\u201c\u0394\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c3\u03c5\u0301\u03bd\u03b7!? <\/strong>Speak plain, man!\u201d That was as plain as the noses on the faces<\/em> of the First Century Roman man or woman ranging from common man digging a ditch; the slave under the whip of his master; and to the prince with a golden spoon in his mouth<\/em> in the Imperial Palace\u2014all speaking and understanding the universal language of the Roman world\u2014the Koine Greek language. <\/strong><\/p>\n In the overarching sovereignty of God who sees the end from the beginning <\/em><\/strong>(Isaiah 46:10), this dynamic of Roman culture, war, and commerce harked back to one of obligatory requirements introduced to the entire conquered world through policies of Hellenization<\/strong> (\u201cmaking all things Greek\u201d\u2014including language, religion, and, for Jewish young men who wanted to fit in at the Olympic Games, cosmetic surgery to reverse their circumcisions since men participated in the games nude) <\/em>all authored by the worldwide Emperor, Alexander the Great.<\/p>\n From Alexander\u2019s perspective, this was one of several measures attempting to solidify into one unified Grecian Empire what would have, otherwise, been a scattered, impossibly diverse melting pot of languages, religions and cultures of multiple nations he had conquered. Yet, God\u2019s overarching and divine control of the universe caused the spread of the Koine Greek language by using Alexander the Great as a tool in His hand.<\/p>\n The Grecian Emperor was raised up by God the Father for His sovereign purposes to bring down the Medi-Persian Empire as described metaphorically in Daniel, chapter 8, and in a vision in Daniel, chapter 2. Read it and be amazed that what happened in documented history was determined in eternity by the Sovereign of the Universe!<\/p>\n Yet, little could Alexander have imagined that such empire-driven motives were all being woven into the fabric of God the Father\u2019s eternal plan to send His Son in the fullness of time born of a woman\u2014born under the Law<\/em><\/strong> (Galatians 4:4; cp. Daniel 2, 7, 8, 10-12)! For the same Koine Greek language<\/strong> that Alexander required the world to read and speak becoming the language of commerce and war was the exact language that was universally understood in the Roman Empire that eclipsed the Grecian Kingdom of Alexander through which God the Father elected to breath into<\/strong> (inspired) <\/em>His Apostles and prophets of the New Testament church His final, complete, an inerrant revelation.<\/p>\n It was in that \u201cdead language\u201d with all the meanings of the word frozen forever and delivered down to the 21st<\/sup> Century and until the end of time with the unchanged nuances and precise meanings when they were first breathed into the inspired Apostles and prophets of the New Testament church on which the eternal church kingdom is founded with Jesus Christ being the Chief Cornerstone (cp. Ephesians 2:17-21).<\/p>\n Thus, that same inerrant, word-for-word, inspired message that came from the mind of the Father; breathed into those inspired men; written on the original and inspired papyrus scrolls; and protected by God forever was aimed at preaching Christ to the lost world from the First Century and, yea, until Jesus returns.<\/p>\n The content of that gospel message was not and is not to be compromised, added to, modified, modernized, or tweaked concerning Jesus of Nazareth (the incarnate Son of the Living God)<\/em> who defeated Satan by living a perfect life under God\u2019s universal moral LAW (the exact battlefield on which were all have been totally defeated)<\/em>; was buried; and, bodily resurrected to totally reverse the curses of sin introduced by First Adam (spiritual and physical death)<\/em> to make available to all with no discrimination regarding of gender, socio-economic levels, or age\u2014the work of Jesus (the Second Adam)<\/em>!<\/p>\n The Apostle Paul wrote regarding the power of Jesus Christ to restore a broken humanity through imputed righteousness (\u0394\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c3\u03c5\u0301\u03bd\u03b7<\/strong>; cp. Romans 1:16, 17; 3:21-25a; 2 Corinthians 5:21) and the resulting indwelling of the Holy Spirit writing, \u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>For since\u00a0by a man death\u00a0came, by a man also\u00a0came\u00a0the resurrection of the dead.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0For\u00a0as in Adam all die, so also in\u00a0Christ all will be made alive \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(I Corinthians 15:21, 22; Acts 2:22-40, esp. v. 38; I Corinthians 6:19, 20; cp. John 1:1-4).<\/p>\n When culpable humans reach the age of accountability<\/em> under LAW (cp. Romans 7:9; cp. 2:14, 15; 1:18 \u2013 3:20), one violation <\/u><\/strong>of the universal moral LAW of God written on Tablets of Stone<\/em> for the Jews (Romans 2:17 \u2013 3:20), but, equally written on the hearts of non-Jews from the Fall in the Garden of Eden until the end of time (cp. Romans 2:14-16; 1:24-32; Amos 1, 2) caused the Holy Father (who cannot fellowship no sin, whatsoever)<\/em> to withdraw His fellowship instantly causing the LAW violator to die spiritually being cut off from the Source of spiritual LIFE (cp. Habakkuk 1:13; Romans 3:23). Since the LAW is an extension of the very essence of the Righteously Perfect and Infinitely Holy Father who is metaphorically described as LIGHT (see Isaiah 6; Ezekiel 1; I John 1:5), He cannot so much as look upon sin bringing the curse of spiritual death for one violation for LAW breakers who do not just break one of his \u201crules,\u201d but, spiritually, offends His very nature (cp. Galatians 3:10; James 2:10)!<\/p>\n Once said violation (sin) was (is) <\/em>accounted to the offender against God\u2019s moral LAW, nothing in the history of mankind has ever been able to remove the sin by paying a sufficient price to release the violator of the resulting debt of spiritual death demanded by the justice of God, including good works (cp. Romans 3:20); animal sacrifices (cp. Hebrews 10:4); circumcision (cp. Romans 2:25-29); ancestry (cp. John 8:31-44) or, LAW-keeping (cp. Acts 13:38, 39).<\/p>\n \u0394\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c3\u03c5\u0301\u03bd\u03b7 <\/strong>was what Adam and Eve lost instantaneously when they touched and ate from the forbidden tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden. It is what vanished from you and I suddenly when we committed our first violation of God\u2019s moral law (sin) <\/em>written on our hearts the split second we reached an age of accountability understanding what was right and what was wrong by instinct<\/em> somewhere in our maturation from infantile innocence toward youthful maturing until the moment of LAW recognition being culpability before God (cp. Romans 7:7-24). This was as true of Israelites under the codified LAW of\u00a0 Moses as it was of non-Jews who by instinct transgressed the universal moral LAW written on their hearts (cp. Romans 1:24-32).<\/p>\n The LAW of God was (is) \u201choly, and righteousness, and good\u2026\u201d (Romans 7:12), but its only weakness was in the flesh of man unable and\/or unwilling to meet its demand for continuing fellowship with the Holy Father\u2014absolute, flawless perfection. Hence, what was impossible for fallen humanity, that is, getting back into fellowship with God by human power, was accomplished by the Father Himself by executing His eternal plan to send His Son (the Second Person of the Godhead) through the power of the Holy Spirit (who played the male role) placing the \u201cSeed\u201d of God (cp. Galatians 3:16) into the womb of the virgin Mary created the \u201cGod-baby.\u201d<\/p>\n As we envision Christ laid in a Bethlehem feeding trough visited by wise men from the east following a \u201cStar\u201d foretold by the Prophet Balaam (Numbers 24) presenting Him with gifts appropriate for the Prophet, the Priest, and the King, four hundred years of Inter-testimonial silence was broken with these powerful words of hope spoken to ceremonially unclean shepherds watching over the flocks by night\u2014\u201cFear not, for unto you this day is born a Savior, Christ the Lord!\u201d<\/p>\n Why was it necessary for God to make His First Advent into human history? The inspired Apostle Paul was moved to write to the Galatians churches to answer the query of the eternal mystery, In the fulness of time, God sent forth His Son born of a woman; born under the LAW<\/em><\/strong> (Galatians 4:4). Why did God become human (Jesus the Christ\u2014Immanuel, Mt.1:23)<\/em> and enter on the pre-stage of the same battlefield where all humanity had lost and shall every lose the battle with Satan\u2014GOD\u2019S MORAL LAW? Paul brings into the noon-day of understand the answer writing to the Corinthians, The sting of sin is death and the power of sin is the LAW <\/em><\/strong>(I Corinthians 15:56).<\/p>\n Do you mean that sin got is power for the holy, righteous and good moral LAW of God? HOW? Paul answers once again writing to the Roman Christians, What shall we say then? Is the Law sin?\u00a0Far from it! On the contrary,\u00a0I would not have come to know sin except\u00a0through the Law; for I would not have known about\u00a0coveting if the Law had not said, \u201cYou shall not\u00a0[<\/sup><\/em>l<\/sup><\/em><\/a>]<\/sup><\/em>covet<\/em>.\u201d But sin,\u00a0taking an opportunity\u00a0through the commandment, produced in me\u00a0coveting of every kind; for\u00a0apart\u00a0from the Law sin\u00a0is\u00a0dead <\/em>(Romans 7:7, 8).<\/p>\n To see this principle still active today, we ask, \u201cWhat if Satan had dropped by the Garden of Eden; looked around; and, then approached God and said, \u2018God, I met this man and woman you made and I want them, so I am going to get them by the hair of the heads and drag them out of your fellowship!\u201d Of course, such would have been and shall ever be impossible! Yet, did Satan, nonetheless, get Adam and Eve out of fellowship with the Fountainhead of their spiritual fellowship with God causing them to forfeit spiritual and, eventually, physical life? Absolutely.<\/p>\n Consider the anatomy of how the prince of the power of the air accomplished such a feat of destruction (cp. Ephesians 2:1-3). Knowing from experience that His seeking the very throne of God himself and being cast out of heaven for one violation of rebellion (cp. Jude 6), Satan was a great student of how things worked in the spiritual world up to a point. Although he could not think of overpowering, He who had all power to steal Adam and Eve from God by force, he decided to exploit the infinite integrity of God and the perfect LAW of God to lure Eve to break God\u2019s LAW committing the first violation of the same (sin) and automatically resulting in the Holy God withdrawing His fellowship from Eve. Eve was deceived, but Adam violated God\u2019s LAW not to touch the forbidden tree with eyes wide open. Paul wrote to the Evangelist Timothy, For\u00a0it was\u00a0Adam\u00a0who\u00a0was first\u00a0created,\u00a0and\u00a0then Eve.<\/em>\u00a0And\u00a0it was\u00a0not Adam\u00a0who\u00a0was deceived, but\u00a0the woman was\u00a0deceived and\u00a0became a wrongdoer<\/em> (I Timothy 2:13, 14).<\/p>\n Why would Adam have eaten the forbidden fruit knowing full well what he was doing and that dead would result? What sense can possibly be made of such a seemingly ridiculous scenario? Moses recorded the inspired answer from God Himself. Then to Adam God said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, \u201cYou shall not eat from it\u201d\u2026<\/em> (Genesis 3:17).<\/p>\n Now, let us understand, Adam, there were two voices which spoke to you. The first voice was that of God, your Creator, who said, Do not eat of, not touch the tree in the midst of the garden\u2026<\/em><\/strong>, and, then, there was the voice of your knock-out beautiful wife that said, in effect, Honey, this fruit is so pleasing to my eyes; it pleasant to the my taste, and will make me as wise as God, so, sweetie, give it\u00a0 try<\/em><\/strong>. Right?!<\/p>\n Adam was created perfect and put in a perfect world in fellowship to his Creator where there was no sin, spiritual or physical death, disease, demon possession, nor the IRS (sorry, had to drop that in!). And, as the crowning and finishing act of God\u2019s perfect world, Eve was created from a rib taken from Adam\u2019s side (yes, I believe every word) <\/em>and brought unto Adam to be a co-ruler with him to dress and keep the Garden. As someone has said is a colloquial slogan, IT DON\u2019T GET NO BETTER THAN THAT!<\/p>\n Yet, the father of lies used the perfect couple luring them to violate God\u2019s perfect LAW and destroyed perfect fellowship between them and God who once walked with them in the Garden in the cool of the day.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Before Adam and Eve were separated from the Garden and from fellowship with God due to sin, God made a promise and cast a picture. The PROMISE<\/u><\/strong> was the SEED of woman will crush the head of the serpent<\/em><\/strong> (Genesis 3:15; cp. Galatians 3:16; Genesis 15:1-6; 2 Samuel 7:11-17; Matthew 1:1-17) and\u00a0 the PICTURE was God clothing the shame (for sin brings shame) <\/em>of Adam and Eve\u2019s nakedness with animal tunics (Genesis 3:21).<\/p>\n You mean animal skins from the animals Adam and Eve had coexisted with in the Garden of Eden to which Adam (with a perfect intellect) characterized by naming each specie? Yes, those animals.<\/p>\n Is that what you are saying! Well, they should have called the Animal Rights Advocates! Remember it had just become a fallen world, so not Eden Advocates could have overpowered the consequences of the sin of man! And, not advocate of gender confusion; or, give-me-a check-with-me-working; <\/em>nor, no God is going to tell me how to live\u2014for when the Moral Governor of the Universe judges, no human force, military power, or government agent can possibly counteract the decision of He who overrules all things, nations, and peoples.<\/p>\n Yes, animal skins! But, doesn\u2019t an animal have to die to surrender its skin? YES! So, get the horrifying scene. The very pets that Adam and Eve coexisted with in the Garden of Eden were, no doubt, brought before them by the offended God who struck them with death blows while Adam and Eve stood naked and horrified before those precious animals heaving for their last breathes in death-rigors being shocked beyond description with their first experience with death! Then, those dead animals laying in the blood-bath of their own blood were stripped of their hides and Adam and Eve were covered with the bloody tunics driving home a scene repeated through the rest of the Bible the eternal principle\u2014THE INNOCENT MUST SUFFER FOR THE GUILTY!<\/p>\n That unforgettable and horrifying scene was a SHADOW of an event that God th Father would bring about in the fullness of time when HE, himself, through the hands of lawless and wicked men would crush His own Son to pay the debt we have all incurred by the violation of His universal moral LAW\u2014the debt of DEATH! The wages of sin is death\u2026 <\/em>(Romans 6:23a). In order for a SHADOW OF THE crucifixion to be cast from Eden to Calvary, Calvary had to have already have been accomplished before the foundation of the world in the Eternal Purpose of the God who knew man would sin; would be separated from Him with no human way of recovery; and, that He, GOD, would do what man could not do\u2014SEND HIS SUBSTITUTE TO PAY A PRICE HE DID NOT OWN TO PAY A DEBT MAN COULD NOT PAY (cp. Acts 2:22, 23; I Peter 1:17-21; Romans 8:28-30; Revelation 13:8).<\/p>\n Eight hundred years before the God-baby would be laid in a Bethlehem feeding trough, Isaiah the Prophet was inspired to writing of the eternal plan (a mystery to the good angels; to Satan; and to the Old Testament Prophets) how God had already in the cases of all the men and women faith from the Fall in the Garden of Eden all the way until simply Galilean fisherman on the Day of Pentecost (33 A.D., Acts 2:1ff) would be inspired with what God the Father had had on His mind forever that Christ was the ONLY means of lost humanities being reconciled to Him by the blood of the perfect LAMB of God who takes away the sin of the world and fellowship restored through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit (cp. Acts 2:22-38, esp. v. 38; I Corinthians 6:19, 20).<\/p>\n Isaiah prophesied:<\/p>\n However,\u00a0it was<\/em>\u00a0our sicknesses\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0He Himself\u00a0bore,<\/strong> (Isaiah 53:4-6)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Given man\u2019s free moral agency, (without a twitch of anti-Sematic feelings whatsoever), it was the Jewish hierarch driven especially by the Sadducees elements of the Jewish Sanhedrin who pulled the string on the Roman puppet, Pontus Pilate, to turn Jesus over for crucifixion.<\/p>\n But, was God the Father behind it all working through the hands of wicked men to put His own Son to death?!! Peter, moved by the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (33 A.D, 10 days after Jesus\u2019 ascension back to\u00a0 heaven) preached on that day of Old Testament consummations, this\u00a0Man, delivered over by the\u00a0predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God,\u00a0you nailed to a cross by the hands of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>[<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>x<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/a>]<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>godless men and put\u00a0Him\u00a0to death <\/em><\/strong>(Acts 2:23).<\/p>\n But, I thought Pontus Pilate, Herod, the Jews, and the Gentiles were exercising their own freedom of wills in killing Jesus? THEY WERE! But, where was God the Father in the whole crucifixion ordeal?<\/p>\n The Jerusalem saints \u00a0gave the inspired answer immediately after the Apostles Peter and John reported to them how the Jewish Sanhedrin had threatened them for preaching in Jesus the resurrection of the death. When the church heard their report and inspired by the Spirit shouted the revealing of the mystery as recorded by Luke, the Evangelist, classic historian, and physician these words bringing into the noon-day light of proclaimed understanding for all time how that God the Father had eternally planned to reconcile the world to Himself through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son (the saving gospel, cp. I Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 1:16, 17; 6:1-6) the only means by which lost humanity could have \u0394\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c3\u03c5\u0301\u03bd\u03b7 <\/strong>(the \u201cstate of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God,\u201d or, to be look upon as if said true believer has never violated God\u2019s LAW a single time, Thayer).<\/p>\n What role did God the Father have in the crucifixion ordeal. EVERYTHING!!<\/p>\n Luke records regarding the threatened Peter and John and the church\u2019s corporate prayer of praise in these words.<\/p>\n For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy\u00a0<\/em>[<\/sup><\/em>t<\/sup><\/em><\/a>]<\/sup><\/em>servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both\u00a0Herod and\u00a0Pontius Pilate, along with\u00a0the\u00a0<\/em>[<\/sup><\/em>u<\/sup><\/em><\/a>]<\/sup><\/em>Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,\u00a0to do whatever Your hand and\u00a0purpose predestined to occur.<\/em><\/p>\n (Acts 4:27, 28)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This places in relief the unsearchable love of God for the world\u00a0 this consummating of words.<\/p>\n For God so\u00a0loved<\/u> the world, that He\u00a0gave His\u00a0only Son, so that everyone who\u00a0believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.<\/strong><\/p>\n (John 3:16) \u0394\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c3\u03c5\u0301\u03bd\u03b7 <\/strong>(\u201crighteousness\u201d) lies at the heart of the Gospel message. God, in His providence, used even the ambitions of Alexander the Great to spread the very language that would proclaim His Son, Jesus Christ, as the source of true righteousness. But we, having fallen short of God\u2019s glory through violating His law from the outset, could find no way back to Him on our own. Yet, in His immeasurable love, God provided the way \u2013 Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, who took our place and bore the punishment we deserved.<\/p>\n Through Christ\u2019s death and resurrection, the gift of \u0394\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c3\u03c5\u0301\u03bd\u03b7<\/strong> is freely offered to all who believe. This is not a reward for our efforts or a theology of salvation through works, but a gift of grace, clothing us in His righteousness and reconciling us to a holy God. The cross, a testament to both human sin and divine love, stands as a beacon of hope, revealing the lengths to which God would go to redeem His beloved creation.<\/p>\n All that is left is for you to receive this gift of \u0394\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c3\u03c5\u0301\u03bd\u03b7 <\/strong>and embrace the love of the Father, offered freely through the sacrifice of His Son. Will you? Are you? Remember Christ\u2019s command in the Sermon on the Mount.<\/p>\n But seek first his kingdom\u00a0and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n (Matthew 6:33)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WHAT\u2019S THAT YOU SAY?! \u201c\u0394\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c3\u03c5\u0301\u03bd\u03b7!? Speak plain, man!\u201d That was as plain as the noses on the faces of the First Century Roman man or woman ranging from common man digging a ditch; the slave under the whip of his master; and to the prince with a golden spoon in his mouth in the Imperial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5502,"featured_media":207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[21,24],"class_list":["post-201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-history","tag-hellenization","tag-righteousness"],"yoast_head":"\nWAIT! ROMANS WERE NOT GREEK!<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
THE EARTHLY MOTIVE OF THE EMPEROR OF THE WORLD <\/strong><\/h3>\n
THE DIVINE MOTIVE OF THE HEAVENLY EMPEROR OF NATIONS<\/strong><\/h3>\n
THE RESTORATION OF SPIRITUAL LIFE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
WHAT THE LAW COULD NOT DO<\/strong><\/h3>\n
THE PERFECT LAW WAS WEAK THROUGH THE FLESH<\/strong><\/h3>\n
ILLUSTRATED BY SATAN WRESTING ADAM & EVE FROM FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD<\/strong><\/h3>\n
ADAM, WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING?!!<\/h3>\n
SATAN WORKED WITH WHAT WAS PERFECT GOOD TO CAUSE TO BIRTH OF WHAT WAS PERFECTLY EVIL!<\/h3>\n
LIGHT SHINING THROUGH THE DARKNESS OF THAT DAY<\/h3>\n
WAIT, DID YOU SAY GOD COVERED THEM WITH ANIMAL SKINS?<\/h3>\n
\nAnd our pains\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0He carried;
\nYet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,
\nStruck down by\u00a0God, and humiliated.
\nBut He was\u00a0pierced for\u00a0our offenses,
\nHe was crushed for\u00a0our wrongdoings;
\nThe\u00a0punishment for our well-being\u00a0was laid<\/em>\u00a0upon Him,
\nAnd by\u00a0His wounds we are healed.
\nAll of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
\nEach of us has turned to his own way;
\nBut the\u00a0Lord\u00a0has caused the wrongdoing of us all
\nTo fall on Him.<\/strong><\/p>\nTHOSE BAD OLE\u2019 ROMANS AND EVIL JEWISH LEADERS!<\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nGOD\u2019S LOVE MADE REAL<\/h3>\n