(96) Two Meals

Genesis 3:1-6

• 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
• 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
• 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 
• 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
• 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
• 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

The woman, being Eve, saw that the tree was good for food and she ate from it.  After she was deceived by the serpent (satan) she took the fruit of the tree and ate it.  He added doubt to what God had said.  He did not tell the full story.  And because she fell into desire and disobeyed God and listened to satan instead of the word of God, sin entered this world.  Death came.  Disease took hold.  Hair started to fall out.  Skin could now be blemished.  Desires became evil.  Eyesight and hearing became impaired.  Hate entered.  Relying upon our own decisions over God's plan was now impacting all historical events.  When they took this meal the human race died.  All flesh was ruined.

The human race lost its path to God.  Reconciliation was now needed.  People like Noah, Abraham, Issac, and Jacob had faith and God kept them safe in His arms.  But the rest of the human race became slaves to our desires and each generation died more (if possible) than the generation before.  Even God's people, the chosen ones of Israel, eventually succumbed to the evil desires of this world and become slaves to Egypt.  God heard their cries but reconciliation was still needed.  God gave them the Law but they still could not bring the reconciliation by these works.  The human race was still dead.

All because of one meal.

Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-23 (combined)

• While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.”
• And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “Take this and share it among yourselves. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins;
• do this in remembrance of Me.
• Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in My Father’s kingdom.”

Almost 4000 years after Adam and Eve ate from the tree, Jesus Christ came and gave up His life.  His life will be the reconciliation that the human race needed.  His life will give us life renewed.  To undo the damage that Adam did, Jesus came.

To reverse the curse, Jesus added a blessing.  To heal the ruined flesh of the human race Jesus offered His flesh.  To bring back life, Jesus offered His blood.  Because of Jesus the human race is alive again.  The pathway back to God was complete.  The truth by the word of God was given back to man and turned back the deception of the word of the serpent.

All because of another meal.

This meal is communion.  Take and remember His sacrifice.  This Resurrection Sunday remember all that He did for us.

(94) What are the Keys?

Matthew 16:19 has Jesus saying, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  What does that mean?  

If we go back to the Greek, which was one of the lingua franca at the time, especially in the Asia Minor/Palestine area, the word 'keys' is from the word 'kleis'.  It is in the New Testament six times.  It means authority.  What are these keys?  They are not actual literal keys like someone gives to others to let themselves into a place.  In each reference it is symbolic of holding some kind of power over something else.  When Jesus says that we have the keys of the kingdom it means that we have been given authority on this earth.  We will be heard from heaven.  We will be given authority from heaven.  Why?  We are kings!  See Lesson 79  This is the background, the big question is where did the keys come from?  Keep in mind some of this is just an opinion because the Old Testament doesn't mention keys although other terms are used in there that are connected.  Such as "dominion", "rule", and "subdue" have clearly the same concepts.  We are to rule.  But 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:2, and John 12:31 says that satan rules the earth.  Now how could both be right? Somewhere along the line satan gained the keys to this world.  And that day came the day that Adam fell.  We bowed down to satan and he became the ruler of the world.

We were supposed to rule this world and live forever; one with God (Elohim) the Creator but Adam disobeyed God and basically gave satan the keys to the earth.  We handed dominion over to him.  We died that day.  Our souls and bodies were now able to die.  Our bodies now decayed.  Our souls now went to the grave (Sheol) waiting for judgement.  There are two parts to Sheol; Hades and Paradise. When Jesus's body died, His soul went to Paradise and released all the souls.  The souls went back to their bodies, Matthew 27:52-53.  These resurrected saints gained life again and were taken to heaven when Jesus ascended.  We lost the keys and the only way we could get it back is if God Himself came and took them back.  While He was in Paradise he took back the keys for us.  Revelation 1:17-18 says, "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, 'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.'"

We now have been given the keys to the kingdom.  Peter passed on those keys because the church was founded on him.  We are the church.  We have those keys.  Jesus holds the keys to death and Hades.  Satan has no more dominion over us, unless we don't use those keys.  Death will not stop us.

(22) The Tabernacle, Part 1, Exodus 25-31

The Tabernacle, before the Temple was built, was the place of worship. To understand the Tabernacle, you have to understand what life was like before it was built. God's original plan was to exist with humanity and walk with man on a day to day basis. But the first man sinned and cause a separation between God and man. God can not be around sin for he is holy. But, man without God is hopeless. There is nothing left for man if God was not around. God did not want man to be lost so He allowed a way for man to get the relationship back, worship.

Sin is when we worship our own will (desires) instead of God's. This is what separates us from God. We need a way to bridge the gap. Worship is when we have a relationship with God. To be able to get back that perfect relationship, sin had to be taken away. Sin kills this relationship. Worship helps bring it back. But there is still a separation. Only total atonement for sin can do that. In the OT, it was through sacrifice. But the New Covenant makes Jesus Christ the atonement, or sacrifice.

Eden was God's place on Earth. It was the place that God put His most prized possession, man. It was a place where God went to man to speak with him, to be with him. But Adam sinned. Sin cause man to be thrown out of God's place.

When Adam sinned, he tried to hide his sin by "covering" himself with a fig leaf. This was not good enough. God gave him a new covering; one made with skin of an animal. An animal had to die and the shedding of blood had to happen to cover us completely. Christ died and His blood now covers us. (Genesis 2:25-3:24)

Why blood? Because as in Hebrews 9:22, blood is a life force. When we died through Adam our blood line to God was cut. To get that blood line back, blood (innocent) has to be shed. In the Tabernacle days, it was through a spotless lamb; one without blemish. If they sacrificed an animal that was already dying or defective, what good would it have done? What would it have proven? Sacrificing a pure lamb showed that they could give up something so valuable in order to show their feelings to God. Do not worry, the animal is God's. Rest assured that the lamb was taken cared of. In the New Tabernacle, which is you, we do not have to sacrifice anymore. Christ is the lamb.

Worship involves sacrifice. It costs. When Cain sacrificed his offerings to the Lord he only gave some of it. When Abel sacrificed he gave the first fruits of his labor. He gave the best portions of what he had. Cain did not really sacrifice anything. Abel did. (Genesis 4:1-5) True sacrifice also means we have to be obedient. Obedience sometimes cause us to give up things we desire in order to get the things He desires for us. The bigger the sacrifice the larger act of worship it is. King David said in 1 Chronicles 21:24

• 24 I will not sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.

David knew the real meaning behind worship. Is it any wonder why God had David write all of his Psalms? Worship is the connection that keeps us near to God. It allows us to be close to Him. It brings us back to "Eden", paradise. The Tabernacle was the place for worship. It was ordained by God with specific instructions and emblems. Each emblem had its own purpose and foreshadowed what the Christ would be for us. The Tabernacle was a physical place that was built so that God could exist with man again. But it had to be made holy. Even within the Tabernacle itself there were parts that God would not be present for not all of it was holy.