Title: Something about sacrificing some chickens or something Source:
[None] URL Source:[None] Published:Jul 29, 2012 Author:unknown photographer Post Date:2012-07-29 19:27:50 by whyofcourse Keywords:None Views:13678 Comments:34
When Jews rejected Christ they stopped being the center of God's plan.
Nope. They are STILL the center of His Plan. For better or worse. God's epicenter of today and tomorrow remains first and foremost, Israel.
There was a perversion introduced into American Christianity about 100 years ago, called dispensationalism...Christ said that "many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many"...Most American "Christians" today are being deceived, with Tammy Faye Bakker, Jimnmy Swaggart, and many other dispensationalists as the deceivers.
Though that's a totally different tangent, in some cases it's true, but in some cases it's not. As usual, you're haphazardly wildly swinging both hands with your paint brushes.
You are in darkness. I'll do my best to help bring you into the light.
Yes, you do that, Your Eminence. Just make sure your Pope Hat is gold enough and high enough; and you're draped in enough beads and crucifixes; and you're wearing your favorite pair of beer goggles.
Those who embrace the concept known as "millennialism" and especially the "dispensational premillennialists" (usually called "dispensationalists") are largely responsible for people thinking that the modern nation of Israel has a dominant role to play in the end-time drama that will unfold according to divine providence. But biblically, the modern nation of Israel is not assigned a specific role. The precise role the modern Jews or the modern nation of Israel are to play in these Last Days is dependent on divine providence, but nothing has been revealed in the Bible. We choose not to speculate on such things.
Dispensationalism is contrary to various clear and explicit Bible statements and based on misinterpretations of several Bible prophecies (mostly in the Old Testament).
Many like to use Revelation 16:16 as an example to back them up with its reference to Armageddon. Armageddon is Hebrew for "hill or mountain, of Meggido" a frequent site of battles in the history of Palestine due to its strategic location. Dispensationalists understand the Bible verse as a reference to a physical battle to take place at that specific geographical location within the boundaries of modern Israel. When understood in its context of apocalyptic literature and visions, it may more reasonably be understood as a pictorial affirmation that the forces of evil (Satan and his angels plus wicked people hostile to the gospel and Christ's people) will be thoroughly dealt with by the Lord when he returns in glory. The modern nation of Israel, that is, the individual members of that nation, will be judged on the basis of their relationship to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The same is true of all mankind.
Israel
Peter's Picture of the Church:
1 Peter 2:4-10 The word "temple" in our modern society usually describes a large, beautiful building which is used for the worship of some god. The use of such temples goes back thousands of years. Peter used it to paint a beautiful word picture of Jesus and his church in 2:4-8.
Made up of living stones
Jesus is pictured in many ways in John's gospel. Peter adds his own picture here, when he writes, "The Lord Jesus is the living stone" (v. 4). In verse 6 he gives the original source for this statement (Isaiah 28:16), where God said, "Look! I'm laying a stone in Zion [another name for Israel], a very special cornerstone of great value, and the person who believes in him will never be disappointed."
In the ancient world the cornerstone was more than a stone on which was carved the date of construction. The cornerstone determined the length, the width, and the height of the building, so that the whole building depended on that cornerstone.
That is the picture Peter uses to describe the church in verse 5a, where he says, "And since you are living stones, as you come to him you are built up into a spiritual temple," of which Jesus is the cornerstone. The church is built on Jesus, and around Jesus, the cornerstone. And it is made up of people who are like Jesus--perfectly holy beings in God's sight. That is the way God sees every person who truly believes in Jesus as his or her Savior, because our God-given faith makes us new creatures who are perfectly holy in God's sight, and every such person "will never be disappointed" on Judgment Day.
Then Peter explains in verse 7, "This means that he's of great value to you people who believe in him, but for those who don't believe in him, 'the stone which the builders [the Jewish nation as a whole] decided was no good, is the very one which has become the cornerstone'; and 'the stone which will make people stumble, and the rock which will make them fall.' "How clear Peter makes it that Jesus is the difference between eternal life and eternal damnation.
We are now a holy group of priests
Next Peter uses a new metaphor in verse 5 when he says that the believers who come to Jesus as living stones "are built up into a spiritual temple, to be a holy group of priests, who offer up spiritual sacrifices which God is happy to receive." He continues in verses 9,10, "There was a time when you were no people at all, but now you are God's people. You who never knew God's mercy have now received his mercy." Praise the Lord!
Peter is reminding us that there was a time when we were all outsiders, so far as God is concerned, unbelievers who had never heard of the triune God. But now that we have heard the good news and have come to believe it, we are God's people, while the Jews, as a nation, have rejected their Messiah and are outsiders.
Now you must take note of the fact that every believer is a priest whose principal occupation it is to offer spiritual sacrifices to our triune God each day of our lives. Yes, from morning to evening we offer our God our thanks and praises for the undeserved love he has shown us by sending first his Son to atone for all our sins, and then his Holy Spirit who has brought us to believe the good news that all our sins are forgiven by Jesus' death on the cross, so that we are now God's children who are perfectly holy in God's sight.
Our task as priests is to also bring him our other sacrifices. First there are our time and our talents which we spend carrying out the different tasks we can do as members of our congregations. In some cases we may give our Lord all of our time and talents to serve as pastors, teachers, missionaries, or church office workers.
All of us, whether we are active workers or not, can offer the Lord a portion of our financial resources, which represent the value of our time spent in some gainful occupation.
And of course the temple in which we serve is known to us as the church, the whole body of believers. The picture of the church that Peter gives us here is perhaps the most complete picture to be found anywhere in the Bible.
The Invisible Church
As the Bible describes the church, it becomes clear that the church is both what we see and what we cannot see.
Church. The word paints a picture. You see the building in which you worship. It may be a small, white-frame building set on a hill in the quiet countryside. Or it may be a large, stone structure occupying a street corner in a busy city. It’s not unusual for us to think of a building when we think of church. Worship is an important part of our lives, and that worship takes place in a building we love, whether it is fancy or plain.
But that is not the way the word church is used in the Bible. In Scripture, church most often refers to people and not to buildings.
The church is invisible
In the New Testament the word ecclesia is often translated as church. Ecclesia refers to a group of people who have been called together. It is an assembly. Yet even that definition does not fully explain what the church is. As the Bible describes the church, it becomes clear that the church is both what we see and what we cannot see. The church is both visible and invisible.
Why would we call a church invisible? You can see a building. You can see the people who gather in that building. Yet we do speak of the church as invisible in the Apostles’ Creed when we confess “I believe in the holy Christian church, the communion of saints.” Sometimes people mistakenly use the term saint to refer to a person who does an abundance of good deeds, someone who helps others. But the Bible uses the term to describe simply a believer. We even distinguish between believers who have been called home to heaven and those who still battle in this world. We speak of saints triumphant and saints militant.
The apostle Peter describes these believers as “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9). Together all believers form the holy Christian church, a “spiritual house” made up of living stones chosen by God. When the Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts, we become part of this structure. The Lord Jesus can see the faith in our hearts. We, however, can only see the fruits of faith and not the faith itself. Because we cannot see faith, the church is invisible to our eyes. The prophet Elijah did not recognize that there were still seven thousand believers in Israel (1 Kings 19:8-18). He thought that he was the only believer left. Likewise, we cannot always tell whether a person is a believer or an unbeliever.
As the Bible describes the church, it becomes clear that the church is both what we see and what we cannot see.
Although the church may be invisible to us, the Lord sees his church clearly. “The Lord knows those who are his” (2 Timothy 2:19). At the same time each person knows what is in his or her heart. Trusting in the promises the Lord gives us, we know that we belong to that communion of saints, the church of God.
Characteristics of the invisible church
This invisible gathering of all believers is not limited by geography. The apostle John reminds us that believers come from different places and “from every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9). In addition, the church is not limited by time. All believers who have lived, are now living, and will live until Jesus returns at the end of time—all these believers are part of this church. The church, the body of all believers, is invisible, and it is also universal. Once again we confess this fact in the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed. “I believe in the holy Christian church.” The first people who used this confession of faith said, “I believe in the holy catholic church.” The word catholic originally had no denominational connotation. It simply meant universal. When catholic became associated with a particular organization, the word Christian was substituted to prevent confusion. In the Apostles’ Creed we confess that we believe that the Lord gathers together everyone whose faith is in Jesus Christ as the Savior.
People believe in many things. We say that we believe in our team, in our country, and in people who are dear to us. Likewise, many people believe in some religious figure other than Christ. God’s invisible church gathers together only those people who confess Jesus as their Savior. We distinguish ourselves from the followers of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and every other religion. We confess that Jesus Christ is true man and true God. We believe that Christ is sinless and perfect and that he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
As the Bible describes the church, it becomes clear that the church is both what we see and what we cannot see.
In a world that suggests that it does not matter what you believe as long as you believe, it becomes important to remember that the invisible church gathers together all believers in Christ. Without faith in Jesus we cannot be saved. Without Jesus we have no part in the communion of saints, the gathering of all believers. Jesus makes that clear when he says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
People die. Church buildings may fall apart. Congregations may disband. But the invisible church continues. The Lord has promised that there will always be true believers who are kept faithful by the power of God. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27,28). What a comfort it is to know that the Holy Spirit, who calls us to faith, also preserves us in that faith through the gospel in Word and sacraments!
It is easy to become attached to a congregation. It is in that fellowship that we listen to the good news of Jesus proclaimed. There we hear that our sins are forgiven. In our congregation we draw close to Jesus as we receive the sacrament of his body and blood. Likewise the building in which a congregation worships may be a special place. It may be the same structure in which we were baptized, confirmed, and married. It reminds us of all the blessings God has showered upon us.
But we are part of something that is even more valuable, the holy Christian church. Our triune God has brought us together with people we may never see or know on this side of eternity. Through faith the Lord has made us a part of the congregation of all believers. Right now we are not able to see this church in its entirety. Yet what is invisible to our eyes now will be seen when the Lord returns in glory. What a joy it will be to see all believers from every part of the world and from all times! The day will come when we will gather together and praise the God of grace who gives us membership in his family, the invisible church. That church is not really invisible. It is only invisible to us. God sees it clearly.
GOD CHOOSES HUMANS TO BRING ABOUT HIS PROMISES
From the time Adam and Eve left the garden, God involved human beings in bringing his promise, which the world desperately needed to hear, by calling to himself a people with a purpose. In the Old Testament, God called the nation of Israel for a special purpose. In Genesis 12, the Lord appears to Abram, a childless old man married to a barren wife, and promises to make of him a great nation, a people begotten by the promise of God, a people with the purpose of sharing the promise of God with the world: "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; . . . and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (vv. 2,3).
God had a purpose to achieve, and he called a people into existence to carry out that purpose. The purpose was the promise made to the patriarchs that all people on earth might be blessed by the arrival of God in the flesh. The calling was to be the people through whom the Seed of woman would come. They would carry this promise and the line of the Promise-fulfiller through generation after generation.
Why did God call these people? Why would he involve them in his plan of salvation? His reasons defy our logic. The only answer is grace. They carried the promise and told the story of the coming Savior even when they were unaware of it. For example, the straying kings of Judah still carried David's line forward.
And then one day about two thousand years after Abram heard the promise—and two thousand years before we had—this people achieved their purpose in the womb of a virgin overshadowed by the power of the Most High and bearing the hope of all the ages and the promised Son of Israel, God with us.
MEN AND WOMEN CALLED TO SHARE THE GOSPEL
In the New Testament, the need for a physical bloodline to carry the promise of the Savior had passed. Yet God wanted his promise of forgiveness shared with the world. Again defying all human logic, the Lord of heaven and earth took the priceless treasure and put it into jars of clay. He invited men and women to be involved with his plan of salvation.
Just as God called Israel into existence to fulfill his purpose, so now has God called a new people out of nothing to carry out his purposes in the world. This people too would carry Christ to the world. God called a people with a purpose—he called the church: "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God" (1 Peter 2:9,10).
The church is a chosen people, a body of priests and kings, a nation holy and belonging to God. That is what God made us by calling us to faith and sonship in Christ. Immediately following these amazing statements of what we are, Peter tells us why God made us all those things. He tells us the calling that God gives the church, her purpose—namely, that the church might declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into light.
Our calling as the church is to be the mouth of God to this world. Grace upon grace, God took a mission the angels wish they had and gave it to us. Christ has invited us to participate in his rescue mission for the world.
Jesus outlined the purpose and mission of the church at the end of Luke's gospel: "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem' " (24:45-47).
That is the purpose God has given us. He calls us to preach the law and the gospel, repentance and forgiveness, to a world that needs to hear it.
No longer does God's voice thunder from the mountain or from the skies. Rather, God puts his words into the mouths of his church and his ministers, and God speaks through us. This is what St. Paul meant when he said: "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
ur calling as the church is to preach the gospel. However, the call to preach the gospel is like a two-sided coin. One aspect of preaching the gospel is sharing the Word and promises of God with both the lost and the found. But on the other side of the coin, preaching the gospel also means to keep the Word for the world. As the Bible encourages us: "Watch your life and doctrine closely" (1 Timothy 4:16). "Be ready always to give an answer" (1 Peter 3:15; KJV). "Rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15; KJV). Christ did not intend for us to have only one side of the coin or the other. They are two different aspects of the same call. Christ wants us to both share the Word and keep the Word so that both we and our hearers be saved.
God called us from eternity to be his children. God calls us in time to live as his sons and daughters in the roles and stations where he placed us in the world. But we have another calling too. This calling again is one of pure grace; and again, it is a calling to fulfill the purpose God has for us. He calls us to be his church—that is our calling for the world.
Israel is more than a Geographic place. Undoubtedly. I am with you on this one jwpegler.
