THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NOW

 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:27-28)

What and where is God's Kingdom?

In order to be able to answer this question well, let us first define the word kingdom. What is a kingdom?

The word kingdom is a combination of two words. The one word king and the other domain.

Who is a king?

This is the male ruler of an independent state, especially one who inherits the position by right of birth.

 What is domain?

This is an area of territory owned or controlled by a ruler or government.

What is a kingdom?

This can be defined as a country, state, or territory ruled by a king or queen.

To define the same in spiritual terms, a Kingdom is the reign or the application of the heavenly authority. But scripture pretty admonishes us that God's Kingdom is not like the kingdoms of men.

God's Kingdom is spiritual, it extends everywhere and it is within us (Luke 17:20-21). Upon His trial, Jesus told Pilate His (Jesus') Kingdom is not of this world. If it were ever so, His followers would have fought and defended Him (John 18:33-38). So, it is not about occupying an earthly territory. And it is not bound by earthly territorial boundaries. The heart is the domain of God's Kingdom or the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Kingdom of God rules in the invisible hearts of men, albeit it is not forced on anyone. We become members of God's Kingdom only by our own personal choice. Yet bearing in mind that everyone will meet the consequences of whatever choices they make.

For Jesus and John the Baptist came proclaiming that we repent, for the Kingdom of God is near (Matthew 3:1-3, 4:17), (Mark 1:14-15). Jesus commanded His disciples to do the same (Matthew 10:7-8).

Well, what is this nearness that Jesus and John the Baptist are proclaiming? In which way is the Kingdom of Heaven near? How near is it? Near to where? It can be interesting if these questions are answered.

In the same terms, the Kingdom of the dark forces is. The devil reigns and rules in his kingdom. It is called the kingdom of darkness. For the devil's kingdom is also in the midst of men. It is identified by the fruits thereof.

  
Question for thought:

• When is the Kingdom of God?

• Is it when Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven?

• Or is it to come after judgment day?

• What did Jesus mean when He said there are some standing here who will not test death till they see the Son of man coming in His Kingdom (Matthew 16:28)?

• Was Jesus referring to the transfiguration at the mountain which was witnessed by Peter, James and John?

Well, much of the answers will be based on scripture rather than anything else. When ascending to heaven, Jesus said all authority in heaven and on earth has been granted to Him (Matthew 28:18). What is this authority? Authority over what? I leave that to you.

When Jesus rose from the dead, He made a statement as to affirm the fact that He had successfully accomplished the task of cutting out a domain over which He is King. Jesus rose and He is King. Even now He is King. Now, if so, is this a Kingdom to come, or a Kingdom established?

Jesus directs us to pray being guided by the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). It says "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth..." If it is a Kingdom to come, why does Jesus direct us to pray that it comes now? For by doing God's will, the Kingdom of heaven is already in you and Jesus reigns thereof.

When is someone declared king?

One is declared king either by inheritance or by conquering. We are well aware that Jesus is King because He is God and He has conquered. Jesus is not King by inheritance because there is nothing to inherit. Not so?

Now when is Jesus Conquerer? When does Jesus get all the authority in heaven and on earth? Jesus declares and claims all authority is His after the resurrection. And if it is, and scripture pretty much directs us the same way, then God's Kingdom is now (2Timothy 1:9-10), (Revelation 1:16-18).

The transfiguration

While it is pretty not true, some people have gone on to teach that the transfiguration was the witnessing of the Kingdom Jesus was talking of. Well, this can't be. What happened at the mount was simply transfiguration. It was not to depict the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom in glory. This is not how Jesus is to come in His Kingdom in glory. This was not "coming". This was simply transfiguration.

The Kingdom Jesus was speaking of has come by conquering. And when Jesus died and rose again, He conquered. And when He rose, the Kingdom is established. And this Kingdom is already being witnessed by everyone. Some people can only live in denial.

What scripture says about the coming of the Kingdom of heaven

Scripture gives us a picture of what God's Kingdom is like, and how it comes. And it admonishes us to repent because God's Kingdom is at hand (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10), (Mark 1:15). When Jesus sent out His disciples to preach the good news, He told them to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons. Now that is the witnessing of the Kingdom.


What transpired during the transfiguration

Jesus goes up the mountain together with disciples; Peter, James and John. Then instantly, Jesus is transfigured and He appears in the transfigured form with Moses and Elijah. Then a cloud covered them and a voice came from the cloud that: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

What do we learn from this?

When Jesus was baptized, the same voice came from heaven and declared Jesus God's Son and in whom God is well pleased (Matthew 3:17), (Mark 1:11). Can we say this was the Kingdom of heaven? If not, how different are the two? Where is God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the transfiguration? Where are the angels? Is God's Kingdom as brief as this?

The transfiguration can be mirrored in the same way. It was simply an event in which both God the Father and Jesus the Son wanted to demonstrate to Peter, James and John who and what exactly Jesus is. This is a one brief event that can't be used to define what Jesus meant by witnessing the Kingdom of heaven. This was too brief an event to define what the Kingdom of heaven is.

The witness of the Kingdom of God is not a one time brief experience. The Kingdom of God is not restricted nor is it limited to an area like it is witnessed in the transfiguration.

Even after the transfiguration, Jesus instructs His disciples not to tell anyone else about what they had seen (Matthew 17:9). So, God's Kingdom is not a one time brief event. God's Kingdom is forever and ever. We are witnessing it now.

How am I to be part of God's Kingdom?

God's Kingdom is for everyone. But it is of an individual's choice to or not to embrace it. And the only way to be part of this Kingdom is only by taking the way of Jesus. Thus, Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). Rather Jesus claimed every bit about this Kingdom.

Yet if one does not embrace a kingdom, it does not imply he is not in that Kingdom. He is rather just not subjecting himself to the rules and regulations thereof. Say for example,  it does not mean everyone in Buganda is a subject of the Kabaka. Despite that many reside in Buganda, they do not succumb thereof.

But since God's Kingdom is not a territorial one, we are not a part of it by being confined in a certain territory. We are part of it by subjecting ourselves to the ways thereof.

The domain of God's Kingdom is the heart. The territory is not because the earth and all its fullness belongs to the Lord (Psalms 24:1), (1Corinthians 10:26). That we are in God's Kingdom is proven by the kind of fruit we bear (Matthew 7:15-20).

So, we are all witnessing this Kingdom. Thus for Jesus to say there are some here who will not test death until they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom. For Jesus would die soon and rise again as conquerer of the dark forces. By this short period of time, many would be alive to witness the Kingdom established. And indeed it was and it is.

What happens after Jesus' resurrection?

After Jesus' resurrection, we see an emergence of so many things among which are the following;

The disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit and launch ministry in different parts and regions of the world. All this is well recorded in the book of the Acts of the apostles. Well, what was the difference?

They had been empowered because they were armed by the coming of the Kingdom. This could have never happened before. But when Jesus had risen, the Kingdom began to operate live in people's hearts because the freedom had been granted thereof.

 

Peter had once denied Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75), (Mark 14:66-72), (Luke 22:54-62), (John 18:15-27). He had even gone back fishing after Jesus' death (John 21:3). And this remained so until Jesus' resurrection. But after the resurrection, Peter is empowered and begins to speak so boldly as is witnessed in Acts (Acts 2). If to ask, what had Peter become that he hadn't been before?

After the resurrection, Paul persecutes the Church. He witnesses the killing of Stephen (Acts 7:54, 22:20). And he is heading to Damascus to execute his duties of persecution, he is met with Christ along the way (Acts 9:1-19). From this encounter, Paul is a transformed man. He does things that not even Peter and the rest can do.

Paul boldly gives his testimony everywhere he is (Acts 26:1-32), (1Corinthians 15:1-10), (Ephesians 3:1-9), (1Timothy 1:12-17). That the Kingdom of Heaven was in Paul, it had began to impact him tremendously. Well, if Paul's conversion is not proof that God's Kingdom has come, then in whose authority was he acting? In whose authority do we chase the demons, heal the sick and raise the dead?

Characteristics of God's Kingdom

• The Kingdom Of God Is Not Observable, It is Not Flesh and Blood (Luke 17:20), (1Corinthians 15:50)  

• There Are Seasons When The Kingdom Is Available (Mark 1:15)  

• The Kingdom Of God is a mystery to the Undiscerning (Mark 4:11)  

• The Kingdom Marks A New Age (Luke 16:16)  

• The Kingdom of Heaven is Precious (Matthew 13:44), (Mark 9:47)  

• Men Enter The Kingdom of God or Stay Out of It (Mat 19:24)  

• Men Enter The Kingdom Violently (pressing in) (Luke 16:16)  

• Child Like Faith Is Required To Enter The Kingdom of God (Mark 10:15)  

• God Transfers Us Into His Kingdom (Colossians 1:13)  

• The Kingdom Must Have Priority (Luke 12:31), (Mar 9:47)  

• The Kingdom Of God Operates Inwardly (Luke 17:21)

• Repentance (Changing of Ways) is Required to Receive The Kingdom (Mark 1:15)  

• The Wicked Cannot Inherit The Kingdom Of God (1Corinthians 6:9), (1Corinthians 6:10), (Galatians 5:21)  

• The Kingdom of God (Heaven) Grows (Matthew 13:31-33), (Mark 4:26-27)  

• Love Is The Greatest Commandment In The Kingdom (Mark 12:32)  

• The Poor Have  A Special Place In The Kingdom Of God (Luke 6:20), (James 2:5)  

• The Work of Believers is to Announce The Kingdom Of God (Luke 9:60)  

• Announcing The Kingdom Brings Power To Deliver (Luke 10:9), (Luke 11:20)  

• God's People Are to Reign On Earth In His Kingdom (Revelation 5:10)  

• Nations Can Receive The Kingdom of God (Matthew 21:43)  

• At Some Point The Kingdom Will Come With Totality and Some Will be Cast Out (Luke 13:28)  

• The Kingdoms Of The World Will Become The Kingdom Of God (Revelation 11:15)

• The Kingdom Is Righteousness, Peace , Joy, Power (Romans 14:17), (1Colossians 4:20) 

• God Wants To Give The Kingdom (Luke 12:32) 

None of these characteristics does fit in the one time brief event of the transfiguration at the mountain which was witnessed by a few individuals. The transfiguration can't be the coming of the Son of man in His Kingdom. 

The reign of King Jesus

King Jesus reigns. Jesus is executing His operations through the Holy Spirit. He said when He goes, He is not leaving any matter to anyone. He would rather send the Holy Spirit who would direct us in everything (John 14:18-20). So, without the Holy Spirit, we are children without a parent. We are orphans.

And the Holy Spirit does not operate in isolation (John 16:14). When He comes, He is to testify of Jesus (John 15:26). Now God's Kingdom is here and is felt everywhere. Some of us can only live in self denial.

The living man to date?

When Jesus gave this statement, did He at all mean that someone would not die until His (Jesus') second coming? What do you think or envisage? I do have a strong feeling this was sheer say and speculation, only baseless rumors.

The influence and strength of doctrine

Doctrine is a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.

Well, the firmness or looseness of a doctrine is based on right or wrong interpretation of scripture. For scripture remains the same, but how different people interpret it is the source of variance in doctrine.

Take for example the fact that some do translate the transfiguration to represent the coming of the Son of Man in His Kingdom. So, upon this, one could translate it rightly, while another can do it pretty wrongly. But the doctrine thereof will find its way to influence many others.  

The Seventh day Adventist great disappointment.

The Seventh day Adventist great disappointment in 1844 will live to be remembered. About 100,000 people waited for the second coming of Jesus 22nd October, 1844. They had not only believed that it was the right time, they had also mathematically made the calculations that it was so.

But Jesus was very elaborate on when His second coming will be. He taught that no one knows when the time will be except the Father (Matthew 24:26), (Mark 13:32).

NB Something that I am forced to believe because scripture says so, is that even Jesus does not know when.

Scripture even goes on to reprimand that there will be false Christs (Matthew 24:5-26), (Mark 13:6-22), (Luke 21:8). But Jesus tells us that we should not believe them when they say so. And upon this, He (Jesus) did not leave us hanging.

Jesus told us how His coming will be like. Even scripture pretty tells us how Jesus' coming back will be. For it will be like the flash of light, or like the speed of sound (Matthew 24:27-31). So, how someone comes to a conclusion that Christ is coming on such a day is a sign of grave cultism.

What should we say? Merely a Baptist farmer William Miller reads the book of Daniel 8 and he interprets it to mean the coming back of Jesus at a given time of his own understanding? And then he makes it a doctrine that he even begins to command a following?! Lord Jesus.

Can't the same disappointment happen again?

With this kind of background, what makes me think the Adventists are still on the right course? How different are the conditions then and now? I hear some people claim strict observation of scripture, mostly Adventists, but the Great Disappointment is pretty proof of how people can disregard scripture and choose to go misconstruction. Was it delusion or illusion?

Well, Jesus admonishes us to take care about doctrine. He fore warned His disciples to take care about the leaven of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:5-12). For the dcotrine of the Pharisees and the Seducees can act as little poison but with very disastrous effects.

For just how yeast is such a little looking stuff, it is used to magnify bread. Jesus warned us that while He does the good work, there are evil forces who are tirelessly planting the seed of the wild wheat to grow together with the good one (Matthew 13:24-30).

Now, when is the Kingdom of God?

God's kingdom is not simply witnessed during the transfiguration. It would not only come after Jesus' second coming, the Kingdom of heaven is already here because Jesus is risen. It is now with us because by rising from the dead, He (Jesus) conquered death which was the devil's devastating weapon of war (1Corinthians 15:55-57), (Revelation 1:15-18, 20:14, 21:1-4).

After Jesus' resurrection, there is some degree of fearlessness. Jesus overcame the devil and put him under His feet and if you accept Jesus, you become a member of the Kingdom, and the devil no longer has any authority over you (Colossians 1:13). For then, you have emerged from the kingdom of darkness of the devil, and entered the Kingdom of light, the Kingdom of God. 

For that reason, me and you are now witnesses that the kingdom of God is here with us. We can witness that the lame walk, people are changed and transformed to accept CHRIST, the dumb speak, the dead rise etc. Jesus is alive, and He is with us through the Holy Spirit.

Kingdom in our hearts

Scripture says:  
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me" (Revelation 3:20).

Where is the door into a person? The door into a person is the heart. Upon this, Jesus taught that what spoils a person comes from within (Mark 7:20-23). Equally so, what justifies a man comes from within. The "within" of a person is the heart.

Scripture says: "Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them" (John 14:22-23).

Take note of the question Judas is asking; “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus answers by telling him how He (Jesus) and the Father keep present in a person. For it is not that Jesus is literally here or there.  Where and what is this abode in a person? The abode is the heart. Jesus resides in the hearts of men.

So, if the Father and the Son make abode in a person, then the Kingdom of God reigns in that person. That person has witnessed the coming of the Son of man in the Kingdom. And upon this, so it is that the Kingdom of Heaven is in a person by way of that person having accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

We all who subscribe to Christ are a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. But if one argues that the Kingdom of heaven Jesus was talking of is the transfiguration, it can't be because everyone who is Christian has witnessed Christ come into His Kingdom For we know that the transfiguration was witnessed only by three people plus Jesus. Yet the Kingdom of God is to be witnessed by everyone.

Members of the Kingdom

Jesus taught that unless a person is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). Then Nicodemus asked how this can be when a person is already an adult (John 3:4). It was rather confusing in the human understanding. Jesus admonished Nicodemus not to marvel at His (Jesus') statement because many other things do happen and no one has a clue how they do happen (John 3:7).

So, just like many other things surpass human understanding, so it is that being born again is not a matter of flesh. Then Jesus said to Nicodemus that the wind blows and we can't tell where from it is coming and where to it is going (John 3:8).

What did Jesus mean by this?

In this statement, Jesus was teaching us that God's Kingdom is spiritual. So being born into it is by spiritual means. It is not that one has to be drawn back to his mothers womb. For a mother can't give birth twice of the same baby. No not. Thus it is called being born again. For we are all born under the usual dictates of nature into this world.

The second birth is being born of Spirit and water (John 3:5-6). This is the only way we are born again. This  is how we come to be called born again because it is then that we are born into the Spiritual Kingdom of Heaven.

Yet Nicodemus kept on wondering how (John 3:9). But Jesus replied to reprimand that He was speaking the truth. He (Jesus) was speaking what He had experienced and had knowledge of, having come from heaven (John 3:10-13). So, we should have faith if Jesus has spoken.

We are members of the Kingdom of Heaven by being born again. It is not by observing rituals and days. There is no human practice that can qualify a person into God's kingdom. Are you born again? All we need is Jesus Christ.

Symbol/Mark of identification

Nations, organizations, groups, corporations have identification symbols. In this, when a symbol or mark is displayed, then we can feel the impact of that nation, organization, or group.

What is the identification mark of Christians?

The identification mark for Christians scripture tells us is the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught how precious the Holy Spirit should be to us (Matthew 7:7-11), (Luke 11:9-13). For when the Father and the Son aren't literally here, then the Holy Spirit is in control. Thus the Holy Spirit is not to be blasphemed because He operates on behalf of the Father and the Son (Matthew 12:31).

And when the Holy Spirit is upon us, we are rather identified by the symbols thereof. Such a person begins to bear fruit (Matthew 7:16). So, a mere human being has no control over these fruits because they only come by the Spirit. These fruits make us identifiable for God.

Equally so, on the day of rapture, the Holy Spirit upon or not upon a person will be the identification mark so to be or not to be ruptured (Ephesians 4:30), (2Corinthians 1:22). The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we are for Christ.

So, this counsels out every other practice. On the day of the Lord, nothing else will count. Not the observation of days, months or the new moons, or whatever. What we eat or do not eat will not be a factor. Scripture tells us how we receive the Holy Spirit. It is not by keeping Sabbath. We rather pray to receive it. And when we receive it, then we are not indebted.

By keeping Sabbath and everything thereof changes nothing about the make up of a person. The Holy Spirit searches innermost parts of our hearts and changes us for the purpose of God (John 16:8). One keeps Sabbath but then remains sinful?! But if without sin, there is no debt.

Some of the functions of the Holy Spirit

The Spirit reveals the deep things of God to us (1 Corinthians 2:10).
The Spirit reveals what has been given to us from God (1Corinthians 2:12).
The Spirit is the agent by which we are baptized into the body of Christ (1Corinthians 12:13).
The Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8).
The Spirit sanctifies us (2Thessalonians 2:13), (1Peter 1:2), (Romans 5:16).
The Spirit empowers us (Luke 4:14; 24:49), (Romans 15:19), (Acts 1:8).
The Spirit teaches us to pray (Romans 8:26-27), (Jude 1:20).
The Spirit bears witness in us that we are children of God (Romans 8:16).
The Spirit produces in us the fruit or evidence of His work and presence (Galatians 5:22-23).
The Spirit quickens our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11).
The Spirit makes us (corporately) God's habitation (Ephesians 2:22).
The Spirit reveals the mystery of God to us (Ephesians 3:5).
The Spirit strengthens our spirits (Ephesians 3:16).
The Spirit enables us to obey the truth (1Peter 1:22).
The Spirit enables us to know that Jesus abides in us (1 John 3:24; 4:13).
The Spirit brings liberty (2Corinthians 3:17).
The Spirit supplies us with Christ (Philippians 1:19).
The Spirit gives us access to God the Father (Ephesians 2:18).
The Spirit anoints us for ministry (Luke 4:18), (Acts 10:38).
The Spirit brings unity and oneness to the body (Ephesians 4:3; 2:14-18).
The Spirit is our guarantee and deposit of the future resurrection (2Corinthians 1:22, 5:5).
The Spirit sets us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
The Spirit dispenses God's love into our hearts (Romans 5:5).
The Spirit bears witness to the truth in our conscience (Romans 9:1).
The Spirit teaches us (1Corinthians 2:13), (John 14:26).
The Spirit gives us joy (1Thessalonians 1:6).
The Spirit moves us (2Peter 1:21).
The Spirit brings things to our remembrance (John 14:26).
The Spirit comforts us (Acts 9:31).
The Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13).
The Spirit regenerates us (John 3:5-8), (Titus 3:5).
The Spirit glorifies and testifies of Christ (John 15:26; 16:14).
The Spirit reveals Christ to us and in us (John 16:14-15).
The Spirit leads us (Romans 8:14), (Galatians 5:18), (Matthew 4:1), (Luke 4:1).

So, I hope that we agree that if we do not receive the Holy Spirit, then it is rather illusion and delusion that we are Christian. The fact and the truth is in receiving the Holy Spirit. Oh, come Holy Spirit and fill us today.

Well, it is pretty imperative to be led correctly as Christians, and upon this, we need the Holy Spirit. For every action is engineered by a spirit of its own kind. So, this is to ask, if we are to be led by the Spirit, what spirit led the Adventists into the great disappointment of 1844? What makes the Adventists have faith in the current order they are managing things? Can't the same disappointment replay? The devil used the same scripture to try and tempt Jesus into sin. Think about it.

So, God's Kingdom is now. It is not a one time brief event. It is being experienced and witnessed by everybody. And the Son of Man has already come and is still coming into His Kingdom.

On many occasions, Jesus labored tirelessly to make us understand that He is the seal of anything thereof (Matthew 12:41-42), (Luke 11:31). That He (Jesus) came, there is nothing more than He is done. For all who came before Jesus were thieves and robbers (John 10:8). Jesus alone is the true shepherd and King.

Jesus is all we need and upon Him, we add nothing more. For Christ is all in all. Amen

God bless

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IS CHRISTIANITY SIMILAR TO ISLAM?

I do strongly think that the underlying fact there is, is in whether God (YHWH) the Father of Jesus is actually the same as the god of the Muslims; Allah.

Firstly, I should never involve myself in an argument with a Muslim on whether Jesus is the Son of God or not. This is because; Allah is not YHWH (Exodus 6:2-3, 23:13).This God YHWH is the God of the Christians.

YHWH God the Father of Jesus is one but He extends Himself in the Son and in the Holy Spirit (John 5:26). He is not three Gods; He is one God YHWH (Deuteronomy 6:4, 32:39), (Isaiah 42:8, 43:10-11, 44:6), (Mark 12:29-34), (John 10:30), (Revelation 1:8). 

It does not at all mean that by being the Son of God, having come from heaven, or strongly claim to be God like the God in Heaven, Jesus is another God. NO NOT. YHWH God is one God. Amen.

Trinity

Christians believe in the Trinity (Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit). Are these three Gods? No not. These are not three Gods. Rather these are not three different personalities. God YHWH is one person and He is an entity. Take for example, I could remain the same person but serving in different capacities. That does not mean I have become three. No not. 

God is complete in the three. For each of the three is serving a given task and purpose. And it has been like this ever since we ever appeared as beings on earth. For when God created the earth, it was the Spirit of God hovering over it (Genesis 1:1).

Jesus taught that Him and the Father are one (John 10:30). He went on to say that the Son does nothing that He is not learnt from the Father (John 5:19-25). Jesus admonished that how and what He does is exactly how the Father would. 

Of the Holy Spirit, Jesus taught that He (Holy Spirit) does what He is been instructed from the Son (John 16:14-16). And upon this, we are to be baptized in the name of the three (Matthew 28:18-20). For each of the three in one serves a purpose that can't be or should not be performed by the other. For example, the Father could not come to die for the world. It is of the Son to. But if the Son has done so, so has the Father and the Holy Spirit the three work in agreement.

But this is not that the Father can't do what the Son can do, but that it is not the Father's role to perform the role of the Son. In the same understanding, the Holy Spirit does the work of engagement with us. The Holy Spirit gives us the message from the government of heaven.

The Muslim perception of three in one is that these are three bodies entirely different. But we have pretty explained how it is not to be taken literally. Rather it is divine. So, we understand differently. But so be it, because YHWH is not Allah, and Allah is not YHWH. One is called YHWH and the other is called Allah. 

Allah is not and can't be father

Allah has no son or sons. Allah has slaves. Allah's people are his slaves. On the other hand, YHWH God has a Son and sons in us. And this God YHWH is the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus (Matthew 3:15-18, 17:1-5), (Mark 1:9-12), (John 14:13). Even the demons do attest to this (Luke 4:41). The same is also our Father (Genesis 1:27), (Psalms 82:6), (Hosea 11:1), (John 1:12-13).

Who is YHWH?

God YHWH is definable and distinct. He has an address. For scripture directs that God is Spirit and He is addressed in the Spirit (John 4:23-24). So, if you want to do anything in faith, it is if you are directed to do it in the Spirit. And upon this, you will not meet God anywhere else that is not in the Spirit.

 Who is Allah?

But who is Allah? How does the Quran describe Allah? What is he? Is he spirit? If he is spirit, what spirit is he? Well, the Quran says Allah is light, his light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within a glass (Quran 24:35). So, just like the Bible says that God is Spirit, so it is that Allah is a candle. Not so? Or Allah is amorphous?

For we can't say of YHWH that He is like... YHWH is not like. YHWH is Spirit and it is of Him to be. When He presented to Moses and Moses asked who He was, God replied that I AM WHO I AM (Exodus 3:14). Meaning it is not for you to ask because your opinion doesn't count.

Yes, it is pretty true that God seats in heaven. But we can't say He is like anything because He can be whatever He wants to. God is Spirit and that is it.

He appears and tells Moses that I AM WHO I AM. So, YHWH and Allah are purely two different God/gods. One should have his name written in small case and that is allah, and the other should have His name written in big case and boldened, and that is YHWH.

Yet the Quran has said Allah is not anything, but he is like a candle! Meaning it is not of him to be, but he is rather like. Is this the way the almighty God can best be described? So, upon this, we can reliably conclude that Allah is nebulous and characterless. Allah is not inherent and he is not self existing because he has no definitive shape of his own.

Cutting differences in perceptions of father between Christians and Muslims.

The other major underlying difference lies in the fact that the perspectives or perceptions of Father/father for that matter, differ in both faiths. The perspective of father in the Muslim faith is that you must have had sexual relations with a woman and thereby have a biological child. 

This is where the strong argument of whether Jesus is Son of God or not emanates. The Muslim belief is that god/Allah is too holy to have sexual relations with human beings, he can’t therefore be father. Yet since to be father you must have had sexual relations with a woman, (at least according to the Muslim faith), it is blasphemy to say Jesus is the Son of God. But just as we pointed out above, Allah is not YHWH.

The Christian perspective of Father on the other hand is not as a result having to have sexual relations with a woman. One can be father in many perspectives, e.g. by virtue of age, responsibility, etc. Even the Muslims attest that Abraham is father to us all. Yet except the Israelites, the Arabs, and a few others, the rest of us can't claim any biological closeness to Abraham. For what qualifies us to be Abraham's children is that we believe in what he believes in.

But in this particular case of God being the Father of Jesus and to us, (Jesus being our elder brother), God is Father to us because He is our creator, He feeds us, we are of and from Him, and He has all the responsibility over us (John 1:12-13). This same God, in addition to the name YHWH, it is accompanied by many other titles just intended to literally depict what purpose God is to us. For each title serves to explain a particular purpose of God in our lives. Say for example JEHOVAH JIREH (Genesis 22:14), JEHOVAH SHALOM (Judges 6:24), JEHOVAH NISSI (Exodus 17:15), etc. 

The almighty God never needed (at all) to have sexual relations with Virgin Mary so to get Jesus. NO NEVER. Actually the Bible states it how Mary wondered it would happen yet she was a virgin, this is what the angel Gabriel had to say to Mary (Luke 1:35) "...The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you; therefore that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God”.

By Christians calling Him (Jesus) what He is (Son of God), there is no any such insinuation or connotation that this is so because there was ever sexual  relations between God and Mary. And it is not like that. NO. NEVER. Jesus existed even before Mary did (John 8:58).

Yet this is not the only source of variance between the Christian teaching and the Muslim teaching. If you consider it, say in terms of historical facts, practices, beliefs, relations, marriage, etc, they are totally incomparable. The Muslim teaching on many central issues is entirely diabolical and thereby totally unacceptable to the Christians. Say for example on such topics as follows, the Muslim teaching is entirely different from that of the Christians:

Eye for eye

The Christian teaching about eye for eye is entirely different from that of the Muslim teaching. While the Christians encourage forgiveness and let go, the Muslim teaching dictates that everything must be paid back equally (Quran 5:45). 

While one may argue that this teaching is equally traceable in the Bible (Exodus 21:20-25), it is imperative to understand that these were laws intended for and practiced in the Jewish religion. But we are talking about the Christian practice and not otherwise. This is what Jesus taught about revenge: 

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38-42)

Beheading

Islamic state and all its subscribers have been castigated and demonized for chopping off people's heads and making it seem even simpler than slaughtering chicken. Neither do I have any reservations. Albeit I ought to pray for them rather than keep imagining how evil they are. 

The whole world (Muslims inclusive) has been heard express their total disapproval of such unprecedented levels of barbarism. But this is to miss the point, despite the disapproval almost by everyone, it is what the Quran teaches (Quran 8:12). So, if to say, they should be applauded rather than castigated!!!???

Jesus taught that if you imagine evil about another, you have already committed murder. 

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:21-23)

In all this, you can realize how the Muslim view of things is entirely repugnant to the Christian teaching. It is even entirely and gravely mistaken for the Muslims to claim Jesus as one of their prophets. How can Jesus be prophet in Islam yet His teachings are totally detestable to the Muslim teaching???!!! For the two are entirely incompatible.

Slavery

It is pretty undeniable (even by Muslims) how Islam does unquestioningly promote slavery of all nature. It does promote slavery of all people whenever and wherever it can be. Individuals, children, and women all can be viewed or even at worse treated as slaves. For it is official Islamic teaching to have and keep people as slaves (Quran 2:178). This makes it pretty puzzling how Muslims can harmonize this.

On the other hand, much as an individual Christian may have and keep a person as a slave, it is not official Christian doctrine to keep slaves. And Christianity teaches that if so, the master and the slave can negotiate a way out of this kind of situation. Rather the Bible offers ways how this kind of scenario can be solved. And if this is so, we can't be any mistaken not to believe the Bible does freely promote slavery like the Quran does.

Jesus taught freedom. He came to set the captives free. 

 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[a] (Luke 4:18-19).

It is now sin for a Christian to keep another as a slave. I wonder what it is amongst the Muslim faithfuls...?!

Torture

The Quran encourages torture. If a prisoner is found to "harbor treacherous tricks" against Muhammad, then Muhammad has the right to torture them. He (Muhammad) is then at freedom to treat them in any way he wishes (Quran 8:67-71). Allah is so keen to make sure Muhammad is not offended at any one point. But if he is found to be offended at any one point, he is at freedom to act in his best interest. For Muhammad should not be or seem to be shamed at anyone point.

Now, compare this with How Jesus reacted when He was tortured.

Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him,
(Luke 22:63)
 
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" read more. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots (Matthew 27:27-35).
 
The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" read more. And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take (Mark 15:16-24).

And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; and they began to come up to Him and say, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and to give Him slaps in the face. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between (John 19:2-18).

When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left (Luke 23:33).

Jesus never reacted (with the evil human anger) at anyone time to anyone who attacked Him. He remained focused and committed to the mission. And above all, Jesus never took anything personal. He forgave the very people who crucified Him (Luke 23:34). Muhammad never gave his life for the sake of anybody else. He would rather destroy everybody else to save his.

Marriage

YHWH instructs us to marry one wife who is not to be divorced (Matthew 19:8), (Mark 10:5). Terribly differently, Allah tells his followers to marry four wives with freedom to divorce them. 

If this is the same God, then man can't be tried and later alone convicted for his terrible contradictions. But if it so happens that Allah is God, I will ask him to keep me out of his heaven. I do not respect him, neither do I obey him. I choose to save him the stress. He should not be bothered with me.

Bible and Quran

The Christian official book of faith is the Bible, and the Muslim official book of faith is the Quran. I hear people falsely claim these two are similar. And I keep asking how similar they are!!!??? If they ever were similar, at least by cover, why and how do we find each of us in two totally different worlds???!!!

The Bible teaches Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 17:5), (John 5:19, 5:26-27, 14:13). Upon this, even the demons attest that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Luke 8:28). The Quran on the other hand vehemently denies Jesus is the Son of God (Quran 9:30, 19:34-35). 

The Bible teaches Jesus died on the cross for the remission of the human sin (Matthew 26:28), (Ephesians 1:7). The Quran calls it a hoax (Quran 4:157). With all this, someone in their stable minds conclude that the two books are similar???!!!

Mary or Miriam?

In the teaching of the Quran, how different is Mary mother of Jesus from Miriam the sister of Moses (Quran 19:27-28)? That Imran father of Aaron, Miriam and Moses is also biological father of Mary???!!! In between the time of Imran and Mary is a period of over 1400 years. And then Mary is daughter of Imran? (Quran 66:12). Did the so called Imran reincarnate?

The Quran teaches that Jesus spoke while He was a baby in the manger (Quran 19:24, 19:28-34). How this comes to be, totally ends with a big puzzle!!! It is only unique to the Quran. 

According to the Bible teaching, Jesus was born, and as a baby, he underwent the normal stages any other baby undergoes. It takes two to four years for a normal baby to speak. I am sensing someone seeks to ferment an abnormal situation to create an abstract situation to lead innocent souls into a false belief.

 The conception of Jesus by Mary

How Mary conceives Jesus according to the Quran is also entirely repugnant to how she does in the Bible. In the Quran, the angel Gabriel (Jibril) breathes into her, and then she conceives (Quran 21:91). On the other hand, the Bible states that the angel Gabriel appears to Mary in Nazareth and tells her she is favored of all women because she would conceive the Son of God and call Him Jesus (Luke 1:26-36). 

How?

Mary wonders how it would be when she hadn't known any man. Then the angel Gabriel tells her the Holy Spirit would come on her and the power of the most high would overshadow her (Luke 34-35). 

These are two totally independent narrations. Where at all is it similar???!!! For the Quran vehemently denies the crucial basics of the Christian faith. It denies who Jesus is. Neither do Christians ever agree that Muhammad is a true prophet of YHWH. 

Is Muhammad a prophet?

Muhammad does not qualify for the type of a prophet from YHWH. Muhammad is never any slightly exemplary. If it were ever for a patient, Muhammad is terminally ill. 

I for one, I do believe that my spiritual well being is way above that of Muhammad. But if I reach heaven and God YHWH ever tells me Muhammad is His prophet, then I will stage a protest in heaven. Muhammad does not qualify even for a deacon in a little local church. How can he???!!! Muhammad should be treated as a criminal, not any slightly a hero. How can he???!!!

The true characteristics of the prophet of God.

• The true Prophet of the Lord predicts that which does come to pass. If the Prophet's predictions fail, they are exposed as NOT of God.

"And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:21-22)

• The true Prophet of the Lord will receive visions or dreams from the Lord 

"And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream." (Numbers 12:6).
 

• When in "vision" their eyes will be open

 "He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:" (Numbers 24:16).

 "He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:" (Numbers 24:4)

• When in "vision" a true Prophet will NOT breath. "Inspiration" = God Breathed, Therefore, since the Almighty is breathing through the Prophet communicating His Truth, the Prophet has no need to breath

 "For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me." (Daniel 10:17).
 

• The true Prophet will collapse with absolutely no strength in him/her

"For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me." (Daniel 10:17).

• Once "touched in the "vision" the Prophet receives supernatural strength.

"Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me," (Daniel 10:18).
 

• A true Prophet will be 100% accurate. there is absolutely no margin for error.

 "The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him." (Jeremiah 28:9)
 

• A true Prophet NEVER gives his private interpretation. He only shares what the Lord reveals. Scripture defines Scripture, not man.

 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." (2Peter 1:20).

• A true Prophet only prophecies in the name of the Lord. He only seeks to glorify the Lord. He will never seek glory to himself. NEVER!

"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 1:21).

• A true Prophet will look to edify, comfort, and uplift the Church body by his testimony as well as exhort them.

"But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church." (1Corinthians 14:3-4) 

• A true Prophet keeps God's Law, and abides by the testimony of the Bible Prophets as well. If a Prophet does not agree with the Bible Prophets, the he is false.

 "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:20)

• A true Prophet believes and preaches the incarnation of Jesus Christ. He will preach Jesus as God who came to Earth and put on humanity in order to redeem us all.

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." (1 John 4:1-3)

• A true Prophet will show good works, and have identifiable fruits of a Christian. He/she will have abundant BIBLICAL fruits!

 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Matthew 7:15-20,

•  Gender  makes no difference. Women can, and have been prophet's as well.

"And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances." (Exodus 15:20)

"And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time." (Judges 4:4)

"And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect." (2Chronicles 34:22)

"And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;" (Luke 2:36)

"And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy." (Acts 21:8-9)

•  Age makes NO difference in being a prophet. 

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:" (Acts 2:17-18).

• Performing miracles proves nothing.

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.  Behold, I have told you before." (Matthew 24:24-25).



When mirrored in all this, Muhammad has no any slight chance to qualify. He can't commensurate to anyone of the parameters. Not even the least of them. If so, what  prophet then is Muhammad???!!!
 

So, in all this, we come to learn that one God is totally repugnant to any other god. It so is pretty true that God YHWH does recognize that there are other gods. But He (YHWH) is the true God (Isaiah 43:10-12, 44:1-7, 45:1-5). He is the creator and the source of all.

 Is Christianity any similar to Islam?

There is no way how Christianity can ever be similar to Islam. The argument that they both claim their source in father Abraham is terribly mistaken. If it were ever so, how could the same Abraham have ever been instructed to sacrifice Isaac (as is rightly claimed by the Christians and the Jews), and at the same time Ishmael? There is something terribly wrong here!? This then translates that these are two entirely different Abrahams.

Yet even when this story is being told by the writings of the Quran, it tends to give a dodgy narration by not mentioning the name of the child (Quran 37:99-113). Thus the Quran does not clearly give us a definitive picture of who the child is. The Bible on the other hand gives us a clear and definitive picture of exactly who the child is. What are the Muslims dodging???!!!

The case of Isaac and Ishmael

Contrast between Isaac and Ishmael

Isaac was conceived by miraculous intervention. He was conceived to a barren aged mother and an aged father (Genesis 17:15-17, 18:9-15, 21:1-7; Galatians 4:28-29). The Quran does indeed agree to this (Quran11:69-73, 51:24-30). On the other hand, Ishmael was conceived normally. Rather Ishmael was conceived under very normal circumstances. For when Sarai urges Abram to go in to Hagar, she was pretty convinced that Hagar would conceive with ease (Genesis 16). But with Isaac, it was by the very intervention of God almighty.

Isaac was born as a promise  to Abraham (Genesis 17:15-21). Rather Isaac was not to be born a normal child. He (Isaac) was born when his parents had surpassed the child bearing age. To this, even the Quran attests (Quran 11:69-73, 37:112-113, 51:24-30). Yet nowhere are we being told, not even in the Quran that Ishmael was born out of promise. 

God promised to bless Ishmael materially, but He pretty admonished Abraham that the covenant child was Isaac (Genesis 17:15-22). Ishmael had no part in the covenant God made with Isaac. For only the descendants of Isaac would inherit the land (Genesis 13:14-18, 15:18-21, 28:13-14). And it was in and through Isaac that God would bless all the nations of the earth. We can't trace any such promise about Ishmael. Not even in the Quran.

In view of the above, both Muslims and Christians must understand that differences in perspectives firstly emanate from the fact that the two are referring to two different situations and facts. 

One god called Allah can’t be father because by being so, he must have had sexual relations with a woman. He therefore can’t be father because he is not human to do that. 

YHWH is Father not by having sexual relations with a woman, but by virtue of His being. He is the Creator. He has over all responsibility for and over us. He provides for us. He watches over us. He decides for us.

Allah is therefore not the father of Jesus. YHWH is the Father of Jesus. For with God, all things are possible (Luke 1:37), (Matthew 19:26). 

So, can Allah be father? NO. He can’t. Is YHWH Father? YES He is. YHWH God is the Father of Jesus. Allah has no son.

Christianity therefore and Islam are two faiths which are way repugnant to each other. There should be no delusional talk to this matter.For Christianity is unique in itself much as Islam is.

God bless

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IS JESUS A MYTH???!!!

What is a myth?

A myth is any traditional story consisting of events that are ostensibly historical, though often supernatural, explaining the origins of a cultural practice or natural phenomenon.

It is a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature. 

It can also be a widely held but false belief or idea.

But if we can ask what a myth is, it can't also be mistaken to ask what a myth is not. What is not a myth? Is it what is not based on facts? Who determines the facts? What if one defies or denies the facts? I leave all that to you. 


Purposes of a myth

• To explain how things came to be

• To teach lessons or values

• To unify a group or define a group's identity

• To explain social or religious rituals

• To entertain

How does something come to be labelled a myth?

In everything that man has or has not done, you can sense a wide gaping in what he seeks to know and what he does not have knowledge of. Jesus told His disciples that He had a lot to tell them, but the time was yet, and upon this, they could not bear it (John 16:12).

It would be insanity to teach a baby class child the same content as is taught to a primary seven pupil. That is that knowledge comes in levels. The apostle Paul says we see in bits, we know in bits, but when the right time comes, we shall have the full view of all (1Corinthians 13:12).

But where are the answers for the many questions? How do things come to be? What do we do to know what we do not know? So, when we are overwhelmed by the toughness of such questions, then we begin to create our own story.

Yet everybody's can be a myth! It can be a myth to say Jesus is a myth. Rather if so it is, why should it be unique to Jesus? And if so to say, everything is mythical. At one time, anyone can turn mythical. Yet when one says you are, you will vehemently deny being so. What makes you think you are not mythical? Flying a plane now may seem and sound mythical to those of the 18th Century and before!

Knowledge begins with simple principles, and it comes in phases. For what you may know now, you never knew yesterday, last month, or yesteryear. And you are yet to know more. For what did you know when you were in your mother's womb? How about between when you were 3, 4, 5 years old and now? More critically, what did you do to be in your mother's womb? If at all, what could you have done?

So, if you want to know about something, what do you do? Do you begin by opposing it, or by submitting to certain laid out principles how to know it? Say for example; if you want to be a medical doctor, do you begin by opposing being so, or by submitting to the principles of becoming so?

God directs man

God pretty knew that man would keep wondering and fall into false imagination. Wondering led man into sin. Man attempted to build the tower of Babel out of wondering (Genesis 11:1-9). By wondering, we ask what would it be like, or what is it (John 3:8)? And upon this, God has always provided a way how to direct His people the right way. God has not kept away from man, but man seeks to deny and keep away from God.

God led Abraham right to a point when Abraham came to understand what God's mission was. But if Abraham ever resisted at the beginning, he would have never come to such knowledge. A parent guides a child until when the child becomes an adult. Have you grown to adulthood in the things of God?

God led the children of Israel from Egypt to the promised land. Even then, you can realize how the Israelites kept on wondering while on the way to the promised land. And up to date, God is not leaving man isolated, but man keeps isolating himself from God.

How to know God

Knowing God begins with simple steps. It begins with submission. In this, let us use the example of admiring to become a medical doctor. If you admire being a doctor, you begin with simple steps. You can imagine that becoming so begins with having to attend baby school. And all the way to becoming doctor involves submission to certain given principles that will guide you to the very goal. Rather you can't have read for accountancy, but then become a medical doctor. Can you?

In this, if you have put yourself in a position to seek to challenge God's being, then that is what you will master in. So, knowing God begins with submission to Him. How can God be in your life when you oppose Him? How can God appear to a person who does not give Him (God) time and space in his life?

Is Jesus the way to know God?

Jesus on many occasions taught that He is the way to know God. For God has always provided a way. In this, it pretty so is that there are many ways to wherever, but the way to God is particularly through Jesus Christ. We only deny to go God's way.

In Jesus' own teaching, He said that it is through Him that we can know about God. And it is through Him that we can reach the Father, and who also is the creator (John 14:6). Jesus taught His disciples that if you have seen me, you have seen the Father (John 14:7-9). He went on to say that He (Jesus) and the Father are ONE (John 10:30).

In this, Jesus gave us reference. He wanted us rather to take His word the true word of God. For it wasn't of or by Himself that He said or did a thing (John 5:19), (John 5:30), (John 6:38), (John 8:28), (John 12:49). He appeared to be human, but in Him (Jesus) was God the Father directing the Son in the right way. And in the same spirit, God the Father (YHWH) testifies that Jesus is His own Son (Matthew 3:17, 17:5), (Mark 9:7), (Luke 9:35). Upon this, the Father instructs us to follow and listen to Him unquestioningly.

Why insist Jesus is a myth?

To say Jesus is a myth is simply one of man's self defeating and desperate ways to challenge God. It is simply a scheme with supernatural forces behind. And this is not the first time that it is.

This is intended that if man can prove that Jesus is but a myth, it would be a sure way to dispute the existence of God. For it has never been in the history of mankind that one has claimed and proven closeness to God like Jesus does. So, if you can challenge God by disapproving Jesus, then you have dealt a big blow to the Heavenly Kingdom. Yet all this has been done, but only to end desperately.

What is man to do?

Man's only option is to submit to God and His will. This is how we will stop to wonder and avoid false and gravely devastating imaginations. By submitting to God, many questions are answered because God begins to reveal Himself to us as we grow in the knowledge of Him.

Man lost the way and the identity when Adam succumbed to the wiles and machinations of Satan. Man is now in wonder land except for submission to Christ. Since then, it is not in man to know the way. Rather the way of man is no longer in him (Jeremiah 10:23).

Consider that a pupil sits in class and submits to everything thereof, so it is that we ought to surrender to God so He can teach us everything. It is wise and well with us if we are obedient to God (Joshua 24:15), (Deuteronomy 30:15-19), (Job 34:4), (Psalms 25:12, 119:30), (Joel 3:4), (Luke 21:14-15). For it is indisputably a proven fact that man has achieved nothing by seeking to challenge God. He is rather losing terribly and consequently.

Nevertheless, all the indecision is not that God has done nothing. God has done all, to the point of sending us His only Son. Miracles and wonders have been performed so man can believe. We are rather seeking a way to declare them myths! Jesus said He performed signs so that people can believe (John 4:48), but do they?

Part of their many schemes to discredit Jesus, the Pharisees falsely claimed Jesus performed signs and wonders using the powers of Satan (Matthew 12:24).

When Adam sinned, he was seeking a way away from God (Genesis 3:8-10). All this has been man's self destructing effort to challenge the being and the power of God. It is a pity that it persists to date.

Sin is keeping man away from God and it has made him lose address and identity and simply led him to wonder into what and where he is.

So, upon this, I can declare that any historian, particularly an archaeologist who denies the existence of Jesus should be disqualified from the History society.

When did the project to disapprove Jesus begin?

The project to disapprove Jesus is not a recent one, not even in early history. This project began right when Jesus was buried. For Jesus had prophesied His death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21, 17:20-23), (Mark 8:31-33, 9:31, 10:34), (Luke 9:20-22, 24:7). And after the crucifixion, the Jewish leaders realized they could have done it the wrong way (Matthew 27:54-66).

Scripture says: if they ever knew, they wouldn't have crucified Jesus, because when they did, it was more victory that He rose from the dead (1Corinthians 2:7-9).

Right after the resurrection, the Pharisees bribed the centurions to falsify the evidence that the body was stolen away by Jesus' disciples (Matthew 28:11-15). But all this has been in vain. The Pharisees could not have contained such a loud victory with a historical mark of all time.

I keep wondering who then will make it? Only laboring in futility! The project keeps going on, but day after the other, it is losing steam!

Jesus existed along side many other characters as Herod, Caesar, Pilate etc. I am yet to come across one historian who disputes Herod, Caesar, or Pilate existed. Yet why should they be concerned with these? Why should other characters as Herod and whoever be of the same concern?

Yet if one denies or declares Jesus a myth, then how will history deal with the rest of the other characters whom history tells us existed in the same period of time. For history pretty affirms all these characters. 

Jesus came into live contact with these same characters, especially during His trial. And history does not dispute and does not tell us otherwise. So, if this is so, how is Jesus to be singled out as having not existed? Upon this, we ought to find out if this is not mere jealous and unfounded hate directed at Jesus by the so called scholars.

If Jesus is not, who is? Is it Napoleon, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Stalin, emperor Nero of the Roman empire, Tiberius, Gaius etc? Simply the wide length of the period of time between when and what happened should make us doubt everything? Some people are about to deny their grannies ever existed!

Does the world have to begin with us? Why do those who say Jesus is a myth if any, say so? Why all this attention to Jesus? That all this attention is given to Jesus, He is exceptional. This should give me more reason to search more about Him, rather than seeking to disapprove Him.

Can God be found in intellectual reasoning? Where is God?

God cannot be found in intellectual reasoning. He can't be found in chemistry, physics, or biology. He cannot be found in philosophies. God can't be found in the firmament or in the space. By seeking to see Him using these methods is rather a way further away from ever knowing or seeing Him. For God can't be found by human means. God is Spirit (Genesis 1:2, 6:3), (Exodus 31:3), (Matthew), (John 4:24). God's address is in the Spirit. But unfortunately, people do not want to go spiritual.

For intellectualism dictates that going spiritual is only a way going insane. They declare that the intellectual methods they are accustomed to, dictate that you must maintain your intellectual mind even when searching for God. Yet this is terribly wrong! Because if you can't go spiritual, you can't see God. You can't find Him elsewhere because He is not anywhere else other than in the Spirit.

Who denies kings David or Solomon existed? Who denies Abraham existed? Yet Jesus is given more attention. Jesus touches every fabric of every society in every sphere of life; historically, socially, politically, religiously, etc. Some people are found accepting Him when they seek to deny Him! The year calendar and a lot more begins with the birth of Jesus Christ. Every bit of life was overturned when Jesus was born.

 The example of the Watergate scandal

If the Jesus story is mythical, why does the myth keep persisting to date? Take the example of the Watergate scandal between 1970 to 1974. This was a major political involving the break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. and President Richard Nixon's administration's attempted a cover-up of its involvement.

The secret could not hold, not even for five years, despite that it had initially involved only twenty people. Just twenty people could not hold a story for a little longer. Compare and contrast the same with the Jesus story which was witnessed live by forty people and has held on for two thousand plus years. And the story only goes stronger.

People are simply struggling to disapprove it but to no avail. The story of Jesus persists on and pretty much holds together for two thousand plus years. It has only turned out a futile struggle to wish it away. It only gets stronger. 

Small lies can be contained. But if it ever was, the Jesus story could have already been in the waste bin. For this magnitude of a story can't be simply kept being told. Yet we enjoy disapproving the doubters. People are searching for facts of so many ages ago, let them prove to us how mythical it is.

You may deny whatever you choose to, nevertheless you may not be able to deny a multitude of testimonies of millions of people world over who have had an encounter with Jesus. People who have had their lives entirely transformed into a very different people in numerous societies. 

Personal testimony

I was a Muslim, and many things I did, how wrong they were was none of my concern. I was only focused on Allah and Islam. No conviction whatsoever. The only conviction was to do the will of Allah no matter how. 

An encounter with Jesus changed all this. The personality too changed. Formerly known for being radical and passionate about Islam, I experienced a turnaround. I have experienced transformation in my character and spiritual life. Upon this, it grieves me when one declares Jesus a myth. I ask myself: how could it have worked for me yet it is a myth? Can a myth be real? Because Jesus has been real in my life. How can I help a doubting Thomas?

Many other people from all walks of life; formerly; Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, Adventists, sorcerers, witches, etc have undeniable testimonies. We equally see the same type of testimonies of Paul. Paul is historically proven a former persecutor of the Church. He was transformed into the greatest evangelist of all time. Peter was formerly a strong doubter, but when he was transformed, he paid for it with his dear life. All these are historical facts and not fabrications.

Archeological proof

If thus the story goes that Jesus is a myth, what is it of His disciples and apostles. What is it of Peter, John, Thomas, James, etc? What is it of Paul? For by declaring Jesus a myth, so it should be of the disciples and the apostles. Yet there is all the archeological proof that the apostles and the disciples pretty lived. Peter's house is still there at Capharnaum. How should the scholars deal with this?

The doubting Thomas finally admitted and submitted to Jesus. After touching Jesus’ palms, he said; “you are my Lord and God” (John 20:24-29). All these great men of God still testify of Jesus through the Holy Scriptures. Where did they get the energy from to act and confess the way they did? If Jesus was ever a myth, we wouldn’t be able to see a continued turnaround in the lives of these men.

To see or not to can't any slightly be a dwelling. Can I deny America exists simply because I have not been there? I would be insane to do so. To deny something is not, does not conclude it wasn’t. Some people have only been caught inventing terminologies and creating confusing phrases so to feel empowered in their perverted way of viewing things.

It is been a futile struggle by people who simply wish Jesus should not be, including books written by Loyd Graham called Deceptions and Myths in the Bible. But what makes Loyd Graham think I can't declare his book mythical? How he comes to label them deceptions and myths is to himself. I can't see and understand how he proves his is not mythical!!!???

Jesus is not a myth; He is not just a copy of the pagan gods of other ancient religions. He is God incarnate. These are not just plain words, there are concrete testimonies. It requires facts rather than fabrications of the evil mind.

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