Church of God Message
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Jews: Behold Your God
Chapter 19
Prepare Yourself to Meet the Soon Coming Real Jesus!
We have seen that the coming of the God of Old Testament to earth as Jesus Christ as the Son of God was planned from the very beginning. His death and resurrection were all pre-planned and prophesied centuries before the event. Now Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father waiting till His enemies be made His footstool.
All Old Testament and New Testament prophecies about the sequence of events leading up to the establishment of the Kingdom of God were sealed till the time of the end. But we are now living in the time of the end and the prophecies have been revealed to God’s Church. The author has written a comprehensive booklet explaining these prophecies titled “World in Bible Prophecy” available free of charge at his web site www.ChurchofGodMessage.com.
The gospel that Jesus Christ and the apostles preached was about the return of Jesus Christ to earth to establish the Kingdom of God and restore God’s government on earth. Daniel and David prophesied about the establishment of this Kingdom which shall rule the entire earth and shall never be destroyed. Almost all the prophets prophesied about some aspect of what the Kingdom of God will be like.
God's plan for humanity from the very beginning has been "bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10). After the sin of Adam and Eve God planned to reconcile all of humanity to Himself as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:18, “18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ…”
What had separated humanity from God? Isaiah 59:1-2 (NKJV) states why, “1 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”
Thus we see that humanity’s sins have separated us from God the Father. But we may ask why can’t God simply forgive sins? Why was Jesus Christ’s death necessary for forgiveness of sins?
Need for the Death of Jesus Christ for Forgiveness of Sins
Angels were created before man. They are sons of God by creation (Job 1:6, 38:7). But they did not seem to understand the concept of family. Then Satan and his angels rebelled against God. Satan and his demons have been the cause of sin, pain and suffering in the universe ever since.
God the Father and Jesus Christ wanted to teach all their intelligent creatures that they are a family, and are inviting all their creatures to become part of their family. That’s why God created mankind flesh and blood beings with the ability to reproduce.
Humans grow up loving their parents. But as they grow into teens they long to get away from their parents’ control and often wonder if their parents love them when curbing their freedoms. But then when they have children of their own they learn how much their parents loved them and did what was only in their best interests. So God has created mankind flesh and blood beings with the ability to reproduce so that they can understand how much God the Father and Jesus Christ love them.
By creating man, God is trying to show all His intelligent creatures (including the angels) that He and Jesus Christ are a family, the God family, and He is inviting all of humanity to become His family, as His literal spirit born immortal sons. At present there are only two members in the God family; God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. But as stated in Hebrews 2:10, God’s plan from the very beginning of creation of man has been to bring “many sons to glory,” by adding human beings as members of His family as His own literal sons and daughters.
But God WILL NOT have a dysfunctional family, with members bickering and fighting with each other. He wants a perfect family with members that love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and love each other as themselves. The only way God can ensure that He will have such a family is by all His children having His holy righteous character instilled in them?
To truly know God, one must know what God’s way of life is! It is the way of spiritual holiness, righteousness and absolute perfection, which can be summed by one word: LOVE, which is defined as outgoing concern for the welfare of others. It can also be called the way of “giving” instead of “getting”, the way of sharing, helping and serving. God’s nature includes the attributes of PEACE, HARMONY, JUSTICE, MERCY, COMPASSION, HAPPINESS AND JOY towards all those He has created. It is a way devoid of coveting, lust, greed, vanity, selfishness, envy, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, hatred, competition, strife, violence and destruction.
A person needs God’s holy righteous character to live that way of life perfectly. Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, describes what God’s righteous character is in his book “Mystery of the Ages” p. 69-70: “Perfect, holy and righteous character is the ability in such separate entity to come to discern the true and right way from the false, to make voluntarily a full and unconditional surrender to God and His perfect way – to yield to be conquered by God – to determine even against temptation or self-desire, to live and do the right. And even then such holy character is the gift of God. It comes by yielding to God to instill His LAW (God’s right way of life) within the entity who so decides and wills.”
Even God with His creative powers cannot create His holy righteous character in an intelligent being by fiat. The reason is that it requires the assent and willingness of the being in whom godly character is to be instilled. The person has to let God work with him to instill His character in him.
Satan and the demons lacked God’s holy righteous character. That’s why they rebelled against God. Those human beings who by their own free will and choice let God develop His holy and righteous character in them will qualify to become members of God’s family as His literal immortal sons, just as Jesus Christ today is God’s immortal Son. John says we shall also look like Jesus Christ with the same body as He has. That is God’s purpose in creating humanity. God is reproducing Himself through humanity. Human beings and all other physical creatures can reproduce themselves as flesh and blood creatures. But we cannot reproduce spirit born creatures with godly character. Only God can perform that reproductive process in us.
Despite such scriptures reassuring us, we still cannot comprehend that we shall become gods like Jesus Christ, literal immortal children of God the Father. Our argument against this belief is that Jesus Christ was a God Being before He became flesh, but we were created mere flesh and blood. If God wanted to create us as His literal sons and daughters, He could have simply created us like Jesus Christ. Because we are created as flesh and blood beings like animals, we cannot therefore ever become equal to Jesus Christ as God’s literal sons and daughters.
But we have forgotten that God did in fact create sons composed of spirit before humanity was created. Those spirit beings are the 24 elders and the angelic world. A part of those sons created with spirit bodies rebelled against God. God could not create His holy righteous character in them by fiat because they were created with free will and it requires their exercise of that free will in acquiescing to allow God to create His holy righteous character in them. God has created humans so that they can first allow Him to develop His holy righteous character in themselves before God will give them eternal life.
In believing that by virtue of being created flesh and blood like animals we will always be an inferior creation as compared to the spirit world, we seem to have forgotten that Jesus Christ was also created a flesh and blood human being. To prove to humans that He will convert them to spirit beings God the Father resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus Christ will resurrect us in exactly the same way as spirit beings, to become His immortal sons and daughters.
The reality of the resurrection energized Jesus disciples so that they were willing to die for their belief. They knew that their potential was to become God’s literal sons and daughters like Jesus Christ. That’s why John the apostle wrote about it.
We may still think that we cannot be equal to God because God had no direct hand in creating us. We were born as a result of our parents actions, and not directly created like Jesus Christ was created by God the Father. So we cannot be equal with Jesus Christ. But we are forgetting that we would not have fully experienced the love of a parent for a child if God had a direct hand in our creation and not through the human reproductive process. We also do not realize that the chance of a human sperm fertilizing a human egg by mere chance is almost negligible. This means that God has a direct hand in the conception of a human being, making the near impossible possible. But when a human child is born, its parents know that the child has come entirely from their own bodies. So they deeply love that child. If God had a direct hand in creating flesh and blood human children without human reproduction, we would not have experienced the same level of love for our children. God has allowed us to reproduce without His direct hand in it so that we can feel and experience love for our own children and thus learn how deeply God loves us.
By being equal to Jesus Christ does not mean equal in power, strength and abilities as all human beings are not equal in power, strength and abilities. But they are equal in the sense that they are all human beings.
The Bible leaves no doubt about what the potential of human beings is. It is to become God’s literal sons and daughters with spirit bodies just like that of Jesus Christ. But we had to be created flesh and blood like animals to learn other godly righteous character building lessons. We should not limit God’s creative powers in our thinking. If He could create the Word He certainly can convert flesh and blood human beings into spirit beings with the same spirit composition as Jesus Christ.
The only way humans can become God’s literal sons and daughters is to first develop His holy, righteous, godly character in them. Human beings do that by learning to completely surrender to God and obeying His Law. Obeying God’s law means to not sin, because John describes sin in 1 John 3:4. He writes: “4 Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” The NKJV translates this verse as: “4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”
Thus to become members of God’s family, human beings must eventually become sinless as God the Father and Jesus Christ are sinless. If God allowed sinful people into His family, it would become a dysfunctional family. We see the results of a dysfunctional family in what Satan and the demons do on earth. We can never become sinless as physical human beings because our mental and physical capacities are severely limited. Only Jesus Christ remained sinless as a human being because God gave Him His holy spirit without measure (John 3:34). In contrast God has given us only a type of down payment (earnest) of His holy spirit at present (2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5). But when we have demonstrated by our attitudes and actions that we want to develop holy and righteous character in ourselves, we will have qualified to become God’s spirit born immortal sons. Then at the resurrection God will change our composition to spirit beings with a full measure of His holy spirit. Then we will have the mental capacity as well as other powers multiplied trillions of times to enable us to remain sinless.
Why Sinlessness?
Again, why God has such an emphasis on sinlessness? The answer is quite simple. Any transgression of God’s law, or any form of lawlessness always brings pain and suffering without fail. We cannot have perfect love, peace, joy and happiness when there is any form of sin present in us.
As long as there is even an iota of sin present in any of God’s sons, God’s family cannot live the kind of life God has prophesied in Revelation 21:3-4: “3 "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
That is the kind of family God is purposing and is working to create. He wants a family that does not experience tears, pain, suffering and sorrow which the rebellion of Satan and the demons brought into the universe. And becoming part of God’s family involves our free choice. Each and every human being has to choose to become part of God’s family when God sends that human being His invitation by calling him. Those who choose not to by rebelling against God and His law will not become a part of His family.
Why Does Not God Simply Forgive Sin?
Many have questioned the need for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to forgive our sins. They have said that God can simply forgive sin if He chooses to. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is not needed for that purpose.
Can you imagine God simply forgiving a murderer, or a thief for his murder or theft? He can commit another murder or theft and God can simply forgive him again. Can you imagine such a sinner being granted eternal life as God’s son and free to continue in his behavior with God continually forgiving his sin every time? How about the victims? Would their tears, pain, suffering and sorrow ever cease? That is why God hates sin so much. That’s why this argument is so foolish. For the same reason mainstream Christianity’s belief that after the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we are no longer required to keep God’s Law given through Moses has no merit whatsoever. Sin is the transgression of the Law (1 John 3:4). If humans are no longer required to keep God’s Law, it means that they can sin and expect to be forgiven their sins. An utterly foolish argument as we have just proved.
Even our legal system should teach us this simple lesson. A judge may let off an offender for a crime the first time by forgiving him. But the second time around the judge will definitely punish the offender. If the same criminal violates the law again, the judge will probably give him the maximum sentence.
A law is designed to deter contrary behavior. Until there is a penalty for violation of the law, the law cannot act as a deterrent to sinful behavior. God cannot have a perfectly sinless family as long as sin remains in anyone. That is why He has prescribed the death penalty for any violation of His Law. Either human beings choose to become sinless with God’s help, or the death penalty will be applied to their violations of the Law. Their lives will be permanently extinguished in the Lake of Fire.
The death penalty has to be paid for all our sins. Otherwise what good is a law if penalty for its violation is not enforced? Each and every human being has sinned. As a result each and every human being has incurred the death penalty. And that penalty could be paid for all only by their Creator whose life was of more value than all His creation put together.
If God simply forgives the sins of each and every human being, He will not have the perfect family He has planned. Without the death penalty for sin, humans will not have the need for avoiding sin indelibly impressed on their minds. Therefore, to make His purposes stand, He and His son planned the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ.
To fulfill God’s purpose, humanity has to ultimately become perfect and sinless as God the Father and Jesus Christ are perfect and sinless. That’s why God told Abraham in Genesis 17:1, “…I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” But to accomplish that, human beings must have their sins forgiven. To have their sins forgiven, the penalty for sin had to be paid. Only a Being greater than all of humanity could pay the death penalty on behalf of all humans. And that Being, Jesus Christ, the God of the Old Testament, Creator of the spirit world, the entire material universe and humanity, paid the death penalty on behalf of His creation. That is why the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are crucial to Christianity.
If God simply forgives sins, then human beings will continue sinning and expecting their sins will be forgiven. Without the death penalty it was impossible to impress on human beings the deep need to stop committing sin. Without impressing on human beings that the penalty for any violation of God’s laws is death, human beings would not fully understand how abhorrent sin is to God and should be to us and that we must end sin in our lives with God’s help. Those who end it will become sons of God. Those who do not deeply understand the need to end it and continue in sin will have the death penalty ultimately applied to them.
But after death, why was the resurrection of Jesus Christ necessary?
Why Jesus Christ’s resurrection was Necessary
The foremost reason for Jesus Christ’s resurrection is the faith and trust for God it develops in us. If God the Father had not resurrected Jesus Christ how could we trust a God who let His Son die without giving Him life again? Jesus Christ’s resurrection assures us that God the Father cares for us and has Almighty power to kill and make alive (Deuteronomy 32:39), and resurrect weak human beings, as Jesus Christ was when He came to earth as a human being, into powerful beings as Jesus Christ is now, as His literal immortal sons. So the foremost reason for the resurrection is that we can totally and completely trust God to fulfill His promises and have faith that He has the power to perform them.
The second reason for Jesus Christ’s resurrection is that He can now live His life in us through his power, the holy spirit. Jesus Christ has experienced life as a human being. So He knows our frame and our frailties and temptations. He knows what it will take for each of us to overcome sin. He literally lives His life through us with the power of His holy spirit to enable us to put on His mind, overcome sin and become more like Him to eventually become the sons of God.
The third reason for the resurrection is that Jesus Christ functions as our faithful High Priest and advocate for us with the Father. He intercedes for us with the Father to forgive us our sins so that we can continue living and overcoming sin and developing godly character. He knows how weak our frame is. When He pleads with God the Father to give us another chance to overcome a particular sin, God the Father listens and grants Jesus’ wish because He has experienced similar temptations in His life as a human being. That’s why He can be a faithful advocate with the Father for us (1 John 2:1-2, “1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.)
Hebrews 2:17-18 (NIV) states: “17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
And fourth, because Jesus Christ lived life as a human being and is also God, God the Father has committed all judgment about our qualification to receive eternal life into the hands of Jesus Christ. And it is Jesus Christ who will grant us eternal life as well. God the Father has given this honor also to Jesus Christ. This is stated in John 5:21-22 (NKJV): “21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.”
Finally, one of the most important reasons for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and its timing is that God’s offer of salvation to human beings through a resurrection to eternal life has become real to them. It energized Jesus’ disciples. Islam says that salvation means going to paradise. But there is no proof that any such paradise exists. Hindus say salvation is to stop the cycle of birth and death to finally merge with the great soul it calls God. But there is no proof that any of the dead has achieved this salvation. However the resurrection of Jesus Christ provides us proof of the salvation that God offers to human beings. It is proof that God will turn physical human beings into His own immortal sons as spirit beings through a resurrection and has the power to do so. We can therefore trust Him to deliver on the salvation He offers to human beings.
Thus we see that both the death and then the resurrection of Jesus Christ are crucial to God’s plan of salvation for mankind. His sacrifice shows us how deeply God the Father and Jesus Christ love their creation: mankind. John the apostle stated it best when he wrote in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
Renting of the Temple Veil
God further demonstrated His love for human beings through another event that took place after Jesus Christ died on the cross. UCG booklet “Jesus Christ: The Real Story” describes on p. 115:
“Matthew records several events that took place at Christ's death. One that initially seems insignificant, but was a symbol of major importance, is found in Matthew 27:50-51 (NKJV): "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom ..."
“What did this mean, this event that was so important that three of the Gospel writers mentioned it?
“The temple was divided into two portions, an outer room called the Holy Place in which a number of priests served, and an inner room called the Most Holy Place or Holy of Holies. This inner room represented God's presence. It was so sacred that the only person allowed in was the high priest, and then only on one day of the year to make atonement for the sins of himself and the people.
“This sacred room, the Holy of Holies, was separated from the rest of the temple by an elaborate and beautifully embroidered curtain. According to Jewish descriptions of the temple, this curtain was truly massive—measuring some 30 feet wide, 60 feet high and three inches thick. Its tearing in two from top to bottom at Jesus' death was a shocking and bewildering event! How could God let something like that happen within His temple?
“Yet God was not only behind this, He deliberately tore the curtain to make a point—that mankind's sins, which had cut us off from Him (Isaiah 59:2), could now be forgiven through Jesus Christ's shed blood.
“Comparing how the high priest had previously only been able to pass through the curtain once a year to offer atonement for sins, Hebrews 10:19-22 explains that a new High Priest, Jesus Christ, through the sacrifice of Himself superceded this ritual for all time and gives mankind direct access to God:
"Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (NRSV).
“The lesson for us is that, following heartfelt repentance, we can "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
Thus because of Christ's sacrifice, we enjoy direct access to the throne of our merciful, loving Creator.”
Why is Jesus Christ Coming the Second Time
We have already proved from Bible prophesies that Jesus Christ is soon returning to earth because we are living in the end times. But why is He returning to earth?
Jesus’ disciples knew about His return to earth to establish the Kingdom of God. They asked Him when He will be returning and what will be the signs of His coming. He described the frightening conditions on earth. Matthew 24:3-8, “3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world [age]? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
Revelation 6:1-8 describes this period called ‘beginning of sorrows’ as the ride of four horsemen (sometimes referred to as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse). This is describing a world war and its aftermath in which one fourth of mankind or more than 1.8 billion people will lose their lives. From then on conditions will only get worse.
Conditions will reach such a stage that Jesus said in Matthew 24:20-21, “21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”
Conditions on earth are going to get so bad so quickly that if not stopped all life would be annihilated from earth. That’s why Jesus Christ will need to return to earth and stop man from destroying himself and all life on earth.Immediately after verse 22 Jesus then described His return to earth. Verses 23-27 (NKJV), “23 Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
THERE IS A WAY OF ESCAPE
When all these end time catastrophic events are finished, not many in humanity will be left alive. The number could be as low as 100 million or less out of more than 7.2 billion people today. Those are very poor odds of surviving. But prophecy also declares there is a sure way of escape from these catastrophic events.
Only one group in the world is promised protection throughout the entire three and a half years of the coming Great Tribulation: members of God’s true Church with the Philadelphian attitude as described in Revelation 3:7-11 (NKJV), “' 7 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 8 I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name…10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”
Thus the best chances of survival are promised to members of God’s Church who keep God’s word, meaning all His commandments and doctrines, have not denied that they worship the true Jesus Christ of the Bible, persevere in doing God’s work of warning the world of the coming catastrophes and proclaim the most wonderful news of the return of Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of the Kingdom of God, and endure to the very end while diligently doing these things. So the choice to become members of God’s Church and do God’s work to receive protection, or to stay in the world and watch along as events unfold and be engulfed by them along with everyone else is entirely yours.
If you would like to become members of God’s true Church, you must first learn more about God's way of life and then make your choice. You can do so by reading the literature published by the United Church of God. All literature is offered free of charge upon request. It can also be read online, or downloaded at the Church's web site www.ucg.org. You can write to the United Church of God at: United Church of God, Post Office Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254, USA. In the USA you can also request literature on the phone by calling us toll free at 1-888-886-8632, or from anywhere in the world at 1-513-576-9796. You may also request a free subscription to our monthly magazine “The Good News” at www.ucg.org.The Church also has ministers available to visit almost anywhere in the world to answer any questions you may have or counsel for baptism to become a member of God's true Church.
What Does God Expect of Us
After God the Father and Jesus Christ have demonstrated their tremendous love for us, what do they require of us? They want us to return that love. They want us to demonstrate our love for them and for fellow man. And how do we show our love for God?
Jesus said in John 14:15, “"If you love Me, keep My commandments.” And in John 15:10, “If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.”
The only way we can demonstrate our love for God is by keeping His commandments. These commandments include all the Ten Commandments. In fact Jesus told Satan in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God has been recorded for us in the Bible. And that is exactly what God says is a Philadelphian attitude. God promises protection throughout the Great Tribulation to those Jesus says “have kept My word” (Revelation 3:9).
Jesus also said in Matthew 7:21 (NKJV), "21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' “
Those who practice lawlessness are not keeping God’s spiritual Law given through Moses. They will not make it into God’s Kingdom. God requires us to keep His law to make it into His kingdom. No Jew should listen to any in mainstream Christianity who claim that we are no longer required to keep God’s Law after the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
It's tragic that many in mainstream Christianity call obeying God’s Law “bondage”. But John stated in 1 John 5:3, “"This is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome." This is how Jesus characterized obedience to Him and His Law compared to the burden living a life of sin is in Matthew 11:28-30, “28 Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Thus the way mainstream Christianity sees as ‘bondage’ is a way of true freedom and rest from the burdens of sin.
Jesus said in John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”Jesus characterized God’s way of life as entering the narrow gate compared to the wide gate and broad way of doing anything or your own thing, meaning complete lawlessness. He said in Matthew 7:13-14, “13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Jesus does not promise a trouble-free life for He said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." But He does promise a life of peace, not burdened by sin. And sometimes burdens caused by sin can be unbearable.
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