Starting Back at One*

As we put 2020 behind us, there are two songs that put me in mind of the message for today. One song is by Andre Crouch and is titled, "Take Me Back to the Place Where I First Received You". The second song is by Brian McKnight, and part of the lyrics say, "...If ever I believe my work is done, I'll start back at one...". This past year was a year of testing, and it's possible that we might have failed the test badly. The Christian walk does not finish where it starts, at the moment we receive Christ as our salvation, but it is a progressive walk: "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:12-14). It is time to "go back to one", and examine the truth that we believe, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and go forward from that critical point. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, "goes back to one" to describe not only his calling as an apostle, but the Gospel to which he was separated in order to bring it to others. He first pointed out that the priciples of the Gospel had been given by God as a promise through the prophets in scripture before. The Old Testament, as we call it, is not irrelevant to our Christian faith, but is the foundation for it. Christ said that those scriptures testify of Him. The coming of Jesus the Messiah, and His return, are prophesied throughout those scriptures, as we will see. This is how Paul described Jesus: "...Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead." (Rom. 1:1-6). It is both His birth from the natural seed of David as well as His resurrection from the dead in the power of the Spirit that identifies Jesus as the Son of God. Not only was Paul called to be an apostle through this grace, but we also were called to Christ by the same grace. ("For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast", Eph. 2:8-9). The Gospel, Paul wrote, is the power of God: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Rom. 1:16-17). Many in the Church do not accept that apostles and prophets are still part of the government of the Body of Christ, but by definition of their purpose, they are as much still present in the Body as are pastors, teachers, and evangelists: "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evngelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ..." (Eph. 4:11-13). Until we have attained those spiritual perfections mentioned, apostles and prophets are still given and functioning as gifts from God to the Body. Do we perhaps wish to disregard these gifts to the Body because they come in the power of the Word of God to the Church and the nations? Paul the Apostle wrote and preached that the resurrection of Christ from the dead is an essential part of the Gospel by which we are saved: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures (see Isa. 53); and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures (see Jonah 1:17, Ps. 16:10, etc.): ...Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection from the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." (1 Cor. 15:1-14). Paul also noted that many saw Jesus after His death and resurrection, including at a later time, himself. It is essential to salvation, to believe in the resurrection, otherwise, we believe the rest of the Godpel uselessly. The resurrection was a stumbling block to faith in Paul's time, and it is still a stubling block for many. Evidence of the resurrection, like the Shroud of Turin, is rejected out of hand because it bears witness to the truth of resurrection. The Shroud of Turin, which contains a reversed or mirror image of a crucified man, is also referred to in scripture: Isa. 52:13-15, Zech. 12:9-10, 1 Cor. 13:12, Jn. 20:8, Gal. 3:1 and the following: "But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3:18). The Shroud is not the basis for our faith, nor should it be. It is not to be made an idol to be worshipped. However, it is a visual image of the price that was paid by Christ for our sins. The image acurately portrays the wounds of Christ exactly as recorded in the Gospels. The Shroud's image cannot be reproduced successfully using any known method. Scientiifically, scripturally, and spiritually, it testifies to our spirits as a gift of witness that still speaks thousands of years later. According to the prophet Zechariah (12:9-10), Judah will come to faith "seeing" Him whom they have pierced, and will mourn for Him as an only son. The Shroud, bearing the image of the One pierced, could very well play a key role in bringing the Gospel "to the Jew first". Paul wrote that it is necessary for the dead to be raised and changed, because we cannot enter into the presence of God as corrupted flesh: "As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption...but we shall all be changed...and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed..." (1 Cor. 15:49-52). In this way, Christ prepared the way of resurrection for us, by being the firstfruits of resurrection. Paul wrote that even as a seed doesn't look like the full plant that it will become, and must die first in the earth to become that full plant, we also in our present earthly form do not look like what we shall become, but we shall be like Him, our Firstfruit of the resurrection. While many Christians believe that we are saved and then "out of here" in a rapture, according to scripture there is more to consider. The rapture is promised but Jesus told His disciples, "Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be acounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Lk. 21:36). There is a warning spoken by Jesus to those who, like the scribes and Pharisees, refuse to receive Him or, in this case, the truth of the resurrection (or evidence for the resurrection of Christ, such as the Shroud of Turin), and speak against it: "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." (Mt. 23:13). With our spoken unbelief, have we blocked the way of others who have been seeking the resurrected Christ, and the kingdom of God? Are you ready to start back at one? Are you ready to press toward the mark of the high calling in Christ? Are you ready to take the Gospel truth to the Jews, who should be the first to receive the message and the evidence? *Based on Dr. Stevenson's 1/3/21 message to the Church. Look for us on Facebook and Twitter as well. To contact this ministry: PO Box 154221, Waco, TX 76705 or email: Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com