A Case for a New Beginning

The Cliffs

There is a cliff side fortress in Israel called Masada. It was inhabited  two thousand years ago by Jewish zealots trying to evade the Roman Legions that had attacked and destroyed the rest of Israel in 70 a.d. Masada is a rugged plateau 1,300 feet above the valley floor on the east side and 300 hundred feet high on the west. The natural approaches to the cliffs are very difficult to reach. The Romans spent a year building a ramp to reach the 960 people who had fled lower ground. When the Romans were within a few days of reaching the top all of the Jewish Zealots committed suicide rather that be taken alive.

Archeologists started excavating the ruins at Masada in 1963. Along with unearthing the ruins at Masada they found 5 date seeds that were carbon dated back some 2000 years ago. Permission was given to plant 3 of the seeds. They soaked the seeds in warm water, fertilizer and hormones.  They potted the seeds and  after 6 weeks the first spout appeared. It is  amazing thing that these date seeds for all intended purposes were completely dead for 2000 years and in each one of these seeds is all the DNA to produce a massive date palm tree. The bulk of the seed is nutrients so the seedling can grow until its root can pull nutrients from the soil.

There are two words in the  New Testament Greek that means life. One is Bios.  It is descriptive of plant and animal life which is the means of existence or the course of life. The earth, for example, is a biosphere where various life forms exist.  The other word for life is quite interesting. It is Zoe. It is defined as the state of one who is possessed with vitality,  the absolute fullness of  life which belongs to God. When the Bible speaks of everlasting life it is referring to Zoe. There are 32 references to the Zoe life or eternal life in the Gospel of John alone.  Eternity is different  from the conceptual aspect of time. We live in hours, days and years. Eternity has no such divisions, it is timeless.

Most of us fail to realize that we are eternal beings. Our body may die, but our spirit and soul live on forever. There is a very significant reason why our physical death does not end our existence. If this was the case then God would not be in control. Man would control our destiny, and Satan would control man. The Bible says,

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his wil Ephesians 1:4-5  ESV

This Bible verse clearly states that God knew us in eternity past, before time began. I also believe that we knew Him, but the recollections of our experiences are being kept from us at this time.

A very devastating event occurred in the eternal past. One day a very high ranking angel decided, through his own vanity, that he would ascend to heaven and raise his throne above the stars of God. He would make himself like the Most High. He convinced one third of the angels to follow him. He led a great revolt and there was war in heaven. God crushed this revolt and put the followers of Lucifer, Satan in chains in total darkness in a place called Tartarus.

God created the earth to be without sin. However, Satan somehow sneaked, past God and caused Eve, then Adam to sin. Spoiling Gods perfect creation. If this was true then God would not be the all – knowing God that He is and would be fallible, of which we know that is not true. God is perfect in every way. Satan, the serpent, was placed in the garden of Eden because God wanted him there. The tree of good and evil was also placed into the center of the garden of Eden to test man and his new mate. The fruit of the tree did not contain good and evil, it could have been any ordinary fruit tree. The sin came into place when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit because God intended them to even though they could have used their own free will and chosen not to. God determines every event that is necessary according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The design of this world was in God’s mind before He ever created the first speck of dirt. God created the physical universe in response to what happened in eternity prior to our physical creation. Our physical universe is controlled by time and space. However, eternity is a place where there is no time – hours, days, weeks, months and years. There is no any space or dimension – height, width or depth. Eternity is what God is.

Satan is what God made him, and Christians today spend far to much time worrying themselves over an adversary who was defeated by the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who, once and for all, defeated death and the grave. The only power that Satan has over us is what we give him through our disobedience  to God. When we believe in Satan’s lies it prevents us from having faith in God and His Christ, and disobedience is what the Bible calls sin. The main reason for disobedience or sin is unbelief.

We are here for one reason, to make a choice using the free will God gave us to begin with. Are we going to be followers of Jesus Christ, or are we going to be followers of satan? This is the only reason we are here. What amazes me so much is God already knows our answer before the foundation of the world was laid. He can’t make that choice for us. He is not interested in a race of robots. He is looking for people to have fellowship with Him just like you and I do every day. He is just doing it in His own magnificent way.

We here on earth have one problem. We are running out of time. We are coming to the end of an era. This time will close because God has pretty much washed His hands of us. Right before Jesus Christ gave up His ghost He said, “It is finished!”

Mankind lives in a world blinded by the “eye for an eye”  mentality.  The world order today is fallen and its law of self preservation through vengeful retaliation will be its complete demise. We are a tit – for – tat society.  Our entire makeup is an us versus the world. Country against country, Corporation against corporation, and family against family. For fun we have team versus team, and our competitive nature is so great we are willing to fight over nothing.   In the end we will destroy ourselves and everything on the earth. The Bible says if Jesus does not return to earth to stop the madness, “there will be no flesh left.”

Two thousand years ago the cross gave us an alternative direction.  The consuming Christian has the “what’s in it for me” mentality.  I hear from so many people that this church or that church is not filling their needs, whether it be spiritually or otherwise.  They are looking for self promotion, self consumption and self preservation from the church.  The state of confusion is enormous.  My Bible says we go to church to serve others. We don’t go to church to be served.

Our Holy and magnificent Heavenly Father, through His Son Jesus Christ, gave us a new beginning when He sacrificed His Son on the cross, the most agonizing moment in all of eternity. Where the Trinity was split into two. Where the Father separated Himself from the Son. In that moment Jesus Christ cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? In that split second room was made for you and me for a  new beginning with our Father in Heaven.

When Christ prayed, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do.” A new linear equation for life was created.  Forgiveness + Repentance = Reconciliation

Forgiveness

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.” Luke 6:27-29 NIV

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:36 NIV

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37 NIV

Repentance

Feeling sorry for doing wrong,  turning away from sin and towards God. Sin does a terrible thing to us. It makes us see the world wrong. It makes us see ourselves in the wrong light, and it makes us see the pleasures of this world with the wrong perspective. We just do not see right when we are in sin.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 ESV

Becoming a Christian is no minor transaction. The beginning of the Christian life is no ordinary thing. For an unbeliever to become a Christian is God’s greatest miracle. This miracle begins when we believe in the scriptures and change direction from our sin.

Reconciliation

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Romans 5:10 ESV.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:18–20 ESV

To use this linear equation in real life takes practice. You have to start living like you reside in eternity now. The next time someone says something that hurts your feelings – Let It Go. The next time a car cuts you off in traffic—Let It Go. The next time you are wrongly accused – Let It Go. The list can go on and on. However, this is just one part of the equation.  It takes two to tango. You have to have someone to reconcile your good intentions. How is that suppose to work when often you don’t even know the other person?

Whether you like it or not every action you take influences others around you. People are forming opinions about you and themselves based on everything you say and do.  We are a walking, talking influence. We can influence more people by doing good than we ever would be able to by doing bad. Do you truly want to be an individual? Do you want to stand out in a crowd? Do you want people to respect you and admire you? Then practice doing what is right and I promise you that not only will you be reconciling with God, but you will be reconciling with others as well.

 A Case for a New Beginning – A Linear Equation for Life.

Forgiveness + Repentance = Reconciliation