Tag: easter

Easter Commentaries Luke 23:43

“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee. Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” Comment: So where is paradise? The Greek word means Eden, the future place of happiness! The Hebrew equivalent means a forest or fruit orchard. So the word paradise describes the Garden of Eden! Remember when Adam and Eve sinned against God they were cast out of the Garden of Eden! Then an Angel with a flaming sword was placed at the east entrance not allowing any human to eat of the Tree of Life! We know that sin and Eternal Life cannot co-exist together! Everyone will chose one but without the other! Only Jesus could make this promise to the thief on the Cross because Jesus was the Tree of Life! He was hung on a Cross to provide you an entrance back into the Garden of Eden for an eternity! A garden with no sin because of His sacrifice for our sin on the Cross! The entrance fee has been paid with His own blood! Adam and Eve sacrificed animals in the Garden to try to cover their sin! But the blood of animals was not enough! The blood of God’s only Son was the only blood that would atone for our sin! The thief on the Cross might have been the first human to re-enter the Garden of Eden! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Spirit or Flesh? John 11:25-26 (Greek Translation)

Verse 25; “Jesus said unto her I will cause his body to stand on his feet again from the grave! I am the principle of life and the spirit and the soul but not the flesh! He that will believe or give me credit though he were dead yet I will cause his spirit to dwell eternally with me!” Verse 26; “And whosoever dwells with me spiritually and eternally and believes or gives me credit shall never die on account of sin!” Comment: My first thought was how could I believe in Jesus if I were physically dead? Jesus is talking about a spiritual death! The second death! Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead spiritually and physically but Lazarus died again! Jesus is telling us that the spirit and the soul is eternal but not the mortal flesh! Yet it is the mortality of the flesh that controls most people! Remember Jesus said we must be born again! Translated from the Greek he said we must be conceived from above! That is an important reason why at His ascension He sent us the Holy Spirit! There are two things in life that can destroy you eternally! Sin and to trust your flesh! Jesus heals sick bodies but only with eternity in mind! He said go and sin no more! Your flesh is temporary but your spirit and soul will dwell somewhere eternally! Either with Christ or separated from Him! Have you ever heard a Christian say I have never sinned since coming to Christ? The big lie! Your sin past, present and future is covered by the blood of Christ! You are not Holy by your own efforts! All will be raised from the dead! No one will miss this whether righteous or unrighteous! When you appear at the Judgment Seat of Christ you if in Christ will be pardoned from judgment! You will miss the second eternal death! Are you giving Christ credit for your Salvation right now while on earth! Do you tell others or are you mute? Salvation is about what you do with Christ and what He does with you! This is what the Easter message is all about! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Made Whole! Luke 8:48-50

Jairus the Temple ruler had one daughter 12 years old who was very sick! Jairus had sent for Jesus but He got delayed when a crowd of sick people thronged Him! A woman in the crowd touched the hem of His garment and got healed! Jesus commended her for her faith! Jairus sent another message to Jesus telling Him not to come for his daughter is dead! You might call this a cold case! Jesus presented two conditions for restoration! Fear not and believe and you will be made whole! So what does the words made whole mean? Elementary Watson! The Greek root word used here is “Sozo.” It is the same word used for our English word “Salvation.” This word means a spiritual and eternal rescue granted immediately by God for those who believe in Christ! It is the current experience of God’s power to those who believe in Christ! It is God’s power to deliver us from sin and death! What death are we talking about here? It is the second death or eternal judgment made by Christ Himself! Remember Jairus daughter and Lazarus were raised from the dead but they died a physical death again! Lightening can strike twice! I was delivered from my death bed in 1973 and have served Christ for the past 44 years but I will experience another physical death! Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:5? Remember the congregation member living with his father’s wife? Verse 5: “To deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Remember Physical death is Satan’s work not God’s work! Death is the result of sin! If Salvation was a rescue of our physical bodies here on earth then we would never die again while here on earth! At the resurrection we will receive glorified bodies that will never get sick or die! Remember at the Judgment seat of Christ some Christians will lose their rewards but not their Salvation! When some Christians get to Heaven will they be on probation? Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us! Jesus went back to Heaven to pray for us, send the Holy Spirit and prepare a place for us! He will come again! You cannot go there unless you have Salvation with a new body and a redeemed soul! He can provide that to you because of Calvary! The Easter message is about this hope we have in Him and His promises to those who accept Him as Savior! Our hope is in Him! Our past is in Him! Our present is in Him! Our future is in Him! He is the same yesterday, today and forever! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

17th Century Wisdom!

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

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

Are You a Minister? 1 Chronicles 16:4

King David appointed these ministers to serve before the Ark of God! They were to record and give thanks to the God of Israel. They were to write down their experiences and record them! That is how we got our Bible! Notice they were appointed by a higher authority! They were not self-appointed! You can never be in authority unless you are under authority! The word minister used here in the Hebrew means to serve a higher rank! Much like in the military. An example would be Joseph managing all the affairs of Potiphers house. Not his wife’s affairs! So who is the General or highest rank? God Himself! If you examine God in the scriptures we find that He is also a servant! Who is the lowest rank? Satan yet because of sin he runs most of the world! You should not serve him because all of creation out ranks him including the snake! Jesus exposed the good nature of a servant when he said he who is greatest in the Kingdom of God is servant of all. You will discover in the New Testament that the word minister and servant come from the same Greek word, “diakonos.” This definition can range from a waiter of tables to running errands to a teacher or a Pastor! Satan is not a servant! In fact he enslaves people so they do his bidding! God gives but Satan takes! God has given us life but Satan has taken life through death! So we have givers and takers! Our Bible says give and it will be given to you pressed down and overflowing! It also says the wages of sin is death! Remember we minister to the highest rank when we serve others! God will enable us to do this if we will humble ourselves! Pride will cause us to want to be served! Two different attitudes with two different outcomes! As Easter is approaching let us remember God sacrificed Himself for us! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Easter Truth! John 5:28-29

These are the words of Jesus spoken from the Book of John! This is not my opinion! These words spoken by Jesus here are also confirmed by other scriptures including the Old Testament! The truth spoken here by Jesus here says that all will be raised from the dead! The believers and unbelievers! I believe this truth is forgotten in most Easter Messages! We forget the Bible applies to everyone whether you believe it or not! The righteous raised to everlasting life and the unrighteous raised to judgment and the second death or lake of fire! This truth makes the Salvation message even more important! Most of the 21 Century preaching today is a soft petal message of Jesus! Jesus was a lamb at His first coming but will be a lion at His second coming! How does a culture try to deny the truth about what Jesus said in this scripture in John? If you try to deny the grave then you could avoid any resurrection! Right? Three ways those at war with God in American culture do this! First they deny the existence of God! Atheism which includes Darwinism and evolution and the junk science that tries to validate it! Second the grave is denied through abortion! To abort a baby in the womb and cut it to pieces and sell the body parts is to deny this soul’s existence! No grave no resurrection! Abortion is also about money! Money is the root of all evil! Sadly millions of dollars of our tax money is used to do these atrocities on millions of children! Cremation is also a denial of the soul and the grave! Cremation is promoted as a method to save money? Save it for abortion! If you have no body you have no grave! War itself is a denial of the human soul and the sanctity of life! Islam claims it is their duty to kill Christian’s and Jews? Cut their heads off and separate the body and deny the grave! They also claim it is their job to eradicate a whole race of people in Israel? Hitler echoed the same words! He used cremation on 6 million! Rather than try to deny life and the grave would it not be better that your eternity is predicated on what you do with Jesus Christ! When the train blows the whistle and you are not on board it will be too late! 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