Questions and Answers
Some doubt that Christ became human at all. Others believe that He was fully God and fully man when He was here on earth. Then there are those who teach that while the “human form” of Jesus was here on earth, the “Son of God” was still in heaven. They believe that when Jesus “died,” the Son of God continued to live. None of these concepts are correct. As we explain in our free booklet, “Jesus Christ—A Great Mystery,” the Word or the “Logos”; that is, the Son of God—Jesus Christ—BECAME flesh. When He was changed into flesh, divesting Himself of His divinity and laying aside His divine attributes and glory, He ceased to exist as an immortal Spirit Being. Rather, He BECAME—was CHANGED INTO—flesh. How did this happen? We will be attempting to answer this question by first pointing out what the Bible clearly reveals, and by then deducting from these revelations the most likely possibilities, which are presenting themselves. We read that Christ existed since all eternity. There was never a time when He did not exist. He was always the second Member of the God Family, which always existed as two immortal God Beings—God the Father and the Son. But… In your weekly Update 112 for the Week ending October 11th, 2003, you discussed the Last Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Do you still feel that this is the 8th day as there are those in the Church of God who think that this applies to the seventh day of the Feast? We read in Isaiah 66:19: “I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.” On the other hand, we read in Revelation 1:7: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.” Is there a contradiction? Shouldn’t those who “who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory” have seen Christ in His glory at His return when “every eye will see Him”? We know, of course, that the Bible does not contain any contradictions (John 10:35). Therefore, both passages must harmonize and complement each other. Let us focus first on Revelation 1:7 which says that every eye will see Christ when He returns. In what way will they see Him? Will all human beings see Him in His glorified state—as He really is? No, because no man can see God in… In our last Q&A, we stated that the rich ruler in Luke 18:18-23 (and in the parallel passage in Mark 10:17-22), who was unwilling to sell all he had, “turned down an opportunity to become a minister.” But is this conclusion correct, as the Bible only says specifically that Jesus asked him to “follow Him,” without expressly stating that He wanted to ordain him to the ministry? It is true that Jesus made some very general statements about following Him, requiring of all His disciples to follow Him. He said in Matthew 16:24: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” He also said in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” We also read about a general statement about His apostles, in Matthew 19:28, when answering Peter’s question what the apostles would receive who had left everything: “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration (Luther translates: “when you are born again”), when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit… To answer this question, let us begin with some basic passages in the Bible. Here is what John 9:31 tells us: “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.” Psalm 34:17 also tells us the following about righteous people: “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.” How are we to understand the statement that God does not hear sinners? Is this an error since we believe that God knows and thus hears everything–even the most secret thoughts of men, as we read in Psalm 94:11: “The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile.” The correct understanding of this question has to do with the fact that God does not act upon or respond in a positive way to the prayers of sinners. But since we have all sinned and still sin today, how is that fact to be comprehended? Someone might be sincere and keep the commandments of God, at least in the letter, except perhaps the Sabbath, due to him not being called and given that particular understanding. Will God always reject the prayer of… Some claim that Jesus came to do away with the Law of the Ten Commandments and replace it with a “new” Law, which happens to be identical with the Ten Commandments, except for the omission of the Sabbath. This treacherous and deceitful argument has convinced quite a few people that they do not have to keep the Sabbath anymore. But the truth is that the Ten Commandments have not been abolished, and when you break one of the Ten Commandments, you break them all. Please note these excerpts from pages 14-15 of our free booklet, “Baptism–A Requirement for Salvation.”: “What, exactly, is it that we need to repent of…? Simply put, we must repent of the sins we have committed. What is sin? The biblical definition is: ‘…sin is the transgression of the law’ (1 John 3:4, Authorized Version). Which law? The law of God’s Ten Commandments. James calls it the ‘royal law according to the Scripture’ (James 2:8). It defines our love toward God and our love toward neighbor. When we break even one of the Ten Commandments, we are guilty of having broken them all and have become a transgressor of the law (James 2:10-11). “The law… The question you ask relates to people who have died and who have been resurrected to physical life—an example of the unparalleled power of God. The Bible records specific examples of individuals who were miraculously healed by God—and note that in every case, a servant of God was instrumental in the act: Elijah raised the Zarephath widow’s son (1 Kings 17:20); Elisha raised the Shunammite woman’s son (2 Kings 4:32-37); a dead man was raised after accidently being brought into contact with Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:21); Jesus raised Jarius’ daughter (Mark 5:41-43), the son of a widow (Luke 7:11-17)—and Lazarus (John 11:43-44); Peter raised Dorcas (Acts 9:40-41); and Paul raised a young man named Eutychus (Acts 20:9-12). Another example of people being returned to physical life occurred at the time of Jesus’ death: “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:51-53). However, understand that these examples of being raised… The Bible is very detailed about certain developments pertaining to these countries and power blocs, just prior to and leading to the return of Jesus Christ. Before specifically addressing and identifying the Ukrainians and Russians in the Bible, let us give you first a general overview of coming prophetic events. In our booklet, “Biblical Prophecy—From Now Until Forever”, we point out that in the near future, European powers will attack Far Eastern nations, including Russia and Ukraine. We explain that the FIFTH TRUMPET (Revelation 9:1–12) identifies the final European resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire as coming out of a “bottomless pit” (Revelation 9:1–3; compare Revelation 11:7; 17:8). This will be an end-time European power bloc, referred to as the “beast” or “Babylon” elsewhere. (The term “beast” can refer to the European power bloc, and mainly to ten core European nations or groups of nations, as well as to the human leader of that bloc.) The European forces will attack Russia, Ukraine, China, Japan, India and other Asian countries, after rumors from those areas will have disturbed the beast, perhaps indicating that these Asian nations are planning an attack on Europe and the Middle East. The European nations will use weapons… Since the Bible does not contain any contradictions (compare John 10:35), what then is the answer to this question? Zephaniah 3:9 addresses the time of the Millennium, when Jesus Christ rules on and over the earth, and states: “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, That they may all call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him with one accord.” Compare also Isaiah 19:18: “In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the LORD of hosts…” The thought is being conveyed here that all of the peoples will have ONE language, and that the Egyptians will speak the same language as those who will live in the land of Canaan. It does not have to mean that it will be Hebrew—in fact, it is doubtful that the Canaanites spoke Hebrew when the Israelites conquered the Promised Land. Nor are we to necessarily assume that the pure language will be the tongue of the Hebrews after they had taken possession of the Promised Land; rather, Isaiah 19:18 points out that those in the land of Egypt and those in the land of Canaan will all speak the same… When dealing with the Father’s and Christ’s relationship with His Church, we find that the Bible pictures the same through several analogies. One of these analogies is the concept of a marriage agreement—we read that both in the Old and in the New Testament, the “congregation in the wilderness”—Old Testament Israel—and the Body of Christ—New Testament Israel or the Church of God—are pictured as entering a marriage agreement with the LORD or YHWH, who was none other than Jesus Christ. In other words, the old covenant and the new covenant are compared with marriage agreements. We read that Christ—the bridegroom—will marry His Church—the bride. At the same time, we read that we are Christ’s brothers and sisters, and that God is our Father—as He is also the Father of Jesus Christ. When we receive God’s Holy Spirit, we are called begotten children of God, and we will become born-again children at the time of our change to immortal spirit beings in God’s Family. The new covenant also includes for us a promise of inheritance. We are called co-heirs with Christ. All these meaningful analogies contain very important spiritual principles and teachings for us. In our free booklet, “And Lawlessness Will… How did Christ become a human being?
The Last Great Day Further Elaborated
We are happy to discuss this further. The Q & A that you refer to can be found at http://www.globalchurchofgod.co.uk/qa/3525 . In this answer, the last paragraph states the following:
“It is important to note what Christ said. He pointed out that the time would arrive when EVERYONE who thirsts could come to Him to receive from Him the gift of living waters — the Holy Spirit. That promise will not be fulfilled until the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-12) — AFTER the Millennium (Revelation 20:4, 6). While the Feast of Tabernacles pictures the Millennium, the Great White Throne Judgment is pictured by the Last Great Day or the EIGHTH Day. When THAT time has arrived, all persons who had not been called before will be resurrected to physical life and will then be given their first real opportunity to accept God’s…Would you please explain Isaiah 66:19 in light of Revelation 1:7?
Did Christ really offer the rich ruler a ministerial position (compare Luke 18:18-23)?
Does God hear the prayers of sinners?
What is the new commandment of Jesus?
Why don’t we hear about God raising anyone from the dead, today?
What does the Bible say about the prophetic relationship between Russia, Ukraine and continental Europe?
Is there a contradiction between Zephaniah 3:9 and Zechariah 8:23?
What are some of the spiritual analogies applying to our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ?
