The Father and The Son
The doctrine of the nature of God , His Son and the holy Spirit has become a standard for Christian orthodoxy. Trinitarianism is required by virtually all of Christianity. Yet the Bible makes many statements that contradict this belief.
More than that, hidden within the prophecies of the Old Testament and the revelation in the New Testament scriptures, is a love story between the Father and His Son, a love revealed by the sending of the Son to redeem men from their sins and giving of the holy Spirit to men.
In the video available at right, Pastor John Clark, Sr. reads the tract "Is Jesus God?" Not only does he read the tract but there is much other good understanding to be received from this reading. We hope you are blessed by what you can learn in this video and from the rest of this topical study page.
Thought for Today
Jun. 23
EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON JESUS, PART ONE
Paradise
Before Jesus came and offered himself for our sins, Hell was divided into two parts: Paradise and Torment. When anyone died, whether he was good or evil, he descended into the heart of the earth, into the region called Hell. Those who had done good went into that part of Hell called Paradise; those who had done evil went into that part of Hell where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth".
In Luke 16, Jesus told the story of a poor, upright man called Lazarus who died and was "carried by the angels" down into Paradise. While alive on earth, Lazarus regularly sat and begged at the gate of an unnamed rich man. When that rich man died, he was cast into the part of Hell where there was torment. Through the searing flames around him, the rich man could see Paradise and could actually speak to Abraham, on whose breast the poor Lazarus now rested peacefully. He recognized the beggar who had for years wasted away at his gate.
"Father Abraham!" he cried, "I beg you to send Lazarus over here! Let him just dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame!"
"My son," replied Abraham, "remember that in your lifetime, you received your pleasant things and Lazarus suffered with evil things. Now, Lazarus is comforted, and you are tormented. Besides, between us and you God has established a great gulf, so that none of you can escape from there to come here, and no one on this side can cross over to help any of you."
This was the situation in "Hell" prior to the ascension of Jesus into heaven. Now, however, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." The Lord is now at the right hand of the Father, so we know that Paradise is in heaven where the Lord Jesus is. The Bible never describes the transfer of Paradise from the heart of the earth to heaven; it merely reveals where Paradise was before Jesus came and where it is now. All we have to do is to add one and one to figure out who moved it there.
Paul did tell us that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he led captivity itself captive (Eph. 4:8), and that verse seems to be a reference to Jesus' moving Paradise into heaven, for Paradise was a place that held ancient saints in captivity in the heart of the earth before Jesus came, saints who were eagerly waiting for Jesus to come and pay the price for their redemption. Other than that one Scripture from Paul, there are no references to the transfer of Paradise into heaven that Jesus brought about. The only thing we can say with certainty is that the transfer happened, and that Jesus is the one who made it happen. And the only thing left for us to do, concerning Paradise, is to live so that when our time comes to die, we may follow poor Lazarus into it.