Outstretched arm

I read a message for encouragement from Israel Bible Institute about Passover and the deliverance from Egypt after so many years of slavery. Because of His love, God promised to deliver Israel. “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm (בִּזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה) and with great judgments (Ex 6:6).” This deliverance was not only a deliverance from slavery, but also a deliverance to better serve God. Many times we become mesmerized with this account because of the commanding revelation of who is really in control of nature [YHWH]. We often add to this the amazing physical benefits these slaves received, not only freedom, but great financial gain. When we do this, perhaps we overlook the greatest benefit was an exit from those in control, those who did not believe in [YHWH], Jehovah God. Because they did not patiently follow their deliverer, they not only squandered much of their wealth, but turned away from the one who delivered them to a human made calf [Exodus 32:21-24]. Some believers today, follow a similar pathway. They want God to bless them physically to magnificent levels. When they have freedom to worship God because of His grace and love, they turn away. As servant of such a great and powerful God, we need to realize what He has provided for us. Because of Jesus, He provided a gift we could not ever achieve on our own, the forgiveness of sins. While this gift provides the guarantee of a life with Him eternally, it also provides for guidance here on earth. We need to understand each Christian really does walk along their own unique individual spiritual journey. When we realize we have access to direct guidance by God, Himself, via the Holy Spirit, we are confident this help abides within us continually to direct our footsteps. God is close to us and will lead us with an outstretched arm along this journey. Our main goal is to realize what Jesus has already given us, depend on this, and look forward to what awaits us in the future with Him.

Unknown Predictions Fulfilled

Almost all events surrounding Jesus’ time on earth were communicated long before they happened. Yes, His time and actions were predicted before He arrived on earth. These predictions were usually communicated by a prophet, empowered by the Holy Spirit, teaching some lesson from God, sometimes hundreds of years before they happened. This was true of Jesus. Quoting Isaiah, Matthew records the words of God toward Jesus, “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations." - Matt. 2:18 (NIV). Empowered by the same Holy Spirit, Jesus fulfilled all He was expected to do and ended with the statement, “It is finished,” - Jn. 19:30. While the soldiers who crucified Jesus had no idea of Jewish writing predictions, when they had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. These were something the condemned person no longer needed. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom; this was something that had value. So they said, "Rather than tearing it apart, let's throw dice for it." This fulfilled the Scripture that says, "They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing." So that is what they did – Jn. 19:23-24. Not only did Jesus fulfill all the previous writings about the coming Messiah, He also experienced almost every sort of pain and rejection other humans have ever experienced. He lost a parent, He lost a close friend when John the Baptist was killed, and He experienced the pain of those around Him experiencing unexpected life situations. We can truly say that He experienced life and death as a human, empowered by the Holy Spirit. His life should be an example for our unknown unpredicted lives, in any way needed.

Jesus’ Mission

Jesus came to earth to carry out a massive act of justice. In Genesis 3:15, God’s judgement is recorded as, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (ESV). Because of this enmity, Satan spent many years further assaulting humankind using their weaknesses, to cause them to sin. His goal was, and is: exploit any weakness found in humans and separate them from their creator. He punished me, I am strong, so I will try to hurt Him in the only way I know how. By looking at the possibilities of the Hebrew word meanings we may describe this picture a bit differently. Enmity, essentially means “hostility”, so a series of battles was predicted. However, a final battle would happen between another man, God’s son, and Satan himself. In this battle, Satan would have His head (Heb. rosh) or his process of deception bruised, or greatly damaged, yet not stopped. This coming human champion would do what the first human, Adam did not. He would resist all opportunities for deception and always choose God’s intentions. He would do everything God asked him to do without sin. In this eventual battle, and the Old Testament contains at least 44 predictions of what this champion would do during the series of skirmishes leading to the final battle. This champion would resist Satan’s direct attacks {Lk. 4:1-12}. This encounter ended with Satan waiting for a more opportune time to continue his temptations (Lk. 4:13). Jesus would frequently ask for God’s guidance about the task He was sent here to through prayer. There are about 25 instances in which Jesus approached the Father in prayer remembered in the New Testament Gospel writings. When faced with realization that the final battle was at hand, He would choose to follow God’s direction (Matt. 26:36-46) above His own desires. He would fight the final battle alone, all the while having the power to stop His mistreatment, although Satan had used His chosen people to reject and kill Him, Jesus loved His creation too much to allow Satan’s deception to continue. Yes, by His own creation, He would be rejected, mistreated, and finally killed by another group who held God’s people in subjection, the religious leaders. And the death would be carried out in the most humiliating way possible; it was an execution reserved for criminals, those who did wrong, an accusation that was rejected by even the executioner. All these things the creator would endure to apply justice to Satan and reclaim His creation. God’s effort to reclaim His creation would appear thwarted when the Champion was killed, or separated from human life. This physical life ended in prayer, (Lk. 23:46), and God altered the observed result. He rewarded the perfect, fallen champion by raising Him back to life (Matt. 28:1-20). Satan could no longer threaten death as punishment for humans, following God would overcome this threat. Since there was one human who finished the task and followed God’s directives completely, the final battle bruised or (essentially destroyed) all the works Satan had done in the past to separate the creation from the creator. With Jesus’ death, God’s demand for justice was satisfied. In this way, Satan’s head was bruised, but the sufferings of the savior were also described as bruising. But it was the heel (Heb. aqeb) which means the hind part of an object or lesser part. As we examine the possibilities of this pictorial description, we should realize that the head focuses on the front part of an object, or where it is going. Further, the heel (Heb. aqeb) means the hind part of an object or where the object has been, perhaps a lesser part. The Old Testament predicted 44 or more things the Messiah would do while on earth. In a mere 3 or so years, Jesus completed all of them and finally stated, “it is finished,” as He hung on the cross (Jn. 19:28-30). Once the predictions were complete, Jesus voluntarily gave up His life. With His death, He provided the last piece of the mission, a sacrifice suitable to satisfy God’s desires for humans. Jesus did what Adam did not. Adam and Eve’s actions brought sin and separation from God, Jesus’ life brought restoration of this relationship for all creation. Jesus fulfilled all God's objectives for humans and was resurrected. In this, He brought forgiveness to faithful ones before Him and also all those who accepted the gift He offered after His death. When His mission was complete, as instructed, His apostles to continued His work; it was time for Jesus to return to His place before the mission commenced. “After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life — to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth." - Jn. 17:1-3. It seems a conundrum to us, but His mission was not to extend the length of life on earth or bolster the quality of the time spent on earth. His goal was to provide for humans a different life, an existence that would endure, forever. The life He offers, lasts longer than any of the physical items we think of as being created. The way to partake in this different life is to accept Jesus, be introduced to God the Father, and be indwelled by the Holy Spirit. It is simply a relationship with God (the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit) and a dependence on them in everyday life. It is searching for God, learning to trust in Him implicitly. It is trying to meld with God as we follow our unique individual spiritual journey, ultimately into His goals for us.

THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED

Jesus had many very positive things to say about his disciples. At one time He called them friends (Jn. 15:15). At another time, He gave them the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn. 20:22) to help guide them as He watched over them. At a special time, John described himself as, “There was at the table reclining in Jesus bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved." - John 13:23 (ASV). It was perhaps a moment of self-realization of the special relationship He had with God Himself. God had decided long before that He would reveal His kingdom this way for a group of people who would accept Him as their God. Later theologians refer to this chosen group of people as predestined for certain actions (Eph. 1:5). Included in this description is many of the plans for this group of people. This person named John is the same man Jesus assigned to care for His mother (Jn. 19:26). It is important for us to consider the relationship we have with the Father and Jesus. It is a recreated and sealed relationship. We have been adopted as fully equal heirs with Jesus (Gal. 3:26) in God’s kingdom. 

One of the tragedies of the story of the brother older than the Prodigal son was his misunderstanding of his place in the Father’s view. When challenged, the Father described his view of the older son as, “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead [separated from us] and is alive [united with us] again; he was lost [separated from us] and is found [united with us].’” (Lk. 15:31-32 (NIV). In this case, it was only after a family struggle that the older son realized his place in his Father’s estimation of him. As Christians, we need to read the scripture, remember, and accept what the Holy Spirit has caused to be written about us; God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit love us very deeply and we have a special place promised to us at the end time. We need to set aside those feelings of doubt that can creep into our thinking. Yes, we were sinners and continue to sin, but with our adoption we have an awesome promise, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 Jn. 1:7 (KJV). Please note that strange word, “cleanseth”, that means we are continually cleansed every moment of every day; we are perpetually clean. It is because of this action we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit which means God is an integral part of our existence. How we view ourselves is crucial to our service to God. Sometimes, when we become disappointed like the Prodigal’s older brother, we develop a very negative view of ourselves. Surveys have shown there are millions of other Christians who struggle with really believing, accepting, and enjoying the love of God for them, and these are the ones who will admit this.  Perhaps, you easily believe God loves others, but you have extreme difficulty believing God could love you, knowing in detail, all the bad things you have ever done, and especially those done since you became His child. How could Jesus possibly love me? Perhaps when you felt you were in a dark place, you have even dwelled on Jesus’ words at His crucifixion, “And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" But in reality, Jesus was quoting Psalms 22, probably for comfort. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises[a] of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. Now notice the context of these words, Jesus knew the ability of God to rescue those who trusted God.  Or perhaps you have thought, if Jesus loved me once, He probably stopped doing so. However, the fact is that He loves you so much He willingly died for you on the cross, all the while knowing what you would do in the future. At these times, we need to remember or be reminded, that as God’s child you are not a person in whom he is sorely disappointed because of your continual sin; He neither loathes you nor is greatly displeased with you. You are not merely tolerated; you are loved, no matter how many sins you have committed. With love there is a degree of acceptance accompanied with an intense desire for you to become more like Jesus, at a pace that is best for you. You are a unique individual and the indwelling Holy Spirit will not force you to change, but He will help you in the ways best for you when you ask for His help. You are a disciple whom Jesus loves!

Heaven

The Bible student is first introduced to the concept of Heaven in the beginning of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. – Gen. 1:1; (KJV), cf. also 2:1.. The usual Hebrew word for "heavens" is shamayim, a plural form meaning "heights," "elevations" In this verse "the heavens" is referring to the sky, clouds, stars, where birds fly, etc., it is not referring to "Heaven" referred to as the dwelling place of God. It does, however set up the comparison of two different places, the Earth which can be seen and Heaven, which is higher than the Earth and is more difficult to fully comprehend. Since God his higher than the Earth, His place of residence must be in the Heavens.
Throughout the ages, men tried to describe a picture of the Heavens, where God lives, compare, Deut. 10:14; 1Kngs 8:27; Psa. 115:16; 148:4: Jer. 23:24; Acts17:24; 2 Cor. 12:2.}. Jesus also added to this contrast, when He desired that things on Earth would be done as they are in Heaven, (Matt. 6:9-13). This was the place to which Jesus returned after His time here on Earth, (Matt. 28:18ff.; Acts 1:2). The concept of Heaven is then where God lives and where Jesus returned. The Hebrew word marom is also used (Psa, 68:18; 93:4; 102:19) as equivalent to shamayim , "high places," "heights." Heb. galgal, literally a "wheel," is rendered "heaven" in Psa. 77:18  (RSV, "whirlwind"). Heb. shahak, rendered "sky" (Deut. 33:26; Job. 37:18; Psa. 18:11), plural "clouds" (Job 35:5; 36:28; Psa. 68:34, marg. "heavens"), means probably the firmament. Heb. rakia is closely connected with above, and is rendered "firmamentum" in the Vulgate, whence our "firmament" (Gen. 1:6; Deut. 23:26, etc.), regarded as a solid expanse.
Jews, Christians and Muslims believe that heaven is the paradise their souls will enter after death, either as a reward for believing or also as a reward for good works. The intertestamental literature proposed that there were actually seven heavens physically located above the earth, with God enthroned in the highest heaven.
Elijah, Jesus and Muhammad were all believed to have been physically transported upwards to heaven. Modern belief is that heaven is a purely spiritual place that cannot be physically located.
In heaven the blessedness of the righteous consists in the possession of "life everlasting," "an eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17), an exemption from all sufferings forever, a deliverance from all evils (2 Cor. 5:1-2) and from the society of the wicked (2Tim. 4:18), bliss without termination, the "fulness of joy" for ever (Lk. 20:36; 2Cor. 12:2; Lk. 4:16-18; 1 Pet. 1:4; 5:10; 1 Jn. 3:2). The believer's heaven is a place of everlasting blessedness, prepared for him (Jn. 14:2).
Since the Bible was written in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic, some translations vary greatly, so there is no single count for the occurrence of the word "heaven." As shown earlier, its appearance differs according to section and which translation is used. In English, the word heaven comes from Old English, “heofon” "home of God," earlier "the visible sky, firmament," or Germanic, “*hibin-“, or “heben.”
The King James version of the Bible mentions the word "heaven" 327 times in the Old Testament and 255 times in the New Testament. Meanwhile, the word appears only 186 times in the New International Version's Old Testament and 236 times in its New Testament. In the New Revised Standard Version, "heaven" appears 246 times in the Old Testament and 248 times in the New Testament. I doubt we atre able to comprehend what is heaven and how we will interact with other resurrected people, but one thing is sure: we will be free of evil, completely with God, and doing what He wants - that is enough.

Hell

When referring to those who would not accept Him and would not follow Him continually [abide in Him], Jesus said, "If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”- Jn. 15:6-7 (ASV). Since a location named “Hell” does not occur in the scriptures, this is the real description of the concept of “Hell.” This then, becomes a description of a concept that is perhaps difficult to understand. The real message here is essentially the same one Adam and Eve learned in the beginning. God will not be close to those who have sin. In order to better communicate this eternal concept, the Holy Spirit provided comparative descriptions of this state to hel[ us grasp its significance. We see in the Old Testament that, Sheol denotes the abode of the dead; conscious souls face a shadowy existence in this "land of oblivion" (Job 10:21 ; Psalm 88:12 ; Eccl 9:10 ; Isa 14:10 ). Since death is not a natural occurrence but issues from the fall, the Old Testament confidently awaits God's demonstration of his mastery over Sheol by raising the righteous to life (Gen. 2-3; Psalm 16:10 ; 49:15 ; Isa 25:8 ; Hosea 13:14 ). While God's kingship also has implications for the wicked, here the Old Testament has less to say, except that the wicked will be excluded from God’s kingdom. Afterlife is first mentioned in the Bible, “The concept of Hell was known by the Israelites as Sheol. It is mentioned by Jacob when he is told of his son Joseph's death. He states in Genesis 37:36 that "I shall go down to my son a mourner unto Sheol. The Old Testament seldomly mentions a bodily resurrection for the wicked (Dan 12:2 ), a final judgment and retribution for evil deeds (Psalm 1:10 ; 140:10 ; Mal 4:1-2 ). Nevertheless, the contemptible and horrible destiny of the wicked, irretrievably isolated from the righteous, is clear (Psalm 9:17 ; 34:15-16 ). In the time between the Old and New Testament writings, literature composed divergent scenarios for the wicked dead, including annihilation (4 Ezra 7:61; 2 Apoc Bar. 82:3ff.; 1 Enoch 48:9; 99:12; 1QS iv. 11-14 ) and endless torment (Jub. 36:11; 1 Enoch 27:1-3; 103:8; T Gad 7:5). Sheol frequently became an interim location for the dead, distinguished from the place of final punishment (1 Enoch 18:9-16; 51:1). This final punishment was usually located in a valley south of Jerusalem, known in Hebrew as Gen Hinnom or the Valley of Hinnom (2 Apoc Bar 59:10; 4 Ezra 7:36), and in Greek as gehenna [gevenna] (2 Esdr 2:29). This valley had a long history as a place of ungodly events. Notorious for the child sacrifices offered to Molech during the reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kings 16:3 ; 2 Chron 28:3 ; 33:6 ; Jer. 7:31-34 ; 19:6 ), this valley was further defiled when Josiah used it as Jerusalem's refuse dump ( 2 Kings 23:10 ) and it was prophesied as the place of God's future fiery judgment ( Isa 30:33 ; 66:24 ; Jer. 7:31-32 ). While some intertestamental writings equate Hell with the "lake of fire" in this "accursed valley" of Hinnom (1 Enoch 90:26, 27; 54:1, 2), others use it to denote a place in the underworld (Sib Or 4:1184-86). In the New Testament, all have sinned against God (Romans 3:23). The just punishment for that sin is death (Romans 6:23). Since all sin is ultimately against God (Psalm 51:4), and since God is an infinite and eternal Being, the punishment for sin, death, must also be infinite and eternal. Hell is this infinite and eternal death which we have earned because of our sin. The punishment of the wicked dead in Hell is described throughout Scripture as “eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41), “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12), “shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2), a place where “the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44-49), a place of “torment” and “fire” (Luke 16:23-24), “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a place where “the smoke of torment rises forever and ever” (Revelation 14:10-11), and a “lake of burning sulfur” where the wicked are “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).
An examination of scriptures reveals that those in Hell will acknowledge the perfect justice of God (Psalm 76:10); they will also know that their punishment is just and that they alone are to blame (Deuteronomy 32:3-5). This punishment of the wicked, in Hell and away from God, is as eternal as the bliss of the sinless people being in heaven with God. We should consider the descriptions in scripture as an attempt to describe the discomfort and suffering of being away from God in a way those with physical bodies can grasp the severity of this state of being. Since there are no indications in scripture that existence as a spirit would be sensitive to those conditions used to describe God’s absence for the human body. (Job is one example of God allowing Satan some freedom).
As one considers this concept today, he should remember the Old Testament focused on “death”, as a time after which no further changes can be made to the activities of a person’s life. At this point the body was preserved for some future action by God. The Holy Spirit in scripture uses several descriptions of present life to describe the severity of being separated from God. The Holy Spirit describes whatever location “Hell” describes as VERY undesirable. Words like torment, burning, contempt, and destruction are used to present the intensity of this undesirable place. The descriptions are provided to humans so they may start to comprehend the ramifications of those removed from God’s presence. It seems due to the climate, the Holy Spirit used dryness, fire, and trash as examples of Hell’s undesirable concepts.  For sailors, a description of banishment to water has been used to describe “Hell.” For those in frigid temperatures, some preachers have tried to capture the undesirable qualities by describing Hell as bitter cold. Whatever metaphor or description is used, the basic message is the same, it is a place away from God is traumatic. Just as there is a place completely away from God, there is also a place in His eternal presence, “Heaven.” “Death” is a separation of the human life force, or spirit, from the physical body. The body is then buried. Jesus’ resurrection from physical death, illustrates that this separation does not have to be occur. This shows that separation from God does not have to occur. Unity with God via the indwelling Spirit can start now and while it will later change somewhat, it will continue for eternity.  We understand that there is a way to avoid this possibility. Jesus was resurrected from death to life. The Bible clearly and explicitly teaches that Hell is a real spiritual location to which the wicked/unbelieving souls are sent after death.  Completely away from God - Frightening!

Life

As we look around at nature in the springtime, we realize plants are starting their life cycle. Spring is also a time when many animals give birth and start their life cycle. Life cycle denote that all living things have a period of growth and then start dying. Humans are a bit different. The human body is in a simultaneous process of dying and re-growing. We can observe that the outer layers of our skin flake away as they are replaced by newer cells from the inside. Some scientists have said every cell in the human body is replaced every 7 years. Another part of the human is under change, our spiritual lives. Each day those who are not believers in Jesus continue to accumulate the baggage of committed sins. However, those who are Christians are indwelled by the Holy Spirit and He animates and empowers them to follow godly actions. For them, sins do not accumulate, they are immediately forgiven, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” - 1Jn. 1:7, (ESV). It helps us to realize that “walk” and “cleanses” are descriptions of continual action for those who have fellowship with Jesus. This in a description of those who have passed from death to life, the risen Christ is alive within them. These are those who are traveling on the individual unique spiritual journey. It is difficult for other humans to understand where on this sojourn any particular individual may be. The Holy Spirit is helping them overcome whatever issues they may have at the rate which is best for their spiritual lives.