Communion Service July 30,2017 Genesis 4:4

As we were preparing for Communion Service our Pastor Cope asked us to contemplate what this ordinance in our church meant to each of us? Pastor Cope presented many scriptures out of the Old and New Testaments! As these scriptures cut through my soul I asked myself where is recorded the first body and blood sacrifice in our Bible? From where did the first fountain of blood flow? Abel presented an excellent sacrifice according to the KJV. Some Bible translations say a better offering but to me a weak translation! A sacrifice to God means blood! An offering may not mean blood! Then Cain murdered Abel his brother and his body was broken and bled! Did Abel have more faith than Cain? No! Abel had faith in the right thing! The blood sacrifice of his lamb! Cain’s sacrifice was of the ground and did not remind God of His Son Jesus Christ sacrifice of his body and blood for our sin! We can have faith in the wrong things! Jesus said remember this my body and my blood! Every time we take Communion we are reminded of His love towards us! God had to become flesh for the flesh of men could only sin! Man’s blood continues to be shed in the earth through wars, violence and sin! All the wars in the history of men starting with Cain and Abel could never cure the sin problem! It was also violence that put Jesus on the Cross! Had I been Cain, Adam, Judas, Pilot, Herod or Caesar I would have done the same thing! Abel’s sacrificial lamb reminds me that Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for me on Calvary is the only lasting sacrifice for the sin of everyone who has lived on the earth or will ever live on the earth! Men that reject Christ’s blood always end up sacrificing the blood of mortal men in rebellion against God! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Is Jesus God? Philippians 2:6-8

Jesus while He was here on earth positively laid claim to Deity is clear from the fact that the Jews reproached Him with two accusations: first. that He place God on par with Himself—and this they called blasphemy, secondly, that He made Himself God—and in this they thought they recognized the false prophet, although both idea’s merged together in John 10:30-39. Remember our Lord Jesus Christ being the Son of God did not and could not claim to be the Father but He did claim to be God! Even a human cannot claim to be his father but can claim to be a human being. A claim to the sameness of nature of personality in like manner is consistent and intelligible in the case of Divine Sonship of the Son of God but the sameness of personality would be contradictory! But there is a similarity of persons that it would be true that those who saw the Son have seen the Father! Also remember that the Trinity is one Spirit and character and not many personalities! Christ’s distinction had everything to do with His mission here on earth as Redeemer of mankind! Christ is not half man and half God! He is wholly man and wholly God! Jesus prayed because He is a man! God does not pray! God answers prayers through His Son Jesus Christ! If God were to pray who would He pray to? Himself? What is Jesus doing in Heaven right now? He is interceding for the Saints in prayer to the Father! Jesus still has a human nature in Heaven and so will we! We will not be floating on a cloud as a bodiless Spirit! You mean I get stuck with my ugly face for eternity? Do not jump over the cliff yet! Our human bodies are created by God! Male and female! Sin has marred us! God has a fix for our sin through Jesus where death no longer rules us! Your God given identity will not change! Jesus is a man in Heaven as He was on earth! Mary the mother of Jesus is still a female right now in Heaven! You will be much greater in Heaven because sin will no longer influence your decisions! You will live more like you are in Heaven while on earth because Jesus has redeemed you through His Blood! You will carry the same gender in Heaven and this is why gender reassignment is such a mockery to God and His creation! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Resurrection! Matthew 27:52-53

The word resurrection literally means to quit one’s previous position and to rise up! We need a spiritual resurrection and a physical resurrection! Jesus said we must be born again! We had no control over our physical birth and no control over our physical death unless we chose suicide! Without Christ we wake up everyday in our previous position of sin! Nothing seems to change except things get worse! Through Christ we quit this position and move into righteousness! That is we are made right with God! We wake up with a spiritually resurrected body and the promise of a physically resurrected body! It is interesting that when Jesus died on the Cross the graves were opened up by an earthquake and many of the saints arose! Notice in verse 53, they came out of the graves after the resurrection! When sin has been paid for people get free! I spent a few years in India and learned some of the aspects of the Hindu religion! The Hindus suffer from many bondages and superstitions based upon their Theology of God! One particular destructive belief about God is the Doctrine of reincarnation! Not the incarnation but reincarnation! They believe if you sin or are a bad person in your next life you could be a bug, rat or a snake or something awful. There is no remedy and you are locked into this condition due to your sin! They have respect for bugs and rats because they could have been a former family member! If fact in the Hindu Temples they feed rats and snakes milk and give them respect! Lucky critters! So they believe their sin is punished forever into the next generations whom could be a bug, snake, cow or a human never to come up in life! They make no effort to improve their life because their lot is permanent! It was very hard to improve their life under these beliefs! The incarnation is very different from the reincarnation! God taking on our sin who was without sin to deliver us from evil. God becomes man to take the very sin that separates us from God! If reincarnation were true and Jesus was just another human and took on the sin of the whole world he would have been resurrected as Satan! But Jesus was God and only that sacrifice would have been acceptable to God the Father! His son was the key to redemption! When Jesus was raised from the dead the saints were raised with Him! The resurrection is probably the most important aspect of our Faith! It is also based on historical facts! The next time you see a bug crawling across your floor you have my permission to step on it! What we believe about God determines our outlook and attitude about life here on earth and after! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Are You The One? Mark 14:61-62

I believe every generation born asks this question sooner or later! Caiaphas the High Priest asked Jesus this question! After Judas betrayed Jesus the Jews apprehended Jesus and a mock trial was held! Jesus was a threat to the religious leaders of Israel as He is to the religious system today! The religious leaders raised up false accusers against Jesus to nail Him! However the false witnesses could not agree with their testimonies! Why was Jesus such a threat? They had their long robes and long prayers but Jesus at the snap of His fingers raised the dead, healed the blind and the lame, walked on water and cast out demons! So Caiaphas had to ask the question that he dreaded to ask and inside knew this was probably the guy! Jesus are you the Christ the Son of the Blessed? What was he really asking? Let us break these words down one Greek word at a time! Christ means the anointed one! That is He was covered with the Glory of God! The word son used here, “Hulos”, is a specific word reserved for the Son of God as opposed to the generic word used meaning the offspring of parents! The word Blessed is reserved for God who is worthy of praise! Humans can be favored by circumstances however these circumstances can change and usually will over time! God is the creator of all and we are the recipients of His love! Jesus replied to his question with an affirmative yes and added more as we see in verse 62. Caiaphas then accused Jesus of blasphemy and Jesus persecution and execution followed! Suffering can come because of who you are! Good or bad! Jesus suffering was pre-planned by God! Jesus always referred to “His Father” except at the Cross! At the Cross Jesus said, “My God why have you forsaken me?” Have you ever felt forsaken? There are many benefits for following Jesus such as eternal life, peace, joy, love, long suffering, patience and the list goes on! Also remember many suffer today because of His name! Such as the Christians in the Middle East, Africa and places including America! It is not easy to suffer for who you are however Jesus suffered because of who we are! Sinners saved by Grace! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Last Supper 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 (Greek Translation)

Verse 24; “And when Jesus had prayed over the meal and broke and divided the bread He said, “Take eat; this is my human body which is broken for you, this do in remembrance, in recollection, in repetition, to know again and recall of me.” Verse 25; “After the same manner Jesus took the cup after the evening meal and said, “This cup is new which is not impaired by time or use and is a divisor will in my atoning blood and as often as you drink it come to know me again.” Comment: Why do we take Communion? The Lord has instituted it according to His Word! Human nature tends to forget! When we honor someone it is usually in memory of the past. However the Hebrews or the Jews have a very different perception of the word remembrance! The Jews look at the word remembrance as his presence is still with us! At the Seder meal the Jews have an empty chair seated for Elijah! Jesus is with us today! I will never leave you nor forsake you! Remember Jesus has set the Communion Table before you as an invited quest! Your sin required the Table be set! You did not pay anything for the Table or the meal. You were invited even though you were unworthy! Jesus is personally sharing a meal with you! He is present with you! Why would you turn down a meal you did not pay for and did not deserve and made no sacrifice for? This meal purchased your freedom from sin, death and Hell yet you will not partake? His broken body and shed blood remind us that the Cross was very costly to God and His Son for the redemption of your spirit, soul and body! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.

God Renders Legal Decision! 1 Chronicles 15:13

“For because you did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for we sought Him not after the due order.” Two Hebrew words stand out in this scripture written thousands of years ago! The word “first”, head or first in rank. The words “due order”, means a legal decision given by God to be followed by the people! What is really interesting is the Hebrew  word is another Hebrew root word for the word “due order.” The Strong’s Number is 8199. Here is the Hebrew definition of the word; “this word encompasses all the facets of government including executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.” This sounds like our United States Constitution! Most Americans do not get the connection between our Bible and the Constitution! Our Constitution is a Biblical document! Remember the Jewish Temple and the Mount was the seat of all religious and government rule to the Jewish culture! Law cases were tried there! Laws were written there! Executive actions to enforce the law were done from there! Just as our God is a Trinity so is our government with three branches! The pattern for our Constitution was implemented after the Bible to give people liberty and Justice for all. The question that begs to be asked is why did God have to render a legal decision? We have broken His laws through sin! God’s legal decision to punish sin was accomplished by His Son on Calvary! God has given His Son Jesus Christ the responsibility to judge the living and the dead! Your judge could become your Savior if you choose Him? Otherwise Christ will be your judge forever! Which is it? Do not play the lottery with God! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Fear Not!

Just before Jesus raised the dead, healed the sick or calmed the storm he said, “Fear Not!” So what did he mean? Why did he say it? The Greek word is phobia which means to be in awe of or revere! To exalt it! To worship it! How do we worship fear? Watch violent movies! Have evil thoughts and replay them over and over again in your mind! We live in a violent world today just as Jesus did! Fear causes us to sin! I will do whatever it takes to get what i want! Love is just the opposite of fear! Love means to have affection or benevolence towards people! To have charity! It means more than just being a friend! It means to sacrifice for others! It does not mean to sacrifice others! That is what fear promotes! Hell is full of the fearful! They believe the lie that God does not love them! Heaven is full of love! For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son! A sacrifice for you and me to deliver us from our fear! Be a giver and not a taker in 2017! Start today! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Mary’s Song of Praise! Luke 2:51

“He hath showed strength with his arm, He hath scattered those that have turned their backs on Him in the image of their hearts!” Comment: Notice God scatters them! Remember Israel’s captivity? Like Refugee’s! Why would people turn their backs on God? Probably many reasons but the bottom line is they have the wrong image of God in their hearts! Remember we were created in the image or imagination of God! However the image breaker Satan is very busy! Satan tries to break the image of God in your heart! He tries through deception and lies to paint a bad picture of God to you! Christmas is important for this shows us God’s love for us! Being born for us and dying for us cannot create a better picture of God’s love for you! When we find the true image of God and His love for us then we want to love God and try to be like Him! The true image of God is expressed in the birth of His only Son Jesus Christ and the reasons He has come to earth just for you! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com