RE: [TruthTalk] Eye of the Storm

[Jonathan Hughes]

Evening Judy,   I won't push you on the first paragraph as it matters little to me that you missed my point.   The second paragraph contains perhaps one sentence that sums up your theology.  It is to that sentence that I will address this email.  The sentence is "Jesus was the Lord and he came for one purpose and one purpose only which was to die."   If your theology begins with the Fall where man appears to become separated from God you are left with a Jesus who must die to restore that separation.  I would implore you to start where God starts: before the foundation of the world the Godhead made a decision.  They would include humanity in their plans and within their relationship.  Adoption was the plan from the beginning.  Jesus did not come to die.  Jesus came to clothe Himself with our humanity, to cleanse it from all impurity and to present it to His Father as a Holy sacrifice.  Jesus came that we might live.   Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.  And this gave him great pleasure. (Ephesians 1:4-5)   No wonder Paul breaks out into praise in verse 6!   Regarding the magic that you call scriptural in your reading of Deut 28 and 29.  You are confusing convenants.  Walking in the Spirit (the new covenant) does lead to blessing; it may also lead to a tonne of strife.  Read Paul’s life in Acts.  He walked according to the Spirit and for some reason his herds did not increase.  But he counted it all gain to suffer for Christ.  Read Jesus’ life who walked in the Spirit each and every moment of His life.  The blessing that Paul refers to is not the blessing you refer to in Deuteronomy which was a blessing offered (and scorned) to Israel for obedience.  Reading the list of blessings in Deuteronomy one must ask who wouldn’t want them!  Unfortunately they lack relationship.  It is this walking in the Spirit, this continual relationship with the Son of God that brings about blessing, not accordance to levitical law.  Note that the blessing this brings about is far different than the ‘increase the size of my herds, keep storms away from my loft’ type.  Don’t accept the foreshadowing of God’s blessing for the real blessing He offers in His Son.   Jonathan   -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 7:19 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [TruthTalk] Eye of the Storm     Hi Judy,   Do you believe that God (Yahweh) was promising His people that they would live in an idyllic garden of Eden where no harm would befall them at all?  That death would no longer be present in any form? Do you believe that all the wild animals around them would be peaceful to the Israelites?  Why have laws against ox's goring others if they were all in a state of bliss?  This is what I mean by saying that verses such as the one you mentioned need to be taken in a reality context.  Do you see how you are taking the verse out of context?  If not I can try to explain more.   jt: No I don't believe all of the above neither do I believe that these idyllic conditions must be present for people to be in peace and free from fear.  God knows how to preserve the righteous and how to keep the wicked for the day of destruction.  I wrote "when a man pleases the Lord he makes even his enemies be at peace with him."   Jonathan replies:  Would you say that Jesus feared the Lord?  Were His enemies at peace with Him?  On the contrary they killed Him.  If pleasing the Lord brought peace with all men we would be one big happy family on this forum.   jt: Jesus was the Lord and he came for one purpose and one purpose only which was to die. I have also noted that when they tried to kill him and throw him off a cliff he walked right through them and went on. They were unable to do anything to him until the time ordained by the Father. Same with Israel.  When they walked where they should have been walking their enemies were totally impotent and feared them. Need I continue?   Note that I believe your 'blessing/cursing' theology is occultic and not rooted in Biblical revelation.  We walk in the Spirit, not in blessing. Jesus became the curse and we submit to Him.   jt: My blessing/cursing theology as you call it is scriptural, it is straight out of Deuteronomy 28,29 and walking after the Spirit IS walking in blessing; this is the ONLY way to be blessed. God does not bless ignorance, nor does he bless our turning to our own way and doing our own thing. Jesus became a curse - hanging on a tree for us which sacrifice is to no avail for those who do not apprehend by overcoming faith.   judyt       --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.766 / Virus Database: 513 - Release Date: 9/17/2004