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Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!
Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your known unconfessed sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).
1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]; we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND
If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to simply exercise faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life; when you do, you will instantly receive Eternal Life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.
John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]
Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.
John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV
Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:
Study to show yourself approved to God!
Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
STUDY TITLE:
The Angelic Conflict. Part 13. Human history demonstrates that God is glorified by the creation of man. Heb 2:1-18; 1Co 15:45-49; Gen 1:28-30; Heb 10:10; Rom 5:12; Eph 2:3; John 12:46-47
We are now on Point 11 in our study of the Angelic Conflict: How God is Glorified in the Angelic Conflict. Heb 2:1, For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
The reason is the angelic conflict, the phrase what we have heard, is a reference to hearing doctrine, and the phrase lest we drift away from it, is a reference to God’s word.
Heb 2:2, For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable [incapable of being destroyed], and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense. The Greek word for disobedience is parakoe, referring to disobedience that results from neglecting doctrine. The phrase just recompense means that God is absolutely right and just concerning His judgment on the fallen angels. God owes the fallen angels the lake of fire, but they are not there at this time. Human history is the space between Satan’s trial and his conviction. The sentence is the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and His angels before human history (Matt 25:41). The execution of the sentence is Rev 20:10, And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. The sentence was passed before human history and will be executed at the consummation of human history. Satan appealed His sentence before human history, and man was then created as a third party to show Satan that His appeal is not justified. So, human history demonstrates that God is righteous, just, and perfect, therefore, God is glorified by the creation of man (Rev 4:11; Isa 43:21).
Heb 2:3, How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. Just as the fallen angels are doomed, so will all unbelieving humans be doomed. The Greek word for neglect is ameleo, meaning to be careless toward, or make light of, disregard, be unconcerned, or to neglect something. What is it that the human race is warned not to neglect? The phrase so great a salvation refers to our Lord’s finished work on the cross. The apostles heard Christ and passed down His message. We know that the fallen angels received judgment because of such passages as Jude 1:6, And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. (see also Matt 25:41; 2Pe 2:4).
Heb 2:4, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. For example, there was the virgin birth foretold (Isa 7:14). There were tongues as a sign to unbelievers (Isa 28:11). There was the prophecy of the two deaths of Christ (Isa 53:9). All of these were signs and wonders, but the Jews rejected their Messiah.
In Heb 2:5 we are back to the doctrine of the angelic conflict, and the glorification of our Lord’s humanity, For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. In the Church-age, Satan and his angels reign, but in the Millennium, man will rule, Jesus Christ, the Son of David. Heb 2:6, But one has testified somewhere, [David, Psa 8:4-6.] “What is man, that Thou rememberest him? Or the son of man, that Thou art concerned about Him?” The Greek word for remember is mimneske meaning to recall to mind, to remember in an affectionate way. In His grace and mercy God continues to call man even though man has rejected him. God does all the work to reconcile man, and man is the one that benefits. Although man is evil, sinful, and spiritually dead, God recalls us to His mind. In this verse the phrase son of man refers to the descendants of Adam, not to Christ.
Heb 2:7, Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, And hast appointed him over the works of Thy hands; here is the divine strategy repeated again: Out of the lowest, God shall bring the highest. Out of the insignificant, God shall bring the significant. In fact, He shall Himself condescend to be a member of this lower creation called humans. Out of that creation, even out of man’s fallen condition, God will reach down below the level man was created and bring new sons who shall be associated with Him for all eternity. Is it any wonder why Paul said in Rom 11:33, Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
Out of the creation of a lower creature called man will come the greatest glory to God, and the full and total victory in the invisible war or the angelic conflict. Little did man realize that he was to be entered into this invisible war and be an important weapon in it. God was choosing man as the arm which would defeat Satan, both in bringing him to total defeat, and in replacing him in the scheme of the governing the universe. It was to be from man that Christ would come, and it would be through certain chosen members of the human race that God would proclaim the defeat of Satan to both the elect and fallen angels.
In verse 7 we have a reference to the first Adam who failed, and in verse 8 we have the last Adam. Heb 2:7-8, Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, And hast appointed him over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet [TLJC = The Lord Jesus Christ]. For in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing that is not subject to Him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to Him. This is a reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ whereby all angelic creatures, including fallen angels, are subordinated to Him in His humanity. In His deity, Jesus Christ is the creator of angels, but in His humanity, He was made lower than angels. However, in His resurrection, He is higher than angels even in His humanity. Some day in our resurrection body, we will share that same privilege experientially.
1Co 15:45-49 describes only 2 members of the human race who came into the world under conditions of perfection without an Old Sin Nature (O.S.N. = old sin nature). The first Adam, who fell and lost it all, and the last Adam, who regained it back and provided salvation. 1Co 15:45-49, So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam [TLJC in His humanity] became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural [Adam came before the humanity of TLJC]; then the spiritual. The first man [Adam] is from the earth, earthy; the second man [TLJC] is from heaven. As is the earthy [Adam was dead in sin], so also are those who are earthy [those in Adam die], and as is the heavenly [Christ is alive], so also are those who are heavenly [those in Christ will be made a live] And just as we have borne the image of the earthy [the nature of Adam or the O.S.N. = old sin nature], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [the new nature given to those who are born again].”
In Heb 2:7, we have a description of the first Adam. Originally man was made inferior; the first Adam was made inferior to angels, both elect and fallen. The only way man becomes superior to angels is through union with TLJC who is seated at the right hand of God the Father. Note Eph 2:6, And He [God the Father] raised us up with Him [Jesus Christ], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.
Only through regeneration and positional truth can man become superior to angels. This is why Satan has deceived the Church from the real meaning of the baptism of the Spirit. Satan hates anyone who is greater than him. Positionally, every believer in the Church-age is superior to angels; someday experientially we will also be greater.Phil 3:21 and 1Co 15:53 teach that our resurrected body is greater than angels.
Heb 2:7, Thou hast made him [man] for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, and hast appointed him over the works of Thy hands. Adam in his original state was crowned with glory and honor; he had no O.S.N. We know that because of Deut 32:4, The rock! His work is perfect, for all his ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He. Man was originally created perfect, but through his free will, he fell. In Gen 1:28-30, God gave the first Adam dominion over creation, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Heb 2:9, But we do see him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. Here, crowned with glory and honor refers to the birth of TLJC which was just like the creation of the first Adam. The difference is that the first Adam lost his glory and honor, the second Adam, TLJC, built upon His glory and honor. Because TLJC kept His glory and honor, mankind now has the privilege to share in our Lord’s victory through union with the second Adam, TLJC!
We have positional truth in the first Adam; we have positional truth in the second Adam, 1Co 15:22, In Adam all die, in Christ shall all be made alive. The victory of the last Adam, TLJC is given in Heb 2:8, Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet. For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to Him. This is a reference to the Millennium when Christ, the second Adam, will rule. At the second coming, when the Millennial reign begins, there will be believers on earth, minus demons and unbelievers, (the baptism of fire, Matt 24:40-41). We are being prepared to rule with the Lord during His Millennial reign. Some will rule ten cities, some five, some will run errands and be glad to do so. During the Millennial reign, the saints will rule in resurrection bodies. All things being subjected to Him refers to the human and angelic races, nature, weather, animals, and plant life. Phil 2:9, Therefore also, God has highly exalted Him and given Him a title which is above every title, that at the title of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.
This strategic victory of Jesus Christ in the great power demonstration of the Hypostatic Union is related to the award of His third royal patent which is related to His resurrection and ascension. His title is King of kings, Lord of lords, bright morning star. His Royal Family is in the process of being completed, made up of every Church-age believer. This means that you are not simply a child of God; you are a royal child of God. Salvation is the means by which TLJC not only saves mankind but gains dominion over mankind. The cross did two things: 1) It saved mankind. 2) It got back the crown that Adam lost.
Heb 2:10, For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, To perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. God the Father, through TLJC, brings many sons into glory. These sons of glory are every dense and moronic believer; most of us are included in that statement. As a part of the victory in the angelic conflict and our Lord’s new position at the right hand of God the Father, God takes fallen human creatures and makes something out of them that causes Satan to grind his teeth. The Greek word eprepen translated it was fitting, means everything depends on God’s character and ability. It emphasizes that God designed a perfect plan that man can have nothing to do with, or else it is no longer perfect. That’s why legalism is the great enemy of Christ. More damage is done to Christianity from legalism than from sin. Satan cannot get to a believer through demon possession, so he uses false doctrine and legalistic teaching to cause demon influence in the souls of many believers. In Heb 2:10, the Greek word for author is archegon meaning the chief or supreme leader, ruler, prince, or the author. This word is only used three other times in the Bible, always for the humanity of Christ being exalted and seated at the right hand of God the Father (Acts 3:15; Acts 5:31; Heb 12:2). The phrase to perfect is teleiosai, meaning to advance to completion, or to finish. TLJC is completed when every son (Church-age believer) is presented to Him as His bride, the Royal Family of God, for all of eternity, and all of this came through sufferings. Sufferings is in the plural because He was judged for every sin that will ever take place in the history of the human race. Because of this, fallen angels gnash their teeth every time they observe a fallen member of the human race that understands grace.
Heb 2:11, For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, The phrase He who sanctifies is the Greek word hagiazon meaning to make holy, to purify even mentally: no bitterness against anyone, no anger, no vindictiveness, and no garbage in the soul. 1Co 1:2 and Heb 10:10 tell us that every believer is sanctified, or set apart for God. Sanctification is not something we attain, rather it is a state in which we begin the Christian life. So, we have Heb 2:11, For both He who sanctifies [TLJC] and those who are sanctified [all believers in the Church-age receive this sanctification, they do not produce it] are all from one Father; for which reason [positional truth], He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
We are all from one source, the Father’s plan. Positional truth illustrates the Father’s plan, and, if you don’t understand positional truth, you won’t understand the fantastic implications and applications concerning the angelic conflict. Our position is what ultimately counts, not our condition. God can look right at what we think, as Heb 4:13 says, And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. In Psa 130:3, If You Lord marked iniquities, no one could stand.
God sees all of us as we really are, and He is not ashamed of us, because TLJC is perfect and every believer is in union with Him. The Greek verb for to call is kalien meaning to call or to name; God is never ashamed of us, no matter what. Satan can do what he loves to do, make accusations against members of the Royal Family of God, but the Lord is never ashamed of us, even if the accusations are true. Satan knows that God has all knowledge, so he is smart enough to only bring accusations that are true.
Heb 2:11-12, For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, [TLJC is declaring or announcing] “I will proclaim Thy name [the name of the Father] to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise.” He announces and declares these things to us, through the mind of Christ (1Co 2:16).
Heb 2:13, And again, I will put My trust in Him. And again, Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me. Here TLJC is saying to all angelic creatures in the universe, look down on earth, there is something new, something special. At the point of salvation, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit give us to Christ (we are placed in union with Him). Whether we fail or succeed, we cannot damage His plan; in the end, we will be given completely and totally over to Him. Satan and the fallen angels know that we as believers are going to knock them off, so they want to take every crack at us that they possibly can.
Heb 2:14, Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; The cross neutralized Satan, and made him powerless. Satan became the ruler of death when he tempted man to be spiritually independent from God. The ruler of death does not mean he can kill, except when God permits it. So, in this angelic conflict, Satan holds man in his power, just like a jailer holds a prisoner until there is a true legal release, which the cross provided.
Heb 2:15, And might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. The phrase might deliver is apallaxe, which means to release or to set free, to deliver. Fear of death is the basic satanic doctrine used to keep members of the human race in bondage.
Heb 2:16-17, For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
There are at least five reasons why TLJC had to become a member of the human race: 1) Jesus Christ became true humanity to do the will of the Father (Heb 10:5-10). 2) Jesus Christ became true humanity to be the Savior of the world (Phil 2:7-8; Heb 2:14-15). 3) Jesus Christ became true humanity to be the mediator between God and man (Job 9:2, 32-33; 1Ti 2:5-6). For this He had to be equal with both God and mankind; so He had to be both undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. 4) Jesus Christ became true humanity to be a priest. A priest must be a man in order to represent man before God. Jesus Christ became true humanity to be our high priest (Heb 7:4-5,14,28; 10:5, 10-14). 5) Jesus Christ had to become true humanity to be a king and rule forever. He had to be the son of David to fulfill the Davidic covenant to Israel (2Sa 7:8-16; Psa 89:20-37).
Heb 2:18, For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. He was tested constantly to prove His humanity, and because he passed the test, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. He is able to rescue, aid, and help those that are tempted. We will be tempted throughout our lifetime, and in the Greek, this is a dative of advantage, meaning it is to our advantage to be tested. Believers who go through suffering in time, cause angels to witness the grace of God in this angelic conflict.
Point 12. The Existence of Free Will in the Human Race Perpetuates the Angelic Conflict.
This is a point which many Christians do not believe. One of the false teachings that has been perpetuated by the kingdom of darkness in the angelic conflict is the fact that man does not have a free will or a choice. This is actually promoted by many Calvinists, especially hyper-Calvinists. They teach that man cannot choose God or the plan of God, and therefore God must choose Him. This comes from taking certain scriptures out of context, and not comparing scripture with scripture. It also comes from not knowing the original language, and operating under the principle of ICE. Bible doctrine must be taught based on three principles.
Isagogics is the historical setting of the passage.
Categories is the systematic theology developed from combining Scripture with Scripture.
Exegesis is the grammatical and syntactical analysis of the passage from the original languages.
Because many teachers of the Bible reject this principle of ICE, certain problems result concerning such doctrines as the angelic conflict and the justice and righteousness of God. Many Calvinists hold to the doctrine of double predestination which is heresy and an attack upon the justice of God. They teach that God has predestined some to be saved and some to the eternal lake of fire. This is an attack upon the character and nature of our God and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We were all born guilty and in sin as David said in Psa 51:5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. We were all born in sin, not by choice. This is why David also said in Psa 58:3, The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth. We became sinners not by our own volition, Rom 5:12, Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned when Adam sinned. 1Co 15:22, in Adam all die. In Eph 2:3, Paul said we were by nature children of wrath. Every member of the human race has been born into sin ever since Adam and the woman sinned willfully in the garden of Eden. Since they are all born into sin without their consent, if God sent them to hell because they were born sinners, He would be unjust, and no one would love to see that more than Satan. Mankind is not responsible for imputed sin.
Man has a choice, yet he is not free to choose what he wants to and get away with it. There are consequences to his decisions that he has no control over. However, he does have a choice to go to heaven or to hell. This is why we are told that Jesus Christ took away the sins of the world. In John 1:29, we read, The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Why did TLJC, as the Lamb of God, take away the sin of the world and not just the elect or the chosen ones, or just the ones who have been predestined by God to go to heaven? Because everyone has the opportunity to make a decision to be saved, and if they don’t have the opportunity then they are safe. All children who die before the age of accountability, mentally speaking, go to heaven and are given eternal life (2Sa 12:23). People who are mentally incapable of making a decision to believe on TLJC as their Lord and Savior will also go to heaven (Jonah 4:11).
This is why we read in John 3:15, that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. Not whoever is chosen, but whoever believes. John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, [because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God].
People go to hell or the eternal lake of fire and are judged, not because they are liars, murderers, or immoral, but because they did not believe in TLJC. This is why our Lord said in John 6:32, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.
John 6:33, “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world [not to the chosen but to the world].
In John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
In John 12:46-47, “I have come {as} light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears My sayings, and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.”
Rom 5:6, For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
In 2Co 5:19, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.
In 1Jo 4:14, And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
1Ti 2:4, He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
In 1Ti 2:6, He gave Himself as a ransom for all.
In 1Ti 4:10 He is called the Savior of all men, especially of believers. And in Heb 2:9, we are told that TLJC tasted death for everyone.
1Jo 2:2, and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
The point is that man has a free will to either chose or reject TLJC [the Lord Jesus Christ] as his Lord and Savior.
No one has ever been predestined to Hell or to eternal damnation. People go to Hell because of their own negative volition, John 3:18, 36.
The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.
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