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GARDEN'S GUEST SPECIALS |
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Garden's Guest - part 1 |
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Garden's Guest - part 2 |
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Garden's Guest - part 3 |
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Garden's Guest - part 4 |
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Garden's Guest - part 5 |
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Garden's Guest - part 6 |
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Garden's Guest - part 7 |
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ALPHABETICAL List of ALL Sermons |
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Garden's Guest - part 5
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Is God to Blame?
A Scriptural Diagnosis Part 1
By George Pogue, Jr. and Lisa Pogue
We ended last month’s article with the notion that Jesus’ purpose for coming to the earth was to end the enemy’s occupation and take back the property of God’s kingdom. (1 John 3:8 KJV)
He that commiteth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
But how was he to accomplish this goal? First we must agree that Jesus came to the earth and totally turned the world’s thinking upside down. From the time of his birth, both political and religious leaders were threatened by the thought that all of their efforts to control and manage the masses would soon be overturned. Oh, make no mistake; Jesus was here to upset the apple cart. Remember our previous discussions on the warfare worldview. Jesus was divinely assigned this very role. All of creation was poised and ready. All except the religious minded.
We all understand that Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world. It was to be established in the hearts and minds of those that received him. Jesus came to renew minds, reclaim people, fulfill prophetic scripture, and to establish a new and better covenant. His weapons were to be his words, his actions, and his example of God’s love - veiled in human flesh. He was the “unveiling” of the eyes for the household of faith, as we discussed last month.
Jesus continually confronted the traditional religious minds of the time. We are referring to the Pharisees and Sadducees who were so deeply rooted in their own oral traditions and interpretations of the Scriptures that they were blinded by it. You see, their minds still were in need of renewal. They had been so busy trying to fulfill the letter of the law that they had forgotten all about God’s desire for fellowship with them as he had once had in the Garden with Adam.
They had veered so far away from seeing him as a loving God and a personal God that their hearts were waxed cold, due to disobedience and unbelief. They had spent years in rebellion, slavery, and exile which had left them with a root of bitterness and an open door for the devil’s foundational lie that God was somehow, withholding his best from them. Ah, but Jesus comes on the scene and delivers his mission statement to them, in their house. Jesus proclaims the Good News - a new message of hope, favor, goodness and grace. Let’s look at Luke 4: 17-20 (NIV)
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written. “The Spirit of Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll gave it back to the attendant and sat down...
In this passage Jesus is actually reading the Hebrew Scriptures in the temple as he is announcing his public ministry/mission to those that he has been sent to rescue. He is reading from the Book of Isaiah Chapter 61:1-3 (NIV) Note however, that he does make a significant change in the text, stopping just short of the portion regarding the day of vengeance.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
We think it is exhilarating to see that as Jesus steps up to the plate, and at his very first public speaking engagement, he boldly professes that he is here to deliver good news, not bad news. His message is one of hope, not calamity. He offers health and recovery, not sickness or infirmity. He offers deliverance, not bondage. He is not asking them to accept a vow of poverty, but a time of favor. Favor includes blessing!
In this reading of the Holy Scriptures, He is strictly outlining what the boundaries of this new covenant will be. He is professing his exact assignment, proclaiming what is God’s and affirming his job description. He is declaring that everything the religious minds have been anticipating in the prophecy of Isaiah, he alone has come to fulfill!
And most importantly, Jesus says, that he is here to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. His favor, now mind you, not the year of his vengeance as written in the Book of Isaiah. Recall the two scriptures cited above? Is it possible to think that Jesus somehow misquoted Isaiah, or is it plausible that Jesus is making a clear deviation, an intentional change in his direction with this point? We believe that he is taking the first steps toward renewing the minds of these men.
We believe that he is laying the groundwork for this new and better covenant. He is attempting to show them what the prophets of old were writing about. He is cleverly and intricately unveiling his mission/purpose for this dispensation of time. It is a new masterpiece – a mission of grace and mercy, not of old covenant law, vengeance or wrath. (I Thessalonians 5:9 KJV)
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Next month we will look at how the religious minds of today continue to use oral traditions and religion to blame God for taking part in the willing, allowing or planning of horrific, catastrophic or painful events to teach humanity. We will highlight the numerous misinterpretations of I Thessalonians 5:18 and Romans 8:28 starkly contrasting God’s relationship with man according to the outline of Jesus’ mission statement and new covenant.
But how was he to accomplish this goal? First we must agree that Jesus came to the earth and totally turned the world’s thinking upside down. From the time of his birth, both political and religious leaders were threatened by the thought that all of their efforts to control and manage the masses would soon be overturned. Oh, make no mistake; Jesus was here to upset the apple cart. Remember our previous discussions on the warfare worldview. Jesus was divinely assigned this very role. All of creation was poised and ready. All except the religious minded.
We all understand that Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world. It was to be established in the hearts and minds of those that received him. Jesus came to renew minds, reclaim people, fulfill prophetic scripture, and to establish a new and better covenant. His weapons were to be his words, his actions, and his example of God’s love - veiled in human flesh. He was the “unveiling” of the eyes for the household of faith, as we discussed last month.
Jesus continually confronted the traditional religious minds of the time. We are referring to the Pharisees and Sadducees who were so deeply rooted in their own oral traditions and interpretations of the Scriptures that they were blinded by it. You see, their minds still were in need of renewal. They had been so busy trying to fulfill the letter of the law that they had forgotten all about God’s desire for fellowship with them as he had once had in the Garden with Adam.
They had veered so far away from seeing him as a loving God and a personal God that their hearts were waxed cold, due to disobedience and unbelief. They had spent years in rebellion, slavery, and exile which had left them with a root of bitterness and an open door for the devil’s foundational lie that God was somehow, withholding his best from them. Ah, but Jesus comes on the scene and delivers his mission statement to them, in their house. Jesus proclaims the Good News - a new message of hope, favor, goodness and grace. Let’s look at Luke 4: 17-20 (NIV)
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written. “The Spirit of Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll gave it back to the attendant and sat down...
In this passage Jesus is actually reading the Hebrew Scriptures in the temple as he is announcing his public ministry/mission to those that he has been sent to rescue. He is reading from the Book of Isaiah Chapter 61:1-3 (NIV) Note however, that he does make a significant change in the text, stopping just short of the portion regarding the day of vengeance.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
We think it is exhilarating to see that as Jesus steps up to the plate, and at his very first public speaking engagement, he boldly professes that he is here to deliver good news, not bad news. His message is one of hope, not calamity. He offers health and recovery, not sickness or infirmity. He offers deliverance, not bondage. He is not asking them to accept a vow of poverty, but a time of favor. Favor includes blessing!
In this reading of the Holy Scriptures, He is strictly outlining what the boundaries of this new covenant will be. He is professing his exact assignment, proclaiming what is God’s and affirming his job description. He is declaring that everything the religious minds have been anticipating in the prophecy of Isaiah, he alone has come to fulfill!
And most importantly, Jesus says, that he is here to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. His favor, now mind you, not the year of his vengeance as written in the Book of Isaiah. Recall the two scriptures cited above? Is it possible to think that Jesus somehow misquoted Isaiah, or is it plausible that Jesus is making a clear deviation, an intentional change in his direction with this point? We believe that he is taking the first steps toward renewing the minds of these men.
We believe that he is laying the groundwork for this new and better covenant. He is attempting to show them what the prophets of old were writing about. He is cleverly and intricately unveiling his mission/purpose for this dispensation of time. It is a new masterpiece – a mission of grace and mercy, not of old covenant law, vengeance or wrath. (I Thessalonians 5:9 KJV)
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Next month we will look at how the religious minds of today continue to use oral traditions and religion to blame God for taking part in the willing, allowing or planning of horrific, catastrophic or painful events to teach humanity. We will highlight the numerous misinterpretations of I Thessalonians 5:18 and Romans 8:28 starkly contrasting God’s relationship with man according to the outline of Jesus’ mission statement and new covenant.
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