Wednesday, June 2, 2021

LOOKING FOR JESUS

  My granddaughter, Kaitlin, when she was about five, was riding her bicycle as she cried her little eyes out for not getting her way. As I watched her, she screamed in anger, “What are you looking at?”

  It turns out that is a great philosophical and religious question: “What are you looking at?” or better yet, “For whom are you looking?”

  God is the “Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” (Rev 22:13). The question is, when is the Beginning and when is the Ending? The Beginning is more obvious. It is creating the heaven and the earth. [i] The Ending is when God does a final re-genesis. From the Beginning to the Ending are cycles of regenerations wherein many are given a fresh start.

  Of course, the generation of Adam’s kind was the Beginning and the regeneration of Adam’s kind is the Ending. In between were Noah’s kind, Abraham’s kind, Moses’s kind, the Priestly kind, and Jesus’s kind. God made covenants with them all. He regenerated all those kinds and gave them another chance. The Ending is the last chance. When Jesus died, it is written that He gave up the Ghost. [ii] When Jesus died, it was the Beginning of the End. Jesus is the “Last Chance.”

  God tried liberty with Adam, liberty with Noah, and so on until Jesus came with Liberty for all. Mankind is at liberty to do their own wills. Life itself is a test of the human will. Made in the image of God, mankind originally had the Will of God. Back in the Garden of Eden, Satan stole the glorious Will, the Image of God was mutated, and liberty became a curse:

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Rom 8:20-21) 

  Liberty is freedom to do one’s own will, given the choices of that and the Will of God. “Subject to vanity” (in verse 20) is the exercise of free will. God created mankind to be at liberty to do as his creatures please. It would seem that, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:17) is not a command but a choice with a warning. It is a harbinger of things to come!

  God did not prevent Adam and Eve from eating. Neither did God command that they not eat of it. They were allowed to eat, but there was a price for eating — “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)

  Therein is a choice. Sin and die or reject sin and live eternally. His creatures are free to sin, but in the end, sin (pleasure to the flesh) requires payment just as amusement parks and concerts are not for free! Indeed, nothing is free! Someone must always pay, so sin must be paid for by someone.

  Adam and Eve were reprieved. Innocent lambs died to pay the wages for their sins. Then, as a reminder, God made them coats of skins. (Gen 3:21). In the end, “The Lamb of God,” Jesus, provided the coats from His own flesh.  His spiritual “flesh” that is. God put on Adam’s kind coats made from the Ghost of Jesus to Comfort them.

  Each sinner has a “coat” made from the Flesh of Jesus. It is ready-to-wear.  Baptism is to ceremonially wash the sinner clean before wearing the “Coats” made from Jesus. Whenever, anyone sees the filth of their flesh, wills to do so, they are candidates for baptism to ritually wash away sins from the flesh. Of course, the sin is not on the flesh, but in the hearts of the creatures; to wit: “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts.” [iii] It seems from that, that the creatures wash their hands and their hearts.

  Handwashing is work, and heart-washing is impossible. Sinful creatures can only be led to the water and God does the washing. Washing with water is merely cleansing the flesh in preparation for the new “Coats.” Subsequent to the cleansing of the flesh, is baptism of the Holy Ghost: “I (John) indeed have baptized you with water: but He (Jesus) shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost” (Mark 1:8). The Holy Ghost is “Living Water” from the “belly” of Jesus. [iv] When it was “finished” out of the belly of Jesus flowed the “Living Water” — the blood and water from the abdomin of Jesus that was pierced. [v]

  The repentant thief, Dismas, was never baptized with water alone, but by the Blood and Water of Jesus when He was pierced. That had to happen! It is not in scripture, but only by blood and water can anyone be saved, [vi] and that was not water by immersion but from the sprinkling of the Water and Blood of Jesus. The Holy Ghost bled the Blood and Water of Jesus, and that is in Whom sinful creatures must be baptized. Dismas had to be sprinkled as Jesus was pierced!  It is the “One Baptism” of which Paul wrote from the “One Lord” because of the “One Faith.” [vii] It is vanity to think that immersion by Rev. John Doe can save!

  Now for the key verses:

26 For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Heb 9:26-28)

  When Jesus was crucified, that was the Beginning of the End. The first coming of Jesus is “now”  in the end, according to Paul (verse 26). Genesis lasted from Adam to Moses (Water), and re-genesis from the last Adam (Jesus) to the destroying fire. [viii]

  Re-genesis commenced with the advent of Jesus and ends with His second coming. His first coming was to “bear the sins of many” and the second coming is “unto salvation” (verse 28). Regeneration is from redemption to salvation just like generation in the Beginning. What was Paul saying? All who would drink the Living Water are redeemed, but those who “look” for His Second Coming shall be saved.

  The Greeks came to Philip and said, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” [ix] They were looking for Jesus at the first coming. They would be redeemed. Salvation does not end there. Of the “many” that have been redeemed, Jesus will appear to those that still are looking at the second coming.

  What will He do at that time? He will save them as promised. Jesus died to redeem all mankind; that many! However, He shall save those who remain looking for Him. Paul looked for Jesus! “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14).

  Jesus redeemed Paul by grace, but Paul continued looking toward Jesus. Why is that? To be saved in the end!

  Look at Paul. When Jesus died, Paul was one of the “many” that were redeemed. Paul was “born again” when He saw Jesus as the Way. Jesus had to blind Paul to make him see because the old creature, Saul, had not seen Jesus in the Flesh. Saul saw the Holy Ghost of Jesus in his blindness and put on that “Coat” to keep him save from the Wicked One until Jesus comes again.

  When Paul died, he was still looking at Jesus from afar. He could sense the Coat of Jesus, but the Glorified Jesus remained a vision that he would look toward.

  For us, seeing Jesus on the Cross is a beginning, but sinners must look toward Jesus on the throne in Paradise and trust that He is coming again.

  Paul wrote, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (verse 27). Why is death so important? Because death brings about judgment. Judgment is when the flesh dies, and Jesus decides who looked toward Him and who did not. In the moment of death, judgment takes place. Immortal souls either die a second death [x] or live on for eternity. That is why Paul wrote, “To live is Christ; to die is gain” (Phil 1:20). But what is “in” and “out” of Christ? “But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour” (Phil 1:21).

  That goes back to the wages of sin is death. “In Christ” is living outside the flesh. The “flesh” in scripture is the human will.  Hence, living outside the flesh is the cutting off the human will, and asking God to replace it with His Good Will… “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Mat 6:10).

  To be saved, those redeemed must be looking to Heaven. What to look for? Jesus and His Will for His creatures. If any of the “many” are not looking at Jesus to do His Will, then they shall never be saved from the second death. Again, that is not a command, but a harbinger. The danger is if those let out of Satan’s jail for free look to Satan rather than Jesus, then the wages of that is death.

  The question is, those of you who are born again, are you still looking at the Tree of Pleasure with Satan camouflaged behind its leaves, or are your eyes directly on Jesus and His Will be done? If you look as if the Second Coming will never arrive, and do things as if God cares not, then are you looking for Jesus?

  “Sir, we would see Jesus” is the paramount pleasure because seeing Jesus alive in Heaven as the Tree of Life is “Sir, we would see Jesus” is the paramount pleasure because seeing Jesus alive in Heaven as the Tree of Life is so much better than seeing the lifeless Serpent dead in his tree! [i]

(picture credit: Baby Center; "Your child seems very clumsy)





[i] John 3:14

[i] Gen 1:1

[ii] John 19:30

[iii] Jas 4:8

[iv] John 7:38

[v] John 19:34

[vi] 1 John 5:6

[vii] Ephes 4:5

[viii] Mat 3:11

[ix] John 12:21

[x] Rev 20:14

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