Sounds like my old girl friend! This statement Jesus made is different in the Greek rendition than we have in the English! Here are some notes from the Greek notation in my Bible. The verb “hipton”, the present imperative of hipto(681), should be translated, “do not continue to touch me.” It is “do not touch me” in the commonly translated and should have been translated if this verb had been in the aorist imperative, hapsou. So does it matter? It means Mary has already touched Him! I think anyone would have to want to touch Jesus after his Resurrection with the human curiosity of is this the real deal? Remember Thomas later in this chapter would not believe until he touched Jesus and felt the scars of His Crucifixion! In regards to the four pillars of redemption which includes Jesus birth, death, resurrection and ascension Jesus even though human fingerprints were all over the first three pillars did not want human influence on Him after the resurrection before His ascension! The Greek word touch means to intentionally touch to modify with influence on! God wants to modify our behavior but God wants no human influence on Him! We are not going to take this flesh we are living in to Heaven! The only thing that influenced my behavior away from God is my flesh! We leave it the grave for a reason! After Jesus resurrection He walked through a closed door to see His disciples! No physical limitations of the flesh! Jesus has transformed my life but death will finish the job! We cannot enter Heaven in this flesh so we have to be transformed from the worm to the butterfly! We do not die without a purpose! We live with purpose in Christ and we die with purpose in Christ! Without Christ you live without purpose and you die without purpose! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: heaven
Is Jesus Just a Gardener to You? John 20:15
Just as with Mary at one time in my life Jesus was just a gardener to me! As long as you do not look for Jesus you will never see Him! Mary Magdalene was the first disciple to recognize Jesus after His resurrection from the dead! Death seems to close the door on our personalities but really it does not! Remember the rich man and Lazarus? One life carried on in Heaven and the other life in Hell. Jesus carried on after his death the same way He was before death! Jesus disciples wrote Jesus off after the Crucifixion! Peter and John had preconceived idea’s about Jesus before they entered the tomb! They looked around the empty tomb and saw the grave clothes then fled and went into hiding from the Romans and the Jews! What they saw confirmed what they believed! This whole thing is a hoax! Mary hung around the tomb weeping because there was no body there to anoint for burying? Mary had experienced Jesus power for He cast 7 demons out of her! Yet she let death close the door on her faith and thought the man speaking to her in the tomb was a gardener! Then the voice and light of Jesus opened her eyes! Rabboni! Rabbi! Master! Jesus is always present even if you do not see Him! Just as a blind man can feel the rays of the sun so you can feel Jesus love! The stars shine brightest in the darkness of the night! After Jesus delivered me from death I could only see Him and experience His love! My allegiance and devotion turned to Him! Rabbi! Master! Power over death! Jesus was no longer a gardener to me! The Resurrection took on a whole new meaning! It was no longer just a religious story I heard once a year at church! Do you want the reality of Jesus or just a once a year story? You do not want to wake up on the wrong side of death as the rich man did! Either a Heaven or a Hell? The reality of Christ will one day come to all the living and the dead! Just so it is not too late for you! Chance and choice only come once to every individual. Wise men and women still seek Him! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Transubstantiation! Matthew 26:29
Perhaps you will say, I see something else, how is it that you assert that I receive the Body of Christ?…Let us prove that this is not what nature made, but what the blessing consecrated, and the power of blessing is greater than that of nature, because by blessing nature itself is changed… For that sacrament which you receive is made what it is by the Word of Christ. But if the Word of Elijah had such power as to bring down fire from Heaven, shall not the Word of Christ have power to change the nature of the elements?… Why do you seek the order of nature is the Body of Christ, seeing that the Lord Jesus Himself was born of a virgin, not according to nature? It is the true Flesh of Christ which was crucified and buried, this is seen truly the Sacrament of His Body. Before the blessing of the heavenly words another nature is spoken of, after the consecration the Body is signified. He Himself speaks of His Blood. Before the consecration it has another name, after it is called Blood. And you say Amen, that is, it is true. Let the heart within confess what the mouth utters, let the soul feel what the voice speaks. Saint Abrose of Milan (340-397 A.D.) Comment: This doctrine has been a Catholic doctrine for hundreds of years! We have to look at two words used in verse 29. The word kingdom in the Greek can include both Heaven and earth! That is it can mean God’s rule over the earth and His rule over the Spiritual eternal Kingdom in Heaven! Remember part of the Lord’s prayer is on earth as it is in Heaven! The other word used in this verse is the word new! The word means qualitatively new! That is the old man has become a new man! The Old Testament has a new quality! It has become the New Testament! The old Heaven has a new quality! It has become the new Heaven! The old earth has a new quality! It has become a new earth! Everything changed at the Cross! A change took place in me when I came to the Cross! The changes are still taking place in me some 45 years later! It is a continual work! A daily reformation! Are we going to take Communion in Heaven? How about at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? Some say well we will not because we will be with Jesus! Is Jesus not with you right now? Jesus said this do in remembrance of me! Do we need to remember what He has done for us in Heaven? When I take Communion here on earth what do I remember? I remember how bad I am and how good God is! I remember the price He paid for my sin! I remember I deserved death and He gave me life! I remember how hopeless and lost I was and He rescued me! Will I forget these things in Heaven? No way my friend! You see His love for me changed everything! His love for me caused me to love others! If I am that valuable then others must to valuable too! My same motivation to worship Him on earth will be the same motivation in Heaven! Ever Communion Service renews my relationship to Him! It is like being born again again! Paul warned us not to crucify Him again! We are to examine ourselves before Communion! Paul meant we are not to continue sinning after Communion! Whether the elements of the Communion are the actual Blood and Body of Jesus is not the issue with me! We can reject Christ even while taking Communion! Our heart can be somewhere else! Away from Him! So how can we test any Theology? Does the Theology move us closer to Christ or farther away from Him? If Communion causes me to feel free to sin because my slate will be clean at the next Communion Service then we have a license to sin! Does your love for Christ want you to please God and forsake your sin? Why did Lucifer rebel against God? Lucifer a created being like us that was the Praise Leader of Heaven and forsook his position and was cast out of Heaven with 1/3 of the Angels who became Satan? Lucifer looked at his job as a position only not in relationship to God! It was just a job and love was absent from his relationship to God! So self moved on the throne of his heart and rebellion followed! We attended a large church in Colorado Springs for 3 years. Pastor Brady Boyd had the congregation take Communion every week! This was a lot of work for there were about 5 thousand members! So what did this do for me? It brought to my remembrance more often what Christ had done for me and what He is doing for me today! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Purpose! Psalm 1
Virtues without faith are leaves, flourishing in appearance, but unproductive. How many pagans have mercy and sobriety but no fruit, because they do not attain their purpose! The leaves speedily fall at the wind’s breath. Some Jews exhibit purity of life and much diligence and love of study, but bear no fruit and live like leaves. Saint Abrose of Milan ( 340-397 A.D.) Comment: Remember what Jesus did to the tree that produced no fruit? Jesus being a Jew cautioned the religious Jews that their efforts produced no fruit outside of me! After coming to Christ fruit began to grow in my life! Fruit from deep roots in Christ! True purpose can only be found in the one outside of yourself! When He moves inside of you a harvest comes in your life you could never achieve by yourself! I find many people would rather trust themselves than the God who gave them life! The sooner you abandon self-worship the sooner you find God’s purpose for your life! There is nothing more fulfilling than this! It has eternal consequences here on earth and in heaven! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Lent Season 2 Corinthians 5:17
Greek Translation; “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new quality never before accomplished and a fully restored man that God has created. Old things are passed away and all things have become new.” Comment: What things are passed away? Our sin has passed away! It passed away on a Cross over two thousand years ago! Sin died on the Cross with Jesus! It was nailed on a Cross never to rise again! Sin is defeated forever! Man was raised from the dead without sin! A new creature uninfected by sin! Born again! A restoration that has nothing to do with men but everything to do with God! The only sacrifice that is perfect and everlasting! Man’s efforts have failed but God’s work won the day! A victory that is not seasonal with every new game but eternal! No rivals! It is not a victory that is waiting for the next war but has defeated all foes past and future! A trophy that will not rust with time but the timeless redemption of all ages! Heaven and earth will pass away but not our Christ! He will create a new Heaven and a new earth to go along with your new life! Awaken to your new reality that had been hidden in time! Do you want to trade in your old model for the new model or do you want to hang unto death? Do you want to exchange your sin for righteousness before God? Righteousness that He purchased for you! Do you want to be wrong with men and right with God? Free at last! You cannot have it both ways! Heaven or Hell not Heaven and Hell. As we enter into the Lent season think on these thoughts! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
John Lennon Promotes Hell!
Here are the words of this despicable song! Imagine there’s no heaven. It is easy if you try. No hell below us. Above us only sky. Imagine all the people . living for today. Comment: No heaven or hell? John is blaming God for the evil in the world! Remember the Bible says we were created in the Image of God! So John is saying if God did not exist everything would be alright! Such a mockery! The responsibility of evil in the world has nothing to do with God! It is his creation that wars against him is the result of sin! Living for today? No responsibility required? No rewards for good and no punishment for evil? His mockery of God is unequaled! He goes on in the second stanza and says imagine there are no countries? No religion too? As though peace would ensue if these were absent? Heaven is full of people from every country and so is hell! John is talking about the one world government to be established with the Anti-Christ rule for 7 years before Christ’s second coming! In the next stanza John is trying to recruit you to his hell on earth! Imagine no possessions? No need for greed and hunger? Brotherhood of man? Sharing all the world? John is promoting socialism and the communism which was responsible for the killing of millions of people! In the last stanza he again trying to recruit you to join him! Then the world will be one? John was really trying to tell us that it were not for God the world would live in perfect peace? The truth is there is a battle between good and evil because there is a Ruler for Heaven and a Ruler for Hell that are competing for your soul! To deny either is suicide! To chose Satan over Christ is to spend an eternity separated from God in Hell. Heaven, earth and hell is a reality show and to deny any of it is living in a John Lennon Imaginary world not connected to any reality! Imagine there is a Heaven and a Hell and where you end up has everything to do with what you do with Jesus Christ! The imagination that counts is God’s Imagination not mine or yours! If you want to know the mind and imagination of God read your Bible! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Medal of Honor! John 15:13
I have watched some video’s of American Medal of Honor Winners from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. As I watched these I began to see a pattern in the lives of these brave men! Their love for their comrades on the battlefield led them to take very heroic actions in combat! One particular Vietnam Veteran really got my attention! When they were in the midst of a battle a Viet Cong soldier through a grenade into the midst of his army platoon! When he saw the grenade he said it was like being frozen in time! What to do? He took his steel helmet off his head threw it over the grenade and then threw his body on top of his helmet! The grenade exploded under his helmet tearing his stomach open and filling his body with shrapnel! He said his intestines were laying outside of his body on the ground! Another soldier came along and put his guts back in his stomach and taped his stomach closed with ribbons torn from his uniform! Another soldier came along and drug his body away from the fire fight so the medics and the helicopters could get him to a field hospital. He said we never left the dead or wounded for the enemy! His recovery took years at a Veteran’s Hospital. He said the hardest thing for him in this hospital was to see the young men come in from Vietnam and die in the hospital with no family around them! After his recovery he tried to go back to college but the protesting college students would mock him for going to war for his country so he left school. The other veteran’s also said that the love for each other is what kept them going and bonded them together! It was not the politics of the war or political parties that mattered to them! They had to look out for each other! That is what a family does for each other! Jesus said there is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his brother! Why did Jesus go to the Cross? His love for His Father! Only He could pacify the anger His Father had for His Creation! Remember Jesus words on the Cross? Father forgive them! Why have you forsaken me? The Vietnam Veteran’s even today feel forsaken by their country! But their love for each other bonds them together! We the people are free from foreign aggression because of their love for each other! Likewise we are benefited by God’s love in particular with Jesus love for His Father in being obedient even to the death on a Cross for our sin! Today Jesus position in Heaven is not by accident! He is seated at the right hand of the Father because of His love for His Father! None of us will even sit closer to the Father than the Son! Jesus is returning soon back to the earth to complete His love for the Father and for you! Jesus went into combat for you! He lives for you and died for you and rose from the dead for you and His love of the Father is also expressed to you! Love is manifested in relationship! We cannot love God if not in relationship to Him! You could never sacrifice your life on the battlefield unless in relationship to other soldiers of your Nation suffering the same combat! To honor God is to honor American Veterans! No one except President Trump understands the neglect our American Military Veteran’s! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Self-Worship! Isaiah 47:10
For you have felt confident, safe and secure in your malignant, evil and immoral thoughts; for you have declared and spoken that no one has seen my intellectual depravity. Your intellect and understanding is flawed and it condemns you for you have turned back to sin away from me. Comment: Self worship is a choice! You make your own gods and then worship them! You deny the true God and manufacture an idol. Lucifer was Heaven’s choir director! One day he decided to worship himself and abandon God! He made himself God! It was a case of identity theft! Pretend to be someone else! Masquerade as God! Lucifer with 1/3 of the angels were kicked out of Heaven! Lucifer became Satan! Never a chance for redemption! Satan came to Adam and Eve and said surely God has not said…. So he promoted the rebellion here on earth! Remember what Satan challenged Jesus to do? If you are the Son of God turn these stones into bread! Jump off the high wall of the Temple! Satan wanted Jesus to challenge God! Problem for Satan was Jesus was God! Satan wanted Jesus to challenge Himself! The Jewish leaders challenged Jesus saying only God can forgive sin! Atheists challenge God by saying He does not exist! When they do this they make themselves God! Charles Darwin a Jewish atheist theorized since God does not exist things must have happened this way! So he came up with his theory of evolution! Sadly this is taught as truth in our public funded institutions throughout our education system today! Children taught the big lie! You can lie about me and get away with it but to lie about God has eternal consequences! Salvation is an inside job! The law cannot change you from the outside in! Jesus said you must be born again! God provided His only begotten Son for the sacrifice for our sin! Worship the true God and you will reflect His image not your own image! Your own image is sin! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Is Jesus a Colonialist? Mark 16:15
Jesus commanded us to go out into all the world an preach the Gospel. By definition Jesus is a colonialist! Was Hitler a colonialist? Lenin? Stalin? Imperial Japan? Ho Chi Minh? Columbus? If you read the journal’s of Christopher Columbus and his voyages you will find that his highest priority was the evangelize the New World in Christ’s name! When the Pilgrim’s came to America they found the native American Indian tribes warring against each other! Colonialists? Are the Islamist colonialists? Absolutely! The cultural war here in America is a war against believers who follow Christ with the Holy Bible! If you are not colonializing in Jesus name then you are colonializing in your own name or another name! Are you colonializing in the name of evolution? Are the Republican and Democratic parties colonialists? Absolutely! The illegal immigration debate is all about legalizing them not that they care about them but to get the credit so they will vote for their party so they can stay in political power! They are pawns in a chess game! Is God a colonialist? Is Satan a colonialist? There are and always have been two Kingdoms being colonialized with people! Heaven and Hell. Which Kingdom will you end up in? Depends what you do with Jesus Christ! The political left and the anti-colonialist movement is all about turning back the light of Christ and the stability of Christ and America to the dark ages! To break down the very foundation that has made America the greatest Nation on earth! The only two nations on earth that stand in the way of the one world government with Anti-Christ leading with his false prophet is America and Israel! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
First & Last! Isaiah 44:6
Hebrew Translation: “Thus saith the Lord the Divine Authority of Israel, who was not elected by men but created men has ransomed and released you the Lord of the Armies of Heaven and His Angels. I am the first in place, time and rank, and I am the last following behind my creation with redemption and judgment; beside me there is no Holy, Righteous and True God.”