Our Jewish Mediator*

 

This Memorial weekend, we remember that there are only two people who were willing to die for you:  Jesus, who died so we could live, and the American serviceman or woman, who died so we could be safe and free.

This week, we continue with the exploration of our Jewish faith. Today we will learn about our Jewish Mediator. At the core of Jewish worship in the tabernacle was the priesthood and their mediation role of applying the blood of sacrifice, which was the blood of animals, upon the Mercy Seat to make atonement for the sins of the people. In this role, they were a type and shadow of a Mediator to come, Who would mediate between sinful people and their holy God, for all have sinned. The earthly priest's application of the animal blood of atonement in the earthly tabernacle would need to be repeated yearly. However.

as promised by God, He would send a Mediator, Who, with His own blood, blood that is far better than the blood of animals, would be the sole Mediator between God and man. His blood would not need to be applied yearly, but once and for all ages (Heb. 9:25-28). His own blood offered for atonement, is the finished work of God, completed from the foundation of the world.  (Heb. 4:3, Rev. 13:8). Because of these things, Jesus is the Mediator of a better covenant, established upon better promises, as God said:

"...I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda: Not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people."  Heb. 8:8-10, Jer. 31:31-33, Zech. 8:8

As Paul told the Church to pray and make intercession for all men (see also 2 Pet. 3:9), especially for those in authority, he gave this reason:

"For this is good and acceptable in  the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."   1 Tim. 3-6

This Mediator, Jesus, ever lives to make intercession for us, and is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by Him (Heb. 7:25).

We come to our Mediator, Jesus, through the same Jewish faith that began with Abraham, and caused Abraham to believe God, and to be accounted righteous because of it:

"Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."  Gal. 3:6-9

This same faith of Abraham, brings us to our Mediator, Christ, who was promised to all nations through Abraham:

"But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe...before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up (shut up on all sides completely, a shoal of fishes in a net) unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed....But after that faith is come...for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For sa many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ."   Gal. 3:23-27

The Jewish law kept us until faith came. By faith, we then came to our Jewish Mediator. We became children of God through this faith in Christ, and as we are Christ's, also then we are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise given to his seed (v. 29).

Christ fulfilled the pattern given by God to the children of Israel, and believed by the same faith of Abraham. The faith that is accounted unto righteousness. This is our Jewish faith.

 

*The above is based upon the 5/26/19 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson.

 

To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH":

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http://endtimeschool.com/

To watch/hear Dr. Stevenson's complete message:

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

https://everlastingcovenant.sermon.net/main/main/21320220
 

Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

Dr. Stevenson's newest book is now available:
  

To order "NAZAH": https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8     http://endtimeschool.com/ 

 



Our Jewish Faith*

 

Our foundational scripture from the beginning of our ministry has been:

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believeth;  to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Rom. 1:16

The next verse continues: "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."

The gospel is for the Jew first, and then the Gentile. The faith by which we live, and through which the gospel is revealed, is a Jewish faith.

Although we at Everlasting Covenant have taught the feasts of the LORD and the Old Testament as often as we have taught the New Testament, many in the Church have not. The corruption we have seen in Church teachings comes because of separation from those Jewish roots of faith and scripture. The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. Paul taught this foundational principle:

"I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew..."  Rom. 11:1-2

Regarding the point that the Jew fell because they were blinded concerning the gospel, Paul explained that this is in no way meant by the prophesied plan of God to remain a permanent condition, because of the very holiness of the root from which the Jews were called:

"For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches."  v. 15-16

The "lump" referred to above is like a lump of dough. The holy first fruit was mixed into the dough, as flour and water are mixed together, creating a new substance that has become holy. Paul continues to describe the holiness of Israel as original branches of a tree, and then believing Gentiles, the added branches of the tree which was made holy because of its holy root. Everything that grew out of that holy root was deemed holy. We don't support the root, but that root supports us, and makes us holy (v. 17-18). Like Israel, we are only holy as long as we are connected to that holy root. What was that holy first fruit that made the dough holy, and the holy root that made the tree holy? We are given this scripture:
"He (God) hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout (teruah- blowing of the trumpet, alarm, signal, shout, battle-cry, acclamation of joy)  of a king is among them."  Num. 23:21 (see also
1 Thess. 4:16)

The same reason that prevented Balaam from cursing Israel, the reason that Israel was seen as holy and without fault, is because the holy God, and the victorious King of Resurrection were mixed among them, and in them from their beginning.

Paul taught that the spiritual blindness came upon the Jew for our benefit. That blindness would be "until the fulnes of the Gentiles be come in." (v. 25). We are seeing that fullness come to pass as Israel takes control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. According to Jesus, these current events in Jerusalem signal the time of the fullness of the Gentiles:

"...Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."  Lk. 21:24

Paul wrote that we were not to be haughty regarding our faith versus the Jew. God can remove old branches, graft in or remove new branches, or restore the previously removed old branches at will. We are not to be ignorant either, assuming that Israel will remain separated from its holy root, because God has promised: "All Israel shall be saved." (Rom. 11:26). In another place, God has promised Israel and us:

"For this is my covenant unto them (Jacob), when I shall take away their sins."  (v. 27). Reminding us, "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."  (v. 29).

In saying this, Paul was referring to the Old Testament scripture which said:

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" Num. 23:19

Considering all of these things, including our dependence and reliance upon the holy root of the Jewish faith, Paul continues, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Rom. 12:1). We are not to be conformed to the world, but, in accordance with this holy root, and holy tree into which we have been grafted by the mercy of God, we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
God told the Jewish prophets to write down the vision and the words He gave them, so these promises would be easily read by those who look. These written words, including the promises of God for salvation, preserved faithfully by the Jews, is how we were able to come to faith (Hab. 2:1-4).
Jesus told those who listened, religious experts who knew the scriptures, that the scriptures they searched testified of Him. Jesus told them that Moses wrote of Him. Moses wrote of the blood of the Passover Lamb that would deliver from death all who applied it. Jesus said that if we didn't believe Moses' words, we would not believe His words, either (Jn. 5:38-47). It is these words of the Old, faithfully written and kept, that were revealed fully in the New when John the Baptist declared of Jesus, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world." (Jn. 1:29).
The Old Testament was a pattern of salvation that bore fruit when Peter and John preached in the Book of Acts, and thousands of Jews were saved. They recognized the Jesus the disciples preached as fulfilling the pattern they knew so well. Jesus was revealed to them as the Mediator of a better covenant, with better promises (Heb. 8:5-6).
As with Abraham, who was deemed righteous because he believed God, our hearing of the word of God, must be mixed with faith, with belief, to bear fruit. With that same kind of holy faith, we enter into the rest of God, into the works that were finished from the foundation of the world (Heb. 4:1-3).
The very first words given to us by God, and recorded in Hebrew throughout the generations that followed, "In the beginning, God..." revealed the salvation promise of God: "Bereshiet (pictographically- the Son of God crushed, His hand on a cross) Elohim aleph tav..." (God, the Alpha and the Omega), has testified of the finished work of Christ from before the beginning. Our faith has not changed since the Jews first made record of the oracles of God. That Jewish faith into which we have been adopted, grows from a holy root.

*The above is based upon the 5/19/19 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson.

 

To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH":

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

http://endtimeschool.com/

To watch/hear Dr. Stevenson's complete message:

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

https://everlastingcovenant.sermon.net/main/main/21320220
 

Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

Dr. Stevenson's newest book is now available:
  

To order "NAZAH": https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8     http://endtimeschool.com/ 

 

 

 



 

 

Our Alma Mater*

 

This weekend was Mother's Day. Important to know for this related discussion today is an interesting term used to refer to the university that educated us, which is our "Alma Mater". This term literally means, "nourishing, dear, bountiful mother, of a mother". As believers, we have this kind of "alma mater" also, as we will see.

If you have a "Mother's Day" for remembering and honoring the mother who raised you, you are keeping the command of the LORD when He said, "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you." (Ex. 20:12). Honoring mother and father has a long term effect and blessing upon your life, according to this commandment.

However, we also have a mother whom we often neglect to remember and honor. From this mother, our "alma mater", came all that we know about God. Our Heavenly Father describes Himself as married to Israel (Isa. 54:5-8, Jer. 31:31-33, Hos. 2:7), so if Israel is our Father's wife, then she is our mother as well. This mother, even in the face of persecution to death, kept the oracles of God for us, the future generations that she did not yet know, and could not even imagine:

"What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles (logion- the words or utterances of God: Root word = logos: a word uttered by a living voice, the sayings of God) of God." 

                                                                                                              Rom. 3:1-2

Because of the faithful dedication of our mother to this commission to keep these oracles of God, other nations recognize the unique relationship that our mother, and consequently we, have with God (Deut. 4:4-8). Not only did our mother keep the oracles in the form of the Old Testament, but in the writing and keeping of the New Testament. The New Covenant, was prophetically revealed to her and planted within her as a seed of promise (Jer. 31:31). And when the time came, our spiritual mother, the Jews, kept and delivered to us the new oracles of God for us, as well. The importance of the Word in our faith, and in our salvation cannot be overstated, and Jews gave us this. Scripture describes the two branches, Ephraim and Judah, becoming one in His hand. They cannot remain divided.

Our mother, the Jewish people, kept the oracles of God, and she birthed in faith the Son of God, and consequently the rest of us. In the Book of Revelation, this dedicated and faithful mother is described:

"...the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne...Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent...And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."  Rev. 12:4-17 (excerpt)
We saw an example of this protection of God recently in the headlines, as Israel was bombarded by 600 rockets. While their natural military defenses called "the iron dome" failed and allowed the missiles to enter, God covered and provided miraculous protection.

With the sacrificial heart of a mother, Israel and the Jewish people received spiritual blindness so that we might be able receive the good news of salvation. They gave up their knowledge of the Messiah for a time specified by God. We may think that this blindness was not chosen by them, but their prophets told them beforehand that it was by the word and will of God (Isa. 6:9-13). Would we have been willing to give up our salvation so that others might receive it? Paul told us that their blindness and falling was for our benefit (Rom. 11:8-11). However, as keepers of the oracles of God, our mother, the Jews, also knew that God promised that all Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:26-27, Isa. 59:19-21). As a mother nurtures hope in her heart for future days, our spiritual mother keeps hope in that promise of God. Shouldn't we also sacrifice - at least in a prayer of agreement with her hopes in the Word of God? It is indeed the least we can do for "Mom".

We cannot and must not separate ourselves from the mother who gave birth to us, who nurtured us diligently, and still provides the daily bread that feeds our souls. Paul makes clear that our roots are Jewish, as he defines the Jew not solely by a physical identity, but as one who is circumcised in the heart (Rom. 2:28-29). As we see with Abraham, Moses, and so many others in scripture, without the faithful obedience of these many generations of Jews, we would not have had the blessing that we walk in today. In Romans 11, Paul describes our Jewish parent this way:

...as life from the dead (v. 15)

...as a holy root (v. 16)

...as the root that supports us (v. 18)

...concerning the election, ... as beloved for the sake of the fathers (v. 28)

We became partakers of this root and fatness of our mother who is described as an olive tree (v. 17). As Proverbs 23:22 says, "Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise (hold as insignificant, disrespect) your mother when she is old." 
We should never become haughty children, believing we are now superior to the one who mothered us, or in thinking that we have surpassed her in understanding, and are now no longer in need of her (Rom. 11:20).

This Mother's Day, as we honor our natural mothers, let us also honor our spiritual mother, the Jews, who sacrificed so much on our behalf. Let's not ignore or neglect our relationship with her any longer. God promised her that her children would be returned to her (Isa. 49:22-23). This is not only the return of her natural children, but also the joyous return of her spiritual children, "the rest of her offspring... who have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Without "mother", we wouldn't be here. Without "mother", we wouldn't have found our salvation, our joy, our hope, and our eternal future.
Pray for the lost sheep of Israel. Pray for Jerusalem. Pray for our "alma mater", our nourishing, dear, bountiful spiritual mother, Israel and the Jewish people.

*The above is based upon the 5/12/19 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson.

 

To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH":

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

http://endtimeschool.com/

To watch/hear Dr. Stevenson's complete message:

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

https://everlastingcovenant.sermon.net/main/main/21320220
 

Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

Dr. Stevenson's newest book is now available:
  

To order "NAZAH": https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8     http://endtimeschool.com/  

A Heart Checkup*

 

In many countries, especially ours, heart disease is a leading cause of death. Unless we get check ups for our hearts, we can find ourselves with serious, even deadly, health problems. The same is true in regards to our spiritual hearts. Regular checkups are necessary. Spiritual heart disease left unchecked, can lead to eternal separation from God. In these times, we need a revival amongst the people who are willing to look into their own hearts in this manner. No one is exempt. We all need these regular check ups. This is complicated by the fact that the heart is deceitful, unwilling to reveal itself truthfully to us. We need God's help for this spiritual heart checkup:

"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is...The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doing."  Jer. 17:5-10 (excerpt)

The deceitfulness of the heart of man often causes us to look on the outward appearance, rather than looking deeper for our true condition. God, however, sees exactly what is in our hearts. Even Samuel, the prophet of God, tried to choose the new king of Israel from among Jesse's sons by the outward appearance. He almost made the wrong choice. God had to correct him:

"But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."   1 Sam.16:7

As the LORD looks into every corner of your heart, what does He see? Does He see a deadly heart condition going unchecked?

We often hear the deception that so easily rules the heart in the statement, "God accepts me as I am." This is not what the Word of God says, and this is not something our God would ever say to His people whom He continually urges to turn away from the ways of death. Ignoring the sickness of our heart condition hurtles us to our separation from the One who is life. From the beginning, God has sought fellowship with man, not separation. God has continually urged His people to seek Him, and His ways, to find life. Those who desire God and life, must have a heart of repentance before Him, eager for God to deliver the heart from deadly wickedness. David was such a man, who prayed earnestly before the LORD as he confronted a heart of adultery and murder:

"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me....Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

In the verses from Psalm 51, including those above, David understood that unless he acknowledged his own heart condition, and asked the LORD to cleanse his heart, he would face separation from what he considered the most important things in his life: the presence of God, the Spirit of God active in his life, and the joy of having the salvation of God. His heart condition left unchecked could cause David to be cast away from these things (v.11-12). From David's experience with this hidden heart wickedness that almost led to his destruction, he gained this revelation for all of us:

"For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken (broken to pieces) and a contrite (crushed) heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."  (v. 16-17)

David revealed that the effect of just a single man like himself, sincerely offering his heart for inspection, cleansing and re-creation by God, can be enormous. In his own life, the cleansing and re-creation of David's heart would lead to an outpouring coming from his lips as well, that would change others (v. 14). Jesus also taught about the good heart that brings forth that which is good, and the evil heart that brings forth evil: "for of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh" (Lk. 6:43-45). However, the check of heart does not just change David, the individual. Transgressors and sinners would learn from him as a result, and be converted (turned back, restored) to God (v. 13). The blessing of this fruit of repentance would go well beyond David, and encompass all Zion and Jerusalem - built and blessed with God's pleasure (v. 18). As in this Psalm, 2 Chron. 7:14 also tells us that the sincere heart check and repentance of God's people will cause God to hear from heaven, and heal the whole land.

God, not man, is the One who can effectively transform this crushed heart sincerely offered to Him. Of His people, Israel, as He promises to restore them to the land from the nations to which they were scattered, which He has done in our generation, God also promises to change the captivity of their hearts:

"And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh: that they my walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I shall be their God. But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the LORD God...Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin...for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the LORD God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."

                                                                                   Ezek. 11:19-21, Ezek. 18:30-32

The death of a man with an unchecked spiritual heart condition is different from the death of those who have had their hearts cleansed by God. Those who, after their heart re-creation, walk in the statutes of God, pass through only the shadow of the valley of death. Real death cannot touch them. This is why God says of these, His saints, that their "death" is "precious in His sight" (Ps. 116:15).

Psalm 119:9-16, in the stanza under the Hebrew letter, Beth (House), God revealed this same secret to attaining His spiritual "house". The young man spoken of here cleanses his way by taking heed of God's word. He seeks God with his whole heart. He hides (treasures or stores up) God's word , commandments, and precepts in his heart, meditating upon them, declaring them with his lips, delighting in them, and vowing not to forget them. This is the house of God in our hearts.

Proverbs 6 and Romans 1 describes and lists the destructive wickedness of the heart that goes unchecked, and the accumulative effect in the earth. We are seeing these things in abundance in these last days in which we live. The destruction of this deceitful wickedness is so great that except for the return of Christ, no flesh would be left. However, when God's people are willing to examine and test their own hearts, and surrender them to Him for His cleansing, far reaching effects result, even the building of His "house".

 

*The above is based upon the 5/5/19 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson.

 

To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH":

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

http://endtimeschool.com/

To watch/hear Dr. Stevenson's complete message:

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

https://everlastingcovenant.sermon.net/main/main/21320220
 

Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

Dr. Stevenson's newest book is now available:
  

To order "NAZAH": https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8     http://endtimeschool.com/  

 



The Case for God*

 

The disbelief in God that we see today, and the destructive behavior that stems from that disbelief, is not new. God makes very clear in His word that He exists, and that He created all, including man. God states that His existence is so evident,  He calls those who continue to doubt His Being despite the overwhelming evidence, "fools":

"The fool (foolish, senseless, stupid, impious, vile, wicked) hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt and have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good...God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back, they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."  Ps. 14, Ps. 53

God defines anyone with "understanding" as one who seeks Him, who calls upon Him. In the Psalms, even in the face of the stubborn unbelief of fools, God still prophesies His salvation that comes out of Zion, and the return of Israel from captivity (Ps. 53:6, Hos. 3:4-5). Both of these promises, one being identified as connected to "the latter days", have been fulfilled to provide deliverance to all. His prophesied and fulfilled promises are the proof that He IS. There are none who do not have need of Him and His saving power. 

The recorded foolishness of man throughout history has led him to worship and create idols of every strange and powerless thing. To all of us, God repeatedly declares that there is no God besides Him:

"Thus saith the LORD, the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God...have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it?...Is there a God besides me? Ye, there is no God (besides me), I know not any."  Isa. 44:6-8

Above, as part of God's declaration to us of His existence as the one true God, He joins in the declaration with "His Redeemer". Jesus, that same Redeemer, gave us this declaration again when He told us that He is the first, and the last, the alpha and the omega, or the aleph and the tav in Hebrew (Rev. 22:13, Rev. 2:8, 1:8, 17). God describes in the first words of Genesis that "in the beginning, or bareshiet (the Son crushed, His hand on the cross), God (Elohim aleph tav) created the heaven and the earth". God's declaration to us of who He is remains steadfast from the first words in Genesis to the last words in Revelation.

God's prophet, Isaiah, continues to declare:

"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God besides me: I girded thee though thou hast not known me...I am the LORD and there is none else...I have made the earth and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded."  Isa. 45:5,6, 12

The LORD God provided His truth in foreknowledge of man's foolish unbelief, and all of the theories of man that would be put forth that maintain that creation occurred by accident, without God. On the contrary, as the verses above say, all creation was a direct "hands on" work fashioned by Him. God questions why man continues to strive so against the One who made him, and all things  There are troubles that come, and are directly associated with this senseless striving against our own Creator (v. 9).

God pleads with man to gain this understanding which is found in seeking Him. Our lives, now and in eternity, depend upon knowing our Creator, and His Salvation:

"Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a savior; there is none beside me."  Isa. 45:21

The LORD warns that the rejection of knowledge of Him and His existence as the only God causes man's behavior to degenerate:

"...because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land...By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away...My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."   Hos. 4:1-6 (see also Rom. 1)

We can come to God only if we believe who He is, only when we believe that He receives us and rewards us for believing Him (Heb. 11:6). There is no substitute for believing that the one true God is.

God created us and knew us before we were even formed in our mothers' wombs. We do not exist solely from a procreative act or will of man. Not only did God personally form each of us, but knew all concerning us- the number of our days, and the purpose of each of our lives before anything of us physically existed (Jer. 1:4-5, Ps. 139:13-17). Man did not form us in the womb, and man has no right to destroy us in the womb according to his will.

Jesus wanted to make sure that we understood that the purpose of our lives is not determined independent of the knowledge of God, or in the accumulation of earthly riches, or in careful planning for the future. Death comes to us all, and those riches go to someone else, and those plans come to an end. Our purpose, treasure and inheritance, always but especially in these latter days, is in the knowledge of God, that He IS, and there is no other (Lk. 12:16-21).

 

*The above is based upon the 4/28/19 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson.

 

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Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

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