The Church
Most think of the Church as
those who attend service in a particular building or belong to a particular
denomination. Others have more latitude. They admit that there are other
churches but cling to their church as the best. According to convention the
universal Church is capitalized whereas references to individual churches are
not unless preceded by a particular church whether denominational are not.
Christians who think alike and
have similar doctrines seek to worship together. That is for convenience for
various reasons; among them are to be in accord with one another. Thus,
buildings are the brick and mortar of specific
doctrine. Therein should be harmony but there is often still not. To honor
their version of God, buildings are
erected to admonish their versions of
truth. Others reject doctrine in order to return to the truth – without a
version. That is called the “restoration movement” and is indeed, a noble
endeavor. With poetic justice, though, even those who seek truth arrive at new
versions of the truth. Versions of different and contrasting accounts of the
same idea.
Truth is profound and absolute.
Everything either is or is not, what is termed black and white. “Is represents reality and “is not” the lack of
reality. Black represents darkness, and white light. Truth is congruence to
reality, and using circular reasoning, truth is what is! For instance, denying God does not make Him
less real, and believing in evolution does not make that so! It is either one
or the other – black or white. The case for Creation has already been presented
for there to Exist a god. Creation implies an unseen and unknown power. Theists
accept the fact that what is, is intelligent design. Atheists deny it is
intelligent but complex by probability and mutation which they call
“evolution”. However, in compliance to the second law of thermodynamics, mutations
do not move toward order but disorder. The metric, or measurement for disorder
is called “entropy”. The energy it takes for thermodynamic change is lost
forever, being non-reversible. Changing from one state to another means losses
which are irrecoverable.
Think of DNA. With time DNA
mutates because of interference to the biological system. Genetic diseases come
from mutated DNA. Think of a well-known genetic deficiency, perhaps Down’s
Syndrome. (I pick that only because it is well-known.) From an appearance
standpoint, differences are obvious – those who have it are different than the
norm. Actually, although they are quiet, loveable and happy, those who seek
human perfection seek to destroy these happy people because they often are a
little inconvenient, requiring special needs.
Now for the point: most but not
all Down’s Syndrome people are infertile or have a low fertility rate. Many can
pro-create though but if allowed to the chances are is that their seed would
have Down’s Syndrome as well. 236 Thus, the “mutation” of the gene
would create what society obviously considers
“lesser” people. (God does not. They too were created in His image!
Abortion should never be used to destroy what God has made.) This condition is
used to demonstrate the non-isentropic processes in biology. That they are
“lesser” is inferred from society’s propagation that the loving thing to do is
destroy them in the womb. (Note: Charles Darwin may be dead but his “survival
of the fittest” is still alive, and used by Marxists of all stripes.)
The first law of dynamics is
that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can be transformed from
one form to another. 237 Indeed, the “Big Bang” did create matter
from energy but used intensely compacted matter to expand. That theory does not explain the origin of
the matter nor the energy to “create” the universe. The thermodynamic
impossibility to do that is called a “discontinuity”. Truth indicates that that was an impossibility.
To “correct” that theory Higg’s
Boson was discovered. 238 That theory
provides the fluid of life which imbues the cosmos. As such, that boson is
called the “God Particle” because it mimics the something from nothing concept of God. Some theists accept that theory because of
its similarity to Genesis 1:1. All though that may be, the God Particle would
take trillions of years to do what God did on the first day! 239 Translators
have interpreted the Hebrew yowm to
be from sun-up to sun-down. 240 That description of the first day
precludes the sun which was created on the second day. Time was created on the
first day using God’s “clock”, and our
clock – the sun – was created on the second day. However, God used our
word, and our timepiece to describe what happened on day-one. Thus, those who
take God’s word as truth, accept the six-day Creation as truthful.
The Word said to Pontius Pilate,
“I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone
who is of the truth hears My voice,” to which Pilate asked, “What is truth?” 241
Pilate had his answer before he even asked! The Voice, aka the Word is truth.
The Church is for those who desire God’s truth. Truth is what moves one from
bondage to freedom! 242 Those who know the truth – that “Yahweh
Delivers” make up the Church. Hence, truth is the mortar which binds the stones
together for longevity, even eternity! The Word’s message is all about love.
The inside of the Church is the place of love. Because love is the nature of
God, the foundation of the Church is peace. 243 The first Church
consisted of God, Adam, and Eve where in the Garden of Eden, they communed! 244
There were no building, nor a steeple; the Church was on Holy Ground; always
was, and always will be! Wherever believers speak with God is Holy Ground, and
that place is “Church”. 245
The Jewish people accept the
Garden of Eden as “the foundation of peace” which is what Jerusalem means. 246
That is the exact same place God’s original “house” was built, and not by
accident, but according to His Plan. 247 Solomon’s Temple was built
on Ornan’s threshing floor, 248 but before that there was nothing
more than holy ground, righteous people, a just God, and an altar. 249
That was “Church”! God had no building before the Temple and didn’t need one. 250
Why the threshing floor for a Church?
Sheaves of grain were laid upon the floor and pounded, oftentimes by the
feet to separate the grain from the chaff.
Then the sheaves and remaining grain would be separated further by the
wind or a winnowing fan. The chaff would then be burned. Of course, the grain
was used primarily for making bread. The spiritual threshing floor represents
judgment. 251 God, with His winnowing fan will clean the threshing
floor, gather His wheat into the barn, and burn the chaff with unquenchable
fire. 252 It seems the purpose of the Church, represented by the
threshing floor is for God to save the good grain – the righteous – from the
chaff which are the unrighteous, and let the chaff be burned forever.
As with any good farmer, it is
desired to save all the grain possible, and not to have any consumed with fire.
The purpose of the Church is to save as many as possible while allowing the
disobedient to suffer the consequences of rejection. With that system, God did
not need a house because the people needed to be exposed to the pounding of
sin, and the winnowing fan because it is God’s fan which holds the fan. The fan
is representative of the work of the Holy Spirit who does the separation. The
metaphor of the threshing floor is the purpose
of the Church. Think, if you will, of picking the good grain one kernel at
a time. That represents personal salvation, and the individual dealing with God
one on one. The Church is for corporate salvation – where the most can be
saved!
With the desired grain, if the
field was weedy, tares are introduced to the threshing floor. God sows the good
seed and while he rests, and adversary steps in and sews tares within the good
seed. 253 Thus the threshing floor has good seed and bad. The nature
of each is inherent. If the tares are not cast out with the good sheaves before
the threshing, the bread would be contaminated. Hence, the threshing floor is
only for the good sheaves. Fire is for the tares! That also represents the
Church which is of the righteous only! The world is for the tares where the
Prince of the Air uses them to grow more tares.
The Church, therefore has no
building and no need for one! It is the threshing floor there on the
mountaintop where the winds are brisk and God is close by. For what purpose,
then, was the temple? It was for mankind so God could be treated as a King. Solomon’s
Temple was built to honor God, and alleviate the guilt of King David, who
planned it. Ironically, the first church building was built by a self-absorbed
king – Solomon – whose faith was full of doubt. The Temple was for everyone but
the Holy of Holies was only for God, and the High Priest, if he indeed was pure
enough to enter therein! Within the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant
on which God presented Himself on the mercy seat for atonement for the Hebrews.
254 Thus, the church building is the Holy Ground where God is
present as He grants mercy on those who seek it! Thus, the Abrahamic Covenant
was not one of the Law but grace just as it always was.
The Church is for covenanters
who accept God’s deal. God explains it well to those who can understand – God
will provide safety to those who elevate and look up to Him for their eternal
lives. 255 The Church is for the righteous who trust in God, and it
has no walls. Just as Moses had “Church” in the wilderness among the poisonous
vipers, anyone can have Church anywhere! The buildings are for praise and for
even sinners to come out of the world for a spell to be convicted of their
sins. “Sanctuary” from Satan is a fitting description for the building. It’s
holy ground, and the walls around it are God’s hedge against Satan. 256
Sanctuaries are places where killing is not allowed. However, in practice
sanctuaries are attacked hardest, as the entire Book of Job reveals!
Was the threshing floor on Mount
Moriah the first Church? No it wasn’t! What is it now? In the viewpoint of the
Christian, the threshing floor of Ornan is now the antichurch, being where the
Islamic Dome of the Rock Mosque presently sits. 257 Therein, the
chaff and tares worship he who Jews consider the Adversary. What was there
before? Satan destroyed the Temple and replaced it with a false God. (No
offence nor hatred is intended for the Muslims but there is a difference in
religions.)
Based on the premise that
Jerusalem – the Old City called the City of David - was the Garden of Eden,
then trees were on Mount Moriah. The
entire City of David was trees, and two stood within its midst – the Tree of
Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. 258 That’s
where Adam and Eve had “Church” so to speak. The trees were similes of doctrines.
The Tree of Life represented the Holy Trinity: the visible Tree itself the
Messiah, the root the Father, and the underground water, the Holy Spirit. God
wanted his “Church” to gather under His Tree. His entire “Church” went elsewhere
as they preferred philosophy, those loves being Stoicism and Epicureanism, and
their god themselves.
God looked on their rejection – blasphemy
– because they rejected God, and elevated themselves to godhood, and was sorry.
He surely wept because God does cry Divine tears. 259 Meanwhile,
Satan smiled as the serpent convinced them that His “tree” – doctrine - was best. The good seed became bad. The two
had “church” and tried to suppress their own guilt by covering their own
shame. 260 God then covered
them with the flesh of an animal and by grace saved them from their shame! 261
Thus, in the Garden was their “threshing floor” where God threshed out the bad
seed and made it “good”. Afterward, the two – Adam and Eve – became the first “Church”
as God had mercy on them. In the Book of the Conflict of Adam and Eve with
Satan, it is full of Satan’s attempts to destroy the Church by the destruction
of its “congregation”. Abel, being righteous, was the first person in the Church
to be destroyed by Satan whose “tool” was Cain. Satan, if nothing else, is
patient. He attempts to destroy the Church one stone at a time by destroying
its people one at a time.
237 Wikipedia; “First Law of
Thermodynamics"
238 Wikipedia; “Higg’s Boson”
239 Holy Bible; Gen 1:5
240 Strong’s Dictionary; “yowm”
241 Holy Bible; John 18:37-39
242 ibid; John 8:32
243 ibid; Luke 2:14
244 ibid; Gen 3:10
245 ibid; Exod 3:5, Acts 7:33
246 Wikipedia; “Jerusalem”
248 Holy Bible; 1 Chron 21:18
249 ibid; 2 Chron 3:1
250 ibid; 2 Sam 7:4-7
251 ibid; Psalm 1:4, Isa 5:24
252 ibid; Luke 3:16-18
253 ibid; Mat 13:24-26
254 ibid; Exod 37:6
255 ibid; John 3:14-15
256 ibid; Job
110
257 Wikipedia; “Dome of the Rock”
258 Holy Bible; Gen 2:9
259 ibid; Luke 19:41
260 ibid; Gen 3:6
261
ibid; Gen 3:21
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