Foundational Truths
It will perhaps be beneficial to draw out the foundational truths for which this newsletter stands. The purpose for doing so is to provide the reader with the necessary context for all subsequent studies.
However, readers are encouraged to search these things out for themselves, maintaining the Berean spirit, who “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, who receive the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures day by day, to see if these have it thus” (Acts 17:11).
Therefore…
ALL FINDS ITS SOURCE IN GOD
God is the source of all creation. All things—from phytoplankton to a supermassive black hole—is the manifestation of His creative intention. All is out of Him and through Him and for Him (Romans 11:36). This is the bedrock upon which every other truth is built.
The trajectory of all things, whether on Earth or in the outer reaches of the universe, is dictated and guided by the counsel of His own will (Ephesians 1:11). There is nothing beyond or outside His control or intention.
GOD IS THE CREATOR OF EVIL
Just as God is the creator of all that’s beautiful in the cosmos, He is also the creator of all that isn’t beautiful. He is the creator of good and evil (Isaiah 45:7).
Evil is neither sin, nor regression. Evil is also not a digression. Evil is not a creative mutation. It was created by God for a specific purpose—to humble humanity (Ecclesiastes 1:13). It has a finite purpose. Evil will be abolished when death is abolished, when God finally becomes All is all (1 Corinthians 15:28).
PAUL, THE APOSTLE TO THE NATIONS
Paul, previously known as Saul of Tarsus (Acts 13:9), is the only apostle in all of Holy Writ to have written to “the nations,” or the “Uncircumcision” (Galatians 2:7).
It is through Paul’s evangel that the Body of Christ is manifested as a unique collection of believers whose future resides in the Celestials (Ephesians 2:6). Christ, following his resurrection, revealed to Paul a special evangel (Galatians 1:11-13) that was to stretch beyond the limited reach of the Twelve Disciples, whose own message and evangel were limited to believing Israelites, or the “Circumcision” (Galatians 2:7).
Thus, the evangel of the Twelve speaks not of the Celestials, but of the Kingdom of the Heavens, which refers to the Millennial Kingdom in the coming eon.
THE NATURE OF THE SCRIPTURES
All Scripture is inspired by God. “All scripture…is beneficial for teaching, for exposure, for correction, for discipline in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16). The Scriptures are not meant to be passively read. They are meant for study, reflection, and application.
A pattern of sound words, which comes by concordantly translating the Original, must be preserved (2 Timothy 1:13). The Scriptures must always be correctly cut (2 Timothy 2:15), and each portion should only be applied to those whom it was written.
Jesus Christ’s ministry (Romans 15:8) and the twelve disciples were specifically to the Circumcision, just as Paul’s unique ministry (Ephesians 3:8; Galatians 2:7; 1 Timothy 2:7) was for the nations.
Though all Scripture is for us, it is not all to us. Check the address on the envelope.
CHRIST JESUS
Christ is positioned at the center and pinnacle of all Scriptural revelation. During His short time on Earth, He existed “apart from sin” (Hebrews 4:15) and “does no sin” (1 Peter 2:22).
He could not be exposed concerning sin (John 8:46). Paul was correct when he wrote that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was entombed, and that He has been roused the third day according to the scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:4).
Christ is not only God’s beloved Son, but He is “God’s creative Original” (Revelation 3:14)—meaning that He precedes all other created things. He is the express Image of the invisible God, Firstborn of every creature (Colossians 1:15), and He is God’s Word (John 1).
That is to say, Christ is “the Emblem of His assumption” (Hebrews 1:3).
There is one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus, the One giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:5-6).
EONS, NOT ETERNITY
The Scriptures do not teach the idea of eternity. Rather, the Scriptures teach that God unravels His divine purpose in phases and ages of time known as eons.
It is within these temporal eons that all of God’s purposes and intentions come to fruition. That is, until the consummation, when God is All in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).
It is important to understand that virtually all of Holy Writ plays out within five grand eons—not eternity.
