APOSTASY or CATCHING AWAY?

"Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him; to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is now present" (as that the Lord has returned). 

"Let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away (apostasy) come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God." 

The Lord will not return to the earth until there is an apostasy and the manifestation of the world ruler who sets himself up as God; the one who the Lord will slay 'with the breath of his mouth' (verse 8). 

There has always been apostasy within Christendom, but this is a notable apostasy, a total falling away from the way, the truth and the life.  That cannot happen whilst the true Church is on this earth, and this truth is emphasised when we consider verses 6 and 7 and the one who restrains these things from occurring.

There are those who believe the restrainer is the arch angel Michael, but Michael is a single entity limited to one point at a time. There have been other proposals but the reality is that sin and evil is universal which requires a universal restraint

He who restrains, katecho to hold down (fast) is one who has the power to restrain wickedness. It cannot be a man, for all are subject to the old nature and unless we abide in the Son of God by being filled with the Spirit we can do nothing, let alone restrain evil (cf. John 15:4-5; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 5:9).  It cannot be an angel for such restraint would require omnipresence, and it cannot be God’s Son for he is at present, representing us before the throne of heaven.  It can only be the Spirit of God, the one whom the Son sent to be a comforter for us (John 14:16-17) and the one whose ministry is to convince the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgement to come (John 16:8). 

The argument that the Spirit being omnipresent cannot be taken out of the way can be offset by such passages as John 7:39 where we see a special dispensation of the Spirit: -

“But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified.”

And Acts 1:8 where the Holy Spirit is seen as coming upon men: -

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

The restrainer is in both the masculine and neuter gender which strongly suggests it is the Spirit of God (masculine) within the body of the Church (neuter).

The resurrection or ‘rapture’ of the Church must occur simultaneously with the taking of the Spirit out of the way, for God has said that while we live, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”.  Also, the Spirit of truth who dwells with us and is in us, is God’s pledge until the redemption of our bodies (the purchased possession) and is the one by whom we are sealed (Hebrews 13:5-6; John 14:17; 2Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14).

For God to be true to these promises, the indwelling of believers by the Holy Spirit must continue until the redemption of their bodies at their resurrection, at the ‘catching away of the saints’; from which moment on, they will ever be with the Lord.

It should be clear that the Church will be removed prior to the coming of the man of sin; that Wicked one.

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he (the Holy Spirit) who now restrains will restrain, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:”

Blood Sacrifices from the Beginning

Blood sacrifices were needed to atone or cover the sins of men. 

God showed this requirement by killing animals for their skins to cover the results of Adam and Eve's sin. 

In Leviticus 17:11 God says "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul"

In this we see that by the shedding of the blood of an innocent animal a life was given in exchange for the deaths brought about by their sin.  We know sin brought about Adam and Eve's deaths because the very day they ate of the forbidden fruit they were separated from God and removed from the garden and the tree of life. And some 900 years later they died physically (it obviously takes a long time for a perfect body to deteriorate to the point of physical death).

Men became responsible for offering up a blood sacrifice to cover (atone) their sins, and as is seen in Genesis chap. 4 it did not take long before faith and sacrifice were seen in the stark reality of Adam's family.

Cain offered the fruits of his labour, he was a tiller of the land, and he brought a fruit/vegetable offering and it was rejected.  He showed his rejection of God's way and in arrogant pride offered up his deeds, his preferred method.  He did what a lot of people do today... tell God how they will worship him.

Able on the other hand displayed his faith by offering up one of his flock as a blood sacrifice in accordance with God's way, and was accepted.  (Cain could very easily have asked a lamb of his brother)

Noah took 7 of each of the clean animals and sacrificed that odd number when the Ark landed and they were safely on dry land. 

Levitical Priesthood:

The precedence of blood sacrifice was well and truly set and became the central theme of the Jewish Levitical system of worship.

In this system given in God's instruction to Moses, a priesthood and Temple was established in which on specific feast days a High Priest would offer a blood sacrifice for himself before offering up blood sacrifices for the sins of the people.  The Temple in Jerusalem became the only place such sacrifices could be made, which exclusiveness accentuates the holiness of the Levitical system; a Holy Temple in the Holy City.  Other religions may not like this but it is God's decree...

This was to happen year after year because of the continuing sinfulness of the people, and in this constant, unvarying  necessity there were a number of major problems.

1.  The difficulty of going to Jerusalem to offer your sacrifice

2.  The High Priest, also a sinful man, constantly needing to make atonement for himself, and

3.  The High Priest had a habit of dying.

4. The system was only effective in time and if continued.  There could be no breaks, no 'time outs'.  Every year these sacrifices must be made or sins were not atoned for (covered).

These difficulties were overcome when Jesus offered himself up as a blood sacrifice for all mankind including the Jewish people.

He was sinless and had no need to offer a sacrifice for himself... and although he shed his blood as a sacrifice for us all (he was made sin for us) and died, he was raised from the dead in a glorified body leaving our sins in his grave (the fulfilment of the scapegoat sacrifice).  He is now in heaven at the right hand of God, a glorified High Priest, ever living, ever able to intercede on our behalf.

He was perfect in his humanity, and his sacrifice fulfilled all the blood sacrifices offered in faith in the past.  Believers in past ages were covered by their faith offerings.  Today we live by faith, in remembrance and thanksgiving for that same fulfilling sacrifice.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

DIVINE DECREES

"The decree of God is His eternal, holy, wise and sovereign purpose; comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be in their causes, conditions, successions, relations and determining their certain futurity"

Five characteristics.

        

1.  All comprehensive:  Every minute detail of creation is in its proper place and at its proper time.  There is no confusion in Gods handiwork.

2.  Eternal:  God is not gaining in knowledge.  What God knows now He has always known.  He has simultaneous knowledge.

3.  Perfection:  God is perfection therefore all that He decrees must be perfect.

4. Unchangeable and certain:  Nothing will occur that could necessitate change, for Gods perfect decrees are based upon His perfect plan and that plan is based upon His perfect and total knowledge.

5.  Free choice of God:  He is not bound to follow any set path for He sets the path Himself, but He is bound by His faithfulness to accomplish all that He freely decreed to do.

All the aspects of Gods decree are broken down into logical units for our understanding, so that we might categorise and systematise the doctrine, therefore the plural form decrees is used.  Because of the limitations of our minds we cannot see the big picture as a decree.

There are two kinds of creatures who have freedom of volition, the angelic creatures that pre-existed the human race, and the human race itself. The human race was made in similar fashion to the angelic but as an inferior creation.  Limited and restricted to planet earth; having similar attributes of soul in sensibility, self-consciousness and will, but without the same genius; having emotion as a responder to this life system, and which emotion, under arrogance and subjectivity, can rule the system.

This study is not only in relation to mankind, but also applies to the angelic creatures.

The decrees of God are His eternal and immutable will regarding the future existence of events that have and will happen in time, plus the precise order and manner of their occurrence.  However, we have not been programmed to Gods dictates. 

It was God’s will that we should have free will, which He does not and will not violate.  We can make our volition compatible or antagonistic to His, we have the freedom of   choice.  To be compatible with Gods will is to make good decisions; bad decisions are those contrary to His will.  God has decreed free will in His rational creatures but along with free will goes its results; free will is a cause and effect system. 

We make choices; we must accept the results of those choices.  People of every race and every age are products of their own decisions.  People who live in squalor choose to do so; people who live in cleanliness have made a conscious decision to bring about that result.  

God’s eternal decrees take into consideration all volitional choices made by His creatures and locks them into certain futurity.  God’s laws can be ignored or broken, but God has decreed inevitable results from obeying or disobeying His laws.

The decrees of God are His chosen and adopted plan for all His works.  God’s works are all grace; there is nothing left for creatures to do but live their lives within the protection of His provisions.

God’s decrees are for the purpose of His glory, but how can the locked in decisions of Gods creatures, good or bad, glorify Him?

Mankind is free to choose right or wrong, God sees a man's choice in eternity past, allows it and in doing so decrees it to happen. Man is responsible for that choice in time and will make God's just and righteous character known in the judgements or blessings that accrue and eventually brought to light.

Even against all the destructive hatred of men and demons throughout the ages, Gods grace is still in operation, providing people with life and opportunity to believe and to spend eternity in the peace and blessing of His presence.  This displays the power and love of God, and is a revelation of His righteous and just character?

WHAT IS RESURRECTION?

Human beings are body, soul and spirit.

The human body is made from the 'dust of the earth'. Our bodies are a composite of natural elements.

The human spirit is from God and therefore eternal, it cannot die. 

God 'breathed' life into Adam and Adam became a living soul.

The human soul is the seat of life and comes into being when the spirit unites with the body.

When Jesus died for our sins his body went into the grave, his spirit was disconnected from the body and went to the Father awaiting the physical resurrection on the third day.

Jesus' resurrection from the dead is the old and lifeless body changed and renewed into an eternal body and reunited with his spirit. His resurrection body is untouched by time or space and is a body which will live with God for eternity.

Such a body is God's promise to everyone who believes in Christ Jesus.

Those who do not believe will be resurrected, but will be forever in the lake of fire, Why? because they rejected Christ's sacrifice and preferred their 'good works'.

OUR KINSMAN REDEEMER

In the Old Testament the kinsman-redeemer is a male relative who, according to the writings of Moses, had the responsibility of acting on behalf of a relative who was in need.

The Hebrew term is gâ'al and means 'to redeem' (according to the Oriental law of kinship) to be the next of kin and to deliver or redeem property or person. The kinsman redeemer is illustrated very clearly in the book of Ruth, where Boaz is seen as the kinsman-redeemer.

"Yahweh is Israel’s Redeemer, the one who promises to defend and vindicate them. He is both Father and Deliverer (Exodus 20:2). There are numerous Old Testament appeals to God as rescuer of the weak and needy (Psalm 82:4; Daniel 6:27; Jeremiah 20:13) and preserver of the sheep of Israel (Ezekiel 34:10–12, 22).

In the New Testament, Christ is often regarded as an example of a kinsman-redeemer because, as our brother (Hebrews 2:11), He also redeems us because of our great need, one that only He can satisfy. In Ruth 3:9, we see a beautiful and poignant picture of the needy supplicant, unable to rescue herself, requesting of the kinsman-redeemer that he cover her with his protection, redeem her, and make her his wife. In the same way, the Lord Jesus Christ bought us for Himself, out of the curse, out of our destitution; made us His own beloved bride; and blessed us for all generations. He is the true kinsman-redeemer of all who call on Him in faith."

https://www.gotquestions.org/kinsman-redeemer.html

Christians see their kinsman redeemer in the person of Jesus Christ. All human beings need to be redeemed from sin and this required a perfect sacrifice. Since all have sinned and come short of the glory of God there is no one born of Adam who had the necessary qualifications... so God himself undertook to be born of a woman (to come as man undefiled by Adam's nature) and fulfil the role on our behalf.

Christians believe Jesus is God, but to be our 'kinsman redeemer' he needed to have a human body prepared for him like unto ours (the virgin birth), but not only that he needed to lay to one side all the power of deity and live as man. He could not use his divine power at all if he was to be our 'kinsman' and our 'redeemer'.

Christians who are born again of God's Spirit COULD live perfectly holy lives by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit except for 'the sins that so easily beset us' (Hebrews 12:1). "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1John 1:9).

To be our kinsman Jesus needed to live the life of a man empowered only by his obedience to the Father by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit and not by any applying of his own divinity.

Jesus lived his life on this earth as a man by the word of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

There is a passage in Philippians where it is said of Jesus that... "who existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)

I really cannot explain it better than this... I do pray you will be enlightened.

GOD IS SPIRIT

The Almighty Creator of the material universe is not part of the material universe, He is not made up of the material of the universe which he made... He therefore must be immaterial, he must be SPIRIT.

God the Almighty Spirit prepared a body in the womb of Mary so that he might enter into the realm of time and space, the realm of sinful man, and as a man and by means of that body, live and die to deliver mankind from the penalty of their sin.

Is such an act beyond the abilities of Almighty God? And is it not in keeping with a Merciful yet Holy God.

These are truths that precede all else. Our books are or are attempts to explain God's history with all its complexities, but the underlying truth is simple. God is Spirit, he is pure and holy, and man has fallen short of his holiness.

THE ULTIMATE QUESTION

What is the eternal reason for creation?  This is the ultimate question.

Creation embraces both the spiritual beings we know as angels from eternity past, and the physical creation of time and space, the physical sphere in which we have our part. 

What is the purpose of creation?

I would suggest it is to glorify God.  To 'Glorify' God is to magnify, to expound, to reveal the true nature of God.  To expand on a comment by one of my old teachers; glorification is 'revelation in the interest of absolute truth'.

But why would a God who has everything need to defend his person, why does he need to defend his truth?  Surely he is sufficient in himself?

Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote (somewhere in his Systematic Theology) a passage that went something like this:

'In eternity past before the creation of angels, evil existed only in the abstract, as an antithesis to God.  The creation of living volitional beings brought about the opportunity for evil to take concrete form and in the fullness of time to be destroyed, thereby leaving the goodness of God victorious and unchallenged.'

To establish the supremacy of good over evil necessitated a situation where  a lesser volitional creature  could bring about the reality of evil so that it became a fact not an antithesis.  To then defeat evil by means of justice and love would be clear indisputable revelation 'in the interest of absolute Truth'.

The angels were created and Lucifer, by his own volitional choice, chose to rebel against Truth and so brought evil into reality.

The rest is history AND eschatology.  See both the Old Testament and the New.