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Epilogue: From a Pastor's Heart

Epilogue: From a Pastor’s Heart

Calling on the name of the Lord is vital to experiencing salvation from Yahweh. Having served the church for more than 30 years now, I always feel the need to preach the Gospel message of salvation ever more clearly to our brothers and sisters, and to the world.

Romans 10:14-15 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preach­ing? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

The Greek word “to preach good news” is εὐαγγελίζω (euangelizō) from which the English word “evangelism” is derived. An evangelist is a messenger who proclaims and preaches the good news of salvation. All Christians are evangelists at heart, whether they are laymen or full time workers of God.

Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (ESV, italics added)

The good news or Gospel is the message of salvation of God’s reign. God’s reign has to do with God’s Kingdom.

Let’s go out and proclaim the Kingdom of God and how Yahweh reigns so that all those who receive the good news will also receive God’s salvation. We are called to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. This is so exciting.

I’ve been meditating on these passages in Joel, Acts 2 and Romans 10 every day for more than half a year since I started writing the upcoming book. I woke up one morning with a dream of a picture diagram that God drew for me step by step.

The first phase of the diagram is very simple. I saw heaven and earth with YHWH God reigning in heaven. Salvation is in Yahweh; Yahweh is God and there is no other:

Everyone who calls on the name of YHWH shall be saved

As shown in this diagram, YHWH God reigns in heaven on His throne. In the old covenant, people called on the name of Yahweh in prayer for their salvation.

(In all the following verses, YHWH is restored and boldface is added)

Psalm 3:7 Arise, O YHWH! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked! (ESV)

Psalm 6:4 Turn, O YHWH, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. (ESV)

Psalm 7:1 O YHWH my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me. (ESV)

Psalm 55:16-18 But I call to God and YHWH will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. (ESV)

Psalm 109:25-27 I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they wag their heads. Help me, O YHWH my God! Save me according to your steadfast love! Let them know that this is your hand; you, O YHWH have done it! (ESV)

Psalm 116:3-4 The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. I called on the name of YHWH: “YHWH, save me!” (NIV)

Psalm 116:13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of YHWH. (NIV)

The Psalmists cry out the name of Yahweh for salvation. Yahweh saves. They trust and rely on Yahweh to rescue them from their enemies, dan­ger, threat, disaster, military power, religion, evil, lies, diseases, oppress­ion, false accusations, violence, sins, death, and most of all, from idolatry.

Psalm 145:18-19 YHWH is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.” (ESV)

God’s salvation is given to those who fear Yahweh and call on Him in truth. Yahweh hears their cry and saves them. Will you be one of those who call on the name of Yahweh?

The second phase of the diagram is about how God works in Jesus for our salvation. Yahweh, who is the God of Israel — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — is also the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the firstborn of the new creation (Rom 8:29). As the firstborn, Jesus has the highest honor, even above the angels (cf. Heb 1:4-6). Jesus is our eldest brother. Jesus is the first man who died, and was resurrected and exalted to heaven. In heaven, Yahweh is God and Jesus is Lord. There is one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor 8:6). It is precisely that Jesus Christ is Lord that distinguishes him from the one God in the Bible. In fact, calling Jesus as Lord is to acknowledge that only Yahweh is the one God.

This being a book with the constraints of a book format, I can only show you the final form of the second phase of the diagram as I saw it in my dream.

Yahweh has made Jesus both Lord and Christ to reign with Him

In the dream, I saw the following procedure given to me step by step in sequence:

  1. Heaven: YHWH God in heaven has been reigning alone on His throne, and God desires men to reign with Him. Adam failed but Jesus succeeded.
  2. Birth: Jesus was born ~ 4 BCE. “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt 1:21)
  3. Ministry: Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience, doing God’s will completely. Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him. (Acts 2:22).
  4. Crucifixion: Christ was without sin and became the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God for our sins. Christ died for us and atoned for our sins with his redeeming blood.
  5. Resurrection: Jesus was buried, and was raised on the third day. “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:24) David foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not aban­doned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. God raised this Jesus up. (Acts 2:31-32)
  6. 40 Days: The risen Christ in his new resurrected body appeared to some women, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, to the 11 disciples, and to more than 500 brothers. Jesus even cooked and ate breakfast with seven of his disciples in Galilee.
  7. Ascension: Jesus in his new body was taken up into heaven. “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold two men stood by them in white robes and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’” (Acts 1:9-11)
  8. Exaltation: God exalts Jesus to sit at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33). The Messianic prophecy in Psalm 110:1, “Yahweh said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool,” is brought to fulfillment in Christ (cf Acts 2:34-35).
  9. Lord Jesus: Jesus is given the exalted title Lord. “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36) The words “God has made” hint that Jesus was not the exalted Lord and Christ prior to this point in time, but that these are new exalted titles were given to Jesus when he ascended to heaven. Notice that in the diagram, Jesus as Lord does not supplant Yahweh. Yahweh did not step out of His Lord­ship for Jesus to take over. They are sitting together next to each other. The exalted Jesus as Lord does not function independ­ently from Yahweh, but alongside Yahweh to act as God’s represent­ative on God’s behalf. Yahweh God now chooses to rule and judge through His Anointed one, His Christ.
  10. Pentecost: Jesus at his exaltation received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33). Jesus then poured the Holy Spirit upon the 120 disciples in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost.

In God’s plan of salvation, Yahweh first does His work of salvation in and through Jesus. God dwells in Jesus, for God was pleased to have His fullness dwelling in Jesus (Col 1:19). It doesn’t mean that Jesus became God but that Jesus, within himself, fully manifested the glory of God (cf. Heb 1:3).

The fullness of Christ is seen in how he manifested visibly the image of God fully to us. Christians in the body of Christ are also called to be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph 3:19; cf. Eph 1:23).

Now, in this present time of God’s plan of salvation, God does His saving work through the Church. Christ is the head of the Church, and we call on him as Lord, not just personally (Rom 10:9) but corporately (1Cor 1:2) for God to accomplish the work of salvation in the Church for His glory. We are exhorted to build up the body of Christ “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13).

Jesus is our eldest brother, and we imitate and follow after him in this new creation of the Church. As we grow in the body of Christ with Jesus as the head, we call on him to be our Lord, for us to conform more and more to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29) and become more Christ-like. As portrayed in the book of Acts, the Spirit of Yahweh empowers and works through the Church in these last days. We live out the life of the Kingdom through active participation in the body of Christ with Jesus as the head.

The third phase of the diagram is very simple. Today, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne of Father Yahweh in heaven. Throne is a symbol of power. Right hand at God’s throne signifies a place of honor and authority. Jesus is not equal to the Father but he submits to the auth­ority of Yahweh to be His representative to reign. God appoints Jesus to be His representative King and Lord. Everything except the Father is put into subjection to Jesus, the exalted man.

Father Yahweh exalts Lord Jesus to sit at His right hand

Whenever I swim in the ocean, I love looking up to the vast blue sky above my head. My mind will take me to the heavenly scene. Take your time to meditate on the following Bible verses that speak about the role of Jesus as he sits at the right hand of his God and Father.

Matthew 26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (cf. Mk 14:62; Lk 22:69)

Mark 16:19 “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”

Acts 2:33 “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”

Acts 5:31 “God exalted him at His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”

Acts 7:55-56 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Romans 8:34 “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Ephesians 1:20-23 “that He (YHWH) worked in Christ when He (YHWH) raised him from the dead and seated him at His (YHWH) right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He (YHWH) put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of Him (YHWH) who fills all in all.

Colossians 3:1-3 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Hebrews 1:3-4 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

Hebrews 8:1-2 “Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.”

Hebrews 10:12-13 “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.” (cf. Heb 1:13)

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

1 Peter 3:21-22 “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, author­ities, and powers having been subjected to him.”

Revelation 3:21 “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

The exalted Jesus, our Lord and Messiah, is now acting as our high priest interceding for the saints. Jesus is waiting for God’s instruction to return to earth to reign on the throne of David with the saints. The literal Kingdom of God will then be manifested openly for all to see.

Yahweh God and Lord Jesus

The Greek word for God is “theos” which occurs 1314 times in the New Testament.[1] In Greek, when the definite article “ὁ θεὸς” (ho theos) is used, it should be understood literally as “the God”. “The God” always points to “the one true God” (ton monon alēthinon theon) whom Jesus prays to in John 17:3. Jesus is never referred to as “the God” but “the son of the God “ho huios tou theou” (Jn 1:34, 49; etc) or “the lamb of the God “ho amnos tou theou” (Jn 1:29, 36)” which underscores that Jesus is not God (or the God). The one who is “the son” cannot be God, just as the one who is “the lamb” cannot be God. Jesus is “the son” or “the lamb” belonging to God. Jesus is not God.

The number of occurrences of “God” in the book of Acts and Romans far exceeds the occurrences of “Jesus”.

 

The central message in Acts and Romans is about Yahweh God. Yahweh is the major focus in carrying out the work of salvation for mankind. God does His work of salvation in and through Jesus. God was pleased to have His fullness dwell in Jesus (Col 1:19), and Jesus manifested the glory of God (Heb 1:3).

The Father and the Son work so closely together for our salvation that the Gospel is sometimes known as the “Gospel of God” (Mk 1:14; Rom 1:1; 15:16; 1Thes 2:2, 8, 9; 1Pe 4:17), and sometimes as the “Gospel of His Son” (Rom 1:9) or “Gospel of Christ” (Rom 15:19; 2Cor 9:13; 1Thes 3:2) or “Gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2Thes 1:8) or “Gospel of Jesus Christ” (Mk 1:1). However, regarding “righteousness,” the Bible always speaks of the “righteousness of God” (Rom 1:17; 3:5, 21, 22; 10:3; 2Cor 5:21; Jms 1:20) but never the “righteousness of Christ”.

“The Kingdom of God,” a term which occurs 67 times in the NT, is central to Jesus’ teaching. It is striking that three times, the Kingdom is said to be that of Christ. It can be called the Kingdom of Jesus Christ because God appointed Christ to be King in His Kingdom. Peter speaks of the kingdom as the “kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2Pet 1:11). Paul calls it the “kingdom of Christ and God” (Eph 5:5). One day the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and Yahweh will reign forever and ever (Rev 11:15).

“Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Phil 3:20-21). How is this possible? By the same power that enables Jesus Christ to subject all things to himself. One day, the saints of the Most High will reign with Christ in his glory and power (cf. Dan 7:27). Do you long to be part of this movement of God’s Kingdom?

Brothers and sisters and friends, one day everything will be put in subjection under Jesus’ feet, but it is plain that God is excepted who put all things in subjection under Christ (1Cor 15:27). Then the Lord Jesus Christ will hand the Kingdom over to God such that Christ will be subjected to God who subjected all things to him (v.28). The climax of Jesus’ Lordship is that in the end, Jesus Christ our Lord will hand over all things including himself to Yahweh the one God who is all in all (v.28). Yahweh God will dwell in Zion with His anointed and His people forever. Maranatha. Amen.



[1] The statistics of θεoς are tabulated from the New American Bible Standard Bible with Codes (1995) in the BibleWorks software tool.

 

 

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