15.The Time of Jesus God's Purpose for Man

Chapter 15
The Time of Jesus

Jesus, the forth-coming Messiah, had been prophesied since the fall of Adam and Eve - as shown in many places throughout the Old Covenant scriptures. This first prophecy, however, was directed to Satan just following the fall of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:14-15). Jesus was then prophesied by various prophets over 200 times during a period of 4000 years before He came upon the earth. 

Is 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God,, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of Davis, and upon his kingdom,, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The seed of the Lord of hosts will perform this. 

Is 7:14 Therefore, the LORD Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Sadly, Adam and Eve sinned and failed God, thus, mankind became a fallen creation, having a sinful nature.  In time, the earth became so corrupt wih evil and a mutant population to where God had to destroy everything with a global flood, short of one man and his family.  Noah's sons continued to populate the earth until God made a covenant with Abraham.  Through one man, God built a nation of His people to follow after Him.  Shortly thereafter, God's people spent 400 years in slavery to the Egyptians away from their God.  God then renewed Himself with His people following their exodus out of Egypt through the Mosaic Law.  There in the wilderness God taught His people the His ways, but this time, He set up the Mosaic Law because His people had not known Him for 400 years. Because of disobedience to God's instruction to take over Canaan, it took another generation of Israelites, however, to finally conquer over the mutated seed of the Canaanites; however, they did not completely wipe them out.  As time passed, man drifted further and further away from their God, leading their lives as they chose. The Law of Moses had become far removed from God’s original intention of His people. Sadly, man made a mockery of what was originally set up for him to follow. Man’s heart had become so corrupt, so in the fullness of time, God offered a new and better way for man to come to Him.  God was about to offer Himself to the earth through His Son - Jesus - the long awaited prophesied seed of the woman.  The time was right for Jesus to come. Would Israel, His chosen people receive Him?

A Cry for Repentance

A cry for repentance came from out of the wilderness through John the Baptist, the cousin and forerunner of Jesus.  His clarion messages cried out for man to repent - "for the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived.” Jesus, the long awaited prophesied Messiah had come to earth (Matt 3:2).

Jesus the Christ Came Down to Earth

To show Himself to mankind, God sent His Son down to earth in human form. Fully God, yet fully human, Jesus left His divinity in heaven to become like man on earth (Phil 2:7). Jesus lived as human for 33 years upon the earth. According to Jewish law, Jesus entered into ministry at the age of 30, only to suffer the pangs of death for mankind three years later. In Him was the fullness of what God had planned for the redemption of mankind. God had now provided a way for man to come back to God John 14:6; John 3:16).

This Salman (painter's name) Head of Christ has hung in my home since the
day of my marriage 61 years ago

God wanted to reach the heart of man, not just his intellectual level. God wanted mankind to have a genuine heart belief in Him through His Son. His desire was, and still is that everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, be saved. God desires that no one perish to hell. God, however, created man with a free will – free to make his own choices - to love God or rebel against Him, which in turn would be to follow after Satan.

Hell was originally created only for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41), whereas man was originally created to live forever upon the earth, having dominion over everything.  Once man fell to Satan, given a free-will to choose whom to follow, heaven or hell then became the future reality for mankind.

Since man rejected God through Adam, God sent His Son, in the fullness of time, to save mankind not only from hell, but deliver him from the bondages of Satan. God wants everyone to be saved, having life in Jesus, spending an eternity with Him.  Jesus came to heal, cast out demons, do miracles, raise the dead, and take a person out of whatever bondage he or she may be in. Jesus commanded His disciples to go out into the highways and byways, persuading anyone, Jew and Gentile alike, to come to Him – to come into the Kingdom of Heaven. To come meant, and still does mean, to believe in Who Jesus is, and all that He represents (John 10:10b).

Jesus set an example for us to live in harmony with one another. He taught us how to love, forgive and care for one another. He passed that example down to His disciples who then were called to train new disciples, and they in turn would pass that same heritage down to future generations - to even today. Who are those disciples of today?  You and I – as believers in Christ.  As such, we are called to bring people into the Kingdom of God, discipling them in the things of the Lord, so they in turn can do the same thing with others.

Jesus told His disciples that when He returned to heaven, He would prepare a place for those who believed and trusted in Him. He said that He would then come again to receive His faithful believers unto to Himself - to rule and reign with Him forever (John 14:2-3).

God’s People Killed His Son

The religion of the Sadducees and Pharisees were steeped in the Law of Moses and the Traditions of men that had been passed down through the generations by men. Sadly, repentance and acceptance of Jesus, which was offered, did not find its way to those in high places, but only to a small remnant of Jews who knew they had a need for a Savior – the needy, the poor, and those in bondage. Therefore, God’s own people, aided by Roman authorities, crucified His Son, nailing Jesus to the cross for claiming to be God, even though He had been prophesied over 200 times through the Jews own Scriptures as the long awaited Messiah. They nailed Jesus to the cross in shame and ridicule, mocking Him and called Him the King of the Jews, knowing little that He was not only the King of the Jews, but the King of all Kings.

Satan's Victory?

God had spent 4000 years preserving the pure seed of His Son, only for His people to reject and kill Him. It appeared Satan won the war with God in defeating the seed of the woman as prophesied way back in the 3rd chapter of Genesis (Gen 3:15).

Jesus’ death on the cross, however, was not a defeat – it was a victory over Satan, and salvation for us – to every believer who believes in the deity of Jesus Christ as God and Savior of mankind.

Jesus’ Resurrection Was Not Prophesied in the Old Testament

God had been careful not to say anything throughout the Old Covenant scriptures that Jesus’ death would be a victory. Abraham, Moses, and the prophets did not know it – for if they had, they may have foretold of His victory over Satan. God did not speak of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead because He did not want Satan to get knowledge of that information. If He had, Satan would not have had Jesus killed, and therefore prophecy would not have been fulfilled.

Jesus, through His death on the cross, took on every sin that you and I, and all of mankind, ever committed – and ever will. Because of His shed blood and resurrection from the dead, we as believers, can have victory over Satan here on earth and reign victoriously with Christ forever.

When Jesus died, which seemed like God’s defeat, God turned around to defeat Satan, by raising Jesus from the dead. Jesus conquered death, hell and hades, sickness, disease, poverty, oppression, and every form of evil that the devil tries to put upon mankind.

Satan Defeated Again

Satan lost his reign once again – to believers in Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God. Satan’s defeat, however, was only partial in nature, and only for a season.  He still does reign upon the earth, but not over believers in Christ.  Believers can command Satan to leave them anytime, using their authority in the name of Jesus, having victory over sin and every power of the devil (Mark 16:17-18).

Satan, however, continues to control the earth and those who choose not to follow after Christ. He will also continue to harass believers into thinking they have no control over Him. That, however, is not the case.  Satan will continue to harass until the time of the end, and then God will deal with him to bring about his eternal defeat - forever.

Jesus Became Our Sacrifice

Jesus had to die! He had to be the sacrifice of sin for mankind. God originally set it up for man to bring animal sacrifices for their sins. Man, however, used those sacrifices as a way of forgiveness, but continued to choose to live as they pleased. As such, the heart of man did not serve God. Their sacrifices were not from their heart, but had become a rigid religious ritual.  God did not have communion with man as He had so desired. Man in his heart was still rejecting Him, only to bring his sacrifices once a year to the temple, and then return to practice the same sin behavior again. True communion with man and God, and man with man had been lost, and needed to be brought back.

God Had a Better Way

The Written Law which God set up for His people 2000 years prior had become twisted and perverted, or ignored. When Jesus came, He called the religious Pharisees and Sadducees of His day “hypocrites.” He said that “in vain they worship Me – their hearts are far away from me.” He was telling them that if they honored God only with their lips, and not with their hearts, it was worthless (Matt 15:7-9). 

The religious people had become legalistic in all of their ways, losing what God was trying to teach them. God originally set up the Law of Moses to be instruction (tutor) until the fullness of time when Christ would come.  Then His laws wouyld be upon their heart. Sadly, however, the law had become distorted, and the oral traditions of men had set in as law (Gal 3:24-25). 

It seemed that Jesus was only able to reach the people who knew they had a need for a Savior. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Scribes (the religious Jews) were very proud people who performed their religious rituals and traditions faithfully to God, but lived their lives as they chose or after the traditions of men. They had God in their own midst, but failed to see Who He was, and what He was trying to teach them.

Since the time of Jesus upon the earth, man again has done the same thing. Christianity, in the form of ritual religion, had become routine – a set of laws and traditions, and many times have become meaningless. Again, people have missed the very heart of what God was trying to teach them. God was mentioned in their religious rituals, but He was not in their heart. So sad!  Jesus Christ wants us to have a personal intimate relationship with Him - not a Sunday religion, but a day-to-day intimate fellowship. He wants to be real within us so that He can teach us His ways.  Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship between man and Jesus the Christ, Son of the Living God (Rom 10:9-10; John 10:10b).

How glorious it is to have Jesus Christ living and activated inside us through the power of His Holy Spirit. He speaks to us through His Word and in prayer. Prayer becomes a daily conversation between two spirit beings who love each other. Changes take place because it is Jesus Christ, through His Holy Spirit living in us, who is doing the wonderful changing through the relationship that is built daily. As this relationship is built, the person that has Jesus living and activated on the inside of him or her is learning to overcome problems in life, where before it was literally impossible. Love replaces hate, faith replaces fear, and forgiveness replaces unforgiveness. We become more and more like Jesus Christ. When we have communion with our Maker, as God originally intended all along – that pleases Him. That is God’s purpose for man (Col 1:18).

God’s Promise

The Jews, throughout the Old Covenant, was promised a Messiah and Savior to redeem them from the powers of this world. In addition, this Messiah was to give them back their land as their inheritance. Sadly, the Jews rejected Him when He came, and they are still waiting for Him to come to set up His earthly kingdom with physical power and dominion over Israel and from there rule the whole earth. What the Jews failed to recognize is that their redeemer already came – the first time in Jesus – 2000 years ago.

God’s Kingdom Has Already Been Set Up

Jesus did set up His kingdom, however, His kingdom was the Kingdom of God within the hearts of men to prepare his believers for His second coming. His second coming then will be with a rod iron to rule the earth. The Jews still await their Messiah’s first coming, and as such, lack the preparation for His second coming. They missed it.

If you were to approach any orthodox Jew in Israel today, he or she would tell you that there is not much time left before their Messiah will be coming. They think they are prepared, ready and awaiting for their Messiah.  And they are correct; however, this is not His first advent.  As Christians, we also know that the time is short – that our Messiah is coming. He is, however, “returning” for His second advent to set up His Millennial Kingdom here on earth. The question is, how do we all know that the time is short?

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