A summary of God’s promises and their fulfillment: PART 3

The New Testament promises and their fulfillment

Jesus, who fulfilled the Old Testament, made prophecies about future events in the New Testament. Among other places, Matthew 24 and the entire book of Revelation are well-known as prophecies concerning the second coming.

The prophecies of the New Testament are all fulfilled at the time of the second coming. These prophecies describe two battles that take place between God (the spirits and flesh who belong to him), and Satan (the spirits and flesh who belong to him).

When the pastor and group who belong to Satan wins, he takes control of all of God’s possessions (God’s tabernacle, Rv 13) – this is the first battle that takes place. When the male child and his brothers fight and overcome the dragon (Rv 12:11), God wins and Satan’s world is judged and brought to an end – this is the second battle.

God’s new kingdom is then established – the Twelve Tribes of New Spiritual Israel (Rv 7:4-8; Rv 14:1-4) – through the pastor promised in the New Testament (Mt 24:45; Rv 1:1-2; Rv 2:26).

This is a message to all Christians who believe in Jesus. Let us not become like the people of the past who refused to believe in God’s covenant. Let us obey the words of the new covenant so that we can receive forgiveness for our sins and become a part of the 12 tribes of God’s new kingdom established at the time of Revelation’s fulfillment – the end of the age, the second coming.

This is God’s objective for us throughout the Bible, for us to attain salvation and eternal life.

Those who hear the testimony about the fulfillment of the New Testament prophecies and refuse to believe them are no better than the Pharisees at the time of the first coming, who ultimately lost the right to be called God’s children and chosen people (Mt 21:43).

Let’s be people who verify again and again the fulfillment of the prophecies, believe in that fulfillment, and are forgiven so that we can attain salvation and eternal life!

A summary of God’s promises and their fulfillment: PART 2

The Old Testament promises and their fulfillment

The prophecies God made through the Old Testament prophets were all fulfilled through God’s son, Jesus (Jn 19:30).

God sent John the Baptist as the messenger who prepared the way for the Lord (Mt 11:10). Jesus spent his childhood in Egypt, was raised in Nazareth, and started his ministry in the gentile region of Galilee when he reached the age of 30.

Jesus brought the era of Physical Israel (OT nation of Israel, God’s chosen people) to an end, chose twelve disciples, and through them he created Spiritual Israel (NT nation of Israel, God’s chosen people).

Key things Jesus did on earth 2000 years ago:

• He sowed the seed of the gospel (Mt 13:24)
• Prophesied about what would take place later (Mt 24)
• He established the new covenant (Lk 22:20)
• Bore the cross (Mt 27)
• Gave up his life to atone for the sins of humanity (Heb 9:28)
• And after resurrecting he taught the disciples for 40 days (Acts 1:3) before ascending to heaven (Acts 1:9)

God fulfilled everything he prophesied in the Old Testament through Jesus over a span of just three years.

While Jesus was on earth he gave many prophecies concerning his return, the second coming (the time of Revelation’s fulfillment). Next we will be looking at these prophecies and how they are fulfilled.

A summary of God’s promises and their fulfillment: PART 1

God’s promise with Abraham and its fulfillment

God fulfilled the promise He made with Abraham in Genesis 15 through Moses and Joshua.

We all know the story of Jacob’s 12 sons, and his favoritism towards Joseph which made the other 11 brothers jealous. Because of this, Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers and is taken to Egypt.

Many things take place, but one day Pharaoh has a dream. With God’s help Joseph was able to interpret the meaning of the dream – the 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine.

Later, because of the famine, Jacob’s family traveled to Egypt to buy food (Egypt was the only place prepared with food during the 7 years of famine due to Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream). Joseph had since become the prime minister of Egypt, and so when his family arrived in Egypt, Pharaoh showed them favor and gave them the land of Goshen in which to dwell. Jacob’s family settled in Egypt, and for four generations they were fruitful and increased in number.

Once Joseph died and the Pharaoh who had welcomed his family had also died, the next Pharaoh that ruled did not know of the things Joseph had done for Egypt. The new Pharaoh saw the nation of Israel increasing in number and he feared their power and strength as a nation, so he established a law making the Israelites slaves to the Egyptians.

After the Israelites were enslaved and held captive for 400 years the time came for God to fulfill the promise he made with Abraham (Gn 15). God led Abraham’s descendants out of Egypt through Moses and into the promised land (Canaan) through Joshua. This is how the covenant God made with Abraham was fulfilled.

“Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.” ~Genesis 15:13-14

Next we will examine how God fulfilled the promises He made through the Old Testament prophets.

When God promises He is always faithful to fulfill. Because of this we can always test the words of fulfillment against the Scriptures. Let’s test everything we hear and know to make sure it always lines up with God’d word.

“Speaking the truth in love”

I have not be able to blog at all recently, things have been a little busy, but here is a quote that I really wanted to share with everyone quickly:

“How can you claim to love and believe in God, whom you cannot see, while you do not love and trust the people around you? Does that make sense? God is logic and truth. We must love one another and work closely with one another. We must be honest and not lie. Instead of harming others by lying, we must speak the truth in love.”

Lots of lies are spread over the internet. Often we don’t even realize the lies that we are reading and taking to heart as truth. We, as people, are so quick to ‘jump on the band wagon’  and follow what everyone else is doing and saying, instead of seeking out the truth for ourselves.

I urge everyone to seek the truth from the only true source (John 17:17), and to test everything you hear and read against God’s word (1 John 4:1).

~~~
Have you been guilty of ‘jumping on the band wagon’ and believing lies, instead of seeking out the truth?

Eternal Life…for real!

God is the source of life.

Man was created for eternal life, created in God’s image and likeness (Gn 1:27). But because of man’s betrayal in Genesis, his lifespan was shortened to approximately 900 years (Gn 5). As man’s wickedness increased, God shortened man’s lifespan to 120 years (Gn 6:3).
And by the time of Psalm 90:10 man’s lifespan is only 70-80 years.

But God promised that he would return, to dwell with man (Rv 21:3)!

When the source of life returns, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain (Rv 21:4). There will be life!

²⁰ “Never again will there be in it 
   an infant who lives but a few days, 
   or an old man who does not live out his years; 
he who dies at a hundred 
   will be thought a mere youth; 
he who fails to reach a hundred 
   will be considered accursed. 
²² No longer will they build houses and others live in them, 
   or plant and others eat. 
For as the days of a tree, 
   so will be the days of my people;” (Is 65:20 & 22)

So what is the name of the place where God’s people will live forever?

“Behold, I will create 
   new heavens and a new earth. 
The former things will not be remembered, 
   nor will they come to mind” (Is 65:17)

New Heaven New Earth, this is God’s eternal kingdom (Rv 21:1), the place where He will dwell with His people, whose lifespan will be a great as the days of a tree.

“For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people.”
~Is 65:22

“At 4,841 years old, this ancient bristlecone pine is the oldest known non-clonal organism on Earth. Located in the White Mountains of California, in Inyo National Forest, Methuselah’s exact location is kept a close secret in order to protect it from the public (an older specimen named Prometheus, which was more than 5,000 years old, was cut down by a U.S. Forest Service graduate student in 1964). Today you can visit the grove where Methuselah hides, but you’ll have to guess at which tree it is. Could this be the one?”

Credit: Mother Nature Network

[click here to read the whole of  passage in Isaiah 65]