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Posts Tagged ‘Romans 01’

“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” – Jesus after his resurrection (Luke 24:39)

Jesus’ resurrection was not “spiritual” as we, today, define the term. He didn’t become a ghost and he doesn’t live in our hearts and minds like our departed loved ones; he was bodily raised from the dead.

This has always been a part of the faith. When the Bible says in Psalms 16:10, “neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption”, it’s declaring the Christ’s body would not decay like everyone else’s; pretenders can’t make it past the grave1.

Certainly the resurrected body is different than when it died; it could materialize anywhere2, was not always recognized3, is no longer subject to illness or death4, and is “spiritual” in the sense that it is not limited to this earth’s physics5. But it is a new dimension of physical that can still eat6, be touched7, and interacted with like any other physical object8.

The resurrection of Christ defeated our last enemy, Death9, and when Jesus returns our mortal bodies shall change to be like his.10

That is the classic “hope” of the resurrection, not being some disembodied ghost somewhere but wholy redeemed individuals in an actual place Jesus has prepared for us.

– fritz

1 – Romans 1:3-4
2 – John 20:19
3 – John 21:4
4 – Romans 6:9
5 – 1 Corin. 15:44 Not “a spirit” but “spiritual body”
6 – Luke 24:41-42
7 – Luke 24:39
8 – Acts 1:3
9 – 1st Corinthians 15:26
10 – Philippians 3:21

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There is a secret society who’s membership spans countries, cultures, and languages. Crossing all social organizations, genders, and churches, overcoming barriers of philosophy and all political parties it can be found anywhere and everywhere. Members can meet for the first time in foreign countries, recognize each other quickly, and form an immediate bond stronger than family!

No, it’s not the Freemasons, the Illuminati, the Rosicrucian’s, or Skull and Bones; those are only poor imitators and impostors. This society is much older and once entered it satisfies completely, filling one with indescribable joy and true pleasure (Psalm 16:11; 36:8).

Yes, it is hidden and has been from the beginning (Ephesians 3:9) but hidden in plain sight, hidden only from the eyes and minds of those who refuse to see it (John 9:39-41; Romans 1:21-22)!

Its teachings are secret but proclaimed openly for all to hear (John 18:20).

The membership is exclusive but that exclusivity is maintained only by the excluded, themselves, for everyone is welcome to join (Revelation 22:17).

What does it take to join? A sense of excitement that stirs with the possibility of experiencing something more, something real in a world that values the false. It takes a willingness to admit need, willingness to let go of sinful desires and one’s own way, a commitment to say “Yes” to Jesus where ever he leads

What an adventure!

– Fritz@langgang.com

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Someone always asks “What about those who never heard of Jesus, would God be so unjust as to send them to hell when they never heard the gospel?

Let’s draw an analogy using the recent tragedy in Haiti where, because of an earthquake, thousands of people are sick, injured, dying, and homeless on a scale we in America can hardly imagine. Countries are doing their very best to send aid, medical supplies, and food, to alleviate suffering.

Has any sane person asked if America would be so unfair to let those people in Haiti die just because they did not get the aid? Has anyone said the Haitians were doing fine until those aid workers came to their villages? Will the history books record that the Haitians were living peaceably, making their own way, living in their own houses with joy in their hearts until those ugly Americans came in and made them live in tents, and forced them to stand for hours in line just to get food and water!

To do so would show either a gross ignorance of the earthquake and what it did or would show a hidden agenda on the part of the historian to make America look bad. To ask similar questions about the aid God has sent and the missionary effort likewise shows either a gross ignorance of the “earthquake” of sin that has devastated all mankind, or it reveals a hidden agenda.

John Piper put it very succinctly:

God is not unjust. No one will be condemned for not believing a message he has never heard. Those who have never heard the gospel will be judged by their failure to own up to the light of God’s grace and power in nature and in their own conscience. This is the point of Romans 1:20-21. His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him.

Apart from the special, saving grace of God, people are dead in sin, darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, and hardened in heart (Ephesians 2:1; 4:18). And the means God has ordained to administer that special saving grace is the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. – Desiring God Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, page 227

For us to understand what God is doing we need a paradigm shift – to recognize the indoctrination we have accepted as truth, and to choose a biblical point of view.

fritz@langgang.com

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