Let There Be Light–In Six Day Creation in the Book of Genesis, on the first day, God created light. As we have already seen in another post, this creation is not a literal creation, but a parable. Therefore, we must understand the Six Day Creation figuratively.
On the first day creation, there are two important questions we must understand. First, when was the first day creation? When did God start his creation work? And second, what is the light that God created on the first day?
Genesis 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
The Beginning
Let There Be Light–Then let us first think about the beginning of the creation work? To understand the time of beginning, we have to have a certain standard so that we can count days or years. The creation of light, heaven, mountains, rivers, oceans, animals, and birds—all these things cannot work as standard because the bible does not specify the exact time of the creation of those things. And we cannot date the time of the start of the creation through these things.
But God allowed one creation through which we can count the date of the creation, that is, the creation of the man. With the creation of Adam, God started to count their exact ages so that we can date back to the time of creation. Many scholars worked on this and they unanimously agree that the creation of Adam took place about 6000 years ago, or around B.C. 4000. (Click HERE to find out more.) According to this calculation of the time, from the Creation of Adam to the time of Jesus’ coming, the Old Testament period was 4000 years. And From Jesus to present, it is about a little more than 2000 years.
Scientific Complications
Let There Be Light–Therefore, according to the biblical explanation, this heaven and earth have been created in no more than 6000 years ago. However, it is now commonsensical that this earth itself—let alone, the solar system and the whole universe—is far older thank this explanation. We can find scientific explanation about the creation of the earth and life in it in many different places like this one.
This news article explains that the earth was created 4.5 billion years ago. (Wow!) And the first life appeared 3.8 billions ago; the first human species or Homo sapiens, 0.2 million years ago. It means that the first man Adam was created scientifically 200,000 years ago, not 6000 years ago. Therefore, if we try to understand the bible through this scientific perspective, the bible and its description of the creation is nonsensical. For this reason and many others, people tend to dismiss the idea of Six-Day Creation as myth.
Parable of Six Day Creation
Let There Be Light–However, the Six Day Creation should be read as parable like most of other words of God in the bible. The bible says that Jesus did not say anything without using a parable. (Matthew 13:34) It means God is using parables to teaching spiritual things by using the physical things. Just like the Lamb of God, the living water, the temple of God, etc, the Six Day Creation is also a parable.
Through the Six Day Creation as model, God is showing us the whole history of God’s salvation work of six thousand years.
2 Peter 3:8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
In the bible, even the numbers are also figurative and parabolic. For example, one day in the bible can represent one year prophetically. (Ezekiel 4:6) Likewise, prophetically one day can be read as “one thousand years”. In this sense, the Six Day Creation in Genesis represents “the Six Thousand Year’s Plan of God for our Salvation”.
Let Ther1e Be Light (Genesis 1:3)
Day One: Let There Be Light
Let There Be Light–This salvation work of God started with the creation of light in the time of Adam about six thousand years ago. The light God created on the first day was not the physical light or the sun that gives light to the day. But it was the spiritual light. Then what is the meaning of light?
Paul explains the spiritual meaning of the Six Day Creation and let us know the meaning of the light. Then what is the light God created on the first day?
2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” (Genesis 1:3) made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Paul says that the light shone into the world was symbolically “the light of the gospel” or “the light of the KNOWLEDGE of God’s glory”. Even though there were biological humans living on the earth even before Adam, spiritually they are not considered as “spiritual man”. It was because they did not have “knowledge” of God through “the gospel”.
When God first appeared to Adam and gave his words (the spiritual light), finally the first man in the spiritual sense came into existence. From this first man Adam, God started his salvation work.
Conclusion
Let There Be Light–Up to the time of Adam, the whole world was under deep darkness without light. People did not have any knowledge of God and the words of God. They were living under a deep spiritual darkness. They were living their life like animals without the hope for the spiritual world.
However, when finally God revealed his existence to Adam and Eve, the light of life and the light of God started to shone into the world through the gospel. From this moment, the Six Day Creation of God came to be known in the human society. And with the knowledge of God and his words as light, the human society started to wake up from the deep sleep and darkness.
This was Day One of the creation work of God. And Day One expands from the time of Adam to the time of Noah for about 1656 years.
How To Enter Heaven–The bible says that the heaven is so great that you cannot imagine or expect what is waiting for you there. In other words, it is a place beyond our imagination and recognition. Paul says:
1 Corinthians 2:9 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The paradise-like landscape in Avatar
If heaven is such a wonderful place, everybody would like to go there. Once there was a movie called “Avatar.” And the graphic and imagination of the movie were so amazing that many came to think that Pandora, the planet in the movie can be considered as paradise in human imagination. I remember also that I was very impressed by the movie and the graphic. However, the bible says that the heaven is a place where we cannot describe with our human imagination. Then how beautiful and fantastic would it be!
Who can go to heaven?
How To Enter Heaven–Then can everyone enter heaven in the end? Certainly not. The bible clearly put a limit about the people who can enter heaven. Jesus said that “Not everyone can enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) The fate waiting for those who cannot enter the heaven is dire and miserable. Therefore, we must make effort to enter heaven all the more not just for the beauty and happiness in store for the chosen, but for the pain and suffering reserved for the banished.
Therefore, most people who believe in God in the bible already know the importance of receiving the passport to the heavenly country. Then how can we get the visa and passport to go heaven? When asked, people tend to say that they can enter heaven if they do something good in this world. Is it true? First, let us some examples from the bible.
A Story of A Young Rich Man
How To Enter Heaven–Once a rich young man came to Jesus and asked how to enter eternal life in heaven. Jesus said that he must do everything according to the Ten Commandments: Do not tell a lie, do not murder, do not commit adultery, etc. In short, he said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And the young man said that he had done everything according to the law. Jesus loved and wanted to lead to salvation. Jesus said, “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor…. Then come, follow me.” (Mark 10:21) After hearing the words, he left Jesus and never came back.
Jesus Christ and a rich young man
Matthew 19:23 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
After hearing this, the disciples got surprised and asked one another, “If that young man who did everything according to the law cannot enter heaven, who can enter?” The young man was a perfect example of “Good Man.” And according to the opinions of people today, if he cannot enter, then who can? We can imagine what kind of person he must have been. He must have been upright, kind, considerate, etc. In short, he must have been “A Few Good Men” in this world. However, Jesus said that he cannot enter the heaven.
An Example From Apostle Paul
How To Enter Heaven–In the matter of righteousness, Paul was also the one like the young rich man.
Philippians 3:4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
Even though he became a different person after receiving the Christ, once he took much pride in himself. He had good family background, education, and more than anything else he had the citizenship of Rome, which could guarantee a successful life in those days. His obedience to the Law of Moses was perfect like the rich young man. This means he had not done anything which could have brought himself into disrepute.
Even though he had led a perfect life in the moral and legal aspect, he said that he considered his previous life as Jew as “rubbish.” Before he knew Christ, everything he had done was meaningless and useless for his salvation.
A Story Of Ant World
How To Enter Heaven–Whether he had done good things to his neighbor by loving and helping them is not essential for salvation. In this sense, we can conclude that the good things we do for others are not the ticket for heaven.
Hero in the ant world
To explain this, I would like to take an ant society for example. Once I read in a newspaper about an ant species which shows altruistic character by helping the injured in a fight.
But their attacks are met with resistance and the ants get involved in fights with termites of the soldier caste. Ants often get injured as the soldier termites are ‘very adept’ at using their powerful jaws to fend off the attackers. But the ingenious ants have developed a ‘rescue behaviour’ previously unknown in insects. The ants emit two pheromones – dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide – present in the mandibular gland reservoirs of the ants, trigger the rescue behaviour. The injured insect is then carried back to the nest by its comrades, where it can recover and receive treatment.
This is an amazing story. Even an insect knows how to help another when the other got injured. Then let us imagine a huge battle between this ant species and termites. And many of the ants got injured because of the termite attack. In this battle, there was a particularly “good” ant which rescued many injured brothers and saved their life. After the war, the particular ant was awarded “Good Citizenship Award” for the feats during the war. He became a great ant in the ant world.
Human Society Through A Spiritual Perspective
How To Enter Heaven–This would be a fantastic story. But how can this achievement of the good ant affect us? Does it cause any harm or good to us? No, nothing. Even though there might be a great war between ants and termite going on by the sidewalk, while walking, we may not notice what is going on. The great epic tragedy in the ant world does not cause any impact on us. Maybe, some scientists consider the behavior unusual and study the ants. To most of us, however, ants and termites are both annoying things that must be exterminated by a pest control. To us it does not matter if an ant is good and a hero of the ant world. Good or bad, they are just ants and ants are NOT good.
With this perspective, let us reexamine the human society. Let us get rid of the prejudice we have on us as human being. We might consider our life and our world important. And we might praise a man who works hard for the benefit of the human society by giving them awards for various reasons. We might write books about their achievements and make films out of their stories. We teach the students about them as good role models to follow. In our human perspective, doing such things for good men is natural and understandable.
But what about in God’s perspective? Are we truly worthy to be praised? Are we truly “good”? The bible says that no one is good in this world and everybody is a sinner. In other words, in God’s perspective, we are just criminals kept in prison earth until the time of execution. That is the life of mankind in the spiritual perspective.
How to Enter Heaven?
For example, let us think about a serial killer in a prison who received the penalty of capital punishment for the crimes. In prison, he changed his behavior and became a good man. He helps other prisoners when they are sick. And he eagerly does the chores in the prison. He is known as “good” man in the prison. Then because of that, do we praise the criminal and forgive his wrongdoings just because he has done something good in prison? Do we make petition to the government to set him free? Probably not.
Good man or bad man?
If a prisoner does something good in prison, he might be received honorably by other inmates. But that does not mean the things that he had done while living in the society can be forgiven. It is the same with us. We are the sinners from heaven. We committed sins against God in heaven and came down to this prison earth. In this earth, we might have changed ourselves and we do many honorable things for other people. Then we might receive fame and honor from others on this earth. However, this does not mean there is any improvement in our spiritual status. Still, we are sinners destined to die. In spite of many good things on this earth, we still are the same spiritually.
That is why we can conclude that we cannot save ourselves through the good deeds on this earth. A “good” man cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. This might sound like ironical, but it is true. Then how can we enter the heaven?
Follow The Commands Of God
God clearly teaches us that we cannot enter the heaven through our own righteousness.
Job 35:6 Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. 6 If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? 7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand? 8 Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself, and your righteousness only other people.
I am not saying that we can do bad things to others. We have to be good not to cover the glory of God. And also God commanded us to be good. What I am trying to say is that our salvation does not depend on “goodness” to others as many believe. Then what should we do to enter heaven? Jesus said that we have to do “the will of God” to enter heaven. (Matthew 7:21) God said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood can have eternal life.” And those who received the eternal life through Christ’s flesh and blood can enter heaven where there is no death, pain, sorrow.
God gave us the Passover new covenant to enter heaven. Let us do the will of God by keeping the Passover. We should remember that no one can enter heaven through their own righteousness. To enter heaven we must follow the commands of God. It is not our perspective, but God’s perspective that is important for us to receive salvation. Let us make effort to be a “good” man in the eyes of God, not in our own perspective.
There are many teachings of God in the bible and Jesus summarized the teaching into two commands that we should keep to enter into the eternal life. Then what are the two greatest commandments we must keep? And How can we keep those greatest commandments?
Two Commands For Eternal Life
When asked by an expert in the law of the way of eternal life, Jesus answered:
Luke 10: 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
To inherit the eternal life, Jesus teaches us that we must first love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and next we must love our neighbors as ourselves. In addition, he concludes that these two commands are the essence of all the teachings of God in the bible.
Matthew 22:40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
It means all the laws of God come essentially from these two commandments and if we fulfill these two commandments we can fulfill all the laws of God. So much are important these two commandments. Therefore, what is important to us is to know who to fulfill these two commandments. Some people interpret the commands with their own opinions, but we should not do like that because the standards for our faith should be God. And we must follow God’s teachings to fulfill the laws of God.
How to Fulfill the First Commandment
Then how can we love God with all our heart, mind and soul? Can we fulfill this command by praying to God twenty-four/seven? Or by reading the bible at least one hour a day? Or help the poor and needy people? Or by participating in the volunteer work? Everybody might have different opinions about this and how can we be sure that this is the way through which we can love God with all our hearts and minds?
King Josiah’s Religious Reform
That is why we must turn to the teachings of God to find out the way how to love God all our hearts and minds. Then what does God say about this command? As usual, God gives us one example so that we can clearly know how to fulfill the first command. In the history of Judah, there was a king who fulfilled this command and by following his example we also can fulfill the first and greatest commandment according to the will of God.
2 Kings 23:25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
The Bible says that King Josiah turned to God with all his heart, soul, and strength and by doing so he was the one who could fulfill all the Law of Moses in accordance with the old covenant. Then what did he do? What is it that made God acknowledge King Josiah as the one who fulfill all the Law of Moses? We can find the answer in the several verses before.
2 Kings 23:21 The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
What he did was to keep the Passover according to the regulation of God in the bible. When he kept the Passover, he was recognized by God as the one who fulfilled the first command by loving Him with all his heart, mind, and soul. Through the long history of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, kings and people did not obey the commands of God and did not keep the Passover. But sometimes there were kings who realized the importance of the Passover and kept the Passover. Josiah was one of the kings who kept the Passover and when he did, God recognizes that he did all he could to do what was written in the bible.
Even though what he did was keep the Passover, why was he complimented by God so much? And how could he love God with all his heart, mind and soul just by keeping the Passover? It is because there is a providence of God hidden in the Passover. Then what secret is hidden in the Passover? All the festivals of God have certain intention and providence of God hidden in it. By finding out the meaning of the festival, we can see why God gave the festival to his people. Then what was the meaning of the Passover?
King Josiah’s Religious Reform: Killing Baal Worshipers
Exodus 12:11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. 12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
Even though there are many hidden meanings in the Passover, one of the most important providence of God hidden in the Passover is that through the Passover, God makes judgment for all the idols and false gods and destroys them on that day. And since all the false gods are destroyed, the only God left behind after the Passover is the true God who created the heavens and earth. And since there is only one God left, God’s people can love the true and only God with all their heart, mind, and soul without any distraction to other gods or idols. And in this way, they would be able to fulfill the first commandment of God: “You shall have no other gods before me” by worshiping the only and true God. This is the reason we must keep the Passover.
Love Your Neighbors as Yourself
The second commandment we must keep to fulfill the law of God is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Then how can we love our neighbor according to the teachings of God? Just like the first command, to fulfill this command we also must get rid of our own thoughts and opinions and follow the commands of God in the bible. Then what does the bible say about loving our neighbors as ourselves?
First, let us think about the meaning of the command. What does it mean love our neighbors as ourselves? We love ourselves. That is why we always prepare good things for us as much as we can. We eat good food, wear good clothes, and prepare good house for us. And when we are sick, we take a rest. No matter how urgent a matter we have cannot be a priority to us when our body is sick. The priority is given to our body and curing the sickness.
In this sense, to fulfill the second law we must think others in this respect by treating them as ourselves and providing them everything they need as we provide things to us when we are in need. Then is it possible to treat and think other people in this regard? It seems almost impossible because human beings are intrinsically self-preserving and self-centered. And they always put a distinction between self and other and the priority is always given to self. Therefore, it seems to be impossible to love neighbors as yourself.
But then what if this distinction between self and other breaks and they become one. If I become a part of other and the other becomes a part of I, then self-other becomes one and I can love the other as part of self as if the other were myself. Is this state of the union of self and other possible? Yes, it is and God teaches us how all of us become one and love one another as if we love oneself. It is also through the Passover. According to the bible, the Passover is a ceremony through which each of us becomes a part of whole and in this state there is no more distinction of you and I.
Through the Passover, Christ gave us his flesh and blood through the Passover bread and wine which represent his flesh and blood. Then what is the meaning of this ceremony? Paul let us know the providence of God hidden in the Passover like this:
1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing that we give thanks for is a sharing in the blood sacrifice of Christ, isn’t it? And the bread that we break is a sharing in the body of Christ, isn’t it? 17 There is one loaf of bread, so we who are many are one body, because we all share in that one loaf.
Passover: Becoming one body in Christ
Through the Passover bread and wine we all can participate in the blood and body of Christ and we can become one body in Christ because we all participate in one loaf, that is, Christ.Therefore, even though we are all different from one another, through the Passover we can become the members of the same body whose head is the Christ.
Ephesians 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
Through the Passover, we all become the members of one body and since we are all one in one body, we can love one another as if one loves one’s own body. Through the Passover, we can take care of each other as part of one’s own body just as a person takes care of the members of his body without neglecting anything. He gives the same attention to all his body parts so that there would be nothing lacking in his body. In the same way, since all of us become one in Christ through the Passover, we can love one another without neglecting anyone.
1 Corinthians 13:20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
About this providence of God hidden in the Passover, Christ Ahnsahnghong teaches like this:
By sharing in the flesh and blood of Jesus, all brothers become one body in Him and come to love one another as themselves. … Since we have now become one body in Jesus, is there anyone who hates his own body? Even though we cannot love because we are evil by nature, if Jesus’ flesh and blood is in us, we come to love our brothers.
From “The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life” Chapter 31. The Regulations of the New Covenant
Conclusion
Therefore, to completely fulfill the two commandments the most important thing is keeping the Passover. By keeping the Passover, we can love God with all our heart, mind and soul by fulfilling the first and greatest commandment and also we can fulfill the second commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said that we must keep these two commandments to enter eternal life. Now let us keep the Passover according to the teachings of God.
Even though the Passover was once abolished by the work of Satan in AD 325, Christ Ahnsahnghong brought us back the new covenant of the Passover so that we can have eternal life. To obey the teachings of Christ, World Mission Society Church Of God keeps the Passover according to the regulations of the new covenant. Now God is inviting everybody who wishes to have salvation to come to Zion and to keep the Passover.
Temple and Water Of Life–In the book of Ezekiel, the bible describes that the living water is flowing out from the temple of God in Jerusalem. The water of life first flows into the Jordan River and later into the Dead Sea. As we can see through the name “the Dead Sea,” the sea was once dead, but as soon as the living water flows into it, it starts to revive again. This is a amazing description of the power of the living water and the bible says those who wants to have eternal life must also drink from this water. Therefore, we must know what the living water is and what the source of the living water is.
The Water of Life from the Temple Jerusalem
Ezekiel 47:1 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side….Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah (or the Jordan River), where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. ….. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
Temple and Water Of Life–The water from the temple flows into the Dead Sea which has nothing living in it as the name indicates because it contains too much salt in it. Once the water from the temple flows into the Dead Sea, however, the salt water becomes flesh and soon all different sorts of living creatures starts to thrive in the Dead Sea. Literally, the Dead Sea changes into the Living Sea because of the living water from the temple. Again and again the bible says that it is the living water that flows into the sea that gives life to everything in it and even along the banks of the Jordan River many different trees bears fruits every month all throughout the year.
Map of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Can you see any river flowing from Jerusalem to the Jordan river? We should understand this prophecy figuratively.
Here we can see the amazing power of the living water that flows out from the temple. This contains more significant meaning to us who are living in the last days. It is because the prophecy of the water of life from the temple in the Book of Ezekiel was not written for the physical Israelites who lived in the past in the time of the prophet, but it was actually a prophecy given to us who are living in the last days. We can confirm this through a mated prophecy in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Here we can see the exact description of the same river we have already seen in the Book of Ezekiel. Therefore, we can see Prophet Ezekiel was not speaking about things of his time, but he was writing prophecies to teach what was going to happen in the future, especially in the last days. In this sense, we come to know that things in the book should not be interpreted physically, but all of things must be understood in the figurative level.
The Reality of Temple and Water of Life
Temple and Water Of Life–If we try to understand the prophecy of Ezekiel in the literal sense, we cannot put many things together because they do not make sense at all. First, does the temple Jerusalem represent the physical temple in Jerusalem? If then, the water from the temple must be physical water too. But as we already know, there is no river flowing from the temple into the Jordan River. And moreover, the Temple of God itself does not exist in our present time because it was destroyed by the Roman army around 70 AD.
Plan of Solomon’s Temple
Therefore, we must understand these things figuratively. Then what is the reality of the temple? According to the bible, the reality of the temple is God himself.
John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
The temple is originally built as God’s dwelling place and when the temple was established, God started to dwell among his people by putting His Spirit in the temple. Even though God fills up the whole universe, God loved his people and wanted to give them salvation by teaching them and leading them through his commands and laws. For that purpose, God established sanctuary or temple and started to dwell among his people in Spirit.
2 Chronicles 6:18 “But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
But this physical temple was given as copy and shadow until the time of the reality of the temple would be revealed. Then what was the reality of the temple? As we have already seen above, Christ himself was reality of the temple, God’s dwelling place. 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ, who was God himself came down to this earth to dwell among his people to teach his people and to give them salvation.
John 1:14 The Word (God) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word or God himself became flesh and made his dwelling or his temple among his people. It was Christ Jesus. But what was the temple or the dwelling of God he established on this earth when he came in the flesh? It was his body because the Spirit of God was dwelling in the body of Christ and that is why he called his body the temple of God. Through this we can see the body of Christ was working as temple.
The Reality of the Water of Life
Temple and Water Of Life–Now we could understand that the reality of the temple was Christ, God who came as man in the flesh. If Christ is the Temple Jerusalem, Christ must have given the water of life according to the prophecy because the temple in the prophecy was the source of the water of life that gives life to everything that accepts the living water. Then was the Christ the source of the water of life just like the prophecy?
John 4:13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Through this we can see that he was truly the reality of the temple in the prophecy of Ezekiel which gives the living water to the world so that they can have life. Then what we need to understand is what is the living water which was flowing out from the temple? 2000 years ago Jesus was not the one who was giving out the physical water to the people which could give them eternal life, which would have been easier for everyone to understand his teaching and many might have accepted Jesus and received eternal life.
The Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea. Thousands of years the river was flowing into the Dead Sea, but the Dead Sea is still dead. What is the living water that gives life to everything?
But just like everything else in the bible, he was not speaking in the literal way. Just like all other teachings of God, Jesus was using physical things to teach us spiritual things. Just as water is essential for our life, through this water Jesus wanted to teach us the spiritual water that is essential for our spiritual life, eternal life. Then what was the spiritual water coming out from the temple Christ which gives us the eternal life of salvation? According to the bible, the water of live that cleanse our sins and gives us the eternal life is the words of God coming from the Christ.
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
According to the bible what is it that cleanses us from stains or blemishes to make us holy and blameless? It is possible when we are washed “water through the word” of God. We can see the words of God are figuratively compared to water, and we can receive the water life and wash ourselves clean when we accept the true words of God. When we are cleansed with the words of God, we can also receive eternal life.
John 6:66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Apostle Peter boldly testifies that he is the true source of the water of life: How can I leave you my God since you are the one who gives the water of life through the words of God? He knew that Jesus was the true temple of God granting the living water to the peoples of the world and if they left Jesus they could not have eternal life. And with this understanding they could stay with Jesus even though all others deserted Jesus.
The True Temple of God in the Last Days
Temple and Water Of Life–Then according to the bible who is the true temple of God giving out the water of life to the peoples of the world in the last days? Without knowing the source of the water of life we cannot receive salvation. As we have already seen in the prophecy of Ezekiel, in the last days the world is compared to the Dead Sea. According to the bible, the sea figuratively represents human society.
Revelation 17:15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters (or the sea) you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.
The sea is dead because of the lack of the living water or the true words of God. Some might say what I am saying is wrong because we have the words of God taught by Jesus Christ. That is partly true. 2000 years ago the true temple of God Christ came with the water of life and gave people the true words of God so that they could have eternal life.
But what happened to the truth? Even though Jesus and disciples sacrificed their own lives for the true words of God giving us eternal life, after their death the true gospel started to be corrupted and changed by the work of Satan to fulfill the Parable of Weeds on the field. (Matthew 13:24) Sabbath worship which took place on Saturday was changed into Sunday worship in 321 AD by Roman Emperor Constantine. And the truth of the new covenant of the Passover was abolished in 325 AD in the council of Nicaea held under the command of the same emperor.
Since then, those who wanted to follow the truth were persecuted and driven out into the wilderness and the truth started to be forgotten until only the false words of God was left behind. All the water of life was changed into dirty and unclean water, and people started to fall sick and die spiritually because of the lack of the living water. This is the situation described in the prophecy of Ezekiel and the sea or the human society in the last days without any exception are all dead. Nations, peoples, multitudes, and languages-which means all the world-is dying of the lack of the living water. The water people are drinking cannot give them the eternal life, but rather it gives them more thirst.
In this desperate situation, the bible says the river of the water of life clear as crystal will be open for the people who are thirsty. Then who are the true source of the water of life in the last days? Where should we go to receive the living water?
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
Who are the source of the water of life? They are the Spirit and the Bride. In the book of Ezekiel they were described as temple of God. It means they must be God who comes down to this earth in the flesh as the reality of the temple, or Christ. Then who is the Spirit? We can easily see the Spirit must be the Second Coming Christ, or God the Father coming down in the last days as man in the flesh as the reality of the temple to give us the water of life. But then who is the bride who is also the source of the water of life? Since she is also the source of the living water we can say she must be a Christ, or God who is coming down as man in the flesh. Let us confirm.
Jesus was the spiritual temple who could give the living water of eternal life. Then who is the bride of Christ Heavenly Jerusalem who will be able to give us living water in the last days?
The True Bride, God the Mother
Temple and Water Of Life–There are so many people who have many different opinions about the bride-such as church, or the angels, or some says the bride is Jesus who is coming in the last days. But rather than following people’s opinions we must listen to the true words of God in the bible. Then who is the bride? According to the bible she is described as the true temple of God who is coming down from heaven to this earth, which would be the dwelling of God in the last days.
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
The bride is the heavenly Jerusalem Temple, which is coming down to this earth to make a dwelling of God among his people. This has a very significant meaning in it. What is the dwelling place of God? Temple. But who was the reality of the temple? Christ. Then what should this heavenly Jerusalem be? Christ, that is, God who is coming down as man in the flesh. Then is this the Second Coming Christ? It cannot be because the Spirit is the Second Coming Christ who would come to give the water of life.
Then who is the bride? Let us find more about the bride, the heavenly Jerusalem.
Revelation 21:9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
In this description, the bride is the wife of the Lamb. The Lamb is the Second Coming Jesus (John 1:29); and therefore, the wife of the Lamb means the wife of Jesus Christ. In reality, even though he came as man in the flesh, Jesus was God the Father. Then what should we call the wife of Jesus or God the Father? The bride must be God the Mother. Amazingly enough, the bible testifies the heavenly Jerusalem and it shows the heavenly Jerusalem as its true reality, not as copy or shadow? Many might think since it is a temple, it must be a form of building flying down from heaven, or even a spaceship!
But the Bible teaches the true reality of the temple Jerusalem? Then what is the Heavenly Jerusalem?
Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above (or in heaven) is free, and she is our mother.
The bible teaches the Heavenly Jerusalem is in reality “our Mother” or God the Mother and she is coming down from heaven in the last days. Why? To make a dwelling among his people. What does it mean then? Just like God the Father made his dwelling among his people by coming down to this earth as man in the flesh in the name of Jesus Christ, God the Mother will come down to this earth now as woman in the flesh and by putting the Spirit of God in the body she will dwell among his people to give them the water of life.
Conclusion
Temple and Water Of Life–To fulfill the prophecy of the book of Ezekiel and Revelation, God the Father and God the Mother both of them came down to this earth as man in the flesh in the Name of Christ Ahnsahnghong and Heavenly Mother New Jerusalem. As we have seen over and over they are the reality of the temple prophesied in the prophecy of Ezekiel and they are the true source of the water of life. They are calling out to you to “Come” and to “take the free gift of the water of life.” God eagerly wants you to come to them for the eternal life. Our true sanctuary, God the Mother came down to this earth and she is pouring out the living water to all the nations and peoples of the world.
Come to the Spirit and the Bride, who are the true source of the water of life.
Stoning or lapidation is a capital punishment carried out by throwing stones on a criminal to put him to death. This is one of the most ancient ways of the capital punishment and also we can see some laws and examples related to this type of execution in the bible.
Stoning in the Old Testament
The Law of Moses specifies about the crimes and the proportionate punishment for those crimes. In this law, the most common way of a capital punishment was stoning to death. In the Book of Deuteronomy, we can see various cases for the stoning such as adultery, blasphemy, disrespect for parents, selling a brother as slave, etc.
Deuteronomy 13:6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. 9 You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Or the laws says of a disrespectful and rebellious son:
Deuteronomy 21:18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” 21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
The reason God commanded the Israelites to stone a person to death is because they could purge or get rid of evil in this way. For this reason, stoning was one of the most common ways of execution for the Jews and we can see examples in the story of Achan and his family being stoned and buried underneath in the Old Testament, and also of Stephen in the New Testament.
Achan’s sin: Because of the sin of Achan, he and his family got stoned to die. Why is this story written in the bible? What is the lesson God wants to teach us?
The Meaning behind the Parable of Stone
Even though there are so many different ways of execution, why does the bible regulate the stoning as way of “purging evil and evil-doers” from among the people? Nothing can be written without any reason, and thus we can see there must be some providence of God behind this teaching too. Then what is the true meaning of this law? According to the bible, the Law of Moses was given to us to lead us to Christ.
Hebrews 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.
The law of Moses was just a copy and shadow and the reality could be found in Christ who fulfilled all the Law of Moses.
Colossians 2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Then what does God want to teach us through this law of stoning to death? He did not give us this law just to make us repulsive about the law. Nor did he give us this law to intimidate us. Everything in the past contains some teaching God wants to give us. To understand God’s teaching in this law we must first understand what the stone presents? According to the bible Jesus is the reality of stone.
Acts 4:11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Or In the Book of Peter, the same apostle testifies:
1 Peter 2:4 As you come to him (or Jesus), the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
Jesus, a Stone of Judgment
Then why is Jesus called a stone parabolically? Let us first look the Law of Moses to find out why people used stone. In the law people used stones to purge evil from the people so that they could maintain social order, or more precisely keep the community pure and clean so that the blessing of God could be with them. In this sense, stone was a tool for judgment for the evil-doer, or people who practiced lawlessness.
Through this laws of Moses we can see that Jesus as stone fulfills the same purpose for God’s people. He was the figuratively and in a sense literally LIVING STONE with the laws of God written in it. With the law given to him he was making judgment for people to purge the evil and lawlessness from people.
What is a rock to us? What does God want to remind us by giving so many and different rocks with so many different purposes?
According to the bible, God is the WORD (John 1:1), and in the time of Moses the word of God was materialized in the form of two STONE tablets to judge people. The stone tablets were not just the words of God, but the representation of God to signify God’s power and authority. In this sense, Jesus was the spiritual stone tablets because he was the WORD of God corporealized in the form of man.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. ….14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Just as the two stone tablets were kept in the physical temple, the spiritual tablets of words of God was kept inside the body of Christ, which is spiritually a temple. (John 2:21) With the immanent words of God inside him, Jesus could make a judgment for the lawlessness and destroy them with his words of God.
John 12:47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.
He appeared to us as Living Stone Tablets of words of God and through the words he taught he was making judgment to purge the evil and destroy the lawlessness 2000 years ago.
Ahnsahnghong, the White Stone
Then what about in the last days? What does the bible say about the judgment in the last day? How will God purge the evil among his people so that they can be kept pure and clean to receive the blessing of salvation? The prophecies of the bible says that in the last days the Second Coming Christ would appear as stone again by coming as man in the flesh and make judgment for the people who do not listen to his words.
Revelation 2:17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
The one who speaks in the Book of Revelation is Christ and he teaches about the things that will happen in the last days. In the last days, he says he would give a white stone with a new name on it. What would be the meaning of it? This is a prophecy about his second coming and when he come comes he would appear again as stone or a living Stone in Peter’s word with the words of God written in him. Just like his first coming, he would appear as man again for the second time, but now he would appear with a new name or a different name, which cannot be Jesus this time.
This prophecy can be confirmed by another prophecy in the Book of Daniel. In a prophecy of a statue of different metals, God foretold the human history which would be laid out for the next thousands of years even to the ends of age.
Daniel 2:31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
As you may know, this is a prophecy about the kingdoms which would rise from the world after Babylon–Media/Persia, Greece, Rome, Ten Germanic Kingdoms and later even to the end of age. But according to this prophecy, at the end of age a rock, which was not established or originated from man, will destroy all the man’s kingdoms and establishments. Then what is this rock which would destroy the man-made institutions or systems? This is a prophecy about the Second Coming Christ who would appear at the end of age as stone or as a man in the flesh for the second time to make a judgment for people who do not listen to the words of God.
Ahnsahnghong, The Words of God
Through this prophecies we can see that Christ Ahnsahnghong is the WORD of God which became flesh and came down to us to teach us the true words of God. About the Christ’s appearance as man in the flesh, the Book of Revelation says:
Revelation 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
The rider of a white horse, the Word of God, will make war against the beast (or the Anti-Christ) and kings allied with him (Revelation 19:20) and he would destroy them. Through this war all the evils would be purged and the judgment would be given to each of the evildoers. And they would be put into the fiery furnace of burning sulfur, being tormented forever and ever. This is the end of Satan and Sin.
In this revelation, the Word of God must be God himself as we have seen in Jesus, who was the Word which appeared as man in the flesh. Then what does it mean the Word coming riding on a white horse? Parabolically, the horse means flesh, and the Word riding on a horse actually means the Word of God would appear as man in the flesh for the second time.
Isaiah 31:3 But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
those who help will stumble,
those who are helped will fall;
all will perish together.
According to the bible, a horse parabolically represents flesh, contrary to the spirit. Therefore, the WORD (God) coming on a horse means God’s coming as man in the flesh. All these prophecies have one thing in common: that is, God must appear as man and he must bring the words of God to make a judgment for the people.
Conclusion
In this dark world where there is not a single ray of light, God Ahnsahnghong brought the resplendent light to us to show the truth so brilliantly. Through this we can see that the Christ Ahnsahnghong is the Second Coming Christ who appeared as man in the flesh to judge the world with his words.
Now let us obey his words so that we may be saved out of the Last Judgment and receive the salvation.
According to the bible, all of us are called sinners who received the death penalty because of the sin we committed.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
Nobody is free from sin and everyone is a sinner. Again, David said:
Psalms 14:1 Only fools think there is no God.
People like that are evil and do terrible things.
They never do what is right.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven
to see if there is anyone who is wise,
anyone who looks to him for help.
3 But everyone has gone the wrong way.
Everyone has turned bad.
No one does anything good. No, not one person!
Again and again God teaches us through the bible that everyone committed sins and no one is free from sins.
The Weight of the Sin
Then where did we sin and how big or grave the sin was? It is the sin we committed on this earth or the sins we committed in heaven? We can find the answer through the punishment we must receive for the sins. According to the bible, the sin we committed is not small or minor, but a big and grievous one. The true weight of our sins can be scaled by the punishment sentenced to us.
The Fall of Angels: Angels rebelled against God from heaven and cast down to this earth, to a spiritual prison to stay until the day of execution for the punishment of their sins.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Then sentence given to us for the sin is the death penalty. If the sin is the one we committed on this earth, it does not seems to make any sense at all because a baby or young child who did not committed any crimes or sins also dies. So we can see that the sins we committed must be the ones we had done in the spiritual world, not in this physical world. And we can feel the sheer weight of the sin through the penalty given to us. Even though we do not remember and we cannot see because we got blinded by the sins, by the punishment or wage of the sin we can know clearly that the sin was not small. Because of the sentence, each one of us can be sure that we will die at one point in the future. For some it is soon, or for others it it late; but sooner or later death comes to everybody.
The Sins We Committed
Then what were the sins we committed in heaven? This can be found in the description of the two exemplary cases of sinners who once lived on this earth: the king of Tyre and Babylon. In the Book of Ezekiel God teaches us that because of the sins he committed the King of Tyre who had been once a beautiful angel in heaven was driven out from heaven to this earth. (Ezekiel 28:12-17) And also in the Book of Isaiah, through the king of Babylon God teaches us the sins the angels committed from heaven.
Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.
Gustave Dore-The Fall of Lucifer. Angel’s rebellion and Punishment of Death Penalty
The bible says that the king of Babylon was once an angel in heaven, but he was cast down to this earth, a spiritual prison for the sinners just like us. And the bible continues to explain about the sins he committed in heaven: that is, rebellion. He tried to put himself in the position of the Most High or God and because of this rebellion he was driven out from heaven and bound on this earth until the death penalty got executed for him in the time of his death. And the bible teaches that this was the sins of everybody who lives on this earth.
Just like the king of Tyre and Babylon, we were once in heaven as beautiful angels, but we rebelled against God and fought against the Most High. Finally, being defeated, we were cast down to this earth and are living the life of prisoners going through many hardships and difficulties. Then how can we define the sins we committed? Rebellion is to deny the previous order and tries to establish a new order by destroying the previous one by force. Simply, we can say that a rebellion is the denial of the law given by the ruler and in this sense a rebellion is a law-breaking. In heaven the king or God gave his laws and regulations to keep the order, but some angels broke the laws of God and rebelled against him. This story is recorded in many places in the bible in the form of parable. We have already seen the stories of the king of Tyre and Babylon.
Also, we can see the original rebellion of the angels against God in the form of parable. In the story of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden represents heaven as we can see in the Book of Ezekiel, and Adam and Eve the angels in heaven. To the angels God gave one command and one law: Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because they were deceived by the Devil or Snake, however, the angels broke the law of God and tries to “be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5) Because of this rebellion, they got cast out from the Eden and became a restless wanderers on this earth.
The War in Heaven and the Fall of Angels
The place where we can find the rebellion of the angels most clearly is from the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
In this war in heaven, we can see the Satan and his followers waging a war against God and they got defeated and cast down to this earth, the spiritual prison.
The Payment for a Rebellion
Then what was the payment for the rebellion? The bible teaches us that this earthly system was made to reflect the system in heaven. On this earth when a man rebels against the ruler or king, he could be put to death immediately. Even nowadays the situation is similar not only in a totalitarian system, but also in a democratic system. For example, in the United States which is called the symbol of democracy and freedom, there is still a death penalty. And one of the case in which a criminal can be given the capital punishment is a treason or a rebellion against the government.
Through this law on this earth as copy and shadow, we can understand that in heaven there must be a similar law. Some angel, however, broke the heavenly laws and rebelled against God. Later, they failed and sent to a prison (or the earth). They have to stay in this prison until their sentence is cleared out and executed. This is the destiny given to everybody on this earth. For this reason, the bible defines the sin very clearly.
The Original Sin, the Sin of Adam and Eve: What is the meaning of it?
1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he (or Christ) appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
The bible says the sin we committed was breaking the heavenly laws of God; and therefore, sin is lawlessness or law-breaking. Because of this sins, we are given the death-penalty. But the bible says that we can be forgiven of our sins through Christ. Who is the Christ who can give us the forgiveness of sins and how? In this earth, when a man was caught for treason, how is the one who can give the forgiveness? It is only the ruler or the king of the nation whom they rebelled against. Through the mercy and grace of the king, they could be forgiven. It is the same spiritually. Since we committed sins against God, it is only through the grace and mercy of God can we receive the forgiveness of sins. But the bible says that we can be forgiven of our sins through Christ. Then who should be Christ? He must be God himself who can forgiven of our sins.
Luke 5:20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
By saying that the Son of Man (Jesus himself) has authority on earth to forgive sins, Jesus was saying that He is God himself. God left heaven and came down to this earth to a spiritual prison for wretched sinners to give us the forgiveness of sins so that we can go back to the kingdom of heaven. Out of ignorance, however, people rejected their God and rebelled against him over again by picking up stones and hurling insults and spitting on him. They lost their chance for salvation.
Christ Ahnsahnghong, God Coming as Man for the Second Time
Now in our time, God came down to this earth again for the second time to give us the forgiveness of sins. Once we broke the laws of God and committed sins. Because of the sins we are given the death penalty. Now God came again in the name of Christ Ahnsahnghong and restored the laws of the new covenant so that we can be forgiven of our sins through his flesh and blood and to receive eternal life through the laws of God.
The Forgiveness of Sins through the Bread and Wine of the Passover
However, people in this world, out of their complete ignorance to the laws of God, denies Christ Ahnsahnghong and do not keep the laws of God, committing sins by breaking the laws again. Now is the time for us to know the laws of God and should obey the laws. The bible teaches us one truth through which we can be forgiven of our sins and the death penalty can be lifted up from us: the law of the new covenant.
Matthew 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
God came down to us and gave us the forgiveness of the sins for the second time. Now let us leave the way of the lawlessness and obey the laws of God. In this way, we can receive eternal life and go back to the kingdom of heaven to the eternal glory.
What is the name of God that we must know to be saved? Many believes that it is through the name Jesus we can be saved and he is the true Savior. Then why do people believe like that? It is because the bible says that the name of Jesus is the name of Savior and we must accept and believe in.
Jesus, the Name of God
Apostle John and Peter testified that Jesus is the source of Salvation.
Act 4:11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
They testified to the Jews who are versed at the bible, and said that “no other name” except for the name of Jesus was given to them to be saved. It was a strange idea to the Jews of the time. It was because the name of Savior they had known and accepted was not Jesus to them. It was always God the Father Jehovah who could be called the name of Savior.
Isaiah 42:8 “I am Yahweh (or Jehovah).
That is my name.
I will not give my glory to another.
I will not let statues take the praise that should be mine. (ERV)
And he proclaims that he alone is the Savior and none other.
Isaiah 43:10 The Lord (or Jehovah) says, “You people are my witnesses and the servant I chose. I chose you so that you would help people believe me. I chose you so that you would understand that ‘I Am He’—I am the true God. There was no God before me, and there will be no God after me. 11 I myself am the Lord, and there is no other Savior.
The name of God to the Jews who originally believed in the bible was God Jehovah. That is why when disciples started to preach that Jesus was the Savior and the true God, the Jews could not accept the teachings and dismissed them as cult. But then why did the disciples preach that Jesus is the name of Savior and Jesus is God Jehovah. Physically we cannot say that the name Jesus and Jehovah same because they have different spellings and pronounce differently. Despite these apparent difference between the two names, the disciples of Jesus preached Jesus was the true savior and accept the name of Jesus.
Today, everybody believes in the Name of Jesus, which was different 2000 years ago when he came down to this earth. He was rejected and He was crucified. Why do people now put their trust in the Name Jesus?
Romans 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah (or Christ Jesus), who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
Paul says that Christ Jesus is the true God and he is the true Savior.
Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Acts 16:29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
Apostles who preached Jesus as Savior were also Jews who had been taught throughout their life that Jehovah is the Savior. Then what made them change their mind and accept the name of Jesus as the name of Savior, rather than Jehovah?
The Name of Savior Fulfilled through the Prophecies of the Bible
Then was there any part or verse in the Old Testament that taught that the name of Savior would be changed into another name such as Jesus in the later time? No, there is not a single verse that mentions Jesus in the Old Testament. Considering that their faith was based on the Scriptures, it is strange that they started to call out the name Jesus as the name of Savior because the Scripture testifies over and over again that God the Father Jehovah is the only Savior and only God.
To understand the reason we have to look at the teachings of Jesus Christ who testified about himself. What did he say about himself?
John 5:43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.
Jesus’ teaching sounds more strange. Jesus said that he (Jesus) came in the name of Father (Jehovah) and by saying this he is alluding that he (Jesus) is Father (Jehovah). However, as we can see the name and spelling, the two names are not the same, but completely different. Then why did he teach that he came in the Father’s name? If he did, he must be called “Jehovah,” rather than Jesus 2000 years ago.
Here we can see that he is not teaching in the literal sense of the words, but he is teaching through a parable as usual. Therefore, to understand his teaching correctly, we have to read between the lines and find out the hidden meaning behind the words. Then how can we explain his teaching about the name of God.
By looking at the previous verses we can grasp the meaning and understand what he wanted to teach the people about the name of Savior.
John 5:39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
He is speaking about the Scriptures (the bible) and says that through the Scriptures we can receive Salvation because through the Scriptures we can know who the Savior is and can come to him to receive Salvation. But the Scriptures he was speaking about the Old Testament because the New Testament was not recorded and compiled yet during Jesus’ lifetime. And he makes an unbecoming argument when he said that the Scriptures or the Old Testament was given to teach the people about himself who was to come as Savior to give them eternal life. However, none of his argument seems to be true because the Scriptures testifies that Jehovah is the Savior and come to Father Jehovah.
Then on what ground could he say that he was God the Father Jehovah and he came in the Father’s name? We can understand this through the fulfillment of the prophecies of the bible. God gave many prophecies (rather than a name) so that we could recognize the true Savior by the fulfillment of the prophecies. For example, in one prophecy God said that he would come as shepherd to save his people:
Ezekiel 34:11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord (or Jehovah) says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Since the shepherds did not take care of the sheep entrusted to them, God prophesied that he would be a shepherd for his people himself in the future by searching them, gathering them, healing them, comforting them with good pastures. Then who came and fulfill this prophecy of good shepherd? It was fulfilled through Jesus Christ:
Who is the True Shepherd, Jehovah or Jesus? What is the true Name of Savior?
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Through these teachings we can easily see that Jesus was the one who fulfilled the prophecy of the good shepherd made by Father Jehovah. If we believe that these two passages are related with each other through the prophecy and fulfillment, it is also easy for us to know who Jesus was. In the Book of Ezekiel, the one who would appear as shepherd is God the Father Jehovah himself. Therefore, we can say that Jesus, even though he came as man in the flesh like one of us and he had physically a different name from Jehovah, is God Jehovah because of the fulfillment of the prophecy.
The Prophecy of a New Covenant
Let us take a look at another prophecy:
Jeremiah 31:31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord (or Jehovah)),
“when I (Jehovah) will make a new covenant with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
In this prophecy Jehovah said that he would make a new covenant to his people again to give them the forgiveness of sins. Even though he made an old covenant (the Law of Moses), his people disobeyed the covenant and got destroyed because of the sins they committed and the covenant came to be broken and forgotten by his people since it was written on the stone tablets. That is why he said that he would write the new covenant in the tablets of people’s heart so that they would never forget and keep the covenant forever so that they would receive the forgiveness of sins and salvation.
Then who fulfill this prophecy by making the new covenant with the people of God?
Luke 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
When Jesus kept the Passover with his disciples, he said that that was THE new covenant. What does it mean? What was the new covenant he had in mind when he established the new covenant with the bread and wine of the Passover? He was referring to a prophecy of the Scriptures and all throughout the Scriptures there is only one instance where God Jehovah said that he (Jehovah) would make A new covenant. And that prophecy was achieved by Jesus by establishing THE new covenant which was mentioned by Father Jehovah. Then in this prophecy who is Jesus? The prophecy said I (Jehovah) would make a new covenant and therefore Jesus must be Jehovah who appeared as man in the flesh and established the new covenant.
I just mentioned two of the prophecies of the Scriptures for the sake of time. Actually, all the verses of the bible teaches us the savior who would appear and gives us the salvation and all those prophecies which were made by God Jehovah was fulfilled by Jesus. When the disciples of Jesus realized this, they could boldly proclaim that Jesus was Father Jehovah and Jesus thus was the true Savior and God.
The Name of God in the Last Day
Then why are all these important? It is because what happened in the past would happen again in the last day. Jesus Christ already prophesied about his coming and he says about the name of Savior which would be revealed in the last day.
John 14:26 But the Advocate (Counselor), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Here he is speaking about the Holy Spirit who would come in the last day to teach the truth to people so that they would receive salvation. But then who is the Holy Spirit who would appear in the last days? Many say that the Holy Spirit is a invisible spiritual force as it was once manifested on the Day of Pentecost by descending upon people and giving the power of God. That is true. But in another aspect, the Holy Spirit is just a title given to God just like the Father and the Son. According to the bible, the Holy Spirit is the title given to the Second Coming Christ.
What would be the Name of God in our time? How would we be able to know it?
Jesus Christ always called himself as “the Son of Man” or people called him as “the Son of God or David.” It was because the Christ must appear as son in the prophecy of Isaiah.
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
This prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus and that is why Jesus himself and people called him as son. In reality, however, he was the Mighty God and Everlasting Father or God Jehovah himself. Especially, he appeared as Counselor or Advocate who “speaks to the Father in our defense.” (1 John 2:1) According to the teachings of Jesus, he says that he would send another Counselor like him so that our sins would be forgiven through his supplication for us.
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father , and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of truth.
And about this Counselor, he refers him as the Holy Spirit. It means that God would send Christ again and when he appears he would come with the title of the Holy Spirit. And when he appears he would teach us everything that we must know for our salvation and he would speak to the father for us so that our sins would be forgiven. In the Book of Revelation, we can see Jesus who would appears with the title “the Holy Spirit” and “a new name.”
Revelation 3:11 I (or Jesus) am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spiritsays to the churches.
The Jesus who would be coming in the future must be the Second Coming Christ. When he appears for the second time, however, he does not use the title “Son” anymore, rather he uses the title (Holy) Spirit instead as we can see in Verse 13 of the passage above and many other verses throughout the book, especially, Chapter 2, 3 and 22. Again and again he refers himself as “the Holy Spirit,” letting us know that these prophecies about his second coming. But when he comes, what is the name he would use? In the book of John, he already said that God would send the Holy Spirit in his name and therefore the Holy Spirit seems to have to appear in the name of Jesus if we try to understand this verse literally.
However, through the example of Jesus who came in the Father’s name, now we must have the spiritual eyes to know the hidden meaning behind it. It means the Holy Spirit would not literally appear in the name of Jesus any more, but rather he would appear with a different name. About this, he said that he would appear with “his new name.” (Revelation 3:12) It means when he appears in the last days we would not be able to know who the Christ is through his name. Then how would we know the Second Coming Christ.
Christ Ahnsahnghong Who Came in the Name of Jesus
The only way for us to know the name of God is through the fulfillment of the prophecies of the bible. Just as the disciples could accept Jesus as Savior or God through the fulfillment of prophecies made by God Jehovah, the only way for us to know the true Second Coming Christ who would appear as the Holy Spirit with a new name is through the fulfillment of the prophecies of the bible.
Christ Ahnsahnghong is the True Name of God through which we can be saved because there is no other name given to us to be saved except for the Name Ahnasahnghong. He has come to fulfill the prophecies of the bible and established Zion, the Church of God for us to receive salvation.
2000 years ago, Jesus made a lot of prophecies about his Second Coming in Matthew 24: the Son of man coming on the clouds of sky, the Son of Man coming along the blossoming of the fig tree, the Son of Man coming like lightning which shines from east to west, etc. Therefore, the one who fulfills all these prophecies made in the name of Jesus is the one who we must accept because he is Christ Jesus who would appear a second time. It does not matter where he is coming from, how he looks like, what language he speaks, what customs he follows. What is important is the prophecies of the Scriptures and the fulfillment of those prophecies.
All the prophecies Jesus made 2000 years ago was fulfilled by Christ Ahnsahnghong by coming on the clouds of heaven in the time of fig tree giving out the leaves from the east bringing the words of God. Not only these, all other prophecies such as Melchizedek, David, Elijah, Moses, etc were fulfilled through his coming. Therefore, by looking at the fulfillment we should be able to see who Christ Ahnsahnghong is in spite of all the unbecoming outward appearances which seems to be contrary to the public expectation of Christ. Remember that only those who truly believed the words of God in the bible could accept the Christ testified in the bible. We must be the same and accept Christ Ahnsahnghong by trusting the words of God in the Scriptures because these are the Scriptures that testifies about Christ Ahnsahnghong.
Our life of faith is often compared to a running race that we must run through to win the crown of life. Let us think about the mindset we should have to finish the race given to us graciously even to the end.
A Person who Runs a Race
We can see a lot of athletes in sports competitions. Let us think about their efforts that they take to participate in the competitions and to win. They have to be trained day after day without stopping, and they have to control their desires so that they would keep the best condition to improve their skills and to win the race on the day of the competition. They have to control their sleep, their diet, and their physical desires such as their love life, hobbies, meeting family and friends, etc.
Those athletes who take part in the Olympic games must leave their family and friends and stay in a training center for a long time. We can hear the stories of their hardships and difficulties. They have to abstain from their favorite foods and follow the strict diet program prepared by the center to keep their body in shape. They cannot meet their family and friends and they cannot enjoy their hobby. Neither can they take a rest whenever they want, but rather follow the training schedules designed for them all throughout the training session.
You cannot win the race by cheating or following the shortcuts.
Without keeping these rules, they would not have any chance to win the race. There is no shortcuts in a running race. Sometimes we see people who try to use the shortcuts in the competitions and humiliate themselves in the end. We can see many such cases as taking illegal medicines such as steroids to make their muscles strong and hard with not much significant exercise compared to people who do not depend on those pills, but try to build up their muscles by the sweats they shed. Or we can hear about people who try to harness some high-tech but prohibited devices to enhance their performance. Or simply they break the rules blatantly to win the race. But they would be forfeited their medals later when their cheating comes to be known to the public and the fame and honor they have been seeking even in the expense of their honesty would be taken away from them and they would have to wallow in the deep agony after that.
The Spiritual Race We Must Finish
It is the same with the spiritual race that we must run throughout our life of faith. In this spiritual race we must train our body and mind by strictly putting them under the control according to the rules and regulations given to us through the words of God.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slaveso that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
In this spiritual running race, Paul teaches us that we must be thoroughly trained to win the prize, the crown of life. We must have a clear sense of goal and to achieve the goal we must beat ourselves so that we can control our body. We have to abstain from the sinful physical desires that entangle and lead us to failures.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
And also in this race too, we must not cheat or try to find the shortcuts, but follow all the rules and regulations laid out for us to keep. In this race, we must keep the rules in mind by learning them by heart. We must practice according to the rules over and over again so that we can be made perfect to receive the crown.
2 Timothy 2:5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.
Also he says:
1 Timothy 4:7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
Paul says that we must train ourselves to be godly to win the race and get the crown of life in heaven after finishing this race. The bible says that we would reap what we sow. We cannot spread bad seeds and expect to harvest good crops. In the same way, in this spiritual race we cannot expect that we would reap the godliness after sowing the seeds of desires and sins. For this reason, first we must keep ourselves holy and clean and then spread the good seeds to the world. We cannot enjoy the worldly things while living the life of faith.
1 Timothy 2:4 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
In this spiritual race, the one that we must please is God and therefore we must not go against the rules by trying to please men or himself.
Those who are Waiting for us to Finish this Race
This race we are running can be compared to a relay race where many members are working as team. Before us many members of our team have been running this race of faith. The first racer was Abel and the baton was given to Noah, later to Abraham, to Moses, to Joshua, etc–just mention a few of them. In a relay race, all the members must work together and none of them must be lacking or break a rule, but finish the race according to the rule to the end by making every effort to win the race. Even though all other members have done exceedingly well, but if one member fails they cannot win the race.
It is the same with the race we are running in our life of faith. Before us, the forefathers of faith have kept their faith and run their part of race and they are waiting now, watching us to see if we would be able to make it to the end. If we fail, the whole race would turn out to be futile and meaningless.
Hebrews 11:39 These (or the forefather of faith such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, those who are mentioned in Hebrews 11) were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
In the plan of God for this race, we are chosen to take the baton for the race from them and we in our turn must finish the race assigned for us. If we fail, the whole race would fail and if we win all of us can win the race and receive the crown of life in heaven. According to the will of God we are chosen as the last runner of the race and by our completion of the race the whole race would be made perfect and complete. That is why the forefathers of faith who already finished the race marked out for them are waiting impatiently, watching us to see if we are running the race well.
As in a relay race, all the runner who finished their race waiting to see the result by watching the race completed by the last runner. When they win, they all run out to the last runner and share the joy together with all the other members.
Usain Bolt Winning a Gold Medal along with his team members in the Beijing Olympic.
In the same way, all the runners who covered their parts in this spiritual race are now watching on us to see how we are doing–if we are making efforts, if we keep the rules, if we are worthy to be in this race and finish this race. Let us not let them down.
Keep the Faith to the End
The bible teaches us that we must finish the race to receive the crown of life.
2 Tim 4:6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
When we keep the faith to the end like Paul, the crown of righteousness is waiting for all of us in heaven. In this Age of the Holy Spirit, God came down to this earth and gives us the strength to endure and keep the faith so that we would be able to finish the race. Jesus said, “Take heart because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) God wants us to overcome the world and follow him to the end by keep the faith in him.
Let us trust in Christ Ahnsahnghong and Heavenly Mother New Jerusalem and overcome the world by looking forward to the crown of life in store for us in heaven. All the angels and all the members of the heaven who are intently watching this race will rejoice together when we overcome and finish the race. On that day, we will embrace one another with joyful mind and shout to the heaven the glory of God.
What if there is no light in the world? It would not be hard to imagine what the life would be like for the living things? They will all be like the blind, feeling the way with their fingers and stumbling and falling down by a small stones sticking out from the ground and being fallen into a prey for wild animals. The life would be unimaginably hard and difficult and almost impossible to live.
Spiritual Darkness
But according to the bible, this is the situation for the people living in the last days. Spiritually the world is in deep darkness with no light from the sun nor the moon or stars. Prophet Zephaniah prophesied about the last day:
Zephaniah 2:14 The great day of the Lord is near—
near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;
the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.
15 That day will be a day of wrath—
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness—
16 a day of trumpet and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the corner towers.
17 “I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord.
“The great day of the Lord” in the bible is the Day of Judgment which will take place in the last day. The prophet gives many characteristics of this day and one of them is that the day is the day of “darkness, clouds, and blackness.” Since it is dark, people cannot see things clearly and they act like as if they were a blind man.
The Great Day of God’s Wrath by John Martin
And Prophet Joel tells us the reason why the world is in deep darkness in the last days.
Joel 2:31 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Joel let us know the reason why everything would be dark in the last days. He says that the sun and the moon will lose their light and there would no light from the sun or moon. Since there is no light, the world shrouded by a deep darkness. Everything is under the complete darkness. Since they cannot see, people stumbles, falls, are snared, or fallen into a prey for the wild animals.
The Christ Coming on the Clouds of Heaven with Great Glory
In this time of darkness, however, the bible says that God would come and bring salvation to his people by giving them light. Prophet Ezekiel says that in the last day when the world is in complete darkness, God himself would come to save his people from the darkness.
Ezekiel 34:11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land.
This is a prophecy about the last day, the day of clouds and darkness and all God’s people got lost because they cannot see. All the people of God go scattered and they became prey for wild animals. At this moment of spiritual darkness, God said that He himself would come and save them by bringing them back to the Promised Land he prepared for his people. Then who would come and how will he save his people? To understand the salvation of God, first we should know about the one who would come to us to save us. To understand what is going to happen in the last days, let us take a look at some teachings of Jesus Christ he gave us about the last day.
The Day of Darkness when the Sun and Moon lose their lights
Matthew 24:29 “Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
This is about the last day when there is no light from the sun or moon, but the world is in deep darkness and God’s people like blind men they would have been scattered and stumbling and falling. In this time of complete darkness, Prophet Ezekiel said that God himself would appear to save his people. But in the Book of Matthew, Jesus said that “the Son of Man” or Christ himself will “come on the clouds of heaven” and will save them. Through these prophecies we can see that in the last day the Christ who would appear a second time or the Second Coming Christ would appear and grant salvation to his people.
Then what does it mean, “coming on the clouds of heaven”? Will he ride on the clouds of heaven and come down to this earth? Many people says this would be the case in the last days that Christ would come down from heaven on physical clouds of the sky with his angels. However, as we have seen many times before, the clouds means flesh. Therefore, coming on the clouds actually meaning coming as man in the flesh. In short, in the last day God himself would come as man in the flesh again like 2000 years ago, and save his people and lead them to the spiritual Promised Land.
The Great Light or Splendor Christ would Bring
The Book of Revelation shows us about the Christ’s Coming and the salvation he brings in the time of darkness. What is the way he grant his salvation to his people?
Revelation 18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’
She has become a dwelling for demons
and a haunt for every impure spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.
3 For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
Who is the angel with great authority? All the authority, glory, and power was given to Christ and the Christ is the one who is going to come with great power and glory as we have seen in the Book of Matthew. Therefore, this angel with great authority is the Second Coming Christ. When he comes, what does he do? He “illuminates the earth with his splendor (or great light).” How can we guess the earth has been like before his coming? The earth must be in the deep darkness. In this state God’s people were held captive in the Babylon as slaves which is the place of demons and unclean spirit. Simply, we can say this place as spiritual Egypt where God’s people are kept as slaves. They have been working as the slaves of the Babylon because they cannot see or discern what kind of place they are in since there is no light. They are spiritually blind.
The Fall of Babylon the Great by John Martin
However, this time of deep darkness will end when the Second Coming Christ comes with great light and shines his light so that his people can see and distinguish what is good or what is bad. And through this splendor, he gives his people spiritual eyes to see the true identity of the Babylon they are in and lead them out by calling out to them, “Come out of her, my people.” (Revelation 18:4)
The Spiritual Light, the Words of God
Then what is this splendor or light which illuminates the earth and let people see and know the true identity of the Babylon? What is this light that would shine in the last day to give light to the people of God so that they could open their eyes to see their spiritual state? According to the bible, the light means the words of God.
Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.
Or in the Book of Proverbs, King Solomon says;
Proverbs 6:23 For this command is a lamp,
this teaching is a light,
and correction and instruction
are the way to life.
In this sense, the sun and moon which would lose its light in the last day, which results in the deep darkness in the world are actually words of God. In the Book of Genesis, God created the Sun and the Moon on the fourth day.
Genesis 1:14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
This is not physical creation creating the sun and moon, but rather as we already know this represents the spiritual creation told in the form of parable. This creation of lights on Day 4 actually represents God’s establishing two words or covenants of God to his people. First, the less light is the moon light which represents the old covenant which was given to the physical Israelites as copy and shadow. And just as the light of moon is just a reflection of the light of sun, this covenant was not reality, but just a shadow to lead us to the reality, the sun light. The greater light or sunlight represent the new covenants which was given to the spiritual Israelites by Jesus Christ.
God’s Creating Sun and Moon by Michelangelo. What is the meaning?
Therefore, the loss of light from the sun and moon actually represents the loss of the true words of God written in the Old and New Testament. Even though Jesus gave the sun light so that God’s people could see the way of the Promised Land clearly through his sacrifice, but ultimately this words of God or sunlight was taken away by the work of Satan after the death of Jesus and Disciples. The world became dark with no light from the sun or moon, hence the name the Dark Age came since it was the age of darkness without the sun or moon.
But the bible says that Christ would appear again in the last days and shine his light again. Then how would he shine his light? By bringing the words of God again and giving us the light of the sun and the light of the moon back to us.
The Second Coming Christ and the Light of Life
According to the these prophecies of the bible, the one who brings and restores all the words of God is the Christ who appears a second time as man in the flesh. Christ Ahnsahnghong came down to this earth and has shone the light of gospel by opening the seven seal of the bible and letting us know the truth words of God. And he restored the new covenant of the Passover and taught us the reality of the flesh and blood of Christ, our Heavenly Mother New Jerusalem, who also came down to this earth to give us the eternal life.
When the world was in darkness, we did not know where to go and that is why we were held as slaves of the Babylon without knowing what kind of place we are staying and what kind of destiny we are facing. But Christ Ahnsahnghong and Heavenly Mother are calling us now, “Come out of her, my people.” Open your eyes now and see yourself what kind of place you are in. Is there truth? Is there the new covenant of the Passover which gives us the forgiveness of sins and eternal life? If not, then what is the place you are staying in? That is the spiritual Babylon where people who have forsaken the words of God are following the commands of man such as Sunday worship, Christmas, Easter. That is the home for demons and a haunt for evil spirit. Come out of her, Brothers and Sisters and Come to Zion without delay.
Autumn is a wonderful season. It gives us many things to ponder about. All the green grasses, plants, and tree which gave the sense of life to us during the spring and summer withers and dies. The grass in the field loses its color and freshness of life and turns to whitish brown, making crumbling noises when stepped on. And the trees shed all the beautiful decorations they had during the summer and only the essence of life is left behind in its most basic form with no flowers, no leaves, no young boughs and soft branches.
It seems to me that ironically this is the very season we can experience life as it is. During the spring and summer, we have been deceived by the outward appearances of things such as leaves, flowers, bees and butterflies and tended to think that these are the signs of life. However, during the autumn we come to realize that they were just a set of decorations which cannot be regarded as the part of the essence of life. The true essence of life appears when the life shed all the redundant parts from itself during the autumn. When the trees shed its leaves and remove its mask, we can see the true reality of life groaning and striving hard to endure the hardships. We can see the life itself, holding on the last breath as long as it can. When the leaves of the grass wither and turn pale white, we can feel the life hidden underneath the crispy demolition of those dried blades.
All Men are like grass that wither and die.
At this moment of the year, we can sense the true life which we also must go through. When our life on this earth is over, we will have to shed also things that is not essential by leaving those things behind. Only the essence of life would be left for us so that we can make a new life after this life is over. While we are living on this earth, however, we do not realize this and by being deceived by the things that are not essential we pay more attention to the outward things, neglecting more important things. At the time of shedding, we come to realize that we have been chasing after the wind, seeking after the meaningless things. Look at the things around us-the grasses, trees, leaves, and even animals and insects. They are teaching us that we will be like them soon. At that time, all the redundant things we have gathered to us to beautify us and to justify us will be taken away from us, and only the essence of life in us would be laid bare.
Psalms 103:15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
Isaiah 40:6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
A mountain path in the late Autumn with fallen leaves
The life of men are like grass. It has its own time once, but sooner or later it withers and dies. In this meaningless life, what are we seeking after? Wealth, fame, knowledge, wisdom, popularity, power, beauty…? The time will come when we have to shed all these redundant things and the thing left in us will be the essence or the seed of life that would sprout into a new life. At that moment, what if we do not have this seed of life? We will not be able to enter into the life. Then what is the essence of life that we must have in us so that we can inherit the imperishable life? Just like a tree condenses all the life it had into the form of fruit with seeds in it and so does grass, we should have the seed of life in us.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
Again in the Book of the First Peter, it is written:
1 Peter 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable (seed), through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.
The Essence of Life: Trees and Fruits. During the spring and summer, a tree gives out tender branches and leaves and works so hard to leave the life, the fruits so that the life can endure. In the same way, what is that we should work for to leave life at the end?
The seed we must have inside is the words of God, the gospel which Christ came and preached 2000 years ago. He wanted to plant good seeds in us, which would sprout into eternal life. However, during the Dark Ages the Romans started to change the words of God one by one, taking away from us the essence of life. But according to the prophecy of Hebrews 9:28, Christ appeared to us again for the second time to plant this seed of life in us again. Let us plow the hardened soil of our heart and plant the good seed, waiting for the day it would sprout and bloom into a new life.
![[WMSCOG] Day One: Creation of Light](https://lastadamandeve.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Let-there-be-light-672x372.jpg)
