People should always have something which they prefer to life! Johann Seume (1763-1810) Comment: What was this 17th Century Theologian trying to tell us? We try to hang on to life even though it is slipping away! I was young and now I am old! Some of my friends went to the Vietnam War and at the age of 18 never came back? Our health declines and we are dying everyday! Your physical body will exodus out of you one day! No one escapes! No mortal can restore your sin infested soul or raise from the dead except Jesus Christ! So He must be more important than your life! Jesus disciples were sawed in two, hung on Crosses upside down, fed to lions and other forms of torture! John was boiled in oil yet survived and was exiled to an island where he wrote the Book of Revelation! Your life will fail you but His life will raise you from the dead! Remember Jesus will raise everyone from the dead some to everlasting life and some to judgment! Who else can you trust? Will you trust mortal man? I would rather trust the immortal Christ maker of Heaven and earth than one of His created mortals! Jesus will one day create a New Heaven and a New earth! Would you like to be part of that? Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you and it is not too late to trust Him now! Get on your knees right now and confess your sin to Him and receive His forgiveness! I can promise you that you will not die alone and He will be with you for all of eternity! Happy Easter! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: cross
Covenant! Genesis 17:8
We often separate the Old and New Covenant in our Theology! However the word Covenant is the same word used in both the Old and New Testament! There is only one word used in the Greek for Covenant in the New Testament! So the only thing that separates them is time! It is the passage of time that proves the Covenant! The passage of times confirms the Covenant to the Jews, Israel and to the Gentiles! Four thousand years later from Abraham we have the nation of Israel. The word Constitution is another word for Covenant! Our U.S. Constitution is a Biblical document! Remember a Covenant is conditional. Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved! Whosoever believeth in me shall not perish but have everlasting life! Here are some words that describe Covenant: determination, stipulation, league, treaty, alliance, constitution and a sacrifice! It was sealed by passing between the divided parts of a sacrifice! It is a divisor will, to put apart! Jesus will one day separate the sheep from the goats! We see in Genesis 15:18 that God promised much more land to the Jews than Canaan. However the Covenant is conditional and the Jews broke the Covenant! Captivity was their lot when they did this! A Covenant is a contract accompanied by signs, a sacrifice and a solemn oath which sealed the relationship with promises of Blessings for obedience and cursing’s for disobedience! Jesus was obedient even to death on a Cross! The Jews rejected human sacrifice! That is what the Heathen did! Therefore their Messiah could not be human! This is the challenge Jesus met in 1st Century Palestine! They were puzzled? How could Jesus do miracles that only God could do yet He appeared human? They understood God created humans yet their sacrifice could not be human! Their concept of God was He would come down as a knight in shining armor riding a white horse and destroy the Roman government! What they were really envisioning was Jesus second coming! What Jesus was trying to tell them is that He was God! A human telling them He was God was blasphemous to them! The Jews could not put all this together in their minds? God created human beings who sinned against Him and then He sacrificed Himself for them? This defied their understanding so they Crucified Him! They executed the sacrifice! What was missing was Faith! By Faith Abraham believed God! Counted as righteousness! Without Faith it is impossible to please God! We know He loves us! We will never know everything about God because then we could control Him! Could you imagine what the Judas Iscariot’s of this world would do with that! A jet aircraft flies through the air at hundreds of miles per hour! It does not think about it’s designer but simply does what it is designed to do! We are designed to worship God! When we do that in Faith we are fulfilled and find purpose in Him! Happy Easter! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Offering and Worship! Genesis Chapter 22
Are they the same? God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac up for a burnt offering on Mount Moriah! Moriah means God will provide! The word offering here means to rise up or lift up! The word is usually associated with morning! Those who love me seek me early! It is used in a sense of going up. However the word is not used in the sense of intimacy! So what is a burnt offering? It is not your wife’s cooking! It means to ascend up like smoke! Remember an offering is something we do! Your tithes and offerings is something you do and God requires it of us! So what is worship? I am glad you asked! The word worship used in the Old Testament was first used in Genesis 22:2. The word means to bow down! Just the opposite of offering! It means to prostrate oneself! It means to fall upon your knees and touch your head to the ground! However after the Cross the New Testament concept of worship is different! We still bow down in prayer in submission! The Greek word used has a new dimension! Worship used here means to dwell together in union and completion! Now God takes possession of you! You are no longer your own! People are either God possessed or demon possessed! No middle ground here! Half and half is a milk product! Worship means to lean towards Him and be partial towards Him! No one will ever be able to talk you out of or persecute you out of partiality towards Him! This is the New Testament concept of worship! In the Old Testament it was always worship from afar! After the Cross now God has His dwelling place in us! The Holy smoke is inside of us! Since His son Jesus made the sacrifice for our sin the walls of partition are broken down! Worship is now an inside job! Greater is He who is in me than He who is in the world! He works His righteousness in you by dwelling in you! This is what born again is all about! Let us think about this as Easter approaches! Jesus early in the morning bowed down in the garden of Gethsemane and worshiped! Then He was lifted up on high on a Cross on Mount Calvary! Jesus died once so that you would only die once and escape the second death! Your Salvation includes many things! Freedom from guilt, death, hell and the resurrection to judgment! The resurrection to everlasting life and His power residing in you cannot be compared with anything this world has to offer! The promises the world makes to you will perish with the world! My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness! If you submit and let Jesus take control of your life nothing that preceded this new reality will ever compare! Happy Easter! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Christian Burial 1 Chronicles 16:1
Verse 1 (Ark) Comment: It is interesting the same Hebrew root word for Ark is also the same word for coffin! It is a sacred box which is kept in the Holy of Holy’s below the Mercy Seat. It originally contained the stone tablets (Ten Commandments), the pot of manna and Aron’s rod that budded! The original intent of the word was to gather together! Remember Joseph’s coffin that was carried out of Egypt during the Exodus! We have the Ark of the Covenant! The Saint’s are gathered together in His Church on earth and will be gathered together in Heaven! Christian burial is not cremation! Fire represents judgment! Jesus was not cremated! The heathen cremate their dead! Let us look at Matthew 27:52 When Jesus died on the Cross many things happened! One thing was that the graves were opened and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose from the dead! John 5:28 says, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all in the graves shall hear His voice!” Remember at the resurrection the dead in Christ will be raised first! Jesus had a coffin or tomb and that tomb was sacred! Why? Because he returned to the grave to be raised from the dead after three days in the heart of the earth! I believe cremation is an attempt by man to escape the grave! One of the big problems with cremation is that you get no closure of the deceased! You have a memorial service with no body? Like being married to a woman that has a spirit but no body! I try to pattern my life after Jesus in living and dying! The money you save in cremation is not worth it! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
God Raises The Dead! 2 Kings 4:35
With Easter near our Pastor Oscar Cope wants us to examine the historical record in our Bible of instances of God raising the dead in the Old Testament. What you will find out studying the Old Testament that it is vogue for today! My Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever! Elisha’s predecessor Elijah is considered one of the greatest Prophets in our Bible! He was raptured and did not see death! He was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration! Elijah’s successor Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his anointing! How do we know it happened? Elisha raised two people from the dead and Elijah raised one person! Do you remember Jesus telling us that greater works would you do than me if you go in my name! Elijah prayed and laid on a dead corpse seven times! Elisha prayed and laid on a dead corpse three times! Twice the anointing takes half the time! Jesus was raised from the dead in three days! Seven represents the number of completion! Seven days in a week! We begin the new week on Sunday not Monday! We give the first day of the week Sunday as Christians to God in worship! We start the new week with Him! The first part of our income the tithe and the offerings is given on the first day of the week! This tells God that He owns the week! Any given day of the week is a gift from Him! I have been a Christian for 44 years now! I have asked the Lord about certain parts of the scriptures to give me revelation about some of the more difficult parts? I have asked the Lord why did these prophets stretch their bodies over these dead corpses? As our Pastor said Sunday today if you did this they would file so kind of a law suit against you for sexual abuse however if two men get married no problem? Sunday while in the services and hearing this message many times the Lord gave me the answer! If you want to hear from God be in His House! When you stretch your body out on another body you form a Cross! Jesus body was stretched out on a Cross! The Jews escaped the Egyptian plague by painting with lamb’s blood on the top and sides of the door posts forming a Cross! When the Jewish tribes camped around the Tabernacle in their wanderings their tribes were arranged in a cross formation! It is so sad to see America today where millions of dollars are spent in law suits trying to remove Crosses across our land? What fools we have become! Satan hates the Cross because it reminds him of his defeat over death and is our hope and sign of victory over death, hell and the grave! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
First & Last? Isaiah 44:6
What did God mean here? We probably have a general idea! Elementary Watson! Let us break the Hebrew words down for a deeper understanding! The word “First”, used here means to be foremost in order of rank! It is like a new year! Remember God instructed Moses to set up the Tabernacle in the first month! Remember Satan’s Kingdom also has an order of rank! Remember in the Book of Genesis (First Book), that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the Serpent! That is the birth of Christ would accomplish this! Satan is the head or first in rank in the Kingdom of Serpents! What about the word last? No one likes to be last! This is an interesting word in Hebrew! It means to follow as facing the east! God is going to see tomorrow! He watches the sunset and will see the sunrise! His days are not numbered! Do you remember something about Jesus saying he is the first and the last? (Revelation 22:13) He said i am the Alpha and the Omega! Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet but interestingly has a Hebrew origin! Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet! What did Jesus mean by saying he was the first? From the Greek we learn that he is first in importance! Is he first in your life? What did Jesus mean by saying i am last? According to the Greek it means he is the finalist in rank and time! He is the only guy left standing! He is on the gold metal stand and no rivals! Jesus goes on to say in this verse that he is the beginning and the end! The word beginning used here means he is the first in order of time, place and rank! Remember those hard headed Jews did not get it when he said before Abraham i was! The word end means that he is the goal. Is he your goal? A running back in the NFL has only one objective! He needs to cross the goal line! The Cross of Jesus will get you across the goal line! The word end used here means to a conclusion! What one word would represent the conclusion of your life? Debt? Pain? Sickness? Death? Fear? Guilt? If you prioritize your life where Jesus is first and last in your life these evil spirits will die at the Cross! Remember the scripture that says the first will be last and the last first? They are the same thing! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Suffering and Success! Acts 9:15-16
It seems that everyone is trying to show the world how successful they are! The American dream! Mansions, land, gold, money, private jets, limo’s, fame, status and the rest of the vanities! However though everyone wants it there is a problem? Success tends to put the spotlight on us rather than God! Our failures can put the spotlight on Jesus rather than us! God delivered me from the death bed! Jesus raised me from the dead! I was a street person but now He has given me a family and a home! No one else ever cared for me like Jesus! He loved me when no one else would! The disciples were afraid of Paul and rightly so but Jesus told them that Paul was going to be a great leader in the church and suffer many things for my name! In my weakness i find His perfect strength! Much of the modern church has adopted the ways of the world! Then they wonder why there is no power to do the things Jesus commanded them to do? You cannot do it without Him and the Cross you must carry! Pastor Robert Jeffress, Southern Baptist Missions
What Should Be Our Message? 1 Corinthians 13:13
Our message should be around faith, hope and love! The Gospel means the good news! Read this translation of 1 Corinthians 13:13. “And now dwells and maintains truthfulness in God with confidence and expectation with the love of God towards Christians, but the greatest of these is the love of God towards us!” Comment: Notice here that our confidence is not in human love for others by men but God’s love towards us! Human love will always fail but Christ’s love will never leave us nor forsake us! Remember Jesus words on the Cross? Why have you forsaken me? These words validate that Jesus as well as being God was also flesh! These are the words of flesh! Then God said, “Not my will but thy will be done!” God’s will for us is eternal so do not let the flesh try to steal your purpose in God! The flesh and the spirit war against each other! Let God win and then you win! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Peace and War! Genesis 3:15
The coming of the woman’s seed was Jesus birth! On the Cross Jesus body was bruised and broken! At Jesus second coming Satan’s head shall be bruised and broken! The seed of the woman brought forth a Savior! Since then Satan has declared a war on women through religious systems that persecute women and political systems that promote abortion and same sex marriage! Satan attempts to destroy lives through through religious and political systems that oppose Christ! His plan is to destroy future seed that might come to Christ! Satan also has a war on believers in Christ! He also has a war on Jews for Salvation has come through the Jews! Satan’s offspring is at constant war with Christ’s offspring! God has declared war on evil but His plan also includes His only Son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice made to deliver us from evil. Our judgment for sin was taken on Jesus at the Cross! Christ made peace with God for us in that our judgment was taken by Christ at Calvary! Even the most intelligent human could never devise such a plan! God is awesome in that He has punished the wicked one Satan author of evil forever and yet spared his victims with Salvation and eternal life with God! Amazing Grace! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Christmas and Family! Matthew 1:18-20
Many fascinating things can be learned from the Christmas story! One thing cannot be denied! God always wanted a family! He started off creating one man and one woman! Not two men or two women but one man and one woman! The challenge got bigger when God wanted a son born of human parents! He looked over His creation to find the right parents. They had to be Jew for salvation comes by the Jew! The new millennium had just begun and the signs in the Heaven and earth were just right! The virgin birth predicted hundreds of years before by the Prophets was ripe for fulfillment! God found a young Jewish couple from Nazareth that were about to be engaged. Their names were Joseph and Mary. Then Joseph found his espoused bride pregnant? Joseph minded to put her away privately! Then an Angel appeared unto Joseph and told him his bride Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit! So Joseph became the step-father of Jesus! Years later Jesus told us that pure religion was taking care of widows and orphans! God always wanted children to have both parents! My Bible says God hates divorce! He wants to come to the aid of the victims! It seems American culture today does not hold the values God has established for the well being of the family? Jesus God’s son could not increase the size of His family until He went to the Cross! Today Jesus Father is your Father! Christmas means many things but most important you are now in God’s family now and forever! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.