HearHim.net » isaiah

Origin of Evil

Andre Rabe — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:08:43 +0000

Before His infinite mind, lay infinite possibilities. Within His limitless imagination arose limitless options. God chose from all the possibilities, those which would most accurately express Himself. But in choosing these possibilities, in deciding what to create, there were inevitably some possibilities that were rejected. The possibilities and options that were rejected, later became known as ‘evil’. ‘Evil’ is all the possibilities that are not in harmony with the nature and character of God. Evil is all that He chose not to create. The existence of evil does not mean it has any substance – darkness exists only in the absence of light.

However, the being He imagined to be His companion, would be able to choose ‘its’ own possibilities. Love, by its very nature, is free. Love can be awakened, encouraged and stirred, but it can never be forced. And so God determined to create man outside of His control! This meant – and He knew it all before – that man would make wrong choices and in doing so create obstacles to … or maybe opportunities for, the love of God.

How could a completely free and spontaneous being be guaranteed to make the right choices? The ‘Logos’ calculated uncountable scenarios and configurations of the environment to see if there was a way to guarantee the right choice. The answer was produced after an exceptionally long period of timelessness. The fact that this being would not be all-knowing, yet be imaginative and free, meant that this being would indeed make choices and have preferences other than those chosen by God! This creature would be responsible for choosing ‘evil’! For any other logic, this would be an impossible situation – how to plan and purpose the conclusion of this plot, yet give another creature the freedom to choose what role to play within it. But for the Logos, nothing is impossible.

Before anything began, God foresaw the inevitable mistakes, the fall of man, the evil consequences … but He also saw a way in which to provide for every need, overcome every obstacle and restore man to the glory He intended. And so we read about the grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began! (2 Tim 1:9). Before He created anything, He knew it would cost Him everything to redeem man and fulfil all His purpose … and so we read about the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. Once again, in His own freedom, He determined to give Himself in His Son, to step out of this eternal unsearchable realm, into the temporal, the realm of fallen man. In giving us grace and truth, He would give nothing less than Himself.

When we realise that our Creator foreknew the whole plot before a single event occurred, we are able to recognise His loving and guiding hand in all things. He knew about the temptations, the choices and the consequences of those choices, long before they happened. “He declares the end from the beginning”. Isaiah … He is not the author of all events, but He certainly is wise and able enough to steer even the most evil events toward the conclusion that He pre-ordained.

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His way of thinking

Andre Rabe — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:30:56 +0000

Isaiah:55:7,8
Let the wicked one abandon his way,
and the sinful one his thoughts; ….
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”

Notice that having thoughts that are not His thoughts, is described as wicked and sinful – a way of thinking that should be abandoned. God never stated that such a condition is simply human, and therefore we should just accept it. No! He challenges us to forsake such low level thinking. He plainly says that if you don’t think like Him, you need to change your thinking!

He desires for you to know His thoughts and His ways. Not only does He desire for you to know His thoughts, but He also wants to teach you how to think as He does. Let’s look again at that scripture:

Isaiah:55:7-11
Let the wicked one abandon his way,
and the sinful one his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD,
so He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will freely forgive.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
declares the Lord.
“For as heaven is higher than earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
For just as rain and snow fall from heaven,
and do not return there
without saturating the earth,
and making it germinate and sprout,
and providing seed to sow
and food to eat,
so My word that comes from My mouth
will not return to Me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please,
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

Just like the rain and snow bridge the gap between Heaven and Earth, so His Word bridges the gap between His understanding and ours. He wants to saturate our minds with His thinking; He designed our imagination as fertile soil in which His ideas would germinate and sprout. The fruit of thinking His thoughts, is living His life.

Our Creator desires to be known; our Father wants to be understood, but His desire extends even further. He longs for meaningful companionship with a being that can think on His level; a being that is able to communicate boldly and comfortably in His presence. Such a being exists … it’s the one He created in His own image and likeness … it is you.

Discovering His thoughts has always been a pleasant discovery. He surprises me time and again with His goodness. My best imaginations are always overshadowed by much better realities, when I see things from His perspective. He is better, bigger, wiser, more thorough, more involved, more loving than what we could ever have hoped for. He is exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or imagine. He invites you right now to come and partake, to boldly come and commune with Him. There are no reasons to hesitate … just let Him surprise you with His goodness.

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Time and Eternity

Andre Rabe — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:18:42 +0000

Time is often experienced as an inescapable vehicle that carries us from birth to death; a relentless force that propels us from the present to the future. But what is ‘time’? We’ve become so familiar with our measure of time – seconds, hours, days, years – that it is easy to confuse our measures of time with time itself. Our experience of time and our measures of time might be far too narrow because they are limited by our specific point of view.

There are many interesting philosophies about time and even more interesting speculations about what the possibilities might be, if such philosophies were true. I won’t explore all these philosophies in depth in this writing – only enough to help us appreciate what the Word has to say about time. For that purpose I’ll adopt one of the most basic, and helpful definitions of time, namely: a sequence of events.

How we relate to this sequence of events and how God relates to it is very different. Some of the statements in scripture seem at first to contain some grammatical errors: the tenses are all wrong! For instance: “Before Abraham was, I am”. In other instances the Word speaks about future events as if they had happened in the past. Hundreds of years before the birth and death of Jesus, Isaiah speaks of His suffering on the cross as a past event: “…but He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.” Is 53:5

I was bemused by an article I read about Tachyons. This is a scientific name for a theoretical particle that travels faster or at the speed of light. The nature of such a particle is truly astounding. For instance, let’s imagine one could build a fax machine based on the laws covering tachyons and we call it our tachyons fax machine. If one was to send a fax at 3pm it would arrive at 2pm! The effect precedes the cause. I immediately thought of Mat 8:16, 17 in which Jesus heals the sick who were brought to him. Verse 17 states that this was in fulfillment of what was prophesied by Isaiah. It’s again the passage in Isaiah 53 that we looked at earlier. We know that this passage refers to the suffering & death of Christ, but here again the effect (healing) of what He accomplished on the cross is experienced by people long before the cause. Another example of this inversion of time is found in Isaiah 65:24 “Before they call I answer”.

These statements draw us into a dimension beyond our normal experience of time. A dimension in which time is a radically different entity from our normal experience of it. The use of the words: “before Abraham was, I am” seems to indicate two different dimensions. One in which there is a past, present and future, and one in which there is simply a present. However, it might say more about the nature of God than about the nature of time.

Let’s start by looking at the Hebrew understanding of time as found in the Old Testament. We don’t find philosophical or abstract debates about the nature of time, as we do in the Greek philosophies of that period. Time is not described as a separate force or an extra dimension, but in rather more concrete terms. Events occurred and these events stood in relation to other events and this was in effect, time. Time has no substance apart from these events. Whereas the Greeks saw time as a separate dimension in which events happened, the Hebrews simply saw events happening and these ‘happenings’ were time. As such, eternity is never described as timeless, for there could be no events, no experience, no life without time. To be timeless would be lifeless.

The quality of events are given greater significance than the order in which they happened or the duration it took. In some instances events and persons were arranged according to the impact of their occurrence, rather than their chronological sequence. The weightiness and significance of people and events were regarded more important than the exact date of the occurrence. People did things. God did things. Time is the story of these events and has no existence beyond these events.

One of the reasons why eternity is often thought of as timeless is because of our understanding of time. Time is seen as temporal, subject to change whereas eternity is seen as changeless. However, it is the nature of change that is different in the eternal realm. There is ‘change’ that decays and there is ‘change’ that renews. 2 Cor 4:16: Therefore we do not become discouraged. Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day. A blooming flower undergoes change, but every change just further establishes its beauty and essential reality. Proverbs speaks of the life of the righteous being like the rising sun, shining brighter and brighter. The eternal realm does have events and does have change, but every change further confirms the essential reality of this realm and consequently it is not temporal.

There is an event that took place in eternity of such importance and magnitude that it overflowed into our time! This mystery was hidden for ages and generations … but then it happened: the infinite filled the finite; the eternal filled the temporal, the unknowable God revealed Himself in a way we can all understand. God became man! His mind was made known; His character unveiled; His opinion of you made clear. Like an ocean emptied into a pond, it filled and changed all time – out of all proportion to the fall of man, is the redemption of man. The Lamb, who was slain from the foundation of the world, was born and walked amongst us.

It is this singular event that gives meaning to all other time. It is only within this one event that all other events can find purpose. This event is God’s reference within our time by which all other events are judged. Only within relationship to this event can the temporal, changing, time-bound events find eternal value. Although this single event was concentrated in one individual, Jesus, it included all men. And although it happened before you were born, it has a greater claim on you than your own personal past.

Whether you are aware of it or not, this event affects you … in fact it is all about you. Paul refers to it as the ‘fullness of time’ (Eph 1:10). He describes it as a singular event that has consequences for all mankind in all ages; an achievement that occurred once and included all without exception. The fullness of time … so much can be said about it, where does one begin. The fullness of time means:
No time to come can add to what was given in this event;
Our sense of satisfaction, completeness, fullness has everything to do with appreciating the event that filled all of time, and nothing to do with any future event;
We can never exhaust the wealth of understanding and insight that was lavished upon us in this event. Further on in this letter of Paul, he writes that all of eternity will be a further revelation of the exceeding greatness of God’s kindness toward us in this event – in Christ.

Jesus said on a number of occasions: ” …the time is coming, and now is …”. He tapped into eternity in such a way that the present contained everything that the future had to offer! After speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) about living water – water that not only satisfies but overflows, He ends off by saying: “I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.” All that eternity has to offer is in Christ and He is present in this very moment.

Inexhaustible

Andre Rabe — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:58:23 +0000

No Exaggerations!
The queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon. Stories regarding his wisdom and wealth were so amazing that she felt sure they were exaggerated! So, she decided to go and see for herself. Here is part of that story:
“The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon and his connection with the Name of GOD. She came to put his reputation to the test by asking tough questions. She made a grand and showy entrance into Jerusalem–camels loaded with spices, a huge amount of gold, and precious gems. She came to Solomon and talked about all the things that she cared about, emptying her heart to him. Solomon answered everything she put to him–nothing stumped him. When the queen of Sheba experienced for herself Solomon’s wisdom and saw with her own eyes the palace he had built, the meals that were served, the impressive array of court officials and sharply dressed waiters, the lavish crystal, and the elaborate worship extravagant with Whole-Burnt-Offerings at the steps leading up to The Temple of GOD, it took her breath away. She said to the king, “It’s all true! Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom that reached all the way to my country is confirmed. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself; they didn’t exaggerate! Such wisdom and elegance–far more than I could ever have imagined.” (1Kings 10:1-7 Message)
Matthew 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
If the wealth and wisdom of Solomon could not be adequately described; if it was impossible to exaggerate, how much more impossible is it, to exaggerate what we have in Christ. We cannot make too much of Him. And the treasure we have found in Him cannot be fully appreciated by simply hearing about it; it is a treasure that needs to be handled and experienced to find a sense of what it really is. 1John 1:1: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life”
Opening the Window
Hearing (or reading) is but the first step into an experience much greater than what can be captured in words. Our words can simply point towards this experience, but can never capture it. Let me illustrate: Imagine sitting in a hot, humid room with all the windows closed. The air is stale and breathing is unpleasant. Then, someone opens a window and a breeze brings in a fresh fragrance. The cool movement of air revives your body and soon the stale atmosphere is forgotten. This window opens into a space infinitely greater than itself.
This is what God-inspired words do. They simply open the window for the Spirit or wind of God to blow and bring refreshment. God-inspired words create an opportunity for encounter with God Himself. This encounter is infinitely greater than what can be captured or explained in words. Much of theology and much of Christian writings are centred on trying to capture this fresh wind. Instead of opening a window by simply pointing to realities greater than themselves, these formulas and definitions attempt to capture the wind by closing the window. But as soon as the window is closed the wind ceases to be wind; the refreshing that came from it becomes a memory and pretty soon the same stale air fills the room once again.
Read the Word of God with this in mind; read this book with this in mind. These words refer to a reality greater than themselves. The substance is Christ Himself, and the intimacy He has in mind can never be understood by mere words alone; your spirit needs to connect with His. These words simply open a window and point beyond themselves.
Obviously we will use our minds in loving the Lord, but never forget that loving Him with all your heart precedes loving Him with all your mind. Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”
Paul’s ever increasing revelation of Christ
Paul’s love affair with Christ was clearly growing throughout his life. If we read His letters in the sequence in which he wrote them, we find that His insight into Christ grows with leaps and bounds. His focus never gets diversified, rather, he sees more and more of the meaning of all things in Christ.
Lets look at his initial experience of Jesus and how it grew.
Acts 9:3-9: “But in going, it happened as he drew near to Damascus, even suddenly a light from the heaven shone around him. And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?
And he said, Who are you, lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you persecute. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
And trembling and astonished, he said, Lord, what will You have me to do? And the Lord said to him, Arise and go into the city, and you shall be told what you must do. And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, indeed hearing a voice but seeing no one. And Saul was lifted up from the earth, his eyes were opened, but he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days not seeing, and did not eat or drink”
In a letter to the believers at Corinth, he gives us further insight into this experience. 2Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Just as in creation God began it all, so also our encounter with God begins with His initiative. A revelation of Jesus Christ is a gift from God. So much preaching has focused on man’s decision for Christ; man’s faith in Christ; man’s repentance. Here we have an example of God’s initiative to reveal Himself to man, in this case Paul. Paul’s response was based on Jesus’ initiative. Paul did not need any teaching on repentance, or how to have faith, or making a quality decision. The revelation of who Jesus really is, was all that was needed to draw from Paul the appropriate response. If, in our declaration of the gospel, we once again make Christ the focus; if we place our confidence in God’s ability to reveal Himself rather than placing our confidence in man’s faith, we will see genuine conversions as in the case of Paul. Conversions not based on popular Christian formulas, but based on a spontaneous response to ‘the light in the face of Jesus Christ’.
We have changed the natural consequences of seeing Jesus into conditions for seeing Him. There are no conditions you can meet for God to reveal Himself to you. You can simply respond to His initiative. Romans 10:20: And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who were not looking for me; I was revealed to those who were not asking for me.” Isaiah 65:1 “I gave access to them that asked not for Me, I was at hand to them that sought Me not; I said: ‘Behold Me, behold Me’, unto a nation that was not called by My name.”
God is ready to reveal Himself even to those who do not seek Him! I remember the words of a beautiful song: “You are the rarest of treasures, yet so easy to find”
Paul gives us a further insight in Galatians 1:15,16: “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me.”
How different is Paul’s language from today’s believers. His testimony is not: “When I made a decision for Christ then He …” or “when I came to repentance then God …’ No, he has the order completely reversed! He begins with “when it pleased God…to reveal His son in me”. He starts with the initiative of God, and his response is not even spoken about as a wilful decision - it’s just mentioned as a consequence! (Be careful of making the consequences the conditions!)
In this book you will find the same: I don’t place much emphasis on how man must respond, or the importance of man’s contribution, simply because there are truths of much greater importance. God’s initiative, what He did before you were even born, is the focus of this writing. Obviously our response is valuable, but I acknowledge that it is spontaneous and natural if Christ is revealed. My confidence is not in my ability to accurately capture spiritual revelation in words, but rather in God’s ability and desire to reveal Himself to you personally. A revelation of Christ is, therefore, the direction these words point to, the window it opens. If I have to teach a person how to respond to such a revelation, that person obviously did not have a revelation of Christ. It is dead religious traditions that need to teach its followers how to respond. An introduction to the living person of Christ needs no artificial protocols.
The light in the face of Jesus Christ is the light that blinded Paul. It is interesting to find this same Paul saying “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. “2 Corinthians 4:18
In the three days of natural blindness that followed, Paul started seeing with a clarity beyond his wildest dreams. God began to reveal His Son in him. He saw a reality within himself that was greater than anything outside of him. Later he wrote: ‘So that we henceforth know no one according to flesh; but if even we have known Christ according to flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer.’ This time of natural blindness was obviously also the beginning of seeing spirit realities regarding God and man that remain hidden to those who do not know how to draw revelation from within.
T. Austin-Sparks expresses it as follows:
“I can understand now why Paul was revolutionized. He saw the face of Jesus Christ. He did not simply see a blazing light on the way to Damascus. He saw the significance of Jesus of Nazareth in the glory – the Man whom he had probably seen in Jerusalem… the Man whom he had hated – had loathed – as a blasphemer, as an apostate… the Man whom he thought had been rightly handled and given His due when He was crucified.
He saw that Man… and what that Man meant as installed in heaven at God’s right hand; and there broke upon him something of the significance of Jesus Christ, as he saw the face of Jesus in that eternal, universal, and spiritual sense – that all-inclusive sense. Out from that beholding – for he never stopped beholding inwardly the face of Jesus – there grew and grew the explanation of history, the explanation of the race, the explanation of man, the explanation of human destiny, the explanation of the Cross… this unveiling of things which no man could ever know by reason or study. There came out into the heart of Paul the knowledge of what went on in Divine counsels in eternity of old. It was all seen in the face of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ interpreted everything – explained everything – revealed everything.”

In one of Paul’s last letters, the letter to the Philippians, we see that his adoration of Christ did not weaken through the years. On the contrary, we find in this letter his most expressive desire to just know Christ more. Think of it … he spent his life exploring the depths of Christ and his ultimate wish remains: “That I might know Him more”! This is not a revelation that we grasp, categorize, and file with all our other neatly ordered doctrines; this is a revelation that grasps us, consumes us, until we say “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me”. It’s a revelation that takes you beyond individual life, into union life. Can you sense the call of Christ within you … inviting you to union with Himself? Can you sense His cords of love drawing you into a deeper understanding of Him; a spiritual understanding not a mental one? He is so ready to reveal Himself to you in a deeper way than what you have ever experienced before.

Chapter 2 from ‘Adventures in Christ’

The undiscovered Gospel of Paul

Andre Rabe — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:04:06 +0000

Francois du Toit has produced an exceptionally thought provoking translation of the book of Romans. Below is the introduction. The book can be downloaded from the book section. Details of how to order hard-copies can be found in the book itself … hopefully I will make it available on Lulu soon.

Introduction

The free eagle
While we were on honeymoon at Blydepoort, Mpumalanga (Jan 1979) Lydia and I met an official from Nature Conservation who told us of a fascinating incident; she witnessed the dramatic release of a Black Eagle a few weeks prior to our visit. This eagle had been captive in the Pretoria zoo for ten years.
She told us how thrilled they were with excitement and anticipation when the eagle finally arrived in its cage and the gate was opened. But only with difficulty did they eventually succeed to nudge the bird out of its cage.
It was one thing to get the bird out of the cage, but how do you get the cage out of the bird? In the mind of this eagle, it was still captive in the Pretoria zoo!
Every one was holding their breath, but this once mighty bird remained the pathetic prisoner of an inferior mindset.
Nothing changed until much later when another eagle began to call in the area. The eyes of the zoo-eagle immediately lit up, and the next moment she took off in majestic flight to soar in unrestricted space. It needed no further flying instructions!

This dramatic story left a deep impression on my mind. I knew that in the light of Paul’s revelation of the good news, we are left with one urgent priority, which is to announce to the nations with bold confidence the truth about their original identity and mirror-reflect the integrity of their innocence.

Paul’s Gospel
In His letter to the Romans, Paul gives radical and immediate relevance to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a most distinguished fashion.

In studying this pivotal book of the Bible one begins to understand why Paul would so emphatically speak of his gospel.
He erases any illusion that one could possibly add or subtract from this revelation. It concerns the total wellbeing of universal mankind; how the Creator succeeded in redeeming and restoring His image and likeness in human form.
Paul is convinced that whatever happened to the human race because of Adam’s fall, is far superseded in every possible proportion by the revelation of mankind’s inclusion in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
He places the fall of Adam and every act of unrighteousness that followed against the one act of righteousness that God performed in Christ as the final acquittal of humanity.
Any instruction that still places the emphasis on man’s contribution according to the prescribed rules of the law to improve himself and his conduct, limits man again to personal discipline and effort under the futile system of the law of guilt and condemnation; and ignores the completed work of God in Christ.
“Even a little leaven leavens the whole lump” he says in his letter to the Galatians. (5:9)

The revelation of righteousness by faith unveils how God in Christ succeeded in restoring man’s lost sense of identity and innocence. The etymological essence of the word, ‘righteousness’ in its root form, ‘dike’, implies the idea of two parties finding likeness in each other; with no interference of any sense of blame, guilt or inferiority.

In his Epistles Paul declares in no uncertain terms that he did not make any effort to learn or borrow his revelation of the gospel from the original eleven disciples of Jesus.
“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that I preach is not man’s gospel.
For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
But God separated me from my mother’s womb and identified me through the revelation of His grace.
It pleased Him to reveal His Son in me, in order that I might preach Him in the Gentiles, I deliberately did not consult with anyone.” (Gal.1:11,12,15-17)
One would think that Paul missed out on a golden opportunity immediately after his conversion in that he did not study at first hand the detailed eye-witness information which the apostles had to offer him about Jesus of Nazareth.
But the impact of his encounter had distanced him even from the value he had previously placed on his own noble birth.
Whatever gain he felt that he might have had as descendant of the prominent lineage of Benjamin is discounted against the revelation of the greater spiritual identity of man. “From now on therefore I no longer know any man from a human point of view…” (2Cor.5:16.) “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, nor slave nor freeman, nor African nor Chinese, nor European nor American, neither male nor female…” (Gal.3:28)
Nothing distinguishes the individual more than the revelation of his original identity as preserved, restored and revealed again in Christ.
In Christ the image and likeness of the invisible Creator is accurately displayed again in human form. “It is in Him that God gives a full and complete expression of Himself. Moreover, your own completeness is realised only in Him.” (Col.1:15, and Col.2:9,10. Phillips Translation)

“He is not far from each one of us” Paul reminds the philosophers of Athens, “In Him we live and move and have our being; we are indeed His offspring…” (Acts 17:27,28.) The inner mirror of Christ says it all! Our likeness to Christ revealed within us brings real transformation; this realisation is so much more effective than wishful thinking, mere ‘window shopping’ or the exercise of our willpower! (2Cor.3:18)

Not once in Paul’s Epistles does he make mention of any miracles performed by Jesus, neither does he refer to any parable told by Him.

His mission and message was not to proclaim Christ revealed in history, but Christ revealed in us! (Rom.8:10)
He celebrates the harvest revealed in the single grain of wheat that would have remained alone, had it not been sown into the earth and died. (John 12:23,24)

The mystery that was hidden from generations of people was not understood by any of the rulers of this world. God documented this mystery in Christ’s incarnation for man’s glorification. Had they understood this they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. (1Cor.2:6-9) But they did not understand the mystery of God’s plan, how mankind was to be fully represented and included in Christ; how one would die for all, and how simultaneously all indeed died in His death. (2Cor.5:14) They did not know that all of humanity would be represented in the single act of one man and thus disarm the claim of darkness and ignorance over all people. “God has overlooked the times of ignorance.” (Acts 17:30)
History recorded the death and resurrection of one individual, eternity recorded the death of mankind and the new birth of the human species.

We have in our ignorance given far too much credit to the devil. He is defeated and disarmed! In the revelation of the gospel he is brought to nought and rendered completely powerless! (1Cor.2:6-8, Col.2: 14,15) His sole aim has always been to keep mankind as ignorant as he himself was concerning their inclusion in Christ. It was our ignorance and unbelief that empowered him to do so.

The only reference in the Old Testament to the resurrection on the 3rd day includes us! “On the third day He will raise us up!” (Hos.6:1,2) This is the scripture which ignited Paul’s understanding that we are all co-included in His death and triumphant resurrection. On whose terms were we qualified for inclusion?
“All this is from God,” says Paul in 2Cor.5:18; “Of God are we in Christ” (1Cor.1:30) “The ends of the earth in their future generations will know that the Lord has wrought it!” (Ps.22:31) This was accomplished on our behalf while we were still dead in our sins; while we were hostile and indifferent towards God. (Eph.2:5,6) Because we were raised together with Christ; let us now engage and occupy our thoughts with Throne Room realities and not with the futile contradictions and distractions of a lesser life. (Col.3:1-3)
After 3 years spent in isolation in Arabia Paul visits Jerusalem for two weeks and deliberately sees only two of the Apostles, Cephas and James, the Lord’s brother. What was it that distinguished Peter and James, the younger brother of Jesus, from the rest of the disciples? Why was Paul attracted specifically to them? Both these men shared a rare revelation with Paul: they no longer knew Jesus from a human point of view; they had discovered their own true identity in Christ.

Paul refers to Peter as Cephas in order to to emphasise the meaning rather than the familiar sound of his name! In Greek, the written language of his day, the word for rock was “Petros”, but in the spoken language, the Aramaic the word was “Cephas”.
In Mathew 16 Jesus asks the most important question in the Bible, “Who does man say the son of man is?” By revelation Simon asserts in response that Jesus is not the son of Joseph, but the Messiah. He is the promise of man’s redemption, the image and likeness of God restored to and fully displayed in human form; the son of the living God.
Notice how Jesus responds to him, “Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father. If I am the son of God then so are you! Your surname is no longer derived from your natural father in the flesh but from the Rock that begot you! (Deut.32:18, “Look to the Rock from which you were hewn.” Isaiah 51:1) Upon this Rock I will build My church. Greek, ecclesia.
The church is God’s answer to man’s lost identity. The word ‘ecclesia’ which Jesus introduces here does not refer to a building or an organisation, but to the original divine identity of mankind restored and revealed anew in Christ as in a mirror. The Greek preposition, ek, always refers to origin or source, (1Cor.1:30, Heb.2:11) and klesia, from kaleo means to surname or identify by name. The essential meaning and purpose of the church then is to extend the ministry of Jesus Christ which is to unveil the true Christlike identity of every man. “We were born anew into a living hope when Jesus was raised from the dead.” (1Pet.1:3)

Why, in addition to Peter, did Paul also visit James? (Gal.1:19) What had happened to James since the time when he had been standing distanced and indifferent to his brother Jesus’ ministry? (“Even His brothers did not believe in Him” John 7:5) What had brought him to write that our birth is of the Father of lights who brought us forth by the word of truth? Our true beginning is in God; we are God’s invention. And “if any man hears this word he sees the face of his birth as in a mirror.” He also states that it is possible to forget what manner of man you are, if you are being distracted from a faith-informed focus in the mirror of likeness, and revert again to to the double-minded opinion of the flesh. (Jam.1:17,18,24)
In 1Cor.15:7 Paul specifically mentions that Jesus had also appeared to James after the resurrection. I believe that the meaning of the ministry of Jesus dawned on him there. He now knew that his brother was indeed the Messiah. He suddenly understood that just like Jesus, his own genesis began in God; as indeed every man’s true birth, now represented and revealed in the resurrection. Joseph and Mary could not parent their original spirit origin.

Paul is convinced that something happened to mankind in the death and resurrection of Christ. The resurrection mirrors everyone’s new birth. This happened even before we knew about it. “He made us alive together with Him while we were still dead in our sins and raised us up together with Him.” (Eph.2:5) When Paul preaches the resurrection in Acts 13, he uses Psalm 2 as his text, “Today I have begotten you!” (Acts 13:30-33)
“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1Cor.15:22) Jesus was not the second but the last Adam. The old things, (the old Adamic race) have passed away. ”The first Adam became a living soul, the last Adam was a life giving Spirit.” (1Cor.15:45)
“I am persuaded that because one died for all, therefore all have indeed died. From now on therefore I no longer regard any man from a human point of view; in Christ man has become a new creation, the old things have passed away, behold, everything has become new.” (2Cr.5:14,16,17)
When did all of mankind die? In Paul’s logic this happened when Jesus died. Jesus in His person represented all of God in human form and at the same time the whole of mankind.

Jesus did not come to start the Christian religion; He came to reveal every man’s true origin, identity and innocence. When the gospel was first preached to he Greeks, Barnabas was sent by the church in Jerusalem to investigate the reports. He saw the grace of God evident in them and instead of reporting back to the leadership of Jerusalem he immediately fetched Paul and gave him his first public pulpit. He knew and understood Paul’s revelation of Christ in man. It is no surprise to learn then that it was here in Antioch where for the first time believers were called Christians. (Acts 11)
“Ask of me the nations and I will give you the ends of the earth as your inheritance!” (Psalm 2:7,8) The conclusion of the cross is that the ends of the earth shall remember (their forgotten identity, Deut.32:18) and turn to the Lord. (Ps.22:27)

“I proclaim Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which was concealed in silence in the sequence of timeless ages, but now is made publicly known, mirrored in prophetic scripture.” (“Surely He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement that brought us peace was upon Him and by His stripes we were healed.” Isa.53:4,5) And now the God of the ages has issued His mandate to make the mystery known in such a way that all the nations of the earth will discover the lifestyle (obedience) that the hearing of faith ignites.” (Rom.16:25,26) “The conclusion is clear: it took just one offence to condemn mankind; one act of righteousness declares the same mankind innocent! The disobedience of the one man exhibits humanity as sinners, the obedience of another man exhibits humanity as righteous! (Rom.5:18,19)

The principle of faith then is to see what God sees. God calls things which seem not to be as though they were. (Rom.4:17) “While we look not at the things that the senses observe but we look at the revelation of the unseen as it is unveiled in the mirror reflection of Christ in every man. (2Cor3:18, 2Cor.4:18)

Heb 2:8 “Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to man.
Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Heb 2:10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Heb 2:11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.” (English Standard Version)

What was God thinking!?

Andre Rabe — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 17:29:47 +0000

The Logos

Long, long ago … before time itself, before creation, the ‘Logos’ began to plan.

There were no limits to the knowledge or the ability of the Logos. ‘He’ was (and is) all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present.

The ‘Logos’ was part of a union that found expression in different forms. The Logos was the logic of this Union. We could think of the Logos as the mind of God. There were other parts to this Union also, but they’ll appear later in this story. So with these unlimited abilities, the Logos began to imagine its ultimate achievement. The mind of God conceived a drama that would span across eternity and require a creation of gigantic proportions, yet engineered in the minutest detail. He imagined the whole plot from beginning to end. No detail was left to chance … for there was no chance there was only Him! Neither was there a time-limit for the planning to end and the action to start, for there was no time.

(Much, much later … after creation, when the Logos began to reveal his logic to His creation, He inspired the following writing:

The Eternal Self-existent one formed and brought me [Logos] forth at the beginning of His course, before His acts of old. (He planned and thought before he acted)
I was appointed from everlasting, from the beginning, before ever the earth existed. (The plan and logic was in place before the first action was taken)
When there were no deeps, I was brought forth, when there were no fountains laden with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth, while as yet He had not made the land or the fields or the first of the dust of the earth.
When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He drew a circle upon the face of the deep and stretched out the firmament over it, when He made firm the skies above, when He established the fountains of the deep, when He gave to the sea its limit and His decree that the waters should not transgress His command, when He appointed the foundations of the earth.
Then I [Logos] was joined to Him as an architect and director of the work; and I was continually His delight, rejoicing before Him always, rejoicing in His inhabited earth and delighting in the sons of men.)1

And also the following:

“I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is none like Me, I declare the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose.”2

From the very core of who He was, this plan was birthed as an expression of His nature a plan to do His pleasure and fulfil His own purpose. This was what God was thinking about: how to make the most of who He was, of what He knew and what He could do. In short how to express Himself fully.

Before His infinite mind, lay infinite possibilities. Within His limitless imagination arose limitless options. But within this Union there was a very specific quality that caused Him to have a specific inclination, a preference. Another part of the Union influenced the Logos – this Union consisted, not only of logic, but also of heart! The closest word we have to describe this quality, is the word ‘love’. Yet this love was not the tainted or twisted type that we so often refer to as love. No, this was the pure, the original motivation that defined the very nature of God. The mind (Logos), together with the heart (later referred to as the Father), chose from all the possibilities, those which would most accurately express the Union. The possibilities and options that were rejected, later became known as ‘evil’. ‘Evil’ is all the possibilities that are not in harmony with the nature and character of God. In the light of what will be said later, this point needs to be made very clear: God is only good; only love there is nothing double minded or contrary in Him.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no inconsistency or shifting shadow.”3

To understand why He chose some possibilities and rejected others, why some options were preferred and others ignored, we need to understand a bit more about this ‘love’ – His essential nature.
Loves only need is to give. Love cannot find full and complete expression by itself. Love is an expression of abundance; the overflow of joy and satisfaction. Love desires to give love is not focussed on itself, but desires the benefit of others. This posed a problem, because at this stage before creation – there were no ‘others’ … no-one and nothing else to focus on.

From His innermost being arose a thought that would be the centre and purpose of all His other thoughts …
“We will make a being in our own image and our own likeness. We will fully express ourselves toward this being We will love him … we will continually delight ourselves in him. We will design this being with the capacity to receive Our love and the capacity to respond to Our love”

The Paradox
The Logos understood that true love could not be pre-programmed within this being. For this love to be pure, it had to be as free and spontaneous as its origin. For this companionship to be all that God imagined it to be, His companion had to be free to choose or reject this love. A being made in the likeness and image of the Union would have the same creative ability to imagine. The same infinite possibilities that lay before the infinite mind of God, would present themselves to this being … but would he choose the same … would he have the same preferences? What a disaster it would be to produce an equal one that is all-knowing and all-powerful and then discover that this being has different preferences to the one who created him!

The Logos calculated that such a situation would be disastrous and so the option was rejected. Instead another possibility was presented. An environment could be created in which this being could learn to use its powers without eternal disastrous consequences. Some of the qualities that God possessed would be given to this being, but would be limited in this environment. Some qualities would only be placed within this being as seeds potential qualities that would grow and manifest in … time. God thought about ‘time’ a way to limit the potential damage that such a creature could do.
But one thing He would not compromise on, was reproducing His most essential quality in this being. You see, it is not being all-powerful that makes God, God. Neither is it His omnipresence or the fact that He is all-knowing. The most essential quality of God is … love. God is love. This capacity to receive, contain and reflect back this love is the most important ‘likeness’ that this being would possess.

But another difficulty remained. How could a completely free and spontaneous being be guaranteed to make the right choice? The Logos calculated uncountable scenarios and configurations of the environment to see if there was a way to guarantee the right choice. The answer was produced after an exceptionally long period of timelessness. The fact that this being would not be all-knowing, yet be imaginative and free, meant that this being would indeed make choices and have preferences other than those chosen by God! This creature would be responsible for choosing ‘evil’!

For any other logic, this would be an impossible situation – how to plan and purpose every detail of the plot, yet give another creature the freedom to choose what role to play within it. But for the Logos, nothing is impossible.

So this was the paradox presented to the Logos: Of all the possibilities to realise God’s dream of having a love companion, the only options available would result in ‘evil’ being realized! God already rejected all possibilities not in line with his character, but this being would imagine and choose some of these rejected possibilities; this being would choose evil! At this stage God did not created anything yet, He was simply considering all His options. What He realised is that should He create and set this plan in motion, He would indirectly be responsible for ‘Evil’! ‘Evil’ would be a consequence of creation! Yet there was something deeper to God’s Logos (logic) than this. He calculated that within this temporal environment, evil too, would be temporal … but the object of His love, the being created in His likeness and image, would be eternal. He knew how to take ‘evil’ and turn it into a part of a greater purpose: “Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good…”4

Evil would indeed cause terrible suffering, both for His creation and for Himself. He knew the end from the beginning and saw the suffering that He would have to endure Himself for the sake a having this companion named man. Although He would not be directly responsible for choosing evil, His choice to create would give the opportunity for evil to be realised He would be indirectly responsible! And so God took the responsibility – He would be indirectly responsible for creating evil and therefore He also took it upon Himself to ultimately destroy it.

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. “5,
“Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy”6

His plan to destroy it, included sacrificing Himself and so we read about a ‘lamb slain before the foundation of the earth’7. Before creation, God understood the consequences of creating – unimaginable suffering, sorrow and death but He also saw beyond it. He saw the end of evil and the realisation of His eternal dream. Evil was indeed an necessary evil, but also a temporary evil. In the end evil and its consequences would be abolished. An so Hosea prophesied:

“Shall I intervene and pull them into life? Shall I snatch them from a certain death? Who is afraid of you, Death? Who cares about your threats, Tomb? In the end I’m abolishing regret, banishing sorrow,”8

Seeing the grand scheme of God’s plan, Paul wrote: “At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three-sin, guilt, death-are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! “9

The possibility of evil existing forever, was rejected by God. He was confident that in the end man would choose as He chose. He knew that He could accurately communicate His original plan in such a way that all things He created would once again be reconciled to Himself.

“We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and leading the resurrection parade he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe – people and things, animals and atoms get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message – just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.”10

1 Proverbs 8:22 -
2 Isaiah 46:10
3 James 1:17
4 Gen 50:20
5 Isaiah 45:7
6 Isaiah 54:16
7 Revelation 13 : 8; 5:12
8 Hosea 13:14
9 1 Corinthians 15:52-54
10 Colossians 1:15-23

Discovering Value

Andre Rabe — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 09:06:42 +0000

My family and I have spend the last four weeks in South Africa. It has been one of the most active ‘holidays’, both physically and spiritually, we’ve ever had.

We did not plan or organise any ministry opportunities, but Father … together with some our precious friends … organised a whole lot of opportunities to share this great gospel. The first weekend function took place at a student campus in Stellenbosch, but non of these gatherings were contained to a certain time or place – they seemed to spill over into homes and night after night we found ourselves amongst the beaming faces of people who have discovered great treasure.

This Gospel draws us to one another. The communication of our faith becomes effective by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus. (Phm 1:6) The gospel is so much more than just a discovery of information … its a discovery of one-another; it is recognising every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus; it is seeing beyond the clay pot and acknowledging the treasure within.

Eph 2:10 speaks of us as His workmanship. The word ‘workmanship’ was translated from the Greek word ‘poiema’ from which we also get the word ‘poem’. You are God’s poem! You are the product of His inspired utterance; His skilful, artistic and passionate expression. Eph 1:18 speaks about the riches and glory of His inheritance in the saints. Rom 8:17 declares that we are joint heirs together with Christ. In other words, His inheritance is our inheritance. What is His inheritance and where can it be found? Eph 1:18 shows that His inheritance does not consist of some temporal benefits, but it is people! Psalms 2:8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. Our inheritance is nothing less that the restoration of Gods original inspired thought, manifested in man. The lost coin never lost its value … there lies unimaginable value undiscovered in the next person you will encounter and that value is part of your inheritance – recognise it; awaken it.

Jesus recognised that value, in a prostitute who was caught in the act of adultery. Although everyone around Him, especially the religious, only saw a person worthy of condemnation, He saw God’s original thought about her, He valued her true design. Her deeds could not fool Him. In her encounter with Him she found such favour, such approval that the hold of sin lost its grip. Jesus could confidently tell her to go and sin no more. He did not need to refer her to three months of counselling to discover where the problem started. He knew that the demonstration of God’s favourable opinion about her carried enough weight to set her free. Jesus recognised this value in a madman for whom no-one had any hope. This recognition of God’s original thought – the true design of man – compelled Him to speak to a Samaritan woman of questionable repute at a time when it was unheard of for a Jew to speak to a Samaritan.

God wants to convince us of what He is convinced of; He wants us to see things from His perspective. This is why Paul wrote that he could no longer view any man from a human point of view. Paul understood that the death and resurrection of Jesus meant the death of the old Adamic race (that is why Jesus is called the last Adam, not the second Adam), and the resurrection of Christ meant the justification of man. Romans 4:25: who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous. Isaiah 66:8 Who ever heard of such a thing or imagined it could happen? Can a nation be born in a day or come to life in a second?

God is placing the same challenge before us saying: “Ask of me the nations, and I will give you the ends of the earth as your inheritance”

I started by mentioning our holiday in South Africa – I realise that I did not say much about the activities etc. But the greatest activity was discovering old and new friends & family in the light of the words above.

Just one bit of news: Mary-Anne recorded her CD!

We’ll publish some songs soon!

Andre & Mary-Anne Rabe

www.hearhim.net.

Far better than what we could ever imagine.

Andre Rabe — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:18:53 +0000

You have probably heard this phrase quoted:
“God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours”
Unfortunately it is often quoted in the face of some tragedy. Usually, after some terrible event has occurred, that has left people stunned and speechless … this quote is used. What is insinuated, is that God was somehow involved in this tragedy, and we should not try to understand it … because we can’t.
I don’t think there is any real comfort in ignorance. I find it very revealing that the ‘Comforter’ is also called the Spirit of Truth, who leads us into all truth.

I was pleasantly surprised when I read the original source of this quotation and I think you will be too.
Isaiah:55:7,8
Let the wicked one abandon his way,
and the sinful one his thoughts; ….
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”

Notice that having thoughts that are not His thoughts is described as wicked and sinful – a way of thinking that should be abandoned. God never stated that such a condition is simply human, and therefore we should just accept it. No; He challenges us to forsake such low level thinking. He plainly says that if you don’t think like Him, you need to change your thinking!

Isaiah:55:7-11
Let the wicked one abandon his way,
and the sinful one his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD,
so He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will freely forgive.
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
declares the Lord.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven,
and do not return there
without saturating the earth,
and making it germinate and sprout,
and providing seed to sow
and food to eat,
11 so My word that comes from My mouth
will not return to Me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please,
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

Our Creator desires to be known; our Father wants to be understood, but His desire extends even further. He longs for meaningful companionship â€“ a being that can think on His level; a being that is able to communicate boldly and comfortably in His presence. Such a being exists … it’s the one He created in His own image and likeness … it is you.

We started with the quotation “His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours” We showed how often this has been misunderstood and miss-quoted to insinuate that such a state is simply human. The context in which this scripture has often been quoted would suggest that God is worse than what we expected! Looking at the original setting of this scripture we discovered something completely different.

There have indeed been occasions where my thoughts were not His thoughts. However, discovering His thoughts has always been a pleasant discovery. He has surprised me time and again with His goodness. My best imaginations are always overshadowed by much better realities, when I see things from His perspective. He is better, bigger, wiser, more thorough, more involved, more loving than what we could ever have hoped for.

He is exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or imagine.
He invites you right now to come and partake, to boldly come and commune with Him. There are no reasons to hesitate … just let Him surprise you with His goodness.

It is with this understanding that I want us to discover Romans 9-11. These chapters contain a progressive revelation of the goodness of God.

Imagine bending down and examining a beautiful flower. Then expand your focus and see the field of flowers in which it stands. Now look beyond the field and see the roaring river ripping through the landscape and in the background, majestic snow-capped mountains.
This illustrates how these chapters expand our vision and stretch our understanding to appreciate the scope and exceeding greatness of Gods plan. Paul presents us with a problem or a question then answers it in such a way that it beckons an even bigger question. Each statement, question and answer expands our understanding of God’s master plan until the conclusion in chapter 11 … a climax which is most extraordinary.

Paul starts with a very specific focus – the Israelites.

Romans 11:1-5
1 I speak the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit 2 that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my countrymen by physical descent. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5 The forefathers are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Messiah, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Here is the first problem that Paul presents: The Jews were the covenant nation through whom salvation would come to the nations. However, they hindered rather than helped this purpose. Jesus came and accomplished this mission … one would expect them, of all people to embrace this salvation … but no they didn’t. Even up to this day, the majority of Jews do not embrace this message. This poses a very important question regarding God’s faithfulness to His covenant people! It is this question that Paul answers in the following three chapters. He does not entertain a shallow theology that simply and callously accepts that the Jews got what they deserved (or chose). He seems to ask a much bigger question – what part does God play in this drama, seeing that ‘God’s call is under full warranty–never cancelled, never rescinded’ There seems to be a paradox: The Jews, in general, seems to be cut off from this salvation … but they are the covenant people ( to whom belongs the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants; see 11:28,29) … this causes Paul ‘intense sorrow and continual anguish’. Looking at the state of Israel, can we conclude that God has been faithful to His covenant? Paul’s answer is yes – but to come to that conclusion we have to look at a much broader context than the present.

Paul starts his argument by stating that there is more to being Israel than physical decent – not all Abraham’s descendants inherited the promise. (vs 6,7) Ishmael and Esau were physical descendants, but not heirs – the focus shifts from decent and personal choice to God’s election – His Choice, His initiative. (vs 8-14)

He illustrates the power of Gods’ decision, and the irrelevance of man’s contribution so strongly with statements like: So then it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy. He emphasises the point even more through the story of Pharaoh, who hardened his heart against God. The Old Testament story is quite clear that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, but Paul sees deeper and declares that what Pharaoh thought was his own choice, was actually God’s choice.

This will obviously raise some questions. Paul is aware of that and articulates it as follows: You will say to me, therefore, “Why then does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?”
If God makes all the important decisions, how can He hold us responsible for anything?

Paul does not attempt to answer this question immediately, but firstly shows that such a question misses the point. It is completely out of context … similar to a pot questioning the potter. The potter obviously has a much broader perspective and purpose for his handiwork, than what is immediately visible to the handiwork.

He then makes a very clear statement – God is a potter who decided to make two pots - one, a vessel of Mercy, and another, a vessel of wrath!

The object of His mercy contains both gentiles and believing Jews (vs 23-26). The other pot is the object of wrath – that makes sense in the light of the scriptural statement that only a remnant will be saved!Â But this thought is one of the most important keys to understanding the whole plot. I’ll explore it more a bit later – suffice to say that the remnant has always been seen as God’s strategy to save the nation, just like the ‘one’ was His strategy to save ‘the many’ and the church is the firstfruits of a harvest much larger than the church!

So his argument progresses to show that the true Israel is the Church ,,, and so God remains faithful and justified in what He has done … but he does not leave it there! This is not the end of the plot.

Paul doesn’t just adopt a new definition for ‘Israel’ and moves on, He again expresses his desire for Israel (in the traditional definition) to be saved. (Chapter10:1)
’did God reject His people?’ … ‘by no means!’ (11:1)
Paul is not satisfied that God has been faithful to His covenant with Israel, simply because a few Jews believed, or because he(Paul) now has a new definition for Israel. 11:11-12 Paul asks: ‘have they stumbled beyond recovery?’ Paul’s answer is a definite NO!
This is rather amazing, because he quotes from Ps 69 in which the same question is asked, and the answer in the Psalms is: Yes, they stumbled beyond recovery. Ps 69:28 “Let them be erased from the book of life”
However, Paul comes to a different conclusion! He asks the same question, but goes on to give the opposite answer. He obviously never subscribed to our neatly formalised principles on ‘how to interpret the scriptures’

Anyway, back to the main point.
God’s long term plan includes only one ‘pot’ … the object of His mercy. He concluded all under disobedience, so that He might have mercy on all. Being the object of wrath is always temporal … ‘we once were by nature children of wrath, but now…(Eph. 2)

For His anger lasts only a moment,
but His favor, a lifetime.
Weeping may endure the night,
but there is joy in the morning. (Ps 30:5)

Israel’s ‘stumble’ was part of a bigger plan for the Gentiles to be included … the inclusion of the Gentiles is part of a bigger plan to include all Israel (11:26)… which is part of a bigger plan to include all without exception.

We have the picture of the olive tree in 11:13-24 … So the conclusion: Not all descendants of Abraham are Israel(9:5); God has been severe in His dealings with them (11:22); they have been rejected (11:15) BUT this state is not permanent. ‘if they do not continue in unbelief, they will be grafted back in, for God is able’ So Paul makes this amazing statement that non-elect Jews, could become elect Jews! Being non-elect is also temporal!

But will this ever happen? Is ‘believing’ not a choice that some are bound to never make? 11:25-29 There is no gambling going on here – what God purposed will be accomplished.

11:31 From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at it from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warrantyâ€”never cancelled, never rescinded.

The above scripture makes it so plain that being an enemy (other terms used are non-elect, rejected, hardened) is only true within a certain context and period. God’s purpose however, has a much larger perspective and transcends the limitations of the temporal.

Wow – look at this in the MSG translation:
30-32There was a time not so long ago when you were on the outs with God. But then the Jews slammed the door on him and things opened up for you. Now they are on the outs. But with the door held wide open for you, they have a way back in. In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in.

God our Father is at work in every person to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil 2:13) Some respond sooner than others. However, in the end every knee will bow and every tongue will adore Him.
This is Paul’s ultimate conclusion: â€œFor God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.â€ (v32)

No wonder Paul exclaims:

Oh, the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable His judgements
and untraceable His ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been His counsellor?
Or who has ever first given to Him,
and has to be repaid?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
(Romans 11:33-36)

1Co 2:16Â For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Remembering and Forgetting

Andre Rabe — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:00:04 +0000

This is a time of year when many contemplate the past and the future. Most of us spare a few thoughts for the year that was and plan, or at least wonder about, the year to come.

I had a quick look at the Scriptures (using eSword)Â regarding what it had to say about our relation to the past. It was refreshing to see just how much and how specific it was about the way we relate to the past, and not just the past but the present and the future also. There is great value in the past, in the present and in the future â€“ the key however is relating to it in the way the scriptures reveals it. What follows is only a few encouraging scriptures about our relation to the past.

The Word encourages us to remember certain things and to forget other things. Knowing what to remember and what to forget is key to living in contentment. Forgetting what we should remember and remembering what we should forget, leads to all kinds of evil â€“ bitterness, anger, depression.

What the Word says about REMEMBERING

Deut 7:18,19 shows that remembering the Lords activity in our lives helps us to overcome fear. Just think of all the difficult, sometimes impossible situations He brought you through â€“ fear can’t stand in the presence of such memories.

Deut 8:2; 9:7. It might be surprising, but the Word doesn’t instruct us to only remember the good times, but also the desperate times. With the benefit of hindsight we can now see those experiences in perspective, and acknowledge the goodness and guidance of Father even in those ‘desperate’ events. It is truly amazing how the Lord can turn an event that seemed to only contain pain and sorrow, into a memory that inspires gratitude and joy.

Deut 8:18. Paradoxically, it seems that remembering the Lord in good times is even harder that remembering Him in trouble! This scripture makes it clear that wealth and abundance is simply another opportunity to remember the Lords goodness and be thankful. Don’t allow wealth to become a distraction. Don’t allow the comfort of your outer man to starve your inner man.

1 Chron 16 8-16 Remembering the past â€“ what God has done â€“ is part of the way in which we are to praise and worship Him.

1 Chronicles 16:8-12 Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgements of his mouth;

Psalms 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

Psalms 63:5-6 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

The book of Acts give us a very simple instruction regarding remembering: â€œ…remember the words of the Lord Jesus..â€ (20:35)

Then there is James 1:24,25 which instructs us not to forget who we are. It is such a simple statement, yet contained within it is the secret of living life the way God intended it to be lived â€“ in the consciousness of our union with Him.

In the beginning of a new year, many of us are preparing to go back to work, or business, or whatever else normally occupy our time. It is so easy to be drawn into a place where we allow our occupation to define us â€“ it is a trap. You are more than your employment (or lack of), you are more than your job description, more than your profession. You are the apple of His eye; the focus of His affection â€“ His own offspring. Never forget that.

Despite all we are encouraged to remember, there are a number of instruction regarding ‘forgetting’. God is a God of new beginnings, which also means that He brings certain things to a final end â€“ never to be remembered again.

Isaiah 43:18-19, 25 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert … I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

To continue to remember sin, to allow guilt a place in your consciousness, after God has forgiven and forgotten it, is an insult to your Creator â€“ stop it! You have no business reminding yourself of that which God has forgotten.

May we all come to know Him more in this year to come, that He might make Himself known through us.

Andre

Perspective

Andre Rabe — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 09:25:08 +0000

I love the Scriptures. I love the truth behind them even more. I love the person behind the truth even more. Study and research has value. I enjoy finding the patterns, the themes and the progression of thoughts in the Word. However, the most life-changing insights have not come as a result of these activities. There are some events that I can’t describe in any lesser terms than Divine encounters, in which God simply showed me something about Himself that forever changed who I was – or thought I was. It’s as if He by-passed all of my intellect, all of my emotion and all of my imagination and displayed an image of Himself to my spirit. This ‘impression’, for lack of an adequate word, could take days, months or even years before it connects with my natural mind in order for me to articulate it accurately. It’s as if my natural faculties have to race, to keep up with an injection of perception that happened in a part so deep within me, that it’s not immediately available to my mind. I have to draw it out as proverbs say: “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; But a man of understanding will draw it out.” Once they do catch up … oh, what joy, what emotion, what understanding it brings. His counsel often starts at a level much deeper than our natural intellect. That why our love affair starts with “love the Lord with all your heart” and then moves on to “with all your mind”. There is a progression present here.

I think, actually I know, He does this (by-passing our faculties) purposely to avoid areas that can skew the vision He wants us to have. All of us are at different places in our thoughts and emotions, and we therefore interpret whatever we encounter differently. Our Father does not want to be misunderstood! And so He engineered a way of communication that could not be interfered with by our faculties. “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”– these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. … which also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, communicating spiritual things by spiritual means.” (1Co 2:9-10, 13) One translation reads, “combining spiritual things with spiritual words”.

These encounters with Father should shape our faith and theology – our theology should not dictate our encounter with Him!

Peter saw a vision that challenged everything he believed before (as recorded in Acts 10.) Just imagine what a conflict he faced when in this vision the Lord commands him to kill and eat what the scriptures specifically forbid! The vision contradicted the very scriptures he based his life upon. Not only does this change his views on food, as demonstrated later in chapter 15, but also how he views all people. Peter sums it up in these words: “But God has shown me not to call any man common or unclean.” This encounter was against Peter’s upbringing, even against the scriptures that were available to him! Yet, the authority of what he saw took precedence over all he had known before. And in the light of it, the scriptures started making more sense than ever before!

If you are concerned about my approach to scriptures please read ‘The Scriptures in Perspective’ and ‘Truth Preserved; Truth Revealed’

Imagine walking into a cinema half way through the screening of a film. It will take a while to work out the plot and understand the characters. So much has happened before you entered that it might not be possible for you to comprehend it fully. Life is like a massive movie, that we joined halfway through the screening. Except, in the current scene you are playing a leading role, and you did not miss only an hour!

We are part of a very, very big story. It began before creation, but the director had you in mind even then! The scope of this plot is so vast that it makes the few years of our lives on earth seem insignificant, but they are not. You are an essential part of the director’s plan; you are of irreplaceable value to Him.

Paul, seeing the enormity of God’s love plan, prays that we should be strengthened in order to comprehend its breadth and length and height and depth. We need supernatural strengthening to understand this love dream of the Father from whom every family derives its identity. To appreciate His eternal purpose we need a perspective that is much larger than our own lives. It is only from this perspective that we see the true meaning of our lives.

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.(Eph 3:16-19 KJV)

What do we know about this plan? We know that it originated in love – for God is love. “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!)” (Eph 1:4, 5)We are also assured that He did not leave the outcome to chance. He is not busy with an experiment and therefore He describes Himself as “declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isa 46:10)

Romans 9 describe so beautifully the certainty of His purpose. It is not dependant on the good or bad that man does – He is not subject to our decisions. His purpose is solely dependant on His own decision and His own initiative:

And that’s not the only time. To Rebecca, also, a promise was made that took priority over genetics. When she became pregnant by our one-of-a-kind ancestor, Isaac, and her babies were still innocent in the womb–incapable of good or bad–she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don’t do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative. (Rom 9:10-11 MSG)

The fact that God is love and He is all-powerful, leads us to the obvious question of why there is so much suffering and evil present in this world. Again, having a broader perspective will go a long way in explaining this. How this plan began and how it will end, explains the middle. Unfortunately, because we are so close to the middle part, we often try to explain the beginning and the end from our small point of view. ‘… my judgement would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father.”(John 8:16 MSG)

Wow, we can learn so much from Jesus – don’t judge from the narrowness of your own experience but in the largeness of the Father!

Our Father is not at all worried about the end. Hear His promise: “Shall I intervene and pull them into life? Shall I snatch them from a certain death? Who is afraid of you, Death? Who cares about your threats, Tomb? In the end I’m abolishing regret, banishing sorrow,” Hosea 13:14

We’ll definitely have to look into Romans chapter 9,10 and 11 at another time. The conclusion is that what was perceived as God excluding the gentiles, turned out to be part of His plan to include them; what seemed to be His rejection of Israel, eventually results in their inclusion; what looked like God accepting Jacob and rejecting Esau, was part of a bigger plan to reconcile them to one another and to Him. Paul concludes his arguments with this all-inclusive summary: “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” Romans 11:32. What could be considered as a catastrophic failure – the fact that the overwhelming majority of the worlds population does not know Jesus Christ – will also be turned as surely as God has promised: “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” and again “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.” Isaiah 25:6-7 and again ” Then I heard every creature in Heaven and earth, in underworld and sea, join in, all voices in all places, singing: To the One on the Throne! To the Lamb! The blessing, the honour, the glory, the strength, For age after age after age.” Revelation 5:13

The end of this big love story is of a triumphant God, not of a defeated God who has to live with the knowledge that most of the ones whom He loves are separated from Him forever. The bigger plan, His eternal purpose, is to have mercy on all. And He is not just willing, but … unfortunately, not able. No! I exclaim with Paul: “Oh, how inexhaustible are God’s resources and God’s wisdom and God’s knowledge!” He is well able to accomplish all His purpose.