Our paragraph topic is: (Passion and resurrection foretold) Part 1.
And so it was that the church was established in Christ Jesus. And Simon Peter became the first member of the church here on earth. For it was in him and through him and of him that the word was spread throughout the earth by the will of Christ Jesus and the love of God the Father. Two thousand years the church has withstood the wars and deaths and crimes and evil in the world and still stands today. It has been battered and beaten and torn from within and still survives as Christ willed it during his here mission on earth.
And now the final days were approaching. Christ continually spoke to his disciples about his mission and his purpose. He told them of the future. He described to them what was coming. He gave them the vision of what was to happen to him and how it would all end. Yet they did not understand. They did not know. They did not fully comprehend that these things must take place to save mankind. The disciples only saw the material. They only lived in the flesh and not in the spirit. For the time was approaching when the sacrifice must be given that man would be saved. So Christ taught them of the things to come. From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and Scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and on the third day rise again.
This was the future of one so meek and mild. This was the future of one so loving and understanding. This was the future of one so forgiving and one so passionate about what must be done for mankind. Death was waiting. Torture and pain were at his doorstep. Humiliation and dishonor, hatred and abuse, bloodshed and mutilation of such kind that no man could endure. Yet knowing all this he willingly submitted. Christ was the only begotten son of God, first, before all things were created. He knew not pain. He knew not suffering. He knew not death. And yet he gave up his heavenly crown, his kingly position, his place on the throne at the right hand of his father to become man that all mankind would not be condemned to death.
This was his mission. This was his passion. This was his purpose in becoming man and taking on human form. God, the ultimate judge, pronounced that if Adam eat of the forbidden fruit that he would surely die. That was the judgement. That was the decision made by Adam. And death came forth to rule over mankind until the judgement could be satisfied, placated, annulled. And it could only be satisfied with the blood from one so pure and without sin. And so Christ entered into his mission knowing the consequences of what was to take place.
He gave of his life so willingly because the price had to be paid that man could have life and have life eternally. So those who seek, those who desire, those who want to know, can find eternal life in Christ. For through him and in him and with him comes forth spiritual life in man. And those who do not seek, those who do not know, those who do not desire are of death and have not life eternal. Come! Follow the path set before you. Seek the knowledge that brings eternal life and know the truth of who you are in Christ. The spirit awaits your coming.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!
And so it was that the church was established in Christ Jesus. And Simon Peter became the first member of the church here on earth. For it was in him and through him and of him that the word was spread throughout the earth by the will of Christ Jesus and the love of God the Father. Two thousand years the church has withstood the wars and deaths and crimes and evil in the world and still stands today. It has been battered and beaten and torn from within and still survives as Christ willed it during his here mission on earth.
And now the final days were approaching. Christ continually spoke to his disciples about his mission and his purpose. He told them of the future. He described to them what was coming. He gave them the vision of what was to happen to him and how it would all end. Yet they did not understand. They did not know. They did not fully comprehend that these things must take place to save mankind. The disciples only saw the material. They only lived in the flesh and not in the spirit. For the time was approaching when the sacrifice must be given that man would be saved. So Christ taught them of the things to come. From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and Scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and on the third day rise again.
This was the future of one so meek and mild. This was the future of one so loving and understanding. This was the future of one so forgiving and one so passionate about what must be done for mankind. Death was waiting. Torture and pain were at his doorstep. Humiliation and dishonor, hatred and abuse, bloodshed and mutilation of such kind that no man could endure. Yet knowing all this he willingly submitted. Christ was the only begotten son of God, first, before all things were created. He knew not pain. He knew not suffering. He knew not death. And yet he gave up his heavenly crown, his kingly position, his place on the throne at the right hand of his father to become man that all mankind would not be condemned to death.
This was his mission. This was his passion. This was his purpose in becoming man and taking on human form. God, the ultimate judge, pronounced that if Adam eat of the forbidden fruit that he would surely die. That was the judgement. That was the decision made by Adam. And death came forth to rule over mankind until the judgement could be satisfied, placated, annulled. And it could only be satisfied with the blood from one so pure and without sin. And so Christ entered into his mission knowing the consequences of what was to take place.
He gave of his life so willingly because the price had to be paid that man could have life and have life eternally. So those who seek, those who desire, those who want to know, can find eternal life in Christ. For through him and in him and with him comes forth spiritual life in man. And those who do not seek, those who do not know, those who do not desire are of death and have not life eternal. Come! Follow the path set before you. Seek the knowledge that brings eternal life and know the truth of who you are in Christ. The spirit awaits your coming.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!
