Richard Murrays 10 TRUTHS OF GODS GOODNESS: 1) GOD IS LIGHT AND IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS (I John 1:5). ONLY good and perfect gifts come down from the shadowless Father of lights (Ja 1:16-20). If earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, how much MORE does our heavenly Abba know how to give good gifts of the Holy Spirit to us who ASK (Luke 11:13). Let no man say God tempts, tests, tries, proves, discipline or entices any person with evil (James 1:13-17). NO evil shall befall us and His angels shall keep us in all our ways (Psalm 91). NO deadly thing shall harm us (Mark 16:17-18). Gods armor quenches ALL the missiles of Satan (Ephesians 6:10-17). Jesus has ALREADY conquered and stripped ALL principalities and powers (Col. 2:15). 2) GOD DOES NOT ALLOW EVIL, HE DISALLOWS IT. Jesus Christ is Gods total disallowance of evil. In fact, Jesus has ALREADY disallowed all evil. Be of good cheer, Jesus has ALREADY overcome ALL the things of the world: the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life (Jn 16:33; 1 John 2:16). Jesus incarnation reveals the will of God toward evil: with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing ALL who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him. Acts 10:38. The original Greek of Matthew 18:18 and 16:19 both clearly say that we have the authority to bind on Earth that which is already bound in Heaven. Interlinear translations agree that these verses convey the idea that, “whatever you might bind on the Earth will be, having been bound in the Heavens already.” It gets even better. Not only has the demonic been demolished, but we have also already been completely healed of all our sins, sorrows and sicknesses. Jesus again completed this healing long ago through His Cross and Resurrection: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” 1 Pet. 2:24. But, if demons are defeated and all our sins and sicknesses healed, then why don’t we see this “always already” victory right now? “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; . . . Thou HAST [already] put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But NOW WE SEE NOT YET all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Heb. 2:3, 8-9. This passage is clear that all things have already been put under Jesus, but we don’t yet see them put under Jesus. The reason? Because of our individual and corporate “neglect” of “so great a salvation.” Both Satan and Evil have no gasoline left in their tank because Jesus drained it all away at the Cross. They are functioning today solely off of the fumes of our neglect of Jesus’ great salvation. What makes this salvation so great is its “always already” aspect. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to convince us of the accomplished benefits of this great salvation. “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Cor. 2:12. 3) SATAN IS THE LORD OF DEATH, NOT GOD. JESUS NEVER OPERATES IN THE POWER OF DEATH. POWER OVER DEATH YES, BUT NOT THE POWER OF DEATH (Hebrews 2:14-15). Jesus said Satan is the murderer and liar from the beginning (John 8:44). Satan steals, kills and destroys, God gives life (John 10:10). Death is an enemy of God, NOT a friend (1 Corinthians 15:25-26). 4) GOD ONLY OPERATES IN FORMS OF LIFE-- THE GIVING, PROTECTION, AND HEALING OF IT. The dividing line is revealed in John 10:10: Satan steals, kills and destroys, while Jesus ONLY operates in bestowing various forms of abundant life. Jesus came to expose and destroy the death-works of Satan by imparting the life-works of God (1 John 3:8). Here is Gods dilemma in communicating with fallen man. How can a God who thinks and speaks only life communicate effectively to a people who have chosen to think and hear only death? Every life offer given by God is heard by man as a death threat. Every exhortation by God is processed by man as a condemnation. Every praise party from God degenerates into a pity party by man. The renewing of the mind is God retooling our souls to learn a new language--the language of LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS so that we may discover the good, perfect, and acceptable will of God in every area of our being. This language speaks only in terms of light and NO darkness. This language speaks only in terms of life and NO death. This language speaks only in terms of love and NO wrath. Ready to learn it? Fluently? Fully? If so, we must renounce death as our first and primary language. No death spoken here! Death is now a dead language. We will not speak death. We will not think death. We will not honor death. Death is an enemy language we no longer accept as our native tongue. L Chaim! To Life! 5) GOD IS ONLY ALL-POWERFUL WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF HIS CHARACTER. It is impossible for God to lie, coerce, kill, etc. (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18). Consider this quote from Saint Anselm: How can you be omnipotent, O God, if you cannot do all things? How can you do all things if you cannot sin - - if you cannot lie, if you cannot make false what is true? If you are unable to sin, you cannot claim to be able to do all things. Or is it that sin stems not from power, but from powerlessness? For those who commit sin have so little power over their own natures that they actually harm themselves. They are at the mercy of forces which they cannot oppose . . . .The more people have power to commit sin, the more they are powerless. So, Lord God, you are in fact more truly omnipotent because you cannot act through powerlessness. Proslogion, Chapter 7. BOTTOM LINE: God is NOT all-powerfully cruel, coercive, destructive and deceptive. God IS all-powerfully patient, merciful, protective and healing. 6) THE OLD TESTAMENT HAD AN UNDIFFERENTIATED VIEW OF GOD AND SATAN. Moses and the other Old Testament saints had developmental limitations which affected their ability to process the divine impulses sent by God. Moses in the rock could only partially see Gods goodness (Ex.33:17-23). Moses striking the rock misrepresented Gods character (Numbers 20) and kept him out of the promised land. Both ancient and modern Judaism wrongly saw Satan as Gods angry voice, an obedient servant angel, Gods official minister of wrath, His left hand, His death angel, the executor of His temptation, trials and judgments. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JEWISH CONCEPTS, by Philip Birnbaum, confirms this dynamic: Satan...is...identified with the angel of death. He leads astray, then he brings accusations against man, whom he slays eventually. His chief functions are those of temptation, accusation and punishment. Under the control of God, he acts solely with the divine permission to carry out his plots. (Sanhedrin Press, page 594). Rabbi Benjamin Blech similarly writes, Judaism sees Satan as a servant of God whose function is to set up choices between good and evil so that we can exercise our free will.... [His] apparent harshness is merely camouflage for divine concern and love. IF GOD IS SO GOOD, WHY IS THE WORLD SO BAD? Simcha Press, pages 7-9. The renowned INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA is in full agreement with this in its entry on Satan: The Old Testament does not contain the fully developed doctrine of Satan found in the New Testament. It does not portray him as at the head of a kingdom, ruling over kindred natures and an apostate from the family of God.... It is a significant fact that the statements concerning Satan become numerous and definite only in the New Testament. The daylight of the Christian revelation was necessary in order to uncover the lurking foe, dimly disclosed but by no means fully known in the earlier revelation.... In the early states of religious thinking it would seem to be difficult, if not impossible, to hold the sovereignty of God without attributing to His agency those evils in the world which are more or less directly connected with judgment and punishment.... The progressive revelation of Gods character and purpose, which more and more imperatively demands that the origin of moral evil, and consequently natural evil, must be traced to the created will in opposition to the Divine, leads to the the ultimate declaration that Satan is a morally fallen being to whose conquest the Divine Power in history is pledged. Author Stephen Harris likewise notes that the Old Testament Satan is not the same entity as the New Testament Satan. In the Old Testament, The Satan figure acts as Yahwehs spy and prosecuting attorney whose job is to bring human misconduct to the deitys attention and, if possible, persuade Yahweh to punish it. Throughout the Old Testament the Satan remains among the divine sons, serves as Gods administrative agent, and thus reveals a facet of the divine personality.... At the outset, some Bible writers saw all things, good and evil alike, as emanating from a single source-- Yahweh. Israels strict monotheistic credo decreed that Yahweh alone caused both joys and sorrows, prosperity and punishment (Deut. 28).... The canonical Hebrew Bible grants the Satan scant space and little power. Whereas the Old Testament Satan can nothing without Yahwehs express permission, in the New Testament he behaves as an independent force who competes with the Creator for human souls.... According to Marks Gospel, one of Jesus major goals is to break up Satans kingdom and the hold that he and lesser evil spirits exercise on the people. Hence, Mark stresses Jesus works of exorcising devils and dispossessing the victims of demonic control. The New Testament, then-- in sharp contrast to the Old-- shows Satan and the devil as one, a focus of cosmic evil totally opposed to the Creator God. This evil one is the origin of lies, sin, suffering, sickness and death. UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE: A READERS INTRODUCTION, pages 26-28. 7) THE OLD TESTAMENT WRATH OF GOD IS THE MISLABELED DESTRUCTION OF SATAN. Here is the perfect Scriptural example: And again THE ANGER OF THE LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. 2 Sam. 24:1. And SATAN stood up against Israel, and PROVOKED David to number Israel... 1 Chr. 21:1. The above passages describe the same event where David sinned by numbering Israel. Same event. Same David. Same sin. Same result: 70,000 dead Israelites, but a different cause of evil. The Samuel passage attributes it to the anger of the Lord while the Chronicles passage attributes it to Satan. If the Old Testament viewed the wrath of God as the exact same thing as the oppression of Satan, where does that leave us in the New Testament? Much of todays confusion in reading the Bible comes this same Old Testament dynamic of NOT accurately separating Satan from God in our understanding. Jesus came to reveal the Father, to cull out Satan from our image of God. We judge Satan by removing him from our image of God. Until Jesus came, nobody knew the true heart of the Father in the Old Testament (John 1:18; 5:37). 8) GODS JUDGMENTS ARE PURGING AND RESTORATIVE, NOT PUNITIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE. The Greek kolasis is the only word in the Gospels for punishment with regard to God punishing evildoers. Aristotle, who knew Greek word meanings better than anybody who ever walked the planet, said that kolasis is the kind of punishment which is inflicted in the interest of the sufferer, which means it is for the betterment or improvement of the person being punished. This is contrasted with timoria, which Aristotle said is the kind of punishment which is inflicted in the interest of him who inflicts it, that he may obtain satisfaction. (Rhet. 1369b13). The Gospels reveal a God who never punishes to gratify Himself, but rather punishes to heal and help the evildoers improve and be restored. William Barclay, who was professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at Glasgow University and the author of many Christian commentaries and books, including a translation of the New Testament and the very popular Daily Study Bible Series, traces the word kolasis back, through Plato, to an original term used to describe the pruning of trees back to allow fuller and healthier growth. Revenge motives are timoria, and only gratify the lust for an eye for an eye payback. But kolasis motives are always looking for a way to restore and repair that which is lost and broken. 1 Corinthians 3:16 explains Gods wise fire, where the man whose life is NOT built on Christ is nonetheless saved, even though he himself suffers loss, yet so as by fire. APOCTASTASIS is the restitution of all things so that Christ is all in all. What is APOCATASTASIS? The Apostle Peter was the first to use the term in the following passage: Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of RESTITUTION (Greek APOCATASTASIS) of ALL THINGS, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Acts 19-21. APOCATASTASIS was one of the great Church Father Origens favorite topics. When the Son is said to be subject to the Father, the PERFECT RESTORATION OF THE WHOLE CREATION is signified, so also, when enemies are said to be subjected to the Son of God, the SALVATION OF THE CONQUERED and the RESTORATION OF THE LOST is in that understood to consist. Origen, De Principiis, Book III, Chapter 5, Section 7, Anf, Vol. 4. Jesus is He that descended [and] is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens , that he might FILL ALL THINGS . Ephesians 4:10. For it is written , As I live , saith the Lord, EVERY KNEE shall bow to me , and EVERY TONGUE shall confess to God. Romans 14:11. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him , and given him a name which is above every name : That at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE should bow , of things in heaven , and things in earth , and things under the earth ; And that EVERY TONGUE should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord , to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11. And EVERY creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be to him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever. Revelation 5:13. For Jesus must reign , till he hath put all enemies under his feet . The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death . For he hath put all things under his feet . But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted , which did put all things under him . And when all things shall be subdued unto him , then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him , that God may be ALL IN ALL. 1 Corinthians 15:25-28. 9) SCRIPTURES MUST BE READ BY THE SPIRIT AND NOT BY THE LETTER. ----the letter kills but the spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). The Holy Spirit doesnt test us on Bible knowledge, the Bible tests us on Holy Spirit knowledge. We must let the character of God define Scripture RATHER than allowing the Scripture to define Gods character. Scripture is the launching pad of truth, not the landing strip. God is slumming when He uses human language: Does God communicate WITH language or does He communicate DESPITE our language? Does human language carry the actual communication of God, or does it, at its best, merely point us to seek a deeper realm where God speaks to us without using language? Could it be that human language, the very thing we use to describe our interactions with God, ends up being the very thing that hinders us from better communicating with Him? Saint Augustine said that the even the person who says the most about God is still but dumb. His point was that human language is woefully inadequate to impart the knowledge of God. And yet we often hold language as the highest expression of God, when in fact it is one of the lowest. The more I hear God, the less I hear language. God speaks primarily by tone. That tone is love, not language. Language can describe it. Language can polish it. Language can explain aspects of it. Language can even enhance it on occasion. BUT language by itself cannot contain or deliver the essence of Gods love. In a word, language cant ARTICULATE the Kingdom of God. Isnt this the very reason Jesus never ARTICULATED what Gods Kingdom WAS, only what it was LIKE? He knew human language could not convey Gods Kingdom, so He used parables of comparison rather than language of definition. We must be beware the idolatry of language. We are no longer slaves to language. The Spirit sings all meaning to us through the quality, character and strength of Gods goodness. I can read something literally when the Spirit sings to me that it expresses Gods true character. I will not read literally when the Spirit sounds a different meaning to me. GODS TONE ALONE DEFINES ALL SCRIPTURE. We must loosen our grip on human language. The tower of Babel proved human communication was cursed. In contrast, Pentecost proved how divine communication was blessed. Wasnt that the purpose of the gift of tongues at Pentecost--- to show that heavenly language unites and blesses? God was telling all men to loosen their grip on their own natural understanding, to stop idolizing language, to stop worshipping the letter, and to stop loving the literal. Instead, there is a non-verbal land of milk and honey waiting for us. This land flows with unspoken unctions, transcendent tingles, virtuous vibes, inner illuminations, incomprehensible utterances, and groanings beyond words. When we think of God, words will no longer initially come to mind. Rather, a tone, a vibe, a sensation, a knowing fills the heart with divine recognition. 10) CHRISTUS VICTOR! Your atonement theory REALLY matters. It either sees the Father as wrathfully killing Jesus in our place, OR it views Satan as our kidnapper to whom Jesus gave Himself as a ransom to free us from the devils bondage. Jesus didnt come to change the Fathers mind but reveal it! Alexander the Great used to sleep with a copy of Homers Iliad under his pillow. This was because he so revered the tales of courage and heroism it contained. He wanted to absorb the spirit of courage by osmosis during his sleep. We too should all figuratively put a copy of the Christus Victor story under our pillow. It tells the epic tale of what Jesus did for us during the three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection. Sleep on it, wake on it, dream on it, dwell on it. You might be surprised at what you absorb by osmosis--- divine courage, a gladiators resolve, and an epic revelation of the hero-God we serve. Below is a small portion of a recent post that highlights the Christus Victor view of the atonement. Follow the Scriptures cited and you will fall in love with Jesus again, but this time as your personal hero and champion. Christus Victor unveils the cosmic drama of Easter weekend. It reveals how Satanic forces smote Jesus on the cross and in His subsequent three day descent into Hell. Every fallen principality, fallen power, fallen throne, fallen ruler, fallen angel, as well as Satan himself ALL rushed to crush, torture and destroy Jesus when they saw Him nailed to the cross. At the cross, for the first time, Satans kingdom had full access to attack and afflict Jesus unhindered by His righteous hedge of protection. Jesus willingly laid His soul on the chopping block for Satan to seize, incarcerate and torment in Hell. In return, Satan had to release mankind from the covenant of death we willingly entered into with him. But things did not go as planned. The principalities and powers could NOT take Jesus down and out. They thought they could corrupt, crush and destroy Jesus totally--- operation annihilation in other words. But they failed. They took their best shot, and couldnt do it. They shot their wad, and lost. They expended every bit of their their murderous power, but it was not enough. For Jesus to descend into this enemy lair not only unarmed with His Spirit hedge, but also chained with all our soul-sins, is almost too horrible to contemplate. Jesus’ suffering in Hell for these three days is unimaginable, yet it is captured in the Messianic images of Psalms 18, 22, 31 and 69 (and several others). These Psalms portray Jesus’ suffering for our sins in Hell, particularly when these passages all describe various aspects of the crucifixion. The Gospels in fact quote many of these verses as fulfilled prophecy. Psalm 22:1 and Mark 15:34; Psalm 22:13,16, 18 and Luke 23:34 and John 19:23-24; Psalm 31:5 and Luke 23:46; Psalm 69:21 and Matthew 27:34 are four such references, but there are many more. Psalm 18 in particular describes on its face Jesus’ battle as the “sorrows of death and hell” and “the floods of ungodly men” compassed Him (verses 3 and 4). C. H. Spurgeon commented on Psalm 18 as follows: “In poetical language, the psalmist describes experiencing Jehovah’s delivering power. Poetry has in her treasures no gem more lustrous than this sonnet. The sorrow, the cries, the descent of the Divine One, and the rescue of the afflicted are set to music worthy of the golden harps. The Messiah our Savior is, over and beyond David or any other believer, the main and chief subject of this Psalm. We have grown more certain that every line has its deepest and profoundest fulfillment in Him.” Treasury of David, p. 110 (Nelson). After having been literally flooded and attacked by all our sins for all time; after being tortured by demonic powers known as the “strong bulls of Bashan” (Ps. 22:12; Col. 2:15); after paying the penalty for every sin committed past, present and future; after all this, the price had been paid without Jesus sinning Himself. We must see this crucial point. When Jesus was sinless upon the earth during His thirty three years of natural life, no harvest of demonic destruction or sinful oppression was able to enter into His body gate to afflict Him. “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” Jn. 14:30. Yet, when He descended into Hell, His gates were voluntarily opened wide allowing all sinful destruction and demonic oppression to come into His soul like a flood. Yet, like a champion boxer, He would not go down! With His hands tied behind His back by our cords of sin, punch after demonic punch, claw after demonic claw buffeted His defenseless soul. Millions, billions, trillions of blows struck, gored and mauled Him. Yet, He would not go down! He took the full brunt of punishment past, punishment present and punishment future. Yet, He would not go down! He kept His focus during this hellish torment on two things – His covenant love for His Father and His covenant love for us. When the price had been paid for all sins for all time, the cords started to loosen. “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” Acts 2:24. Strength started to return - - covenant strength. The ransom had been paid! Now it was time for resurrection! This transaction is described in the following passages: And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man...whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David saith concerning him...THOU WILT NOT LEAVE MY SOUL IN HADES, NETHER WILT THOU GIVE THY HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION....Brethren, I may say unto you freely of the patriarch David... he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ, that NEITHER WAS HE LEFT UNTO HADES , NOR DID HIS FLESH SEE CORRUPTION. This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses. Acts 2:21-36. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men. Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that HE MIGHT FILL ALL THINGS. Ephesians 4:8-10. And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. HE DISARMED THE PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him. Colossians 2:13-15. Jesus paid the blood ransom for us. Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6. Ransoms are paid to hostile kidnappers, not to loving Fathers. The Ransom Theory of the Atonement, which the early church favored, says Jesus paid the ransom to Satan to free us from the devils evil clutches. Do you see? The Ransom was paid BY the Father, not TO the Father. We are worth everything to Him. He was willing to pay anything to win us back, even the precious blood of His flawless son. John 3:16. Christus Victor!
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 01:38:36 +0000
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