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As the top angel in heaven Satan thought he should be God. Satan convinced a third of the angels in heaven to join his rebellion and there was war in heaven. When Lucifer and his fallen angels lost the war they were kicked out of heaven and thrown to earth. Satan hates God’s guts and the feeling is mutual. Satan can’t touch God so he strikes at God indirectly by trying to destroy us, God’s beloved children. In the beginning everything was perfect. The earth was pristine. Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden and they had all they wanted and needed. They were both immortal and they fellowshipped with God every day. God gave the earth to Adam but when Satan caused Adam to sin against God sin entered the world and Satan became the god of this world. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden because sin cannot remain where God is. Because of their sin Adam and Eve became mortal beings with bodies that would decay and die. Both would endure hardships all their lives. The earth itself also suffers because sin is in the world. The sin nature of Adam and Eve has passed down to all men who came after and therefore we all have bodies that decay and die. Satan caused it all. Satan took the earth from Adam and corrupted man. Satan thought he had won.

Satan was aware God had a plan to redeem mankind and wrest control of the earth from him. Satan also knew God’s salvation plan for man would be effected through Christ, the Son of God, who would go to earth and die as a sacrifice for the sins of all men. Satan wasn’t just going to sit back and let it happen. Satan tried everything to stop Jesus. Satan knew Jesus would be born of a human mother so he set about trying to corrupt the DNA of all men by having fallen angels sleep with women. God countered that by causing a flood to wipe out all men except Noah and his family whose bloodline was pure. God simply started over. Satan was foiled. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem Satan tried to kill the child by stirring up Herod to murder all the children in Judea two years old and younger. An angel warned Joseph to take the Christ child to Egypt to avoid the slaughter. Satan failed.

All during his ministry Jesus was pursued by Satan who constantly inflamed the passions of the crowds so that they would kill Jesus. Time after time Jesus escaped because his time had not yet come. Satan finally thought he had won when he convinced the Jewish and Roman authorities to crucify Jesus. What Satan meant for evil God turned to good by making the death of Jesus an atonement for the sins of all men. When Jesus was buried in his tomb God stationed two angels in there to protect Jesus’ body, one at his feet and one at his head. They never took their eyes off Jesus’ body. Their job was to make sure Satan and his demons didn’t disturb Jesus’ body while he was three days in the earth, at which time the Spirit of Jesus returned to his body for the resurrection. The doctrine of the death and resurrection of Christ is what Satan hated the most because it effectively ended his control over man and the fear of death. Because Jesus rose from the dead, it assured all believers that they will also be resurrected in like manner and will not taste spiritual death. All believers will be with Jesus in heaven forever. The essence of Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus Christ and without it our faith is null and void.

1 Corinthians 15:54-55 – So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

Psalm 16:10 – (King David speaking) – For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

Luke 9:22 – (Jesus speaking) – The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

Isaiah 53:9-12 – Ant they made His grave with the wicked- but the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied, by His knowledge My righteous servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

In the above verses King David, the prophet Isaiah, and Jesus himself predicted his resurrection. In fact, Jesus predicted his resurrection many times. When Satan failed to prevent Jesus’ resurrection he switched his tactics to trying to convince man it never happened. A few of the theories sponsored by Satan include the resurrection was simply made up, Jesus didn’t die on the cross, he merely swooned and was later revived in the tomb, the resurrection of Jesus was in spirit only, Jesus is only resurrected in the hearts of believers and finally, that everyone was suffering from some sort of mass delusion similar to being high on drugs. This is the best Satan could come up with.

On the other hand, the proof of the resurrection is solid. The tomb of Jesus was empty and we have numerous eyewitness testimonies. It was common knowledge to everyone at the time and was accepted as fact. The Jewish and Roman authorities never denied the resurrection of Jesus because they couldn’t. The body was gone and the tomb had been sealed and was guarded by a detachment of Roman troops. To me, I see the greatest proof of the resurrection in the tremendous change in the lives of the disciples. Because the disciples saw, spoke with and touched the risen Jesus they knew the truth of Jesus’ resurrection. They finally got it. Jesus was God in the flesh.

From that point on the disciples went from being timid disciples of Jesus to becoming roaring lions of the faith who went throughout the world confidently preaching the gospel of Christ to the point where all were martyred except for John. Don’t you think we’d react the same way if we were in their shoes? I think I would. The disciples never would have reacted the way they did without knowing the truth of God and every last one of them knew the same truth and reacted the same way. No power on earth could contain their zeal for the Lord. Nothing else but the truth would have made the disciples lay down their life. Nobody willingly gives up their life for something they know to be a lie. Finally, the proof of the resurrection is in the existence of the church itself, because within fifty years of Jesus’ death the church had grown exponentially and spread to most of the known world. Any religion simply can’t develop that quickly without some sort of supernatural help. For Christianity, God is our sponsor. Jesus is Christianity. Christianity is Jesus. Christianity means, “Christ’s men.”

Theologians refer to the “divine emptying” of Christ as “Kenosis.” This is the most profound message in the entire Bible and is worthy of our study:

Philippians 2:5-11 – Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

These verses tell us Jesus left heaven’s glory to come to earth in the flesh. Jesus emptied himself by abstaining from using any of his divine powers during his ministry on earth and relied solely on the power of the Holy Spirit. The phrase, “in the form of God,” doesn’t refer to physical shape but the inner, essential, abiding nature of a person or thing. The use of the term “robbery” is meant to convey Jesus didn’t consider the outer manifestation of his deity in heaven something to hold onto or treasure. It’s staggering to imagine the Creator of the universe suddenly deciding to lower himself in order to become a creature that he created. That’s like the king of the world suddenly deciding to become an ant. A human being couldn’t have come up with such an absurd idea. Only the mind of God could conceive of it which to me is another proof that Jehovah is God and there is no other. For those who have eyes, let them read and understand what has been written.

It’s not so much the fact that God laid aside his crown and came to earth in person, it’s that he came as a lowly peasant, a servant to be persecuted, struck, spit on and killed in the most horrible way possible on the cross. It boggles my mind every time I think about it. Why did God have to do it this way? Because it was needed to save us. God loves us that much. There was no other way for God’s justice to be satisfied because the wages of sin is death. Somebody had to die for our sins and it was either each of us or Jesus for all of us. God in his love, mercy and grace, sacrificed his Son for us. At first God and man stood face to face with each other in the Garden of Eden. In sinning, Adam turned his back upon God. Then God turned his back upon Adam. Christ’s death has satisfied the demands of God and now God has again turned his face toward man. It only remains for man to turn around and face God. Since God has been reconciled by the death of his Son, man is now encouraged to be reconciled to God. Christ’s death was necessary for two reasons, because of God’s holiness and because of man’s sinfulness.

Leviticus 11:44 – For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.

Romans 10:10-12 – As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seek after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.

Jesus died to redeem us from hell. By his death Jesus justified us before God. God himself will sanctify us by his Word. Jesus came to destroy Satan’s hold on men, to defeat eternal death. Jesus was in the earth three days before he arose from the dead. During that time the Lord descended into the bowels of the earth. Jesus went to paradise, which is referred to as, “Abraham’s Bosom.” This was a holding area for all those saved before the time of Christ. These saints still had their sin nature and couldn’t enter a sinless heaven until their sins were forgiven by Jesus’ sacrificial death. Jesus came and paid the sin debt for all men, past, present and future. Jesus went down to personally escort the saints to heaven. Jesus also visited hell while he was in the earth to preach judgment to the fallen angels chained in the pit who corrupted their estate by sleeping with women before the flood. These angels were trying to corrupt the DNA of man in order to prevent the coming of the promised Christ but they failed and were condemned by God to remain chained in hell until the day of judgment.

Hebrews 10:10 – By that which we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 2:14 – Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.

2 Peter 24 – God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.

Jude 1:6 – And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.

For Jesus to qualify as the perfect sacrifice on the cross for our sins he had to be fully human down to every last detail. Jesus had the same type of body, soul and spirit that we have. At conception God gave Jesus a piece of himself just like he did with you and me. The human spirit of Jesus is totally separate from the divine Spirit of Jesus that also entered the new embryo. From conception Jesus has had two spirits inside him, one I’ll call the human spirit and the other is the divine essence of Almighty God. All believers right now have the same thing. We have the spirit we were born with plus we have the Holy Spirit of God who took up residence inside us the moment we were saved unto eternal life. Jesus is inside you right now because Jesus is God just like the Holy Spirit is God. When the Bible talks about our being indwelt it uses Jesus and the Holy Spirit interchangeably.

Luke 23:46 – And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”

In the above verse note the word spirit is not capitalized since it isn’t the divine Spirit of Jesus he’s giving up to God at his death but his human spirit. Jesus’ whole life is an example for us follow and in this instance it also let’s us know what happens to the spirit of the believer when they die. Jesus was fully human in life and he was fully human in death. Jesus’ human spirit wasn’t given any special privileges at death. Jesus’ spirit went back to the God that gave it to him to show us that’s exactly what happens to us as well. Each human being is born with a sin nature from Adam’s fall so we’re condemned already. Then we all sin against God during our lifetime because we can’t help it. We live in a sin-filled world under the sway of Satan and he does his best to corrupt us every day. Satan is very good at getting us to sin.

Jesus came to reconcile us to God. Jesus’ death gave us the right to be forgiven of our sins by God if we believe in Jesus and ask for our sins to be forgiven. Removing our sins is critical because God doesn’t allow sin in heaven. We can’t enter heaven with our sins. You can do the greatest works the world has ever known but that won’t help you get to heaven. Our sins must be forgiven for us to get into heaven and that only happens through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Without forgiveness of sin our spirit remains unclean because our sins clings to our spirit like a leach that’ll ultimately drag our eternal soul down to hell if we don’t expel those sins. Have you noticed in the Bible Jesus often referred to demons as unclean spirits? They are invisible spirit beings without form so how can they be unclean? Spirits can’t get dirty in the typical way we’re familiar with. They are unclean because their sins cling to their spirit just like it does to ours. We can’t see the sin but it’s there just the same because God says it is and God cannot lie. It’s all about our unseen and unforgiven sin which makes any spirit unclean and unacceptable to a holy God who is without sin; a God who hates sin; a God who will not allow sin to be where he is.

Jesus never gave up his divine powers but he also never used them during during his lifetime. Jesus totally depended on the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit during his life and ministry here on earth. This is significant because as believers indwelt by the same Holy Spirit we should be able to do exactly what Jesus did. Jesus said as much in the Bible. We see an example in the Apostle Peter who performed miracles, healed the sick and raised the dead just like Jesus. We just don’t seem to have the confidence and faith to pull that off today. When Jesus rose from the dead in his resurrected body his human spirit returned to him. The divine Spirit of Jesus also returned to take up residence in Jesus’ resurrected body. Both spirits will remain with Jesus forever. After all, Jesus’ human spirit became separate and eternal at conception and has to go somewhere for eternity and back home in Jesus’ resurrected body is the only place that could be. That’s one of the reasons Jesus will retain his human body going forward forever. In heaven Jesus will be wholly human and wholly God just like he was here on earth.

Just like Jesus, we’ll also receive an immortal resurrected body at some point after we die and our spirit will return to that new body. We’ll all be indwelt by the Holy Spirit in heaven just like we are here on earth which is the reason we’ll be unable to sin in heaven. Our sin nature will be gone and the Tempter will be chained in the bottomless pit. God has the responsibility for making sure we can’t sin in heaven. Anyone who doesn’t believe Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is God in the flesh, is a fool. That’s not me talking. God says that in the Bible. Respond gently to those making such a claim so as to not offend them. Pull out the Bible and prove them wrong. The deity of Jesus Christ is shown in the Old Testament witness of King David, the prophets Isaiah and Daniel, and God himself.

Psalm 14:1 – The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.

Psalm 110:1 – The Lord said to My Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

Isaiah 9:6 – For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Daniel 7:13-14 – I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and the brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.

Throughout all four New Testament gospels of Jesus Christ there are repeated references to the omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience of Jesus. In the New Testament epistles the giants of the Christian faith testify to the deity of Christ. We hear it from the Apostles Peter, John and Paul. Two of Jesus’ brothers, James and Jude, also testify that Jesus was God. If you believe in God and the Bible you must believe Jesus is the Son of God and that Jesus is God. The evidence for God and Jesus is conclusive and overwhelming.

In ancient times names were more important than they are today. Back then a person’s name usually had a specific meaning tied to their family’s hopes and expectations for them. The meaning attached to people’s names was common knowledge. Look at how often in the Bible a person’s name was immediately followed by the meaning. If it’s in the Bible that way it must be important to God. God doubles down on the importance of names by changing the names of several of the important players in the Bible narrative: Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, Saul became Paul and Simon became Peter.

I count 120 different names for Christ in the Bible. Each name for Jesus is a reflection of one of his attributes and when viewed together give us a picture of who Jesus is. All the names of Jesus together cannot do justice to the glory, honor and majesty of Jesus Christ. God is revealing to us what he wants us to know about Jesus down here on earth. In heaven we’ll know a lot more about our Savior than we know now. When I reflect on the names of Jesus Christ I’m thrilled. I’m like a kid in a candy store. My soul rejoices! Imagine how much more joy we’ll experience in heaven as we learn more about the Lord Jesus for an eternity. You can find all 120 names for Jesus in a good Bible guide. In this blog I’ll just list twelve of my favorite names for Jesus:

1. Son of God – Matthew 16:16 – Simon Pewter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

2. Christ – Matthew 1:16 – And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of who was born Jesus who is called Christ.

3. Messiah – Daniel 9:25 – Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall.

4. Son of Man – Matthew 16:27 – (Jesus speaking) – For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

5. Lion of the tribe of Judah – Revelation 5:5 – But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

6. King of Israel – John 1:49 – Nathaniel answered and said to Him. “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

7. King of Kings – Revelation 19:16 – And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

8. Son of the Most High – Luke 1:32 – He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

9. Heir of all things – Hebrews 1:1-2 – God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.

10. Judge – Acts 10:42 – And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.

11. Advocate – ! John 2:1 – My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

12. Redeemer – Isaiah 60:16 – You shall drink the milk of the Gentiles, and milk the breat of kings; You shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

Of all the people who have ever lived Jesus was unique. Jesus was wholly human and wholly God at the same time with no mixing of the two natures. The Bible declares that Jesus was as much God as if he had never been human, and as much man as if he had never been God. This is known as the hypostatic union. That’s amazing! This was one of the miracles of the incarnation, along with the conception of Christ through the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a Spirit being in heaven before the incarnation. When the Son of God joined himself to a human body at Bethlehem it was an eternal arrangement. When Jesus ascended back to heaven he didn’t revert back to his original form as an invisible Spirit. Jesus will continue to manifest himself in his resurrected physical body throughout the ages. God knows Jesus can fellowship best with us in heaven when he looks like us. We’re unable to look upon the glory of God directly.

There are people in the world who don’t believe God came to earth in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Let me inform everyone the incarnation was prophesied in the Bible ten times, twice in the Old Testament by the prophets Isaiah and Micah, and eight times in the New Testament by heavenly announcements to Mary, Joseph, Zacharias, Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna, the wise men and the shepherds:

Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Micah 5:2 – But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting.

In addition to the ten prophesies about the incarnation of Jesus, the Bible contains at least another 60 prophecies surrounding the life of Jesus Christ and all 60 prophecies were fulfilled by the life of Jesus and documented as fact by Jewish and Roman historical records in addition to numerous eyewitness testimonies of that time in history that were recorded in the Bible. There are over 1,000 prophecies in the Holy Bible, 500 of which have been fulfilled and documented. God put these prophecies in his Word to prove he is God. Do you know how many prophecies have been fulfilled by all the other world religions throughout history combined? Zero. None. Why is that? Because they’re all fake. Do we have any actual historical records to validate the claims of any of the other fake religions? Nope. Do we have any eyewitness testimony confirming the truth of any of the other world religions? Nada. How can anyone believe the tenets of any religion where none of their claims are provable and there are no recorded miracles and no eyewitness testimony?

We have the ramblings of one person who started each fake religion for their own selfish reasons and we’re supposed to believe based on that? Give me a break. Christianity is the only religion with a proven set of facts, hundreds if not thousands of eyewitnesses, and 2,000 years of proof that Jesus has changed the lives countless millions of people around the world. It’s a slam dunk to me. What do you think? Don’t you think you ought to at least have a look? Maybe read the Holy Bible to see what all the fuss is about? Maybe go to church and really pay attention to what the pastor is saying? It might keep you out of the frying pan for a billion trillion years.

We know Jesus came down from heaven to die on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins so that man can be reconciled to God. We also know Jesus came to destroy the devil and his works by bringing salvation to man. God never does anything without a good reason, and in this case, there were at least eleven additional reasons for the incarnation of Jesus:

1. To reveal the invisible God
2. To fulfill prophecy
3. To guarantee the Davidic covenant
4. To provide the believer with a high priest
5. To provide an example for believers

1 Peter 2:21 – For this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.

1 John 2:6 – He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

6. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord
7. To heal the brokenhearted
8. To set at liberty the bruised
9. To escape the historical curse

Romans 5:12 – Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

10. To give life

John 3:36 – (Jesus speaking) – And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

11. To glorify God the Father

John 17:4 – (Jesus speaking) – I have glorified You on earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

John 14:13 – (Jesus speaking) – And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

When I examine the triune Godhead what sticks out to me is the fact that God the Father is a homer. He pretty much stays in the office (i.e. heaven) and leaves all the out of town travel to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I’m not being flippant. Often the best way to explain something is by relating it to something we’re familiar with. Some people think Jesus never left heaven until the incarnation and Jesus was only involved in the New Testament. That’s incorrect. Jesus created the universe and he’s been actively involved in his creation all along, both in the Old and New Testaments. The New Testament focuses on the life of Jesus, and rightfully so, since the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in human history. One moment all of humanity was lost in their sins and the very next moment, with the death of Jesus, we’re all rescued from hell and given a second chance, an opportunity to live forever in heaven. Jesus’ death paid our sin debt to God. Jesus picked up our tab and our eternal destiny was changed forever. We were all headed for hell and Jesus diverted us to heaven by his sacrificial death. Praise God for his love, mercy and grace!

What a lot of people don’t realize is Jesus was also very active in the Old Testament but he wasn’t obvious about it. In the Old Testament every time that I can think of that God appears it’s actually Jesus who was manifested. Pre-Bethlehem appearances of Christ are known as theophanies. Let’s look at some examples. In Genesis 18, it was Jesus who appeared to Abraham in human form (along with two angels) and dined with Abraham in his tent. In Genesis 32, it was Jesus who wrestled all night long with Jacob. Jesus appeared to Moses on three occasions. The first time Jesus appeared to Moses was on Mount Sinai where Jesus appeared as a burning bush. The second time Jesus appeared it was as a pillar of fire to lead Israel to the promised land (Exodus 23:20). The third and final time Jesus appeared to Moses was chronicled in Exodus chapter 33. Moses asked to see the glory of God and Jesus allowed Moses to see his back side after he passed by, because no man may see God’s face and live.

In addition to showing up in the Old Testament as God, Jesus also made numerous appearances as an angel. The archangel Gabriel, the messenger of God, appears in the Old Testament 17 times and each time he is identified. That’s significant because whenever an angel appeared in the Old Testament and he’s unnamed there’s a good chance it was Jesus himself. Let’s look at some examples. The one appearance of Jesus we remember the most is the Old Testament story of Daniel in the lion’s den. It was Jesus who appeared to Daniel as an angel and shut up the mouth of the lion. It was Jesus who appeared to Hagar in the desert and ministered unto her. Remember the angel who appeared to Elijah and Gideon? He was also Jesus. When Moses died God appointed Joshua as the new leader of Israel. It was Jesus who appeared to Joshua as an angel and identified himself as the captain of the Lord’s host. Jesus wanted to assure Joshua that he would be with him as he was with Moses.

Jesus created the universe and it’s Jesus who is intimately involved in every detail of his creation. God’s Word confirms the chief cornerstone of both creation and salvation is Jesus Christ. In any situation in life where you need a decision always look for the person in charge, the decider, the one calling the shots, for the answer. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time. When it comes to our life, our salvation, and our peace, that decider, the person in charge, is Jesus Christ. Your daddy won’t help you and the Pope can’t save you. You must personally go to the decider of your fate for forgiveness and believe that you have it. The Bible says Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody gets to heaven without faith in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

All other religions are fake and their gods are lifeless. You never see any books on the shelves by adherents of these fake religions saying how much their god has done for them. Why is that? Because their god is not the true god. He’s a fake. The founders of all the fake religions in the world are still in a grave somewhere. With Christianity, the tomb of Jesus is empty because he is risen! Jesus is in heaven right this minute sitting at the right hand of power as our intercessor with God the Father. God has made all the information needed for our salvation available in his Word, our Holy Bible, for anyone to read. Read the Bible and be saved unto eternal life in heaven forever. Study the Bible to know God.

We know Jesus is the judge over everything, the decider of our fate, so why wait another minute if you haven’t given your life to him? If you die before accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior you’ve waited too long. If Jesus comes in the clouds and raptures the saints before you make your decision you’ve waited too long. If you find yourself standing before the Great White Throne for judgment on the last day you’ve waited too long. When the angel of God grabs you by the arm and throws you into the lake of fire the thing that’ll cross your mind just about that time is. “I shouldn’t have waited so long.” If you’re reading this blog it’s not too late for you. Pray the sinner’s prayer to God right now. The Bible says now is the day of your salvation!

2 Corinthians 6:2 – Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Mark 1:15 – The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!

John 14:6 – I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Acts 4:12 – Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

Luke 19:10 – For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Romans 10:9 – That id you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

John 8:32 – (Jesus speaking) – And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

I find it kind of odd that most of the people in the world believe in a God they can’t see, haven’t talked to, and haven’t heard from and yet when God does show up in person, in the flesh, then most of those same people don’t believe he’s God. God in the incarnation of Jesus doesn’t look the part. Jesus isn’t what people expected God to look like. Jesus doesn’t look scary enough. In the wilderness God attempted to talk to the people of Israel in his glory, in his true form, but it didn’t work out too well. When God showed up as a pillar of fire and as an ominous cloud full of lightning and thunder the people naturally planted their faces in the dirt and were terrified and speechless. When the Israelites recovered their composure a little bit they managed to run away from God screaming their head off and hiding their faces. God decided to fellowship with his creation in a less threatening guise, as a human being just like them. The lightning, thunder and pillar of fire are still in there, you just can’t see it. God is still God, he just looks like Jesus now and he’ll remain in the human form of Jesus for the rest of eternity in heaven so as to not be scary to us.

Other religions in the world acknowledge Jesus as a remarkable person, a noteworthy Jew and a prophet, but they don’t think he’s God. They aren’t giving Jesus his due. Some see Jesus as a lesser deity, somehow inferior to God the Father. Let me be clear about this, Jesus has always existed as part of the triune Godhead along with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. There is only one God but he exists in three persons. Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is God. God the Father is God. I know it’s confusing. That’s why I know it has to be true. God the Father decided to create the universe but when it came to the actual work of creating everything we see, that was left to Jesus. Jesus made the earth, our universe, and he made you and me. That means Jesus Christ should be the central focus of every human being on earth. Jesus is the Creator of all things and we’re not giving him the glory and honor that the Lord Jesus deserves.

Every person is born with one purpose in life and we all have the same purpose whether we know it or not. We’re all put here on earth to seek out God and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, because Jesus is God. Our life is a lot like that Predator movie where the mercenaries are dropped off onto a deserted planet and they don’t know why. They have to discover why they’re there and once they do, how they can survive. It’s the same with us. If our life was that movie, then God is the one who puts us on earth. God would play the part of the Predator in the movie of our life but we’ll change his name to Savior. In our movie God is not trying to kill us. Just the opposite. God is trying to keep us from destruction, to keep us from rushing headlong to our spiritual death. God is trying to save us from ourselves.

In the movie of our life God keeps chasing after us and calling us to himself. God in his love, mercy and grace has provided his Word for our guidance. Most important of all, God has provided the atoning death of his Son Jesus Christ to remove our sins. We need only to take the time to evaluate the overwhelming evidence of the truth of God and his Christ and then believe it in order to be saved unto eternal life in heaven and get off this accursed planet. Some will make it to heaven because they took the time to check out the Christian faith and give their lives to Jesus. Sadly, most will perish because they didn’t know they should seek God or didn’t know where to find him when they looked for him.

I know the answer! There’s no other way to safely exit this planet other than by faith in Jesus. It’s heaven or bust! For the Christian believer it’s heaven and for the nonbeliever it’s bust. To “bust” is to go to hell and spend eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone God created for Satan and his demons. I’ve told you the truth and the truth will make you free. All you have to do is act on the information I’ve given you. You now know the script of the movie of our lives. It shouldn’t be called Predator, although the plot line is similar. Let’s change the name of our movie to, “Stalker,” because God pursues us all our lives, to the point where God is known as the, “Hound of heaven.” God loves us enough to never give up on us until the moment of our death. I can personally attest that I was a long time backslider but God relentlessly pursued me for 40 years until I returned to fellowship with my Father. When you’re hunted by God you know it; you can feel it.

In Matthew 22:43, Jesus has given us the most important question in the universe for our consideration. Consider it carefully, because the fate of your eternal soul depends on your answer. Jesus asks all of us, “What do you think about the Christ?” “Whose Son is He?” The Bible declares both the preexistence and deity of Christ. The Apostles Peter, John and Paul taught that Jesus preexisted as did John the Baptist. Jesus himself taught he was God before the foundation of the world. If you don’t believe this you’re not a true Christian believer and the wrath of God abides on you.

John 17:5 – (Jesus speaking) – And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

John 8:58 – (Jesus speaking) – Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.

What was Jesus doing before his incarnation? Jesus was communing with the Father. Jesus was busy creating, and more importantly, controlling the universe. Without Jesus everything in our universe would cease to exist. All the elemental building blocks of our universe would simply melt away without Jesus holding the atoms together. When the old earth is burned up one day to make way for the new earth Jesus will simply withdraw his controlling hand to make it happen. Jesus made the world and he keeps it running. Jesus is the sole judge of the nations of the earth and everyone on it. Only Jesus can let you into heaven and only Jesus can sentence you to hell. The Bible says Jesus is the one whom you should fear. You’d best pay attention! That makes Jesus the most important person in the world to you and to everyone else, both now and for eternity.

And yet most of the people in the world give Jesus the back of their hand without another thought. They’ll rue the day they rejected the mercy and grace of Almighty God! They don’t know what they’re doing. Most of the people in the world have rejected Jesus as God when the proof is right there in the Bible for anyone to discover. When they stand before Jesus on the last day they’ll have no excuse. Those who reject Jesus are no better than the Jews and Roman soldiers who rejected Jesus back then and crucified him. Their fate will be the same, an eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone. See, I have told you. I implore all atheists as well as Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist adherents to listen to me to before it’s too late.

Anyone with no religion or from any of the fake religions in the world who doesn’t accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior before they die will receive the wrath of God on the last day. Their destiny is to be thrown into the lake of fire forever. One hundred billion years is only a blink of the eyes in eternity. It’s critically important for everyone of all faiths to give Christianity an honest look because the evidence for our God and for Jesus Christ is overwhelming. I challenge everyone of all faiths, or no faith, to prove me wrong. I know that Christianity offers peace with God and the peace of God. Salvation doesn’t require us to do any good works and you have the promise of God that you’re saved if you believe in Jesus and God cannot lie. No other religion except Christianity makes this promise of eternal life free to everyone just for the asking.

All of the fake religions of the world demand good works from their members and never give any assurance that they’ve ever done enough to reach heaven. Here’s a secret they don’t want you to know: You can’t earn your way to heaven. Salvation is free to anyone and everyone. I promise you’ll never regret it if you compare Christianity with what you now have, whatever that is. The emptiness you feel inside now is all the proof you need that you’ve made the wrong choice. All these fake religions are run by greedy, power hungry people guarding their own rice bowls. They use the fear of damnation to keep members giving them money, working for them and attending their services, which is why they dare not give their adherents any assurance of heaven. If they did the treadmill would stop and their whole evil enterprise would collapse.

I’m sad to say that the worst offender is the Roman Catholic church. Don’t believe me? Compare every one of the tenets of the Catholic church with what the Word of God says and you’ll discover they are polar opposites. Throughout the centuries the Popes and the Catholic clergy have always implemented doctrines that benefited them at the expense of serving their flocks and the God they say they serve. The Catholic clergy are the modern day equivalent of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. They are a, “brood of vipers.” Jesus Christ is the most important person in the universe and the Catholic church has stolen his honor and glory and turned him into a “cookie” used only during mass.

If you want to find God seek him out yourself. Don’t depend on others to tell you about God or you’ll be disappointed. Seek out Jehovah, the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Your eternal soul is too important for you to be wrong about God so make sure you serve the right one. There’s still time for you to find the right path to salvation and you’ll know it in your soul when you find it. It’s called the peace of God. Here’s your chance. Don’t blow it. Take the leap of faith right now!

John 1:3 – All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

John 14:6 – (Jesus speaking) – I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 10:30 – (Jesus speaking) – I and My Father are One.

Isaiah 1:18 – Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord.

Isaiah 54:22 – (God speaking) – Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

Ephesians 2:8-8 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

John 8:32 – (Jesus speaking) – And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

One way to talk about angels is to compare them with us since angel and man are both special creations of God who will one day serve and worship God together in heaven forever. While angel and man are both eternal spirits we get to heaven by different paths. God made both man and angel to serve him in heaven and for fellowship. God didn’t want his creatures to be slaves or robots so he created man and angel both with the free will to decide whether or not to serve God. Angels and men are distinct persons each with their own personalities. As individuals each man and each angel has their own intelligence, will, emotions and spirit. Angels are superior to us. Angels are stronger than us, smarter than us and swifter than us but this is only temporary while the spirit of man is in his physical body. Man and angel are both eternal spirit beings and once man gets to heaven we’ll be more on par with the angels. In fact, Scripture says we’ll be above the angels in heaven and we’ll be a judge over them.

Let’s review what we’ve previously discussed about the state of man. At conception the Holy Spirit gives each new human life just beginning a piece of God, an eternal spirit. We know life begins a conception when we look at the life of Jesus. The Holy Spirit was actually Jesus’ father. The Holy Spirit supernaturally provided the male half of the chromosomes needed to fertilize Mary’s egg and make a human being. At the same time the Spirit of Jesus entered the new embryo. Do you really believe the Holy Spirit visited Mary a second time later in her pregnancy to add the Spirit of Jesus when her growing fetus had reached the point where it qualified as a “life”? Not a chance. If it were so the Bible would have told us. To die in our place on the cross Jesus had to be fully human and that means he had to be conceived and born the same way all human beings are. Jesus didn’t receive any special favors. The only difference with Jesus was the Holy Spirit replaced the male in the birth equation. What you see with Jesus is the same way it happens with us. Jesus’ Spirit arrived at conception which proves ours does too. Life begins at conception and God’s Word confirms it.

At the exact instant of conception we’re granted immortality because we receive an eternal spirit from God. Think about that for a moment! We cannot die! Our physical bodies will grow old and die but our spirit is eternal. God gave us a physical body and placed us on this earth for a reason. Our brief human life is our “testing time, ” our probation period to see if we’ll choose to serve God or Satan. God is giving us a chance to exercise the free will he has given us. God’s Word was provided as a guide so we can seek out God and make the right decision. What good would it do for God to test us without telling us the rules by which we are to be tested? The unborn and children up to the age of decision are innocent and therefore if they die God in his mercy grants them eternal life.

The age of decision, when we’re old enough to make a decision about God, varies with everyone but it’s usually around the age of twelve as it was for me. I know some people who were saved at age eight or nine. It all depends on the maturity of the individual. Only God knows when that time is for each person. What we can be sure of is everyone’s probation period ends at the same time which is when we die. Anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior before they die is given eternal life in heaven by a merciful God. Anyone who rejects Jesus outright or fails to make a decision about God before they die then their sins remain with them and they’ll go to hell when they die. They’ll be judged on the last day by Jesus and sentenced to the lake of fire for all eternity. A hundred billion years is just a blink of the eyes in eternity.

So with human beings God is dealing with us all individually on an ongoing basis. Everyone has their own personal journey through life with their birth, probation period, decision whether to serve God or not and their death. Angels, on the other hand, have a totally different experience. Angels were created by God before creation. God made all the angels at one time fully formed and their number is fixed. The Bible tells us there are too many angels to count but God knows the exact number of angels he made and God knows each angel by name. As a created being like man, the angels were also give the free will to choose whether or not to serve God. The angels had their own probation period which started when they were created and ended when every angel had to decide whether to continue to serve God or go with Satan. That time was when the war in heaven occurred. With angels having been given a free will the war in heaven was inevitable. There was no other possibility. It was inevitable some angels would choose not to serve God and then what? To disobey God is a sin and sin is not allowed in heaven. The fallen angels were not going to leave heaven voluntarily so of course the fight was on.

Satan led the rebellion in heaven alongside a third of the angels. When these fallen angels were defeated God expelled them out of heaven and threw them to the earth where we know them as demons. Demons are here in the hundreds of millions. Once all the angels in heaven made their free will decision to serve God their choice was locked in by God. The free will option was removed from the angels so that angels can no longer change their minds. God made the angels currently in heaven, “not able to sin.” We don’t have to worry about another rebellion in heaven. In like manner, God made the fallen angels, “not able not to sin.” The wages of sin is eternal death so why aren’t the demons already in the lake of fire and brimstone God made for them? The answer is, they will be. God is using them temporarily on earth to test man before they are sent to their ultimate fate.

I used to worry all the time about going to heaven. I knew I was going to heaven but I didn’t think I was good enough to stay once I got there. I think a lot of people feel that way. I was thinking about it from my perspective and not God’s. It’s not about us and what we do or what we deserve. It’s all about Jesus and what he did for us on the cross. It’s about God’s love, mercy and grace toward his beloved children. I was also afraid that after I got to heaven they would discover I was there by mistake and send me straight to hell. I thought I’d slip up and start sinning again and that would be it. One mistake and I’d be shipped out of heaven. All that fear and worry was for nothing. Salvation unto eternal life by God’s grace is final. Once your name goes into the book of life it can’t be removed. God doesn’t make mistakes. God doesn’t change his mind. The Bible says God is unchangeable, and so he is. God knows we’re all unworthy of heaven on our own and that’s the point. Salvation is a free gift of God by his grace because he loves us that much. God loves us more than we’ll ever know this side of heaven. God loves dispensing mercy and grace.

Eternal life is not earned, there’s no way it can be. Eternal life is a precious gift of God for our faith in Jesus. I know I’m repeating myself but it’s really important. God doesn’t make mistakes and God never changes his mind. If you’re in heaven you’re meant to be there and you’re never going to leave. God made you and chose you to be in heaven with him before he laid the foundation of the world. You’re the equal of everyone in heaven and Jesus is expecting to see you there. Hold your head up high because you belong there. Praise God for his love, mercy and grace! If you’re in heaven you’ve made it through you probation period. You passed the test. So has every other person you meet. Every angel you encounter has passed his test too or he wouldn’t be in heaven. Rejoice together all you saved souls!

We don’t ever have to worry about sinning in heaven because God will lock in our decision to serve God once we get to heaven by making us, “not able to sin,” just like he did for the angels. On the one hand God promises believers they can live with him in heaven forever while on the other hand God also says sin is not allowed in heaven. If we were allowed to go to heaven and sin God couldn’t keep both promises. If we sinned in heaven God would have to throw us out but how could he if he promised to keep us in heaven? God’s Word would be broken if he threw us out of heaven or if he let us stay. The only way for God to ensure his Word is fulfilled is to make sure we can’t sin in heaven in the first place. There is no other choice. That’s easy for God to do since with God nothing is impossible.

Belief in angels is found in the history of all nations. I’ve never come across a single person who doesn’t believe in angels. I’ve had plenty of people tell me they don’t believe in God. I find that odd since a belief in angels should translate to a belief in God because those who believe in angels also agree angels are made by a higher authority (i.e. God). Deep down in their soul every person knows there’s a God. The Bible tells us God put eternity into the hearts of men which explains the universal belief in angels. Those who say angels exist but deny God’s existence are just trying to convince themselves so they don’t have to face God and admit they are sinners.

Psalm 104:4 – Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.

Psalm 148:2 – Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts!

Nehemiah 9:6 – You alone are the Lord; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.

Angels are mentioned 273 times in 34 books of the Bible (108 times in the Old Testament and 163 times in the New Testament). Angels are created beings just like we are, by a special act of God. The difference is God creates each person one at a time at conception whereas all the angels were created at the same time before God created the universe. The Bible says man was made a little lower than the angels. One day when we’re in heaven we’ll be above the angels and we’ll be a judge over them. Scripture confirms that not only were angels created at the same time, their number is fixed. The Bible tells us the number of angels is too many to count but God knows the exact number and he knows them all by name. The angels were created to glorify Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Hebrews 1:6 – But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: Let all the angels of God worship Him.

Revelation 4:11 – You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.

Hebrews 12:22 – But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels.

Revelation 5:11 – Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.

Angels are spirit beings and therefore invisible to us but angels can manifest themselves to us in physical form if they want us to see them. I’ve always known deep down in my soul that I have a guardian angel and my life experiences have confirmed it to me. The Bible says we have guardian angels and if every believer has one we’re talking hundreds of millions of angels. There are 2.5 billion professed Christians in the world today so even if only 40% of them are actually saved unto eternal life that’s still a billion people requiring a guardian angel. A third of the total angels in heaven fell to earth after they rebelled and that number of demons could potentially be in the hundreds of millions as well. In Mark 5:9, Jesus removed 6,000 demons who had indwelt the lunatic of Gadara so obviously Satan has no shortage of demons to do his work.

Mark 5:8-9 – (Jesus speaking) – “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”

Note: A Roman legion is 6,000 soldiers.

Life is hard. It wasn’t always that way. Adam and Eve had it perfect in the Garden of Eden until Adam sinned against God and fell from grace. Sin corrupted God’s creation. As a result, Satan became the god of this world and everyone who came after Adam and Eve has had to face hardships in their life, both physical and mental. Why is that? Satan and his fallen angels were thrown to the earth after their rebellion in heaven and once man was expelled from the Garden of Eden we were without God’s protection. With man and demon together on the same earth conflict was inevitable and, in fact, has been ongoing from the beginning. Demons from the spirit world can’t touch us physically but God does allow them to assault us mentally, up to a point. Maybe God allows us to be tempted by the devil as part of our purification process during our “testing time” here on earth before we go to heaven.

Mental assault is the same for everyone, it’s constant and never ending. It’s all we know. It’s normal for us. We think that’s the way it’s supposed to be because we don’t have any other frame of reference. We don’t recognize we’re being oppressed from the spirit world because it’s a slow roll, a dull ache that never goes completely away. We learn to live with it and we don’t know any different. When we get to heaven and have no evil attacking our minds we’ll realize what we had to endure on earth. The Bible says everyone experiences the fiery darts of Satan and will need God’s protection. Peace in this life is only possible with God and the one and only true living God is Jehovah. The followers of all the other world religions do not have this inner peace and their souls are always in turmoil. Ask them and if they’re honest they’ll admit it. The following is a list of some the devices Satan uses to enslave us:

A. Disappointment leads to discouragement which leads to despair – There is not one person who has ever lived who has had all their hopes fulfilled. Everyone faces some kind of disappointment in life. Go to God when you’re disappointed so as not to give Satan an advantage over you. Lingering disappointment can lead to discouragement (loss of confidence). Lingering discouragement leads to despair, which is the complete loss of hope. People in despair are the ones who commit suicide because without hope we have nothing.

Romans 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 – We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

B. Doubt which leads to disbelief – Satan sows the seed of doubt in our minds about God. Satan tells us God doesn’t exist. Satan tells us if God does exist he certainly doesn’t love us. Once we start to doubt God and the Bible we’re on a slippery slope to disbelief. Pray and read God’s Word daily to maintain your faith.

Hebrews 3:12 – Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.

C. Distraction leads to doublemindedness which leads to delay – Satan will use the pursuit of your lifelong goals to pull your attention away from the truth of God’s Word and your salvation. As you focus on family, career, money and power it can pull you away from God and you cannot serve two masters. As we are pressed for time in our daily pursuits it can lead to us not making a commitment to God until it is too late. Many a man is in hell today because they died before they had a chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They meant to get saved. They thought they had more time to decide.

Proverbs 27:1 – Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

James 4:8 – Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

D. Dishonesty, deceit and disobedience – Satan is always urging us to lie and cheat thereby disobeying Gods commandments. As we sin it becomes easier to keep sinning and that widens the gulf between us and God. Satan’s goal is our separation from God.

E. Dullness leads to deadness – Satan wants to quench our faith to the point of apostasy. If our faith in God starts to fail it will ultimately lead to deadness if we don’t nurture our faith. Satan’s goal is to kill our faith so we can’t be an effective ambassador for Christ.

F. Defamation, defilement and discord – Satan urges us to sin against God with out tongues. Satan wants us to sin because when we defile our bodies God cannot use us for his purposes. Satan is a master at stirring up anger, hate and violence. Look at all the murders, wars and carnage throughout history caused by Satan.

Psalm 105:1 – Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 – Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destrou him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.