The place of "The Fall" in the redemptive narrative.

Eph 1:3-8  "Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.  (4)  For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.  (5)  He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  (6)  to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.  (7)  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace  (8)  that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding."

Look at verse four of the above passage. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Simply put, before the foundation of the world is before creation. So then, the verse could easily read, for he choses us in Christ before he ever created anything. Further, verse six says that the purpose was to bring praise to his glorious grace. This has profound implications indeed. It shows beyond possible doubt that redemption was God's purpose in creation.

God knew that humanity could not properly handle the knowledge of good and evil, and he knew that humanity could not praise him without the knowledge of good and evil, and likewise, he knew that given the choice, humanity would chose the knowledge of good and evil. This is precisely why he/God made redemption his first purpose in creation, and it was done with wisdom and understanding.

Further to this point, the knowledge of good and evil is the source of ALL human depravity. Coupled with mortality, the inevitable death that we all face, we have been given the survival instinct to aid in keeping us alive in all forms of danger, both physical and psychological. It is the capability to judge. All judgment comes from the knowledge of good and evil and it is interesting that Jesus said, "judge not lest you be judged." However, with humanity, having the knowledge of good and evil, this is an impossible commandment.

The source of all evil comes from groups of people having power, deciding issues in their favor, and then judging themselves right and others wrong. It is the source of all greed. The knowledge of good and evil, coupled with death causes greed due to self preservation. Think about it. This self preservation is necessary for humanity to survive. This is the situation that humanity needed to be redeemed for and from.

I am writing this post to add understanding to a previous post which follows below. I am repeating it because it will offer additional insight and illumination. It will show that way in which the Holy Spirit using the gospel of grace can help humanity overcome the effects of this necessary fall.

(Joh 1:29)  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

What is the sin of the world? What did John the Baptist mean when he spoke those words? These are interesting questions, and the answers go along way in explaining what the nature of the gospel really is, and why it was such good news. You can find many posts on this blog that show that the writer of Hebrews equated sin and unbelief. In fact, the sin of the world is unbelief, and I will strive to show you why this is so.

The first clue is found in the very first chapter of the very first book of the Old Testament.

Genesis 1:27-31 explains the source of the sin of the world. God decreed that everything that He had created, including male and female was "very good." To protect humanity from not believing this decree He commanded them not to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The reason for this was that once they gained that knowledge they could decide for themselves what was good and what was evil and not believe God's decree. His decree is found in (Gen 1:31)  "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day." Yes, God declared that all creation including humanity was very good, and the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil wiped that out. They saw themselves as naked and decided that it was not good. Of course, only God knows what is truly good.

Jesus mission, was to bring the Spirit of God into the world so that humanity could believe that they were in fact good based solely upon God's declaration. Paul wrote; (Rom 5:1)  "Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." It was the faith of Jesus, being willing to die, knowing that God would raise him from the dead, that justified humanity. Isaiah prophesied this way" (Isa 53:11)  "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many: and he shall bear their iniquities." What was his knowledge? It was perfect faith in the Father. This came from the Holy Spirit that had landed on him at his baptism. He was certain, even unto death that God would raise him from the dead. The gospel provides the method and means for humanity to gain that Spirit and believe God's declaration/decree. We apprehend this faith by believing the gospel message that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting trespasses, and declaring humanity righteous.

This is precisely the way that the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world, purposed to be slain before the foundation of the world, takes away the sin/unbelief of the world. The gospel is merely proof of the good news spoken by God in Genesis 1:31. The ultimate purpose Paul states in Ephesians chapter one is to the praise of God's glorious grace. It is to promote real and lasting love for God that is the only way that the first and greatest commandment can be obeyed. When we understand the gospel by faith through the Holy Spirit, we cannot help but love such a gracious and good God! And, this faith which is from the Holy Spirit can help us overcome greed and love one another.

The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world... What did John the Baptist mean?

(Joh 1:29)  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

What is the sin of the world? What did John the Baptist mean when he spoke those words? These are interesting questions, and the answers go along way in explaining what the nature of the gospel really is, and why it was such good news. You can find many posts on this blog that show that the writer of Hebrews equated sin and unbelief. In fact, the sin of the world is unbelief, and I will strive to show you why this is so.

The first clue is found in the very first chapter of the very first book of the Old Testament.
Genesis 1:27-31 explains the source of the sin of the world. God decreed that everything that He had created, including male and female was "very good." To protect humanity from not believing this decree He commanded them not to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The reason for this was that once they gained that knowledge they could decide for themselves what was good and what was evil and not believe God's decree. His decree is found in (Gen 1:31)  "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day." Yes, God declared that all creation including humanity was very good, and the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil wiped that out. They saw themselves as naked and decided that it was not good. Of course, only God knows what is truly good.

Jesus mission, was to bring the Spirit of God into the world so that humanity could believe that they were in fact good based solely upon God's declaration. Paul wrote; (Rom 5:1)  "Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." It was the faith of Jesus, being willing to die, knowing that God would raise him from the dead, that justified humanity. Isaiah prophesied this way" (Isa 53:11)  "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many: and he shall bear their iniquities." What was his knowledge? It was perfect faith in the Father. This came from the Holy Spirit that had landed on him at his baptism. He was certain, even unto death that God would raise him from the dead. The gospel provides the method and means for humanity to gain that Spirit and believe God's declaration/decree. We apprehend this faith by believing the gospel message that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting trespasses, and declaring humanity righteous.

This is precisely the way that the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world, purposed to be slain before the foundation of the world, takes away the sin/unbelief of the world. The gospel is merely proof of the good news spoken by God in Genesis 1:31. The ultimate purpose Paul states in Ephesians chapter one is to the praise of God's glorious grace. It is to promote real and lasting love for God that is the only way that the first and greatest commandment can be obeyed. When we understand the gospel by faith through the Holy Spirit, we cannot help but love such a gracious and good God!

Jimmy Carter is right and many evangelical presuppositions about scripture are WRONG!

I have recently seen criticism of former President Jimmy Carter for his statement in 2015 that he thinks Jesus would approve of gay marriages. This is a theme that is frequently crossing my Facebook page lately. While it is old news it is relevant to the point of what effect presuppositions have on scripture interpretation. It has been the one of the focal thrusts of this blog to show that evangelical presuppositions are completely off the mark in many respects when it comes to scripture interpretation. I think that the resurgence of this story is to try to throw shade on other interpretations of the scripture. It is a last ditch move to resist a spiritual paradigm shift that will not be thwarted because it is a correct and necessary shift.

So, did Jesus see the scripture as a rule book? Absolutely not! He saw it as the story of redemption and a story about Him. John 5:39-40 states that the purpose of the scripture is to point to Jesus so that people can find life in him. I have proven beyond possible doubt in the posts of this blog that the scripture is the story of redemption, and not a rule book, especially for the New Covenant era. So much of the misunderstanding comes from ignoring that there is a natural transition in the scripture with a strong Jew/Gentile distinction. While the Jews saw the Old Testament as a constitutional legal document, Jesus and his first century followers that wrote the New Testament overthrew that notion in favor of it being the good news of the redemption narrative.

In many of the Facebook posts about this, evangelicals smugly quote scripture and verse claiming to show that the former president is wrong. The problem with that is their presupposition that the scripture is a legal constitutional document is completely off the mark, and a total error for New Covenant saints. This being the case, all of the book and verse quotations are off the mark as well when taking a legal constitution approach to the scripture.

I should of course offer my presuppositions' that I arrived at after rigorous scripture study. First, the phrase word of God denotes the gospel, or Jesus the gospel made flesh. Second, that the purpose of scripture was to present to humanity a redemptive narrative that would assure a person that God's purpose in creation was to love humanity and have a relationship with it that results in true adoration of this gracious Creator/God.

Now, since Jesus introduced God as a loving Father, it can be reasoned that God wants what is best for his creation. Therefore, I can conclude with Jimmy Carter that Jesus would approve of a loving monogamous relationship period. The reason is that a loving monogamous relationship is vital in providing the peaceful stability for individuals that need partners. I am not excluding those individuals who are comfortable to be forever single, and do not require intimate relationships for fulfillment. I am not personally aware of such but undoubtedly they exist. That aside, Jesus in my view of scripture would be supportive of all relationships that were mutually loving and monogamous.

If you are a person that has a high view of scripture, do not be alarmed. I do also, however, not presupposing that it is intended to be a legal constitutional document from God to humanity does not in anyway diminish the sovereignty of God, nor the divinity of Jesus as redeemer. If you think it does you are merely incorrect in your assumptions.