American Christian University

A         Who is Jesus Christ ?

The very first verse of the book of Revelation identifies the purpose of the book, namely, the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is important, then, that we have a solid understanding of who Jesus Christ is before we study what is revealed about him.  Many will say 'He is the Son of God' and 'He is the Second Person of the Trinity' and so on. That would be right but what we want to determine in this study is what Jesus revealed from the Hebrew Scriptures about himself.

The first public announcements that the Messiah appeared as prophesied, was not unexpected. On the contrary, the Jews considered the appearance of the Messiah an immanent matter, because as soon as John the Baptist spoke about things concerning the Messiah, a delegation was sent to find out if he was the Messiah. John replied that he was not the Christ but that He would come after him.[1] 

There were many in history who announced that they were prophets sent straight from God to declare this or declare that.  More notorious are Mohammad, Mary Baker Eddy, and Joseph Smith.  Even the Pope can be classified as someone usurping power that has no basis in Scripture. 

In the case of Jesus, however, we have centuries of prophecies and the testimony of someone whom John the Baptist announced as the expected Messiah -- who afterwards proclaimed himself to be so.

How does this proclamation of Jesus differ from the proclamation of the false prophets? How can we determine that they were false but Jesus was authentic?

Or we may also ask "How did God engineer it so that a false christ could not possibly rise up and hijack the gospel and mislead the elect?"

We know from the Hebrew writings that the Jews considered many people in history to be the Messiah, perhaps people with exceptional talents. But then they failed in some manner through sin or other frailty, leaving the Jews waiting once again for the expected Messiah. 

In the chapter on Truth in Scripture, which we will deal with later on, I explain why it was possible to recognize Jesus as the true Messiah and how we are able to recognize imposters, like Mohammad, Joseph Smith and others.

It would have been much more convenient to ask you to merely believe that Jesus is the Messiah because I can claim that Scripture teaches that. In this presentation I don't want to diminish the power and necessity of faith in believing the Scriptures, but I want to focus on the time that Jesus revealed himself to the Jews and that  He could not have asked them to merely believe in what He had to say. We want to highlight what Jesus did to prove to the Pharisees who He was and how our faith today is reinforced by this testimony. 

"But anyone could have done that," you may argue. "Anyone who was well versed in the Hebrew Scriptures could have claimed to be the Messiah."  But there is a difference.  Jesus spoke with an insight they could not muster, and He performed miracles.  There was a time that Jesus rebuked Capernaum and Korazin and said, "If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day."[2] And, "The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me."[3] And, "...even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father."

So, in this preamble to the study we are going to research on what basis Jesus declared that He is the Messiah, so that we may understand what has happened to those who came to realize that they lived in the very unusual time of the fulfillment of their Scriptures. You and I will also stand in awe at the compelling proof and testimony delivered at the time.

 

 

It is important that we first determine, from Scripture, who Jesus really is.  Contemporary thought too often caricature Jesus different from the truth, as we shall show.

When God created heaven and earth, as found in Genesis 1, we see that God used a very special and unique instrument to create everything, namely, "And God said..."

Everything was made by speaking. Now, since God is the Almighty, a Spirit who is omnipresent, we don't expect His words to be syllables, vowels, and sentences, or that He expressed the words of creation in a language of some sort, but it is by and through his Word that He called things into being. We cannot be expected to fully comprehend what and how it was done, but we will endeavor to determine that portion of this mystery that God intended for us to know.

Given the way, and by whom, that heaven and earth was created, it is inescapable to conclude that what God spoke came into existence immediately, since the act of speaking was followed by "and it was so."  God could have willed the earth into existence with mere thoughts if He wanted to, we know that, but He chose to create everything through his Word.

We may well ask: What kind of speech was used that would have the power to create such immensity out of nothing? What force was embedded within His Word that could be that powerful?  "God spoke and it was so?"  It is as if the fullness of God dwelled in his Word; as if the Deity, his almighty power, lived in his Word.

Let's look at some of the words of the Old Testament Scripture, because, remember, these were the Scriptures that Jesus used to reveal himself. I want you to pay particular attention to the living attributes ascribed to the word of God in the following passages.

Psalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

Psalm 107:19, 20 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. 20He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

Psalm 147:15  - 18 He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly; 16He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes; 17He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blasts; 18He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.

Isaiah 55:10 - 12 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. 11So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 12You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

In these passages we clearly see that the Word of God has a personality, carries out missions, obeys God -- and yet it is God himself. It carries out the will of God on earth, and as we see this truth unfold before our eyes, we will recognize the offices of this Word.  "He sent forth his word and healed them, he rescued them from the grave."  "... my word ... will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." It is truly God himself.

One cannot but conclude that God's Word is the fullness of the Deity that it embodied with the exact and perfect power of God himself. His Word is alive, powerful, almighty, and effective. 

Let's hear what Scripture teaches in the first four verses of the Gospel of John.

John 1:1 - 4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men."

But that's not all.

If God spoke everything into existence by his word, then let's focus a bit on the word 'say' or 'to say' which was used in the creation account.

The word 'to say' is the same root word ('mr) in both Hebrew and Aramaic. The word used in Aramaic was memra and was used liberally in the Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Scriptures.  These Aramaic translations were used in areas where the Hebrew language was not understood, just as we use an English translation of the Bible today to understand the Hebrew Scriptures.

It is interesting to note that in the Aramaic translation the word memra would have caused the reader to understand the following passages in Scripture as follows:

Passage

Hebrew Scripture

Aramaic Scripture

Genesis 1:27

God created man.

The Word of the Lord created man.

Genesis 6:6-7

And it repented the Lord that he made man on the earth.

And it repented the Lord through his Word that he made man on the earth.

Genesis 9:12

And God said, "this is the sign that I set for the covenant between me and you."

And the Lord said, "This is the sign that I set for the covenant between my Word and you."

Genesis 15:6

And Abraham believed in the Lord.

And Abraham believed in the Word of the Lord.

Genesis 20:3

And God came to Abimelech.

And the Word from before the Lord came to Abimelech.

Genesis 28:20, 21

If God will be with me ... then the Lord will be my God.

If the Word of the Lord will be with me ... then the Word of the Lord will be my God.

Genesis 31:49

May the Lord keep watch between you and me.

May the Word of the Lord keep watch between you and me.

Exodus 14:31

And they believed in the Lord.

And they believed in the Word of the Lord.

Exodus 20:1

And the Lord spoke all these words.

And the Word of the Lord spoke all these words.

Exodus 25:22

And I will meet with you there.

And I will appoint my Word for you there.

Leviticus 26:9

And I will turn to you.

And I will turn through my Word to do good to you.

Numbers 10:35

Rise up, O Lord.

Rise up, O Word of the Lord.

Numbers 10:36

Return, O Lord.

Return, O Word of the Lord.

Numbers 11:23

Is the hand of the Lord shortened?

Is the Word of the Lord detained?

Numbers 14:35

I the Lord have spoken.

I the Lord decreed through my Word.

Deuteronomy 1:26

And you rebelled against the mouth of the Lord your God.

And you rebelled against the Word of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 1:30

The Lord you God who goes before you, he himself will fight for you.

The Lord your God who leads before you, his Word will fight for you.

Deuteronomy 18:19

I myself will require it of him.

My Word will require it of him.

Deuteronomy 31:3

The Lord your God will pass before you.

The Lord your God, his Word will pass before you.

Joshua 1:5

As I was with Moses, I will be with you.

As my Word was in support of Moses, so my Word will be you support.

Judges 11:10

The Lord will be witness between us.

The Word of the Lord will be witness between us.

Isaiah 45:17

Israel will be saved by the Lord.

Israel will be saved by the Word of the Lord.


We should not read into these comparisons that there were contradictions in the translations of the Hebrew Scriptures into the Aramaic, but rather that the root word was interpreted differently in the one than the other. But the understanding of the word remains the same.

These understandings were read to the congregations for many years and they heard that the "Word of God" is Jacob's God. Risto Santala, a Finnish scholar fluent in Hebrew and Rabbinic sources, summarizes the combined evidence from the Aramaic translations as follows: The Lord's Memra will be my God. I will save them through their God, the Lord's Memra. Abraham was justified through the Memra. The Memra gave Israel the Law. Moses prayed to the Memra. Israel was justified through the Memra's instrumentality and the Memra even created the world.

Deuteronomy 4:7 reads, "What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?"  The Aramaic translation reads, "The Memra of Yahweh sits upon his throne high and lifted up and hears our prayer whenever we pray before him and make our petitions.[4]

The Greek word that John used for Memra was logos and it served as the link between the transcendent God and the divine principle experienced by human beings.

Therefore, the root word 'mr is found in both the Hebrew and Aramaic Scriptures to indicate that God spoke and acted through his Memra, his Word, which is God himself.

John 1:14: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." The Greek concept of God making his dwelling among us, is literally to pitch his tent among us.  Now, it is not uncommon that the presence of the LORD is expressed in terms of a tent in our midst.

Psalm 61:4 I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Psalm 76:2 His tent is in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion.

Psalm 78:60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among men.

Isaiah 33:20 Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.

Revelation 7:15 Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them."

Scripture teaches us that this is a spiritual tent because when Solomon built the temple as a place for God to dwell forever, as described in II Chronicles 6:1-2, he also realized that it could not contain God.  In verse 18 he declares, "The heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built." Solomon asks, also in verse 18, "But will God really dwell on earth with men?"  Solomon knew that God will dwell among men, but it will not be in a physical building, regardless of size. He will pitch his tent among us.  The words of II Chronicles 6:1 and 2 in Greek means to 'pitch a tent', which are the same words that John used in John 1:14 when he spoke about Jesus making "his dwelling among us."  So, God, through his Word, Jesus, made his dwelling among his people, while remaining the Almighty in heaven.

So far we have shown that Jesus and God's Word is the same Person. But where did Jesus come from? Was his revelation at his incarnation also his beginning? Apparently not, because if Jesus is also the Word of God, and we know that everything was created by God's Word, then Jesus must have been present at creation.  The fact that we read the same thing in the New Testament doesn't help us here because our goal is to use the material that was available to the Jews at the time of Jesus to prove that He is the expected Christ. We want to show that those who rejected Jesus when He revealed himself had no excuse and the book of Revelation peels back the covers off of the entire plan that God had for his congregation from before creation.

So let's look at only a few examples where the Jews in Jesus' time knew that they not only were facing the Christ, but that Jesus' ministry also answered many questions that the rabbis had struggled with about their Scriptures. 

In the Old Testament there are apparent contradictions in the passages where it is recorded that people 'saw God'. We know that no one can see God and live.  There is no qualification, exception or ambiguity about the fact. God cannot be seen without being struck down.  But what about all the testimonies of people who saw God and lived. Some say they saw the angel of God and others that they saw God face to face.

Exodus 13:21 states that the Lord went before Israel's army.  In Exodus 14:19, however, we read again that the angel of the Lord traveled in front of them. We must conclude that the angel (messenger) of God is also God himself, because God would not lead Israel in Exodus 13:21 and then send someone else to lead in 14:19.  It appears that God would appear in a form that is visible and concrete.  It is clear that in some key passages that the angel of God and God himself are the same, such as the angel of God that wrestled with Jacob.  For God to have wrestled with Jacob in person, would have meant Jacob's death and not after a nightlong struggle, but instantly.

The angel of God, therefore, of whom Jacob declared, "I have seen God face to face," had concrete, visible properties and the ability to struggle with him.  One can also not say that Jacob was that strong that he could engage God in a wrestling match lasting the whole night. It was more a case of God engaging Jacob for the whole night so that his faith would be strengthened.  Thus Jacob's declaration 'I have seen God' and not 'I overcame God.'

Gideon had the same experience declaring that he saw the angel of God and God himself in Judges 6:19-23.  Also Manoah in Judges 13:19-23.

In Exodus 33:11 we read, "The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend."  But in Exodus 33:18 - 23 we read just the opposite.

Exodus 33:18  Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." 19And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." 20But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." 21Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock, 22When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

Although Moses found favor with God, one can hardly imagine having the impudence asking the Almighty God to 'show me your glory' as Moses did. Yet, God's anger did not burn against him but rather God showed Moses his glory as He passed by. So, we see that God spoke to Moses face to face for the forty days and forty nights on the mountain and also afterwards in the tent, but Moses could not see God's face. Who was this Person, then, with whom Moses spoke face to face? We know it was God himself because Scripture says so. Not an angel or somebody else, but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in bodily form - a body that contained the full Deity of Almighty God. 

In Genesis 18 we read the following:

Genesis 18:1  The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

Who were these three men?  Scripture states that two were angels, who set forth to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, while the third, who remained behind was God himself. If the third man was also an angel, then how come Abraham didn't see three angels instead of two angels and God, YAHWEH? 

We realize that with Abraham there was no doubt that two of the men were angels and one was God himself.  But we just read that God instructed Moses, "but my face must not be seen." So, who was this man that Abraham recognized as God? Who was this man who sat down with Abraham and ate? 

It is inescapable to conclude that God appeared in the flesh to Abraham to bring to him the promise of Isaac.

So, there are some of the evidences that God appeared in the flesh to his people. If God can, then, appear in the flesh, eat, wash and speak, sometimes for a short while only, then it stands to reason that He can also appear in the flesh permanently as the Savior of the elect. Not as a separate God or Deity, but as himself, living in bodily form. Only one God.

The Old Testament Jewish rabbis struggled with these apparent contradictions and had a hard time explaining it. They could not explain away Abraham's absolute confidence that it was definitely God whom he saw.  So, one would have expected the Pharisees to immediately make the connection, as some did, that what Jesus revealed about himself in their synagogues, answered this and many other questions they had about their Scriptures. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, incarnated in a living human body.

The Old Testament clearly teaches that God comes down to earth in bodily form and the New Testament confirms it. Jesus Christ is not merely a prophet, as Islam would want us to believe, He is God in bodily form, the Second Person of the Godhead.

Let's read some passages in the New Testament confirming what Jesus taught during his ministry on earth.

Hebrews 1:1 - 3 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. 2But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Colossians 1:15 - 20 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, 16for by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together 18and he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy, 19for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 2:9, 10  For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. 10And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

When Jesus says in John 5:19, "... the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does," he does not mean that the Son is unable or weak, but instead he declares that he is God, inseparable from the Father.  Clearly, that is also the reason why Jesus admonished us not to pray to him but to the Father in his name. To pray to Jesus and not to the Father in his Name, would be to separate Jesus from the Father.

We cannot, therefore, caricature Jesus as a loving, forgiving, gentle, man, and not include that He is also the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That He is also the Judge that will severely judge all men and bring the wrath of God upon those who do not believe.

Now we understand that Jesus Christ is one with God the Father and that God appeared in bodily form for our sakes, exactly as He intended when He wrote the names of his children into the book of life. 

For a full exposition of the Godhead, please read the Doctrine of the Trinity.

B         Truth in Scripture.

Scripture was revealed in such a way that counterfeiting was impossible. It is true that God could have snapped his fingers and created a son if he so desired, as Islam claims. It is also true that God could have sent only one prophet who could have explained and enforced all his precepts, such as Mohammad, Joseph Smith, and others claim. But if it is true that one prophet could change, by special, contemporary revelation, the entire message of the gospel, then it is also true that someone masquerading as an angel of light could mislead the congregation, dragging them away from Christ and the truth.

Therefore, the true Scripture had to be foolproof and impenetrable - impossible for anyone, regardless of talent, to tamper with the true intent of the Gospel and leading the flock away from the Shepherd.  Jesus is specific about this truth.  He says in John 10:27, 28, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. ... no one can snatch them out of my hand."  And the voice of the Shepherd is contained in Scripture.

We know that the Christ was expected and Jesus' appearance in history was not the only time that someone appeared that the Jews tried to hail as the expected One.  Repeatedly, in history, there would be a Jew with exceptional talents and some rabbi would proclaim that perhaps this is the Messiah. The one that they then look towards as the Christ fails in some manner through sin or other frailty, and they once again waited for the Messiah.

So, when Jesus came on the scene, He revealed himself in a special and unique way, which set Him apart from anybody that ever claimed to have spoken in the name of the Father. It was a very simple and very effective way. Firstly, nobody could really prove that he was the Messiah. Only Jesus could. And He did it by proving that it was about Him that David wrote in the Psalms, and it was in Him that the prophecies would be fulfilled. Jesus pointed them to the Scriptures, to which they clung so much. It was a question of truth in Scripture.

Scripture does not claim to be an exact moral handbook or exact prescription of conduct. It is rather a collection of testimonies that vary in their presentation as it would when testimonies of many witnesses are recorded. It is in the very nature of the variations that the truth is embedded.  Had it been the presentation of one testifier only, it would not withstand the scrutiny of an ordinary court of law, let alone the scrutiny of believers who are free thinkers and rational beings.

But, how did God protect the church from someone, masquerading as the Messiah, to falsify his Word?  How was the appearance of the true Messiah recognized as authentic? How is it possible to unmask intruders who claim to be prophets?

The method of preserving the truth of Scripture has many components, of which the following are the most important, namely,

a)     Testimony of two or three,

b)     The establishment of prophecy and outcome as certain truth,

c)      The fulfillment of earlier prophecies, and

d)     The adherence to salvation history.

a)  The testimony of two or three.

In Deuteronomy 17:6 we read: "On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death..."  Matthew 18:16 and II Corinthians 13:1: "every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.".  Perhaps the followers of Joseph Smith may claim that his revelation will pass this test because of the testimony of the elders who witnessed the golden plates, which mysteriously disappeared immediately afterwards. Mohammad fails this component since he alone claimed to be the prophet and he alone heard the revelations. He also killed those who disagreed with him, which is quite a strong motivation to take him seriously.

The testimonies of Scripture, such as that of the apostles as to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, pass this test

b)  Prophecy and Outcome.

The second component of the method in which Scripture was revealed, is the practice of prophecy and outcome, which is closely related to point (c) below, but which has to be dealt with before (c). Listen to what Scripture says about prophets and the outcome of their prophecies.

Deuteronomy 18:22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

Jeremiah 28:9 But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the LORD only if his prediction comes true.

Ezekiel 33:33  "When all this comes true--and it surely will--then they will know that a prophet has been among them."

How did God use this method in the Old Testament?

Isaiah 48:5 Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, 'My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.'

Malachi 3:1  "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.

How did Jesus use this method to make his promises certain?

John 13:19  "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He."

Matthew 24:25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

John 14:29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.

John 16:4 I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.

When we read these testimonies, the prophecy and the outcome strengthen our faith.  Let's be frank here. An imposter can hardly predict things with such accuracy as Jesus did and be right.  Based on the testimony of the witnesses, we can be sure that Jesus is who He said he is, namely, the Messiah that the prophets spoke about.

c)  Earlier Prophecies.

The third component is the fulfillment of previous prophecies. Citing these passages from Scripture should suffice.

Joshua 21:45 Not one of all the LORD'S good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

Joshua 23:14  "Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed."

I Kings 8:15 Then he said: "Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. "

II Chronicles 6:15 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it--as it is today.

Jeremiah 1:12  The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."

Lamentations 2:17 The LORD has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn of your foes.

Ezekiel 12:25 But I the LORD will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious house, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign LORD.

Matthew 2:14, 15, 17, 18, 23  So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt 15where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." 17, 18Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." 23And he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

Matthew 13:14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.'

Matthew 13:35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world."

Matthew 26:51 - 56 With that, one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52 "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" 55At that time Jesus said to the crowd, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled."

Matthew 27:9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel."

Mark 14:49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

Luke 4:21 And he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Luke 18:31  Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled."

Luke 22:37 It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.

Luke 20:42 David himself declares in the Book of Psalms: 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand."

Luke 24:44  He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

John 17:12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

John 18:9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: "I have not lost one of those you gave me."

John 18:32 This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.

John 19:24  "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.

John 19:28  Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."

John 19:36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken."

Acts 1:16 ... "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus-"

Acts 1:20  "For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms, "'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and, "'May another take his place of leadership.'"

Acts 3:18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.

Acts 13:27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

Acts 13:32, 33  "We tell you the good news: What God promised our father, 33He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "'You are my Son; today I have become your Father."

James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.

Revelation 17:17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled.

So, we see an exact connection between Jesus Christ and the Old Testament, words that the Pharisees read every Sabbath.  Things that happened before their very eyes were the products of prophecy.  If we combine the outcome of prophecy with what happened there, plus that Jesus told them things that will happen within days and then those things did happen, there can be no doubt that Jesus is indeed the Messiah that God promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden.  It was true when Jesus proclaimed himself to the Jews and it is just as true today.

But there is still a fourth component, perhaps the most compelling.

d)  Salvation History.

This component demands perfect compatibility of any revelation or prophecy with salvation history. This is perhaps the most important component since God foreordained everything in advance from before creation.

Salvation history started somewhere before creation when God recorded the names of the elect in the book of life, and mapped out a way in which their free will would be tested and refined until it is perfect; able to perfectly desire to glorify God forever. 

Since the word 'forever' reaches into the life hereafter, this eternal glorification of God already starts here in this life and continues eternally after the perfection of the elect. Only after the elect has reached this perfection, through the merits of Jesus Christ, do they pass from this life to the next, being carefully and with great joy carried through the grave without peril and horror.

By writing the names of the elect in the book of life, God created his congregation, his ekklesia, his universal, invisible church.  For a complete exegesis on this topic, please read The Eternal Congregation.

History is defined as 'The events forming the subject matter of a historical account' and 'Something that belongs to the past.'  That is true from a human perspective. From God's perspective, however, history also means the things that are still to come. As omniscient God, He does not have an observant foreknowledge, but a creative foreknowledge.  So, speaking about a salvation history unavoidably spans the life and eternal destination of all.

Let's imagine for a moment, from a human perspective in terms of time and place, that is, that we are present at the time when God wrote the names of the elect into the book of life.  Given God's character and almighty power, it is inescapable that, at that time, the lives of the elect were already completely foreordained and fixed in 'history': all their afflictions, mistakes, triumphs, and their deaths -- and their glorious entry into heaven with Him.  That is why He wrote their names into this book, so that they can be with Him.  He desires no one else to be with Him, but only those, whose names are in the book of life. If we disagree that God had ordained the elect's future destination from before creation, then we must also disagree that God is almighty, omnipotent, and omniscient, which is absurd.

How do we know this?  Although this will be studied in more detail in the book of Revelation, it is important that we briefly look at a scenario described therein, pertaining to the issue of the book of life, that is quite startling. First, two passages from the Old Testament.

Isaiah 4:3 Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.

Daniel 12:1  ... But at that time your people--everyone whose name is found written in the book--will be delivered.

Revelation 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the book of life...

Revelation 17:8 ...The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast ...

Revelation 20:15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:27 Nothing impure will ever enter [the Holy City], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

These passages speak about those whose names were found in the book of life and also about those whose names were not found in the book of life. There is a clear distinction between what happens to these two different peoples. What is startling, however, is that there is no mention of the elements that define a Christian life-style, such as faith, love, Jesus Christ, or anything else that a Christian relates to in this life. For those who follow the beast into the abyss and who are thrown into the pool of fire, there is no mention of rebellion, sin, rejection of Christ, or anything that relates to this life.

There is no other criterion, except the presence or absence of one's name in the book of life. Nothing else.  When we deal with the overall purpose of God a little later the reason for this will be clear.

What is amazing is the raw connection that exists between the entry of the names of the elect and their entry into heaven.  The one happening before creation and the other happening upon entry into the New Jerusalem at the end of time.  This is clear proof that God has foreordained the elect's final destiny already at the time He entered their names into the book of life before He created heaven and earth.

As we have said before, God does not have an observant foreknowledge. God's foreknowledge can only be creative in nature.  For instance, if God imagines something in the future, if such a scenario is possible, God has already created it or foreordained that it would happen exactly as He imagined. God cannot see something and wonder, 'who did that' or 'I wonder what this or that person will do next'.  Or, we may also say that events or human acts cannot surprise God or catch Him unawares.

So, if God determined that there would be a creation, He also completely ordained the entire history of all of creation till the end of time and beyond. Otherwise, we cannot profess God to be omnipotent or omniscient.  But since God IS omnipotent and omniscient, and He ordained a method by which ordinary people can acquire a knowledge of Him, which is through Scripture, we should then be able to sufficiently determine God's plan, his will, and the ultimate purpose for which everything was created.  That is Salvation History.

I don't mean to imply that it would be possible to determine God's plan completely, but determining the ultimate goal of God's plan would give us the end zone towards which all prophecy and revelation must aim, otherwise it is false. It is this test that Islam, Mormonism, and all heresies and derivatives of the Gospel fail.

And what is this ultimate purpose for which God created everything that we should be able to determine from Scripture? It is this: that God gathers for himself a congregation, an ekklesia, that would glorify him for eternity out of their own free will.  The gathering is irresistible, but glorifying God is of our own free will. 

Where does it say that God gathers for himself a people?

The following Scripture passages, which are only a few examples, should suffice.

Deuteronomy 30:3, 4 Then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.

Psalm 106:47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

Isaiah 11:12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.

Jeremiah 3:17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

Jeremiah 23:3 "I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number."

Jeremiah 29:14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Jeremiah 31:10 "Hear the word of the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: 'He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd."

Ezekiel 11:17  "Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.'"

Ezekiel 39:28 Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind.

Micah 2:12 "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people."

Matthew 24:31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

They must desire to glorify God.

The people that God chose when He wrote their names in the book of life have to glorify God out of their own free will. In the next chapter we will deal with rational and irrational creation, which further explains the importance of God maintaining man's rational character.

Listen to what God says in Deuteronomy 30:19 and 20

Deuteronomy 30:19, 20 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Here we see the choice, the command, the promise, the justification, and the reward. 

The choice: "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses." 

The command: "Now choose life."

The promise: "So that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him."

The justification: "For the Lord is your life."

The reward: "He will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Further passages that supports the same premise:

Joshua 24:15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

Proverbs 1:28 - 31 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me 29since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD. 30Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke 31they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes."

Proverbs 2:1 - 5 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you 2turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 3and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 8:10 Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold.

Proverbs 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver.

Isaiah 7:15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.

Hosea 8:4 They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.

Listen to what God says when Nehemiah pleaded on behalf of Israel in chapter 1 verse 9:

...if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.

I Chronicles 29:18. David prays to God and in verse 17 and 18 he petitions God as follows,

I Chronicles 29:17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. 18"O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you." 

David does not pray for a miraculous change of habit but that the desire to glorify God must be retained. The change is miraculous through the merits of Christ, but the free will is the object of change and not the mere mechanical or irrational change of actions.

Psalm 40:8, I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." 

Psalm 51:6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Again the desire or free will to do God's will.

Listen to what Isaiah testifies about this desire, or free will, of the believer:

Isaiah 10:20 In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 26:8, 9 Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. 9My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.

Malachi 3:1, See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come. 

I Corinthians 14:1, Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

II Corinthians, 8:10, And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.

This desire to glorify God does not come natural to fallen man. Adam and Eve, before the fall, had the ability to freely glorify God and they were charged to pass this ability on to their posterity. But since their fall they lost the ability to glorify God and had nothing to pass on to their posterity.  Corruption and death came to mankind not as something that it acquired, but it came as a result of something that it lost. We must not be mislead by those who argue that original sin could not have attached itself to Adam and Eve's posterity, for whatever reason.  If we consider that it is something lost, something that mankind was depraved of through sin, and thus impossible to pass on, original sin would be much clearer to understand.

There is then, the desire, or choice, of man to either glorify God or to do evil.  Psalm 37:4 teaches us how we can have the desires of our hearts, "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." There is a connection between the condition and the promise of this verse that goes beyond the obvious.  Ungodly desires cannot be a delight in the LORD. So, the ruling condition is 'delight yourself in the LORD', and the consequence is that God will grant those desires that are an effect of the delight in the LORD.  Also, there cannot be some desires godly and some ungodly because ungodly desires destroy any delight in the LORD.  Therefore, it is inescapable that to have a delight in the LORD one has to have godly desires and only then will desires of the heart be satisfied.

Ungodly desires are destructive and place a divide between God and man. Mark 4:19, "But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful."

But why would God be so concerned with preserving man's desire, or free will, to glorify Him that he would tolerate, patiently for a time at least, all the sins of man? Wouldn't it have been easier to just command the elect to glorify him and get it over with? Why go through all of this misery, blasphemy, and struggle with evil, eventually ending up with the same thing? Surely God knows every one from before creation. If it is predestined that the elect should go to heaven, then why not merely will it?

Firstly, there is an error in the conclusion of the question: Changing man's heart to desire to glorify God and exercising the will so that man has no option but to glorify God does not end up with the same thing.

The answer lies with creation itself and we will go into this in more detail when we study the purpose of God. God made two distinct kinds of creation, namely, the rational and irrational creation.  When God created all life, other than man, we read that, "God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good." (Gen 1:25). But when God made man, we read that, "God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness...'" (Gen 1:26) and God "...breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." (Gen 2:7.)

Since man is the only being that received the very breath of God, we conclude that the irrational creation is everything other than man. Nothing in the irrational creation has a free will such as that of man. Everything that the creatures, belonging to the irrational creation, do is bound by their instinct and nothing they do can cause them to escape from their irrational state.  Man, on the other hand, is a rational being, able to reason, make choices, resist that which is good and that which is evil.  He is able to bear the consequences of his actions. He is also able to respond to a conscience, feel guilt and repent. 

If God had merely decreed man to glorify him, then the very element that sets man apart from the irrational creation would have been destroyed, namely his rationale, his free will. Man has to either glorify or curse God by the expression of his free will - he cannot be compelled to do so.  The irrational creation, on the other hand, cannot glorify God unless a rational being beholds the irrational, is struck by the awesome glory of God in what is witnessed, and expresses exaltations. Similarly, the irrational creation cannot curse God. It is the rational creation, it is man, who looks at the irrational and finds nothing with which to glorify God and rather expresses contempt for or ignorance of God. For that rational being there will always be insufficient evidence that God is the Creator.

In Psalm 68:16, David uses anthropomorphism to give the irrational creation life, "Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign..." and Psalm 98:8, "Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;" and in many other places. But we know that in this poetry there is a strong message, namely, that without the poet there is no way that the mountains can glorify God.  Without the rational creature beholding the beauty of God's creation and glorifying God, there will not be any praises from the irrational.

We see this principle in many instances in Scripture, but perhaps the most startling to the Jews at the time was John the Baptist's declaration, "... out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham." It was known at the time of John the Baptist that the Pharisees and Saducees were very proud to be recognized as descendents of Abraham and it was, to them, a sure sign of God's favor when one could prove to be a descendant of Abraham. So, John continued by addressing them on this issue, "And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'" 

This rebuke cut to the heart of their belief. It exposed them as irrational believers and idolaters.  What John in effect said to them is, "If God wanted children that are so irrational to believe that their salvation lies in their physical ancestry alone, then these stones would also suffice.  God wants living, rational beings, freely glorifying Him to be His children."

Isaiah 29:13  The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."

Jude 1:10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals--these are the very things that destroy them.

Romans 1:21 - 23  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

II Peter 2:12 But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.

As rational creatures we can discern God's will and choose to reject or accept it. We can even resist the Holy Spirit but we can also resist Satan.  For God to will that man glorifies Him outside of his free will, without a new heart and a new purified desire, would be to destroy man's rational will and make him like the irrational creation, something God does not want, as we have already shown.  His people have to glorify Him out of their own free will.  That is why God chose for us to go through this furnace of affliction, from cradle to grave, so that we may be refined and our faith perfected.  The outcome is certain because God cannot foresee observantly.  God can only foresee creatively.

But what about election and predestination, is that not a destruction of the rational character of man? No, that is why the elect have to go through the furnace of affliction, not to be saved but to be refined and perfected. They are saved by the merits of Jesus Christ alone, which is an entirely different matter. Is God unfair by electing some and not others? There is an error of assumption in that question. As that question stands, it gives the impression that everyone is at the same level of either innocence or guilt and from that level God chooses some to rise to heaven and others to be thrown down into eternal destruction. That is not at all the case. After man has, because of his own free will and pride, rebelled against God in the Garden, all of mankind was separated from the Source of Life and hence, from life itself. The elect together with those whose names have not been written in the book of life, were justifiably thrown into this cesspool of death and to remain there forever. From this cesspool, God raises up into heaven those whom He predesitined to be with Him for eternity. All the others remain in eternal death and deservedly so. Those whom God plucked from this cesspool, had their eternal life returned to them by the sheer grace and mercy of God. We will talk about this again later, but the main point being made here is that those whom God has not elected are merely left in their misery; there is no "being thrown down into damnation" outside of that which they have brought upon themselves.

We will show testimony from Scripture when we study the Purpose of God and the letter to the church in Ephesus later, that God is perfectly just in electing some and not others.

If a child is raised under the instruction of a certain doctrine, can we be sure that the child would exercise a free will later in life, rather than following indoctrination?  Yes, we can.  As a child grows, instruction in the Word of God is vigorously pursued and testing of the claims and prophecies is part of the education. No other doctrine challenges its followers to test its scriptures. They rather threaten their followers with great peril and even death if they even should think outside the scope of their doctrines.

Many instances are found where people were brought up under the most severe indoctrination, such as in Muslim countries, and communist regimes, who came to the understanding that there is a God and they pursued the teaching of the Scriptures and became fruitful members of the body of Christ, even at the threat of peril.

Man was created to glorify God.

Romans 11:36, "...from him and through him and to him are all things."  We know from this that there is nothing under the sun that does not belong to Christ. So, whatever we do must be done as for the Lord and not for men.

I Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."  

I Peter 4:11, "If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ." 

Everything we do must be done for the glory of God.

So, we see clearly that God gathers for himself a people who desire to glorify him, as He has purposed from before creation and revealed to us what will happen after this life. This entire history of the elect is referred to as Salvation History.  Salvation History hinges on the premise that God wrote those whom He wanted to join Him in glory into the book of life before He created anything, and preserved them until the end, building them up, and refining them to perfection.

So, when a believer is confronted with a fabrication or deviation from the Scriptures, it should be immediately obvious that it is a falsification and a fraud. The method God used to reveal His Word is that which his enemies use to attack the validity of His Word, namely, that it is a collection of texts of recollections by a nomad Jewish race. But the attack is futile and ineffective if measured against the truth of the prophecies and the salvation history of the elect.  The believer can easily discount anyone who, perhaps with great talent, claim to be the Messiah, or a great prophet. By adhering to the teaching of Scripture, one can easily identify the fraud and turn away, even if one's very life is threatened by it. There can be no compromise and no deviation from what God teaches in Scripture. And what may seem like deficiencies in the canon, is the very fiber by which it has been constructed to protect it against devils who masquerade as angels of light.

The differing testimonies from many witnesses, all testifying to the same events, each in his own way and with his own weaknesses, and the records of the prophets and others witnessing the outcome thereof, are all elements keeping the Word of God pure and protected.

Jesus Christ used these elements to reveal himself to the Jews: proclaiming that they should search the Scriptures and what the prophets and the Psalms say about him. 

Acts 13:48  When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

C         God's overall purpose

Introduction

Firstly, God has not given us a formal explanation of these things and our limited human knowledge is not able to fully solve all the problems we will face in this regard. What we do know, is that God revealed to us, through Scripture and nature, sufficient information for our salvation and to guide us through the deceptions of the one who seeks our demise. The purpose of this study is to address those areas where we may be most vulnerable and, through the knowledge of the Word of God, we can get to know God better, thus strengthening our faith.

The intended audience of this study is Christians who have a desire to understand the overall picture of the Christian doctrine. The objective of this study is to give an overview of the purpose of it all: creation, fall, redemption and glory. We have used very limited Scripture proof texts because we want the reader to recognize the language and research those topics in Scripture that might seem challenging.

Premises

Before we continue, there are several premises upon which this study is based. This list is not a comprehensive list of truths upon which the Christian doctrine is based, but merely those that are pertinent to this study. Without any one of these premises the Christian doctrine makes no sense and would have little value beyond that of fiction.

1.      God, the First Person of the Trinity, the Father, is a real, living, omnipotent, almighty Being, from everlasting to everlasting. Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, is the Son of God, true God, equal and consubstantial with the Father. The Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, is the Spirit of the Father and the Son, true God, equal and consubstantial with both the Father and the Son.

2.      Man, created by God, is merely a sojourner in this life and will be resurrected into a new life after this life has passed away - either a life of eternal bliss or a life of eternal damnation. This means that believers can expect God to have secondary regard for their earthly life and that God's purpose is focused on their eternal wellbeing.

3.      God has created all things, and maintains all things, with specific purposes, some known to man (revealed) and some unknown to man (concealed).

4.      God created man with a free will, a will that God nurtures, exercises, protects and preserves so that a rational creature would glorify him.

5.      Scripture, as revealed in the canon of books known as the Holy Bible, is totally inerrant and the sufficient and only revelation of God's eternal will.

The Creation of Man

Let's start at the beginning. God created heaven and earth and all living things in six days. There is a serious debate among Christians whether the six days mean 144 hours or is it a figurative measure of the time in which things came to being under the care of God's providence. It is not the object of this study to address this issue here, so, let's proceed.

The particular event we want to focus on right now, is the creation of man. It is important to note how man came to have life: In Gen. 2:7 we read:

"The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."

Man was also created different from other living things. Gen. 1:26 & 27:

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

The Free Will of Man

Free will is that action that one exercises without compulsion from outside. Free will also is freedom at its optimum if it is exercised within the framework of that which provides the freedom, otherwise it becomes bondage. For instance, one is free to choose whatever one desires provided one does not transgress the law of the land, lest one is incarcerated, which is a gross loss of freedom. The law of the land provides freedom and transgression of the law of the land can take it away.

Similarly, a fish is free to swim in the water as long as it remains in the water. A scuba diver is free to roam around under water as long as there is adherence to the laws of nature and good reason, otherwise life itself is in peril. 

Scripture teaches the same thing about freedom in Christ.  Choose life (the Holy Spirit) and the rewards promised will become yours. Choose death and one shuns the provider of freedom and suffers bondage.

The reason why I want to focus on the creation of man, is the impact it has on the character of man, namely, his free will, which is part of God's image in man. A free will can only be free if it is accompanied by the ability to discern between two courses of action, and even if the chosen course of action goes against the nature, it can, nevertheless, be pursued.

The ability to execute free will as set out above sets man apart from the irrational creation. Animals, on the other hand, which are part of the irrational creation, also have a will, but it is captured within their nature or instinct, from which they cannot escape, rendering them unable to act contrary to their nature.

Why, we may ask, was man created with a free will, while all the other living things were not given this capacity? Scripture gives the answer in many places, both directly and by inference: God's plan has been from eternity to have a creature that desires to love him and glorify him forever and without fail.

If God should in any way have forced man's will to praise him, it could not be absolutely free and the praises and glorification that would have proceeded would have been hollow and without value and sincerity. But, if man could freely desire to praise and glorify God, the praises that proceed become a wonderful aroma before the Almighty.

An analogy is in order here to better illustrate the point: If a loved one expresses a desire to be with you, it surely is a pleasant and wonderful thought and something to be treasured. However, should you discover that the so-called loved one could not care one way or the other, but was coerced to say so, wouldn’t the expression of love be hollow and even offending? Yes, it would. Expressions of love and affection should be from the heart or else they offend deeply. So, God, too, is deeply offended by expressions of praise and love that do not stem from the desire of the heart. Therefore, He created man to be that creature that praises and glorifies Him from an honest desire to freely do so. But man was not faithful in his desire to praise God because his free will was still in its infancy and had to be tutored and taught to trust the Lord regardless of circumstance or consequence.

Desire is a function of free will and, consequently, excludes all creation that has no free will. Free will also requires that a person's actions are without compulsion and in accordance with his own desires and inclinations or he cannot be held responsible for them.

Proof that God does not compel man to repent and believe is the way in which God interacts with mankind, namely, by searching man's heart and mind.  Reference to a person's heart and mind is a reference to free will.  Let's look at how Scripture explains the searching and testing of the heart.

Jeremiah 17:10 "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."

This respect and preservation of the free will is exactly how God wishes to interact with mankind: without compulsion except that compulsion that the free will brings to bear on the actions of men.

Further proof that man's will is completely free, is that he also has the ability to choose courses of action that resist the Holy Spirit (and the devil), which would not have been the case if God had made man to irrationally praise him.

Rational and Irrational Creation

From the foregoing, we see, then, these two classes of creation, namely, rational creation and irrational creation. Man being the rational creation because he has a free will and the rest of creation being irrational: without a free will.

We further can conclude that the irrational creation cannot love or glorify God. Unless a rational creature beholds the irrational creation and, being inspired by the greatness of God, praises and glorifies Him, there would not be any praises raising up to heaven.

Proof of this is found in the poetry of the Psalms, among other, where the psalmist beholds the creation of God and expresses it in a way as if the irrational creation, figuratively speaking of course, assumes human qualities, such as in Psalm 68:16:

"Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the LORD himself will dwell forever?"

If the psalmist did not write or express these feelings, would the mountains have done it on their own? No, they have neither the faculties nor the discernment to do that. Therefore, God cannot be praised by the irrational creation without the interpretation and expression of the rational creation.

The mere fact that a rational creature wrote these lines about the mountains, is proof positive that the mountains could not do it on their own and the psalmist needed to attach these qualities, in a figure of speech, to the mountains to praise God.

It is the duty of the rational creature to observe God’s revelation of himself within the irrational creation and then to stand in awe at the greatness of the Lord and give praise. Man must perform this duty as the crown of creation and also on behalf of that which God had placed under his care.

Rational Praises

The enemies of the true Christian faith oftentimes accuse the believer of irrational thinking when the free will of man is discussed.

They maintain that if God were a just God, He would have created man perfect and with the ability to praise and glorify him perfectly. That is partly true. God did create man perfect and with the ability to praise and glorify him perfectly; even out of the sincere desire of his heart. But man's free will was not capable of withstanding the storms and temptations of the outside world. Much like an infant could not be expected to survive in a snowstorm for very long without protection.

If God had made man's free will as rigid and captured as that of irrational animals, it would have made man a creature who praises God irrationally, which is exactly what God didn't want, as we have shown. And besides, God did create man able to praise and glorify him perfectly, but man chose to squander that privilege, further proof that he has a free will. Don’t you think that God could have intervened, if He wanted to, before our First Parents destroyed everything? But He didn't. Jesus rebuked Simon Peter when he drew a sword against the high priest's servant saying:

Matthew 26:52 - 54 "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, 53"Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"

If God intervened in the fall of our First Parents, how would God's will be fulfilled that man must be refined in the furnace of affliction and so remain a rational being?

John the Baptist also pointed this out to the Pharisees when he rebuked them saying that if God merely wanted descendents of Abraham, He could raise up children for Abraham from stones. What they did not understand is that God created rational people, not robots, to praise Him.

So, we see that God created everything without a completely free will except man.

The Journey Begins

Before Creation

From Scripture we know that certain events happened before creation which had a bearing on the rest of history that followed creation.

Some of these events are: the foreordination of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross; the choosing of the elect; the recording of the names of the elect in the book of life; and so on. We also assume that angels were created before the creation of the world, although we have no account of that event.

Scripture could have been very short if creation was the ultimate purpose of God. Solely from the events in history since creation, we know that there was more to come and that creation was only the beginning of something far more excellent.

But it would come at a price.

The presence of the Holy Spirit

Before we continue and deal with the actual fall of man, let's look at the effect of the presence of the Holy Spirit to better understand what happened in the Garden that day.

A general rule here may be in order: If the Holy Spirit is effectually 100% present, no evil is possible while if the Holy Spirit is effectually completely absent, nothing but evil is possible. Within these extremes, the Holy Spirit, at his pleasure, executes the duties of his office.

From Scripture we see that the Holy Spirit can be present in two different ways, namely, by virtue of His omnipresence as God and by virtue of his office.

The Holy Spirit is always present everywhere as omnipresent God. The Holy Spirit also has an effectual or working presence through which He executes the duties of his office, namely, protecting, teaching, revealing the will of God, comforting, convicting, guiding, and so on. It stands to reason, then, that the Holy Spirit may be present as omniscient God, but distant as effectual executor of his office at one and the same instant.

For example, Christ was fully filled with the Holy Spirit and thus incapable of evil, while man, after the fall, was devoid of the effectual presence of the Holy Spirit and thus incapable of doing any good: this while the Holy Spirit, as the omniscient God, was always present.

The Holy Spirit might be more effective in the lives of men at one time than at other times. This concurs with our general rule stated above. Hence the psalmist says in Psalm 51:11

"Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me."

Why would the effectual presence of the Holy Spirit ebb and flow in our lives: when it is closer to us, we will be godlier, and when it departs from us, we can only do evil?

The answer lies in one of the offices of the Holy Spirit, namely, to reveal the will of God to us. Some refer to this as the permissive will of God. The Holy Spirit will, at times and according to the divine wisdom of God, retract from us, not revealing the will of God to us so that we might rely on our own free will to choose either right or wrong, which may lead us into sin and affliction, so that we may repent and be forgiven.

But why? Why not reveal the will of God to us so that we can avoid falling into sin in the first place? Why did the Holy Spirit not reveal the will of God to Adam and Eve while they were in the process of sinning, so that they might have avoided falling into sin completely? After all, Adam and Eve were created good and without sin so, we cannot assume that they had a latent evil that had to be revealed or punished.

The Financial Manager

An analogy might make it clearer.

A true Christian, a member of the elect and successful financial manager kept the financial matters of his employer in good order for many years. He walked in the ways of the Lord and was an exemplary Christian. He understood the will of God, lived according to it, and taught it to his children and his brothers and sisters.

However, suddenly, events turned and he had to take a pay-cut, which caused him to earn much less than what he needed to maintain his standard of living.

At first he thought nothing of it and set out to look for another job. He worked for months sending out resumes, interviewing and praying about a new job that would pay enough so that he could meet his commitments.

Nothing came of his efforts.

He was either over qualified, too old, or just not right for the job. In the mean while the relationship between him and his employer worsened, mostly because of his resentment towards his employer, feeling that the employer was the cause of the calamity that befell him.

Not to be discouraged, however, he solicited the support of his church and his plight was regularly raised up to the Lord for relief. None came. His situation became desperate as his financial reserves dried up and his debt eventually exceeded the equity of his assets.

He prayed relentlessly with his family; they cried; they pleaded for relief from the Lord, and even though no relief was forthcoming, they never wavered in their faith believing that whatever the Lord provided them they should accept with thanksgiving. The Lord's will be done.

In spite of his faith and unwavering trust in the Lord, the final deadline loomed ever closer: financial ruin or come up with the money.

So far it is the story of an exemplary Christian, someone that we can cite as an example of faith and strength in the Lord.

But why did the Lord afflict this godly man? We know that Satan cannot accuse us in heaven like he did in the times of Job, so what could have caused this evil to befall our brother?

The Test!

Then came the test!

Suddenly he saw an opportunity to take money from his employer. The opportunity had been there for many years, but previously his circumstances were not of the nature that it would ever have entered his mind that this could be an opportunity to embezzle money.

Having intimate knowledge of the finances of his employer, he knows that he can hide a forgery and allocate the expenses elsewhere without detection. The amount of money that he could be taking is a mere drop in the ocean compared to the total amount he is responsible for and the evil deed can be accomplished without detection.

To prod him along, thoughts continually popped up in his head: 'My employer is, after all, responsible for my situation. This could be a sweet revenge, or at the very least a payment of reparation!' It came down to a question of conscience. A decision between financial ruin and shame in the community or the destruction of everything that he had ever believed in.

His decision vs freedom of choice

Let's stop the story for a moment.

There is no latent evil in this man that has a bearing on his predicament, nor has he committed any crime, nor has he sinned against God, which could be related to his situation.

This may, however, change drastically depending upon what our brother chooses to do. He may regard his financial and social stature in the community as more important than his conscience and choose to embezzle the money. Or he may regard his relationship with God as more important than financial and social ruin and remain faithful. There may be more options but let's restrict our story to these two.

At the very point where he has to decide, he has complete freedom of choice and the ability to withstand any temptation. What is at work here is not his free will, but his pride versus obedience to God. Should he choose to embezzle the money, he runs the risk of detection, despite his ability to hide the deed, and face greater shame and calamity. Should he choose to face the financial ruin, he may be in higher regard with his employer for not having embezzled money even though he had not only the opportunity to do it, but also the skill to hide it.

He was brought before a test that did not necessarily involve latent evil, but it required that he pass a test, which would more securely bond his faith in the Lord.

What if he decided to embezzle the money? At some stage his confidence 'that he got away with it,' would cause him to become bolder and ultimately he would make a mistake and be discovered, from which a greater shame and disgrace would flow because of which he would have to repent and be forgiven.

The Holy Spirit and his dilemma

The effectual presence of the Holy Spirit kept our brother from being tested while he prospered, but as soon as the effectual presence of the Holy Spirit retracted from him, not completely, but sufficiently, he not only recognized the temptation that had been there all the time, but he experienced the temptation.

Even then he had full capacity and power to make the right or the wrong choice. He couldn’t recognize the opportunity to embezzle money while he prospered. It took the orchestration of the dilemma he suffered to make him see the possibility of sin.

There would have been no refinement or sanctification if he never had the opportunity to come face-to-face with the opportunity to weigh his personal preferences against those of his faith. His faith would be strengthened by his wise choice but put through greater affliction should he choose to satisfy his personal pride. In the end his faith would be strengthened by his repentance from the great affliction also, but exercising his freedom of choice in God early could spare him the affliction.

With the effectual presence of the Holy Spirit, the temptation was invisible and obscured from the believer. But, as soon as the Holy Spirit’s effectual presence receded, the potential for evil that was there all the time became recognizable and a doable thing. Our brother was put before a real choice to test and refine him: to perfect his faith.

If the Holy Spirit remained effectually present, continuing to bless our brother with material things and in the process preventing him from recognizing the evil, wouldn't the Holy Spirit have been a sponsor to the prevention of the perfection of his faith? I believe He would have and since we know that God's purpose for our lives is focused on eternity, we can expect to be refined as through fire while we are sojourning in this life, to perfect our faith and complete our sanctification before we die.

Various Tests and Afflictions

So, we see that there are basically several kinds of tests or affliction that can befall us. We will look at two kinds for now. There is the kind that is the result of actual sin and the affliction that is suffered as a consequence, such as incarceration, shame, loss of benefits and comfort, and so on. There is also the kind of affliction that is the result of latent evil, that has not had the opportunity to be exposed, but needs to be repented of.

The story about our brother, the financial manager, has been designed to also illustrate this kind of affliction. The latter type of affliction is in various ways similar to the former kind, in that the Holy Spirit directs the choices we make in a way that is effective for each occasion, solely to achieve the goal of purifying and perfecting our faith.

We can trust the Holy Spirit that no worse affliction would befall us than what is necessary to sanctify us and keep us from sinning continually. Because the Holy Spirit thoroughly knows the innermost recesses of our hearts, only He can be the judge of the severity of affliction that is necessary to bring our evil desires to the fore and have us confess and repent of them.

The Holy Spirit and Afflictions

Should the Holy Spirit shower us with gifts without regard to our salvation and sanctification, and effectually remain with us, some latent evil may remain hidden in our hearts, and never be challenged, confronted, and repented, effectively making the Holy Spirit the sponsor of those evils. That is why the Holy Spirit effectively moves away from us, shielding us from his office as Revealer of the Word of God. Our evil desires then entice us and drag us away to sin and death. However, before the elect suffer death, they repent of their sins, and because of the promise that those who repent and call upon the name of the Lord will be forgiven and be healed, they are forgiven and healed.

The Holy Spirit then moves closer with the effectual working of his office as Comforter, Healer, Revealer of the will of God, Priest, and others, and leads us back to the Light. With the new experience and close brush with death, we would be ever so careful not to fall into the same sin again – and in this way we grow out of our state of sin into a state of sanctification, being led by the Holy Spirit step by step.

Our afflictions should, therefore, be accompanied with prayer for forgiveness of sins as well as hallelujahs to the glory of God.

But the Holy Spirit is not restricted to only afflict the one with the latent evil. Perfect discretion also belongs to the Holy Spirit in that He might choose to afflict an innocent saint to bring a bystander to his senses. Think of the blind man whom Jesus healed and when He was asked who it was that sinned causing his blindness, Jesus said that this man was stricken with blindness just to glorify Him! Imagine that. He might have suffered blindness for 30 or 40 years just to glorify God.

Which he did.

Afflictions and Punishments

Although we see afflictions as chastisements and tests, they do look and feel exactly like punishments. Why should we not see them as punishments but loving discipline from our heavenly Father? Because Christ already paid the price for all our sins and made perfect satisfaction for those sins we have committed in the past as well as those that we will still commit in the future, until the end of this world.

Therefore, for the Father to punish us would be to seek satisfaction beyond that which Christ has rendered, which is impossible. Every affliction that we suffer can only be because the Father loves us and because He only has our best interest at heart. Where Scripture refers to the punishment of the saints, it is to be understood in the sense of loving discipline. If our earthly fathers punish us because they love us, how much more our heavenly Father?

It becomes clear, now that we understand the purpose of God in afflicting us, that God directs our affliction without becoming the author of evil. However, God is the author and creator of punishment, which includes the punishment that we suffer as discipline, as well as the punishment that is measured out for those who will be lost. God created punishment for two main reasons, namely, to sanctify his church, and to punish sin and so exercise his just judgment.

The Financial Manager Continued

Let’s return to the story of our brother, the financial manager.

If our brother chooses to remain faithful, the words of Psalm 119:101 would be applicable: "I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word."

If he chooses to sin, the words of Psalm 119:71 would be applicable: "It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees."

Similarly, Adam and Eve, without any latent evil or blemish, were fully capable of resisting the devil's temptations but they employed their faculties rather to please their pride and chose an alliance with Satan and break from God. Had the effectual presence of the Holy Spirit remained with them, they would never have had the opportunity to sin, being fully protected by the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Journey Beyond the Fall

After the fall

According to the Divine plan, man had to proceed beyond the Garden, embarking on a journey, which ends after the Second Coming of Christ, resulting in the ultimate state that God ordained for the elect to be in. God ordained and planned the entire history of his people from before the creation of the world: creation, fall, Christ‘s sacrifice, resurrection, gospel, ascension, and glory.

At the time of the fall Adam and Eve's free will was only in its infancy and it required exercise so that they could be able to freely choose to glorify God without the Holy Spirit's effectual presence, which protected them and revealed God's will to them.

To remain free

Are we to assume that we, as believers, should blindly bump into the obstacles of temptation and sin, and so be afflicted by God until we learn to freely choose and glorify Him?

No, not at all. Our attribute of free will determines how we act; it is not our actions that determine our free will - it is our freedom in Christ that determines our actions. We are free in Christ - we ought to act accordingly.

Because we are in the post-Christ era and thus free to glorify God, we should choose rationally what is right. To do that, we must know God's will. To know God's will, we need to know His Word. To know His Word, we need to make time to study the Bible. To know what we study, we need wisdom. To obtain wisdom, we must pray for it. For our prayers to be answered, we need faith. To obtain faith, we need to listen to the gospel. To listen to the gospel, we need to regularly go where it is preached: the church. To go regularly, we need perseverance. To persevere, we need to strengthen our faith. To strengthen our faith we need to be regularly assured of God's faithfulness. To obtain regular assurance and strengthening of our faith, we need to partake of the sacraments as often as we can. To properly partake of the sacraments, we need to know our sin. To know our sin, we need to carry God's law in our hearts. To carry God's law in our hearts, we need to sacrifice our desires. To sacrifice our desires is to deny our old nature and flee from sin. To flee from sin we need to resist the devil. To resist the devil, we need to choose rationally what is right. It is a full circle.

God planned it all

In glory, the elect will be able to freely glorify God without the effectual presence of the Holy Spirit. Not that the Holy Spirit's presence would not be needed any longer, but His work of guiding, counseling, teaching, comforting, revealing God’s will, and convicting our sins, would be complete. There would be no need for those attributes of His office after this life. We see, then, that God planned it all along and since He is omniscient, he also ordained the fall of our First Parents.

Now, that brings a host of questions to the fore, such as, if God ordained their fall, how can we attribute the fall to Adam and Eve as sin? Surely, if man's will could not resist God's will, then God must be responsible for their fall and is thus the author of the evil that befell them.

Furthermore, if God had known that Eve would choose to side with Satan, why did He not prevent it, or even worse, why did he remove his Holy Spirit's effectual presence from her at such a critical moment? There may be more questions that could trouble the believer about the account of the fall, but let's focus on these for now.

The will of God and His foreknowledge

Firstly, there are three elements that we ought to consider, namely, the will of man, the will of God, and the foreknowledge of God, as they were raised in the questions above.

The question we need to answer in this regard is 'how can a person have a free will if his actions are foreordained from eternity?'

We have already defined what we mean by a person with a free will, namely, that it is someone who acts in rational self-determination. What we need to clarify is what we mean by the foreordination of God