Bible Study God's Plan Of Salvation

[BFSmith764]

________________________________________
The Old Testament Passover pointed to Christ

Leviticus 23: 5 – On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover.
Exodus 12: 3,5,7 – “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. ‘Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.

Christ is our Passover

I Corinthians 5:7 – Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us.
Matthew 26: 26 – And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take. Eat, this is My body.

The blood of Christ is what saves His people from sin and Satan, just as the blood saved Israel from the destroyer

Exodus 12:7 – ‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.’

Matthew 26: 27 28 – Then He took the cup, and gave thanks; and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins

The Feast of Unleavened Bread -The Israelites were to remove leaven from themselves

Leviticus 23: 5 – And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

Christians are to remove sin (spiritual leaven) from themselves

I Corinthians 5: 8 – Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

The sheaf of the fristfruits symbolized Christ being accepted as sacrifice for His people

Leviticus 23: 9 -11 – And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them; ‘When come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the fristfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it.

Christ is accepted and is the first of the first fruits of those who will be glorified

I Corinthians 15: 20 – Now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Pentecost is the first of the harvest – It pictures the starting of the Church of God of whom are the first of those that God is calling

Leviticus 23: 15,17 – And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. ‘You shall bring from your habitations two waves loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord.

The Church was founded on the day of Pentecost

Acts 2: 1 – Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The Feast of Trumpets represents the return of Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God

Leviticus 23: 23 – Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying; in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

The return of Christ…

Mathew 24: 29-31 – Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in the heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will morn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

a time of great joy and celebration for God’s people

Matthew 26: 29 – “But I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.â€Â

Luke 22: 15-16 – Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.â€Â

The day of – Atonement (At-one-ment) Symbolized when mankind will be at one with God

Leviticus 23: 26 -27 – And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying; “Also the tenth day of this month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

The Feast of Tabernacles pictures the time during the 1,000 year rule of Christ and the glorified saints

Leviticus 23: 33 -34 – Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying; “Speak to the children of Israel, saying the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord.

A time of great prosperity joy and happiness for all nations

Micah 4: 1- 4, 6 - 7 - Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.†For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their sword into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of host has spoken. “In that day says,†the Lord I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast and those whom I have afflicted; I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcast a strong nation; so the Lord will reign over them in mount Zion. From now on, even forever.

The mountain of the Lord’s house is talking about Christians whom by this time have been glorified and ruling with Jesus.

Psalms 22:27-29 – All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship; all those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him, even he who cannot keep himself alive.

Jesus said He will make people come and worship before the feet of the saints, but this will be done when the sainst have been glorified and rulling with Jesus.

Revelation 3:9 (ASV)
9 Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Even the nature of the animals will be changed

Isaiah 11: 6-9 – The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the water cover the sea.

The eight-day of the Feast is called in the New Testament…

Leviticus 23: 36 – For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eight day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

the Last Great day of The Feast

John 7:37 – On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture had said, out of his heart, will flow rivers of living water.â€Â

*Jesus was prophesying about those who will be resurrected after the millennium

Revelation 20:4-5 - And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or it’s images, and not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Notice the last part of the above verse in underline. The rest of the dead; these are people who died and were not saved, they will live again as it says. The saints who were dead, were the first ones to be resurrected, and is mentioned as, "This is the first resurrection" and along with the saints who were alive at Jesus’ second coming are the ones whom judgment was committed or given to them, as it says in the first part of Revelation 20: 4. The saints will be given the right to judge the world…in fact the saints will judge angels.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3 (ASV)
2 Or know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world is judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life?


A sample of the rest of the dead that will live again

Ezekiel 37:1-14 -The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst the valley; and it was full' of bones. Then He cause me to pass by them all and around, and behold, there very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said a me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord God you know". Again he said to me," Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the words of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly there was a rattling; and the bones came together; bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over, but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy son of man, and say to the breath, "thus say the Lord God: "Come from the four winds, o breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."'" So I prophesy as I was commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, "Son of man, these house are the hole house of Israel. They indeed say, our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we our selves are cut off! Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold o my people, I will open up your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have open your graves, O my people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it," says the Lord.'"

Mathew 12: 41- 42 – The men of Nineveh will rise in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.



Acts 24:15 (ASV)
15 having hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that there shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust.

As you can see Acts 24:15 mentions the resurrection of the just (Christians, which includes all the righteous men and women of the Old Testament) and the unjust (unbelievers). But to make it clear the Just and the unjust will not rise from the grave together. The unjust will be raised a thousand years later or after what is called the millennial rule of Jesus. And they will not be raised immortal as the saints were, but back to there former state. They will then be offered salvation as those before them, and if they accepts they too will be given eternal life at the end.

Then comes the end…

Revelation 20: 14-15, 21:1 – Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Zephaniah 1: 2-3 – “I will utterly consume all things from the face of the landâ€Â, says the Lord; “I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heaven, he fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the landâ€Â. Says the Lord.

1Corinthians 15: 24 – Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

which is really the beginning

Isaiah 65: 17 – “ For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

2 Peter 3: 13 – Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

 

[Bick]

You have certainly pulled together verses from here and there to establish your view of God's plan of salvation.

It is true, the feasts and other OT subjects are shadows and types, while Christ Jesus is the anti-type, the substance.

I would agree with much of what you are presenting, with this exception: the church/body of Christ, set forth by Paul, is a separate "ecclesia"..."called out ones"...from the church Jesus is building out of Israel and a few proselytes.

The church/body of Christ is a new creation, a special body, whose future is in the heavenlies, having glorified spiritual bodies (after the rapture). It is made up of both Jews and Gentiles equally, as far as position in Christ. In Ephesians we read that we, the church/body, are sons of God, and if sons, then heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. We will be enjoying the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies God blesses us with. For in the ages to come God will show the exceeding riches of His kindness and grace toward us through Christ Jesus. To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus.

Evidently, the message of God's love, grace and wisdom will be witnessed by the church/body, to spirit beings through out the universe (the heavenlies).

Read Ephesians chapts. one through three.

While in the past tense, it is the Hebrew way of expressing the future as a done deal.

 

[one_lost_coin]

whats the rapture?

 

[BFSmith764]

You have certainly pulled together verses from here and there to establish your view of God's plan of salvation.

I'm just following the scriptures on how to understand God's word.

Isaiah 28:9-10 (ASV)
9 Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts?
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.

God design His world that way in order to make His word difficult for those whom it was not given to understand.

Isaiah 28:13 (ASV)
13 Therefore shall the word of Jehovah be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

The word "Taken" can be translated as entrapped.

 

[BFSmith764]

whats the rapture?

I know that that question was not addressed to me but I thought I would respond any way. Personally I don't believe that those who believe in it really understand. When I was a teenager, I understood it to mean being secretly taken away, you know like seeing someone walking down the road or driving a car then all of a sudden the person just disappear. This of course I later learned is unbiblical. Today I don't know what it has come to mean, what I know is that Bible tells us that when Jesus returns all eyes will see Him, and the saints alive or dead will rise up from the ground to meet Jesus in the air. But they will not go to heaven (third heaven) as many believe; they will return to the earth some where in Jerusalem; Jesus and the saints will rule the world from Jerusalem.

 

[one_lost_coin]

thankyou for your reply bfsmith. If it is a part of God's plan of salvation and noone really knows or can agree with what the rapture is than how can anyone know how to be saved?

 

[BFSmith764]

thankyou for your reply bfsmith. If it is a part of God's plan of salvation and noone really knows or can agree with what the rapture is than how can anyone know how to be saved?

Simply by sticking to what is revealed in the scriptures, which includes the Old Testament as well as the New.

 

[one_lost_coin]

thankyou for your reply bfsmith. If it is a part of God's plan of salvation and noone really knows or can agree with what the rapture is than how can anyone know how to be saved?

Simply by sticking to what is revealed in the scriptures, which includes the Old Testament as well as the New.

but everyone is basing all there opinions of the rapture on their interpretation of the bible and yet noone has agreed on pretty much anything about the rapture it seems. how can simply sticking to scripture work when it is evident by the different beliefs of scripture by all those reading the scripture clearly shows it doesnt.

 

[BFSmith764]

[quote="one_lost_coin":ab8da]thankyou for your reply bfsmith. If it is a part of God's plan of salvation and noone really knows or can agree with what the rapture is than how can anyone know how to be saved?

Simply by sticking to what is revealed in the scriptures, which includes the Old Testament as well as the New.

but everyone is basing all there opinions of the rapture on their interpretation of the bible and yet noone has agreed on pretty much anything about the rapture it seems. how can simply sticking to scripture work when it is evident by the different beliefs of scripture by all those reading the scripture clearly shows it doesnt.[/quote:ab8da]

I think we need to come to an understanding of what we (those who preach it) mean by rapture, since the word Rapture is not in the Bible. I'm sure the dictionary has its own meaning, but very often what we believe a word means is not the same as what the word really mean.

So once we have a clear understanding of the real meaning of the word then we can go on from there. Below are a few questions we could ask once we are on the same page.

1. What does the Bible have to say about the return of Jesus, and what will happen to the saints? 2. And will it happen in secret or will everyone see Jesus when He returns?

If you are able to answer these questions from the Bible, then you have your answer. Incidentally, generally speaking the Bible gives it own interpretations.

 

[one_lost_coin]

BFSmith,
I understand the answers to those questions this way.
He Will Come Again in Glory
Christ already reigns through the Church. . .
"Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living."Christ's Ascension into heaven signifies his participation, in his humanity, in God's power and authority. Jesus Christ is Lord: he possesses all power in heaven and on earth. He is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion", for the Father "has put all things under his feet. "Christ is Lord of the cosmos and of history. In him human history and indeed all creation are "set forth" and transcendently fulfilled.
As Lord, Christ is also head of the Church, which is his Body. Taken up to heaven and glorified after he had thus fully accomplished his mission, Christ dwells on earth in his Church. the redemption is the source of the authority that Christ, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, exercises over the Church. "The kingdom of Christ (is) already present in mystery", "on earth, the seed and the beginning of the kingdom".
Since the Ascension God's plan has entered into its fulfilment. We are already at "the last hour". "Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect."Christ's kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs that attend its proclamation by the Church.
. . . until all things are subjected to him
Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. Until everything is subject to him, "until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God."That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him: Maranatha! "Our Lord, come!"
Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by Israel which, according to the prophets, was to bring all men the definitive order of justice, love and peace. According to the Lord, the present time is the time of the Spirit and of witness, but also a time still marked by "distress" and the trial of evil which does not spare the Church and ushers in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of waiting and watching.
The glorious advent of Christ, the hope of Israel
Since the Ascension Christ's coming in glory has been imminent, even though "it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.". This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are "delayed".
The glorious Messiah's coming is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by "all Israel", for "a hardening has come upon part of Israel" in their "unbelief" toward Jesus. St. Peter says to the Jews of Jerusalem after Pentecost: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old."St. Paul echoes him: "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?"The "full inclusion" of the Jews in the Messiah's salvation, in the wake of "the full number of the Gentiles", will enable the People of God to achieve "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ", in which "God may be all in all".
The Church's ultimate trial
Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. the supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh. The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgement. the Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism. The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection. The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven. God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgement after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.