I confess, I am a “serial journal-er”. I have journaled my walk with the Lord for years and years. We, as followers of Jesus, are caught up in an epic "Never-ending-story" that is leading us to an eternal future of endless delight.
Lately, I am pressed to share what I have come to call “Downloads” from My Heavenly Counselor: The Holy Spirit. When our relationship with our Creator God is restored, we have unlimited access to His love, and all the goodness of our Heavenly Father that He brings via His indwelling Holy Spirit.
These downloads from Heaven, come as I study His Word, and in the form of dreams, visions, a Word or words, the recalling of Biblical Precedents revealing how God has acted in the past and reliance on Sound Doctrine with current applications or just a random banner in the sky that needs more investigation. Each is a unique way that the Lord captures my attention and compels me to go deeper to understand the Mystery of Who He is and How He works with His children.
What are the “end Times”? And how will these “end of days” flesh out here on earth? This question is on most of our minds, and opinions are quite varied from person to person and even vary from Christian to Christian. Since life on this side of the veil, will influence what we will discover on the other side of the veil, it is important to spend time in thoughtful contemplation of what The Bible says about the end of days, and really really important to spend time in thoughtful contemplation in the Presence of the One who wrote it.
The book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ is mysterious and coded to get past the scrutiny of Rome when John, the Beloved Disciple of Yeshua wrote it while on the penal Island of Patmos. His audience was the early church and comprised mostly of who we have come to call “Messianic Jews”. This describes the Jewish followers of their true Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. They were Torah observant Jews who departed from their traditions of men and followed the One they called Rabbi, and the Son of David, spoken of in their sacred scrolls.
The Bible is the progressive (recorded) revelation of Yahweh Elohim to His chosen people: The Children of Israel. When we undertake the challenge to study the Word of God, we must never forget that God revealed Himself to a man, (Abraham) and then to a nation (Israel). We must not fail to interpret the sacred Scripture with that culture and in context of Jewish life and traditions in mind, realizing the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, came to us wrapped in Jewish flesh.
Today, after His crucifixion and resurrection, as followers of Jesus, we are blessed with the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit who provides understanding and application of these ancient principles in our modern world and culture.
Back in the beginning, in the garden of Eden there was but one rule: Do not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All other trees are permissible for eating to your fill. However, follow your own will and pleasures and you will surely die.
Obviously, Adam and Eve did not die instantly, so we must look beyond the definition of immediate physical "death". As we unlock some of the Mysteries of Holiness, the reason has become clear: the death humanity experienced is not only the death of our flesh, in and of itself, devastating for our immortality, but without a plan of atonement, (forgiveness, as in a pardon of our rebellious sin nature), it is also the relational death of our love bond with our Creator. This love relationship is the key to our eternal life and immortality as we were created in His image and are to be His immortal image bearers. In other words, we are in original design, created to live forever with Him.
Choosing to rebel, is to serve our own free will desires, even to our detriment. When Adam sinned, all humanity suffered going forward. Sadly, at the fall, all people born of Adam's seed inherited a "sin nature". Nothing we can do changes the nature we were born with.
When Yeshua went to the cross to die for the "sin" of humanity (which is nothing less nor nothing more than rebellion of God's ruling authority in our lives), the penalty was paid in full.
So, what does that mean? And how does that impact our lives? In a very merciful Divine intervention, the penalty of death for sin, was paid by the Only One who carried in His flesh veins, God's Holy Blood, NOT the sinful blood of Adam's seed. Jesus, the Son of God, became the sacrificial Lamb, as a substitute offered in our place. In a supernatural way, we have the opportunity to exchange our sin nature for His Holy one.
This fact represents the Simple Gospel truth: For God so loved the world (of humanity) that He gave His one and only Son (unto death) that whosoever believes (trusts) in Him (His identity as Savior having died in our place) will not perish but have eternal life.
To have any relationship with Holiness, we must be Holy. This is why Jesus came and by shedding His Holy Blood once for all, provided the opportunity to exchange our sin nature for His Holy Nature and become a child of God. This is a supernatural offering that is a mystery to our finite minds. Yahweh is HOLY and cannot abide with unholiness. This is why we must exchange our unholy "sin nature" with the Holy Nature of our Savior Jesus. To be in right relationship with our Creator God, this exchange is mandatory.
God's plan from the very beginning was to live or "dwell" with His people. He created a garden in which to live with Adam and Eve. Having rebelled His authority, the pair was evicted from His Presence, and all humanity thereafter suffered the penalty. All humanity from the seed of Adam, is born with the sin "gene" and unable to be in relational unity with our Holy Creator God.
That "nature" exchange is an offering for a free will decision that we make and one that God will honor. We get to choose whether to align with God's offering of a pardon in the life and death of Jesus or take our chances at the Great White Throne Judgement at the end of our days on earth. As we accept that our sinful nature separates us from the Love of God, and as we repent (turn away) from that sin nature and we personally, by free will decision, accept that Jesus, by His death in His flesh body, paid the price for our freedom, and offered for us to have His Holy nature, we are then considered by God to be saved from any penalty or judgment made enforceable due to our sin nature.
For any who repent for the sin of independence and rebellion and surrender to Yahweh's ruling authority, and Jesus's Sacrifice in our place, the debt is forgiven and we return to our relationship that was broken and destroyed at the "fall".
Jesus came to tell us of God's love and His desire to have our broken relationship with Him restored. But more than simply tell of God's love and speak of the need for a restoration we cannot have, Jesus came to atone for what we can never earn or have restored in our own best effort.
The price of this rebellion is death. Final and permanent. Ultimate eternal separation from the Author of Life and all that is Good. The blessing for humanity is in the fact that the complete wrath of God was poured out on Jesus on the cross of Calvary and those who trust in what Jesus died to provide through His death on the cross will never experience that Holy Wrath.
Understanding the Never-Ending-Story from the beginning, enables us to grasp and even reverence the last chapter here on this earth, when Judgement will be poured out on all who refuse to be reconciled with God the Father through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus.
Are you ready for the "end of days" as revealed in and though the last Book of the Bible: The Revelation of Jesus the Christ?
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
