The fifth important thing we all need to believe, is that Jesus Christ is the Begotten Son of God. This entails believing that He attained perfection through living a perfect sinless life in the flesh as the Son of Man, and became perfected at the resurrection, and became our resurrection and the life.
For the gospel which God promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding His Son, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God, by His resurrection from the dead.
“Jesus Christ reflects the glory of God and bears the exact representation of His being, upholding the universe by His word of power. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven, so He became as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You”? Or again, “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”? And again, when He brings His first born into the world, He says, “Let all God’s angels worship Him” (Hebrews 1:3-6).
Jesus Christ as the Son of Man was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, but as the Begotten Son of God through the resurrection, He is crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
“For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. For both the One who makes men holy, and those who are made holy have all one origin. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee.” And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Here am I and the children God has given Me” (Hebrews 2:9-13).
Believing in Jesus Christ as the Begotten Son of God promises a much greater and guaranteed reward than believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of Man. Those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of Man has the gift of eternal life; but may not necessarily receive the reward of everlasting life. For it is written; “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:14-16).
Unfortunately, it is not everyone that is able to differentiate the difference between eternal life, and everlasting life. I remembered back in 2008 when I first wrote an article defining what is Everlasting life, which someone informed me was discussed on AOL "America on line", someone commented on my blog stating, "Lucius one day you will say that the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit are not the same".
The crux of the matter is, Everlasting life is different from both the eternal existence of the spirit, and the eternal salvation of the spirit. It is the everlasting existence of the human body, which has a beginning and would have naturally ended, for it is appointed unto man to die, but it will be made to live forever. In contrast, eternal life has eternally existed, and will continue to exist forever. Eternal death is not the cessation of life as with physical death, but it is separation from God.
Everlasting life therefore, is the immortality of the human body which Christ alluded to by saying: s “Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is of born of water [flesh] and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
In order for anyone to inherit the kingdom of God, the mortal must put on immortality, and the corruptible must put on incorruptibility, because Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: nor does corruption inherit in-corruption.”
Everlasting life or immortality is guaranteed only to those who, not only believe in Jesus Christ as the Beloved Son of God, who became the Son of Man, but who also believes in Jesus Christ as the Begotten Son of God.
Eternal life on the other hand is a free gift from God, as we have been instructed saying: "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:22-23).
Please note carefully that, the gift of God is eternal life; one has absolutely nothing to do to attain it, but to attain everlasting life one must first become a slave of God/ slave of righteousness which bears the fruit of holiness, a prior condition without which no one can see the Lord, which will ultimately result in everlasting life.
This was further endorsed by the apostle Paul who warned us saying, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life" (Galatians 6:7-8).
Now in relation to the immortality of the body there are also different levels of glory. Just as there is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
Therefore, the degree of our glory is dependent on our level of belief in Jesus Christ as the Begotten Son of God, for we all, with unveiled face, are beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
To be continued.
No comments:
Post a Comment