The Man Upstairs – Unveiling the KING of Kings & LORD of Lords (Series Part 5)
Healing And Restoration Await All Who Encounters Jesus Christ!
Like the Pharisees, some Christians have processed Faith. A faith that is not real, not authentic. The consciousness of this fact will help many remove additives, preservatives, flavors, and spices in their Faith. I once heard a pastor preach, identifying some of the Preservatives added to Faith, and they are:
- Predictability
- Efficiency
- Superficial Relationships
- Appearance Obsession
Processed Faith focuses on appearance. We are to renew our minds daily to become like Christ Our God. We must exercise Organic Faith. It is foolishness to clean only the outside while the inside (heart) is rotten, full of greed and wickedness. God that made the outside also made the inside. Jesus is more concerned about the inside of a man; the heart is the inner righteousness; it is more important than the outside appearance.
- The Good Shepherd – John 10: 1-18
This sermon is best understood in the light of the Old Testament Concept of ‘Shepherd,’ symbolizing a royal caretaker of God’s people. God the Father was called the ‘Shepherd of Israel’ The Israelites’ leaders failed God and failed to respect the responsibility given to them by God, then denounced these false shepherds and promised to provide the true Shepherd.
Jesus Christ is the true Shepherd, the Messiah, to care for the sheep. He said in John 10: 27-30, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. The Father and I are one”. What other testimony do we need? His testimony is the truth of Jesus Christ; the Messiah is one with the Father. He was there at the beginning with the Father “Through Him; all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1: 3-4.
- Olivet Discourse – Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, Luke 21: 5-36
Jesus gave the signs of the end of the Age. The Olivet discourse is broken into five sections:
- Jesus’ prophecy of the temple’s destruction and the disciples’ questions.
- Warnings against deceivers and false signs of the end.
- The coming of the Son of Man.
- The lesson of the fig tree
- The exhortation to watchfulness
In the latter chapter, I will detail the second coming of the ‘Son of Man, the ‘Son of God, the Messiah.
- The Upper Room Discourse – John 13 – 16
Apostle John gave the most extended account of the upper room. A critical feature of the upper room discourse is Jesus’ emphasis on Love. He sets examples for his followers (the disciples). Our LORD spoke to His disciples that memorable night, the last he spent with them on several issues. Jesus’ represents the Love of the Father, and He emphasized brotherly Love, without which we are not his disciples.
The Upper Room discourse started with Jesus washing His disciples’ feet as examples of serving each other Jesus predicted His betrayal and Peter’s denial of knowing Him. Knowing He would temporarily leave the disciples, Jesus comforted them and reaffirmed that He is the only way to God the Father. John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit. He spoke about the Vine and the branches to let the disciples know that He is the Vine and they are the branches. John 15:5 says, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.” Jesus Christ made the disciples aware that the world would hate them as the world hated him. He explained the work of the Holy Spirit “All that belongs to the Father is mine, and that is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make known to you.” John 16:15.
He consoled the disciples, explaining that their grief in His death would turn to joy in His resurrection. Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer Prayer is the Master Key. It is the Communication tool of man’s Spirit to God, who is a Spirit. In the upper room, Jesus prayed for Himself, His Disciples, and all believers. Till today, Jesus is still advocating for us with God the Father.
Downstairs (the Earth) & Its Antics:
Modified on 8/14/98 by Glasscoe
Downstairs (The Earth)
Downstairs is the ‘Earth.’ In the beginning, It was a beautiful place specially created by God with great Love. Downstairs is a flourishing garden of life, bounded by the Sky and the Sea. The Earth is full of God’s creatures, living things both large and small. The study of Genesis on creation reveals day by day the creation of all the inhabitants of the Earth. The Original creation is so much different from the present state of the Earth.
In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up–for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground–then the LORD God formed [Heb: yatsar] man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [ruach] of life; and man became a living being [nephesh] And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden [the word means “delight”], in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Lambert Dolphin)
The Earth was formed as a habitat for men and angels and filled with living creatures. As completed on the Seventh Day, the Earth was exquisitely beautiful, self-renewing, and free from defects or flaws. The statements of Gen. 1:31-2:3 indicate that God was thoroughly pleased with all aspects of His creative handiwork after its completion. In Chapter 1, God inspected His handwork and declared it was “good” (v. 4, 12, 16, 21, and 25). When all was completed, His seventh and final blessing was to pronounce everything “perfect.”
The Earth can be compared to a house. The first thing is to build the house’s structure, and then the house is furnished. Finally, the inhabitants move in. The entire process was then completed, and the house was put into use as the owner intended before he began construction. God built the house, and hence ‘Upstairs’ (heavens) and ‘downstairs’ (Earth) came into existence. God lived in Heaven (Upstairs) and His creation on Earth (Downstairs)
Structure of the Earth
Geophysics, which studies the physics of the Earth, has led to many significant discoveries about the Earth and its Seismologic make-up studies of the Earth uncovered new information about the interior of the Earth that has helped to give credence to plate tectonic theory.
“Earth has several distinct layers. Each of these layers has its properties. The Earth’s outermost layer is the crust, which comprises the continents and ocean basins. The crust has a variable thickness, being 35-70 km thick on the continents and 5-10 km thick in the ocean basins. The crust is composed mainly of alumino-silicates.
The next layer is the mantle, composed mainly of ferro-magnesium silicates. It is about 2900 km thick and separated into the upper and lower mantle, where most of the Earth’s internal heat is located. Large convective cells in the mantle circulate heat and may drive plate tectonic processes. The last layer is the core, separated into the liquid and solid inner core. The outer core is 2300 km thick, and the inner core is 1200 km thick. The outer core is composed mainly of a nickel-iron alloy, while the inner core is almost entirely composed of iron. Earth’s magnetic field is believed to be controlled by the liquid outer core.
The Earth is separated into layers based on mechanical properties and composition. The topmost layer is the lithosphere, comprised of the crust and solid portion of the upper mantle. The lithosphere is divided into many plates that move about each other due to tectonic forces. The lithosphere essentially floats atop a semi-liquid layer known as the asthenosphere. This layer allows the solid lithosphere to move around since the asthenosphere is much weaker than the lithosphere.The Composition of the Earth proved that God is more significant than any scientist. God is the origin and creator of the Earth and heaven, and no human scientist can re-create near the perfection of God’s creation.
**I will conclude on Wednesday, 7 Sep. 2022 with the final Part 6.
