Category: Love of God


Simon Says

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August 19, 2010

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not….Never pay back evil for evil to anyone…..Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written,  ” ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. ‘ But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.’ ” Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12: 14, 17, 19-21

Jesus makes it very clear that we, as God’s children, are to be like and imitate our perfect Father in heaven.  God wants to manifest Himself in us and show His character through us.  He never tells US to behave in a way that He does not behave.  So when Jesus commands us to “love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us”, as Paul echoes in Romans, He is telling us that HE loves His enemies, unconditionally, without fail or end, keeping no record of wrongs done against Him. 

So then, how is it that God can put people into hell-eternal torture-for the wrongs against Him? I would say that eternal torture is repaying evil for the evil of man’s sins.  How can WE be commanded to bless and not curse, and overcome evil with good, if God is not doing the same?  This is surely not the imitation Jesus instructed. 

No, God has every intention of repaying, and overcoming, the evil of man with His good, ie, His love, which is the strongest force in the universe.  When Paul says “in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head”, he is not saying that in a sick, sinister way, as though this passive aggressive behavior of giving to those who are hungry and thirsty really “gives them what they deserve.”  No, what he meant was that your kindness to them will be the good that overcomes their evil:  In that day in time, when someone was poor, they often needed to be given coals to start their own fire to cook with, keep warm, etc.  And the poor man or woman would carry these coals in a basket on his/her head, back to their own home.  It was an act of generousity to give your own coals to someone in need. 

So what about the “wrath” “revenge” and “vengeance” of God?  First of all, the word wrath simply means “passion,” literally “passionate snorting.”  Imagine someone that really loves you watching you do something very harmful to yourself.  They are intensely disturbed by your behavior and might say something like “Oh no, come on! Don’t do that!”  Their displeasure is due to the harm you are doing to yourself, not to them.  They are passionate about your wellbeing and want you to stop behaving in this harmful way, and will take drastic measures to get you back in line.

This is God’s behavior towards those in sin.  His displeasure arises from the harm we are doing to ourselves, not to Him, and He is adamant that we change.  His love for us compels Him to action.  But does His love move Him to torture His enemies?  No, He overcomes his enemies with his love.  “It is the kindness of God that leads to repentence.”  You see, God is the enemy of no one-He has no malice toward any human being, only love.  However, HE has plenty of enemies-plenty of people that hate him, deny Him, and/or ignore Him.  So his “revenge” and His “vengeance” are surely not eternal torture.  Paul IMMEDIATELY explains, after telling us to leave room for GOD to judge people, that in the meantime, we are to show them kindness beyond human terms-to give to them, to go the extra mile with them, in order to show them just how kind our God is.

So when God says to bless and not curse, He does the same.  We do as He does, so that we may be like Him. Jesus said “Be perfect, therefore, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Indeed, His love is perfect, and never fails.

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What is God’s Will?

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July 19, 2010

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” 1 Timothy 2: 1-6

Many times we wonder “What is God’s will?” We ask this question at many levels, and in many circumstances. However, at the largest, and frankly most important level, we ask the question “What is God’s will for mankind?” This text gives tremendous insight into the heart and will of God.

In verse 1, Paul exhorts (strongly urges) us that we should pray with requests (supplications), we should intercede, and we should give thanks for ALL men. He goes on in verse 3 to tell us why he is so strongly urging us to do this:  because it is good and acceptable to God our Saviour.  God is not only pleased when we pray for all men, but He accepts those prayers.  Verse 4 tells us why this is good to God:  because He WILL have ALL men to be saved and to come unto a knowledge of the truth.  THERE IT IS: THE WILL OF GOD FOR MANKIND.  God will have all men to be saved.  Job 42:2 says “I know that Thou can do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted.”  God is pleased with prayers and supplications for all because He LOVES all and plans to save all! And His love never fails, which is why we can give thanks for all, because, in God’s timing, ALL will come to a knowledge of the truth.

But to make sure that we are clear on how all men will be saved, and what that “truth” is that he is referring to, Paul explains: there is one God (not many gods) and one mediator between man and God-Jesus Christ.  Jesus Himself said “I am THE way, THE truth, and the Life. NO one comes to the Father BUT BY ME.”  There are not multiple ways to be saved. ONLY through the mediation of Jesus Christ on a man’s behalf can the man be saved.  Paul ends his explanation by stating Christ’s authority to do this: He gave Himself as a ransom for all. He paid for (ransomed, with His own life) all people, and thus can-and will- save all people. 

 “But,” you may say, “we know this isn’t true because not everyone is saved (know the truth, ie, Jesus, and His role of Savior) before they die.”  But Paul addresses that too, at the end of verse 6: He writes, “to be testified in due time.”  To testify means to make declaration and/or solemn affirmation.  The phrase “in due time” tells us that it is yet to come, BUT that a time will come when this mediation and ransoming of all by Jesus is affirmed, and all men will know this truth.  This will happen in the ages to come. …and while that is a discussion for another post, the GOOD NEWS that the angels spoke of to the shepherds in the field is that God has GOOD will and peace toward ALL men.  And that is indeed Good News.

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Notes on Hate

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July 11, 2010

…for Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.  Malachi 1:3

          The Hebrew word used in Malachi 1:3 for “hated” is sane (Strong’s Concordance H8130).  It can also mean “unloved” and “shunned’.  But in Romans, where Paul quoted Malachi, the Greek word is consistently used as “hate”, having no shades or alternative meanings.

          Yet, we know from other usages of the word, that a relative comparison is intended, and therefore the word is used for purposes of emphasis.  In other words, when “hate” is used in a comparative sense, the meaning is intended to emphasize that the compared item is all the more to be desired.  Here are some examples of how “hate” is used to create a comparison:

No man can love two masters, either he will hate the one and cling to the other… Matthew 6:24 (and Luke 16:13)

Unless you love me and hate your wife… Luke 14:26

          We know a relative comparison is intended in the above verses, because of 1 John 3:15, where the verse is clearly not a comparison:

He who hates his brother is a murderer….

          Can God even remotely be called a “murderer” because He has “hated” Esau?  No.  Again, not understanding God’s nature has resulted in a false witness against the Lord by the translation.  This is a most grievous accusation, one worthy of the Devil.  If God can be equated to a murderer, then He certainly cannot be a fair judge, not to speak of a thrice-holy one.  But He alone is holy, and it is precisely for this reason that we know that He does not hate in an absolute sense.  Consequently, a better translation is:  Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have shunned.  We should also consider 1 John 2:11. 

But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.   1 John 2:11

          Is God in the darkness, and has darkness “blinded His eyes”?  The point in all of this is that God does not “hate”.  God is love, and His love is perfect.  It was His love, not just of those who love Him, not just of those who are claimed to be His “elect”, but of the whole world (including those who do not love Him, and even “hate” Him) that led Him to give His only Son, that whosoever believed into Him would have everlasting life.

          The Hebrew word, sane, is used many times in the Old Testament, and is often referred to by preachers in preaching about things God supposedly “hates”.  The idea is:  you better be afraid of God, because you are doing things He hates.  But where do those things come from?  Are they not a part of the universe created by God?  It is important to note that God hates no part of His creation–no part and no person, and dear reader that most definitely includes you.  He has spoken over all of creation:  It is good.  Nevertheless, some will surely say, “God must hate evil.”  Again, where does evil come from?  Has not God made all things?  You may disagree, and we apologize if we have offended your beliefs, but Isaiah said God has made evil.

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.  Isaiah 45:7 King James Version

          Here is some advice.  The next time you hear or read about something God “hates”, plug in the word “shuns” and see if it makes more sense.  God has no reason to hate; to Him, hatred is another tool which He has created, like sin, evil, calamity and even death.  The purpose of these tools is to draw men to Christ Jesus.  And because He is extraordinarily skillful with His tools (not to mention, all-powerful), He will indeed draw all men to the Saviour.

          Getting back to Esau, the shunned one, Esau and all those like him are included in the comprehensive plan of God.  Esau was a prophetic type, as well as a living and historic individual.  He fulfilled a role by his life that was predetermined by Father, before either he or Jacob had been born and had done a single thing good or bad.  Read the rest of what Paul said after quoting the Malachi verse above.  He strongly refutes any notion that God was in the slightest unfair to Esau.

What shall we say then?  There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!  For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.   For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate my power in you, and that my Name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”   So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.  You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?”  On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?  Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?  Romans 9:14-21

          Please note carefully the reason God has given in these verses as to the actions He has taken with not only Esau, but also later with Pharoah:  that my Name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth!  That name, dear reader, is Yeshua, or Jesus, the Name above every name.  The modern Church loves to deride Esau, not to mention Pharoah, but they are unaware that Esau will ultimately be given a place of honor for the part he has played in proclaiming the Name throughout the whole earth.  How easily Father is accused of hatred, with no thought of what John said about those who hate, and with no thought of our sovereign Lord’s purpose for every life He has created!

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:7-8

Blessed are you, O Lord!  Our loving Father, you are a wonderful God!  So wise, fair and wonderful in all your dealings with mankind, you have treated us much better than we deserve.  The only thing in creation that no one can get too much of is your never-failing love.  Fill us, please Father, with your love and may hatred of any kind be banished from our beings as Jesus’ very love exudes from us. Thank you, Father!

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Notes on Broken Religion and the Days of Ruth

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May 16, 2010

Speaking very personally, we regret to announce:  Our religion is broken. 

Do not persuade me to leave you, or go back and not follow you.  For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live.  Your people will be my people, and your Elohim will be my Elohim.  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.  May YHWH do to me, and even more, if anything but death separates you and me.  Ruth 1:16-17

          In the days of the judging, there was a famine in the land (of Israel).  We add this note parenthetically, because in these days there is a famine in America also–not a famine of food and water, but a famine of hearing the word of God (Amos 9:11).  There was a man whose name was Elimelech, and whose wife’s name was Naomi.  They were both Ephrathites from Bethlehem (which means, in Hebrew, “House of Bread”).  The irony of the comparison is hopefully not lost:  in our land of plenty, we are yet starving to hear the word of God.  Elimelech and Naomi decided to leave the land of Israel during the famine for the land of Moab, in hopes of finding better fortune.  Their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion married Moabite women–Orpah and Ruth.  In the ensuing years, Elimelech died, then both of the sons died, leaving Naomi and her two daughters in law alone and, in those days, without a source of income short of prostitution.

          Then, Naomi hears that there is food again back in Israel, and so decides to go back.  Before leaving she tries to persuade her daughters in law to rejoin their Moabite people and the Moabite god (who isn’t mentioned by name), and remarry.  But Ruth is having none of it.  In her 10 years of marriage into Naomi’s family she has seen something, albeit imperfectly modeled and followed.  That is, the Hebrews worship a living God, not a man-made image or carving, and not a god like the one she learned about as a child growing up.   

          To summarize, Ruth is setting out for a country to which she has never been.  She knows no one there except Naomi.  Naomi’s prospects are none too bright as a widow, nor are Ruth’s prospects since she is a widow also.  The law of the kinsman-redeemer is not known to have been applied regularly (Deuteronomy 25:5), but in any event Elimelech and Naomi have been gone many years.  Moreover, Naomi is not a particularly optimistic type of person, for we see that as soon as she arrived and everyone said, “Can this be Naomi?”, Naomi replied, “Don’t call me Naomi.  Call me Mara (which means ‘Bitter’), for the Almighty has made me very bitter.”  Not exactly the most attractive attitude, to go with being completely broke. 

          Perhaps Ruth could remarry and settle into a nice, secure life worshipping the unnamed Moabite god.  Anything would be better than heading into the unknown with “the bitter one”, right?  Maybe not, if one’s religion is broken, if one knows that what one has heard all one’s life is just wrong–and that the truth is found in the living God, Naomi’s God.  Naomi may be bitter, but her God is not.  Ruth has learned that although His ways are mysterious and often painful, Naomi’s God is Ruth’s only hope.  She has no hope in the Moabite god, and we believe she knows that following that way will end worse than mere starvation–the doom of empty religion following a false god.

          Many can identify with Ruth and Naomi/Mara in a number of ways.  Some have come to the conclusion after a traumatic event, such as the loss of a loved one, a catastrophic accident or illness, or a situation where fervent prayers were not answered affirmatively, that the religious training of their childhood simply failed, or at least appeared to fail.  Essentially, God was asked to do something on the basis of an understanding derived from religious training and God said, “No.”  We have defined this situation as your religion being “broken.”  And if you have identified with Naomi, dear reader, and been tempted to become bitter, we urge you instead to identify with Ruth.  Both faced very similar circumstances, but Ruth’s inward response was different. 

          Thus we come to Ruth’s beautiful sililoquy.  To fully appreciate what she says to Naomi, one can merely substitute another Ephrathite in place of Naomi:  Yeshua haMashiach, known to most as Jesus, Ruth’s descendant (Micah 5:2, Matthew 1:5).   It is eminently reasonable to ask, “Why would Jesus ever try to persuade anyone not to leave Him or to go back and not follow Him, as in the first lines quoted above?”  Isn’t it Jesus’ life mission to get as many people as possible to follow after His Elohim?  Yes and no.  If you are “well”, that is, your religion works for you–may we ask, What need do you have of Jesus, or of His God?  But if you are not “well”, that is, your religion is broken, then you will say to Him:  “Wherever You go, I will go; wherever You live, there I will live.  Your Elohim will be my Elohim.  Nothing will separate us.  For I have seen life without You, and that way is only death.  Only You have the words of life.”

          Only the sick have need of a physician.  If your religion works, dear reader, we are happy for you.

          Permit us to point out that He has the advantage of being able to skillfully engineer, that is, arrange, all things.  May we also point out that He has arranged the events of life specifically to bring you to the same confession as Ruth:  I don’t care where You go, I’m going there with You. 

          He has caused your religion to fail, specifically so that you will find Him.  When your religion is broken, only Jesus the Christ offers any hope–not your doctrines, not your creeds, not your beliefs, not your understanding, and not even your will.  Cling to Him, don’t let anything but death separate you from him.  For He has promised that neither death nor life can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus.

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, the king of forever, for because you were lifted up, you will drag all men to yourself.  Thank you for breaking our religion.  Only you have the words of life.  Baruch ‘ata.

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Notes on the Sacred Gift of Greeting

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April 17, 2010

Now if a sacred gift of greeting is his near-offering; if it is from the herd that he brings-it-near, whether male or female, wholly-sound he is to bring-it-near, before the presence of YHWH.  He is to lean his hand on the head of his near-offering, and he is to slay it at the entrance of the Tent of Appointment, and the Sons of Aharon, the priests, are to dash the blood against the slaughter-site, all around.  Then he is to bring-near from the sacred gift of greeting, a fire-offering to YHWH:  the fat that covers the innards and all the fat that is about the innards, the two kidneys, and the fat that is about them, that is on the tendons, and the extension on the liver–along with the kidneys he is to remove it.  And the Sons of Aharon are to turn it (all) into smoke upon the slaughter-site, along with the offering-up that is upon the wood, that is upon the fire–a fire-offering of soothing savor for YHWH.  Leviticus 3:1-5, The Schocken Bible (sacred gift of greeting, marg. note for “slaughter-offering of shalom“)

          The sacred gift of greeting is the very first of the sacrifices for which Moses received specific instructions from YHWH.  As such, it is of primary importance, both to God and to man.

          Most bible translations poorly translate in “peace offering” the literal words used by the Schocken Bible, “slaughter-offering of shalom”.  The common rendering trivializes and minimizes the prophetic significance intended by YHWH.  Without a proper translation of the type, the comprehension of the fulfillment is all but impossible.  Conversely, when the translation reveals YHWH’s mind, His thinking, and His purpose, the Holy Spirit will open to the searching believer the fulfillment of the prophetic type in the believer’s life.

          The translation into the ubiquitous “peace offering” has resulted from a mis-translation of the Hebrew word “shalom”, which can alternately mean well-being or wholeness, peace, and also greeting–as in “hello”.

          Used here, it cannot mean “peace” because in no way have we or the Israelites of old offered YHWH peace–rather, He gives it to us.  Likewise, it cannot mean well-being or wholeness, because we cannot offer to Him what we don’t have and what He doesn’t need.  So the meaning of “greeting” or “salutation” is correct, and we see immediate confirmation in the correct (Hebrew) name of the book of Leviticus:  “Vayikra”, the first word of verse 1 of the book.  Translated into English, it means, “Now He called”.

          Yes, YHWH-Jesus has called (and continues to call), and if you can grasp that the first offering, the sacred gift of greeting, is intended to be every man’s response, the beautiful picture of fellowship with Him in the worshipping heart, where He has chosen to place His name, can joyfully begin to come into focus.

          Each part of the instruction given to Moses gives a clue to the fulfillment intended for mankind universally.  First, there is the emphasis on nearness.  “Come to Me,” Jesus said, “all ye.”  And again, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me.”  And again, “I will draw (lit., “drag”) all men to me.”

          Next, note that the offering can be either male OR female.  In every other instance except one (the red heifer), the animal sacrifice was to be male.  But here, the sacred gift of greeting is welcomed by YHWH-Jesus, from man or woman.  This is the offering Paul was referring to in Romans 12:1, when he said:

I exhort you therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves for a sacrifice, living and set apart for God.  This will please him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you.  Complete Jewish Bible, David Stern

          Then, we may see from the organs chosen, and from the setting apart of the fat, that it is believers who are signified in the offering.  The giving of the fat, the liver and the kidneys are highly symbolic, which other verses (were they fairly translated would) make immediately obvious.

          Fat always denotes surplus, extra, extravagance.  It is the equivalent of the alabaster vial and the very costly perfume in Matthew 26.  When offered by the believer, it is an acknowledgment that “my cup overflows” because of You, Lord.  The believer’s extravagance here is almost always viewed critically by others:  “Why this waste?” 

          See and understand; it is a perpetual statute:  the fat belongs to YHWH-Jesus.  Do not eat it yourself, for you are not to be God.  Instead, give it to Him.  Be extravagant in praise; be extravagant in love.  Don’t be stingy in thanksgiving or worship.  “Waste” it on your Lord, if you can.  Let your words create a pleasing fragrance, an aroma of worship, to be savored by the One who called you.

          The text is clear:  God wants all of the fat (not just some of it) around the innards.  He is not referring to an acceptable amount of fat, from this or that area of our lives, in the way we would say, “I need to lose about 10 pounds.”  No, He wants it from every area of our lives, and He wants all of it.

          Keith Green put it this way, in his song “To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice”:

I want more than Sundays and Wednesday night.  But if you can’t come to Me every day, then don’t bother coming at all.

          We should note at this point, in conjunction with the instruction that He wants extravagant giving of each area of our lives, that He wants our very lives as well.  This is the point of slaying the animal and the instruction “to dash the blood against the slaughter-site, all around.”  We know He is not pleased with the blood of bulls and goats (Hebrews 10:4), and so there must be some point to the creation of such a big, bloody mess.  Here is that point:

This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.  Exodus 24:8, Hebrews 9:20

The life of the flesh is in the blood,…  Leviticuas 17:11

          The next symbol we note is the giving of the kidneys.  Here again, we are indebted to Dr. Stephen Jones, who noted that the Hebrew word for “kidneys” is also the word used for “reins”, as in the livery used to steer a horse.  The kidneys are representative of inward guidance, even as reins are used for external guidance.  Here are some of the mis-translated examples we referred to earlier:

Psalm 16:7  I will bless YHWH who has counseled me; indeed, my mind (lit., kidneys) instructs me in the night.

Psalm 26:2  Examine me, O YHWH, and try me; test my mind (lit., kidneys) and my heart.

Psalm 73:21-22  When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within (lit., in my kidneys), then I was senseless and ignorant; I was a beast before You.

Isaiah 11:5  And righteousness will be the belt about his loins, and faithfulness the belt about his waist (lit., kidneys).

          Isaiah’s inward/outward comparison to faithfulness (inward) and righteousness (outward) demonstrates most clearly the role of the kidneys as a conscience.  Much more could be said about the kidneys and the liver.

          The function of the liver is to cleanse the body of germs, toxins and foreign matters that cannot be removed from the body any other way, or when the other discharge systems of the body are not working or unavailable.  The liver takes in the sickness and removes it from the blood, or to say it another way, from the life.  This is its function.  When it is offered with the kidneys, the blood and the fat, the believer is saying, “I was a dirty rag of filthiness, but You took my sin upon Yourself, and cleansed me.”  In the liver is the reminder that though your sins were as scarlet, now they are white as snow.  The cleansing of the liver never stops.

          Thus the sacred gift of greeting Jesus is extravagance of love, freely poured out upon Him.  It is a cleansed life, now free to serve Him, and the submission of our inner man to agreement with His will, in essence handing Him the “reins” of our lives.  YHWH-Jesus promises, by covenant, that this male or female of His flock “shall have no defect.”  Praise You, Lord!

          The fire represents purification, not destruction.  It is a false witness of the most serious degree to equate God’s fire with punishment.  The purpose of fire is always commendable.

Blessed are You, O Lord our God.  Shalom! and welcome to Your resting place, Your throne, high and lifted up in our hearts!  Your throne, O God, will last forever!

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Notes on the Love of God and Divine Intimacy

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April 15, 2010

First and foremost, the ultimate restoration and salvation of all men from their sin (not in their sin) is not a theological football, to be kicked back and forth in argument and debate.

Secondly, comprehension of God’s plan for mankind, and indeed for all of His creation, is impossible apart from the Holy Spirit’s illumination.  We maintain that the Lord Spirit has reserved to Himself exclusively the full embracing of this will of God by each believer.  The message should be announced by the messenger, then considered privately by the believer, in prayer and meditation.

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.  John 16:13

Perhaps this process is true for all matters concerning the character and nature of God.  Neverthess, the question of the love of God is of the utmost importance, and should set the pattern for all other questions.

Without dispute, the intimacy and conversation between the groom and the bride when they come together is secret, sacred, private, and precious–and should be kept so.  It is most certainly not to be profaned or made common by coarse treatment of others.  It must always remain exclusively in the bridal chamber.

It is just the same with Christ Jesus and his bride/believer.  Their union is sacred and holy.  The Lord wants to be the one to illuminate and reveal this oneness with His creation, beginning with His believer-bride.  Just as the groom breaks through the physical barrier of his virgin bride, so Christ breaks through the spiritual barriers of religion and its mis-learned notions.

If the believer/bride has been convinced by one messenger, “she” can be un-convinced by another messenger with a contrary message.  But in her union with Christ, her barrier divinely removed can no more be “undone” than a woman’s virginity can be recovered.  All that now remains is the white-hot passion of the bride for her Lover–the fairest among ten thousand! 

Those who wish to argue with the messenger, it is hoped, will NOT hear, for their own sakes, so that they will not be “inoculated”.  No one ever gets “argued” into the relationship with Christ of which we have been speaking.  Not now, not ever.

The love of God finds its highest expression in the moment the bride-believer appehends that in the second Adam “all shall be made alive.”  I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine!  Ani L’dodi v’dodi li.  Song of Songs 6:3

Blessed are You, O Lord.  Our wonderful God, you are the King of forever, and are blessed forever because of Your great love with which You have first loved us.

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