God is Witness and Judge Series
Part 1 – God: Witness and Judge
When we know who is speaking, we will know who is coming; when we know who is coming, we are free from the understanding of men.
Many centuries ago, Socrates, a wise thinker, said: “There is only one that is good, knowledge, and one which is evil, which is ignorance.” To this date, the coming soon of Jesus Christ is still in the mind of many believers. All the apostles and followers of Jesus at that time were promised of the coming soon, hoping that some of them would still be alive and may witness the event. But, unfortunately, It came to pass that all were gone and the coming of the Son did not manifest.
Many Christians are still talking about the coming soon (Millennialism); some say that Jesus already came (Preterist) many centuries ago in fulfillment of His promise. Neither side does not want to give up and continue with their beliefs. Before the ascension, Jesus promised He would request the Father to send the apostles/us a comforter (Holy Spirit) in His place. You may notice, if not ignored, that the Trinity is mentioned above.
From the Garden to the Kingdom – God spoke seven different times. He fellowshipped with humans and was directly involved with human affairs. Adam and Eve fellowshipped with the LORD in the Garden. Although most believers already know what happened, I insist on telling it anyway for the new convert or a refresher. Since the church leadership today has less interest and does not focus on ancient history, many young believers may not know the concept of the story.
In the Garden of Eden, where life began, God created many things before He formed the first man using the dust of the earth that He gathered with His hands and later named him Adam, meaning soil or earth. He gave the newly formed man the authority to name all the living things He created. Then, with the image and likeness of God, who is perfect and wise, Adam named them all.
No man can eat by bread alone, so God put Adam to a night of deep sleep, and from Adam’s rib, He took one and made it into a woman. Eve came into existence, and God blessed both Adam and Eve. We can call it the first marriage in the Bible. The devil deceived Eve, not believing God told them that they would die if they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, Eve fell into the trap and made Adam eat the forbidden fruit. The couple’s innocence became a victim of deceitful acts. Their disobedience causes sin to enter the world.
God’s one of the two rules not to eat the fruit of the tree of sound, and evil was violated. What would have happened if there were dozens of rules? The sin of disobedience cost Adam and Eve to lose their paradise and therefore were chased out and given another command to go forth and multiply and subdue it. Later in their life, the couple saw death. The fulfillment of what God said, “not to eat the fruit or they shall die.” Paradise was lost, innocence came to pass, and conscience came to play, knowing what is right and wrong, and the journey began in human affairs, with a consequence of being here today and gone tomorrow.
Noah was a righteous man with a family that was saved during the deluge. God told Noah about the flood as a punishment to humanity and instructed him to build the Ark, which they loaded with animals in pairs according to the instructions. God spared Noah, his family, and animals using Ark. During the time of Promise, God dwelt with His people in the Tabernacle, and it was understood that God was present for His people and that He was their God and the promise to Abraham that he will be the Father of many nations.
During the time of Moses, God gave Moses the laws to the Israelites, where he revealed that He is the “I AM.” Then came when God instructed David to gather the materials to build His Temple; God did not allow King David to build the Temple because of his sins and instead made his Son, King Solomon built it, later called the Holy Temple.
After the Temple, the Church came into existence with Jesus Christ with His teachings about the Father that sent him, and the kingdom of God is at hand. After Jesus’ death, His followers assembled on the first day of the week in places available, either under the tent, in the house of Philemon, or other houses available. The Kingdom of God, as preached by Jesus Christ, becomes the most misinterpreted among the places where God dwells, which is the same as the Church today but is just a building.
Since the leaders were reluctant to explain what the Church meant and who they were, there was no emphasis that the Church they knew was not the Church but a building. Some Preachers and Teachers took advantage of the members, which made believers uncomfortable accepting the doctrine. Due to a lack of knowledge or ignorance, they passed it through to the next generation.
How will they understand the kingdom of God when they cannot even understand they are the Church? From the Church of God to the kingdom of God, there should never be a burden for believers to accept the truth anyway. The Holy Spirit within will do the work. We have an all-knowing God, and there are no surprises to those that were called to understand what Jesus said that He will make them “kings and priests.”
The revelation that leads us to the heavens and on earth is a confirmation that we have heavens with the same purpose as any other religion; easy access for unbelievers and Heretics, lukewarm or apostate, the mix of faithful and deceivers; the faithful will either be called, chosen or elect. As suggested, these things define the heavens that are divided into layers. This being said, every living Being has access to heaven; as experienced by Paul, the heavenly place on earth (3rd heaven) could be our final destination after recreation. Which layers? We will know when we get there.
The heavenly places have layers that even the wicked can go up and down until they meet their final destination; this is mentioned in the Bible as heavenly places. The one who stayed with the understanding of men will be dealt with in the 2nd step of sanctification. So why are people still confused and unable to adapt to the kingdom’s doctrine? One reason I see is that they follow their leaders’ understanding and commit their faithfulness to them rather than God. Another reason could be the leaders themselves.
The doctrine of the kingdom of God does not exist in ancient Israel until the introduction of it by Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God is equivalent to the kingdom of heaven as popularized within the Synoptic Gospels.
Time after time, generation after generation, there are changes in the place where God shows His involvement. For example, God was directly involved in human affairs in the following places:
Garden – Adam and Eve fellowshipped with God.
Tabernacle— Abraham and Moses- Sacrificial system introduced (blood sacrifice).
Temple— David and Solomon- David gathered the material, and Solomon built it. (Our body is the Temple of God).
Church— Jesus Christ (Christians are the Body of Christ); (Colossians 1:18 Ephesians 5:23), though the Son is directly involved in the Church, the Father is with him with His message.
(Romans 16:16) Church of God (1 Corinthians 1:1 1 Corinthians 1:2).
Assembly— Ancient Christians assembled on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1 1 Corinthians 16:2).
House – Philemon 1:2; Aquila and Prisca-1Cor16:19.; Nymphas the Church in her house.” Col 4:15.
Kingdom—King Jesus Christ and His kings.
Kingdom Of Heaven and Earth—Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
From the beginning, God was involved with human activity. What else would we think God the Father would not be involved in the last days? His absence on the last day will not have any significant meaning if He is not present. There is an assurance that He will be the Judge, so His presence is significant. The scripture says-“And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say,” “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments.” God is “coming” to pass judgment and to reward everyone according to his deeds, and those who stay faithful and follow the footsteps of Christ to the end will have the right to the tree of life forever. (John 11:25-26).
The Almighty God witnesses everything; those that are committing adultery, speaking lies about Him, worshipping idols, nothing is hidden in His eye, their guilt is not concealed in God’s eyes, and He witnesses everything that we are accountable; on everything we have done— Proverbs 15:3; Jeremiah 16:17; Jeremiah 29:23.
“And to him, we must all give an account of ourselves. Hebrews 4:13″—GNT Good News Translation.
“There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who can save and destroy [the one God who has the absolute power of life and death]; but who are you to [hypocritically or self-righteously] pass judgment on your neighbor?”—James 4:12 Amplified Bible (AMP).
It is for God to judge, not for us.
“Never pull each other to pieces, my brothers. If you do, you are judging your brother and setting yourself up in place of God’s Law; you have become a critic of the Law. Yet if you start to criticize the Law instead of obeying it, you are setting yourself up as a judge, and there is only one Judge, the one who gave the Law, to whom is the absolute power of life and death. How can you then be so silly as to imagine that you are your neighbor’s Judge?” James 4:12 J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS).
This clarifies the confusion that God, the Almighty Father who witnesses all the iniquities of human behavior, will also be the Judge according to what they had done — The Almighty God and no one else besides Him.
Part 1 —To Go On Top Click Here
Part 2 — Lost Souls Series Part 3 — Alpha and Omega Series