to a
just man, one of the House of David. That Mary was a virgin is clear, for
Scripture tells us that she had not yet been intimate with a man ( verse 34 of
Luke 1 ). The question of why Mary had to be a maiden is still a matter of some
controversy in the modern Church. Much of the misunderstanding and disharmony
comes from an individualistic, non-covenantal viewpoint, one which has plagued
the Church for centuries, and maybe even millenia!
Individualism removes Jesus from the context of History &
relegates Him to the realm of the individual, rather than seeing Him as He
truly was, the Savior of His Covenant People!
Our Lord had prophesied, through Isaiah ( chapter 7, verse 14 )
that 'the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son'.
The mother of our Lord, as the representative Virgin of Israel, must be
immaculate, or undefiled, because Israel according to the flesh had become metaphorically
defiled, having 'gone up on every high mountain and under
every green tree, and there played the harlot' ( Jeremiah 2:20,
3:6 ),
God chose Mary, because as a virtuous young woman, and who had not
known a man, she was therefore metaphorically representative of the Israel of
God, as opposed to Israel according to the flesh, who had been committing
spiritual adultery & harlotry against the Lord their God.
When Jesus was born of first conceived in Mary’s womb,
Heaven Itself entered into Earth, or metaphorically, the Land! This
Intersection brought to Reality the Promise of the Presence that can be seen
throughout the Scriptures. Jesus, as Man on the Land, was also He who dwelt in
the Heavens, so when these two were brought together, the New Temple that Jesus
spoke of in John 2:19-21, was formed!
In our Call to Worship, David, as King of Israel. prayed not just
for himself, but for Israel as a whole. As a prophet and the representative
Head of Israel, David knew that his own sin, and thus his own need for
redemption & renewal, although very real for him as an individual, was
merely a picture of the greater need for the Redemption & Renewal of his
people. As with many of the prophets, his own life events and personal
grievances were significant of a greater spiritual reality: Israel had
committed spiritual adultery against Yahweh, and thus, David's own sin
signified the greater and more deep-seated sin of his people!
David was a type of Christ, and perhaps the greatest, being, as we
read in Acts 13:22, a Man after God's own heart! As Jesus would later take upon
Himself the Sin of His People Israel, bearing 'our sins in
His own body on the tree'
( I Peter 2:24 ), so David himself, in his adulterous relations with Bathsheba,
pictured for his people the spiritual adultery for which they themselves would be
in danger of being cut off from the Presence of Yahweh and from the House ( or
Temple ) of Israel!
Just prior to His promise of a New Covenant ( 31:31-34 ), the
prophet Jeremiah recorded this Promise from Yahweh ( 30:8 & 9 ), '‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’ says the Lord of hosts,
‘That I will break his yoke from
your neck, and will burst your bonds; foreigners shall no more enslave
them. But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their
king, whom I will raise up for them.' It is common knowledge & understanding ( among most, anyway
) that this David ( which, BTW, means 'Beloved' ) is none other than He who
would later be born of the Virgin, as Isaiah had prophesied some time
previously.
Joseph, whose name means 'God will increase’, was of the direct
lineage of David, and therefore, Jesus could legitimately take His seat as the
True King of Israel! Mary, as we read in Luke 3:23-38, traced her line of
descent through another of David's sons, not through his firstborn, Solomon,
whose name means 'Peace'. Nathan, this other son, whose name means ‘Gift’,
together with his brother’s name, revealed beforehand that the Promised Messiah
would be ‘The Gift of Peace’!
The Revelation of Jesus as the Christ was not only THE defining
Event in History, one which turned the world upside down ( or actually,
restored it to rights ): it was not simply the Greatest Miracle, or Story Ever
Told, it was in fact the Intersection of Heaven & Earth, the entrance,
finally & fully, of the Presence of our Heavenly Father into His Creation!
The Marriage of Heaven & Earth was the End from the Beginning!
From the Creation in Genesis to the New Creation in Revelation; The History of
Israel was one of Creation, De-Creation, and Re-Creation, or, in other words,
as we read in the Song of Solomon, ‘boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds
girl again and marries her’!
As the Offspring of this Holy Marriage, let us live our Lives with
the Grace we have been given, in His Presence, and facing each obstacle with
His Strength; let us be the Over-comers that we are!
Let us honor our mothers, not this Day only, but every day,
knowing that it is through them that we have been blessed with Life!
What a Conception!
Wednesday, May 07, 2014
The Breath of Life
Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Ezekiel 37:9 & 10
With the advent of the Covenant Creation model ( not a new concept ), especially, there is some dissension within the Christian community at large about whether 'the breath of life' refers to the physical or spiritual life-force of humanity. 'Was Adam truly the first human being to walk planet earth, or was he simply the first to Commune, through Covenant, with his Creator?' This question, among other related questions, could and has released a firestorm & veritable flood of controversy!
If Adam was merely the first man to walk with God, think what that would do toward repairing the rift between Science & Religion in the minds of many Christians; the possibilities are nearly endless!The universe, to say nothing of the earth itself, might indeed be millions, even billions of years old, like Science tells us! How far away, according to Science, is the furthest visible star? Depending on whether you are using a telescope or viewing the night sky with the naked eye, the answer to this question may vary anywhere from 100,000 to millions and even billions of light-years; that's astronomical, however you look at it!
In other words, we're looking at these stars today just as they appeared then! Either that, or they were created with the appearance of age by an infinitely devious Creator, just to screw with us! If you believe that our Heavenly Father would do that to His People, you might be part of the problem within modern Christianity! ( of course, Scripture DOES say; 'He who sits in the heavens shall laugh'! )
So anyway, getting back to the subject at hand, if this 'breath of life' is referring to something more than mere physical existence, many of the problems within modern Christianity would be rendered moot,, such as the supposed rift between Science & Religion, and even the nature of man & the Nature of God could safely be re-examined! The nature of man and his resulting fallen condition, as opposed to what Scripture tells us in II Corinthians 5:17, 'behold, all things have become new', would be reconciled without having to become a cowboy, just by the realization that The Sin of Adam had primarily spiritual, not physical consequences, and thus saw Spiritual Fulfillment in Jesus the Christ!
The Nature of God, on the other hand, although an infinitely greater Subject, might be brought closer by the realization that, as the Creator of the Universe, and the Great & Holy Spirit, our Heavenly Father has condescended to make His Dwelling with ( in ) His Creation, through His People! Who & What God is would become clearer to many Christians with the acceptance of the Blessed Reality of 'Christ in Us'!
Those who believe that this 'breath of life' refers to mere human existence are consistent then, when they come, for example, to the Story of the Flood of Noah's day! If the physical life-force of mere humanity is the referent here, then we might well conclude that the scope of the Flood was universal, and that every living being on planet earth, except for those ( relatively ) few, perished! However, we have then, not just a rift between Science ( in general ) & Religion, we have a rift between Biology & Religion!
In some sort of Evolutionary Development, one of the sons of Noah must have eaten his Wheaties, because he sired some real 'giants' among men! Genesis 6:4 tells us, 'There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore [ children ] to them. Those [ were ] the mighty men who [ were ] of old, men of renown'. Now we're back to the Nature of God & the Sons of God! Were these in fact angelic spirit-beings ( whether good or evil ) that somehow physically impregnated human women ( oh, wait, the Holy Spirit did that with Mary, right? ), or were they simply those descendants of Noah that married outside the bounds of the Covenant?
And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.
Genesis 6:17
For centuries, modern Christianity has accepted the plain 'fact' that not only was the scope of the flood universal, the destruction of 'all flesh in which is the breath of life' was universal as well! This leads to a host of problems, one of which is that 'as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive'. Although many Christians have accepted some form of universalism, this has become a real problem & cause for dissension among those who are the Body of Christ! This belief in some sort of 'Universal Salvation' has come about, in large part, because of a non-covenantal understanding & a misunderstanding of the Nature of God!
Historically, the Orthodox Christian Church has decried the universal aspect and scope of salvation, and even though there have been several who may have entertained the notion, it was widely accepted that most would end up in Hell, while only a select few would make it to Heaven! Not only does the belief that the 'breath of life' referred to spiritual and not physical life speak to the Nature of God, it also challenges the traditional & orthodox notion of Heaven & Hell! If all people will eventually be saved, why is there a Hell at all? IS there a Hell?! If there IS no Hell beneath. is there a Heaven above?!
The Breath of Life is not only THE most important question, theologically speaking; it could have infinitely far-reaching implications ( and applications ) regarding our understanding of the Nature of God & the Universe! All of this, however, is a moot point, if we do not put this understanding into practice, or, in other words, if we are not religious about it!
Since, as I believe, along with a growing number of Christians, 'the breath of life' is the Spiritual Reality of 'Christ in us', we should live in that Reality, not expecting that Jesus will return someday ( 'soon'? ) and whisk us away to Heaven, destroy this Earth, and then build a 'new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells' ( II Peter 3:12 )! We should live freely, in the knowledge that, while biological death is a natural occurrence, we, as the Body of Christ, have been eternally united to our Heavenly Father! We ARE Kings & Priests on the Land that our Heavenly Father has bequeathed to us!
The Breath of Life was/is the Spirit of God becoming One with His New Creation in Christ, in Essence, the Marriage of Heaven & Earth! If it is merely the life-force of human existence, then when our biology expires, we must become less than what our Heavenly Father created us to be!
No wonder that modern Christianity is in the shape it's in!
Charles Haddon Shank
Tuesday, May 06, 2014
Beasts of the Field
Imagine that!
In certain circles today, there is a progressive sort of talk going around, concerning, of all things, the Story of Noah and the Ark! The historicity of the Story and the scope of the Flood are not so much an issue anymore, but whether the animals on the Ark, the ones that entered two by two, were simply representations ( not uncommon throughout Scripture ) of human beings! If this is so, such a revelation would go a long way in turning upside down the traditional & orthodox understanding of the true Story behind Noah's Ark, and would represent a huge paradigm shift in the way we view Salvation & Redemption!
If the scope of the flood was not world-wide, covering all terra firma under the heavens ( sky ) and it was human beings of every sort who were saved through the vessel of the Ark, then maybe the Story of the Flood of Noah's Day was not about the future redemption of the entire creation ( natural, animal, and human ) at all! Maybe it was simply an allegorical Story, witnessing to the future Redemption & Salvation of God's People, from both the Jews & the Gentiles!
Though application might be made here to a change of the Jewish dietary laws, Peter, as a traditional Jew, understood soon enough what Yahweh was telling him through the vision. As we see by reading further in the text, the animals in the sheet were representative of the Gentiles with whom Peter would share the Gospel the next day. He was not being told that Jews were now allowed to eat just any kind of meat, but that he 'should not call any man common or unclean'. Peter learned that day, as a representative of the Jewish nation, that it was to all men everywhere, not just the Jew, that the Gospel, or Good News had come!
Interestingly enough, in Nebuchadnezzar's Second Dream, recorded earlier in this passage, we see that the king was likened to a mighty tree 'whose leaves [ were ] lovely and its fruit abundant, in which [ was ] food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home'. As the king of a mighty empire, Nebuchadnezzar might easily have understood that the mighty tree which was chopped down in the vision was representative of himself. He would doubtless have understood this representation and even been proud of what he had accomplished, but it was the second part which he would have had trouble, not being a Jew, or Hebrew, in understanding. He would be changed into a beast?! Imagine that!
The representation of men as beasts was not a new thing, either! In John's Revelation, the Beast was revealed, to those with the capacity to learn it, as a mere man ( Ezekiel 28:9 ).The Beast of Revelation was simply a literary tool used to represent men who were in opposition to the reign of Yahweh. There are many references to beasts in this manner throughout Scripture; for example, David wrote, in Psalm 49 ( 20 ), 'A man [ who is ] in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts [ that ] perish'. Another way to put this, I believe, would be that without The Breath of Life, or the infusion of the Spirit of God, man is simply a beast, and perishes like all beasts!
The prophet Isaiah refers in such a way to the Egyptians to whom Israel had turned for the hope of salvation. Using the parallel form of literature that those familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures should be very familiar with ( Jeremiah 4:23, Isaiah 65:17-19 ), he referred to the Egyptians as mere dumb beasts through whom no real help or salvation could come!
Throughout The Prophets, Yahweh continually invites 'the beasts of the field' to His Great Feast. This Great Feast saw fulfillment in John's vision ( Revelation 19:9-18 ) of The Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Their feasting on the flesh & blood of Israel was significant of the Gentiles participation in the Body & Blood of our Lord ( John 6:53 ).
Even today, we tend to represent men with beasts, or even as beasts! In our terminology, people will often say, of a man ( or woman ) exhibiting great brute strength or prowess of any sort, 'what a beast!' Although not in use so much anymore, in old books, you may read phrases such as 'how perfectly beastly that man was', or 'what a beastly proposition', in reference to unwanted attentions or events which should not have happened.
Comic strips are probably the most common & familiar way in which we make this comparison in today's culture! You could not count, with all you digits, the comic characters out there who are representative of human society. I mean, do you think that Mickey & Minnie Mouse are actually supposed to bring to our minds thoughts of cute little fuzzy creatures with pea-brains, scurrying all over?! Of all the comic strips, old & new, that we look forward to laughing at in the daily newspaper, how many are dominated by animals that think talk and act, JUST LIKE HUMANS?!
When we begin to understand the Hebrew mindset, and their literary style of writing, the pages of Scripture are opened to us in a way that had been dark to us before! Understanding that a man without understanding, or illumination by the Holy Spirit is 'like the beasts that perish' helps us to make real sense of the Story and of the Reality of The Breath of Life! It is not this physical existence which is in view in the pages of Scripture, although in a very real sense, application must be made to our physical existence, but rather it is the Reality of the Presence, the Spirit within us, which is the Subject & Object of the Story of Israel; it is how the Son of Man, as Well as the Beasts of the Field, became the Son of God!
Charles Haddon Shank
In certain circles today, there is a progressive sort of talk going around, concerning, of all things, the Story of Noah and the Ark! The historicity of the Story and the scope of the Flood are not so much an issue anymore, but whether the animals on the Ark, the ones that entered two by two, were simply representations ( not uncommon throughout Scripture ) of human beings! If this is so, such a revelation would go a long way in turning upside down the traditional & orthodox understanding of the true Story behind Noah's Ark, and would represent a huge paradigm shift in the way we view Salvation & Redemption!
If the scope of the flood was not world-wide, covering all terra firma under the heavens ( sky ) and it was human beings of every sort who were saved through the vessel of the Ark, then maybe the Story of the Flood of Noah's Day was not about the future redemption of the entire creation ( natural, animal, and human ) at all! Maybe it was simply an allegorical Story, witnessing to the future Redemption & Salvation of God's People, from both the Jews & the Gentiles!
Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.
Acts 10:10-13
Though application might be made here to a change of the Jewish dietary laws, Peter, as a traditional Jew, understood soon enough what Yahweh was telling him through the vision. As we see by reading further in the text, the animals in the sheet were representative of the Gentiles with whom Peter would share the Gospel the next day. He was not being told that Jews were now allowed to eat just any kind of meat, but that he 'should not call any man common or unclean'. Peter learned that day, as a representative of the Jewish nation, that it was to all men everywhere, not just the Jew, that the Gospel, or Good News had come!
They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men,
and gives it to whomever He chooses.
Daniel 4:25
Interestingly enough, in Nebuchadnezzar's Second Dream, recorded earlier in this passage, we see that the king was likened to a mighty tree 'whose leaves [ were ] lovely and its fruit abundant, in which [ was ] food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home'. As the king of a mighty empire, Nebuchadnezzar might easily have understood that the mighty tree which was chopped down in the vision was representative of himself. He would doubtless have understood this representation and even been proud of what he had accomplished, but it was the second part which he would have had trouble, not being a Jew, or Hebrew, in understanding. He would be changed into a beast?! Imagine that!
The representation of men as beasts was not a new thing, either! In John's Revelation, the Beast was revealed, to those with the capacity to learn it, as a mere man ( Ezekiel 28:9 ).The Beast of Revelation was simply a literary tool used to represent men who were in opposition to the reign of Yahweh. There are many references to beasts in this manner throughout Scripture; for example, David wrote, in Psalm 49 ( 20 ), 'A man [ who is ] in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts [ that ] perish'. Another way to put this, I believe, would be that without The Breath of Life, or the infusion of the Spirit of God, man is simply a beast, and perishes like all beasts!
The prophet Isaiah refers in such a way to the Egyptians to whom Israel had turned for the hope of salvation. Using the parallel form of literature that those familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures should be very familiar with ( Jeremiah 4:23, Isaiah 65:17-19 ), he referred to the Egyptians as mere dumb beasts through whom no real help or salvation could come!
Throughout The Prophets, Yahweh continually invites 'the beasts of the field' to His Great Feast. This Great Feast saw fulfillment in John's vision ( Revelation 19:9-18 ) of The Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Their feasting on the flesh & blood of Israel was significant of the Gentiles participation in the Body & Blood of our Lord ( John 6:53 ).
Even today, we tend to represent men with beasts, or even as beasts! In our terminology, people will often say, of a man ( or woman ) exhibiting great brute strength or prowess of any sort, 'what a beast!' Although not in use so much anymore, in old books, you may read phrases such as 'how perfectly beastly that man was', or 'what a beastly proposition', in reference to unwanted attentions or events which should not have happened.
Comic strips are probably the most common & familiar way in which we make this comparison in today's culture! You could not count, with all you digits, the comic characters out there who are representative of human society. I mean, do you think that Mickey & Minnie Mouse are actually supposed to bring to our minds thoughts of cute little fuzzy creatures with pea-brains, scurrying all over?! Of all the comic strips, old & new, that we look forward to laughing at in the daily newspaper, how many are dominated by animals that think talk and act, JUST LIKE HUMANS?!
When we begin to understand the Hebrew mindset, and their literary style of writing, the pages of Scripture are opened to us in a way that had been dark to us before! Understanding that a man without understanding, or illumination by the Holy Spirit is 'like the beasts that perish' helps us to make real sense of the Story and of the Reality of The Breath of Life! It is not this physical existence which is in view in the pages of Scripture, although in a very real sense, application must be made to our physical existence, but rather it is the Reality of the Presence, the Spirit within us, which is the Subject & Object of the Story of Israel; it is how the Son of Man, as Well as the Beasts of the Field, became the Son of God!
Charles Haddon Shank
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
The Intersection of Heaven & Earth; Holy Intercourse
[ The ] Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:35
The wisdom of probing the depths of the insemination of the People of God with the Holy Spirit of God might well be called into question because of the intimate nature of the subject. One might also question in return, if this is not part of the problem in American Christianity today! Whether because of our Puritanical conditioning or what, most Christians are afraid to go there, at least in public! We seem to be embarrassed about the sexuality that our Heavenly Father built into us. Now I can see the point of not walking around au naturel all the time, or engaging ( with your wife, of course ) in sexual intercourse just anywhere, especially in public, but why is it even taboo to talk ( or think ) about; why is the act of sexual intercourse viewed almost as dirty?
Well; the wrong practice of sexual intercourse ( 'sex', for short ) is definitely prohibited in Scripture, and looked down on as sin by most if not all Christians! Although not in so many words maybe, Scripture prohibits sexual relations outside The Bonds of Marriage, and it is definitely frowned upon by most Christians,and is not a wise endeavor in any case! Probably the clearest and most familiar or famous injunction against 'sex' outside marriage is based in the 7th Commandment, 'You shall not commit adultery'; put simply, and according to accepted definition, adultery is, 'sex between a married person and someone who is not that person's wife or husband'. So then, one might wonder, 'is it okay to just have sexual relations with just anyone as long as you are not married, and the person with whom you want to have intercourse is not married?' In that case then, 'why get married?'.
The Hebrew Scriptures, most notably Deuteronomy 22:22-30, on the Laws of Sexual Morality, make no clear distinction between sexual relations with a married woman or one who is betrothed; in both cases the perpetrator is to die. Depending on the situation, the woman might be stoned to death as well! If, however, the woman was not betrothed or married, the man simply had to make arrangements with the woman's father ( bride-price ) and marry the woman.
John 8:2-7 chronicles the story of The Woman Caught in Adultery. Although certain manuscripts do not contain this story, and its authenticity is thus questioned by some, it seems very possible or even probable that this actually occurred! Jesus was famous for challenging the Pharisees concept of the Law, so when they brought Him a woman caught in adultery ( the text does not say whether this alleged act happened inside or outside the city ); He reminded them, first of all, or the actual tenets of their Law, that the man involved must also be stoned to death, and then subtly pointed to none yet all of them, and to them that he among them who had not also committed this heinous act should throw the first stone! Note that the text does not say either whether the woman was either married or betrothed!
Fornication, which Scripture, both Hebrew & Greek, does speak very strongly against, is popularly defined as 'consensual sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other'. Fornication, unlike physical adultery, includes illicit sexual intercourse between two people who are not married at all, not just to each other!
Fornication, or 'porneia' in the Greek, is used in the context of the spiritual adultery of Israel! One may ask then, or wonder, 'does it still apply today?' If, according to the doctrine of Fulfilled Eschatology, all has been fulfilled, then are there still those outside the City? Does that still apply today? Are there those who are In, and those who are Out? Are there still those today committing spiritual adultery?
The act of Sexual Intercourse, whereby a man enters into a woman in maybe one of the most intimate ways possible, is not in itself a dirty or corrupt thing; on the contrary, it can be one of the most beautiful events in a persons life! When used wrongly, either for selfish pleasure, or outside the Bonds of Marriage ( and please don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that 'pleasure' is an invalid reason for 'sex' ), the act is then corrupted & defiled until &; if it is sealed by a Covenant of Marriage! 'Sex' between two individuals who are married, but not to each other, carries its own set of problems!
When Jesus was born of Mary, or rather, when He was first conceived in her womb, Heaven Itself entered into Earth, or metaphorically, the Land! This Intersection brought to Reality the Promise of the Presence, that can be seen throughout the Scriptures. Jesus, as Man on the Land, was also He who dwelt in the Heavens, so when these two were brought together, the New Temple that Jesus spoke of in John 2:19-21, was formed!
The question that now comes to mind is, 'was Yahweh married to Israel before or after the Immaculate Conception?' And, 'if He was not married, but simply betrothed, does that mean sexual intercourse acceptable within the Bonds of Betrothal?' The reader must decide for himself ( or herself ), but let that one remember as well that we live in a much different culture and a much different time than they.
For we are members of His body,[d] of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”[e]This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:30-32
If the apostle Paul compares the the union of man & woman to the Marriage of Heaven & Earth, how ought we as the Body of Christ & the Temple of the Holy Spirit conduct ourselves when it comes to our sexual relation as man & wife?
This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.
Genesis 2:23
Wonderingly,
Charles Hadddon Shank
Saturday, April 26, 2014
The Gifts of the Spirit: Cessation or Continuation
With the fulfillment of 'all things which are written' ( Luke 21:22 ), it is becoming more and more popular to believe & live as all these thing have ceased! However, those run head-long into a few problems; if there is no more Baptism of the Holy Spirit, for instance, who is converting the nations, and how are individuals entering into Communion with our Heavenly Father every day?
Although it could be argued, and quite correctly, in a sense, that the apostle's statement is eschatological in nature, the question should be asked here, 'if the Gifts ( of the Holy Spirit ) have ceased, why do we still employ some or all of them in today's Church?' 'Has the entire Church reached the 'fullness of Christ'? ( okay, I may have to concede a bit on that one; Paul was referring to the indwelling that Jesus promised in John 14 ) In today's Church, though, there are those who have not yet realized this 'fullness' as being present; it is those who have need for 'pastors and teachers', as well as those Gifts mentioned in I Corinthians 12:4-10.
In the sense that our Heavenly Father has taken up residence in His New Temple ( John 14:23 ( I Corinthians 6:19 ), the Church has reached the 'fullness of Christ'', but the Church, as the Kingdom, is ever-expanding, and thus, in that sense, has need still of 'The Gifts of the Spirit ( I Corinthians 14 )
On a Corporate level, then, the Church has reached full maturity, and attained this 'stature', but on a personal &; individual level, there are those within the Body ( as well as those outside ) who have not yet reached that level of maturity, so it is for these that the Gifts must be employed!
Another reason for the Continuation of the Gifts is elaborated well in the apostle's words to the Church at Corinth ( I Corinthians 12:11 ), 'But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills'. It could be argued that since the Holy Spirit was an eschatological phenomenon , that He is no longer relevant to our present situation! However, this is where many traditional Trinitarians get it wrong; by making too much of a distinction between, as they say, 'the three persons of the God-head', it causes some believers to go too far the other way, and claim that since the Fulfillment of the Eschaton, and now that our Heavenly Father has become 'all in all' ( I Corinthians 15:28 ), that there is no more Holy Spirit, or at least that the Gifts & Baptism of the Holy Spirit have ceased.
As our Heavenly Father is Eternal, so in that sense are His Gifts Eternal! He still gives the Gifts as needed and where warranted! The Fact of the Matter is that men are still men; just as in the apostle Paul's day, where 'God has dealt to each one a measure of faith' , so in our day, there are varying levels of faith. Some believe that they 'may eat all things' ( Romans 14:2 ), while others esteem '[ one] day above another' ( Romans 14:5 ). As the case may be, not every individual has reached the same level of maturity within the Body! It is those who must be taught, not the knowledge of God, though there are arguably those as well, but the fullness of our Freedom in Christ, and what it truly means that we are 'free indeed' ( John 8:36 )!
Since we ( corporately ) have received this 'fullness', let us employ His Gifts as well, when & where needed, trusting to our Heavenly Fathers Provision, Wisdom & Guidance, as we act the part of 'healing leaves' in our area of the world. Let us Continue to edify the Body with the Gifts which our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon us, and which Shine out through us! If our Gift is to teach, let us teach those who need teaching, if love, those who need loving, if different tongues, those who need to hear in different tongues, if healing, those who need healing; remembering always that it is the Spirit within who shines out through our action!
Glorying & Gloriously,
Charles Haddon Shank
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13
In the sense that our Heavenly Father has taken up residence in His New Temple ( John 14:23 ( I Corinthians 6:19 ), the Church has reached the 'fullness of Christ'', but the Church, as the Kingdom, is ever-expanding, and thus, in that sense, has need still of 'The Gifts of the Spirit ( I Corinthians 14 )
On a Corporate level, then, the Church has reached full maturity, and attained this 'stature', but on a personal &; individual level, there are those within the Body ( as well as those outside ) who have not yet reached that level of maturity, so it is for these that the Gifts must be employed!
Another reason for the Continuation of the Gifts is elaborated well in the apostle's words to the Church at Corinth ( I Corinthians 12:11 ), 'But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills'. It could be argued that since the Holy Spirit was an eschatological phenomenon , that He is no longer relevant to our present situation! However, this is where many traditional Trinitarians get it wrong; by making too much of a distinction between, as they say, 'the three persons of the God-head', it causes some believers to go too far the other way, and claim that since the Fulfillment of the Eschaton, and now that our Heavenly Father has become 'all in all' ( I Corinthians 15:28 ), that there is no more Holy Spirit, or at least that the Gifts & Baptism of the Holy Spirit have ceased.
As our Heavenly Father is Eternal, so in that sense are His Gifts Eternal! He still gives the Gifts as needed and where warranted! The Fact of the Matter is that men are still men; just as in the apostle Paul's day, where 'God has dealt to each one a measure of faith' , so in our day, there are varying levels of faith. Some believe that they 'may eat all things' ( Romans 14:2 ), while others esteem '[ one] day above another' ( Romans 14:5 ). As the case may be, not every individual has reached the same level of maturity within the Body! It is those who must be taught, not the knowledge of God, though there are arguably those as well, but the fullness of our Freedom in Christ, and what it truly means that we are 'free indeed' ( John 8:36 )!
Since we ( corporately ) have received this 'fullness', let us employ His Gifts as well, when & where needed, trusting to our Heavenly Fathers Provision, Wisdom & Guidance, as we act the part of 'healing leaves' in our area of the world. Let us Continue to edify the Body with the Gifts which our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon us, and which Shine out through us! If our Gift is to teach, let us teach those who need teaching, if love, those who need loving, if different tongues, those who need to hear in different tongues, if healing, those who need healing; remembering always that it is the Spirit within who shines out through our action!
Glorying & Gloriously,
Charles Haddon Shank
Friday, April 25, 2014
The Conversion of Israel
No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
Jeremiah 31:34
And so all Israel will be saved,[g] as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
Romans 11:26 & 27
Most Christians believe that the above passage, from the apostle Paul's letter to the Church in Rome, indicates a future mass-conversion of the Jews. Some even go so far as saying that the former passage indicates that the New Covenant was for the Jews only!One might wonder, and this is apparently a valid matter for discussion in certain circles, if Scripture is at all applicable for us, particularly the Law!
The first question we might ask, in regards to the statement that 'all Israel will be saved' is, 'who is Israel ( in Paul's reference )?' Was Paul referring to his 'countrymen[a] according to the flesh' ( Romans 9:3 )? It would seem so, for the immediate context would seem to demand it! A closer look, however, might yield a different result upon further examination!
Taking a look at the first part of what we know as chapter 11, but keeping in mind Paul's disclaimer in Romans 9:6-8, we can see that his hope is not for all of Israel ( 'according to the flesh ' ), but rather that of 'a remnant according to the election of grace'. The apostle Paul 'sees' the latter Israel, and not the former being saved 'in toto'!
Present-day prognosticators, especially, look at evangelistic efforts and progress in the land that we now know as Israel, as 'signs of the times' ( Matthew 16:3 ), but this does not signal the Eschaton, nor fulfill Paul's prophesy in Romans 11! It does fulfill Scripture in that the nation/state of Israel is simply one of the nations that will be healed through the continuing ministry of the Anointed One! In that sense, and that sense alone, will the Jews be saved at some point in our future!
Israel, or 'the Israel of God', as the apostle called them ( Galatians 6:16 ) was 'born again' ( John 3:7 ), being reckoned 'sons of the resurrection' ( Luke 20:36 )! This conversion was inaugurated during the ministry of Jesus, but began in earnest with the giving of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Acts 2. It was fulfilled in The Marriage of Heaven & Earth, whereas our Heavenly Father made His abode, once more, and in finality, in the midst of His People!
The conversion of the nations is still taking place today, through His Continuing Ministry! It is through His People that His Knowledge & Glory is spread abroad, shining His Light into the darkest corners of the world! As we shine His Light into the darkest areas of our 'world', let us remember that though all Israel was saved, all of our Heavenly Fathers Children will eventually be converted and enter into a lasting Communion with Him!
Glory be,
Charles Haddon Shank
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
The Kingdom, the Power & the Glory
We have noted throughout this study that the historical and covenantal context of our Lord's Model Prayer demands a first-century fulfillment to and for Jesus' contemporary audience. His audience, being Jews, for the most part, if they knew their History, would have recognized the references that He made. Because of this, this prayer was fulfilled through His Ministry, as it was fulfilled in His People!
We saw as well, how this prayer is still valid today, as we strive for our daily sustenance, forgive as we have been forgiven, and strive to keep each other from straying into temptation. Though His Kingdom has come and His will is done on Earth as it is in Heaven, there is yet work for us to do to see His Kingdom evident in His Natural Creation ( unbelieving humans ), and His Revealed Will being done throughout!
In many texts, the words 'For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen' can be read at the end of The Lord's Prayer! These texts, or manuscripts, are later ones, and earlier texts do not contain these words. Though they may be just a later addition, these words ring true, and confirm, or reaffirm the line near the beginning, 'Your kingdom come'! It IS His Kingdom, His Power and His Glory!
No more should we pray for His Kingdom to come, or His will to be done 'On earth as [ it is ] in heaven', especially as we understand that He was speaking covenantally, of His People Israel, those who were involved in the Marriage of Heaven & Earth! As the Offspring of that Marriage though, we should work toward the end, as Israel of old was called to do, of being the 'leaves of the tree' that were for 'the healing of the nations'. His Will is done in His Kingdom, which has come in the form of His New Creation!
We are His New Creation & His New Temple, and therefore His Kingdom on Earth, which has been Married to Heaven! As we seek & do His Will, let us remember that it is in us, and through our actions that His Will is done, for in Him & through Him, we are the Kingdom, the Power & the Glory!
Charles Haddon Shank
We saw as well, how this prayer is still valid today, as we strive for our daily sustenance, forgive as we have been forgiven, and strive to keep each other from straying into temptation. Though His Kingdom has come and His will is done on Earth as it is in Heaven, there is yet work for us to do to see His Kingdom evident in His Natural Creation ( unbelieving humans ), and His Revealed Will being done throughout!
In many texts, the words 'For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen' can be read at the end of The Lord's Prayer! These texts, or manuscripts, are later ones, and earlier texts do not contain these words. Though they may be just a later addition, these words ring true, and confirm, or reaffirm the line near the beginning, 'Your kingdom come'! It IS His Kingdom, His Power and His Glory!
No more should we pray for His Kingdom to come, or His will to be done 'On earth as [ it is ] in heaven', especially as we understand that He was speaking covenantally, of His People Israel, those who were involved in the Marriage of Heaven & Earth! As the Offspring of that Marriage though, we should work toward the end, as Israel of old was called to do, of being the 'leaves of the tree' that were for 'the healing of the nations'. His Will is done in His Kingdom, which has come in the form of His New Creation!
We are His New Creation & His New Temple, and therefore His Kingdom on Earth, which has been Married to Heaven! As we seek & do His Will, let us remember that it is in us, and through our actions that His Will is done, for in Him & through Him, we are the Kingdom, the Power & the Glory!
Charles Haddon Shank
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
'This Land is Our Land'!
No more hunker in the bunker!
'We have met the enemy, and he is us'! This familiar line from the 40s and 50s comic strip 'Pogo' seems to be taking on new meaning of late. Many folks are starting to realize that the corrupt government that they have allowed to fester is starting to assert their unlawful authority in places where it most hurts; at home, and over our very livelihoods!
Say what you will about the recent ( and very tense ) situation ( stand-off, really ) in and around Bunkerville, Nevada, or even about Cliven Bundy himself, and his somewhat questionable activities over the years, he had every right to use public lands for his own purposes, especially as a tax-paying citizen, as long as he wasn't hurting anyone in the process ( Harry Reid & the Desert Tortoise don't count |)!
The Bureau of Land Management, as I understand it from the moniker itself, is simply to be a manager of Federal, or public lands. Just like the Federal Government itself, BLM is simply to act the part of our stewards, using our tax-dollars to serve and protect our interests! They were hired by the People, to work for the People, and in reality, are of the people!
That's the way it's supposed to be, anyway! The Federal Government, in the greatest sense, is of the people, but no longer are they by or for the People; anymore, 'they' are governed ( and peopled ) by the Elite, and protect & serve those Elite!
Militant Patriots, both men and women, answered the Call of Duty when they heard that one of their own was under siege! Around a thousand of these patriots flocked to the Bundy Ranch, ready to loose whatever mayhem they could ( and it wouldn't have been pretty ) on those Federal Officers, should the need arise! Thousands more were prepared, at a moments notice, to join them in the Fight! If things had continued to escalate, and the Federal Officers had not backed down, the ensuing battle most likely produced far more casualties in the Federal camp than in the Patriots camp!
Many thanks rightly go out to those Patriots who, under their own compulsion, and by their own means, took it upon themselves to defend a brother in need, but most of all, thanks & praise should be offer to our Heavenly Father, through Whom this near-tragedy was averted! It is from His powerful Hand that our rights come, not through the Federal Government, and not even by a piece of paper ( though these papers do uphold our rights )!
One good thing that may be seen as stemming from such 'stand-offs, and near-tragedies, is that the people of this nation ( those that weren't already ) are waking up and realizing that, 'we had better do something before everything we have been given goes the way of the dinosaur'; people are beginning to wake up and smell the coffee burning! Cattle rustlers, though they may be a dying breed, are still very much alive and they know their time is short, so they're kickin' it while 'they' can!
As situations like this are beginning to occur on a daily basis all across this nation under God, many are beginning to wonder how long it will be & how much more the American people will take before they rise up and put down their oppressors! Can the Good People of this nation, True Patriots all, take much more of the subterfuge & outright lies before they erupt into a Civil War ( what's so civil about war, anyway? )?
This disaster was, thanks be to God, averted ( for the time being )! With that kind of Power behind us, one that change change minds & hearts, one might well wander, can even this disaster ( Civil War ) be averted? The answer is, 'YES'; it can be averted, and will be averted if and when the People of God, the True Patriots, are encouraged to get off their asses an do what we should have been doing all along, being the fragrance of Christ to a world that desperately needs Him!
To this End,
Charles Haddon Shank
'We have met the enemy, and he is us'! This familiar line from the 40s and 50s comic strip 'Pogo' seems to be taking on new meaning of late. Many folks are starting to realize that the corrupt government that they have allowed to fester is starting to assert their unlawful authority in places where it most hurts; at home, and over our very livelihoods!
Say what you will about the recent ( and very tense ) situation ( stand-off, really ) in and around Bunkerville, Nevada, or even about Cliven Bundy himself, and his somewhat questionable activities over the years, he had every right to use public lands for his own purposes, especially as a tax-paying citizen, as long as he wasn't hurting anyone in the process ( Harry Reid & the Desert Tortoise don't count |)!
The Bureau of Land Management, as I understand it from the moniker itself, is simply to be a manager of Federal, or public lands. Just like the Federal Government itself, BLM is simply to act the part of our stewards, using our tax-dollars to serve and protect our interests! They were hired by the People, to work for the People, and in reality, are of the people!
That's the way it's supposed to be, anyway! The Federal Government, in the greatest sense, is of the people, but no longer are they by or for the People; anymore, 'they' are governed ( and peopled ) by the Elite, and protect & serve those Elite!
Militant Patriots, both men and women, answered the Call of Duty when they heard that one of their own was under siege! Around a thousand of these patriots flocked to the Bundy Ranch, ready to loose whatever mayhem they could ( and it wouldn't have been pretty ) on those Federal Officers, should the need arise! Thousands more were prepared, at a moments notice, to join them in the Fight! If things had continued to escalate, and the Federal Officers had not backed down, the ensuing battle most likely produced far more casualties in the Federal camp than in the Patriots camp!
Many thanks rightly go out to those Patriots who, under their own compulsion, and by their own means, took it upon themselves to defend a brother in need, but most of all, thanks & praise should be offer to our Heavenly Father, through Whom this near-tragedy was averted! It is from His powerful Hand that our rights come, not through the Federal Government, and not even by a piece of paper ( though these papers do uphold our rights )!
For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire;
He blesses the greedy [ and ] renounces the Lord.
4
The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek [ God ];
God [ is ] in none of his thoughts.
Psalm 10:3 & 4
One good thing that may be seen as stemming from such 'stand-offs, and near-tragedies, is that the people of this nation ( those that weren't already ) are waking up and realizing that, 'we had better do something before everything we have been given goes the way of the dinosaur'; people are beginning to wake up and smell the coffee burning! Cattle rustlers, though they may be a dying breed, are still very much alive and they know their time is short, so they're kickin' it while 'they' can!
As situations like this are beginning to occur on a daily basis all across this nation under God, many are beginning to wonder how long it will be & how much more the American people will take before they rise up and put down their oppressors! Can the Good People of this nation, True Patriots all, take much more of the subterfuge & outright lies before they erupt into a Civil War ( what's so civil about war, anyway? )?
This disaster was, thanks be to God, averted ( for the time being )! With that kind of Power behind us, one that change change minds & hearts, one might well wander, can even this disaster ( Civil War ) be averted? The answer is, 'YES'; it can be averted, and will be averted if and when the People of God, the True Patriots, are encouraged to get off their asses an do what we should have been doing all along, being the fragrance of Christ to a world that desperately needs Him!
To this End,
Charles Haddon Shank
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